"Heheh~ Heheh~"
"Isn't... that heavy?"
"Light as a feather. Yoo-hoo! Life is great!"
"'You're ripping my strength out by force, you bastard!!!'"
"'Would it kill you to help out once in a while when you don't even pay rent?'"
"'I'm barely holding back my claws, you rotten little shit!'"
"'Why? If something's good, it's good, right? You need me alive so I can keep feeding you, don't you? We're bound by a shared fate~ That's what I mean.'"
"'Go to hell...'"
""Hey, but... only bad people go to hell.""
"'If you don't know that, you're an idiot, Magpie.'"
"But if the administration is competent enough to keep running even after gathering that many bastards in one place, wouldn't it actually be a pretty decent place to live?"
"'What a load of crap...'"
Enough. Ignore it all and focus on my persimmons, piled high in both arms and even stacked on top of my head. Ah, they're so pretty, so adorable I could die.
I want to peel one and stuff it in my mouth right now, but walking comes first, so I endure it.
"Tonight, you're all dead. Seriously."
Would there be a refrigerator? If there is, I can try them frozen, eat them plain, eat them while watching TV, eat them while rolling around on a heated floor, and hehehe...
"Hey, not that way. This way."
"Oh, really? You should've said so earlier."
"I called you three times, and you just kept walking off alone. How shameless can you get?"
"Then you should've called four times."
"...I don't like him, Talulah."
What are you going to do if you don't like me? Huh? What are you going to do? Shoo, shoo, shoo. Damn. Damn bastard.
"Anyway, it's high..! Higher than my training ground!"
As expected of Dragon Gate, and especially of an apartment in a prosperous district, it was disgustingly tall. To put it bluntly, I even had the stupid thought that if a Catastrophe struck, maybe a meteor would hit the roof.
'They handed this place over without hesitation. Does that mean they value me that highly?'
Even the elite unit of the Dragon Gate Guard Bureau was still just a special police force. Even if they paid a little extra hazard allowance, even if I was contracted as a mercenary and the rate was higher, I couldn't afford a building like this. Probably the kind of place where you'd have to take out a loan, crater your credit rating, and then hand over half your salary in rent every month.
"...This is insane."
"In a good way?"
"Yeah. In a good way."
I do remember that even in my previous life, I never lived in a place like this. I vaguely remember running breathlessly to catch the subway while living in some mediocre one-room apartment during college.
'If I ended up staying in a place like this after dying... would that count as a good death?'
I wasn't sure, but first I wanted to look inside. What can I say? I'm excited.
"That's our place over there... looks like the place we're moving into is that one."
On the 14th floor of this luxurious apartment, with its equally luxurious elevator, I could see several people moving briskly back and forth. Since they were clearly from the moving company, it seemed certain that that apartment would be my new shelter.
"Let's see... 1420. So even rich people put numbers on their doors?"
"It makes deliveries easier."
Ah, fair enough. Rich or not, convenience is king.
"Kids, this is now... wait, hold on, is your name Bae... Baek...?"
"It's Baekhyun."
"Ah, right, right. So you're the one moving in here? I've already heard from Mr. Wei Yenwu, and we're almost done."
"Then please stack these persimmons somewhere safe and cool. It's the request of my lifetime."
"This is... persimmons? Well, fine. Do you want to look around inside? It'd probably be better to see it for yourself. Ah, hand those to me."
"They'll be heavy..."
He looked at me like, How heavy could it be for a kid to carry? Fine. Take them, take them.
"Ugh...!"
"...I'll carry them myself after all."
I was an idiot for thinking I could entrust my precious persimmons to some weakling like that. If even one of them gets scratched, I'm seriously going to cry.
"'Brat.'"
"'An old mountain spirit who can't act his age.'"
I ignored him lightly, and my new nest, to put it bluntly, was simple. Which was exactly why I liked it.
The living room was spacious, and the rug? Carpet? Whatever it was, it was a luxurious black rug that felt warm underfoot. Probably that kind of thing. I wasn't exactly the sort of person who paid attention to details like that.
The sofa was black too, with a wall-mounted TV opposite it, and a coffee table that was a little large for a one-person setup.
In the kitchen, thankfully, there was a household refrigerator, a gas range, and a microwave. In practice, everything except groceries was already there, and thanks to that, I carefully stored my treasures on top of the fridge, in the freezer, and beside the washing machine in the utility room connected to the kitchen.
There were two bedrooms, but since I only had one body, I decided I didn't need the other and chose the smaller room. It had only a small bed, an expensive-looking blanket, and a wardrobe, but I liked how simple it was.
"Wow... how much is all this worth?"
I felt burdened by the fact that none of my own money had gone into any of it, but on the other hand, that also gave me a clear motive to work. After all, once people obtain something, they work hard just to avoid losing it.
'I need to work my ass off and prove my worth.'
In truth, my worth had probably already been proven. Not through some empty vanity, but when I signed the contract to stay in Dragon Gate, anyone there would have noticed it—the flicker in his eyes, the exhilaration of drawing a six-star on a single pull.
What they were doing for me now felt less like an investment and more like, Here, I'm doing this for you, even if it means taking a loss and presenting my value first.
'Well, I'm happy with that.'
In the end, I also wanted a friendly relationship. I take, Wei Yenwu compensates. That was the most ideal shape our arrangement could take right now.
"Then let's head back out. We still need to stock up on ingredients..."
"Are you planning to go shopping?"
"I picked up enough cooking by watching from the side."
I had seen Otis at work, and taste was the most accurate metric anyway. If I kept at it, wouldn't I manage? I was confident in my knife work, at least.
"Then there's a big market just a little farther down from here. How about we go there?"
"Do they sell whetstones too?"
"...P-probably?"
"Great, let's go! There'll be a lot of people, right?! Hey, run!"
"Wait, what? That's a window—!! Hey!!! You crazy bastard!!!"
[Updraft]
It was a technique used for upward slashes, but with fine control over the wind, I could soften the impact of the fall and land safely. Of course, this was only the second time I'd used it in actual combat, but unlike last time, the only thing different now was that my right heel had split into three pieces, so it was still usable enough.
"'Hey, you Danguk profanityDanguk-style parent-burying insult, is your body made of iron?!'"
"I lived, didn't I? Let's have a drink~ Have two~"
"'Forget it... talking to you is worse than talking to a wall.'"
"Then have a good life. My head already hurt, so this works out."
And he still fixed my leg afterward, didn't he? That mountain spirit really is huge like a mountain, but his personality is pure tsundere.
"You crazy bastard!!!"
"Ow, ow!! It hurts, Chen..."
"Of course it hurts! I hit you so it would hurt! Why are you jumping out the window?!"
"But this is faster."
"What, so you can get to the afterlife faster?!"
"Hey, a person isn't a 25-story building. You really think falling from a measly 14-floor apartment will kill me?"
"...By common sense, unless you're at wyvern level, wouldn't it kill you?"
"Then just assume I'm sturdy and move on..."
"That doesn't mean you leap out the window, you idiot! Idiot!!"
"Ow, seriously, it hurts! I said it hurts!!"
"I'm telling you again, I'm hitting you so it hurts!"
"Heh. Looks like the two of you are getting along better than expected."
"Don't laugh and help me! It really hurts!"
"More importantly, did you always get here this fast even when running?"
"I used Arts a little."
How much had the tailwind been strengthened now? One thing was certain: even now, if I used [Updraft] at full acceleration, I felt like I could run at roughly car speed. That was only a calculation I made in my head while sprinting here, so I had no idea how it would hold up in practice.
"A group enhancement-type Arts...?"
"No, Chen. The wind that blew was only altered for us. Like it was helping from behind..."
"Correct. You're sharp."
Did she notice that? I thought the wind between the buildings would make it impossible to tell, but was she really the sort of talent who'd become the greatest Arts caster in the future?
"But is it okay for you to come along while someone else is shopping?"
"I'm a little far from my guide duties, but it's kind of fun, so..."
"Haah... at least if I catch you before you pull another stunt, it'll be easier on my nerves."
"I'm not some delinquent, am I? That's harsh."
""You are a delinquent.""
"Cold..."
That stung quite a bit. What's inside me is...
"'Me?'"
"'Know your place, you ancestor-of-ancestors-of-ancestors bastard.'"
Anyway, just looking at me and that mountain spirit's claws, I'm a man who at least made it to his mid-twenties once. Delivery food was expensive, so I used to shop for groceries alone and learn to cook while watching Mr. Penguin Rapper Emperor. If I went grocery shopping with kids like these...
"Talulah, put that back."
"Why is that?"
"Look. It's cheap, but the inside is soft. That's a common trick for clearing out stock. We don't exactly lack funds, so there's no need to buy it."
"I see... it is soft."
"...What about that one?"
"It's not bad, but if you look around, there's a high chance you'll find a few more in a similar price range. Since it's Christmas, the toy section is getting the bigger discounts, so this area is under pressure too."
"You're surprisingly knowledgeable."
"If you want to survive, you have to be."
In the end, I was the one who ended up in the role of guardian.
"Do we need a kitchen knife?"
"A kitchen knife... yes. Cooking with something used to cut people feels gross."
"Cutting people..."
"What? I'm a killer. A butcher. Don't act surprised when it's someone whose specialty is cutting people."
"No, it's just... hearing that from you, someone younger than me, feels strange."
"Well, I do think it's my calling."
In truth, if cutting and slashing weren't my calling, I'd have already put it down out of guilt and a dozen other problems, or I'd be dead by now.
That said, if I really cut down just anyone, I'd be a lunatic before I was a killer. What matters is cutting only what needs to be cut, and, like last time, cutting it beyond the proper limit. At the very least, I have to decide what I cut.
"Oh, meat's cheap. I can stock up for a while."
"Oh, I wanted to try this sauce, and they sell something similar here?"
"This is instant noodles? They have them here too?! Grab everything, you Danguk profanity!"
"...Doesn't he seem excited?"
"Looks that way..."
'Maybe he's kind of cute...? Why am I thinking that?'
"Talulah, snap out of it! That one's gone again!!"
"Huh? Oh. Let's go."
Talulah thought the boy she'd just met today looked cute for a moment. But it was only a fleeting impression, so she dismissed it as a younger sibling doing something adorable.
"Apples, apples! Oh, isn't melon out of season...? Huh, as expected... imported directly from Sarcophagus? No, that can't be right. If so, then mangoes? Hm? Walnuts too? Almonds as well? Come at me, seriously."
There was also Baekhyun, whose appetite had truly turned into that of a crow.