Hap?piness
Hap?piness
Contrary to what I'd expected, the meal ended rather anticlimactically, and we moved from the dining room to the spacious living room.
- Dessert is served...
Fairies who had muffled footsteps carried plates in. Neatly arranged fruit was set down on the table.
But everyone just glanced at the fruit without touching it.
The silence was unbearable.
Although my face was buried in Yeon-hwa's arms, my senses—still sealed—let me perceive the situation around me even without opening my eyes.
After some hesitation, I quietly sent out a distress call.
My wings weren't visible, but sending a will-thought to fairies was simple enough.
- ...!
The fairies who received my will-thought quivered their wings. Worry flickered through their rolling eyes, then resolve flashed.
- Uhm... Your Majesty the Queen...
It was the moment the green-haired fairy, Dip, was about to open her mouth.
Ellia, who'd been staring intently at the back of my head, smiled brightly and turned away.
"Thank you for bringing the fruit, Dip, Rinne. We have something to discuss with His Majesty the King, so could you go play somewhere else for a bit?"
- Ah, yes, yes!
At Ellia's gentle words, the fairies immediately spun around and fled.
I didn't feel betrayed. Honestly, I'd expected this would happen.
Ellia, having easily dismissed the fairies, turned back to look at me. Just then, Yeon-hwa shifted me around in her arms.
My head, buried in her chest, was pulled out. When I reflexively opened my eyes, I saw Yeon-hwa's face right in front of me.
I swallowed hard under the wordless, steady gaze of those red eyes.
"Sigh."
"Hic..."
When Yeon-hwa finally let out the sigh she could no longer hold back, my heart plummeted.
My eyes, lost in ominous imaginings, wavered. Just as my vision—which showed nothing but Yeon-hwa—was about to blur over—
- Smooch
A kiss landed on the bridge of my nose, and my eyes blinked. The tears that had been about to well up disappeared. Even I thought it was an absurd reaction.
"What did you do right this time that you're already tearing up?"
Maybe she felt the same, because Yeon-hwa, who had been stroking my hair, let out a rueful laugh.
As she patted me down and my surprise subsided, Yeon-hwa asked again.
"And why did you hide this?"
"That's..."
I cast my gaze around and discreetly observed the surroundings. When the issue of my sense of taste was brought up, no one was surprised.
It was as if they already knew.
"How... when did you all realize...?"
"I was at a stage of suspicion close to certainty, but I lacked proof. As for the others... well."
"I also started suspecting around the end of last year."
As Yeon-hwa tilted her head, Ellia spoke. Her bright yellow eyes flickered with complex emotions.
"I didn't notice anything strange at first. But living together, something felt off. Whenever we'd put something in his mouth, he'd seem to enjoy it, but it felt more like a reaction to being cared for rather than the taste itself."
"I'm similar. Living in the same house and always eating together, I felt a strong sense of incongruity."
"...I knew since I was little, but it seemed Ha-yul hadn't revealed it yet, so I kept quiet."
"Since last vacation. When we entered a dungeon for Dungeon Practice, I knew because he swallowed a bitter medicine without noticing."
- What?
As the revelations came one after another, my eyes trembled. Then I blinked at Lee Ji-yeon's words.
- Because of me...?
Along with my counter-question, I manifested the Authority of Knowledge. Whirrr! I opened a book containing the memories of that time and read it.
- How does it taste? As expected—
- [It's delicious]
...It was real.
The pill I had happily tossed into my mouth because she said it was a gift. Analyzing it later, it had an intensely bitter taste.
As it happened, I had neglected analysis because I was practicing the Authority of Space back then.
'Ugh...'
I squeezed my eyes shut. To think I'd been found out by Lee Ji-yeon for such a stupid reason.
Of course, I trusted that Lee Ji-yeon would never give me anything weird, but I still should have analyzed it before eating...
"I found out when we were studying for the midterm evaluations."
- ...What?
"I mixed a few bitter ones among the snacks. When he ate them and still smiled, saying they were delicious, I realized."
...A-rin had noticed even earlier than Lee Ji-yeon did. And by the sneaky method of laying traps among the snacks, no less.
I stared at A-rin with hollow eyes.
- Why... why did you put bitter ones among the snacks?
"Ahaha. I was quite suspicious back then, wasn't I? There was also the matter of wanting to know more about Ha-yul, who was trying to win me over."
Laughing sheepishly, A-rin naturally shifted the blame onto the curse.
"Little one, that time you said the sandwich was delicious... haah..."
"Hic..."
Professor Liana let out a deep sigh. The sandwich—it was the one Professor Liana had brought before she first taught me mana.
"I-I'm s-sorry for lying..."
"No. Maybe later, but at that time... hoo, I really regret my own words now."
Professor Liana, who lightly tapped her own lips, slumped her shoulders. I shook my head vigorously.
"It's not... it's not Professor Liana's fault, it's my fault... agh."
"Right, this is Ha-yul's fault."
Yeon-hwa's fingers lightly flicked my nose. Then she lifted me and turned me around.
Gazes bore into my face from all sides. Then Yeon-hwa, embracing me from behind, rested her chin on my head.
"So, will you explain now?"
"...Okay."
I could no longer keep my mouth shut. With a tearful look, I brought up my foolish circumstances.
At first, there was no particular reason to reveal my shortcomings.
Unlike vision, where the problem is immediately visible, taste and smell are hard to detect unless you go around announcing them.
It wasn't something to broadcast to everyone, so I kept my mouth shut.
Later, when our bonds deepened, I simply didn't want to cause worry.
They're just curses to be broken anyway, aren't they? Even if they can't be broken, I can discern taste and smell through Observation, so there's no problem in daily life.
...Truthfully, by this point, I had already missed the timing to confess.
Coming clean now—that my sense of taste and smell had actually been broken, that I'd been lying all along—I just couldn't muster the courage.
"It is a difficult issue to bring up lightly. Still, it would have been better if you'd told us first."
"Yes... it's my fault."
Ellia sighed and murmured.
I hung my head and didn't refute it.
After all, it was indeed my fault.
Foolishly missing the timing, dragging it out without courage... and in the end, only spilling it all because Yeon-hwa, unable to stand it any longer, had tested me.
"The curses placed on the little one. Is this, too, the meddling of those Tower Master bastards?"
"......"
My master, who had been tapping the table with a finger, quietly asked.
I recognized the curse—one placed on the body but also connected to the soul—and pressed my lips together.
"Those things I'll tear to shreds and kill..."
That was apparently answer enough.
My master and the others clenched their teeth. Even the usually gentle Professor Liana and Ellia had eyes that were cold and subdued.
Brutal hostility prickled my skin. I turned around and burrowed into Yeon-hwa's arms.
She had been grinding her teeth as well, but she naturally opened her arms to accept me.
Yeon-hwa, who cradled my head, suddenly blinked. A questioning look flashed across her face before she looked down at me.
"But, you know. You... that is, didn't you eat this well?"
"Huh?"
As I peeked my face out from her chest and tilted my head, Yeon-hwa, whose cheeks had reddened slightly, glanced furtively at her own breasts.
"Ah."
"Uh... now that you mention it."
"It certainly is... like that..."
A sound of understanding escaped my mouth as I realized what she meant.
The others, who had been building up hostility toward the invading Tower Masters, also opened their mouths as if they had forgotten that fact, then looked at me with inscrutable eyes.
...With all their attention gathered on me like this, it was a bit embarrassing to say.
I buried my flushing face in Yeon-hwa's chest. This place was warmer.
"...When it's connected, it's visible to me. Other things are like that, too."
"......"
After some hesitation, I spoke.
It was a small voice that leaked out from within the ample bosom, but it resonated clearly in the quiet room.
"...Aha."
After a brief silence, Ellia, who had been thinking for a moment, clapped her hands together.
"So, that's why you liked it so much..."
As Ellia said that, pity dripped from her eyes.
The others weren't much different. Yeon-hwa bit her lip and tightened her embrace around me.
"......."
Even if my sense of taste had been perfectly fine, it wouldn't have changed anything. But since it wasn't something I needed to add, I kept my mouth shut.
It was then.
- Junior, do you have any other secrets?
Lee Ji-yeon, who'd been glancing down at her own chest with a flushed face, suddenly sent a sound transmission.
Having composed her expression at some point, Lee Ji-yeon was staring directly at me.
- Not of the soul. Of the physical body.
- ......
The sound transmission pierced into my head. At its contents, my whole body stiffened.
Curses placed on the body. To be precise, the horrible curses I was born with...
- Uh, there aren't... any...
"...Good grief."
Lee Ji-yeon let out a deep sigh through her mouth.
.
.
.
Very, very fortunately, no problems arose after my senses were exposed.
Instead, over the past few days,
the way people looked at me with pity had intensified considerably.
It didn't stop with looks. Whenever they had a chance, they'd hold me in their arms, stroke and pat me, and pour out affection without rest.
- Here, our little one? Time to eat... Eat as much as you want, until you're full. That's it...
...The amount they fed me increased, too. They already fed me an enormous amount before, but now, if they had time and my mouth was free, they would try to put something in it.
"Urrp..."
Honestly, for me, it was just happiness.
As spiritual lifeforms, fairies have no limit to their stomachs.
Of course, that would probably remain true even if I returned to my body.
- Purr...
'It's about time I should return to my body.'
The first weekend of the second semester of second year.
Leaning against the baby unicorn, I patted my plump belly.
Enough time had passed for my physical body to fully bloom the All-Rounder unique ability without disturbance.
Spending any more time separated like this wasn't good.
Setting aside whether this is normal, this method is practically an out-of-body experience through physical death. Drawing it out any longer would do no good.
'The chances are low, though.'
A new soul might sprout in a body left continuously empty.
Since my soul has already once inhabited it, it's theoretically impossible, but since there have been previous cases, there's no harm in being cautious.
I stroked my belly and reviewed my plan.
Unity of spirit and body. Before that, I needed to recover my memories of time spent with Lee Ha-sol in my physical body.
Above all, if I traced the memories all the way back, I might be able to perceive the moment my physical body was born.
It's a physical body whose race is still unknown. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to find out the identity of the race.
'And as it happens, I've already tried handling the Authority of Harmonization circuitously.'
The previous plan was to manage by struggling with the Authority of Observation and Knowledge, but if I use the Authority of Harmonization together now, things will be much smoother.
- Squish, squish...
- Purr?
It was while I was reviewing my plan like that.
The baby unicorn, which had been basking in the sun with its eyes closed, suddenly raised its head and showed interest in the thing I was holding and fiddling with in my hand.
- This?
The baby unicorn nodded.
Something that was crumpling like dough in my hand.
To be precise, it looked like a slime that had been doused with star powder.
- This is... like a soul.
- Purr?
What I held in my hand was a monster's soul.
More accurately, I had kneaded its spiritual blueprint and changed it into this form.
'It's difficult.'
The result wasn't satisfactory. The soul was not being processed as I intended. Even just this much—merely clumping it together like dough—it kept slipping out and threatening to burst.
No matter how much Mana Affinity I had, meddling with a soul was a somewhat different domain.
If it were my own soul, it was still easy, but interfering with the soul of an external entity came with immense repulsion.
My head was throbbing from observing a soul beyond mere matter. I pressed my brow firmly and swallowed a sigh.
'So the 12th Iteration handles things like this...'
The Hybrid Summoner's unique ability, "Soul Ingot".
A unique ability that freely handles, combines, and uses souls, transcending the physical body.
The unique ability I received as a perk is completely different, but it's one that underwent upheaval through many changes and pioneering.
Perhaps because of that, Soul Ingot is a very special and peculiar unique ability.
Soul Ingot had infinite applications, and particularly, the army of soul hybrids created with it was disgusting, even by my own assessment.
'For me, though, interfering with someone else is still dangerous.'
Regenerating Senior Daera's arm would have to wait until I raise my proficiency further.
My inspection was finished.
Nodding to myself, I got up.
It was about time for the unity of spirit and body.