episode_0259

“If you die, you die, right?”

I responded nonchalantly. There were still many things right in front of me that I couldn’t solve. At least there was no room for worrying about a future that would never come.

“Tsk tsk. I just told you and you’re doing it again. Anyway… ”

The black cat clicked its tongue when it saw me like that.

“There’s no such thing as an old man. In this respect, he really resembles Black Wolf. Who would say he’s not my younger brother… ”

I feel bad for no reason. Of all people, I have to resemble the captain. There is no such thing as a bad remark. I would rather not be told that I resemble a man with such a bad personality who beats up others.

And then suddenly a thought crossed my mind.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“By any chance, your younger sibling… So, does Kwon Yuri senior also know how to use unique magic? That… The other side.”

“Yuri? Hmm… ”

A suspicious smile appears again on the black cat’s face after a moment of silence.

“Don’t you know that the achievements of unique magic are confidential? No matter what, I can’t just tell an outsider about such things. What if he’s coming into our family as a son-in-law? ”

“Is that so? I won’t listen.”

“Oh my, why are you so hasty!”

“You said it was confidential? Excuse me. I’m still ignorant of such etiquette… ”

“Okay, okay. Okay, I understand. Sit back down.”

I was just trying to satisfy my passing curiosity. Heukmyo insisted on stopping me even though I didn’t have to listen. He had said it was confidential in the first place.

“Boy. You’re surprisingly high-level. You’re pretty good, huh? After putting on such an innocent face… ”

He spoke so naturally that I unconsciously placed my hand on the mask. Fortunately, I could immediately feel its unique cold and hard texture.

The black cat looked at me for a moment with a discontented expression, then opened its mouth and whispered.

“… If we only look at the achievements behind the scenes, Yuri is better than me. In fact, it’s embarrassing to compare. Even if you look at all the members of the family, there was no one with the same behind-the-scenes skills. ”

“You just said it was confidential… Is it okay to tell me everything?”

“Oh, okay.”

The black cat waved his hand nonchalantly.

“I’m not going to spread it anyway. Right?”

“That’s true, but… ”

“Okay, then don’t worry about it. If anything goes wrong, you’ll be responsible for everything, right?”

She shrugged her shoulders angrily and added, as if remembering something she had forgotten.

“For your information, no one outside of the family knows our family’s true unique magic. Everyone just knows that it’s a magic that helps strengthen the body to some extent. I submitted it to the Particle Deliberation Committee as well. If you really leak this, I’ll assassinate you?”

“I suddenly don’t want to listen to it. Can we stop here?”

“Oh, it’s too late. Anyway… ”

The black cat continued speaking, flicking its tongue lightly as if teasing.

“Yuri was actually a problem because she was too talented. I can only scratch the surface, but that kid could really see through people. It was a natural talent, you could say… ”

Although we had only known each other for a short time, the insight Black Cat had shown in that short time was truly amazing.

If that skill can be described as nothing more than scratching the surface roughness…

“I don’t know if you’ll understand if I say this, but I don’t think being able to see into other people’s feelings is necessarily a good thing. Because… ”

“… There will be times when you have to face unwanted emotions.”

“… That’s correct.”

The black cat, who had opened its eyes wide for a moment as if surprised, nodded slightly. It had a slightly lonely smile on its face, which looked completely different from before.

“There are countless people in the world who have a smiling face but harbor terrible malice inside. We, the users behind the scenes, must be the most careful of such people. When we encounter excessive malice, we often become consumed by that emotion and lose control of ourselves.”

“… ”

“This isn’t just a story about the demons of the north or the back alley scum of the warlocks. Evil always lurks even in the most ordinary places. Of course, even a place like a cradle is no exception.”

Even though I had only been studying there for less than half a year, I could immediately understand what she was saying. A competition taking place under the pretext of nurturing first-class magicians.

And underneath it all, the emotions are tangled and dizzying. Conspiracy, inferiority complex, anger, jealousy…

It will never be easy to endure all those raw emotions.

“I only use it for moderate fights, but Yuri… ”

“… So that’s why you were wearing a mask.”

“Huh?”

If Black Cat’s words were true, then her younger sister was wearing a different kind of mask than me.

“I guess I had no choice but to act frivolous. If I had taken everything seriously, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it.”

“Wow… ”

The black cat opened its eyes as if it was in awe and stared at me. Then, lost in thought, it muttered something to itself.

“It was pretty good just now. Really… Is this why women can’t live and die like that… This kind of thing is definitely better than Black Wolf. That guy is a pure wallflower… ”

“What did you say?”

“… Hmm, nothing.”

The black cat, who had been coughing, returned his expression as if nothing had happened.

“So, why did you suddenly bring up my brother? Oh, maybe he asked me to let go of his leg or something… ”

“How could that be? It just suddenly occurred to me… ”

“Really? Hmm… ”

The black cat, who had been deep in thought with his eyebrows furrowed, turned to me and smiled.

“From what I can tell from what you’re saying, you haven’t met Yuri yet? Maybe it’d be better to keep avoiding her.”

“Why is that so?”

“That kid is so broad-minded, unlike me. If he saw your rotten insides, he’d be so annoying that he’d kill you? No, that’s just a 100% chance!”

Unfortunately, Black Cat’s advice was of no use to me.

“… I will take note.”

“Hmm… ”

And the black cat frowned and brought her face closer. After a moment of thought, she let out a playful voice.

“Sympathy, pity, sympathy, and a little bit of regret… What is this?”

“What are you doing now?”

And then, without even responding to what I said, he continued talking to himself.

“I thought you were a very blunt young master… This is just a faucet… Tears are streaming down my face… ”

“I hope you don’t read other people’s minds.”

“Oh, just kidding, just kidding! I don’t have the ability to figure that out. I was just saying.”

The black cat that had been giggling buried itself deep in the sheet. It was just a loss because it got angry after being stabbed for no reason. It felt like its intentions had been discovered.

According to that woman, this is also a way to relieve overload with so-called ‘mild irritation’…

I don’t know. In fact, it might just be an excuse made up by a mean girl who likes to tease people.

“Tsk tsk, I’m really worried about the future. How will you get through this tough wizarding world with that kind of personality?”

“Worried…?”

I didn’t even think about what happened after she returned, but somehow her expression grated on my ears.

“What are you talking about?”

“You, don’t you have any idea how important you are right now?”

The black cat had a rare expression of absurdity. He blurted it out because he found that look somewhat annoying.

“I don’t know. Someone who knows better, please tell me.”

“Boy. Do you think magic is a blessing to humanity?”

“… For now.”

Of course, if she had limited the subject to me, I would have shook my head, but I had a feeling that wasn’t what she was asking.

“Most people probably think so. Because the discovery of magic allowed us to protect ourselves from demons and beasts. But on the other hand, magic is also a chain that imprisons humanity. It’s because of these damn particles.”

She spread out her palm and wrote a magic formula. The particles that touched the halo sparkled like stardust on it.

“The most painful thing is losing the sky. The airplanes that used to carry hundreds of people across the continent have become legends. It is impossible to send satellites beyond the sea of stars. The radio waves that used to reach every corner of the earth do not even leave a vain echo. So disconnected, we are slowly moving toward destruction.”

“… ”

“But… the one who appeared here was you!”

The black cat that had been mumbling lonely suddenly changed as if nothing had happened and stared at me with bright eyes.

“The ability to freely control atmospheric particles without even internalizing them? I’ve never heard of such a thing in my life… !”

“Wait a minute… ”

“Your power originally allowed you to control particles with a much wider radius, right? What if you could restore that power to its original state through research? What if that power could be passed down to future generations? What if one day, those with that power could cover the Earth, put the particles to sleep, and restore the sky to its former state? That would be nothing short of a miracle. No, it would almost be the only light that could save us… ”

“Just a minute… !”

I was in a trance and barely managed to calm the chattering black cat.

“I understand what you’re saying. It’s just a hypothesis, though. So what does the ‘worry’ you mentioned at the beginning have to do with the explanation you just gave?”

“What’s the connection? Of course it’s a woman’s problem.”

“… Woman?”

I asked again, feeling exhausted, but Black Cat continued talking as if asking something obvious.

“Think about it. You may be keeping your abilities a secret right now, but they will inevitably be revealed someday. Do you really think the big families will leave you alone then?”

“… ”

“I’ll scrape all the women and put them in front of you. If you want, there will be people lining up who will gladly give up their own wives. If I can get the seed of that overwhelming power, anything… ”

“… It’s still just an assumption. It’s not even certain whether the power is inherited or not. It’s too much of a leap… ”

“That leap alone is enough power to make it worth taking a gamble.”

“… ”

“One thing is certain: monopolization is absolutely impossible. No matter how powerful the Black Lotus family is, they can’t take on everyone alone. And if they can’t monopolize, there’s only one way.”

“… What is it?”

“Something that everyone shares.”

She lifted one finger, wiggled it, and laughed bashfully.

“In short… it might become a public good.”