Muddy (1)
“hi!”
The fairy Tati circled around us, smiling brightly.
The delicate lines that made her feel like a woman were still there, but with the mud dripping down like that, it was meaningless. I couldn’t even make out her face properly. She looked like a monster crawling out of a sewer.
Last time, it didn’t look that clean either. But wasn’t that because of the mud that covered the dungeon? … No. I still don’t know all about this fairy’s habits.
But still, I wasn’t covered in mud like this.
“Tati?”
“huh!”
Moreover, it was not only the appearance that had changed.
I looked at Hong Seok-young. Hong Seok-young also had a strange expression. Hong Seok-young, whose eyes met mine, tapped his ear with his finger. I nodded.
Clearly, the conversation with the fairy is taking place properly. Properly, through voice.
This is the second time I’ve encountered this fairy. But the first time, the fairy’s voice rang directly in my head, not my ears or eardrums. Sometimes, it made sounds like bird sounds that we couldn’t imitate.
But now… what is it? Did vocal cords suddenly appear where they never existed before?
“this!”
As expected, he is raising his voice… .
Tati handed me the sword he was holding.
“…thank you.”
When I say hello, he nods his head wildly and runs around jumping around. Mud drips down as he follows me.
Hope didn’t like talking about fairies. She found it difficult, to be exact. It was the same when she was talking about them in person, and it was the same when she was talking about them in person.
Since each individual is different, and I have hardly ever met other fairies, I am afraid that if I say something wrong, it will cause a misunderstanding.
Maybe Hong Seok-young met more fairies than Hope.
So Hong Seok-young also thought a lot about the fairy named Tati.
‘They’re intelligent. There’s someone like Hope, and there could easily be someone who’s kind to humans.’
I agreed with that statement.
“Heejae, did you find it?”
Tati immediately asked about his brother.
In fact, right after I threw the sword into the gate, I was worried that the fairy might not return the sword, but that didn’t happen. Tati kicked up the mud with the back of her hand, perhaps because her vision was obstructed.
I shook my head.
“No. I haven’t found it yet.”
“… … .”
“I’m looking for it. So I have something to ask you.”
“Like what?”
“Have you ever seen anything like this?”
Hong Seok-young handed the fairy a piece of paper in accordance with my words. It was crumpled because he had carried it in his bosom, but it was still fine for looking at the picture. There was a pretty well-drawn picture on the paper.
A muscular man is carrying the ball. With his shoulders and back, with his whole body. The horse is carrying it, with one knee on the ground, so it looks like he is supporting the ball, or it looks like he is being crushed.
This is a painting depicting Atlas, a well-known mythological giant who was punished to carry the sky on his back.
Usually such an Atlas is depicted holding the Earth.
The picture that Hong Seok-young presented is also half the same. It is a picture of a man who supports the world with his whole body.
The only difference is that it is not the blue planet that is being carried.
The thing on his shoulders is literally a blazing sun. The sun’s bright light casts a shadow, casting a dark shadow over Atlas.
Fairy Tati tilted her head.
“This, a picture… .”
“Have you seen it?”
Tati bent down. When a little mud fell on the painting, he jumped back in surprise.
That little gesture is so disconcertingly human. Doesn’t it mean that he knows not to damage this painting? He understands the concept of other people’s property, he knows not to damage it, he is aware that he has damaged it, and he is socialized enough to feel sorry about it.
If you think about the monsters you’ve seen in dungeons so far, they’re so different that you’d think they’re a completely different species. No, they’re definitely a different species.
Anyway, I was surprised since last time. How on earth did my brother meet this fairy and turn it into such a friendly creature?
If I think about the attack I had when I first entered the dungeon… No. That was because of the sword I was holding. This dungeon wasn’t very dangerous to begin with, so it’s possible that it had a gentle personality to begin with… .
… … There is still a possibility that he did not attack the hunters entering the dungeon because he met his brother a long time ago.
Tati tilted his head from side to side as he looked at the picture. When he asked how he met his brother, he only got the answer that he was a friend. Judging from the level of words he used, it would be hard to assume he didn’t understand. He either didn’t want to answer or something.
“this.”
Tati finally stopped moving her head wildly.
“Is it important?”
It’s an unexpected question.
“Is it important?”
Tati asked once more.
Not answering is also a kind of answer. Asking back like that is also an answer.
If you didn’t know, you would never say something like that.
Tati’s eyes wander between me and Hong Seok-young. The pupils of his eyes, revealed by clearing away the flowing mud, look straight into human eyes.
Is there a funny saying that even for fairies, the eyes are the window to the soul? Or is this something they learned from someone else?
I told Tati. A monster who knows his brother. A monster who calls his brother a friend.
“It’s important.”
“really?”
“okay.”
I spoke with strength, each and every word.
“I need it to find my brother.”
Tati shut her mouth. Mud was dripping down from her head. It was a blackish color, more like pitch-black tar than mud. It didn’t smell bad, but it didn’t look good either.
Is it also a human perspective to consider black as ominous? It might be different for that guy.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
“Hijae… looking for it?”
“I’m looking for it.”
“Do you need this?”
“I need.”
I spoke carefully but firmly, as if I was coaxing a child.
Tati’s eyes sparkle.
Suddenly it occurred to me that the fairy might be much smarter than she appeared. With her childish demeanor and clumsy speech, I thought that she might be deceiving people without them even being deceived.
“I don’t know how much of the story my brother told me.”
“…Hijae?”
“There was someone who bullied my brother.”
“People. Humans.”
“Yes, human. The human that my brother hated.”
But the business card that Tati was holding. The business card that Kim Yu-hwa carried around. It had a long note written on it saying that her brother could trust her.
When was the last time you saw your brother?
I don’t remember the exact time, but I’m sure it was before I was ten. I’m too old to believe that a man I hadn’t seen in over twenty years was my older brother just because he was my older brother.
No, of course I believe it. I believe it. You’re my brother. I believe it.
I haven’t forgotten what my brother did for me. I don’t think that what he said for me was a lie.
But my life is too much at stake for me to cling to the hopeless words of my childhood. Hong Seok-young would probably ask why it depends on you, but I can’t leave everything up to Hong Seok-young. My older sister wouldn’t want that either.
It’s just that you can’t just blindly rush in based on your childhood memories.
I want to find my brother. Honestly, I didn’t think he was alive, and like I told Hong Seok-young, I wanted to find his body and find out what happened to him. But I also want to say that I don’t know enough about the world to just rush in.
“That’s the painting they like.”
I didn’t think a being from another world would understand things like trademarks and such.
“know?”
“… … .”
“If my brother ever said anything, tell me.”
Tati’s movements, which had been moving briskly, suddenly stopped.
The painting that Hong Seok-young brought, Atlas carrying the sun, is the logo used by the pharmaceutical company Atlas before it changed its executives.
After the executives who had committed various misdeeds left, Atlas’ logo was changed to a schematic representation of the Earth, and although it has changed several times since then, it has maintained the blue circle form.
So what happened to Atlas, who carried the sun?
Yeah, this is the problem.
Some of the executives and staff of Atlas who are currently out like that have created a research institute or something using strange logic. This research institute was later transferred to Noah Michelle’s Ark.
It is unknown whether those in the original research labs used their marks as is, but a closed cult village in the United States that is said to be supported by another Atlas was using this image as is.
This is the information given by Hervé Schneider, who was captured after attacking Hong Seok-young in the United States.
The wizard who killed his master quickly became cooperative when he realized his situation. He probably calculated that it would be much better for him to remain in America rather than being handed over to the family of his dead master who had put a bounty on him and the French Magical Association.
And after checking the photos provided by Schneider, Hong Seok-young realized another inconvenient truth.
‘I requested this separately and only copied the picture. The picture was drawn proudly at the entrance to the village.’
Hong Seok-young said as he put away the picture he showed me.
‘And surprisingly, I’ve seen this.’
‘Where?’
‘Not exactly the whole picture… but this sun.’
The sun burning the giant’s back.
‘This is the ark I was originally chasing, that is, Henry Lehman. It’s the tattoo that the members of that organization have.’
‘Gang tattoos?’
‘Yeah. As far as I know, all the executives are doing it. Right here. Between the shoulder blades.’
‘…like Atlas.’
So, even if it’s not your brother’s business, you should know. I don’t know if it’s directly related to your brother, but isn’t it possible that there is a connection?
“It doesn’t have to be exactly like this picture. You see that circle here? Have you ever seen a picture similar to this one?”
So I’m not lying.
Tati looked into my eyes for a while and then nodded.
“saw.”
“saw?”
“where?”
“Ugh… .”
Tati reached out. I tensed for a moment, thinking he was going to grab me, but he didn’t.
Instead, Tati spread his palms out horizontally to the floor.
“hmm!”
With a slight groan, the dry dirt floor became shaky. It rippled like waves, and bubbles rose up. The ground seemed to be sinking like a tidal flat that had lost its water.
Tati exerted so much strength that her whole body trembled. Her cheeks were puffed out, as if she was holding her breath. Do monsters breathe with lungs? They looked like humans, though… .
“… … !”
And when I saw something popping out of the mud, I took a step back without realizing it. I saw Hong Seok-young tense up and grabbing the air to find his weapon.
“Whew!!”
Tati raised his palm. In response, things buried in the mud rose up.
Corpses bent into strange shapes. It is unknown how long they were in the mud, or what happened inside, but they were dried and twisted like mummies, and almost all of their original appearance remained.
“this!”
Tati smiled with pride.
“Hey guys!”
Fantasy, contemporary,
