Chapter 110

Jio's cabin had been made into an environment where anyone human would feel at ease.

"The air is incredibly mild."

"I think that is because the weather is always like spring here."

"That may be part of it, but..."

There was a sense of security, as if he were being held in a parent's arms.

"... I feel like I would sleep well if I slept here."

"You actually would."

Jio nodded, then asked.

"Is there any meal you would like?"

"... Oh, are you going to treat me to a meal?"

"That is why I invited you, Yu Seongun."

"So that was the purpose."

For Yu Seongun, who had accepted the invitation in order to analyze Jio's identity, it was a little embarrassing.

'Well, there is no way this grandma-like guy would ever treat a guest carelessly.'

Whatever his purpose was, Jio had received Yu Seongun here as a guest.

Since Jio was already the sort to hand out gifts to everyone he met, there was no way he would offer Yu Seongun nothing at all.

"Anything is fine with me, but if I say that, you will hate it."

"There is no such dish in the world as 'anything.'"

"But I really am not picky. I do not have any preferences either."

"Then I will prepare it as I wish. Is there anything you cannot eat?"

"No, I do not have allergies or anything like that, so I am fine."

"Understood."

When Jio nodded, something came over from the kitchen, making soft boing-boing-boing sounds.

What was that? Yu Seongun's eyes were drawn to the white ball of cotton.

"Thank you for helping me welcome our guest, Father."

"Squeak."

A teddy bear holding a teacup...?

"..."

No, a teddy bear?

'... A teddy bear brought me a welcome drink?'

Yu Seongun fell into confusion.

As someone who often came into contact with Root entities, Yu Seongun was especially sensitive to the energy of things that were not human.

Because of that, he could usually grasp what sort of existence the other party was, and in his opinion, the teddy bear before him contained an energy close to divinity.

'... Wait, if this divine power resembles the sun...'

Having finished judging, Yu Seongun turned to Jio.

"... You said he is your father?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Then is he the previous Sun God?"

"That is right."

"Thanks to that, I understand now."

The energy that was not divinity itself but close to it, and the peculiar tingling warmth of the sun that he had felt from Jio several times.

This teddy bear was likely the Sun God who held the power left after passing his divinity on to Jio.

"Still, does one normally go into a teddy bear...?"

"He said this body felt familiar, so I could not change it."

"I do not really understand that either. How could a god be familiar with a doll's body?"

"Since he had gotten used to eating in this body..."

"So in the end, you were the cause."

"That is right."

"..."

With an awkward motion, Yu Seongun accepted the teacup the Sun God offered him.

"... Thank you."

"Squeak-squeak."

Did he just laugh?

'Live long enough, and you even get to see a god laugh.'

Of course, the fact that the Sun God was inside an old teddy bear was already astonishing in itself.

"How fascinating. Usually, previous gods and later gods do not get along."

"Is there any reason I should not get along with Father? He is family."

"Hmm..."

There were many reasons.

"... My guess is that it is because the difference in ways of thinking is so large. A god who must govern the life and death of living things and dimensions has a different scope of thought, even if they inherit the same divinity."

It took an extremely long time for a single divine age to end, so the principle was similar to how it would be hard for a primitive person and a modern person to get along.

"Especially if the person was human and then became a god."

"..."

Jio asked.

"Then am I a god?"

"... Oh... That... Hmm..."

"So there are gods who do nothing like this. Gods are less impressive than I thought."

"... I think you can think of it however you want."

"As expected, I think I am human. Nothing has changed very much."

"Then I suppose that is what you are."

Apparently, Jio seemed to think of himself as a "human who inherited the license called divinity."

If that was not a god, then what was it? But since he himself said so, Yu Seongun kept his mouth shut for now.

'It is true, at least, that the ego called Jio has not been devoured by divinity.'

Becoming a god meant taking hold of the qualifications of nature and fate, and giving up the thought process of a living creature.

Even so, Jio still enjoyed meals, cooked well, and found fulfillment in sharing with others, so there were certainly many problems with calling him a god.

No matter what happened, that existence called "Jio" would not change.

"..."

Because he was the Root?

'... How can an existence like this be possible?'

Yu Seongun looked at Jio as he entered the kitchen, saying he would prepare the meal.

'I do not think he is not the Root. As a Gardener, there is no way I would mistake that. This portrait is the Root in a form humans can perceive, and in a format close to a personality.'

But he could not understand the process that had led to it.

'That is not simply living on top of the Root. If that were the case, this space and Jio should have been separate entities. But they are not, and the fact that they are attached like bone and flesh like this means...'

As Yu Seongun was pondering, the teddy bear approached with soft, plush footsteps.

"Hm?"

"Squeak?"

"... I am sorry, but I do not understand what you are saying."

"Squeak, squeak-squeak. Squeak,"

"..."

Seeing the teddy bear wave its cotton paws insistently in front of him, Yu Seongun felt troubled.

'Is it blasphemy to find a god cute? Religion is not my specialty.'

Even if he was in a state without the divinity that could be called the heart of a god, it was true that he was still an existence close to a god.

Worried he might make a mistake with the teddy bear stuffed generously with cotton, Yu Seongun observed him carefully.

"... Ah."

Soon, Yu Seongun lifted the teacup.

"You are telling me to drink it?"

"Squeak."

"Thank you."

Yu Seongun was briefly surprised by the teacup that fit snugly in his hand.

"... Oh..."

This feels nice.

'It is smooth, but soft.'

Should he say it felt like touching silk-like fur?

It was clearly a hard teacup, but it was so soft it felt as if powder might rub off onto his hand, and despite its stable thickness, it was quite light and easy to lift.

'The grip is good too.'

Even though it had not been made to fit Yu Seongun's own hand, it had a shape that was easy to hold.

"It somehow feels fluffy..."

It was like a teacup made of clouds or whipped cream.

"As expected, Jio does not use even a single teacup carelessly."

"Squeak-squeak."

"I am sorry, but I really do not understand. What did you say?"

The white teddy bear, which had a golden color like lightly toasted rice, soon pointed at something.

"... Ah."

It was Honey.

"Gurgle?"

"... We saw each other earlier too, right? I was invited, okay? I am a guest, okay?"

"Glorp."

"It feels like you are letting me off."

He wondered why the teddy bear had pointed at Honey, but it seemed he had probably wanted to tell him that this teacup, too, had been drawn and created by Jio.

Yu Seongun understood without realizing it.

"No wonder the texture is unusual."

The pale pink tea inside it also smelled good.

"... This is..."

A fresh sweetness that was similar to vanilla beans, yet completely different.

There was a slightly sharp note somewhere, and it had a savory side like milk mixed with honey, but the lightness unique to plants was added, so the fragrance was not too heavy.

Yu Seongun narrowed his eyes.

'Is this really a tea humans can drink?'

Without realizing it, he used his appraisal skill.

"..."

Screw it.

'It says it is edible.'

Yu Seongun threw the small amount of tea straight into his mouth.

"... It is sweet."

Usually, when people called something tea, its sweetness existed only in its aroma, but this tea, which did not seem to have any sugar added, was sweet enough to make his mind hazy for an instant.

It was as if it had pressed the limit of pleasant sweetness full to bursting.

'It also has a sharp aroma like pepper.'

Sweetness and pepper sounded strange, but after drinking it himself, he could feel that the two aromas did not clash and instead blended well.

The vivid sweetness and the tingling aroma that pricked at his brain made his whole head feel full.

It had a pleasure that was hard to savor leisurely, like a course meal served without pause.

'This would be difficult to enjoy in a relaxed frame of mind...'

Around then, Yu Seongun frowned.

"Urgh."

He felt his eyes sting as if his tongue had eaten something spicy.

It was a strange sensation that was hard to call pain, and it was similar to the feeling of putting mint-scented eye wash into his eyes.

After he waited about three seconds, the sensation that had heated his eyeballs vanished in an instant.

"... Maybe this is why it is called 'silk where tears bloom.'"

Perhaps because heat had risen in a sensitive organ, a few tears came out.

'It definitely feels like my vision has become clearer.'

It would be difficult to enjoy with a comfortable mind, Yu Seongun thought once again.

How could he drink tea in comfort when it was packed with flavor and aroma enough to leave his mouth stunned, made his eyes sting after he drank it until tears came out, and even had the effect of improving his eyesight?

"..."

So this is how I gain eyesight for free from a single cup of tea.

"I have mixed feelings..."

"Gurgle?"

"... Have you tried this too?"

"Glorp."

"It was delicious."

Yu Seongun smacked his lips.

'It feels like I have come to a place where I should not be.'

The favor of the Root was too excessive.

Even on Earth, there were many stories of "people who stepped into the world of the gods and had their identity as humans threatened."

'A representative example in the East would be the stories of the Peach Blossom Spring.'

It was difficult to say this was exactly the same situation, but he could not help feeling that much of a sense of danger.

'This is burdensome...'

If he ate and slept here for about three days, he felt as if he would leave as an immortal.

Meanwhile, the homeowner had no idea what Yu Seongun was feeling.

"Hmm."

Jio was planning the meal he would serve Yu Seongun.

'Koreans run on rice.'

That was right.

"What I need is rice, side dishes, and soup."

Fortunately, there was freshly cooked rice he had made at dawn, and because it had been cooked with water boiled with all sorts of vegetables and medicinal herbs, its flavor was excellent.

The grains of rice, faintly tinted pale green, were especially sweet and savory.

'Next, side dishes...'

As for fish, he had one salmon he had caught from the Breathing Sea, and he also had ham and sausages stored respectfully in the underground cellar, while all kinds of vegetables were growing sturdily in the vegetable garden behind the cabin.

"I can grill the fish, steam the meat, and stir-fry the vegetables."

Perhaps having heard his mutter, which carried a strange determination, Yu Seongun called out from the living room.

"Jio, I am going to be able to walk out as a human, right?"

"You will walk out healthily on two feet."

Though he would have to be prepared to become a pig.

'I will send that scrawny office worker back full no matter what.'

Jio decided to stake the honor of his grandmother, who had been a generous matriarch in the village.

For the soup, he prepared the ox bone soup he had simmered before.

The soup made by boiling the leg bones of a tree-antler deer had an incredible savory depth, and simply slicing some green onions over it would be enough for it to fulfill the role of soup.

'They are not dishes that take that long, but...'

Jio called Dana, who had been lying on the kitchen floor.

"Daughter."

"Meow."

"Are you meowing halfheartedly because you are tired?"

"Mraow."

"You have returned to normal."

Jio placed a basket in Dana's mouth.

"Could you go to the vegetable garden and pick some eggplants and bok choy for me?"

"Mrrrnnng..."

Fortunately, Dana did not refuse the errand.

"Good girl."

Dana, whose body had recently grown to the size of an ordinary cat, stretched long like an arched bridge, then wandered out the back door with the basket in her mouth.

After seeing that, Honey followed after his younger sibling's errand.

'Since Honey went too, they will take care of it.'

Reassured, Jio scooped the rice.

It was a heaping bowl of rice filled with the generous hospitality of a country grandma.

The light yet deep aroma unique to vegetable stock stimulated the taste buds from miles away.

And it would stimulate Yu Seongun's taste buds too.

'Become a pig, ta-da...'

Jio, who had spent his childhood in the arms of grandmothers, had been taught to share a little more food than necessary.