076 – Even Straw Sandals Come in Pairs…! # 1
Rustle, rustle—
Oinoi had been bustling about since the crack of dawn.
What on earth was she up to?
"Oinoi. What are you doing?"
The sound of her scurrying about finally coaxed me out of my seat. She was darting back and forth between the yard and her room, looking terribly busy about something.
"What is it?"
"Mheheh, this Oinoi…! Has discovered something most amusing…! The master of this house must come and see this creature at once…!"
Swish—
Oinoi pointed out toward the yard, and there it was—a truly remarkable little fellow.
A squirrel whose silver fur shimmered and glittered in the light.
━Keong-keong…!
It leapt high into the air, spread its membrane wide like wings, and came gliding down to land—tap—right on my shoulder.
That distinctive figure.
Impossible to forget.
"A flying squirrel, isn't it? Fey, was that the name?"
It was the companion squirrel of Madam Freyja, who could be called the leader of the Elves. An extraordinarily rare and magnificent dog-squirrel—so what in the world was it doing in our yard?
"What are you?"
I asked, and the flying squirrel Fey barked back, keong-keong—
I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"I almost understand you, and yet I don't."
"It would seem that this one has come searching for Keong-keong-i…! Just as even straw sandals have their match, it appears the creature has journeyed here hoping to meet the Prime Dog-Squirrel, Keong-keong-i…!"
It had left on a long journey all by itself, just to find the dog-squirrel Keong-keong-i?
Could that really be possible?
Then Cassie, who had flown off to America, suddenly crossed my mind. She'd swept in like a storm, charged around like a storm, and then swept right back out—and hadn't been in contact since. I'd texted her, Did you make it back to the States okay?
Cassie hadn't even read the message. Naturally, no reply either.
Right.
I had been well and truly ghosted.
━Keong-keong…!
Pat—
Just then, our own Keong-keong-i came bounding out of the house. He and the silver-furred Fey began tearing around the yard together, and honestly, it was a sight for sore eyes.
So Keong-keong-i, who I'd thought cared for nothing but brawling, got all lively the moment a pretty member of the opposite sex showed up, huh?
"Still, shouldn't we send her back?"
The flying squirrel Fey was a precious creature indeed. If word got out that she'd gone missing, the Elves would worry.
Just then, Oinoi spoke up.
"In fact, this morning, the long-eared foreign folk arrived in a black car and delivered the flying squirrel Fey along with a letter before departing…!"
"I see."
Swish—
Oinoi held out a letter to me. Written on it, briefly, were the words: Please look after her for the time being.
An entrustment of the flying squirrel, presumably.
"Ah, I get it."
Must be something keeping them busy. And so, in that fashion, we found ourselves temporarily fostering the flying squirrel Fey.
Keong-keong-i, giddy as could be, ran with Fey beyond the yard and out through the fields and thickets, and the sheer vigor of it was wonderful to watch. And here I thought that boy only loved a good scrap.
━Zzji…!
━Ororong…!
And now that I looked, Ang-ang-i and his sweetheart, the obsidian honey ant Elizabeth, were making the rounds of Taecho Village's fields together as well.
The height of summer.
It was the season when pairs of lovebirds were stuck together everywhere you looked.
"Oh, that reminds me, master of the house…! This Oinoi heard that you have a date with Kore Yerim today…!"
"……"
Right.
Today was the day of my date with Seo Yerim.
The nerves had already started creeping in. I couldn't even begin to predict what nitpick she'd find to torment and berate me over.
Vroom—
Noon.
A car pulled into the yard. It was an extremely long one, and a chauffeur opened the door for me.
"Mr. Ildo. Please, step in. We'll be escorting you."
"Oh."
I wedged myself into what looked like a very expensive car. The vehicle glided along smoothly and came to a stop in the heart of downtown, where Seo Yerim—dressed in a breezy sundress—slid into the seat beside me.
"You weren't late, huh."
"The car came to pick you up, didn't it?"
"So what are we doing? You've obviously got it all planned out, right?"
Seo Yerim asked me.
I was struck by shock on multiple fronts. She was the one who'd suggested the date in the first place, so I'd naturally assumed she'd have figured out what we were doing on her own.
But apparently, this woman didn't have much of a plan either.
"Well, nothing for it. We'll go get lunch, so drop us off at the usual place."
"Yes, ma'am."
Sreeeee—
The car glided along and stopped in front of a shabby little soup house. The kind of hangover soup joint that simmered pork spine and dried cabbage leaves together in a rich broth.
"What are you doing? Get out."
"Right, sorry."
It was a bit of a surprise, honestly. I'd expected us to be headed for some hotel restaurant with a menu written in French.
Swish—
I had pork backbone stew for lunch, and it was delicious.
"How is it?"
"Great spot. The meat chunks are huge."
I'll have to bring Oinoi here sometime, I thought—and just then, Seo Yerim spoke.
"You know, I could recreate that pork backbone stew exactly."
"Seriously?"
"I can actually cook a little. I just don't! I mean, doesn't that make me plenty domestic already?"
Impressive, as expected. Did being S-Rank mean you were just good at everything?
Then again, since she was a manipulation-type ability user who handled fire, maybe simmering something to perfection came naturally to her.
Ppibibbik—
Just then—
The smartwatch dangling on Seo Yerim's wrist went off.
Swish—
Seo Yerim answered the call, and her face immediately crumpled.
"I'm sorry, what? Another T-Rank Rift? And what exactly is Cha Yura doing right now?"
From the sound of it, another T-Rank Rift had appeared. They'd been cropping up at an alarming rate lately.
A while back, Cassie, the S-Rank awakener from America, had been dispatched to help with Korea's situation—but after a major incident sent her back to the States, Seo Yerim had been saddled with the crushing workload all over again.
"You are one busy woman."
I said it to Seo Yerim after she hung up, and she let out a long sigh—whew.
"Hey. Wait at a café nearby. The rift opened around here somewhere, so I'll wrap it up and be back within two hours. Two hours, got it?"
Swish—
With those words, Seo Yerim hopped into the car and—whoosh—was gone.
Just like that, I was left alone in an unfamiliar stretch of downtown.
"Well, saw that coming."
S-Rank awakeners were busy people.
I decided to wait for Seo Yerim at a nearby café.
And there, I ran into a fairly welcome face.
"Ari? That you?"
"Oh! Senior!"
Yu Ari.
I was standing in front of the café's menu board when she slid smoothly through the door. Yu Ari playfully smacked my arm, laughing.
"What brings you here?"
"Me? I had plans with Yerim today, so we were having lunch together and then she got called away, leaving me with a big hole in my schedule. What about you? Running into you in a place like this. Weren't you doing the digital nomad thing?"
Yu Ari had been enjoying her vacation-and-work digital nomad, minimalist lifestyle up in Taecho Village. Seeing her downtown like this today was a novel change.
Yu Ari gave a soft little laugh—hehehe.
"Me? I came out for work and I'm just on my break! Korea really is small, isn't it? I was feeling a little sad about spending the time alone, so this is a relief!"
Same here, honestly.
We sat down together in the café and chatted about this and that—mainly about Fey, the dog-squirrel I'd met that morning.
"Wait, a squirrel that actually flies around?"
"That sounds so cute! So you picked up the flying squirrel in the morning and came out to have lunch with Yerim? Did you two plan to have dinner together too?"
"That was the plan, but she got a call and left. She said she'd be back in two hours, but who knows if that'll actually happen."
"If it really doesn't work out, come back to the village with me! I parked my car nearby anyway!"
A very tempting offer.
And so, about two hours later—
Seo Yerim appeared at the café.
And the moment she laid eyes on Yu Ari, her brow furrowed.
"What the hell. Why are you here?"
"Senior and I just happened to run into each other at the café. You said you were entering a T-Rank Rift, and you're back awfully fast? Impressive as always."
Swish—
Yu Ari rose from her seat.
"Senior, I'll be going ahead then."
Click, clack. Click, clack—
Yu Ari disappeared, the heels of her shoes clicking against the floor.
It would've been nice, honestly, if the three of us could have caught up on old times while we were all together.
Swish—
Seo Yerim kept staring after her, long after Yu Ari had vanished from even the café's window view.
"How the hell does she even know about these places?"
"She said she happened to be out here for work?"
"No. I don't buy it. I think she came here on purpose to mess with me."
Seo Yerim was talking nonsense. Yu Ari, traveling all this way just to spite her?
A very strange story indeed.
"Anyway, let's get going too."
Swish—
I figured we could linger at the café a while longer, but Seo Yerim was already standing up.
We made our way to a street packed with young people. The place Seo Yerim had picked was a tarot café, and the atmosphere was… unusual, to say the least.
"What is this place?"
"Ildo, you seriously have no idea. This is THE tarot café couples line up around the block for these days? The reader here is called 'Madam,' and she's absolutely mind-blowing!"
Tarot.
Fortune-telling.
I didn't put much stock in that sort of thing. But Seo Yerim, it turned out, was more interested in this kind of stuff than I'd expected.
A woman who wielded fire like magic, believing in tarot readings. Truly fascinating.
Swish—
Before long, I found myself seated at a black table topped with an eerie crystal orb. Across from us sat a woman with her head wrapped in black cloth and heavy black eye makeup—mid-twenties, judging by her face.
She was younger than I'd expected, which threw me off. I'd figured the famous reader would be some weathered middle-aged woman.
This person is the renowned fortune-teller, 'Madam'?
The woman spoke.
"What is it you wish to know?"
"I heard this is a place where you can read romantic fortune?"
"Of course. That much is easy. Perhaps you're curious how many children you'll have?"
Swish—
The woman shuffled the elegant-looking cards laid out before her with practiced flair, then spread them out in four neat rows. With a jerk of her chin, she beckoned me to draw.
"Sir. Pick a card."
Swish—
I drew a card depicting a man blowing a trumpet.
"And you, madam."
Soon Seo Yerim drew one as well—a woman wearing a crown.
"The Fool and the Empress. Your compatibility is excellent. And as for you, madam—you will most likely bear three children."
"Compatible…!? Three children…!?"
Seo Yerim jolted in shock.
I was startled too. You can tell how many kids someone's going to have just from drawing a few cards?
From the look of it, this 'Madam' was an awakener herself. Maybe she had some kind of special skill?
As an awakener myself, my curiosity about the technique got the better of me, and I couldn't help but ask.
"What about me? Will I get married too? How many kids will I have?"
"You… will have twelve children."
Twelve?
Did she take me for a box of crayons?
Just as I was about to write the whole thing off as absurd, Seo Yerim frowned.
"What is that supposed to mean? I thought you said three?"