Chapter 130. The First Celestial They Met.
Chapter 130. The First Celestial They Met.
At last, I could return to the home I'd dreamed of for so long. Before tying up my lingering attachments and heading back, I built a house deep in the mountains with the money I'd saved during my mercenary days — a way to dull my senses before the journey.
That razor-sharp awareness, those survival instincts — I wouldn't need any of that on Earth. Earth was peaceful. No trembling in fear because you might die at any moment.
Maybe it was because I finally had a definite way back, but even the simplest things — chopping firewood, foraging for mushrooms, catching fish — filled me with a quiet vitality. I'd take the firewood and mushrooms into town and sell them like any ordinary villager, then use the money to buy other things.
Those little, insignificant acts made me happier than I could put into words.
"Young man, brought firewood and fish again today, have you?"
"Yes, sir. I sell these, and I happened to need a bit of cloth as well, so..."
"Haha! Every time I see you hauling that firewood, I swear you've got the strength of an ox!"
They treated me — a man who didn't even live in this village, who came from some remote corner — like a neighbor they'd known for years.
"Oh, right. The wife got her hands on some apples. Take a few with you, have a bite."
"How much do I owe you?"
"No need for money! We got them for free ourselves, so don't be shy."
"Uncle Tom, thank you kindly. Give my thanks to your wife as well. And one of these days, I'll bag a fine wild boar and treat you both to a proper meal."
"I know you're strong, young man, but do be careful. Our next-door neighbor Alfred got himself hurt hunting boar, you know!"
A wild boar was something I could kill with nothing more than a glare. But they didn't know that, so they simply treated me like any other young man my age.
I set up my stall as usual — firewood stacked off to the side, fresh fish laid out on the counter. But then, in this peaceful little village, something snagged on my Qi Sense.
'What is that...?'
In the direction my senses pointed, I spotted a neatly dressed, rather cute girl. Judging by her build and appearance, she looked barely high school age.
'High schooler? Don't make me laugh.'
Looking young doesn't make someone young. Anyone capable of suppressing power to that degree — not a single trace leaking — while carrying that level of standing was a formidable figure. The aura I felt from the girl was so impossibly pure it made me wonder, 'Can a presence this clear even exist in the world?'
From the moment I first noticed her, my daily life began to shift, little by little. My routine stayed the same, but my trips into town grew more frequent. In my head, I'd privately nicknamed the pint-sized girl 'Cupid.'
'There she is again.'
She would heal the wounds of guards returning from duties outside the village, or make her rounds at the orphanage. Mages who used healing magic weren't exactly rare, so the townsfolk didn't find it all that astonishing. Still, they never failed to express their gratitude to her, since she healed without ever asking for anything in return.
As I stood there quietly watching her, Uncle Tom, who was beside me, tapped my arm and spoke.
"Priests only heal you after you've made a donation. But that girl heals people without demanding a single thing in return — isn't she a true 'angel'?"
'An angel, huh... Fitting, for someone I've been calling Cupid.'
Even by the time everyone else had closed up shop and gone home, I kept my stall open. Some folks came to buy firewood well into the late afternoon, after finishing their day's work and wanting to wash up with warm water — so I couldn't afford to close early.
"Um, excuse me..."
"Yes, welcome— Hm?"
It was the girl everyone called an angel.
"Oh? Cupi—"
I nearly called her Cupid out loud and had to cut myself off in a hurry.
"Is there... something you need help with?"
"What makes you think I need help?"
"Well... every time I go around, you're always watching me, so..."
"Maybe I was just watching because I thought it was admirable, the way you go around helping everyone?"
"..."
"Still, be careful. No matter how strong a Celestial young lady is, this world has plenty of powerful people."
"...!"
Had she been startled because her identity was exposed? Or because I'd seen straight through the power she kept hidden?
'Probably both.'
— Grroowwl...
"Eep...!"
A noise announcing her hunger sounded from the girl's stomach, and her face flushed crimson as she clutched her belly.
"So... want to go grab something to eat?"
The girl's eyes narrowed into sharp slits, glaring at me with suspicion.
'Well, that definitely sounded like something a kidnapper would say...'
— Grroowwl...
"You asked earlier if I needed help, right? Then eat a meal with me. I live alone, so every meal is a lonely one."
"Um... all right..."
Her wariness melted away in an instant, and she waited beside me as I packed up the stall. Then she followed me home.
'This kid is absolutely going to get scammed the moment she sets foot on Earth.'
Living alone, I'd never once bothered to load kindling and light a proper fire. The cold couldn't touch my body in the first place, and darkness was no obstacle to my sight. Still, with a guest visiting for the first time, I felt like making a bit of an effort.
I seasoned some meat, grilled it, and served it with vegetables and soup. The girl started wolfing it down with desperate urgency.
"Slow down. There's plenty."
"Yeph!"
"So, do you normally not get enough to eat?"
The question must have struck a nerve, because she gently set down her fork and answered with a gloomy expression.
"Yeph..."
"Huh? Then what do you usually eat?"
"Mostly, people give me bread or fruit to say thank you, and I eat that..."
"What? Then where do you sleep?"
"Just... on the roof of some building where I won't be noticed. Or sometimes at the house of someone who offered me a meal."
"Huh... Seeing as you're a Celestial, I figured you'd be living in at least some degree of luxury."
As if a thought had suddenly struck her, the girl shot to her feet and slammed the table.
Bang!
Eyes wide and blazing, she stared at me and demanded, "More importantly, how did you know I was a Celestial!?"
"You're far too clumsy at hiding your power."
"Huh?"
I let out the barest fragment of my power — just enough for the girl to feel it.
"Hiek!"
"If you're going to hide it, this is how you hide it."
— Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
Unable to contain her astonishment, she stood there clapping furiously. Everything she did was somehow a little clumsy. And endearing. It reminded me of the younger kids I'd lived with back at the orphanage, a very long time ago.
"The meat's getting cold. Hurry up and eat."
"Yeph!"
She polished off every last piece of meat and scraped the soup bowl so clean it hardly needed washing.
"So, why aren't you in the Celestial Realm? What are you doing here?"
"..."
The girl stayed silent, as if the story was difficult to tell.
"If it's hard to talk about, you don't have to—"
"I was banished..."
"For squandering the Heavenly God's grace by looking after humans without restraint, they said..."
'Disgusting bastards...'
Truth be told, I'd already heard bits and pieces about the Celestials' conduct and the nations that worshipped them. They were so selfish, such utter trash, that I'd steered clear of them on purpose to avoid any encounters.
Isn't there a saying?
You can't win a logical argument against ignorant bastards. They're so thoroughly brainwashed by their twisted convictions that logic never gets through to them in the first place.
"So... you have nowhere to go?"
"No..."
"In that case, want to stay with me?"
"What?"
"You can see for yourself — living alone gets terribly dull. I could use someone to talk to."
"But I don't really know how to do anything..."
"Just having someone to talk to is more than enough."
"Heehee..."
The girl tapped her chest with her tiny fists.
"I can definitely provide ample conversation!"
"Good. Welcome to the family, then. My name is Cheon Sihu."
"Heehee, I'm Ariel!"
We shook hands, and I welcomed Ariel — now part of the household.
"Ariel, by the way... you should wash up. You smell..."
"Gah! How can you say something like that to a lady!!!"
* * ** * * * *
Living together with Ariel changed my daily life quite a bit. No, to be more precise — the daily routine itself was ordinary, but no matter what I did, Ariel was always watching. Whether I was splitting firewood, fishing, or gathering medicinal herbs, Ariel always followed along.
"Sir Sihu, why don't you ever use mana? Even when you're splitting firewood."
"Hm... Using it would get the job done in an instant, sure. But moving my body just feels refreshing."
Ariel tilted her head as if she couldn't comprehend it. And whenever I went into town, Ariel always came with me. While I tended to my stall, Ariel helped the poor and healed the sick. Then, around the time I packed up, we'd head home together.
We spent a long, long time together and shared countless conversations. Even when she heard that I originally came from Earth, Ariel believed it with pure, unquestioning trust.
"Guh, you're telling me carriages move on their own without anyone saying a word? That's absurd!"
"Er, it's true, though..."
"Fine! Let's say that's true. Then how on earth does a carriage fly through the sky?"
"Heh heh. By that logic, you can fly with your wings too, can't you?"
"..."
Whenever she was at our house, she'd comfortably let out the wings she normally kept hidden. Keeping them concealed all the time felt, she said, like wearing clothes that were a size too small and pulled tight — or something along those lines.
"Earth...?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"So you'll be going back there?"
"That's the plan. It's my home, after all."
She looked like a dejected puppy, her eyes drooping as she asked.
"It'll be so lonely without you, Sir Sihu..."
"..."
I pressed my lips together and parted them again, weighing whether to say it.
"Ariel, do you want to come to Earth with me?"
I'd already thought it through carefully — whether dimensional travel was possible while bringing Ariel along. My conclusion: it was more than possible. If you asked me how, I wouldn't have much to offer. I simply knew, by instinct, that it would work one hundred percent.
This was a proposal I hadn't been able to make to Adela. Because Adela had to become the queen — someone who bore responsibility for all the elves. But Ariel was an individual. She didn't have to answer for anyone else.
"I do want to go with you, Sir Sihu, but..."
"But...?"
"There are still so many injured people around here... To abandon all of them and leave feels a little..."
Ariel, in her own way, seemed to carry a sense of responsibility, and it showed in her troubled expression.
"Sir Sihu, could you at least wait until there are no more sick people in this village?"
"Hm?"
"I want to take responsibility for this village, at least — and heal every last person who's suffering!"
I smiled at her earnest, responsible proposal and nodded.
"That's admirable. I can certainly wait that long."
"Thank you! Heehee. When we get to Earth, I want to try chicken, and hamburgers, and visit an amusement park, and...!"
"Sure, sure."
"And ride one of those iron carriages that fly through the sky... and see the box where tiny people appear...!"
As if we were heading to Earth tomorrow, she started rattling off everything she remembered from my stories — everything she wanted to do, everything she wanted to eat.
"Yeah. Once we're on Earth, let's do all of it."
There was no need to rush.
After all, we had all the time in the world.