Chapter 188
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 188
"I’ll show you a special trick."
"All of a sudden?"
Having finished his meal, Gio ran out to the shore.
"Ta-da."
"..."
"The Miracle of Moses."
"Put it back."
"When else would I do this if not now?"
"Do it at home."
At Ju-hyeon’s horrified command to stop parting the sea in half, Gio obediently complied. The beach near their lodge, which was more stone and rock than sand, dropped off steeply. Gio flopped right down onto the water’s surface.
"I haven’t thought of any other tricks."
"I think what you’re doing right now is more than enough of a trick."
"Can’t all Hunters do this?"
"Of course not. Hunters aren’t water striders."
"Am I a water strider, then?"
"You look even more like one lying flat like that."
"Then I’ll just lie here for a bit. It’s comfortable."
"Hmm..."
Ju-hyeon sat on a nearby rock, watching Gio with a worried expression.
"It’s gotten quite dark. Will you be all right?"
"If you’re worried about the darkness, there’s a way to fix that."
"Wait a second."
"Yes?"
"What are you planning to do?"
"I was going to bring out the water birds."
"Ah, the water birds."
Recalling the small, harmless creatures, Ju-hyeon smiled with relief.
"My apologies. I tend to worry too much."
"We’re just looking out for each other. There’s no need to apologize."
Then, Gio sat up on the water.
"...?"
Ju-hyeon blinked.
"You’re sitting?"
"Yes, I am."
"I know you’re an unusual case in many ways, Mr. Gio, but this is..."
"Is it fascinating?"
"Yes."
"I think so too."
"...I see."
Though he’d gotten better at it recently, Gio was still a portrait, clumsy in his imitation of humans. After all, forcing himself to act human didn’t automatically grant him the ability to truly empathize.
"So, how do you plan to bring out the water birds?"
"They are already here."
"..."
Something caught Ju-hyeon’s eye.
"Ah."
Next to Gio’s now-translucent feet, he could see tiny, flower-like or fruit-like things floating in the water.
It was hard to see in the growing darkness, but those were unmistakably the water birds.
"They were already here? Since when?"
"They’ve been here since I dipped my feet in."
"Ah..."
"Mr. Ju-hyeon, why don’t you come out here too?"
"I’ll sink."
"I will help you."
"...Pardon me, then."
Splish.
Ju-hyeon did not sink into the sea.
"This feels strange."
He was walking on the surface of the water, even though he was a non-Awakened.
"Now that I’m out here, I can see the water birds much better."
"Can you see them moving around?"
"Yes, there are quite a lot more than I expected."
"They are creatures that live in flocks, after all."
"Even so, they aren’t very bright yet..."
"They will light up soon."
Sitting on the water’s surface, Gio stirred his submerged legs.
"Once they make this place their nest, that is."
As if on cue, the water birds gathered together and began to glow.
"..."
"There we go."
It was as if a light had been switched on inside the sea.
"...It’s like there are fireflies in the ocean."
"Have you ever seen a firefly?"
"They’re extinct, so I’ve never seen them in the wild like this. But I did participate in a restoration research project once, so I know what they look like."
"There are more extinct species than I thought. It makes me sad."
"If I were to see them in person, would it feel like this?"
"I was thinking they looked like bioluminescent jellyfish."
"That could be true, too."
A relaxed smile spread across Ju-hyeon’s face.
"They’re golden."
"I haven’t seen them in any other color either."
"They must like it here."
It was the same hue he had admired from the terrace of Gio’s cabin on cool spring nights. The golden light the water birds emitted when they gathered was an indicator of their happiness.
"...It’s wonderful."
The sea shimmered with gold.
It was an enchanting light, as if a golden sun had been melted down and its rays captured. It was as beautiful as if an entire universe were contained beneath the waves.
When he lightly splashed the water, the water birds inside moved playfully.
"And cute, too."
"That is my children’s most outstanding trait."
"It certainly seems so."
As a non-Awakened, Ju-hyeon couldn’t perceive the individual water birds. All he saw was a dazzling display of flowers, fruits, and jewels, but even that was enough to feel their affection.
They loved this sea.
"Come to think of it, I guess they’ve come on a trip with us..."
Golden ripples of light shimmered on Ju-hyeon’s hands, in his eyes, and on the rugged rocks around them.
"They must be even happier because they are with family."
"I think so too."
"It’s incredibly bright."
Even though he was standing on the cool sea, his entire body felt languid, as if touched by the spring sunshine.
"..."
"Mr. Ju-hyeon."
Gio called out to his friend.
"You shouldn’t go too far in."
"...Ah."
"Because you cannot breathe underwater, Mr. Ju-hyeon."
Only then did Ju-hyeon realize he had submerged his arms deep into the sea.
"..."
Ju-hyeon turned to look at Gio.
"...Isn’t this a bit dangerous?"
"My children are not dangerous."
"This is like... a water ghost."
"Isn’t a water ghost a spirit that drags people into the water?"
"I believe there are also ghosts that lure you to come in."
"Earth has become quite a terrifying place."
"...Something being too beautiful can be a problem, too."
Ju-hyeon sat down cross-legged on the water’s surface with a wry smile. He let out a short sigh and rubbed his forehead.
Just a moment ago, he had been completely mesmerized by the light of the water birds.
'My being a non-Awakened probably played a part in it, too.'
Someone like Yoo Seong-un wouldn’t have been so easily entranced.
"Could you refrain from calling these friends out in places with a lot of civilians?"
"Even if I don’t call them, the water birds can find homes they like on their own."
"...Wait, that sounds like some of them have already leaked out elsewhere. Is that right?"
"Since they are living water, I suppose 'leaked' is an accurate term."
"Where did they go?"
"They probably went into the paintings I drew."
"Into the paintings..."
"It’s only a few places, so you don’t have to worry."
Gio reassured Ju-hyeon.
"They won’t be gathered in such large numbers, either."
"...Will they be less mesmerizing then?"
"It’s rather embarrassing to hear you call deep appreciation 'being mesmerized,' but yes, they will probably just look pretty."
"Well, that’s a relief, but..."
"They probably went to the Void or the Quadruped Rainforest."
"Why would they go to cleared dungeons... No, could you please tell me these things in advance?"
"I will keep that in mind."
Gio looked beneath the surface of the water.
"You can see a similar sight in the Deep Sea Kingdom as well."
"Did you say that was Mr. Giovanni’s hometown?"
"Yes. There, you can admire the Milky Way floating above your head, rather than below you."
"The Milky Way... I wonder what that feels like."
"It is a Milky Way created by the life of the sea."
Giovanni smiled as he ran his hands through the golden sea.
"I will invite you there sometime soon."
"..."
At the affection and pride carried in that voice, Ju-hyeon nodded.
"I’ll look forward to it."
He was, truly, a pitiful man.
* * *
"What was Giovanni’s world like?"
Aria turned to Yoo Seong-un, who was gazing at the distant golden sea from a sheer cliff.
"Why ask such a thing now?"
"Some questions can only be asked at a time like this."
"That makes a certain amount of sense."
Aria nodded.
"It has been a very long time since I spoke of him..."
"I asked about his hometown, not about him specifically."
"Shut up and listen, Administrator of the Construct. To me, Giovanni was the only world I knew."
"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose it makes sense."
These mermaids had a blindly devoted side to them.
"How much can you tell me?"
"As long as you are under Teacher’s protection, I can tell you everything."
"That is... truly remarkable affection."
Yoo Seong-un, who had been watching Gio and Ju-hyeon on the shore, soon asked:
"What kind of existence was Giovanni in that world?"
"I thought you had already caught on to some extent."
Even as she said this, Aria readily explained.
"He was, quite literally, the saint of the century. To the people of the world, he was the Son of the Sun manifested among filthy humans; to his neighbors, he was a wonderful friend and elder who dedicated his entire life to them; and to the religious order, he was a precious genius who brought them prestige."
Aria calmly continued.
"And yet, he died so easily."
"That is just how humans are. You cannot expect eternity from them."
"That is why they have a creepy and disgusting side."
She often felt a murderous urge, as if she had found a bug crawling on her bed.
"Let’s see. Are you curious about how he was executed as well?"
"If you’re willing to tell me, I’d gladly listen."
"First, it was torture on land. To the point where he could barely maintain his form..."
"And after that?"
"They submerged him in a massive tank filled with seawater."
Aria was looking at Yoo Seong-un, not the golden sea.
"Then, they bound him with chains so he couldn’t escape and sealed the entrance."
"Why did they do that?"
"The Priests of the Sun said that if he were truly the Son of the Sun, he would survive even in a cold tank."
"And the result?"
"He lived."
Giovanni did not die inside the tank for over four months.
"And yet, they did not let him out."
Some came to believe that Giovanni was truly the Son of the Sun, while others insisted he had received help from the divinity of the sea. Whichever they believed, they ultimately feared Giovanni’s existence terribly.
"'If he is truly a child of the Sun,' they reasoned, 'we have treated him so harshly that there is no turning back. If he is a child of the sea, he must be a monster worse than a mermaid... so we must kill him immediately before he retaliates against humans.'"
The problem wasn’t just retaliation.
"Public sentiment must have been an issue too."
"Why does public sentiment matter to a religious group?"
"Because the order was more powerful than the kings of any nation."
Giovanni was once the perfect Son of the Sun, loved by everyone in the world. If it were revealed that he was indeed a true child of divinity, it was clear that even the Sun Cult would not be able to handle the fallout.
"Skeptical opinions were already rampant within the order, so of course they couldn’t risk it."
"So how did the Sun Cult respond?"
"They used my foolish younger brother, who had been captured around that time."
They locked him, who had been tortured and starved, in the tank with Giovanni.
"Their intention was likely to stage a gruesome scene to silence those doubts."
However, Iser endured, and Giovanni did not die, protected by divine grace until the very end. The Priests of the Sun, interpreting this as a divine sign, could not overcome their terror and poisoned the tank.
"Thanks to that, my brother, blinded by hunger, devoured Giovanni."
"But wouldn’t Giovanni have been affected by the poison too? If they poured it into the tank..."
"Even then, Giovanni didn’t seem to have much of a reaction."
Only then did Aria fix her gaze on Gio, who was sitting on the surface of the sea.
"So, thinking Teacher was dead, my brother must have devoured him."
It wasn’t that Iser immediately succumbed just because he was drugged. But the sight of Giovanni lying limp, like a corpse, must have shattered his last restraint. In the end, Iser ate Giovanni.
"...Does your brother know that? Did he really eat him without knowing?"
"Who knows?"
Aria had never asked.
"With the deed done, as if they felt they had escaped divine punishment, the priests smuggled away Gio’s remaining corpse and used it for the order’s purposes. How do you think they used it?"
"...I’ve heard of something called the Basram Flower."
"You hit the nail on the head."
The elixir of the century, which would wither away without the loving touch of the sun. Gio’s corpse, which had received the Sun’s greatest love, was used to cultivate that flower.
"That’s why it took so much time to find Gio."
"Where did you find him?"
"I found him in the Pope’s residence."
"Oh, incredible."
"Even so, the Sun did not hand down any punishment."
The Deep Sea was the same.
"So, I decided to deliver it instead."
Neither the Deep Sea that gave birth to her nor the Sun her brother served would strike down those filthy believers. In the end, Aria turned herself into the deep sea, submerging the entire world beneath the ocean.
"I know I committed a sin. I know it was nothing more than a pointless venting of anger."
"But you’re a monster, not even an Evil God."
"Divinity isn’t something easily obtained just by throwing a few tantrums, is it?"
"Didn’t Gio obtain it rather easily, though...?"
"Comparing me to Teacher only brings me shame."
"From the sound of it, you don’t particularly regret throwing that tantrum," Yoo Seong-un observed.
"Why are you bringing this up now?"
"At first, I didn’t even think of it as a sin. But after reuniting with Teacher, I realized it was indeed a sin."
"I lost, I suppose."
She did not regret it, but that alone showed how much the mermaids had been influenced by Giovanni. Since her teacher said it was a sin, she had no choice but to perceive it as such.
"The only time my life felt like heaven was during my childhood with my teacher."
"And so?"
"...Gio told me to take responsibility."
"Did he say he would forgive you then?"
"Of course not."
That was never Giovanni’s to give in the first place. He likely thought so himself.
"Just..."
Aria smiled.
"The time has simply come to make a choice."
Which hell she would walk through next.