Chapter 35
“Oh, Ophelia... are you okay...?”
“I’ve gotten much smaller, but I’m fine.”
Ophelia had become a total little munchkin. As the price for giving more than half of the mana stone to Minyumi, she’d lost her once-tall height and the essential ingredient for being a proper mom. Still, she was a little taller than me. Maybe because of the high heels?
Well... I’m already pretty small, and right now, too.
“I think I should stay like this for about a day, so I can get used to this body.”
“Mm, I see.”
And shortly after, Minyumi, having received the mana stone Ophelia had been carrying, was enveloped in a haze of light and sparkled brightly for a while before...
ㅡ파앗!
“Gah... my eyes....”
It flashed brilliantly and then returned to its original form.
“Huh...?”
ㅡ철컥!
There didn’t seem to be any visible change; how should I put it... it just felt a little different.
“Minyumi, how is it? Is your body okay?”
ㅡ끄덕끄덕
“Do you feel stronger?”
ㅡ도리도리
“What happened here, Ophelia...?”
The shrunken Ophelia studied Minyumi carefully, then nodded.
“The mana stone fused properly. Since only the amount of mana increased without any additional materials, this is a normal reaction.”
“What, so it doesn’t, like, get bigger or anything?”
“If Your Highness wants it, that’s possible. It’s hard to explain right now, but you’ll probably come to understand it vaguely during battle.”
“Hmm....”
Apparently this was what Ophelia had told me about last time. In short, Minyumi can now partially embody the memories or abilities of the great figures who once lived in the kingdom.
Of course, since this wasn’t a battle situation right now, there was no need to spend a huge amount of mana, so Minyumi was in this state.
“If there’s an ability Your Highness needs during battle, just assign Minyumi the appropriate role.”
“Oh, I see.”
Honestly, after seeing Ophelia shrink down into a little kid, I’d been wondering what I’d do if Minyumi got huge. Guess that wasn’t the mechanism after all.
“Assign it a role? How do I do that?”
“I’m sure Your Highness will be able to figure that part out.”
“Really? Hmm.”
For example, something like...
“Minyumi! From now on, you’re the commander of the knight order!”
ㅡ철컥!
Minyumi gave me a thumbs-up, as if it were in a good mood. It just gave the thumbs-up, and nothing else changed.
“This isn’t it....”
Still, Minyumi is our kingdom’s knight commander. If I want it to get a little bigger, I probably need rare metal. And I also need a replacement for the hair dryer, but I don’t know what would be good.
“If I put in something like a fighter jet engine, it’d be insanely strong, right?”
How much would a jet engine cost? I heard fighter jets are insanely expensive, but maybe just taking the engine would be cheap??
I sat down at the computer and searched the internet, and it said around ten million dollars.
“Ten million dollars... Ophelia, how much is ten million dollars?”
“It is ten million dollars.”
“Ah, uh... in Korean won?”
“About 15 billion won.”
“Ah.”
Sigh... no good. Fifteen billion is not money I can just come up with. Maybe Ophelia could make that if she spent ten years on stocks. Would that take less time than that?
I wanted to upgrade Suri and Daengdaengi too, but once I thought about the cost, it wasn’t easy. Even if I put Suri’s upgrade off for a bit, Daengdaengi was so weak that I felt like I should upgrade it to some extent.
“Ophelia, should I buy a bit of rare metal and some mana stones and give them to Daengdaengi?”
“You mean Daengdaengi?”
“Daengdaengi’s really weak, and its legs are short, and so on...”
“I see.”
ㅡ삐빗?
Daengdaengi, who had been playing around belly-up with its stomach exposed, waddled over and rubbed its cheek against me when its name was called.
“You little rascal, Daengdaengi. Have you just been playing all day lately?”
ㅡ삐빗!
Maybe it was shocked by being told it only played, because Daengdaengi’s screen was spinning around and around.
“Huh? What’s this?”
What popped up on the screen was a Wi-Fi icon with all the bars turned off. Does that mean it can’t work without internet? But Daengdaengi doesn’t even have a SIM card now, right? Even with internet, it still couldn’t do stocks.
Of course, stocks weren’t the only kind of work, but with Ophelia doing so much, everyone else had gotten a bit more comfortable.
“What, so it can’t because there’s no internet?”
ㅡ삐빗!
“Hehe, I’m kidding. It’s fine if Daengdaengi just plays around and doesn’t work.”
If I end up with a ton of money later, it’d be nice to give Daengdaengi mana stones and other things too. As for the size I’d want... it’d be great if it became about the size of a cool wolf I could ride.
“Hmm, is there anything nearby I can use to make a golem?”
Among the things left at home, there wasn’t really anything fit to turn into a golem. It’s not like there aren’t any machines, but I need the computer. An electric heating pad...? It seems like it would be fun to make into a golem, but I’d need to use it myself.... Then I’d be using everything.
“No, wait, what if I made an electric heating pad for Daengdaengi...?”
ㅡ삐빗?
Then Daengdaengi would get super soft and warm, so cuddling up and sleeping would become amazing, right? But then its back and legs might get cold too.
“That’s a dilemma...!”
Well, honestly, I don’t plan on adding to the household right now. Since making one would keep draining my magic, if Ophelia’s right, endlessly mass-producing golems wouldn’t be a good choice.
But then how are we supposed to rebuild the kingdom? For now, Daengdaengi, Minyumi, Suri, and Ophelia—those four seem okay. But the kingdom can’t just have five people total, including me...?
And among them, Daengdaengi and Suri are animals? Minyumi doesn’t really feel human, either.
“Ophelia?”
“Did you call for me?”
“Ah, um... no.”
I was going to ask because something came to mind, but she’s working so hard that I feel bad.
When tall Ophelia was working, I didn’t think much of it, but seeing tiny Ophelia cleaning the house and making food makes me feel like... I should be helping somehow.
But if I stepped in, I might just create more work. It’s best to just stay put. I spilled cola last time too.
* * * * *
ㅡ띠로링
“Your Highness, will you be all right on your own.”
“Hehe... don’t worry, Ophelia. Dohui unnie said she’d come pick me up right in front of the house.”
Ophelia left home first to do the work scheduled for today. I’m actually more worried about whether tiny Ophelia can handle the job on her own, and honestly, with that appearance, I feel like she could get kidnapped somewhere.
Still, she does at least have combat ability on the level of a B-rank Awakened, so... I guess it’ll be fine?
“The time arranged in advance with Ms. Dohui is 11:00. It will be in 48 minutes, so please keep that in mind.”
“Yup... got it.”
After once again emphatically reminding me of the appointment time, Ophelia bowed her head, closed the front door, and went outside.
It felt strange being at home with the golems for the first time in a while without Ophelia here.
“Ophelia will do fine, right?”
ㅡ키잇
“Mm, yeah, yeah. Worry about me instead, okay? Got it!”
Suri seems to trust Ophelia completely. Honestly, I think Ophelia is perfect too, but people are heavily swayed by appearances. I used to be a real adult, after all—it’s just that my appearance ended up like this.
Anyway, Ophelia helped me get dressed, so I was all set (the princess outfit Ophelia made << is hard to put on without help), and I was fully ready to go out. This was the first raid party of my life, so I couldn’t make any mistakes..!”
“Minyumi! Meditate with me!”
ㅡ철컥!
After sitting on the floor for a while, crossing my legs like Minyumi and meditating with my hands gathered over my stomach...
ㅡ삐비빗, 삐비빗.
“Ah, it’s the phone.”
“Hello? Eve?”
“Dohui unnie?”
“I’m downstairs now. Get ready and come out.”
“Ah! Yes, ma’am..!”
Han Dohui had arrived downstairs.
* * * * *
“You checked the gate info and stuff roughly, right?”
“I looked at it yesterday... but I can’t remember all of it....”
“It’s fine. I didn’t look.”
“Huh...?”
Yesterday, Ophelia checked the gate information this way and that, organized it neatly, and gave me an intensive crash course. I think I’ve remembered most of the parts I absolutely need to.
The place we’re going to is one of the entry-type gates open near Namsan Park. On average, it’s about the right difficulty for a B-rank party—in other words, four B-ranks going in.
The environment takes the form of a collapsed ruin, so the paths are laid out well and movement isn’t a problem. It may look like a maze, but as with entry-type gates that still remain, the whole route has already been cleared.
For now, Dohui is B-rank. I’m A-rank, but with Ophelia gone, it feels a little like B+. Chaea unnie is C-rank, but she’s a healer... I don’t know the others, but since it’s a raid party, there’ll be a lot of them anyway.
“Phew... I’m nervous..!”
“Eve, don’t be too nervous. Everyone’s nice.”
“I-Is that so..?”
The reason I’m nervous is exactly because they’re nice people. If they were bad people, why would I even bother meeting them? I’d just go home and eat snacks. It’s because they’re nice that we’re meeting them, and because they’re nice that I’ll be seeing them again later.
Of course I’d be nervous....
Most of the people going are good at what they do, so even if you make a few mistakes, it won’t show. Got it?
“Ah, yes!”
I took out my phone and let Ophelia know that I was in the car, then petted Daengdaengi beside me.
ㅡ끼이익
“Okay, we arrived. Shall we go together?”
“L-let’s go together....”
“Hehe, got it. For now, get out with the others. Unnie will park and then get out too.”
After getting out of the car with Suri, Daengdaengi, and Minyumi, I waited for Han Dohui to finish parking. Looking at the car made me want to try turning it into a golem again. Last time I made one, Minyumi had looked incredibly cool.
“Come on, let’s go! The others are gathered over there, I hear.”
“Phew... yes!”
Han Dohui had also come wearing some kind of gear today. Something like armor over her chest, and gauntlets on both hands. She didn’t have any other armor, but even that much made her look a lot more like a hunter.
“But Eve, is it okay if I tell the others about your gallery nickname?”
“My gallery nickname?”
“Yeah, most of the others lurk the gallery at least once in a while, or they’re fixed-nick regulars.”
“Hmm...”
Come to think of it, that’s what I’d heard too, but I hadn’t actually thought about whether to bring up the gallery nickname. But if I did, their reaction would be ridiculously fun.
“Ah, I think it’d be okay to tell them.”
“Really? That’d be hilarious. Right?”
“Hehe... yes....”
After walking a bit more, I could see about ten people gathered in the distance. Han Dohui spoke first as if she were glad to see them, and...
“Wow, all the trash in the world is gathered here.”
“Han Dohui, you’re crazy. Why don’t you hurry up?”
“Why are you only lightly armored again?”
“Hey, watch your mouth—there’s a kid here.”
“Ugh, shit. What kid? ...Oh, what? There really is a kid here.”
The unnamed man thought the “kid” Dohui had mentioned meant Dohui herself, and gagged, but when he saw me standing behind her, he clamped his mouth shut.
“Whoa, what? Who’s this?”
“So cute~ She’s really a baby, huh?”
“Don’t you guys check my SNS? I posted a photo with her just a few days ago. Eve came wearing princess clothes today too?”
“Hehe... yes....”
The three women there, along with Chaea unnie who was tucked in among them, hurried over and hugged me tightly.
“Hey, Dohui. What are you going to do if you kidnap her?”
“What are you talking about? Cut the bullshit. You guys don’t know who she is, do you?”
“Who is she? Her name is Eve?”
“She said her life isn’t ruined, you know. I’m talking about you, Ryu Minho.”
“Uh...?”
The man named Ryu Minho, whom Han Dohui had directly called out, had been puffing on a cigarette from a distance and then looked at me in disbelief at her words.
“Eve, that’s him—the punk-looking guy. See him?”
“Huh..? Who are you..?”
“He needs to go to Sosa Station and get windmilled.”
“Gasp.”
“No way..”
So it was you. You bastard.