Gaiden ― Later story (6)
“I’m going to cover my visit.”
Gina, who regained her composure to some extent, said so.
“I was indebted to Ivan-san, and to Jin-jeong-san, too.”
I nodded at Gina’s words.
It was because I knew very well what help I had received from both of them.
Gina said that she had originally made a contract with the spirit of lightning, but in the process of fighting and defeating the Seven Evil Bells and being sealed, the spirit with which she signed the contract disappeared and suddenly even bought hatred from the spirits.
According to Belluna Hunt, in the past, the request to deal with the Seven Evils was an unreasonable request that was no different from suicide from the point of view of the spirits.
There was nothing as troublesome as buying grudges or hatred from the spirits.
Ivan was willing to take care of it.
He not only calmed the spirits’ anger toward Gina and cleared up misunderstandings, he also helped them sign a new contract.
He said it was no big deal, but Gina and I both knew how difficult it was.
It was the same as receiving great grace from Jin-jeong.
She offered Gina a hideout of some sort, not for Gina, but for Leto, the half ogre, and her allies.
It was because they couldn’t live in a normal place as they were all non-humans and recognized as monsters.
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Of course, they would have to go back to where they had been, but they did not want to part with Gina, whom they had met after hundreds of years, and so was Gina.
In such a situation, Jeong-jeong Jin willingly gave up the studio where she was staying.
In addition, he even gave a lot of help for them, such as simple alarm magic, barriers to ward off intruders, and magic that made the inside look blurry.
Given the circumstances, it was understandable that Gina was trying to repay the two of them somehow.
If that’s the case, then, as an older brother, it would be better for you to help your younger brother.
“eww… Probably when you have an important appointment in the afternoon.”
Yeeun Lee muttered as if she was genuinely sorry and asked me.
“Can you say hello to me instead?”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and if possible, I want you to come back to my hometown.”
“Are you home?”
Gina’s expression twitched slightly at the word ‘home’, but she nodded as if she understood.
Gina, who didn’t care much about how I was doing, and even pushed her back, saying, ‘I live my life as my brother wants me’, was dissatisfied with only one thing, that I was known as the world tree clan.
“Yeah, Jihyuk has something to hand over to you… We have something to talk about for the future.”
“This weekend is going to be tough… I will come by as soon as possible.”
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On the weekend, I had an appointment with Sooyoung.
Yeeun Lee smiled as if that was enough, and nodded her head.
“Okay, so can you call me before you come?”
Yeeun Lee greeted everyone and finally bowed her head with a friendly smile towards Gina.
“Then I’ll go first, miss.”
“ah… Yes. Goodbye.”
Seeing that she had left, Ye-seul Jin asked Lee Yu-na.
“Yuna, what are you doing? Now that I have spoken, I am going to go see my sister.”
“I will go too!”
Saying that, Lee Yu-na flashed and raised her hand.
But immediately, he slowly lowered his raised hand and muttered softly.
“… Oh, I can’t have a meeting today.”
“You’re struggling, Yuna.”
Jin Ye-seul clicked her tongue once and started stroking Lee Yu-na’s hair with a familiar hand.
The grass was dead Yuuna sighed and looked at me.
“Say my regards to Ivan.”
“okay.”
She lifted her head this time and looked up at Jin Ye-seul.
“Would you like to say hello to my upcoming sister?”
“I will.”
“And yes, don’t do weird things while you go.”
“Is that weird? What is that?”
Jin Ye-seul blinked her eyes excessively and didn’t know what she was talking about.
After looking at her for a long time as if in doubt, Lee Yu-na finally sighed and said.
“Everyone, please be careful. Especially Jihyeok, you drive carefully.”
* * *
“But it hasn’t been long since I took the wheel.”
When I got on the driver’s seat and said that, Jin Ye-seul, who sat in the back seat, answered.
“Isn’t it okay because there is no one among us who will get hurt after an accident?”
“We’re not hurt, but you don’t know if anyone else will get hurt.”
“I will. But why?”
At those words, Jin Ye-seul stared at me as if what was the problem.
I shrugged and passed and noticed that I hadn’t ridden yet.
“Is it Gina?”
“uh? Uh, sorry.”
After hesitating for a while, Gina immediately got into the passenger seat.
… Gina, who would have gotten on before me, seemed to understand why.
In fact, Gina kept looking out the window, crouching as if trying to avoid making eye contact with me.
This one also felt the same embarrassment as if it had sunk to the bottom.
Even in my situation where many relationships were tangled in a mess, Gina simply said, ‘Yeah, I thought it would be my brother.’
It was Gina who even gave me advice and helped me adjust the relationship.
… However, it was out of the question that such a scene had been shown to his younger brother.
Thanks to you, my face is still burning.
“Great, Gina. I have one question for you.”
“uh… what?”
While driving the car, I was contemplating what to say, and I was able to recall what I had heard in class today.
“Shu Rikerishu is there.”
“Why Uncle Shushu?”
When I said the name of Gina’s colleague and gentlemanly hobgoblin, Gina glanced at me as if wondering why.
“Uh, does he say he’s good with his hands too?”
“Well. I’ve never seen him make anything… Were you really good at cooking?”
“Cooking?”
“Yeah, I’m particularly good at Italian cuisine. He also made good desserts and often made things that I had never even heard of.”
When Gina smiled broadly and said, Ye-seul, who was sitting behind her, exclaimed, “Ah!”
“The cake I ate at that time was really made by that person called Chou. I thought you were joking.”
is that so
Jin Ye-seul muttered in a carefree voice, as if she had just remembered.
“I guess I just want to keep living there. Until now, without telling anyone.”
At her words, I glanced at her expression in the rearview mirror, but had no idea what she was thinking.
In the past, Jin Jeong-eun was caught acting as a double spy in the villain group Big Watch and lost her life as a result.
However, he was able to revive by fixing the soul in a homunculus based on his own cells that he had prepared for a long time, but in the process, he lost most of the power he had accumulated.
Except for Jin Ye-seul, her family still knew only that she was dead.
At the time, she hid her existence from the Big Watch and numerous threats, but… Now that all the threats are gone, isn’t it okay to go back to the family?
When he secretly turned back those thoughts, Jin Ye-seul burst into laughter.
“Jean doesn’t care. mother too.”
She paused for a moment.
“… You will be delighted. But he wouldn’t.”
Here, both Nana and Gina realized that the person she was talking about was referring to her father.
“A human being resurrected by borrowing the body of a homunculus. It’s good if your eyes don’t turn around and try to dissect.”
I know that, but why would you want to tell me or your sister?
Ye Seul, who uttered in a contemptuous voice, suddenly got up, leaning against the seat, and thrust it toward me.
“Let’s talk about something other than that painful story, Jihyuk-ah.”
“What story?”
“Well, as fun and exciting as possible? Tomorrow is the weekend.”
“yes.”
“And we are all adults now.”
“right.”
“There, all of her co-workers like to drink.”
Saying so, she tapped and pointed at the wine bottles she had specially picked out by Gina, along with the fruit basket she bought for the visit.
“right. I especially liked Leto and Charisna.”
“Yes.”
All of Gina’s comrades liked alcohol, but these two especially liked it.
“And is it a crime to drink and drive? Drunk driving is a big crime.”
“right… ?”
From there, I noticed something strange.
“The world tree owner is drunk driving! Then it’s a big deal. Yeeun Lee, that would be a nuisance to that person too. I feel very sorry for the people who got involved with Jihyuk as you said.”
“By the way?”
“There are a lot of empty rooms there.”
Gina flinched at those words, and so did I.
I answered her with as much composure as possible.
“… therefore?”
“ha.”
She let out a small sigh at my answer.
“I really don’t care.”
“… … .”
She muttered as she pricked my cheek with her lips closed.
At this moment, all my attention was focused on Gina, who was just sitting next to me and looking out the window with an indifferent expression.
I had no choice but to do so.
“Ji-hyuk knew that you were pretending not to know anything like this from the beginning and just taking off the shichimi.”
Hold on, hold on.
She muttered as she poked my cheek over and over again.
“But I didn’t know it would still happen. In the beginning, Jihyuk, you and I in the old evening… .”
“Ouch, it’s hot.”
As soon as I lowered the window, only the roar of the wind filled the car.
Yesul took her fingers off my cheeks as if knowingly and stepped back, and only then did I close the open window.
“ah.”
“Why again?”
“The stockings are out.”
She muttered quietly and then began to take off her shoes.
Gina, who was sitting next to me as she stared at me wondering what she was doing for a moment, said to me in an indifferent voice.
“brother.”
“Uh, uh. pass.”
“Look ahead.”
The child, who was looking out the window, added in a small but firm voice.
“If you get caught looking away for no reason, I won’t talk to you for a while, so I know that.”
I knew right away why he said that.
As soon as I heard the sound of something dripping from behind, I immediately turned my attention to the front.
Behind the scenes, there was a roar of laughter and a roar of laughter.
“If you want to see it, you can see it. I wish I had seen more already.”
“… Yeseul, we are not the only ones here.”
A sigh of relief erupted from the embarrassment.
“How are you? They’re all adults. And Jihyuk said you liked me wearing stockings. Oh yeah.”
In response, Ye-seul whispered to me in a soft voice.
“Will Jihyuk give you this? I don’t need it anymore.”
After saying that, she burst out laughing once more.
Gina let out a small sigh as her face turned red.
“… I’ll just say I’m going alone.”
* * *
After a while, we reached our destination.
Someone was waiting for us there, knowing we were coming.
“Leto!”
“master!”
As soon as he saw Leto passing by, he ran out with a big smile, and Leto also ran out with a happy expression on his face.
After shaking and hugging each other, Leto said to Gina with a troubled expression.
“Why are you so short of visits… ?”
“I’m sorry, Leto. I also wanted to come every day if possible.”
Gina asked, stroking the half ogre’s head as if soothing.
“But how did you know we would come?”
“I was just waiting here all the time.”
Leto groaned and sniffled.
“I have a feeling that the owner is coming. So I’ve been waiting for it two days ago.”
I felt like I had forgotten what to say the moment I passed by the appearance of the half ogre talking with a heh heh.
When I saw that figure, I remembered the saying that I had passed through Leto, which was abandoned as soon as I was born, and harvested it and nurtured it.
To Leto, Gina is probably nothing like a mother.
“… Don’t do that in the future, Leto. got it? I will come more often.”
“uh… However.”
“Leto.”
He quickly nodded at the harsh voice.
“Yes, yes. Leto will no longer stay here all night waiting for his master.”
“Yeah, nice, our Leto. I brought a present too. how are you all? Come on.”
“Yes, yes… ah! There were also an old man and a young lady Yesul. hello.”
Leto nodded and bowed his head as if he had just found us.
I picked up the bottles that Gina had specially selected and handed them to Leto, saying:
“Gina, would you like to go first and say hello? Ivan and Yesul will go first.”
“Uh, shouldn’t I say hello first?”
“It’s not that badly injured. Go and meet him first.”
“yes! Then I’ll ask brother.”
Gina ran to somewhere with Leto as if waiting.
We broke up with Gina and only after walking a little more could we arrive at the garden decorated like a promenade.
“Oh? Who is this?”
There sat Belluna Hunt crouched, wearing a large straw hat, work gloves, and a completely unsuitable attire for Homira.
“Our in-laws have come.”