Chapter 224
“Something…”
As she pushed the wheelchair towards the library, Yuna opened her mouth cautiously.
“He was a very peculiar senior.”
As soon as she said that, Yuna quickly swallowed her breath as if she was surprised by her own words.
“No, I mean! I’m not talking behind his back, what I mean is…”
“I know, what you mean. Lyle senior is a bit strange.”
Actually, I had some idea why Yuna reacted like that.
It was in the same context as when Lee Ye-eun, a member of the World Tree clan, freaked out whenever she saw Cass Lyle.
People who were close to nature or had a sensitive sense of energy, like the World Tree clan, would feel a sense of discomfort and instinctively avoid Cass Lyle, who was not a human but a Homunculus.
To explain a bit more, Ivan Hunt probably didn’t like Cass Lyle either, even though he didn’t show it openly.
Similarly, Yuna, who had an excellent detection ability as shown by the fact that she was the only one who noticed Yoon Seul-hye’s mischief, also felt a sense of discomfort from Cass Lyle.
She was already shy, so she would be more reluctant to deal with him.
“So, this is not talking behind his back, but just saying…”
Yuna glanced at me and opened her mouth carefully.
“You know, that Yoon Seul-hye girl…”
I thought she was going to say that she was too harsh, or that she should apologize.
The impression she had given me so far was that of a… a bit of a masculine expression, but a squirrel or a hamster-like, harmless and fluffy one.
And my expectation was soon crushed.
“I should have just slapped her then.”
“…Huh?”
“It’s a good opportunity, let’s talk about us.”
Yuna looked at me with an expression of displeasure.
It was a refreshing experience to look up at her, who was a head shorter than me, when I usually looked down at her.
At that moment, in my head, I suddenly remembered that squirrels, despite their cute appearance, were threatening enough to disrupt the ecosystem in foreign countries, and that hamsters, when stressed, would attack not only their own kind, but even their own offspring.
“You, you knew what she was trying to do, but you still gave her your hand, right?”
“Uh, yeah. But that was just…”
“It’s not just, don’t you forget that you’re a patient now? And a critical one at that.”
Yuna began to scold me in a stern voice.
“At least, when you get a vaccination, you postpone it if your body condition is not good. But can you say that your body condition is good now, even as a joke? In that situation, what did you trust and reach out your hand for? Especially in this situation where the association is eagerly looking for a chance to mess with you! What are you going to do if something really goes wrong!”
“…….”
I couldn’t say anything to refute her, as everything she said was true.
“And who is your caretaker now, Ji Hyuk? Tell me with your mouth.”
“…You.”
“What?”
“…You, Yuna.”
“Right, I’m your caretaker now.”
Yuna nodded her head and continued to talk as if she was scolding a child.
“I took care of you from your sister Lee Ye-eun senior, and you agreed to it too. I accepted it too. Then, at least when I’m your caretaker, I have a duty to be responsible for your safety, to protect you and watch over you. And you have to listen to me too. You agree with that, right?”
“…….”
I nodded my head silently, and Yuna sighed softly.
“But you act like you always do, don’t you think how upset I get? I’m already worried that I might make a mistake, or that you might get hurt because of my incompetence…”
“…I’m sorry, I’ll be careful from now on.”
I felt a sense of guilt as I was scolded by a much younger child.
Especially since everything she said was right, I had no excuse.
“Good.”
Yuna nodded her head as if she was pleased, and then walked back and pushed the wheelchair carefully.
“Um… I said we should go to the library, right?”
“Uh, should we just not go…?”
“Huh? No, it’s okay to go to the library.”
She answered and whispered in a small voice.
She probably didn’t want me to hear it, but I could hear it clearly.
“Did I say something too harsh…?”
I just pretended not to hear and kept my mouth shut.
“…….”
And for a moment, we didn’t say anything.
Just when I thought it was getting cold, Yuna spread a blanket over my lap.
I opened my mouth without realizing it.
“About that Yoon Seul-hye.”
“Hmm?”
Yuna covered me carefully with the blanket and looked at me.
“What did you feel that made you so angry?”
“Uh…”
Yuna hesitated for a moment and rubbed her back with her hand.
“You might think it’s ridiculous, but… I didn’t really notice what she was doing.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, to be more specific, from the feeling of her magic… I could feel that she was doing something strange. I’ve never seen magic that is used to heal or boost energy move like that. It only moves like that when it tries to harm someone.”
Yuna said that and looked closely at my head.
“And… I felt like she was coveting your head and heart…”
Head and heart.
‘Then, is she after Minerva’s heart?’
As I thought about it, Yuna blushed and muttered.
“I, I’m not just saying it, I really feel something like that…”
“I know, Yuna. You’re not the type to lie about that.”
“Uh…”
Yuna paused and looked at me.
I kept thinking and met her eyes by chance.
“Why?”
“Huh, no. Nothing.”
Yuna quickly smiled as usual and moved the wheelchair again.
She looked like she had something on her mind, so I just followed her lead.
We arrived at the library in no time.
And we saw someone sitting on a makeshift table and plastic chair under a tent in front of the library building.
I knew who she was.
She was the senior who wore glasses and worked as a librarian and also the head of the reading club.
“…The library was also badly damaged.”
Yuna nodded her head as she saw the library that was badly collapsed.
There was a big sign on the tent that said ‘Temporary Information Desk’.
“What’s up, Yuna?”
The girl who was bored and resting her chin on her hand straightened up as she saw us.
Yuna greeted her in a friendly voice.
“Hello, Yena senior.”
“Just call me sister.”
They seemed to have a close relationship.
…I just learned that the senior’s name was Yena.
“And you…”
She shrank a little as if she was surprised and looked at me with her glasses adjusted.
“What happened to you? You’re so hurt. And why is Yuna pushing a wheelchair?”
“…!”
Finally, someone asked me why I was so hurt!
I was wondering if it was normal to get hurt like this in this world, since no one around me cared.
I was about to tell her the excuse that I had squeezed out with Spangle, when she asked me.
“Haha… I had some trouble. I’m sorry, but it’s a bit hard to explain…”
“Uh-huh.”
Yuna smiled awkwardly and dodged the question, and she nodded her head indifferently.
“I hope you get well soon.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
“But senior, the library seems to have suffered a lot of damage.”
“That’s right.”
She sighed and said.
“The library was especially damaged. The facility team couldn’t handle it, so they said they would entrust it to a professional company in a few days and start the repair work. Fortunately, the books that were stored were all treated with magic or something, so they’re fine… But the places where they stored the books are all smashed.”
She pointed to the tent with her finger.
“And there might be kids who come to the library like you, so they told me to guide them here. Why bother people when they could just send a message or turn on the broadcast once?”
She grumbled for a while and looked at us.
“Anyway, the library is unavailable for a while. The books that were stored are not damaged, so they just left them buried… It will take a long time to sort them out, reclassify them, and check if anything is missing.”
“Can I help you with anything?”
She waved her hand at my words.
“It’s okay. I can do it by myself, and it’s not nice to ask a patient to do that.”
She said that and spat out a sound of annoyance.
“Besides, I don’t want to bother you when you’re dating.”
“That’s not it, senior.”
Yuna quickly denied it, and she tilted her head.
“Oh, really…? I guess I misunderstood, sorry.”
She apologized in a plain tone and stretched her back with a groan.
“Anyway, I’ll let you know when the library is operating normally.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work, senior.”
We left the library that was severely collapsed behind us.
When we got away from the library and couldn’t see her anymore, Yuna looked around and asked me.
“So where do you want to go now?”
“Um… wait a minute.”
I wanted to go to the library to deal with the requests or quests that I had postponed when I was uncomfortable and had nothing to do.
But as I saw earlier, it would take at least a month or two for the library to operate properly…
‘Should I stop by the archery club?’
I shook my head right away.
There were people who were no different from Lee Ye-eun’s followers in the archery club, so it was obvious that she would hear that I had stopped by the club.
Besides, there was Kang Yun-kyung, who was directly asked by Lee Ye-eun, in the archery club.
I didn’t need to provoke Lee Ye-eun, so I thought it would be better to avoid going there until I was fully recovered.
Then, should I meet Lev Dunkinson, the student council president, and get some information about Yoon Seul-hye?
He had a fast brain and a heavy mouth, and he owed me a favor, so I thought I could easily find out the truth about her.
I was about to tell Yuna to head to the student council room, when it happened.
“Huh? Ji Hyuk, what’s that?”
“What?”
“That book. The one that’s stuck next to you.”
Yuna pointed to the book that was deep in the cushion of the wheelchair.
I pulled it out without thinking and gasped.
[You have acquired a nameless book.]
An item that had a system notification.
It was not an ordinary thing.
I opened it right away.
“Is it a notebook?”
Yuna, who looked at it with me from behind, said that.
As she said, there was nothing written in the book.
But I could tell that it was a more sinister thing than I had expected, by the notification that kept popping up in front of me.
[You are not qualified to read it.]
[The trait ‘The One Who Changes the World’ is applied.]
[The trait ‘Outsider’ is applied.]
[The trait ‘Seven Evil Species Slayer’ is applied.]
[You are not qualified to read it.]
“…”
I closed the book and stared at it.
I didn’t know what it was, or when it appeared.
‘Spangle.’
[…I don’t know either.]
I took a quiet breath at his words.
I didn’t know, Spangle didn’t know, and neither did Yuna, who had a great sense of detection.
There was only one thing I could guess.
[Could it be, Ahriman…]
As Spangle was saying that, I felt the wheelchair stop.
I looked up to see what was going on, and I barely managed to hold back my frown.
“Uh…”
Yoon Seul-hye.
She was standing in front of us, shivering as if she had been waiting.
“Do you have some time?”
She said in an awkward tone, and I heard Yuna make a sound of tongue-clicking.
