I'll Believe You Halfway
I'll believe you halfway. The situation of having only my head buried in the bushes felt awkward. Since I'd just lost my temper, it was hard to just back out, and hiding again when everything was visible would look even stranger. So I stayed perfectly still like a stone, and that's when the girl approached from behind me.
"Gyeowol, what are you doing there?"
"I-I was hiding because I thought goblins were coming..."
I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth. Saying I'd been hiding in such a ridiculous pose. Even if she treated me like a chicken with its head in the sand, I couldn't complain.
"I see..."
Was my answer that amusing? Her voice was suspiciously gentle. All I could see was grass, so I couldn't even imagine her expression. Whatever it was, she probably thought I was pathetic. I let out a silent sigh from within the bushes, and she poked my lower back.
"Hk!"
Startled by the sudden contact, my tail shot straight up.
Slap-!
It must have smacked her skin with the tail. It wasn't on purpose, but in a panic, I scrambled out of the bushes.
Yet she acted like nothing had happened and just spoke to me.
"Hey, Gyeowol."
"Y-Yes...?!"
"There's something unnie wants to say to you. Can you hear me out for a sec?"
What could she possibly want to say, building up the mood like this? I swallowed hard and nodded.
"First off, unnie wants to apologize to you. I'm really sorry."
"A-an apology?"
"Yeah. I've felt terrible all this time."
Bow- The girl bowed her head to me. Hands placed perfectly above her navel—a textbook formal apology.
Why was she suddenly apologizing to me? It was more bizarre than any bullying, and I instinctively went on the defensive.
"W-what is it...?"
"Just what I said. I meant to apologize the moment you woke up, but things were so chaotic back then that I missed the timing. Unnie's spent her whole life swinging a sword, so her brain's pretty slow."
Missed the timing to apologize? What kind of nonsense was that? Unable to grasp her intentions, I widened my eyes.
"Why apologize to me...?"
"Unnie didn't realize until recently that your body had no mana."
"That..."
A mana-less body—that was something I'd hidden on purpose. There was no reason for her to apologize for it. Unless it was about modifying my body, but even then...
My distrust of her only grew in the suspicious situation.
"Without knowing what kind of situation you were in, I went ahead and decided you were some idiot who couldn't even catch a single horn rabbit. If unnie had no mana, she wouldn't be able to catch so much as an ant, let alone a horn rabbit."
"I-is that so?"
"Yeah. I'm really sorry. Unnie formally apologizes."
Bow- She bowed her head again. Her attitude seemed genuine, but I couldn't shake my suspicions. There still wasn't enough explanation about my transformed body.
"I get that you're sorry, but why did you make my body like this...?"
"Your body..."
The girl opened her mouth, then froze in place. She seemed to be thinking something over before continuing.
"Your body had no mana, so potions and recovery magic didn't work at all. We had no choice but to change it into a body with mana."
"Y-yes...?"
My body had mana? Shocked, I stared down at my palm, but with no understanding of mana, I couldn't spot any changes. I wiggled my fingers for a while before looking up at her.
"There's no mana though?"
"No, it's definitely there. During the hunt, wasn't your accuracy higher than usual? Or your senses sharper?"
"Yes. This body is incredibly sensitive."
"Right. That's all the effect of mana. Your physical abilities improve whenever you need them."
So the heightened sensitivity was thanks to mana's support? It was certainly on a whole different level from my mana-less days.
'Then... she really did help me?'
I replayed the past few days with her in my mind. She had never laid a hand on me or said anything cruel. I'd only ever felt like she was beating around the bush.
'For real...?'
Confusion left my mouth hanging open. If she was telling the truth, everything she'd done for me had been pure kindness. Maybe my life had been so harsh that I'd grown overly distrustful of people.
"Um, is it easy to fix a mana-less body...?"
"Hmm... not easy. You're the first person I've seen born without mana."
That figured. People dimension-shifting from a mana-less world weren't exactly common.
What I really wanted to know was how they'd fixed the first case like me.
"If it wasn't easy, how did you do it?"
"W-well..."
She mumbled evasively and avoided my gaze. Was she hiding something? The moment I frowned suspiciously, she urgently pointed off into the bushes.
"Ah! It's a goblin!"
"G-goblin!"
Had it heard our voices? I'd been so focused on the conversation that I'd neglected my surroundings. Instinctively, I ducked behind her.
Looks like the talk would have to wait.
Thud-! "Kieek!"
Yeoreum thought to herself as she took down the goblin. What reaction would Gyeowol have once she learned the price of the blessing? She'd be so shocked she'd barely eat for days. With her personality that hated owing debts, she'd overwork herself trying to pay it back in money. It seemed best to keep the part about feeding her the Beast God's Blessing a secret. It was all for Gyeowol's sake, after all.
'What's with that.'
There was nothing odd in the girl's explanation. The one I'd pitied as a pathetic fool who couldn't catch even a horn rabbit turned out to have a disability. Anyone soft-hearted would feel guilty.
But the real issue was how exactly she'd fixed my body. I was curious, but she clearly had no intention of telling me.
'What the hell?'
She wouldn't explain how she'd turned my body into one with mana or why it had to come with ears and a tail. It felt deliberate, like she was avoiding it on purpose. That was why I couldn't fully let go of my distrust toward her.
"Excuse me..."
I ran up beside the girl as she processed the goblin. The only usable part from a goblin was its magic stone. The stone, no bigger than a fingernail, looked tempting, but I didn't stare. She'd been the one to catch it, after all. I wasn't about to greedily act the fool.
"Why?"
"How did you fix my body? Was there really a need to add ears and a tail?"
"W-well? Maybe the doctor would know...?"
Her stuttering was painfully awkward. Even an idiot could tell she was lying.
'Suspicious.'
She'd explained enough to be convincing, so why dodge like this? I still couldn't erase my distrust of her.
"...Something feels off, but thanks for fixing my body anyway."
"R-really?"
"Yes. Having mana feels like a dream."
With this body, I could live like a normal person. As I happily rubbed my wrist, feeling a pleasant buzz, the girl made an unexpected proposal.
"Hey, Gyeowol. Ever thought about joining unnie's guild?"
"G-guild?"
"Yeah. It's hard watching you live alone in the mountains."
Hard to watch me live alone? Was she really that soft-hearted? Then why wouldn't she tell me the truth about my body?
Torn between distrust and belief, she handed me a magic stone.
"Take this for now, Gyeowol."
"Why give it to me...?"
I wanted it, but I didn't take it. I knew better than anyone that I had no share in the fight.
"It's fine. We're a party, unnie and you."
"A party...?"
"Yeah. You were the one who first warned me about the goblin nearby. Thanks to that, we avoided a surprise attack. You did a great job as the scout."
"Really...?"
Just saying there was a goblin in the goblin woods— was that such a big deal? It felt suspicious, but I couldn't say I had zero share. So I decided to take just one out of the several magic stones.
"You could take a few more."
"It's fine. My share is exactly this much."
Greed brings ruin. The reason a mana-less me had survived this long was because I'd never been greedy.
'So pretty.'
I'd heard magic stones only dropped from monsters stronger than goblins. Captivated by the sparkle of my first one, the girl approached after extracting them all.
"So, Gyeowol, what do you say?"
"You mean join the guild?"
"Yeah. You can't live alone forever."
She had a point. But I had to hesitate a little.
Her guild didn't suit someone like me at all.
"Hmm..."
Even at a glance, the dorms and restaurants screamed luxury. Monthly living expenses would run into the millions for sure. And I still hadn't dropped my suspicions of her.
'But I can't live alone forever either.'
I finally had mana—I didn't want to go back to my old life. I didn't have the money to reenter society right away. Looked like I'd have to compromise with her.
"Um, then could you lend me just a little spot next to the guild? The land looked plenty big."
"N-next to it?"
"Yes. I'll pitch a tent and live there. I'll pay 200,000 won a month."
I knew city land was expensive, but this wasn't living inside the building—just camping nearby. 200,000 won a month should cover it. With a mana-infused body, I could earn like a normal person and buy a house soon enough.
"Uh, hmm... unnie... uh... sure, let's do that?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Bow. I bowed to her.
I was grateful for her help, but this distance felt best for now. Until she told me the full truth, I had no intention of fully trusting her either.