87. Cecilia Family's Saten. And, Mage Saten (3)
After finishing the meal, lunchtime.
Time to train the children.
Minerva summoned me, as if something urgent had come up.
[Jun-woo! Come to the library! Right now!]
[1. Run to the library.]
[2. Walk to the library.]
...She's just telling me to come no matter what.
Whether I run or walk.
Either way, come to the library.
*Tsk, I have no choice.*
What on earth happened that she's calling me?
How annoying.
Since I couldn't ignore Minerva's summons, I walked through the corridor toward the entrance.
The moment I placed my hand on the front door.
From far away, Luna, holding a wooden sword, started running toward me.
"Mister!! Where are you going instead of coming to the yard!! It's training time!!"
"I'll be back in a bit. Today is self-study."
"Huh?"
"Train hard with Hare."
Pat—
I lightly tapped Luna's head with my hand.
Then, Luna muttered with a devastated look.
"T-training is canceled...? N-no way! This is a lie!"
Graaaah—
Hero Luna wailed.
She seemed sad about not being able to train.
*What's so fun about training that she's crying so mournfully...?*
I couldn't understand Luna, who was so obsessed with training.
So I gave up trying to understand and headed for the library.
Behind me, I could still hear Luna's voice shouting, "Give me back my training!"
*...Good thing there are no neighbors nearby.*
Very fortunate indeed.
During my journey to Minerva's Library.
Nothing particularly major happened, and I was able to arrive there safely.
I opened the door as usual and walked toward the desk where Minerva was.
Minerva was looking at a book with Meowng, her face serious.
"What are you doing, Minerva?"
"You're here, Jun-woo! This is bad! Really bad!"
"Boo! Boo!"
...I wish she'd explain what's so bad.
If she just says it's bad out of nowhere, I won't know what she means.
As if reading my mind, Minerva began explaining in an excited tone.
"This is terrible! A new book was printed today! And something terrible happened in it!"
"So what exactly is the terrible thing?"
"You need to read it yourself, Jun-woo."
Thud—
Minerva handed me a book, saying it was terrible.
It was a new edition of Lee Jun-woo's Future, still warm to the touch.
"How many volumes is this now..."
"It's probably over 30. I'll have to organize them later, which is annoying but... just read it for now!"
"Fine, stop nagging."
What kind of future could be unfolding that she's making such a fuss?
Whenever she reacts like this, it's usually a future where I die.
I made a light guess as I opened the book.
Dense text filled my vision.
And since knowing the entire future would be no fun, I quickly skipped over the unimportant parts.
Hmm.
"...Minerva."
"Yes, Jun-woo."
"Black flames. A Demon King appears in the future."
I skipped the unimportant parts, but.
The important parts were scorched with black flames.
So there was no information about the Demon King I could extract.
Minerva seemed to be aware of this fact as she let out a sigh.
"Haah... That's exactly the problem. Looking at the last page, something terrible definitely happens. But since we don't know the reason, we can't even think of countermeasures... Anyway, it's so frustrating...!!"
The last page?
I hadn't reached it yet, but following Minerva's words, I checked the last page.
There, a shocking future was written.
—The death of Hero Luna and the death of Lee Jun-woo.
I don't know the progression of the story.
But the ending pointed to the deaths of Luna and me.
What a shitty situation.
"...But, Minerva."
"Yeah?"
"Luna won't die, will she?"
To be precise, Luna does die.
However, when Luna is deemed to have fallen.
Timeless forcibly turns back time.
*No matter what happens, it's made to ensure the Demon King can be defeated.*
That's the Holy Sword that only the Hero can possess.
The power to save the world.
So, what this last sentence probably means is...
"For some reason, Luna and I die, and time rewinds..."
"Correct, Jun-woo! But as you know, there's a problem."
"What happens after time rewinds isn't written, right?"
"Right, so in this case..."
Luna fails to kill the Demon King and wanders through endlessly repeating time.
That's one way to explain it.
I made that guess and closed the book.
Because what I needed to do had become clear.
"Minerva."
"Yeah."
"I'll leave the future to you."
"...What are you talking about? Hey! Where are you going! You're going to die! Where are you going!"
"To the present."
"Wh-what are you saying! Jun-woo! Have you gone crazy because you're going to die!?"
I left the library, ignoring Minerva's words.
Since staying here won't change the future.
What I need to do now is...
"Special training."
The Hero Party needed special training for the approaching Demon King.
That was the best method I could employ right now.
The yard that was always full of energy with training.
However, today the yard was filled with gloom.
"Haah... My training..."
"Th-there's no time with Mister anymore..."
Haah.
A 14-year-old sighing as if she'd lived her whole life.
The two of them were currently.
Feeling a great sense of loss over the canceled training.
"I wanted to train...!! Where did Mister go!!"
Graaaah—
Luna wailed again.
Perhaps her wailing worked.
From far away, the person the two had been eagerly waiting for walked over.
"It's Mister!!"
"H-he's here. Mister...?"
Patter patter—
Luna and Hare immediately ran over when they saw Lee Jun-woo.
"Training! Start training right now! Mister!"
"I-I'm okay even without training, Mister...!"
The two clung to him like baby birds wanting food.
Lee Jun-woo decided to give them what they wanted.
"You want to train. Is that what you're saying?"
"That's right! Training!"
Nod— Nod—
Luna nodded her head.
*The canceled training is coming back! Today's my lucky day!*
Please let there be training today!
Please let there be training with Mister!
To Luna, who was looking at Lee Jun-woo desperately.
Lee Jun-woo answered in a calm tone.
"Then today we'll have training."
"Yay! I'm so excited!"
"Joint training with all four of us."
"Huh?"
"Y-yes...?"
Training with all four members of the Hero Party.
Special training to kill the Demon King coming in the future.
*Training together is a bit... not great...*
But still.
Since there's training, I should think positively!
"I like training!"
Luna decided to think as positively as possible.
The dining room where all members of the Hero Party had gathered.
Today they were assembled in one place not for a meal, but for a different purpose.
Saten muttered in a puzzled tone.
"Why did Mister gather us all in one place?"
"I don't know! He said there's special training today!"
"Special training? What's that?"
"It must be special training!"
"Hmm..."
Saten wasn't particularly fond of training itself, so she was lukewarm.
It was the opposite reaction from Luna, who was quite excited.
Rattle—
"Now then, today. You all will be doing special training."
Lee Jun-woo appeared, dragging a blackboard he'd brought from somewhere.
But first.
"Hare, wake up Estia next to you. She's drooling in her sleep."
"E-Estia, wake up...!!"
"U-uueh...?"
Estia woke up startled.
Her eyes were still sleepy.
However, time waits for no one.
Lee Jun-woo didn't know when the Demon King would arrive, so he had to make them stronger in a short period.
*To do that, there's only one method.*
Smack—!
Lee Jun-woo struck the blackboard and said.
"First, this is bad news, but. You all will soon meet a Demon King."
"What!? What do you mean, Mister!? I thought we were training today!?"
"...We'll train later, so just listen for now."
"Okay."
Anyway.
"We're going to encounter an existence similar to the Demon King we met in the dungeon last time."
"Then will you take care of it like last time, Mister?"
"I won't be able to do that because of my eyes."
Certainly.
This time, I'll be defeated.
Unless I offer another body part.
It was clear I couldn't face the Demon King alone.
So.
"Now you all need to help me a bit."
Hero Party.
I will certainly lose.
*But...*
If they can just lend a small helping hand.
The probability of defeating the Demon King will increase.
*I can't expect explosive growth in a short period.*
However.
One thing.
There's a method to achieve explosive growth in a short period.
Lee Jun-woo struck the blackboard and said.
"The content of the special training is cooperation. If the four of you can trust each other and coordinate your actions accordingly. You can become stronger in a short time."
"So, Mister! What's today's special training content!"
"Teamwork. Until the Demon King arrives, you all will sleep together, train together, eat together. You'll do everything together."
Small forces gather to create great power.
If they start cooperating, they'll be able to create good synergy.
However, contrary to those predicted results.
Lee Jun-woo was worried.
*Can these four strong-willed individuals really cooperate with each other...?*
Though it was written in the future that they somehow succeed...
Lee Jun-woo couldn't be confident that the Hero Party would do well.