Chapter 103

It was hard to say whether it was really related, but the Jewel Vein was one of the dungeons Yu Seongun had told Jio about.

"Did I end up handing over information for nothing?"

The Portrait of Jio could already move freely anywhere it pleased.

Giving someone like him information on several remote, interesting dungeons connected to Earth might have been along the same lines as telling a hungry tiger where the village was.

"... Still, it would only have been a matter of time."

Yu Seongun did not regret his actions.

'Bi Sabeol agreed to it, too.'

Above all, though he was human, he was not wholly on humanity's side.

There was a saying that the best Gardener was a bystander. Of course, they could not truly do nothing but stand by, but their mission was to balance the Root and their world.

Chosen as a Gardener from a very young age, Yu Seongun knew how to be untroubled by incidents of life blooming and withering.

'Besides, Jio knows Earth well.'

Yu Seongun had merely moved up the time when Jio would become active; the portrait's course of appearing all over Earth and startling people had been inevitable.

"We haven't even finished investigating Gyeongbokgung Palace yet, and before we can wrap anything up, another incident happens. Seriously..."

Yu Seongun sat down on a bench covered in fallen snow and scratched his chin.

"... Is today Christmas?"

Originally, he had planned to visit Jio and ask if he wanted to enjoy the end of the year.

"That will be difficult now."

Yu Seongun, who had just had overtime confirmed on a holiday of all times, was truly a sad sight of modern life. Rubbing his stiff neck, Yu Seongun slowly let out a sigh.

In accordance with the will of the Garden he served, no white breath came out.

"All right."

The first thing he had to check was an interview with the witness.

An F-class Hunter.

An Awakened only slightly stronger than a healthy adult male civilian.

Those who had a Hunter license issued despite knowing there was a high chance they would die if they entered a dungeon commonly took on the position of "porter."

"Ah, hello."

"Good to meet you, Hunter Lee Sun-hoo."

"I was told you would be coming today."

The "witness" Yu Seongun had sought out was a porter with a kind impression.

"Um... I think you said you wanted to hear about Black Cloak."

"Yes. To be precise, I came because I wanted to hear the details of the situation you witnessed that day."

"As I told you over the phone, I also relayed what happened that day to an Association employee."

"What I am curious about, strictly speaking, is the information about the frame Hunter Lee Sun-hoo saw."

"... For now, I understand."

Though he looked troubled, he let Yu Seongun into his home.

"It's a bit shabby, isn't it? I'm sorry."

"No, not at all. I'm the one who showed up out of the blue."

Yu Seongun understood the faint rejection the witness showed. In general, Grade 3 citizens tended to feel uncomfortable or burdened when they saw citizens of a higher grade than themselves.

'It is also an era with severe grade conflict.'

Even so, the witness served Yu Seongun warm green tea.

'He has the sort of impression Jio would like.'

He thought of the portrait who liked polite and kind humans. Surely, part of the reason he had caused this incident in particular was that he had taken a liking to Lee Sun-hoo's character.

"It's warm. Thank you."

"I'm sorry I don't have anything better to offer you."

"The fact that you agreed to talk with me is more than enough."

Yu Seongun continued with light conversation, helping the witness relax.

Fortunately, he did not seem to be the type who held ill feelings toward Grade 1 citizens, and the witness soon lowered his guard toward Yu Seongun and continued the conversation faithfully.

Only when the green tea had almost gone cold did they get to the main point.

"You said you were curious about the frame I saw back then?"

"Because it is Black Cloak's new work after the Breathing Sea."

"Ah, that part surprised me too. I didn't know he would draw another new work like that..."

"After researching this and that while working as a Curator, I became interested."

Yu Seongun deliberately did not mention that he was looking for the missing Park Eun-gyeom.

'My purpose is less to save the human Park Eun-gyeom than to confirm how Black Cloak expressed hostility... but either way, it would not sound very good to the person involved.'

If Hunter Park was alive, saving him was also one of Yu Seongun's duties.

There was nothing good about telling someone who had been abandoned by the current missing person, and even abused by him, that Yu Seongun had a duty to save that man or recover his body.

'... Still, what is interesting is the fact that he is quite favorable toward Black Cloak.'

The witness was smiling as he said, "I didn't know he would draw another new work." It was similar to the look of someone who had heard that an author they liked had opened a gallery.

"..."

I never thought I would come to realize all over again like this that the Portrait of Jio is a painter.

'Jio, you have a fan.'

He knew that a group of people who strangely idolized Black Cloak was forming. Even so, he had not thought of meeting them separately or talking with them, so confirming it directly like this gave him a strange feeling.

Unaware of Yu Seongun's thoughts, the witness asked.

"Will Black Cloak keep drawing works like that?"

"... As of now, I believe there is a high probability that he will."

"That's amazing."

The witness nodded and continued.

"The work I saw that day was a painting of a gray city. Judging from how transparent the colors were, I was thinking it might be a watercolor..."

He really seemed to be talking about some artist's work.

"Actually, I judged it gray at first glance, but it wasn't entirely gray."

"Then?"

"I suppose I should say it was a completely achromatic work. It was fascinating. The forms of the buildings in the city drawn there were varied, and the windows and everything... it was described incredibly vividly."

"Vivid description in a watercolor, with colors that easily blur and run. That is surprising."

"There was complete black and white, too. There weren't any strong colors like red or yellow, so I don't know how it caught my eye so clearly."

The witness seemed to have some eye for art in his own way. One could never call him an expert, but perhaps he was at the level where he could look at and enjoy a work in his own way.

'That may be why he is even more favorable toward Black Cloak.'

Organizing his thoughts, Yu Seongun asked.

"I envy you for seeing such a work. Have you ever seen it again anywhere besides the Jewel Vein?"

"Ah... Well, unfortunately, no. I only encountered it once in the dungeon that day. Even that disappeared quickly."

"I see."

He did not sense a lie.

"It is a shame. I wanted to see it with my own eyes at least once."

Yu Seongun had to find that frame and confirm what state Hunter Park Eun-gyeom was in.

"Does this mean I have no choice but to go around dungeons myself after all...?"

"Um, excuse me."

The witness hesitated, then soon continued.

"Among my friends... there is someone who is an Awakened, but he's F-class like me, so he didn't have a Hunter license issued."

"Ah, yes."

"I heard that friend has also seen the same frame I did."

"... The same frame?"

"Actually, that friend saw the frame before I did. At first, I was too out of it to really know, but once I found myself alone in front of the frame... it was the frame he had mentioned."

"..."

No matter how much of an Awakened one was, if one did not have a Hunter license issued, one was merely a civilian.

'Especially if he is F-class.'

Unlike Hunters, who were required to write reports and from whom information could be obtained easily, if it was a civilian, that explained why the Association had not known this fact.

But there was something puzzling. He was also curious why this had not been reported to the Association, but more than anything...

"Civilians should not be able to enter dungeons."

"Yes, that's right. He said he saw it near Gyeongbokgung Palace, not in a dungeon..."

"Gyeongbokgung Palace?"

"So I guess it doesn't only appear in dungeons."

"Oh..."

If those words were true, then there was no such thing as a pattern to where the City of Emptiness appeared.

'I'm screwed.'

Now it really seemed he had no choice but to do the legwork himself.

"Pardon?"

Jio startled sharply, in a way that did not suit his gloomy and composed face at all.

"Are you saying my child has been running away from home behind my back all this time?"

"I don't think running away from home is quite the right way to put it, mostly in terms of word choice."

Waving the sleeves of the oversized doctor's coat that hung down on her, Aria continued.

"Teacher's affection for Earth is so profound, so what could we do? We studied this and that. Last time, we only thought about throwing Earth into chaos and leaving, so we didn't know much properly."

"For that, you cleaned them out quite well, Aria. From what I hear, the Seoul branch of the Temple of the Sun is still busy dealing with the aftermath. I think that means our mermaid students caused quite a large amount of confusion before leaving."

"That is an extremely honorable testimony, gentleman. As a child of the deep sea who despises the sun and its children, nothing could make me happier. Anyway, while studying Earth's situation like that, I learned something..."

Aria shrugged.

"It seems the City of Emptiness has been sighted very rarely in a region called Seoul recently."

"This father has never heard such a thing from Void..."

"Void? Is that a pet name for your dungeon? Teacher really does have unusual taste."

"I don't know what is so strange about calling my child by my child's name."

"If you don't know, then that's fine. In the end, what I wanted to tell you was the news that your dungeon is roaming around the planet called Earth without you knowing, Teacher."

"It is deeply bewildering news no matter how many times I hear it."

Beyond a sense of responsibility as a parent, he even felt guilty.

"This must be because I have not paid attention to Void all this time, and the child has gone astray. This so-called parent did not even know his child had been born and was too busy enjoying his own life, so even if I only recently began to pay a little attention, that lonely heart would not have gone anywhere."

"..."

"This is why I should have treated the child well from a young age... Since the existence called home was not very stable or peaceful for Void, is that not why the child wanders outside? But even so, I truly never imagined that a frame that had been kept safely in the storage room would go out alone."

Why had he not imagined a frame escaping alone when he even regarded a dungeon as his child?

'With that level of creativity and acceptance, it seems entirely possible.'

Aria had a question for a moment, but soon answered Jio's words.

"... It certainly isn't the pattern of an ordinary dungeon. It isn't the sort of thing an ordinary item or artifact would show, either. It is to the point where I wonder if it wanders here and there because the dungeon master isn't inside it, so its body has become light."

Jio lamented.

"So it really is because Dad isn't home."

"Didn't you say this place was your home?"

"But I confirmed that Void was doing well in my storage room..."

"Then it is probably an avatar or another entrance."

Since a dungeon was a world unto itself, it did not have only one entrance.

"It isn't as if there is only one way to invade Earth, either. If the dungeon master intends to, he can create any number of entrances."

"I never intended to."

"That is why I came to ask you like this. I wondered if you had finally decided to smash the humans and had opened the entrances."

"I have never had such frightening thoughts. More than anything, if the humans are smashed, who will talk with me? Who will roast sweet potatoes for me?"

"We can do that."

"I refuse. I told Iser this as well, but you all need to cultivate independence. Any more excessive interest and affection will make Teacher suffer."

"I will try to restrain myself."

Aria nodded.

"Even if you had no such intention, Teacher, it is not as if I do not understand why the City of Emptiness is doing this."

"Because it's adolescence after all...? Because it has a worthless dad...? Because it went through an unfortunate childhood...?"

"I keep telling you that a dungeon is a world unto itself. Anywhere can become an entrance, and you, its master, remain in this portrait all the time while also being very interested in Earth."

Moreover, the place it often appeared was even Seoul.

"When you say Seoul, is that not the region Teacher has been frequenting lately?"

"I am trying to find pen pals."

"Dungeons and their masters originally have a tendency to become one body, so it would not be strange for it to try to visit the dimension with the most traces of its master."

"My poor child is wandering that vast and harsh Seoul alone in search of this worthless father...?"

"... Yes, if you understand it that way, the context is roughly correct."

Of course, the situation was lighter than that. If one assumed that the dungeon truly had a sense of self, it was closer to "an immature child who barged into Dad's workplace and begged him to play" than "a boy breadwinner who left to find his father, who did not come home often."

'But if this makes Teacher put effort into the dungeon, that is all the better for us.'

In the end, a dungeon was a dungeon. It was a game board made to devour something.

As long as Jio was interested in Earth, humans would constantly be devoured, so the more the dungeon was managed, the more the mermaids could feel at ease.

'Teacher's works and this cabin are connected, after all.'

However, there was one thing she found puzzling.

"That City of Emptiness."

"Yes."

"Have you ever connected it separately to Earth?"

"... Pardon?"

"You have not."

On the day Jio had risked his life and come to talk with the mermaids, Aria had for some reason sensed that the country of the deep sea and the Breathing Sea had been connected. After that, frames connected to the Breathing Sea had begun drifting through the country of the deep sea.

Of course, since the Breathing Sea had been part of the country of the deep sea to begin with, that was not so strange. But at the very least, it was certain that the mermaids' temple and Jio's "frame" had been connected that day.

'But even without such a measure, Teacher's frames are drifting around in a region of Earth called Seoul.'

What was the reason?

"... Teacher, you seem to like Earth very much."

"I had no need to hate my homeland for no particular reason."

"Aha. Your homeland, you say."

Then she understood.

"It was connected from the very beginning."

Since the roots of his soul were on that planet, it was only natural that it did not need to be connected separately like the country of the deep sea and the Breathing Sea. To that City of Emptiness, Earth was like the homeland where its father had been born.

"But then I am a little jealous..."

"O Sun, a mermaid's jealousy. May I refuse?"

"What can I do even if you refuse? It is my one-sided emotion."

For some reason, Jio's roots were said to be in that dimension crawling with humans.

'Strictly speaking, the country of the deep sea is also our homeland.'

Just what had happened in the meantime for Jio's roots to move to that narrow and barren dimension? Clicking her tongue inwardly, Aria touched her chin and fell into thought.

"... Can the roots be moved?"

"Moving roots? Are you planning to make a bonsai?"

"Hm, perhaps."

"I have a knack for such things. Do you need help?"

"For now, I will try to handle it myself."

"That independent attitude is very admirable."

"I am honored, Teacher."

She thought she would have to consider how to move the roots of his soul to her sea. Giovanni was at his most beautiful when he was in the sea.

'Of course, before that, I will have to think about what I must do to take responsibility or whatever that damned thing is and be fully accepted by Teacher...'

As if she had thought nothing at all, Aria calmly continued.

"Anyway, pay some attention to the City of Emptiness."

"I suppose simply creating residents for it was not enough after all."

"That is not bad either, but anything will do."

Aria instinctively realized it.

'The worlds Teacher draws with Earth as the subject open doors there.'

If so, the more a painting was drawn with Earth in mind, or the more it was entirely his work and did not belong to another dimension, the more their roots would also sink into Earth and harass humans.

'Since the dungeon master has no hostility, the pace may be very leisurely...'

When had natural disasters ever harassed humans because they had hostility?

"When will you draw the next picture?"

"... On a day I feel like drawing?"

"I see."

Aria smiled with satisfaction.

'In the end, it is only a matter of time.'

She hoped that dimension crawling with humans would one day end up inside Jio's stomach.