chapter 152

Chapter 152

Juhyeon stepped up and offered to help prepare the meal, but it was rejected.

“It would be best for you to stay here.”

“But it’s awkward that I’m really only being fed...”

“If you want to maintain the human species, stay still.”

“...Ah.”

“Exactly.”

Iser nodded and went into the kitchen. Aria softly escorted Juhyeon, who was standing there with a dumbfounded face, to the sofa and gave a light explanation.

“If it isn’t something Teacher personally prepped and cooked, it’ll be hard for a human to consume.”

“If I eat ingredients that weren’t prepped and cooked by Mr. Gio... what happens?”

“You’ll become one with this portrait. You wouldn’t want that, would you, gentleman?”

“Would it be a problem even if I only prep them?”

“Unfortunately, you have a very fragile body, so it seems it would be difficult.”

Aria smiled.

“You look like you want to do something, so in that case, how about you at least set the table?”

“...Well, even I shouldn’t have a problem just laying out the utensils, right?”

“You don’t need to worry. You won’t undergo corruption from something that trivial.”

“Thank you for advice that becomes my blood and flesh.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Juhyeon watched Aria also go into the kitchen, and inwardly he brushed down his chest, which had gone cold. Whether it was a staggering coincidence or Gio’s consideration, Juhyeon had never eaten raw ingredients here.

‘Come to think of it, even the drinks were all in the form of tea or juice.’

It seemed like it had been quite a dangerous situation.

‘Come to think of it, dungeon ingredients are often harmless for humans to eat, so I let my guard down...’

Was it because it was the dungeon of ‘Black Cloak,’ treated as a humanoid monster? Juhyeon had ended up judging based on ordinary dungeons. Since he didn’t know about the source and gardeners, it was an issue where he couldn’t help but let his guard down.

That, too, was natural—because in modern times, ingredients from dungeons had become useful foodstuffs. Thanks to their cheaper price than Earth-produced goods, even the ordinary middle class favored dungeon-produced ingredients. Juhyeon was the same.

“Hey, gentleman.”

“Ah, yes.”

“While the meal is being prepared, wouldn’t you like to enjoy tea with me?”

Aria came out of the kitchen holding up a tea set on a tray.

“Gio made a new tea.”

“When you say new tea...”

“It’s a tea where small flowers that resemble stars gather.”

“I’ve tasted it before.”

One day, Gio brought it, saying, “I grew it in the waterbirds’ nest.” Juhyeon accepted the tray from Aria with a delighted expression.

“It was a tea with a strong savory fragrance.”

“The kitchen people looked so busy, so I just brought it.”

“Th-...is that okay?”

“He isn’t the type to get angry because someone stole food.”

“You stole it.”

Hearing the word “stole” from the mouth of a humanoid monster made Juhyeon’s feelings subtle. Perhaps because mermaids are a monster species sometimes treated as a subspecies of humans, it was newly surprising that she had awareness that she’d stolen.

‘Not something to show on my face.’

Juhyeon set the tea set on the table and brewed the tea.

“I heard from Mr. Gio that it’s a tea made by drying basram flowers.”

“Basram flowers are flowers cultivated in the world where I was born.”

“So it was a famous flower tea to the point it was cultivated.”

“A single flower was worth as much gold as its volume.”

“...Gold must have been expensive in that world too, right?”

Juhyeon asked with an awkward smile.

“Why was it that expensive?”

“Because it’s too finicky to cultivate.”

“How do you cultivate it?”

“They choose the person who grows them.”

“They choose the person...?”

“Yeah.”

Aria gave a small laugh.

“Only a few among the Sun’s priests could raise them healthily.”

“A flower that only priests can cultivate... it certainly sounds appealing.”

“Basram flowers are grown underwater in a place where the Sun’s energy is strongest.”

“Underwater cultivation? Right, he did say he grew them in the waterbirds’ nest. That’s unusual.”

“Once, basram flowers were in a pond deep within the Sun’s temple...”

Aria drew out her ending, then a beat later continued,

“That’s where they grew.”

“Deep within the Sun’s temple?”

Juhyeon guessed the situation.

“At that time, what position did the Sun Church hold?”

“It was the religion that ruled the surface.”

“Then these basram flowers must truly have been precious flowers.”

“They were treated as an elixir that touched the Sun.”

“...”

Juhyeon, pouring tea, froze.

“...An elixir?”

“Yeah, the top elixir on the surface.”

“Am I brewing an elixir into tea right now?”

“Why are you asking something so obvious?”

Aria wore a neat smile.

“Everything you’ve eaten so far must have been that kind of thing.”

“...Oh...”

Trickle.

Juhyeon finished pouring the tea.

“Suddenly I feel uncomfortable drinking it.”

“Teacher won’t have any ulterior intent, so it’s better to just drink it.”

“From the standpoint of a mere human, it’s scary.”

“Drinking this won’t cause a big change in your identity as a human.”

“If it isn’t a big change, does a small change happen?”

“You’ll become a very warm body.”

“...Wild ginseng?”

“Maybe something like that.”

Aria took a sip of the tea Juhyeon poured.

“Though it’ll be more effective than that?”

“...The fragrance really is savory and nice, but...”

“Doesn’t it really resemble the scent of well-ripened grains?”

The mermaid’s lips drew a soft arc.

“Giovanni was the one among the Sun’s priests who held the warmest energy.”

“...”

“The basram flowers he grew were the sweetest in the world, and held the softest fragrance.”

“...Could this be...”

“In my dungeon, basram flowers can no longer grow, though.”

Aria stroked the teacup, then continued.

“Until you harvest the flower, basram flowers will wilt if even a little cold energy gets in. Only if those closest to the Sun constantly guard their side can they grow properly.”

“Such a delicate flower.”

“My human teacher was the priest who bloomed basram flowers best. The Sun’s temple wanted to bring him back somehow, and keep him trapped inside. Because they need him to do elixir business.”

“That’s... a more worldly story than I expected.”

“But Giovanni was busy spending his time going outside the world to treat and embrace people. The temple’s side must have been very anxious. There were also many who hated him for not obeying the order’s commands.”

“Mm...”

Sipping his tea, Juhyeon asked,

“Weren’t there any priests who cultivated the flower privately?”

“Why wouldn’t there be? It’s just that most priests couldn’t do it.”

“Was cultivation that difficult?”

“It wasn’t something that could be done simply because the Sun’s energy was plentiful.”

“Then...?”

“You had to love them.”

As if they were cute, Aria looked at the small flower clusters floating in the transparent tea set.

“Only if you truly loved and cherished them would they grow.”

“...That’s amazing.”

Juhyeon nodded.

“And it takes a lot of effort.”

“That’s why it was difficult to cultivate.”

Aria soon let out a little laugh.

“And yet there were priests who cultivated basram flowers privately. They couldn’t hold enough of the Sun’s energy, and they couldn’t love mere water-submerged flowers, but in the end they still managed, little by little, to cultivate them.”

“How could they do that?”

“It’s simple. Bring objects that hold the Sun’s energy into the growing room. The more such objects you have, the more the growing room comes to hold energy similar to the Sun’s temple. Let’s see—an example would be the Sun’s holy relics. A saint’s keepsakes, for instance...”

“But even then, does it satisfy the condition of ‘love’?”

At Juhyeon’s question, Aria set down her teacup.

“It didn’t satisfy it.”

“Then how...?”

“That’s why another method was needed.”

“What method was that?”

“Keeping a priest’s corpse together with them.”

“...”

“Because of that, the temple pond was also used as a grave for saints.”

Blinking, Juhyeon asked back,

“Huh? A corpse like that...?”

“They say it produces a result similar to ‘love.’”

“...Why would it...?”

“It seems they regarded devotion—offering up everything as fertilizer—as love too.”

Aria laughed.

“That’s why basram flowers were also called ‘flowers that eat corpses.’”

Wouldn’t it have been far more cost-effective to use a few corpses of priests with moderately strong Sun energy than to have the highest-ranking priests with abundant Sun energy cultivate them personally.

“In fact, it was an era when Sun Church priests’ corpses were sold under the table.”

“...”

“Of course, the quality is lower than flowers raised with true love.”

“Uh...”

“But even basram flowers grown that way had good efficacy.”

Aria continued in an unconcerned tone.

“That’s how enormous the demand was for this elixir. It was a flower so precious they had to use the Sun’s holy relics and even priests’ corpses, and beyond mere symbolic meaning, its practical efficacy was large too.”

“...Could you tell me exactly what efficacy it has?”

“There are stories it even revives the dead, and there are real cases similar to that. It makes a person’s body warm. The method of taking it was to dry it thoroughly in sunlight, grind it into powder, and mix it into water to drink.”

“At that point, wouldn’t you get burned...?”

“If that were the case, it wouldn’t have been treated that precious. There are no side effects. It’s just that your body always becomes warm, matched to an ideal temperature, and thanks to that, you don’t catch illnesses easily.”

“...”

Juhyeon looked down at the teacup in his hand. Then he looked back at Aria.

“Is it okay for me to drink this?”

“You won’t die.”

“No, I think that’s the problem.”

“Do you want to die?”

“Don’t tempt me. Th-that—I want to die as a human.”

“I’ve heard stories it extends lifespan.”

“This flower?”

“Well, there weren’t stories of making it into flower tea like this, but...”

“Ah...”

Rolling his eyes, Juhyeon pondered.

“If you drink it as tea, will the efficacy be less?”

“Do you want the efficacy of flowers dried by the Sun god himself to be less?”

“...Wait a minute.”

Juhyeon asked,

“The Sun god?”

“Oh dear, looks like you didn’t know.”

“Giovanni is...?”

“Do you see that teddy bear gentleman over there?”

“Huh.”

Perhaps he was helping with kitchen work; a teddy bear could be seen waving its hand inside.

“Yes, I think he’s... Father...”

“He is the previous-generation Sun god.”

“Excuse me?”

“Gio inherited that divinity.”

“...”

At his white, drained face, Aria smiled.

“Isn’t it nice? Your friend is the Sun god—there’s no greater honor than this.”

“It definitely is an honor, but no, still... even so... even so this is...”

Juhyeon made a troubled face.

“It’s far too much.”

“Your friend? Or this tea?”

“How am I supposed to repay this...”

“You’re thinking of repaying a god’s bestowed gift.”

“Th-that’s one way to look at it, but.”

Perhaps even he felt embarrassed by his own thought; Juhyeon flushed red awkwardly.

“I can’t just keep receiving.”

“...”

“And Mr. Gio isn’t an ordinary believer either.”

“...Even just a little...”

Aria, her smile erased, let out something like a deep sigh.

“You resemble my stupid little brother.”

“...Me?”

“Yes, just a little.”

Aria soon showed a gentle smile again.

“I wish my younger brother, too, could have received a god’s mercy at a good time, like you.”

The emotion contained in those words was so complex that Juhyeon couldn’t dare to understand it.

“Then he would have become a priest of peace, not a monster.”

“...Do you regret it?”

“As you probably know well, if you regret, you aren’t a monster.”

“I suppose so.”

Those who still had something left behind—dreams, lingering attachment, daily life, anything—could not become monsters.

Juhyeon knew that well.

“...”

And that was why he could foresee the end of these mermaids.

* * *

The prepared dinner was lamb skewers.

“Lamb skewers...”

“Do you dislike them?”

“It’s not that, but.”

Looking at the meat skewers that seemed well-marinated, Juhyeon smiled awkwardly.

“This was golden sheep meat, right?”

“You remember well.”

Gio smiled brilliantly.

“I suppose you found the lamb chops you ate last time satisfactory.”

“Th-that’s true. It definitely is, but...”

“Is there any problem? I will adjust it for you.”

“...”

Juhyeon soon resigned himself.

“No, it looks delicious.”

“I made it, so of course it does.”

“Hahaha...”

I need to be independent, quickly.

‘I need to be independent and live eating and surviving normally.’

While Dana still kept her guard up toward him was his last chance. Juhyeon steeled himself to get a home on Earth again.

It was trauma recovery through an unexpected, peculiar method.

(To be continued in the next episode)