chapter 191

Chapter 191

Sancalut, the god of pain and blessing, was a typical evil god who had been subjugated when an entrance opened on Earth.

But subjugation of a divinity basically meant sealing. No matter how foolish a god might be, divinity is divinity. Even for divinities of equal standing, it is difficult to harm one another—so how much more so for mortals?

As a result, Sancalut ended up confined within a certain laboratory on Earth.

“■...”

It held no malice.

The wicked divinity born by human hands understood why Earth’s people had imprisoned it, but it had never once thought that its way was wrong. Because that was how it had been made.

With the pure desire to return to the past, Sancalut slowly stained the laboratory little by little.

“Ah, Lord Sancalut...”

“Please bestow blessings upon us.”

“We seek your salvation!”

Humans who were already mentally cornered easily accepted its salvation.

“■...”

Pitifully so.

Sancalut wanted to return to its home. There was a sense of stability you could only obtain in a familiar place. And for a new beginning, it raised its own children.

The laboratory gradually became stained in Sancalut’s color. The process was extremely quiet, and also secretive.

“ ”

Sancalut knew that the master of the master of the master of this laboratory was condoning everything while knowing full well. No matter how long it waited, no restraint came. Sancalut took that as permission.

In the end, it succeeded in taking an entire laboratory into its embrace. While being fed diligently by its children, Sancalut swept its surroundings. But the sprout of a pontiff who would return it to its rightful place did not appear easily.

“■”

And while it still could not reach beyond the laboratory, it found a human called “Juhyeon.” That child’s vessel was exceedingly wide and cozy. It wanted to be held in those hands.

Sancalut knew how to make humans accept it easily.

“Yes, I see.”

“■...”

“That person... yes, I understand.”

“■...”

“I will do so.”

To narrow the vision of a human with a wide vessel, you had to show the limits of the species. When the kindest human is disappointed in fellow humans, they accept faith gently. Sancalut had learned that.

It tried to do the same to “Juhyeon,” too.

“...?”

But it failed.

It was too sudden. Something far too enormous snatched “Juhyeon” away.

Sancalut was saddened that a good sprout had drifted away, but it could not be helped. Divinity bowed its body to a divinity bigger and more radiant than itself.

Having lost that precious vessel, Sancalut widened its vision a little more. Since it was this difficult to find a plausible jewel in a dust pit, it decided to mine jewels from a gold mine from the start.

“■...”

Avoiding the gazes of other divinities while aiming for sprouts within their sight was extremely difficult, but in the most chaotic place, Sancalut saw very good sprouts. Vessels named “Cha Isol” and “Lee Ruda.”

“■.”

Since one had already entered another divinity’s embrace, Sancalut decided it would take the one called “Cha Isol.” Aside from that, there was no sprout of a pontiff on this landmass who could safely contain Sancalut.

The vessel was enormous, and young, so its possibilities were boundless. Before it could be snatched away again, Sancalut reached out its hand. It selected, from among the laboratory’s limbs, one whose child was within the sun’s embrace. It prepared what it needed.

“■...”

“Ah, this is...”

“■...”

“Thank you, Lord Sancalut! With this, my child will receive the greatest grace...!”

“■...”

“I will raise your child within the sun’s embrace—please trust me!”

When you said you would make the kindest human disappointed in humans, what worked best was to make those they cherished suffer at the hands of other humans. Because they are numb to their own pain.

It looked around. The child had many friends and family. But within the sun’s embrace, the one they could see closest at hand was, as expected, “Lee Ruda,” the limb of another divinity. Sancalut set its sights on that.

“ ”

Such groundwork was already in place.

A precious sprout is rejected by rotten sprouts. Sancalut whispered to the limb’s child, and the young sprout who heard that whisper began to regard the anger and jealousy it had long held as pain.

In the end, it succeeded in driving “Cha Isol” and “Lee Ruda” into a corner, but...

“■”

No, now this.

“■¿”

To think that a sky-blue one that hates humans would help a human child.

“...■...”

Sancalut grew sullen. It had terrible luck—too terrible.

It felt a vast fate. Well, there were many divinities staying on this narrow land, and few vessels worth coveting, so it could not be helped that competition to take in such vessels was fierce.

But it seemed the effect was not entirely nonexistent.

“ ”

If I retreat like this, I have no idea when I will ever be able to return home.

“ ”

The small “Lee Ruda” harbored a heart of revenge, and the child of its limb still suffers amid envy. It would not take so long to break the vessel’s tender heart.

More than anything, “Cha Isol’s” distrust had already begun.

Sancalut opened its mouth and whispered.

* * *

Lee Ruda was badly injured.

“...”

Cha Isol quietly looked at her friend, who had lost consciousness.

“Ruda...”

“...”

“Lee Ruda.”

She was a little angry.

“How can you be sick all by yourself without me.”

They said the partner the order paired you with was a community of fate, so last time, even if she was sad, she could endure it—but not this time.

Cha Isol leaned against the bed where Lee Ruda lay and wriggled her fingers. She poked at Lee Ruda’s hand, which was covered with calluses, then lightly held it.

“...”

It was full of wounds.

“This makes me sad.”

Lee Ruda, having learned the details of the previous individual practice incident, had said she had a round with the ringleader. And it had been inside yet another practice dungeon. They fought together in anger, but the only one who lost consciousness was Lee Ruda.

Because the ringleader had fought dirty with the help of other friends. Because they had borrowed the power of a terrifying tool with the help of their parents. Cha Isol thought she really hated that.

‘He smiled so well at me, but he only harasses Ruda.’

Cha Isol knew things, too. He thought she was an easy mark, and Ruda didn’t look like one, so he attacked the harder one first. Maybe he thought Ruda was why she didn’t cooperate.

‘So stupid.’

It was only because she disliked that kid, that she hadn’t held his hand.

“...”

She hated everyone a little.

She wished Lee Ruda would become a bit more calm. She wished the ringleader hadn’t acted greedy from the start, wasn’t that so? She wished the adults had paid more attention to the apprentice priests.

‘Then we wouldn’t have gotten hurt like this.’

No—if she had been a better partner, maybe she could have avoided this situation.

“...What do I do...”

She was starting to hate this white, enormous house.

‘I miss hyung. And noona, too...’

She thought of the family who had loved her most. This house, where petty things happened all the time, had been fun thanks to Lee Ruda, who gifted her with so much affection—but now even that was burdensome. She felt stifled and resentful.

‘I want to go back to my original home.’

In winter, cold wind came in, and during the monsoon season, rain leaked in, and even if she couldn’t manage to eat properly every single day, she missed the meals where they sat together as a family and ate noisily. She missed her village friends too.

“...Why, everyone...”

Cha Isol buried her face into the bed and muttered.

“...Are they so desperate to hate?”

She was scared.

‘It’s scary here, noona.’

People were all behaving far too petty.

In the village, they said that even if you were born from different boats, you were still the same family. If there were leftover crops or food, you shared with one another, and even if an awkward child joined in games in the empty lot, everyone laughed just because they were happy. It was a village where you could clearly see the sky.

But this wasn’t like that. The buildings were so huge you couldn’t see the sky, and though there were certainly friends and neighbors, they didn’t look at one another, and even playing together—even that, if you were awkward, they would ostracize you, saying you didn’t have the “qualifications.”

‘Why do they have to go that far?’

In the village, people were busy banding together, but here, they were busy tearing each other down and biting at each other. They acted like they would die if they didn’t.

Maybe that really was true. That was why Lee Ruda had been hurt like this.

“...Ruda...”

She was depressed.

“I want to go home.”

She missed home.

“Home was better. This place is too scary, and...”

“Right.”

“...”

“Scary, isn’t it?”

Cha Isol lifted her face from the bed and looked at Lee Ruda, who ought to have been keeping her eyes closed.

Why?

“I understand.”

It was strange.

Something wearing her friend’s shape comforted her. It reached out and held her hand.

“I want to go home too.”

“...Home?”

“Yeah. Being trapped in a remote place is frightening.”

“Right.”

“Should I let you out?”

“...”

When Cha Isol shut her mouth, “Lee Ruda” smiled.

“You’re more... suspicious than I thought.”

“Who are you?”

“I want to be your friend.”

“A friend?”

“We can help each other.”

“Maybe, but...”

Cha Isol, who had grown up with her hyung and noona’s teaching that ‘there are many scammers in the world, so if a strange stranger who speaks too well approaches you, rely on a trustworthy adult,’ took out a doodled paper from her chest.

“I think I need a guardian consultation first.”

“...Huh?”

“You talk too well, so you’re suspicious.”

The paper Cha Isol pulled out was something she had drawn of the Black Cloak before.

“Hyung Gio, save me—!!”

And like that, Cha Isol and Lee Ruda were sucked into the drawing.

* * *

“So mean!!”

A fragment of Sancalut, borrowing Lee Ruda’s body, sobbed.

“I’m the one who talked to you first, so why are you asking another oppa for help?!”

“I said earlier—you talk too well, so you’re suspicious!”

“I haven’t even said half of half of half of what I needed to say, and you go and call another divinity!!”

“Then I did well, because I asked for help before I got bewitched by your half-of-half-of-half!!”

“I was trying to help you, so why are you calling another adult...!!”

In the house that became noisy in an instant, the mermaid Iser smiled bitterly.

“Teacher, may I drive them all out?”

“How could that be.”

With his characteristic cheerful smile, Giovanni approached the two children.

“Student Cha Isol, for what matter have you called me?”

“He keeps trying to seduce me!”

“My goodness.”

At Gio, who drew close, Sancalut hesitated.

“...I, last time... last time, that, that...!”

“You’re the jewel that tried to seduce Mr. Juhyeon before.”

“Why do you keep snatching every vessel I choose?!”

“I did not snatch them.”

Giovanni declared boldly.

“If you are a splendid divinity, people gather even if you do nothing.”

“T-that...!”

“Bees gather to flowers with a lot of honey, too. To summarize, it’s because I’m better than you.”

“I worked hard too!”

“My, working hard is the baseline. No matter how hard a flower blooms, in the end isn’t it up to the bee that flew over to choose?”

“Ugh...!!”

As he savored tea while sitting on the sofa, Juhyeon thought at the two divinities’ conversation.

‘He’s comparing himself to a flower.’

It was astonishing confidence.

‘So this is what divinities’ conversations are like.’

Juhyeon, who had come to speak with a mermaid before the all-out war, felt a strange emptiness. You could even call it a kind of resignation. With his characteristic diligent smile, Juhyeon looked at Iser.

“Would you like another cup?”

“Yes, this is my first time drinking this tea.”

“I heard it’s a flower obtained with the help of the dungeon Mr. Gio cleared.”

“I think the cool scent is very nice.”

In the middle of that warm conversation, Gio called Cha Isol.

“Student Cha Isol, would you go to those people?”

“What about you, hyung?”

“I must speak with this uninvited guest.”

“Is it not dangerous?”

“It’s been a long time since I conversed with a divinity, so I’m excited.”

“Wow, who else have you talked with?”

“If you drink tea together over there, I will tell you later.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting when you have guests!”

“How admirable.”

Sending Cha Isol to the reliable Juhyeon’s side, Gio looked at Sancalut.

“Let us have our conversation.”

“A-are you going to scold me?”

“We are equal divinities, so ‘scolding’ is not an appropriate word.”

“Liar...”

“You may think as you wish.”

And so Gio disappeared upstairs together with Lee Ruda.

“Ah.”

“Student Lee Ruda isn’t waking up.”

“She was sleeping in the first place.”

“Is that so?”

Soon, he returned holding Lee Ruda in the same state as at first.

Cha Isol asked with pure curiosity.

“Exorcism?”

“It was closer to an exorcism through conversation than that.”

“Aha, I see.”

At that, Juhyeon thought,

‘So here, even an evil god like Sancalut gets treated like a stray ghost.’

It felt unreal, and he wanted to laugh.

(To be continued in the next episode)