Chapter 133

For reference, the rule about “not interacting with anyone weak in mind or body” was Arjio’s personal standard.

“I have picky tastes, you see.”

“That sounds rather fitting for an evil god.”

“If possible, I prefer healthy people.”

Arjio took off his hood and continued.

“People like that are worth watching even when they get angry.”

“...”

“Come now, my good sir. What is the problem this time?”

“... Ah, I apologize.”

“It is because I am too handsome, isn’t it? I understand. It happens all the time.”

“Why are you so damn obnoxious...?”

“What a fun friend to tease.”

“No...”

Ju-hyeon looked around sharply, frowning faintly as if he were on guard, and asked.

“Are you not angry even though I’m acting so insolent?”

“If you want to see me angry, the price will be rather high. Are you confident you can handle it?”

“It’s not that I want to see you angry. I mean... don’t I annoy you?”

Whether the other party was a monster or an evil being, perhaps there was no real meaning in distinguishing between them, but in any case, they would not simply leave alone a human who was insolent toward them.

That was because monsters who could think were fundamentally prideful.

In contrast, even though Ju-hyeon himself was aware that he was going off the rails, Black Cloak showed no displeasure.

If anything, he seemed to enjoy seeing him like this.

“Why should I get angry?”

“Because I’m insolent?”

“Then I would have to die first. Surely there is no one as insolent as I am.”

“That... I don’t really understand the standard.”

“Neither do I.”

The evil god smiled, his brilliant golden eyes curving.

“My principle is not to think about troublesome things.”

“You really live refreshingly.”

“In a world with so many things to enjoy, is there any reason I must suffer?”

“Ah... so that’s your sort of thing...”

He seemed like quite the hedonist.

“...”

More importantly, his colors were far more vivid than Ju-hyeon had imagined.

Ju-hyeon’s eyes narrowed sourly.

'These are colors I never would have imagined when he was hidden under that dull black cloak.'

Vivid dark-red hair and golden eyes with a cold light to them.

“... They’re nice colors.”

“Do you like these colors best?”

“Pardon?”

“As I thought, you seem to like stimulating and honest people.”

“I’ve never really thought that...”

“Then, especially for you, I shall remain Arjio today to suit your tastes.”

“... Hm? Ah?”

Ju-hyeon, who had somehow found himself seated on the sofa, asked.

“Do you call that form you’re in now ‘Arjio’?”

“That is right.”

“Then... you have other forms too?”

“The form is the same. Only the colors are different.”

“What are you, a chameleon?”

“A chameleon. You could say it is a distant relative of mine.”

“You’re joking, right...?”

“Our ability to change here and there according to the situation could be called similar.”

Before long, his colors changed to a bright platinum, as if soaked in sunlight.

“Would you not agree?”

“...”

What was this?

“... Is it something like a split personality?”

“It is not that my personality is different.”

“Your way of speaking and expression are this different, and it’s not a different personality?”

“As I said, I am only changing colors.”

“... Ah, I see.”

He roughly understood.

'It feels like changing clothes.'

Changing clothes did not change the person inside them, so from a god’s perspective, it could be a similar sort of game.

It was true that one must not judge mysterious beings by human standards.

Ju-hyeon nodded.

“I understand what you mean.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“... But I’m, um, more comfortable with the red one.”

“Is that so?”

In an instant, Black Cloak changed into a flamboyant impression, as if fire had blazed up, and introduced himself.

“I am Arjio. If you promise to become my friend, I shall tell you my other name as well. I swear on my honorable friends that it will not harm you.”

“... That...”

There were still parts Ju-hyeon did not understand.

“Why do you even need a friend, a pen pal, in the first place?”

“Because I am timid.”

“Did you kill every timid person in the world before coming here?”

“It is terribly difficult to make friends.”

“And I was easy?”

If one were to be precise, Ju-hyeon himself, who had been betrayed by the world and become as sensitive as possible, was obviously harder.

No matter whom he grabbed among passersby, it would have been easier to make them his friend, so Ju-hyeon was dumbfounded.

Then Arjio said.

“You are not frightened of me, are you?”

“...”

“Everyone else is too busy looking at me strangely the moment they see me.”

“... I, I see.”

That was certainly true.

'Most people would either fear him or revere him.'

Black Cloak’s current status in Korea felt exactly like that.

He was famous enough that even children knew him, yet his danger level was high in practice; he was strangely kind, so he did not provoke aversion, but it was impossible not to feel fear...

'He really is a ghost story.'

Or an urban legend.

If Ju-hyeon had met him under ordinary circumstances, he probably would have reacted in much the same way.

There was nothing good about getting involved with a mystery of dubious identity like Black Cloak.

“...”

He simply did not have the energy to react sensitively or normally.

'... To begin with, I don’t even really know how things ended up like this...'

He was barely holding on to his sanity, but his sense of reality was slowly dulling.

'It would be far more convincing to say I’m dreaming instead.'

That was also why he was answering more comfortably.

From the moment he made Sankalut’s sigil, he had been half out of his mind, and since he had done it intending to die from the start, he had been hazy the entire time afterward.

In the midst of that, Black Cloak had appeared, and being invited into that portrait added yet another layer to the unreality Ju-hyeon was feeling now.

He did not have the energy to react sensitively or normally.

“... This place... is very nice.”

Ju-hyeon looked around and spoke.

“It’s much cozier and more peaceful than I imagined.”

“I like my home very much too.”

“Is this place your home?”

“I can make homes in several places, but this feels like a hometown.”

“Is that so? A hometown...”

It certainly had an atmosphere worthy of being described that way.

“So what should I do?”

“Eat and play.”

“Pardon?”

“Are you going to work?”

“... I’ve been suspended.”

“Then you can have a meal!”

“Why does it turn out that way?”

More than that, he did not understand why Black Cloak was so fixated on food.

'Come to think of it, I did hear most of Black Cloak’s gifts were snacks...'

Was his true ultimate goal really to fatten humans?

'Can that be called an evil god?'

Ju-hyeon felt strange.

Since Black Cloak called himself an evil god, Ju-hyeon had thought that must be the case, but the more they talked, the less he seemed like an evil god.

Was this some highly advanced deception?

An act meant to win over a thoroughly exhausted human?

Or mercy, scattered as a god might give alms to a beggar?

Or a momentary whim?

“... Should I at least help you prepare the meal?”

“I cannot leave the kitchen to a guest.”

“Then should I just wait?”

“Would you like a cup of tea?”

“That would be nice, but...”

Then, for some reason, a teddy bear brought tea.

“... A teddy bear?”

“He is my father.”

“Your father?”

“He is soft.”

“Why?”

The fruit tea the teddy bear served was damn delicious.

“I’m suddenly not hungry.”

“Ah, dear. I have made another mistake.”

“Please don’t make mistakes with a frail human.”

“You do not look all that frail to me.”

“So what kind of mistake was it, exactly?”

“This tea gives a feeling of fullness.”

“So you shouldn’t drink it before a meal?”

“That is about right.”

“Aha.”

Ju-hyeon nodded.

“So it really is a dream.”

“It is reality.”

“I’m sleepy.”

“Then sleep.”

A large hand stroked Ju-hyeon’s head.

“Sleep deeply, wake, have your meal, eat even your snacks after that.”

“...”

“Then, after you wash and lie down in bed, I shall sit by your pillow and listen to those screams.”

“... Yes.”

“After we chatter endlessly, we will have become friends. All you need to do is talk to me.”

“Yes.”

“I wonder what your anger will taste like...”

A voice containing interest and mercy fell over his head, and soon that hand closed Ju-hyeon’s eyes for him.

“I can be a good friend to you.”

Because it truly seemed like he could.

“...”

“Do not dream.”

Ju-hyeon let go of everything and fell asleep.

“... Hm, I see.”

Yu Seongun nodded.

“So right now, an Association researcher is sleeping at your house?”

“It has been two days, but he still has not woken.”

“Two whole days have passed already? I only stop by at dawn, so I didn’t know that.”

The background inside Jio’s Portrait changed its appearance according to the changes within it.

If it was morning, it showed morning; if evening, evening.

Sometimes a new animal appeared, or an unknown flower bloomed.

'That aside, to think two days have already passed inside the painting in that short time.'

Perhaps because the “pen pal” he had been clamoring for all this time had appeared, Jio seemed very pleased by this guest’s visit.

After all, the flow of time in that world inside the portrait changed according to the mood of Jio, its master.

'Back when I visited, had a meal, and came back out of the frame, only about twenty minutes had passed. He said that, based on the time inside the portrait, it flows quickly when Jio is enjoying himself and slowly when he is resting...'

In other words, he was very much enjoying himself now.

Yu Seongun gave his characteristic mild smile.

“I’m very happy that you have a new friend.”

“He and I are not friends yet. I will always give guests an opportunity. He may become my friend, but he may also not.”

“I’m glad you have such an open mind.”

What a terrible disaster it would be for an individual to be forcibly made friends with The Root’s eye.

'It’s incredibly merciful that he gives them at least a choice.'

In any case, what Yu Seongun wanted to say was something else.

“You said that prospective friend tried to summon an evil god?”

“That is correct.”

“Why did you stop him?”

“He had the face of someone who, if he caused trouble, would cause an enormous catastrophe.”

“Oh...”

Perhaps because The Root was saying it, it certainly sounded credible.

“You said he got suspended, so he doesn’t go to work?”

“That is correct. It did not seem as though he had done anything wrong, so I wonder why he received such a disciplinary action.”

“They probably forced him to take leave. Well, it’s common enough.”

“Are such coercive measures common?”

“Yes. It is also a way of pressuring someone to resign. The atmosphere at the Association and the Collector are completely different.”

In truth, even among Korea’s top three guilds, and among them the Collector, it was rather unique by global standards.

Should he say it was one of the few groups that treated humans as humans?

“We receive all sorts of benefits thanks to the Guild Master personally doting on the employees, but the Association is... more like a den of demons. Since it’s such a massive organization, there are places that do nothing but work without ulterior motives, and there are also places where factional fights get bloody.”

“I see.”

“That new guest was probably part of a team where there was quite a lot of political maneuvering. In the Association, a single team is large enough to be assigned an entire research lab building, so all sorts of things tend to happen there without much consistency. They’re isolated.”

Just as many places were suddenly wiped out.

That was because there were also works that contaminated or infected the mind or body itself.

If they had to research and analyze such things, there was no way only one or two people would die.

“There are an enormous number of people working at the Association, but the work that Association has to do is far greater in amount and even more dangerous. Various clinical trials are also being carried out for different projects...”

“Are you sure they are clinical trials and not human experimentation?”

“They just call them clinical trials so citizens will like the sound of it. Well, the team I used to be in had a very moderate atmosphere, and there were no projects where human sacrifice was essential. So I do not know all that much.”

The atmosphere of the research labs varied wildly from team to team.

“So... hm...”

Yu Seongun spoke with a slightly awkward expression.

“It means it really isn’t a rare occurrence.”

“That is extremely frightening.”

“Of course, I am a little surprised that he even tried to summon an evil god.”

“Is that so?”

“Usually, people don’t go that far.”

Yu Seongun laughed hollowly.

“But even if it had gone that far, it probably would have been resolved somehow. If it happened at the Seoul branch lab, the research director or the Association President would hear at once that an incident had occurred, and then that person would step in eventually... Even if he had succeeded in making a deal with an evil god, it would have ended well.”

At that, Jio summarized.

“It sounds as if everything is maintained by the Association President’s mercy.”

“That isn’t wrong. That is exactly the current situation on Earth.”

They were in a situation where they were barely maintaining their lives by the mercy granted by a small number of strong individuals.

It was a peace that would shatter if even one of them harbored wicked intentions.

“That is why this country can avoid collapse despite so many dangerous items being concentrated in Korea. Korea is especially well organized, and there are many strong Hunters too.”

“A blessing amid misfortune.”

“In any case, what happened to that guest is unfortunate. I came to the current Collector because I got sick of that atmosphere of turning people into tools and means. That place really drives people insane.”

It had a talent for horribly ruining even people whose limbs and convictions were intact.

The even more ridiculous part was that precisely because of that, they could collect all sorts of data, which greatly helped development.

Korea’s rapid development rested upon countless sacrifices like these.

“If you want to survive in an Association research lab, you need the mindset that, in the end, you’re on your own.”

Trust the abilities of others, but never trust or rely on the people themselves.

“In truth, this isn’t limited to the Association.”

“Are all other people living like this as well?”

“The research labs are especially intense, but... well, more or less.”

It was truly unfortunate, but in this small country, tragedies worse than that were all too common.

“Still, people usually don’t think of making a deal with an evil god. Was there someone who egged him on?”

“I do not know.”

“If your conversation with that guest ends well, would you arrange a meeting with me too? I would like to hear his story.”

“If possible, I will do so.”

“If there are signs of danger, then I should investigate those parts.”

It felt as unsettling as when he had investigated the turbulent sea before the mermaid siblings appeared.

Yu Seongun maintained his smile but let out a short sigh.

“... If there’s a problem, send me a letter. I’ll come right away.”

He entrusted the poor person betrayed by everyone in the world not to a human, but to The Root.

As a Gardener, he found The Root’s mercy far more trustworthy than that of another human.