episode_0120

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

Hayato, who had been lost in his own thoughts for a moment, shook his head from side to side to clear his mind of the thoughts and then resumed his speech where he had paused for a moment.

“Well, I can understand not trusting my intuition when there is no other evidence, but try to think more flexibly.”

“What does it mean to be flexible in your thinking?”

“That guy, he completely cured all my other arrhythmias as well as my incurable arrhythmia overnight.”

Hayato shrugged slightly.

“If he can do such crazy things so calmly, don’t you think it wouldn’t be strange if he still has some hidden abilities?”

“I’m not saying I don’t think so, but… … ”

“Now I can finally understand.”

Swish swish-

“Then go and catch that guy quickly. Oh, and… … ”

Hayato handed over a book that was on the floor.

“Here. This is the book that guy left behind. If you take it with you, it will be enough to make a simple conversation topic, so don’t worry too much about what to say.”

“… … Even without things like this, you can still have a conversation, right?”

Shigure, who had tried hard to listen to Hayato’s words in that way, stood up from his seat with a look of confidence.

Well, to my parents, it just seemed like some really poor acting.

In fact, when he was about to go outside with the book about the sealed lake, worry began to build up inside Shigure.

“But is it okay if I go now? Something like that happened a little while ago, so I think it would be better to go and talk about it later… … ”

“That’s fine. He probably knew from the beginning that it was a play.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah.”

Hayato, slightly tired from the long conversation and persuasion, wet his lips with tea and said.

“If you go out like that, you’ll end up getting annoyed at what we did to you.”

“Then again… … ”

“But he doesn’t seem like an emotional guy, so he’s probably calmed down by now. It’s not the problem you’re thinking of.”

“Hmm, then… … ”

Shigure, whose last shield had been pierced, looked slightly depressed and walked in the direction where Doyujin had disappeared.

And Hayato quietly watched her from behind with worried eyes, trying not to be caught.

To be honest, I was anxious and didn’t like it.

Although she made excuses and made up all sorts of excuses, in the end, it was like entrusting her precious daughter to a suspicious man of unknown identity.

But there was no choice.

Because right now, there was nothing the Circle could do other than protect Shigure and make sure she didn’t do something like this again.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have urged the village elders to have more children.’

Sigh-

“The problem is that there is a high possibility that he will not accept Shigure… … ”

Hayato muttered as he remembered Doyujin’s eyes that he had seen in passing last night.

Everything was burnt down, leaving only white ash, and even those empty eyes seemed to have all flown away with the passage of time.

Among those who have been worn down and broken by countless missions in the past, there have occasionally been those with such eyes.

The kind of person who binds himself to the rules he has set for himself and continues his life without purpose until his life ends like a sword that rusts and breaks.

‘I don’t know the details, but from what we talked about last night, I’d say the rule he sets is probably family.’

This is exactly why Hayato was worried about Shigure.

Because people who are ruined by relationships usually don’t like to be in a relationship with anyone else.

‘But that’s why he treasures those who once enter his territory even more.’

Phew-

“Cheer up, daughter. He may not be easy to approach, but once you get inside the fence, he will become a strong supporter.”

If Shigure had listened to Hayato now, he would have said this.

“Come here and sit down.”

No matter what, I think the difficulty level is too high.

◎ ◎ ◎

Tododok-

Shigure quickly walked away, holding a book tightly in his arms.

How long did I run through the forest, following those footprints?

“Haa… … ”

Finally, Shigure’s eyes caught sight of Doyujin sitting on a gray rock with her brows furrowed.

She still had a frown on her face, as if she was in a bad mood, but she certainly seemed more calm than when she first left the room, just as her father had said.

‘But where did you suddenly get those donuts? I didn’t see them yesterday.’

She hesitated for a moment, then realized that it was not important, and hid behind a tree to ponder.

‘I did as Dad told me to, but… …what should I do now?’

Some people might think, “Why are you bringing this up now when we’ve already had several conversations?”

But in Shigure’s view, the situation then and now were completely different.

At the time, I didn’t really have a reason to become close with him, so it was okay to just casually continue the conversation as if we were people I happened to talk to on the street.

But now?

This is a situation where you absolutely must become close with Do Yu-jin.

Because of that, it seemed like a sense of tension that wasn’t there before was rising.

‘Ugh… … It’s hard to talk to people I don’t know… … ‘

Shigure rubbed his temples with both hands and collected his thoughts.

Hayato looked at Doyujin and told her to stick close to him and not leave him, and Shigure interpreted this as telling him to become friends with him.

‘But what about friends?’

It was a very difficult problem for Shigure, a perfect hikikomori who had never made a single proper friend while living in the village, a combination of innate talent and a perfect environment.

‘Should I at least approach her by saying hello? Or should I apologize for what Dad did a little while ago? Hmm, maybe doing both would be okay… ‘

While Shigure was worrying and worrying like that.

Phew-

“Are you thinking of not coming out from there?”

Doyujin, who had barely regained her composure after eating the donut, said while looking at the tree where Shigure was hiding.

‘What, I got caught?’

Shigure, who had only thought about being the first to speak, never imagined that the other person would find him and speak to him first, felt his heart sink for a moment.

But soon I came to my senses.

‘No, maybe it wouldn’t be worse to do it this way?’

It was easier to continue the conversation if the other person spoke first, saying anything, rather than constantly worrying about what to say.

Sup-

ha-

After organizing his thoughts, Shigure took a deep breath and stood in front of Doyujin.

And here, just a moment ago, Shigure realized that he had been worrying about something completely useless.

That would be the case.

“What are you doing standing there blankly?”

First of all-

“Come here and sit down.”

Do Yu-jin had no intention of becoming friends with her.

◎ ◎ ◎

‘I feel like I should say something… … ‘

Shigure, who naturally knelt down in front of Doyujin, glanced at him and thought.

‘To be honest, it seems like my friend has crossed the river, but I still have to narrow the gap somehow.’

Swish-

“Over there… … ”

That was the moment when Shigure, a former hikikomori, mustered up all her courage and took her monumental first step toward forming relationships with people other than her family and villagers.

“Sorry, just keep quiet until I ask you something or tell you to say something.”

Do Yu-jin kicked her foot with an irritated voice and made her sit back down.

“That, yes… … ”

Shigure, who had unconsciously answered in a formal tone, showed a sullen expression on his face, but he focused on eating the donut regardless.

‘I tried to eat it sparingly because it looked so delicious, but I never thought I would end up eating it to relieve my anger without even being able to properly savor the taste.’

At that moment, Do Yu-jin felt herself getting depressed again and quickly shook her head.

Thanks to that, I was able to somehow regain my composure.

‘How on earth did this happen?’

Do Yu-jin licked her chocolate-covered fingers and became lost in thought.

His initial goal was to distance himself completely from the main characters.

That way, they can escape the whirlwind of events that will come their way.

‘That’s why I went through all the trouble to create the character of Ghost, but it all came crashing down with one mistake like this.’

Do Yu-jin looked at Shigure, who was sitting in front of her, recalling the realization of the transience of life.

Because of the situation, she kept moving her body and fidgeting, and every time she did that, her large breasts shook and her deep cleavage was subtly highlighted.

There was a look in his eyes like an innocent yet loyal puppy, as if he was telling me to tell him what he had decided to do just a moment ago, and when that combined with his body, it was creating an incredible destructive force.

‘What should I do with him now?’

Well, it wasn’t of much use to Do Yu-jin.