348th Episode Side Story (3)
“Um… So, you… no, Bart, you’re the Village Chief, right?”
“You two are precious companions of Park Si-hu! Just call me Grandpa or Chief, whatever feels comfortable.”
“Yes, yes….”
As per Si-hu’s words, two visitors arrived in the peaceful village.
Village Chief Bart welcomed the guests with a gentle smile, but the two looked incredibly awkward in response.
The woman with silvery hair blinked her only functioning eye and spoke.
“But… have you perhaps been a Hero in the past… or something like that?”
“Haha. You guests sure know how to joke. A village bumpkin like me living in this quiet rural place as a Hero? That’s laughable.”
“Is that really so? Then what about that body…?”
The woman with silvery hair, Emily, cautiously pointed at Bart’s muscular build.
Sure, his face and hands were filled with wrinkly lines, but the areas with large muscles like his chest and back were tight and firm.
Even though he was wearing pants, those thighs were nothing short of intimidating.
“Uh… Anyway, that’s that. ‘Park Si-hu’? I thought there were Vargan and Alicia… what about Liam?”
“Uh, I heard he changed his name? Maybe it’s a fresh start and new mindset in a new place?”
“Changed his name? So he switched names?”
Emily recalled that Vargan had abandoned his family name in the past.
It could definitely happen, but somehow it didn’t sit well with her.
“…Park Si-hu sounds like a weird name. I’ve never heard a name like that—.”
“—Hey, who do you think you are?”
Suddenly, a cold voice interrupted Emily.
Turning her head, she saw a young girl with a sharp look crossing her arms.
The girl, with pitch-black hair and fierce obsidian eyes, was quite the sight.
Emily was taken aback by the girl’s confidence and pointed to herself with her finger.
“Me, me? Are you asking me right now?”
“Yeah, you. What’s up with you?”
The girl marched forward. She looked about seven years old but was utterly unbothered facing an adult.
“What kind of important name do you have that makes you criticize my dad’s name as weird? Who do you think you are?”
“Ah, no…. I wasn’t criticizing, I just… wait a minute, did you just say ‘my dad’? Did you really just say ‘my dad’?”
“Not that I made a mistake, but… wait, what? ‘Our Dad’? Did you just say ‘our dad’?”
“Are you deaf, or is your Korean comprehension lacking? Yes, I said our dad. I don’t think you got it, so let me kindly repeat. Our dad’s name is Park Si-hu.”
“Mom….”
Emily’s eye widened at the girl’s assertion.
It’s surprising that the girl’s father, who already looks like he’s been sculpted by the gods since birth, is ‘that guy’ she knows, but upon closer inspection, it’s uncanny how much they resemble each other.
With a doll-like appearance and personality.
“M-Miss Martina…!”
Village Chief Bart said as he looked at the girl.
He couldn’t help but fidget, wondering why she had made the precious journey all the way to the village entrance.
Martina, as if accustomed to it, waved Bart off and quickly walked over to Emily.
Despite the noticeable height difference, the way she carried herself made it seem like she could easily swallow him whole.
“I came to see your faces since you’re ‘Dad’s acquaintances,’ but honestly, this isn’t looking good. These are really the people who helped Dad and Mom save the world?”
She shot a sideways glance at Emily and Liam.
From her attitude, she seemed like the posh, arrogant high-ranking noble who would be found somewhere out there.
Just as the tense standoff seemed ready to continue…
“Mr. Liam! Ms. Emily!”
A voice full of warmth, unfazed by the passage of time, greeted them.
“Yay! Alicia! It’s been ages! You haven’t aged a day, huh? But, the one next to you… Could it be your second child?”
A beautiful woman with snow-white hair, Alicia. And a little boy who looks just like her, slyly hiding behind her while holding her hand.
In stark contrast to Martina, who spat out casual words to strangers, this boy appeared shy and bashful.
Alicia gently ruffled the boy’s hair, introducing him.
“This is Rita. He just turned five this year.”
*
Alicia, having brought Rita along, guided Liam and Emily directly.
Village Chief Bart insisted several times that he would take care of her, but Alicia reassured him that it was fine and that he should go back and rest.
Meanwhile, her eldest daughter, Martina, shot icy glares at Emily and Liam.
It wasn’t just because they had insulted Si-hu’s name; she seemed to have some lingering dissatisfaction.
Thus, Alicia and Si-hu, along with the two children, arrived at the hut where they lived.
As they opened the door and entered, seated at the table was the arrogant noble… no, Si-hu, waiting while sipping tea.
“You’re here?”
He still had that condescending tone. However, there was something slightly different about his vibe compared to before.
Liam and Emily felt a strange sense of reassurance watching Si-hu like that.
“Take a seat. I may not have much to offer on the table, but I can spare a moment of time.”
“Please wait a moment. I’ll bring the tea right away.”
As Liam and Emily took their seats, Alicia, who had been chatting with the children, smiled and began to prepare the tea.
With the delightful scent of tea leaves wafting through the room, Emily finally spoke.
“I was wondering what you were doing hiding away from prying eyes in a place like this, and it seems ‘Park Si-hu’ has been creating quite the peculiar village?”
“Looks like ‘Park Si-hu’ has been busy making quite the bizarre village, huh?”
Emily mentioned the scenery she had observed from the edge of the village to the cabin.
Si-hu leisurely sipped his tea and responded.
“It’s a bit unfair to call it merely a bizarre village. It’s a paradise where people, familiars, and monsters cohabit.”
“Paradise… Yeah, I suppose that’s not wrong.”
Surprisingly, Emily readily acknowledged Si-hu’s words.
Even though she could only use one eye and one arm as a price for the saint’s miracle, she could still see the unique vitality of the villagers that couldn’t be found elsewhere.
“That’s not all, is it?”
Liam chimed in.
He looked at Si-hu as if he were observing his somewhat clumsy nephew.
“You’re turning people back from being monsters, right?”
“Wha-what? Turning monsters back into people? Is that even possible?”
Emily was taken aback by Liam’s statement.
Thanks to Peacekeeping Force President Diphelia, it had been publicized that monsters were originally humans, and the subjugation of monsters had been banned. However, she had never heard of or seen any cases like Altife where a cure had been found.
Si-hu smirked slightly as he replied.
“Is that intel coming from Diphelia? Quite the loose-tongued saint you’ve got there.”
“Since I have a role in the Peacekeeping Force, I’ve picked up quite a bit of information. I heard that some arrogant person is selfishly making research achievements in a quiet rural village.”
“It’s still too early to make an official announcement. The sample size is too small, and the research is lacking, so I can’t just go blabbing about it.”
“I see….”
Liam fell into thought. After a moment, he nodded and smiled softly.
“Since it’s something you, the perfectionist, are doing, I can trust you with it.”
“Liam, you’ve misunderstood something. I’m not a perfectionist. What I’m doing isn’t even work.”
“Oh really?”
“It’s better to call it a simple leisure activity. I’m not really engrossed enough to call it work.”
“Of course, you would say that.”
Liam shrugged. Emily seemed to be struggling to keep up with the conversation, but nodded as if she understood.
“Are you talking about Peacekeeping Force stuff already since you arrived?”
Meanwhile, Alicia brought in the tea.
She placed the steaming cup, with its warm fragrance and swirling steam, in front of the two.
Liam thanked her and naturally included Alicia in the conversation.
“We can’t help it since we’re still active duty. Alicia, it’s been about eight years since your retirement, right?”
“Yes, it was around this time eight years ago when I came to visit Si-hu.”
Alicia turned her gaze to Si-hu.
When their eyes met, she smiled like a girl deeply in love for the first time, still radiating warmth.
Emily tapped her palm on the empty chair beside her, urging Alicia to sit down.
Amidst chatter about how much time had flown by and how grand and crowded Alicia’s retirement ceremony was, Si-hu got to the point.
“Now, let’s slowly reveal the purpose of Alicia’s visit to me. You mentioned you’d make some time, but you didn’t say you’d give me a whole day.”
“I never said I’d give up a whole day.”
“…Right. This is how you communicate.”
Liam’s lips shifted subtly as he spoke with a hint of nostalgia. He was cautious in choosing his words, yet he finally spoke up.
“Archbishop Beris… I’m sure we both know about her.”
“Indeed. She was one of the hardliners I briefly worked under.”
“I remember… she was the Archbishop who absorbed the bugs under Archbishop Crosel and rapidly grew by absorbing numerous people and heroes.”
Alicia, who had been in the field relatively recently compared to Si-hu, recalled her more vividly.
In fact, Beris even tried to absorb Yggdrasil, which is why Diphelia quickly intervened to eliminate Yggdrasil.
“……”
As memories of her field experience flashed by, Alicia’s gaze turned somewhat serious. She asked,
“When I was active, Beris was hiding after suffering severe damage that was deemed irrecoverable. Could it be… she has fully healed and resumed her activities?”
“No. It’s a bit different. At that time, Alicia, the damage you inflicted led to Beris being officially declared dead. It was an impossible situation for healing… Even if she somehow survived, she wouldn’t act rashly.”
“Then….”
“But, there are definitely questionable signs popping up recently. First, could you take a look at these documents?”
Liam pulled out several sheets of paper from a bag enchanted with dimensional magic. They were reports of unusual phenomena from various parts of the continent.
Si-hu quickly read through the documents and said,
“I can’t confirm it’s Beris’s doing, but…it does seem suspicious. Could she have found and conquered a dungeon that hasn’t been revealed yet?”
“Exactly. You’re sharp. We think the same. I don’t know what method she’s using, but it’s suspected that she’s absorbed a dungeon and is exerting influence.”
“So, the fact that you brought this up here means you want to borrow the power of either me or Alicia?”
“…To be honest, yes. I know it’s shameless to ask something of you who have already stepped down, but I can’t emphasize enough the danger posed by Beris, who can grow rapidly.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Si-hu understood the situation entirely.
Alicia looked at Si-hu beside her and took his hand under the table. Though she didn’t voice it, a strong determination that she couldn’t let Si-hu go was conveyed.
‘She would go in place of Si-hu.’
That was what Alicia was saying.
As the silence lingered, Liam added,
“I won’t ask you to stay long. Just for three months… No, even if it’s just for one month, your support would be appreciated.”
In response to Liam’s statement, Emily said that one month would be absurdly insufficient, but Liam insisted he couldn’t impose on them any longer.
After deep contemplation, Si-hu finally spoke up.
In truth, the answer he was about to give had been decided even before Liam got to the main point.
“I refuse.”
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