episode_0126

Mars stared at the ‘boy’ who, until moments ago, had been Scar, with trembling eyes.

Well-defined muscles. The sharp atmosphere of the barbarian that made his knees weak had vanished somewhere.

Only a cute boy remained.

Shimmering black hair.

Flawlessly white skin and round eyes like a young deer.

Handsome, and even had a mole under his eye, giving him a seductive charm.

He was slightly taller than the dwarf priest Kubo and shorter than Mars himself.

All those elements combined stimulated his protective instincts.

Protective instincts?

‘Am I crazy?’

While Mars was in shock.

Jeong Yushin was looking down at his own arms.

“What, what is this? My muscles…?!”

He felt dizzy looking at his soft arms.

How much effort he’d put into making those muscles.

The practical, compressed muscles, carved out with painstaking effort through a hellish half-year, had disappeared in an instant.

His height had decreased, too.

Jeong Yushin didn’t realize it, but because his body had shrunk, his pants had slid right down.

His vicious package, the complete opposite of his innocent face, revealed its outline from under his underwear.

“S…Scar, what on earth?! Did he get a pretty boy enchantment or something?! How can this be…?”

Dwarf priest Kubo seemed greatly shocked as well, unable to continue speaking.

“I…I don’t know either.”

A thin, clear voice leaked from Jeong Yushin’s lips.

Kubo wanted to cover his ears.

The man who fought like a demon, burning his own arm, had disappeared, and some beautiful boy had popped out and was chattering away.

Sensing the party members’ dumbfounded atmosphere, the priest and guards approached.

“···What’s going on?”

“N…nothing much. One of our companions has turned into a boy,”

Iron Mask stepped up to answer.

The priest looked down at Jeong Yushin.

His heart fluttered at the sight of those sparkling eyes.

Seeing him with a tearful face, pulling up his sliding pants, made him feel a growing desire to protect him.

“Ahem!!! It’s troublesome to keep standing at the exit magic circle. Let’s go to the guild exchange first to report the quest and then talk somewhere else.”

“Understood.”

The party members gathered their belongings and tried to leave the magic circle. But they stopped again because of Jeong Yushin.

“Heavy.”

Jeong Yushin struggled, trying to move his luggage.

The backpack dragged on the ground, moving little by little, but that was it. It seemed like it would take forever to get out of the magic circle.

It was because he had put his broken armor, helmet, and longsword inside the backpack.

On top of that, he had to keep grabbing his loose pants that kept sliding down.

The work boots, with plenty of room left, also contributed to making it difficult to move.

Moving the luggage was virtually impossible.

“Ahem. Let me help you.”

Iron Mask cleared his throat and carried Jeong Yushin’s luggage instead.

Jeong Yushin smiled brightly and playfully poked Iron Mask’s waist.

“Iron Mask, you’re the only one for me. Thanks.”

Jeong Yushin’s party left the exit magic circle and went to the exchange.

The explorers inside the exchange clicked their tongues when they saw Jeong Yushin.

“Is that a barbarian?”

“He’s too pretty, isn’t he? Aren’t those guys all burly men?”

“Really?! Is that beauty even possible?! Did he get some kind of enchantment?”

‘I can hear you.’

Jeong Yushin frowned.

He went to the exchange and met the guild receptionist. He reported the completion of the temple quest and received the reward.

Jeong Yushin looked up at the female receptionist and carefully opened his mouth.

“Excuse me…”

“Y…yes.”

The receptionist sister looked down, her face flushed.

“Do you have a mirror? I want to see what I look like.”

“Y…y-yes!”

The receptionist hurriedly got up from her seat and darted into the office.

Clatter, thud!!!

After a brief argument and commotion, the receptionist came out of the office.

“You can come in here.”

The female receptionist swept back her brown hair and glanced down at Jeong Yushin.

“Thank you.”

“Hoo…?!”

The receptionist stiffened for a moment and then shook her head vigorously.

“No. I should be thanking you…this is it for today.”

???

The receptionist muttered quietly, but Jeong Yushin didn’t hear her.

He entered the office and saw a full-length mirror. Its sparkling clean appearance was impressive.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror, he could see his whole body at a glance.

“Eck…?!”

He had expected it when he looked at his soft arms, but he looked exactly like he did when he was young.

“Th…this is me when I was a kid?”

“Wh…what?!”

“It’s not a pretty boy enchantment?!”

The party members were astonished.

Jeong Yushin pouted.

“I’m sure of it. It’s just a de-aging enchantment.”

Still, he understood why the party members were reacting this way.

He was often told he resembled his mother when he was young.

Suddenly, old memories flooded back.

He was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

His father took out a small medicine bottle from his pocket and placed it on the table.

[Son, come here.]

[Yes.]

When he approached the table, he saw a bottle filled with green liquid.

[Drink it. It’s a growth medicine.]

[Eck…?! You want me to drink this?]

The ominously swirling green juice didn’t look like medicine at all.

[Yes.]

[People who don’t grow, don’t grow even if they drink this kind of stuff, you know? And where did you get this? You didn’t get it from that weird herbal medicine grandpa again, did you? That grandpa is strange. He teaches weird massages.]

[It’s not a weird massage. He is a smart man, so don’t talk carelessly. And this medicine is made with love by me and your mother. Of course, that old man helped a bit.]

[I…I don’t want to.]

[You talk too much.]

[He, heeek…?!]

Somehow, he ended up drinking the medicine. Surprisingly, he did grow taller afterward.

‘I miss it.’

He snapped out of his reverie.

The party members were staring blankly at him.

“Stop looking. You’ll make holes in my face.”

“Wow. This is crazy. This is insane.”

“This is a scam. This is an impossible story.”

Kubo and Mars seemed to have lost their minds, muttering incomprehensible words.

“Enough. I should go back to the inn. I’m too tired. The quest is over, let’s meet again next time. Who will carry my luggage?”

“I’ll carry it.”

Iron Mask stepped forward again and shouldered Jeong Yushin’s backpack.

The party decided to meet again later and parted ways in front of the exchange.

Jeong Yushin and Iron Mask walked down the street.

“···Is it true?”

Iron Mask whispered softly.

A sudden remark. But Jeong Yushin immediately understood what Iron Mask was talking about.

“Yes. Your brother is waiting. I didn’t want to bring it up because he hates hearing about it.”

“I see.”

Iron Mask kept his mouth shut after that.

They passed through the central district and arrived in the southern district.

Even in the hot summer, the people on the streets were working hard, doing business.

At that moment.

Someone saw Jeong Yushin’s face and gasped.

“···Heot?! Such beauty in the world.”

“Who is it? Who is it?! I’ve never seen him before? And he has black hair.”

“Gemini, aren’t you being too blatant? I’m embarrassed for you.”

“Mom, you were staring too! Smacking your lips! How embarrassing!”

“Wh-what are you talking about?! How embarrassing!”

People gathered in small groups and whispered enthusiastically.

Feeling unnecessarily intimidated, Jeong Yushin clutched his waistband and walked quickly.

And then they arrived in front of Darmon’s Inn.

Iron Mask placed the luggage next to the inn entrance.

“I’ll head back here.”

“Come in for a drink.”

“No, I should go to the Shrine of the Wind Spirit. There’s something I need to check. See you later.”

“Okay? Got it.”

Jeong Yushin waved goodbye to Iron Mask and entered the inn.

Squeak.

The door opened, and the familiar interior came into view.

“Welcome. Oh?”

Karin, who had rolled up the sleeves of her white shirt, approached and stopped abruptly when she saw Jeong Yushin.

“…”

Jeong Yushin looked up at Karin.

Karin opened her mouth.

“Little kid, where did you get that longsword? That’s Scar’s. Don’t tell me…?”

Karin’s face slowly hardened.

“Karin, it’s me.”

Karin’s eyes widened.

Her red tail and ears perked up.

“W-who?”

“It’s me. Scar.”

“You’re Scar?!”

Tarman and Ann, who heard Karin’s scream, ran out of the kitchen.

“Sir Scar! Have you arrived? Huh?!”

Tarman and Ann also stood rooted to the spot when they saw Jeong Yushin.

“No. Lady Karin, I heard Sir Scar had arrived, but why is there a pretty boy? Or is it a pretty girl?”

Tarman scratched his head, looking confused.

Karin looked down at the small boy who barely reached her waist.

‘I can’t believe it.’

Flawless, clear skin and a high nose.

Instead of sharp eyes, the softly drooping corners of his eyes stimulated her maternal instincts.

Every time his sparkling eyes twinkled like starlight, she felt a chill down her spine.

But he didn’t just look innocent. Especially the black mole near his eye added to his allure.

‘Wait.’

Looking closely, some of Scar’s features remained.

Realizing this, Karin’s breathing briefly became rough.

She had to resist.

It was hard to resist.

‘I want to mark him.’

She wanted to knock that small body down onto the floor right away and rub her scent carefully into his secret spots.

Jeong Yushin stepped back two steps as Karin took one step forward.

“Ka, Karin? What’s wrong? Your eyes are scary.”

“Hoo. Hoo. Scar? Shall we talk in the yard for a moment?”

“Lady Karin.”

Karin regained her senses when she heard Ann’s voice.

“M, my bad.”

“Don’t make too much of my changed appearance. And Tarman, there’s my backpack next to the inn entrance, please take it to the second floor.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Tarman still wore a puzzled expression, but he followed Jeong Yushin’s instructions.

Jeong Yushin struggled to climb onto the counter chair and sat down.

“Heeek. That was hard. Ann, give me food.”

“Yes.”

Surprisingly, Ann didn’t seem to doubt him much.

The food Ann brought was a cool tomato soup, sourdough bread with butter, and a hamburger steak with plenty of cheese.

Jeong Yushin looked down at the food on the tray and said one thing.

“Ann?”

“Yes. Sir Scar.”

“What’s with this flag?”

There was a strange flag stuck in the hamburger steak.

“Ah! I made a mistake. Do you dislike it?”

“No. I’ll just eat it.”

She was treating him completely like a child.

Was she enjoying it? He thought it was possible since Ann had a slightly dark side.

Ann, Tarman, and Karin didn’t even think about working, they just stared at Jeong Yushin eating.

Jeong Yushin, who was eating tomato soup, blushed slightly.

“Stop looking.”

“No, Sir Scar. This doesn’t make sense.”

Tarman finally opened his mouth and complained.

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“The person who wiped out all the bad guys with a single sword in the eastern district had this kind of beauty when they were young?”

“Beauty? I’m a man.”

“Heo. Spirits. Such unfairness…”

Tarman looked at the ceiling and muttered quietly. He seemed to be quite shocked, as his complexion looked pale.

He finished eating and looked around.

Before he knew it, the inn was crowded with people. There were men and women of all ages, but most of them were women.

And they were all staring intently at Jeong Yushin’s face, whispering.

“Who on earth is that?”

“Is he a barbarian boy? He has a truly fearsome face. He’ll charm all the strict virgins in the street.”

“Sister, I don’t think I can get married now.”

“Me neither.”

“Sigh.”

Jeong Yushin sighed deeply. He didn’t think they would believe him even if he told them he was Scar.

He got up from his seat.

“I’m going to rest on the second floor. I’m too tired. I’ll go to the temple tomorrow to confirm the enchantment.”

“Yes. Understood.”

“Rest well.”

Receiving the people’s send-off, he went up to the second floor and entered his room, where he saw his beloved bed.

He jumped up and buried himself in the bed.

Squish.

“Squeak!!!”

“Ah.”

When he lifted the bedsheet, he saw a white rat flapping.

It was Rin. Ingrid’s familiar.

“Rin! Where have you been all this time?”

Jeong Yushin carefully scooped up Rin with both hands.

“Squeak?”

Rin, who had regained consciousness, tilted her head and looked up at Jeong Yushin’s face.

“What? You don’t recognize me? I’m disappointed.”

“Squeak squeak?”

He poked Rin’s belly with his finger.

“Squeak!!!”

Rin hurriedly covered her belly.

“You. You still don’t know who I am?”

Jeong Yushin’s eyes curved seductively.

He tapped Rin’s butt and gently rubbed her soft, pudding-like belly, and Rin’s eyes widened.

“Squeak? Squeak squeak!”

“You recognize me now. It’s me. It’s Scar.”

“Squeak squeak squeak!!!”

Rin clung to Jeong Yushin’s chest like mochi, rubbing her whole body passionately.

She was showing too much affection.

“Rin, I’m glad to see you, but I’m too tired. I’m going to sleep, so get off.”

“Squeak! Squeak squeak!”

Rin wriggled and slipped into Jeong Yushin’s shirt, settling in.

“I told you to get off, but you’re clinging on more. Aren’t you going in too deep?”

“Squeak!”

“Okay. Got it. Do whatever you want.”

Jeong Yushin put his head on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.

He had to meet Mion tomorrow, but he didn’t know what face to show him.

‘Will he believe me?’

He worried for a moment, but gave up. It was a problem with no answer.

Besides, he was too tired from the long maze exploration.

“Hwaaaawn.”

With soft Rin in his arms, he closed his eyes, feeling the soft sensation of the bed sheets.

Darkness soon came.