chapter 151

Chapter 151

Even though Gio had made a new pen-pal friend, and Juhyeon had taken the Black Cloak as a friend, the daily life of this peaceful cabin did not change.

The Black Cloak still cooked for him.

“Please, let me work too.”

“Guests do not work.”

“You said we’re friends.”

“You’re a guest who is a friend.”

It did make him feel a little uncomfortable, but it was true that everything was peaceful.

“Then perhaps you could watch Dana? The child looks bored.”

“If I go close, won’t she try to roast me? Will she? They say an anti-cat’s fire is that hot.”

“She doesn’t seem to dislike you as much as before, so how about you work up the courage?”

“Even this morning she bared her teeth at me as she passed by...”

“Compared to before, when she looked like she wanted to turn you to ash, she has definitely softened.”

Three delicious meals a day, a room that was comfortable and private, and the scenery beyond the terrace as beautiful as a scene from a fairy tale. He was enjoying truly excessive benefits without doing anything.

But that didn’t mean the situation had changed at all, and—

“...”

Juhyeon fell into 고민 about the identity of his new friend.

He had followed along because he’d grown interested in the process of making pigments and brushes, and in that attic, Juhyeon, who had been invited there, began in a composed tone.

“I’m being extremely cautious, but I’ve been thinking.”

“I’m listening.”

“If we’re friends, I think I can ask this much.”

“Ask.”

He called Gio.

“Mr. Gio.”

“Yes.”

“...Mr. Seo Gio?”

“Yes.”

“Argio?”

“Yes.”

“How should I address you?”

“Ah-ha.”

Gio admitted his mistake.

“My introduction was lacking.”

Yes, Juhyeon barely knew anything about Gio.

‘He never explained it separately, either.’

That strange degree of indifference was also the typical attitude of a vast mystery toward humans.

“I can’t go doing something that might offend you.”

“There probably won’t be much for me to be offended by, but...”

“I don’t think I’d do that kind of thing either, but still.”

“It certainly isn’t polite to not even give a proper introduction.”

Glass tools set down with a clatter. Liquids of a strange palette filling them, vivid paints scattered without any order. Dana and Honey sunk deep into a box set beside the workbench.

In an attic where all kinds of mysteries gathered, Gio suddenly had an introduction time.

“I am Seo Gio.”

“Ah, yes, I heard. The Collector guild members seem to know you by that name too.”

“And Bartlan Giovanni.”

“...Bartlan Giovanni?”

“I am also scheduled to soon become Argio.”

“...”

Juhyeon thought that these damn mysteries’ habit of ‘cutting out all the extra explanation and only saying the core point meaningfully’ should be made illegal.

‘...Even oracles, which are said to be the most representative thing in交流 with mysteries, are like that—existences of great rank always give information too vaguely.’

From the human standpoint listening, it was nothing but awkward. Juhyeon smiled awkwardly.

Juhyeon also knew well there were reasons for it. In the case of oracles, since there is a high chance a god’s language can harm believers, they reduce its scale as much as possible, and it becomes sentences that are hard to interpret.

‘It’s not my specialty, so I don’t know well.’

Anyway, because of that, Juhyeon could quickly hide his fluster even at Gio’s clipped sentences. Stroking his chin for a moment as he thought, he soon found the pattern without difficulty.

“All the names include ‘Gio.’ So that’s why it’s ‘Gio’s Portrait’?”

“I think so.”

“So the 모습 that changes from time to time was a change according to the name.”

In his distinctive gentle tone, he asked,

“What is Mr. Seo Gio’s 모습?”

“When my hair is black.”

“Mm... Argio was when your hair was red.”

“Thank you for remembering.”

“Then Bartlan Giovanni would be when you’re blond.”

“You understood well.”

Perhaps he found it admirable that a mere human understood the words of a vast mystery. Or perhaps something about it touched the portrait’s interest and sensibility—anyway, golden light spread over him like paint.

Giovanni wore his distinctive bright smile.

“This is the first time since Yoo Seong-woon that I’ve done a proper introduction like this.”

“...”

It seemed that when he wanted to express joy effectively to humans, or wanted to give stability, he mainly changed into ‘Giovanni.’

If so, then ‘Seo Gio’ and ‘Argio’ would each have their own uses too. Having organized his thoughts, Juhyeon soon put on a sheepish smile.

“...Ah, is it the first time. I roughly understand what kind of situation it is, though.”

“Most people tense up just by seeing me, so I had no chance to have such idle conversations. I even worried about when I’d make a friend, but I’m truly fortunate to have met you, Juhyeon.”

“It’s a tremendous honor for me.”

Juhyeon wore his characteristic pleasant smile while thinking inwardly.

‘Well, unless you’re a human as out of your mind as me, how could you not be scared.’

Just by looking, he was at minimum a humanoid monster; no matter how deeply you thought, he wasn’t anything but the shape of a wicked god. It’s true the ghost stories about the ‘Black Cloak’ had settled into a fairly familiar form, but there wouldn’t be many people who could openly act friendly toward him.

“...”

Having become one of those ‘few people,’ Juhyeon felt bitter inside. He’d prided himself on living a sane, proper life, but now he’d become friends with a wicked god.

‘I have to be careful not to harbor idle thoughts. Even if what he wants from me is a friendship and I respond to that, I still have to be careful where I must be careful.’

Thinking the wicked god’s goodwill is my own 힘, or relying on him too much. Getting drunk on authority that isn’t mine, not knowing gratitude, and harboring excessive greed...

The wicked god contractors in history who ruined the world all failed because they couldn’t grasp their station. Even if I vanish as a cog in society, I don’t want to be recorded in history like that.

“...Then could I hear Gio’s story?”

Since he told him the names, it seemed like he was willing to explain.

“Of course, if it’s uncomfortable, it’s fine if you don’t tell me.”

“No, they aren’t such special stories.”

Gio with black hair, arms crossed, seemed to ponder something. He soon opened his mouth.

“Argio had an inborn ability to transform into beasts. Because of that ability he was driven from his family, lived like a beast in the forest, and was accused as the root of all evil and became a wicked god.”

Juhyeon reflexively said,

“That’s already special.”

“Is it?”

“Not special so much as a bit more negative...”

“He lived happily and went on his way.”

“That’s truly black humor.”

Nodding, Juhyeon continued.

“What kind of person was Giovanni of the Bartlan family?”

“As a sun priest and doctor, he cared for mermaid students, then died beaten to death.”

“What am I supposed to... how should I react to stories like this?”

“You can laugh. I lived happily and went on my way then too.”

“If I laugh, I feel like I’ll become something less than human.”

Forget laughter—he was too busy hiding his shock. It was that kind of story.

“I feel like I’ve heard something like this somewhere...?”

“Then it seems you read the report on ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea.’”

“I’m really surprised it wasn’t my imagination.”

Since it was a humanoid monster that had officially appeared from the Association in rare fashion, Juhyeon had read the report on ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea’ carefully. That report included the overall story related to the dungeon as well.

“...”

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t sound like he died after living happily?

“...To be honest, I did expect it a little.”

“I’m curious what you expected and how.”

“Since I learned the Black Cloak belongs to the Collector’s.”

“Is there any problem with that?”

“The ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea’ report the Collector’s sent was filed by Yoo Seong-woon, right?”

“I understand that to be so.”

“And Yoo Seong-woon is, um...”

Juhyeon chose his words.

“He’s quite famous within the research institute community at the Association.”

“Why would that be?”

“Because he’s a former research team leader who transferred to the Collector’s. ”

“Is there something special about transferring to the Collector’s?”

“The motto is special. The Collector’s has a strong atmosphere of cherishing works, right?”

“I heard there is certainly such a rule.”

“And Association researchers feel quite a lot of aversion to that Collector’s motto.”

In a way, it was only natural.

“Because we see a lot of things we shouldn’t in the institute.”

They know the cruelty of the dangerous items the Collector’s calls ‘works.’

“At the Association institute there’s even a saying, ‘Anyone who hasn’t lost something to those things isn’t a real researcher.’ That’s how strong the vigilance toward dangerous objects is, and everyone has different circumstances, too.”

“I am safe.”

“Of course, I didn’t mean you, Gio. Compared to those mindless dangerous items, you’re far more precious. And you’ve bestowed me a lot of grace too.”

Juhyeon wore his characteristic smile.

“But most dangerous items aren’t like that. Since the Collector’s gallery and the Association institute are institutions that stand at opposite poles in many ways, cases where an employee who’s experienced one side transfers to the other... are extremely rare.”

In practice, Yoo Seong-woon was the first opposite-pole transferee.

“It’s something you can’t do unless you have a truly strong affection for dangerous items. And it’s a report on an S-rank dungeon filed by such a person, isn’t it? Many researchers were curious what had caught former Research Team Leader Yoo Seong-woon’s interest.”

“So something like that happened.”

“At that time, the name of Hunter Seo Gio remained among the participants. And we also knew that he was the one who contributed greatly to civilian survival on the day of the Sun Church initiation ceremony terror. But since you, whom we knew as Black Cloak, had the name Seo Gio...”

Juhyeon smiled awkwardly.

“I thought you, Black Cloak and also Seo Gio, must have some deep connection to ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea.’ Because it’s famous that Black Cloak’s portraits often appear in that dungeon.”

Though that was also a conjecture he organized while staying at Black Cloak’s cabin.

“More than anything, there are records about Bartlan Giovanni in ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea.’ It’s confirmed very rarely, but since you spoke that name when introducing yourself...”

“So you guessed there was a connection.”

“I wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t said the name Bartlan Giovanni. There are no exact records of Giovanni’s appearance in that dungeon, and even if there were, blond hair and blue eyes are common, aren’t they.”

“Old Korea did not have such appearances commonly, so it is interesting.”

“...Since you said ‘old Korea,’ it reminded me of something—like you said before, ‘Seo Gio’ is the name you used when you lived on Earth, right? What kind of life did you live then?”

“It truly is nothing special.”

With a blunt face, Gio answered.

“I only became a portrait because there was a fire at the school.”

“Mm, I see!”

Even though he’d prepared himself mentally, it was far too un-special.

“How did it happen?”

“Are you asking about the fire, or about the portrait?”

“I suppose you could say both.”

“To be honest, even I do not know the reason for the fire.”

He blinked twice.

“The alarm suddenly rang, and even though I went to check as soon as there was a sound, the first floor was already burning. Seeing how quickly it spread, it likely was not a naturally started fire.”

“...Someone deliberately...?”

“Unless someone poured oil or something, such rapid spread would be difficult. Of course, it is only my guess. At the time, I was busy getting the students outside the school.”

“Did you not go out with them?”

“I had to check whether any students or teachers remained. Because it was during break, people had scattered, and sometimes students are tucked away in strange places...”

Black eyes calmly met Juhyeon’s.

“Fortunately, I was the only one left in the school, and I could not escape in time. It was not a situation where I could expect to survive after the fire was put out, so I went into the storage I cherished.”

“Storage?”

“The art storage. I did think that perhaps I should have jumped out the window, but I was on the very top, the fifth floor. Our school also had high floor heights. So I went to the best place to die.”

“...”

“And I became a portrait. Isn’t it interesting?”

To that, Juhyeon smiled awkwardly.

“...It’s interesting.”

Black Cloak didn’t seem to feel negative emotions toward ‘Gio’s’ death.

In fact, he hadn’t said at all that Seo Gio died that way, but because of the cases of ‘Giovanni’ and ‘Argio,’ Juhyeon thought so. That ‘Seo Gio’ died that way as well.

“The age at the time...”

“I was twenty-nine.”

“Do the ages differ for each ‘Gio’?”

“Giovanni died at thirty-two, and Argio died at twenty-four.”

“...None of you lived long lives.”

Juhyeon suddenly felt regretful.

“You’re younger than me.”

Is this portrait a collective of such young deaths?

‘So maybe that’s why, even though I’m face-to-face with it, our conversation isn’t difficult.’

Beneath those many ‘Gios,’ there must have been the vast mystery called ‘Gio’s Portrait,’ but they were still, once, nothing but ordinary humans. Even so, each of ‘Gio’s’ deaths felt only bitter.

‘No matter how much a wicked god, Argio was twenty-four too...’

More than anything, even if he called himself evil, Argio’s personality didn’t look like a purely bad person. He looked like an upright person who could bestow sufficient mercy.

‘Those people.’

How could they have met only tragedy?

“...”

Juhyeon drew a gentle smiling-eye expression.

“I don’t know how such a thing is possible, but, mm. No matter how I think about it, it’s astonishing.”

“I think so as well.”

“Come to think of it, I heard the two mermaids that inhabit ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea’ still haven’t been subjugated.”

“They are dangerous children to subjugate rashly.”

“So you aren’t opposed to subjugating them itself.”

It was unusual.

“For that part... you aren’t paying attention?”

“What part are you referring to?”

“...Just, they were once your beloved disciples.”

If Juhyeon were in his position, he would have had many thoughts.

“I think I would be quite sad for a long time. I’d blame myself, thinking this happened because of me. They were once beloved disciples, so I’d want to forgive them, but as a human I might not be able to forgive... mm, was that too presumptuous of me to say?”

He, now platinum blond, smiled.

“My friend, you are not presumptuous at all to me.”

“Then I’m glad.”

“But I am not someone who agonizes deeply like you, Juhyeon.”

“Do I... agonize deeply?”

“I have never blamed myself even once.”

Giovanni blinked his blue eyes as if to say, ‘Why on earth would I?’

“I cherished my disciples with all my might, and bestowed good deeds befitting my mission. I have acted without shame as the Sun’s son... and as a single teacher, I also walked a path for my students. That was not a path of abusing myself, but a method of respecting myself.”

It was a gentle, measured voice.

“My disciples may have resented me. But I did my best to protect my students, and gave sufficient affection. ”

“So you don’t regret it? Because you did your best?”

“I did my best to do what I wanted to do, and it was universally valid good, and steps I could be proud of before the Sun and myself. I do not wish to do that absurd self-blame that says my students committed sin because I did not conduct myself more cleverly.”

“Because you did not conduct yourself more cleverly...?”

“If I had pandered to the religious order and the village, I might have lived longer. But that would be a path of betraying my students, betraying my father, and also an act of tormenting myself.”

His lips drew a smooth curve.

“I simply did not want to.”

“Why?”

“There are many reasons, but the most representative is that I made a promise.”

“A promise with whom?”

“With my students.”

Eyes holding the sea curved with affection.

“I promised I would not change.”

“...”

At that preserved smile, Juhyeon opened his mouth with difficulty.

“...Do you still love those disciples?”

“I love them.”

“Then have you forgiven their actions?”

“I have not forgiven them.”

“Then... will you punish them?”

“That is not my share.”

The priest laughed lightly. It was the laughter of a spotless young man.

“The sin they committed against me is only that they betrayed my faith. The punishment for that was already received in the past time, and as for the price of other sins, it is not something I can dare to pass judgment on.”

“I understand.”

“You may think like this: that the one called Giovanni is in the position to punish those sinful mermaids most easily. But that would be an utterly absurd thing.”

“Because it isn’t your share?”

“And also because they want the punishment I give.”

Soon, Giovanni gave a small snort of laughter.

“My mermaid students spent a very long time venting their anger. When they could not forget a memory from long ago and were buried in it, scattering sins they could never retrieve, they still kept me in one corner of their hearts.”

“...”

“They hoped that, though thinking it could not happen, someday as a miracle, I, their only meaning, would return and give them an end. It is a very irresponsible and indecisive mindset. For me to punish them would instead become a reward...”

He shrugged.

“Do you think that is right?”

“...Mm, well...”

It was a perspective that gave him something to think about.

“...Even so, I hope the same tragedy won’t repeat because of those mermaids.”

“I feel the same. And that is the repayment of the affection I hold, and the proof of favoritism.”

“You truly do love them. And yet you did not forgive them.”

“Even if eternal ages pass, could I forgive them?”

The human who holds the merciful sun says,

“No matter what my students do, their sin only grows and their responsibility swells, but the time of those who have already suffered at their hands does not disappear. Even if they returned the world of humans they killed to its most whole time, the sins that existed cannot be pardoned.”

“...Then...”

“I am a simple person whose thoughts are not that deep, so I do not know whether even sins of that size can be pardoned through long time, pain, and sincerity. It may be impossible, and it may be possible. But I do not know whether it is a hole that can be filled even if only a few thousand years pass.”

Giovanni continued, with a priest’s face that had shed the air of a youth.

“However, do not worry. As long as I exist, they will continue to think over their sins. Even now I am fulfilling my responsibility as a teacher...”

“So the tragedy I worry about will not repeat.”

“It is certain that I did not forgive my mermaid students because I love them. As long as I exist, they can never again become the same calamity as before.”

“...Hearing you say that reassures me.”

He meant it.

“Humanoid monsters are, mm... beings that make you worried.”

“You seem anxious.”

To that, Giovanni asked,

“Shall I introduce you?”

“Pardon?”

Introduce what?

* * *

“Ta-da.”

Gio made a sound effect with the two mermaids there. Juhyeon was dumbfounded.

“No, not ta-da.”

“They are my students.”

“I know, but.”

Seeing that Juhyeon seemed to know the relationship between the mermaids and Giovanni, Aria smiled faintly and turned to her teacher. Her smile was smooth and flawless.

“Now you’re outright raising a human, aren’t you?”

“Raising, what do you mean. He is my friend.”

“You really are socially talented in a strange direction, Teacher.”

“Praise like that makes this teacher’s face hot.”

“Hot, my foot—soon ten-thousand-year snow will settle.”

At Aria’s words, Gio soon wore the soft smile of a priest.

“Like this?”

“As expected, I like that face.”

Nodding, Aria looked at her younger brother Iser, who was having a strange contest of reading the room, and at Juhyeon, Gio’s new friend.

Iser seemed to be 고민 what to do with this human, and Juhyeon seemed busy accepting this situation.

“Kids.”

With a light laugh, Aria greeted gracefully, following etiquette.

“Pleased to meet you, gentleman beloved by the Sun. I am Aria, disciple who serves Priest Bartlan Giovanni of the Bartlan family as teacher. May you be filled with the blessings of the earth.”

“...I, too, am pleased to meet you. I am Iser, the second disciple who serves Priest Bartlan Giovanni of the Bartlan family as teacher. May the warmth of the Sun reach you.”

Iser, who glanced at his sister, also greeted him a beat late.

Although the fact that the two were humanoid monsters was something Juhyeon already knew well as an Association researcher, since it had come to this, Juhyeon also had to show corresponding sincerity. Juhyeon reflexively wore his social-life smile.

“Nice to meet you. I am Juhyeon, who has gained the honor, though lacking, of becoming Mr. Seo Gio’s friend. I have been hired as the manager who will assist Mr. Seo Gio when he is active outside the portrait as a hunter.”

And the gazes of the two mermaids and one human turned to Giovanni.

“...”

“...”

“...”

In the strange silence, Gio asked,

“Shall we eat?”

And thus an untimely meal was decided.

(To be continued in the next episode)