Chapter 13. You Become a Wizard If You're Loved?
Chapter 13. You Become a Wizard If You're Loved?
Chapter 13. You Become a Wizard If You're Loved?
There is a story a Casanova friend of mine once told me while he was drunk.
"Haneul-ah, remember my words well. The person who loves first always loses. Got it?"
Back then, as I was tilting my soju glass, I scoffed at his nonsense.
"If you love someone, you love them. What does winning or losing have to do with it?"
"Ah, seriously, it's not like that! The person who starts loving first eventually becomes a slave!"
He pounded his chest as if he were aggrieved, pouring out his passion.
"Huh, the person who loves first is a slave? Then what about the person who receives love first?"
To my cynical question, he replied with a grave expression.
"The person who receives love first? That is none other than...... a Wizard!"
"W-what? A w-wizard? Is this bastard drunk or just spouting bullshit!"
At the time, I just dismissed it as drunken rambling and smacked him on the head, but.......
"Water."
No sooner had my short word fallen than the woman waiting beside me moved busily.
"I have brought water here, my Companion. ......H-hmph. It's not like I prepared it specifically for you. Is the temperature not to your liking? I could add more ice if you wish."
Watching the cool water in a transparent crystal cup being placed into my hand, I realized it anew.
That the Casanova's words were the truth.
Why, you ask?
Since water that wasn't there appears and food is served at a single word from me, if this isn't a modern-day Wizard, then what is!
Gulp, gulp—
I thought as I swallowed the cool water down my throat.
How did I end up in this state, and how did I become a Wizard who commands the mid-boss, Belzenia?
To explain, the story goes back one week.
Even when I received the sudden 'Companion declaration' and surprise confession attack from the Black Dragon Belzenia, I thought she was lying.
Because the Belzenia in the original work was ruthless and evil, truly a villain among villains.
'This must definitely be some kind of scheme. She's probably trying to let my guard down before sucking my Purification mana dry to the roots!'
To probe her intentions, I started making unreasonable, rude demands that would be hard to fulfill.
"Fine. I'll acknowledge this 'Companion' thing or whatever, so first, delete that shameful cosplay video."
"......You want me to delete the record I painstakingly filmed? But if my Companion wishes it, I have no choice."
Though she bit her lip as if regretful, she really did permanently delete the video file right in front of my eyes.
She even went further.
"My feet feel stuffy. Take off my socks."
Even between normal lovers, this is a request that would make someone shout, "Do it yourself!" but she reacted with a tsun-tsun attitude.
"......Hmph, to think the Companion of a Dragon would make me use my hands for such a trivial matter...... what a truly Dragon-like idea! You are a male who requires a lot of care~"
Even while grumbling with her mouth, her delicate hands carefully took off my socks and even softly massaged between my toes.
'She's actually doing everything I ask?'
Of course, requests like "Let me go from here" were coldly rejected with, "That is not allowed for the safety of my Companion," but everything else was my world.
Perhaps that's why.
Honestly speaking, life for the past week has been...... a paradise on earth.
If I wanted to sleep in, no one would say a word even if I lazed around until the sun was high in the sky.
Instead, Belzenia would sit by my bedside, stroking my hair and cheering me on(?).
"My Companion is a sleepyhead. But that is fine. Compared to a Dragon's hibernation period, this is just cute. Sleep more. I will guard your side until you wake up."
When I got hungry, the most luxurious table in the world was set.
"A Dragon's Companion must not eat subpar food! Someone, go catch...... no, bring me a villain who was a chef at a 5-star hotel!"
At her one shout, delicacies made by top-tier chefs were spread out inside the base.
In fact, isn't this level of life 120% in line with the goal I planned when I reincarnated into this world: 'Let's just enjoy wealth and glory under someone's shadow'?
To be honest, it was so comfortable that my will to escape was slowly wearing away.
But even so, the reason I had to get out of here was in the next room.
"Haneul...... Haneul is my 'one and only precious' existence...... he's mine......."
In the room I peeked into, there was Han Sohee, looking like a heartbroken heroine who had been NTR'd, her soul completely gone.
Belzenia's mental erosion had been half-lifted, but it seemed the sense of loss from 'having something precious taken away' had crushed her mentality into dust.
She was curled up in the corner of the room, biting her nails and stuck in an infinite loop.
"My Haneul in another woman's arms...... actually, that's goo...... no, it's not!"
Hmm, let's pretend I didn't hear that.
I quietly closed the door again and pondered.
"How can I escape this place with Sohee-nuna?"
If only Sohee-nuna could come to her senses, escaping this fortress-like base with her Shadow leap ability would be a piece of cake.
But as she is now, she's no different from a doll that has lost its ego.
Of course, it seems a new ego with a different 'taste' has awakened, but that's a problem for another time, so I'll push it aside.
'Come on, let's think seriously, Park Haneul. This isn't a paradise, it's the middle of enemy lines, remember? Think! How to escape this place.......'
Just then, Belzenia approached, holding out a box with a tsundere-like tone.
"Companion, I have brought the limited-edition dessert you said you wanted to eat."
It was that precious snack you had to wait in line for hours to buy at a famous shop.
As the sweet scent pierced my nose, my agonizing brain cells instantly declared a strike.
'For now...... wouldn't it be okay to enjoy it a little more before worrying......?'
I accepted the cake Belzenia was feeding me and decided to put my conscience away for just a little while.
At the same time, the Hunter Association headquarters reception room.
This place was like a powder keg on the verge of exploding because of Park Haneul, who had been missing for a week.
"Move! I told you I have to go find my friend...... no, my lover right now!"
Kim Sia, shouting a reckless remark that would have made Park Haneul jump in shock if he heard it—"What do you mean, lover?!"—was threatening the Association agents while emitting sharp sword energy.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and the mana around her was swirling in an uncontrollable state.
It was literally a hair-trigger situation!
Just then, the closed door opened softly, and a holy, silver-white light flowed in.
"Please calm down, Sia Kim-yang. Making a scene will not bring the boy back."
It was the Saintess who had returned from the United States, Seraphina.
She was still a blind woman with no focus in her eyes, but there was not a hint of hesitation in her steps as she walked with her cane.
"Saintess? Why are you here......."
Sia glared at her with wary eyes.
Seraphina stopped in front of Sia with a benevolent smile.
Publicly, she was known as a noble being who conveyed the will of God and had no desire for carnal things.
But right now, her mind was filled only with that 'scent' she had caught in the reception room a week ago.
"The boy's disappearance is a loss to humanity. And...... I personally have a 'thorough examination' left to perform."
Seraphina added, lightly touching the bridge of her nose with her finger.
"I can find his location."
"What? How? Even the Association's state-of-the-art tracking devices can't pick him up!"
To Sia's question, Seraphina took a deep breath instead of answering.
Her nose twitched minutely.
"I could feel a very special mana from the boy's body. A scent mixed with Asmodeus's blessing, sweeter and more erotic...... no, more stimulating than anything else in the world."
Her voice was trembling slightly.
"That scent remains very faintly in the air, drawing a line. To me, it looks as clear as a lighthouse on a night sea."
Seraphina declared, slamming her cane onto the floor.
"Let's depart right now. That boy...... Haneul Park-gun is currently trapped in some gloomy Dragon's nest."
Instead of her usual benevolence, the Saintess's face was filled with the persistence of a predator that had caught its prey.
To others, she looked like she was trying to protect a pitiful boy, but the truth is, well.......
A few hours later, near the rugged mountainous region where Belzenia's secret base was hidden.
"Sniff, sniff...... sniff, sniff, sniff......!"
Sia was dumbfounded watching Seraphina, who was wrinkling her nose repeatedly beside her, smelling the ground and the air.
Seraphina was holding her cane with dignity, but her head was constantly swaying left and right, indulging in the empty air.
"A little more...... just a little more. Haa, haa...... the scent is getting stronger. My nose is tingling now♡"
"E-excuse me, Saintess-nim? Do you know that you look...... very strange right now?"
Sia asked as if she were fed up, but Seraphina had already entered 'tracking mode' and didn't seem to hear her.
Like a drug-sniffing dog, she pushed through the thorn bushes, chasing the minute pheromone particles of Haneul.
Park Haneul, who was leisurely chewing cake in the bedroom inside the base, suddenly shivered at a cold chill running down his spine.
'What is this? This unpleasant feeling of a thorough examination?'
Haneul did not yet know of the Saintess's low mutterings, "Found you...... my salvation......♡," echoing from afar.
With a Dragon who wants to possess him, a crazy Yandere nuna, and a Saintess chasing him like a drug-sniffing dog.
Haneul's peaceful 'Wizard' life was just about to face the calm before the storm.