9. Dinaria - Conclusion
The saintess was said to have a lot of money, so Dinaria gathered as many of her followers as she could. That evening, after plotting their crime thoroughly with her gang during the day, Dinaria stormed into the place where the saintess was staying.
"Alright, let's go!"
The girl's voice brimmed with excitement. Dinaria shouted loudly to her followers.
"We're gonna squeeze every last coin outta that saintess and make a killing!"
Of course, the saintess wasn't alone. Her priests, holy knights, and assorted others resisted fiercely. Though Dinaria and her gang outnumbered them...
Perhaps it was the difference in quality. Everyone in Dinaria's crew except her was subdued by the saintess's followers, and soon Dinaria found herself surrounded.
But the queen of the back alleys wasn't weak. She showed no fear. Instead, like a feral beast, she swiftly knocked down those lunging at her, proving exactly how a mere twelve-year-old had come to rule the city's nights.
Overwhelming prowess. She couldn't wield mana consciously, yet it infused her fists. Her body moved at her will, and power followed. True unity of body and nature. At just twelve, without anyone's help, she'd reached a realm beyond even masters who treated ambient mana like their own limbs.
Judging that her followers couldn't handle Dinaria, the saintess stepped forward herself.
"You're pretty strong. I like that."
The daughter of the goddess herself. A woman worlds apart from Dinaria, born abandoned in the gutters and scraping by at rock bottom. If Dinaria was the underworld, the saintess was the heavens above the heavens.
Dinaria back then was wild, uneducated, barely more than a beast. She gnashed her teeth at the saintess's casual demeanor, even with her right in front.
I don't like you. How dare you look down on me?
"Yeah? I ain't too fond of you either."
Speaking her mind exactly, Dinaria charged at the saintess the instant the words left her mouth. She pivoted on one leg, unleashing a powerful spinning kick. The saintess casually raised an arm, blocking its path.
Undaunted, Dinaria pushed off that pivot leg, leaping up and swinging the other. "Hng...! Hrng...!"
The saintess smirked at her agile movements, then flexed her arm, repelling the blocking leg and sending Dinaria's small body flying.
"Grgh... Damn it!"
Dinaria righted herself midair and lunged again. How long did they fight? Their relentless barrage—no, Dinaria's one-sided frenzy met by the saintess's leisurely blocks, like playful sparring—ended when Dinaria's calculated strike shattered the holy relic on the saintess's chest.
Clang!
A tiny fist grazed the saintess's chest, smashing the round relic there.
"Ah...?"
The saintess's surprised voice. In that instant, a thick black aura erupted from the relic.
-Groooar.
The aura shot toward the saintess's opposite side. And there stood Dinaria, grinning triumphantly at her first successful hit.
The saintess shouted at her in alarm. "Dodge! You idiot!"
But Dinaria was just a twelve-year-old kid then. One without proper upbringing, no less. She wasn't the type to heed someone she'd been brawling with.
"Hmph, why should I?"
The incoming black light? Nothing to her. Chest puffed out defiantly, Dinaria took it head-on, the aura piercing straight into her fragile body.
The saintess rubbed her forehead, shaking her head as if it were a headache. Dinaria, oblivious to what had happened, was just thrilled she'd annoyed her.
"Ha... This is insane."
"Heh, doesn't even faze me!"
The saintess tilted her head at Dinaria and said, "It will. Soon enough."
"Whatever, let's keep going!"
Thinking it no big deal, Dinaria charged again. But the saintess, making it clear she'd been holding back, subdued her in an instant and slammed her to the ground.
"Gah...?!"
A chilling pain raced up her spine. The first truly excruciating agony she'd ever felt twisted her guts like she might vomit blood.
Then, something pure white loomed over her, followed by a voice. "Sleep it off, now."
Smack.
With that sound, the girl lost consciousness.
When she awoke, Dinaria was being carted off to a place she didn't know. As a comrade of the hero's party. Under the pretext of subjugating the demon king.
"And that's how this body ended up in the hero's party!"
"Whoa... So what happened next?"
Why cut off right when she joins the hero? Don't you know stories are supposed to race to the end? If she went with the hero to slay the demon king, you gotta tell us if they did it or not.
Urged to spill the rest by her tantalizing tale, Dinaria shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, there were plenty of twists and turns after, but we ultimately defeated the demon king. I got the title of Fist King, and we restored peace to the world. Your standard tale."
"Huh. Alright."
"Yep."
She breezed through the rest like it was nothing. Kinda—nah, really disappointing. I'd been hooked on this classic fantasy vibe, so different from my own isekai grind from the bottom with no clue why. Just leaves me wanting more.
Dinaria finished and asked me, "Anyway, what think you, Yeonja? Was my tale entertaining?"
"Yeah, pretty fun. But hey."
"Hm? What's amiss?"
"So how'd you end up with that immortality curse or whatever?"
"Ah, I skipped that part!"
She chuckled, scratching the back of her head, then explained.
"Truth be told, that black light I took from our first clash? That was the curse. One spread by the demon king himself. The saintess had gathered and sealed it all in that relic... which I smashed."
"So that's how you got cursed with immortality?"
Dinaria shook her head at my question.
"Nay, the immortality came later. That curse should've killed me soon enough. But the saintess saved this body."
"The saintess did?"
"Aye. She neutralized the curse in me and put in all sorts of efforts, they say. What remained after she fixed as much as she could was this immortality side effect."
"Hmm..."
"Well, I repaid the debt by helping slay the demon king with her. That should suffice, no? Hm, but my throat's getting parched."
"Oh, yeah? Hold on, miss! Some water over—"
"No need, Yeonja. This body can have some of this."
Dinaria smirked and shrugged. Her hand slyly reached for Bella's half-empty beer mug, but I swatted it away to my side.
No way was this kid eyeing beer all of a sudden.
Dinaria blinked in confusion at my move. I shook my head firmly at her protest.
"Wh-what? Yeonja, why take it? I said my throat's dry from all the talking. Gimme that, will you?"
"No beer. What kinda kid drinks beer?"
"But I just explained—I'm no child..."
"Rules are rules. Immortality curse or not, you're stuck in a kid's body, right? No booze for kids."
"Y-Yeonja. I didn't mention this, but after that, I lived another eighty years in this immortal form. I don't age or grow—I'm basically an old granny already."
"But you look like a kid."
"N-No... This body drank booze three thousand years ago."
"Oh, really? Then I guess it's f—"
"—No way it's fine! Absolutely not."
I was about to hand the mug back when a pale white hand shot between us, snatching it away. Dinaria and I looked up to see its owner.
It was Cheong-ah.
"Y-You spiteful lass. When did you come down?"
"Just now. But, darling."
She turned to me, one hand on her hip, the other holding the mug.
"Really, you should've stopped her from drinking. No alcohol for kids, you know?"
"Well, it's..."
Dinaria's technically not a kid. Cheong-ah heard the story while I was out cold, so she knows...
But those words wouldn't come out. Her straightforward gaze shrank me somehow.
"Sorry."
"And you too, Dina. I told you before heading up to darling—no booze. Might be fine for you, but it looks bad to others. Yet you wheedle him for some...?"
"S-Sorry."
"Good, apology accepted. Forgiven. Just don't do it again, both of you."
"Y-Yeah."
"Got it."
Dinaria wilted with her apology. Cheong-ah smiled sweetly, took the mug, and sat in the last empty spot—between me and the still-unconscious Bella.
Dinaria eyed her warily once more, spotted that unyielding resolve, and sadly smacked her lips before turning back to me.
"...Shall we finish the tale then, Yeonja?"
"Uh, sure."
More story left? I thought it ended with how she got the immortality curse, but it continued.
"As I said, this body lived on another eighty years after. Saw all sorts in that time. Deaths of friends and followers, and such."
"Yeah."
"This body paid it little mind, of course. Everyone goes eventually. Was fine at first. Then a problem arose."
"Problem?"
"Aye."
"What kind?"
"My immortality meant no growth at all. Not growing was... tormenting. Everyone else grew, aged, matured—while I stayed this childish forever. Would've been better if I'd at least reached adulthood. Stuck like this... well..."
Dinaria paused.
"It was lonely."
A bittersweet expression crossed her face. On that innocent child's visage, it carried the weight of lifetimes, evoking true wisdom.
"So I sought ways to break the immortality, to grow somehow. Finally went to the saintess, and she told me the method."
"What was it?"
Her melancholic eyes fixed on me. Voice thick with emotion, she continued.
"Someday. Someday, one would appear to lift my curse. She couldn't now, but far in the future—after even she was gone—that one would free this body."
"When?"
Dinaria shook her head.
"Even she knew not. So with her aid, I sealed myself in a sacred stone coffin she made just for me. To await that someday. Endlessly."
"I see. So the seal broke recently."
"Indeed."
By now, even the densest person would've caught on. Me? I'm a bit slow on uptake...
But her words about "someday, that one will lift the curse"—plus the seal opening after three thousand years, her overly warm first meeting, calling me Yeonja... Pretty obvious, right?
"That person... It's me, isn't it?"
I asked. Dinaria stared straight at me.
Then quietly nodded.