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Chapter 120: Private Conversation (2)
Knock, knock.
I stood in front of Professor Elisha's office and carefully knocked on the door.
"Come in."
A voice responded from inside.
Slowly, I opened the office door.
“You’ve arrived.”
As the door opened, I saw Professor Elisha, dressed in her usual black suit, sitting with her long legs crossed and a cigarette between her lips.
“Sit. I’ll get you something to drink.”
Elisha stood up, putting out her cigarette in the ashtray, and walked over to the shelf, glancing back at me.
“Whiskey? Wine?”
“Isn't it usually coffee or tea in these situations?”
“The only non-alcoholic drink worth consuming is water.”
“That sounds like something an alcoholic would say.”
“Haha, don’t worry. Heroes can’t get addicted to alcohol anyway.”
As she said, heroes have much stronger immunity than normal people, so no matter how much alcohol they consume, they don't get addicted.
"Being a hero does sound a bit overpowered when you think about it."
Praise the Stigma.
“Then, whiskey it is.”
“Got it.”
Professor Elisha filled a glass with ice and poured the whiskey, bringing it over.
As I took a sip, the oak aroma hit my nose along with the intense alcohol burn.
It was a taste unfamiliar to me, someone who usually only drank cheap beer.
“Hmm.”
I stroked my chin, pretending to savor the flavor with my eyes closed.
In truth, I couldn’t really distinguish whiskey tastes, but as a man, I wanted to act like I could.
“The first taste brings a strong oak aroma. Then, a sweet vanilla scent lingers in the mouth, and finally, a subtle woody aftertaste. This must be some high-quality whiskey…”
“It’s a cheap 27-gold whiskey from the convenience store.”
“Damn.”
Well, if you were going to give me some, at least make it good…!
“Haha, I didn’t know you had such an adorable side, Cadet Dale.”
Professor Elisha chuckled as she tipped her glass.
“So, then.”
Clink.
She set the glass down and her violet eyes gleamed.
“Can I finally get an answer to the question I asked you before?”
“Before I answer, may I ask why you came to that conclusion?”
“Hm. Why I came to that conclusion, huh…”
Professor Elisha leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
“As I said before, Cadet Dale, you are too strong. Almost excessively so.”
“You suspect I came from the future just because I’m strong?”
“No. That’s not the only reason.”
She shook her head slightly.
“There are other strong individuals, like Cadet Yuren and your Senior Aaron from the fourth year, who are as strong as you, if not stronger. They're also considered 'beyond normal standards.'”
However—
Professor Elisha narrowed her eyes.
“Cadet Dale, you are… different. There’s something about you. A sort of seasoned experience. It’s embarrassing to admit, but when the Archbishop of Madness attacked, your composure was far superior to mine.”
She pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
“And that wasn’t the only time. During the midterm evaluation, when the rogue demonic beasts broke into the test grounds, and when Bishop Harris set traps in the village, it was the same.”
You never panicked.
You immediately reacted, as if you had dealt with these situations many times before.
“While it might be easy to dismiss your incredible strength as just pure talent, as you said, just because something hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future.”
She sighed, and the end of her cigarette glowed red.
“But the seasoned way you handle yourself can’t be explained by talent or hard work alone.”
So, that's how she arrived at the conclusion that I was from the future.
“Haha.”
I let out a bitter laugh, wiping my face.
I downed the whiskey and spoke.
“You’re right.”
“Hmm?”
“I am from the future.”
“……”
She seemed genuinely surprised by my answer, as if she hadn’t expected me to confirm it.
“... Are you serious?”
“You were the one who asked, weren’t you?”
“……”
Elisha pressed her hand to her forehead, clearly confused.
“Is it because of the 'two forces' sleeping inside you?”
“Probably. But I don’t know for sure.”
I smiled bitterly and shook my head.
Elisha tapped the ash off her cigarette and asked.
“If you really are from the future, how far into the future are you from?”
“How far into the future…?”
Well.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“It’s been too long to keep count.”
“…What do you mean?”
“The last time I counted was around 7,000 years, so... it could be over 10,000 years now. And that’s not counting the time after that.”
“W-wait. 7,000 years? 10,000 years? What are you even talking about?”
Professor Elisha stood up, staring at me with wide, bewildered eyes.
I leaned back in my chair, tapping my left chest lightly.
“You know, don’t you? That I have the 'Blessing of Revival.'”
“…No way.”
Her face went pale.
“You mean… it stops not only death… but also aging?”
“Aging is just another form of death, isn’t it?”
I nodded calmly.
“……”
Professor Elisha stared at me with a rigid expression.
Her lips trembled a bit before she finally squeezed out a shaky question.
“... Can you tell me? About the future… or rather, your past life?”
“It’s a long story. Are you sure?”
“I don’t mind.”
She nodded and sat back down.
“Hoo. Where should I even begin…”
I took a deep breath and began my story.
From graduating as the last-ranked hero and becoming a bottom-tier mercenary.
From spending ten years in mercenary work before forming a party with Yuren, Iris, Berald, and Senior Sophia.
Becoming one of the ‘Final Five Heroes,’ humanity’s last hope.
The final battle with the Demon God and being left alone in the world.
Then wandering the continent for thousands of years in search of the Primordial Flame.
All the things that only I knew.
The stories I had kept hidden.
The tales I had never shared with anyone before.
“…And that’s it.”
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By the time my long story came to an end, darkness had already fallen outside the window.
Clink.
I emptied my whiskey glass, not even knowing how many rounds I had drunk at this point.
“……”
Professor Elisha stared at me in silence.
I could see her violet eyes trembling slightly.
"Cadet Dale..."
She bit her lips gently before continuing to speak.
"Just how... how horrifying of a life have you endured?"
Tears welled up in Professor Elisha's eyes.
Her usually stoic face, so cold it seemed like not even a drop of blood would spill if pricked, was now twisted in sorrow.
I let out a bitter laugh and shook my head.
"It's nothing. After all, it's already... all in the past."
'All in the past?'
A voice echoed in my head.
So familiar.
My own voice.
"......."
Suddenly.
My vision shifted.
Before me, a snow-white wasteland spread out.
A raging snowstorm.
White breaths escaped from between my lips.
Feet sinking deep into snow up to my knees.
An overwhelming silence, like a veil had descended.
Pure white.
A world so white.
"...Ah."
Is it really nothing?
Is it really all in the past?
'No.'
That can't be.
There's no way.
"Ah... ugh."
"Cadet Dale...?"
It rushed in.
The forgotten memories, the suppressed emotions.
Like a broken dam, it all came flooding out.
"I was... so lonely."
A fragment of my overflowing emotions escaped from between my lips.
"So lonely it felt like I was dying... but I couldn't die... No matter how much I endured, endured, endured, endured, and endured again, it never ended..."
I poured out the emotions I had suppressed.
"I knew it was a hallucination, but like an idiot, I laughed and chatted... repeating the same conversations hundreds, no, thousands of times over..."
"Cadet Dale."
"But even then... it never ended...! No matter how much I smashed my head, cut my throat, tore out my heart, burned my body! No matter what I did, I just kept coming back...!"
"Cadet Dale!"
Professor Elisha grabbed my shoulders.
My vision blinked, and the snowy wasteland reverted back to the familiar scene of her office.
"...Are you feeling a bit better now?"
"Haah, haah..."
I panted, gulping down my dry saliva.
"I'm sorry. I lost control for a moment."
"......."
"Well, it's getting late, so I'll take my leave."
Creak.
I stood up and turned to leave as if fleeing.
Then.
"Cadet Dale."
Professor Elisha pulled me back and pressed her lips against mine.
A soft sensation transmitted through my lips.
Our tongues intertwined.
"...Feeling a bit better now?"
After a brief kiss, Professor Elisha cupped my cheeks in her hands and asked.
"......."
I touched my lips, feeling the lingering warmth, and let out a small laugh.
"You taste like cigarettes."
"Hmph. That's not something you say to someone you just kissed."
Professor Elisha smiled faintly and gently embraced me.
Pat, pat.
She patted my back, as if comforting a crying child.
"Sorry for making you remember what you'd forgotten."
"......."
"Hmm, by the way..."
Professor Elisha, who had been deep in thought, snapped her fingers with a sparkle in her eye.
"That means, in essence, you're thousands of years old, aren't you, Cadet Dale?"
"Well... if you count past lives, I guess so."
Though, to be honest, I didn't really feel like I'd aged.
If aging meant gaining maturity through experience, all I had in that snowy wasteland was endless loneliness and isolation.
"Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmm."
"...What is it?"
"Hehe. That means you're technically older than me, isn't it?"
With an excited expression, Professor Elisha's violet eyes gleamed.
I stifled a laugh as I looked at her.
"Does it really matter who's older?"
"It does."
Professor Elisha grinned and perched herself on the table, crossing her legs.
"From now on, I'll call you 'Dale Oppa.'"
"......."
"Dale Oppa."
Why is it, I wonder.
Even though she was calling me by a term that most guys dream of hearing, one that ranks high on the list of desired nicknames...
Instead of a sweet thrill, I felt a strange discomfort, like bugs crawling on my skin.
"Professor Elisha."
"Hehe, what is it, Dale Oppa?"
"......."
I shook my head and let out a deep sigh.
"It doesn't suit you."
"...Tsk."
And so, my private (and somewhat intimate?) meeting with Professor Elisha ended.
Along with a subtle feeling of relief settling in my heart.
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