Chapter 135
“Eve, what’s wrong? You look really down today?”
“Ah, well…. Today, mo— no, Mom said she might not be able to pick me up because she’s busy moving….”
“Aha, I see?”
“So she gave me my bus card in case I have to take the bus home.”
“That necklace?”
“Yep.”
Ophelia had attached it to a necklace wallet so I wouldn’t lose the card and gave it to me. Anyway, today Ophelia might not be able to come pick me up. It’s not a hundred percent certain, but it still makes me uneasy. The fifth-period theory class is about to end, and I have to head home soon.
ㅡDing-dong-doo-dee-dah-dee-bee-yo-bee-yong
“Eve, the bell rang. Let’s go.”
“Ah, okay.”
After class, we go straight back to the classroom, do homeroom, get the notice for parents, hear a bunch of blah blah about being careful on the way home, and that’s it.
As I was heading home with the Yuchoa Cartel kids, Minseo asked me.
“Your mom’s car again today?”
“Uh, n-no…. I’m not sure. Mom might not be able to come today. She’s busy.”
“Really? Then hang out with us for a bit before you go. We can show you how to take the bus, right?”
“Hehe... I want to try going on my own.”
“Eve’s so brave.”
“Huh..?”
I have no idea why I’m still treated like a little kid even among them. I mean, sure? I’m only just a tiny bit shorter than average? But if you wait a little, I’ll grow up just fine, and once I hit 200 meters, you guys won’t even know what’s what anymore.
Anyway, just as the third- and fourth-graders were pouring out through the school gate after fifth period and heading home.
“Princess~!!”
“Eek, that voice is….”
A somehow familiar voice came from far away. I lifted my head and looked toward the front gate just in case, and sure enough—
“B-Bradamante?! What brings you here..?!”
“Ahaha, Lady Ophelia asked me to. She said to help escort you home.”
“Oh, really..?”
“Wow, who is this? Your big sister?”
“Wow. What kind of genes are those, seriously.”
“And these are? Your friends, Princess?”
“Ah, u-um….”
Bradamante asked while looking at the Yuchoa Cartel beside me. Of course, their reaction was explosive. Bradamante had shown up in a sharp suit and was so cool that it was only natural.
Suri was also sitting behind the gate, and the little brats rushed over going, wow, what is that, that’s awesome, and so on. Even though Suri waved its wings around irritably, the grade-schoolers kept babbling that it was cool.
“Hello! We’re Eve’s friends!”
“Ooh~ I see! Please take good care of our princess, okay?”
“Wow, so you really are called Princess at home, huh?”
“B-Bradamante..! Let’s go already..! Guys, I’m heading off, okay?!”
“Take care~!”
“Bye~!”
Bradamante grabbed my hand, then started pushing her way through the grade-schoolers surrounding Suri.
“Alright, kids! It’s dangerous, so stand back a little~!”
“Noona!! Can I ride that thing just once too?!”
“Nope, no can do~ Big sister has to go, so move aside~”
“Aw, please!! Just once!!!”
“Nope, sorry~”
There must already have been plenty of kids waiting for me, because she firmly shooed them away and scooped me into her arms before jumping high into the sky.
ㅡFlutter..!
Suri spread its wings and took off in response, expertly seating Bradamante on its back and then picking up speed in an instant.
ㅡShoooom!
“Everyone in Eve’s family is anything but ordinary.”
“What kind of family is that?”
“They must’ve saved a country in a past life.”
“I don’t think saving just one country would cut it. Didn’t they save the whole world?”
“Maybe.”
* * * * *
“Wow, we’re really high up.”
“Princess, are you enjoying school life?”
“S-so-so..? I think it’s fun, maybe.”
“No one bullies you at school, right?!”
“No, nothing like that. The kids are all nice….”
We flew up really high and returned home in an instant. Or rather, our old home? Normally a move wouldn’t be prepared this quickly, but the previous tenant of the place we’re moving into didn’t have much money, so they’d sold off all the furniture and even the Signiel side had apparently prepared everything for the move.
The Hunter Association’s influence also played a part.
And above all, our house was at a level where we barely needed a moving company. Right here alone, six soldiers were already busily at work.
But maybe because they were thinking about what other people would see? They were all wearing neon vests like moving-company workers, and it was hilarious.
From far away, they might even pass for people.
“The soldiers are working hard.”
ㅡKa-chak!
“You’re all working so hard. Keep it up!”
“Princess, you’ve arrived.”
“Ah, yes. I’m here.”
Our house has trucks and soldiers to carry the luggage, so you could say we have everything needed for a move. The place we’re moving to is an ultra-high-rise, so we don’t really even need a ladder truck.
“Oh, so everyone’s working over there?”
“Yes, that’s right. In fact, most of the furniture used here has been moved to another facility, and the furniture for the new residence was newly purchased.”
“Waa, why?”
“Most of it was the wrong size, so the layout wasn’t very efficient, and there were many requests to place the furniture you used in the maids’ break room.”
“Huh…. Why would they….”
From what I heard, they’ve set up an office for the Eve Project that the maids will use, and apparently that’s all for the sake of the company’s public image.
“Since a company with no real office could make people think it’s a so-called ghost company, we prepared one in a suitable place. The furniture used here has already been moved there, and most of the furniture in the new residence has already been arranged.”
“Hoee.”
In truth, it felt less like a move and more like the soldiers were just getting rid of the old furniture? And the new house was already completely filled with brand-new furniture.
“Princess, then shall we move?”
“Oh!”
“Bradamante can come too.”
“Understood! Lady Ophelia!”
* * * * *
“H-Huuuuuh….”
Something felt off from the moment we got home. First of all, the residents-only parking lot was packed with cars, and wherever I looked, they were all insanely expensive cars. Thankfully, our car is a super nice one that doesn’t lose out to these.
Even going up by elevator, we had to transfer two or three times and all that. Is this what security is like..! I heard it was different when the building was first constructed, but now there’s an elevator that can take you directly from the first floor to our home. This time, though, we had to do all sorts of registration and transfer once at the residence officetel lobby.
ㅡDing
“Oh my God.”
Rather than thinking, Does a house really have to be this big..? I found myself thinking, Is it even okay for it to be this huge? Isn’t this illegal? There are people living in tiny one-pyeong goshiwon rooms because they don’t have anywhere else to go, so is it really okay for one person to live in a house about the size of 100 million goshiwon rooms..?”
ㅡBeep-beep-beep!!!
“Hehe. Dangdang, go on ahead.”
ㅡBee-beep-boop-beep-beep-beep!!!!
Dangdang was so excited by the spacious house that it ran around everywhere. A sight I’d never seen before.
“There are stairs inside the house..?!”
“That’s right.”
The living room soared up toward the sky, and to reach the ceiling you’d really need to be 200 meters tall. There was something that looked like a chandelier, and a long rectangular sofa sat in the living room.
“Ah, Dangdang! Come with me!”
ㅡBeep-beep-beep!
“Hey!! I’m the princess, so I should be the first one to go!!”
Dangdang, saying that the first one there gets it, dashed up the stairs to the second floor. Besides, this little rascal wasn’t even human, and its legs were short, so I caught it right away.
“You little thing! Let’s hurry up and go. Hehe.”
ㅡBeep!
“Princess, please be careful not to hurt yourself on the stairs.”
“Yup!!”
* * * * *
“Oh my God.”
The bed was as big as the Pacific Ocean, and it felt like you could even run a 100-meter dash on it. Dangdang was bouncing all over the super-duper ultimate boing-boing mattress.
ㅡBoing boing
“Hehe.”
“Princess?”
“Ah, Ophelia. Is something wrong?”
“Where is today’s notice for parents?”
“Right, there wasn’t any room in my bag, so I put it in the back pocket.”
“I’ll check.”
“Okay.”
My room had also gotten ridiculously bigger, so now if I want to get from the bed to the computer, I have to work out hard. Of course, I do exercise hard as usual? But the distance between the bed and the computer really had gotten enormous.
Oh, for reference, the bed and computer desk are new, but the computer itself is the same one I used before. It’s still the highest-spec computer in Korea.
I heard the house’s structure was a little different in the early construction stages, but now the windows can open so you can go outside and breathe the air. Apparently, it’s all thanks to mana-awakened people and super-strong rare-metal steel-frame structures.
With the emergence of mana awakeners and the new material called rare metal, all the steel frames used in the record-setting tallest buildings back then were replaced with rare metal. Of course, it must cost an insane amount of money, but would the people trying to build the tallest building in the world care about that?
“Sniff sniff, am I rich now..?”
ㅡBeep….
“You mean Ophelia is the rich one? Got it.”
I guess you could say it feels strangely moving. Just a few months ago, I was living in that ultimate hillside slum in Ahyeon-dong over there. And now I’m living in an insanely expensive house.
I tucked Dangdang under my arm and went down the stairs to the first floor, where Ophelia and Bradamante were standing and looking out the window.
“Ophelia, where’s the bathroom here?”
“It’s located over there. I got an interior floor plan just in case, so please use that as a reference.”
“Oh yeah.”
After I went off to find the bathroom, Bradamante slowly looked around the living room and let out an admiring exclamation.
“The architecture technology here is amazing….”
“Indeed, it does seem that way.”
“Ophelia, this seems even better than the royal palace of my previous world.”
“In terms of convenience, that may be true.”
Bradamante walked over to the window and couldn’t take her eyes off the buildings far below and the view of Seoul.
“At this rate…. We’re really going to have a problem soon.”
“Perhaps. Rather, that may be precisely why the princess woke here again.”
“Yes…. I suppose so.”
Bradamante tapped the window with her hand—tap, tap—and then nodded and turned back. Her eyes looked solemn for a moment, and the tips of her fingers trembled slightly.
“This time, I definitely won’t lose.”
“Please, make sure you don’t.”
ㅡHoeeeek ㅡ !!!!!
Then, Eve’s frantic scream came from far away.
“Princess?!”
“P-Princess!! What happened ㅡ ?!”
* * * * *
ㅡVweeeeng
“Hooooeeek ㅡ !!!!!”
The toilet lid opened by itself ㅡ !!!!!!!!!!