When I tried to lead Ruvlian without answering, he resisted, refusing to go. That brightly smiling face couldn’t have been more infuriating. After letting out a sigh, I told him what he wanted to hear. He insisted on extracting an answer from me.
“It’s because of you. Just guide me instead of doing crazy things.”
“Understood, Sihyeon.”
An optical illusion of white lilies blooming appeared behind Ruvlian as he answered sweetly, as if he wasn’t the one who had just said something crazy. That alone was enough to tell how good his mood was right now. The guy who had been crying for me to only pay attention to him seemed ready to fly away now that he’d gotten his confirmation.
Though even if he flew away, he’d probably get kicked out by the divine realm. Especially by the god attached to me.
Since we were infiltrating the Temple at night, I felt like I was leisurely strolling through a bustling district. Moreover, with Ruvlian by my side, the tension that had been taut had turned into nothing before I knew it. I didn’t know when or how the Parallel World Ruvlian would appear, so time was of the essence—yet I wondered if it was okay to be like this.
As I pondered the possible scenarios of the Parallel World Ruvlian appearing and just walked along, following where my captured hand led me, a playful voice suddenly settled in my ear.
“Sihyeon, you don’t need to worry. It’s okay.”
His face said he knew exactly what I was worried about. In this situation, my worries were limited, so he had no choice but to know. But knowing that and still saying I didn’t need to worry—what did that mean? My questions about what he had done in the Parallel World grew even larger.
It wasn’t something to ask in the middle of the street, but even if someone heard the content, it wouldn’t be a big problem. Since it happened in a Parallel World, no one would know about it, and I’d speak while appropriately omitting things, so even if someone overheard, they wouldn’t understand what it meant. Besides, it would be drowned out by the noise of people anyway.
I thought so, but just in case, I cast a soundproofing spell before asking.
“What does that mean?”
“Mm. You’re asking if I had a big fight there? The inn is just ahead. I’ll tell you when we get inside.”
Ruvlian laughed, swinging our clasped hands back and forth. After saying that, we hadn’t even taken a few steps before our footsteps came to a halt. There really was an inn at a very close distance. I surveyed the inn’s exterior with my eyes. It was cleaner and better than I’d expected. Since it was near the Temple and had developed as a tourist spot compared to other places, it made sense that the lodging wouldn’t be bad.
But didn’t we both have no money? Making my thought seem pointless, Ruvlian pulled money out of his subspace. Then he initiated the conversation and paid the money himself before securing a room. I’d been concerned about whether there would be any rooms left since we were booking a room on the same day in the afternoon, but it seemed there was no need to worry about that.
After receiving the key marked with the number 8, we climbed the stairs. The stairs didn’t creak at all—they were only smooth. When we went up two floors, the numbers written above the doors caught my eye. The numbers increased from left to right. Ruvlian and I headed toward room number 8. Soon, Ruvlian inserted the key into the keyhole of the doorknob and turned it.
Click. As the lock released and the door opened, a large window was the first thing to catch my eye. Beyond it, I could see the street where we’d been just moments ago. The soundproofing seemed strong as I couldn’t hear any outside noise at all, but just from the visible movement, I could feel the lively energy reaching all the way here.
“Aren’t you going to ask why I only got one room? As expected, you wanted to use the same room as me, right?”
Without fully entering the room, Ruvlian, who had been looking around the interior from the doorway, hugged me from behind, and his words were as meaningless as always. I thought he was really persistent, being dismissed every day as nonsense, bullshit, and impossible talk. Though I ended up liking him because of that persistence.
“We’re going out in the evening anyway, so one room is better than pointlessly getting two.”
“Mm. So you wanted to spend time with me until we go out, right?”
A soft sensation descended on my ear, and I could feel his breath and voice completely. I let out a sigh, leaving the familiar behavior alone. He was interpreting it his own way again. There was no point in having a conversation since we couldn’t communicate.
It would be pointless to protest here, saying that’s not it. I’d definitely just waste time being entangled with Ruvlian and dragged around this way and that.
“Just close the door.”
At my brief dismissal, the soft sensation landed on my earlobe and then fell away. The smacking sound was a bonus. I reflexively covered my earlobe with my hand as if to hide it and turned my head back.
“I told you not to do that.”
“Do what?”
Ruvlian smiled with his eyes as he pushed me further inside. The plump aegyo-sal, the slender curved eyes, and the half-hidden clear pupils visible between them filled my retina as if being engraved. My irritation naturally subsided. I couldn’t get annoyed.
As always, I was rendered powerless by Ruvlian’s honey trap. He knew his strengths and had mastered skillfully using them. As I always felt, the way he smiled slyly while manipulating me made him no different from a fox.
When one of the hands wrapped around my waist closed the door, I lifted the other hand and escaped from Ruvlian’s embrace. Then I went straight to the bed and laid the child down. The child moved their mouth with a relaxed face. Their sleeping appearance looked like an angel.
I withdrew my gaze from the child and cast a soundproofing spell on this room. Then I expressed my question to Ruvlian, who was leaning against the closed door, looking at me with honey-soaked eyes.
“What did you mean earlier when you said you had a big fight?”
“I meant it literally. Um, after Sihyeon left, the others wouldn’t have been strange even if they died, so I sent them to another world, and—”
“Do you have some grudge against them?”
When I rarely interrupted to ask, Ruvlian tilted his head. He had a genuinely innocent face that didn’t know what was wrong. That expression wasn’t made up. It was sincere, that.
“You know what happens when you go to a world that isn’t your own.”
Especially if the three of them went to the same world together, there would be no answer. Assuming that the Hero’s companions, those with excellent abilities, crossed over to another world together and became Demon Kings, nothing could be more horrific than this. Moreover, the god might summon me again to deal with them.
At my words, as if he’d forgotten that most people become Demon Kings when they go to a world other than their own native world, Ruvlian let out a brief sigh. An “Ah.”
But the one who showed an even bigger reaction was actually the god.
[Wow, no, no…! This isn’t right! I’m going crazy. What should we do, Sihyeon? First, I’ll go take a look around the worlds I’m in charge of right now. If the three of them fall into one world, that place will be destroyed! It might be okay if the upper management gives permission, but the possibility of that is really slim… Ugh. Why does the person who caused this trouble have to be Ruvlian, Sihyeon’s companion? Why does he have to be from a world I’m in charge of… I’m going to have to write an incident report. Don’t worry even if I don’t respond for a while. I’ll come back when I’m done.]
The god spat out words in rapid fire. It was clearly evident that they were going crazy. Perhaps because they had to write an incident report, their voice even trembled gloomily at the end. As if that was the end, the voice cut off abruptly, then the sound filled my now-cleared head again.
[Ah! I forgot to mention this. The god here isn’t me!]
‘What?’
[I got promoted and became a god six years ago, and at that time I inherited the world that another god had been in charge of. Right now is when I’m not yet a god. First, I was able to be here after conveying the story to the god here, so… the god Sihyeon is trying to meet now isn’t the past me. I want to tell you more, but I don’t have time. I’ll be going now. See you later!]
As if this was truly the last time, the voice disappeared in an instant. Even though the god’s voice that had been ringing in my head disappeared, my head ached.
“Sihyeon. Are you okay?”
Soft hands cupped my cheeks and lifted my slightly lowered face. Then Ruvlian, the cause of my headache, came into view.
“I’m fine. But you, did you completely forget?”
“About how you become a Demon King when you cross to another world?”
“Yeah, that.”
When I agreed, Ruvlian rubbed my cheek with his thumb and nodded. It was affirmative.
“Even if Sihyeon pretends otherwise, you’d be concerned if those bastards died. Of course, you’ll say that’s not true.”
“……”
“You can’t speak right now because I hit the mark. Anyway, so I was thinking of letting them live and sent them, but at that time I was distracted once because Sihyeon did something reckless, and—”
The cheeks that had been gently handled stretched to both sides. However, not much force was applied, so it didn’t hurt. In those sea-like pupils that sparkled reflecting the summer sunlight, emotions of resentment and sadness appeared. Though they quickly transformed into affection.
“I completely forgot because I jumped through over fifteen different worlds.”
It was a voice containing only sincerity. Hearing it, I understood to some degree. At that time, Ruvlian must have been out of his mind too.
Besides, what could I do when he said he did it with good intentions, trying to save them? Of course, falling from being the Hero’s companions to becoming Demon Kings was a more terrible thing than dying at the hands of the Parallel World Ruvlian. At least that would be an honorable death fighting for their comrades. But the water had already been spilled.
While I was thinking this, Ruvlian gently caressed my cheeks in circles, asking as if testing me.
“Are you still worried about it?”
“Not really.”
It was the truth. Contrary to Ruvlian’s thought that I would be concerned about them, I wasn’t particularly interested. Even if they became Demon Kings, as long as I wasn’t summoned, it was fine. I didn’t know how close I had been with them in my lost memories, but just as I’d said when hearing the story from the Parallel World Deadrian, who like me had no memories, that those emotions didn’t arise in me—I was the same.
I didn’t feel much emotion toward them.
