novelraw Chapter 175 : Chapter 175
Chapter 175 : Chapter 175
Chapter 175 - How Not to Stray from the Path (2)
For Acaite, Rain Enlight was a person to be viewed from various aspects, and the first thing the masked knight noticed was the gloomy boy's suspicious side.
It wasn't just about the discrepancy between the boy's actual power and the rumors. That alone was enough to exude suspicion.
‘I saw the blood on his hands.’
His posture when wielding a sword, his eyes, his aura.
In that information that couldn't be quantified, Acaite could feel the blood on Rain's hands.
Acaite had discerned that aspect of Rain with near certainty from their first meeting, and that's why he had decided to keep Rain by his side.
To satisfy his own curiosity, and at the same time, to monitor him in case he was a ‘dangerous’ person.
And as he had thought, Rain’s suspiciousness showed no signs of abating.
He seemed to be trying to hide it, but a prime example was how he would appear with his skills having improved by leaps and bounds whenever he took his eyes off him.
Even though the talent he felt when teaching him was clearly something mediocre, somewhere between a prodigy and a commoner.
Furthermore, despite his disadvantageous position as an illegitimate son, his influence with the princess and his successful activities in several major incidents were also factors that added to his suspicion.
‘But this is just suspicious, it's just a minor detail.’
The problem he had been given, the one he had to judge, was something else.
Is Rain Enlight a dangerous person?
Is Rain Enlight an evil person?
Is Rain Enlight a person who will cause significant harm to society?
“…….”
Seeing him show no hesitation in the act of killing people at his age, it might be right to judge him as a dangerous person.
Considering his strange growth curve, which he himself couldn't properly explain, it might be right to judge that he had used some kind of sinister means.
Always consider the worst. That was his iron rule and something he often told his disciples.
Therefore, the rational answer was set.
The answer was, ‘Rain Enlight is a dangerous person.’
But.
‘But as time went on… he went in a completely different direction from what I thought.’
But at the same time, over the course of time, Acaite was able to discern that Rain Enlight was a person of a different direction from his worries or expectations.
And the biggest aspect that revealed that direction was his hardworking side.
‘Should I call him hardworking? Looking at his fanatical appearance, the expression ‘workaholic’ seems more appropriate.’
While being Rain’s guidance professor, and while personally teaching him combat skills. Acaite could see that Rain was fanatically obsessed with training.
It wasn't that he hadn't seen workaholics who were so buried in their efforts before, but this gloomy boy valued results more than the process to an excessive degree.
There is no meaning if you don't become strong. Therefore, the boy found the fastest way to become strong, and he poured his fanatical efforts into walking that path.
In that appearance, Acaite was able to glimpse the emotion hidden in Rain’s actions, and that was.
‘Fear?’
Yes, Rain Enlight looked as if he were desperately running away from something called weakness.
What had made him fear weakness so much?
It was a quite interesting topic, but Acaite had no way or right to know.
He just thought.
That appearance might be similar to his past self.
His appearance right before he abandoned everything precious and ran away.
The factors that shook Acaite’s judgment were not just that.
-Haha, ha, ah, Professor, Professor Acaite, right? I, uh, I received great he, help from student Rain En, Enlight under you…….
Although he didn't know the intention, the life that the boy had saved by risking danger.
-Lately, he… I mean, Rain, I feel like his condition has gotten a bit worse. Ugh…….
The worry of a girl with a pure soul, who believed in the boy’s goodness.
-……Surprisingly, I am grateful. I have learned a lot from you, Professor.
The time he had spent with that boy, who was somewhat cheeky even with his quiet way of speaking.
All those elements pointed beyond reason.
Acaite's judgment was that.
This was not a hasty judgment made by being thrown into such a situation by chance.
It was just pulling out the evidence that had been accumulating in his subconscious while watching him for a year.
Nothing special happened after that.
Acaite just faithfully listened to Yuna’s worries—Rain Enlight’s changes, and his desire to hide his changes.
It was just that, but they say that confessing the story in one's heart is a comfort in itself.
Yuna’s expression as she left after finishing her visit looked much lighter than before she started talking.
“Honestly, I don't know if it's right to get counseling when I came to visit you in the hospital… ugh, but thank you, Professor.”
“Don't worry about it. Whatever the situation, I'm still your professor, you know?”
Professor, and adult.
He clearly understood his position with his students, and Yuna was Acaite's student.
And, therefore…….
Knock, knock.
“Excuse me.”
The masked knight would also talk with the gloomy boy with the blunt voice.
It was just that.
***
“…….”
Neat and dark black hair, eyes of a similar color, and dark circles that amplified his characteristic gloomy impression.
The boy with such characteristic external features was silent as soon as he entered the hospital room for a visit.
While looking at the mask.
“Huh, why are you wearing a mask even in the hospital room? You seem to be asking with your eyes.”
“……It's an expression with a similar context.”
The boy gave his usual blunt but cheeky reply and then slowly sat down.
Perhaps Acaite might have thought that even that reaction was a consideration to treat him as usual.
Seuk.
Next, the boy placed a wrapped box on the table. It was something that looked like a get-well gift.
“Oh, I don't know what it is, but I'm glad it doesn't seem to be fruit.”
“It’s a dagger. I thought you would probably like this kind of gift the most, Professor.”
“Ha, look at this guy. What kind of weirdo in the world buys a dagger as a get-well gift?”
In contrast to that superficial reaction, it was actually the most liked gift he had received so far.
The boy had that side to him. A side that sometimes acted as if he could see through his inner self, or as if he already knew.
Well, in any case, it was definitely a good thing to be quick-witted.
Although it wasn't what you would call boyish for his age.
What followed was this and that story.
The story of how Acaite had lost one arm and his leg below the knee.
Trivial talk about recent events.
Talk about the future.
That series of conversations was certainly as smooth as a stream flowing along a straight riverbed, but Acaite might have thought that Rain had already considered even that process.
An excessive maturity that didn't match his age, which couldn't be explained by natural talent.
The story was that that was the identity of the unease that surrounded Rain Enlight.
“How have you been lately?”
The question Acaite threw when the conversation topic was about to run out was such a vague one.
A question that seemed to be just asking about his recent well-being, a question that couldn't be more appropriate.
“……What’s with that sudden vague question?”
The response that came back was one of bewilderment, but Acaite didn't mind.
“No, well.”
Because this was a stepping stone to talk about what needed to be said.
“You don't look so good lately.”
Of course, that much was not enough to get a different reaction from Rain.
“Did I look that way?”
It was to the extent of showing a reaction that would be expected.
“Well, something like that. Do you know that people around you are worried about you?”
“…….”
Only when those words were reached did Rain bow his head slightly, as if he had nothing more to say.
“Hey.”
Acaite thought as he started to speak.
What should I say to this guy?
What should I say to this extremely suspicious guy, this unpredictable guy, to help him?
“It's nothing new, but you know you have more than one or two suspicious things about you, right?”
The first thing that came out was his usual impression of the boy.
“……I've known for a long time that you thought so.”
Since that was what he had said from the first time he met the boy as his guidance professor, it would have been impossible for him not to know his intentions.
“Where on earth did a guy who was a shut-in gain such experience, why does he seem to have no hesitation in harming people, why does he sometimes appear so suddenly strong that even I am surprised……”
“…….”
“Honestly, there's more than one or two suspicious things, but well, I didn't bring this up to interrogate you.”
That was the truth. Acaite hadn't expected the boy to talk from the beginning anyway.
But.
“I just wanted to say something to you.”
“And that is?”
What was it that he wanted to say?
Acaite searched his mind and just brought out the words that came to him.
“Well. I'm not an idealist who thinks that killing people is always bad, and that people shouldn't kill people in any situation. Shouldn't a guy who points a sword at someone be prepared to be hit by a sword?”
That was a story about the common values he and the boy shared.
“As you said, I also think that when you have to face someone, you need to not care about the means and methods. You probably think so too, right?”
That was a story to lighten the boy's burden.
“But you know.”
And.
“Please, don't stray from the path.”
That was regret.
Regret for himself, who had thrown everything away at the end of straying from the path and had run away, for himself who had been crushed by the act of running away.
“For your own sake, and for the sake of those who worry about you.”
And it was also advice for the boy who seemed to be standing on the boundary, in and out of the path.