# 88
Riyekan was definitely strong. Considering how he scattered high waves and clouds without showing any sign of strain, he seemed stronger than any Hunter on Earth. But this man had a somewhat arrogant side that made him careless at times. He relied too much on his own strength and recklessly threw himself into danger.
Feeling a tightness in his chest, Jin-ha hesitated several times before finally speaking.
“…If you come back injured, I won’t caress you while your wounds heal.”
“Is that the best threat you can come up with?”
“So be careful and don’t get hurt.”
Riyekan nodded readily.
“In return, grant one of my requests.”
“What is it?”
“Hunter Lee Jin-ha has a bad habit of postponing difficult-to-conclude matters.”
Jin-ha stared blankly at Riyekan, who had suddenly thrown criticism instead of making a request. Riyekan’s blue eyes sparkled beautifully as he rested his chin on the table. Tilting his head slightly, Riyekan spoke in a voice that was almost a whisper:
“While I’m gone, don’t just look around the village, think about me too.”
* * *
After returning to his room, Jin-ha hurriedly drank the status ailment cure potion. He hadn’t been able to check with a mirror because he had rushed back after seeing Riyekan off, but he was certain that his Sexual Urge level had risen again. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been staring at that beautiful face so absentmindedly.
He had taken a bottle that morning as well, but it didn’t seem to be effective enough. Feeling anxious, Jin-ha put another bottle of the status ailment cure potion in his jacket’s inner pocket, thinking he might need it if his condition suddenly worsened. Only then did he feel somewhat relieved.
After finishing his urgent business, Jin-ha became concerned about what was outside the window. He hesitantly approached and looked out to see Riyekan’s retreating figure flying far over the island. Legas and two other magicians were following the man wrapped in blue wind.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Yes?”
“Hello, Hunter Lee Jin-ha.”
The person who opened the door and entered was a small boy in robes.
“I’m Bennis, an apprentice magician. Legas instructed me to prepare meals while he’s away. If you need anything else, you can tell me too.”
“I see. Thank you in advance.”
Bennis handed Jin-ha a thick envelope.
“This is today’s lunch box. I heard you were going out, is that right?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
It seemed to contain sandwiches. Jin-ha hadn’t expected them to arrange for a packed lunch. He felt strange about Legas’s increasingly meticulous service toward him.
There was also a concerning aspect. While he appreciated the attentiveness, wasn’t it a bit much to make another magician do such things? He had heard that all magicians in this world were alphas and nobles, so unless they were exceptional cases like Legas, they probably wouldn’t be happy serving others.
“Bennis, if you could just show me the kitchen location and tell me which ingredients I can use, I’ll prepare my own meals.”
Bennis’s eyes widened at that.
“But I’m a good cook!”
“Um, that’s not the issue… wouldn’t it be troublesome for you?”
Bennis and his companions were magicians mobilized for island repairs, caught up in Riyekan’s whim to gift Jin-ha the island and summer palace. Jin-ha naturally thought they would harbor resentment toward him for being dragged into menial tasks, but their attitude wasn’t as bad as expected. Rather, they were kind and even friendly.
“You must have many other things to do, so you don’t need to worry about me.”
“No way. The seniors would scold me if I did that. And don’t worry, I’m not doing this against my will. You seem to misunderstand—while most magicians are nobles, not all nobles are rich young masters.”
Bennis shrugged and continued:
“I’m the fifth son from a poor family. I grew up rough and entered the tower at a young age, so I’ve been through hardships. And I grew up watching Legas.”
Having watched the tower’s devoted vice-master serve his follower, cooking was nothing—that was the implication. The mention of Legas’s name made it somewhat understandable.
As Jin-ha reluctantly nodded, Bennis approached as if sharing a secret:
“Actually, until the day before yesterday, I was a bit upset about coming here. A senior put my name down without even asking me. He’s a mean senior.”
“I see.”
“But now I think it’s fortunate. Because I can research the Sea Serpent.”
According to what Jin-ha heard, even in this world where monster research was quite advanced, research on Sea Serpents was still severely lacking. This was because Sea Serpents were such powerful and sensitive monsters that it was difficult to obtain samples.
In particular, there were no cases of observing and researching Sea Serpents from when they were young. Therefore, this research, where one could have their name on a paper just by observing and recording the creature’s ecology, was an extremely popular research project.
Moreover, since the Master had offered to help with taming, there would be no issues with future budget execution. Even if the Master forgot, Legas would remember and manage it.
For these reasons, if the tower had recruited researchers normally for the Sea Serpent research, it would have been a perfect research project requiring a lottery among dozens who survived all kinds of political maneuvering.
But thanks to coming to the island this time, he had been given the opportunity to apply for research priority, which was an unexpected stroke of luck.
“They say the budget will be generously allocated, Legas will continue to pay attention, and there will even be a pension when the paper is published. When I think about how the senior who sent me here to bully me will collapse from jealousy, I could even lick Hunter Lee Jin-ha’s shoes.”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
Bennis giggled and bowed his head, saying you can treat me like a dog. It was a very burdensome attitude.
Jin-ha, curious about how different the magician’s research results would be from the information he could read, casually asked:
“Then, if results come out, could you show me the research findings?”
Seeing the boy’s eyes widen again, Jin-ha realized his mistake. Since the research was conducted under the tower’s budget and name, the rights to the research results would belong to Riyekan. Jin-ha had just asked Bennis to become an industrial spy.
“No, I’d need Riyekan’s permission. Never mind.”
“No, that’s not it. Master has already said to share the research results with you! Didn’t you know?”
“Riyekan… did?”
“Yes. When he asked me yesterday if I would apply as a researcher, he mentioned it. He said this research is possible thanks to Hunter Lee Jin-ha, so information should be shared anytime. It will take 2-3 years for results to come out, but don’t worry, I’ll definitely send them to you.”
Bennis said he would be frying chicken for dinner and then returned to his work. Left alone again, Jin-ha stood with a blank face for a moment before slumping into a chair.
Riyekan had already told them to share information?
He felt strange again. This unfamiliar change, and how he was becoming accustomed to it, made him quite uncomfortable.
Recently, Riyekan had been treating him exceptionally well. Though his personality was still twisted, making conversations often frustrating, Jin-ha couldn’t help but notice how Riyekan kept trying to give him things, do things for him, and show consideration by enduring and being patient with things he disliked.
Riyekan was trying to win his favor. Jin-ha gazed at the flashing light of magic in the distant sky through the window and fell into thought. Behind his slowly blinking eyelids, his amber eyes flickered with troubled emotions.
* * *
It was an opportunity.
Thanks to Riyekan’s absence, Jin-ha could wander around collecting memories of the past without worrying about being caught. Although it was uncomfortable to see his father’s infidelity, he needed to recover all his memories while he had the chance, as he didn’t know when he would be able to return to this island after this trip ended.
In the process, he learned that the Sea Serpent was a monster that had been lured to this sea by Master Senistry. Surprisingly, this princess was the one who had used the Sea Serpent to drive away the people living here.
She seemed to have planned to live in this empty village. Although she didn’t end up staying long, thanks to that, Jin-ha was able to recover his memories here. Memories of eating, sleeping, and running around the whole village playing.
“…I should go to the forest.”
The memories cut off abruptly at the moment of running from the village into the forest. That meant the memories from the forest must still be there.
It seemed as if Master Senistry might be luring him. But he had no choice but to follow her intention.
Jin-ha headed toward the path that led to the forest.
Being such a small island and once a royal family’s summer retreat, the walking paths were well-constructed overall. Although trees and undergrowth had grown significantly due to long neglect, the traces of paths remained, so there seemed to be no risk of getting lost.
The young Jin-ha appeared to have been quite a troublemaker. Jin-ha smiled as he saw himself getting stung while catching insects or being scolded after slipping while climbing trees.
Then at some point, Jin-ha saw his younger self picking up something shiny that had fallen to the ground.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
