“But hey old man, what about the ‘right’? I called my direct disciple, and this friend Hyun-soo used it on his younger sister, but you haven't yet, old man.”
The giant asked the boy that. It was an excessive honorific for a man who looked at least forty to use towards a boy, but the boy just laughed heartily.
“...Hmm, I don't think I need to use it.”
“Huh? That precious thing? If you're not going to use it, can't you give it to me?”
“This guy. You should be satisfied with calling in one direct disciple. I couldn't find any suitable disciples, so I didn't use it, but I found one by luck.”
“Yes? Here? Who, who is it?”
At those words, both Hyun-soo and the Fist King couldn't help but listen closely. This old man, who wasn't satisfied even after seeing all sorts of geniuses, found talent at the entrance ceremony? Just how outstanding must they be?
The boy, with a mischievous look in his eyes, pointed with his finger to one side.
There, a boy with bright brown hair was looking up at the sky with sparkling eyes, letting the boring speech of the old headmaster flow through one ear and out the other.
And Hyun-soo, who knew who that boy was, couldn't help but doubt his eyes.
“By any chance, that brown-haired friend… are you talking about Yeon-woo?”
“Oh? You know him?”
“Yes, but that friend just awakened to magical power yesterday. His talent isn't that great. He started late too. The purity of his magical power is strangely high, though.”
“Really? Perfect. Okay, I've decided on that guy, Yeon-woo or whatever his name is. Since this old man has taken a liking to him, don't touch him. Got it?”
At those words, the two men nodded reluctantly.
They thought some extraordinary genius had appeared, but it turned out to be a rather ordinary-looking kid. The Fist King, who quickly lost interest, started looking at other children, and Kim Hyun-soo tilted his head in wonder.
However, Myriad Sword Yuri looked at the boy gazing up at the sky and thought.
As the young man said, he was a greenhorn.
But if a guy who had awakened to magical power just yesterday was perfectly managing and holding onto the small amount of magical power within his body, even while gazing blankly at the sky, then the meaning changed a little.
‘Either Kim Hyun-soo's words are false, and he actually has perfect senses.’
Just one day after awakening. It meant that he had used a lot of magical power in that time, enough to be a little distracted.
‘Interesting, interesting.’
It was a secret that he had tried to stroke his now-retracted beard and missed.
* * *
“Whew, it's over, it's over.”
[There he is, Dad!]
There was no time to relax.
Yeon-woo hurriedly ran in the direction Shar was flying, flapping her wings. The entrance ceremony was already over, but today's schedule wasn't completely finished.
There was a homeroom meeting for each class. It was a one-hour session with a brief explanation and a chance to get to know classmates' faces.
Fortunately, there were about thirty minutes until the homeroom meeting started. There was enough time to catch his breath, but Shar seemed to want to go to the classroom.
Yeon-woo grabbed Shar, who was flying, with one hand and placed her on his head, then headed in that direction.
‘Don't you want to look around other places?’
[No! I want to see the classroom where Dad will be!]
There weren't many people in the hallway leading to the classroom.
Perhaps it was because of the girl who shouted, “Exploration-! Yahoo-!!” as she left the auditorium after the entrance ceremony.
No matter how much they pretended to be cool-headed, they were still energetic youngsters in their prime. They must have gotten excited by those words.
Well, the grounds are so large that it would be impossible to see everything in 30 minutes, but let's leave them to enjoy themselves. They must be that happy….
[What about Dad? Don't you want to look around?]
‘I kind of know the place already….’
Even though he had decided to act like a kid of this age, he still retained the sensibilities of a twenty-five-year-old. He already knew the layout roughly, so he didn't feel like running around excitedly.
Besides, when you have free time, it's best to just sit still and rest.
[You sound like an old man….]
That's too much….
“Is this it?”
A nameplate with 1-5 written on it caught his eye. It was the last class of the Hunter Department.
The professors had said they would carefully balance the classes based on their strict evaluations. It was an old memory, so he couldn't remember clearly, but it was probably true. Of course, being in Class 5 didn't mean they lacked skills….
He was probably in Class 5 because he was at the bottom.
Feeling a little sad, Yeon-woo opened the classroom door and stepped inside. He thought there wouldn't be anyone there, but surprisingly, there was a human figure sitting in the room.
Swoosh, the wind blowing through the window fluttered her beautiful silver hair. Her blue eyes, filled with a sentimental light, followed the students running around noisily.
Beyond her beige uniform, pushed back by the wind, a body line that was hard to believe belonged to a fifteen-year-old was revealed. The fragrant wind tickled Yeon-woo's nose. It was a cool, minty scent.
‘Ah.’
He knew who it was. It was good that he knew, but the timing was a bit awkward. Yeon-woo hurriedly made excuses to Shar in his mind.
I'm not looking at her body, Shar. You know Dad, right?
[It would be better if you didn't make excuses at all.]
Behind Shar's low sigh, Yeon-woo recalled her name. Just recalling her name brought back memories of what had happened to her in the past, which couldn't have been a mere coincidence.
Baek In-hwa.
The second daughter of the Northern Ice Palace, located in Siberia.
A few months from now, she would be sacrificed due to a Gate explosion.
In a way, she was the beginning of the Hunter world's downfall that followed.
Perhaps she sensed his presence, but she turned around slowly and coldly, like a statue coming to life.
Baek In-hwa's brow furrowed slightly as she opened her mouth.
“...Who are you?”
Yes, of course, she wouldn't know him.
