Chapter 95

There were three paintings Jio had drawn some time ago.

"One was Breathing Sea."

Iser nodded as if he understood.

"The space connected to the country of the deep sea."

"It is also a door in a frame."

"It seems a little too lively to call it a door, though..."

At present, a landscape painting named Breathing Sea could be found in the Temple of the Deep Sea.

A visitor would not be able to find the flowing landscape painting at a glance, but even if he was only the second one, Iser was still a dungeon master in his own right, and he could clearly feel its existence.

"In any case, that too was one of the dungeons you drew, Teacher."

"Yes. Is it inconvenient? The connection was something I had not expected either."

"It did not seem to be much of a problem."

Visitors like moths to a flame continued to challenge the country of the deep sea, but they were so insignificant that they were not a particularly threatening variable.

Those outsiders would be too frantic to notice the door's existence, so there really was no problem.

"Most of all, it did not feel out of place."

"Perhaps because I drew it while unconsciously thinking of the neighborhood where we lived together."

"Do you mean Edlen village? The atmosphere certainly does resemble it."

It had been Seo Jio who drew that painting, but even taking that into account, Breathing Sea resembled the atmosphere of the village where Giovanni had lived far too much.

Perhaps Giovanni's soul had truly dwelled in Jio's body as he drew the landscape painting as if possessed.

Of course, it was not certain.

Ever since becoming a portrait, Jio's life had completely departed from common sense, and Jio was not diligent enough of a person to interpret each and every part of it.

Once again, Jio was not thinking about anything.

"I would not say they are completely the same. I simply wanted to draw a picture, and by chance, there happened to be a dimension suited to it."

The world Giovanni had lived in was destroyed, and under Aria's lead, it became a dungeon called the country of the deep sea.

Among the dungeons vast enough to be called a "country," Jio had merely happened to draw a place that matched the scenery of Breathing Sea.

"In any case, the country of the deep sea and Breathing Sea are not, in practical terms, completely different spaces."

"Perhaps thanks to that, even though it newly appeared, it did not feel foreign."

Iser continued in a murmur.

"I was also relieved that a space appeared where I could visit you at any time, Teacher."

"I was sorry for unintentionally meddling with your interior, but I am glad if it does not bother you that much."

"Interior."

"Do you not know it because it is an English word?"

"Words from Earth are basically interpreted, so I understood it."

He had only thought that it was quite a modest word to use, considering the scale of what Jio did.

"At any rate, Breathing Sea is currently being used in that way."

Breathing Sea, where the god of the sun had been trapped, had more than enough reason to exist simply from the fact that it could welcome a new family member and bring back as much seafood as he wanted.

The rich fish from that place tasted incredible no matter how they were cooked.

"The two paintings left after that were Animal Kingdom and City of Emptiness."

They were ones he had drawn quite some time ago.

"Among them, Animal Kingdom sometimes connects to the forest where I live, and creatures from there occasionally cross over."

"Creatures, not monsters? There are monsters that take the form of perfectly ordinary animals..."

"They were definitely not monsters. Like the clams that can be found in the country of the deep sea."

"Then there is a high possibility that an existing world was already there, and a dungeon was overlaid on top of it."

"That is what I expect as well."

And to visit such a place, he would have to receive the help of another "Jio."

In that case, Synchronization would proceed again, and he felt he would become disoriented once more, so he was still refraining from visiting.

"In contrast to those two dungeons, this City of Emptiness seems to be a world I created entirely from the beginning, so I cannot help but be concerned. I worry that creating it to this extent and then abandoning it as it is would make me unqualified as a parent."

It was completely different in nature from Breathing Sea, where he had already gone and played to his heart's content, or Animal Kingdom, where he had yet to go.

Because it was such a new type of child that was not a child, he could not even begin to guess how he should treat it.

"As you can see, it is empty..."

"... That is true."

Iser could not help but agree.

"It is very empty."

Even though the dense forest of the city was so plainly exposed, it was hollow enough to make his mind go blank.

'Is it the dungeon's characteristic?'

For beings of a high order like him or his sister, it would only make their hearts feel a little hollow, but if a human entered, they would not be able to endure it unless they were considerably strong.

'... Dungeons greatly reflect the master's inner world.'

Here, Iser ended up swallowing one misconception whole.

'That must also mean Teacher's inner world is in this state.'

That was not particularly the case.

It was true that dungeons basically followed the master's inner world, but the dungeon Jio had drawn was closer to simply being a "painting" than a community bound together by fate.

He may have drawn it while immersed in the emotions and delusions of that moment, but his inner world itself was not reflected.

However, no such case had ever been heard of, except for Jio.

The many experiences he had gained by following his sister instead became poison, and Iser had no choice but to regard Jio's condition carefully.

"Is there not a single monster in this place?"

"From what I can feel, there does not seem to be."

"I cannot even feel a tiny living thing..."

"Because this painting depicts a city, not living things."

"I see."

As long as a dungeon master was also something with an ego, it was actually difficult for there to be no living things inside when they created a dungeon.

Even dungeons whose masters were undead were full of monsters related to them.

'... But this is too empty.'

Iser looked at the world filled only with achromatic colors.

The towering buildings were straight and clear gray.

Even though their entire bodies were made of transparent glass, the whole world was achromatic, and so the glass was as well.

The sky was hidden by thick fog, and only faint light barely fell through.

There were dull buildings in right-angled shapes, and there were also buildings with the curves unique to a bustling city, but...

Even though it was full of such varied forms, nothing could be felt from it.

"..."

He did not care that this was a space humans were vulnerable to.

However, he could not help worrying about Giovanni, the master of this world.

"... Do you like this space, Teacher?"

"It is like my child, so how could I not like it?"

"I see. I understand."

It was something he needed to be cautious of, that Jio had such an inner world.

'Since he possesses such a high order even while still regarding himself as human, perhaps this is only natural in a way.'

Even if those creatures called gods created dungeons themselves, they would feel more filled than this, but had it not been said that Jio was in a state where he could not even be called such a god?

Exceptions were bound to arise.

'Whether he created it consciously or unconsciously, according to my sister, he is in the state of a portrait that can become anything... so even this absurd void could be born.'

He was worried.

"..."

"Iser?"

"... It may sound a little strange if I say this suddenly..."

Iser hesitated for a moment, then asked.

"Are you happy right now?"

Perhaps naturally, the answer came at once.

"Of course."

"Truly?"

"I do not choose options that would make me unhappy in the first place."

"... I see."

Then back then, even on the day you died.

Even that choice must have been for your happiness.

'It is something I had already guessed, but it still hits hard.'

Iser, who had fallen silent, forced himself to speak.

"... So why did you visit this dungeon?"

"Because I do not want to become a terrible parent who creates something and then pays it no attention."

"Teacher, you are probably the only one who treats dungeons that way."

"Aria said dungeons and their masters are bound together by fate, so would that not make them family?"

"So that is what family means to you, Teacher... being bound together by fate."

Iser moved his lips for a moment, then asked.

"Then how about trying to create monsters?"

"Ah, increase the family first?"

"... It would be a similar meaning."

Dungeons were, in the first place, usually created to kill humans.

They came into being through the intense emotion of immense hatred toward a single species, but perhaps because Jio was not ordinary, this dungeon had none of the hostility or murderous intent that should basically have existed.

"How you cultivate this dungeon will be up to you, Teacher, but if you want to pay attention to something, increasing the number of residents would be best. After a god creates a world, the thing they pay the most attention to is its residents..."

At Iser's words, Jio tilted his head.

"Am I not a little too problematic to be called a god?"

"Well... you are not a traditional god, but, um, if I were to make an analogy."

It seemed Jio was underestimating himself.

'He really has not changed from the old days.'

However, Iser had no desire to correct that misunderstanding of Jio's.

Because the more indifferent he was to his extraordinary aspects, the farther Jio's limits would recede, and in the end, he would be able to spend more time with their mermaids.

'That means the period in which he thinks of himself as human will grow longer, but...'

That did not matter much either.

'It is not wrong, is it?'

According to his sister, his teacher was a black sheet of drawing paper.

No one knew what he could become.

"Have you thought about how you will use this place?"

"I need to think about it a little more, but..."

"Yes."

"It would be good if the family grew, certainly."

* * *

Drawing family members into being was nothing special to Jio.

"But the family member I draw this time is going to live separately from us."

"Coo?"

"I would like it to be a child who does not feel lonely even when alone."

The waterbirds Jio had drawn before were creatures that lived in groups.

Seeing the lake of waterbirds, which had become even more crowded, perhaps because they had reproduced among themselves, made him think, "Wow, this is what group living is," and Honey also disliked being separated from his family quite a bit.

"So this time, I would like a friend with strong independence."

That did not mean he wanted to draw just anything recklessly.

"I do have pride as someone who draws, you know..."

"Coo?"

"Calling myself a painter would be too grand, but in any case, City of Emptiness is one of the works I drew."

"Coo."

"I want residents that suit it to appear there."

But residents suited to City of Emptiness.

"..."

Jio, who had been sitting in the chair in his studio and thinking quietly, soon opened his mouth.

"... An invisible person?"

An office worker no one could see.

"That suits it."

"Coo?"

"Does it not?"

To Jio, a born-and-bred country boy, cities were that sort of thing.

The air was murky, and people swarmed everywhere.

They all looked similar too, yet they moved in crowds through the subway and the streets.

No emotion could be seen on those inorganic faces.

"There is a reason I returned to Gangwon Province on my second assignment. When I first moved up to the capital, it was a little eerie."

It was nothing less than a living, breathing horror movie.

Contrary to his appearance, Jio had a delicate, charming sensibility, and the city was far too bleak for him.

Now he could think, "The cogs of society, exhausted again today, are going home from work," but in the middle of his youth, he could not.

He had even felt outright fear.

"But that does not mean I can draw a person..."

"Coo?"

"What do you take your dad for, son? Your dad cannot create people."

No matter what, he had no desire to be that special.

Even if he could do it, he absolutely would not, and since he knew he could not do it anyway, there was even less need to consider that direction.

"In that sense, an invisible person."

To be precise, a suit person.

"If it is only clothes wandering around..."

"Coo."

"Yes, that certainly cannot be called human."

It was closer to a doll than that.

"..."

Just as the people of the city he had first seen had looked exactly like that.

"... Let me see..."

Jio placed his brush on City of Emptiness in front of him.

"Still, if there is only one, it would be too lonely."

"Coo."

"It would be good to have quite a few, but drawing them all by myself would be too hard, right?"

"Coo?"

"It would be fun if they came into being on their own."

It would be very fun.

The scale was far too large to call it something done simply for enjoyment, but to Jio, faced with new content, the scale of the project was not a very important issue.