Last Night
Last Night
The Unique Magic Path was successfully cast around noon that day.
I had spent the morning reviewing my progress, and then, after one final Harmonization—
the technique I attempted in the practice room was completed without a hitch.
And then, the magic crumbled.
Amid the scattering remnants of mana, Lee Ha-yul couldn't bring himself to feel any joy.
Once the next day arrived, he would have to leave the tower.
That fact lodged in his heart like a spike driven clean through.
'.......'
The passage of time is an utterly natural thing.
Especially when a person is concentrating on something, the subjective flow of time tends to accelerate.
This was even more true for Lee Ha-yul, who had barely let his concentration slip since entering the Tower of Knowledge.
He devoted half of every day to intense study, maintaining a state of deep focus.
He concentrated just as fiercely during the other half, studying on his own, and the remaining hours were spent sleeping in Ariel's arms or attending to other needs.
Because of this, time had no choice but to race forward.
And so, the approaching farewell simply felt far too abrupt.
.
.
.
"Let us retire early tonight, at least."
Lee Ha-yul's mood was plainly visible on the outside.
It was after the success of the Unique Magic Path.
The sudden release of tension had made him starkly aware of the farewell now right before his eyes.
Melancholy swirled around him as if he were dragging a dark rain cloud in his wake.
The change in the Winged Garment he wore was especially dramatic.
That artifact, deeply linked to Lee Ha-yul, responds to his state.
Its clear, bright blue hue grew as gloomy as gathering storm clouds.
The garment that had once floated airily like a cloud in the sky now drooped dejectedly and dragged along the floor.
"Now, now... come, over here."
Ariel had wondered whether she should give him some time alone to sort through his emotions.
But seeing the dark clouds around Lee Ha-yul only thicken, she finally scooped him up and held him in her arms.
And so, they went to bed early that day.
The first floor of the tower was submerged in darkness at an early hour.
The space held only a faint glow, gentle as moonlight.
Leaning back in her chair as always, Ariel carefully stroked the head of Lee Ha-yul, who lay quietly nestled in her arms.
"...Are you unable to sleep tonight as well?"
After a short while, Ariel whispered softly into Lee Ha-yul's ear.
His sense of smell had been restored long ago, so she shared her scent and her embrace with him now.
Normally, he would have acted a little spoiled before drifting off into dreamland, but his consciousness seemed perfectly clear right now.
[Yes...]
Lee Ha-yul shifted slightly in her arms and replied.
A ticklish sensation stirred within her embrace.
Soon, he lifted the face he had been burying deep into her bosom and rested his chin on her chest.
Ariel raised a hand and placed it on his cheek.
She cupped the soft cheek and kneaded it tenderly.
With her hand kneading him at just the right pleasant pressure, Lee Ha-yul did not refuse her touch.
"If you cannot sleep, and if there is anything making you uncomfortable, I will see if I can fix it."
[I'm not uncomfortable...]
"Then why is it that you cannot fall asleep?"
Ariel's tone was calm, yet the gaze she looked down at him with was gentle, as if telling him he could act out any childish whim.
Lee Ha-yul pursed his lips slightly.
It was simply... the simple thought that he didn't want to fall asleep.
But he was too embarrassed to actually show such an immature thought, so he buried his face back into Ariel's chest.
"......"
The hand that settled atop his head calmly stroked his hair, as if soothing him.
No words followed, yet the touch seemed to convey an emotion, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
Because of that, Lee Ha-yul hid his face even deeper in her embrace.
Where there is a meeting, there is bound to be a parting.
He knew the logic of it, but Lee Ha-yul himself was familiar with neither meetings nor partings.
- Uung...
Lee Ha-yul pressed his lips firmly shut.
A soundless resonance hummed in his throat.
He stretched out his arms and wrapped them tightly around Ariel's waist.
Though his arms were short, Ariel's waist was as slender as an ant's, so even Lee Ha-yul could hug her snugly.
And when he buried his face into the full breasts that filled his vision, their gentle texture and warmth enveloped his body cozily.
In that state, rubbing his nose against her soft flesh brought out a comforting scent that seemed to calm both mind and body.
"......"
The breath lingering between her breasts, savoring her scent.
The way his tiny body pressed close, snuggling tightly into her arms and acting spoiled—and the sweet scent of his own body that wafted up to her—she had grown used to all of it now.
When that familiarity disappeared, she would surely feel the loneliness.
Ariel suddenly shifted her gaze and looked around.
Nothing had changed.
The empty surrounding space, a single table placed beside them...
And a single chair that had been added recently.
Something that had not been there for the countless long years past, only recently brought in.
She had placed it there for Lee Ha-yul, but come tomorrow, she would have to put it away.
Thinking of him, Ariel suddenly felt a sharp pang in her heart.
- Tap...
Ariel snapped her fingers.
A strange resonance wrapped around the area, and ripples spread across the chair she sat on.
The ordinary chair, affected by magic, transformed into a rocking chair.
[?]
"It is alright."
At the sudden change, Lee Ha-yul poked his head up from within her arms.
Ariel gave a faint smile, patted Lee Ha-yul's back to calm him, and pushed off with her legs.
Creeak... Her body tilted backward.
At the odd sensation, Lee Ha-yul tightened his arms even more firmly around Ariel's waist.
Creeak... Her body tilted forward.
Only then did Lee Ha-yul loosen the strength in his tightly clinging arms a little.
Backward again, and then forward to the original position.
The motion of the chair rocking back and forth.
The sensation of a rocking chair, which he was riding for the first time in his life... was quite unfamiliar.
"How does it feel? Is there anything uncomfortable about it?"
[Ah... no.]
"That is a relief."
Lee Ha-yul replied while awkwardly pursing his lips at the sensation of rocking back and forth.
Ariel found this sight of Lee Ha-yul to be quite adorable.
Lee Ha-yul, who had leaped over tall buildings in a single bound and even flown while tearing through the air,
seemed to find the calmly rocking sensation of the chair all the more unfamiliar because of it.
Looking down at him calmly, Ariel slowly opened her mouth to speak.
"Gracia... the Tower Master of Harmonization was truly light-mouthed and frivolous. She would insist on stirring up trouble when simply staying still would have let things pass. It was a truly bizarre thing that she survived long enough to meet the rest of us, in an industry rife with the awareness that one could die for wagging their tongue the wrong way."
What flowed from Ariel's lips was an old, not particularly important story.
Light topics that did not particularly run afoul of the restrictions.
But for Lee Ha-yul, who didn't want to fall asleep because he wanted to be with Ariel for even a moment longer, this kind of conversation was, in fact, more than welcome.
And since the topic itself piqued his interest, Lee Ha-yul pricked up his ears.
When he strained his ears like that, many sounds came through.
The crackling sound of firewood burning, the soft whistle of a small breeze flowing, the clanking sound of a Golem moving about far in the distance...
- Thump-thump...
But of course, the sound of Ariel's heartbeat was the one he could hear the best.
When he buried his face between her breasts and pressed his ear against her soft flesh, the beating sound came from right beside him.
That beating sound came to him like a lullaby.
"May I ask you just one thing?"
Just how long had he been steeped in such warmth and whispers?
Contrary to his will, a careful question reached him through his gradually hazing consciousness.
"Why... did you come to give your affection to me?"
[Huh...?]
Lee Ha-yul poked his head out from her arms.
Seeing the drowsy, bewildered emotion that seemed to ask what she was suddenly talking about, Ariel softly continued her words.
"Are you not resentful of us, that you would dare to give us your affection?"
Truthfully, Ariel had anticipated their first meeting with Lee Ha-yul, yet also feared it.
Lee Ha-yul does not know the full truth, but he had surely been deducing who it was that had brought him here.
The very moment Lee Ha-yul had entered the Tower of Knowledge.
It was because she had thought it would not be strange if he tried to kill her.
At the very least, she thought he might openly show his hostility and find them detestable.
She and the Tower Masters had summoned Lee Ha-yul to this world.
In their own view, there were unavoidable reasons for it, and they had poured their hearts into making many preparations for his sake.
She could use that as an excuse.
But in the end, from Lee Ha-yul's perspective, weren't they the ones who had cast him into a lonely, alien world?
To make matters worse, the Authorities the Tower Masters had handed him had resonated far beyond imagination, and Lee Ha-yul had nearly faced death from the very moment he first arrived in this world.
No matter what excuses she might make, even if she received hostility, she would have no room to speak even if she had a hundred mouths.
[I don't resent you.]
[If anything, I'm... grateful to all the Tower Masters.]
As such, the hopeful thought that she would receive gratitude... was one she had never dared to harbor.
"...Why...?"
[I heard about the circumstances. My original world was going to be invaded anyway, right?]
"...That may be true, but it is only within the realm of conjecture. In the end, we called you, Lee Ha-yul, into this world and forced a battle upon you."
[Then, wouldn't it be much better to fight in a better environment?]
At the words he uttered so simply, Ariel's expression grew complicated.
For, in conclusion, while there was nothing wrong with what he said, a person couldn't simply take it so positively.
[I don't want to resent you, Ariel.]
Of course, if he searched for things to resent, he could find several. But Lee Ha-yul thought that would just be nitpicking in the end.
Conversely, he could find just as many things to like.
The Tower Master of Space and the Tower Master of Observation had passed their Authorities to him and were now shouldering his duties within the tower in his stead.
Although the compatibility with the Authorities was far greater than expected, nearly killing him the moment he first arrived here, even they couldn't have possibly predicted that.
The Tower Master of Harmonization and the Tower Master of Knowledge had given him the Status Window.
Logically, no matter how much a curse sealed his sight, he should have been able to at least recognize the Status Window.
And while the Observation Authority also should have allowed him to perceive the Status Window, his strangely fitting curse had thoroughly blocked even its recognition.
Even when it wasn't functioning normally, the true identity of the power that pushed him forward so he wouldn't die in each moment of crisis was also the Status Window.
The Tower Master of Growth had established Siyoram, creating a safe and fast place for him to grow.
What happened when he went outside and met with disaster was ultimately his own choice.
When he thought it over, there were more reasons to be grateful than to be resentful.
And...
[Thanks to you bringing me to this place,]
[I was able to meet the people I care about.]
In his previous world.
There had been plenty of relationships that just passed by fleetingly and grew distant.
How many people does one simply pass by while walking down the street?
How many connections are cut short after just a word or two of conversation?
But he had never parted with someone he had formed a truly deep bond with, someone he could trust and rely on.
Agapanthus, Kkonnim.
When he was shut in his room, he met them online, and honestly, he gave them a lot of affection and relied heavily on them.
But deep down, he had always prepared his heart for the bond to break at any time.
Isn't that how internet friends always were?
He thought it wouldn't be strange if one day, hearts changed and they severed the bond and disappeared.
There was no one he had truly met face-to-face and formed a bond with through physical contact.
Back then, Lee Ha-yul was afraid of the outside, and he was afraid of the people he met outside.
There were those who approached him with a smile.
Among them were those who harbored a sticky malice inside, and there were also those who, in their own way, harbored goodwill.
But whatever the case, the frightened Lee Ha-yul was always too busy running away.
How could a bond form when he turned his back and fled? Lee Ha-yul was always alone.
If he had not been summoned to another world,
if he had no reason to be forced to wander outside and form connections,
if there had been no chance to meet such people in the first place...
Lee Ha-yul might have been alone his entire life.
He might have died a lonely death, never once knowing the warm body heat of a person, the comfortable feel of embracing someone, the cozy scent and heartbeat that emanate from a human being.
[Thanks to you, I am happy.]
[And, I was able to gain the strength to be happy.]
[Thank you, truly.]
He wanted to find reasons to be grateful, rather than reasons to resent.
It was better to like each other than to hate each other.
The Confession Necklace conveyed such sentiments rather well.
"......."
Ariel asked no further questions.
Instead, she kept her lips firmly shut and simply stroked Lee Ha-yul's hair calmly.
The last night passed in such a warm atmosphere.
* * *
"...When is Ha-yul coming back?"
Late into the night.
As she rummaged through the fridge in the dark kitchen, taking out the food Lee Ha-yul had made in abundance, Hong Yeon-hwa suddenly murmured to herself.
Lately, her embrace had felt too lonely.
She missed the cute and fragrant Lee Ha-yul, who was just the right size to hold tight in her arms while sleeping...
* * *
[The Tower Master of Harmonization squawks, demanding not to be slandered!]
...
[The Tower Master of Harmonization sniffles.]
[The Tower Master of Growth hangs their head low.]