Lukas had a conversation with Sedi. They spent a lot of time together.
In fact, it was hard to call it a conversation. Mostly, it was just Sedi speaking one-sidedly. This was because Lukas didn’t want to talk about his situation.
Sedi didn’t stop talking for at least a few hours. Although there were rare occasions when she paused to catch her breath, her voice basically didn’t stop. After reuniting after a long time, this girl had become a chatterbox.
She didn’t mention the ‘Great Game’, the ‘Preliminaries’ or the ‘Trowman Rings’. She just talked about how desperately she’d tried to find Lukas. Like a rice puff, most of it was hollow. Most of it was just trivial things.
But that was probably the reason why he was able to listen to her for so long without stopping her.
As he faced her now.
He began to feel the relationships he had on Earth flutter once again. Among them, Min Ha-rin was the one who came to his mind the most. He didn’t know the reason. However, among the relationships that he’d made there, thinking about her was the most painful.
The conversation, which was closer to gossip, ended.
Sedi stared blankly at Lukas for a while before speaking.
“You changed a lot.”
It sounded like she was talking to herself, but it seemed like she was asking Lukas a question.
“You were quiet before, but now you’re even more so.”
“…”
“By chance…”
Sedi was about to say something, but she closed her mouth in the end.
Her gaze then shifted slightly downward as she continued.
“I’m the Lord of this place now. I kicked the ass of that guy who was pretending to be the Lord.”
“Hey.”
“What?”
Kasajin and Sedi’s eyes met. Tch, but the one who turned his head first with the click of his tongue was Kasajin.
Surprisingly, there seemed to be a clear hierarchical relationship between the two of them.
“I’m not trying to look cool or anything, I just want you to be comfortable, and if anyone is annoying or rude to you, tell me right away.”
“…”
After saying that, Sedi looked at Lukas again.
Then she bit her lip slightly and turned around.
“I have some stuff to do so I’ll leave first. My room is at the end of the castle.”
Without another word, she walked out of the door, slamming it a bit too hard on her way out. A bit of dust that had collected in the warehouse fell.
Lukas was still standing still.
“She’s mad.”
Kasajin said. Of course, Lukas knew that too.
Kasajin scratched his head and asked.
“Was that on purpose?”
“What?”
“Were you being cold on purpose?”
“…”
“What? Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. You haven’t said more than five words in the last two hours.”
He knew that he hadn’t said much. But Lukas hadn’t realised that he’d only said five words.
This was an illusion created by the voices in Lukas’ head. His surroundings always felt like it was really noisy.
But in reality, when Sedi was talking, the surroundings had been quiet. Only Sedi’s quiet voice could be heard in the wine cellar, Kasajin hadn’t cut into their conversation.
And Lukas… it was just as Kasajin said.
He hadn’t said more than five words.
“I felt bad for her.”
Of course, he was referring to Sedi.
“At first, she’d been unable to hide her excitement. I was a little surprised, too. I knew a little about your relationship, but I didn’t expect that cold girl to come up and hug you. Just by looking at that, I could tell how special you are to her.”
“…”
“When you’re that excited, the responses of the other person are really important. When you’re happy to meet a friend after a long time, it’s natural to look really excited and happy. But it’s embarrassing if you’re the only one making a fuss.”
…He really had changed.
“But when the other person is as happy as you are… That’s when you put aside the annoying calculations and start laughing.”
The Kasajin he knew was not someone who would think deeply about the thoughts of others. Perhaps this consideration was something he absorbed from ‘other Kasajins’.
“Her expression kept changing. At first, she looked so happy that she didn’t know what to do, but after about ten minutes of happily chattering, she finally noticed your expression. And since then, she kept watching you. The demons in the Pit would probably never believe it. That Sedi Trowman was paying attention to someone. Are you listening?”
“…I’m listening.”
“After a while, her voice became less than half as exuberant as it was before. And with every word she said, she looked at you.”
He’d misunderstood.
Sedi hadn’t become a chatterbox. It was only then that Lukas realised why she had been talking so much.
The awkward atmosphere.
She somehow wanted to fix the atmosphere between Lukas and herself.
“So… you.”
Kasajin looked at Lukas with cold eyes.
“Did you show any signs of welcoming Sedi even once?”
* * *
‘I didn’t show it.’
As he lay on the hard bed, Lukas belatedly thought of the answer.
There were many things that he could have or should have done.
He could have stroked her head, said something nice. Or just smile.
But Lukas hadn’t shown any reaction. So it was natural that Sedi’s excited attitude cooled quickly.
Then, what expression was he making?
Lukas got up. Then, he stood in front of the mirror that sat in the corner of the dreary room.
Dark blonde hair, black eyes. (TL: He reset with black eyes this time?)
A skinny face with an emotionless, doll-like expression.
He tried to smile.
Lukas tried to force a smile onto his face. Apparently, he used to smile a lot in the past. Or in other words, when he was human. Or when he was saving humans as an Absolute.
He hadn’t been at peace or happy even then. He had definitely been struggling. Both physically and mentally. And yet, he could still smile.
But now… he didn’t know how. He couldn’t remember what kind of thoughts he’d had at that time.
How did he make smiles that made the other party feel at ease?
“…”
At the very least, the smile of the man in the mirror was not like that. No matter how he changed his smile, it only seemed like a kind of cold ridicule.
That fact was unfamiliar to him and he hated it a little.
He went back to the bed. This time, instead of laying, he sat down.
‘This is probably why I didn’t want to meet her.’
His obsession with his goal had faded. His determination to die had weakened. Sedi’s existence had already occupied a very large share of Lukas’ inner thoughts.
…The desire to live was sneakily raising its head.
He shook his head. He couldn’t change an ending that had already been set.
Lukas had come to the Pit with the goal of finding out how to get to the Magic Planet. Perhaps Kasajin knew the way. After all, he’d said that he fought the Beginning Wizard in the past.
‘The strongest among the current Twelve Void Lords’
When he recalled those words, a shiver went down his spine.
Of course, the Twelve Void Lords at that time were different from now. Yang In-hyun wasn’t the Lord of Flower Mountain that fought Kasajin. It was possible that the current Beginning Wizard had also inherited his name and position and that he was now a completely different person.
Nevertheless, the words ‘the strongest among the current Twelve Void Lords’ resonated with Lukas in a strange way.
Above all, he didn’t lower his head even in front of Pale. That was an attitude that Lukas had never seen among the Twelve Void Lords.
Naturally, his wandering thoughts turned to Pale.
Now that he thought about it, she was the one that took Kasajin to the Magic Planet.
…if he were to just ask Pale for directions to that place, would she answer him?
Now that he thought about it, where was Pale now?
At that moment, he heard footsteps in the hallway outside. Then, the door burst open without warning. He thought it might be Pale, but it wasn’t.
It was Sedi who appeared again, this time, with a blank expression.
She hadn’t knocked. That certainly wasn’t a display of manners that befitted Sedi… The sound of footsteps. Perhaps that was Sedi’s own kind of etiquette. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to remove her presence.
“My room is at the end of the castle.”
“…”
It took a moment for Lukas to realise the meaning of Sedi’s words.
It had been a clumsy but obvious invitation to visit her whenever he had time. Sedi walked forward a few steps and stopped. And her lips opened.
“You knew I was here, didn’t you?”
Lukas hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly and expressionlessly.
Sedi wasn’t agitated. Twisting her hair with her fingers, she continued.
“I thought so. You were surprised when I showed up, but you weren’t surprised at my appearance. It was more like you were bewildered at our unexpected meeting.”
“…”
“You didn’t want to meet me, did you?”
Lukas paused.
Sedi looked at the gap between them before taking another step forward.
“Right.”
Lukas didn’t want her to get any closer.
So he answered.
It was probably the answer Sedi didn’t want to hear the most.
“I didn’t want to meet you.”
A clear rejection came from his mouth. Lukas thought that would make her agitated, or at least be a bit taken aback. He was wrong.
There wasn’t any change to Sedi’s expression, and that wasn’t all.
“As I expected.”
With a nod, she took another step forward.
“So?”
“What?”
“So what do you want me to do? Does Father not want me to come see you anymore?”
“…”
“If that’s what Father really wants, I’ll do it.”
But…
After saying that, Sedi continued.
“But it’s not. It’s not that I hate you, you just don’t want to meet me.”
This statement was probably the key.
“I showed off a lot of pathetic things earlier that weren’t like me. There’s no reason for me to shrink back like that just because Father is withdrawn.”
Lukas felt like he was being overwhelmed by this little girl.
“I can tell just by looking at your face. That you’ve probably been through something awful.”
“…”
“Maybe even now. So tell me. What is the reason? What the hell is bothering Father?”
“There is no reason to speak of it.”
“Why?”
“Nothing would change if I told you.”
After Sedi took another step closer, they were basically face to face. She was only about half a step away and he could touch her if he stretched out his hand.
“How do you know without even trying?”
“Not everything requires experience.”
“Ha. You still have that old fashioned way of speaking.”
Sedi shrugged her shoulders.
“I’ll say in advance that I’m not disappointed in the current Father. And this… is not out of anger.”
Paak!
His abdomen sank in. Lukas staggered back. Sedi’s elbow had been buried in Lukas’ stomach. He hadn’t noticed her attack at all. Was it because he was too relaxed? Or had Sedi’s physical ability surpassed Lukas’ senses?
Paak.
This time, he felt sharp pain in his chin. For a moment, his teeth clashed together roughly and it felt like a bolt of lightning had struck his head. He had almost bitten off his own tongue.
Then, his upper body was pulled upright.
“Look at me.”
Red eyes appeared in front of him.
Sedi was holding Lukas up by his neck.
“Look at me.”
“…I’m looking.”
“Just because your eyes are on me doesn’t mean you’re looking at me. Since meeting me, Father hasn’t looked at me properly.
“Looked at you properly?”
Sedi’s cynical remarks.
Those words became a fuse.
This time, he grabbed Sedi’s arm, which was holding him by the throat.
“I’ll look at you properly, then what? Do you want to talk? If I were to tell you everything, all of my secrets, do you think you could do anything? Do you think you could change this fucked up situation?”
There was a bit of heat mixed in with his voice. The strength of his grip increased. There was a creaking sound, but despite the obvious pain, Sedi remained expressionless.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Our relationship is not that deep. Don’t you get it yet? I saved you on a simple whim. To put it bluntly, I calculated it as a way to get back at the Black Horned Demon God or a way to get information about him.”
Lukas had lost his patience.
“Father? Daughter? Did you really think we could have a relationship like that? Did you think it was so easy for two Absolutes to become family with just a few words? Ha.”
Crunch, he gritted his teeth.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Sedi Glaston. You treasure me because I consoled you when you were most vulnerable. But it is funny and pathetic-”
Lukas’ head snapped to the side.
The inside of his cheek burst and his teeth quaked.
“—”
It took him a moment to realise he’d been slapped.
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