Chapter 58
“…….”
“…….”
A dark room lit only by the monitor's blue glow.
Kim Deokgu and Maria facing each other.
Fortunately, after the police commotion had been resolved without issue, a heavy silence hung between them as they faced each other.
- Kuaaaak!
Then came the scream from beyond the speaker.
It was Deokgu's game character being attacked.
Deokgu, startled, hurriedly rushed to the computer and sat down.
“J-just a second. Kuhup! Wait. Y-you can't die here.”
“Ah, yes!”
Tap tap tap.
Maria peeked at the screen.
Since the church roommate often watched videos and played games on her phone, it wasn't hard to tell what she was doing.
Rather, she widened her eyes and smiled.
“You use a sword here too! As expected of Paladin Ducarion!”
“K-kuhup! N-no! I-it's just that when you factor in value for money and efficiency, the knight class is the best, so I chose it.”
“Wow! There! There! It's a demonic beast!”
“K-kuhup! Monster.”
Maria pressed up beside him and started giving him unsolicited advice. Flustered, Kim Deokgu carefully asked her.
“Kuhup! P-put some distance between us.”
“S-sorry!”
Only after Maria stepped back a few paces did Deokgu finally relax and focus on the game.
But Maria glanced around and asked.
“Would it be all right if I cleaned a little until you're done with the game? It seems a bit messy—”
“Don't.”
“Pardon?”
“I said d-don't. Kuhup. This is how I live.”
“B-but if you live like this, you'll get sick. Back then, you always valued cleanliness—”
Tap!
An irritable clacking of the keyboard.
Abandoning the game, Deokgu strode over and looked down at her.
“I am Kim Deokgu.”
“…….”
“I'm not Ducarion. I'm Kim Deokgu.”
“But—!”
“Everything is different!”
He shouted as if struggling against something.
Those words were for Maria, and for himself.
“This is how Kim Deokgu lives. Kuh, kuhup! He doesn't take care of his body, doesn't clean, and doesn't work. He's an addictive gamer who only thinks of himself.”
This was armor.
The armor called “Kim Deokgu” that he wore as Paladin Ducarion.
His final line of defense, meant to protect himself.
“Kuhup! So stop it and get out.”
“Sir Ducarion! Please. Right now, Arhelak is—”
“If you were going to listen to a request like that, I wouldn't have hidden like this in the first place.”
“……!”
“K-kuhup, please leave.”
Saying that, Kim Deokgu sat back down in front of the computer.
Maria, staring at his rounded back that made it clear he wouldn't continue the conversation, began to cry.
The Ducarion she knew was gone now.
Her hero, who had been both her childhood admiration and her first crush.
Unable to keep watching his downfall, Maria ran outside as if fleeing.
Thud!
After the door closed, silence returned once more.
The fingers of Kim Deokgu, who had been gaming, slowly came to a stop.
‘You say you want to become a paladin? Hey, what's the big deal? Just come play with me. People our age should be having fun!’
‘Valkar! Stop putting weird ideas into Duke’s head!’
‘Ah, come on. I heard the third floor is full of all kinds of fun things—’
‘Do you even have money to go have fun?’
“Kuhup! K-kuhuup!”
With trembling hands, he hurriedly searched for his headset. The cozy feeling of it wrapping around both ears.
Prism's final new song, ‘At the End of a Smile,’ the one unveiled at the Goodbye Concert, begins to play.
“- Since we've been together so long, I don't even know what to call you anymore.”
“- I'll pretend the trembling at the end of my words is just because of the wind.”
“- For this moment, I just want to be remembered beautifully.”
Listening to Seo Hajin and the others' voices, Kim Deokgu closes his eyes, trying desperately to calm down.
* * *
That night.
Knock knock knock knock knock!
The rough pounding made me flinch for a moment.
I had just gotten off work and was drinking beer while flipping through the movie channels when an utterly unexpected visitor showed up.
“…….”
I quietly turned off the TV.
Because I immediately knew who had come looking for me.
“I heard the sound of the TV turning off! Open the door!”
“Ah, crap.”
What is it?
At this point, had they installed a bug in the house or something?
With a sigh, I opened the door, and the elderly elf next door was standing there with a sullen expression.
“Why did you suddenly pretend to be asleep even though you knew I was here?”
“Should I say it kindly? Or should I say it honestly?”
“……I am old. If I hear harsh words, my heart goes ouch.”
“Then I just won't say anything.”
Because no matter how I said it, it would end up sounding harsh anyway.
She might even claim heart pain later and bill me for the treatment.
“So what brings you here?”
“There's a drunk in my house right now.”
“Pardon?”
She grabbed my collar as I asked and dragged me toward her house.
When I followed her, there she was—Maria, who had gone off to find Ducarion, hugging a bottle and crying.
“Waaah! Idiot! Ducarion is an idiot!”
“…….”
“Waaaah!”
When I sneaked a glance at Renea, she looked like she was about to cry too.
“H-help me, Boss. My house got stolen.”
Ah, my head hurts.
I run a matchmaking agency, so I deal with problem cases a lot. Every now and then, you meet someone who makes you wonder if people like that really exist in this world.
But why did it still feel like I was working even after coming home?
“Maria. Hey, Maria.”
“Waaah!”
There was no getting through to her at all.
“Ahem.”
“Boss?”
When I took a step back, Renea looked at me in a panic.
Then, before I could say anything, she dashed back to our house and shouted as if she'd just had a eureka moment.
“I-it'd be solved if my house got stolen too!”
“Hey—!”
* * *
In the end, I decided to let Renea sleep at our house for just one day. If things went badly, I might have ended up getting kicked out of my own home.
A dim room.
Me, sleeping on a futon because there was no bed in the house.
And Renea lying on a small sofa.
“Boss.”
“What is it?”
“Don't pounce on me.”
“Don't worry. I don't want to get roped in by a 1,902-year-old either.”
“…….”
She huffed and kicked at the blanket.
Once the rustling of the blanket had settled down a bit, she called me again.
“Boss.”
“What is it now?”
Don't older people usually fall asleep early?
“I'm thinking of going to the fourth floor tomorrow.”
“……?”
An unexpected remark.
Since I couldn't even react, I stayed quiet, and Renea went on.
“The church will probably have a hard time finding a paladin too. Most of them died in the inter-floor war, and the survivors are in high positions.”
“If the demon revives, the entire continent will be thrown into chaos. Even if it isn't you, Lady Renea, another paladin—”
“It would be nice if the seal could be restored with someone else's holy power, but that's impossible.”
“…….”
“Maria didn't come looking for Seo Hajin for no reason.”
That's right.
Maria had said it from the beginning.
‘Holy power just like Ducarion's.’
She hadn't come to seek out the idol on the third floor for nothing.
“They're probably preparing to set out on the assumption that the demon's seal will break. A lot of blood will be spilled.”
“…….”
“I'll go and handle it. Even if the surroundings collapse, isn't that cheap compared to human lives?”
That's right.
So I didn't answer.
“Well, keep that in mind. If you get fired from the convenience store, I'll hire you as a full-time employee.”
Renea turned over and faced away.
The silence that came with her even breathing.
At last, I was going to be able to sleep.
Relaxing my body, I mulled over the conversation from just now.
“You don't want to go?”
And then I lifted my head to look at her.
Like throwing a stone into a calm lake.
It was a small act, but the mood in the room began to change.
“W-what are you talking about?”
“You don't want to go.”
Renea looked at me, flustered. She had pulled the blanket up to her chin, but even in the dark, her expression couldn't be hidden.
“Why would I not want to go? If I go back home and just twang my bowstring once—”
“That's exactly why you don't want to go.”
As I stared at her, Renea's mouth, which had been making excuses, gradually closed.
Too familiar, and because we'd been together so much lately, I'd forgotten.
Why she was working at the convenience store.
And why, despite having those abilities, she wasn't working as a hunter.
“The thing is... in the Lajesta continent, if I draw my bow—”
Thinking she had to explain herself, she fumbled and wriggled under the blanket.
“No explanation needed.”
“…….”
“Aren't you both my client and my employee?”
So all you need to do is answer.
“You don't want to go?”
At my question,
Renea lowered her head and gave a small reply.
“Yeah.”
Then that's enough.
“All right. I'll handle it.”
“I-is that possible? From what I can see, that paladin doesn't look like he'll move at all.”
“That's right. Not right now.”
In the end, it was always the same.
I wasn't the general's son who once roamed the snowfields.
Nor was I the top student who used to run around the hunter training center.
I was only the president of a matchmaking agency.
Then I should solve it accordingly.
“Miraculous encounters. That's our motto.”
With a slight smile, I told her not to worry, and Renea, who had been staring at me, answered in a voice so small it was almost faint.
“Thank you.”
* * *
“K-kuhup.”
As Kim Deokgu walked down the street, he checked his face in the tinted window of a car.
Clothes he bought on sale.
A scarf wrapped around him, his hair tied awkwardly, and a beard bristling above his thick double chin.
He had definitely shaved it this morning, but it had grown back again.
‘Should I go back?’
He wavered several times, but even so, Kim Deokgu kept striding forward.
He had arrived at a cafe.
The reason Kim Deokgu had come to a place he would normally never visit was a message from Meracle.
As an apology for illegally leaking his home address, the Meracle president had offered him one free matchmaking session.
He had wanted to argue that offering a free matchmaking session to someone who wasn't even a member was pointless, but...
But the fact that he had come all the way here in the end meant it had gone exactly as intended, didn't it?
“Kuhup, k-kuhup.”
His nerves made it hard to breathe.
Or was it?
Was it because of the double chin?
Anyway, Kim Deokgu entered with heavy footsteps. The people around him stole glances at his massive frame and then quickly looked away.
Kim Deokgu looked around anxiously for no real reason, and soon found the person he was supposed to meet.
A corner seat in the cafe.
A woman in a hat, drinking coffee alone.
Until just a few days ago, she had been an idol.
Now she was a woman full of dreams, wondering what to do next.
Seo Hajin was waiting there.
His heart was pounding.
Just as the matchmaking agency president had said.
‘I will find your miracle.’
Since his own miracle was sitting right before his eyes, Kim Deokgu carefully took one step at a time forward and sat down.
“K-kuhup. Hello. I-I’m Kim Deokgu.”
At his greeting, Seo Hajin smiled brightly and nodded.
“We saw each other often at fan sign events, didn't we?”
She remembers me!
The story continues off the page
Floaties for Everyone
Swim lesson at the water park, and she's demonstrating on you