Side Story 02
The Crow
Pink cherry blossom petals fluttered through the April school grounds. Sancheon High was bustling with students heading to the cafeteria or visiting the school store as lunch period had just begun.
Among them, a high school student with a hamburger in hand tore open the wrapper while wedging his phone between his shoulder and ear.
“Appo, what? I can’t hear you. Let me go somewhere quieter.”
“Damn this gene… no, this bastard. The reason it’s so noisy is because young master Seho is crying in my arms!”
Isquis clicked his tongue briefly at Apophis, who even in his older age hadn’t fixed his crude way of speaking. The reason he had stopped mid-curse was probably because of the child Seho beside him.
“If the young master is crying, why aren’t you comforting hi… What? Appo, aren’t you in New York? Why is young master Seho there? I saw him at the pension just this morning!”
While firing off questions, Isquis was already internally guessing the reason.
Looking back at this morning, there were only two people in this world who could send someone from Korea to New York in an instant. One was the great magician Apophis, and the other was Yeon Ji-ho, who could open gates through “closets.”
Since Apophis was already in New York, there was only one person who could have sent Seho there. The puzzling part was that Yeon Ji-ho didn’t seem like someone who would recklessly send his own child to New York.
“…It seems Master Ji-ho is angry.”
“What, what? Did I hear that wrong? Who’s angry? Appo, you?”
“Not me, but Master Ji-ho!”
Isquis briefly took the phone away from his ear before bringing it back, wondering if he’d misheard. But Apophis was still repeating the same thing.
“It seems Master Ji-ho got angry and sent His Excellency and young master Seho here. His Excellency was so terrified that he mentioned a resignation letter, then left the company, leaving the young master here.”
“…His Excellency submitted a resignation letter? What are you talking about? Where did he go now?”
“Wait, I’ll check right away.”
Tap, tap-tap.
Along with the sound of Apophis typing intermittently, Seho’s sniffling could also be heard. Isquis let out a disbelieving breath, unable to comprehend how Seho, who had been in Korea just this morning, was now crying in New York.
“…He just booked a flight back to Korea.”
“What?! Without asking you for a teleport?”
To Isquis’s naive question, Apophis let out a deep sigh and replied.
“Tsk, have you already forgotten? Simple teleportation magic, not creating a gate, can only accompany one person besides myself. If I leave, what happens to young master Seho?”
“…Couldn’t just His Excellency go then?”
“Do you have any idea how far it is from New York to Korea? Teleportation magic without the caster accompanying uses double the mana, and you want me to send him that distance?”
Ah…
Having gained a deep realization, Isquis silently took a large bite of his hamburger.
“Do you know why Master Ji-ho is angry?”
“Master Ji-ho?”
Mumbling a half-hearted response while chewing, Isquis reflected on the past days.
Like the other Gorgon Knights, Isquis had quickly decided his future after securing his identity. He chose to attend high school. To do that, instead of following Set around, he remained alone by Yeon Ji-ho’s side.
In fact, at first he had considered finding a nearby house to live in, but Yeon Ji-ho had asked him first. He said having someone consistently nearby would be a comfort as his due date approached and childbirth loomed.
So Isquis occupied one of the rooms at Yeon Ji-ho’s pension and began attending Sancheon High School. If there was a reason for Yeon Ji-ho to be angry after observing him up close…
“There are too many reasons.”
“What?!”
“Appo, think about it.”
Isquis squinted one eye as if Apophis were right in front of him. Reflecting on the days when Set was absent, it was more surprising that Yeon Ji-ho hadn’t gotten angry until now.
“Is His Excellency the type to be separated from Master Ji-ho even for a moment?”
“Well… no.”
“Right, that’s why Master Ji-ho carried young master Seho in a baby sling until he turned two. After he turned three and could walk, he always held his hand wherever they went.”
Once opened, Isquis’s mouth continued like a runaway train that couldn’t stop.
“And that’s just the beginning. When the pension suddenly got busy, he’d receive guests during the day, deal with difficult customers in the afternoon, and still run to comfort young master Seho whenever he cried.”
“…”
“He even collapsed once. Of course, you and His Excellency wouldn’t know. Master Ji-ho’s fever went up to 39 degrees Celsius, but he didn’t even realize he was sick and kept holding the young master.”
“What?! He collapsed?!”
Isquis clicked his tongue with a “just as I thought” expression. It was perhaps unsurprising that Yeon Ji-ho, who disliked being a burden, wouldn’t tell Set about his illness. Isquis himself had tried to inform him of this fact, but Yeon Ji-ho had seemingly anticipated this and asked Isquis beforehand.
‘Isquis, it’s fine. I already went to the emergency room and recovered completely.’
With those words, Isquis ultimately couldn’t bring up the past incident that even Yeon Ji-ho had moved on from. Instead, Isquis had asked the pale-looking Yeon Ji-ho:
‘Master Ji-ho, don’t you feel resentful?’
Even then, Yeon Ji-ho had answered with a faint smile.
‘Set and Apophis are busy too. I just want to do my best with what I can.’
Yes, of course Isquis understood that Set and Apophis weren’t just fooling around. If they had been idling and wandering outside, it would have been difficult for Isquis and the entire Gorgon Knights to settle perfectly in this world.
The Gorgon Knights had all obtained American citizenship and perfect identities. Additionally, Set had acquired dual citizenship after marrying Yeon Ji-ho several years ago.
Apophis had become the chief secretary of Set’s company and helped it grow enough to establish a building in the heart of New York. Isquis had entered high school and was now a senior facing college entrance exams. Shango had joined a mercenary company headquartered in the US, built up experience, and recently returned.
All of this had happened in just three years. During that time, everyone, including Yeon Ji-ho, had lived incredibly busy lives.
But if one had to pick who suffered the most desperately among them, it would obviously be Yeon Ji-ho.
“Well, talking about when Master Ji-ho gave birth would just be a waste of breath.”
“…Hey, at that time…”
“Anyway, if Master Ji-ho is angry, he must have a good reason. Just know that I’m on Master Ji-ho’s side.”
“Do you think I’m on His Excellency’s side?! If Master Ji-ho is angry, of course His Excellency must have done something wrong! But shouldn’t we prevent a rift between them?!”
Apophis, finding himself in a situation where he might be seen as His Excellency’s confidant, became very flustered and raised his voice. As the voice on the other end of the phone grew louder, Isquis squinted one eye and moved the phone far from his ear.
At that moment, someone tapped Isquis on the shoulder.
In the blink of an eye, Isquis turned and grabbed the person’s neck to subdue them. It happened so quickly there was no time to react. Soon after, a painful groan came from the person whose neck was seized.
“Kugh, kek, kuugh…”
“Ah, sorry.”
Recognizing the person, a startled Isquis quickly withdrew his hand. The person who had been grabbed by the neck then spoke while repeatedly coughing.
“Wow… what’s going on with you? Is, have you been working out or something?”
At that question, Isquis could only show an awkward expression without answering. Telling his friend that he had already been to battlefields several times and killed dozens or hundreds of people wouldn’t be believed anyway.
“What? Class hasn’t started yet.”
“No, I saw you eating a hamburger alone. Aren’t you going to the cafeteria?”
“Ah, today’s cafeteria menu is stir-fried zucchini. It tastes terrible. Hey, wait a second. Appo, I’m hanging up. Class is starting now.”
“Didn’t you just say class hasn’t started yet, you damn—!”
Click. Isquis, showing no mercy, pressed the power button on his phone and ended the call. Though he felt sorry for young master Seho, Isquis was now perfectly Yeon Ji-ho’s closest confidant, and so this time he wanted to take the side of Yeon Ji-ho who had endured so much.
“Hey, want to play a game of soccer?”
“Soccer? No thanks.”
“Why not! We’ve got a bet with the Class 2 guys for ice cream at the school store! Is, you fly around like crazy when you play soccer.”
Isquis ignored his friend’s plea, who was even clasping his hands together. When he first encountered soccer, he had enjoyed it quite a bit, but once he became familiar with it, regular high school students were no match for him, and he lost interest.
As Isquis slowly walked across the school grounds, he noticed something. Sancheon High School, located in the mountains, was surrounded by forests, and suddenly Isquis spotted something beyond the school’s fence.
“…Hey, you go ahead. I have something to do.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Just go.”
Isquis pushed his friend’s shoulder and sent him away. Finally, approaching the fence alone quietly, Isquis stood in front of it and asked the figure on the other side:
“…What are you doing here alone?”
“…”
“Baal, what are you doing here?”
A physique too massive to be a normal human. And the single horn on his head. Baal, the sharpest horn of Gorgon, was there.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
