The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably Chapter 50 : Summer Vacation (1)

Sumr Vacation (1)

Several months had passed since I began ntoring Kwon Sang-ah.

Spring, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, had gone by, replaced by the blazing sumr sun.

As the end of the sester approached... I taught Sang-ah a great deal.

What Sang-ah desired most was to control her rampages, but making her understand that required considerable effort.

Usually, Sang-ah appeared demure and quiet, but the very source of her power was 'anger'.

I was well aware of her family history. Perhaps due to the environnt she grew up in, her anger was extraordinary.

In fact, it was impressive that she had managed to suppress it for so long.

Sang-ah herself realized how imnse her anger was.

That's why she had no choice but to focus on controlling her rampages.

However...

—I understand that you want to control your rampages, but you've skipped an important step.

—What do you an by that?

—You're trying to solve the hardest problems first, instead of starting with the easy ones.

It's like this when you compare it to a ga.

It's like trying to unlock top-tier skills before mastering the beginner or first-tier abilities.

If you don't have the basics down, it'll just take you longer to control your rampages.

So what are those fundantals?

—Can you use your power properly when you're not rampaging?

—Well...

—When you rampage, your power surpasses even most professional Hunters. But not in your regular state, right? That's the basic, most fundantal thing I'm talking about.

Rampaging is extrely dangerous, but if she could control it, she'd surpass even the pros.

Because of that, she trained late into the night focusing only on controlling that state.

This had been Sang-ah's approach up till now.

Perhaps it was fitting for a middle schooler. It was a rather simple mindset.

She was skipping the basics and trying to tackle only the tough part straight away.

—If you want to control your rampages, you shouldn't be focusing on the rampages themselves, but on yourself.

That ant she needed to beco stronger without relying on rampages.

She had been so impatient that she missed the simpler path.

Being unable to find composure, she was always on edge, and so never considered just walking the peaceful road first.

There was a reason why Chohyang-sunbae had invited Sang-ah to the temple.

—So let's start with the basics.

How to use magic power or doing monster-targeted exercises—those were already taught at school, so I skipped them.

What I was teaching Sang-ah was how to get stronger without rampaging.

Normally, when rampaging, people breathe fire or grow dragon scales on their bodies, but in reality, it was power that could be used even without rampaging.

Sang-ah hadn't realized that until now.

So I helped her awaken to that thod, and since then, ti passed until it was nearly winter break.

And then—

Fwoooosh—

"Oh? It works! I'm doing it!"

Finally sensing how, Sang-ah was now able to ignite fire in her palm.

A strength she'd before only been able to use while rampaging, she could now wield it calmly.

"Ah... but now that I have a fire, it's so hot. Is there any water?"

"Just put it out yourself."

"Oh, right?"

Sang-ah was so excited she started making a fuss.

Additionally, she could now cover her body in dragon scales.

Both her hands beca covered in tough red scales, and flas leapt up as she shouted,

"Armant Hardening! Flaming Fist!"

I supposed, in so ways, that was very much like a student...

****

With sumr break here, the dorms emptied for a while.

Like everyone, when break ca, we paused our studies and went ho.

I too grabbed my bags and hopped on the bus to see my parents for the first ti in months.

I arrived at our apartnt after all that ti and stood in front of our door.

Beep beep beep beep—

Luckily, the password hadn't changed.

Tsk—

"Son, welco ho~"

"Welco back, Seongjin."

The mont I entered the code and opened the door, my mom and dad greeted .

"Hey! Squid! Hurry up and hand over that Monster Seal! You promised!"

"What kind of way is that to talk to your brother who just got ho?"

My little sister, still an elentary schooler, ran up, being as immature as ever.

My mom scolded her for that, as an added bonus.

And then—

"Ah, hello."

A girl who had followed from school greeted them.

My family, surprised but happy to see bring ho a guest they'd never t before, looked astonished.

"Ah... You're that friend, huh?"

"What was your na again?"

"I'm Kwon Sang-ah."

"Of course, Sang-ah! Co right in."

"Yes..."

At the enthusiastic welco from my family, Sang-ah frowned a little.

It was probably her first ti eting a friend's relatives like this.

She seed to have never hung out at soone else's house before.

"Is this your first ti with sothing like this?"

"Yeah... pretty much."

"Pretty much?"

"I had friends in elentary school too, but... I always ended up having to say goodbye. Because I lost control and rampaged..."

Even before entering Hand High, Kwon Sang-ah had been well-known.

She had, after all, once suddenly lost control and knocked out several teachers.

That earned her notoriety but brought nothing good.

"After that, the kids who used to bully disappeared... But even the ones I was close with left ."

Sang-ah had beco a figure of fear overnight.

She said herself that when she rampaged, it turned her into a monster—so frightening even allies and enemies abandoned her.

"And that's not all."

That fear didn't stop inside the school.

News of Sang-ah reached the families of the injured staff and the parents of other students.

They ca to school to protest directly, so calling her a monster.

'Why does a monster like you have to be in the sa class as my son?'

'How has soone like this not been expelled?'

'What a real punk of a girl. Do you even know how many months my husband's been bedridden because of you?'

Sang-ah had to listen to such complaints from parents at school.

There had always been overprotective parents.

If there was anything that could harm their child, they would do anything to eliminate it.

So stooped to verbal abuse and personal attacks.

They were really the worst of the worst.

"Do you know what's most unfair about all this? I didn't even have parents to protect ."

Sang-ah didn't even have those foolish parents.

The closest thing was a mother who lay bedridden, not attempting to move at all.

"How did you survive through all that hell?"

"Fortunately, it didn't last long. Once it ca out that I was the child of the Hwasan Guildmaster, everyone clamd up."

To be honest, the Hwasan Guild didn't do much to protect Sang-ah.

But hearing the na of one of Korea's four major guilds was enough to make people cower and flee.

Those parents, who had tried to protect their own by attacking Sang-ah, were nothing more than cowards acting on a cheap sense of justice.

But it was obvious that incident had left Sang-ah deeply scarred.

"I wondered every day what I could do not to be treated like a monster. The reason was, of course, my trait... and I finally understood what I had to do."

She must control her rampages.

So as not to be treated as a monster.

That was why she'd skipped the basics and focused solely on controlling rampages.

"To be honest, even now I get scared. I worry how other parents will react if they see ."

Just thinking of those events made her whole body tremble. Afraid she'd be called a monster again.

The anxiety and anger born from that fear was still alive inside her.

But for as long as she was in my ho, that wouldn't happen.

"Since Seongjin's friend is here, what should we eat?"

"I dunno... How about the new pork belly restaurant next door?"

"You just want to drink. We should get sothing the kids want."

My parents had no objections to Sang-ah at all.

They were only considering what she might want to eat.

"I want chicken!"

"No way. Since your brother's friend is here, we should have sothing else. And you had chicken just yesterday, Yunhee."

"Mom, don't you know? There's no such thing as a bad person who likes chicken. Am I right?"

"Hmmph."

Yunhee insisted and my mom shot her down.

She still hadn't changed.

Honestly, I wasn't sure she'd ever grow up.

"Okay, let's let Sang-ah pick what she wants to eat."

"Yeah, it's her first ti here."

"Uh...?"

Suddenly, my parents' eyes were on Sang-ah.

When asked what she'd like to eat, she dazed for a mont.

Being welcod like this by others was probably a very foreign feeling.

"I... um..."

She seed like she could agonize over it endlessly.

So I leaned close and whispered in Sang-ah's ear.

And she parroted exactly what I'd whispered.

"P-pizza!"

Dawdling and wasting ti wasn't my style.

I might as well have us get what I liked.

"What? You just whispered in her ear! Isn't that cheating?"

But my sharp little sister instantly noticed.

She only got perceptive at tis like these.

"I don't mind. Just order whatever Seongjin wants."

So the al was decided, and we put in the delivery order right away.

Before long, Sang-ah was seated at a table loaded with instant food.

"Thank you for the al."

She took a slice of pizza and bit in.

Before she knew it, the warm, lively atmosphere wrapped around her.

At her family's mansion, things had always been cold and silent—she'd lived alone, like a mouse in her hole.

But my house was the exact opposite.

No one gave her the cold shoulder.

No one saw her as livestock or a defective product.

"But, unni, what's that on your head?"

Yunhee, still chewing chicken, pointed at the horn on Sang-ah's head.

"That's..."

Sang-ah hesitated.

But Dad cut in first.

"A horn, huh? Are you perhaps a dragon-type Mutamit?"

"How did you..."

"I heard a bit about you from Seongjin, so I looked so things up."

"You investigated ?"

"I'm a prosecutor, after all."

So they must already know she was the Hwasan Guildmaster's daughter.

And probably even about the rampage incident back in elentary school.

"Um... I an, about before..."

"Ah, we already know. That was the incident where you put all the magic power teachers in the hospital, right?"

At those words, an earthquake shook Sang-ah's heart.

Her most embarrassing past.

The fear that she'd be seen as a monster again made her tremble.

"Don't worry. We're not going to judge you for that."

"Huh?"

"Neither Mom nor Dad is the type to nitpick about sothing from so long ago."

It wasn't just Dad—the whole family already knew.

Hearing that, Sang-ah was about to burst into tears.

Despite knowing the dangers of her rampage, they still welcod her. It felt as warm as being hugged by a mother in a hospital bed.

"Unni, are you a dragon?"

"...."

"Can I touch that?"

Yunhee reached out and poked at Sang-ah's horn.

In that instant, Sang-ah burst into tears—of a different kind.

"Kyaaak! Don't touch that!"

The mont Yunhee touched her horn, Sang-ah flinched and covered it with her hands.

Yunhee, oblivious, asked,

"Huh? Why?"

"I-it's ticklish!"

It was the mont the tears of emotion turned into ones of embarrassnt.

Yunhee grinned and reached out with her greasy hands.

"How can it be ticklish? If you touch it with greasy hands it gets clean!"

Outraged, I yanked Yunhee away by the collar and put so distance between her and Sang-ah.

"It's because you poke too hard. And do you think chicken oil is so kind of premium cleaning agent?"

"Chicken oil is good for your skin and your health..."

"Stop with the nonsense!"

"Aagh! Why'd you hit !"

After I flicked Yunhee's forehead, she sared her greasy hands on my face.

When on earth would my bratty sister mature?

As all that worried ... Sang-ah was laughing.

She probably never made an expression like that in her cold mansion.

****

"They've all fallen asleep."

"Yeah."

That night, dad and I sat on the living room sofa.

Sang-ah was sharing a room with Yunhee.

Judging by the way they slept on the sa bed, they seed to have gotten close.

"Did you check it out?"

"Yeah."

Before the break, I had introduced Sang-ah to my dad.

When I ntioned that I'd be bringing her ho soon, he seed pleased.

But I'd also asked him for sothing at the sa ti.

"Genetic information about Sang-ah."

Dad showed a tablet with the data I'd asked for.

The reason I'd requested it was because I'd felt so kind of incongruity while ntoring Sang-ah.

And then Dad made a shocking statent.

"About Sang-ah's mother... It's possible she's not from 'this world'."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

It's been ntioned by Hwasan's guildmaster that Sang-ah's mother is from another world...

I'm guessing Hwasan's guildmaster isn't even her real father, he probably just kidnapped her mother or sothing.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】