"Was a Saint made in that way too?"
At the man's blunt words, Yu Seong-un, who was sitting leaning against the gallery wall, chuckled.
"It is not certain."
"But he is following the procedure of becoming a Saint exactly as Mr. Yu Seong-un said."
"In the first place, isn't the object of Divinity considering the human here? It's a similar case to the God of Death."
A Saint was someone who could handle the Divinity they serve like a friend or family even without any consideration.
Ju-hyeon, who was maintaining a human life fine after receiving Jio's consideration to the fullest, could not be said to be the same as them.
"However, I meant there is a possibility."
Because there are plenty of examples where an ordinary human ultimately became a Saint solely with their own wide vessel.
"From the start, viewing that giant mystery as a single young man is something nonsensical to ordinary humans. The fact that that is possible is the same as Mr. Ju-hyeon having proved his qualification."
"If he proves his qualifications one by one like that, he might eventually end up becoming a Saint. That is exactly the reason why the Lady Moon Cult could artificially create Saints all this time."
"Even so, we do not know what type of Saint Mr. Ju-hyeon would become. Above all, the probability that he won't become a Saint because Jio doesn't want it or because Mr. Ju-hyeon's qualities are insufficient is higher."
So to speak.
"Mr. Ju-hyeon has just climbed one step of the stairs."
Assuming there are stairs from an ordinary person to a Saint, Ju-hyeon has climbed only one step. And before reaching that destination, no matter how many steps he climbed, he would only remain as an ordinary human.
"So I view that there is no need for Senior to worry to that extent. It is still nothing more than a realm of imagination."
"It's not a matter for me to worry about. But did you explain that part well to the person involved too?"
"I felt like my collar would be grabbed if I didn't explain properly, so I poured it all out. That person, his face is truly gentle but he has quite a temper surprisingly. He is an unexpectedly scary person, and has grit."
"An ordinary human does not sympathize with a giant mystery. unless maybe it's a 'human who merely looks ordinary'."
The man clicked his tongue.
"It's good to tell him to be careful."
"I did tell him but…."
"Indeed, if it were a matter that could be settled by speaking, all tragedies in this world wouldn't have existed."
"The person himself was trying to restrain, but well."
Because they could treat the noble Divinity as an equal position nonchalantly, many Saints in history became god's family and friends. That wasn't something that worked just because the person himself controlled it.
"Certainly, he has qualities."
Yu Seong-un swept his neck.
"Even so, the current situation doesn't look that bad."
"Isn't it that that bad habit of Mr. Yu Seong-un has relapsed?"
"Ah, of course, there is a little bit of that too but."
How could he endure this interest as Bisabeol's curator and the Gardeners of the snowy field?
Even though the Source is originally an existence that can become anything and embrace anything, it was questionable whether such a being could also embrace a god's child.
However, it was not a judgment that considered only Yu Seong-un's own interest.
"In the first place, Jio is reluctant to wield the human he cherishes as he pleases."
Yu Seong-un shrugged his shoulders.
"So as long as Mr. Ju-hyeon doesn't wish for it, that person will continue to remain as an ordinary human."
"Is that a part you can be certain about?"
"Because there is a result of observing and analyzing Jio until now."
"Regarding parts related to rules, an existence of the Source is more reliable than a human."
"So for now, I told him to move as his heart goes."
"If there is no way to do otherwise, that would be better."
The man nodded.
"Since the fact that 'Jio's Portrait' embraced the human called Ju-hyeon must also be because he liked such a foolish nature, it might be a presumptuous act for people like us to add words and twist that direction."
"...."
"If 'Jio's Portrait' is satisfied with such parts of the person called Ju-hyeon, it would be good to leave it as is. You too, refrain from doing nonsensical things just because it looks fun."
"…Would there be any objection?"
Yu Seong-un made an expression that he was sick of it as if saying 'that's enough'.
"Senior seems to… hmm, love the existence of the Source too much."
"Is there a qualification to be a curator of The Collectors if one doesn't love the artwork?"
"There is a degree to that too, if you give your heart excessively to a dangerous mystery, an accident will occur someday."
"I have judgment to that extent."
The man glared at Yu Seong-un who was crouching in the hallway biting a lollipop.
"Do the tribe called Gardeners not know what to do when they harbor such feelings? Daring to sympathize with a single species itself?"
"I am sorry if it sounded unpleasant. But, well, it is indeed so. Just consider it a trivial occupational disease."
Yu Seong-un smiled easily.
"Didn't the Floor Master dedicate his life to the artwork, just like the Guild Master?"
The man's name was Garasani.
The 5th Floor Master of The Collectors' Gallery, who had another name in the world, 'Butler'.
As a person in charge of the most dangerous floor among the galleries Bisabeol cherished more precisely than his life, his love for artwork was immense.
Also, he was one of the few guild members of The Collectors who knew Yu Seong-un was a Gardener.
Garasani looked down at Yu Seong-un as if he was pathetic.
"I don't know what life you are discussing when you come in even writing a memorandum of physical relinquishment."
"No, it wasn't a memorandum of physical relinquishment, just a contract. What such ominous words."
"I don't know what's different, but anyway, it is a natural thing for a curator to love the artwork."
"Of course, Senior's words are all correct, sure. Since it's the words of the great 5th Floor Master, it must be so."
"I'm not unaware that Mr. Yu Seong-un is saying such words out of worry for me."
Garasani raised his eyebrows.
"But it is just funny that Mr. Yu Seong-un, who dedicated his entire body to the garden, is worrying about my life attitude of merely cherishing artworks a little. Isn't that so?"
"Hmm, if you say so, I have nothing to say again but."
"I am not unaware that the Guild Master or I look after the artworks' convenience exceptionally excessively. But we are just doing so because we have a reason to do so."
"Truly people with severe favoritism. Although it's not for me to say…."
When the safety of a human and an artwork were at stake simultaneously, they unconditionally prioritized the artwork more.
That was exactly the collector crazy about artworks, Bisabeol, and his faithful limb, the 5th Floor Master.
"Anyway, Mr. Ju-hyeon's matter will be concluded well."
"Isn't it rather that you threw a bomb and came back?"
"If that is a bomb, it was a bomb Mr. Ju-hyeon received from the beginning."
"It's not that it doesn't make sense."
"Although he would worry a little, he will take care of it as his heart goes."
Such trivial parts were not for Yu Seong-un to care about. Whatever direction he springs out to, as long as Jio is holding out firmly, it is not a matter to become a problem.
Yu Seong-un looked at the immediate reality. The matter he had to care about right now was Jio's first conquest.
"I heard Senior is also joining this dispatch team of The Collectors."
"It's something I shouldn't be missing in the matter of taking such a mystery to the outside."
"Oh, cool confidence."
"So did you come to ask for 'Jio's Portrait' today?"
"I came to see your face once with the heart of asking you to take good care of him."
Bisabeol chose Garasani, the 5th Floor Master, as the curator to attend this 'Hunter Seo Jio'.
He was an excellent curator who knew how to serve the artwork like a master and at the same time an A-Class Hunter equipped with outstanding escort skills.
Besides him, two resolution team members and two field staff would be included in the dispatch team, but as a fellow curator, Yu Seong-un could show this much sincerity.
"Please take good care of my artwork."
"There is no way the artwork would be damaged when I am here."
Garasani nodded as if he understood.
"Mr. Yu Seong-un is a bit excessive sometimes."
"Yes? Suddenly?"
"Right."
He looked down at Yu Seong-un and said.
"So do something about those eyes."
"What is wrong with my eyes?"
"I'll attend to your artwork finely and come back so put away your eyes, Yu Seong-un."
"No, oh my…."
Yu Seong-un grinned.
"I got caught."
How can I not care when my artwork goes through another curator's hands?
"Also because there are too many things to do so I can't make time, the Guild Master was curious if Jio could be satisfied with a curator who isn't the charge curator."
"It seems that is a complaint?"
"It's not to the extent of a complaint. It was just asking to take good care of our kid. Since it's the first time dropping him among strange humans, he feels like a kid put out by the waterside so my heart gets anxious for no reason."
Although there was also the problem that no matter how he devised, time enough to participate in the conquest didn't come out, Bisabeol wanted to check in what way Jio interacts among total strangers.
"Since he is getting along well without trouble even with Mr. Ju-hyeon whom he met as an evil Divinity, I wonder if there is a need to worry to that extent but…."
"Interacting with a single human selected by Divinity and mixing among strange humans while pretending to be human are strictly different."
Garasani continued speaking.
"The fact that the target was that person called Ju-hyeon must have added a share to the Guild Master's distrust too."
"…Hmm, about that."
Yu Seong-un asked persistently with a face that he really didn't want to know.
"I was continuously curious, but why on earth does he hate Mr. Ju-hyeon so much?"
Bisabeol's behavior had an aspect that was excessive somewhere. It wasn't like Bisabeol who always kept a gentlemanly attitude unless it was a matter related to his collection mania.
Above all, Bisabeol himself also admitted that even if Ju-hyeon could make up his mind to use Jio, ultimately he wasn't a figure capable of harming Jio.
He himself admitted that all that malice was his own vain grumbling.
Then why on earth?
"During that time, although there were overflowing humans whom the Guild Master hated, I know there wasn't a case where he revealed malice openly like now. He would smile cleanly in front and play tricks in the back…."
"Do you really want to know the Guild Master's personal circumstances? You ask bravely with such an expression."
"Whether it's personal circumstances or whatever, I would avoid it if I could, but the Guild Master is attempting to tie me, Mr. Ju-hyeon, and Jio in one space. We are on the verge of being treated as almost one set, I can't ignore even that, can I."
Yu Seong-un, who managed his expression soon, looked up at Garasani and asked.
"If it's the Floor Master, I think you would know."
He was an early executive of The Collectors and the first collection Bisabeol took in. Perhaps if it is Curator Garasani, he would know the detailed inside story.
"If my question was rude, you may consider it as something that didn't happen. But it doesn't seem like the Guild Master wouldn't have thought that I would harbor such doubt."
"...."
To that, Garasani opened his mouth.
"There was a time he suffered severely from heroes like Mr. Ju-hyeon."
"It is something I expected to some degree, and just that is a surprising story but… just how big did he suffer that he harbors such malice seeing a total stranger?"
"Well, now if it is that kind of human, he would be sick and tired. He would consider them terrible."
He added words.
"The Guild Master endured quite several times, but all results were not good."
Garasani clicked his tongue small.
"It is an unfortunate thing for you who got swept up. But no matter how much malice the Guild Master harbors, he won't inflict harm. Rather, unlike his own feelings, he will try to protect, so you don't have to worry about that part."
"I also don't think the Guild Master would treat an innocent person like that, but it is unexpected. Since he hated him so much, I thought it wouldn't be strange even if he caused harm, but to say it's the opposite. If it is a collector's effort, isn't it quite grandiose…."
"If we have to argue, I wonder if it should be seen as love-hate. He would hate with all his body and heart, but apart from that, he wouldn't just watch the sight of Mr. Ju-hyeon getting hurt or something. I say it once again, but the thing you worry about won't happen."
The malice Bisabeol showed was a type of conditioned reflex.
It meant it wasn't largely different from a person who suffered insulting personal attacks out of the blue naturally feeling anger and shame, or considering a cockroach that sat on the forehead with a thud as disgusting enough to get goosebumps.
"Especially that person's eyes and…."
"...."
"…Hmm, right."
Garasani, who was about to say something, blurred his words seeing Yu Seong-un staring at him intently.
"Shall we stop here."
Speaking carelessly of his superior's personal circumstances was not that desirable of a thing. Garasani thought even this much was excessive.
"I told you because it seemed you would be swept up greatly in those circumstances soon too, and I have no thought to inform you more than this. Hereafter, it is too private a past so it is not for me to speak of."
"…Just informing that much seems to be a big help. It was just that I didn't understand well that the Guild Master harbored malice toward a person much younger than him, and a non-Awakener at that."
"I also don't think such an appearance of the Guild Master is right. I just accepted it. My arm always bends inward, and from such a position of mine, it is a sufficiently understandable circumstance…."
Garasani comforted his junior.
"If the Guild Master speaks ill of the person called Ju-hyeon, listen with one ear and let it out the other, he himself must also know that it is childish and gloomy grumbling. He wouldn't want you to worry and consider seriously about such worthless nonsense."
"For something like that, he grumbled truly a lot though, anyway understood. I just wondered if it would be okay since Mr. Ju-hyeon would have to go with me if Jio goes on dispatch this time."
"Did you fear the Guild Master would send an assassination squad or something? Of course, if he truly felt only hatred and contempt, he might have done even that, but as I said earlier, this time the case is different. Rather, he will send manpower so Mr. Ju-hyeon doesn't get hurt."
Garasani added words.
"I was rather more worried about Mr. Jio's side. The identity of that Anticat is called Dana too."
"Ah… I also don't know in detail. I also don't know exactly what work Jio did through Dana that day."
"I understand that it is an ability related to souls, but from what you said, clearly the gift 'Jio's Portrait' said he would give was…."
Yu Seong-un received his words as if he knew.
"It wasn't a simple funeral but a 'grave'. However, until now, Jio has never made such a grave."
"It is also a question where the souls of the orphanage that the Anticat called Dana led went. Their whereabouts cannot be known."
"If we see in what way Dana plays an active part in this conquest, we will be able to know more certainly. Well, if it really doesn't work, we can ask directly too."
Yu Seong-un said, getting up from his seat.
"By all means, I hope it goes well."
Because only if this matter ends successfully, or smoothly, will there be a basis to release Jio to his heart's content.
"If this conquest goes well, I intend to take Mr. Ju-hyeon and enjoy a vacation together with Jio."
"The point that you can enjoy a vacation with the artwork is enviable."
"Right? Do you know how kind our kid is again? He gives gifts too, it's no joke I tell you?"
"Stop it, you look like a doting parent."
"There is no artwork like Jio anywhere in the world. You may envy to your heart's content."
"This is really…."
Garasani, who was about to get annoyed, soon let out a sigh.
"…Right, see you later."
Not only asking about the Guild Master's secret story unlike usual, he wasn't unaware that this hateful reaction right now was also acting like this because he was anxious for no reason.
As a senior who becomes an elder, Garasani passed over the unsightly behavior of the young junior.
***
Meanwhile, Solar Cult.
"You mean the Collector's curator is also coming? That gallery's curator?"
One elder priest murmured as if baffled.
"Huh-uh, how was such precious manpower…?"
"I knew Guild Master Bisabeol favored Hunter Seo Jio considerably, but this is unexpected."
"At that level, isn't it truly treating him as an artwork? Oh my, a respectable human, that is."
"Wasn't the fact that The Collectors is Guild Master Bisabeol's jewelry box a story everyone knows?"
"Still, there is a degree… this is a bit excessive."
In The Collectors, five hunters additionally joined, centering on Hunter Seo Jio.
It meant they couldn't send Seo Jio alone on his first conquest, but even considering that point, there was a quite excessive feeling.
"They say it's not just a curator but the 'Butler' coming directly. The 5th Floor Master of the gallery."
The Floor Master who generally manages the deepest part of the gallery which can be called the heart of The Collectors.
Just by his joining, one could know how much, and in what way Bisabeol cherishes Hunter Seo Jio.
"No matter how much manpower is drafted from that side, I thought Curator Yu Seong-un who conquered the previous 'Kingdom of the Deep Sea' together would come out…."
"Hunter Yu Seong-un is also famous for being busy."
"I don't know the exact circumstances well, but anyway even so, seeing that it is a combination I hear for the first time, it must mean the Butler wasn't dispatched simply based on friendship?"
"Certainly, if a curator was to be dispatched due to a problem of friendship, Curator Yu Seong-un would have been on the list. No matter how busy, since it's the first conquest, wouldn't he have been able to make time if he wanted to? But apart from that, if just a curator was attached…."
"Apart from friendship, doesn't it mean that manpower called 'curator' must be together with Hunter Seo Jio?"
"That is what I'm saying."
The curator of The Collectors was a tremendously special force.
The feeling was completely different from the field staff guild members of The Collectors who commonly go around outside the guild.
"Was there ever a time the Collector tried to manage his guild member to this extent?"
"In my memory, not really…."
"I know he treated humans as humans in his own way."
"But to send a curator, and a Floor Master at that, isn't it truly treating him as an artwork."
"No matter if all guild members of The Collectors are Bisabeol's collections, this is a bit…."
The curator of The Collectors had high fame, or notoriety.
If one put in a collaboration request to utilize a certain object in the Collector's gallery, the curator in charge of that 'artwork' would come together.
"When we know clearly how extreme those curators are."
They truly loved those bizarre and creepy 'artworks' like family or friends.
To the extent that there was a curator who shed tears of blood saying his charge artwork got a scratch in the usage process and went through formal suing procedures through Bisabeol.
That anecdote was a tremendous topic in the Solar Cult too.
"From what I know, isn't the 5th Floor Master Guild Master Bisabeol's close associate?"
"Yes, I also know Butler as an early executive of The Collectors."
"For Curator Garasani, the faithful limb of the Collector, to step out directly…."
A certain middle-aged priest tilted his head as if he didn't understand well.
"Is he some hidden son or something?"
"Uh-huh, refrain from rude words."
"I am sorry. Because it doesn't make sense no matter how much I think…."
"Certainly, it is a peculiar case."
Except for a peculiar few, the curators of The Collectors didn't even come out well from the gallery, their workplace.
Being dispatched officially like this was only when the artwork they are in charge of is related to the relevant project.
"Guild Master Bisabeol can't be unaware of this perception."
Even so, the fact that he daringly included the 5th Floor Master was obvious.
"…He must intend to show what kind of treatment Hunter Seo Jio is receiving in The Collectors?"
"…But just what treatment should we see this as? Not a simple guild member, this is some…."
It wasn't that Bisabeol only included the Floor Master either.
"I know the personnel of that side a little, two people on the list here are resolution team members of the gallery."
"I'm asking because I don't know well how The Collectors runs, what exactly is a resolution team member?"
"Literally, it refers to personnel who resolve when an incident explodes in the gallery. You can view them as between a curator and a general guild member."
"Then this truly seems like treating him as an artwork, not a human but…."
"Bisabeol is famous for not touching his guild members, it is a peculiar thing."
Bisabeol's purpose revealed in this list was distinct.
"This is manpower to escort the Hunter called Seo Jio."
And actually, by this point, it became a little ambiguous to even call it 'escort'.
"Isn't it closer to surveillance than that? Even so, a curator, and a resolution team…."
"I know the person called Hunter Seo Jio has no big problems personally."
"In the first place, if he had a personal problem, he couldn't have become Guild Master Bisabeol's collection."
"That is also so. Oh my, then why on earth does he do this to this extent?"
Among Bisabeol's collections, there was no person with a defect in character.
All were sincere and competent people, and every single one was equipped with the minimum culture to take responsibility for the work they undertook.
Of course, the Hunter called Seo Jio looked like a personality far from the impression Bisabeol usually preferred, but Bisabeol often collected such exceptional collections too. So probably it wasn't Seo Jio's character problem.
"Even when seeing this Anticat matter, I thought indeed he is not ordinary… I didn't know Guild Master Bisabeol would come out to this extent. Just why? What is the problem?"
"He must be caring to this extent because there is some singularity, is there really no possibility that he is his bloodline? As for appearance, in this world nowadays there is no reason to necessarily resemble parents."
"So I'm telling you to refrain from such rude conjectures targeting another's guild member. Is there a need to cause friction with The Collectors before the conquest? Everyone does it moderately, moderately."
Around then, one of the elder priests chuckled and said.
"I don't know for what reason he is doing this, but I know the person called Bisabeol. Although he is greedy, he is not a person who ruins another's work in vain with his greed."
If Bisabeol intended to ruin and collapse something, he would have shown that sign from the beginning.
"Submitting documents officially like this, caring and sending personal details, and supporting this conquest too… At least it means the Collector's purpose to help this conquest is clear."
"That is so but…."
"There is no reason for us to know everything about that young Hunter. We have neither the qualification nor the right. If The Collectors decided to help with our homework, we should just know to be grateful."
"I am sorry, it is our fault."
"Arrogance is a sin the Sun also keeps far. And the young man called Seo Jio is also said to be a believer who received the light of the Sun. Since dragging him into this conquest is our greed, even if variables arise…."
He looked around the surroundings and said.
"We must endure. Wouldn't that be so, brothers?"
"I will reflect. Thank you for the enlightenment."
"Remember, the work we must do is concluding this homework."
"Yes, indeed it is so."
"It would be good if we could get close to Hunter Seo Jio, but that would be an additional benefit."
"It seems we were too hasty."
The priests bowed their heads in shame.
"Indeed, it's not like we are going to do a background check, so it's not for us to argue this and that."
"This person, background check, what harsh words… We are not the Lady Moon Cult."
"Keu-hm, isn't it that everyone was flustered because it is too exceptional a matter? Of course, I will reflect but…."
"Still, since plenty of precious talents gathered, it would be good to look forward to this conquest. It might be counting chickens before they hatch, but this makes my heart excited."
"They say it is a dungeon rich in vegetation and heat. Since it is a dimension where a fake sun also rises, if we succeed in the conquest, it will be a big help to our Solar Cult."
As the atmosphere seemed roughly organized, one of the elder priests who was silent looked back at Kang Seo-dam.
"Brother Kang Seo-dam."
"Yes, I am listening."
"Please take good care of it."
"I will do my best."
At that point, Kang Seo-dam thought.
'…This dispatch team of The Collectors is manpower focused on resolution and attendance rather than favoritism.'
Indeed, they wouldn't send the giant mystery called 'Jio's Portrait' alone.
Kang Seo-dam decided to be grateful that at least, truly at least, truly as a fortune amidst misfortune, the Collector wasn't thoughtless.
It was then.
"...."
Kang Seo-dam felt the Goddess's gaze.
'…Is she showing interest?'
She must really want to get close to 'Mr. Seo Jio' quite a bit.
Not knowing why I ended up stuck between gods, Kang Seo-dam wanted to be stuck in the office gradually.
-x-X-x-
Meanwhile, there was another person besides Kang Seo-dam who suffered a headache due to 'Mr. Seo Jio'.
"...."
"What is wrong, Ruda-ya?"
"…Uh…."
It was exactly Kang Seo-dam's student and prospective priest, Iruda.
"Because of the gift received last time."
"Ah, the one Brother Jio gave? That flower?"
"Right, that dried flower."
"Did he not say it was medicinal herbs? You said you like eating medicine. Can't you just eat it?"
"…That would be the simplest method, but no matter how much I think, it is not ordinary medicinal herbs…."
It was medicinal herbs to which the Sun Goddess, and no one else, gave her gaze directly.
'Moreover, the subtle greed of Divinity I felt then….'
The fact that Divinity harbors greed for a human's object itself is a tremendously rare thing, but the one who revealed greed this time was the Sun Goddess who loves the natural order of fate and pure innocence.
'Basically, she is not someone who would covet something.'
A situation where such Divinity pokes the side of Iruda herself, an insignificant prospective priest, was truly something that made no sense.
"How did it become like this?"
"What is the problem?"
"Because it feels like I received too precious a gift."
Thinking that the matter might grow bigger than imagined, she didn't tell Cha Isold about her confusion in the meantime, but even that hit a limit as of today. Iruda needed a reference person.
"Cha Isold."
"Yeah, what should I help with?"
"That brother you are close with…."
"You mean Brother Jio, right?"
"Right, is that person originally like that?"
"Uh… what?"
"Does he originally go around scattering gifts like this?"
"Yeah!"
"...."
At the affirmation that was too refreshing and firm, Iruda was lost for words for a moment.
"…Why?"
"He says when he sees people, they are so admirable that he wants to give gifts."
"Just why?"
"He says there is no reason not to give, so why shouldn't he give…."
"Just what is the problem?"
"Is that a problem?"
"The gift is not just a gift."
Actually, starting from gifting fruit jelly to Cha Isold, there was a feeling that it was a little excessive.
According to Cha Isold, he is a brother he got close with by chance, but an acquaintance he met only a few times gave too expensive a gift to a young kid who knows nothing.
Even more so, the gift Iruda received was worse.
"The reason I said I like medicinal herbs was truly not because I wanted to receive medicinal herbs…!"
Usually, when she said she liked medicinal herbs, adults looked baffled as if seeing something they couldn't understand, and soon ignored and passed it over.
No, in the first place, she didn't even know there would be a person who really carries around medicinal herbs.
"Cha Isold, what do you feel from this dried flower?"
"Sunshine smell?"
"What else?"
"Softness like a blanket dried well in the sun?"
"Anyway, it means the Sun, right? Right? It is the Sun, right?"
"Aren't the Sun and sunshine a little different? One is tremendously hot and one is warm."
"It's the difference between beating up and petting, anyway it means it's the same hand."
Unlike the commonly known image of the Solar Cult, the actual light of the Sun is tremendously violent.
The better one gathered and delicately controlled it, the more excellent a Priest of the Sun one could become.
And making medicinal herbs containing such sunshine of the Sun fully was a very arduous task.
If one had no talent, it was a task one couldn't even attempt, and even with a little mistake, the fragile medicinal herbs would burn in the Sun's fire.
"...."
As expected, this was too precious a gift Iruda could not handle.
"…Perhaps he gave this kind of gift to screw me over…."
"Why eat screws?" (Korean idiom "eat screw" means "get screwed over", but Cha Isold takes it literally as eating candy)
"…I was thinking maybe that person called Seo Jio gave this kind of gift to trouble me."
"Huh? Probably not? Why do you think so?"
"Mercy not befitting one's place drives a lowly beggar on the roadside to death."
"Ruda isn't a beggar though?"
"Of course, I am a 1st-class citizen and on the wealthy side among humans, but even considering that, in this situation, I am indeed a beggar."
"You always speak too difficultly."
"I mean my personal safety is dangerous because it is an undeserved gift for me. There are many people who covet too precious treasures."
Judging by the turning situation, right now it wasn't simply a problem of just people either.
"And if one doesn't have the power to protect from those coveting people, a gift rather becomes poison. If I give an extreme example, someone who coveted the gift I received could kill me and take this away."
Perhaps because the word 'kill' sounded quite provocative, Cha Isold was startled and asked.
"Shall I call Brother Jio?"
"No, a Hunter of that level would be busy so there is no need for that…."
Iruda, who was quick-witted, knew there was no malice in the gift the person called Seo Jio gave.
'However, he didn't look like a person who wouldn't know that it would become a gift I cannot handle.'
And now, Iruda decided to try concluding.
"…Does it mean to buy favors?"
"I don't know what you mean, but Ruda seems to think too complicatedly."
"Certainly, if I offer a gift the Goddess wishes for, I will receive great protection."
"Although I don't know well what it is, I don't think Brother Jio would have thought up to that extent…."
Cha Isold, who didn't know exactly what his partner was thinking but noticed that deep depth, blurred the end of his sentence.
He knew that the Black Cape goes around scattering gifts without any thought.
Watching his partner who seemed to be devising something similar to a scheme, Cha Isold thought.
'Smart people seem to live life too tiredly. I'm glad I'm not smart.'
Indeed, Jio also knew that his gift could become poison to the small priest called Iruda.
However, it was also that he was gifted with a comfortable heart because he knew the Black Cape's gift does not harm anyone.
Basuram Flower is precious medicine without side effects so there is no problem whoever uses it, and Jio himself who gifted that medicine and the Sun Goddess affirmed that gift.
A gift bestowed receiving the protection of various Divinities had its safety guaranteed through providence and fate.
Above all, Jio didn't have a way of thinking deeply, but he knew well the depth and width other people could think.
Jio would be pleased however Iruda utilized his gift.
"…I must offer it to the Goddess."
Therefore, this too was what Jio wished for.
"I am going to see Priest Kang Seo-dam, what will you do?"
"I'll go together too."
"If you are bored being alone, play together with other kids."
"I just want to be with Ruda, because you're my partner."
"...."
Iruda soon nodded slowly.
"I will have to live carrying you on my side for a lifetime."
"Huh? Isn't it originally like that?"
"It's nothing, I just expressed my intent."
And Kang Seo-dam, who just returned from finishing a meeting, is said to have choked severely on the fragrant and piping hot bomb his fluffy young student cherished and brought.
***
A meeting room of The Collectors.
"Ah, Floor Master."
"Miss Yu Ji-na?"
The newly composed dispatch team gathered one by one in that place.
Garasani, the 5th Floor Master of The Collectors' Gallery, scanned the Hunter who just entered the meeting room.
The woman he called Yu Ji-na was wearing a cape over a suit, the attire of the gallery's resolution team.
It was a face he knew well as a Floor Master.
"It's been a long time."
"It is indeed."
The resolution team member grinned and sat opposite Garasani.
"Since the 5th floor rarely has anything to resolve."
"Because it's not a place where rookies are assigned."
"Maybe because it's a place where only veterans come and go, there is absolutely no news."
"If news of the 5th floor is delivered to the resolution team, isn't that exactly a big problem?"
"Isn't this all thanks to the Floor Master caring for us."
At her rubbing her palms together briskly while saying so, Garasani raised his eyebrows.
"Your skill of trembling with trivial flattery is still the same."
"Please make it certain whether you like it or dislike it."
"Since I like it, try doing it one more time."
"Oh my, as our Floor Master brightens the light of the 5th floor, peace comes to the gallery and wealth comes in…."
Around then, another person entered the meeting room.
"Whoa… what is this again?"
"To say 'what is this' seeing a person, you are too much."
"Yes, so what are you doing?"
"Can't you know by looking? She is trembling with flattery."
"Nothing would come out from trembling with flattery to the 5th Floor Master though…?"
At the words of the man who was field staff, the woman of the same affiliation laughed awkwardly.
"It's been a long time, Floor Master."
"Is it the first time seeing you after you moved to field staff while working on the 3rd floor?"
"Yes, thanks to you looking after me a lot, I adapted well."
"Right, it is enough if you just work well anywhere. You are doing well."
Curator Garasani looked back at Yu Ji-na, the resolution team member.
"Didn't they say one more person is coming from the resolution team?"
"Because a resolution request came in from the 1st floor. Since it's his own zone, he said he'd come after just checking quickly."
"An appearance of fulfilling one's responsibility is always good to see. The protagonist of today also won't be unpleasant with such behavior."
"If necessary, I was going to tell him to come up quickly regardless of resolution or whatever, it is unexpected. Mr. Jio is also truly generous with his artwork."
Resolution team member Yu Ji-na, who was examining the surroundings, laughed as if interested.
"I thought Curator Yu Seong-un would also be together, but actually that person wasn't on the list?"
"Since he is such a busy person, it can't be helped."
"No matter how busy, it is the work of his artwork, not anything else…."
"Of course, if he revised his schedule a lot, it wouldn't have been that he had no room. But it is not an easy task."
And it wasn't just that reason.
"The Guild Master intends to see in what way 'Mr. Seo Jio' reacts amidst strange humans. Indeed, it must be his calculation to check whether there is value in maintaining the pretext of 'Mr. Seo Jio', or if there is any danger."
To that, another field staff employee asked.
"Still, isn't it dangerous? For it to be an A-Class dungeon from the first conquest of all things, the difficulty is absolutely not low. Wouldn't it have been better to have an adaptation period slowly in a slightly safer place?"
"Before taking such measures, 'Mr. Seo Jio' already grabbed the schedule he wanted and came, so for us, we just followed. And even if such an urgent schedule wasn't caught, the Guild Master wouldn't have done such boring work."
Doesn't everyone know Bisabeol's personality well?
"He is a person who doesn't have enough patience to aim for such a stable opportunity while leaving an opportunity that looks obviously okay in front of his eyes. If he were a person to let such an enjoyable event flow by boringly, he wouldn't have been a Guild Master in the first place, that person."
"It is truly difficult to refute…."
"To ask a person who made The Collectors to avoid such patience from the beginning to restrain now is something that makes no sense. Besides this, he must have judged that this conquest is worth trying in various aspects."
Probably through this opportunity, Bisabeol would come to decide what position to assign 'Mr. Seo Jio'.
Although it was a bold task with a big risk burden as quite a few people could die, since he decided to show 'Hunter Seo Jio' to the world, it was a process that had to be gone through once someday.
And there was another reason.
"Above all, I don't know well if 'Mr. Seo Jio' would endure such stable and boring work."
Clearly, The Collectors could have aimed for a safer opportunity.
They could have attached familiar faces next to him in a low-grade dungeon and let this mystery adapt among humans little by little.
However, hearing from the previous conquest dispatch, 'Jio's Portrait' had a desire for a bloody battle.
He, who was said to have also harbored evil Divinity, might be disgusted by such a comfortable fence.
"We shouldn't do something that harms the artwork."
"I agree with that part."
Because both the resolution team member and the field staff employees were people who nodded.
Because they were people who knew well what disaster could occur when the 'artwork's' mood is twisted more than anything else.
All kinds of ghost stories didn't arise in The Collectors for nothing.
The field staff employee who was previously a curator added words.
"Still, Curator Yu Seong-un must be regretful."
"Since it means his charge artwork is escaping his hands and active in the outside world…."
"And it is the first activity too. It must weigh on his mind."
To a curator of The Collectors, charge artwork was a tremendously sensitive topic.
Because managing a bizarre mystery that twists fate and digs into the mind was truly a task where tremendous nerves were consumed.
A curator had to love their artwork, had to study about it, and also had to recognize its danger.
Since they manage with love a mystery that could kill tens of people at once if it escapes their hands, it was also unavoidable that obsession arose following that.
"Especially since it's an artwork of the 5th floor."
If a curator didn't love and obsess over the artwork, one didn't know what tragedy would occur.
"He must be very upset…."
"So I must have been included in this dispatch team."
"Does it mean if it's around the level of the Floor Master, he can be trusted?"
"I think he chose the lesser evil rather than the worst."
And it was around then.
Knock knock knock.
"...."
"...."
"Excuse me."
A knocking sound was heard from outside the meeting room.
"May I come in?"
A low and gloomy voice was asking for permission.
-x-X-x-
That an evil thing asks for an invitation is common folklore.
There were things that even Divinity, which seems like it would be omniscient and omnipotent, could only accomplish by asking for permission.
Like not being able to enter another's house carelessly, not being able to come out unless helped, well, such things.
"...."
"...."
The guild members exchanged gazes with each other.
"…Mr. Seo Jio?"
At the resolution team member's question, the voice outside the door answered.
"Yes, my name is Seo Jio."
The contradictory emptiness of that voice makes one doubt for a moment.
The Collectors where all kinds of bizarre artworks gather was basically a place with many ghost stories.
They were clearly waiting for 'Mr. Seo Jio', but they came to worry if perhaps their current wrong choice might bring about disaster.
At that time, the 5th Floor Master Curator Garasani rose from his seat.
"Floor Master."
"What is the worry?"
"Ah, that is…."
"...."
"…I am sorry."
"Tsk."
Garasani, who scanned his juniors, soon opened the meeting room door.
"...."
"Welcome, Mr. Seo Jio."
In front of it stood a platinum-haired male.
Hair flowing softly and eyes containing the summer sea.
Garasani did not meet that gaze directly but bowed his waist showing courtesy toward the artwork.
He was a servant of countless artworks.
"We were waiting."
"Am I not late?"
"No, you came right on time."
The current time was 4 PM, the exact promised time.
The resolution team member who had entered the meeting room first saw the large male visible beyond Curator Garasani.
Contrary to that color that seemed like warm sunshine would smear off, it was an expressionless face to the extent of being creepy.
'They said he resembled a funeral.'
Clean without a single speck, but heavier than that, and also of gloomy air….
"...."
Ah.
'…Our eyes met.'
It curved its eyes softly.
"Nice to meet you."
Death resembling a corpse became sunshine in an instant.
One could easily realize that that is a monster imitating a human.
***
The position the Black Cape held within The Collectors was 'artwork under free-range grazing'.
The so-called 'Mr. Seo Jio' could be encountered within The Collectors building without difficulty.
That was sometimes in human form and sometimes in portrait form.
And the employees refrained from stories regarding him as much as possible.
There is also the reason that they don't want to receive a curse just in case, but the most representative reason is….
'If caught, I'm fucked.'
'Additional work absolutely declined….'
'As long as it's not me.'
Yes, they didn't want to know the complicated circumstances.
"Ah, of all things he is favorable to humans."
"How good would it have been if his sociability was rock bottom…."
No matter if Bisabeol treats his guild members as his collections, that doesn't mean he treats them below human.
He was strictly distinguishing between collections that are human and artworks that are not human.
Would such Bisabeol be crazy to graze a dangerous ghost story within the office building?
In the same context, this ghost story 'Mr. Seo Jio' was exceptionally kind to humans, and this meant the more they built friendship with him, the bigger the possibility of them doing additional work became.
"Look at Mr. Yu Seong-un."
There was also a very appropriate example.
"Poor person, he probably can't even return home."
"But wasn't Curator Yu Seong-un originally busy too?"
"The fact that he came to undertake various additional tasks related to Mr. Seo Jio doesn't change."
"Ah, that is indeed so. I must absolutely not get involved."
It had become like that.
Because of that, the guild members of The Collectors pretended not to know even if they saw 'Mr. Seo Jio' if possible.
While keeping manners to the maximum according to instructions, they truly gritted their teeth and avoided his existence.
They didn't want to get close to the eye of the typhoon and be swept up in a disaster.
Also, there were many people who feared 'Mr. Seo Jio' and tried to be careful.
"Being favorable is being favorable, and we don't know how he might suddenly change later."
"As a guild member of The Collectors, I respect the existence and words and actions of 'Mr. Seo Jio' but… he is scary though."
"Rather than that, do we necessarily have to pretend to know a ghost story…?"
They did not consider 'Mr. Seo Jio' as a human needing interaction. That was a type of natural phenomenon, and a ghost story itself that dug into their daily lives quietly and drearily.
There would be few people who want to pretend to know ghost stories like the Red Mask still existing in Korea.
It means one would necessarily want to build personal friendship with a nurse ghost wandering the hospital late at night, or a woman in a white dress on a roadside without human presence.
"No well, if necessary I will do it but."
"If ordered, I will do it."
"If requested, I will do it."
The competent and overflowing with responsibility employees of The Collectors absolutely didn't do work not ordered, and this matter was the same.
Even if an order fell, they would have accepted it with a feeling like 'Saying good words once to a flowerpot!'.
"But isn't this bullying within the workplace?"
"…Was that something applied to artworks too?"
"Ah, indeed that is so."
To them, 'Mr. Seo Jio' was Bisabeol's eerie artwork.
That was just something in human shape, not a real human, and therefore they didn't feel the necessity of special interaction either.
If he were really a workplace colleague, they would have tried attaching even affectionate words at least once.
Since The Collectors guild members had severe individualism, not that they couldn't do social life.
But isn't 'Mr. Seo Jio' an artwork?
"I ran into Mr. Seo Jio yesterday."
"You came to work right away today bravely."
"Since he was gentler than I thought, well… it was okay."
"You must have lived kindly usually."
"I exchanged names smoothly and came back receiving a gift."
"That's clean."
'Mr. Seo Jio Response Policy' that Bisabeol distributed before also played a part in this atmosphere.
Now to them, 'Mr. Seo Jio' is a perception around the level of 'an eerie artwork from which one can receive a gift if one converses successfully when encountered with rare probability'.
So although not a workplace colleague, should I call it treatment around the level of a chilling natural phenomenon coexisting within the workplace.
The guild members of The Collectors adapted to 'Mr. Seo Jio' in their own way.
"...."
"...."
And returning again, the meeting room where the dispatch team gathered.
'…Is this Mr. Seo Jio heard only in words? The Black Cape who gives gifts to kind people….'
'Certainly the coercion is extraordinary, the appearance is a perfect human but so it is more heterogeneous.'
'I heard he is skilled in interaction with intelligent creatures, I wonder how far human imitation is possible.'
A subtle tension lingered in that place.
They became a team with the famous ghost story within the office building, not anything else.
As much as he is an artwork Bisabeol cherishes, there would be few occasions for them to become dangerous, but confirming its existence directly, they couldn't not be nervous.
'No matter how I look, the impression that he is perfect is strong.'
'Feeling like I am looking at an ideal, something that cannot exist….'
Its appearance was tremendously beautiful, and the physique was neither too thin nor thick.
That figure which seemed to fit the average utopia rather grew his inhuman impression strongly.
'Is he taking such a form because he wants to give a favorable impression to other humans?'
Especially in Korea where people feel great attraction to the opponent's appearance, it was just the right strategy.
Actually, there were also many guild members who fell for that beauty. As if looking at a tremendously valuable jewel or relic.
"...."
A silver-haired woman with copper skin color scanned the situation.
Since the 5th Floor Master who opened the door for 'Mr. Seo Jio' stepped back, this was a silent pressure sent to other employees.
'Does it mean to mingle properly.'
Since it is a special situation, I don't know if I can receive a gift, but according to the action guidelines, the thing to do first was exchanging names with the Black Cape.
The woman who finished organizing her thoughts rose from her seat and welcomed 'Mr. Seo Jio'.
"Mr. Seo Jio?"
"Yes, my name is Seo Jio."
"I was surprised because you are a more handsome man than I heard, you know."
"Is it a face you like?"
"It would be hard not to like?"
She greeted trembling with that characteristic wit of hers.
"Nice to meet you, I am called Yu Ji-na."
"It is Miss Yu Ji-na. What should I call you?"
"You may call me like just now, or call me Ji-na comfortably."
She, a resolution team member, curved her eyes coyly.
"Please take care of me well in this conquest."
Indeed, he was truly like a human.
'…Does he not know that looking a little incomplete looks closer to a human? But he just looks excessively ideally perfect, the rest is just like a human. If it's mimicry of this degree, people who don't know the identity of this will be deceived helplessly. It is so skilled that it is rather dangerous.'
From him, there was almost no sense of incongruity that other bizarre mysteries reveal during mimicry.
That sense of incongruity is also just 'excessively ideal', isn't it that there is nothing that can be defined clearly.
'They said at first human imitation wasn't experienced to this extent, maybe he is growing….'
The growth of an unidentified mystery is bound to stimulate human fear.
Yu Ji-na tried hard to shake off the fear she felt and continued the introduction containing goodwill.
"This side is Mr. Kang Neu-ru and Miss Dan-mi!"
To that, the field employees sent gazes to Yu Ji-na as if grateful and opened their mouths.
"Hello, I am Kang Neu-ru, field employee of The Collectors."
"I am also the same affiliation as Mr. Neu-ru. I am called Dan-mi. Please take care of us well."
At the smooth introduction, Yu Ji-na shrugged her shoulders.
"One more person is scheduled to come from our resolution team too, but it seems she is a little late attending to work on the 1st floor."
At that point, the 5th Floor Master stepped forward.
"I am sorry, Mr. Seo Jio. If you permit, I will go and catch her."
If another person saw, they might think 'she might be a little late, isn't he coming out too low-profile', but the opponent was the gallery's artwork.
The number of artworks that were massacred for the reason of breaking the appointment time was not that small.
The reason they didn't catch the remaining personnel beforehand was in the fact that 'Mr. Seo Jio's standard is generous.
He revealed only slight displeasure toward rude people, and showed tolerant handling under the premise that the same mistake is not repeated.
'But it is unknown how far he will overlook.'
Therefore, the 5th Floor Master stepped forward first and examined the artwork's mood.
"If you are very unpleasant…."
"I think she could be busy."
Fortunately, 'Mr. Seo Jio' did not express unpleasantness.
"Since you said work arose suddenly, it is an unavoidable thing."
"Thank you for understanding."
"I am truly grateful for the utmost treatment, but on one hand, it is a sorry heart."
He folded his gentle eyes and smiled, mimicking 'awkwardness'.
"Are you scared of me?"
"No."
The 5th Floor Master showed a vivid smile like an old man seeing a grown grandson.
"It is just an honor."
That was a smile Curator Garasani showed solely to artworks only.
"We are already faces knowing each other, but for Mr. Seo Jio, we must still be unfamiliar. Since it is a seat to become familiar with each other before the conquest, I hope Mr. Seo Jio also joins us comfortably."
"Thank you for giving much consideration."
"Don't mention it… Since Mr. Seo Jio mainly works at dawn and shows your face, probably you won't know these people's faces well. Let's try becoming familiar with each other by conversing slowly."
Curator Garasani seated 'Mr. Seo Jio' safely like that, but he was not relieved.
It was because the employees stiffened due to the coercion and energy close to death this existence of the Source basically possessed.
Although they hid it in their own way, it was visible in Garasani's eyes.
'And if it is visible to my eyes, naturally it will be more visible to Mr. Seo Jio.'
It was a worrisome part.
'They must match the roleplay Mr. Seo Jio wants well.'
Curator Garasani could cope skillfully as he had many such experiences, but to the resolution team or the field team, it would be a little difficult task.
Doing acting following a bizarre mystery's claim, that is.
Thinking so, Garasani put down teacups in front of the team members.
"It is Ajanka tea prepared newly this time."
"Oh, the Floor Master's tea brewing skill is reliable."
"I ask for light appreciation reviews."
Thinking he hopes they adapt to each other safely by all means, Garasani smiled.
***
Rattle─!
A woman opened the meeting room door and entered.
"I am sorry, the resolution became lo…!"
And then she stiffened.
"Ah Mr. Jio is really too funny!"
"You really did that like that? Not a joke?"
"Crazy… the smiling tyrant of the sea village… suits too well…."
"No, how can a person be like that, should I call this amazing?"
A harmonious atmosphere unimaginable.
"...."
"Ah, welcome."
And the platinum-haired priest at the center of it saw the resolution team member who, pitifully, stiffened hard, unable to understand the situation.
He said with a soft beautiful voice likely to melt everyone.
"My name is Seo Jio."
"Eh? Ah, yes."
"How does your name become?"
"It's… Kim Na-na."
"I see."
The Black Cape asked calmly.
"Will you converse with me?"
"...."
Isn't this a typical brainwashing scene?
'…Just what did he do to my colleagues?'
Goosebumps rose all over resolution team member Kim Na-na's spine.
-x-X-x-
"…Do you know what I thought first upon hearing that story?"
Yu Seong-un said, putting up both thumbs.
"Wow amazing, how did he do that?"
"You flatter me."
"It's not flattery, I really had such a thought."
The Hallway Meeting, a gathering at 12 o'clock sharp, was held again just before Yu Seong-un died from overwork.
Without fail today too, they proceeded with a meeting that is not a meeting with Jio's special tea and various snacks.
Ju-hyeon, who was looking at Yu Seong-un's haggard appearance as if pitiable, coughed and said.
"Keu-hm, Mr. Jio had better sociability than I thought."
"Why was a guy with such good sociability anxious because he couldn't scare people usually?"
To Yu Seong-un's doubt, pure as white snow, the Black Cape inside the portrait answered.
"I did not scare them. They ripped off fear on their own."
"Your vocabulary has become rich while I haven't seen you. Just which country's phrase is 'ripped off fear'."
"It means I am innocent."
"No matter how much I think, I don't understand well though."
Massaging his stiff neck, Yu Seong-un asked.
"How did you create such a harmonious atmosphere?"
It was something impossible by common sense.
Jio had a status he possessed basically.
No matter how well he concealed it, humans instinctively feel the difference in status, and also feel coercion.
Especially since Jio was an existence who accumulated an eerie type of status.
"People would have been very scared of you."
"Because they were very scared, I put in a lot of effort."
"I find it so amazing that that is something that works by putting in effort."
"I think it is fortunate that I possess social skills to that extent."
"No, rather than it being a problem of your social skills… uh…."
Actually, when considering 'Jio's Portrait' as a human, his social skills could not be seen as on the bad side.
It's just that there is an indifferent aspect felt fiercely, but Jio is tremendously favorable and kind to humans.
'Although a problem arises where humans fear a little in the process of interaction while observing manners excessively.'
Anyway, it's a bit awkward to say this as is.
"…You do look a little scary."
"I agree."
Jio nodded obediently.
"Since long ago, there have always been few people who said I am scary."
To that, Ju-hyeon tilted his head.
"Always? Then did people fear Mr. Jio even when you were Giovanni?"
"Yes, even then there were many people who feared me."
"Mr. Giovanni doesn't seem to have a particularly scary impression though…."
"To be exact, I should express that they got scared in advance and felt uncomfortable."
Although Giovanni was clearly a priest with a gentle and good impression, perhaps due to the characteristic authority of a Solar Cult priest and his demeanor as a noble, there were many people who couldn't treat him as an equal human.
"There is also the fault that I was blond when I was Giovanni."
"Why blond again?"
"Because it was a world where a superstition circulated that children born with the color of the Sun are children of God."
"Children of God, you say…."
"In my case, since I was actually even a Priest of the Sun, I think the burden would have been bigger."
He was especially a famous priest with name value.
The fact that they couldn't treat him, who was even called a Saint, equally might be unavoidable for people of that era where the Solar Cult ruled the world.
"Even though I know I have no memory of doing particularly terrifying acts, it was so."
"I heard the story that Mr. Iseur had a nickname 'Smiling Tyrant of the Sea Village' though."
"...."
The portrait changed to platinum blond hair.
"…Did Iseur say such words? When?"
"Last time when eating lamb skewers, as we shared a miscellaneous conversation, it became like that."
"I am truly wronged. Just why on earth do I have to become a tyrant."
"He said if they didn't accept mercy obediently, you shoved it in forcibly…."
"Since it was good as a result, I view it as an okay thing."
"Aha, indeed. This is why you bought fear even when you were Giovanni."
"I am wronged."
At Jio's sincere appeal, Yu Seong-un spilled his characteristic easygoing laughter.
"Wouldn't that have been closer to awe than fear?"
"Ah, that would be so. If I also had a neighbor like Mr. Giovanni, I don't think I could have treated him easily."
Ju-hyeon also agreed with Yu Seong-un's words and nodded.
"Because you have an impression that is unreasonable to approach intimately."
The portrait felt wronged once again.
"I hope you will get along well."
"We would get along like that, but for people meeting for the first time, it would be unavoidable."
At least when he was Giovanni whose personality is gentle and clear, it stopped at the level of awe, but going to Seo Jio whose facial muscles seemed degenerated or Argio who is a battle maniac, they could only feel fear.
Yu Seong-un, who heard the story of 'Seo Jio' through Ju-hyeon as a medium, asked.
"But did people fear you even when you were Seo Jio? Unlike Giovanni, you probably didn't perform miracles specially, and unlike Argio, you wouldn't have been anxious about not seeing blood…."
"Yes, I was an ordinary teacher."
"No well, you probably weren't particularly ordinary. No matter how much I think, up to there is unreasonable. What are you trying to pass over naturally as if it was an ordinary life like a snake going over a wall."
"I am wronged."
The portrait had returned to black hair before one knew it.
"My impression was just scary."
"It would have been hard to buy fear with such a handsome face too, should I call this amazing or what…."
"I was always a kind and helpful teacher."
"So I'm saying it's a problem of impression not words and actions, Jio. No of course that would have been a problem too but…."
That wasn't a part that could be resolved just by saying it's unfair.
"Right, I'm saying it's strange? As you said, you said people got scared even when you were an 'ordinary teacher'."
Yu Seong-un recalled the story in the meeting room he heard from the 5th Floor Master before returning home.
"I mean how did such a guy create such a harmonious atmosphere."
"I am saying continuously but I just put in effort diligently."
Jio had sociability and social skills to that extent.
"Due to the impression that it is hard to feel friendliness, there were many people who found me difficult, but eventually everyone remained as good connections. If people fear me, ultimately it is a matter of just resolving that, you see."
At Jio's words, Yu Seong-un admired.
"Then why don't you do so usually?"
"I am tired."
"Ah?"
"The outcome versus investment is unclear."
"Do you mean it is a losing business?"
"You understood well."
In the case of people he has to work together with or see for a long time, Jio would act cute diligently, but most were people passing by.
There is no need to boil and cook the opponent, consuming precious energy unnecessarily.
"Because it is true that my basic impression is scary."
The more Jio treats comfortably without any effort, the harder it is for the opponent to shake off fear.
However, speaking conversely, it meant if Jio treats them with sincerity, they could not fear as much as possible.
"...."
"...."
To that, Yu Seong-un and Ju-hyeon thought.
'…Indeed, there is no way making one feel comfortable with an existence of that status is possible with small investment. It probably won't be a mercy he can bestow to anyone.'
'Isn't the fact that he cannot stand in an equal position with unspecified many humans without putting in effort in such a way itself proving that he himself is not human…?'
Yu Seong-un understood the artwork's tiredness like a Gardener and curator, and Ju-hyeon, standing in a friend's position, was pointing out the contradiction in Jio's usual claim. At least they weren't viewing him as a human.
Jio noticed such signs of Yu Seong-un and Ju-hyeon.
'Is there no one who recognizes that I am an ordinary introverted human.'
That people get scared because his impression is scary is a default value, and to explain that and relieve tension, Jio had to consume quite a lot of mental power.
That was exactly the life of an introverted human with a scary impression.
However, since this situation is dumbfounding and funny, Jio decided to just accept the current situation.
He had no thought to show off when they said they would treat him as a precious portrait.
Jio wanted to live as a portrait for his whole life.
"…Is it not that I did something wrong?"
"Ah, it's not that you did something wrong.
Rather it would be a big help."
"Because they are people who will work together with me, it weighed on my mind."
Hearing from Ju-hyeon, that conquest or whatever is something like a training camp.
Or something like a workshop or a long-term business trip.
He didn't want to become in an awkward relationship with people he has to be together with for quite a long time.
'Even hell of that extent is rare to see.'
So leaving a good first impression with all his might and spending the remaining work period in a harmonious atmosphere was a hundred times, a thousand times more comfortable.
Jio had truly tried desperately to get close to these temporary colleagues this time.
"However, Resolution Team Member Kim Na-na who entered later seemed a little surprised."
"Ah, I heard that story too."
Yu Seong-un nodded.
"She said she thought it was brainwashing."
"She feared me a lot."
"That too was resolved after conversing a little eventually, you said."
"A big effort was needed."
"Miss Kim Na-na is understandable too."
Laughing awkwardly, Yu Seong-un continued speaking.
"The appearance of colleagues giggling while treating the Black Cape comfortably like an old friend while she wasn't there… honestly the moment she encountered it, she could only be creeped out. It's something that doesn't make sense."
"Still, at the last moment, she seemed to feel comfortable with me."
"That is also correct. It's not that you knew wrong, from what I heard too, Miss Kim Na-na doesn't seem to fear you anymore. Although such a part is also surprising."
To that, Yu Seong-un asked stealthily.
"It's not really that you used a brainwashing skill?"
"I am truly wronged."
"Uh right I'm sorry, but honestly it's a bit suspicious."
"Have you ever seen an appearance of a portrait crying?"
"I am curious but I'll postpone that appreciation until next time."
Ju-hyeon looked at Yu Seong-un as if seeing a genuine crazy guy but he ignored it cleanly.
Originally Bisabeol's curators were all like this shape and form. An artwork's crying appearance?
It is a tremendously rare spectacle.
However, whether fortunately or unfortunately, Yu Seong-un was in a tremendously tired state so he passed this opportunity to next time.
"If you created such an atmosphere purely with just eloquence, isn't it a truly amazing thing?"
"I am glad that you praise me."
Jio became a little happy hearing the sound 'Hey you are good at social life' from a close brother.
Timid and cowardly, Jio became proud in his own way feeling like he did decent work.
"It seems it is thanks to knowing the coping method as there were often such matters in the past too."
"It's not that your portrait-likeness caused an incident?"
"I do not know well what meaning portrait-likeness is exactly."
"You have a bit of that. That is what it is, getting realized as you wish ...."
"Are you perhaps speaking of something like a stone tower stacked when hiking."
"…Is it similar?"
Jio had the ability to proceed with work as he wished without taking special measures.
Yu Seong-un was thinking that it would be a possible thing because he controlled fate as a part of the Source.
"Indeed, whichever side it is, it is amazing all the same."
"Thank you."
"If I look closely, he likes being praised surprisingly…."
To that, Ju-hyeon laughed and added words.
"Since he is still young after all."
"...."
At Yu Seong-un's staring gaze, Ju-hyeon avoided his gaze.
"…Personality, yes, personality."
"What are you shy about?"
"Because it seemed like I said embarrassing words…."
"I don't know if he is bold or timid."
"I would be grateful if you stop teasing."
Ju-hyeon, whose face became red, said he had a slight grievance.
"But isn't Mr. Jio certainly on the young side? At 29 years old, at 32 years old, at 24 years old…."
"If it is short-lived, it was indeed short-lived."
"Do not focus on death but look at the age when alive. You are young."
"Right, you did die early. I also know."
"Are you telling such sad stories to Mr. Jio's face right now?"
"No it's just the truth…."
Yu Seong-un looked back at Jio feeling like he was being scolded for some reason.
"The person himself probably has no particular regret?"
"Ah-ah, how good would it have been if I had lived longer and longer with our mermaid students…."
"Are you going to be like this? You'll make only me the bad guy, is that it, now?"
"It is a joke."
Giovanni also didn't have particular dissatisfaction with his lifespan.
"Isn't there also a saying called 'Beautiful women die young' (Beauty and Short Life)?"
"That confidence, very good to see."
"Since the fact that I am handsome is an undeniable truth."
"He is brazen in strange ways."
Yu Seong-un shrugged his shoulders.
"Anyway, it is fortunate that you got close without big problems."
"Still, it seemed they found me difficult."
"Uh, really? Didn't you say the atmosphere was good?"
"Hmm."
Jio, who contemplated for a moment, continued speaking.
"There were many similar cases in the past too."
"What kind of cases?"
"Accepting my act of acting cute with all my soul as a type of mercy and being in awe…."
"Ah, that was acting cute with all your soul. I see."
Actually, Yu Seong-un also tended to interpret it as closer to a giant mystery's mercy than acting cute.
Since he seems to want to pretend it's not him, he will just pass over, but just as a personal thought, that is.
"...."
"Huh? Why?"
"Are you hungry?"
"…I am feeling peckish but what is the problem?"
"Because you seem to be thinking nonsense, I wondered if it was because your stomach is empty."
"Putting aside what nonsense is, why do you tie that with the stomach…."
Yu Seong-un marveled at how even being grumpy could be unified into feeding food.
***
Like that, the time of the decisive battle approaches, the rest day before conquest.
"I am so glad to see the Collector's young master whom I heard only in words."
"...."
"Our young master, surely you won't cry saying the rice in the dungeon tastes bad, right?"
Jio was suffering unilateral provocation from some thug who looked perfectly fine physically.
'To challenge me with rice?'
Truly surprisingly, it was clear that the world had no thought to understand his frailty.