Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: There Are Things Even Adults Don't Know
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1:00 p.m. sharp.
The time when office workers and students, fresh from lunch, feel the sleepiest as morning turns to afternoon.
In that drowsy afternoon, Sion—who had been playing in the cool house, basking in the sunlight—
“Hup?!”
Woke up with a weird yelp. She calmed her startled body, sat up abruptly, and looked around.
What she saw was a maid hanging laundry leisurely in the distance. And right beside her, a little sibling snoring away.
And everything else—
“Is gone?!”
Thank goodness. Sion let out a sigh of relief and steadied her pounding heart.
She hadn't meant to fall asleep. Not knowing when Lee Seong-hoon and Raphael might come home, she'd been wide awake, eyes burning, ready to greet them—
“I just did anyway.”
For real. Drawing with Levatein had been fun. The snacks Lily brought were delicious.
And that was just the start. After that, she'd watched TV and mimicked the dances, played on the kid-safe cushioned floor she'd insisted on because “Oppa might get hurt.”
Before she knew it, lunchtime rolled around. After devouring the amazing spread Lily prepared, the sleepiness hit like a wave.
So just for a moment. A tiny moment of closing her eyes—and
“Hng.”
She was out. If Lee Seong-hoon and Raphael—her oppa and unni—had come home while she was asleep, how disappointed would she have been!!
Sion couldn't help but pout. As she sat there all mopey, staring at the floor, a voice called out.
「Did you wake up?」
“Yeah...”
「What's wrong? Bad dream?」
“Not that...”
Sion looked up as she answered. There stood the demon maid, arms full of freshly gathered laundry.
“Just... I didn't know when Oppa and Unni would come home, and I ended up sleeping too soundly.”
「I see.」
Lily set down the laundry and sat beside Sion. Normally she'd stay back to avoid disturbing her sleep, but today she sat close.
「The Master usually gets home around 5. Sometimes later if something comes up, but unless it's really special, he's back by 7.」
“For real?”
「Yes. So feel free to sleep more.」
For real? Sion nodded at Lily's words. She was a demon, after all.
Sion knew about demons. Back when she was little, before parting from her mother. Mom had always warned her about them.
Never trust them. Every word out of their mouths is a lie.
Scum who weave lies into truths to deceive people, then demand mana and souls as “payment” for contracts.
Always scheming to steal cores from other worlds.
But Lily was different. Nothing like the demons from the stories Sion always heard.
She'd never once tricked her. Everything Lily said was true. Far from taking Lee Seong-hoon's mana and soul, she was the one steadily losing demonic energy.
‘Come to think of it, that's weird.’
Normally, in a human-demon contract, the demon is master. The human pays the price, and the demon lends power—an A-and-B relationship.
But with Lily, it was reversed. Lee Seong-hoon was master, Lily the servant. Was that the source of the odd feeling?
Sion couldn't quite grasp it, but it didn't stop her from knowing Lily was a good demon.
「Even if the Master comes while you're sleeping, it'll be fine. He won't be disappointed—he'd probably just take a ton of cute photos.」
“Really? Hehe.”
「Exactly.」
Of course. How could a demon who only said nice things be bad? There were good demons in the world after all.
Sion grinned and lay back down. She'd just woken up, and the panic made her even sleepier—she was out the moment her head hit the floor.
「I'll wake you later.」
“Yeah...”
Half-asleep, she stared at the ceiling, eyes slowly closing. Even as they did, something caught her eye.
‘Mana?’
Mana. Dragons could see it. More precisely, mana spoke to them.
Beings blessed by mana. Loved by it. It always whispered surroundings to dragons or chattered about nothing important.
‘But why?’
Mana that had never spoken to her since arriving here. Talking now?
And the quality was different too. Denser mana than in her old heart realm was reaching out.
‘What's going on?’
Denser than in a hatchling's lair? Unthinkable, but then she pictured that black-haired guy, and it made sense.
‘Dunno. I'll ask later.’
Why mana never talked normally. Why the mana here was so thick.
Easy—just wake up and ask. Her eyes drifted shut naturally.
Luckily, I didn't have to retake the test. As if I'd bother when I was exhausted.
I bullshitted that the device glitched, and they let me pass as stage 5. Feels like cheating, but hey, the cheatee is at fault, right?
Not me, though?
[It's all your fault, nya.]
Shut it. I grabbed the cat's face and stretched it out, then took my seat.
Half-listening to the teacher, someone poked my side.
Naturally, it was the blonde. She leaned over, grinning.
Her mouth moved furiously: Stage how many?
We can communicate with just eye contact, you know? Forgot already?
No idiot like this one. I helplessly held up all five fingers. Raphael popped up an exclamation mark over her head and shoved three fingers at me.
“Not bad.”
“Right?!”
Yeah. Really. Back in the day, she'd whine about hating it and just run around on stage 1.
Then vent on me when she got back. But now? She pushed to stage 3.
Considering her combat power tanks without demon stuff, that's impressive.
“Ehehehe...”
I nodded approval, and she scratched the back of her head, beaming. Must feel good.
Effort pays off, after all. I like it too—I cleared stage 10 today.
Granted, I used Mana Eye from stage 8, but still solid.
I nodded, Raphael grinned, but the teacher's voice droned on.
Tomorrow's training, team groupings, revealed tomorrow, blah blah.
“Oh. This training.”
“You know it?”
Know it? Hell yeah. First incident of the second semester. At least things run normally here.
This was probably the one where the Half-Demon who failed to kidnap Isia last semester gets revenge.
Park Shin-woo returns? Nah. Just some light training and home.
“No big deal. Same old training.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
How's a captured guy gonna get revenge? If he shows, that's Justitia's fault.
But I trust Justitia. I trust our school.
—So that's it! Manage your condition well today!!
Class ended with the teacher. Last period, so just head home—but
““Lee Seong-hoon.””
As if. My two maids appeared, glaring at each other. Like, I said it first!
Black hair and silver hair locked eyes, then turned to me.
“Stage how many?!”
“How many?!”
Shoving faces in my space. Ask aggressively like that, and even ready answers vanish.
“I got stage 3.”
No one asked you—
“Nobody asked!!”
Thanks for the save. But seriously, what do I say?
A bit awkward, I glanced around. Spotted blue hair in the distance. Eye contact—she smiled faintly.
Then—
“You too?”
She held up eight fingers. Probably stage 8 cleared.
I reluctantly flashed ten. Predictable result.
“Why won't you tell me?!”
“I asked first?!”
There we go. You two scare me. I don't like pushy.
Ask one at a time.
“Seong-hoon got 10 stages.”
Why lie?
“Home's the best.”
Dodged the interrogation. They were just curious, probably for tomorrow's training.
Of course, had to text the answer later.
“Still, holding out to the end was impressive. Good job. Good boy.”
“...Am I a dog?”
“You pet my head all the time and say whatever.”
[Mama!! Daddy pets me too!!]
No comeback to that. Helplessly, I let beaming Raphael have my hand on her head.
“...”
Not bad actually. Indescribable feeling as I looked at Sion beside me.
Her posture was a bit off, but whatever.
“Sion.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Have fun today? Not bored?”
“Yeah! Playing with Levatein flew by!!”
Good to hear. Means Levatein had fun too.
Truly glad, I patted Sion's head. Unthinkingly done, so we ended up in this weird mutual-patting pose.
“Hehe.”
If everyone's happy, it's fine. As I patted, Sion looked up palm-up, like she'd remembered something.
“Oh right, Oppa!!”
“Hm?”
“Why's the mana so thick here?”
What?
“And the mana's weird!! It doesn't talk to me when you and Unni are around!!”
What the hell? I looked to Lachesis, uncomprehending—
[No idea, nya.]
“Sion.”
“Yeah!! Why?! I'm curious!!”
There are things even adults don't know.