episode_0093

Elia blinked her eyes absentmindedly.

The situation unfolding before her eyes was not easy to understand.

If this had been an open space instead of a private room in a cafe, all eyes would have been drawn to that direction.

Seated across the table was Yi Hayul. The distance was close enough for his face to be clearly visible.

A face that was inexplicably more beautiful than a woman’s.

His slender eye corners were trembling so delicately that it was noticeable up close.

“What’s this?”

“Are you hungry?”

“But I don’t want to eat.”

“No, that’s not it.”

It was at that moment that a familiar voice seeped into her ear.

A voice that was neither clearly male nor female, but rather stiff and neutral.

It was the sound coming from the necklace hanging around Yi Hayul’s neck.

The Necklace of Confession.

An artifact obtained by Elia’s grandfather during his days as a hero.

Ranked as low to mid-tier by the Association.

It ranked quite high due to its function of emotional expression.

However, it was not useful in battle, and with an embedded engraving function, it was not a particularly useful artifact for heroes.

If it had been a combat artifact, the engraving function could have been a bonus, but for non-combat artifacts like the Necklace of Confession, it was a demerit.

Elia knew its function and had heard from her grandfather how the function was actually manifested.

Emotional expression.

Here, psychology did not refer to deep consciousness, but rather to reading the superficial consciousness located relatively close to the surface.

It also displayed the closest emotion first, and there was practically no way for the user to reveal their true feelings, as they could directly control the artifact’s on/off.

“Stop.”

“Halt.”

“Arm regeneration.”

“Artifacts of the arm.”

“Lake of Dreams.”

“Just a moment.”

“Does it hurt?”

She knew it well.

The scene before her eyes seemed a bit different.

Yi Hayul, with a bewildered expression, seemed at a loss for what to do before suddenly waving his right arm around.

The necklace in his hand rattled, swinging helplessly in the air.

It resembled a chick flapping its wings in an attempt to fly.

“How cute.”

A smile involuntarily appeared, but Elia’s smile quickly faded.

The sight of the empty sleeve fluttering on the opposite side evoked a sense of loss.

Elia’s eyes sank into sadness.

There was no one who didn’t know about the incident in Sifnaha.

She knew of those who fought, sacrificing one arm to save people in the midst of disaster.

Among those who received help, she knew there were precious family members of Elia.

It gave her a strange resonance.

Suppressing her pounding heart, Elia arrived at the gate terminal to take her first step into Siyolam.

Even in the crowd, there was one who stood out.

A petite figure with a small face.

Beautiful features that were present even in such a face.

For some reason, shadows fell beneath his eyes, giving him an overall distressed look.

She saw Yi Hayul, looking troubled and in need of help.

Moreover, judging by his attire, he was a fellow Siyolam resident.

Elia offered her help. She had always done such small acts of kindness.

But this time, it felt like she was offering excessive help compared to usual.

Why? She still didn’t know the exact reason.

She just felt a strange attraction. In that moment, only Yi Hayul seemed to be there.

In the crowd, he felt like a creature rather than a person.

He felt like a being that wasn’t human.

So, she noticed him, felt drawn to him, and offered help.

That act of kindness seemed to come back to Elia as if she had saved her family.

And the benefactor had lost an arm.

Regeneration of the body.

Elia, who possessed the unique ability of healing, knew that it was not impossible.

Of course, it was not your typical healing of a severed limb.

The magical power of another entity with ill will, the unique ability to disrupt and settle injuries, the difficulty of regeneration is on a different level.

But if you think about those who watch over Iha Yul, it might be possible. Surely, he will be able to regenerate his arm.

However, that doesn’t mean the injury will become lighter.

Elia understands the duty as a human. His family also had a sense of duty.

Treating the benefactor who saved the family’s lives poorly could lead to a situation where the deceased grandfather would suddenly rise and strike with a stick.

[Hungry]

[Don’t want to eat]

[No]

[Silence – Ebebebabebebebebebe─]

She got lost in her thoughts for a moment.

Even in the midst of it, the gruff voice that had been tapping on her ears since earlier did not stop. In the end, a ridiculous voice echoed.

Something seemed to be wrong with Iha Yul. Elia quickly got up.

She reached out her hands and gently wrapped Iha Yul’s hand, which couldn’t find a place to go.

They shared their body heat.

At the same time, Iha Yul’s struggling ceased. The necklace that had been spitting out voices continuously also stopped.

[Good]

[Warm]

[Comfortable]

…For now, her inner thoughts didn’t pour out recklessly.

It had been some time since Elia met Iha Yul. They had encountered each other in daily life, as well as in major events like dungeon training or entrance tower schedules.

“Yul? Are you okay?”

In a gentle, soothing voice… Elia’s words calmed Iha Yul’s trembling eyelids little by little.

Her hands didn’t stop. She gently stroked Iha Yul’s hand, which she held with both hands. The sensation was clearly transmitted, and body heat was also shared.

Similarly, the body that had been twitching constantly gradually calmed down.

The time spent together was enough for Elia to understand his personality a little.

The person Elia understood as Iha Yul.

In short, he was like a child.

This didn’t mean his personality was childlike in a negative sense, but in a positive sense, he was pure like a child.

He liked people. But at the same time, he was afraid of people, so when someone he didn’t know approached, he shrank back and was wary.

But as he built a little friendship and his guard was lowered, he showed a childlike side.

He liked being petted on the head, having his cheeks touched, being hugged, and being comforted on the back.

Pretending not to notice, he would glance around whenever he had free time, showing signs of wanting help, and although he would act like he didn’t know what to do when he received care, he remembered each one and returned the favor later.

It wasn’t just something that applied to Elia, he just liked receiving affection from people he liked.

Where would someone who didn’t like that be, Iha Yul thought that was blindly felt.

He liked the affection and warmth of people.

As if he had never experienced it before and was now intoxicated by affection and warmth.

“Breathe slowly, exhale, inhale… Right, good…”

So the way to calm Iha Yul was relatively simple.

Hold hands like this, share body heat, and speak gently.

In short, hug and comfort a child like you would calm them.

Elia used her experience of taking care of her siblings to calm Iha Yul.

Then the necklace quieted down.

She finished explaining.

Right now, Iha Yul is just too flustered to control it. If he concentrates for a moment, he should be able to control the on and off.

“Okay, Yul? If you have too many thoughts, just express them all. Think of anything except important thoughts, just think of anything in your mind.”

[Thoughts]

[Necklace]

[Elia? Pretty]

[No, what is it]

[Wrong thought]

[No, not that it’s not pretty]

[No]

“Oh. Th-thank you. You said you could feel everything with your observational ability, right?”

There were times when her face would flush, but she managed to explain things somehow.

Perhaps because she was holding hands, Yi Hayul maintained a calm attitude throughout the explanation.

It was cute how, when her head was patted, the blue cloth that spread like a cape behind Yi Hayul would flutter strangely.

‘……’

Continuing the explanation, Elia recalled the list of words that the necklace had spat out.

Curious, hungry, want milk, sleepy, don’t want to study, uncomfortable necklace.

There were also cute words that weren’t a big deal.

Hurts, lifespan, arm hurts, cold, life.

There were also many words that didn’t feel like good emotions at all.

‘Execution.’

There were eerie words as well.

Execution.

To kill by strangling.

‘Why would Hayul…’

Why would she recall such a word at the moment she put on the necklace.

Elia couldn’t understand. She had somewhat grasped Hayul’s personality, but she didn’t understand the exact circumstances.

‘……’

One thing was certain.

Elia hoped that Hayul, who had saved her precious family and made her feel a strange empathy, wouldn’t recall such eerie words.

With that mindset, Elia helped Hayul control the confession necklace by her side.

Before long, Hayul mastered the on/off function of the confession necklace.

[Thank you]

[I like you]

[You’re pretty]

“Hmm…”

Elia felt a slight sense of regret.

* * *

– Clang!

“Kkuk…! Ugh, kkeureureuk….!”

A creepy sound echoed in the grey-walled secret room.

The unique sound of flesh tearing and bones shattering. Following that, there were gasping sounds as well.

“Ugh, aaah…!”

His throat was so dry that it cracked. Despite letting out gasping screams, all that came out of his throat was froth and the sound of air escaping.

The man in the sealed space writhed in pain. Blood splattered on the floor.

– Clang!

“Kkeureureuk…!”

The tearing sound echoed again. His legs felt a dizzying pain, and the man’s eyes rolled back.

He lost consciousness. The pain engulfed his consciousness. Death was looming beyond.

As the man’s vision faded, he saw fierce legs kicking and golden eyes filled with disgust and malice.

Thud! His head hit the ground hard. His body was thrown back so violently that his back hit the ground.

– Crash!

It was a loud collision, but neither the man’s body nor the ground shattered.

The interior of this secret room was made of special material.

The man sprawled on the floor was on the verge of serious injury.

“Is this the end?”

“No, there are three more left.”

“…There are too many bugs. Are they not monitoring properly?”

“Even if you say that, it’s impossible to monitor them all realistically…”

Artra, who had knocked out the man on the floor, turned her head with a serious expression.

She casually wiped her foot on the ground.

But there was not a drop of blood on her pants. She deliberately released a strong aura that blocked all the dirty blood.

Artra had things to do over the weekend.

Her disciple… related to Yi Hayul.

The dungeon’s rampage itself was a natural disaster that couldn’t be helped.

However, the dungeon rampage that occurred in Sifna could have been prevented.

No, if there hadn’t been greedy intentions, it wouldn’t have happened at all.

An individual like that got involved with Hayul and almost lost her life.

Over the weekend, Artla’s task was to take care of the pigs who couldn’t handle their greedy desires and had caused trouble, which involved catching and killing them.

“Just hand them over to the association.”

Not only had they operated numerous unauthorized farms, but they were also responsible for triggering a chain reaction of dungeon invasions.

However, Artla took matters into her own hands. It was to prevent any possible escape and to vent the boiling anger inside her.

Some of the culprits managed to escape. They knew that if caught, there was no chance of survival.

Today alone, dozens of them were captured.

Among them, those with significant stakes were being personally dealt with.

Maxwell, confirming that her outburst had ended, clapped his hands.

The members waiting by her side collected the unconscious man.

He wasn’t dead yet. In fact, killing him wouldn’t be a problem, but they planned to interrogate him just in case.

Watching the members dragging the man away, Artla asked, “The numbers seem to have increased rather than decreased, don’t they?”

“There are many other reasons for that.”

Maxwell shook his head as if he were fed up.

“No matter how much they talk about peace, villains are still lurking around. And with the current situation in the magic world, the observation rate has also increased. We need field agents to catch the criminals.”

With things being like this, it’s no wonder we’re short-handed…

Maxwell’s tired muttering made him look worn out.

Artla turned her head with a sense of detachment. While the situation was dire, she didn’t feel any particular desire to help.

Moreover, the current situation was not about her helping others, but rather about her doing what needed to be done.

“Let’s finish this up. We need to be done by the end of the weekend.”

“Well… how should I put it, you’re quite determined.”

“Just shut up and let’s go.”

‘I said we’d be done by the end of the weekend, so we need to hurry.’

Taking a moment to relieve her stress, Artla’s departure from the secret room hastened after she threatened Maxwell with a fist for grumbling beside her.