Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Ah, Refreshing
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Ah, refreshing.
"That was fun."
A girl perched on an unnamed rock muttered to herself. Why do fun times always fly by so quickly?
It was downright bizarre. Normally, it took ages for the sky to darken like this, but today it had happened in the blink of an eye.
She had closed her eyes, then opened them to find the sun that had brightly illuminated the land gone, leaving only soft moonlight to bathe her and the sea.
This was a first for her, and Sion felt a mix of wonder and loneliness.
"Levatein's so lucky."
To be able to stay among those people. Sion gave a wry smile as she imagined herself in their midst.
Today alone, the laughter hadn't stopped from the restaurant at lunch all the way to playing on the beach.
Even just those few hours were the most fun she'd ever had in her entire life.
But what if she lived with them?
"I'm jealous."
The laughter would never end all day long. Days would slip by unnoticed. She'd probably end up grinning like an idiot until the moon rose before she knew it.
Not the relief of another day gone like always, but regret.
"No way that'll happen."
But she knew better than anyone that it was an impossible wish. She understood greed like no one else.
What you want always slips further away the more you reach for it.
"Oppa was so nice."
His words were a bit rough, but he was kind. Like the tsundere types people talked about.
A fool who grumbled but did everything anyway. And there was something familiar about his scent that she personally liked.
He carried a nostalgic aroma. Almost like—
"Mom."
An old scent that reminded her of her parents, warming her heart.
Maybe part of why today was so fun was that scent. Who knows.
"Back to work."
Sion leaned forward, figuring more thinking would just make her depressed. Her tilted body naturally tumbled off the rock.
Her falling form was sucked into the sea amid a spray of water. Cold seawater enveloped her body.
She shot forward like a stream of water. Reporting today's events, flying toward her boss.
Listening to the ocean's voice, Sion slowly walked into the deep sea.
"Did oppa handle the spirit too?"
Giggle.
The girl's soft laughter echoed through the depths.
"Ack! Levatein!! It's spilling everywhere!!"
[Spilling?]
Euaaaah!!
A blonde frantically wiping Levatein's mouth amid screams, and the little blonde oblivious as ever, tilting her head and letting it happen—they both came into view.
If you'd taken better care of Levatein before, this wouldn't happen. Why declare 'I'll feed Levatein!!' now and end up like this?
I couldn't help but chuckle at her clumsy attempts to care for Levatein.
The two blondes looked so much like real mother and daughter—it was a nice sight.
"S-Seong-hoon! What do I do?! Levatein's got it all over her mouth while eating!!! It keeps getting messy no matter how much I wipe!! What is this?! An infinite box?!"
"Have her sit on your lap and feed her."
"There's a way like that!!"
The moment she heard me, Raphael popped up an exclamation mark over her head and hoisted Levatein onto her own lap.
She could've just set her down, but she had to overdo it. It was kinda funny, so I just watched.
I got why people watched parenting shows. Forgetting my own food, I rested my chin on my hand and stared at the duo.
"How's that?! Tasty?!"
[Yummy!! Mama eat too!]
"I'll eat later!! Ah! If you give me some, I will!!"
Raphael's face bloomed like a flower as she accepted the food Levatein offered with an aah~.
Watching the two beam innocently, my mouth moved on its own.
"Wish Sion could've come too."
[She said she couldn't, nyang.]
"Yeah."
Sion.
The girl I'd met briefly that afternoon had insane charisma. Even Levatein, who was wary at first, started calling her 'unnie' right away.
We'd played with her for real. Plus, she was popular on the island, so we got free treats just wandering around.
We'd gotten snacks, and thanks to her, we had a blast, so I invited her to dinner.
—Sorry. I have to go.
—Got stuff to do.
She stubbornly refused and left somewhere. At the end, she looked a bit lonely. If she felt that way, dinner together would've been perfect.
[Personal reasons, nyang.]
"I know. I get it."
She definitely had something going on. She'd withstood Levatein's attacks, and even accounting for her mana, her stamina didn't match her age.
[I like unnie Sion!!]
"She's sweet, right? But ever since she said you guys have the guardian dragon's blessing, people have been extra nice, haven't they?"
"Probably just your imagination. Real blessings would show a blue window."
"True."
A dragon couldn't just hand out blessings willy-nilly anyway.
Still suspicious, I'd asked the merchants on the way to dinner. Who's Sion? What does she do?
But the answers were all vague: lively kid, good kid, seeing her gives you energy.
No one knew details. They said they just felt like giving her stuff whenever they saw her lately.
"A ghost?"
"If she were a ghost with bad vibes, this damn cat would've noticed."
[Don't call me damn cat, nyang.]
I ignored the cat-eared girl glaring at me and continued.
"She's a good kid, sure, but we won't see her again. She only comes to the island once a week, and we're leaving soon."
Meetings come with partings. As I tried to shake the blue-haired girl from my mind like a midsummer night's dream, feeling pleased with my cool words, and noticed Levatein looking glum—
A shadow fell over us.
I looked up, and there—
"Mind if I sit?"
Black hair that was far from farewell.
What had this girl been up to all day to show up now?
"...Seong-hoon."
"What."
"Nothing."
What's her problem? The moment Isia sat down, she propped her chin on her hand, narrowed her eyes, and kept calling me.
When I answered, she'd say 'Nothing.' Not sure what her beef was, so I ignored it and talked to Isia.
"What took you so long? We waited."
"You didn't wait. Lying's bad for you."
Quiet. Truth is, I'd kinda forgotten midway, but that's not something to say to her face.
"Oh. Actually, I went to the beach and..."
"And?"
"...happened to find an interesting book."
She hemmed and hawed, but I could guess the rest. Classic Isia. The Isia I knew would definitely—
"You read it all day until now?"
"...Yeah."
"Idiot."
"..."
I could tell without looking. She'd hesitated on how to approach us, found a fun book by chance, and got lost in it.
She'd probably devoured every related book nearby too. No dinner, all day.
As if confirming my theory, a weird rumble came from Isia's stomach. The classic gurgle when it's empty.
Embarrassed, she clutched it quick, but that didn't unhear it.
I chuckled and slid the bowl in front of me toward her.
"Eat. I just ordered, so mine's a ways off."
"R-Really?!"
"We agreed no more casual speech, right?"
"N-No... I mean."
What was she doing? But I liked her speech quirks—they were fun to tease. Hope she doesn't fix it.
As I smirked and pushed the bowl, Raphael shoved her face in.
"Seong-hoon! Wasn't that meat mine from the start?!"
"What're you talking about."
"You decided it was mine when it came out!!"
"That's just in your head. Eat your food!!"
"Actually, I, Raphael of boundless love, have the power to turn imagination into reality. It's called Imagination Manifestation—"
"Yeah, yeah, got it~"
I ignored babbling Raphael. Successfully got the bowl to Isia without theft.
Isia bowed in thanks for my steak, then sliced into it like nothing happened.
She hesitated sometimes, but she was impressive. Wouldn't even flinch if Lachesis turned human form now.
Didn't freak out much at the demon either.
Whatever I did, she'd accept it like 'It's Seong-hoon, so... whatever.'
Had she given up on me? That'd be kinda sad.
[Good grasp of the situation, nyang. Novelist material, nyang.]
"Shut it."
"You'll get divine punishment, Seong-hoon."
"You're louder."
I shushed the idiot duo and watched Isia elegantly cut her meat.
Casually, chin propped. Staring.
She pretended not to notice at first, eating away, but as I kept staring, she grew self-conscious, her movements getting awkward.
Found it funny, so I kept going until Raphael's glare hit me. I spoke up.
"So, what book was it? Let me hear."
Figured it was magic-related. Isia shattered that.
"Uh, there were tons, but basically about demons and this island."
What language was that? Still, intriguing, so I listened quietly.
"First, this island barely has any incidents. No demons or even petty criminals, so heroes rarely show up. Like with the spirit last time—they took forever."
True. The reason was obvious—
"Thanks to the guardian dragon, they say. But no one's seen it, so who knows if it's true."
"Hmm."
For some reason, Sion popped into my head listening to Isia.
—May the guardian dragon's blessing be with you!!
—Why the reaction?! A dragon?! Dragon?!
Why? Before I could figure it out, Isia continued.
"Next, demons. The book was about them—super interesting. Apparently, a demon's skin color measures their strength based on magi corrosion. The darker—"
I stared at Isia ranting. Made sense. Demons' skin usually changes from magi pollution.
Darker meant older, thus stronger. Solid theory.
But they didn't know about demons still hiding among humans.
The real strong ones blend in, suppressing magi to look human-skinned and eyed.
"Isia. Don't the really strong ones have pale skin?"
"Huh? But—"
Yeah. Like that woman over there. Looks just like a named demon. Wait, named demon—?!
My eyes met the woman across the way. She looked right at us. Smiled, then her lips moved.
"We're fucked."
"Huh?"
Her lips were clear even from afar.
Caught.
No wonder things had been so peaceful lately. Now that's my luck. Ah, refreshing.