Chapter 36: Persuasion (2)

When the girl and Mia first met, it was always the girl who led their conversations.

She’d ask “Did you eat?” with her baby teeth missing, making her words whistle.

When Mia was down with a cold, the girl would sneak over and say, “Don’t be sick, being sick is hard…” and heal her.

If a fight broke out, she’d jump in yelling, “Fighting is bad!”

But as they grew older and their worlds diverged, the girl gradually darkened while Mia became rougher.

Even when Mia snuck into the cult to meet her, the girl was always too busy blaming herself.

“Ugh! Stop whining and come here for a hug!”

From then on, Mia tried her best to comfort the girl’s heart.

“What’s an alchemist?”

“People who try to turn pee into gold.”

Even this pointless conversation was carefully calculated.

“! Then, do all alchemists have wish-granting abilities like me?”

“No? They’re just crazy people, basically.”

“Tsk! Mia, cursing is bad.”

“You’re the one cursing with my mouth, though?”

“Oh no! You, you naughty mouth!”

Slap, slap.

The girl smacked her lips with her tiny hands, but that wasn’t nearly enough to hurt Mia’s S-class regeneration ability.

If anything, the light taps just brought some color to her cheeks.

“Pfft. Violence is bad, you know.”

“Eek! Then, should I pull out my tongue…?”

“It’s my tongue, though?”

“Then, then what should I do!”

Flustered, the girl rolled around frantically at Mia’s provocation.

She rolled left and right, all wrapped up in her blanket.

Before long, she ended up looking like a cocoon, tightly bound in her bedding.

Mia decided it was finally time for a proper conversation.

“Think about the monks and the people you met at the guild.”

Suddenly?

The girl stopped her flailing abruptly.

Mia’s voice was so serious that the girl held her breath, focusing intently.

The monks and the Guild Master.

And Big Sis Dayeon and Big Sis Yuyeon.

Oh! And Instructor Yang Joya!

There were also the classmates from the online lectures, even if they weren’t close friends.

Unlike the few connections she had underground, now she had more than she could count on both hands.

But why was Mia bringing them up so suddenly?

Maybe Mia didn’t have any friends and wanted introductions!

“Imagine they’re all about to die right in front of you.”

“……!!!”

The girl was so focused on their conversation that she couldn’t help but vividly imagine the scene.

Monk Jamyeong collapsed on the cold ground, crying tears of blood.

The Guild Master crushed under the collapsed guild building.

The sisters dying alone in some unknown darkness.

And… Mia, screaming as she burned to death with her endlessly regenerating body.

Just imagining it sent chills down her spine.

It was a horrific sight, reminiscent of her dying parents.

The girl struggled to speak, her voice full of distress.

“Why… why are you suddenly talking about this?”

“Is it painful? Horrible?”

“This would never happen! I’d, I’d do whatever it takes to stop it…!”

Though her response seemed angry and intense, it was exactly what Mia had been hoping for.

Until now, the girl had never used her powerful wish ability for herself.

She believed using wishes for personal gain was arrogant and greedy, only wanting to sacrifice herself her whole life.

But now, that same girl had declared she’d use her ability for others.

Mia was happy.

It meant the girl had found precious people while living above ground.

The more connections she made, the less likely she’d be to think about suicide or recklessly use her ability at the cost of her life.

But Mia also felt a bit hurt that the girl’s reaction was different from when it was just the two of them.

If only she’d understood these feelings earlier, it would have been so much better.

Then they could have lived happily together, just the two of them, experiencing things they’d never known before.

Hiding her bittersweet feelings, Mia continued in a deliberately serious voice.

“See? Who would like it if their precious people were dying?”

No matter how it happened, this was a chance to try persuasion she’d never been able to attempt before.

Seeing the girl dazed by her words, Mia spoke slowly, enunciating each word as if chewing on the feelings she’d bottled up inside.

“You’re that kind of existence to me. And not just me, right? The monks and the Guild Master probably think of you the same way. So why are you saying you want to die? What about all the people you’ve helped? Have you thought about those you’d leave behind?”

Wriggle.

The girl, buried in her blanket, quietly lowered her head.

“Remember what I said when I asked you for that favor? Did you think I was just bluffing when I said I’d die if you died?”

She had.

At the time, she’d only thought about finally being able to die, to go to heaven and meet her parents.

She thought it was just a threat to make her grant a strange wish.

“Think about it the other way around. Me and the others are in mortal danger. You made a wish to help us, but you can’t bear the price and you’re about to die.”

“…Yeah?”

“You’re going to die soon. So, do you resent the people you saved? Do you wish they had died instead?”

No.

The girl couldn’t bring herself to speak.

These were people who had tried so hard for a sinner like her.

If someone had to die, it was only natural for her, the sinner, to sacrifice herself.

That must be why God gave her this ability.

She wanted the survivors to live happily as they always had.

“But, but…!”

But if she agreed with Mia, if she said sacrifice was natural, then what about her parents?

Did that mean she’d never be able to meet them again?

No, no.

How could she know what those who had already passed away were thinking?

Above all, she shouldn’t take others’ sacrifices for granted.

I am a sinner.

I must be a sinner.

Only then can my parents go to heaven.

The girl’s expression, hidden in her blanket, changed from smiling to frowning to tearful in rapid succession.

Seeing her inner turmoil so clearly displayed, Mia knew pushing any further would be harmful.

Alright, this much is enough.

Until now, she couldn’t even persuade her this far.

“So don’t even joke about dying. If you promise, I’ll give you a gift.”

The girl, who had been confused by Mia’s words, suddenly perked up.

A gift!

She’d received many gifts from Monk Jamyeong and the Guild Master, but a gift from Mia!

Without hesitation, the girl nodded reflexively.

She nodded so enthusiastically that her pillow flew off behind her head, and the blanket she’d pulled up to her neck slipped down to her solar plexus.

“I promise! I just… have to not die, right?”

Hehe.

The girl grinned as she made her bold declaration.

Not dying wasn’t difficult at all.

In fact, she’d been willing to do anything Mia asked, as long as it wasn’t killing someone or destroying the world.

“Huh? You seem to think it’s an easy promise to keep.”

Mia looked at her skeptically.

Her red eyes scanned every inch of the girl’s body.

It was the gaze that even the Sages in the cult found ominous, let alone the ordinary believers.

“No! I… I want to try more things now!”

The girl just grinned wider.

She reached out from under the blanket and grabbed Mia’s cheeks, fixing her gaze.

They stared at each other as if having a staring contest.

I don’t know if what I’m seeing is real or just a hallucination, but…

Yeah, either way is fine.

Mia, if you don’t die, I’ll try not to die too.

I want… to see Gyeongbokgung Palace, and try other delicious things like tanghulu.

“Trust me.”

“……!!”

It was an unfamiliar yet familiar voice.

A powerful voice reminiscent of when they first met in the cult.

Only then did Mia smile softly, wiping away the tears that had unconsciously leaked out.

Ah… really.

If I’d known, if I’d known it would be like this, I should have tried to persuade her earlier.

It’s regrettable.

But now she’s promised not to die anymore.

We’ll have plenty of time from now on.

“What, you think I’ll believe you just because you lowered your voice?”

“Yep!”

“Hah… really.”

She was already cute, but now she seemed even younger and cuter.

And why were her actions so pure?

Looking at her appearance, who could imagine she was a victim of the cult?

“Alright. So you’re promising not to talk about dying, not to try to die, to try to avoid death, and not to use your ability too excessively, right?”

Uh…oh…?

Wait, didn’t the promise just get a lot longer?

The girl tilted her head, but Mia wasn’t about to let her off easy.

“What? Not promising? Fine then. I’m leaving.”

No one knew the girl better than Mia, who had watched her for so long.

Of course, she knew the girl was weak against this kind of forceful pushing!

“Ah! No! I’ll promise!”

Mia couldn’t help but laugh at the girl’s stupidly urgent response.

Ah, really.

How can she be so innocent?

This is why I can’t leave her alone, I’d be too worried.

Mia promised in a low voice, mixed with laughter.

“Since you’re being so good, I’ll give you a gift… Later, when the time comes, I’ll give you a chance to meet me in person.”

“…Huh?”

A chance to meet in person?

Aren’t we already meeting now?

Though the girl didn’t say it out loud, her feelings were clear on her face, so Mia explained further.

“Not like this illusion, but with a real body you can touch and play with.”

—