CH 27

I’ll say it again at that time.

Sun Yihan:

Park Yul’s hand, touching my cheek, was ice-cold. I placed my hand on his; when I used my healing magic, Park Yul’s wound healed and the blood flow stemmed.

“I just woke up. I’m fine Yul-ie Hyung.”

‘Though, Hyung, you don’t look fine,’ I thought, but I swallowed my words.

Next to us, I could hear Raen’s trembling voice, “Leader Hyung, you said we’d travel together from now on.”

“That’s right, Raen-ah. Let’s do that from now on.”

“… Park Yul Hyung.” Song Ha-gyeon stared blatantly at the Chosen Hero.

Park Yul, in turn, continued to speak in a relaxed and amused voice, “I wanted to return before you all realized I went out; I see I’ve worried you all. I just went out briefly because I needed to check on something.”

“Still, please tell us when you leave the house, Leader Hyung. What happens if something happens when you’re alone… Honestly, I could have gone with you…” The ends of Raen’s sentences flowed into each other. It seems as if everyone had promised not to act alone after Raen was injured. Furthermore, Raen knew personally how dangerous it was to travel alone.

Understandably–he had almost lost his life last time and only barely survived. The silver lining from that incident, though, was that the others would not behave recklessly by traveling alone.

Park Yul continued in a calm voice, “Yes, yes, Hyung did wrong. I’ll be sure to follow the plan from now on.”

Raen nodded quietly. Park Yul, patting the other Warrior’s shoulder lightly, looked back at me, “Yihan-ah. Were you worried, too?”

His eyes were still crinkled in an amused eye smile.

To be honest, I only grasped the entirety of the situation just now. So, it was a bit dubious for me to say yes or no. Still, if he continued to return from his adventures, injured…

“I was worried.” I was always worried. For Park Yul and the others. I worried if they’d still have a functioning bodies when they returned every time with more wounds than when they left.

Park Yul was rendered silent for a brief moment when he heard my answer. Then, immediately, he fixed his expression and adopted a sincere expression, “I’m also worried, Yihan-ah.”

Park Yul slowly blinked his eyes–light green, the color of spring. “I’m glad you’ve woken up, though.” He quickly relaxed his expression. Once again, his lips formed a refreshing smile; he disheveled my hair.

For some reason, my heart felt heavy. Why was everyone so concerned? Why did they care so much? This was far more worry than I deserved.

Of course, they were bound to be surprised to see me awake since they didn’t know I couldn’t die. Still, there wasn’t a need to worry this much.

‘It feels like I’m deceiving them.’

Although even if they were told the truth, it wasn’t easy to believe–how could a person not get sick nor die? Then, was my only choice to continue with this uneasy deceit? A mild sense of guilt crept over me.

“…Don’t worry about me, Yul Hyung.” I was being sincere. I smiled as brightly as possible and looked up at the Hero.

Park Yul paused for a moment before continuing on as if nothing had happened. “Later, when your body has rested and you can accept what I’ve said…” He closed his eyes with a smile, “I’ll tell you again, then.”

His shining smile seemed a bit bitter.

The sky was heralded by a bright blue color; pure light poured through the large window.

A new morning had begun.

◇~◇~◇~◇~◇~◇~◇

I went up to my room in order to check on Min Joo-hyuk who still had yet to descend the stairs. The Warrior was still sleeping soundly in my bed.

Park Yul had told me to bring Min Joo-hyuk down if he was awake or let him sleep longer if he was sleeping.

Min Joo-hyuk was the type to wake up early in the mornings. I suppose he was extremely exhausted this time. Due to his slumber, his playful smile had relaxed into a tranquil expression.

I gently brushed back his brown hair which glistened in the light of the sun. The strands felt soft to the touch. I whispered, in a nearly inaudible voice, “Hey, Min Joo-hyuk.”

Simultaneously, the Warrior opened his eyes wide. I probably looked similarly astonished.

Brows furrowed, Min Joo-hyuk blinked a few times as if he were trying to come to his senses. Then, he jumped straight to his feet. Clear eyes–without a trace of drowsiness, looked straight at me, “Sun Yihan, you…”

It looked as if he had a lot to say, but the Warrior sighed deeply, as if he had no idea where to start. Then, he raised one hand to pinch and stretch out my cheek.

Ah–seriously? If Min Joo-hyuk wanted to do this as soon as he woke up, then I couldn’t sit still either. I detached his big hand quickly.

Min Joo-hyuk smiled lightly, “Hey, Sun Yihan. Did you eat?”

I nodded. He took a lollipop out of his outer pocket and peeled off the wrapper. Then, he placed the sucker in my mouth–how sweet. This one tasted like strawberry.

As I rolled the candy around in my mouth, I held out my cupped hands to the Warrior.

Min Joohyuk giggled, placing his hands in his pockets, as he asked me, “Is it tasty?”

“Mn. Tasty.”

Min Joo-hyuk poured more candy into my waiting hands. Honestly–how many sweets could he fit in that small pocket?

He really didn’t need to give me this much. Still, I’ll eat them deliciously.

I put the rest away and only left one; removing the wrapper, I brought it to Min Joo-hyuk’s mouth.

He blinked, flustered. “Ah, for me?”

I nodded. I’ll show no mercy even if he looks at me with such a startled expression. When someone gives something–a gift, they must be prepared to receive just as much in return.

…Wait. How in the world am I supposed to return everything I’ve received from all the others in kind? I swallowed my dry saliva and quickly brushed away that line of thought. I’ll just do the best I can. Perhaps effort is worth more than the grandness of my gesture.

Min Joo-hyuk still continued to stare at my face. Ah–maybe he doesn’t like sweets like candy? I simply assumed since he had so many on his person.

“Do you not like it? It’s okay if you don’t,” I said.

“No? I’ve never said that.” Just as I was about to rewrap the paper lining, Min Joo-hyuk quickly popped the candy, still in my hand, into his mouth. Then, he met my eyes playfully, smiled, and snatched the sweet away.

“…Delicious.” Min Joo-hyuk placed his hand on my head and lightly messed with my hair. After stretching his arms, he said, “Let’s go down. The Hyungs are downstairs, right?”

When we descended, everyone was still on the first floor. They were conversing with a large floating map in between them. When we approached, Raen, who saw us coming, said calmly, “We may have to leave immediately.”

Where? And so suddenly? I swallowed my bewilderment and swept my eyes over them all. When I met Song Ha-gyeon’s eyes, the Warrior merely nodded slowly, without a word. … I suppose that was it–everything had all been decided.

I wasn’t expecting a detailed explanation from Song Ha-gyeon, but… Hm. Well–I suppose I should be happy to at least receive a nod from the taciturn Warrior.

Park Yul summoned a branch to show to me and Min Joo-hyuk; grayish portions that looked like burnt remains and ash spotted the branch.

“Joo-hyuk-ah, take a look at this.” Park Yul tapped it. The branch immediately dissipated into gray powder.

The scattered powder glistened in the sunlight that fell through the window. In the blink of an eye, the branch disappeared without a trace.

I could hear Min Joo-hyuk’s trembling voice next to me, “Park Yul Hyung-nim, this is…”

Park Yul continued to explain, voice stable. The branch was taken from the forest Raen and I had visited. With this, they were certain that the demonic beasts could seep into other objects or beings.

“We’ll have to leave as soon as possible,” Raen repeated.

Song Ha-gyeon nodded.  He pointed to a corner of the map. “…First, here.”

Symbols of trees were densely painted in that location. Min Joo-hyuk adopted a serious expression, “I agree. If we delay our investigation, that location may become extremely dangerous.”

“Yes. The farther the demonic beasts spread out from their original point of entry, the harder it will be to find them. After all, that’s a dark forest where the sun doesn’t rise.”

“It’d be best to teleport to the center. That way, it’ll be easier for us to move around.”

“Great idea. We must hurry–the area is vast.”

“…Yeah. And, Park Yul Hyung. When we arrive, for the first scan…We’ll…”

The conversation flowed too quickly for me to comprehend. I realized, once again, that I wasn’t used to a fast pace–whether in social situations or otherwise.

Though I couldn’t keep up with the flow of the conversation once I had missed the thread, I continued to listen to the voices going past me.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t curious nor that I had no questions. However, I didn’t know where to start nor what to ask. Moreover, this wasn’t the time to interrupt with questions. I couldn’t sate my curiosity in the midst of such a busy situation.

Besides, I thought that even if I didn’t ask first, they would slowly explain after the situation had cleared up. After all, they were such kind people.

Suddenly, I wondered if only people like them could become warriors. Friendly… Kind… I suppose to sacrifice without compensation–to jump into danger for others–one needed kindness.

If that’s the case, the world was truly cruel. As the system had said before, their circumstances were neither justifiable nor natural.

‘Therefore, if there’s anything I can do for you all….’

I’m willing to do it–I wanted to do it.

Though, the most I could do was to heal them. This ability wasn’t much to be proud of. Though the penalties were cumbersome, treating others wasn’t much of a hardship.

When, contrary to my ambitions, I realized that I could only help in simple ways, I laughed out of sheer embarrassment. At that moment, all sounds of conversation shut down.

“Uh… What is it?” I asked, startled. My mouth spoke automatically before I could think. Everyone stared at me; the sunlight from the large window behind my back brightly highlighted everyone’s faces.

For a moment, I wondered if time had stopped.

“Yihan-ah.” Park Yul said in a relaxed voice, “I think we’ll have to leave soon. Though I don’t know how long it will take, I’ll try to return soon.”

Park Yul hesitated before continuing, “Therefore… Will you wait here?”

After thinking about it once more in my head, I understood what the Hero meant.

He wouldn’t take me? Why? He must know that I can heal the Warriors. In addition, judging from the grave atmosphere, the location must not be safe and there were bound to be injuries.

‘Then, perhaps he thinks I’ll hinder them?’

That may be a valid hypothesis. I couldn’t use magic, so it would be annoying to constantly protect me in battle.

Still, there was no need to protect me. Even if I were to get hurt–even if I were to be wounded gravely–I wouldn’t die.

In fact, even after I imported Raen’s injury, my body felt fine. During an inspection of the area, I had noticed that I was slightly scarred, but I was fortunate to have no other side effects.

Therefore, I thought if I brought up these points, everyone would change their minds. I spoke calmly, “I won’t be a hindrance.”

TL: I’m taking a break next week, sorry guys >.< My wrist/elbow/finger joints aren’t any better.