Chapter 15: Gift….Water?

As soon as Yujin heard that declaration, he couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.

Well, it was only natural. 

Yujin had just gone through a divorce and had no lingering attachment to return to that place. 

Not even a speck of regret remained in his heart.

Moreover, having declared the divorce from his position as a live-in son-in-law, it was impossible for even someone like her to go back.

To begin with, she was no longer a hero, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she had been pushed far from the position of the family’s successor.

She had told me that she would help me return to the family.

“…I’m sorry, but I have no intention of returning to the family.”

The location was still her hospital room.

Even amidst the falling rain, the hospital room, which carried an eerie atmosphere, felt strangely heavy.

Yujin spoke as if it were nothing, but his slightly puzzled voice and expression couldn’t be hidden.

Charlotte quickly regained her composure. 

She put down her fork and spoke calmly.

“Why not?”

“Well… I have no desire or qualification to return.”

“…”

Charlotte, while chewing on a piece of pie, quietly listened to my story.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’ve just gone through a divorce. My status doesn’t match, and… I left on my own, so I have no plans to go back.”

“It’s because you’re a magic invalid, so you were practically driven out.”

“…That’s.”

Half true, half false.

The hero before me, Charlotte, was already a 3-star mage who had surpassed level 30.

She had mastered the basic theories of magic, so she had also discerned that my circuits were different from those of ordinary people.

“That wasn’t the only reason I left. It was just a long, unfortunate relationship.”

For a brief moment, a complex emotion flashed across Yujin’s face.

Charlotte, being a noble, didn’t miss that emotion.

However, she couldn’t rashly bring it up.

Even though Charlotte had her own unfortunate circumstances as a noble, she hadn’t been driven out of her family.

Moreover, even though he wasn’t a noble, she could roughly guess what kind of life he had lived among the nobles.

Charlotte’s gaze lingered on the numerous scars that marked his body.

“…”

A life different from that of a noble who had always lived like a greenhouse flower, at a desk.

A commoner’s life where going hungry was a daily occurrence.

But she felt the need to convey this one thing clearly.

“Judging by your hands, it wasn’t an easy path.”

“…”

His hands were, to put it mildly, not in good condition. 

Traces of attempted magic were evident.

And there were also signs of torture, as if he had been scorned by others.

Small burns marked his hands.

Yujin fell silent for a moment, closing his mouth.

His feelings were complicated.

‘This person… Did she really know?’

Being acknowledged by someone. 

It wasn’t as if he had been desperately seeking recognition all this time.

He had devoted too many years to magic to be hung up on something like that.

Not just a day or two, but over ten years.

With the mindset of proving himself to them through magic alone, he had whipped himself forward.

It wasn’t as if Yujin didn’t find it difficult to keep striving.

It was only possible because of the superhuman perseverance he had left.

Staying up late at night, secretly opening books, repeating over and over, grinding his bones to dust, and still failing.

Despite countless efforts and bleeding courage, failure repeated, and he had to endure pitiful glances and subtle scorn.

In front of the wall of status, as a commoner, he studied magic while everyone laughed and sneered at him. 

That’s why he believed.

To become someone worthy of standing by her side. 

He had devoted every bit of his fleeting youth.

But in reality, despite enduring all the criticism and ridicule, he was eventually pushed out of the family.

Gradually, he became disillusioned and stopped expecting anything from himself.

Before he knew it, frustration gnawed at his spirit, and he was driven to the edge of a cliff, his mind slowly eroding.

Therefore.

Those words pierced through his past.

“…”

The long years of despair seemed insignificant compared to the beautiful, brilliant flame.

The first magic Charlotte had shown Yujin.

And now, the flame that had saved her.

That image was etched into Charlotte’s red eyes. 

She would probably never forget it.

Charlotte quietly looked at Yujin for a while, then softly spoke.

“Didn’t you say my eyes resemble your flame?”

“…”

“I haven’t forgotten a single word you said.”

The dazzling flame she had seen on the street. 

The magic that made her love the color of the eyes she had once found detestable.

It was just a small magic trick from a man’s fingertips.

“But… your magic is still precarious.”

The elegant and beautiful flame was as precarious as a candle in the wind.

A colleague who had seen it said it was only at the level of a 1st-level magic. 

If a colleague who had rolled through battlefields for a long time had made that judgment, most others would probably think the same.

But Charlotte, who had experienced failure and despair, saw it differently.

Despite being close to a magic invalid, he had created something from nothing.

In other words, he had overcome it.

In the world of magic, those who couldn’t sense magic were branded as invalids.

Once branded by the group, it was hard to remove that stigma. 

Most just accepted it and let go at that point.

But a very few were different.

“Yujin.”

Charlotte called his name.

When Yujin looked up, Charlotte gazed at his fingertips for a while, then subtly spoke.

All that was visible were her beautiful eyes, but the emotion was clearly conveyed.

“I really like your magic.” “No, I like it even more than that.”

“…”

“Just watching it makes me happy.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yujin, I don’t know how you feel about your own magic…”

“…”

“But to me, it’s like a piece of art, it really appeals to me.”

Yujin, with a somewhat awkward expression, could only nod.

Her words were generally not wrong.

“I see…”

“Yes. I know that you are a better mage than that.”

A fleeting thought prompted a question.

“…Are you thinking of introducing me to a mage?”

“Yujin.”

But Charlotte’s unexpected reaction made him momentarily flustered.

Charlotte grabbed my hand tightly and spoke in a high-handed tone.

“…I have no such intention.”

“?”

“We’ve made an appointment to meet alone, haven’t we? I don’t want to be disturbed by others.”

So.

With that, Charlotte stared at me.

“You don’t need to look at any other mages.”

“…?”

“You only need me.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll prove it. That I am alone  enough.”

…Why is the conversation suddenly going in this direction?

//

The rain, which had been pouring heavily since dawn, stopped abruptly as the crescent moon set and the sun rose.

The air around was still humid, perhaps because of the early morning hour… but the sky greeted me with a clear blue.

The droplets clinging to the window sparkled with a watery sheen from the night’s rain.

Ding.

With the sound of the door opening, Yujin stepped inside.

The man paused at the entrance and looked around.

The table was clean. 

The flickering candle flame seemed as if it had just been lit, and the large window behind it showed flowers that should have withered but were well-maintained, indicating that someone had been here until recently.

But the strange thing was that no one was there. 

Despite the traces, no one welcomed the man.

It was right after the conversation with Charlotte.

Visiting hours were over, so it was time to do what needed to be done.

The leader of the Black Hawk Mercenaries. Cain.

I had to tell that guy something.

Surely… from what I remember, he should be here.

My brow furrowed involuntarily.

‘…Is he testing me?’

Let me say this in advance. 

The Black Hawk Mercenaries, led by Cain, are a group that holds considerable weight in the war, hired by the allied forces where the hero belongs.

Originally, after a major retreat in the last war, they had been subtly ignoring and provoking Charlotte’s camp.

If that were all, it would be fine.

But these guys are related to the Ehrenheit family. 

To be precise, in a rather bad way.

Even the leader here, Cain, is infamous for being a psychopath.

If they had actually been of great help in the war, I might have liked them, but in reality, these guys just watched the situation until the end and then swooped in at the last moment.

So why do they have such a significant stake despite their thuggish behavior?

What do you think is the most important thing in war?

Well, there are many things, but just as there’s a world of difference between cavalry and ordinary soldiers.

That’s right. 

A mage, a single outstanding mage, can have enough influence to change the course of a war, slightly exaggerated.

Most of the members of the mercenary group are fallen nobles. 

And the leader is known to be a 4-star mage or higher.

The value of a mage is highest when war breaks out.

And the leader of this mercenary group knows and exploits that timing better than anyone.

To describe him, he despises Ehrenheit and, moreover, prioritizes profit above all else.

A cold-hearted man.

Looking back now… he might just be a calculating man.

But recalling the time he punched me on sight, maybe not.

It seems he has no qualms about cutting off those who are of no use to him.

‘Anyway, I didn’t come here to cater to that man’s whims.’

I just came to let him know that he shouldn’t mess with me.

A warning in advance.

…Should I also tell him to stay away from Charlotte?

Memories of being beaten several times in this house in the past came to mind.

Returning to the past and getting back at those who ignored me feels like this.

I even feel a slight thrill.

And the door handle in front of me.

Breaking through a concealment barrier that was just enough to be deciphered, whether it was a test or not, I slowly stepped inside.

It was when I entered the room.

“Excuse me. I have some business with the leader…”

I paused mid-sentence and looked up.

Contrary to my expectation that the atmosphere would quickly become chaotic. 

They were quiet.

“…Do you know where you are?”

A middle-aged man a few steps ahead spoke.

I closed my mouth mid-sentence.

…Not the leader?

The figures approaching briskly came into view.

After a brief silence, the middle-aged man grabbed my collar and shoved me roughly.

“Because of you…! Because of you, everything’s gone to waste…!!”

It was a sudden, intense impact.

When I opened my eyes, he had already slammed me into the wall several times.

The man who raised his fist had hidden his strike and drove it straight into Yujin.

A hot pain rose with a slightly metallic taste of blood on my lips. 

A little blood trickled from my mouth.

“How dare, how dare…! A commoner orphan dares to covet my position….!! A useless brat till the end.”

What is he talking about? This guy.

Drip, drip, drip,

Red drops of blood fell from Yujin’s lips.

Not satisfied with that, the middle-aged man’s anger showed no signs of abating.

“What are you looking at, you damn orphan!”

Thud!

Crash!!

People, well.

When reality is too far removed from the situation, sometimes the mind can’t process it immediately.

What I did was just that.

The sound of a glass falling from the table and shattering.

A man walking, stepping on the beer that had spilled halfway across the floor.

In front of him, the middle-aged man who had been punched by Yujin was lying flat on the ground.

The guy who had collapsed on the floor, seemingly hurt both physically and in his pride, twisted his face and spat.

Without even a moment’s respite, Yujin raised his fist.

“…I don’t know who you are.”

Take this.

The fist landed several more times on the man’s face.

The guy, choking and unable to breathe properly, barely managed to open his mouth.

“You, you know who I am…”

“I don’t need to know.”

I kept hitting him until he couldn’t speak anymore.

I also destroyed everything nearby.

After a while, the Black Hawk Mercenaries came into view.

“What’s all this commotion!”

The man who blocked my path froze when he saw my hand.

Most people react that way when they see human blood. 

Especially if it’s inside their own tavern.

I understand.

That’s why I said briefly.

“A gift.”

A warning to them, and a treatment that depends on how they respond.

In another sense, it might be a challenge…

But now, the only thing I have to take responsibility for is my own body.

There’s nothing to fear.

‘And… since this guy, who doesn’t even seem like a proper mage, was the one who got beaten, the punishment won’t be too severe.’

The leader I know is a staunch meritocrat, so he’ll probably look down on this guy who couldn’t even fight back properly.

Yujin turned around without hesitation and left the house.

.

That dawn.

The Black Hawk Mercenaries’ tavern.

“…After a thorough search, we found this barrier inside…”

“…”

A meeting was held with the leader of the mercenaries, Cain, at the center.

He sat in the middle, lost in thought among the executives.

Today, there was a commotion at the tavern.

When he first heard the news, he couldn’t believe his ears.

…Some mysterious man got into a fight at the tavern?

And with a Black Hawk member.

He thought the guy had no fear.

“…”

Cain, who had seen the scene with his own eyes, was momentarily speechless.

A hidden barrier.

A barrier that even a 4-star mage couldn’t detect was broken without a second thought, and a fight broke out with the person inside.

…A spy right under his nose, whom even he hadn’t noticed.

‘A gift… he said.’

A gift?

The things found after searching the room were various pieces of information about the war. Intelligence.

There were promises of hefty rewards for selling the mercenaries’ information… and the long-standing feud with Ehrenheit was also involved.

‘Yujin… At first, I heard rumors that he was a magic invalid.’

Given the situation, it seems I need to reconsider my assessment of him.

I also saw that scene that swept through the war.

‘…Was he an enemy of Ehrenheit?’

If so, Cain might have misunderstood Yujin.

“I need to meet him tomorrow. Let’s arrange a schedule.”

He spoke with an inexplicable sense of anticipation and a smile.

“Huh? So suddenly?”

“He said it was a gift, didn’t he? If we’ve received a favor, shouldn’t we repay it?”