Taesung (1)
"Ugh..."
The injuries I'd taken from my fight with Aurora were wearing me down hard.
"Does it hurt anywhere?"
"Yeah."
I gave Sapi's question the briefest possible answer. At that, he drew close and rested a hand on my shoulder — and from his palm, a yellow light began to shimmer.
"My ability is healing."
"..."
"Healing-type abilities aren't common, you know."
Warm golden light spread out from Sapi's fingertips. As it wrapped around my wounds, the torn flesh slowly knit itself back together, and the stabbing pain that had flared with every breath melted away as though it had never existed at all.
"Whoa..."
There was no denying it — a healing ability really was impressive.
"You could've healed me a lot earlier, you know."
"Huh?"
If you'd had a healing ability all along, it could've been a huge help in the fight. And you only break it out once the fighting's already over.
"By the way, about that arm of yours."
"Hm?"
"Looks pretty busted, doesn't it?"
He was right — the damage was plain to see. Tiny sparks spat from the prosthetic, and its joints let out a grinding metallic screech.
"Let's get it repaired."
"You can do that too?"
"No — but there's a city near here that can fix prosthetics."
A city governed by an organization known as Taesung. Inside a bar tucked deep within that city.
"Babe, wake up. Hm?"
"Ah — sorry, darling."
Apparently I'd dozed off for a moment. Boredom will do that to me.
"I'm talking and you fall asleep on me? Is my story boring?"
"Not at all, darling. A face as beautiful as yours — I could stare at it all day and never get bored."
"Kyaaa~ what's gotten into you~?"
Yes, that eye-wateringly cheesy line had come from me. A man who reels in the women at the bar with sweet talk so greasy it makes your teeth ache. The most handsome, most magnificent man in the world — Dadan.
And this woman, too, had finally grown boring. Her hair had a bit of sparkle to it, so I'd hooked her on a lark, but my interest had already gone cold. I'd just keep drinking and let the time slide by.
Thud. Thud. Footsteps sounded through the bar.
White hair cut in a blunt bob. Crimson eyes. A woman wreathed in an air of mystery walked out of the bar. This time, she would be the one.
"Darling, I'm going to hit the bathroom real quick."
"Okay — you'd better hurry back, I'll be waiting."
I strolled out of the bar. Of course, I had no intention of relieving the woman waiting inside of that wait. I simply followed the mysterious woman.
The mysterious woman leaned back against a wall. I leaned against it right beside her. She turned to look at me.
Well, of course she did.
Because I possess the Charm Beauty Mark — a blessing obtained through dealings with the fairies, one that draws every gaze, unbidden, toward whoever bears it.
With this blessing alone, women fixate on me. They keep staring and staring, all on their own, until a question starts to form in their heads: Do I actually have feelings for this man? And seducing a woman in that state? They practically fall into my arms.
"Well, hello there. Nice to meet you — what's your name?"
"I'm called This."
"This, huh... ...That's a cool name."
I rolled the name This around in my head.
"Oh, and my name is—"
"Dadan. Right?"
"What?"
She knew my name? Don't tell me she'd been luring me in from the very start?
"I won't kill you."
"..."
"I merely intend to make a request of you."
A request? Of me? Ha... what kind of bullshit is this.. Oh — wait. It's an act, isn't it?~ And here I was getting spooked for nothing.
She was riddled with openings. Her weaknesses hung out in plain sight. A woman like this couldn't possibly be a threat to me.
And so I reached out to take her shoulder.
"There we go, This~ Why don't we take this little 'request' somewhere more private?"
But my hand never reached her shoulder. The next instant, my body was floating in the air — spinning — and then it slammed down into the ground.
"GRAAAAGH!!"
"Now, are you ready to hear the commission?"
"What in the..."
This was bad. He'd landed the first blow, so now it was my turn to attack—
At that instant, my body turned to lead. Pinned flat against the ground, I couldn't do a single thing. So impossibly heavy.
"..."
"Kgh..."
"..."
"OKAY!!! I'll listen!! I'm ready to hear the commission!!!"
Only then did the crushing weight lift from my body.
"All you have to do is kill a woman named Lebetri. That's it."
"What?"
With that, she handed over a sheet of paper bearing a photograph and information. And while I stood there staring at it in a fluster, she spoke again.
"Of course, you will not be fighting alone. You will have a partner."
"A partner?"
The moment I raised the question, I heard the sound of someone walking toward us.
"CHARGE! CHARGE! CHAAARGE!!!"
Black skin. Rippling muscle. Red pants. A slicked-back pompadour. From the very first impression, the man radiated complete lunatic.
"You're my partner?! Let's CHAAARGE in together!!!"
I had a feeling things were about to go very, very wrong.
The city came into view. Two gatekeepers stood at the tunnel leading into it.
"Hey, hold it right there. What's your business in Taesung?"
"..."
"Got nothing to say?"
Seeing us stay silent, the gatekeeper glared at us, low and threatening.
"Identify yourselves. Now."
The gatekeeper raised his weapon and started walking toward us.
"Ah, we're from here, you see."
Sapi produced a token I had no idea where he'd picked up.
"Hm... so it's a token from that village."
"And this, as well."
Sapi pressed a handful of jewel-studded trinkets into the gatekeeper's hands as a bribe.
"Ahem... go on through, then."
The gatekeeper holstered his weapon and stepped aside to let us into the tunnel. And so we entered.
As we made our way through the tunnel, I asked Sapi about it.
"Where'd you get that token?"
"Oh, that? You know that village. The one where people were dead in this really weird way."
"Ah..."
"Stole it there."
I gave Sapi a long, silent glare.
"You're a thief."
"Call it efficiency."
"That's literally called being a thief."
When we finally emerged from the tunnel, an enormous city spread out before us. Merchants bellowed over one another in the market, and in the alleys, countless vagrants slumped against the walls — ragged breathing, hollow eyes, everywhere.
We had barely set foot inside when one of the merchants sidled up to us.
"Got some good stuff here. Interested? First one's free."
"Good stuff?"
At those words, I felt myself tempted — just a little. Sapi's hand clamped around my wrist.
"That stuff is drugs. You can't go anywhere near it."
"Ignore that leech-faced pretty boy and just give it one try — the whole world'll change."
"Lebetri, the longer you waste words on trash like this, the worse off you are."
With that, Sapi led me deeper into the city.
"At this point, the merchants won't bother chasing us down to shove their goods on us anymore."
"You're sure it's safe?"
"The vagrants are a bit of an eyesore, but... it's safe."
Hearing that, I let myself relax and saved this spot as a save point.
In that instant, my gaze locked onto a single spot. There stood a man with sky-blue hair and a right arm that had bloomed into a bouquet of flowers. And he had started walking straight toward me.
"Say there, lady with the rabbit ears — staring at a man like that is rather rude."
"What?"
"If, perchance, you're interested in me... we could have a little date at a bar..."
At that moment, Sapi's hand closed on my shoulder and pulled me in against his chest.
?!
My eyes went wide with confusion. But Sapi, as though nothing at all had happened, addressed the greasy man.
"Sorry, but we've got important business today. We can't stay and play with you."
To that flat refusal, the greasy man answered,
"Oho, my apologies, my apologies. You've got a boyfriend, do you.. Then I shall withdraw for today, my lady."
The greasy man began slowly receding into the distance. But he was smiling. And then, quietly, he spoke a single phrase:
But those words never reached our ears.
If two people are lovers, then making them cling together even tighter — that is simply what a romanticist must do.
As we walked on together, I found myself behaving a little strangely — at least, stranger than usual.
"What's wrong?"
Sapi picked up on the subtle shift and asked.
"No... it's just — my heartbeat feels weirdly fast, all of a sudden."
"Is it serious?"
"Not that bad."
"I did feel a strange tingling right around here, too."
With that, Sapi pulled his gaze away from me and started walking again. At the end of that walk stood a shabby, run-down building.
"This rundown place can fix my arm?"
"Well, more or less."
Sapi stepped inside the shabby building. I followed him in.
"Hm? What, you lot thugs?"
"The very first thing you say to us is 'thugs' instead of 'customers'? That's harsh."
"Keke. Glug, glug."
The odd old man was laughing as he drank. He must have been at it long before we arrived — empty bottles lay rolling across the dirt floor.
"Keke. If you've come here looking to buy cheap drugs, get out."
"I've come to fix the arm of the woman standing next to me."
"Hoo. A young thing wearing a prosthetic. Found yourself a good man, did you?"
"..."
At the words good man, my face crumpled on the spot.
"I'll pay. Can you fix it or not?"
"Keke... I'll think about it once I finish this bottle."
"Or did your skill die of old age right along with you?"
"Ha?"
For the first time, the old man's voice went cold.
"Ha... old I may be, but my skill is exactly what it was. The same skill I had before this world went to ruin."
"My apologies for doubting you. In that case — can you fix it?"
"Aye, I can fix it. Now come closer, so I can give it a proper look."
I walked over to the old man and held out my prosthetic arm.
"Ho. The design's simple, but the inner structure is exquisite.."
"..."
"And the finish work is superb..."
The old man turned the arm over in his hands, inspecting it this way and that with obvious interest. But Sapi, needing a straight answer, cut in.
"So. Can you fix it?"
"Hmm... I'll know more once I've taken it apart and studied it properly."
"Why's that?"
"I don't know who built this arm — but whoever they were, they made something original, simple, and damned impressive."
The corners of the old man's mouth twisted upward, nearly reaching his ears.
"Wear this temporary prosthetic until the repairs are finished. It's free, of course."
"Free of charge? Much obliged."
"Keke. I get to tear into a piece like this without paying a single coin — trust me, I'm the grateful one."