Chapter 151
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 151
Even though Gio had made a new pen pal and Ju-hyeon had befriended the Black Cloak, daily life in the peaceful cabin remained unchanged.
The Black Cloak still cooked for them.
“Please, let me do some work, too.”
“Guests do not work.”
“I thought we were friends.”
“A guest who is a friend, yes.”
While it made him feel a bit uneasy, it was true that everything was peaceful.
“Then, could you perhaps look after Dana? The child looks bored.”
“Are you sure she won’t burn me if I get close? I heard the Anti-Cat’s fire is incredibly hot.”
“She doesn’t seem to dislike you as much as before, Ju-hyeon. Why don’t you summon some courage?”
“Just this morning, she bared her teeth at me as she walked past…”
“Compared to when she tried to turn you to ash, she has definitely softened.”
Three delicious meals were served daily, his room was comfortable and private, and the view from the veranda was as beautiful as a scene from a fairy tale. He was enjoying undeserved luxuries without having done a single thing to earn them.
Yet, that didn’t change the reality of his situation.
“…”
Ju-hyeon fell into deep thought about his new friend’s true identity.
He had followed Gio to the attic out of curiosity about how paints and brushes were made. Now, sitting in the space he’d been invited into, Ju-hyeon spoke in a carefully measured tone.
“I want to tread very carefully here, but I’ve been thinking.”
“I’m listening.”
“If we’re friends, I think it’s okay for me to ask this much.”
“Go ahead.”
Ju-hyeon called out to him.
“Gio.”
“Yes?”
“…Seo Gio?”
“Yes.”
“Arjio?”
“Yes.”
“How should I address you?”
“Ah.”
Gio realized his oversight.
“I haven’t properly introduced myself, have I?”
It was true. Ju-hyeon knew next to nothing about Gio.
He never did explain anything to me.
That almost bizarre indifference was typical of a transcendent entity dealing with a mere human.
“I wouldn’t want to accidentally do something to offend you.”
“I doubt there is much you could do to offend me, but…”
“I don’t think I’d ever do such a thing either, but still.”
“Indeed. Failing to introduce myself properly is quite rude.”
Glass tools clattered as they were set down. They were filled with strangely colored liquids, surrounded by haphazardly scattered, vividly colored paints. Next to the workbench, Dana and Honey were nestled snugly inside a box.
In this attic filled with all things mystical, Gio began an impromptu self-introduction.
“I am Seo Gio.”
“Ah, yes, I’ve heard. The members of the Collector Guild know you by that name as well.”
“And I am Bartlan Giovanni.”
“…Bartlan Giovanni?”
“And I am also set to become Arjio soon.”
“…”
Ju-hyeon seriously thought there should be a law banning transcendent entities from dropping cryptic, context-free bombshells.
Even divine revelations, which are supposed to be the ultimate form of communication with the divine, are like this. High-ranking entities are always so incredibly vague when sharing information.
It was deeply frustrating for the human on the receiving end. Ju-hyeon offered an awkward smile.
Of course, Ju-hyeon knew there was a reason for it. In the case of divine revelations, the raw language of a god carried a high risk of harming mortal minds, so messages had to be heavily condensed—often resulting in riddles that were nearly impossible to decipher.
Not that it’s my area of expertise, so I wouldn’t know for sure.
In any case, Ju-hyeon quickly masked his bewilderment at Gio’s fragmented explanations. Stroking his chin in thought, he soon picked up on a common thread.
“All of those names contain ‘Gio.’ Is that why you are ‘Gio’s Portrait’?”
“I believe so.”
“So your shifting appearances are tied to whichever name you are using at the moment.”
Ju-hyeon asked in his characteristically gentle tone, “What does Seo Gio look like?”
“The form with black hair.”
“I see… and Arjio is the one with red hair.”
“Thank you for remembering.”
“And Bartlan Giovanni is the blonde form.”
“You understand perfectly.”
Perhaps Gio found it commendable that a mere human could grasp his nature so easily. Whatever chord Ju-hyeon had struck within the portrait’s sensibilities, a golden light suddenly bled across Gio’s form like wet paint.
Giovanni appeared, wearing his signature radiant smile.
“This is the first time I’ve introduced myself properly like this since Yoo Seong-un.”
“…”
It seemed he chose to become Giovanni whenever he wanted to put a human at ease or express joy. Indeed, Giovanni was likely his preferred form for conveying comfort and happiness to mortals.
Following that logic, ‘Seo Gio’ and ‘Arjio’ surely had their own specific purposes as well. Sorting through these thoughts, Ju-hyeon offered a sheepish smile.
“…Ah, the first time? Well, I can imagine why.”
“Most people get so tense just looking at me that we never have the chance for casual chatter. I used to worry if I’d ever make a friend, so I’m truly glad to have met you, Ju-hyeon.”
“The honor is entirely mine.”
Ju-hyeon maintained his polite, amiable smile, but inwardly, he had other thoughts.
Of course they’d be terrified. Anyone who isn’t as out of their mind as I am would be shaking in their boots.
At first glance, he was at least a humanoid monster, and by any deeper metric, he was the literal manifestation of an Evil God. While it was true that the ghost stories surrounding the ‘Black Cloak’ had taken on a somewhat friendly reputation, very few people would ever dare to act chummy with him.
“…”
Finding himself among those ‘very few people’ left Ju-hyeon feeling a bit bitter. He had always prided himself on living a perfectly sane, ordinary life, yet here he was, best friends with an Evil God.
I have to make sure I don’t get ahead of myself. Even if he just wants to be friends and I’m playing along, I must maintain my boundaries.
Mistaking an Evil God’s favor for his own power, relying too heavily on him, or becoming drunk on borrowed authority and growing ungrateful and greedy…
Throughout history, every contractor of an Evil God who brought ruin to the world had failed because they forgot their place. He would rather fade away as an insignificant cog in the machine of society than go down in history like that.
“…In that case, could I hear more of your story, Gio?”
Since Gio had shared his names, he seemed willing enough to explain.
“Of course, if it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to tell me.”
“No, they aren’t particularly special stories.”
Gio, back in his black-haired form, crossed his arms as he pondered. Soon, he spoke.
“Arjio possessed an innate ability to transform into a beast. Because of that power, he was cast out by his family. He lived like a wild animal in the forest, was branded the source of all evil, and eventually became an Evil God.”
Ju-hyeon reacted reflexively.
“That already sounds incredibly special.”
“Does it?”
“Well, maybe not ‘special’ so much as… tragic.”
“He lived a happy life and had a good run.”
“Talk about dark humor.”
Ju-hyeon nodded and prompted him further.
“What about Giovanni of the Bartlan family? What kind of person was he?”
“He was a priest of the sun and a doctor. He looked after mermaid students, and then he was beaten to death by a mob.”
“How… how am I even supposed to react to a story like that?”
“You can laugh. He had a happy life and a good run then, too.”
“If I laugh at that, I think I’d lose my humanity.”
Laughing was out of the question; he was struggling just to mask his sheer horror.
“Wait, I feel like I’ve heard a similar story somewhere before…”
“In that case, you must have read the report on the Deep Sea Kingdom.”
“So my memory wasn’t playing tricks on me. That’s incredible.”
Because it detailed a rare instance of a humanoid monster officially recognized by the Association, Ju-hyeon had read the report on the Deep Sea Kingdom very thoroughly. It had contained the entire lore surrounding the dungeon.
“…”
No matter how I look at it, that does not sound like a happy life or a good run.
“…Actually, I had a hunch.”
“I’m curious to know what led to that hunch.”
“Ever since I found out the Black Cloak was affiliated with the Collector.”
“Is there something unusual about that?”
“The Deep Sea Kingdom report provided by the Collector was written by Yoo Seong-un, wasn’t it?”
“I believe that is correct.”
“And Yoo Seong-un is, well…”
Ju-hyeon chose his words carefully.
“He’s quite famous within the Association’s research community.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he’s a former research team leader who left the Association to join the Collector, of all places.”
“Is there something so unusual about joining the Collector?”
“Their philosophy is very different. The Collector is famous for cherishing ‘works.’”
“I have heard they have such a policy.”
“And the Association’s researchers tend to look down on that philosophy.”
It was only natural, in a way.
“They see the worst of the worst in the research labs.”
Researchers knew firsthand the sheer cruelty of the hazardous anomalies the Collector so fondly referred to as ‘works.’
“There’s even a saying in the Association’s labs: ‘You aren’t a real researcher until you’ve lost something to them.’ That’s how deeply they distrust these dangerous anomalies. Almost everyone there has a personal grudge.”
“I am perfectly safe.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean you, Gio. It would be an insult to compare you to those mindless, hazardous objects. Besides, you’ve shown me nothing but kindness.”
Ju-hyeon offered a warm smile.
“But most anomalies aren’t like you. The Collector’s gallery and the Association’s research labs are fundamentally at odds. It is incredibly rare for an employee from one to jump ship to the other.”
In fact, Yoo Seong-un was the very first to make such a radical career move.
“You’d have to possess an almost obsessive fascination with anomalous objects to do something like that. So when he published a report on an S-Rank Dungeon, many researchers were dying to know what exactly had captured his interest.”
“I see. I had no idea.”
“Among the raid party members listed in that report was Hunter Seo Gio. I already knew that name—he was the one who saved so many civilians during the Sun Cult initiation ceremony terror. So when you, whom I knew as the Black Cloak, introduced yourself as Seo Gio…”
Ju-hyeon chuckled sheepishly.
“I figured that you, being both the Black Cloak and Seo Gio, had to have some deep connection to the Deep Sea Kingdom. After all, it’s a well-known fact that the Black Cloak’s portrait frequently appears in that dungeon.”
Of course, this was a theory he had only managed to piece together while staying here in the Black Cloak’s cabin.
“Most importantly, the lore of the Deep Sea Kingdom contains records of Bartlan Giovanni. It’s a very obscure detail, but when you mentioned that name just now…”
“You connected the dots.”
“I never would have known if you hadn’t explicitly mentioned the name Bartlan Giovanni, though. The dungeon records don’t have a precise description of Giovanni’s appearance, and even if they did, blonde hair and blue eyes are common enough.”
“In the old days of Korea, such features were quite rare. It is fascinating.”
“…Hearing you say ‘the old days of Korea’ reminds me—as you mentioned before, ‘Seo Gio’ was your name when you lived on Earth, right? What kind of life did you lead back then?”
“Nothing special, really.”
Gio replied with a flat, expressionless face.
“I simply became a portrait because of a school fire.”
“Ah, I see!”
It was a massive, tragic event, delivered with such casual nonchalance that Ju-hyeon had to brace himself.
“How did that happen?”
“Are you asking about the fire, or how I became a portrait?”
“Both, I suppose.”
“To be honest, I don’t even know how the fire started.”
He blinked twice.
“The alarm just suddenly went off. Even though I went to check the moment I heard it, the entire first floor was already engulfed in flames. Considering how fast it spread, it couldn’t have been an accident.”
“…Arson?”
“It would have been impossible to spread that quickly unless someone had poured accelerant. Of course, that’s just my theory. I was too busy evacuating the students to investigate.”
“You didn’t escape with them?”
“I had to make sure no students or teachers were left behind. It happened during recess, so everyone was scattered. Some students had a habit of hiding in the strangest places…”
His dark eyes gazed calmly at Ju-hyeon.
“Fortunately, I was the only one left in the building by the end. But by then, it was too late for me to escape. Realizing there was no hope of surviving until the fire was put out, I simply went into the storage room I cherished most.”
“A storage room?”
“The art supply closet. I did briefly wonder if I should just jump out the window, but I was on the fifth floor—the very top. Our school had exceptionally high ceilings, too. So, I chose the best place to die.”
“…”
“And then, I became a portrait. Isn’t that fascinating?”
Ju-hyeon could only offer a strained smile.
“…Fascinating indeed.”
The Black Cloak didn’t seem to harbor any negative feelings about ‘Gio’s’ death.
Technically, Gio hadn’t explicitly stated that he had died in that fire, but given the fates of Giovanni and Arjio, Ju-hyeon naturally assumed as much. That Seo Gio, too, had met his end there.
“How old were you back then…?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“Are the ages different for each ‘Gio’?”
“Giovanni died at thirty-two, and Arjio died at twenty-four.”
“…None of them lived very long, then.”
A sudden wave of pity washed over Ju-hyeon.
“They were all younger than I am now.”
Was this portrait a collection of such tragically cut-short lives?
Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to talk to him, even when we’re sitting face-to-face like this.
Though the foundation of all these ‘Gios’ was the transcendent entity known as ‘Gio’s Portrait,’ they had all been ordinary humans once. And every single one of their deaths was profoundly bitter.
Even if he became an Evil God, Arjio was only twenty-four…
Besides, even if Gio claimed Arjio was an Evil God, that persona didn’t seem like a truly wicked soul. He seemed like someone capable of great mercy and grace.
How could people like that…
…meet such tragic ends?
“…”
Ju-hyeon offered a gentle, sympathetic smile.
“I don’t know how such things could happen to one person, but… it really is astonishing.”
“I think so too.”
“Come to think of it, I heard the two mermaids residing in the Deep Sea Kingdom still haven’t been subjugated.”
“They are far too dangerous to be subjugated carelessly.”
“So you don’t oppose their subjugation.”
That was unexpected.
“Does that… not bother you at all?”
“Which part do you mean?”
“…Well, they were once your cherished students.”
If Ju-hyeon were in his shoes, he would have been plagued by a storm of conflicting emotions.
“If it were me, I think I’d grieve for a very long time. I’d blame myself, wondering if it was my fault. Since they were once my beloved students, part of me would want to forgive them, but as a human, I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to do it… Ah, was that too presumptuous of me?”
Gio, who had shifted back to his platinum-blonde form at some point, chuckled.
“My friend, you could never be presumptuous to me.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“But I don’t ponder things as deeply as you do.”
“Is that… deep pondering?”
“I have never blamed myself. Not even once.”
Giovanni blinked his blue eyes, looking genuinely baffled as to why he ever should.
“I loved my students with all my heart, and I performed good deeds worthy of my calling. I acted without shame as a Son of the Sun… and as a teacher, I walked the path that was best for my students. That was not a path of self-flagellation, but a way of respecting myself.”
His voice was soft, gentle, and measured.
“My students may have resented me. But I did my utmost to protect them, and I showered them with more than enough love.”
“So you have no regrets? Because you did your best?”
“I did what I wanted to do to the best of my ability. It was a universally righteous act, a path I could walk proudly before the Sun and myself. I refuse to indulge in the absurd self-reproach that my students sinned simply because I wasn’t ‘clever’ enough.”
“Because you weren’t clever enough…?”
“If I had humored the religious order and the village, I might have lived longer. But that would have meant betraying my students, betraying my father, and tormenting my own soul.”
His lips curved into a smooth, elegant smile.
“I simply chose not to do that.”
“Why?”
“There are many reasons, but most of all, because I made a promise.”
“With whom?”
“With my students.”
His deep, ocean-blue eyes crinkled with affection.
“I promised them that I would never change.”
“…”
Looking at that frozen, picture-perfect smile, Ju-hyeon found his voice with difficulty.
“…Do you still love those students?”
“I do.”
“Then… have you forgiven what they did?”
“No, I have not.”
“Then… will you punish them?”
“That is not my responsibility.”
The priest chuckled softly. It was the pure, innocent laugh of a young man.
“The only sin they committed against me was betraying my trust. They have already paid for that over the long years. As for their other crimes, it is not my place to pass judgment.”
“I see.”
“You might think that Giovanni is in the perfect position to punish those sinful mermaids. But that would be entirely absurd.”
“Because it isn’t your place?”
“And because they actively desire my punishment.”
Giovanni let out a soft, mocking laugh.
“My mermaid students spent an eternity throwing tantrums. Even as they wallowed in the past and committed irreversible atrocities, they kept a piece of me tucked away in their hearts.”
“…”
“Even while knowing it was impossible, they hoped that one day, by some miracle, I—their sole purpose for existing—would return to put an end to them. It is an incredibly irresponsible, wishy-washy mindset. For me to punish them would actually be a reward.”
He shrugged.
“Do you think that would be right?”
“…Well, I’m not sure…”
It was a perspective that certainly gave him pause.
“…Still, I just hope those mermaids don’t cause another tragedy.”
“I hope so too. And that is my way of returning their affection—and proof of my favoritism.”
“You truly do love them. Even though you refuse to forgive them.”
“Even if an eternity passes, how could I ever forgive them?”
The man who once embodied the merciful sun spoke.
“No matter what my students do, their sins will only multiply and their burden of guilt will grow. Nothing can erase the suffering of those who died by their hands. Even if they were to turn back time and restore the human world to its most pristine state, the sin itself cannot be undone.”
“…Then…”
“I am a simple man, not a deep thinker, so I do not know if a sin of that magnitude can ever be washed away by time, suffering, and penance. Perhaps it is possible, perhaps not. But I highly doubt a mere few thousand years is enough to fill that void.”
Giovanni continued, his youthful demeanor giving way to the solemn gravity of a high priest.
“But do not worry. As long as I exist, they will never stop agonizing over their sins. I am still fulfilling my duty as their teacher, after all.”
“Which means the tragedy I fear will never happen again.”
“What is certain is that it is precisely because I love my mermaid students that I will never forgive them. As long as I am here, they will never be allowed to become a calamity again.”
“…Hearing you say that brings me a great deal of peace.”
He meant it.
“Humanoid monsters are… always a cause for concern, after all.”
“You seem quite anxious about them.”
Giovanni tilted his head.
“Would you like me to introduce you?”
“Pardon?”
Introduce me to what?
*
“Ta-da.”
With a self-made sound effect, Giovanni gestured toward two mermaids. Ju-hyeon stared in utter disbelief.
“No, wait, what do you mean ‘ta-da’?”
“These are my students.”
“I know who they are, but…”
Seeing that Ju-hyeon seemed to be aware of their history with Giovanni, Aria smiled sweetly and turned to her teacher. Her smile was flawlessly serene.
“So now you’re raising a human, are you?”
“I’m not raising him. He is my friend.”
“You certainly have a knack for making friends in the strangest ways, Teacher.”
“Praise like that will make this teacher blush.”
“Blush? Please, you look cold enough to summon an eternal winter.”
At Aria’s teasing, Giovanni quickly replaced his expression with a soft, priestly smile.
“How about this?”
“That’s more like it. I always preferred that face.”
Nodding, Aria glanced between her younger brother, Iser, and Giovanni’s new friend. The two were sizing each other up in a tense, silent standoff. Iser seemed to be debating how to treat this human, while Ju-hyeon looked like he was struggling to process the entire situation.
“Children,” Aria murmured with a light chuckle.
She offered an elegant, perfectly mannered greeting.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, gentleman beloved by the sun. I am Aria, a disciple of Priest Giovanni of the Bartlan family. May the blessings of the earth be upon you.”
“…It is a pleasure to meet you as well. I am Iser, the second disciple of Priest Giovanni of the Bartlan family. May the warmth of the sun reach you.”
Glaring at his sister, Iser offered his greeting a beat late.
As an Association researcher, Ju-hyeon was well aware that the two before him were humanoid monsters. Still, he knew he had to return their courtesy. He reflexively slipped on his best professional smile.
“A pleasure to meet you both. I’m Ju-hyeon. I have the honor of being Mr. Seo Gio’s friend, and I’ve also been hired as his manager to assist him when he works as a Hunter outside the portrait.”
At that, the gazes of the two mermaids and the human all turned toward Giovanni.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Breaking the heavy silence, Giovanni spoke.
“Shall we have some food?”
And just like that, an impromptu meal was decided.