Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Awakening
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Thankfully, he didn’t die.
‘This is so unfair. It wasn’t even poison. I even considered his tolerance and made sure there were no side effects. Why won’t they believe me?’
I knew it was safe when I used it.
That man is built like a tank!
In my first life, the family used an anesthetic with severe side effects on Heuk Biwon.
‘It was probably the only way to forcefully sedate him.’
He's a skilled warrior, and he uses lightning powers? How could anyone defeat an overpowered lightning mage?
‘Thankfully, I remembered ten years of my eldest uncle's records from when I secretly created an anesthetic without side effects back then.’
Right now, my eldest uncle was still unconscious. We were huddled together in an abandoned pavilion, watching over him.
“I knew it would be fine. ‘Cause I’m a genius!”
“You haven't explained a thing. Do you have a death wish?”
“Uwaaah!”
It hurts!
You ungrateful uncle!
With my cheek still pinched, I glanced at my eldest uncle. His son, Heuk Gyewon, was the one who had tied him up so tightly.
Apparently, my eldest uncle himself had told him to do it this way.
“I think she's asking you to let go of her cheek first, Second Uncle.”
Heuk Gyewon pulled my uncle's hand away. Freedom!
I huffed and rubbed my cheek.
“Uncle, it's been a long time.”
“Huh? Oh… yeah.”
My uncle looked at Heuk Gyewon with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
“You're still nagging…”
*Grasp.*
“I appreciate your help, but I must say something.”
“Huh?!”
My cousin wore a stern expression, like a headmaster.
“You were just grabbing Biyu's cheek.”
“S-So?”
“Should you be acting like a ruffian toward a small baby? She is much weaker than a normal child.”
“Uh… I didn't know. And does this really warrant being called a ruffian?”
“Are you truly unaware of your own crassness…?”
“…Why am I being treated with such contempt?”
Heuk Birang looked at Heuk Gyewon, appalled.
“You're still such a little old man. Dammit, that expression… it's exactly like my eldest sister-in-law's when she used to scold me. Gives me the creeps.”
“And you, Youngest Uncle, are still immature.”
I wonder how long their conversation went on.
Then I saw it. My eldest uncle's eyelids began to twitch.
I glanced sideways at my uncle and Heuk Gyewon, who were still bickering.
‘They don't seem to have noticed yet.’
I held my breath.
My eldest uncle's eyes slowly opened.
Crimson eyes.
But unlike before, they held a clear focus. Those eyes widened as they looked at me.
Then, they curved into a sly grin.
“Well now, am I finally dead?”
“…”
“I see an incredibly cute baby fairy~”
It was a complete one-eighty from his crazed state.
‘What the…’
It was the first time I'd seen him look normal, and it was so different from what I expected that I was stunned.
His overall impression was fierce. The corners of his eyes were tilted up like a predator's.
“Hmm, so I'm not dead?”
He looked cheerful when he smiled, but because of his murderous rampage from before, the fierce impression didn't fade.
But as his eyes crinkled into a smile, a peculiar, laid-back air became apparent.
‘I'd heard his original personality was sly and easygoing, but…’
I had never seen it for myself.
When I encountered him in my first life, Heuk Gyewon wasn't there, and he was rampaging every day.
I only saw him speak normally once…
‘Ugh, run, run away… Hurry!’
‘Ugh, run, run away… Hurry!’
‘I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…’
‘I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…’
I shook my head gently.
Anyway…
‘How is he able to speak?’
My uncle and my cousin rushed over at the same time.
“Ack, Eldest Brother? Why are you awake already? I was supposed to hit you more!”
“Father! Are you all right?!”
My ever-mature cousin made a childish expression for the first time. His eyes were welling up with tears.
My eldest uncle simply smiled.
“There, there, crybaby.”
My cousin pressed his sleeve to his eyes, holding back a sob.
“Stop that. Your handsome father's hands hurt right now, so he can't pat your head.”
“…I-It's because of the anesthetic. *Sniffle.*”
“I'll be sure to tell your mother her son is a crybaby.”
“Don't say that, *hic*. This time… it was really dangerous.”
“I remember it vaguely.”
My eldest uncle laughed heartily.
“Haha. Sorry. I almost struck my own son, did I?”
When Heuk Gyewon glared at him, he obediently made a gesture of surrender.
“My bad, my bad. Mother said if I hurt someone one more time, she'd kill me for real this time.”
“Don't say things like that!”
I tilted my head.
‘The family head said she'd kill him if he hurt someone one more time? For that to be the case, he lived for quite a long time in my first life…’
I wonder if the family head kept him around out of greed.
“Hah, the guy who was about to kill his own son is laughing pretty well, isn't he? You find this funny, big brother?”
My eldest uncle finally looked at Heuk Birang, his expression pleased to see him.
“Hey, little brother.”
“Nothing ‘hey’ about it.”
Heuk Birang gave him a roguish look, squatting down and poking his eldest brother.
‘Oh, right, a physical examination!’
I trotted over and poked my eldest uncle, too. My other uncle stared at me, dumbfounded.
“What are you doing?”
“Check-up.”
No, really, it's absurd that he can move his facial muscles and speak after being given that much anesthetic!
“Come to think of it, why is my body like this?”
“It's the anesthetic, Father.”
“It's different from the usual stuff…”
My eldest uncle rolled his eyes and looked at his son.
“Aigoo, my body, my aching bones~ I can't moooove.”
I stared in disbelief at my eldest uncle's whining.
‘If you can move after that much anesthetic, you must be a super elephant… Is this the power of a body blessed by a dragon?’
On the Eastern Continent, dragons are worshipped as gods.
And among the people of the Eastern Continent, some are born with the dragon's blessing.
They were twice as sturdy as ordinary people and possessed powerful bodies.
In our Heuk family, those born with this blessing were raised to be warriors.
‘On the Western Continent, they worship dragons as gods, too. So there were people with a similar dragon's blessing.’
When dealing with patients on the Western Continent, kidnappings, blackmail, and threats were so common that it became standard practice to be accompanied by a warrior.
‘Though I myself never got to enjoy such a luxury in any of my lives.’
For a brief moment, I thought of the only ‘friend’ I'd made in my third life.
But I quickly pushed the thought from my mind.
‘Both my eldest uncle and my other uncle have bodies blessed by the dragon.’
In any case, considering the challenges ahead, people like them were absolutely necessary. On top of that, both of them were even natural elemental users.
Just as I was thinking this, my eyes met my eldest uncle's. A cool smile spread across his lips.
“So, who is that baby fairy over there?”
“Hewwo, Ewd-est Uncwe?”
“Oh.”
My eldest uncle whistled.
“Hello, cutie?”
And he waved his hand. My eyes widened.
‘He can move his hand, too?’
How can he move after I used so much anesthetic?
‘…Is he really a super elephant?’
“What's your name?”
I glanced between my eldest uncle's hand and his face, then subtly backed away.
I think I should reveal that I'm the one who used the anesthetic from a safe distance.
‘The family has probably used tons of bad anesthetics on him, so I can't just explain that mine is a good one. He might resent it.’
I shuffled closer to my other uncle.
Seeing this, my uncle shot me a subtly triumphant smile.
…What are you so proud of?
“It's Biyu! Heuk Biyuuu!”
“Biyuu. Sounds like 'cheep cheep'.”
What is this man talking about?
“Biyu.”
“Right, right, Cheep.”
I gave up on correcting him.
‘So he still doesn't know I'm the one who used the anesthetic…’
Should I make a tactical retreat for today?
But the hidden danger was on my own side.
“She helped you, Father!”
A moment later, my cousin had chattered away, explaining the whole situation.
“Ahh. So this baby fairy was a real fairy after all, huh? All right… I get it.”
His crimson eyes turned toward me.
For a moment, they glinted like a beast searching for prey.