# 34
* * *
There was a commotion around him.
Though they seemed to be trying to speak quietly, those whisper-like conversations kept piercing sharply into his ears. Jin-ha hunched his shoulders and turned his head in the opposite direction.
At that moment, a chillingly cold silence filled the surroundings.
“…”
Even while sleeping, Jin-ha somehow found the silence uncomfortable and debated in his drowsy state whether to sleep more or open his eyes. He wanted to sleep a bit longer. Somehow he felt too tired and exhausted…
“Jin-ha…?”
However, the moment he heard the voice calling his name, Jin-ha opened his eyes without realizing it. He had no choice. The voice that was usually full of mischief and looking down arrogantly was now pitifully desperate, as if about to die out.
“Are you alright?”
A voice like it was fading from a cracked throat flowed out. When Jin-ha stopped speaking out of anticipation, the man let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.
“Asking if I’m alright, are you asking me?”
“Who else would I be asking?”
Jin-ha replied while rubbing his own neck. At times like this, not being able to see others’ information was inconvenient. If he could check other people’s information with his Information Eye, he could instantly determine whether the man before him was insane or in his right mind.
Not that he could use his Information Eye now anyway…
Just as he was thinking this, a blue light appeared before his eyes.
[ ——— ———— ]
Noon Moon Tower Master.
Soul (72/100)
What was that? Jin-ha doubted his eyes.
His eyes had the power to read unknown languages, secret codes, information inside gates, artifact functions, and the powers and skills possessed by monsters.
Of course, people’s information was no exception. However, information related to people was so vast that it required an enormous amount of time to find meaningful information. Jin-ha had thought that one of the powers of his ability called Information Eye might be to refine and show only necessary information. Perhaps his ability was still insufficient to meaningfully read information about people.
But now the branches extending from this man were simple. And there was information mixed in that was difficult to understand. Soul? Soul?
No, is this even actually this person’s information? If it is, why isn’t the name, the most basic information, appearing?
As Jin-ha, who had been in a daze, squinted his eyes and looked back at the man, the door burst open and Legas entered.
“Master, the doctor says if he doesn’t wake up today, it would be better to send him to the other side… Mr. Lee Jin-ha!”
Legas stopped in surprise. Jin-ha turned his head toward him and unconsciously checked the branches extending from Legas.
[ Legas Nightry ]
Noon Moon Tower Vice Master.
A prodigy in magic, especially in scroll creation.
So it was indeed a person’s information. It seemed Legas’s full name was Legas Nightry. Jin-ha, thinking to himself, turned his gaze back to the man. Even looking again, the man’s information remained the same.
Feeling quite strange about it, Jin-ha tapped the back of the man’s hand and asked.
“What is your name?”
The man stiffened, holding his breath.
What’s this? Is asking for the Master’s name against etiquette? If it were, Legas would have probably warned him beforehand…
After a moment of silence, the man spoke in a voice that sounded like he was scratching his throat.
“Riyekan.”
Only then did the name fill in the man’s information.
[ Riyekan Ertolic ]
Noon Moon Tower Master.
Soul (72/100)
Discovering the principle behind this unfamiliar phenomenon, Jin-ha couldn’t help but sigh with relief and smile.
It was the first time he had seen a person’s information appear so orderly, and also the first time he had seen blank spaces in the information, which had been bewildering. It seemed that his Information Eye had leveled up as he recovered from the problems with his magical power.
Perhaps the reason the name wasn’t visible from the beginning was that this man was so strong that it was difficult for Jin-ha to read it freely.
“Finally, you asked for my name.”
“Pardon?”
Riyekan smiled with a kindness Jin-ha had never seen before, then leaned his chin on the bed as if tired and grumbled.
“You never asked, so I was wondering if I should just tell you myself.”
The lamenting tone clearly conveyed that he had been hurt by this.
“Since I made a mistake this time, I thought I might make up for it.”
“If you wanted to tell me your name, you could have just said it, couldn’t you?”
“What’s the point of introducing myself when you didn’t ask and weren’t interested?”
“Who says you have to be asked…”
“Hunter Lee Jin-ha only told me his name after I asked.”
“…You mean me?”
Riyekan nodded calmly, then looked behind him and snapped his fingers at Legas, who was still standing in a daze. Hearing the snap, Legas finally came to his senses, saw his chin gesture, nodded, and went outside.
“When did I do that?”
“In the forest.”
“…Did I really do that…?”
“Yes. And then you never asked me.”
As Jin-ha searched his memory, he finally recalled why he had done so.
“Ah! Back then, I thought you were a fairy disease patient and had forgotten things like your name…”
“Then you should have asked after we met again.”
“I was angry then…”
“Angry and not interested in me.”
Riyekan lowered his head glumly, chin still resting on his hand. His expression was pitiful and sorrowful. By this point, Jin-ha began to suspect that this man was deliberately acting pitiable in front of him.
He had suffered too much to continue feeling sympathetic. Just a little while ago, when he had allowed a kiss, the man had gone until he fainted…
As he thought that far, Jin-ha’s face turned pale. The events right after escaping from beyond that strange door came vividly to mind. He had kissed the man in front of many mages and then fainted. Good heavens. He wanted to faint again.
“And what about you? How much interest do you have in me to go until I faint…”
The words meant to reproach instead made him feel ashamed.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“…You’re sorry?”
Jin-ha couldn’t help but ask again. Even when he had initially caused a scene by mistaking him for an omega, the man had merely mentioned compensation and moved on. He never expected words of apology to come from those arrogant lips.
“Yes. I was wrong. I didn’t realize Hunter Lee Jin-ha was in bad condition and pushed too hard. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“There will be.”
“I said there won’t.”
Riyekan just grinned without replying. His intention to seize another opportunity was evident.
To end this trivial wordplay, Jin-ha brought up what he had been wanting to ask all along. He felt that if not now, when the man had apologized, he might never get to ask.
“…I have a question, Riyekan.”
“Yes?”
“In the forest… why did you do that to me? Why did you put on such a dangerous act?”
This was something he had been curious about all along. Why had this man played with him from the beginning?
At Jin-ha’s question, Riyekan remained silent for a moment, then opened his mouth while looking elsewhere.
“At first, it was just fun to let you keep misunderstanding…”
“Fun?”
“Originally, I just meant to tease you for a bit. But then Hunter Lee Jin-ha stroked my head.”
Jin-ha couldn’t help but let out an incredulous laugh.
“Stroking your head was the problem? Ah, I dared to casually touch the master of the magic tower…”
“Damn it, that’s not what I meant!”
Riyekan shouted, roughly running his hand through his hair as he abruptly stood up. Jin-ha was bewildered by the reaction that seemed full of rising anger. Who was the one who should be angry here?
“It felt! It felt so good!”
“…What?”
“I said it felt good! When Hunter Lee Jin-ha stroked my head, it felt too good!”
“What does that… Why did it feel good?”
“Just feeling good is normal. But the problem was that it felt too good!”
Jin-ha couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. The excuse was so different from what he had been thinking that he couldn’t even figure out how to press further. He could only stare blankly at Riyekan.
“When I first brought Hunter Lee Jin-ha over and hugged you, it felt much, much better when you stroked me. Of course I’d be curious why it felt good, wouldn’t I? I thought if I got hurt in a dramatic situation, you would touch me in an even more pleasant way! I didn’t expect you to step up and save me like that! I told you, nothing goes the way I want it to!”
“…You put on that show just to get hurt?”
“Yes!”
“Thinking I would comfort you if you got hurt?”
“Yes!”
“You didn’t enchant me with magic…?”
“What?”
Jin-ha, who had made a slip of the tongue, covered his mouth.
“You thought I had enchanted you?”
But it was already too late. Riyekan approached Jin-ha with strangely gleaming eyes and planted his arms on the bed. Beyond his disheveled hair from his outburst, his blue eyes were as calm as a snake watching for an opportunity to hunt.
Jin-ha wanted to back away, but he was already deeply sunk into the bed with nowhere to escape.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
