episode_0311

***

My eyes are becoming increasingly accustomed to the darkness.

Things that seemed pitch black gradually begin to become familiar to the eye.

Her clothes filled with stars and her hair in pigtails.

And I see her mysteriously sparkling purple eyes that seem to contain a galaxy.

“Seong-ya.”

Sigh, her wand presses gently against my neck.

A slightly hoarse sound came out as the cane was pressed against his throat.

“Swear.”

She repeats, like a parrot, telling me to swear.

A green scale floating in the air softly lights up the room.

I want to ask why she is doing this and what is going on.

But now there is something else I have to do first.

A subtle vibration is transmitted to me through the cane that touches my neck. Her hand holding the cane is shaking.

Move your eyes and look at her closely. Her legs and feet on either side of my body are shaking.

And her eyes. Her eyes, which seem to contain the beauty of the universe, have been shaking ever since I woke up.

Therefore, I should tell her what she wants to hear rather than what I want to ask.

“Seong-ya, what’s going on?”

Did I have a bad dream? Did I unknowingly stimulate her unstable psychology?

The shaking of her eyes becomes more intense at my question.

I think of cases I have experienced across quite a few dimensions.

And then I project the most similar situation onto her.

“Swear.”

The cane presses more against my neck.

There is a bit of moisture in the voice urging me. A trembling voice and heightened emotions.

I still can’t guess what her concentrated emotions are, as if they would burst out at any moment, putting an anchor in her throat.

However, I am convinced that it is not a very good positive feeling.

“Okay. I swear. Can I change my posture a little instead?”

In order not to irritate her anxious mind, I comply with the request and make this request as well.

Purple eyes look down at me.

Instead of being intimidated, I try to smile.

“This posture is a little uncomfortable. Let’s face each other and talk. Like when I first used this balance.”

I bring up memories of the past and appeal to her.

In response to my words, she brings out the same memories as me and shares them.

“…….”

A moment of hesitation, no worries.

She took a step back, and my neck regained its freedom.

I was not in a hurry and got up slowly.

“Fire… should I kill it?”

“……”

It doesn’t seem like a positive silence.

She didn’t seem to have any intention of listening to my request after this.

“[I swear to Libra that I will tell only the truth.]”

Since she accepted our request, it is my turn to respond to her request as well.

The green scales shine brightly.

Even though the magic contract was over, she did not speak.

I wonder what I’m hesitating about, so I decide to open my mouth first.

“If you suddenly come to me like this in the middle of the night, you have something you want to ask, right?”

I don’t blame her.

Of course, I don’t understand her sudden behavior and feel it is sudden, but I don’t show it.

That way, she’ll feel less guilty after this is all over.

“…You look relaxed.”

What she said after a long silence was not a question.

It feels like I’m avoiding the question one more time.

“There is something else to ask rather than that, right? Because it’s okay.”

I smiled to reassure her.

I’m not sure if I could see clearly because the room was dark.

I don’t know what question she’s going to ask, but she looks quite nervous.

Just by taking a deep breath and catching her breath, you can get a rough idea of how heavy the burden is on her mind.

“Uncle.”

“Yes. I’m listening.”

“Is there something you’re hiding from me?”

A question I had never imagined was suddenly thrown to me.

And with her words, the scales tip.

The fact that the scale was tilted meant that I had to tell the ‘truth’ in response to her question and balance the scales.

“Huh? What?”

“Don’t ask back, just answer the question.”

Seongah’s hands are still shaking.

I think it’s a question with some certainty. I have no idea what the heck it is.

“I think it would be good if you could be more specific.”

“You betrayed me… No, you approached me from the beginning to deceive me… didn’t you?”

She says, squinting her eyes as if she doesn’t even want to say it.

And when I heard that question, I couldn’t help but make a dumbfounded face.

While Seong-ah was momentarily confused about what to say, she began to let out her pent-up emotions little by little.

“Well, I… saw it. Meeting and talking with the uncle and the Four Heavenly Kings.”

Her hands begin to tremble more.

“What?”

Are you really talking about that time? But, I didn’t say anything special about that.

ah…!

What Crown said comes to mind.

[Isn’t it true that we can only meet for a special reason? Between us.]

[Are you getting along well with the magical girl?]

[I just wondered if everything was going well.]

[Let’s meet again next time.]

The Four Heavenly Kings who spoke to me in a friendly tone.

If it wasn’t aimed at me, but at Seong-ah who was watching from somewhere…

Now that I think about it, it was that day that Seong-ah’s mood sank.

Fuck. You took a hit.

“For being good to me… for making me into a situation where I couldn’t be without you… at an important moment… for me…”

Perhaps overcome with emotion, Seong-ah couldn’t speak properly and sobbed.

“Well, I can’t do it without you… But if you weren’t actually purified… but pretended to be purified…”

The cane pointed at me shakes.

The sound of Seongah sobbing began to fill the room.

“I kept thinking it wasn’t true… I even looked at him… but I still don’t know. Uncle… So please be honest.”

“Uncle, are you planning to deceive me and betray me?”

Seong-ah stares at me with eyes full of fear.

Those tear-filled eyes make me click my tongue without realizing it.

The scales tilt once more.

“First of all, to conclude, no.”

As soon as he finishes speaking, the weight goes up on the scale.

Seongah’s eyes widen.

“I’ll tell you clearly. I am not part of a force opposing you, and I did not create a situation that would make you dependent on me.”

“Really?”

“Your magic speaks for itself. Look at this.”

I pointed to the scale with my finger.

As the weight is placed on the scales, a light of hope appears on Kim Seong-ah’s face.

“Then the betrayal….”

“I won’t do it. There is no reason to betray.”

“Then it’s fortunate… Ah?”

Seongah, who was sighing in relief, looked at the scales and her face hardened.

The balance was still tilted.

“But the fact that it was added means it is true.”

Seongah looked at the weight on the scale.

“But why… isn’t it leveled?”

Seongah’s eyes begin to shake again.

“[I am not part of the forces opposing me, and I did not create a situation to make me dependent.] …The first question I asked was… Yes, do I have something to hide….◦@ ◦

Her gaze, which was focused on the scales, comes back down to me.

I swallowed my saliva without realizing it at the heterogeneous emotions in those eyes.

“Mr. There’s still something I’m hiding.”

“I told you. Everyone has a secret.”

“But, I want to hear the secret you hid. I think only then will I feel at ease.”

“Sometimes what you don’t know is the medicine.”

“Uncle.”

Seongah Kim comes closer to me.

As she came closer and closer, I pulled back and ended up in a half-lying position.

With her hands on the floor, she brought her face closer to me.

At a distance where I could feel her breath, she buried her face in my chest.

“I want to know everything about you. Actually, you don’t know anything. What he originally did, where his hometown was, what kind of people he met and what kind of life he lived… He told me a lot, but he didn’t actually tell me anything.”

“That’s right….”

That’s because there’s really nothing I can tell you.

“It was very difficult for a few days when I thought that my uncle might have betrayed me. I couldn’t concentrate at school and couldn’t rest comfortably when I came home. But… I’m really worried that he’s still hiding something from me.”

“Seong-ya.”

“Please tell me. I told you a lot of things, but I think it’s too unfair to keep it from you.”

Seongah rubs her face against my chest.

“Mr. Please….”

I think about it as I feel the body temperature of Seong-ah crying in my arms.

There’s only one thing I’m hiding from Seong-ah.

The secret of a man named Kang In-ho that has never been spoken out loud.

No problem… right?

I slowly stroke her hair with my hand.

“I am.”

She flinches at the sound of my voice.

“It is a persona, but it is not a persona.”

She waits with bated breath for my next words.

“I am Kang In-ho.”

Reflecting on the beginning and process of all this, I speak slowly.

“He died unfairly,”

“Cursed by the goddess,”

“Wandering through many dimensions,”

“Possess the bodies of many people,”

“Suffered many deaths”

“I am a possessed person from a different world than this one.”

Tell her the secret you’ve been hiding.