chapter_0501

501 – The Sky

501 – The Sky

“Master?”

Gaeul calls me Master too, but it felt different from how this child said it.

With Gaeul, I don’t feel any kind of wall between us, even though she calls me Master.

But the child before me seemed to be obeying like a slave.

“T-There’s no need to do that…”

I grabbed the child’s arm and forcibly pulled them up.

The child’s complexion turned noticeably pale.

“P-Please don’t abandon me… I’m good at cleaning, and cleaning too… cleaning…”

It seemed cleaning was the only thing the child could offer, as they repeated how good they were at it.

Thanks to that, I could figure out how the armless child had survived until now.

‘They must have been in charge of cleaning.’

That’s all the child could do to survive.

Here, I had to accept them first, rather than refuse, and then slowly change things.

“Okay, but you don’t have to clean right away.”

“B-But I’m good at cleaning…”

“Yeah. I’ll see your cleaning skills later. How about resting for now?”

“W-Well…”

The child hesitated, looking at me cautiously.

They seemed to want to say something.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard your name yet. What’s your name?”

“Johnman… My last name changes from time to time…”

“……”

My companions and I were speechless at the child’s answer.

Only Levinas, not understanding what it meant, cheerfully reached out his hand.

“Johnman! Let’s be good frien—”

“Wait, Levinas.”

“Ung…?”

I hurriedly covered Levinas’s mouth.

I didn’t want to call the child by such a bad name.

“Um… I think it would be better to change your name…”

“Yes… I don’t mind… My name has always changed…”

“O-Okay…”

Let’s give them the prettiest name possible.

That’s all I can do for the child right now.

Of course, it was polite to ask the child’s opinion first.

“Is there any name you want?”

“I… I’d like a name that doesn’t have a bad meaning…”

“Yeah. Of course, it won’t have a bad meaning. Is there any other name you want?”

“Well…”

The child hesitated and looked up at the sky.

I felt a sense of ease from the child, who had the blue sky in their eyes, that I had never seen before.

“I like blue. Can I have a name that includes blue?”

“Hmm… Then… How about Haneul? The sky is blue.”

“……!”

The child’s dull eyes showed life for the first time.

They seemed to like the name Haneul.

“Blue Haneul, let’s get along from now on!”

Levinas reached out his hand to Haneul.

Haneul hesitated, then carefully took his hand.

**

“Ha, it’s a relief in a way.”

“What is?”

“They said they didn’t personally touch those caught as merchandise. The boss would kill them if they got caught, or something…”

Hanyeoreum and our Master are talking.

I approached the two who were talking with the children.

“Touch them?”

“Ah, Gyeoul.”

Hanyeoreum was startled and waved her hand.

She added that it was nothing.

Since Hanyeoreum was avoiding it so much, I decided not to ask any further.

I had other business here anyway.

“Um… I came about Haneul and Betti.”

“Haneul and Betti?”

“Yes. I gave Haneul her name, and Betti is originally Bestia, but Levinas shortened it to Betti.”

I pointed to the two Beastmen a little distance away.

I told them to rest comfortably, but they couldn’t and were just looking at us.

“…I see? So, what about the two of them?”

“I don’t know what to do with Haneul and Betti’s limbs. The wounds are too old, so potions don’t work.”

“Hmm… What about Bomi’s magic?”

Hanyeoreum looked at Bomi and asked.

Bomi nodded, but she looked hesitant.

“It’s possible, but it would be very difficult.”

“Difficult?”

“Yeah. I’d have to maintain it for life. If I go to the Dungeon and run out of Mana, the Transformation Magic would be undone.”

“Ah…”

Bomi’s Mana would decrease every day due to the Transformation.

That would reduce Bomi’s skills as well.

Transformation Magic certainly didn’t seem like a fundamental solution.

Rather…

“Mechanical arm!”

Levinas said what I wanted to say first.

I felt like our thoughts were connected.

“Let’s give them mechanical limbs that are cooler than human limbs!”

“That’s a really good idea.”

I think it’s a good idea, but what about the others?

Just in case, I looked around.

Saebyeok and Bomi, Hanyeoreum and Master too.

Everyone nodded, saying it was okay, but only one person had their eyes wide open.

“…Gaeul?”

“……”

“Gaeul?”

“…Ing?”

Ttiyong.

Gaeul turned to me, keeping her eyes wide open.

She looked surprised by something.

“Juin…?”

Gaeul looked back and forth between Haneul, who was far away, and me.

Then she collapsed to the floor.

Her ears and tail were drooping, and she didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

“Gaeul, what’s wrong?”

“Juin… Gaeul is the best…”

Gaeul, who had collapsed weakly, was asserting that she was the best.

I didn’t know why.

**

We decided to give Haneul and Betti mechanical arms.

Fortunately, we had Shin Hae-il, an item crafter.

“He must be back at the guild by now, right?”

“Yeah. He’s probably there. I’ll bring him, so Gyeoul, you rest. You’ve worked hard.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Saebyeok went to get Shin Hae-il, and we decided to take a break for a while.

I was sitting in my seat, doing nothing, when Haneul approached me.

“M-Master… Thank you for giving me delicious food…”

At Haneul’s words of Master, Gaeul’s eyes widened again.

Only then did I realize why Gaeul had collapsed so weakly.

‘Is it because of Master?’

I wish Haneul wouldn’t say Master either, but it would be difficult to change it right away.

I decided to appease Gaeul here.

“Haneul, just a moment.”

“Yes…”

Haneul politely put her one hand forward.

I smiled slightly at Haneul and then called Gaeul.

“Gaeul.”

“Neng…”

“I was hoping Gaeul could teach Haneul, since she’s her senior… Would that be okay…?”

“Gaeul-ik?!”

“Yeah. You’re the only one I can trust to take care of Haneul.”

“……!”

Gaeul’s drooping ears and tail perked up.

Then, as if she had never been down, she cleared her throat and puffed out her chest.

Pang pang pang-

Gaeul patted her chest.

She looked quite trustworthy.

“You’re the best, Gaeul.”

“Majok! The best!”

Gaeul jumped for joy.

I watched Gaeul and then turned to Haneul, who was next to me.

“Haneul, did you eat something delicious?”

“Yes… I ate something called porridge, and it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten in my life…”

“I-Is that so…?”

What had Haneul been eating until now that she thought porridge was delicious?

There are so many delicious things in the world.

‘Hmm…’

We have plenty of time in the future.

I decided to feed Haneul a lot of delicious things.

“U-Um, Master…”

“Yeah?”

“What should I do now?”

“Um… How about waiting for a bit? I’m going to make your arm again.”

Was there something strange about what I said?

Haneul looked gloomy.

“M-My arm doesn’t grow back anymore…”

Haneul stroked her missing arm with her one remaining arm.

Then she was startled and grabbed my sleeve.

“B-But I’m good at cleaning even with one arm…! I won’t eat a lot of porridge…! No, I just won’t eat it…!”

“Ah, how can you live without eating…?”

“I’m good at catching bugs too…!”

“Oh… Haneul, you’re surprisingly…”

She knows how to survive well.

I wanted to say that, but suddenly Hanyeoreum grabbed my cheeks and stretched them.

It didn’t hurt that much.

“Gyeoul, you know bugs are a no-no, right?”

“Yes.”

“…Your sister is too upset right now.”

“Why…?”

“It reminds me of the old Gyeoul.”

“…Eng?”

Wasn’t I in a better situation than Haneul?

I could go around wherever I wanted.

“I wasn’t in as difficult a situation as Haneul.”

“……”

Jjuk jjuk-

Hanyeoreum stretched my cheeks silently.

After a while, Saebyeok returned with Shin Hae-il.

I hadn’t even measured Haneul’s arm yet, but Shin Hae-il was holding a mechanical arm.

“You need an arm?”

“Yes. But that’s…”

“I happen to have one. Of course, this is temporary. I’ll make a new one after seeing the size.”

Shin Hae-il held the mechanical arm and approached Haneul.

Haneul trembled at Shin Hae-il’s approach, but she didn’t back down.

“It’ll sting a little.”

“Yes… I’m good at enduring pain…”

“That’s a relief.”

Shin Hae-il fiddled with various devices and attached the mechanical arm to Haneul’s missing left arm.

Clunk- Clunk-

Various mechanical sounds were heard, and then Haneul’s eyes widened.

“A-An arm…!”

“Oh… You can move it right away? It’s old-fashioned, so you don’t have any sensation yet, right?”

Sreureuk-

She wiggled her mechanical fingers back and forth.

Then she knelt down.

“Master, thank you so much for bestowing grace upon me…”

“……”

A tail unique to Beastmen could be seen behind Haneul, who was bowing deeply.

It was a tiger tail that anyone who knew animals would recognize.

A tiger with a submissive nature.

Tigers are the king of beasts!

I decided to start by restoring Haneul’s weak heart.

Author’s Note

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