episode_0097

“… .”

“… Huhu”

“… .”

It seems like we are reminded of this once again now, but this house is not ours now.

It’s not an organization’s, it’s really a stranger’s house with whom we have no acquaintance, and it’s a country house with a country feel.

Of course, the original owner had already fled and the whole village felt empty and abandoned, but it could still be said that this kind of rural life has nothing to do with us.

But now that we were sitting at the dining table so naturally, it coincided with the current time zone, and it almost felt like we were residents of this house.

A girl with dragon horns, long black hair flowing like a waterfall, and I, who had naturally become residents of this house, were sitting at the table facing each other.

After seeing all the food on the table, I turned my gaze to the girl in front of me, who also looked at me with a smile on her face.

As our eyes met, it was natural, but she also saw my gaze.

I felt a little awkward earlier, and as if trying to hide it, I let out a small sentiment with a calm expression.

“It’s quite generous. Where did you get it from? Was there a place to get ready-made food like this here?”

“Ehehe, I made it.”

“You mean that? There wouldn’t have been time for that. Where did you get it and didn’t you just heat it up?”

“Um… Still, they are simple things. Since city gas and electricity are still available here, all we did was stir-fry and steam the ingredients.”

“I know your sincerity, so there is no need to be pretentious. It must be delicious.”

“Really… It’s not a lie… .”

When I asked that question with my chin resting with tension that seemed to be sagging, she lowered her head, her face turned bright red, and she denied my words in a hushed voice.

After hearing her answer, I let out a faint sigh.

It’s been about thirty or forty minutes since I changed my clothes and was out in bed, but does that mean I was able to cook this much in that amount of time?

Looking closely, I realized that it wasn’t a dish that required a lot of work, and when I looked across the kitchen, I saw a large backpack rolling around on the floor.

Seeing that there were raw ingredients inside that had not yet been used, it seemed like it had really been made by her. It also seemed like there was a pot boiling in the kitchen.

“Oh, that’s right! I’ll bring you something to drink!”

When I realized those facts and was about to say something to hurry up and eat, she clapped her hands, perhaps to break the awkward atmosphere, and hurriedly headed to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.

After rummaging around for a bit, she takes something out, puts it on the sink, and comes towards me holding two bottles that look like bottles in both hands.

I will leave aside the fact that I let out a small exclamation of admiration when I saw that even though it was clearly someone else’s house, they were completely aware of the location of everything as if it were their own.

“Is it wine?”

“Yes. that… In Europe, most water is lime water, so people drink wine or beer instead of drinking water. .”

“… Isn’t there also bottled water?”

“Ah, that’s true, but… Shall I bring it?”

” was done. I like wine too.”

“Hey, that’s a relief!”

I felt a little embarrassed as I kept tackling something without even realizing it, so I grabbed the spoon on the table.

When I looked at her, it seemed like she had a plan somewhere. I could have prioritized finding out what the plan was, but I just brushed it off as something vague.

Until just now, she was dealing with monsters in a truly evil manner, but now she has returned to her previous innocent self.

Even though the body is like that of an adult, the head is somewhat unbalanced, as if it has reverted back to a childlike appearance.

There were a lot of things I wanted to ask her, but I thought it was rude to ask her everything and it wasn’t a topic I wanted to talk about right now.

Thinking of ending this awkward atmosphere and going back to my room and going to sleep, I took a spoonful of what looked like pilaf on the plate in front of me.

“… .”

The moment I scooped something orange-colored like kimchi pilaf into my mouth, I felt a burdensome gaze as if they were looking at me intently and expectantly.

This is because Yoon Si-ah in front of me was glancing at my reaction with a really burdened look in her eyes.

He may be emptying his own plate in a hurry as if he doesn’t want to be noticed, but there’s no way he wouldn’t notice if it was so blatant.

“… It’s delicious. My cooking skills are better than I thought.”

“Ah, thank you! The fried rice is my own creation! Everyone who tasted my fried rice spoke like a professor. Hehe.”

“… Is that so.”

To be honest, it wasn’t that delicious. On a scale of 10, maybe 6? It just felt like it was edible in moderation.

You could say it was a bit cold-hearted, but that was the truth.

I am the person who used to eat meals prepared by five-star hotel chefs at Elada.

It seems like this pilaf is her own creation, but wouldn’t it be a bit unfair to compare it to them?

It would be rude to the chefs to say that she is the same as them based solely on her sincerity.

But, of course, I didn’t say it out loud because I didn’t want to see her become sullen, and I didn’t want her to get caught and have her bedtime delayed.

I looked at the red liquid in the glass in front of me for a moment, then picked it up and took a sip.

” It’s like the wine I had at home, but it’s a cheap version and doesn’t taste that good. It would have been better for you, who has an eye for food, to choose it.”

“Uh, that’s the wine I picked up at the store… .”

“… I see.”

Suddenly, at that moment, I heard a sound that sounded like a big crack in the ice coming from somewhere in Yoon Sia’s direction. Was it my mistake?

This is what happens when you try to do something you shouldn’t do.

I tried to praise her, but instead just coughed as the atmosphere became more awkward, and eventually I remembered a story from a food program on television.

You know, things guests are not allowed to do on food shows.

It is said that chooimsae such as ‘just eat well’ or ‘eat really deliciously’ are really low-class chuimsae.

They say that you can only be considered an experienced guest if you have a skit that the other person can accept in moderation, since only Nene can respond to such a chuimsae.

then… .

“… Still, the taste isn’t bad. Looking back at the aroma that comes out when I turn the glass, I can see that it has quite a deep flavor. Maybe the pilaf was as greasy as rice and my tongue was paralyzed for a moment.”

“Did you feel that way? sorry… .”

“No, I mean… .”

I was about to make an excuse for a moment, then sighed and clicked my tongue.

It’s a shame that I’m a senior now, but if it were a date course, I would have already had a glass of cold water in my face.

If you tell someone this story, they might look at you with disdain and say, ‘So that’s why you’re different.’

“Well, if you don’t like the taste, don’t eat it… I’m sorry I brought someone who was tired for no reason… .”

“No, it’s not like that. I’m not used to this kind of atmosphere, so I made a mistake.”

Still, as if it wasn’t much of a consolation, if you listened closely, you could see that it had gone into squirming mode and was making a small groaning sound somewhere.

Hearing this annoying sound that sounded strangely like I was groaning, I cleared my throat, shook my head horizontally once, and tried to switch to another topic.

“Is it possible to contact the organization? What about people infected with Corruptor?”

“Oh, that’s right!”

In fact, there were some suspicious aspects. Is The One, the leader of the circular bridge, the Corruptor? Listening to the story, it seems like he recently obtained the power to encompass all conductors by fusing with the Corruptor.

Now that The One is dead, it is very important to hear whether the Corruptor’s abilities have been destroyed.

“Well, I received a call from the organization. that is… .”

“Why are you doing that? I’m sure you’re not saying that he wasn’t a corruptor.”

“Ah, I think it’s true that the old man is a corruptor. They say people are gradually coming to their senses. however… .”

Her next words made me somewhat frustrated.

After the unprecedented catastrophe of global mental infection struck the world, it created such a huge number of infected people that even counting the number would be meaningless.

After The One was killed, people are gradually being released from the host and returning to their senses, but there are many people who have not yet been completely released.

It seems that some investigation is needed to determine whether this is slowly being resolved in stages or whether people who have been infected for a long time are still infected.

“… Well, less than three hours have passed since he died.”

However, when I looked at the infected person anymore, I was assured that no new mental infection would occur, so I was at least at ease with that.

No matter how much I wandered through the sparsely populated Romanian countryside, just listening to the stories brought to me a completely different level of fear about this unprecedented infection phenomenon.

This is because the sense of heterogeneity that creates distrust between people and penetrates the mind distorts the personality of even ordinary people with good and easy-going personalities, even if infection does not occur.

“Ah, it is said that in Korea, they are making a big announcement that the professor killed the Corruptor.”

“Advertising?”

“Yes, I think they are putting up placards saying that they are heroes of the country and even launching airships in the sky.”

“… Hey, that damn old man.”

Are they already trying to use my achievements as a factor of support for the new regime? If so, it would have already reached some degree of success.

“The same applies to other countries as well as Korea. Rather, there are more than one country where the national system was damaged because high-ranking people who knew more about the world were infected first.”

“… Looks like I’ll be getting called here and there for a while.”

After returning to Ellada, I sighed softly as I felt like I would have to travel around the world for a while to normalize the world.

Come to think of it, there were two candles lit on the table, perhaps to set the mood.

As I was staring at the flames that illuminated each other like mood lights, I heard her voice.

“But this is the end of the circular bridge, right? Except for the demons, the most dangerous enemy has disappeared first, so it’s okay if the professor doesn’t mind that much.”

When I woke up to the sound of her worried voice, I noticed that she had placed her left hand on her temple and frowned, so I quickly straightened my posture and folded the fingers that were touching my temple.

“What is the condition of Elada students? Is the investigation progressing?”

“Ah, that is.”

When listening to The One’s story, it was discovered that high-level demons were dispatched to intercept the students who had been sent around the world to resolve the Corruptor incident.

It was resolved well, as I was on our side and Yoon Sia’s force itself was beyond imagination, but there was no guarantee that the other students would be safe as well.

I didn’t think I would feel good about losing my students like this, so I told her a mysterious story in a serious tone.

“Still, I think many students are safe. Of course, there are quite a few unfortunate cases, but there are still many who escaped safely or captured monsters and won.”

“It’s an unfortunate case… .”

No matter how much you win, you can’t be happy if it comes with sacrifices.

How could I not feel sad when the students who followed me and taught me are dying?

When I put down my spoon with a bitter look on my face, she says “ah” and I can’t quite understand what she’s saying, and then takes something out of the bag at her feet.

Looking at it, I saw that it was the tablet she had been carrying around ever since she got it from Helen, and she quickly operated it and then turned the screen toward me.

It was a small video, and it contained a video message.

Greetings that the surviving children are safe.

It was a video letter containing everyone from very confident children to pitiful children lying in hospital beds telling them not to worry because they were still alive.

─Professor! I’m alive! what is it! A strange Hangman-like monster came and I took care of it!

─I’m the dean! cheer up!

─There is no way we, who learned from the Dean, would lose to these guys! Oh, of course there was some damage, but it wasn’t a big deal. ha ha ha!

Watching those videos of the guys saying one thing at a time, my heart was touched somehow, so I smiled bitterly and stroked my forehead.

It was a nice, tingling feeling in my chest, but it was also an awkward feeling.

I almost cried because those conflicting emotions filled my heart.

─Dean! My name is Han Sejun, and I won! I also caught that demon, Addramalek!

─We won! Sejun!

─That’s right, Jun! We must not forget that there was support for us. Wouldn’t it be at least 1-2% of the shares?

─Professor. This is Jang Ah-hyeon. All missions you mentioned have been completed. I can’t see you right now, but I’ll report the mission completion through a video. Please stay safe!

“Hahaha.”

I see A sense of accomplishment was a word used in times like this.

Since I was always the first to go out, the first to enter the battlefield, and the last to return, I felt that everything I had done so far was simply a responsibility given to me.

But today, I felt like the burden was somehow lighter and the heavy responsibilities that had been weighing down my shoulders had sprouted wings and were flying by themselves and following me.

If there is such a thing as joy, it is probably something like this.

“Everything the professor has done has finally begun to bear fruit. You are not alone anymore.”

“Yes. really… I’m glad. There has never been a day as happy as today.”

I felt so proud of her.

If I were to pick the one who has achieved the greatest mental growth among the academy’s students, it would probably be this child in front of me.

The child who had always been somewhat dark and gloomy had finally grown into a person who could comfort me like this. I was really proud of that.

“… Thank you.”

“No. The person I am most thankful for here is me.”

I don’t know because we’re sitting at a table away from each other, but if she were in front of me right now, I probably would have stroked her head without realizing it.

Although stroking women’s hair is almost a taboo, I still wanted to do it.

This is because she looked even more extraordinary mixed with the sweet peach scent wafting from somewhere.

When I lowered my head and looked down at the screen, Jang Ah-hyeon’s teammates were still arguing with each other and talking about various things.

─No, are you going to waste time with such a useless conversation in such a limited time? Is there anything you would like to tell the professor?

-So, I heard the story about how we killed the devil. Ouch! Jang Ah-hyeon! Why do you keep stealing my portion!

─Sejun. Isn’t your part already over? We’d like to talk too.

─No, I couldn’t even speak properly because I was interrupted when I was speaking. evil! There’s not much time left. Uh, professor, is there a plan…

When Sejun was about to say something, the video suddenly cut off.

It felt like the people around him, especially Jang Ah-hyun, kept trying to stop Se-jun from talking.

“Hmm.”

Still, I heard the general story.

In an instant, it felt like a sand castle I had built somewhere in my mind was torn down by a wave.

It seems that a demon named Adramalek also told Sejun and the others the same story that the old man told me.

That’s because he, too, will be the person who will create the final stage of longevity that the devils talked about.

“I’m glad. I was a little worried too. I think those people also have a hard heart.”

“I see. Just like those kids.”

When I praised them, I felt a pout in front of me, so I chuckled.

“You did a good job too. Today’s victory was possible because you helped me. It was really a lot of effort.”

“Hehe, no.”

After the video was over, the tablet was retrieved and a clicking sound was heard, as if the tablet was being organized with one’s fingers.

She was trying to hide it from herself, but judging by the atmosphere she was giving off and the way her tail was waving, she seemed to be in a really good mood.

For the first time in such a long time, I went back to the basics, took off the mask called Northmund, and happily shared all kinds of stories with a truly pure heart.

I openly shared trivial things and interesting stories around me that I normally wouldn’t have asked about.

I don’t know if it was because of the alcohol, but I was filled with a sense of freedom and I had a really enjoyable conversation with the woman in front of me.

She, too, was so happy that she threw away all the restraints and returned to being an ordinary child of her age, leaving us with memories that will probably never come back and never be forgotten.

“… Something like that happened. It was really funny. This is my first time telling this.”

“Wow! Professor, you also had that experience. I had a similar experience before… ”

How much time passed while the story blossomed like that?

Slowly, all the plates were empty and the six or seven bottles of wine were all gone.

I’m not the type of person who overeats, but in response to my own slip of the tongue, I ended up going a bit overboard to express how delicious it was.

The candle lit on the table had already burned by about half.

I suddenly looked at the large cuckoo clock hanging on the wall and saw that the hour hand was already past 11 o’clock.

“It’s late. Let’s get up slowly.”

“Yes, Professor.”

She answered my words in a slightly sour voice, perhaps because she was drunk from wine. Now that I think about it, I find that I drink better than I thought.

She seemed a little disappointed, but she also glanced at the clock, nodded, and began to tidy up her seat.

“I will organize it. Professor, please go in and rest.”

“Are you okay? I think I was very drunk.”

“… I’m fine! Thank you for joining me today.”

When I saw her nodding hello, I nodded and headed to my room.

I heard the squeak of old hinges rubbing against each other, and with a thud, I flopped down on the bed, facing into the dark room.

As I lay in bed like that, I looked out the window at the night sky with the bright moon visible.

Perhaps because it is a rural village in Europe that is not affected by pollution, the stars are very bright.

In the distance, you can see the constellation Orion, which looks like it has two overlapping faces, with a distinctive distorted diamond shape.

Orion is a constellation that is easily visible at any latitude, so it is easy to find articles recording the constellation.

And they are always described from two aspects.

One of them is written from the perspective of myth or legend, and the other is scientific.

The distance to the constellation Orion is several light years, and the stars that make up the constellation Orion are supergiant stars such as Betelgeuse, Rigel, and Bellatrix, and the Horsehead Nebula is located next to them, which are recorded from a scientific perspective.

Another is the legendary stories that Orion experienced on his way to becoming a constellation.

In short, these are mythological stories in which a giant hunter named Orion, the son of Poseidon, develops into the lover of Artemis.

These are stories of polar opposites, but when you look at the sky, the stories of these opposites are intertwined, creating harmony in the darkness of the distant universe.

A story that is both wonderful and vague.

Indeed, what will my future be like?

Will I be able to remain a mythical being, or will I be dissected and analyzed scientifically and ultimately left as a fraud?

And how on earth will this story I am weaving end? How will this world really end?

The devil told me to come to Africa. If the decision is made there, what happens after that?

As I thought about that, my eyelids gradually became heavy, and I quickly fell into sleep.