Flying Dagger Witch , Ju Ha-rin.
She was a woman called one of the Three Great Witches alongside Seo Ha-yoon, the Blood Witch, because she was infamous for brutally slaughtering Hunters and Villains alike without discrimination using the thirteen daggers in her possession.
‘What? The Flying Dagger Witch Ju Ha-rin was Choi A-rin? Did she change both her surname and given name at some point? Come to think of it, in my past life, I knew that she became a Villain after escaping from some facility—though I do not know exactly where—and brutally killing her father. Going by the approximate timing, it does line up with this period.’
I could not be certain, but if my guess was right, there was a strong possibility that those bastards earlier had forcibly abducted her, demanding that she repay her father's gambling debts. She would have been imprisoned in the fighting arena they had gone on about, then escaped for some reason, killed her father, and become a Villain.
‘Well, Ju Ha-rin killed everyone she came across, whether they were Villains or Hunters, as if she bore some deep grudge. Of course, she was later killed by Root’s people.’
Like me, she had operated alone in my past life. But unlike me, who only hunted Villains, Ju Ha-rin murdered indiscriminately, as though it made no difference whether her targets were Hunters or Villains from various criminal organizations. She became one of the primary targets of the criminal organization Root and eventually met a gruesome death.
‘Among the many criminal organizations, Ju Ha-rin had shown the greatest hostility toward Root in particular... Could the bastards who tried to kidnap her earlier be from them too?’
“Hmm~ So the child standing before me right now was Ju Ha-rin, the Flying Dagger Witch, in her past life?”
“Pardon? F-Flying Dagger Witch? Who is Ju Ha-rin?”
Choi A-rin looked at me with a tense expression and pure eyes, as though she knew absolutely nothing.
“Ah, sorry. I mistook you for another woman for a moment. You look quite similar.”
“...Yes.”
“By the way, are you alright?”
“Pardon?”
“I saw you being dragged away after they grabbed you earlier. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No. Other than scraping my elbow a little, I am not hurt.”
“Hmm... That is a relief. If it is not too much trouble, I would like to go inside and talk. Would that be alright?”
“!!! Pardon? I-In our house?”
“Do you not want to? If you would rather not, we can talk here in the hallway.”
“N-No. You said that you are the teacher in charge of me, so it would be rude to leave you standing out here. Please come in first.”
Seemingly nervous about the sudden visit from an Academy teacher, Choi A-rin kept watching my reaction as she cautiously opened the front door and led me inside.
***
‘The conditions inside the house are much worse than I expected.’
When I entered the room, I could tell that she had done her best to clean it. Yet I saw an extremely old vinyl floor covering, wallpaper that had faded yellow, a quite worn dining table, and even a CRT television that was difficult to find these days. It gave me much to think about.
‘These days, some people do use CRT televisions while praising a retro aesthetic, but even setting that aside, this is an extremely poor environment overall. The gas stove looks old as well. And the gas line connected to it is in a serious state.’
“The house is a little shabby, right? Haha...”
Perhaps burdened by my gaze as I looked around the house, Choi A-rin stared into the air with an embarrassed expression.
“It did not feel that way at all. It is probably because you take good care of the house.”
“!!! W-Well...”
Perhaps she was unused to sudden praise, but Choi A-rin's face flushed deeply. As I looked around, I began asking her several questions.
“Where are your parents now?”
“...I do not know either.”
“You do not know?”
“...Yes. I was told that my mother left home soon after I was born, after fighting with my father. My father drank and gambled every day, then at some point, he stopped coming home.”
“Since when has he not been coming home?”
“It has been almost two months.”
‘He has not come home for two whole months? That is complete neglect as a parent.’
When I saw her extremely worn clothes and her unkempt hair, which she seemed to have cut herself, the situation was so infuriating that I let out a long sigh.
“Hah~ What kind of parents... In any case, it seems that, with all these circumstances, it was difficult for you to attend the Academy.”
“...Yes. Tuition was difficult, and day-to-day life was hard too.”
As for the tuition, she could have applied to Ares Academy for support through the low-income cadet admission track. But without the means to properly support herself day to day, it was only natural that she could not live an Academy life properly.
“Then how did you get by when your father was not around?”
“I would run a small tab at the grocery store, or when there was work, I would go to a restaurant and work part-time. Of course, it was hard because my father secretly took the money I earned to gamble.”
‘That man, who calls himself her father, only made life harder for a child who had tried to survive on her own.’
GRRRR—!
“!!! Ah—!”
At the unmistakably loud sound, Choi A-rin's face turned bright red in embarrassment. She immediately lowered her head and avoided my gaze.
“I am sorry. Come to think of it, it is dinner time, yet I seem to have kept you here for too long.”
“N-No, teacher.”
“As an apology for suddenly visiting your home, I would like to buy you dinner. What do you say?”
“D-Dinner? No, I am fine...”
GRRRR—!
“!!! Ah—!”
When her stomach growled again without regard for the situation, Choi A-rin did not know what to do from embarrassment.
‘Why does my stomach have to growl and say I am hungry right now? Well, I did go all day without eating...’
“Let us go outside first.”
“Pardon?”
“Come with me.”
“...Yes, understood.”
‘R-Right. I am only getting one meal from my teacher. I should eat quickly and return home.’
Choi A-rin watched me for a moment as I headed outside, then cautiously followed after me.
***
“I do not know whether it will suit your palate. I do not know much about women's tastes.”
“N-No, it is really delicious!”
Choi A-rin was wolfing down the side dishes set out at the home-style restaurant as though she had gone hungry for days. The female owner looked surprised, poured her a cup of water, and handed it to her.
“Oh my~ Eat slowly. You will get indigestion like that!”
“T-Thank you.”
“By the way, does it suit your taste?”
“Yes, it is so delicious. It is the best food I have ever eaten!”
“Oh my~ You speak sweetly, just like you look. I will prepare a few more side dishes for you on the house, so eat these in the meantime.”
“Thank you.”
Choi A-rin diligently scraped every last bit of the side dishes on the table into her stomach. Once she had filled herself to some extent, she finally seemed embarrassed by how ravenously she had eaten. Her face red, she looked at me and cautiously spoke.
“Um, teacher.”
“Hm?”
“Did I look unsightly while I was eating?”
“Hm?”
“Even I think I ate too ravenously...”
“There was nothing like that, so continue eating.”
“...Yes, teacher. But are you not going to eat that rice?”
“What? This?”
“Yes.”
Choi A-rin seemed to have kept staring at the bowl of rice I had not touched, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at it. I laughed at the sight and naturally placed the bowl before her.
“If you are hungry, feel free to order more. Just do not eat so much that you get indigestion.”
“Yes, teacher.”
‘Just from watching her eat, she is no different from an ordinary student. To think that a child like her was Ju Ha-rin, who was called the Flying Dagger Witch in my past life... Does a person really change according to their environment?’
As I watched Ju Ha-rin happily mix the rice in a soup bowl and eat with a bright expression, I was lost in thought.
***
“Thanks to you, I ate well. And thank you so much for buying daily necessities for me too, teacher.”
After buying Choi A-rin dinner, I noticed while looking around her home earlier that she lacked many basic items such as shampoo, toothpaste, and toilet paper. I stopped by a nearby mart and bought her daily necessities that could help.
“When I looked around earlier, it seemed like you would need them. I am buying them while I am visiting your home, so you do not need to feel burdened.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“And take this.”
“!!! This is...”
While shopping at the mart earlier, I had withdrawn cash from an ATM and put it in an envelope. When I handed it to Choi A-rin, she looked at me with a deeply burdened expression.
“Um, teacher.”
“What is it?”
“Do you pity me?”
“What?”
“You are my teacher in charge, but dinner is one thing. You even bought me daily necessities and gave me money, so somehow...”
Choi A-rin lightly bit her teeth without realizing it, seemingly thinking that I was pitying her. At the sight of her, I let out a long sigh and stroked her head.
“!!! W-What are you doing?”
“I do not pity you.”
“Pardon?”
“For the time being, I am only supporting you, Choi A-rin, so that you can attend the Academy normally again. Of course, this support is not free! Once you graduate from the Academy and get a job at a guild, repay it little by little each month.”
“T-Teacher.”
“And, if possible, I will personally look into having a guild I know support you with at least the basic necessities of life until you graduate. From now on, you only need to return to this Academy and focus on graduating. Do you understand what I mean?”
“W-Well...”
Despite my promise of support, Choi A-rin could not make a decision immediately and continued to hesitate.
“Is there a problem?”
“Pardon?”
“I said I would support most of what you need, from Academy tuition to what you need to live until you graduate. Is there a reason you cannot make a decision? Do you not want to return to the Academy?”
“!!! N-No! Of course not! I have always wanted to attend the Academy again.”
“Then why can you not make a decision?”
At my question about why she could not make a decision, Choi A-rin hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking.
“That is... Even if I attend school again, in the end, nothing will change.”
“Nothing will change?”
“Yes. Even if I decide that I want to attend, people will keep coming to demand that I repay my father's debts, and they may even come after me at the Academy. Besides, even if that problem is resolved, there is no telling when my father, addicted to gambling and alcohol, will cause something like this again.”
“Hmm...”
“I am so grateful that you made an offer like this to someone as lacking as me, but later, even you might end up being harmed. S-So... Sob...”
Choi A-rin thought she should refuse because of the many unpredictable situations that could descend at any moment. But perhaps it was too difficult to say it herself, and tears gathered in her eyes.
“So, in short, if I resolve your father and the debt collectors, that will be enough.”
“Pardon?”
“If I resolve only that, will it not be enough?”
“That is true, but...”
“I will resolve it for you.”
“!!! Pardon? You will, teacher?”
At my words that I would resolve it, Choi A-rin looked as though she could hardly believe them. But I gently stroked her head to reassure and comfort her.
“As the Academy teacher in charge of you, I promise that I will resolve this problem within two days.”