Chapter 108

A few days later.

“Jio, are you awake?”

Yu Seongun came to see the Portrait of Jio.

“I brought the seedlings I mentioned last time.”

“I am awake.”

“Good. Check whether they’re the seedlings you wanted.”

What Jio had demanded in exchange for guaranteeing Yu Seongun’s life inside the frame was one flower and one tree.

They were none other than a honey pot and a rock salt tree, and as their names suggested, honey and salt could be obtained from them respectively.

'Jio really does prefer these pastoral things.'

Come to think of it, hadn’t he said his own home was a cabin in the woods?

He had once asked for all kinds of seeds so he could farm, too.

'Now that’s a firm set of tastes.'

Yu Seongun entered the frame and looked at the honey pot and rock salt tree seedlings that had become paintings.

“...”

“...”

Jio was stroking them as if they were newborn animals.

'... Maybe he has a skill that lets him communicate with plants...?'

Since even humans had skills like that, the thought occurred to him.

He did not know what the exact truth was, but Jio certainly liked things that were rewarding to care for, like plants, animals, and small children.

Soon, the portrait gave him an answer.

“These are exactly what I wanted. Thank you for granting my request, Mr. Yu Seongun.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied with them. Later, I’ll organize the edible plants from Earth and dungeons and hand the information over to you, so tell me if there’s anything you want.”

“I will prepare a gift that may be of help to you as well, Mr. Yu Seongun.”

Holding the still-fragile seedlings in his arms, Jio asked,

“Is that all you came for today?”

“Well, I just thought... we could chat about this and that.”

“Very well. I am curious how student Cha Yi-sol is doing.”

“Cha Yi-sol? He’s entered the temple now.”

Yu Seongun dragged over a nearby folding chair, sat down in front of the portrait, and continued speaking.

“He’s quite late, actually. Normally, he should have gone in right after finishing the initiation ceremony and started preparing to become a priest, but Priest Kang Seo-dam looked exhausted, saying time had become very tight because of the country of the deep sea incident.”

“I apologize that my students caused trouble. I have tried to admonish them a few times, but they still hate humans. I will let you know if there is any progress soon.”

“It doesn’t matter. There are no monsters that don’t hate humans. There’s no way you could deny the emotion that forms the foundation of their power and reason just by admonishing them. Still, hearing that you’ll stay by those mermaids’ side puts me at ease, Jio.”

As he said that, Yu Seongun recalled the stories about the mermaids being sighted in the country of the deep sea.

'I heard they’re absurdly ferocious.'

The exact cause was unknown, but reports said the mermaids sighted recently were even more dangerous than the ones sighted at the beginning.

They said their rage and hatred were in an uncontrolled state.

'Did their ill will grow stronger in backlash because Jio admonished them not to hate humans? But even though I haven’t seen them myself, according to the reports, the signs of despair and sorrow were greater.'

Judging from Jio’s reaction, they seemed to maintain a normal appearance when meeting him.

'I have no idea what’s going on here...'

However, it was not that rare for monsters to show a chilling kind of duality.

Yu Seongun had no need to concern himself with the affairs of monsters that were not even Root's children.

“... And as for Cha Yi-sol...”

Yu Seongun soon recalled that bright child’s recent situation.

“The partner the temple assigned him was Eunha, right? I mean Iser when he was taking on a child’s form.”

“Yes, I remember. Since Iser has been removed, student Cha Yi-sol must have no partner.”

“So there was some confusion for a while, but it sounds like they somehow managed to find him a partner.”

This Temple of the Deep Sea incident had had a large effect.

“Apparently, because they went through such a tremendous event while they were still prospective priests, a few children left the temple, thinking they couldn’t do such dangerous work. As it happened, the number of remaining prospective priests was even, so they restructured the partners from scratch.”

Yu Seongun shrugged.

“Priests basically work in pairs, so I suppose it couldn’t be helped.”

“I heard that a priest’s partner stays with them for life. Does that not change?”

“When they’re prospective priests, their partners can change a few times, but once they become formal priests registered with the temple, it’s true that their partner is for life.”

“I am curious what happens if one of the two can no longer perform a priest’s duties due to unavoidable circumstances.”

“Unless priests who have lost their partners mutually agree to form a new team, I believe they usually work alone.”

A representative example was Priest Kang Seo-dam, who had even appeared alone at the initiation ceremony.

'It’s common enough.'

Priests around their forties usually did not seek new partners.

After all, if they had to work with someone other than the partner they had coordinated with their whole lives, it would be no small amount of exhausting.

“From the perspective of an ordinary office worker, I do wonder why they made such an exhausting structure...”

“I am curious why priests basically work in pairs. Is there a reason besides tradition?”

“First of all, tradition is a big part of it. You know, religious circles don’t change easily to begin with.”

But that was not the only reason.

“They say the holy power a priest can use is strongest when they cooperate with another person.”

“Is that true of every priest’s holy power?”

“At least as far as I know. There are exceptions, though. Priests who serve evil gods are strongest when they’re alone.”

There were no priests who knew the exact reason.

“But if I had to guess, it’s probably because the virtues pursued by each god they serve are different. Most gods value friendship and peace, but evil gods require destruction and pain.”

Yu Seongun nodded.

“The Sun Cult in particular describes each priest as a ‘little light.’ Even a faint light becomes a great light when gathered together, and if they gather like that, they’ll grow hot, so they place especially great importance on cooperation.”

“Their holy power must grow stronger when they cooperate for that reason as well. The more they gather, the hotter they will become. The Sun Cult’s temple felt warm and pleasant, and now I understand why.”

Though the Portrait of Jio was painted over with black paint and its eyes could not be seen, Yu Seongun could tell that he was looking at him.

Soon, the portrait continued speaking.

“What kind of child is student Cha Yi-sol’s partner?”

“I don’t know the details, but I do know they’re a Grade 1 citizen.”

“A Grade 1 citizen.”

“Considering they’re a child, they must be quite wealthy.”

The biggest difference between Grade 1 and Grade 2 citizens living together within the city was economic power.

If a child young enough to have just entered was already Grade 1, it was highly likely their parents had also been Grade 1 citizens for generations.

“Normally, they don’t pair them that way. Since priests have to use the same dorm room first if they’re going to become partners, they’re the same sex, and they also pair them by similar grade to make it easier for them to understand and rely on each other... so this sort of case is rare.”

Yu Seongun laughed awkwardly.

“Cha Yi-sol’s partner is a different sex and a different grade. Well, once Cha Yi-sol becomes a formal priest, he’ll become a Grade 2 citizen too...”

“Is there no problem with that?”

“Of course there is. But because so many prospective priests fled after this incident, their numbers must have dropped quite a bit.”

“It must have been difficult for the priests to assign partners to the children.”

“That’s why they supposedly took a lot of the prospective priests’ opinions into account this time.”

This was the result.

“I heard that kid caused a huge fuss, saying they would become Cha Yi-sol’s partner.”

“I see. They are an extraordinarily spirited student. It seems it would be enjoyable to meet them together with Cha Yi-sol someday.”

“They’ve already earned a good evaluation from you without you even seeing their face. That kid will go far.”

It was not as if there were no boys among the remaining prospective priests, nor as if there were no Grade 3 citizens.

Even so, having children of different sex and different grades deliberately team up would have been difficult without a strong expression of will from the people involved.

“Mr. Cha Eun-hyuk, whom I met while buying fish-shaped bread, told me that with a really exhausted look on his face.”

“They are indeed extraordinary. So, are those two students satisfied with becoming each other’s partners?”

“Cha Yi-sol says he doesn’t have any particular thoughts about it... but the other side must like it, anyway, right?”

After all, what they themselves had insisted on had come true.

“Of course they use separate rooms, but it seems the Sun Cult has decided to merge the dorm rooms because of this incident. Broadly divided into boys’ rooms and girls’ rooms. Cha Yi-sol won’t have any reason to be lonely.”

Yu Seongun, speaking as if there was no need to worry, rubbed his tired eyes.

“... Ah, I’m so sleepy...”

“Were you unable to leave work?”

“... I couldn’t sleep because I was going around looking into this and that.”

Mainly matters concerning the City of Emptiness.

“...”

Perhaps because they had talked about Cha Yi-sol, whom Jio had shown himself especially fond of, the atmosphere had relaxed considerably.

Yu Seongun, who had been watching for the right moment, soon opened his mouth carefully.

“... Thank you for letting Hunter Park Eun-gyeom go.”

Among the things he had investigated was Park Eun-gyeom, who had been at the center of this disappearance case.

“When I checked, I heard he returned home safely.”

“I am glad to hear that.”

“I thought you’d react that way, but you’re still indifferent.”

Jio truly did not care what happened to a sinner who had entered his stomach.

'It must have merely been isolation to make humanity’s average value good.'

Yu Seongun understood Jio’s indifference.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he could not understand what eyes Jio was looking at humans with, or how he regarded himself.

Finding it difficult to get to the main point, he needlessly brought up Park Eun-gyeom and drew out the conversation.

“Of course, as soon as he returned home, the Association took him in. There’s solid evidence that he abused and even abandoned his own comrade, and on top of that, what happened in the City of Emptiness is important material for the Association.”

Yu Seongun had also contributed quite a lot to that “important material.”

“That man Park Eun-gyeom seems to be acting carefully these days after realizing why he was dragged away.”

“That is fortunate. However, I am not placing great expectations on him.”

“Well, humans don’t change that easily. But Association personnel are watching him too, so I don’t think any major problems will arise.”

“If he does something bad again while the Association is watching, that alone would truly be remarkable.”

“I think so too.”

Yu Seongun chose his words again.

“... Do you know? Your name has become quite famous lately.”

“In what way has it become famous?”

“First of all, congratulations. You’ve gained fans. Apparently, they like your paintings.”

“I am grateful that they love my humble works.”

“That’s a very modest reaction.”

Jio’s “works” had great artistic value.

There were currently two known works by Black Cloak in total.

The Breathing Sea and the City of Emptiness.

Even though the former simply depicted the sea, many said they could feel a person’s gaze and breath from it, and of the latter, people said that simply looking at it made them lonely and sad and want to return to their family and friends.

Bi Sabeol was not the only artist blinded by works of art.

'I just hope this doesn’t flow in a dangerous direction.'

Jio had an especially excellent ability to fascinate and sway people.

'There was a time when I thought that was merely Giovanni’s ability, but even when he was just a portrait, his impact was tremendous...'

He had thought this when he was first dragged to the Temple of the Deep Sea too, but if some kind of cult centered on this guy arose, it would be a real headache.

“Anyway, for now, it feels like everyone is lightly enjoying it as a new city event.”

“I see...”

“Ah, did you dislike that? I told you because it’s something that’s actually happening right now.”

“I do not like there being many people.”

“That’s... right, if you go around with your face covered, you should be able to manage it to some extent.”

Yu Seongun smiled faintly as if to say it was all right, but then he could not hold back the question that welled up inside him and asked,

“That made me curious.”

“...”

“Who are you?”

He had to know that.

“... What should we do?”

Only then would coexistence be possible.

They could live.