STM 132

“Salvation has arrived.”

Kilu greeted Hoiga’s entrance with a smile. Solongo then rose from her seat and bowed. Though it was a polite gesture, Hoiga’s gaze upon her remained cold.

“Your Grace, it embarrasses me when you address me that way in front of Solongo. Adeye also has a Salvation. Isn’t that right, Solongo?”

Solongo answered calmly, eyes lowered.

“How could someone as lowly as I dare judge who is the true Salvation?”

“I hear Lu can even communicate with divine beasts?”

“Since I haven’t personally verified it, I cannot judge that either.”

“Then tell me what you have verified.”

Solongo froze momentarily at Hoiga’s cold voice. 

Hoiga smirked at her reaction.

“You look flustered. Is it because I’m different from the person you knew?”

“No.”

“No, you should be flustered. I have many things I want to hear from you.”

Solongo froze, not moving an inch. Just as Hoiga was about to press her further, Kilu stepped in beside him.

“Solongo mainly handles the guild’s affairs, so she likely has little contact with Adeye Lu. But I understand why you’re curious. I haven’t seen Lu’s abilities firsthand either, so I’m quite intrigued. But we just can’t seem to meet him….”

“No. We’ll meet him soon. Grand Duke Kun will attend the hunting tournament, so Lu, who will be his partner, will naturally come too.”

“Ah, the hunting tournament.”

Kilu responded with exaggerated enthusiasm, turning to Solongo with a smile.

“Then I’ll get to see Adeye Lu that day. That place will be overflowing with men Lu likes, right? Solongo, I’m really looking forward to seeing Lu.”

“……I don’t know Lord Lu’s schedule, so I can’t give you a definite answer.”

“Oh, we were talking about the gift earlier. On second thought, it’s best if you take back the gift you brought today.”

Solongo’s mouth tightened awkwardly, and Kilu smiled with satisfaction.

“Salvation, didn’t you say the Ma Trading Company wants exclusive rights to supply Sarne with southern woven fabrics? I can mediate that.”

“If it comes to fruition, the Ma Trading Company will pledge its utmost loyalty to the Montaine family.”

“Haha, loyalty? We’re family. But hearing you say that is truly reassuring. They say all merchants are untrustworthy, but the Ma Trading Company seems trustworthy.”

“Yes, you can trust the Ma Trading Company, if nowhere else.”

The two openly mocked Solongo right in front of her. Though Solongo kept her gaze lowered, making her eyes unreadable, Kilu could guess her true feelings.

Losing the monopoly on that purple fabric that was about to become all the fashion must be quite a predicament. Kilu twisted the corners of his mouth.

“Solongo, you’re still here? I’ve already said what I needed to say.”

Despite the rude dismissal, Solongo maintained her composure, bowing her head until the very end. But Hoiga glared at her, as if her submissive posture only made her more suspicious.

“Solongo, don’t forget. The day Lu must come is the first day of the hunting tournament.”

“…The first day, you say?”

Yes. Hoiga nodded, a peculiar smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He emphasized the date once more.

“Everything else may change, but the date must be kept. Understood?”

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‎ Black Bear had truly fainted. I’d thought she was quite strong, having blocked the monsters for me when I collapsed at Crystal Lake, but who knew she was this faint-hearted.

After I laid her down inside the hut and stepped out, the chibi bear sitting like a doll rolled its eyes again, staring down at me.

Its already large whites made it look like a murderous bear overflowing with madness.

I flinched. Shrugging my shoulders once, I stood before the divine beast. Well, it must be a divine beast, right? I’d find out soon enough.

“Hello.”

I greeted it first, but there was no response. If not for the eye movements, I might have mistaken it for a giant doll.

Just as I thought, “Its limbs are really short,” the chibi bear suddenly stood up.

I flinched, but its movements were so slow I calmed down quickly. Every action was sluggish.

After taking a long time to stand up, it slowly raised its arm this time. The short arm moved to rest beside its head.

Then it seemed to stay still for about thirty seconds. This must means something. Was it waiting for me to notice?

I could not figure it out, and I could not hold back any longer; I was about to open my mouth. Just then, the furry body moved again. This time, it stretched one arm straight out to the side.

It stayed like that for quite a while. Just as I was about to get frustrated, the chibi bear slowly lowered both arms and turned back into a doll.

……What? What the heck was that?

I blinked in bewilderment and asked.

“Are you trying to convey something to me?”

Whoosh~

After a gust of wind passed, the chibi bear slowly rose again.

Grrrrn~~cha.

Somehow, letters seemed to appear before my eyes as it moved slowly once more. Wait, it took forever just to stand up, dis it really need to get up?

I held back my frustration and watched intently. According to all the big data I’d gathered, non-human beings were all peculiar. There had to be some hidden meaning.

I stared wide-eyed as the chibi bear raised both arms again and placed them beside its head. Then, again, slowly, agonizingly slowly, it lowered them and raised them once more.

Unlike the first time, this time it placed its arms beside its head twice before plonking back down in its seat. All of this happened in silence.

And once again, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what it meant. Frustration welled up to my chin, and I closed my eyes for a moment. Just five minutes into trying to converse with this chibi bear, I found myself longing for that talkative, Spirit of Poison.

Even Borhumi divine beast, who could dazzlingly express initial consonants with such flair that it made mice fly off tails, would’ve been fine… Huh?

Something suddenly flashed through my mind. I stared into those black eyes fixed on me. No way. No, it can’t be.

I chuckled inwardly at the absurd hypothesis that popped into my head. There’s no way it’s expressing initial consonants with its body.

“Mo, what do you think the shape that chibi bear just expressed with its body looks like?”

[Currently, insufficient data on that entity prevents interpretation. However, based on other divine beasts’ experiences, we can speculate. It might have physically expressed ‘ㅇㄴ’ (no) in response to ‘Hello’ or ‘ㅇㅇ’ (yes) in response to ‘Are you conveying a meaning?’]

…Crazy. Arms pressed to its head is ‘ㅇ’? And one arm lowered horizontally is ‘ㄴ’… I guess it sort of looks like that. No, that can’t be it! I shook my head.

“My name is Adeye Lu. Would you say my name?”

Grr~~~

My wide-open eyes allowed me to notice that the chibi bear’s short arms curved outward in a round shape. If its head weren’t so large, it would have looked like it was gathering its arms above its head to form an ‘ㅇ’ shape. I started to feel anxious.

Don’t give up yet!

Clinging to that sliver of hope, I saw the bear’s arms slowly lower. One arm stretched horizontally from above, the other stretched in the same direction from below. Like the letter ‘ㄷ’.

No, there could be another meaning…

Damn it, the bear’s arm curved upward toward its head again. It was an ‘ㅇ’. I couldn’t help but stare at the slow bear with despair.

‘Mo, what’s the chance that isn’t it forming initials with its body?’

[I haven’t confirmed the final expression, but the probability is quite high.]

Then, the furry, plump hand moved forward. Both hands formed a ‘ㄷ’ shape with only the thumbs extended, then the two hands were placed vertically one above the other. Again, it remained frozen like that for over 10 seconds.

[It appears to be an ‘ㄹ’.]

……Damn it. Is it crazy? Why is it suddenly using its body to express initial consonants and causing such a ruckus? Did the divine beasts all go study abroad in Korea?! 

Wait, is it even a divine beast?

“Are you a shin-su?”

The bear’s arm slowly arched upward again, curving beside its head. Very, very slowly.

Aaargh!! I felt like screaming. It’s so damn slow! Way too slow!

“If you’re trying to express a circle, why not just use your hands like you did for the ‘ㄹ’ earlier? “

By the time I finished my question, the bear’s arm had barely reached his head. Then, as if deciding to answer the previous question first, it finally finished forming ‘ㅇㅇ’ before glancing at me briefly.

“No, I mean, moving like that must hurt your arm too…”

The bear ignored my words and stretched both arms diagonally downward. After another 30-second freeze, its arms slowly rose again. This time, it expressed ‘ㅅㅇ’

[Presumed to mean ‘I don’t like it’.]

I couldn’t help but stare blankly for a moment. I had forgotten my own question while watching the bear’s painfully slow movements. I suggested using its hands, and now it’s saying it doesn’t like it… Look at this insane bear!

“Why don’t you…”

I barely swallowed the question on the tip of my tongue. Because if I asked, that bear would surely put on another painfully slow performance.

It was truly the polar opposite of a Korean. I instinctively grabbed the back of my neck and closed my eyes. Ugh, it’s driving me crazy!