CH 112

After I had eliminated the tickets scalper, the cafe was operated in peace and mid-December arrived to our door.

The streets were completely soaked in Christmas mood. I am also excited by the unique atmosphere of the end of the year.

Should I play carols as store background music in Cafe Rieul? It would be nice to order decorations and decorate the cafe interior for Christmas.

At the end of the day, I was looking at the Christmas goods sales page on my phone with such thoughts.

Suddenly, the door opened.

“Hohohoho, merry Christmas!”

Santa appeared.

“Huh … uncle?”

To be precise, it was my uncle dressed as Santa.

“Dang, to find out the identity of this Santa right away like that. My niece has a very sharp eye.”

“That … it’s usual to find out about it.”

The cotton beard was on the verge of falling off his face. My uncle cleared his throat and fixed his beard.

Red Santa suit and hat. In his hand, he was carrying a gift pouch and a large fir tree. He only has a simple makeup on, but it gave off a pretty plausible atmosphere.

“How have you been, niece? This is your Christmas present.”

My uncle gave me a fir tree just the right size to use as a decoration tree.

However, there was one problem with this tree. It’s not artificial, it’s a real tree.

“Uncle, it’s illegal to bring coniferous trees from the mountains!”

“Hohoho! Don’t worry, niece! I bought it at the market.”

“Then I’m glad.”

I thought it would be a good idea to decorate this fir tree to create a Christmas atmosphere. I accepted the tree after thanking him.

Would it be okay if I put it next to the counter? While contemplating where to put the fir tree, my uncle added with a serious expression.

“My nephew, make sure to remember what your Uncle said. It’s best to pay for everything.”

“Ahaha, yes….”

I know he left the Hunter World to enjoy his life as a natural person, but….

He seems to have suffered a lot during this time. My uncle had become an ardent follower of the modern consumer society.

I sincerely agree that it is better to pay for a living.

From growing coffee to making sugar, now even milking the milk on my own … I didn’t practice it much because I’m running an extreme DIY cafe.

My uncle took out three gift boxes from his gift pouch. Mieum, Lime, and Ash each had one share.

“Then this Santa Claus should give presents to the good children.”’

“Waeoooong (You know the greatness of this body and pay tribute to it)!”

“Kkyuu, kkyu!”

“Santa Claus … the one who originated from Saint Nicholas and distributes gifts on the eve of Christmas. “

“Hohoho! Yes, you know it well. It’s as if it’s just been scratched from the wiki.”

Mieum and Lime’s gift was a new rice bowl, and Ash’s gift was a do-it-yourself architectural miniature.

Aside from the animals who were already excitedly running around the new bowl, would something like a miniature suit Ash’s taste? I glanced at Ash’s expression.

“Cut this part and apply glue … hmm.”

He was already reading the assembly manual. He seems to like it.

“Ah, I’ll make you something to drink. What would you like?”

“Then, I’ll have Irish coffee.”

“Okay, please sit down for a moment.”

I headed in front of the espresso machine to make coffee. My uncle’s request was heard again behind my back.

“Niece, I’d like my Irish coffee with lots of whiskey and no coffee.”

Then isn’t it just whiskey, not coffee?

I didn’t follow my uncle’s instructions and handed him an Irish coffee with exactly the right amount of whiskey.

“How have you been?”

“Keuh, haaa! After all, the taste of civilization is good!”

He took a sip of coffee and put on a thrilled expression. Hmm, it looks like he’s been through a lot.

My uncle told me his story.

It’s not unusual to start a natural life without preparation, but there were many hardships. It is said that it was a time to realize the importance of electricity, water, heating, and other civilizations.

His YouTube channel, which he started to open the second act of life, has 11 subscribers and the highest number of views 53 times. Sadly, he had no choice but to give up his dream of becoming a YouTube star and go down the mountain.

“Dang … my friends, I even sent them a link on Kakaotalk! The ‘1‘ mark disappeared, but why isn’t the number of YouTube views going up?”

“I don’t know….”

Actually, I didn’t watch Uncle’s YouTube either. I’m sorry.

After emptying the coffee, my uncle took off his Santa’s top because it’s hot and hung it on a chair. After that, he put his hand on his chin and asked me a question.

“So, what is the thing that made my niece curious that she wanted to see this big Uncle?”

“I want to know about my grandmother.”

His face, which was more than half covered by the made-of-cotton beard, had a serious expression. He looked as if he had been reminiscing the memories from a long time ago.

“Did Grandmother ever live in a cabin in the woods?”

“Hmm, and?”

“Also, I wonder if you know about the abilities that Grandmother had. Cthugha said that she could read the stream of stars.”

“The streams of stars. Well, for a crazy rice cooker, he used the exact expression.”

What a crazy rice cooker … it was a nickname that made me feel a little sorry for Cthugha.

My uncle lifted himself from the chair. He recited low, looking out of the window.

“Stars. Yeah, it’s the stars.”

It was the time when the day has passed and darkness has fallen. The starlight was exceptionally clear today. As I raised my head following my uncle’s gaze, I saw countless stars.

It must be because of my mood, but it felt like the stars were looking this way.

“There are Gods who want to manipulate this world as they please. They are called by different names. Voices, Stars, The Constellations, Gods of Another World … the system calls them The Great Ones.”

The uncle stopped talking for a moment and burst into laughter.

“Isn’t that funny, niece? There is a degree of self-consciousness to claim greatness with their own mouths.”

“Hahaha … uh, yes.”

“The system is a tool for those self-conscious transcendents to intervene in the life of humans without defying the causality.”

The smiling eyes turned to me.

“Isn’t it strange? The system window that resembles a game gives us power.”

“…..”

“Transcendents try to manipulate us through the system.”

My uncle spoke very cynically about the system.

Maybe that’s the reason. My uncle, who was a Hunter, seemed more comfortable now that he had lost his awakening ability.

“…waeoong.”

As if wanting to refute my uncle’s words, Mi-eum let out a small cry. However, she just rolled her eyes didn’t say anything more. She seemed to be lost in her own mind.

“My mother … her eyes were special.”

A beat later, I realized that those words answered my question.

“Her eyes?”

“Yes. An eye that can read the Causality. It is also called The Fairy Eyes.”

“…….”

Even before dungeons were created in the world and the Awakeneds appeared, my grandmother was said to have seen things others could not see.

My uncle chuckled, telling me that if she had acted as a fortune teller, she would have made a lot of money.

“And when her children grew up to a certain extent, she left behind a letter saying that she will solve the tangled casuality.”

He said he wasn’t surprised. In in the eyes of my uncle, Grandmother seemed like someone who would leave at any moment.

“It must have been then that the crazy rice cooker met mother. She said lived somewhere quiet.”

“The tangled casuality … is it resolved?”

My uncle shook his head. That’s something only my grandmother knows.

I remembered my grandmother who was strong and kind. I wish I had known more about my grandmother before she passed away. The grandmother in my uncle’s story feels like a stranger.

After we finished the conversation, my uncle prepared to go back.

“You’re going to see Oppa, right? I’ll call him in advance.”

“No, not yet. I have job to do.”

“Huh? Can’t you just contact Oppa first? What are you going to do?”

My uncle put on the top of Santa’s clothes again, which he had taken off, and carefully checked to see if any part of his beard had fallen off when he was undressed.

“Hohoho! Santa Claus has only one job to do. It is to give presents to the good children.”

“…what?”

I’m afraid he’s serious. I could already see Kwon Jiwoon grabbing his throbbing forehead.

“Wait, hold on! Uncle, just one. Tell me one more thing please!”

My uncle was about to leave after saying he was busy delivering gifts before Christmas. I grabbed my uncle’s sleeve in a hurry and poured out the question.

“Cthugha told me that Grandmother suddenly disappeared from the cabin without a word. When and why did Grandmother, who had left like that, return?”

“…….”

“….Uncle?”

Frozen as if he was recollecting old memories, he was silent for a moment.

“My mother returned….”

The trembling breath filled with unspeakable emotions.

“My younger brother and his wife, that … niece, she returned after she heard that your parents had died.”

***

It’s late.

I had to prepare for tomorrow’s business and get ready to sleep.

Long after my uncle left, I got up from sitting in a daze.

“Ash, you must be tired, so get some rest.”

“…….”

“….Ash?”

There was no answer. When I looked at Ash, he was already immersed in making miniatures. With a serious expression on his face, he cut and sanded the parts.

How did he pick such a perfect gift for Ash’s taste? Did Uncle and Ash become really close at the camping?

Anyway, I’ll leave him alone because it looks like he’s having fun.

I was going to leave Ash alone and go into the space for a while, but this time, Mieum blocked my way.