# 86
From Jin-ha’s perspective, it was a very satisfactory outcome. He could observe the lifestyle of the Abon Kingdom in detail in a spacious environment without people around.
He went down to the village with rare excitement. But the moment he discovered the well in the somewhat desolate village, he collapsed to the ground.
“Huhk…!”
He had once almost fallen into that well. If Master Senistry hadn’t caught him, he would have plunged into the deep well. He might even have died.
That wasn’t all. Memories surfaced everywhere he turned. Begging Master Senistry to buy him chocolate while she was buying caramel, running all the way to the summer palace with a basket full of apples, getting scolded for running into an alley while playing tag…
Jin-ha blankly stared at the afterimages of the past before unsteadily rising to his feet.
“Master Senistry…”
It seemed that she and Jin-ha had been closer than he thought. How could he have completely forgotten such memories?
“……”
Jin-ha shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn’t remain lost in confusion forever.
Despite the disconcerting truth, looking at it differently, all of this was also a clue to trace his past. By following these clues, he might be able to find his father’s hometown.
Jin-ha wandered around the village, collecting memories of his childhood. He had covered about half the village when it happened.
KWAAANG! A massive collision sound shook the ground. Jin-ha reflexively turned toward the source of the sound.
“…Riyekan?!”
Jin-ha dashed off frantically.
“What on earth is he doing…!”
Finding Riyekan’s location wasn’t difficult. He just had to open his Information Eye and look for the place where an enormous amount of information branched out extensively.
Despite the dense trees making it difficult to see the sky, an incredible amount of information sparkled like light through the gaps, almost too bright to look at directly.
What on earth was happening?
He clearly said he would just check things out today.
Jin-ha threw away his umbrella, which only hindered his running, and rushed forward desperately.
“Good heavens.”
After passing through the dense forest area toward the beach, he could finally see properly what was happening around the island.
The storm summoned by the Sea Serpent was still fierce enough to devour the island, and waves that must have been 4 meters high were rushing toward the island. The waves beyond those were even higher, and the waves behind them were higher still.
Riyekan stood before this natural disaster that would be called a tsunami on Earth.
Jin-ha, his face turning ghastly pale, ran toward the cliff where Riyekan stood, but Legas, holding an umbrella, blocked his way.
“You must not interfere.”
“Legas! Isn’t this dangerous? How can Riyekan handle such a situation alone…!”
“It’s fine, Hunter Lee Jin-ha.”
Legas looked back at Riyekan with his usual relaxed demeanor. His eyes, gazing at his idol, gleamed with passion and a touch of madness.
Only then did Jin-ha calm his excitement.
“Why is someone who said he was just going to check the situation doing that?”
“The Sea Serpent sensed Master’s powerful magic, became agitated, and attacked first.”
Legas continued proudly:
“The creature realized it had become a target for elimination.”
That’s when it happened. Riyekan’s hair began to flutter from bottom to top. An explosive flow of magic rising from beneath Riyekan’s feet could be felt. It was such an intense and high-dimensional flow that Jin-ha’s Information Eye couldn’t interpret it accurately.
When Riyekan extended his hand forward and clenched it tightly, the waves rushing toward the island began to explode, starting from the closest ones. The seawater, losing its force from the sudden explosions, poured down weakly.
The explosions didn’t stop at the waves but continued to the layered dark clouds. As the clouds were swept outward from the island with the explosions, the rain stopped.
“Attacks like this could never work. Because Master is Master.”
Legas’s voice, speaking as if entranced, was infused with emotions that worshipped Riyekan like a god. Jin-ha stepped back from Legas, thinking that was a bit excessive. Then he began to recall the information he knew about Sea Serpents one by one.
“…Isn’t this strange? A Sea Serpent should be quite an aggressive monster.”
“And?”
“If it felt anxious as you said, why isn’t the Sea Serpent showing itself?”
“That’s… Ah, I see. It simply doesn’t have the courage to face Master.”
At that preposterous answer, Jin-ha accepted that Legas was currently in a somewhat deranged state and stepped back even further.
Sea Serpents were cunning and cowardly monsters. When a Sea Serpent appeared in the East Sea, Jin-ha rushed there before the subjugation to identify its weaknesses. However, somehow knowing, the Sea Serpent never showed itself within the range of Jin-ha’s abilities, only appearing after Jin-ha had withdrawn.
If such a cowardly monster was hiding its body and only making threats, it surely had something else planned.
“Riyekan…!”
But before Jin-ha could take a step to convey this fact, Riyekan threw himself over the cliff.
“Riyekan!”
Surprised, Jin-ha cried out like a scream and ran forward. But by the time he reached the edge of the cliff, there was no trace left. Only the fierce waves were breaking against the cliff.
Surely Riyekan’s body hadn’t been shattered like that? He was a magician, and the master of the tower at that, so he couldn’t die like this.
At that moment, Legas approached with a leisurely gait and said to him:
“What are you worried about?”
Jin-ha knew. Riyekan was an extraordinary magician. He had always known this, but today, seeing the awe-filled eyes of the people as they passed through the portal domain, he felt it even more clearly.
But what did that matter? Despite knowing intellectually that nothing could happen to Riyekan, he couldn’t stop his heart from beating anxiously. Jin-ha stared blankly at the pitch-black seawater.
“What are you doing here, Hunter Lee Jin-ha?”
Jin-ha’s hair, bowed down, fluttered in the wind. Riyekan, who appeared walking on the wind, gently arranged Jin-ha’s wind-tousled hair, subtly caressing it.
Having descended to the ground, Riyekan swept his wet hair back and tried to grab Jin-ha’s hand but got his hand slapped instead.
“You…!”
Jin-ha ground his teeth and grabbed Riyekan’s collar. But there was something more important than getting angry. Still gripping Riyekan’s collar, he scanned the man’s body to see if there were any injuries. Was there any smell of blood, any scratches…?
Finally, after confirming that the man wasn’t injured anywhere, the suppressed irritation welled up. Uncontrollable rage churned inside him.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Riyekan asked in a perplexed voice, but Jin-ha still felt as if his voice was caught in his throat.
I thought you were dying and felt like my heart was stopping. He wasn’t sure if it was good to say such things to this man. In the end, what came out was something completely different.
“Why are you doing such dangerous things?”
“Dangerous?”
Riyekan frowned, as if he couldn’t understand. His expression suggested he didn’t comprehend why Jin-ha would say such a thing.
That’s right. To the great master of the tower, this probably wouldn’t even count as dangerous. The problem was with himself for being startled by such a trivial matter.
Jin-ha released Riyekan’s collar and staggered back a step. Before he could move far, Riyekan grabbed his arm and stepped closer, asking:
“Were you worried again?”
“…No.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
Jin-ha insisted stubbornly. He had been worried briefly, but since he had decided not to be anymore, it wasn’t a complete lie.
Despite his firm denial, Riyekan somehow looked very satisfied as he smiled, then whispered as if soothing a child:
“I just had an issue I needed to check. Without seeing it firsthand, I couldn’t be certain… I didn’t know Hunter Lee Jin-ha would worry like this.”
“It’s none of my business.”
“Mm, that’s right. Anyway, next time I’ll handle it so it doesn’t look dangerous.”
“……”
“So stop being angry.”
Having said that, Riyekan firmly but gently squeezed Jin-ha’s shoulder before heading toward Legas.
Jin-ha followed Riyekan’s retreating figure with his eyes, then closed and reopened them tightly.
He had been so unlike himself just now. Normally, when Riyekan suddenly jumped off, instead of blankly staring at the sea, he would have used his Information Eye to search for traces, even if it was somewhat reckless. And when Riyekan returned, he wouldn’t have lost his composure and grabbed his collar like that.
Above all, what was most absurd was how his anger subsided because Riyekan understood the reason for his anger. He wasn’t a child—what kind of capricious emotional change was this?
“…Damn it.”
Jin-ha muttered a curse under his breath and rubbed his face. This was all because of his father. The memories of his father that he had encountered several times in the village today overlapped with the image of his father’s back as he blocked monsters to help him and Cha Ki-young escape the dungeon, even as he was dying, making him emotionally sensitive.
Because death felt too close.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
