272 – EP.11 The Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings-3
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A man who could not go out into the yard is dragged back to the kitchen.
He wiped the room where the dust settled on his body and face on the floor.
The lyrical star sat him down on the chair again and tied his wrists to the chair with magic string.
“Huh….”
It was well past her bedtime, so she gently pressed her tired eyes.
She hoped she wouldn’t have to use the magic string again.
After about three minutes, the clumsy fugitive came to his senses.
After coming to her senses, he quickly rolled his eyes at her to check his condition, and when he saw her wrists tightly tied to the chair, he immediately turned his gaze towards her as if resigned.
“Can’t we just stay calm and not lose our strength for no reason?”
She pointed with her finger to her cane, which was leaning against her chair.
It was an unspoken warning that no matter what you did, it wouldn’t be difficult to catch you again.
The man took a deep breath. His lifted shoulders slumped down.
“Okay, what am I curious about?”
“Just a moment before that.”
When the man finally showed his intention to cooperate, Lyrical Star grinned, grabbed the neck of his staff, and lifted it up.
“You say we’re collaborating?”
The man was scared, probably remembering a sharp memory from earlier.
“Purity of starlight, distinguish between truth and lies. Libra.”
As soon as the order was finished, a green scale sparkling like starlight floated above the table.
“Now, look at the scale and repeat what I say.”
The lyrical star said while making eye contact with the man.
“I swear to Libra that I will tell only the truth.”
The woman speaks first,
“…I swear to Libra that I will tell only the truth…”
The man spoke next.
After the two people finished speaking, the scales glowed brightly.
“It’s the magic of Libra. Only true words can make weight.”
“Chu? Gaechu?”
The man tilted his head.
“…Weight.”
Lyrical Star was quietly annoyed.
“I don’t know what you’re saying, but why are words suddenly coming out and why are pendulums coming out?”
“It would be quicker to show it than to say it. What did you say your name earlier?”
“Kang In-ho.”
When the man answered her words, a small weight was placed on one side of the scale.
The scale tilted to the right.
“Like this, if you answer a question truthfully, you’ll get a bonus. And you can ask a question the other way around. Instead, it has to be a question of the same value as the one you answered.”
“In short, it should be the same question.”
“Theoretically, it doesn’t matter as long as the value is the same. Of course, since it is difficult to value a question, it would be common to ask the same question back.”
“…What is your name?”
“I am Kim Seong-ah.”
After Kim Seong-ah finished speaking, a weight was placed on her empty plate. It is the same size as the weight made from Kang In-ho’s words.
The scale was level.
“It’s my turn again. What is your purpose? What is it that makes you look like this?”
The man furrowed his eyebrows at the somewhat surprising question. He looked like he was thinking deeply.
“I… Survived?”
But the pendulum did not appear. The Lyrical Star’s face hardened.
It meant a lie. Kang In-ho shut her mouth and organized her thoughts.
“The end of a terrible chain.”
After a brief pause, his answer made the weight somewhat heavier than before and tilted the weight.
It was a truthful answer, but it was difficult to know what it meant.
“What is your purpose, capturing me like this?”
The same question was asked to Kim Seong-ah.
“I am a magical girl. My purpose is to protect this city from the forces of evil. As one of the Four Heavenly Kings, you have become the subject of my interrogation.”
The man shrugged his shoulders at Kim Seong-ah’s words.
“It’s my turn again. Do you have any intention of harming people in any way right now?”
“Nothing. …Oh, of course, unless they try to kill me first.”
A pendulum that reappears.
We exchanged words like that and put the weight on the scale a few times.
The light on the scale on the table began to weaken little by little.
“I think this will be the last question.”
After Kim Seong-ah quenched her thirst with water from her water cup, she asked Kang In-ho.
“Are you human now?”
I glance at him from below with eyes full of distrust.
“…I think he’s human?”
When Kang In-ho answered, the weight was placed on the scale and the light forming the balance dispersed.
There was silence for a moment.
With a quick glance, Kim Seong-ah looked at the time on the clock in the living room. 4 A.M.
She freed Kang In-ho from being tied to the chair, got up and headed to the closet.
Opening her closet door, she took out her sleeping bag. The musty smell of the sleeping bag reached Kang In-ho in the kitchen.
“You said you don’t have anywhere to go anyway, so live here. It’s easy for me to keep an eye on you.”
“Surveillance?”
“I know you have no hostile intentions, and I know you have no memories. But to me, you are a danger.”
“Where did they sell the principle of presumption of innocence?”
“Do you think such benevolent principles will apply to the evil hordes?”
With a swish, she threw her sleeping bag. Inho received the heavy item.
“Today, sleep in your sleeping bag. We’re going to create a barrier with magic, so don’t even think about running away.”
“I don’t even want to run away. But you…”
“Why me?”
Lyrical Star’s eyes widened at the person who suddenly spoke slurred.
“Are you going to sleep like that?”
When Kang In-ho pointed out her outfit with his finger, Kim Seong-ah realized that she had not yet completed her transformation.
“…Go, I’m going to change!”
With a snap of her fingers, she glowed and returned to her normal clothes.
“Let’s sleep somewhere suitable and see you tomorrow.”
When she was about to go up to the second floor with her ears red, Kang In-ho called her again.
“But of course.”
“Why again!”
She became sensitive to the pressure coming from her and responded angrily.
Kang In-ho tilted her head and looked Kim Seong-ah up and down.
It was a face that said he really didn’t understand.
“Just by looking at you, you look younger than me. Are you going to keep speaking informally?”
“What, what?”
“Your words are short.”
“You’re funny. How old are you?”
“Are you over 30?”
“…….”
With her feet vaguely on the stairs, Kim Seong-ah froze as if she were a statue. Because it was difficult for her to choose whether she should ignore him and go up, or whether she should respond to his words.
“Starting tomorrow, use polite language.”
Kang In-ho, who was already in his sleeping bag and wriggling like a caterpillar, passed Kim Seong-ah while moving strangely.
Kim Seong-ah only pursed her lips as she watched the comical sight of her bound to her sleeping bag and jumping around.
After confirming that Kang In-ho was lying down under her sofa, she turned off all the lights on her first floor and returned to her room on the second floor.
She was so tired that she didn’t wash and fell into bed. Her steeds, which she had managed to keep at bay, were overcome by her.
She thought, at the edge of her fading consciousness.
‘How long has it been since the house was this noisy?’
It must have been a very, very long time ago.
She soon fell asleep, breathing softly.
That’s how our cohabitation with the enemy began.