A unit known as the strongest spear and shield of humanity, consisting only of those who were once considered the best of the best among the existing heroes.
Among these, there were four squad leaders who each commanded four squads guarding the north, south, east, and west of the city, and were known for their outstanding abilities that surpassed others.
One of these four squad leaders, responsible for the north of the city, was Martina Ivanova, one of the so-called "Golden Generation" and also known as the "Grand Mage of Elements."
Thanks to her numerous achievements and exceptional skills, she was a role model for many wizards and respected by countless heroes. Now, she was...
"Hey, newbie. It just so happens that we have a day off on the same day. If you have time, why don't you go on a date with me? I'm quite famous, so I can freely enter even restaurants that are hard to reserve. What do you think? Huh?"
She was clinging to a young man who had recently joined her squad, enthusiastically trying to impress him.
She was even putting on airs, something unimaginable for her, who was usually confident and charismatic.
However, despite her actions, the new squad member of the 4th Squad, Yun Siwoo, showed no signs of being swayed and only smiled quietly.
"It's not 'newbie,' it's Yun Siwoo, Captain Martina. And with all due respect, there are monsters gathering in front of us. Wouldn't it be better to refrain from such personal conversations?"
To Yun Siwoo's mechanical and textbook response, Martina shrugged and said,
"Why worry about such trivial things? I want to have a deep conversation with our Siwoo. Those monsters are nothing to worry about."
As she said this, Martina waved her hand a few times towards the barrier beyond which the monsters were gathered. The dozen or so monsters running towards the barrier were instantly reduced to ashes by the flames that suddenly erupted from the ground.
Looking at this scene, Martina smiled and said,
"Now, no more monsters, right? So, what do you say? Want to go on a date with me on your day off?"
To her question, Yun Siwoo replied sharply,
"I'm sorry, but I have to decline. I have prior commitments."
"Prior commitments? Are you going to meet your family?"
"I don't have a family. Both of them passed away when I was young."
"Oh, I'm sorry..."
Martina's pupils trembled violently as she realized she had stepped on a landmine with her question.
But her shaken heart soon turned to sympathy for the boy in front of her.
Without a family, how hard must it have been for him to grow up?
Feeling a maternal instinct she had never experienced before, Martina said,
"Well... if you have prior commitments, there's nothing I can do. It's not like the person you're meeting is a woman, right?"
To which Yun Siwoo replied,
"It is a woman."
"...Huh?"
Martina's voice was filled with confusion as she spoke. At the same time, Yun Siwoo's eyes lit up as he glanced at his watch.
It was time to go on reconnaissance. Reconnaissance missions required speed, so Yun Siwoo quickly got up and shouted,
"I'm going to go on reconnaissance now. I'll leave the handover to the next person on duty!"
"Hey, hey! Wait a moment... Wow, he runs so fast."
Yun Siwoo's figure disappeared in an instant, leaving Martina alone at the guard post, where she muttered in frustration.
Honestly, she was speechless.
Meeting a woman?
Instead of her?
Always full of confidence, she couldn't understand Yun Siwoo's words at all.
What was she lacking compared to other women?
"Captain, why do you look so down? Did something happen? Are the enraged monsters from the forest causing trouble again?"
Kanna, the deputy squad leader of the 4th Squad, who had just returned from reconnaissance, asked Martina, who had been deep in thought with a serious expression.
Recently, due to the enraged monsters in the northern forest, lower-level monsters that had been pushed out of their territory had flooded the border area.
Kanna asked with a serious face, thinking that something similar had happened again, but Martina muttered in a very serious voice,
"Hey, what do you think I'm lacking compared to other women?"
"Come on, don't make that serious face over such trivial things. I thought something serious had happened. Anyway, why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
"Well, I asked the newbie out on a date, and he said he had to meet another woman instead. What am I lacking?"
Kanna replied with a look of disbelief at Martina's serious muttering.
"Damn, it seems you lack a conscience. Haven't I been telling you for days to stop acting silly with the newbie? Don't you know that it's a crime to do that to a minor?"
"But we can wait until he's an adult to get married. And age is just a number when two people like each other, right?"
"Think about your age. I heard the newbie is a first-year student at the Academy, so there's at least a two-fold age gap between you. Even if you see age as just a number, what about him? Would he see a woman who is twice his age as a potential partner?"
At this, Martina tilted her head and said,
"But there were many people around his age who confessed to me, asking me to wait a few years. Many heroes don't care about such things, you know? We don't age due to magic, so our bodies are still like those of people in their twenties. I won't die earlier than him because of my age. We don't die of old age; we die fighting monsters."
Kanna clicked her tongue and glared at Martina.
Yes, to be honest, Martina was incredibly beautiful.
So much so that she was always on the list of heroes that unmarried people wanted to marry.
But Kanna, who was also unmarried and younger than Martina, had no desire to see her superior engaging in a romantic relationship with a younger boy at work, so she brought up a name that was almost taboo for Martina.
"I heard that Captain Natalia's daughter, Marin, is the same age as the newbie."
"......How many times have I told you not to mention that woman in front of me?"
The mention of Natalia's name made Martina's face turn dark instantly.
Natalia, the only person who had ever made Martina feel defeated in her life.
During Martina's time at the Academy, her year was called the "Golden Generation."
There were three people in her generation who were said to have the talent to lead the next generation.
One was Martina herself, one was that damn Natalia, and the last was a male student named Lucas.
The only male student who was strong enough to catch Martina's eye, who preferred men stronger than herself, was Lucas, who was almost as strong as her.
So, Martina had secretly harbored a crush on him.
Although they were in different classes, she would occasionally visit him, have conversations, and engage in discussions about getting stronger, gradually building a mutual liking.
But just when she thought they were getting closer, a shocking rumor spread through the school.
The rumor that Lucas had impregnated Natalia.
How could students at the sacred Academy engage in such scandalous behavior?
However, when she rushed to the neighboring class and saw Natalia with a red face and a smug smile, Martina realized she had experienced her first defeat in life.
After Lucas Elroy and Natalia Yucrasia got married, and Natalia became Elroy, and their child entered the Academy, Martina couldn't find a man as appealing as Lucas.
Until she finally found someone who appealed to her even more.
"......I can't give up."
Martina, who was emitting a killing aura and leaking magic around her body, made Kanna slightly nervous. She cleared her throat and said,
"......Ahem, if you can't give up, the woman the newbie is meeting is probably around his age. He's young, so he probably prefers girls his own age."
"......So, he prefers younger girls, huh..."
If that's the case, she just needed to adjust to his preferences.
She decided to cut her hair to look more like a student for their next date.
*
It had been a week since Yun Siwoo joined Astrape and started his guard duty in the border area, alternating between day and night shifts.
On his first day off after a week, he returned to the tent and sighed as he muttered,
"......This is really troublesome."
[Well, isn't this the fate of a talented man? It's proof of how attractive you are, Siwoo. You should be happy about it.]
"How can I be happy when the person pursuing me is my superior at work?"
Yun Siwoo grumbled to Lucy, who spoke with a playful tone.
He had always been popular with women, but this was the most challenging situation he had ever faced.
[If you don't want to accept his feelings, just say no.]
"......It's not that simple."
Yun Siwoo, who had joined Astrape straight from the Academy, was in a position similar to a new employee.
He couldn't help but worry about the aftermath if he rejected his superior who was pursuing him.
Honestly, he wanted to reject her because he had someone he liked, but if the captain harbored ill feelings and got him kicked out of Astrape...
[You became a hero to meet the expectations of that child, didn't you?]
"......Yeah, something like that."
Yun Siwoo nodded reluctantly at Lucy's blunt statement.