174 – The Blue Forest’s Elementalist (4)
Dazed for a moment by Aria’s sudden appearance in the middle of his sleep, Kim Hyun-woo’s face went blank as she unabashedly grabbed his son.
‘Um, I don’t think this character was like this…?’
Although his mind was still a bit hazy from waking up from sleep, Kim Hyun-woo was recalling 10 years ago even in that state.
It was only natural that he would, because the Aria that Kim Hyun-woo knew didn’t have this kind of personality, as far as he remembered.
‘No, her way of speaking definitely matches her personality back then…’
Whether it was 10 years ago or now, she spoke in a condescending manner as if it were her personality.
However, that was merely her way of speaking.
Her actions also had a similar nuance sometimes, but fundamentally, the forest spirit of the Blue Forest wasn’t this bold.
If we were to talk about it, it would be more accurate to say that she was a bit more ordinary, or even timid, rather than bold.
“?”
That’s why Kim Hyun-woo, who had been looking at her with a puzzled expression, suddenly realized that she, who had been sitting on top of him and acting boldly with a charming smile, had frozen as if time had stopped.
And.
“…”
Soon, he came to his senses a little more and looked at her closely, and Kim Hyun-woo made a bewildered expression without realizing it as he saw Aria’s face turning pale.
“…What am I supposed to do if you act like this and then get embarrassed?”
“S, shut up-! You idiot!”
Aria replied, her face flushed as if she had unintentionally let out a sigh.
…The reunion with the hero he had accidentally killed was lighter than he had thought.
####
The next day.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Id-iot! What were you thinking, making me wait?”
“I made the bed as soon as I woke up…”
Kim Hyun-woo made a separate bed to talk to Aria.
“I don’t need to sleep much because I’ve already slept so much!”
She smiled brightly as if she was very happy, and as she watched the eight blue bones floating around her body tremble in resonance with her mood, she wondered what to talk about first.
“So, why did you show up last night? Don’t tell me you woke up after we brought you and…”
Kim Hyun-woo sat down at his desk in the office and started talking, and she replied.
“No? I was already awake? You didn’t notice? Id-iot.”
Kim Hyun-woo made a bewildered expression as he watched Aria laughing.
“…You were awake?”
“Yes!”
“Then why didn’t you answer?”
“Of course, I wanted to surprise you!”
Kim Hyun-woo made a blank expression at Aria’s confident declaration.
“…So you didn’t answer?”
“That’s right! For a dramatic entrance!”
At her words, Kim Hyun-woo was able to recall once again that her mental age was a bit young.
‘I definitely felt it every time we talked 10 years ago, but I didn’t feel like she was very old mentally.’
Just by talking for a few words, he could feel the conversations he had shared with her passing through his mind one by one, and he exchanged words with her for a while.
“…So, what happened?”
“Huh?”
“After that.”
Aria naturally realized what Kim Hyun-woo was talking about and said.
“It took me about 10 years to come back to life.”
“…That’s it?”
“It’s over?”
“…”
Aria’s words, which summarized the events of the past 10 years in a way that was almost too absurd, left him momentarily stunned.
“…Can you explain it to me in a little more detail?”
“There’s really nothing much to it? Well, if Heo-jae asked so nicely-“
Aria nodded at Kim Hyun-woo’s following words and began to briefly summarize the events of the past 10 years.
After hearing her story, Kim Hyun-woo took some time to summarize the situation.
“…So, let me get this straight. You died on the 28th floor, but at the last moment, you managed to put your soul into the book, so you weren’t completely dead?”
“That’s right.”
“After that, you tried to recover your body on the 28th floor.”
“As I said, it took about 10 years. It’s incredibly difficult to reconstruct a body in just 10 years, you know?”
Aria spoke as if to say, ‘I’m amazing!’ Kim Hyun-woo nodded.
“So you don’t know much about what happened above?”
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“Well, I wouldn’t know unless Heo-jae told me. All I know is that the dungeon closed shortly after I died and recently reopened.”
Kim Hyun-woo thought about how to tell Aria the story so far and then gave her a brief summary of what had happened above.
Aria listened to Kim Hyun-woo’s story in silence for a while before saying,
“So Heo-jae returned to Rartania a year ago?”
“That’s right.”
“He didn’t even think about saving me and disappeared for 10 years!?”
Aria’s voice was filled with shock, and Kim Hyun-woo spoke as if he were in trouble.
“Things just turned out that way. I’m sorry. But it’s not like I didn’t want to save you. I just thought you were dead, so I was gathering materials.”
“Hmph-“
Aria made a very dissatisfied expression, but she spoke as if there was nothing she could do.
“Well, I’ll forgive you for that much. Heo-jae can’t do anything without me, right? And besides, I’m alive and well.”
Kim Hyun-woo spoke to Aria, who was smiling strangely again.
“Thank you.”
“Of course! You should be grateful that I came back!”
He smiled at Aria, then suddenly remembered something and said,
“Oh, by the way, there was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Why did you suddenly come to my bed yesterday?”
In fact, Kim Hyun-woo had been wondering about that since yesterday.
The way Aria had acted yesterday was completely different from the Aria he knew.
However.
“Hmm, ahem…I’ll go and greet the other heroes!”
“?”
As soon as he brought it up, Aria raised her hand as if she had been waiting for it, then ran away in a flash.
“…??”
Kim Hyun-woo stared blankly at the door where Aria had gone out, a slightly bewildered expression on his face.
Round Table.
“Hello, fools?”
Merilda, Lynne, and Charles looked at Aria, who greeted them with a mocking smile and waved her hand.
“Long time no see.”
“Yes.”
“Indeed.”
The heroes nodded without reacting to Aria’s mockery, despite their endless growling at each other.
Of course, all the heroes, including Merilda, had heard Aria’s words so often for the past 10 years that they no longer gave them any thought.
So, when they looked at Aria as if she were a stone on the side of the road, she opened her mouth with a sullen expression, wondering what was wrong.
“…I don’t like that your reactions are the same as that idiot’s.”
“There is no reason for you to like it. And do you still call my lord an idiot?”
“I-idiot is an idiot?…??…Wait, what do you mean by ‘my lord’?”
Aria, who had been talking with a smirk, suddenly realized something was wrong and asked.
“What do you mean by ‘my lord’?”
Lynne asked with a subtle smile.
Aria, who had been looking at Lynne with a blank expression, suddenly turned bright red.
“Wh-what? Wh-what??”
She began to open her mouth as if she didn’t understand the situation.
And Lynne smiled with her characteristic sense of triumph at Aria’s reaction.
“If anyone saw this, they would think the master had chosen you.”
Merilda’s voice came from the side, and Lynne’s expression began to crack.
“What?”
Lynne turned to Merilda abruptly.
“I said if anyone saw this, they would think he had chosen you.”
“What else could it be if not chosen?”
“Isn’t it strange to say you were chosen after receiving a reward for one night? It’s just that the master accepted your request.”
“Ugh.”
Lynne frowned at Merilda’s words.
“Re, reward? One night stand? Wh?? Idiot??? Idiot….My idiot…?”
And with Lynne, Aria began to mutter, her eyes filled with tears, as if she were a tragic heroine who had lost her first love.
“You’re the same, aren’t you?”
“I’m the same, yes.”
“On that subject-“
“But I’m different.”
“What?”
“The master was 2 cm bigger when he was with me than with you.”
To Merilda and Lynne, who were talking to each other as if she didn’t matter,
“My, my idiot-“
Aria stormed out of the Round Table after being there for less than 5 minutes.
In that place,
“So that means it was just your condition that day-”
“You’re saying you couldn’t have made your master’s condition any better?”
Merilda and Lynn were excitedly chattering about Kim Hyun-woo’s size. And then-
“…O-over there…2 cm more?”
There was only Charles, muttering with a shocked expression.
And.
“Have s*x with me too!!!”
“Huh?”
“…”
Kim Hyun-woo, who had been listening to Elena’s morning report for a long time, made a dizzy expression as he looked at Aria, who had come back in less than 10 minutes and immediately started crying while clinging to his arm.