Ju Donghyeon, After So Long
Ju Donghyeon, after so long.
He had changed in a strange way. More precisely, he had lost his memories and become something like a robot. The keen brilliance that once filled his eyes was gone, and a dull, vacant stare had taken its place. From the very beginning, it was a mystery why he was even in Heaven.
"Is there something you wish to buy? If not, perhaps something you've brought to sell?"
"I'm here to buy. I might have something to sell as well, if it comes to that."
For now, he meant to start with business. In Ju Donghyeon's present state, bringing up anything else didn't seem likely to get him a response. Still, just in case, he asked the thing he truly wanted to know.
"How long have you been working here, Donghyeon? As an agent, I mean."
"Not long. I arrived only a few days ago. That isn't what matters. What sort of item are you looking for?"
"First, show me everything you have in stock. You're not short on time or anything, are you?"
"No. We don't rush anyone, unless they plant themselves here for a full day."
"Good. I'll take my time looking, then."
Ju Donghyeon shot to his feet.
"I'll guide you to where the stock is kept. Please follow me."
"All right."
He led Yujun on a two-minute walk from the reception room into another chamber. Inside, every kind of equipment was on display, with Legendary items scattered here and there among the rest.
"Do you have consumables as well?"
"Of course. They're a little farther in. Before that..."
Ju Donghyeon fiddled with the orb in his hand, and the barrier set over the room strengthened by another degree. It had already been a powerful barrier, but next to what it was now, the earlier version amounted to nothing.
So it was inactive. For a barrier to press down on him even while deactivated... If anything, he felt more at ease now. Once it activated, it no longer registered him as an enemy. Try anything foolish, of course, and it would attack at once.
A barrier like this... I'm not sure I could make one easily either. Not that it was impossible. It would simply demand a great deal of thought, and the materials would have to be gathered. Mana would need to be fed into it without pause. Above all, it would devour time—and to him, time was worth more than gold.
Speaking of gold, I really ought to stop by the Golden Flower Garden.
Ancient Magic had reached GX Tier. The weight mana carried had grown all the greater for it.
As for the equipment, there was nothing worth a second look. Perhaps because of the items he had received from No-Pay Casual Gamer, his standards had climbed far too high. The pieces originally in his inventory had lower level requirements than the ones here, yet their option effects were superior. Only the listed attack and defense values fell a little short, and even that gap was hardly large. He had not a single reason to buy equipment.
"Is this everything you have here?"
Nor was it any different with the consumables. There were plenty of fine potions and the like, but his inventory held better ones, and far more of them.
"It is. If you want any other items, you will have to see them in person. Anything too precious to ever be lost is kept in their inventory and carried personally."
"Them...?"
He already had a guess. The Great Merchant who had brought Ju Donghyeon here. Yujun knew, and pretended he didn't.
"A great person. Great enough to take in a lowly being such as myself."
"Why would you call yourself lowly? You have such a fine ability."
"You know about my ability as well? I wouldn't have told just anyone... You must have been quite close to me."
"Close enough that calling us best friends wouldn't have been a stretch."
In truth, they had met maybe twice. Even so, if he wanted to get anything out of the man, it was to his advantage to stress how close they had been.
"Then allow me one piece of presumptuous advice. From this moment on, please do not act as if you know me. Something unpleasant could befall you—and me as well."
"I suppose I shouldn't ask why."
"Correct."
"I'd like to see more items. How do I meet that Great Merchant?"
"I don't know either. Whether they meet a customer is entirely up to them."
"..."
This certainly didn't feel like a merchant's way of thinking. A chance to sell good items, and they wouldn't bother because it was a hassle?
Wait. That's a lot like me.
He, however, was no Great Merchant. He was just an ordinary player, someone who didn't chase a steady profit by selling goods.
"How much money would you need to act like that?"
"Who can say."
"Donghyeon."
"I would ask that you refrain from personal matters."
"That's not it. I just want to see the other goods. If they come by, could you let me know? You can even drop them a hint about me."
"I will."
Under ordinary circumstances it would have been a request he dismissed without a thought, but Ju Donghyeon could not treat a player who knew him with cold indifference. In any case, there was a good chance that person would pay it little mind.
"I can't make the request myself. If they come, however, I will inform you. By message."
"You should already have me added on messenger."
"Oh? So I do."
A glance at the messenger confirmed that Yujun was telling the truth.
"Anyway, I'm counting on you. There's an item I really want to bu—"
"There's no need for that."
A mysterious woman appeared out of nowhere. For reasons he couldn't place, she gave off an energy that felt familiar to Yujun. Her face, however, was not one he knew.
"The Great Merchant?"
"That's right. And this child's master, as well."
She said it while stroking Ju Donghyeon's head.
"Were you listening the whole time?"
"There was someone beside you interesting enough to draw me here."
"Manuela? Because you're both witches?"
"Oh my. How did you know I'm a witch?"
"It's obvious at a glance. I have a witch for a companion, and you weren't even trying to hide your energy."
At that, a smile touched the Great Merchant's lips.
"You were right that I'm a witch. But I didn't come because of a fellow witch. I came to see your summon."
"What? Paranet?"
The Great Merchant nodded.
"Let me introduce myself first. I'm Asilien. Owner of this mansion, and a Great Merchant."
"Shin Yujun. But why my summon?"
Honestly, he had assumed she appeared because of him. It might have sounded arrogant, but his fame was that high.
"The name is Paranet. Correct?"
"Yes."
He called that name so often that few players didn't know it. Know Yujun, and you could not fail to know Paranet. Which was why, even then, he noticed nothing strange.
"Paranet. It's been a long time."
Asilien smiled brightly and waved. Yujun turned his head for a glance, and Paranet was acting strange. He had gone rigid, as if startled out of his wits. The summon was so enormous that the stiffness of his body alone made the shock plain.
"Paranet. What's wrong?"
"Someone I knew... no. A witch I knew long ago."
"Wait a moment..."
The moment the word witch left Paranet's mouth, the puzzle that had been nagging at him seemed to click into place.
"When you went to the Demon Realm..."
"Yes. That witch is the benefactor who saved my life, back when I was an alchemist."
"..."
How could a coincidence like this even exist? And of all places, they had met not in the Demon Realm but in Heaven, which made it even harder to believe.
"You've changed a great deal. You used to be so small."
"I was not undead to begin with, you see."
Asilien's gaze on Paranet was not unkind. It was a look brimming with affection.
Didn't he say she kept him as a servant for years? For eyes meeting an old servant after so long, they were far too suspicious. And so was Paranet's reaction.
"Master. The only one I serve is you, and you alone."
"Who said otherwise?"
"I would ask that you absolutely not misunderstand."
"I didn't misunderstand, you idiot. You're the one getting guilty all by yourself."
"..."
"So what happened between you two?"
"It is not as though anything in particular happened..."
"Oh my. Paranet. Was all the time we spent together nothing at all?"
"This doesn't seem like a simple servant-and-master relationship."
At Yujun's question, Asilien burst out laughing.
"Is that what he told you? That he was my servant? Well, that's half true. At night, he was no different from my slave."
"That's an awfully embarrassing thing to say... but it doesn't sound like a lie."
Yujun stared quietly at Paranet, who looked as though some old shame had just been dragged into the light. He was mortified beyond measure.
"So that's the kind of guy you were?"
"Aigoo!"
Paranet let out a wail.
"Master. I beg of you, have mercy. I, too, possess feelings. I am so ashamed I might die on the spot."
"Then I'll just summon you again."
"...That is not what I meant. My heart will die. Do you not know that an illness of the heart cannot be healed?"
"An illness of the heart can be healed with money. Never heard of financial therapy?"
"...Master. Could you not simply pretend you heard nothing and let it pass?"
"Can't do that. I'm already regretting the lack of popcorn."
Asilien, watching the back-and-forth, did not look pleased.
"...The two of you seem awfully close."
"Well, it's not bad. But how did you two end up apart? I wouldn't have thought Paranet was the one to run first."
"He ran."
"Paranet did?"
"Yes. A midnight escape. I trusted him, so I wasn't even watching... and he made a fool of me for all to see."
"Hm."
Every eye turned to Paranet.
"So why'd you run?"
"Master. To meet you, of course. Naturally."
"Cut the bullshit."
"...To be honest, I did not believe Lady Asilien truly loved me. I was a worthless alchemist, without a single outstanding quality, and Lady Asilien was the opposite."
"So in the end, you ran because of an inferiority complex."
"Yes. A love beyond my station was a burden as well."
Asilien let out a hollow laugh.
"Did I ever want anything else from you? If even half of what I gave had come back to me—no. Had even half of what I gave you returned, I would have had no complaints. And I didn't. That life was so happy. But you left without a word. Do you have any idea how deep a wound that was?"
She spoke in a rapid burst, as if emptying out everything that had piled up inside her.
"...I did not know. As Master said a moment ago, it seems my inferiority complex was the problem. And in any case, things have already gone irreparably awry. I died, and became undead. Recalling those days serves no purpose. If I wounded you, then allow me to apologize here and now. I am sorry."
Paranet bowed at the waist. Then he turned toward Yujun and dropped to his knees.
"Master. I apologize. I bent my waist to a being other than you."
"It's fine. I'm a free-spirited person who doesn't nitpick things like that. You know that."
"...Yes."
Paranet, who knew perfectly well how long Yujun could hold a grudge, put on a sour face and pretended to agree.
"Asilien."
"Why do you call me?"
"Do you want to get back together? That's how it looks to me."
At the blunt question, Paranet was aghast. It was far too absurd a thing to say. Who would ever want to be bound to an undead like him—and to someone who had once left without a word, no less? But the answer that followed overturned his expectations completely.