Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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>Translator: Vine
>Chapter: 25
>Chapter Title: I Don't Like It, It Hurts When You Touch It
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I don’t like it, it hurts when you touch it.
***
Grind, grind.
“Damn it, hell…!”
In a back alley barely wide enough for one person to pass, Doban knelt amidst a pile of trash, gritting his teeth.
Squeak, squeak?
Rats, rummaging through the garbage, saw Doban and tilted their heads, scurrying closer.
“Scram!”
Squeak!
Realizing Doban wasn’t a new source of food, the rats scattered in an instant. The bugs, however, did not flee. Doban could feel disgusting insects crawling on his back, but he was in no state to do anything about it.
“How… how did I end up like this…!”
Doban’s body trembled, his fists clenched. A furious rage surged through him, turning his face beet red.
He wanted to unleash a barrage of magic and lay waste to his surroundings. But he could do nothing more than sit helplessly in the pile of trash.
‘Damn that Heavenly King!’
The reason Doban, who once had a magnificent laboratory, was now sitting in a heap of garbage was all because of the Heavenly King, Jiso.
After Doban was caught sneaking into Mia’s mansion, Jiso, who had come running at the request for mediation, thinking it would be fun, had taken everything Doban owned for all sorts of reasons.
Doban was stripped of his laboratory, his test subjects, his weapons—everything. He was left a penniless vagrant. That much wouldn’t have been a huge problem.
He was a skilled black mage; he could have gradually earned money to replace what he had lost. The real problem was that Jiso hadn’t been satisfied with just that.
>He had demanded Doban’s magic, his body, and even his soul.
‘That son of a bitch! Making such an absurd demand…! Bastard! Fucker!’
He cursed inwardly, then flinched, his shoulders shuddering as he frantically looked around. He was afraid his inner thoughts might echo aloud, summoning the Heavenly King Jiso.
Skitter.
“Damn it!”
Doban swore and shook his leg, feeling the disgusting sensation of a centipede crawling over his ankle. His eyes glinted as he recalled the reason for his downfall.
‘This is all because of that damn bitch.’
The thought that he himself had done anything wrong never even crossed Doban’s mind. He only blamed others, his mind racing to figure out how he could get his revenge.
‘I can’t just run away like this.’
If he left the Demon King’s territory now, Jiso would no longer pursue him. It was his only way to survive, but the seething rage made it impossible to take a step.
‘That slave I saw at her house.’
Doban pictured Rian, reborn at his hands, and let out a perverted smile.
‘I’ll steal that slave.’
He no longer had any means of truly getting back at Mia, but he still had enough power to snatch one of her possessions.
Since he was already a fugitive who had to flee the Demon King’s lands anyway, Doban shamelessly concocted a vile plan in his head.
‘There were definitely… some useful slaves in that bitch’s house.’
Rummaging through the trash heap, Doban found a half-broken staff and drew a magic circle in the air.
As he meticulously drew it, sweat beading on his brow, the magic circle glowed black and activated.
Woooong.
‘Yes!’
Doban felt his magic connect to Mia’s distant mansion. The traces left by the magic he had used when he’d snuck into her house made the process easy.
Woooong—.
A part of the mansion’s interior came into view, as if one of Doban’s familiars were hidden inside.
‘Is this… the slave quarters?’
Bunk beds were pushed against both walls of the narrow space. It was originally a room for servants, but now it was used by the children.
‘Lucky me.’
Doban’s eyes gleamed as he watched his prey, who had just entered the room. Reflected beyond the magic circle was Pia, who had come into the quarters and was opening a drawer under her bed.
***
Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
My legs were shaking so violently it felt like they were trying to drill into the ground. I pressed down on my knees with both hands to stop them, but it was no use.
‘I’m screwed! So screwed! What do I do!’
I felt like I’d had a pretty plausible plan just a little while ago, but now I couldn’t remember a single thing.
‘She’s not dead, is she?!’
If she was, this world would fall into the hands of the Demon King and be destroyed. Tears streamed from my eyes as if someone had turned on a faucet.
“Ugh, ugh.”
Thump.
I slammed my forehead onto the kitchen table, grabbing my hair and trying my best to think of a solution, but nothing came to mind.
Just then.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah…”
A blunt voice. Pia had come to the kitchen.
“Why? Are you looking for something?”
“Not really, but…”
Pia trailed off, her brow furrowed slightly as she stared at my face. What, is there something on my face?
After staring at my face in silence, Pia eventually said it was nothing and turned to leave.
‘Did she need something? Ah, right, I should start preparing dinner soon.’
Mia, who had fallen into complete despair a few days ago, still hadn’t regained her senses. She was muttering things like, “I am not wrong,” while flipping through old textbooks.
I needed to prepare a simple meal for Mia, who wouldn’t even eat properly.
‘Thankfully, we’re not short on ingredients… Maybe I’ll make easy-to-eat sandwiches today?’
When I had dressed the catatonic Mia in her coat and handed her a wallet and a shopping list, she had managed to buy everything just fine.
Is it okay for a person to be this broken? And was that incident really shocking enough to cause this? I wondered, but it was true that I had more free time than before, so I didn’t actively try to snap her out of it.
‘As for Iris… there’s no immediate solution. For now, let’s just deal with what’s in front of me.’
I wiped the tears from my eyes and forced a bright smile. Residents of a gag world are known for their fast recovery.
“Let’s see, the bread should be right here?”
I started taking out ingredients for dinner and began to prepare the meal.
“Hyung-ah.”
“Oppa.”
As soon as I started bustling about in the kitchen, a few children peeked their heads in.
“I’ll help! Yo!”
“Me too! Yo!”
“You will?”
Ever since I’d taught them a few simple recipes, the children had been helping with meal prep. I nodded with a smile, and they excitedly came inside.
Three children came in, no, four.
“Jjuinnim!”
Jess ran over, wagging her tail furiously, and clung to my leg. I patted her head at the cute gesture, and her perked-up ears drooped.
“Whoa…”
“A tail…”
Jess usually kept her tail and ears hidden, so the other children were fascinated by them. Unable to resist their rising instincts, they reached out their hands toward her wagging tail.
“No. You can’t touch it without Jess’s permission.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Jess, can I touch your tail?”
At the child’s question, Jess’s tail instantly curled into a ball and then vanished. Jess looked at the children and shook her head.
“I don’t like it, it hurts when you touch it.”
“Gasp! It hurts!”
“I didn’t know!”
The children’s eyes widened, and they apologized for trying to touch it so carelessly. Jess nodded her head and boldly said it was okay.
Watching the adorable children, I unwrapped a loaf of bread that was as long as my torso from its paper packaging.
“Alright, now what do we have to do before we all help?”
“Wash our hands!”
The children climbed the small steps I’d whipped up and washed their hands cleanly at the sink.
Thanks to the long step I had built on one side of the kitchen table, the children could comfortably help with the cooking.
‘Good thing I made it.’
Before, I only had them do things they could help with without a step stool, like throwing trash in the bin or helping carry plates.
They were still young, so that much help was more than enough. But the reason I went out of my way to install the steps was because I had seen Jess jumping up and down in front of the sink with a look of despair.
‘This must be what it feels like to raise a daughter.’
Smiling fondly, I sliced the bread and placed it in front of the children. With their tiny hands, they diligently made sandwiches.
Thanks to the many hands, the meal preparation was finished in no time. I put a moderately sweet sandwich, made to Mia’s liking, on a plate, then handed trays to Jess and the other children.
“Take these to the dining room and tell the others it’s time to eat. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Okay!”
Normal children might have yelled, “Yay!” and taken off running, but these children, who had been through all sorts of cruel experiences, didn’t get easily excited and carried the trays slowly and carefully.
Leaving them to it, I headed for Mia’s room. It was a familiar path, so I arrived in no time.
Knock knock, click.
I opened the door without waiting for a reply.