episode_0069

Episode.69 Will you take my butt off?

It’s already been 10 days since I entered the gate with Harin at Violet’s mansion and became separated from her.

One hour at Black Gate is equivalent to one minute in the ‘reality’ we live in.

‘If you look at it closely, it’s not a black gate… but it was originally black.’

That’s why not much time passed outside the gate.

At most, only about 4 hours had passed.

In the meantime, I went around looking for Harin, but I couldn’t find her.

‘Where on earth is it…’

【Hey, I’m in a bad mood right now, so can we get out quickly?】

Chaewon, who I felt like I hadn’t seen in a long time, jumped forward as if to interrupt my gaze.

‘When you say that, you sleep most comfortably, right? ‘I’ve been unable to sleep most nights out of tension because I don’t know when Verdium will come to harm me.’

【I’m not nervous.】

Chaewon smiled mischievously.

I put my hand over my mouth to try to cover up that smile, but it wasn’t completely covered, and one corner of Chaewon’s mouth rose up as if mocking me.

‘If you’re not that nervous, go near Verdium and find out its weaknesses. What are you going to do if I get knocked out in one hit the next time you try again?”

【Hmph, didn’t you have a good time with that mosquito bitch?】

Chaewon and I continued to silently fight as we walked down the long hallway of the mansion.

Even though it is morning with the sun high in the sky, there is no light in the hallway.

All the windows were closed or covered with cloth, and only one or two windows were occasionally open, letting outside light in.

【Why is there no one?】

Chaewon said that it was highly likely that the nocturnal vampires were sleeping in their coffins, but she wondered why the ‘human’ workers working here were not visible.

I also couldn’t refute that question.

Could it be that this has something to do with the survivors of the dark red gate?

I continued walking down the hallway.

As I walked, I saw an open window, which is a really rare sight to see here.

I approached the window that let the sun’s rays pass through.

The scenery seen from that window was no different from the summer morning in Korea where we normally lived.

The sun’s rays are so strong that even I, a human and not a vampire, feel hot.

But there is snow piled up around.

The snow here did not melt easily, like an ice cap.

【It’s an amazing sight… the snow isn’t melting in the summer weather.】

There is a blizzard at night, but during the day it is quite the opposite.

‘… ice cap?’

【huh? Why is this happening all of a sudden?】

I thought about the past for a moment, just in case.

What kind of past…

A place full of skeletons.

When you first encounter black armor.

When I received his swordsmanship.

His sword…

It’s as if a sword was made from eternal ice.

A one-handed sword dripping with frost.

A transparent weapon that appears to be made of diamond.

– ‘This is the only weapon in the world that my old friend made of ice that will never melt.’

– ‘Is that some type of ice cap?’

– ‘okay. Do you know what an ice cap is?’

– ‘I don’t know… but isn’t it as old as 10,000 years?’

– ‘It’s not wrong, but… Perennial snow means snow that never melts.’

Conversation during battle with the black armor guy.

The feeling I felt at that time.

Similar.

I didn’t feel it when I told Illya about my old school days, but now, looking back, I can understand it.

Even if the cold sensation I felt back then was not at all the same as the sensation in my eyes that I felt with Illya.

That they are very similar.

‘Is this place-’

【what? Look over there!】

Chaewon came in, interrupting my thoughts at an important moment.

‘It felt like something was connecting… Is it because of my mood?’

【No, look at him!】

“Ai… what is it?”

At the tip of Chaewon’s finger, Illya was seen sitting in the garden, fully bathed in dazzling sunlight, drinking tea.

【Isn’t he crazy?】

They say it’s weak to the sun’s rays, but I guess it’s okay since it’s under the shade.

Illya normally sits on a chair, drinks tea, and stares blankly at the flowers.

【Woo~ Burn to a crisp and die~】

‘Shall we go to Illya?’

【joy! If you want to do that, do it. But do you know how to get there? You don’t know the way.】

‘Do you know?’

【Yeah, I just open the window and pass by, right?】

‘okay? ‘Thank you for the idea.’

I put my hand towards the window and tried hard to open it.

【what? Are you really going to open the window and go over? Can’t I just go to him? No, do I just have to approach you on a regular basis?】

– Crack!

The window was so hard to open that I used all my strength to get it to open, but it just tore off.

Ha, as expected, since the strength stat has reached 11, vandalism has become a piece of cake.

No, what should I do now?

Wouldn’t this have been a good opportunity to get a feel for what it feels like to be a trainer who has all 6 of his tools knocked out and his eyes are going dark?

Maybe that’s why my mind began to deny reality.

“Huh? What did you say? What is this? What is it?”

【Are you really crazy?! Aren’t we screwed now?!】

I was so embarrassed that I placed the torn window on the floor.

With the mindset that someone here will help me out later.

‘Well, let’s just jump out and see.’

I squeezed myself into where the narrow window was.

With difficulty, I went outside through the window and took a big breath of the outside air.

“Ha…”

【Refreshing?】

“That’s right. It’s my first time going outside in the morning.”

【I see. then-】

Chaewon spoke in a tone as if she was reading a Korean language book.

【I feel like I’m going to die of discomfort, so come here… and get my ass out of this damn window frame…】

‘Now this is ridiculous… Didn’t you know how to pass through walls?’

【Once you use that, you feel dizzy, like you’re going to throw up…】

What kind of technology is this?

【Hurry and pull it.】

I have never experienced déjà vu.

‘By the way, where are you in that place with so many skeletons… Didn’t you do this once in the library too?’

【I’m really embarrassed right now, so please get rid of me quickly…】

But, at this moment… I experienced déjà vu for the first time.

I felt like I was saving a precious experience in my head.

‘… You don’t need that butt fat, so why not just throw it away?’

Ignoring Chaewon, who kept whining that she was getting married, I removed her butt, which was unnecessarily large compared to her body, which was stuck in the window frame.

**********

“Hey.”

“Oh, how did you find out about this place?”

“I saw you, so I came looking for you.”

I couldn’t bear to say that I had torn down the window and climbed through there.

“Huh, well, I see.”

I didn’t do anything, but a blush appeared on Illya’s face.

‘Where does it hurt?’

【Tsk.】

To me, Chaewon’s expression and behavior toward Illya seemed very displeased.

“But what are you doing here?”

“What are you doing? As you can see, I was drinking tea.”

“Have you been here since last night?”

“What are you talking about? Of course, I haven’t been here in a while.”

【What? So you said you were a race that was weak to the sun, so you endured it and came all the way through hardships?】

I relayed those words verbatim to satisfy Chaewon’s curiosity.

Honestly, I was also curious about that to some extent.

“How did you get this far while enduring the heat of the sun?”

“Whahaha! You too have a foolish side!”

For no reason, Chaewon was treated like a fool for speaking her mind.

‘I was treated like a fool because of you.’

【Gi, why are you in such a bad mood? I didn’t say I was curious at all, did I? Tsk, I don’t even really appreciate you asking for me?!】

Chaewon said that to me and left my side to look at the flowers in the distance.

【Wow, wow… This is a flower you’ve never seen outside~ Haha…】

It looks somewhat awkward.

‘What happened?’

“Now, look! Wouldn’t it be natural to come wearing a parasol? Wahahaha~!”

“Uh… I guess so. It’s obvious, right?”

I thought I would use some other technique, but this part is too normal.

Surprisingly, the ‘world’ inside the gate also has some ordinary parts, which makes me laugh out loud.

‘… Wait a minute, the ‘world’ inside the gate?’

Since when did I start seeing the gate as a world rather than a simple dungeon overflowing with monsters?

The inexplicable feeling of discomfort caused me to break out in a cold sweat without knowing it.

“Keu, keuhm… But Lee, how ready were you for what you said back then?”

I asked while clearing my throat to calm down Illya, who kept laughing.

“Hmm! Kill my dad-”

Ilya suddenly stopped speaking with a surprised look on her face.

“Hot, that’s not it… Preparations to succeed to the throne… are almost complete.”

“Then right now-”

“What is so urgent? Not only is there still an important part left… Even if that important part is perfectly prepared, if I do that, won’t it spread to other countries around me that I am an immoral person? So… we need a little situational comedy.”

“Situational comedy? Other countries?”

I asked as I sat down on the chair opposite Illya.

“A form of properly inheriting the throne… There is a way to frame the elves with whom we have recently had a falling out, or there is also a way for me to become stronger than my father and officially inherit the throne.◦@ ◦

“But then…”

“Well, that’s right, I’m just evangelizing the truth. So this body gave me some thought, why not combine those two methods? My dear.”

“Let’s hear about it.”

“It’s not confirmed, so I’ll just ignore it. The situation I came up with is roughly… I assassinate my dad using an ‘important thing’ that hasn’t been prepared yet.”

“What’s next?”

“Next… I act out tears and find out the cause of my dad’s death.”

“And what happens next?”

“You shoot arrows at elves who have fallen out with each other due to the parasite conflict?”

“Isn’t the middle part too omitted? Why does an elf suddenly appear there… No wait, is there an elf?”

“Are you stupid? Of course there is, no… there is.”

Ilya sipped her tea.

In the quiet space, only a whistling sound was heard for a moment.

“… Yes, I guess so. What is that ‘important’ thing?”

“Even if just one drop extracted from the world tree is absorbed into the body, it is extremely poisonous, far exceeding the lethal dose.”

Oh, I see.

Now that I’ve heard about the important means, I think I understand why they’re framing the elf.

“Sechidog for short!”

“Well, but… is that something that can be obtained so easily?”

“Of course not. Among the elves, there is one who is close to me, and he will help me.”

“But is it okay to frame me if I have a close elf?”

“Stupid, there are different types of elves.”

Ah, I know this part.

It was written in Latin in a book called ‘The Traitor’s Apocalypse’.

“It consists of dark elves, half elves, and the basic pureblood elves, right?”

“Oh, you know this well, right? I thought you had an intellectual disability because you lacked common sense.”

“Be quiet, you kid.”

“What?!… Ah, anyway… Among them, my friend is a half-elf. So even if the elf is falsely accused, there is no particular harm. This is the same for dark elves, only pureblood elves are in trouble. Those guys are so strict that it would be sad to be the second child.”

“Okay, I’ll leave this part to you. Honestly, I can’t refute the lack of common sense here.”

“Wow! Just trust me and leave everything to me! You can rely on me! It’s okay if you lack common sense, so if you don’t know anything or have any trouble, you can consult me, dear!”

I trusted Illya, who was smiling brightly, and brought up the truth that I had never been able to tell before.

“Yeah… But hey, I ripped out the window of your house. What should I do?”

“Ha?”