chapter 189

Chapter 189

Giovanni liked the sea.

The sun was warm, but hot. The sea was cold, but cool. Everything in the world has pros and cons, and this world did not only have land—there was also the sea. The sea wind’s flow was clear.

So it was only natural that he came to hold a mermaid in his heart.

“Aria.”

With familiar bare feet, Gio walked across the surface of the water.

“I know. I can’t swim.”

“Teacher, you really are a strange human.”

Splash...

The mermaid’s fins lightly splashed.

“On that planet, humans who couldn’t swim were really rare.”

“For some reason, I just kept sinking.”

“You have to relax your body, then you can talk with the sea.”

“Perhaps it is because I was already satisfied with just you.”

“You’re good at saying embarrassing things.”

Aria asked.

“Is it okay to come out this far?”

A pale, slender hand wrapped around Gio’s leg.

“A mermaid might eat you, you know.”

“Aha ha...”

Giovanni clasped that cold hand.

“That would be nice too.”

“...”

“Will you teach me to swim?”

“...All right.”

Aria, too, clasped that cool hand.

“Let’s do that.”

Splash—.

Led by the mermaid, the priest fell into the sea.

* * *

“This happened before, too.”

Holding onto his lukewarm body temperature, Aria continued.

“You, who looked like you were made from sunlight, looked like a prince. I thought there wouldn’t be anyone more noble than you among the children of the sun.”

“...”

“I was very interested in what I didn’t have, and even beneath the surface of the water, that shining light felt like it would last forever. Maybe I wanted to hold you and take you down to my home in the deep sea.”

“...”

“Even now... it’s the same.”

Even in this dark night, Gio’s platinum hair was warm like spring sunlight.

Aria raised her hand and carefully brushed Giovanni’s cheek as he floated above her. Whether his body heat had been stolen by the dawn sea, or whether he had always been this cold, contrary to how he looked, he wasn’t warm.

But he was smiling.

“...”

“...Teacher.”

Holding that cheek, Aria smiled and cried. Pearls fell.

“I love you.”

The child of the land I wanted to possess first after I was born.

My one and only teacher, who taught me the world, taught me the heart, taught me everyday life. A one-of-a-kind human in every dimension.

“I love you, teacher. For an uncountable span of time, I missed you. Without you, the whole world looked disgusting. Ah, it was a world you loved so much...”

“...”

“I tried to love it too, but it wasn’t easy. What was easier than swimming when you were there became so difficult when you were gone. Why didn’t the sun save you? Why didn’t the deep sea deliver punishment?”

“...Aria.”

“I know you won’t forgive me. The only forgiveness we—me and my younger brother—need is yours, but teacher, there is no forgiveness you can give us. From the beginning, it probably wasn’t yours to give.”

The mermaid regretted it for the first and last time.

“I regret it.”

If I had known you would truly return to my embrace, I should have waited more quietly.

“And my regret isn’t for the poor lives that died because of me.”

“I know.”

“And this isn’t the regret you wanted, teacher. But what can I do? I’m such a selfish, wicked monster...”

If a monster regrets its sins, how could it be a monster?

“Am I still human, like this?”

“Why wouldn’t you be?”

“...”

“Humans can become selfish and wicked as much as they want.”

“...That’s right.”

Aria held her teacher in her arms again.

“You would know best.”

It was his teacher who died to the most terrible selfishness, to that wickedness. If Giovanni didn’t know humanity’s ugliness, who could?

“I’m just a little cold, and I swim well...”

“And when you cry, pearls fall—a human, right?”

“Whatever you say is right, teacher.”

“I see.”

“Wouldn’t it have been nice if our grave had been the sea of that day...”

Aria fantasized about suffocating to death in the sea. Even though only a “human” could do that.

“There’s nothing that can be turned back.”

Even if you revived everyone you killed, returned the ruined families to the beginning, and gave the sun back to the planets you trapped in the sea, that day could not come again.

Aria reproached herself with selfishness.

“Now I only have two choices.”

“What are they?”

“I could become an evil god and be with you forever, teacher.”

“And?”

“...Or I could take responsibility for myself and wait to be accepted someday.”

“Responsibility for yourself.”

A warm voice.

“What will you do?”

“Teacher.”

Aria asked, like the young student of that day.

“...Do you love us?”

“Of course.”

Gio did not know how to abandon what he had once loved.

“I’ll love you forever.”

Within that, the mermaid found her answer.

“...”

“When will I be able to see you again?”

“...When I finish preparing.”

Letting Gio go from her arms, Aria smiled.

“I’ll invite the humans.”

And so Aria disappeared into the deep sea.

Into darkness that would not reach Giovanni, very deep.

* * *

“...??”

Juhyeon was dumbfounded.

“Isn’t that a declaration of war?”

“It is.”

“...I see!”

At Juhyeon’s struggling expression, Yoo Seongun laughed hollowly.

“Monsters these days make declarations of war really romantic.”

“Was it romantic?”

“Yeah, romantic. A hug in the dawn sea...”

“It seems she missed this teacher’s warmth.”

“It doesn’t seem wrong, so I feel strangely complicated.”

Yoo Seongun asked.

“How long do you think the preparation will take?”

“Are you asking that of me, a paltry portrait?”

“Still, among us, you know the most about mermaids.”

“Aria is an excellent doctor and researcher. It won’t take that long.”

“So you can’t guess about how long, roughly?”

“Mm... about a month?”

“Oh, for crying out loud.”

Yoo Seongun, who exclaimed richly, asked back.

“You’re saying there’s only a month left until an S-rank dungeon attacks?”

“Practically speaking, all that’s needed is mental preparation, so it might take even less time than that.”

“So the time Earth finally falls has come...”

“With me here, it doesn’t seem like it will go as far as falling.”

“I figured a day like this would come eventually.”

“It will not fall.”

Juhyeon asked as if absurd.

“Then isn’t this not the time for us to be doing this?”

“What’s with you, Ms. Juhyeon. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had vacation?”

“Honestly, I think Earth’s fate is more important than an individual’s vacation.”

“So you have to be this cold, really.”

Yoo Seongun let out a deep sigh.

“...First, we’ll tell our guild master.”

“If possible... I think it would be good to inform the Association too.”

“Since we don’t know how they’ll use the sea, it’s right to tip off the coastal side.”

“Once the Collection Merchant and the Association learn this, the other Symbols of Eternity will learn it too.”

“Even so, I don’t think all of them will step in. Well, unless it’s Justitia’s side...”

Gio, unfamiliar with guild matters, asked.

“What is Justitia?”

“It’s the name of South Korea’s number one guild.”

As always, Juhyeon explained.

“I heard they took the name from the statue of the goddess of justice.”

“If the Association handles South Korea’s overall administration, and our Collection Merchant handles the funding, then Justitia handles the country’s big and small security issues.”

“Justitia’s guild master is one of the Symbols of Eternity, and works to protect lives and eradicate crime. That’s why they also do a lot of small volunteer activities, and run a lot of big raids too.”

“Since even the guild master leads by example, they’ll do something if a national disaster happens, but...”

Yoo Seongun rubbed at his neck.

“They probably won’t directly participate in the raid because they’re protecting ordinary citizens.”

Justitia always had a strong feeling of being “the last bastion.”

“Unless the country is in danger of completely collapsing, we can’t expect too much from them.”

“But isn’t it reassuring in that it can prevent casualties that might occur just in case?”

“It’s definitely reliable in that sense.”

But it was hard to expect them to join the raid.

“An S-rank dungeon doesn’t necessarily need a hunter of the same rank. There are plenty of parts you can win with sheer numbers, and especially Korea is a country that succeeded through manpower, so hunters are precious.”

“More than anything, an S-rank moving has huge symbolic meaning. If they step in directly, more people will feel anxious instead. Even the Association president, who pays a lot of attention to administration... will try not to step in if possible.”

“When the Symbols of Eternity stepped in, it was usually when the aftermath of the Great Catastrophe was severe. Considering there are still many people afraid of the Great Catastrophe, they won’t step in easily.”

Gio tilted his head.

“If they refrain from stepping in so as not to stimulate people’s fear, and a bigger problem occurs, what happens then? Rather than leaving a dangerous possibility alone, wouldn’t it be better to be thorough from the start?”

“That is the correct theory, but...”

After thinking for a moment, Yoo Seongun continued.

“You could explain it like this, too. The Symbols of Eternity are very busy to step in over every problem on Earth. You could call it the price of their name, but to move those people, at minimum Korea has to be shaken once.”

“Do you mean the burden of using manpower is great?”

“It might look a little strange to you. But a nation is tied up in countless interests, you know. It’s a case where you can think that rising to a high position made the body heavy.”

“Is it a matter of status?”

“Mm... if I summarize it, I guess so?”

This wasn’t only a problem for the Symbols of Eternity.

“More than anything, if every time there’s a problem we rely on the few S-rank hunters, this planet will be destroyed before long. Even now, it’s a world being sustained by the mercy of a small number of the strong—if S-ranks handle everything one by one, humans’ habits will all be ruined.”

This part had long ago been decided in a conference where the world’s S-ranks gathered. Unless it was a matter at stake for a nation and a dimension, S-ranks would refrain from stepping in as much as possible.

“The rest of the humans have to adapt to this environment in advance while S-rank hunters look after things so it won’t reach the worst. You never know when those people’s minds will change.”

“You’re giving them a chance to adapt.”

“No matter how capable S-ranks are, those few people can’t solve all the big and small matters of Earth. Even if they could, they shouldn’t. So it’s hard to expect S-ranks to step in.”

They would surely keep watch on this side, but they wouldn’t act from the start.

“So for this part... it would be better to form an alliance with other guilds.”

“Do you not cooperate with the church?”

“That, too, depending on the situation. It could needlessly provoke the mermaids.”

At that, Juhyeon nodded.

“Then should we go back for now?”

“You can’t even relax on vacation. In my next life, I’m definitely going to be born unawakened.”

“I don’t know if that’s something you can make happen just because you want it.”

Gio cut in.

“Shall I help you?”

“If I die, 부탁해.”

“I will try.”

“I don’t know what you’ll try, but sure.”

“Now you are my friends even after you die.”

“...”

Yoo Seongun hesitated and asked.

“...Did we just make some kind of contract?”

“Since I live this long, you should be friends with me in your next life too.”

“You’re so positive it even scares me.”

“You flatter me.”

Was it because he sensed the atmosphere stiffening? With Giovanni’s face, he smiled gently.

“It was a joke, so relax your expressions.”

“How is that a joke?”

“Why do you think it wouldn’t be?”

“Ms. Juhyeon, say something.”

Juhyeon smiled.

“It would be nice to be friends with Gio in the next life too.”

“No, I’m saying at this rate we could be friends with Gio even in the life after that.”

“A friend who stays by your side even if you die and come back to life—that’s reassuring.”

“...Yeah.”

Yoo Seongun accepted it.

‘He’s already given up.’

That was a smile of resignation.

“I said it was a joke?”

“Uh-huh, got it.”

No one took Gio’s words to heart.

(To be continued in the next episode)