Reset Life – Chapter 13

KR Translators:

・StarrySkySailor
・KawaiiKage
・ImmortalInk
・KingPotato
・SugoiSenpai

Chapter 13: What Do You Expect Me to Do When You Ask Me That? (3)

The fat that filled his body along with the muscles was an excellent shock absorber. His bare body, which didn’t hurt no matter how much he was hit, was an object of admiration.

Jounin scratched his head and said,

“Well……after being hit for a while, the people hitting me get tired. So I just decided to get hit……I got hit a little hard today.”

His tone was filled with deep melancholy.

I was about to voice my second question, but swallowed it back down.

Jounin in 10 years was different from now. He was boisterous, gruff, ferocious, and cruel. He was a figure perceived as fear by both enemies and allies. But now he’s so dejected.

Did something happen in the next 10 years?

Putting all those questions aside, I placed my hand on his shoulder.

“Does it hurt?”

“There are some……stinging parts.”

“Just bear with it a little. We’ll clean it with warm water and wrap it with bandages. Get some rest in the meantime.”

“Yes……Thank you.”

Jounin bowed his head in genuine gratitude and lay down on the floor. The only thing that could be considered his sleeping spot was a pile of damp straw on the floor.

He’s got a huge body, but his inner self is just a fifteen-year-old boy. No, he seems even more fragile than that. That’s why he just takes the beating.

“Risel, I’ve warmed up the water. I’ll go get some food and clothes.”

“Ah, yes, Teacher.”

I carefully cleaned Jounin’s wounds with warm water, applied the herbs I had bought on the way, and then bandaged them. Because of his large size, this task continued for a long time.

After some time had passed, Jounin suddenly asked,

“Um, by any chance, what happened to my shop?”

“Shop?”

“Yes. Actually, I was……selling flowers.”

Because of his serious tone, I ended up imagining the 2-meter tall figure carefully tending to a flower with tiny leaves.

Pu, Puut……Kkut……Woo, It’s funny!

Splash, splash! Swish!

I vigorously scrubbed the towel to hide my laughter. Jounin must have said that out of concern.

He spoke in a serious and sentimental voice.

“That shop……was the first and last workplace I managed to get, as a good-for-nothing. I haven’t been able to get along with people since I was young……But flowers are beautiful. Hoping they wouldn’t hate flowers even if they hated me, I took courage and……started selling them.”

“Ah……”

He continued his story calmly.

About how much he cherished and loved the plants.

He said that even to him, with an appearance that scared people away, flowers bloomed brightly and smiled. The affection embedded in his words was overflowing with sincerity, enough to move even someone who knew nothing about gardening or floriculture.

I abandoned my intention to laugh.

The reason there are no plants in the house is because this place is not a suitable environment to grow them. For the sake of the plants, he didn’t bring a single pot inside the house.

Certainly, people wouldn’t treat him well, considering his large size for his age and the scary scars he has. Still, he chose to grow flowers as a way to reach out to people.

He was a person diligently living his own life in his own way.

I cleared my throat, completely erasing my smile, and said.

“Ah, uhm! The shop, well, it’s fine except for a few broken items and pots. Ah, the door is completely broken.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief. If I have the shop, I can somehow get back on my feet……”

His huge body swayed as he let out a sigh of relief. I smiled and tended to his wounds, and it was when I finally bandaged his forehead.

“Jounin, are you there?”

“Ah, yes, Village Head-nim. Just a moment.”

An old man’s voice was heard from outside. Jounin clumsily got up and headed towards the door, and I approached the hole in the wall and examined the situation outside. I had heard some strange noises.

Clang! Clatter! Crash!

“Hey, damn it. What’s the use of growing flowers you can’t even eat?”

“Ugh……Tsk! Damn it. It’s really bitter.”

If my memory serves me right, those are Jounin’s shop belongings. Dozens of thugs brought them all and started dumping them in Jounin’s front yard.

What are those people doing?

I was about to call Jounin and tell him to look at the yard. I witnessed a terrible cruelty there.

“Jounin, the yard……!”

“So, please leave by today. If we stay with you any longer, we’ll be in danger too.”

“……Yes, Village Head-nim.”

“Where did this monster of a child come from……”

The old man, the Village Head, clicked his tongue and went outside, leaning on his cane. And from outside, the sounds of pots breaking, and various tools being destroyed, could be heard.

Clang! Clatter! Crack! Thud! Crash!

T, Those guys, what are they doing now? Jounin’s flowers that he raised with all his heart……!

“Those damn bastards……!”

I was about to draw my sword and rush outside.

If Jounin hadn’t grabbed both my arms and stopped me, I would have.

I looked back at him and said in a low voice.

“Let go, Jounin. Can’t you hear what those bastards are doing right now?”

Jounin held me tightly and spoke in a low voice.

“Just……leave it. Anyway……getting along with people was a lost cause. I’m really grateful that you cared for me even though we just met. I……other than my mother……I’ve never……been treated with such consideration before. That’s enough.”

He held onto my arms and wouldn’t let go. Even though he’s only fifteen, he’s stronger than me.

Clang! Crack! Clatter! Crash!

“Damn it! What did you do? What did you do wrong to be treated like that by people? This is unfair. I’ll teach those bastards a lesson!”

“……this was……destined to happen.”

Jounin’s muttering cooled my head, which was boiling with rage. No, the rage solidified coldly.

Destiny? What destiny?

You mean it’s your destiny to be helpless and abandoned by people?!

“Forget about destiny. What did you even do! You just lived your life!”

I’m angry.

Jounin’s current appearance overlaps with mine, when I had no choice but to charge forward even though I knew I would die.

I couldn’t stand the sight of him silently enduring the theft of his dreams, just because of a single phrase,”It was destined to happen.”

I don’t know about me, but I don’t want anyone else to go through that kind of pain.

“Just……leave……it……Sob!”

Jounin’s hands are trembling.

The sound of pots breaking still clangs loudly outside.

I gritted my teeth.

Resentment built up in my chest and I couldn’t stand it.

Why, why do they hate Jounin?

Why!

Just because he’s big and has scars and looks scary?

Did a child who wanted to grow flowers seem so dangerous?

Look at this.

He’s crying! The child you’re trying to chase away is crying!

He’s only fifteen.

You’re going to chase away a child like that?!

Just because he looks rough? Just because he didn’t pay those thugs their protection money properly?

“Let go! Let go of me!”

Clang. Clang.

The sound of pots breaking continues to ring in my ears.

But Jounin’s hands holding my arms are too firm. Those hands that have accepted the inevitable fate are too firm.

Clang! Clatter……

Finally, I heard the sound of the last pot breaking and rolling around.

“Damn it……!”

I gritted my teeth and lowered my head. Anger boiled up in my chest. I felt Jounin’s hands, holding my arms, trembling with sadness. It feels like his resentment is flowing into me as well.

Why is the plight of another person, whom I can understand, so frustrating?

Pouring……

Cold rain pours down mercilessly.

“What is this……”

Levidian was looking at this disastrous scene, holding a bag with clothes and food.

Broken shards of pots scattered around. Black soil flows over them like tear stains.

White flowers, their stems broken and heads drooping, are stained with dirt and will never regain their brilliance.

“I’m sorry……Did it hurt?”

Jounin gathered those flowers, dug a hole in the yard, and planted them one by one.

Without hiding the tears mixed with the rain, the boy with only a large body is comforting his fragile heart alone.

“He just accepts it as fate……”

A harsh voice, one I could hardly believe was mine, escaped my lips.

“There’s……nothing I can do.”

That resigned voice. A voice filled with the emptiness of having nothing left.

I know all too well who made that kind of voice.

“Yeah. Keep saying there’s nothing you can do……Keep saying that……and live your life.”

Grit.

The sound of grinding teeth briefly spreads. I glared once at that broad, foolish back and turned away.

“Risel, what in the world happened? Risel?”

I heard her voice, but I didn’t look back.

If I look back……I’ll see my own reflection in that broad back.

That frustratingly powerless figure.

The rain continued to fall without ceasing until the middle of the night. As if it was the only thing it knew how to do, the rain that started pouring down in the afternoon was still falling.

Pouring……

The sound of the rain heard from beyond the tightly closed window sounds like the dragging of a thin curtain.

Listening to the sound of the rain curtain sweeping the floor, I told them what had happened, how it had turned out.

Just because of his rough appearance, people found it difficult to approach him. As a result, he lived an ordinary life, receiving little help from people and unable to offer any himself.

He then opened a small flower shop with the money he had saved. A shop he must have vowed to himself to cultivate with all his might, even though customers were few. The thugs who appeared, demanding protection money, must have been a nightmare for him.

Jounin’s shop wasn’t doing well enough to stay afloat while paying protection money. The thugs were holding out in the dark side of the city, including the slums, and in reality, it would be right to call the Village Head one of them.

In the end, the thugs must have pressured the Village Head behind the scenes, and decided to expel Jounin, who lived without harming anyone, from the village. Jounin accepted it as it was.

I don’t know when the story ended. I don’t even know if I told it properly. I just explained Jounin’s situation as empathetically as I could.

“Oh my, I can’t believe there are such absurd people!”

As expected, Levidian, who could wield a sword for the weak, was angry. However, she didn’t recklessly rush outside or anything. It’s her nature to think about what to do and how to do it before acting.

“So that’s what happened……”

Aila nodded as well. The delegation had decided not to depart until the rain stopped, and since there was nothing to do in the meantime, she had come to my room, asking for a story.

She lifted her teacup and said.

“It seems Risel has also experienced a major setback, hasn’t he?”

“Ah……Yes. It was a major setback.”

“That’s why you could understand Jounin’s feelings better. You found your mirror.”

I flinched slightly at the word”mirror.”But then I acknowledged that even that tremor was right. Though our appearances and the time we lived were different, at that moment, Jounin and I were mirrors reflecting each other.

I muttered to myself with an empty heart.

“Now……what can we do?”

“We should apprehend the thug group first, and punish those involved. And the lord should also pay attention to the slums.”

“Ibi, everyone knows that much. The important thing in this situation is probably Jounin.”

“That’s right. Where is that child now? He left his clothes behind, but it must be quite cold.”

Where could he have gone, now that he can’t even stay at home? How can a child who has never lived anywhere else possibly survive? He has innate strength, so he could work anywhere.

Aila leaned back on the sofa and lifted her teacup. Her ash-gray hair swayed softly, and her golden eyes targeted me. She drew the arrow of words towards me.

“There are many things in the world that can be called treasures. Some of them people are reluctant to touch. But those can be the most expensive and valuable treasures.”

“Aila, what are you trying to say?”

“You want to help that person named Jounin, right? If you feel a sense of kinship with him, you must be thinking that, regardless of what kind of failure you experienced.”

“Of course.”

As she said, Jounin was a mirror reflecting me. To be precise, a mirror reflecting my past. It’s like seeing myself on the very day I died, frustrated with fate.

But Jounin is still alive. That’s why I want to do something for him, but……

If I don’t think about what to do, I’ll end up saying harsh words to him. Just like people sneer at their own dark past.

“People are usually grateful to those who offer them what they need.”

“What?”

“What did you need?”

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