Chapter 60

"I've been wondering for a while."

Yu Seongun asked after they arrived at the hotel.

"Is your personality split?"

"Are you asking if my personality is split?"

"It's, how should I put it, like multiple personalities."

"..."

Jio, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed and thinking for a moment, tilted his head.

"I do not know."

"... Really?"

"But I do know that I change from time to time."

Jio pulled back the black hood that had been completely covering his face. This time as well, Honey, who had been hidden inside, dropped onto the bed with a soft thump and rolled. Jio picked Honey up into his hand.

Soon after, Jio's "color" changed.

"..."

"..."

Platinum-blond hair close to silver, and emerald eyes that resembled the sea at a famous resort.

"... Uh..."

Life entered the expression that had only ever been gloomy and calm.

It was the expression of a very gentle, mature person. There was even a mature playfulness in the way he smiled broadly, as if to show it off.

"... So, did your personality change?"

"I do not think of this as my personality changing."

Jio's manner of speaking was still formal. But unlike the earlier impassivity, which had felt like a machine spitting out entered words, his voice now had calm inflection.

"Because even now, I am 'Jio.'"

Even so, Black Cloak's words were true.

"..."

Yu Seongun asked.

"... How many of those 'Jios' are there?"

"As far as I know, three for now."

"I see."

He could be certain.

'The Portrait of Jio is at the center, and countless personalities coexist within it.'

He felt he would have to hear more to know how such a thing was possible.

"The current Jio... can I just call you Jio?"

"I do not mind. I was called that before as well."

"If you were 'called that,' does that mean you have a separate real name?"

"It is not enough to call it an alias or a True Name."

Jio, colored in pale hues, looked like a remarkably polite and refined nobleman, but the faint smile he wore let Yu Seongun sense a light cheerfulness. He gave an entirely different impression from Seo Jio, who was heavier than a thousand-pound weight.

"At one time, I used the name 'Giovanni' in this form."

Should he say he looked like a young man who was kind and gentle inside, and also healthy and spirited? He seemed like the sort who would be adored by elders wherever he went and make plenty of friends.

"People calling me 'Jio' was nothing more than a nickname. So there is nothing strange about you calling me Jio, Mr. Yu Seongun."

"... That means you're a different person from 'Seo Jio,' right?"

"A completely different person who resembles him very much. Now we are simply one, but in the past, that was how it was."

"... I see..."

If so, the likelihood that a person named "Seo Jio" had really existed on this Earth also went up.

'I'll have to talk to the Guild Master about this part. He seemed to be investigating something, so he might still have information.'

As Yu Seongun mulled over the Guild Master, who turned gloomy in strange places, one hypothesis occurred to him.

'What if the Portrait of Jio... is repeating death and resurrection?'

Dungeons and Root entities had already revealed that dimensions other than Earth existed in this world.

Then the "Giovanni" before his eyes now might also have been a kind of "Portrait of Jio" who had lived in another dimension.

'... If you look at it that way, it also explains why the personality of the portrait called Jio is the center. After finishing one life, he may have returned to the state of a portrait and be slowly reviewing his previous personalities...'

Jio had clearly said, "as far as I know, three for now." That meant more personalities could exist, and that Jio himself knew that possibility.

If this hypothesis of Yu Seongun's was correct, then how long would this portrait's review of its personalities continue? Would it ever end? If, by any chance, it were to review a personality that bore hostility toward humans...

"..."

No, for now, it was nothing but a delusion.

'... But I do know for now that there is a center called the Portrait of Jio, and that countless personalities named Jio exist around it. That's more than enough reason to prepare.'

Yu Seongun's eyes shifted.

'If the situation is that those are something like this portrait's past lives, then despite those countless personalities, his way of thinking, which allows him to define himself simply as Jio, also makes sense.'

After briefly organizing his thoughts, Yu Seongun asked.

"... Then is there anything I should be careful about? Even if the person Seo Jio likes sweet potatoes, the person Giovanni might hate sweet potatoes. I'd appreciate it if you told me anything I should keep in mind like that."

"I do not think there is much you need to be careful about."

"But, you know, what was it. If we set up something like rules, I can be more courteous too... Let's make each other comfortable in advance."

"Hmm..."

Perhaps his nature, sensitive to courtesy and good and evil, was maintained despite the change in personality, because fortunately, Yu Seongun's words got through. The young man of pale but gentle colors answered after thinking for a moment.

"It is difficult for me to leave patients alone when I see them."

"... Oh?"

Come to think of it, he had checked on Cha Eun-hyuk's condition before, when Honey had apparently bitten him.

"Did you say you were a doctor? No, a priest?"

"Both are correct. As a priest, I also did a doctor's work. I went further than that and traveled around rural villages to build hospitals and treat people."

"That's impressive."

"The truth is, even if you ask me to tell you rules right away, nothing comes to mind."

The young man smiled awkwardly and continued.

"Perhaps just that I would prefer it if you did not insult the Sun God in front of me."

"Speaking ill of someone is rude. I'll be careful so that never happens."

"Thank you, and..."

"And?"

"..."

Giovanni, who seemed to be recalling something, said,

"I may be a little sensitive about mermaids."

"... Mermaids?"

Come to think of it, even on Jio's first sightseeing trip, he had uncommonly brought up the subject of "mermaids." Based on what he felt was a reasonable inference, Yu Seongun asked,

"When you were Giovanni, did you live with mermaids?"

"Yes. It was a world where two races, humans and mermaids, lived together."

"In what sense are you sensitive?"

"In various ways..."

Jio shrugged.

"I was eaten by a mermaid and died."

Just as he was thinking that it was certainly a subject one could feel sensitive about, Jio continued in the same neat voice.

"But that was not what the child wanted."

"..."

"At the time, humans and mermaids were going through a major conflict, and my students and I were captured for the crime of having formed connections and received an absurd punishment."

"... So that mermaid child ate you?"

"They must have been hungry."

He added a composed smile.

"I was already dying as well."

"... This wasn't how I intended to hear about your death..."

"Was it a sudden story?"

"A little."

"I do not remember it well either."

At the same time as he said that, the color drained away in an instant, and Jio returned to shadow-like black. He was the person Yu Seongun knew well as the "Portrait of Jio" and "Seo Jio."

Jio, whose impression had sunk coldly without even a trace of laughter, continued.

"I am still in the middle of remembering."

"Do you remember the memories of each personality slowly over time like that?"

"There are times when I become confused. Whether I liked the sea, or whether I disliked swimming. Such minor details can differ between 'Jios.'"

"That sounds like a real headache. Are you all right...?"

"It is not as confusing a process as you imagine."

Jio's voice was heavy and calm.

"It is closer to remembering childhood memories I had forgotten."

"If so, that's a relief."

Suddenly, Yu Seongun felt he knew where the heavy silence he sensed from Jio originated.

'... This portrait was formed from so many deaths that I can't even imagine them.'

That was why he had no choice but to be this heavy and quiet.

Because that was what death was.

* * *

"..."

His consciousness.

Rose to the surface.

"... Ah..."

He saw the sun.

"..."

"Um, are you all right?"

He heard a youthful voice.

"Can you breathe?"

"... Cough, ahem."

"Thank goodness, you're awake."

"..."

When he opened his eyes, he saw pure-white pupils.

Eyes of a mysterious color containing the hue of pearls were something only mermaids possessed.

"... A mermaid?"

"Do not worry. I have no intention of harming you."

"Why am I here..."

Only then did his mind clear.

"Ah."

He had gone out to sea and been seized by some mermaid, then dragged into the ocean.

"Did you save me?"

"Ah, yes."

The mermaid, who appeared to be male, spoke with apology in that youthful face.

"I am sorry. It was my noona who dragged you into the sea."

"I have never heard of mermaids eating humans... Was that not a superstition?"

"It is a superstition. She did not drag you in to eat you. It is just that my noona is very curious about humans, so I think she pulled you in to observe or analyze you in more detail."

"Thanks to you, I thought I was going to die, but I survived. Thank you for your kindness."

The young mermaid seemed to think he would get angry, but he was not particularly angry. It was because he remembered that the mermaid who had dragged him underwater had borne no malice, and that she had been very young.

Even if humans and mermaids had a rather poor relationship, he had no ill feelings toward mermaids. In particular, mermaids had a different way of thinking and emotional system from humans, so it would not be strange even if one suddenly dragged a human into the sea.

"Hmm..."

Looking around, he saw that it was the beach where he had first been taking a walk.

"You brought me all the way here."

"My noona caused you trouble, so of course we must ensure at least your safety."

"I know very well that I am extremely fortunate to have met such a kind mermaid."

After all, he might have died.

"However, there is a village around here. You seem to be quite a young individual even for a mermaid, and if you stay here too long, the people may attack you."

"Ah, was there a village here?"

"Yes. Recently, as many as three people lost family to mermaids, so they are very agitated. If they see a young mermaid like you, they will try to torment you out of that resentment... I am grateful that you showed me kindness like this, but you had better return quickly."

"Thank you for telling me the information needed to protect myself."

Perhaps it was the young mermaid's first time interacting with a human, because he looked very happy.

"I am glad that the first human I spoke with is such a good person. Do you live in this village?"

"I was looking around because I was thinking of settling here. I am a priest who left the temple to open a hospital, but I suppose mermaids do not like followers of the Sun very much."

"My noona and I do not mind such things."

Mermaids served the god of the deep sea, and humans served the god of the sun.

Between humans and mermaids, who differed in their thoughts, eating habits, and everything else and so easily caused conflicts large and small, this kind of gentle conversation was like a miracle.

Perhaps the young mermaid did not want to let that small miracle slip away.

"My name is Iser. May I visit you from time to time? If it is all right with you, I will bring my noona as well and have her apologize properly."

"Iser... It means the Milky Way in the language of the sea, does it not? It is a good name."

The weak had to be protected and treated kindly. Even if the subject was not human but a mermaid, the warmth of the sun could reach anywhere.

"My name is Giovanni."

That was how Giovanni formed a bond with the young mermaids.

It was a happy time.

* * *

"..."

Lying on the hotel bed, Giovanni blinked.

"... Ah..."

He was crying.

This, too, must be lingering attachment.

* * *

"..."

"Peep."

"..."

"Gurgle."

"..."

"Grumble grumble..."

"Hup."

Only when he heard his son's dissatisfied cries did Jio come to his senses.

"The assimilation rate has risen considerably."

The last thing he remembered was about 31 percent, but in just one day, it had become 59 percent. After checking Giovanni's assimilation rate, which had been inflated by nearly half, Jio finished grasping the situation.

"Is it because I had a dream?"

No, rather than that.

"The one I saw at the ceremony hall back then..."

The child with blue hair.

"..."

"Gurgle?"

"Daddy isn't sleeping."

"Peep."

"That's right."

It was already hazy because it was a dream, but for some reason, the child he had seen at the ceremony hall and the child he had seen in the dream had looked quite similar.

Their hair color had been similar, so that might have served as the trigger for him to recall Giovanni's memory.

'Could it perhaps be that child I saw in the dream?'

Thinking that, Jio soon shook his head.

"Impossible."

No matter how generously he looked at it, wasn't it a story of separate dimensions that could only meet after crossing at least twenty-five alleys? There was no way a child who should be in Giovanni's dimension would be in Seo Jio's dimension.

"Even if it were true, calling him someone I know as a Giovanni of 33.3 percent purity would be a little shameless."

Should he say it felt like becoming a wicked boss who paid wages with gift certificates tucked in?

"..."

Well, anyway.

Jio decided to just sleep.

"Lie down, Honey."

"Peep."

"You're warm."

No matter what past or future came crashing down, Jio, who had thick nerves, did not care.

Though it seemed like it would be fine for him to care a little.