Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Fools Don't Understand
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Justitia's rarely visited flower garden. This field, crafted entirely to Rosarinne's personal taste, wasn't well-known to people, making it extremely secluded.
The only visitors were the occasional caretaker or Rosarinne herself, who sometimes came to see the flowers after collapsing from mana exhaustion.
Aside from those two instances, it was a perfect spot where no one ever showed up.
For them, at least.
"Where are you?"
Lily, dressed in her maid outfit, searched the flower garden with a tone full of worry. But in truth, this concern wasn't for the one she was seeking.
It was for herself—what she'd face if she lost track of her and had to go home.
"You're so hard to find. Please come out."
Her speech was impeccably polite. The reason was simple: even out of Lee Seong-hoon's sight, slipping back into her natural tone would trigger an instant backlash.
Demons could sever contracts like this on a whim, but they placed great importance on them.
That's why she had to find her quickly. End this unwanted game of hide-and-seek.
She imagined what might happen if she failed. She shook her head immediately after the brief thought.
Just picturing the blonde charging in with fire in her eyes and the black-haired one unleashing demonic mischief made her skin crawl.
She combed through the flower garden, sweating coldly, but there was no sign. How could she not spot a blonde five-year-old girl in flowers that only reached knee height?
The reason was all too simple.
She wasn't an ordinary five-year-old kid.
[Hehe.]
Levatein let out a small laugh. Her voice wouldn't carry. She was in a severely shrunken state right now.
Her body itself had become tiny. She'd transformed by mimicking another creature.
No particular reason. She was playing in the field full of pretty blooming flowers when she spotted a beautiful butterfly. It was so captivating that she mimicked it.
That was the whole story. She'd planned to revert after a bit more play, but seeing Lily search for her with that pitiful expression was too amusing to stop.
Could she fly? These gorgeous wings made her think it'd be so much fun. But no matter how she flapped, her body wouldn't lift off the ground.
Levatein made a pouty face, but it didn't show. She couldn't even fly, and now Lily's distress was starting to feel a bit sad, so she decided to change back.
But then—
A butterfly flew in. One identical to the one she'd mimicked. Levatein's eyes sparkled as she watched it approach.
Did it want to be friends? As she gazed at the incoming butterfly—
[Waaah!!!]
She reverted to her original form and ran toward Lily, sobbing. Hearing the cry, Lily panicked and rushed over to scoop her up.
"Wh-why are you crying?! Don't cry!!"
[M-monster!!]
Monster? What did that mean? Whatever, she just didn't want her to cry. If she went home and reported today's events, any mention of tears—even a little—
Lily patted her back, doing her utmost to soothe her. First things first, she had to ensure none of this was her fault!
[M-monster!! There was something super gross!!]
"A monster?"
[N-no!! Like!! It had tons of legs and an ugly face!! Its body was all skinny and creepy!!]
Watching Levatein flail her arms in explanation, Lily finally understood. She let out a sigh of relief. Just spooked by a bug, huh.
"Let's head back for today."
At those words, Levatein sniffled in response.
[Yeah. I miss Mommy and Daddy.]
"They'll be back soon."
[Will they get along?]
Of course. Lily averted her gaze as she replied.
"Take your eyes off her for one second, and she causes an incident, that damn angel!!!"
"Why is this my fault?! That crow stole my points and flew off!!"
"That's exactly why it's your fault—why blame the crow? Huh? Wait, don't come over here yet!! Hey! You!!"
"Seong-hoon? Why's the crow on your shoulder?"
"......."
"You point thief!!"
Even without words, the two got along great. To the point of grabbing each other's collars for a physical debate.
I'm darting through the forest like mad. I slash through obstructing grass, ignore the wildly shaking pendant, devour incoming spells with [Spell Eater], and press on. Yang Min-ji called out something like "Wait for me~" from behind, but I didn't have time to wait.
"Damn blonde!!!"
It's all because of our angel here. If she'd just stayed put, I could've coasted without lifting a finger.
Eat up the points the crow brings, snag first place easily, and laugh at Raphael getting dragged away.
But.
What the hell is this? Even from a brief glimpse, I could tell. Countless monsters—too many to tally by hand—were chasing after Raphael.
What happens next is obvious even to an idiot. Raphael runs around, the others scatter in fear.
The monsters charge after the fleeing Raphael, and boom. Holy crap!!
Artificial [Monster Party] complete!! She pulled off something no normal person could dream of, just by breathing.
Is our angel a genius in some twisted way? A genius at ruining my plans.
"I seriously want to kill her."
Truth be told, creating the monster party isn't the issue. Raphael's the only one suffering from running around with them all day.
But why am I sprinting like a maniac?
What if Raphael, dashing like that, runs into someone who can wipe out all those monsters?
Michael alone could handle them. She seemed alone, but if she reaches where Michael is?
No need to go that far. One calm mage would end it.
The moment that happens, my points—earned through finisher blows and hard work—won't vanish, but they'll lose all meaning.
No amount of effort can beat whoever claims that monster party.
I run. I have to reach Raphael before anyone else does.
That's why I'm going all out.
Caw—!!
I follow the crow's lead from above. Reaching the spot where it circles, what I see is—
"Done."
Frozen monsters. My brain froze just like them. As far as I know, only one person could pull this off.
Forcing my stiff neck to turn revealed it a short distance away.
—You okay?
—Ugh. I can get up on my own, you know?
A black-haired man with a blue aura reaching out to the blonde.
The fallen blonde recoiled in disgust, stood up alone, and brushed dirt off her pants.
"Thanks for the help. But I lured those things here, so the points are half—huh? What's that? Eh? Seong-hoon?"
Raphael waves happily. But her face soon pales, and she whips around.
"What? Don't come closer!!"
Running's pointless. My physical abilities are already boosted from the spells I absorbed on the way.
Me, already accelerated. The blonde, just starting to accelerate.
No need to explain who's faster.
And so, I grabbed the blonde by the collar.
"Who's calling who a point thief!!"
"Thief? Thieeeef? It was all above board. You're calling it cheating. I reserved them first. It was my spot. You just came and hunted them."
"Do you even know what kind of game this is? Talking about reserved leaves like it's maple leaf picking?!"
"How do you know that saying? Anyway, it's not my fault. Because of you, I can't get first anymore. Look at this. All the ones I worked so hard—no, hunted!! And Kim Tae-hyun snatched them...?"
"You just said 'finisher,' right? You said finisher, didn't you?"
I ignored Raphael and checked my bracelet. No point changes. Still holding first place.
A glance to the side shows the monster horde frozen solid.
I couldn't make sense of it. Tilting my head in confusion, a disgustingly handsome guy approached.
I scowled without thinking.
"I toned it down. Just enough not to kill."
What the hell? Not getting it, I stayed silent and listened. Raphael beside me looked pissed too.
"Why do you hate her so much?"
I whispered in her ear, low enough that Kim Tae-hyun couldn't hear. Whispering in front of someone is rude, but I don't care about that.
"I hate perfect people. Just looking at them annoys me. Look at him. Handsome face. Great fighter. Saves the girl in a crisis and gallantly offers his hand. Ugh, hate it."
Raphael felt the same. Maybe because she knew she wasn't elite herself—her elitist phobia was pretty bad.
"If it were you, Seong-hoon, the moment you saved me back there. You'd drag me into a explosion rune. Even if I was rolling on the ground covered in wounds, you'd ignore me and do a celebratory hula dance."
No. Not to that extent—wait, would I? Thinking it over, yeah, I probably would, so I said nothing.
"Stings, right? Right? See, I'm telling you? When I get back, I'm angling for a professorship in Lee Seong-hoon Psychology from God."
Shut up. As our chat wrapped up, Kim Tae-hyun, who'd apparently waited, continued.
"Wanted to test something. So I held back, and it worked."
Why does this guy talk in bursts? Face darkening further, I waited for his next words.
"You take it. Those points."
"“Huh?!”"
My and Raphael's faces lit up instantly. We retreated to a corner and huddled, whispering out of his earshot.
"This feels like a trap, right?"
"Given Kim Tae-hyun's personality, probably not. But why give them up?"
"No idea. Maybe payback for catching that demon last time?"
"Maybe? I was pretty cool back then."
"Demonic. Demonic. But we're on different teams. I brought his group here and gave the chance, so I get 7."
"You're kidding? More importantly, he's really giving them?"
We eyed Kim Tae-hyun suspiciously. He shrugged and nodded.
"Payment for last time. Thanks for taking down the demon. I like this training anyway, so first place doesn't matter."
The second he finished, we whispered again without acknowledging him.
"That guy's nuts. Says he likes this training. This is why you can't understand elites."
"Exactly. Isn't that mental illness? I just wanna quit this training?!"
"But he's handing over first except himself. Here's the plan: we split first place jointly."
"You're a genius. Okay, deal."
As our whispering ended, Kim Tae-hyun—waiting again—waved once and left. Something about experiments.
Was Kim Tae-hyun always this strong? Last time I saw him, not to this level—
"Not our business. This is priority now. You first, Raphael. Break up to 2000P worth."
"You think I can't do math?"
"Can you?"
At my words.
Boom—!!!
Raphael's fist shattered the ice. Undead monsters died and faded. Her grin was kinda scary.
"Next ones too—"
I couldn't continue. Neither could Raphael beside me.
The clustered ice made weird noises. Hit too hard?
Creak—!! Creak—!!
"Seong-hoon. This isn't what I think it is, right?"
"...."
The groaning ice soon shattered to pieces. No time to wait. Not even allowing hands to claim points.
All at once. Completely. Crash.
I watched the scene and checked my bracelet.
"S-Seong-hoon... His ice wasn't that strong...?"
Hiss.
I inhaled sharply.
"Right? I just hit it? If you hadn't provoked him—"
"Raphael!!!!!!!!!"
I lunged at her.
—Raphaeeeel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kim Tae-hyun frowned at the distant roar. What the hell was going on? He'd handed over the monsters precisely so they wouldn't fight.
Yet here came the bellows. Were those idiots fated to clash? Recalling an ancestor's wisdom—"Fools don't understand"—he tried to go on his way.
But his bracelet buzzed.
"What total unexpected idiots."
That guy beat the demon? It was so absurd he laughed in disbelief.
[Why? It's fun.]
"Fun's all it is."
The voice giggled playfully. Kim Tae-hyun didn't even react to the laughter.