9. Dinaria
“Eek...!”
Dina's tiny body sprang up like a coiled spring. How she managed to leap with such blinding speed from atop a chair was beyond me—a mere mortal like myself wouldn't understand the secrets at play.
Her outstretched fist shot straight for Bella's jaw. Bella tilted her head back just enough to dodge it. Though thoroughly drunk, her body hadn't dulled; she evaded with ease and teased in a playful lilt.
“Hehe. Missed me, shorty!”
Dina's punch whistled through empty air. That was when it happened—Dina's lips curled into a smirk, as if she'd anticipated the dodge.
“That was exactly what I was aiming for!”
“What?!”
Ignoring Bella's incredulous shout, Dina whipped her fist down like a knuckle-rap straight at her forehead. Bella, having leaned back to avoid the first strike, clearly hadn't seen the follow-up coming.
Thonk!
Dina's petite fist struck Bella's forehead with adorable precision. But the power behind it was anything but cute.
“Agh—!”
Bella screamed and toppled backward. I quickly caught her, cradling her in my arms.
“Bella? Bella, you okay?”
“Ughhh...”
Her eyes rolled back as if she'd passed out. A red bump swelled instantly on her forehead, and through her slack, gaping mouth, I could've sworn I saw white steam rising like her soul escaping—pure hallucination, probably.
One knuckle-rap, and Bella was out cold.
Dina landed lightly on the floor, clasped her hands behind her back, and stood tall with smug satisfaction.
“Ahem. That's what you get for messing around.”
Cheong-ah had given me some rundown, but Dina's prowess exceeded my expectations. Knocking out Bella in one go? Sure, Bella was drunk and off-guard, but still—this was one of the strongest people I knew, taken down effortlessly. Baffling, to say the least.
I no longer judged by appearances or disabilities like I might have before, but a little girl pulling this off? That hit different.
“Now then, Yeonja. With the beast girl asleep, we can talk—just us.”
“Huh? Asleep? Her?”
“Aye, the beast girl's out cold. Isn't she, Yeonja? Too much drink, that's all.”
“Well... yeah, I guess.”
Bella was a lightweight who got smashed fast, but she rarely blacked out or lost her memory. She sobered up quick enough—or so she claimed, insisting it proved her high tolerance. Her behavior screamed drunk, though: bolder, more impulsive. Like that deep kiss she planted on me to tease Dina. Sober Bella wouldn't dream of it.
Of course, this knockout had zilch to do with booze...
Fine, asleep it is. I shrugged, propped Bella back in her chair with her head slumped on the table, and returned to my seat.
“So, what do you wanna talk about?”
“My true nature, of course. I've told the shrew and the beast girl, but not you, Yeonja.”
“Oh, right. Yeah.”
“No interruptions now. I'll tell it slow.”
“Take your time. I'm listening.”
Dina nodded, pondered a moment, then began.
“Where to start for thee, Yeonja... Hmm. First off, I lived long ago—in the distant past, three thousand years ago.”
“...Huh?”
The words blindsided me; a groan slipped out. That snippet I'd overheard Bella mention—three thousand years something? This? Unbelievable. A figure from three millennia ago? Was the drunk ramble real after all?
“'Tis truth entire, Yeonja. This body hails from three thousand years past.”
“R-Right...”
“I know 'tis hard to credit. But my words hold no falsehood.”
“Nah, I... uh. I'll buy it.”
“Haha... Very well.”
“One thing, though—how'd you live three thousand years? That's nuts. You some kinda immortal?”
This was an isekai world. Dragons, vampires—who knows? If Dina wasn't human, it'd make sense.
But she shook her head.
“Human I am, truly.”
“Oh... okay. Then how?”
“A curse binds me.”
“A curse?”
“Aye, a curse.”
What curse forces a human to live three thousand years? Was it even a curse? Back home, Qin Shi Huang chugged mercury chasing immortality like a fool. Some might kill for that “curse.”
Unlike my flippant thoughts, Dina nodded solemnly, her face shadowed with loneliness.
“A most vicious one.”
“What kind?”
“I cannot grow.”
“Cannot grow?”
“Aye. More precisely, 'tis the curse of immortality. I age not, mature not—trapped in this child form, enduring ever onward.”
“How'd that happen?”
Dina rolled her eyes, cheeks flushing faintly.
“'Tis embarrassing to recount, but the wages of my youthful folly.”
“Youthful folly?”
“Aye... Back then, I was arrogant beyond measure, reckless to a fault.”