Chapter: 986
“What is it?”
I frowned as I saw Cheonma suddenly approaching and sniffing.
Why is he acting like this again? He appears out of nowhere and clings to me in a burdensome way. I feel pressured, so I push my forehead.
He keeps clinging, seemingly unconcerned.
“Ah! Why are you like this!”
“…….”
Even though I expressed my annoyance, Cheonma stood his ground.
Why is his strength so overwhelming?
After struggling for a while, I eventually gave in, as if resigned.
Alright, fine. Go ahead and sniff to your heart’s content. With that thought in mind, I let it be, and he sniffed endlessly.
As time passed…
“Hmm.”
Cheonma stepped back as if satisfied. I stared at him, bewildered, and said, “Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“Honestly, tell me. You’ve already confirmed whatever you needed to confirm, right?”
“…….”
I realized I shouldn’t be indulging this for so long. So I asked, and as expected, I noticed Cheonma’s expression subtly change.
The change was subtle, but for someone who’s usually expressionless, it was quite obvious.
That was definitely a face that screamed he had been found out.
“You……”
“Ah… I’m sleepy. I want to go.”
“This is crazy.”
He suddenly claims he’s sleepy and whirls around. What am I supposed to do with this lunatic?
I couldn’t say anything and just stared at Cheonma’s small back.
Then, suddenly…
He halted mid-step. Then he glanced back at me.
What’s going on? Is he going to do something again?
I eyed her warily, and Cheonma, with bright purple eyes, spoke to me.
“……Or I hate it.”
“What?”
He spat out something incomprehensible and leaped away, disappearing.
I couldn’t help but let out a frustrated sigh as I watched his receding figure.
“What the heck?”
He’d been alone all day, and then he suddenly shows up acting like this?
While I was staring blankly in the direction where Cheonma had vanished…
“Tsk tsk….”
Shin Noya, who had been watching, clicked his tongue.
“No matter how much I think about it, it’s still strange…”
It was a voice that conveyed complete bafflement.
After hearing that, I inquired, “What is it?”
“Even a hundred or a thousand times.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have the face that girls would find attractive… Where do you keep getting tangled?”
“…….”
Hearing this made my mood plummet.
I could brush off a jest I’d heard before, but…
‘… That damn old man, is he serious?’
The look on his face spoke volumes of his disbelief. That really got under my skin.
‘Furthermore, who would this guy judge anyone else’s looks…’
The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became. I hate to admit it, but Shin Noya isn’t too shabby looking.
Despite appearing to be in his seventies, the fact that he still looks good means he must have been quite handsome in his youth.
That’s what makes it all the more infuriating.
“Why are you bringing this up now?”
I voiced my emotions, but Noya seemed completely unfazed.
“Right, the rarer something is, the more demand there is… A better way to understand it would be that.”
“……What?”
“Alright. Let’s go with that.”
“No, why is it that this old man is the only one making sense of this?”
“Fine, let’s stick with that.”
“What the hell does that even mean? I’m old and my ears are blocked—!”
Crash—!!!
“Whoa, damn.”
I twisted my body to dodge the sword strike. It was the same speed as before. If I had been even a moment late, my neck would’ve been sliced off.
“… Hmm. Looks like I can avoid these things now. What a pity.”
“Noya… Have you really gone mad?”
“Consider it a compliment. A compliment.”
“Compliment my ass.”
As Noya said, that was a speed I would have normally struggled to avoid.
Now I feel like I could dodge it somewhat.
This feeling mingled with a deep-seated fear of Noya’s ability to casually strike at this speed.
“Phew…”
I sighed and dusted off my clothes.
As I did this, Noya looked at me and said,
“First, rest. We have time until sunrise.”
He said that and began trimming the weeds around him with his bare hands.
At first, he wielded a sickle, but now it seems he doesn’t even need that.
No, there was likely no need for it in the first place. It was probably just for show.
‘He could probably slice through rocks with his bare hands if he wanted to.’
Just resting his sword on the edge of his hand, there’s nothing he couldn’t do.
‘… Can he use the Heavenly Divine Sword’s unification for that?’
The state of unification, a dream for all swordsmen.
Having reached that state, Noya continued to work in the fields late into the night, seeming to enjoy himself.
I swallowed hard at the dark aura swirling instinctively in my hand.
‘That’s menacing.’
The higher your level, the clearer your vision becomes.
Now I could see just how fierce that small aura at Noya’s fingertips was.
“What are you staring at? Why? Want to help?”
“……What? Farm work?”
“Forget it. You’d probably set the whole field on fire.”
“……I had no intention of helping.”
I shook my head and sat on a nearby rock.
Rustle.
Rustle.
The sound of Noya cutting grass continued.
Hearing it, I lifted my head and gazed into the void.
There was only one moon in the Volcano Clan, but I knew it wouldn’t be like that if I stepped outside.
“…….”
I recalled what had transpired today. A multitude of events flowed through my mind like a whirlwind.
Even now, it feels so absurd. Just what the heck is happening?
I closed my eyes again, gathering my thoughts.
‘Ah. I feel dizzy.’
It’s all so tangled up; I just needed to close my eyes.
With my eyes shut, my thoughts seem to clear even if just a little.
And amid that calm, a face would float to the surface.
It was the face I thought of whenever things got tough.
I exhaled, thinking of her.
I miss her.
Rather than stressing over various concerns and thoughts…
At that moment, an idea slipped into my mind.
*
Daybreak arrived.
The sky slowly began to regain its hue, and the air subtly shifted.
I opened my previously closed eyes.
Whoosh-!!
Upon opening my eyes, the energy circulating in my body stirred slightly, generating a gentle breeze.
This was likely because I’d spent the night checking on my body.
‘Hmm.’
As I was savoring the return of my energy…
Whoosh.
“Huh?”
I suddenly felt something change within me.
My body, which had felt light all day, became heavy, as my ears and tail started moving on their own.
What on earth is happening now?
“Huh?”
I widened my eyes. The ears and tail that had just been there had vanished.
My body had grown heavy… no, it wasn’t that it grew heavy.
‘It’s returned to the original feeling.’
The body before becoming a Moonlight Tribe member. I had reverted to the sensations of being a dragon.
Before I could panic over the current situation, I glanced up at the sky.
It was daytime, with the sun shining down.
The moon had set completely.
No way…
“……When the moon is out, does that mean I become a member of the Moonlight Tribe?”
That was a reasonable suspicion. There was nothing else to explain the current situation.
‘… This is absurd.’
A dragon during the day and something else at night?
How can my body be this bizarre?
At a loss for words, I could only laugh hollowly.
“……What’s going on?”
Noya approached me, wearing a similar expression, and asked.
“Has it returned to how it was before?”
“Yes. I think so. The problem must be that it’s daytime.”
“Heh heh…?”
“I don’t understand either.”
He rose from the rock he had been sitting on while speaking.
At the same time, I twisted my body, checking my muscles here and there.
‘Completely recovered.’
My body had reverted to its state before any injuries occurred—an overwhelming regenerative power.
“Seeing that tail, I guess I have to go see that turtle.”
“Is it okay if we go now?”
Now that the sun had risen, I asked if it would be fine to leave. Noya replied affirmatively.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Noya began walking at my words. I looked at him, baffled.
“Yes? Are you going too, Noya?”
Wasn’t I the only one heading out? Noya, not slowing down, said to me,
“Yeah, I have something to do.”
He turned his face slightly, glancing back at me.
“I have something to tell you.”
“…….”
Hearing that made my expression tighten.
It was because I could see some unfathomable concern swimming in Noya’s eyes as he spoke.
*
Upon arriving at the teahouse, the door opened, and a turtle emerged.
He had an expression that indicated he already knew we were coming.
“……You guys sure have annoying faces this early in the morning.”
“Good morning.”
“How have you been?”
“Not that great of a morning, and I haven’t been well either.”
“Noya, come inside. You’re being welcomed.”
“As expected, there’s only turtles here.”
“……You damn creatures?”
Ignoring the turtle’s response, I went further inside. The amusing part was…
“What? You’ve already prepared the tea?”
There were already three cups of tea set on a table inside the teahouse.
Seeing that, Noya let out a chuckle.
“Haha, you really are a miser.”
“……Just shut up and sit down.”
As soon as the turtle spoke, I plopped down at the table. Judging by the aroma wafting from the tea, it seemed to be plum tea.
Carefully, I lifted the tea to sip.
“That incident last night… It was you, right?”
The turtle turned to me and inquired.
What incident? I wondered what he meant, but Noya, sitting next to me, answered in my stead.
“That’s right. Is it okay for us to stop it?”
“It’s fine. I’ve been busy since this morning.”
“I figured it would go that way. Hehe.”
From the mention of ‘stopping’, I realized something.
‘Just like when I came in yesterday.’
Given how Shin Noya had suddenly rushed in for a surprise attack, it seemed that my very entry into the Volcano Sect had thrown things off balance.
“What on earth happened?”
The turtle probed.
Noya started to explain lightly.
The summary he provided included all the crucial details.
“The tree and the fruit…”
When the turtle heard that, he narrowed his eyes and said,
“… Four of you.”
He spoke to me as if he’d pieced it together.
“You ate the divine fruit from the master’s sacred tree.”
Divine fruit.
My ears perked up at those words.
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