Chapter 113
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 113
Yoo Seong-un stepped out of the frame.
“To think I’d return to this place alive.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Oh, it was beyond words.”
Especially after running into the Mermaid Princess. He’d been so stunned he couldn’t even speak.
“Please tell the Princess I’m sorry for offending her…”
“You did nothing wrong, Mr. Yoo Seong-un. That was just Aria throwing one of her usual tantrums. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“I don’t think I did anything wrong either, but I’d rather not make an enemy of the mermaids. There’s no need to earn the resentment of humanoid monsters, is there?”
“Thank you for understanding her childish behavior. You are truly mature. I wish my disciples would learn from your example, Mr. Yoo Seong-un.”
“Monsters learning from humans? That sounds terrifying in its own way.”
Chuckling softly, Yoo Seong-un checked the gallery’s clock.
“Is it… 4:41 AM?”
He then checked his phone as well.
“……”
“Did I take up too much of your time?”
“No, not really.”
Only about twenty minutes had passed.
“Time inside the frame definitely flows differently than it does on Earth.”
“Time inside the painting can pass quickly or slowly depending on my mood.”
“Oh… when does it go fast, and when does it go slow?”
“It passes quickly when I am enjoying myself, and slowly when I am resting.”
“Hmm.”
In that case, perhaps this meant Gio had been in a good mood. It was an honor, both as a Gardener and as a Curator.
“What about when you’re in a bad mood?”
“I have never felt that way, so I do not know.”
“It’s great that you’re so positive. Keep living like that.”
Though, considering he was the Origin, it was hard to say if he was even capable of feeling displeasure.
‘…Gio definitely possesses an ego, a personality much like an individual’s. So even if he is the Origin, a day might come when he gets angry. It’s best not to let my guard down when dealing with the Origin.’
Yoo Seong-un lifted the small white box containing the dessert.
“Can I take this with me?”
“It wouldn’t have been an issue if you had eaten it here, but…”
“Bungeoppang tomorrow?”
“That sounds good.”
“I still regret not being able to look around the forest, though.”
He had been too distracted while inside, but now that he was out, a deep sense of regret lingered. It was his greed as a Gardener.
“I really wanted to visit that spring you mentioned, too.”
Yoo Seong-un recalled that the water Gio had scooped up for him was defined as [Spring Water of the Origin].
“From the sound of it, it seems like a pretty wonderful place.”
“You are welcome to visit next time.”
“Then I’ll drop by when I have some free time.”
By then, he would be much better prepared.
‘I went in far too unprepared.’
Into the Origin, of all places.
‘To be precise, rather than the Origin itself, it felt like something presented in a form humans could easily perceive… like a fragment of the Origin, or a dish prepared for easy digestion…’
In the first place, humans could not comprehend an existence like the Origin. A mere human could not contain or analyze a scale so vast that even the word ‘immense’ fell short. In that sense, Gio felt like a fraction of the Origin.
‘Is that why I thought it resembled a Garden?’
If so…
“……”
“Is there a problem?”
“…No, nothing like that.”
Could Gio be in charge of the ‘Eye’?
“I just thought it was a bit of a shame that your eyes are covered in paint.”
Gio was a man of endless mysteries, but if one had to pick his most defining feature, it was undoubtedly his ‘eyes’.
Those eyes, which seemed to hold everything that existed and everything that did not.
“Even though I was the one who asked for it?”
“Do you wish for me to return to my original state?”
“No, for convenience’s sake, it’s still better to keep them covered.”
“I see.”
“It was just a Curator’s petty complaint.”
It was also a complaint as a Gardener.
‘If Gio truly is the Eye of the Origin, then the reason he takes on a human form is…’
A sudden, complex wave of emotion caught in his throat.
“……”
It wasn’t that he’d ever intended to, but now, Yoo Seong-un knew he could never bring himself to avoid or loathe Gio.
All that remained within him was an unfathomable sense of awe, a feeling of vast distance, and the relief born from it.
“Right…”
As a Gardener, he knew just how fair and close to nature the Origin truly was.
“Thank you for your kind hospitality.”
“It is my pleasure.”
“Well, you’ve always been a gentleman.”
This might be a disaster, but it would never become a catastrophe.
“I guess we just have to be more careful.”
“Who do you mean by ‘we’?”
“Oh, nothing… I was just thinking about what I have to do from now on.”
“As expected, people with jobs are always busy.”
“They say those who do not work shall not eat.”
Letting out a hollow, sigh-like laugh, Yoo Seong-un asked, “Can I ask you just one thing?”
“As you wish.”
“Well…”
There were many questions he wanted to ask, but Yoo Seong-un held them back.
‘It’s too early to ask about the Origin.’
Since Gio either believed himself to be an ordinary human or was pretending to be one, the day he could ask about such things was still far off.
Instead, he brought up the most practical topic he could at the moment.
“It’s about Hunter Park Eun-gyeom.”
It was something he had been curious about ever since he heard the man had made it out.
“What kind of price did he pay, exactly?”
“A price?”
“From our perspective, we can’t tell what changed.”
Yoo Seong-un had been requested by the Association to investigate the attack methods and consequences of the ‘Black Cloak’. He had reported everything that happened in the ‘Void City’, and based on that report, the Association analyzed Hunter Park Eun-gyeom after he escaped the frame. But aside from being extremely frightened, he was no different than before.
“Could that fear be the price? Like, having his peace of mind stolen?”
“I left Park Eun-gyeom’s punishment to my children.”
“To your children… I see.”
Now, even the word ‘children’ sounded deeply significant.
‘It reminds me of the Children of the Origin.’
In fact, was that assumption even wrong?
‘…Entities that cannot be completely dealt with by a Hunter’s skills, appearing anywhere regardless of the dimension… resembling monsters but not quite monsters… living stories…’
All of these descriptions perfectly matched the children Gio had painted.
Of course, there were slight differences. Take Honey, the jewel waterbird Gio kept by his side and called his son, or the ‘Black Suits’ native to the ‘Void City’. They possessed the capacity for thought.
“…Well…”
With so much to think about, his mind kept drifting.
“Sorry, my mind wandered for a moment.”
“You seem very tired. Are you alright?”
“I’m always fine.”
Yoo Seong-un returned to the original topic.
“So, should I ask your children what kind of price he paid?”
“If you wish, you may do so.”
“…Do you already know what it is?”
“Of course.”
“Can I ask?”
“There is no problem at all.”
Gio replied from behind the black paint.
“Park Eun-gyeom had his ‘evil’ stripped away as the price.”
“……”
“My children desired it.”
“…Incredible.”
How on earth did they strip ‘evil’ from a human?
“Humans are creatures capable of being evil at any moment.”
“Paying the price is Park Eun-gyeom’s burden, so even I do not know the outcome.”
“I think I understand for now.”
Though it was an abstract price, to the point of sounding bizarre, there had been several existences of the Origin that stripped away such concepts. Memories, love, happiness, friendship, sadness, recollection…
‘This isn’t much different.’
A precise answer was not something he could get by grilling Gio.
‘Nor should I.’
Do not expect anything from a god.
While Gio could not be called a fully-fledged god, ‘god’ was also a term used for existences of such high status that humans could barely comprehend them.
Humans were beings who analyzed nature and fate, not ones who could demand things from them.
‘Besides, it’s bad manners when dealing with them.’
Having received this much of a hint, finding the rest of the answers was up to Yoo Seong-un and other humans. That was the proper etiquette for everyone in an era where humans, gods, and nature lived intermingled.
“Then tomorrow, I’ll bring some bungeoppang as payment for this dessert.”
“Please give my regards to Mr. Cha Eun-hyeok.”
“Don’t worry, we talk quite often.”
Before leaving the gallery, Yoo Seong-un turned back to look at Gio once more.
“…You’re not going to fight with the Mermaid Princess because of me, are you?”
“As I said earlier, it was merely a childish tantrum.”
The black portrait was firm.
“She cannot be angry with me.”
It was an answer like a prophet speaking of destiny.
*
“Teacher.”
When he returned to the cabin, Aria called out to Gio.
“Did you see him off well?”
“I made sure he left safely.”
“How sweet of you.”
“You are angry.”
But Gio knew.
“But I am not the target of your anger.”
Aria could not be angry with Giovanni.
“We have been apart for far too long for that.”
“…Even if we hadn’t, I would never have been angry with you.”
“Life isn’t very enjoyable when you carry so much anger.”
“Is there any reason my life should be enjoyable?”
The mermaid smiled softly. It was a smile distinctly different from her younger days, when she could not hide her sensitive and sharp temperament.
“I hate humans.”
“I understand.”
“I know how much you coddle them.”
“I am not coddling them; I am merely treating them as they deserve.”
“It is far more than they deserve, for creatures with such short lives…”
Gio sat beside Aria, who was reclining on the sofa.
“Aria.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Were you afraid?”
“……”
“Is that why you were angry?”
“…Teacher…” Aria murmured at the touch of his hand caressing her cheek. “…Sometimes, you’re just too much.”
Yes, she could not deny it.
“You are right. I was very afraid.”
“Why was that?”
“I do not think that human could ever harm us.”
The individual known as Yoo Seong-un was not that kind of creature.
“Perhaps because he is deeply connected to the Origin, he is thoughtful and cautious. Though he occasionally takes gambles, most of the time he seeks a path where everyone can coexist. He is strong for a human, but if we fought, I would win.”
“Mr. Yoo Seong-un didn’t seem all that weak, though.”
“That is why I said he is strong for a human. I would win, but I would take a heavy blow. The power a Gardener possesses… makes it difficult to interfere with him.”
But she had not been afraid of Yoo Seong-un.
“I was…” Aria leaned her head against Gio’s hand. “Teacher, I was terrified by the mere fact that a human was here.”
“……”
“…Because I don’t know when that wicked race might set fire to this place.”
Humans were fickle.
“I’m afraid that day will repeat itself.”
For a mermaid, whose ego rarely changed and who lived her entire life bound by a single memory and emotion, humans possessed a flightiness that was difficult to comprehend.
Humans could be as benevolent as ancient gods who valued peace, only to turn around and act like wretched beggars wishing for the world’s destruction.
Thus, the beliefs and character of a single individual at this very moment did not matter.
“……”
“Humans cannot be trusted.”
Quite apart from the hatred the mermaid harbored, that was an unalterable truth to her.
“It is only natural, since we live such long lives. Compared to us, who are inherently unchanging, humans live short lives, and they change dozens, hundreds of times in that brief span…”
“That is what we call growth.”
“Yes, growth. For humans to grow is as much an inherent trait as it is for us to remain unchanging. I know that. I know that well. And that is why I curse it.”
This was why it was so difficult for mermaids and humans to understand and harmonize with one another.
“How could you let him in here, not knowing how a human like Yoo Seong-un might ‘grow’?”
Humans change so easily.
“The standards of good and evil differ with every dimension. Even in this narrow one, it changes across an invisible national border. It changes depending on the environment they live in. Therefore, Teacher, our peace could very well be a catastrophe to them.”
Humans, when faced with a catastrophe, will resist.
“…And so will the mermaids.”
Who among the living had not rebelled against fate?
“If the very breath you draw becomes a catastrophe to them, a human like Yoo Seong-un will take his own race’s side. Because he is human, and because he is not evil, he will do so out of his own convictions.”
“……”
“They are constantly changing.”
Humans do not make promises.
“……”
“……”
Aria embraced her teacher.
“…I know you have not forgiven us. I know you will never accept us. Merciful as you are, you will not be my god.”
“Indeed.”
“I also know you are always ready to accept fate. And that we, who have failed to earn your forgiveness, could never stop you even if we tried.”
Did she know? Gio did not rebel against fate.
He was someone who could enjoy everything and accept everything. Because he was an existence with such a vast vessel, Aria was able to hold him like this now.
“Perhaps it was thanks to that immense tolerance that you took us in as your disciples, but sometimes, it fills me with anxiety. The anxiety that this peaceful, cozy cabin might vanish at any moment.”
For the first time in thousands of years, the mermaid felt fear.
“When I am too afraid, I find myself getting angry.”
“That is proof that we are all human, after all.”
“You are always trying to teach me something, Teacher.”
“You all worry far too much.”
“That is true.”
She had once thought there was nothing more foolish than fearing a future that had not yet arrived.
“We… worry far too much…”
Humans say that what cannot be avoided is called fate. The realization that she was ultimately no different made Aria feel miserable.
Because she felt as though she, too, were human.
“……”
“……”
That was why she was afraid she would repeat the same actions and bring about the same tragedy.
That regardless of her rebellion, it would happen all over again.