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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It was the first time I used time stop in actual combat.
Thanks to that, I was able to find out various facts.
First of all, to talk about the disadvantages, time stop left the user with no choice but to overexert themselves.
As a result of this, I had to personally cut the necks of all those Blade Wolves one by one with a sword.
Naturally, it took a lot of time.
Thanks to that, the cooldown of time stop increased by too much.
Fortunately, the Blade Wolves didn’t have regenerative abilities, and there were no other monsters.
If the opponent was a monster with regenerative abilities, or if there were other monsters remaining, it could have put me in danger instead.
However, this just meant that there were disadvantages.
It didn’t mean that it wasn’t a cheat.
Rather, this made me certain.
The Time Stop Breeding Uncle’s gift was more of a cheat than I had imagined.
Objectively, I was currently very weak.
Excluding the time stop ability, I was at the level of an extra who could die at any moment without it being strange.
Yet it allowed someone like me to handle dozens of Blade Wolves alone.
I would never lose the initiative, and I would always be able to definitively kill the enemy, even while multitasking.
It was literally a gift on a different level.
However, there was also a downside.
“It’s beyond imagination. Killing them all with a single blow.”
“This much is nothing.”
“Excessive modesty can rather be poison.”
“…”
The problem was that people around me started to have strange misunderstandings on their own.
Well, since they couldn’t perceive what happened while time was stopped, such a reaction would be natural.
From my perspective, it wasn’t something to go crazy and jump for joy over.
I mean, I stopped time and barely caught them one by one.
I even took longer because I couldn’t properly hold the sword.
If I were a true master swordsman, I could have finished it much faster than before.
But from the perspective of those who only witnessed the result, it looked like I handled it with a single blow.
“With you here, we can entrust it to you with peace of mind.”
“No, it’s not to that extent…”
“Please use that strength for the sake of the people.”
“…Yes.”
No matter how desperately I denied it, in the end, it only came across as modesty.
But it wasn’t like I could reveal my ability. In the first place, blabbing about one’s ability was a very stupid action.
No matter how invincible time stop seemed, and even if it was actually invincible, the user wasn’t invincible.
In other words, it meant that if things went wrong, I could be caught off guard and killed.
Moreover, without time stop, I was no different from a corpse. In such a situation, I had no intention of doing the stupid thing of blabbing about my gift.
Now, I was just carrying out the task at hand.
“By the way, when will we train again?”
“You’re not weak enough to receive training from me.”
“???”
Fuck.
I didn’t expect this.
Andrew stopped teaching me because I was much stronger than him.
Honestly, it was unfair. My skills were much worse than his.
But it wasn’t that I didn’t understand.
Just like there was a saying to not to show off in front of a caterpillar, he must have felt burdened to teach someone stronger than him.
But the problem was that it was me.
If we fought without time stop, I would just get fucked! Please teach me! Unable to say it out loud, I just swallowed it and groaned inwardly.
“Excuse me, senior? What should I do…”
“Just stay at ease.”
“But why are you speaking to me so politely?”
“Because you are our hope.”
“???”
Even the security guards, including Brick, started to use honorifics with me.
So when I asked the reason, they said it was because of the overwhelming presence I showed in the previous battle.
Damn it, so that was how it turned out.
To put it simply, I was being treated as a hero.
Right now, with monsters rampaging, people naturally wanted to rely on a hero. Because that way, their hearts could be at ease.
If anything happened, we had a hero. The hero would eventually save us.
They become reassured like that. I couldn’t say anything about that. It was natural for humans.
But why did it have to be me?
Fuck.
I mean, it felt good. Those who used to subtly ignore me were now crawling on their own.
But I wasn’t at the level to receive this kind of treatment now. In other words, the treatment was too excessive.
“What should I do from now on…”
“Uncle!!!”
“…?!”
Something flew from behind at a tremendous speed and struck my back. Thanks to that, I felt like my waist had twisted.
Damn it… Who was it this time?
Frowning, I looked at the culprit who had ambushed me.
“It’s you again.”
“Hehe! I found you, uncle!”
“How do you keep finding me?”
Short red hair, shabby appearance, a familiar sight.
But how did this kid know where I was and come to find me?
Was it a coincidence? Or was there something else?
“Uncle! Is something wrong?”
“What are you suddenly talking about again?”
“Liar! Your expression doesn’t look good.”
“…”
Seeing the kid innocently tilting his head and asking, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Was my expression so dark that even this kid could tell? I shouldn’t be like this.
“It’s nothing.”
“Really?”
“This uncle doesn’t lie.”
“Then make one promise with me!”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t suddenly disappear alone.”
A much heavier promise than expected popped out.
Moreover, for some reason, the kid’s eyes were glowing red.
The kid then held out his pinky finger to me.
“Alright, I promise.”
It seemed like he had some story behind it.
Otherwise, there was no way he would show such an appearance.
I absolutely didn’t promise because I was intimidated by the kid.
I promised out of sympathy.
“You promised! Uncle!”
“This uncle is someone who always keeps his promises.”
“As expected, I can trust you, uncle.”
The hair color and the obsession with promises. No matter how I looked at it, it was too similar to that character.
However, that character was a girl. Could it be that this kid in front of me…?
I soon shook my head with a chuckle.
One of the protagonist’s heroines was here right now.
There was no way such a fortunate thing could happen.
* * *
[I’ll definitely come back, it’s a promise.]
To the little one, that promise was the only reason to live. If they waited patiently, their parents would definitely come back.
If they waited a little longer, they’d come back.
They kept believing and waiting.
One year taught the little one many things.
If they sat still and cried, nothing would change.
If they didn’t get up and find food themselves, they’d just starve.
There was no longer a fence to protect the little one.
However, the little one still kept waiting.
Even as time passed and that promise wore away, they kept believing and waiting until the end.
When are you coming?
You promised to come back.
Promises had to always be kept.
The questions became echoes and ate away at the little one’s heart.
And with time, that heart grew weary and their memories weathered.
The weight of that promise and the length of time they languished for was not something a mere child could bear.
Perhaps that was why they intervened.
With loneliness that pierced to the bone, the little one had unknowingly begun desiring the attention of others.
So, they acted like a good child. A child who obediently listened to adults and did many good deeds.
And thanks to that, they were able to meet uncle.
On the outside, he had a lot of body fat and looked incredibly suspicious, so at first, the adults around them warned not to get close to him.
But that was just the meddling of the ignorant.
They didn’t know anything, so they said such things.
He always looked at them properly. And he even stepped up directly for them.
At least that was what the child thought.
Of course, it was only because the other party picked a fight first.
But there was something more important to the child than that.
What was his name, Lowell? He was a strange person who always pestered the child.
So much so that the little one, who was acting as a good child, couldn’t endure it and refused outright.
It seemed like Lowell held a grudge over that, so he used everything he had to torment the little one, from distributing rotten food to giving all sorts of disadvantages under various pretexts.
No one directly stepped up. Because he was a rather successful security guard.
The people around them only expressed worry vocally. But uncle showed it not with words, but with actions.
“Uncle! Is something wrong?”
“What are you suddenly talking about again?”
“Liar! Your expression doesn’t look good.”
To the child, promises had become more important than anything else.
But in truth, they hadn’t made a promise to anyone. Because they didn’t have a deep enough relationship with anyone to make a promise.
To the child, a promise carried the same weight as their parents. And the uncle, while being with the child, at some point captured the child’s heart.
When they woke up, they looked for the uncle.
“Then make one promise with me!”
And they could tell where the uncle was. The child looked at him.
Although he didn’t have such a handsome appearance, that rather put them at ease.
The child held out their pinky finger.
“Don’t suddenly disappear alone.”
For the little one, no, for the girl, promises had become a symbol of obsession.
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