episode_0095

So, I spent the night next door to the house I lived in during the previous episode.

“Kwaik, kuik…”

I slowly lifted my eyelids as I felt my consciousness slowly rising to the cute little breathing sound of ‘Guardian Manish’.

“Uhm…”

I stood up, frowning at the light shining through the window, and looked blankly at the inside of the luxurious and spacious room, not an old and narrow one-room apartment. It was only then that I remembered that it was Letel’s house.

“Rael…?”

I called Lael out of habit, but she was nowhere to be seen as she always slept next to me.

Cheeek! Crackle, clang, clank!

If I listen carefully, I can hear the sound of cooking in the kitchen.

It’s unlikely that Retel will be cooking this early, so most likely it will be Rael.

“Hmm~”

As I yawned and trudged out of the room, I saw Retel sprawled out on the sofa and Rael busy cooking.

“……”

It’s surprising, but it’s such an unrealistic sight.

“Ah, did you wake up…? You woke up early. Good morning…”

“okay…”

After nodding to Letel, who was waving his hand like a sloth with his eyes half-closed, I entered the kitchen half-asleep.

“Rael. Let me help you.”

-yes? no. it’s okay. Wasn’t it difficult yesterday? Take a good rest.

“The same goes for you. It’ll be done faster if we do it together, so let’s finish it quickly. What ingredients do you have?”

-Oh, that’s…

“huh?”

I tilted my head and opened the refrigerator at the sight of Lael smiling bitterly.

“……”

Eggs, bottled water, retort instant rice.

It was over.

Is this what the refrigerator looks like in people’s homes?

I was slightly embarrassed and opened the freezer, but all I saw was ice cream and frozen dumplings.

“Rael. What on earth are you cooking…?”

As I took a quick look, I saw that she was making fried rice using only instant rice and eggs.

“…Hey, Letel. What do you usually eat?”

“Huh? Umm…”

She was still half-awake, slurred, nasally, and sagging.

The answer came only after I prodded once more.

“I’m just ordering delivery…? I don’t even know how to cook, and wow, that’s quite difficult and annoying. I don’t like doing the dishes… no, I don’t die if I don’t eat before that… so I often hold back even when I’m hungry. …Hmm~”

“……”

As I watched him writhing around like an unemployed person, something hot surged from deep inside my stomach.

“Rael. I suddenly got angry when I saw that. Am I weird?”

-no. It’s not like that. I’m feeling a little jealous too…

“Really? I’m not weird, right? Hey, Retel.”

“Hmm…? Why…”

“Don’t look down on making a living!”

I fed my body with honey chestnuts.

“Kwaek!? W-what!?”

She covers the top of her head with a sleepy expression and looks at me with resentful eyes.

“Why are you hitting me all of a sudden!?”

“Living means eating! You don’t have to eat because you’re not going to die!? You’re holding back even when you’re hungry!? I swear, that’s not how people live!”

“What…?”

“Even if it’s a hassle, you have to eat! Even if you don’t want to eat, you have to eat! Don’t be extravagant just because you’re immortal!”

“What do you mean by luxury?”

“As long as I live here, I won’t see anything like that with my eyes open! First, fill the refrigerator!”

“No…no matter how I live, my heart…!”

-That’s right. Retel. No matter how Retel lives, it is Retel’s heart. We are not forcing it. Just getting angry.

“Are you angry? Why? I don’t understand…”

Letel, embarrassed, runs away to the corner of the sofa.

-Retel. Look at me.

Rael points to his translucent body and makes a sad expression.

-It is a body that does not need to eat by nature. No, it would be more accurate to say that it is a lost body. Therefore, before I raised my status as a monster, I couldn’t taste the food even when I ate it. But still, I was obsessed with it and desired it. To feel, even indirectly, what life is. But even though he doesn’t die, Retel, who is clearly alive, neglects to eat… I feel like it’s nothing but a deception.

“Deception!? That was never my intention!”

-I guess so. Letel just continues to live his life according to his own values. That makes me even more angry. Ah, it reminds me of a time when I had just experienced death and became a ghost. Now I hate and resent everything I live while calmly enjoying what I lost…

“I understand! I understand! Stop!”

As Lael stops talking, she breaks into a cold sweat and sighs.

“The bottom line is, stock the fridge with some food, right?”

“I understand now. Don’t worry. I’ll add too.”

-Please leave the cooking to me. I have memorized many recipes from this world.

“Ugh… It’s annoying. I lent my house to you, but now you’re nagging me. It’s on me…”

-That’s it. Come for a meal.

“Really!? Wow! It smells delicious!”

She grumbled as much as she could and gorged on a large amount of egg fried rice as if she had never done so before.

“They say you don’t need to eat, but you eat really hard…”

“That’s it!”

“Ugh! The food is soggy! Eat and talk!”

“Ugh, gulp! That’s different from this! How can I hold back when it’s so delicious!? And it’s not that I don’t like eating! The whole process is just annoying!”

“I’m really proud of that.”

We chatted a lot while eating salty egg fried rice.

“Pandora of Salvation did not move last night. Is the attack over?”

Letel thought about my question for a moment and shook his head.

“No, that won’t be it. They are not so lax as to leave hostile powers alone. Either appease them or kill them, it must be one of the two.”

“Hmm, so you’re saying there will be another attack soon?”

“I guess so. However, priorities will be pushed back.”

“Priority?”

She stuffed a mouthful of fried rice and muttered, and only after swallowing it all did she speak.

“Have you already forgotten that you caught the scout?”

“I didn’t forget. But why?”

“Scouter is a very excellent human being. Although there are no reports of him having abilities, he is quite strong as he is proficient in using various supernatural entities, magic, and martial arts from another world. To the point where it is comfortable to just think of him as having supernatural powers.”

“…okay?”

I’m not sure if he’s that great of a guy because he caught things like magic and martial arts before he even had a chance to understand them.

“Besides, he knows a lot of information about Pandora of the Salvation.”

“Aha. I understand. Are you planning to launch a rescue operation before the scouts reveal the information?”

She shook her head at my words.

“It’s similar, but different. All they want is ‘silence’. So they will try to kill the scouts quarantined at the Bureau headquarters. They also plunder supernatural entities. That’s why the Bureau is also in a state of tension right now.”

“Killing someone who is excellent and important enough to know a lot of information?”

“Because it’s an alter ego.”

“Ah, that’s right. Hmm… this goes beyond common sense in many ways.”

“Of course. Well, you don’t have to worry so much now that you’ve withstood one attack. Attacking the Bureau’s headquarters is too risky for them, so they won’t have time to disperse their power.”

“…But is the management bureau okay?”

Letel chuckled at what I said out of concern and poked my cheek.

“Who is worried about whom now? The Bureau is full of all kinds of useful and powerful supernatural entities, and there is Director Romenel. No matter what Pandora of Salvation does, they will never be able to break through.”

“…okay?”

If you’re confident like that, you’ll definitely get through… Well, you’ll figure it out.

“Whoaam~ I feel sleepy after eating. I need to get some sleep.”

“What? Letel. Aren’t you ready for work?”

“Why am I getting ready for work? In the previous episode, the reason I went to an ‘ordinary small business’ was to escort you.”

“…Oh, was that so?”

We went to work together so naturally that I forgot about it.

“…Then let’s go grocery shopping.”

“What? Now? It’s so early in the morning, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s just right. I’ll stop by the market and the supermarket… and buy some spices and seasonings online. I’ll fill up your refrigerator today.”

“Do you have some kind of obsession? There’s no need to go that far.”

“No, I can never give this up. I will definitely, no matter what happens, fill the refrigerator! So dense that you can’t fit even a finger…!”

As he was happily thinking about what ingredients to fill the refrigerator with, Retel looked back at Rael with a bored expression.

“Is he always like that? Isn’t that a little strange? Isn’t he encroached on by point weapons and skills?”

-yes? What do you mean? Isn’t it natural to stock up on food when you can?

“…Common sense doesn’t apply. These things.”

***

“By the way, Letel, what do you usually do when you’re not at work?”

“Hehe, hehe… Me? I’m just living like an unemployed person?”

He glanced at her panting, slumped on the sofa, and then tilted his head.

Next to her, all kinds of food, cooking ingredients, and cooking utensils were piled up like a mountain.

“But you’re a high-ranking member of the Bureau? So shouldn’t you be pretty busy?”

“Ah, well… I have the rank of director, but in reality, it’s just for show. I don’t have any fixed work. My job is to just be called in when needed and take care of various things.”

“Isara… I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but the management bureau is like a company in many ways.”

“Hehe. Isn’t it cumbersome, useless, and annoying to come up with our own original rank? It’s more intuitive to just use what society uses. Oh, but if I had to say it, it would be closer to a research institute than a company. Researching supernatural entities. “There are an overwhelming number of researchers who do it. Other than that, it’s just security personnel, decision makers, and people with abilities.”

“Hoo…”

I shook my head and gathered the ingredients for cooking.

“What do you want for lunch? Since you worked hard, I’ll make everything I can.”

“Uh, really? Then…Cheese pasta! Chicken! Meat! Kimchi stew!”

I chuckled when I saw him randomly listing the dishes that came to mind.

“Good. Let’s make it then…Rael, please help me.”

-Yes, Hangil.

After a while, when the large table was filled with dishes, Letel’s eyes half rolled back.

“Wow! That looks delicious! Was your cooking skill this amazing? But didn’t you make too much!? I don’t think I could eat it all!”

“It’s no problem. Rael will eat it all. Rael’s stomach… he doesn’t have a stomach. Anyway, trust his appetite.”

-Please leave it to me.

“Then without hesitation!”

-thank you for this food.

Seeing Letel and Rael eating really delicious food brings a happy smile to my face and fills me with happiness.

…Was I originally the type of person who was happy watching other people eat?

…Well, I guess it’ll be okay. Because good things are good.

“hmm…”

I also started eating slowly.

The dishes were made with a generous amount of expensive ingredients and all kinds of spices and seasonings, and were both stimulating and delicious to the point of thrilling the tongue.

***

I rolled around all day, eating, sleeping, and playing, and at the end, I drank a lot of alcohol and fell asleep.

I was literally unemployed, but I wasn’t as nervous or anxious as I used to be.

Not having to worry about money is truly a blessing.

“Ugh, hangover…!”

-Here is honey water. It’s hot, so eat it slowly.

“Uh, thank you…huh?”

While I was sipping the sweet honey water that Rael gave me, I received a call from Noeul.

“hello…”

-hello? Hangil oppa?

“Yes. It’s me…”

-What’s wrong with your voice? Are you sick? You say you’re safe, but did you get hurt from Pandora’s attack?

“No, that’s not it… I just drank too much and I have a hangover…”

-what. Was it something like that? I’m jealous. I had an overtime vigil yesterday too… Anyway, brother. Starting today, I can work as an intern at an ‘ordinary small and medium-sized company.’ What do you want to do? Do you want to go to work? Oh, by the way, I don’t recommend it. This place is hell now.

“Intern…? Can’t I become a full-time office worker?”

-Oh, that’s right… The management bureau acknowledged my brother, but it feels like an ‘ordinary small business’ doesn’t accept additional employees.

“Really…? Well, if you’re going bankrupt, that’s natural. Hmm…But then what happens to ‘miracles using points’? Can you use it?”

-Right now it’s a mess because of the ‘Scouter’ issue, so it seems like it’ll take quite a long time to get permission… but it will be usable someday.

“Really? If that’s the case…I’ll go to work.”

-huh. i’ll wait! ah! For your information, you can no longer go to work by space, so you have to come by yourself! Be careful because you never know what an ‘ordinary small business’ might do if you are late!

“ah…”

That’s a bit annoying.

I sighed and finished getting ready.

“Huh…? Where are you going…?”

Letel, who had been rolling around the living room with a frown on his face, suddenly got up.

“Going to work. Starting today, I am an intern at an ‘ordinary small business.’”

“Really…? You’re really diligent… Come on~”

“Yes. There is food in the refrigerator, so let’s heat it up and eat it.”

“I’ll take care of it~”

I looked at her waving her hands with mischievous eyes and left the house with Rael.

***

“Aaaah! There’s a lot of paperwork! There’s not enough paper!”

“It’s painful…! So much aimless work…!”

“Water! There’s not enough water!”

“Caffeine… I can’t survive without it… Someone please inject caffeine into my veins…!”

Reuniting with an ‘ordinary small business’ where I finally got to work again was truly the worst.