30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue - Chapter 10

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Chapter 10: These Orphans Need a Director (3)

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In the end, Ivan was the first to yield.

In other words, he began cautiously sharing information.

He had to save Priscilla, who was being held hostage, first. Of course, it was not only Priscilla's life at stake. Ivan was not confident he could defeat Enrika.

"...I heard you're training a disciple."

"Oh?"

Enrika tilted her head with a deep smile.

For a moment, Ivan gripped the axe handle tightly, then forced himself to loosen his hold.

That was the expression the monster wore when she was in a bad mood.

"Go on."

"I heard they're planning to enroll at Saint Yansk University this time."

"Hmm... so?"

"Someone was worried. If they got hurt, it would be a great loss to the country."

What Ivan meant was this.

-Elizaveta was worried about your disciple, so she told me to protect them.

-That's what I've been doing lately. You know what Elizaveta is like.

-But if you don't understand this... I'll assume you've sided with Alexander.

What Enrika heard, however, was this.

-I already know your disciple's identity, location, and personal details.

-I've been paid a handsome sum.

-If they get hurt somewhere... it would be tragic, so watch your step.

How dare he.

How dare he stab his own revered master in the back?

Whose request had he accepted? Alexander's? Was that bastard finally trying to get rid of me?

No, this man was the same.

If I had been asked to kill this man, I would have refused or warned him beforehand!

Yet he came here out of nowhere, threatened me, and was now using my disciple to blackmail me?

And he still called himself my disciple...? What kind of monster had I raised?

If the only disciples who survived the last war were people like this, then what had I even...

With a broad smile, Enrika nodded.

"I see. So that's how it is."

"Right. It's nothing major."

"Hmm... nothing major...?"

"Yes."

Short answers passed between them in the icy atmosphere.

Still, Ivan relaxed somewhat. Enrika looked displeased for some reason, but she seemed to understand the situation well enough.

If so... the problem was solved.

With this much warning, even when the Tutorial began, Enrika's disciple would not face any great danger. Enrika would protect them personally.

Lucky.

Priscilla's kidnapping had led to this meeting by chance, but he had gained more from it than expected.

There were only three Tutorials left for the protagonists, and even the earliest one was still two weeks away...

"Lucia! Lucia, come in!"

"Yes, Master!"

The reception room door opened, and someone entered with a cheerful voice.

She was a young woman in her late teens, with glossy chestnut hair swaying behind her.

Enrika smiled at Ivan with an oddly testing look in her eyes.

"Come, say hello. This is your senior disciple."

"I've heard so much about you, Sir Petrovich! Master always told me to become at least half the person you are!"

No, don't praise him. This bastard is utterly ungrateful.

Enrika clenched her teeth and forced a smile.

"You're... human?"

"Pardon? Yes. Of course I am...?"

"Of course...? Do you know your master's race?"

"Master is a person!"

Lucia stood proudly with her chest out.

"Master has to live with a somewhat unusual diet, but cherishes me and protects this country. Master is a true hero! If you ask what defines a race, I would answer, 'Humanity,' Sir Petrovich!"

"Oh..."

Ivan let out an involuntary sound of admiration.

Since the war against the demonfolk, the Allied Kingdoms had become extremely hostile toward other races and demi-humans.

It was only natural. Most citizens walking the streets had lost an immediate family member to the demonfolk. Elves were a separate matter. Despite belonging to the Allied Kingdoms, that big-eared race was shunned for their unpleasant dispositions.

In the midst of all that, the open-minded belief that race was not determined by species itself was the sort of thinking one would see on twenty-first-century Earth, not in this wretched otherworld.

And Enrika's expression had softened into a grin after hearing that fresh answer, which was extremely radical by this world's standards.

"See? I've taught her everything I know. It'll take some time before she fully masters it, but she's learned it all. If there is a Hero Party in the next generation, she'll be the right person for it."

That was certainly true. Since she could walk beneath the sun, she would fit the Hero Party even better.

And Enrika's words, "I've taught her everything, but mastery will take time," gave Ivan a certain conviction.

Is she talking about a skill tree?

In ordinary games, characters often learned skills automatically as they leveled up.

It was obviously strange. Did that mean an idea simply popped into their heads while they were adventuring or whatever?

But apparently, this game worked like that.

I've already learned it, but I lack experience and proficiency.

Was there any better way to put it?

Ivan nodded.

"She's a disciple I'm proud of. She's a better person than I am, no, better than all of us. She's a precious child I found in my old age. So... I don't want to kill you, Ivan."

"Hm...?"

Out of nowhere?

Ivan flinched and put his hand on the axe handle again.

Enrika alone was burdensome enough. Could he guarantee victory in a two-on-one fight with her disciple, while Priscilla was captive inside Enrika's dungeon?

It would be difficult. Ivan studied her hands carefully and pondered.

"For the sake of our memories, I'm asking you. Get your hands out of this line of work. This is my turf."

Enrika spoke with complete sincerity.

Her words meant that one assassin organization was enough for this city.

Do not earn blood money in the city's back alleys. That was not why he had retired, was it?

Alexander was not trustworthy. If he wanted to involve himself in politics, he should take Elizaveta's side instead.

She put all of that into her plea, desperately.

And then...

"So it came to this after all."

Ivan rose to his feet, tightening his grip on the axe handle.

Enrika had sided with Alexander after all.

Facing a member of the Hero Party was clearly overtime, but it could not be avoided.

"What did Alexander offer you in return? People? Blood? Territory?"

"...What?"

"If you are still allied with the Krasilov Royal Family, then I too will ask for the sake of our memories. Where does your loyalty lie?"

"Huh...?"

Enrika stared at Ivan's eyes for a long moment, then opened her mouth with cold sweat running down her face.

"You didn't join hands with Alexander?"

"What are you talking about? I've never even exchanged a friendly greeting with that man."

"Neither have I."

"Hm...?"

Silence fell for a moment.

"So, um... you gathered up orphans and taught them assassination techniques or something?"

"Our orphanage curriculum follows the standard educational program."

"Then what was that kid? She'd properly learned the Ambush Technique!"

"That was the residents' own effort. They trained diligently in various fields while looking into places to work after graduation."

"You didn't teach them?"

"No."

Silence fell again.

So that was just a young teenage orphan who happened to walk around quietly?

And Enrika had kidnapped the child, called him here... and threatened him...?

No, wait.

"Then what was that about your disciple? Why are you suddenly bringing up this kid?"

"Elizaveta asked me. She said many children of the Hero Party would be enrolling among the new students this time, so I was to protect them in secret. Had you not heard?"

"I hadn't! That little brat, seriously! Why would she ask you when I'm alive and well? Who does she think is washed up?"

Enrika shouted, then slumped onto the sofa.

"I'm exhausted. It's always like this when I talk to you. Why is God so fair? It would've been nice if He'd given you some ability to speak. That's the only thing you're lacking."

"That isn't true."

What was this premodern old monster saying to someone educated in twenty-first-century essay writing?

Kim Seonwoo inside him rose up with an angry shout, only to be subdued by Ivan and sink back down.

"See? Your senior disciple is like this. He cuts every sentence in half when he speaks, so conversations never line up properly. Honestly."

"Uh... um."

Lucia hesitated, seemingly flustered by the reception room's mood, which had suddenly flared up and then deflated.

"You seem to get along well!"

"That isn't true."

"What are you talking about?"

Lucia laughed awkwardly, then carefully closed the door and left.

After a brief silence, Enrika picked up her black tea and spoke.

"Should I bring you fresh tea?"

"It's fine."

It had gone cold, but it still tasted good. Ivan came from a country where people filled espresso with ice, so he did not care much about the temperature of coffee.

The parent interview for incoming Saint Yansk University students concluded successfully.

* * *

"Direeector!!"

The moment the door opened, Priscilla ran out and threw herself into his arms.

Ivan carefully patted her shoulder, then pulled away.

"Don't take jobs in deserted places from now on."

"Yes, yes! I was really, really scared!"

"It's all right now. Don't worry."

He took a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped Priscilla's cheeks, and began walking.

Out of the reception room and Enrika's dungeon, through the underground sewer, and back to the surface.

They left the back alleys behind and headed straight toward the main road.

Their footsteps continued without a word for some time, then suddenly stopped.

"Um, Director."

"Yes."

"Maybe, just maybe..."

Under a streetlamp glowing with mana light, Priscilla gripped the hem of her skirt tightly.

"Are you... getting ready to leave...?"

"Probably."

Once his preparations were complete and the new term at Saint Yansk University began in earnest, he would inevitably have to leave the orphanage.

He would take on a new identity as a gardener and protect the Hero Party's children.

About three years. It was not so long for him.

But it was different for the orphanage residents.

They had spent their whole lives as war orphans, and they could not bear to lose the home they had only just found.

It was a family they had barely managed to create. A place to sleep they had barely gained, a home they had fought desperately to claim.

For the residents, who had always been abandoned, those two years were short. Yet this orphanage was their final refuge, where they did not want to be abandoned again.

Priscilla continued in a tearful, halting voice.

"I, sniff. I don't want you to go. If you, sob. If you disappear, then we'll... sob..."

"Um..."

Ivan took off his coat and draped it over Priscilla's shoulders.

He fell silent for a moment.

He had never comforted a child before.

He had certainly never comforted a young girl before!

The same was true even when he searched through Kim Seonwoo's old memories. Kim Seonwoo had been a freak who spent all day reading webtoons and web novels, then wrote 5,700-character hate comments every day.

The rest went without saying. Ivan had devoted more than half his life to military service, and he could not easily think of ways to speak to someone other than with an axe or bullets.

"Don't worry. I'll visit often."

"Where... where are you going...?"

It should be fine to tell her this much. She was practically his child, and it was not important information.

Ivan struggled with Priscilla's tears as he answered.

"Saint Yansk University."

"You'll definitely come back, right...?"

"I'm not leaving right away, and I'm not leaving forever."

He had put too much effort and affection into this orphanage.

The orphanage was practically his home. The director's office was the only sanctuary in his heart.

With that firm resolve, he patted Priscilla's sobbing shoulders a few times and turned away.

And then...

Saint Yansk University. I heard the entrance exam is difficult... Next year's entrance exam is this November, so...