Episode 121 Dark Clouds (5)
I stand there blankly for a moment, looking ahead.
Misha also went back to the room where she thought there would be no one, but there were two people there.
Misha and Erwen.
‘There’s no way the two of you know each other, so maybe Erwen came to see me and we met by chance?’
As soon as I entered the room, I habitually analyzed the cause and effect of the given situation.
But that was all.
Kwakwakwang-!
Unlike the damp air outside where the rain was pouring down, my small one-room apartment felt somehow cool.
The room was full of questions.
‘What? Why is he so upset?’
After being practically together for a few months, I can tell just by looking at your expression.
Misha is very, very angry right now.
It’s incomparable to the time I got caught eating all the meat and secretly throwing away the carrots.
Judging from the slightly puffed up tail feathers, it seems like it is also feeling alert… … .
The strange thing is that the same goes for Erwen.
‘… … Is this kid crying?’
Tears are welling up in my eyes.
It’s not like she’s shedding tears, but it feels like she’s trying hard to hold them back.
Rather than crying because of sadness, it is closer to an expression of being so angry that one’s teeth chatter and one is enduring.
‘Did the two of you fight?’
Based on the information I see, I came to a conclusion.
It looks like Erwen and Misha had a fight.
Well, I don’t really know why.
I don’t think either of you are the type to have such an emotional confrontation with someone you just met.
Suddenly.
As soon as I closed the door, Misha and Erwen both turned their gazes toward me.
Maybe it was because of the sound of rain and thunder, but it seemed like I only felt presence after closing the door… … .
Misha was the first to speak.
“Oh, Bjorn, you’re here? I’m your guest here.”
Misha smiled and greeted me as usual.
For some reason, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.
And that was the moment.
“Eww! Mister… … !!”
Erwen bursts into tears, jumping towards me.
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First, I dodged it with my reflexes.
But wasn’t it the picture I had in mind?
Erwen, who landed with balance as expected of an agile character, chewed her lip and asked me.
“Is it because of that woman?”
What is this kid saying?
Somehow, the atmosphere seemed a lot different than when I last saw it… … .
Well, a lot of time has passed since then.
“Because of that woman?”
“Oh, it’s nothing!”
When I asked if the two really had a huge fight, Erwen flinched and shook her head.
Then, as if checking the mood, he glanced at one place, and at the end of his gaze was Misha.
“Bjorn, why are you here now?”
Misha, whose eyes met mine, walked towards me with frequent steps.
“You went out in a hurry earlier, but nothing happened?”
A nasal voice that I can’t get used to at all.
Although I felt goosebumps for some reason, I answered the question anyway.
“Nothing happened. Charon was accused of being a plunderer, but I went and said a few words and everything ended well.”
“Oh, I see. You’ve worked hard.”
Misha stroked my buttocks while saying fatal words.
If it were normal, I would have tapped his arm or back.
At this point, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Why on earth… why are you doing that?”
“Why are you saying that? I’m just praising you for doing a good job. You can’t see a Barbarian as someone else.”
I tilted my head without realizing it.
Not only that, I didn’t even ask that in the first place… … .
That answer itself is full of contradictions.
“Why? Aren’t the Barbarians and the Water People on good terms?”
… … Is that so?
Well, it’s better than the fairies who are enemies.
“Here, here’s a towel!”
I was about to say something else when Misha jumped and placed a towel on my head.
“First, dry your head. You’re going to catch a cold.”
“Oh, uh… … I see.”
Something felt suspicious, but I shook the water off my head and turned my gaze to Erwen. After all, she was a guest, so I couldn’t just leave her alone any longer.
“Erwen, are you the first one to come to me?”
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“Huh? Oh, yeah… … .”
When I speak to her, Erwen shrugs her shoulders and avoids eye contact.
When is the time to rush in?
Oh, did you feel distant because you avoided that?
“Anyway, it went well. I was thinking of going to visit anyway—”
“Yes? You were trying to find it?”
“……however?”
“Really? I’m glad. I, I thought you might have forgotten me… … .”
I smiled and answered, noticing the mood had changed with just a few words of conversation.
“He’s a comrade I met during my first labyrinth exploration. How could I forget him?”
“Right? That thing only meant something to me. That couldn’t have been the case, right?”
huh?
I nodded, feeling a strange sense of discomfort, but overwhelmed by Erwen’s earnest gaze.
“… … I guess so?”
“Yes! That’s what it was, I see!”
I don’t know what happened, but Erwen’s face brightened at my one word of answer.
Since social life is about as good as it gets, I decided to start by asking the questions I was curious about.
“Anyway, it’s been a while. So how have you been?”
“Me? Are you curious about how I’ve been?”
“however……?”
“Then I’ll tell you!”
Erwen then began to recite, without pause, like a bird chattering, the events that had occurred during their time apart.
Most of the stories were related to mazes.
Climbing the floors with my sister, defeating monsters and absorbing new essences. Oh, so you usually just stay in your room and practice day and night?
“Look at this! I can now control all four spirits! Three of them have even fully bloomed!”
“What? Three?”
“Yes! I tried really, really hard!”
Honestly, I was a little surprised too.
Even if you say that she grew up like a big sister, it was difficult to see it as an achievement made in just a few months.
‘Is this talent?’
In many ways, our case is different.
If I became stronger with advanced essence and equipment, this one is closer to someone who really cultivated and blossomed their abilities.
‘It hasn’t even been a year, but I’m a successful fairy who has achieved the Three Attributes… ‘
This is definitely precious.
If you can bloom all four attributes, then ‘that’ will become possible in the second half.
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‘Tch, if it weren’t for my older sister, I could have accepted her as a colleague.’
I feel regretful because I feel like I’ve lost a talented person.
But I decided not to say anything unnecessary.
It’s not like we’re going to form a team right now anyway, and there’s no way he’d abandon his family anyway.
“Anyway, I’m glad you were busy with your training. I thought you hadn’t come to see me because I moved my dorm. But you were also more focused on growing than I was.”
“Oh, that’s not necessarily true… … .”
“Yeah, Bjorn’s right. If it hasn’t even been a year yet, you should find your own way to live, right?”
Misha, who had been silently listening to the conversation, stood up and wrapped her arm around Erwen’s shoulder.
Then Erwen froze in surprise—
“yes…….”
I nodded weakly.
Was it my imagination that made me feel like I was watching Misha?
Suddenly, I remembered the atmosphere when I first entered the room and asked, albeit belatedly.
“Oh, so what happened between you two while I was away?”
Actually, it was something I was curious about from the beginning.
However, Misha naturally tilted her head to my question.
As if I had asked a strange question.
“Huh? Nothing happened?”
“Nothing happened? I thought you two were fighting—”
“Nyahaha! How could we fight? We’ve become so close. Right, Erwen?”
“Yes, Mr. Karlstein… … .”
“What is Mr. Karlstein? Just call me Unnie.”
“Yes, sister… … .”
It’s as if a bully is taking an innocent school girl to an alley.
It definitely feels like there’s something there, but… … .
As long as they keep their mouths shut, it seems difficult to get the answers they want by asking questions.
‘Let’s find out what happened little by little… … .’
I passed them both and opened the window wide.
The sky has cleared of dark clouds. The wet streets are sparkling with sunlight.
So I have now issued an order to evacuate.
“The rain must have stopped, so you two should go out now. I need to wash up and get some rest, too.”
For some reason, fatigue was creeping in.
***
After leaving the old man’s room.
Erwen found herself in a difficult situation.
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“Huh? Are you heading this way too?”
“Yes, but?”
“Then you go first. I’ll go later.”
The direction is the same as that of the woman in question.
Well, fortunately, this woman didn’t seem to want to go with me either… … .
“Then you go first. I’ll go later.”
“No. You go first.”
This is the biggest headache.
You’re leaving later?
How can you believe that?
For some reason, it seemed as if she would turn around and go to the old man’s room as soon as she disappeared. Looking at her, it was clear that this woman had the same suspicions as herself.
“ha…….”
Erwen and Misha sighed at the same time.
“Then shall we go together?”
“Yeah, that would be better.”
There was only awkward silence on the way back.
No one spoke to them first, and they just focused on walking.
That’s only natural.
The old man said that nothing happened, but that wasn’t really the case.
[Well? Don’t you already know what I mean?]
When Erwen heard those words, she felt like a screw was loosening in her head. Her heart was pounding like crazy with anxiety, and she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
So the words came out without me knowing.
[This bad cat… …!]
The first time I swore at someone in my life.
What’s worse, when I came to my senses, my hand was touching the dagger at my waist.
That’s when Erwen knew.
[You, do you have a problem with your head?]
If it weren’t for those words, I would have definitely come to my senses after swinging the dagger.
The Suin woman was strong.
It’s not just my feeling, it’s real.
Because fairies who are naturally sensitive can sense the spiritual power of others.
‘Twice as much as me… no, maybe three times as much.’
There was a big difference in spiritual power.
That means that he had absorbed more of the higher-grade essence. He could also feel it through the momentum and posture he was exhaling.
The moment I realized this, I felt dizzy.
Misha Karlstein.
This woman is the enemy.
But you can’t win by fighting.
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That means it will be taken away.
Just like that time, this time too, something precious.
Yeah, it gets taken away.
Emotions separated from reason swept over me.
A memory of a certain moment engraved in his brain paralyzed Erwen’s thinking.
I was so absorbed in my emotions that my mouth moved on its own.
[Please don’t take it away… … . Please… … .]
Miserable begging.
Things I would never have said if I were in my right mind.
Such words flowed out one after another.
[what……?]
The woman who had been glaring at him with cold eyes also opened her mouth in disbelief.
Erwen also knew in his head how ugly and grotesque he must look now.
but…….
There was a part of me that thought that I would do more if I could protect something precious. No, I might have actually gotten on my knees and begged, shedding tears.
Suddenly.
If the old man hadn’t arrived just then.
[Eww! Mister… … !!]
Erwen shook her head as if to shake off the thoughts.
It was an embarrassing memory that I didn’t even want to think about.
For some reason, it becomes difficult to think rationally when an old man is involved.
‘… …I guess I just looked like a strange woman?’
Erwen glanced at Misha, her face flushed with shame.
She was now standing at a crossroads.
“I’m over there now, where are you going?”
“Fortunately… …it’s the other side.”
“Hmm, I see… … .”
The time had come to break the awkward silence, but both of them stood still, staring at each other, unable to move their feet.
The first one to speak was Misha.
“You… … Are you coming tomorrow too?”
“But.”
“Haa… … How did I really… … .”
Misha put her hand on her forehead as if she couldn’t believe she was in this situation.
Erwen also felt it was unreal.
Until I came running here, I was just thinking about meeting the old man and having a good laugh.
“Anyway, I’ll go. You go properly too. Got it?”
“excuse me…….”
“huh?”
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Erwen caught Misha as she tried to head towards the other fork in the road.
I had something to say.
I really don’t feel like it.
“……Thank you.”
“Thank you… … ?”
“You didn’t tell me what happened earlier.”
“You were going to pull out a knife and attack me?”
“yes…….”
As Erwen lowered her head, Misha sighed deeply.
“Okay, let’s make a promise.”
“Is it a promise?”
“Even if you tell me not to come, you’re going to come anyway. So, let’s keep what’s happening between the two of us a secret from Bjorn. I… … You’re probably the same as me… … I, I don’t want you to worry about something like this.”
“……great.”
“Then I’ll go. You have to go home properly too, right?”
“yes.”
Soon, Erwen and Misha separated and headed to the dorms.
It was quite a distance, but perhaps because my mind was so busy, it didn’t feel long.
As I opened the door and came in, my sister greeted me.
With a somewhat worried expression.
“Erwen.”
“Sister… … .”
Erwen collapsed into her sister’s arms.
“Did you meet that person…?”
“Yeah. He really was alive.”
“Oh, really… …? That’s good.”
She spent a long time whining and being comforted in her sister’s arms.
And then I pulled myself together again.
“Sister, I will become stronger.”
“You’re getting stronger… …?”
“Yeah. What’s weird?”
“No, I don’t want to practice anymore… … .”
Erwen tilted her head at her sister’s meaningful words.
Why did you stop practicing?
Well, when I first found out that the old man was alive, all those years of training locked in my room felt meaningless… … .
“I have someone I absolutely have to beat.”
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Erwen felt a burning desire more intense than before.
“So please help me a lot in the future too, unnie.”
If you don’t want to be the one who gets robbed.
If you become the one taking it, that’s it.
