One Day, a Villain Fell into My Wardrobe Side Story 14

Side Story 14

“I told you, we can’t all cross over!”

Set was currently in anguish. Not having seen Yeon Ji-ho’s face for a full 28 hours, he was now feeling anxiety and impatience comparable to withdrawal symptoms.

Based on Apophis’s deduction that Yeon Ji-ho was in Asterra, Set urged an immediate crossing to Asterra. The problem was that Apophis’s teleportation magic could only transport a maximum of two people, including Apophis himself.

If Yeon Ji-ho had been there, they could all have gone together through a gate, but since that wasn’t possible, Set clutched his head. Above all, the biggest problem was Seho.

Let’s say they left Seho here. Then Seho would have to be left with Baal and Isquis, not Apophis.

But it seemed nearly impossible for Isquis to look after both Baal and Seho simultaneously. Even now, Baal was eager to go outside with his horns proudly displayed, claiming he smelled Gallus somewhere.

“Master Ji-ho will return soon. Surely he wouldn’t stay away when Your Excellency and the young master are here? And with Shango by his side, you needn’t worry about his safety.”

Having already confirmed Shango’s resignation from his previous company this morning and learned that he had boarded a flight to Korea the previous evening, Isquis assured the anxious Set. Shango was now by Yeon Ji-ho’s side, and they would return if they just waited a little longer.

However, Set didn’t seem to hear Apophis’s words at all. He kept anxiously biting his fingernails, wanting to go to Yeon Ji-ho’s side immediately.

“What if Ji-ho doesn’t come back? Shouldn’t we go after him before he goes even further away, Apophis?”

“Your Excellency, have you truly gone mad? Haah, what exactly is imprinting that it does this to a person…”

Apophis missed the old Set who had swept across battlefields and commanded legions. Now he lost his reason over anything related to Yeon Ji-ho.

Though now familiar with this world, Apophis understood this was an issue between imprinted alphas and omegas, but he still couldn’t fully accept it. After all, Apophis was a beta.

“Then leave Seho with Baal and go.”

Apophis pointed to where Baal was. There was Seho, practically hanging onto Baal’s leg.

Having met Baal for the first time last night, Seho strangely followed him well. Even though Seho was generally friendly and affectionate, he didn’t usually give his heart so easily as to follow someone he’d just met. But he particularly liked Baal, following him around devotedly.

Of course, the stranger part was Baal. Though Baal found Seho’s constant following annoying, he neither prevented him from following nor abruptly went far away. Instead, he was kind enough to pick up and carry Seho whenever the child, still unsteady on his feet, stumbled while trying to follow him.

“Legs are short.”

“Baal, are my legs short?”

“Yeah.”

“When will they get longer?”

“…Don’t know.”

Baal’s tone when addressing Seho was exceedingly reluctant, but given that he briefly answered all questions, it seemed Baal also liked Seho.

Apophis was unsure whether to welcome Baal and Seho’s growing closeness or to intervene immediately. The Baal he knew had far too violent a temperament to be entrusted with a young child.

It was when neither Apophis nor Set could reach a conclusion and were sunk in worry. Isquis, who had been busily eating shrimp-flavored snacks that he had obtained from somewhere, suddenly spoke up.

“Ah, come to think of it, about where I met Baal yesterday. It was at school.”

“So what.”

Set replied dismissively, as if telling Isquis to keep quiet if he had nothing important to say. Isquis, also not appearing to have anything particularly significant to share, continued munching on his crunchy shrimp-flavored snacks as he spoke.

“At that time, it seemed like Baal had just crossed over, so wouldn’t there be some clue if we went there? Well… maybe not.”

Set paused upon hearing those words. Come to think of it, when Set had asked Baal yesterday how he had crossed over from Asterra, Baal had answered like this:

‘…I crossed through a door and found myself here.’

That’s when Set got up from his seat. Apophis, who had been contemplating how to take everyone along with his teleportation magic, was startled and stood up as well.

Set looked down at Apophis and Isquis, who were surprised by his sudden movement, and said:

“We need to go to the school.”

***

They arrived at the school just a few minutes later.

The school was quieter than usual today, being a weekend. There was a group noisily playing soccer on the field despite it being a weekend, but Set’s group was together in front of the fence connected to the forest behind the command post, so the voices of others were distant.

Crossing the sharply extended fence wasn’t difficult for them. Isquis practically soared over it with a spring from the ground, while Apophis simply used blink magic to cross easily.

And Set was about to climb a tree to cross over while holding Seho. He couldn’t do so because Seho was already in Baal’s arms.

“…Seho?”

“Uh, Papa.”

“Come here.”

“Mmm?”

Seho, snugly nestled in Baal’s arms, tilted his head upon seeing Set gesture toward him. Then, after blinking his large eyes for a moment, he abruptly turned his head and buried it in Baal’s chest.

Set stared open-mouthed at his only son’s behavior. But Seho seemed completely uninterested in Set’s presence. He had his head deeply buried in Baal’s broad chest and was sniffing his distinctive scent, causing Baal to frown and tap Seho’s forehead.

“Don’t sniff.”

“Why not?”

“…Just because.”

Baal, who had unconsciously spoken to Seho, pondered why he had said such a thing. Of course, Baal, who wasn’t interested in bathing daily like humans, knew his body emitted a different smell from others, and he knew that all humans disliked that smell.

Having thought that far, Baal soon grimaced. A question flashed through his mind about why he was even thinking about such things. Eventually, Baal stopped thinking deeply and simply jumped over the fence while holding Seho.

“Your Excellency?”

Left alone unexpectedly, Set, with a face still not recovered from shock, easily crossed the fence. Soon, the group entered the forest path behind the school, and everyone looked at Baal.

“Baal, where did you see the door?”

“…”

In response to Isquis’s question, Baal didn’t even open his mouth and just slightly tilted his head. The group followed the direction he indicated with his head gesture, along the forest path. It was a forest path covered with fallen leaves, seemingly rarely traveled by people.

But no matter how far they walked, there was no sign of what they expected to appear. No, not even the “door” Set had mentioned was visible, let alone a gate. The idea that there would be a door in such a mountain path was nonsensical.

“Hey, Baal. Are you sure this is the right way?”

Apophis, who particularly disliked walking, was the first to complain. Baal, focused on walking steadily while holding Seho, had no time to listen to Apophis’s complaints. Lightly ignoring his words, Baal, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped.

At the end of the path, which had transitioned from a forest path to a mountain trail, there was a desolate cave. Baal raised his finger, pointed to the cave, and said:

“That.”

“…You crossed over through there?”

“Huh, there’s no way a gate would be in a cave.”

Apophis, the first to approach the cave out of curiosity, peered at the entrance and gradually moved inward. Set was following right behind him, also examining the surroundings with his intuition open to check if this was a gate.

It was when Set briefly took his eyes off Apophis, who was in front of him.

“…Apophis?”

“Your Excellency, what’s the matter? Where’s Apophis?”

“Isquis, Apophis has disappeared.”

“What?!”

Set’s voice became heavy. Isquis, also surprised by the strange phenomenon but thinking Apophis might be playing a prank, went a bit further into the cave.

At that moment, Isquis also disappeared. It happened in the blink of an eye.

“Isquis?”

Only Set’s hollow voice echoed through the cave. As Set hesitated, his world turned upside down. Soon, no one remained in the dark interior of the cave.

“Papa?”

Seho, standing outside the cave, called out in a chick-like voice, looking for his papa who had gone in and not come out. But there was no answer.

Baal, who had been standing still while holding Seho, stared at the cave where everyone had disappeared, then quietly turned around. Seho, cradled in his arms, peeked up, looked at Baal, and asked:

“Where’s Papa?”

“Gone now.”

“Why?”

“Need him?”

At that question, Seho blinked his eyes. When the child hesitated to answer, Baal pulled at the corners of his mouth to produce an unfamiliar smile. It was an extremely awkward smile, like that of a doll that had never learned how to smile.

“Let’s go.”

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus