Chapter 90

Chapter 90: Resolve (4)

"Drink up!"

"Cheers!"

"To the professor!"

A festival was underway in the village, celebrating PTT's expulsion.

They were a slum with nothing, but once each household contributed their carefully saved livestock or liquor, a proper festival took shape.

"Hey, did you see the professor swinging that sword?"

"I thought I was watching a Martial God descend from heaven! Seriously, what kind of professor fights like that?"

Since I was the reason for the festival, stories about me were endless.

The lavish praise being heaped on me was embarrassing, so I slipped outside for a bit.

Feeling the evening breeze and watching the sunset, my mind filled with thoughts of An Seri.

Was An Seri doing alright?

Part of me worried I'd brought her here too early.

What snapped me out of my thoughts was a voice from behind.

"Why's the guest of honor moping out here?"

"Camila."

When I'd first met Camila, she'd carried an air that didn't match her young appearance.

She was a girl as clever as Zhuge Soyon, who came to mind as someone around the same age. Of course, if comparing their intelligence, Zhuge Soyon was far smarter.

But in terms of the aura they gave off, Camila was far more seasoned.

The weighty gravitas that no girl her age should possess was even reminiscent of Ryu Jeonga.

But now, I could sense a lighter, more youthful energy from Camila—one fitting of a girl her age.

"Come inside and toast with us. A party's no fun without the guest of honor."

"Just a moment."

"Waiting for Seri?"

"Yeah."

"It won't be easy. I don't know the details, but knowing the guardian's personality, that trial must be reeeally hard."

"Artus's personality?"

"Yeah. He's so cantankerous—my father kept warning me about him. Always angry, always spiteful. One time, what happened was......"

Camila apparently had a lot to say, rattling off one old story after another.

From legends that had been passed down in the village, to the time a few years ago when Artus showed up during harvest and caused trouble.

"...So I gave him two whole potatoes, and he refused to eat them. What a ridiculous bird."

Her words were grumbly, but Camila's face looked happy.

The smile she wore throughout suggested she missed those memories.

"Do you regret becoming a mafia?"

The same question I'd asked before.

Camila had answered without a moment's hesitation that she had no regrets—but I wondered if that was still true.

Unlike before, Camila couldn't answer easily.

She murmured in an uncertain voice.

"I don't know...... In the end, I couldn't protect anything. Not my friends, not the villagers. It was you who saved the village, Professor."

Camila hung her head low.

That gloomy aura began creeping back around her.

"I don't know what to do anymore. PTT's been driven off for now thanks to you, but another mafia will come soon. And you're going to leave."

Just because the tiger was gone didn't mean the herbivores were safe.

Until they escaped the wilderness—or drove away every last predator on the mountain—nowhere was safe.

If I returned to Korea like this, the village might be gone by tomorrow.

And then Camila would throw herself into danger without hesitation to protect the village.

In the game, she'd been a nameless NPC who vanished without leaving a trace.

But I could see the overflowing talent in her.

It'd be a waste to let her die.

"Camila, if you had two options, what would you choose?"

"...Options?"

"Yes."

Camila thought for a moment, then answered.

"I've got nowhere left to retreat anyway."

"Good. The first option is coming with me to the Academy."

"The Academy......?"

It was apparently an unexpected answer—Camila's eyes went wide.

Korea's finest Academy, Florian.

Being sponsored by a professor and gaining admission to the Academy was a Fortuitous Encounter in its own right.

"That's right. Come with me to Korea and become a Hero. With your potential, you could become an excellent Hero."

It must have been a tempting proposal, because Camila licked her lips.

But she kept casting uneasy glances toward the village.

"I appreciate the offer, but the village needs me."

Camila chose her bonds over personal success as a Hero.

It couldn't have been an easy decision, but she'd made it decisively.

"No, you have nothing to apologize for. Then here's the second offer. Your village turned to the mafia to survive, right?"

"Yes."

"From now on, instead of preying on other villages and tourists, you fight the other side."

"The other side meaning... the mafia?"

"Yes. You devour all of them. Fight, win, and topple the whole thing."

"But how......"

"I'll be your village's patron."

"Oh......"

Her reaction showed even more bewilderment than the first offer.

And understandably so—it was an even more daunting choice.

Brazil's mafia had made even the government wave the white flag.

The mafia cartels now involved an uncountable number of Awakened.

Their influence had grown so tangled and swollen that no Hero, no guild, no nation could easily intervene.

It was far beyond the scope of what one young girl could handle.

"I'll do it."

But Camila said yes.

A proud answer—that she'd resist, that she'd fight with honor. It drew a warm smile from me.

"I still remember that day. On a rainy night, the mafia stormed in and dragged the villagers away. My parents were worried that I'd be taken because I was an Awakened, so they hid me under the bed. I stayed hidden under the bed for two days, holding my breath, until the village elders found me."

Camila closed her eyes, recalling that day, her lips quivering.

It seemed she was struggling to contain her emotions, taking several steadying breaths.

Camila spoke in a resolute voice.

"At first, I wanted revenge. So I decided to build strength. That's why I ignored the guardian's warnings and invaded other places. But in the end, nothing was left. We were extorted by the mafia under the guise of protection fees, and the village only grew more destitute. It was all my fault."

"Do you still want revenge?"

"I don't know. It started with hatred, but now it's faded a lot."

No matter how deep the festering wound in your heart, emotions erode easily before time.

The more intense and draining the emotion—fury, hatred—the more so.

"More than revenge, I want to break the cycle of grief. I want to create a world where no more people have to suffer."

It was a remarkably mature answer—hard to believe it came from a girl younger than my students.

Inwardly, I applauded Camila.

"It'll be hard. You may want to give up at any moment."

"I still want to do it."

"It might take years. Decades, even."

"I'm prepared."

I could see an iron resolve in Camila.

I began to hope—maybe this kid could save Brazil as it was now.

And when that time came, Camila and her forces would become a major asset in the fight to save the world against the Evil Gods.

"I'll send supplies and personnel soon. But it won't be enough. Your enemy isn't a personal faction—it's a force stronger than an entire nation."

"I understand."

Camila nodded.

It was a heavy nod, bearing the weight of everything she'd just shouldered.

We spent a while in silence.

As the sun set and the dark curtain of night overtook the sky—

But the view of stars embroidered across the heavens, a sight you'd never see in Korea, felt less dark and more enchanting.

FWOOOOOSH—!

"The wind sure picked up."

The sudden gust tousled both my hair and Camila's, but the grass and flowers at our feet didn't stir at all.

A somewhat unnatural wind—we could easily guess its source.

"I'm back."

From the night sky above, An Seri descended on the wind.

In her hand was a bow of a familiar shape. She'd passed the trial and returned with Clairvoyance.

Artus—now An Seri's spirit—was there too.

"You passed."

"Congratulations!"

An Seri answered with a radiant smile.

Clairvoyance was an artifact that even An Seri—who had access to all manner of fine equipment—would consider exceptional. Having fought against its power firsthand, she must have felt its might to the bone.

How much stronger An Seri had become with Clairvoyance went without saying.

On top of that, she'd recovered a family heirloom—she'd be all the more thrilled.

"Artus, we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on. Let's get along."

【Hmph, your magic ruined my trial. I shall honor the contract, but I do not yet acknowledge you.】

His grand talk of acknowledgment carried little weight.

Just as with Jeivult, once an artifact's ownership was recognized by the master, the weapon couldn't defy the master's will.

As proof, the bond of a spirit contract was already palpable between An Seri and Artus.

Camila called out to Artus in a slightly trembling voice.

"Um, Guardian... are you leaving now?"

【Obviously. A spirit must stay by its contractor's side.】

"Thank you for protecting this land all this time. We're going to fight the mafia from now on. We can't let the tragedy keep repeating."

【Your eyes have improved. If you return to the righteous path, the wind spirits shall always bless you.】

"Yes!"

Camila beamed at the reconciliation.

Perhaps she'd missed Artus terribly ever since things had soured between them.

Several people came out of the bar and called to us.

"Boss, when are you coming in?"

"The meat's getting cold!"

Camila grinned and spoke.

"Let's go inside. We slaughtered enough pigs and chickens for everyone to eat their fill, so please help yourselves."

***

After the festival ended, we spent the night in Brazil.

Perhaps exhausted from the fighting, we fell asleep right away.

The next day, we headed straight back to Korea.

Partly because we missed home, but the real issue was that PTT's effective destruction was my doing.

As a result, there was now a bounty worth hundreds of millions on my head in Brazil.

We returned to the Academy.

For now, the plan was to finish the remaining paper preparations in time for the upcoming Paper Presentation.

An Seri went home to her family.

The appearance of Clairvoyance and Artus would be a seismic event that turned Geumok Guild upside down.

Until now, everyone had assumed An Sehyeon would win the guild succession race, but an event that upended the balance had occurred.

Officers who hadn't been chosen by An Sehyeon would become An Seri's support base, and a cutthroat competition like in the game would begin.

But a more immediately headache-inducing piece of news had arrived. The things I'd done in South America had been broadcast to the entire world.

Inside my office, Lee Yeeun was making a fuss as she brewed me coffee.

"It's nothing but news about you, Professor! What exactly did you do over there?"

"I just taught a few criminals a lesson."

"That criminal was Brazil's most famous mafia boss, wasn't he? An S-rank Awakened, no less."

The fact that I'd defeated Rick—an SH agent and S-rank Awakened—during the Academy Collapse Event hadn't been made public.

So the news that I'd beaten an S-rank Awakened this time drew massive attention. Several guilds showed up with blank checks, insisting they absolutely had to recruit me.

I turned them all down, of course.

My place was the Academy.

"Enough chatter. Go bring the paper. There are only a few weeks until the Presentation."

"Yes sir."

Lee Yeeun brought the paper she'd been writing.

The first time I'd read it, I couldn't understand a single thing—but now the paper flowed without a hitch.

I'd grown too over the past semester, with everything that had happened.

The realization hit fresh.

"How is it?"

"Overall, it's good. The thesis drifts slightly in a few places and there are some typos, so I'll just edit those. But......"

I was convinced—if this paper was published, it would turn the world upside down.

It was a groundbreaking and polished piece of work, hard to believe it was written at the researcher level.

Aside from one problem, that is.

"Where's the rest?"

"Oh, about that......"

Lee Yeeun wore an awkward expression.

Then, in a dwindling voice, she confessed.

"Actually... I haven't finished it......"