New Vacation (6)
“Ughhh…”
“Sua! You’re awake?”
“Huh? Jisoo, why are you at our house?”
“Our house? You need to go home already.”
“Huuuh?”
Kang Sua was still half-asleep, rubbing her eyes frantically without even taking a moment to look around.
Maybe because she was still young, she didn’t feel that instinctive panic upon waking.
But soon, as she dazedly scanned her surroundings, the first puzzle piece of her memory clicked into place, and the rest gradually filled in.
And then the final piece snapped together.
“Wh-where are those bastards!?”
“Calm down. It’s already over.”
“Huh…? Over, what do you mean?”
Kang Sua jumped to a grim conclusion from Shin Jisoo’s words and shot her an anxious glance.
But Shin Jisoo shook her head with a smile.
“Drake and his crew already ran off.”
“…Ran off?”
“Sua, don’t you remember?”
“Remember? Oh, come to think of it…”
The man she’d instinctively called “Dad.”
His face was hidden, and he was the kind of figure no one could easily trust.
Yet she’d felt a momentary relief from him, projecting her desperately missed father onto that shadow, which had relaxed her tension and lulled her to sleep.
“That guy from earlier saved us.”
“Who was he? Who the hell was that guy?”
“…No idea.”
Shin Jisoo explained everything she’d witnessed in as much detail as possible.
But even that vivid account offered no hints about the cloaked figure.
“…You think it was some weird group again?”
“Maybe. But he didn’t seem like an enemy, right?”
“…”
Kang Sua couldn’t voice the affirmative feeling blooming inside her.
Just because he’d helped didn’t guarantee he was an ally.
…But he was definitely a good person.
She wanted to believe that much, at least.
He was someone she shouldn’t trust blindly, yet her gut insisted she could.
As Kang Sua cradled that warm certainty in a corner of her heart, Shin Jisoo’s words snapped her back.
“Right! Let’s go find Haneul quick!”
“Oh! Comms! Comms!”
The two girls hurriedly pulled flat battery-like communicators from their pockets and shouted into them.
“Hey, Baek Haneul! Where are you? You safe!?”
“Haneul!”
But no response came from the devices, despite their cries.
“Let’s search inside first!”
“Yeah!”
Only then did their faces darken as they jumped up and began frantically scouring the area.
Using ether to probe as far as they could, it wasn’t long before…
“Found him!”
They spotted a boy sleeping leisurely on the cold ground.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing!? Get up!”
“Whaaat!? What, what’s going on!? Kang Sua, why are you at my house!?”
“Ughhh…”
And so the little trio reunited, piecing together the full story.
“You found the Primordial Ether but lost it?”
“Yeah, sorry…”
“…”
The boy’s name was Baek Haneul.
According to him, his detector had picked up the Primordial Ether, and he’d captured it.
But then he’d suddenly blacked out, mesmerized by the ether, and the two girls had just woken him.
To top it off, all his equipment was wrecked.
Baek Haneul pondered alone for a moment before launching into an explanation of the phenomenon.
“Guess I underestimated the Primordial Ether. It must have some kind of mental domination that makes anyone who sees it lose their mind. And it trashed my gear too, so it probably understands tracking methods… And…”
Desperate to justify his mistake, Baek Haneul spun wild hypotheses about the Primordial Ether’s abilities.
Ignoring his mumbling, Shin Jisoo sidled up to Kang Sua and whispered.
“What do we do? Should we tell Haneul about that guy from earlier? He did ask us to keep it secret when he left…”
“…”
Kang Sua glanced at the chattering Baek Haneul and shook her head.
“No… He helped us. Let’s keep it secret this time, at least. But if we meet him again…”
Kang Sua closed her eyes, picturing the black silhouette gazing down at her, and murmured.
“Next time, we’ll uncover who he is.”
“…Yeah.”
Shin Jisoo nodded and went back to Baek Haneul, listening intently to his ramblings.
“The Primordial Ether definitely emits electromagnetic waves or something…”
“Haha… Yeah, sure.”
“…”
Watching them, Kang Sua stared blankly at the warehouse ceiling.
At the same time, raucous fireworks exploded outside.
Shwooo… Boom! Baaang! Pow-pow-pow!
Gazing at the colorful bursts visible through the warehouse window, Kang Sua whispered.
“Next time… when we meet…”
She repeated it endlessly, but the fireworks drowned it out, unheard by her friends beside her.
Shwooo… Baaang!
I soared high into the sky amid exploding fireworks, finally arriving where the group was gathered.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“Suho!”
“Master!”
“Why’re you so late, nyang?”
They weren’t bummed I’d been absent—instead, they seemed disappointed I’d missed it.
“That was amazing! Next time, watch together for sure!”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Sandwiched between the three women, I chatted while glancing at the box in my hand.
What do I do with this?
[Sorry. Even I can’t think of a good solution.]
I couldn’t take it with me, and hiding it somewhere wasn’t easy either.
There was no secret spot in this world unknown to everyone.
And the opponent was the protagonist, who had a knack for sniffing out ether.
Any countermeasures Armonia and I came up with would be seen through in no time.
Then maybe I shouldn’t return for a while—stick around, negotiate with Zodiac?
[That seems best. They’ll suspect, but without evidence, it’s fine.]
What could they do if I claimed it was a lucky find?
The real reason I was bummed was Zodiac’s finances.
They were already strapped—linger too long in one world, and they’d complain.
Dealing with broke clients left a bad taste.
Jack up the price, make ’em pay in installments?
[Not impossible.]
I opened the box to check the contents.
Yeah, we’ll go with that… Huh?
[What’s wrong?]
It’s gone!!!!!!
The outer case was intact, as was the transparent inner case.
No damage anywhere—perfectly sealed.
Just no ether.
Where is it!? Did someone snag it en route!?
[Backtrack your path… Suho!]
What? Found it?
[It’s Viola!]
Huh?
Shwooo… Boom! Baaang! Pow-pow-pow!
Massive fireworks lit up the sky.
Viola, gazing upward, reached for the mysterious something fluttering before her.
“Whoa, the fireworks are right in front of me!”
“Viola, no!”
My shout coincided with the fireworks barrage ending the parade.
…
…
Shhhk.
Hearing the hiss of escaping pressure, I looked up to see her emerging from the pod.
Armonia approached calmly in her usual suit.
I asked immediately as she neared.
“Well? Can you remove it?”
“Sorry. Not possible with our current capabilities.”
“Damn…”
I crossed my arms, replaying the incident.
The ether I’d thought securely contained had escaped on its own and appeared before Viola.
Mistaking it for part of the fireworks display, she’d reached out.
It wouldn’t have been an issue if the ether hadn’t reacted—but it did, perfectly.
“Any weird symptoms?”
“No signs so far.”
It had bonded to Viola, becoming part of her.
As I fretted with eyes closed, Armonia soothed me.
“Why not look on the bright side? Thanks to Viola, we don’t need to hide the ether anymore. We can even bring it aboard the ship, like your Yggdrasil Seed.”
“…”
She was right—the ether now hers, it could come with us seamlessly.
But that didn’t make me happy.
Instinct told me it wasn’t harmful.
Still, with its true nature unknown, it felt like a parasite latched onto Viola.
No matter how amazing, it was still some mystery substance.
“Here’s the precise info on it.”
Normally, this would cost Enel, but since it belonged to Viola, we could check via her disposition window.
A complex substance capable of freely shifting into various forms.
Its base form resembles an inorganic gas, but it possesses ego and can transform into organic forms if desired.
It bonds to a single master for life; once claimed, it never accepts another, even after the master’s death.
Fit for something that could reshape an entire world, the description overflowed the window, scrolling endlessly.
I nodded at the top part.
“Base properties seem similar to the colored ethers those kids used.”
From the disposition, it matched what the kids wielded.
Given their obsessive hunt, this was likely a superior version…
“The biggest positive is Viola’s safety.”
Viola lacked standout abilities.
Not a martial prodigy like Lena, nor gifted like Beatrice.
She’d spent most her life in an underground palace, clueless about effort.
Now she had protection.
“…Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Exactly. A net positive. But there’s one issue.”
“Huh? What issue?”
I pressed Armonia, noting her worried expression.
She let subtle concern flicker through her stoic face.
“Relationships.”
“…Relationships?”
“Please read the bottom description.”
I frantically scrolled the disposition window to the very end.
And there, I grasped what she meant by “relationships.”
Ether is drawn only to beings capable of bearing life.—Typical example: Women—
The reason: Though sentient, ether originated alone from primordial cosmic energy.
It seeks a warm vessel to embrace it.
A way for an undesired being to claim ether is...
Just reading it gave me a headache.
“…This is insane. Is this unique to this ether?”
“Not exactly, but probably not. All ethers likely share this trait.”
“First time I’ve seen something this nuts.”
I rubbed my eyes and refocused on the window.
...Multiple sexual encounters with the ether’s possessor.
The more relations, the more assimilation; sufficient relations grant command authority (ownership not transferred).
Thus, ether reacts with extreme hostility and aggression if its master copulates with compatible lifeforms. Caution advised.