That conversation marked the end of dinner. Though there was much to think about regarding Banan, the core spread out in the underground waterway, and the seeds of calamity called ‘Blue Tears,’ since no clever solution came to mind for the moment, they decided to sleep first and observe the situation more after waking up.
“Then tomorrow, we should stop by the jeweler’s first and then try to devise countermeasures again.”
“…But those creepy flowers, can’t we really just burn them?”
Was what he said to Banan sincere? Ban stared intently at Orma, who lay beside him speaking with a face that said he was annoyed to death. No, it must definitely be sincere. In the first place, he was someone who didn’t need to worry about Banan and Siol with all his heart… and he wouldn’t want to either, so it was clear he thought it would be nice to burn them cleanly and leave.
He’s kindly accompanying me on a journey to prevent the world’s destruction, so it wouldn’t make sense to expect more active cooperation than this.
“The waterway core is in danger.”
“That’s ultimately Banan’s power too. There’s no way it would break just from burning it a bit.”
“God Banan might be fine, but Siol will be in danger. No matter what, if it’s Muhwi God’s flames, they could deal a blow even to a God, so the core would naturally break. If the core managing the waterway breaks, we don’t know what will happen to the entire city.”
Ban, recalling the disastrous scene of Siol in the game, answered calmly. Though Orma wasn’t ignorant of this either, he wasn’t called an Evil God for nothing, and with a face that said he was bored beyond measure, he muttered, “They can all die…”
Then, as if something occurred to him, his golden eyes sparkled and he spoke with a beaming smile.
“How about making the calamities fight each other? Those flowers seem like they’d die helplessly if they got sunlight. Isn’t that why they bloomed hiding in the waterway?”
“Is there a method?”
Pulling out the flowers and taking them wouldn’t help at all. They’d grow back there. But they couldn’t bring sunlight into the waterway…
“Just gather the sunlight and bring it.”
“…Pardon?”
“If I roughly lay down shadows, they’ll absorb the sunlight on their own… well, something like that exists.”
Orma, trying to explain a God’s divine authority to a mere human, soon became aware of reality and turned his head as if to stop talking. Anyway, if such a method was just possible! Though it was a new method humans couldn’t think of, as his God first offered an opinion, Ban instantly added flesh to it.
“If such a method is possible, it would certainly be worth trying! There’s a fountain still operating around the plaza, but seeing that Blue Tears haven’t bloomed there, they seem to dislike sunlight. Thanks to that, there are people practically living under tents there, but I haven’t seen those flowers.”
“Right…”
“Then tomorrow while stopping by the jeweler’s, I should look for the area where the sun shines most intensely. Anyway, people won’t be wandering around such places, so it should be fine to use divine power.”
At the words continuing one after another, Orma, who had been quietly nodding at first, soon looked at Ban with a slightly displeased face and said.
“Are you that happy to save Siol? I don’t understand at all why you’re trying so hard to prevent calamity.”
“Hmm… At least I do want to resolve Siol’s problem quickly.”
“Why?”
Did you already come to like Banan? Did you like that strange blessing, whatever it was about skin care? Orma grumbled and narrowed his eyes.
However, Ban’s sky-blue eyes were sparkling straight toward Orma alone.
“Well, it’s because Orma-nim is uncomfortable with Siol. More precisely, you’re uncomfortable with Banan-nim, but… Don’t you want to resolve it quickly and leave here?”
“…”
It was an unexpected answer, but he quite liked it. Orma tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth that were rising for no reason, straightened his posture to lie down properly, and showed signs that he would now go to sleep. At times like this, his quick-witted Apostle hurriedly put out the candle and lay down beside him.
Hmm… But something feels empty.
Unlike usual, sleep didn’t pour in suddenly, so when he slightly turned his head to look, Ban was blinking as if deep in thought. Wondering how long he’d be like that, after staring for a while, their gazes finally met in the dark room.
Ban had been making plans for what to do after waking up tomorrow. First, they’d all go to the jeweler’s… exchange for gold bars and gold coins… then find the place with the strongest sunlight… The thoughts that had been continuing in a chain crumbled like dust at the golden eyes staring intently at him.
Ban, about to ask ‘Why are you staring? Do you have something to say to me?’, turned toward him with a thought that flashed to mind. Then he raised his hand and began patting Orma’s chest area, who was half a span taller than him, as if putting a baby to sleep.
Though at first Orma had been angry asking what he was doing, now he couldn’t sleep without this. Perhaps ‘Human Sleep Therapy’ only worked effectively when accompanied by contact.
Since it had now become a habit and an established routine, Orma soon closed his eyes without any particular words. Gradually more comfortable breathing could be heard, and he held Ban tightly according to another newly formed habit.
Though it was a bit suffocating, what could be done when his God could only sleep this way?
Not long after, Ban, who had adapted to this bizarre sleeping habit, also fell into deep sleep while repeating steady breathing.
“…Really, how amazing!”
“As expected, the power of a God…”
It was noisy outside. In the inn that had been quiet with few guests, voices chattering excitedly echoed throughout the corridor and woke Ban from his sound sleep. Ban, greeting the morning in a state of being embraced as if crushed in Orma’s arms without fail, blinked slowly and tried to regain his senses.
He hugged so tightly that even Ban’s cheek, which had received the skin care blessing, was crushed against his firm chest to the point of being squashed—he could consider himself fortunate not to have gotten a crick in his neck.
Anyway, since morning had come, he should get up now, but as the days passed, Orma’s strength in embracing him grew too strong, making it hard to escape. Moreover, at that moment he inevitably woke him, but his sleeping face was so peaceful and docile that he didn’t want to disturb this comfort… He was far from the Evil God who cursed everything in the world and poured out abuse telling things to die, so he always hesitated.
But it couldn’t be helped. Today he had some things to do, so he needed to get up and move now. Having made up his mind, Ban carefully began to call Orma’s name and shake him awake.
“Orma-nim…”
“…”
“Please get up now.”
As he continued to call Orma’s name with a sleepy voice and repeated telling him to get up, the God finally began to slowly open his eyes. In the past, if you woke him from sleep, he’d react sharply and sensitively, but fortunately these days he got up without particular irritation, which was a fortunate point if it was fortunate.
Golden eyes still drunk with sleep stared blankly at Ban. Lips red like pomegranates opened and closed while exhaling slow breaths.
“…Can’t I sleep more?”
It wasn’t getting better as the days passed. Even though his irritable sleep-whining had changed to something pitiful, Ban coldly shook his head.
“I’m sorry. We have quite a lot to do today. Orma-nim can sleep more, but I need to get up now…”
Since Orma couldn’t sleep without Ban, if Ban decided to get up, he had to get up too. In the end, Orma let out a light sigh and released Ban, who had been confined in his arms. As soon as Ban escaped from Orma, he immediately sprang up to straighten his clothes and moved toward the bathroom to wash. Precisely, he tried to move.
Ban stopped walking because of a thought that suddenly occurred to him. Returning to Orma, Ban snatched away the blanket he was covering himself with. Orma, who had been lying on the bed leisurely and quietly blinking, was flustered by Ban’s sudden action, but realized that his gaze was directed at somewhere strange.
“…Where are you looking?”
“Hmm, since it’s visible enough to see with the naked eye… you seem healthy today too. I’m glad there’s a reaction.”
“Won’t you get lost?!”
Orma urgently half-rose with a momentum as if to throw his pillow, then covered his lower body with it and shouted vigorously while fuming. Crazy, he’s getting more shameless as the days pass… He woke up with a start at the sudden check, as if hit with cold water.
At the same time, the door opened wide and Jaena appeared making a fuss.
“B-big trouble! Ban gong! Orma-nim!”
“Yes? What big trouble…?”
Though it was noisy outside, it didn’t seem to be the type where a fire had broken out. As Ban’s eyes widened, Jaena tilted his head in confusion as if he too was bewildered. He waved both raised hands up and down repeatedly, at a loss.
“Well… I don’t know how to explain it, but anyway, thinking of yesterday’s events, it’s not an okay problem so I came running!”
“What on earth is the matter to make such a noisy fuss from morning?”
“Jaena-ssi, it’s okay so please speak calmly step by step.”
At Ban’s calm words, the most clear and simple words to convey this situation finally came to Jaena’s mind.
“Th-the waterway! All the city’s waterways are filled with water!”
