The Little Prince (1)
“What should I call you? Brother? Analyst? Mister?”
To that question, I simply answered, “Call me whatever makes you feel comfortable.”
“Then, Uncle.”
“… Okay.”
Uncle.
Probably, remnants from the time when he tried to read my memory still remain with him.
‘Analyst’ is even one of the options he gave me.
Still, uncle? Did I look that old to him? No, it doesn’t matter now.
I looked at Han Yeon-soo.
She flinched when I looked at her.
“You said you would take good care of him…”
“Oh, no. I didn’t do anything wrong…”
“Is it good to fight with a child?”
She looked at me as if I was unfair to her.
“I’m not doing anything wrong; he is!”
When I saw her expression, I forced a smile. “Well… okay. Good work.”
Her expression quickly brightened.
She did do well because her ward is not an ordinary child.
It would be difficult for anyone to take care of a superhuman that could blow up an entire city.
It’s amazing considering that Han Yeon-soo had a personality that doesn’t go well with young children.
As she looked at Seong Hyun-woo’s mischievous face, she let out a resigned sigh.
Who can look at her right now and think that she is the legendary Queen?
“Have you eaten?” I asked her.
“Ah. He did. I didn’t get to eat cleaning up his mess all day.”
“Okay, then you can go out for a while. I’ll watch over him.”
“Oh, yes! I’ll make a reservation in a good restaurant!”
Han Yeon-soo nodded energetically and went out of the room quickly.
She slammed the door on her way out.
After confirming that she has gone off, I turned to Seong Hyun-woo.
He was focused on his toys.
“You seem to be coping really well,” I told him. “I thought it would be difficult.”
“I feel better every day.”
“Does your head still hurt?”
“It’s fine.”
It seems that he didn’t want to talk because he only gave out short responses to my questions.
“Was it difficult to get along with her?”
“Huh. She’s okay. Except she keeps trying to touch my head.”
“I’ll tell her to stop it.”
Slowly, he began to get comfortable speaking with me.
“You said you wanted to eat delicious things. Did she buy you a lot?”
“Yeah, huh. I eat meat until my stomach seemed to burst. Oh, and she buys me food that melts in my mouth. So sweet.”
Although he had experienced severe trauma, Seong Hyun-woo is still a child.
The innocence of a boy could be seen in his face.
Okay. Even if I hadn’t been a powerful awakener, just the fact that I have saved a young boy was something to be proud of.
“But, uncle?”
“Huh?”
For the first time, he led the conversation.
“Why do you fight like that?”
“What do you mean?”
I couldn’t understand what he wanted to say.
Why do I fight like that? Was he talking about blocking his telekinesis with a shield that day?
But the next moment, Seong Hyun-woo seems to be talking about an entirely different thing.
“Because. When I see you now, you look like a very ordinary person… it’s amazing that you keep fighting like that.”
“…”
“Even if people precious to you died, others only ended up blaming you. No one acknowledged you.”
“…!”
“But you endured it, pressed hard, and continued fighting. Even at the moment before you died, you never bowed your head.”
Contrary to what the Traveler said, Seong Hyun-woo seemed to have read all my memories.
A look of embarrassment emerged in my face, reflected in the child’s clear eyes.
[Oh, this is interesting. Is that why you knew everything well?]
The Traveler seemed excited. I struggled to keep calm.
Should I lie?
No, it didn’t seem necessary.
There was no way that Seong Hyun-woo could tell others about my situation, and even if he did, no one would believe a child’s story.
And, I didn’t want to feed this innocent kid lies.
I don’t know why. However, it seemed that it would help him cross the wall of trauma. It seemed as if he would open the door a little if I become honest with him.
I took a deep breath before answering.
“I just wish there would be no other people like me.”
“…”
“To be honest… I’m just doing this because I hate monsters. They killed my whole family, and the thought of annihilating monsters consumed me. Even after ten years from the incident. There’s nothing good about a life like this.”
“…”
“So, I wish no one else would experience this. I don’t want them to become hunters because they hated monsters; I don’t want them to go through an incident that would make them hate monsters. I want everyone to have peaceful, unblemished lives.”
Seong Hyun-woo’s eyes locked with mine.
“Why do I keep fighting even if everyone precious to me has died? Because they killed people precious to me. I could not give up after their sacrifice.”
“…”
“The only thing I get out of these battles is blame, but I endured and continued to press hard. It’s lonely and difficult, but I thought that if I gave up, there would be more people like me. I thought that if I gave up, there would be more desperate people like me. So I fought until the end.”
It was as if I was speaking with a therapist.
I gave my heart out unconsciously, without interruptions.
How long have we been talking?
Finally, Seong Hyun-woo opened his mouth.
“Me, too… I wish no one would be like me.”
His expression changed. His appearance, which was like hard plaster, seemed to crack.
“I wish everyone was happy and not sick like me. I wish no one would see their mom and dad die. I wish there were no people who couldn’t eat what they wanted or do what they liked.”
“…”
“I wish no one suffers like me.”
His little fingers were clenched. The boy’s voice trembled slightly.
“Sister Yeon-soo is also smiling, but in the past, she had cried a lot as well. Same with other people. Everyone is crying inside.”
He opened his mouth once, then closed it, as if he was hesitating. Then, he bit his lower lip before speaking out again.
“Uncle, I saw it all. I’ve seen all the great heroes who came to you. I saw them as they were weak, neglected people, and how you turned them into heroes.”
His eyes were shining unlike before.
“Why do you have to fight alone this time?”
“…”
“Didn’t you save me from dying? Can’t you help me a little more? I’ve tried all the things I’ve seen inside your head. All the methods of training to be powerful. But I don’t know if it’s working.”
Tuk-!
The toys that were floating fell to the floor.
Seong Hyun-woo wasn’t playing.
He was training based on the memories he saw inside my head.
“When I get stronger… I’ll help you. I’ll help you make sure no one is unhappy.”
“…”
“My mom, my dad… the guys who made it that way, the ones who made me sick… I’ll punish them. So…”
I watched as his expression changed.
It was as if the strong and high wall that numbed his mind and heart broke down, and the first thing that came out of it was a deluge of sadness.
The boy’s eyes began to get wet with tears.
I hugged him tight and recalled the words I had heard in the past.
-If there were people who led him to the right path, he could have been the best ally.
That person was right. The modifiers’ villain’ or ‘disaster’ does not suit the young boy named Seong Hyun-woo.
Of all the people I have ever seen, he is the one boy most suitable to be called ‘hero’.
“It’s alright, it’s alright.”
I whispered to him as I tapped his back gently, his body convulsing with sorrow.
“We will kill all the bad guys and the monsters that will appear in the world. No one will be unhappy anymore.” I promised him.
[The disposition of ‘Seong Hyun-woo’ has changed.]
[The tendency of the ‘First Plague’ has been changed to good.]
[New possibilities have emerged.]
[Akashic Records recorded an unprecedented history.]
[The bond with Seong Hyun-woo has exceeded a certain level.]
[When the bond with Sung Hyeon-woo reaches its maximum, you can use Link, Communication and Sharing with him.]
[For the first time, you have established a bond with a plague.]
* * *
After that conversation, I made sure to include Seong Hyun-woo’s training in my after-class schedule.
“Mister, hello!”
I didn’t know how he was with Han Yeon-soo, but to me, he looks noticeably brighter now.
“Hello. Did you do what I told you?”
“Huh. I was training, but Sister kept telling me not to play around…”
“I didn’t!” Han Yeon-soo immediately interrupted him.
I don’t know if it was a joke or not, but I smiled and stroked Seong Hyun-woo’s hair.
Now, he seems to be more like a child his age.
“By the way,” I turned to Han Yeon-soo. “Did you get what I asked for last time?”
“Ah, that? Yes. It wasn’t as difficult as you said.”
“Huh? It should be…”
What I asked for was an Association’s device.
“It was really easy. Look.”
Han Yeon-soo pulled out the object from her subspace pocket.
The device resembled a punch machine, but it was much larger. It looks like it was made with high-quality materials.
“Wow… this is great.”
“It is. I’m awesome, right?” Han Yeon-soo smiled triumphantly as I held the device she brought, examining its parts.
It was the Association’s official measuring instrument that could measure and quantify an awakener’s power.
“What’s this?” Seong Hyun-woo looked at it closely.
“It’s from the people who came last time. The people who took pictures of you. They will probably come back sooner or later,” I explained.
As the days pass by and Seong Hyun-woo’s power increases, the Association may detect his mana wavelength and start searching for an unregistered awakener.
It seems impossible to keep hiding Seong Hyun-woo.
Only
Then, wouldn’t it be better to register him voluntarily instead of getting him caught?
“If they find out how strong you are, they will try to get you by whatever means.”
“…”
“So, you need to know how to control your power. We will practice it with this.”
Seong Hyun-woo nodded.
Then, mischief crept into his face again.
“Should we start with the strongest power I can give out now? So, we’ll know the maximum?”
He said it in such a carefree tone as he raised his hand towards the device.
Comments