episode_0051

16. Seonyudo regains its daily life (1)

After talking to Patruna, I opened my eyes again in a hazy state of consciousness and saw Hyunseok’s face right in front of me.

” Are you awake? ”

” Huh?! ”

Suddenly, as I came closer to his face, I felt my face heat up again and my heart beat incredibly fast.

I think I have a little bit of an idea why I am reacting this way.

But I felt like if I accepted that, I would lose myself to a point where I couldn’t turn back, so I quickly got up, pushing Hyunseok away.

” Sorry! ”

” No, it’s okay. If I opened my eyes and suddenly saw someone else’s face, I’d be surprised too. More importantly, are you feeling okay? ”

” Yeah. I heard you spoke to my goddess Patruna while I was unconscious. ”

” Ah… Yeah, that’s right. Okay! Now that you’re up, let’s quickly go back to Seonyudo. ”

” Yeah. I have to move quickly from now on. ”

When Patruna’s name was mentioned, his expression suddenly darkened, and I felt my heart sink, so I wanted to ask him why he was making that expression.

Thinking that Hyunseok might not want to talk, I swallowed the words that were rising in my throat and just nodded in agreement with what he said and followed him.

” Where is Yeonseo? ”

” Yeonseo said she’d wait in the tent. Can you go and tell her that we should leave now? I need to think about something for a moment. ”

” Yeah… ”

As I entered the tent, I kept worrying about Hyunseok.

Clearly, he never had such a dark expression on his face before I lost consciousness, but my heart still ached because when I woke up and saw him, his expression wasn’t his usual sly, smiling expression.

But since I didn’t know what to do, I decided to meet Yeonseo and ask her what happened.

” Yeonseo? Hyunseok said let’s go now…Whoa! What the?! Why are you like this! ”

Yeonseo noticed that I was there and came over to me with brisk strides. Then she grabbed my cheek and pulled me towards her.

” Why are you doing this?! The goddess suddenly appeared. Do you know how surprised I was? You should have told me in advance! ”

” I didn’t know that a goddess could appear! ”

” Haa, okay. Then why on earth did you hug Hyunseok there and do that…like that…! ”

Oh, I… I saw that…

As I purified the evil spirit that had consumed Gabriel, my body was burning up again, and I think… I was hugged by Hyunseok and lost consciousness, but then… um… that’s what happened…

” That… That I couldn’t help… I suddenly lost consciousness there… ”

” No matter how… perverted you are, that’s a bit… ”

” Hey! I said no! ”

” Yes, you must be. Dog. Pervert. Apostle of the Goddess. Please change your clothes quickly and come out. ”

After saying that, Yeonseo quickly left the tent and I just sat down in that spot.

And as I sat down, I felt embarrassed at the dampness in my underwear, so I quickly dried it with a torch and changed into other clothes.

” Haa, these are the side effects that even the gods didn’t know about… This is driving me crazy. I can’t not purify it… I don’t know. ”

*****

Even as they left the National Assembly building where the tower was and headed to Seonyudo, Hyunseok’s expression did not change.

If anything, it got worse. Sometimes, when I touched something and muttered, or when I took a deep breath, this sticky feeling pressing on my chest didn’t go away, but rather, it made me suffer more.

But even when I tried to ask him why, an inexplicable fear washed over me, and I just followed him silently.

” Hey, let me talk to you for a minute. ”

” Huh? Why? Is there a problem? ”

Yeonseo began to call me quietly and talk in a voice that Hyunseok couldn’t hear.

” Problem? Yes. Why have you been groaning all alone since a while ago? ”

” Did I… do that…? ”

” Yeah! Hyunseok and you too, what’s wrong with you both? The story I heard from the goddess was a bit shocking, but it’s not to the point where the mood is this bad, right? ”

” Huh? ”

” Huh? What, isn’t that why you’re doing that? ”

” Ah, I just… It’s just because Hyunseok keeps being so gloomy… Ah..! ”

That statement just now was quite misleading.

That’s true, right? I was just a little worried because the kid who used to smile wasn’t smiling anymore, but what I said now could be misunderstood as me saying that I was worried because the person I liked seemed sad.

And then, as if she had misunderstood, Yeonseo’s lips went up and she poked my cheek, as if she had found something funny, and spoke to me in a raised voice.

” Heung~ Was our Bul-yeo-si that worried about Hyun-seok that much? ”

” Hey… Wait! I think there was a misunderstanding. If a person who normally smiles is depressed like that, it bothers you, right? Isn’t that right? ”

” No? Not really? ”

” Oh… That’s because you’re cold-blooded! You idiot! ”

I quickly tried to get away from Yeonseo, but Yeonseo seemed to have noticed it already and wrapped her arms around mine, preventing me from running away.

Judging from the fact that the bracelet on Yeonseo’s arm that was holding me was shining, it seems she read my actions again with the artifact.

” Hoo, Charlotte. I don’t know why you’re denying your own feelings, but listen carefully, I’ll give you some advice about the current situation. ”

” No, who’s your sister…”

” Shh! Just listen first. ”

Yeonseo began to speak slowly, placing her finger on my lips as if telling me to listen quietly.

” First of all, don’t be afraid to ask. Rather, if you don’t continue to talk to each other, misunderstandings will only deepen. And make sure to talk when you’re alone. ”

” When there’s only two of you? ”

” Yeah, you probably don’t want to tell anyone else about this story anyway, right? So, secretly give Hyunseok a signal and go to a quiet place…”

” No! What are you talking about! ”

I released Yeonseo’s arm and ran.

Why on earth would he suddenly do something like that… like that! I kept shaking my head, trying to forget what Yeonseo had said, but on the other hand, I wanted to know why Hyunseok was making that kind of expression.

” Haa, I didn’t think they’d look this similar even if they met each other. But Hyunseok is still… ”

Yeonseo, who was secretly smiling as she watched Charlotte leave her embrace and run without looking ahead, crashing into a telephone pole, sighed as she watched Hyunseok fiddle with his pendant and followed the two.

*****

” Welcome! You’ve really helped me out a lot! ”

When Ryu Jin-seong heard the news of our return, he came running from afar, grabbed our hands, shook them up and down, and began to express his gratitude.

Even though he was such a high-tension guy, seeing his clothes dirty from running around here and there and his tired expression made me laugh a little at the sight of him deliberately trying to put the kids at ease by appearing bright.

” No. Rather, are you okay, Mr. Vincent? I was worried because I couldn’t come myself and sent Pedro first. ”

” Thanks to you, Uncle Bean has regained his health and is probably resting leisurely in the greenhouse right now. ”

” That’s a relief. ”

” It looks like you have something to say, so let’s go to my room~ ”

Following him, we explore the Seonyudo settlement. The facilities that were destroyed by the Harpy attack are being rebuilt, and people are tending to the ruined garden.

And then again, my heart felt at ease as I saw the children laughing and running around.

Pedro, who had been using his abilities to help people from afar, saw us, waved his hand loudly, and went back to helping people. It seemed like Pedro had found his own path.

It was really nice to see Seonyudo Island returning to its daily life.

We followed Director Ryu Jin-seong into his room and drank the tea he gave us while telling him what had happened in the tower.

The story of the demon who led the harpy horde, Han Jin-oh, and the story about the gods along with the reason why the tower appeared.

The former was the one who listened with a smile as usual, but when the story about the god related to the tower came up, he seemed quite embarrassed and listened with an awkward smile.

” Hahaha… So… the tower appeared when the goddess who looked after us and the Earth passed away and reset the world to the beginning? ”

” Yes, but it is said that the current situation is maintained thanks to the efforts of other gods along with Gaia. ”

” Haa, I guess I shouldn’t have just listened to it. And those phony guys… We should probably strengthen the security around our settlement a bit more. Thanks. ”

” No, we think we should quickly inform the Blue House settlement about this story and the pills we showed you before. We plan to leave soon. ”

” Is that so? By the way, thanks to you guys conquering the tower, the communication function has been disabled. It seems like people you’ve met can contact each other to some extent, so I’ll contact you in advance. ”

” Huh? Communication function? ”

When I looked at him with an expression that said I didn’t understand English, Ryu Jinseong touched the device a few times, and soon my device started vibrating. When I looked at it, a screen appeared saying that he had a call.

” Really? ”

” Yes, thanks to this, it’s now easier to communicate between settlements, and people can quickly pass news to each other, so I think it’s a really good feature. ”

” It’s definitely nice to be able to share information more actively now. ”

” Right. You must be tired, so rest for now and let’s meet at the party later~ ”

” Party? ”

” Yeah, thanks to that, the group of demons that have been a headache for a few weeks are gone, and in the future, people will be sent to the Capitol along with other settlements to create a large settlement, so this is a party for that. ”

After greeting Director Ryu Jin-seong, we left the director’s office and received thanks from the people of the settlement.

We decided to go to the place where we pitched our tent last time and rest there until the camp manager called us.

*****

While we were trying to rest inside the tent, Hyunseok said he wanted to go outside and get some air and left. I tried to grab him but stopped and watched him leave.

” Haa, I told you, right? We need to talk to each other. When you come back later, I’ll let you and Hyunseok be alone, so talk, okay? ”

” Yeah, thank you. Oh, by the way, when I opened my eyes, I was already out of the tower. What was the reward for the tower? ”

” I opened a new summon page in my grimoire. I guess I’ll have to think of a new summon and make it soon.

And Hyunseok got the earrings, but he said he’d rather give them to you than himself. Here they are. ”

Yeonseo took a small jewelry box out of her pocket and handed it to me.

” Huh? Thank you. Can I take this? ”

” Hyunseok said it was an artifact that changed appearances. He said it might be a good idea to change your appearance a little, including your hair, just in case. ”

” I see. I… should thank you later. What about mine? I don’t remember receiving it. ”

” Oh~ You mean your reward? I put it in the bag over there. You can take a look yourself. ”

When Yeonseo pointed to the bag, I went to the bag and opened it to find the reward I got from the tower. As soon as I saw it, I turned my head and asked Yeonseo.

” Is… is… is this really right? No, but this is a bit… ”

” Hey, what are you looking at me like that? Our dog. Pervert. Tae. Bul-ye-si? Isn’t this the perfect reward for you? Yes? ”

” Ah… no! T… but this isn’t it! I’m… not some… pervert! ”

” Ha! You’re not a pervert? You’re the kind of person who approached Hyunseok because his body was hot and sniffed him and then left?! ”

” Hey! It… It’s not my fault! ”

I gulped as I looked back at the prize in my hand.

And then I put it back in my bag and thought there was no reward.

Yeah, that’s ridiculous, calling that a reward. No matter how much the top rewards the tastes of those who receive them, that’s not the reward I deserve. Yeah! That’s right.

In my bag, as I say,

It came with a red leather dog collar and matching leash.