"Sorry, something urgent suddenly came up. I'm really sorry, but this time, you and Hyun-Woo eat together."
A grumbling voice came from the other end of the phone.
― If I don't eat with you, I'll just starve.
“…don't do that. You have to eat on time.”
At my words, I heard Han Soo-Young muttering something in a small voice and grumbling.
― Oh, what is it? No, I don't want to. Hey, wait...! Give me the phone, I'm on the phone with Ji-Hyuk right now!
― Hello? Ji-Hyuk, it's me.
“Oh.”
Choi Hyun-Woo, who took the phone from Han Soo-Young, let out a small breath.
― Don't worry too much, I'll see you later in the evening. Since today's class is the advisor's class... we'll see each other later today.
"Okay, thanks. Please tell Soo-Young properly.”
― Don't worry...ack! Hey, don't pinch me, it really hurts...!
The phone hung up with a loud noise.
After looking at the phone for a while, I quickly made my way to the reception room where I could talk to outsiders.
Inside, Jin Ye-Jeong, whom I had met at the party before, was sitting in a rather modest posture.
"Hello."
Will Jin Ye-Seul look like that when she becomes more mature and calm?
Wearing large glasses and her hair tied back in a simple knot, she rose from her seat and bowed to me.
She was wearing a women's suit, and after confirming I was sitting across from her, she also sat down.
“Thank you for coming. I came all the way to the academy because of work, and suddenly it occurred to me.”
She said so and looked at me with calm eyes.
“I'll introduce myself again. I'm Jin Ye-Jeong, and although I'm lacking, I'm a professor at Urea. Even though I am a professor, I am an apprentice assistant."
“I'm Yoo Ji-Hyuk.”
After exchanging a short greeting with her, I straightened my posture.
"So, you wanted to see me, can you tell me why?"
“…… .”
At my question, she turned her head and looked out the window.
Then, staring out the window, she opened her mouth.
"The wind is blowing, it looks like it's going to rain."
"Yes?"
“Do you know how and why it rains?”
“…I don’t know.”
She nodded slightly, as if somewhat satisfied with my answer.
“There are many reasons. It looks like there's going to be a shower now, but in the case of a shower, the heat on the surface heats the air and rises it, and the cold air comes down from the upper layer to balance it out. This is called convection. And as the heated air rises, clouds form and it rains.”
I couldn't help but just nod at her sudden words.
“Ah, yes… .”
"Umm."
And Jin Ye-Jeong, seeing this reaction of mine, gave a small sigh this time.
"I heard that when you meet someone for the first time and want to relieve the nerves, small talk is a good idea, but it didn't work out well."
She wrinkled her nose slightly as if it was really difficult.
“I heard that eliciting empathy with those around you in trivial, everyday situations is the first step in getting close, but… I guess it wasn't."
She sighed once more here.
"Should I just get to the point?"
"That would be great for me."
“Then let me explain a few things first. Ye-Seul, there's something you need to know first before we talk about that child.”
I nodded.
Here, for the first time, Jin Ye-Jeong muttered while fixing her glasses as if she were tired.
"First of all, our mother is quite extreme. As soon as she found out that you... are a member of the World Tree clan, she immediately contacted Ye-Seul.”
“Contacted her?”
“To seduce you. Simply put, it was to use the beauty realm to create a fait accompli, or something like that."
“…… .”
When I didn't say anything, she added.
“Actually, she said it in a rather low-grade language, but I think it’s a bit too much to convey as it is, so I refined it moderately. Most of all, I didn’t want you to think our mother is someone who instigates her child to commit felonies."
“Ah, yes… .”
“And when Ye-Seul ignored her, she even told me. If you can, go and seduce him. Because you and that child have a pretty face. And if you can, bring up your engagement... .”
While she was saying that, she looked at me as if she had just remembered.
“Oh, it’s a bit off topic, but did you know that Ye-Seul had a fiancé?”
“Fiancé?”
It was the first time I heard it.
She added immediately, as if saying, don't worry.
“It became something that never happened after Ye-Seul kicked him and crushed his thigh in less than five days later. Oh, did she also break his ribs and made a dent in his skull?"
As I listened to her, I was certain that she, like Jin Ye-Seul, was missing a screw somewhere.
I was wondering if there was something strange about the whole family.
“Well, I'll cut the other little details out. And to start with something that might help... we are now preparing to print money from the World Tree clan with the Association, various families, and guilds. Specifically, an evil energy has been detected... .”
Her family was involved, too.
I knew it, but I pretended not to know and listened to her.
However, after a while, Jin Ye-Jeong, who was staring at me, stopped talking.
“Looks like I got sidetracked.”
She nodded her head.
“Shall we just get to the point?”
She had a completely different atmosphere from Jin Ye-Seul, but she was definitely her biological sister in that she was somewhat unpredictable and difficult to talk to.
In addition, as she said herself, she seemed to be quite poor at conversing with people.
‘In the original story, she only appeared as an older sister who cherishes Jin Ye-Seul and helps her from behind, but… .'
I nodded, thinking so.
"To start with the story of our family… I don't know if you know this, but we are a family famous for magic. People in our family are born with enormous mana from the beginning. In return, it runs in our family that we are born lacking something."
She shrugged her shoulders.
“In Ye-Seul's case, it was especially large.”
She muttered quietly, with eyes not telling what she was thinking.
“It's hard to say exactly that child lacks morals. It's also quite different from what's commonly known as a psychopath.”
While talking, she stared at me.
“Because of that child, I studied in many ways.”
I didn't have anything to say in reply, so I just nodded.
"That child committed her first murder when she was 10 years old."
She muttered in a voice that seemed to regret somewhere.
“He was a person who had a bad heart toward our family. He attacked Ye-Seul with a sword, but instead, his head was crushed on the spot and he died instantly."
And then we were perfectly able to realize that something was strange.
At her words, I tilted my head.
“We?”
“Yes, we.”
She nodded her head.
Then she held out her palm toward me.
Her small palm had something written densely on it.
“I can wield magic that works on the human psyche.”
“…… .”
“And that fact was well known to me and Ye-Seul when we were young.”
She slowly withdrew her palm.
Then she let out a sigh, and I wondered how many times it was.
“… that child noticed that she was strange. It was unbearable at a young age. So she asked me a favor. She asked me to put a ban on her.”
“Ban?”
Jin Ye-Jeong placed a ban on Jin Ye-Seul.
This is the first time I'm hearing about this.
Now, I wondered if this world was really the world I knew.
"Yes. I put a ban on that child as she wanted, and thanks to that, that child managed to grow up with a stable self without denying her ideality.”
“I’m sorry, but what on earth does the story so far have to do with me?"
“… I'm sorry, it was quite a frantic story and difficult to understand, right?"
She apologized to me and continued.
“To sum it up, it's this. I just recently realized that what I thought was best was actually having an adverse effect on that child."
“… yes?"
I was at a loss for a moment and looked at her.
She, the person who had been boasting until now that she had used magic that she applied to the psyche since she was a child, looked at me calmly.
“What the hell, then, Ye-Seul’s conscience or good heart. Did you seal something like this?”
"Yes? No. No way. I suppressed the anti-social tendencies or anything like that I thought would cause real trouble if she kept it.”
She stared at me as if asking, what are you talking about?
Then she tilted her head as if contemplating for a moment.
“Simply put, I've locked something like hydrochloric acid in the child’s mind, and what’s left is lye.”
… how on earth could she come up with an analogy like that?
I replied, staring at her dumbfoundedly for a moment.
“Then there is no problem, right? Why would that be a problem?”
“If you drink hydrochloric acid or lye, you die, but if you mix the two, it becomes brine. When a strong acid and a strong base meet, they purify each other as if becoming water. That's the way it works."
She muttered.
“… instead of forcing restrictions, I had to take care of her, correct her, and support her from the side. Anyway, it was part of Ye-Seul. It also took up a pretty big position. There's no way a building can be intact without the pillars. Thanks to that, the child is now... in a very dangerous condition.”
The last time I saw her at a party, I became convinced.
It's really dangerous if it goes on like this.
"Please. Please help my sister.”
She bowed her head deeply.
I thought for a moment and said to her.
"From what you've told me, it seems like it will be resolved if we lift the restrictions, correct?”
"Yes. But the problem is that now I can't get rid of the restrictions on that child.”
“… why?”
“Because at that time, that child trusted me the most, but not now.”
She said so and looked at me.
“I have never seen that child smile like that in my life. It means that she trusts and relies on you more than her family, me, or the parents who gave birth to her.”
“…umm, actually.”
I told her what had happened with Jin Ye-Seul with some dramatization.
That I had done something very wrong to her, which made her declare she was going to sever our relationship.
I also added that she was sincerely trying to kill me, and she nodded as she listened with a serious expression on her face.
“At least you’re in a much better situation than I am.”
“… are you serious?”
“If that child had really been so hurt that she declared she was going to sever the relationship and tried to kill you for that, we wouldn't even be meeting like this right now. I would have been in a situation where I was offering condolences to you, or looking at the person who killed my sister."
“…… .”
Come to think of it, she was right.
I didn't know because she didn't show much sign of it, but if it was Jin Ye-Seul in the original story....
“At least, you still have a big place in that child's heart.… I envy you. I couldn't get a corner of her heart no matter what I do."
With those words, she handed me a small bracelet.
“This is the key. If you wear it, infuse it with mana, and trace the mana towards the head while in contact with that child, you will feel something sticking to it."
“…may I ask you one thing?”
“As much as you want.”
“Why do you care about Ye-Seul so much? As you said, Ye-Seul doesn’t care about you at all.”
"Well. It can't be helped that Sister hates the ugly older sister."
Then she smiled for the first time.
Well, what can I do?
“That child is my sister from birth.”
“…….”
I couldn't say anything to that appearance.
It was because I felt a sense of unity in her appearance.
Looking at her, a face I miss seemed to come to mind.
It was then.
My phone rang and Jin Ye-Seul's name appeared on the screen.
“Speak of the devil, that child.”
She rose from her seat with a smile.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I will be included in the faculty of urea that will be visiting around next week. If we meet on the way, could you at least say hello?"
“Yes, okay.”
"I'll see you later, then. Thank you."
She bowed politely, looked at me, and said as if saying, you should go.
“You should have had lunch, but I’m sorry I kept you for so long.”
“… since you're all the way here, why don't you see her once before you leave?"
“That child hates me so much. If she knew that you were with me, she'd be very unhappy."
She shook her head.
“I’ll see you later if circumstances allow.”
* * *
Jin Ye-Jeong muttered quietly as she walked out of the academy.
I don't think the circumstances will allow us to meet again, though.
“…… .”
If I die, I don't even know where the body will lie.
With a bitter smile, she glanced up at the darkened sky.
“Jin Ye-Jeong.”
Then she turned her head to the voice calling her.
There stood a man.
A Slav with a stocky physique and a cool impression.
“I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Dmitry-ssi.”
At her apology, Dmitry responded with an expressionless face.
“It was the professor’s order, you don't have to be sorry.”
“Still.”
“Rather, may I ask who you met?”
“Dong-saeng.” [Note: Dongsaeng - Gender neutral: brother, sister.]
"Oh. Come to think of it, you mentioned your dong-saeng goes here?”
She nodded.
It wasn't a lie.
In any case, he was younger than herself.
The two began to walk together, and Jin Ye-Jeong asked him in a still quiet voice.
"So what should we do now?”
“First of all, as the professor ordered, we should investigate this area and set up a base.”
He took a deep breath and muttered in his characteristic melancholy voice.
“It’s what we, his disciples, should do… Well, I don't mean to make you work. You'll be the fifth disciple soon, but at least not now. You just have to watch and learn.”
"That's a relief."
“Ah, come to think of it… .”
Dmitry took something out of his inner pocket and showed it to her.
A photo.
The photo showed Yoo Ji-Hyuk, whom she just met.
“Remember this boy.”
“…who is it?”
"The owner who has the artifact.”
He gave a brief answer.
“I asked for a transfer or loan, but he refused on the grounds that it was lost. Later, you will have to use your ability to dig into his memory and verify whether it is true or not. It doesn’t matter if he becomes an idiot or not.”
“…….”
She didn't say anything.
He asked back at that appearance.
“What, do you know each other?”
Jin-Ye-Jeong shook her head.
"No."
I'm seeing him for the first time.
Saying so, she disappeared into the crowd with him.
Comments