Unstoppable (6)

Unstoppable (6)

“Father is rather okay. At least I can persuade him logically. But mom… she’s a bit… Sorry, but she might be a bit annoying.”

“You’re quite harsh in your assessment of your parents.”

“Th-that’s…”

In the car driven by the manager. Park Tae-jun, who had been chattering enthusiastically in the seat next to me, suddenly fell silent at my words.

My intention was really nothing, but it seemed he had misunderstood. Did he think it was an insult to complain about his parents to me, who doesn’t have any?

“I just asked out of curiosity. We’re simply meeting to study, why are you overreacting like this?”

“…Sometimes you’re so cool it’s problematic.”

I snorted, and he sighed. However, even seeing him like this, I didn’t pretend to understand.

I’m not a fool, and of course I know that my attitude isn’t common. But I just couldn’t be bothered to care.

This act I’m doing now is just a brief escape from the intense life of the past 100 years, feeling nostalgia for my hometown and refreshing myself through a new life.

Whether the still immature Park Tae-jun harbored any feelings for me, or how his parents viewed me, I had no intention of getting along with them.

“Indeed, as we get closer to our destination, I feel something ominous.”

At that moment, Ren, who was above my head, muttered in a tense voice.

I turned my head to look out the window beyond Park Tae-jun’s face. Well, this isn’t just a simple outing anymore, is it? The spatial rift I had seen before, the dimensional gate, clearly appeared in my eyes.

“Ahem. We’re almost there.”

Park Tae-jun, even though I wasn’t actually looking at his face, blushed and avoided my gaze. This guy who used to be so bold when he considered me a trophy, now suddenly…

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“What?”

“Has anything special happened in your family recently?”

There was still some time left before reaching our destination. Before seeing the detailed situation, I tried a direct question to gather more information.

“S-Suddenly?”

A flustered Park Tae-jun scratched his head.

“Nothing particularly special, I think. Father and brother are always busy with company work. It’s hard to see mom’s face as usual. And when I do see her face, she only asks about my grades.”

“…I see?”

Despite being from a wealthy and powerful family, the boy’s face didn’t look very bright when talking about his family. It’s not strange. Everyone’s circumstances are different after all.

However, what I wanted to hear now wasn’t about a bleak family situation. Because if we’re not careful, we might not even be able to maintain that bleak family situation.

“Tae-jun. About your parents, don’t go into too much detail…”

“Then I’ll ask the manager this time.”

So I changed the target of my question. Rather than the child Park Tae-jun, I turned to Manager Jang Woo-seok, who could share more official, deeper, and darker stories with them.

He was watching us through the rearview mirror and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“Did nothing really happen?”

“Asking such questions carelessly can be rude. Please be a bit more restrained in front of these two.”

“If nothing happened, that’s good.”

He lightly admonished me for asking without context, but I saw his eyes waver for a moment. At least, it seemed like he knew something.

As I was considering whether to use my magic eye to find out about it,

“W-Well, the president seems to be in a very good mood these days. So even if he shows a slightly different behavior than usual, don’t be surprised and just go along with it.”

“Ah, your father?”

Eventually, Director Jang Woo-seok opened his mouth and told Park Tae-joon one thing. Park Tae-joon, who seemed to have no idea, was surprised to hear that his father had been looking a bit excited recently.

[I should ask a bit about the monsters of Nevaros]

Meanwhile, I leaned back on the seat, closed my mouth, and conveyed my will to Ren through telepathy.

“The monsters are so diverse that it’s difficult to specify or define them clearly. Their forms, species, abilities, and origins all differ.”

[Still, it should be possible to summarize]

“Hmm… The monsters of Nevaros are known as cursed heretics. That’s what I know.”

Ren poured out the information he knew. First of all, it was true that monster appearances had surged since the dimensional gate opened last time.

However, most of these increased monsters were just small fry. Low intelligence, unable to control their desires, those kinds of riffraff.

What bothered me were those that were still thoroughly hidden, slowly expanding their habitat somewhere in society.

“The, the reason why monsters are grouped into a single category despite their diverse types is because of their nature. They are corrupted and unrestrained, immersed in their own intense desires or cravings. Their top priority is not the order and laws of the world, but simply the realization of their own desires. They will use any means necessary for that.”

[If they start moving slowly, Aria and Rene won’t have time to fight each other. I wonder how much the Magical Girls can do]

Even without me, this world is chaotic enough. Moreover, I’m sure there are those who want even greater chaos in this world. I ignored the fact that their origin was triggered by me, as it’s not worth considering.

They seek a different chaos from me. In other words, they are my competitors and those who could harm me. If they’re going to interfere with me, I have no reason to stay still either.

“We’ve arrived.”

At that moment, the vehicle stopped. Park Tae-joon’s family home was a two-story house with a yard in a well-known wealthy area in the center of Seoul.

[Disgusting fishy smell]

“Oh no. This place is already…”

While Director Jang Woo-seok and Park Tae-joon stepped into the house without any concern, I frowned as I looked up at the house following behind them.

Dungeon. That was the first thing I thought of when I saw this house.

Here, it had already become their den.

*

“Oh, Mom.”

“Oh my. Who is this child?”

Park Tae-joon, who looked solemn and tense even when entering his own house, flinched when he met her at the entrance.

Mother Yoo Ji-young. The family member he keeps at a distance and is most wary of. Park Tae-joon knew well that she was indifferent to him, the second son. He had completely given up after realizing that he couldn’t regain his mother’s attention whether he went astray or succeeded.

That’s why he was even more flustered. He couldn’t gauge how long it had been since she had shown such a soft and gentle smile. His last memory of it was frozen in his childhood.

“Ah, didn’t Father tell you?”

“He did. But I want to hear it directly from you. Such a fresh… I mean, pretty child.”

While Park Tae-joon was fumbling, she suddenly strode forward and patted Lee Jin-ah’s head, who was standing still. However, no one noticed the momentary twitch in Lee Jin-ah’s eyes.

“Just a friend.”

“Is that so?”

Park Tae-joon felt his face flush at the unexpected situation and mumbled. Yoo Ji-young’s reaction was so out of character.

Naturally, he had expected all sorts of nagging and tyranny from her, but she neither got angry at Lee Jin-ah nor ignored or insulted her.

“Then go to your room with your friend. I’ll bring you something.”

“You… yourself?”

Even though she hated doing work herself so much, she headed to the kitchen instead of ordering the housekeeper.

Manager Jang Woo-seok was equally bewildered by the unexpected situation, and the two men were blankly staring at the empty space where Yoo Ji-young had disappeared.

“Manager.”

“Huh, yes?”

“Just in case, please wait outside.”

In that situation, Lee Jin-ah’s eyes sparkled as she quietly opened her mouth.

“To be honest, I feel a bit strange. I don’t know how long it’s been since my mom looked at me with that expression.”

“…”

“She seems to be in a very good mood. That’s a relief. I thought she might say something unpleasant to you.”

In his room located on the second floor, Park Tae-jun, sprawled out on a chair, let out a sigh of relief as he looked at Lee Jin-ah sitting on the bed.

Jin-ah, however, sat quietly with a complicated expression, seemingly deep in thought about something with her mouth closed.

“Are you happy? About this situation, that your mother has brightened up and is smiling at you again?”

“Of course. Why would you even ask that?”

Tae-jun frowned at her sudden words.

No matter how much he liked the girl, no matter how much he thought he had her wrapped around his finger, there were still boundaries. The long-standing obsession with parental affection in his still immature heart could not be replaced by anything else.

The moment he reconfirmed that smile and affection, all the resentment from the past few years disappeared. It was proof of how desperate he had been.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Park Tae-jun asked glumly, looking into Lee Jin-ah’s eyes. She, in turn, averted her gaze after a moment. Tae-jun had to pay attention because it was a look Jin-ah had never shown before.

“How pitiful.”

Ren, who was above Jin-ah’s head, muttered gloomily in a voice that Park Tae-jun couldn’t hear.

Sympathy. Or pity. That was the look Jin-ah had shown Park Tae-jun, if only for a fleeting moment.

At his pathetic appearance, genuinely rejoicing at the bait meant to lure him.

At the bleak and miserable reality that was about to unfold.

“I’ll tell you one thing first.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t lose yourself. No matter what happens, overcome it and become stronger. Only strong men can get what they want.”

She advised seriously. It didn’t matter if Park Tae-jun understood or not. It was still the consideration of Demon Lord Taquilas for the person he was continuing to build a relationship with.

“Tae-jun, are you in there?”

“Father?!”

That’s when someone knocked on the door.