Chapter 119

“Wow…”

Shin Da-eun let out a gasp of amazement.

“Should I call this a spectacle?”

As she looked at the mountain of monster corpses, she turned her gaze toward me.

“What do you think, Kana?”

“…Why are you asking me that?”

“It’s best to ask the artist about the intention behind the art, right? What if I interpret it my way and you say, ‘That’s not what I meant at all’?”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

This isn’t a work of art, and I’m not some kind of artist. What intention could there be?

“Would anyone even see that as a work of art in the first place?”

“Kana, even if it seems meaningless to us, if the creator is trying to convey something through it, then it can be considered a work of art.”

“But I’m telling you, I’m not a creator.”

What kind of message could there be? I’m not exactly someone who’s into art, after all. If I want to say something, I’d just say it outright instead of delivering it in such a roundabout—let’s call it cultured—way, which just feels suffocating to me.

Along the same lines, I’m not into appreciating art, either. When was it again…?

Ah, I remember. It was when I got invited to a banquet hosted by a noble.

***

‘I’m so proud of this piece.’

‘Hmm…’

‘I spent over a hundred gold coins just to acquire this!’

‘…That much?’

‘Yes! Even someone as uneducated as you must have heard of Fernando, right? This is his tenth masterpiece. Being able to acquire it was nothing short of a miracle… all thanks to Edel’s grace.’ ????

‘No god would grant grace for something as trivial as buying a painting.’

‘Trivial?! What do you mean by that?! It’s an item you can’t buy, no matter how much money you have!’

‘…Sure, sure. But is this why you called me over?’

‘Yes, isn’t it magnificent? …Ahem! Well, if you’re interested, I could give you a special explanation about the piece…?’

‘No need. I’m not really interested.’

‘…How could you! Fine, whatever! I’m busy too, you know?! I made time for you, and this is the thanks I get…!’

***

Was she the daughter of an earl or a marquess? Anyway, a noble around my age hosted the banquet and bragged about acquiring a rare painting. But since I’d never even heard the name “Fernando” before, her bragging didn’t leave much of an impression on me.

When I reacted indifferently, she ran off with a face that looked like she was about to cry or sulk—I wasn’t sure which. “Ran” might sound odd, but her hurried steps could only be described that way.

By the way, when I told my father about this when I returned home, he said to me:

‘…You need to be a bit more sensitive.’

I still vividly remember the subtle, indescribable expression on his face when he said that.

The point of this story is that I have zero interest in art. If she’d shown me a famous sword instead, I might have had a more passionate reaction.

‘Yeah, that happened.’

I finished my brief reminiscence and lifted my head. Around the pile of monster corpses, members of the Demonic Race were busily moving. What they were doing now was extracting Magi from the corpses of the monsters.

It wasn’t something my group, including myself, could help with, so we just stood by and watched them extract the Magi.

Now that we’ve come this far, there’s truly no turning back.

Not that I ever intended to turn back anyway… If I had to make a comparison—right, it’s like putting meat on the fire. You can’t take half-cooked meat off the fire.

“Uh, um… that’s a very Kana-like analogy…”

“A Kana-like analogy?”

“There are other comparisons you could have made, but you specifically went with meat. It really shows how much you love meat.”

“…Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, it’s not wrong. It’s just… cute, that’s all.”

“There’s a lot of things you find cute.”

I brushed off Da-eun’s playful comment as I was used to it.

A brief pause settled in our conversation. Even as talkative as Da-eun could be, she couldn’t speak non-stop for 24 hours, so naturally, there were moments when our conversation would lull.

Usually, Celine would jump in during these pauses, but today, she remained unusually quiet. When I glanced over at Celine, her face was visibly tense.

“Are you nervous?”

“…Yes, I suppose I am. It’s my first time being entrusted with such an important role. When I think that if I make a mistake, Kana might be in danger, I can’t seem to calm down… Was it that obvious?”

“Yeah, a lot. Anyone would think you were the one performing the ritual, not me.”

“Aren’t you nervous, Kana?”

“Of course I am.”

I’m human too, so how could I not be nervous? Da-eun’s mouth fell open at my answer.

“You can get nervous too, Kana?!”

“…If that’s what you thought, then why did you ask?”

“No, I just… hearing you say it out loud is surprising…”

“What’s so surprising about it?”

“Well, I just can’t imagine you being nervous, Kana. Even now, you say you’re nervous, but your expression and actions don’t seem like it at all.”

A tense face, sweating, fidgeting nervously without being able to stay still.

“That’s how most people are, right?” Da-eun said. There was only one response I could give to that.

“I can act like this because I’m used to it.”

How many times have I put my life on the line?

When I first headed into battle, I was incredibly nervous. Though I don’t remember it well, I might have been shaking like there was an earthquake.

But when something like that happens dozens or hundreds of times, you can’t help but grow numb to the tension. The fact that I had become strong enough that my life wasn’t easily threatened also helped.



“And I’ve told you several times already—I don’t plan to die here.”

“Kana, do you know what’s the number one last word among young men? It’s ‘It’s fine, I won’t die.’ None of the people who die in accidents thought they would die. Accidents always happen unexpectedly. You need to be careful, always!”

“…Ugh, you’re nagging.”

Blah, blah, blah. Who doesn’t know you have to be careful? She’s so loud about things everyone already knows. As Da-eun’s rambling came to an end, I removed my hands from my ears. Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Anyone would think you’re my mom.”

“…Having a cute daughter like Kana would be great, but for now, can’t you just call me ‘big sister’? Saying I have a grown-up daughter makes me sound too old!”

“Grown-up…”

I nodded.

“Sure, I’ll do that.”

“What, what? Did you like the word ‘grown-up’ that much?”

“…No.”

“As if! The corners of your mouth are practically touching your ears.”

“…!”

I reflexively put my hand to my mouth.

My lips were in a straight line, not showing the slightest movement. While I couldn’t see myself in a mirror, I knew my mouth wasn’t curved upward the way Da-eun described.

When someone says the corners of your mouth are touching your ears, it means you’re smiling broadly.

As I shot Da-eun a sharp look, she smiled cheerfully.

“See, you liked it, didn’t you? If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have checked. Gotcha!”

“I wasn’t checking because I felt guilty, I was checking because it was absurd. There’s no way I would have smiled that big.”

“…Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you laugh out loud. I’ve seen you smile or chuckle lightly a few times, but that’s about it. Celine, have you ever seen her laugh?”

“No, if even Joanie hasn’t seen it, how could I have?”

“Hmm…”

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I mean, you can smile sometimes, so it’s not like you don’t know how to laugh…”

“Shall we try a healing spell?”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!”

“…?”

Wait a minute. I had just said that absentmindedly, but suddenly they were having a whole discussion about it.

It wasn’t a joke, apparently, as Celine’s holy power swept over my body. Feeling the warm sensation enveloping me, I stood there bewildered as Da-eun and Celine whispered to each other with surprisingly serious expressions.

…This is ridiculous.

“Do I really need to laugh like that? It’s not like I never laughed at all, just like Joanie said.”

It’s just that nothing’s happened to make me laugh that way.

“That’s true… But it’s been quite a while since we first met, hasn’t it? Are you saying that in all that time, nothing has ever made you laugh out loud?”

“From what I’ve seen, Kana seems to have a very high threshold for expressing emotions. Even beyond laughing, I haven’t seen her display strong feelings all that much.”

“Oh, it’s not always like that. If something bothers her, she shows it right away. Like when she disapproves of my swordsmanship or when there are vegetables on the table…”

“Aha, I see. As expected, Joanie knows Kana better than I do.”

“Hehe. It’s all about the time we’ve spent together. If you try harder, Celine, you might reach my level. Kana is surprisingly straightforward.”

“Right, I’ll do my best.”

“…You do realize I can hear everything you’re saying, right?”

I’m not some tree standing by the roadside, so why are they talking like I can’t hear them? As I opened my mouth, struggling to hide my disbelief, Da-eun clicked her tongue and wagged her finger.

“Gossiping behind someone’s back is mean. That’s why I’m saying it to your face.”

“Wow. This is the first time a ‘fair point’ has sounded so unfair.”

Da-eun seemed to have a talent for making everything she said sound like complete nonsense.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain why her words sounded so strange. Even if Da-eun were to say that the sun rises in the east, I’d probably question it once.

“Honestly, reading Kana’s emotions isn’t that hard…”

“…?”

“Is that… so?”

“You can kind of see it. Like, ‘Oh, she’s in a good mood now,’ or ‘Better not bother her, she’s in a bad mood.’ By the way, right now, you’re feeling incredulous, but you’re not in a bad mood.”

“This is seriously ridiculous.”

“Alright! I’ve made up my mind!”

Da-eun clenched her fist with determination.

“From now on, my goal is to make Kana burst out laughing!”

“So, you’ve finally decided to switch to being a bard. Good choice.”

Even though choosing one’s path is a personal decision, it’s hard not to feel pity watching someone waste their talent. That’s why I applauded Da-eun, who seemed to have found her calling.

“Huh? A bard? What are you—”

“Let’s end the comedy act there.”

A voice cut in, interrupting Da-eun’s words. It was Justina, who had been moving around busily, now standing beside us.

“The extraction is complete.”

“That was pretty quick.”

“Now all that’s left is to withdraw the barrier. Once that’s done, there’s no turning back. If you have any second thoughts, speak now.”

Second thoughts, huh?



Suddenly, Da-eun placed her hand on my shoulder. Her hand was trembling slightly. She had pretended to be calm up until now, but it seemed she couldn’t hide her nerves at the last moment.

Even though I was the one at the center of this ritual, why were others more nervous than I was? I wondered if Da-eun realized…

“No, I don’t.”

…that her trembling actually helped to solidify my resolve. I have to keep moving forward, so there’s no turning back for me.

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