STM 147

“Congratulations, Grand Duke. You’ve grown a level higher.”

“Not yet.”

Tairok denied it and looked down at his hand. Then he muttered to himself.

“It’s a divine beast’s power. Why isn’t it Kun?”

Rick couldn’t hear the words properly,  but he definitely heard the important first part. Divine beast and Kun. This was a man who usually acted cold whenever someone mentioned a divine beast, yet he was the first to seriously talk about a divine beast’s power.

C-could it be?!

“Grand Duke! Has Kun’s divine beast returned…?”

“No.”

“Ah, yes…”

Rick stepped back, embarrassed.

“If the divine beast still exists like Hoiga says, it’ll take time to return.”

Rick thought Tairok might get angry, but he just turned his gaze away with an expressionless face. Rick mustered up the courage to bring up the subject further.

“Everyone gave up because they believed it vanished. Everyone except my mother. My mother was convinced that Kun’s divine beast would definitely return. Do you know what she said when I asked how it could return if it vanished?”

Tairok still looked uninterested in Rick’s chatter, but his eyes darkened as he continued.

“She said it just needs to be reborn. Even trees may seem to die when they wither, but they actually drop seeds and are reborn anew in their place, so the divine beast will do the same. Haha… Why are you looking at me so frighteningly?”

Rick pulled back, but Tairok looked down at his hand again with a serious expression. Seeing him frozen like a statue, Rick had no choice but to turn around.

“Ahem, then I’ll be going so I don’t disturb your training.”

He had only taken a few steps when he heard Tairok’s mutter again.

“…Resurrection?”

‎

‎

‎

Even though many things happened since I came to Tubain, I rarely felt like I made much progress. But today was definitely a day where I took a step forward.

On the surface, Tairok reconciled with the divine beast, Black Bear started her training, and Tairok decided to accept the divine beast’s power.

So now all that remains is my task. The most important task of bringing the divine beast here. Whether it’s Borhumi’s divine beast or Kun’s, Tairok just needs to close the Eye of Hell with that power.

But in my head, the image of Tairok watching me in the field repeated constantly rather than the thought of saving Earth.

For me. Was that sincere? No, what would Mo know about human emotions? Even if it’s true… I couldn’t find an answer to this hypothesis and sat up.

“Ha.”

I exhaled a sigh and shook my head to clear my messy thoughts. Let’s focus. Think simply. Let’s move forward looking only at the goal.

Right now, the priority is to summon the divine beast for Tairok. I don’t know the method, but I didn’t stay up late for no reason. There was someone I needed to ask.

Clack.

The window shook in the wind. I looked back and made eye contact with a being sticking to the window and looking inside.

Whoa, you scared me!

I froze and soon got up from my seat. Why is that bear sticking its huge face right against the window? Those wide, bloodshot eyes were even more terrifying because I could see them clearly even in the middle of the night.

Clack, clack.

The window shook again, and this time I noticed it wasn’t because of the wind. It seemed like the bear was shaking it on purpose to tell me to open it quickly. And why not? That villain is more than capable of doing that.

“Yes, yes, I’m coming.”

I opened the window while grumbling. It said it was night, and it really came at night.

“Come in.”

But I soon realized my mistake. The bear was too huge to invite through the window.

“Oh, since you can’t come in, I’ll go out…huh?”

Regardless of my consideration, the bear sticking to the window suddenly started to shrink. What, it could reduce its size?

While I was surprised, it changed to a size that fit the window perfectly and flew inside. I guess it could transform since it’s a divine beast, but… wait, if that’s the case, it didn’t even need to open the window and come in.

Since it has no physical form, it could just pass through. As expected, the bear became small, flapped its finger-sized wings, passed right through the obstacles, and landed on my bed.

It could’ve just passed through the window while small from the start! Why bother me?!

My anger dissipated as soon as I met its eyes. Those eyes, small but sparkling and exuding a powerful aura, were still there.

Right, it was crazy from the start. It just did whatever it wanted. My blood pressure already skyrocketed, but I couldn’t surrender right from the beginning. However, since its size became smaller, its movements might become faster!

I almost cheered. I sat in front of the bear, pretending to be nonchalant, and asked to test it.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

Grr~~~ng~~~ cha.

It took an eternity to lift its palm-sized butt. Anxiety loomed like a dark cloud. Wasn’t it too slow for someone not even one meter tall?

The bear lifted its arm slowly, very slowly. At first, I thought it wasn’t moving. But when I opened my eyes wide, I saw it was going up. It took a hundred years to make a single ‘ㅇ’. …Damn, it’s gotten slower?!

[Yes, the time is the same at 30 seconds, but it seems its movements became slower as it tried to match the time.]

Mo confirmed my suspicions. I closed my eyes. I thought it meant to talk at night, but did it mean it’d come to assassinate me at night?

If that was the case, it was half the battle. I placed my hand on the back of my neck and watched the bear’s next consonant.

[It is saying ‘No’ as an answer to your question about whether he has something to say.]

Was assassination the motive? I had a lot to say, but the experience made it difficult to open my mouth. Instead, I chose the most likely guess and spoke it out loud.

“Then you came because you knew I had something to say.”

Grr~~~ng~~~ cha.

Ha. This time I put my hand to my forehead. I deliberately avoided the question, but the bear insisted on answering ‘YES’ and sat down. Then it stared at me.

If it’s giving me a chance to speak, I’ll gladly use it. I carefully choose my words again. What I needed now was information on the divine beasts. I asked about the easiest target first.

“What is Borhumi’s divine beast doing?”

The bear spread its legs and both arms to the sides. Then it slowly lowered its head. It expressed only one ‘ㅈ’ and sat down. Only one word came to mind.

Shit?

[I suspect it is sleep. Sleep, sleep. It’s sleep.]

Mo corrected me. But even if I was wrong, was it necessary to rebuke me like this? However, I had to focus on the bear now, so I postponed disciplining Mo for later.

“How long will it sleep? When will Borhumi’s divine beast come to Tubain?”

The answer I heard after waiting for a long time was also unsatisfying.

[When the time comes.]

This time, I couldn’t hold back my frustration and asked.

“So when is that? In a few days? Or a few months? A few years?”

At that moment, the bear’s finger pointed at me.

“What about me?”

The time waiting for the answer this time wasn’t boring or frustrating. I captured every slow movement in my eyes and tried hard to deduce the answer before Mo told me. But it was an answer that didn’t make sense.

[You decide the time.]

How can I? Does that mean I have to wake up the sleeping divine beast in its hometown? By going there myself? But I didn’t even know the way to the Forest of the Crimson Tide.

I needed a key and a door to go there. I have the key Borhumi’s divine beast gave me, but I don’t know where the door is.

“Do you mean I should find a door in Borhumi’s underground tomb and go to the divine beast’s hometown?”

[There is no door there.]

Right, it seemed like the underground lake where Borhumi’s divine beast was trapped was ruined back then. Even if it wasn’t, the divine beast wouldn’t want to use that place as a door again.

“Then where is it?”

The dot-like black pupils silently watched me. It was as if it was asking why I didn’t know the answer. But I really don’t know.

Then the bear’s finger moved again. The tip of its claw, which became cute due to his small size, pointed at me again. What does it mean?

“Are you telling me to find it?”

That must not have been the right answer. In an instant, the bear’s gaze changed. It was full of pity. I thought it was only good at “body talk,” but this bear was also amazing at “eye talk.”

Honestly, if I could grab its physical form, I wanted to have a fight regardless of it being a divine beast. Would I fail to understand like this if you told me properly! Especially when your communication is freaking slow! I got worked up and said whatever came to mind.

“Ah, then what is it? It’s not like you’re saying I am the door, right?”

It was obviously nonsense, but the bear just stared at me. …Uh?