SWNOVELXO Chapter 215
Anyway, Da-eun’s ambitious plan came crashing down.
The only thing to show for it was that she found a little hobby to kill time when she was bored?
“Hmm…”
Until a moment ago, I definitely thought it was a failure.
But since Da-eun’s true plan was to increase her fellow hobbyist friends, maybe I can’t call it a complete failure.
And she even dyed me in her colors…
‘…?’
I tilted my head, realizing how weird that sounded.
Anyway, having spread her hobby to me, Da-eun was now reaching out to Yuki.
“Yuki, you don’t really like comics, do you?”
“I haven’t been reading them lately, but I don’t dislike them.”
“Oh…! Is that so? Then have you seen this?”
“Nope.”
“What about this one?”
“Haven’t seen it.”
“Huh…? This was super famous, and you haven’t seen it? Then how about this one?”
“That too.”
Da-eun timidly held up various comic books, asking Yuki about them, but every time, Yuki shook her head.
After about five times of this, Da-eun’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.
“Just out of curiosity, what comics have you seen, Yuki?”
“Um… What was it again…?”
Yuki answered while searching her memory.
After hearing her answer, Da-eun nodded.
Then she shouted.
“You faker! Nisekoi! Normal person!”
“?”
That last bit isn’t an insult, is it?
Even while I puzzled over it, Da-eun didn’t stop talking.
“You said you liked comics, and I thought you were one of us, but you lied! Betrayer!”
“I said I don’t dislike them, not that I like them. And why is that fake?”
“What you mentioned is all old stuff! And stuff aimed at little kids!”
“But this is still a comic, right?”
“…Yeah. That’s true, but…!”
Struggling for words, Da-eun finally burst out.
“What I’m talking about isn’t this kind of stuff! This is worse than people saying ‘I’m a nerd’!”
“If we’re talking about being in or out, you’re in too.”
“Ahhh! I don’t wanna hear it!”
Yuki stared at Da-eun, who was blocking her ears and twisting around.
Then suddenly, she turned her gaze to me.
…Nod.
Nod.
To signify that we were both going through some tough times, I nodded, and Yuki nodded back.
Just like that, a sense of camaraderie sparked between us.
Of course, I might’ve been the only one deluding myself.
But looking into Yuki’s tender eyes, I couldn’t help but think she felt the same way I did.
Both Yuki and I were fellow victims.
Honestly, since I decided to teach Yuki, I can’t say I’ve never regretted it.
It often got annoying when she insisted on sparring regularly or bombarded me with questions at any time.
But every time a situation like this popped up, I felt fortunate to have met Yuki.
‘If Yuki wasn’t here, I would have to endure all of this chaos alone with Da-eun.’
Just thinking about it sent chills down my spine.
I brushed away the goosebumps on my arms.
* * *
After Da-eun’s rampage settled down.
“Ugh, my whole body aches…”
“You brought this upon yourself.”
“Is that really something to say after poking someone with a wooden sword?!”
“It’ll hurt less than getting hit by Kana.”
“Even if it hurts more, I’d rather take a hit from Kana. She hits with affection while you… don’t!”
“…?”
“Kana looks confused, doesn’t she?”
“Nah, I’m just embarrassed. So embarrassed.”
“…??”
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“Yuki, stop defaming our pure Kana! She’s super kind!”
While physically subduing Da-eun.
Yuki dragged the still grumbling Da-eun to a corner of the gymnasium.
They weren’t heading there to settle things with a punch; it was mealtime.
I hurriedly followed behind them.
The gymnasium that Yuki had been using alone recently had gathered various supplies for convenience.
Thanks to that, the gym now looked markedly different from when I first saw it.
There was even a mattress to sleep on, so you know it was legit.
But even so, it was still primarily a gym, and some things were lacking.
Most notably, the cooking facilities.
Cooking could be managed with some basic tools, but cleaning up after cooking in a poorly equipped kitchen was quite a hassle.
The water facilities in the gym were meant for washing bodies, not for rinsing off scraps of food.
Even if I could manage it a couple of times like when we camped with Da-eun, doing that every meal was just a bit much.
I could only cook simple stuff.
So aside from occasionally boiling ramen, we often relied on takeout to put a meal together.
Just like now.
Of course, not everyone was thrilled about that.
“Kana should be eating only healthy stuff, not this…”
“You sound like my mom.”
They say if weird stuff happens, it’s probably Da-eun, and of course, she was the culprit again this time.
“Why is it obvious?! And who says that…?!”
Da-eun shouted in a very unfair voice, but surprisingly, no one paid attention to her.
And included in the ‘no one’ was me, who dipped a piece of glistening fried chicken into sweet sauce and popped it into my mouth.
Swallow–
“…Spicy.”
At that moment, the uniquely spicy-sweet sauce of the fried chicken flowed over my tongue.
To be precise, the sweetness was stronger than the spiciness, but I couldn’t handle even this level of heat.
…What good is training if I can’t even endure this?
I read online that spiciness is actually pain, not flavor, yet I can effortlessly take a sword stab but struggle with this annoyance.
‘Guess it’s just one of those things.’
Swallow.
Hah.
I stuck out my tongue and let out a hot breath.
After barely finishing a piece, Da-eun asked worriedly.
“Is it really spicy? Maybe I should’ve ordered something else?”
“…It’s fine.”
I answered while swallowing the meat that had been rolling around in my mouth.
A bit spicy, but not unmanageable.
“It’s way better than what you gave me last time.”
That time, I genuinely thought I might die.
I used to think that if I was going to die, it would be while fighting, but that time shattered that image entirely.
As I recalled that event, Da-eun’s shoulders drooped.
“…I messed up.”
“It’s fine.”
Well, it did hurt like hell at that time.
But thanks to that, I felt a sense of nostalgia after a long time in my otherwise mundane life.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a bit spicy.”
In the midst of that, Yuki, with a piece of fried chicken in her mouth, said.
“Really? I can’t taste it, though.”
“That’s because you’re Korean.”
“Do you only cosplay as Japanese when it suits you? Your Japanese is worse than mine.”
Da-eun and Yuki started bickering again without any sign of tiring out.
While Da-eun might come off as odd, it’s true that you need to clap to make a sound.
Seeing them squabbling like that just shows Yuki’s no exception either.
I just hoped they’d keep it down during meals.
“Moshi moshi?”
“Why would ‘moshi moshi’ come up here?”
…Watching them chatter made it clear my wish for silence was going to be a distant dream.
So I decided to give up trying; what else could I do?
It’d be a nightmare if I opened my mouth and drew unwanted attention.
I ignored them and continued my meal.
Instead of the heavily seasoned fried chicken, I focused on the impressively lightly battered whole chicken.
Fortunately, the whole chicken tasted just as good as it looked.
Meaning it was free from any spiciness.
Nom nom.
No spiciness, no annoying people.
Above all, it was the cherry on top that none of the dishes had anything green in them.
Thanks to the perfect combination of those three elements, I was able to finish my meal in utter comfort.
As I set aside the bare bones and subtly pulled away, Da-eun’s gaze finally rolled over from her bickering with Yuki.
“…Huh? Kana, you’re done already?”
“Yup.”
“Wait, why aren’t we eating together…?”
As Da-eun spoke, she suddenly paused.
It seemed she realized what she’d been saying while arguing with Yuki at the table moments ago.
With an unmistakably disappointed expression on her face, Da-eun cautiously opened her mouth.
“You only ate that much? If you’re thinking of us, you don’t need to. If there’s not enough, we can just order more, so you need to eat more.”
“Uhh…?”
But that wasn’t what I was inclined to do.
It wasn’t that I thought you two wouldn’t have enough to eat, but rather I felt perfectly satisfied and full.
Shaking my head and dismissing a few of Da-eun’s repeated offers, she reluctantly withdrew, looking disappointed.
Finally, the gym fell silent.
Once in a while, you could hear someone chewing or the sound of plastic crinkling, but compared to the racket Da-eun and Yuki made, it was almost like having no noise at all.
“Hmm.”
Time felt a bit suspended.
Since I finished my meal quickly, even if those two did finish eating, they wouldn’t be able to jump right into anything energetic right away.
If they did, something awful would surely happen.
I could still see what they were mainly eating, but checking again while feeling nauseated wasn’t necessary.
It was fine for me; I was different from those two.
Anyway, I now had about an hour of free time on my hands.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to indulge in my new hobby until my stomach settled.
‘Maybe I should move around for a bit.’
Instead, I picked up the Crimson Aegis.
Having done only static activities lately, the urge to stretch my body had suddenly struck me.
Ignoring Da-eun, whose eyes widened, and Yuki, who was bursting with interest, I stood in the gym’s center.
Since I can’t cause another incident like last time, I should just warm up with some bare movements without using mana.
“Hoo…”
Gripping the handle of the Crimson Aegis, feeling the warmth instead of the usual cold metal.
Just as I was about to swing it through the air.
“…”
A sudden instinct warned me.
It wasn’t the time for that.
A sudden alert.
However, I didn’t disregard my instinct.
It had played a large part in my survival thus far.
Swoosh!
As I followed my instincts and altered my sword’s path, I heard a light slicing sound.
Something was sliced like skin or maybe a thin piece of cloth.
But.
“What?”
In that moment, I stopped my sword upon sensing a certain aura.
I was a hair’s breadth away from driving the blade deep enough to unleash blood.
Stopping the sword close enough to feel the air ripple, I spoke up.
“Angel?”
The intruder exuded a presence I found all too familiar.
In other words, the Holy Power of Edel.