ALL NOVEL Chapter 184
Chapter 184: Family Service (2)
Walking down the main road.
Between two women.
A yellow woman taller than me. Thunder God.
A black girl even taller than me.
Linshua.
••Why are both of them so much taller than me?
Time is truly cruel.
Linshua is only slightly taller, but the situation is a complete mess.
Standing side by side, the difference will clearly show; it’s just a finger’s worth.
And to top it off, the one in the center has the least height.
What kind of new-age psychological torture is this?
I cast a glance at Linshua, hoping it implies that I shouldn’t be on the edge.
“Hong Heung Heung! Ho Heung~”
Linshua, blissfully oblivious to my stare, hummed a happy tune and swung her arms widely.
My hand, also captured, swung along with hers.
••Is that enough to show she’s having fun?
Anyway, looking at Linshua’s face, a thought popped into my mind.
Is it really okay for Linshua to run around like this?
Even if there’s a way to escape the surveillance of the Association, what about that appearance?
Pale skin and those bizarre cosmic background eyes aside…
Her skirt drips with slime, flowing down in shadows before disappearing.
With each jump, even her little hidden horn peeks out from her hair, so can she really walk like this on the main street?
If the Thunder God, acting as both bodyguard and aide, doesn’t seem to mind, maybe there’s a method to this madness…
Is it an illusion or a makeover? If it were, there would have been changes I could notice, so it’s not that.
Thinking about it, why stress my head unnecessarily? The answer is right beside me.
“Hey, Thunder God?”
I spoke to the person next to me in a slightly subdued voice, not wanting to be caught doing something wrong.
To my relief, the elderly Thunder God smiled brightly and opened his mouth joyfully.
Good to know he’s in a good mood.
“Is it okay for Linshua to do that?”
“What do you mean by ‘that’?”
“I mean, can she walk outside like this?”
To my dismay, I felt a tug at my left hand.
“Oh! It’s a puppy!”
After pulling my hand away, Linshua dashed towards a fluffy white ball she spotted up ahead.
“What’s its name?”
“Naru, isn’t it cute?”
“Yes! Can I pet it?”
“Go ahead. Naru won’t mind, right?”
Then, they started a joyful conversation right in front of the puppy.
The puppy looked a bit stiff, as though confused while eyeing Linshua, but it merely tilted its head.
The lady holding the puppy didn’t seem to notice anything unusual, chatting cheerfully with Linshua.
Hmmm, is the effect weak on animals?
I guess I’ll have to mention that.
The Thunder God, watching the scene unfold with me, tilted his head slightly and spoke up.
“Looks like something’s been done, huh?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. The cultists have various strange techniques. Especially that old man Ri who came recently, he makes talismans, one of which has the effect of disguising oneself as a human.”
Ah, so that’s how it is.
Since it doesn’t seem to apply to my eyes, I guess it either doesn’t affect beings with a certain level of power or doesn’t affect those who know the original appearance.
Hmm. Talismans.
Thinking that, I looked back at Linshua, and several items that looked like talismans caught my eye.
A beige metallic ear cuff covering her ears like headphones.
A leather bracelet with a red stone dangling from her wrist.
A black tassel playfully dancing along on her coat.
One of those is probably one. Or perhaps all three could be talismans.
“Not bad; it’s not machine-made and doesn’t seem magical either. It’s likely a technique that the Association hasn’t identified yet. The power of the Otherworld is minimal, and it produces semi-permanent effects. If we had some of these, we could share them with the soldiers…”
As I thought about that, pondering the branches of that technique in my head.
“Not that I can say much, but it’s a bit unsettling. The materials being human…”
An astonishing statement slipped from the Divine One’s lips.
•••What? Human?
Wait, are they producing these from human sacrifices? The cultists have finally lost it. I should just kill them all…
As I was thinking that, my emotions were on the verge of explosion.
“Oh, it’s not like they insert actual humans. I misspoke a little.”
The Thunder God’s quick clarification calmed my emotions.
“And don’t get all worked up about them using humans. If that were the case, I would have burned those cultists long ago.”
Zapp! Zapp!
The Divine One said that, then raised a hand, releasing yellow and black sparks.
It felt like the power of the Otherworld was even stronger than before.
The shining lightning light made the Thunder God look strangely enchanting, but this isn’t the time to be captivated.
“So, what do you mean by using humans?”
“Nothing major. They use things like human hair or bones stolen from graves as materials. They say a target is needed to imitate through techniques.”
Right, that guy had mentioned the space-transferring accessory was made from the tail of a teleporting rat. It means that to disguise as a human, they need to use byproducts from humans.
If it’s bones from dead people, then I’m already using things like Calarabe, which feels iffy but might just be acceptable.
Socially, it might be a bit gray, but for the Divine One or me, it feels tolerable.
“That’s not too bad. The effects seem decent.”
“Right? I’m sparking myself here, and no one cares.”
Bam!
The Thunder God clenched his fist, extinguishing the sparks he conjured.
“Well, it looks like Linshua had fun with the puppy too.”
Hearing that, I diverted my gaze from the Divine One and looked at Linshua.
True to the Divine One’s words, Linshua, after having once held the puppy, was waving goodbye to it.
“Goodbye! Naru!”
“Take care!”
“Mm! I’ll be okay!”
The puppy and Linshua exchanged farewells.
Immediately after, she approached me, still holding my hand, and tossed a question my way.
“How was the puppy?”
“It was fluffy and adorable!”
Even though it was the same fluffy white ball, it was at a whole different level than our household pet.
Maybe Unho would be better with a leash on a walk.
“But lately, Naru has been feeling stressed about life! Why do I exist? Why must I live? It asked me that!”
•••Is that really what the puppy sounded like?
I almost blurted that out reflexively but barely managed to keep my mouth shut.
No matter how you slice it, it sounded like puppy talk, but Linshua was my daughter standing right in front of me.
If it were her, it wouldn’t be strange to say she heard the voice of a puppy.
“So, what did you tell it?”
So I asked her back patiently, like a good father.
“There are many beautiful things in the world that you haven’t seen yet, so you must live to see them!”
Heh heh. Beautiful things that you haven’t seen.
That’s quite an optimistic thought.
Honestly, the world feels like a festering cesspool…
If I lived a normal life, I might see more beautiful things.
It’s just my life has been quite a rollercoaster.
“You did well, our Linshua.”
I smiled and praised my daughter.
Encouraging someone weaker than yourself is a good thing to do.
Linshua, too, accepted my praise with a smile.
Why did I end up caught by the Divine One?
Why did I go home at that time?
Why didn’t I heed Al’sel’s warnings more?
Regret bubbled up within me already.
The resolve to spend time with Linshua flew somewhere, replaced by deep-seated feelings of regret.
The source of that regret isn’t some extraordinary reason.
It’s a much simpler story.
Because of the sight unfolding right in front of me.
“How about this?”
Linshua spoke, putting a purple gem necklace, dangling from a twisted black string, around her neck.
“Hmmm. It’s too bold for an accessory. How about this one?”
Saying that, the Divine One lifted a silver accessory.
Unlike plain silver necklaces with many bumps, this one was finely crafted, narrowed to a consistent thickness, ending with a white gem.
“Mm… that doesn’t seem right! It hides my skin tone!”
“Oh, that’s true. I didn’t think of that.”
“However, it does seem right that deep colors don’t suit me! Let’s look again!”
After sharing opinions, the two began dispersing again, starting to grab various items.
••But didn’t you both just do this?
I couldn’t recall the exact time, so I pulled out my phone.
The bright screen revealed that fifty-six minutes had passed since we entered the accessory shop.
They’ve been at this for an hour and aren’t tired yet…
I began to squirm in my nearby chair.
That said, I can’t waste time looking at my phone or playing games.
Those two inevitably ask me if something fits at the most random times, and if I’m apparently doing something else, they’ll radiate a strange pressure.
••I never imagined Baek Sihyeon and Han Abin would be like celestial maidens.
When I came shopping with those guys, at least I was given the freedom to slouch in a chair.
More so, why is it that shopping always seems to last forever? Why not just look online or buy something you’ve zeroed in on?
Is there something different about that?
I straightened my posture and glanced around the accessory store, but everything looked the same in my eyes.
The only visible variations are color and material.
I really don’t get it…
Why do nearly identical things have price differences as wide as a zero?
I really don’t understand.
So, as I gave up trying to understand them, just as I was about to merge back with the chair,
Ding ding! Bing!
A cute bell sound chimed from somewhere in the store.
“Ah, Thunder God… um, sister! It’s almost movie time!”
“Eh? Already? It feels like only ten minutes have passed.”
With that, the two began bustling about.
They quickly compared various accessories, insisting this one wasn’t right while rapidly returning items, and I watched with a blank expression as other thoughts raced through my mind.
A movie? Wasn’t the next thing a movie?
I didn’t know what it is, but surely it’ll be better than this boring hell.
At the very least, it doesn’t seem like those two would choose a romance…
Thinking that, just as I was about to nod in satisfaction.
“Dad! Pick an accessory!”
“Lee Haram! Choose an accessory!”
They rushed at me with a furious momentum and thrust their heads in front of me.
It was such an intense force that it made me flinch.
••What happened to the hour they just spent picking?
“I can’t decide! This one’s pretty and that one’s pretty!”
“An hour is too short! You should have taken three hours to choose!”
Oh my head.
I want to just grab something semi-decent, but I feel like there’ll be trouble if I do, so I got up from my chair and quickly scanned through the store.
“Money is no object, right?”
“Yeah! Although I don’t know about Wonjin, Al’sel uncle waved this around!”
In Linshua’s hand was a black card contrasting with her white skin.
•••Uh… it doesn’t matter, I guess.
So, I wiped the price tags from my head and quickly focused solely on the designs.
A slender gold piece with a birdcage at the end holding a blue bird.
Rejected.
It looked too heavy for Linshua and the color combination was off.
An item with a transparent string, the end part in a matte black finish, with a silver cross dangling.
That too was rejected.
The color combination was fine, but it looked too aggressive.
As I passed by three or four more, an image began to emerge in my mind.
Simple yet unique. In silver tones. With minimal colors.
There were plenty of accessories meeting those three criteria.
The problem is the uniqueness condition.
Hmm. Is there anything good?
As I turned my head, hoping to pick something that had come to mind.
I noticed an object.
Hiding at the corner of the store, an accessory rack that no one paid attention to.
Maybe because they’re clearing them out, a variety of accessories hung in groups, but without hesitation, I pulled one necklace from there.
A bouncy black synthetic fiber string, with a meticulously crafted silver octahedron dangling from it.
Inside it were a cube and a tetrahedron mesh structure.
Inside it, a small purple gem.
I picked up the necklace as if enchanted and slowly placed it around Linshua’s neck.
“How about this?”
“Hmm. Not bad for Lee Haram! It goes well with my clothes too.”
The Divine One’s verdict was a pass.
“How about Linshua?”
Wait, what?
Then, what does Linshua think, which matters most?
Linshua seemed to ponder for a moment, shining the necklace under the light.
Soon enough, she came to a conclusion.
“I love it! I’ll take this! Thank you, Dad!”
Thanks, indeed.