Moving (2)
Moving (2)
Normally, unpacking would have taken several days at least, but with the Authority of Space, less than an hour sufficed.
In my previous life, moving had been exhausting even though I had almost nothing to pack.
This time I had plenty to pack, but thanks to subspace, my body barely felt any strain.
[Complicated]
[Attachment]
Still, my heart felt strangely heavy.
With a complicated expression, I moved my fingers. A hole opened at my gesture, and one by one, the belongings vanished.
The basic furniture that had been in the dormitory from the start disappeared.
I didn't think much of it. Early in the semester, I had hardly spent any time in the dormitory anyway.
I'd been far more likely to fall asleep with my head on a library desk or collapse on the training room floor.
The furniture belonged to Siyoram, so I had meant to leave it, but when I was told it would be replaced before the next cadet used the room anyway, I packed it without hesitation.
The things I had hurriedly brought in after Seo-yul emerged from the Origin Egg vanished. The splashes of color that had brightened the drab dormitory were erased.
From that point on, I had lived practically attached to this room. Back then I could access the library remotely anyway, so I had always stayed by Seo-yul's side even while studying...
A heavy stone seemed to settle on my chest. I moved my hand again.
I packed the pillows Ellia had brought, saying they were nice to hug while sleeping, and the incense burner Hong Yeon-hwa had given me, not knowing my sense of smell was half-crippled.
The belongings and clothes Baek A-rin had recently brought while living here, the large black undergarments...
'Eeeek...!'
My shoulders jolted at the information flooding my head. How could they be bigger than my head—no, shit, that's not the point. Calamity Flame, please stop...
I had carelessly accepted the information unfiltered. Hastily, I shook off the heat rising to my face and finished packing.
This was Baek A-rin's fault for saying unnecessary things. Whatever the case, it was definitely Baek A-rin's fault.
- Wooooong...
And this was the last of it.
The hole swallowed the blue box with a gulp, then contracted with a rumble. Finally, the hole vanished, leaving behind a strange spatial vibration.
[Regret]
The dormitory, now completely emptied of belongings, felt needlessly desolate.
[Bitterness]
The spaces where something should have been now stood empty, and it felt unbearably awkward.
[Disappointment]
I pressed the bare floor with my foot where the carpet had been, chewing over the strange emotions.
They were too complicated to sum up in a single word. But the Confession Necklace expressed my feelings with a few.
It felt like only yesterday that I had first moved into the dormitory.
The memories of that time remained vivid.
I had tried to play a game, only to be hit by chills; I had gone to sleep early, and the next day I opened my eyes—or rather, regained consciousness—inside a game world.
At the same moment, my head had nearly burst from Authority overload, and a few days later, as soon as I came to, I had nearly starved and died of thirst.
When I barely managed to pull myself together, I couldn't see, couldn't speak. Nothing I put in my mouth had any taste or smell. And by all estimates, my life had already been on a countdown.
Worse, it was a world inside a game—a world where Disaster Events could break out, a world where monsters called Tower Masters might someday invade.
Since I couldn't very well quietly hang myself or jump to my death under those circumstances, I had fled into Siyoram... and then...
"Time really does fly. It feels like just the other day that I came here to live..."
As I was tracing through the past, Ellia murmured from behind me.
She had been quietly watching the belongings disappear, and now she strode over and placed her hand on my shoulder with a gentle thump.
Then she rested her chin on the crown of my head, making her regret unmistakably clear.
I pursed my lips for a moment, then gently clasped the hand Ellia had placed on my shoulder and asked:
[...Ellia, would you really be okay moving in with me too?]
"Gasp! Are you saying Seo-yul's all grown up and you don't need me anymore?"
[No!]
[That's not what I meant!]
[I just thought... I'm making you go to so much trouble, and only being a burden...]
"Hey, of course that was a joke. I know perfectly well you're not that kind of person, Ha-yul."
- Squeeeeze...
At Ellia's teasing answer, I pouted.
I'd spoken out of genuine concern and she still turned it into teasing...
Lately, the people around me seemed desperate for a chance to tease me.
A peevish irritation flared up. I twisted my body to free my shoulder from her arm.
"Aahh, I'm sorry for teasing you."
Drawing out her words, Ellia turned me the other way with a strangely practiced touch and pulled me tightly into her arms.
My face sank deeply into an enormous softness. No scent rose from her body, but the warmth trapped within her embrace reached me.
And resting her chin on my head, she gently patted my back as if soothing a small child.
[Eek...]
The irritation that had been leaking out subsided instantly in the soft, warm heat. I wanted to sulk, but I didn't want to. I just wanted to stay in her arms and be indulged.
Ellia and Professor Liana, especially, stirred this impulse in me.
Maybe it was because of my spirit affinity, but I felt like no matter what mischievous prank I pulled, they would just smile kindly and open their arms.
- Mmm...
I flailed my arms for a moment, then wrapped them around Ellia's waist in return.
"I teased you without thinking because your reactions are just too cute, Ha-yul. I'm really sorry."
[...It's okay]
[I'm not really upset]
"Thank you for accepting my apology."
Giggling, Ellia lowered her head and rubbed her cheek against my hair.
"You're feeling a lot of regret too, aren't you, Ha-yul? We made so many memories together here."
[Regret]
[Memories]
"Yes, memories. It wasn't a very long time, but... still, I had so many happy moments."
At Ellia's mention of memories, my lips parted slightly.
I dimly understood the reason for the strange dissonance I'd felt.
Now that I thought about it, the prickling sensation that had been pressing on one corner of my chest had disappeared.
In its place, I felt my heart grow warm from her unguarded, affectionate gestures.
'Was that why...?'
Quietly, I observed Ellia.
A smile lingered on her lips, as if she found something immensely enjoyable, while she looked down at me.
That smile, so full of tenderness, crystallized my suspicion into certainty.
She had seen my complicated expression and deliberately teased me to lighten my mood.
'......'
Which meant I had received that consideration and still sulked like a child...
Heat rushed to my face in mortification. At the same time, a soft emotion welled up in my chest.
The Sky Wing Feather rustled gently.
My body felt ticklish. After chewing on my lips for a moment, I pulled my arms tighter around her waist and buried my face deep into her voluptuous bosom.
[I was happy being with you too, Ellia...]
- Click!
"Oh my..."
At the necklace's voice, Ellia's eyes widened.
"Heh, how cute."
She didn't say anything else. She simply gave me her embrace and soothed me with her gentle touch.
"So after lectures today, I just go to this address?"
[Yes, let's go together after lectures finish.]
"Okay, okay. Then let's go with Yeon-hwa and Seo-yul after lectures."
For a while, I let the awkward feelings dissolve inside Ellia's warm embrace.
[Calm]
- Click!
[?Ma]
"Huh? Question mark, ma... what's that?"
[...?]
[I don't know?]
Partway through, the Confession Necklace produced a strange sound.
Lately, the Confession Necklace's condition had been thoroughly off.
Even when I observed it, I could find no internal or external issue. But it gave off a strange sense of foreignness.
It wasn't broken, but... it felt as though its function was somehow changing.
Ellia and I tilted our heads in unison.
.
.
.
First, since my lectures had ended, Ellia, Hong Yeon-hwa, and I headed to the new home ahead of the others.
Incidentally, Baek A-rin, Master, and Professor Liana were said to be coming as well, to help with today's move.
Since the subspace would let us finish unpacking quickly anyway, calling it a housewarming celebration would be more accurate than calling it help.
So I had stocked up on ingredients generously ahead of time. I needed to finish unpacking and get the food ready quickly.
"Wow..."
Ellia's reaction upon arriving at the new residence was fairly intense.
Admiration poured from her slack-jawed mouth almost unconsciously.
The new residence was reflected in her blinking yellow eyes.
Seo-yul, cradled in Ellia's arms, was just as awestruck. The faintly sullen air she always carried had vanished, and the sight of her so dazedly rolling her eyes was impossibly cute.
"Is this... a mansion?"
"...I think castle would be more accurate than mansion..."
Hong Yeon-hwa, standing beside her, murmured with a dazed expression.
She wasn't gaping in stunned disbelief, but she was astonished all the same.
"No, they gave you the whole building?"
[Yes, I think so.]
I, who had come out to meet them, wore a similarly dazed expression.
At least I was better off than the others—I had already received the address along with the key and had observed this place a few days ago.
I had been truly shocked at first, but I still couldn't fully grasp the reality of it even now.
I let out a deep sigh and observed the towering home before us.
Amidst tangled green ivy, the walls preserved both the weight of age and an old-world elegance.
The entrance boasted thick front gates worthy of a grand aristocratic mansion, and the sprawling grounds surrounding the residence unfolded into a garden as meticulously cultivated as a work of art.
At the center of those grounds stood a colossal, U-shaped mansion for which even the phrase "grandly luxurious" fell short.
No, you could stack the word grand in front of it several times over and still not do it justice.
Given the materials used in the grand mansion's construction and the quality and quantity of the magic installed throughout, Hong Yeon-hwa was right—the building was more castle than mansion.
A majestic exterior that would feel excessive even if a king of some prosperous nation lived there.
This excessively grand mansion was, in fact, a rather famous location even within Siyoram.
Situated in Siyoram's central district, where most administrative facilities were concentrated.
It was a massive grand mansion that consumed a huge portion of that district's land, and yet it was widely rumored to be a building no one ever entered or left.
That wasn't the only thing that surprised me.
'...I can't observe the interior?'
Observation barely worked. I could observe the exterior perfectly well, but the moment I tried to probe deeper inside, observation cut off sharply. It was the influence of the magic installed in the grand mansion.
'No, is this even magic?'
I tilted my head. Its state was odd—too odd to call it magic. Should I say the spell formula wasn't clearly defined?
If magic projected one's will through spell formulas, then this felt as though the will itself had melted into the structure like pigment into a painting.
"Wow..."
While Ellia and Seo-yul still hadn't fully regained their senses, Hong Yeon-hwa turned her gaze toward me.
Her eyes were full of inquiry and bewilderment.
"Isn't this... the Headmaster's mansion?"
[...Who knows?]
I tilted my head with a dazed look.
This was the place known as the Headmaster's former residence.
It was also the place long suspected of being the hidden retreat of the vanished Tower Master of Growth.
And now, it was the house I would be living in.
Leaving the three of them standing there blankly for the moment, I headed toward the main gate.
The gate, too, was permeated by that same unidentified magic... by a will that had melted into it.
If anyone tried to force it open with brute force, a powerful repulsion would hit back.
'It should open as long as I have the key, right?'
First, I took the key out of subspace...
- Wooooong...!
The key, freed from subspace, emitted a strange vibration.
- Clunk!
A mechanical sound followed from the main gate, and the doors, which until a moment ago had been firmly shut, swung open left and right without the slightest resistance.
[Eh]
Everyone wore a dumbfounded expression at the sight of the gate opening in one motion, as if welcoming us.
[...Let's go in, for now.]
"Ah... yeah, let's."
We might have been dumbfounded, but we couldn't just stand there forever.
Since I held the key, I took the lead and stepped through the main gate.
- Wooooong!
The key resonated again. At the same time, I felt a sensation as though something was connecting to me.
And.
- Wooooong...!
'What the.'
The Confession Necklace let out a resonance too.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Pioneering Progress]
[Quest "Visit to the Cradle's Deep Core" achieved]
[Acquiring points]
...
[Artifact "Confession Necklace" is responding]
...
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Ellia Srade
●●●●●●●●○○ (82▷83/100)
[Affection] [Gratitude] [Dairy Cow?] [Chick] [Sorry]