◈ Episode 191. Gift (1)
Up until the moment she lay down in bed.
A smile had never left Lee Yerim’s lips.
Her one and only younger brother.
She had been grinning at the thought of teasing Hoyeol.
“Lee Hoyeol, you’ve really been caught red-handed.”
Let’s say sending lengthy letters of concern every single day was a good thing. Even if he was usually busy, now that he’d taken a vacation, wasn’t it only right for him as a son to show his face at his parents’ home at least once?
“That brat, even though Mom and Dad are already worried about him.”
Of course, whenever she said things like that, her parents—
“‘That girl’s trying to pick on her brother again.’”
“‘Yerim, anyone listening would think you were the most devoted daughter in the world.’”
“‘Our third daughter. You should treat your mother better.’”
For some reason, they always turned their arrows toward her.
Even so, Lee Yerim had something to say for herself.
She giggled as she spoke.
“You have no sense of propriety whatsoever, my brother.”
She knew Hoyeol’s position outside the house very well.
Humanity’s hero, the symbol of peace, and so on.
The television had been blaring on about him nonstop.
But just as she had said with her sisters.
At home, Hoyeol was still her younger brother.
The great Ho, the joyful Yeol.
Just as his name meant.
Their youngest brother, whose very existence brought them joy.
The corners of Lee Yerim’s mouth rose even higher.
“……
Just imagining it is enough to make this older sister happy.”
To torment him for the first time in ages…….
No, simply thinking about seeing him face-to-face.
How should she put it? It was a kind of happiness she hadn’t been able to feel since Hoyeol had matured. Lately, whenever she looked at Hoyeol, old memories would occasionally come to mind.
Lee Yerim furrowed her brow and thought deeply.
“I’m sure I’ve heard that kind of way of speaking before…….”
It had been well over ten years ago, so she couldn’t remember clearly, but for some reason, that version of Hoyeol didn’t feel unfamiliar. As she retraced her old memories, Lee Yerim suddenly muttered,
“I feel like I’ve heard a long name that sounded similar, too.”……
Was it something Romeo?
The name had been so long and difficult, after all.
Good. She’d ask Hoyeol about that tomorrow when he came.
The next day.
Lee Yerim woke from her sleep at eight in the morning.
But the moment she stepped into the living room, she was horrified.
“……
W-What?!”
Her ear-splitting scream made Mrs. Choi angry.
“Good grief, you’re so noisy. Hoyeol came by earlier and already left!”
“W-What time?!”
“Five in the morning!”
“F-Five?! Is that guy insane?”
Crash!
That was the moment Lee Yerim’s grand plan collapsed.
*Three older sisters.
The youngest son of a family blessed with daughters.
Me, Lee Hoyeol.
As I’ve said before, in order to survive among my older sisters, my scheming had no choice but to develop. Thus, I had concluded my vacation in a manner that left not a single point of shame upon my pride.
Why? Because I had said I would visit the next day.
Visiting at five in the morning didn’t make it a lie, did it?
Nor had I moved so early out of any shameful desire to avoid an encounter with my nemesis.
In any case, thanks to the effects of [The First World Tree’s Blessing], I had already come to require far less sleep.
Always.
The me who had struggled from the early hours of dawn.
Did Lee Yerim, that nemesis of mine, really think she could catch me?
“You’ve lost half your face, my son.”
My mother, Mrs. Choi Kang-hee, threw her arms around me the moment she saw me.
She hadn’t shown it openly, of course, but I knew from my sisters that she had been unable to sleep because she was worried about her son.
“You’ve become quite dependable now, Hoyeol.”
My father, Chairman Lee Jun-wook, apparently cut out and scrapbooked every newspaper article that featured me. In any case, it was just like my father to try desperately not to reveal his true feelings.
“I should have visited you sooner.”
Perhaps because I wrote letters every morning.
I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I had seen them face-to-face.
Besides, the main house had been home to my nemesis.‘I could tolerate the first and second ones.’
Calling my eldest and second sisters noona and speaking to them politely was…….
Yes, I could endure that.
But speaking politely to Lee Yerim?
That was something I simply couldn’t tolerate, regardless of propriety or anything else.‘In that sense, I got away cleanly, Hoyeol.’
Her habit of sleeping late even on weekdays.
You haven’t changed a bit, my nemesis.
In any case, I headed straight for the Magic Tower.
Was it already seven in the morning?
Even though I had visited my parents’ home at five.
Time had flown by as we exchanged all the stories we had missed.
That aside, trying to speak in this manner in front of my parents.
I had honestly felt as though I would die of embarrassment, but our Chairman Lee had offered me some very kind words.
“Your position has shaped you, and even your way of speaking has become more serious. Yes, if you’re in such a position, you should carry that degree of gravitas.”
Father.
Thank you so much for misunderstanding me.
I was genuinely relieved.‘……
I absolutely don’t want anyone to discover that it’s because of my dark history.’
I desperately wanted to avoid dying of shame in front of my family, at the very least.
Soon, I entered the manifested portal.
When my vision cleared, I saw the Magic Tower’s office.
I ran a finger across the desk.
Then I murmured quietly,
“There is no need to dust it off.”
Honestly, Grandfell, you’re putting on airs about being neat and tidy from the moment you arrive.
Even Mrs. Choi had wrinkled my clothes all over when she hugged me.
It was enough to make me wonder how he had managed to stand still then.
More importantly, why were you boiling water the moment you arrived?!
“One cannot skip a meal.”
Thump─
Something wrapped in a cloth bundle was placed on the desk.
“Among meals, breakfast is comparable to afternoon tea.”
You could just say you were hungry, you know……!
In any case, I untied the cloth bundle.
It wasn’t as if I would have brought a packed lunch myself.
It was a breakfast Mrs. Choi had prepared for her son.
That aside, why were you staring so intently at the cloth bundle?
“A silk in which order and disorder coexist. Excellent.”
Don’t assign profound meaning to an ordinary patchwork cloth, Grandfell.
I had only just begun to retort as usual when—
Knock, knock─
Someone knocked on the door.
I was not one to hold meetings that had not been scheduled in advance.
However, on the first day of my return, it seemed appropriate to show some flexibility.
Besides, it didn’t seem to be Banshee.
I spoke.
“You may enter, Marcelo.”
“Good morning, Lord…….”
Marcelo looked at me and stopped short.
“Oh my, were you having a meal?”
“That is so.”
“I should have informed you beforehand. My apologies.”
“Was I not absent? Pay it no mind.”
“No. It isn’t urgent enough to interrupt your meal.”
The Sihanmuard family. The terminal curse.
Marcelo, who had been freed from his contract with the demon.
Thanks to that, it seemed he now had the stamina to focus on his research unlike before.
At least, that was what I gathered from the piles of documents he had brought in both hands.‘Those must be documents related to Qi.’
A mountain of work the moment I returned!
It reminded me of my days as an office worker, which I had forgotten.
But could pride possibly allow me to neglect the work of the Tower Master?
Moreover, research into Qi was something I could never overlook.‘The Qi that had even worked on Gamigin, an Upper Demon King.’
Back then, I had been surprised that Qi had resisted Gamigin.
But now that I thought about it.
I should have been surprised that Qi had worked on Gamigin in the first place.
In that sense, Qi was worth digging into more deeply than the other wells.‘Speaking of which…….’
Marcelo, carrying documents in both hands, looked unsteady.
No, hadn’t the terminal curse disappeared?
Why was he still nothing but bones, Marcelo?
I was beginning to doubt whether he even ate properly.
“Have you eaten?”
“I was too preoccupied to eat.”
Is that so?
I suppose I’ll have to let him experience Mrs. Choi’s cooking again.
I spoke to Marcelo.
“If you have no objection, why not dine with me?”
“……
What?”
“It is a poor habit to skip breakfast.”
Marcelo hesitated as he looked at the side-dish containers on the desk.
Judging by his expression, he seemed curious about what they were.
There probably weren’t any foods that looked like this in Arcana.
It was only natural that he would be curious.
Explaining it wouldn’t be difficult.
“This is a dish prepared by combining grains, meat, and vegetables grown in the fields, and its ingredients require considerable care even before preparation. Furthermore, the taste differs greatly depending on the method of cooking. To compare it to magic, it is as if entirely different foods are manifested depending on what is added during the interference process……”
Good grief.‘The flavors of pan-fried dumplings and steamed dumplings are completely different, sure……!!’
But who explains dumplings in such grandiose terms, Grandfell?!
Still, it wasn’t wrong to say that Mrs. Choi’s sincerity had gone into them.
Their taste was the taste of the meals that had raised four children.
So these weren’t dumplings one could offer just anyone, Marcelo.
“……
Would I be permitted to partake of such a precious food?”
“You are qualified to do so, Marcelo.”
“Then, despite my embarrassment, I shall join you.”
“How is it?”
“Ohhh……!”
“Indeed, no words are necessary.”
“More importantly, Lord…….”
“?”
“Might I ask for a cup as well?”
……
Well, it wasn’t as if I could refuse.
They only cost 300 won each, so what difference did it make?
Why was even Marcelo asking for tea from a teabag?*The Iron Castle.
The dwarves looking down upon the continent were horrified.
“W-What in the world!”
The Arcana Continent.
The Zero Mountains, which had radiated a presence even from their hidden refuge, had disappeared.
It had happened overnight. Their leader, Chainwalker, spoke in a grave voice.
“I had anticipated this, but…….”
The last survivor of Akkshan and an adventurer.
His interaction with Hoyeol.
Thanks to that, Chainwalker had gained a certain understanding of the rifts.
The rifts were passages connecting the Arcana Continent and the adventurers’ world.
The disappearance of the Zero Mountains from the Arcana Continent meant…….
“Then have the Zero Mountains appeared in Lord’s world?”
At Chainwalker’s words, the dwarves began to murmur.
“He’ll be safe, won’t he?”
“Who knows? The Zero Mountains are unimaginably massive, after all.”
“If something like that suddenly fell…… It would be comparable to the impact of tens of thousands of blasts from a Mana Ejection Cannon.”
The dwarves were the creators of complex mechanical devices.
Perhaps that was why.
They could vividly picture the devastation caused by the sudden appearance of the Zero Mountains.
Of course, that was only true for the dwarves.
The residents of Dreadsen, who had been listening silently, whispered among themselves.
“……
Uncle Gardner. Can you believe it?”
“Do you think that’s possible, Lansha?”
“It really feels like something is happening.”
The place where the Zero Mountains had stood.
It was now so perfectly flat that not even a hill could be seen.
“……
I’m worried in so many ways.”
The flying ship, the Iron Castle, was heading toward the imperial capital city, Antium.
Its purpose was to settle the residents of Dreadsen in Antium.‘A single ray of light in the endless depths of darkness…….’
She had heard that his name, rather than his epithet, was Lord Hoyeol.
While staying aboard the Iron Castle, Lansha had learned of Hoyeol’s accomplishments.
Recently, she had heard, he had inflicted devastating damage upon the demons and forced them to withdraw. And from what Lansha could see with her own eyes, the demons’ activities really did seem to have decreased noticeably.‘Our worries about the demons have lessened, but…….’
Would they be able to adapt well in the imperial capital city, Antium?
It was true that worry came first.
Dreadsen had been a small, impoverished village that everyone had turned their backs on.
But Lansha clenched her fists.‘We survived even so.’
Because they had not forgotten what Diend, the spirit of darkness, had called pride.
Lansha even found herself with enough room to worry about Hoyeol.
The dwarves’ expressions were so grave.
“Do you think he’s safe?”
Lansha didn’t know much about impact force, but…….
Even just thinking about it, it didn’t seem like an ordinary matter.
If a person jumped into a river, the surface rippled.
So how violently would the surface have heaved if the Zero Mountains had fallen?
Gardner slowly closed his eyes.
“All we can do is pray that he is safe.”
Hoyeol, the savior of Dreadsen.
The only thing people with nothing like them could do.
Was pray that their savior remained safe.
And spread his heroic tales throughout Antium.
That was all they could manage.
Chainwalker looked at Lansha and Gardner.
“Just as you say, we cannot help but worry for the safety of Lord Hoyeol’s world. Even if we assume that Lord can somehow withstand the impact of the Zero Mountains’ appearance.”
Gulp─
Chainwalker swallowed dryly.
“The Zero Mountains are dangerous by their very nature.”
The Arcana Continent, where countless mighty beings had been born and lived.
Even so, no one had ever reached the summit of the Zero Mountains.
Because of the dragon guarding the peak of the Zero Mountains.‘……
It isn’t that I doubt Lord’s abilities.’
But wasn’t Lord a human, at the end of the day?
Humans and dragons.
The difference in their physical scale was no less than that between earth and sky.
“Heh heh.”
But the dwarves knew.
Innate physical stature.
They were shorter and stockier than anyone else.
So they also knew better than anyone how to overcome that disadvantage.
A sharp glint flashed in Chainwalker’s eyes.
“The time has finally come for Lord to require equipment as well!”
Even now, equipment for Hoyeol was being forged by the dwarves’ hands. The armor in particular was being tempered with unparalleled elegance under Hyell’s direction.
Mana platinum.
High-purity mana stones.
Threads of indigo butterfly silk……
It was armor made from rare materials selected from the dwarves’ treasure vaults, so its performance could safely be called the best the dwarves could offer.
“You have something to look forward to, Lord.”
Suddenly, Chainwalker’s gaze turned toward the firmly shut iron door.
“……
Ahem. Except for the weapon, that is.”
Wolsewail, the finest blacksmith among the dwarves.
It had already been several dozen days since he had sealed himself away and devoted himself to forging the Ghost Iron.
There was no helping it.
From between the iron doors came voices.
“It is insufficient. Dull beyond measure!”
“Shut up. The forging is not yet complete.”
“Dwarf, think of the enemies he must cut down!”
……
Lord, of all the Ghost Irons you could have found, did it have to be one like that?
The voice of the Ghost Iron continued.
Chainwalker slowly closed his eyes.
“I must become sharper still. I speak of cutting the stars in the sky, the Evil Eyes. The whetstones of this continent are insufficient. Sharpen me with a whetstone that fell from the heavens itself—the ‘Milky Way Whetstone’!”
For a mineral.
It knew far too much.
And its demands were even greater.
“Good grief, the Milky Way Whetstone.”
A magical tool handed down as nothing more than a legend even among the dwarves of the world.
How were they supposed to find it and sharpen the Ghost Iron with it?...
……
Wait.
The Milky Way Whetstone?
At that moment, Shegwin’s voice came to mind.
“Who wears that wretched crown is none of my concern. I merely lent my strength to the feudal lords in order to obtain the magical tool, the Milky Way Whetstone.”
Wasn’t that supposed to be in the warehouse of the Antium Imperial Palace?