Qi
Qi
Romanike stared blankly at my outstretched hand.
He carefully took my hand.
True to his massive build, his palm was calloused, as hard and rough as rock.
I pulled him up from the floor with some force.
After dusting the dirt off, Romanike still seemed not to have fully grasped the situation.
I calmly began explaining everything to him.
Starting from when Tigris first lunged at me in the forest, to how my dagger nearly grazed her cheek during my counterattack, leaving a small scratch — I laid out the entire story without leaving anything out.
Romanike, who had been listening in silence, began to look increasingly serious.
He glanced back and forth between his niece's now clean face hidden behind his back and my calm eyes.
He seemed to have fully understood the situation.
He fully realized that I hadn't attacked out of malice, but that it was clearly a case of self-defense.
Having finished his thoughts, Romanike suddenly leaped straight up.
His massive frame shot into the air, and then he landed, bending his knees toward the ground.
—Kwaang!
His heavy knees dug into the dirt, sending clouds of dust flying everywhere noisily.
Without hesitation, he bent his upper body forward and slammed his head into the ground with a loud thud.
"I am truly sorry! It is my fault for not properly teaching my niece manners! Without knowing the full story, I immediately lunged at you and threw punches, so I don't know how I can ever wash away this shame. Please forgive me!"
The sight of this massive, wild beastman warrior prostrating himself on the ground and sincerely apologizing was quite bewildering.
The beastman villagers gathered around also could not hide their surprised murmurs.
But then, a cheerful voice cut through the serious atmosphere.
"Human! Let's play again, nyang! That was fun earlier, nyang!"
Tigris popped out from behind Romanike's broad back.
She was punching the air repeatedly, making "shwik shwik" sounds.
The memory of her earlier panic at the sight of blood, running away crying, seemed to have already been completely erased from her mind.
Her carefree demeanor as she smiled brightly at me and spoke almost made me laugh in disbelief.
At that moment, the muscles on Romanike's back, who was still prostrate, rippled menacingly.
With lightning speed, he stretched out his arm and snatched Tigris by the scruff of her neck.
"You little rascal!"
Without a moment's pause, he mercilessly slammed his niece's head toward the ground.
—Kung!
"Ack!! That hurts, nyang!"
Tigris screamed, her face planted in the dirt and her tail sticking straight up.
Romanike glared fiercely at Tigris, who was squirming flat on the ground, and scolded her sternly.
"Haven't I told you hundreds of times not to just lunge at strangers! You just had to cause trouble again, didn't you? I told you that's not how you greet someone! You hurry up and apologize, too!"
At her uncle's harsh scolding, Tigris's ears, which had been perked up, flattened down.
Her swaying tail also curled up between her legs.
With her nose pressed to the ground, she mumbled in a dejected, crawling voice.
"...Sorry, nyang."
Watching this peculiar beastkin, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
When she had struck my solar plexus earlier in the forest, it honestly hurt enough to rattle my bones.
But, as I had felt then, there hadn't been even a shred of killing intent in her fist.
To this cheerful beastkin child, that violent fight was apparently just like a game of tag, running around in the forest.
I awkwardly scratched my cheek and spoke.
"Well... I was startled when you suddenly appeared, but it's okay. I'm not injured anywhere. Both of you, please get up now."
No sooner had I finished speaking than Romanike lifted his head up sharply.
His eyes were filled with admiration and goodwill.
He stood up immediately and let out a hearty laugh that could make the whole forest tremble.
"Hahaha! What a truly excellent young man! Not only did you dodge my punch, you have the martial prowess to slam me into the ground, and yet you're not arrogant in the slightest! I deeply admire your generous spirit. Pleased to meet you! My name is Romanike!"
Seeing his bright smile, I smiled back at him.
As the tense atmosphere eased, the unfamiliar forest air began to feel a bit more comfortable.
"Hello. My name is Kim Si-woo."
As soon as I gave my polite greeting, Tigris, who had gotten up while dusting off the dirt, hopped over in front of me.
As if she had never been scolded, her eyes sparkled again and she shouted energetically.
"Nice to meet you, nyang! My name is Tigris, nyang!"
Romanike had cleared up the misunderstanding about his niece, but he still didn't seem to have completely let his guard down, given that I was a stranger and a human who had suddenly appeared in a world inhabited only by beastkin.
Using the excuse of showing me around the village, he tried to walk around alone with me and talk.
Noticing this, the clueless Tigris plopped down on the ground and started throwing a tantrum.
"I want to play with Si-woo too, nyang!"
At her childish fit, Romanike's eyes narrowed dangerously.
He glared at her and gave a stern warning.
"Stay at home quietly! If I catch you crawling outside one more time, I swear I'll shave off every last bit of your fur and chase you out into the forest!"
"......."
Perhaps the threat of getting her fur shaved off was quite frightening, as Tigris's ears, which had been bouncing just moments ago, drooped completely.
"Okay, nyang...."
She trudged back home with weak, shuffling steps.
I chuckled softly to myself as I watched her retreating figure.
If you have a disobedient little sister, would it feel exactly like that?
Suddenly, Hong Chae-yeon's younger sister, Hong Su-yeon, came to mind.
I even had the silly thought for a moment that the two of them would probably get along famously.
While I was lost in my own thoughts, Romanike, who had been silently leading the way, stopped and spoke to me.
"As a warrior who protects this village, may I ask you a few questions?"
His question was polite, but there was an edge to it.
I readily nodded.
"First of all, how did you get into the village? There was definitely a barrier set up on the outskirts of the forest."
I winced inwardly at his question.
It was essentially like I had sliced open someone's front door and walked in.
I scratched the back of my head and answered with some concern.
"Ah, that... I cut through what looked like a barrier with my sword. Is that going to be a problem...?"
I had been contemplating whether to offer some Orichalcum as compensation if he asked for it.
But upon hearing my answer, Romanike's eyes widened as if he couldn't believe his ears, and then he burst into a hearty laugh that could make the whole forest tremble.
"Hahaha! I had my doubts even after hearing the report, but it was true! To think you sliced through a barrier that even 'she' couldn't do anything about, it's truly amazing! Actually, before I walked with you like this, I received a report from the guards. They said there was a sharp, clean cut on the barrier as if made by a sword."
He patted my shoulder and added heartily.
"But you don't need to worry. The barrier has the property of regenerating itself, so by now it should be perfectly restored just as it was before."
"Phew... that's a relief."
I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
Romanike's expression turned serious again.
He lowered his voice and asked me.
"Si-woo... are you perhaps someone who came from a place called a 'Tower'?"
Tower.
So that word came up here, too.
But I had already been through this once before in the Empire, through Cassia.
I had wondered if the inhabitants of this world also knew about the Tower, so I wasn't very flustered and simply nodded.
"That's right."
"I thought so...."
Romanike stroked his chin, deep in thought.
After that, we walked around the village, asking each other questions.
Through this process, I was able to get a rough understanding of the situation here.
This was a world where only beastkin lived.
And the reason they had set up such a strong barrier and built a village deep in the forest to live in hiding was because of an entity they called 'she.'
Before the barrier was created, the village had been mercilessly attacked by invaders who seemed to be from 'her' faction.
Countless villagers lost their lives, and they suffered massive damage.
Because of those terrible memories, the beastkin had developed an extremely strong wariness of unfamiliar outsiders.
As I listened to his story, one question naturally came to mind.
'No matter how much I didn't harm his niece, isn't he trusting the words of an outsider like me a bit too easily?'
What if I was a spy sent by this 'she' they talk about, or an invader making up lies?
Unable to hold back the question I had intended to keep to myself, I asked Romanike directly.
In response, Romanike once again let out a hearty laugh, as if drawn from the very depths of his belly.
"Hahaha! Under normal circumstances, you might indeed think that way."
He extended a thick finger and pointed toward me.
The place his sharp claw tip, glistening in the moonlight, pointed to was none other than the area of my dantian below my navel.
"I sensed an extremely pure and clear Qi flowing from you. I judged that someone who carries such a warm and clean Qi could not be one of 'her' lackeys or an enemy meaning to harm us."
"...Qi?"
I looked down at the spot below my navel that Romanike was pointing to.
Could it be he's talking about Aura?
I was inwardly pondering the identity of that energy.
—Ttiring!
[You have cleared the 21st floor.]
[Exiting the Tower.]
As if on cue, a system message appeared, and a familiar white light started blooming from the tips of my toes.
The dazzling light slowly enveloped my entire body.
It was time to return to reality.
Seeing my body scatter into light, Romanike didn't look surprised at all.
Instead, he smiled at me with a reliable grin, as if he already knew I was returning to my original world.
"Let's meet again next time."
With his low, heavy farewell, my vision completely blanked out in white.