Chapter 64
The place Lee Arin arrived at after dashing across the snow was a house not far from the hotel.
Built relatively on the outskirts, it had a serene atmosphere unlike the city center, and all the walls of the mansion were made of wood with a blackish tint. Combined with the pointed-looking roof, it looked like a witch's house from a fairy tale.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ding dong! Ding dong!
Reaching the front of the house, Lee Arin excitedly started ringing the doorbell with one hand and knocking on the door with the other.
"Rabbit! Rabbit!"
If it had been in the city center rather than the serene outskirts, it would have been immediately reported for noise disturbance.
Clank!
"I told you not to call me Rabbit! Puma Кореянка!"
Unable to bear the noise shaking the entire house, the owner came running with the sound of pounding footsteps and flung open the door, screaming as soon as she saw Lee Arin's face. But Lee Arin, seemingly unafraid of this reaction, grinned and clung to her, linking arms and naturally entering the house despite the other's disgust.
Then she naturally went to where the sofa was, forcefully sat the other down, and sat next to her.
"Rabbit~ I have just one favor to ask~"
"I told you not to call me Rabbit!"
"Okay. Ella."
"Don't act familiar and just call me by my name either!"
"Okay~ Ella B Winter!"
Ella glared at Lee Arin's grinning face as if she had a headache.
Then, sighing deeply, she pushed back her long white hair that wasn't properly groomed and asked.
"Fine... Frau Lee. What's the matter?"
Ella looked at Lee Arin with bright red eyes that reminded one of beautiful jewels.
Her expressionless face seemed to reveal her inner thoughts: 'Just say what you need to say and get out.'
But Lee Arin smiled good-naturedly.
"When you glare like that, you really do look like a rabbit."
"I told you not to call me a rabbit! You really!"
"Why~ Other people call you that just fine~"
"It's a problem when you do it!"
Rabbit (Hase).
For Ella, with her white hair, red eyes, and pale white skin, it was a word she had heard since childhood like a daily thing, and when she came to study in Russia, she was even called by the nickname rabbit (зайка) instead of her name.
So she didn't have an aversion to the word rabbit itself.
But the same sentence, the same word could have completely different meanings depending on who used it.
"First, move away a bit! There's plenty of space, why are you sitting right next to me?! This is why I don't want to hear you call me rabbit!"
"Ah~ Why~ It's good to be close, isn't it?"
"Ah, really! Are you really a lesbian?!"
The word rabbit was used to simply refer to the animal, and also as a metaphor for a cute and pretty woman.
But it was also used for another purpose:
As a term of endearment.
In Germany, it was used as a term of endearment when calling a girlfriend.
"First, move away! Go! Sit on the floor!"
Ella chased Lee Arin, who kept trying to link arms with her, to the floor.
Lee Arin naturally sat cross-legged on the floor and looked up at her, and Ella, after catching her rough breath for a moment, said:
"I don't know if linking arms is something friends do in your country, but for us, it's something couples do. How many times do I have to tell you?"
"But this is a different country~ I don’t think it's bad to accept the culture when you come to a different country. Right?"
"This isn't my country, but it's not your country either! No, to begin with, even in Russia, girls don't link arms!"
"That's not true~ They link arms here too~"
"...Okay. That's true, but..."
Ella recalled the sights of Lee Arin seen all over the school.
Taking naps on the roof.
Drinking beer with a bear.
Making an igloo and grilling meat in it.
Linking arms with other female students and going to the cafeteria to eat together during lunch time...
Right.
It wasn’t wrong.
Lee Arin had blended into the school with her pretty appearance and sociable personality.
Moreover, as if she were a human capybara, she was getting along well with all the numerous female student groups, and was receiving affection from the teachers. Furthermore, her friendliness was so remarkable that even skinship that seemed excessive to Ella was accepted without complaints.
According to Lee Arin and Lee Serin, it was a normal expression of intimacy among Korean high school girls, but for her, it was hard to accept.
"Anyway, don't do it to me... No, never mind. So what's the matter?"
Ella, who was about to scold her about why she shouldn't do it and firmly tell her not to do such actions to her, gave up after seeing Lee Arin's innocent, or in other words, extremely pure expression.
Because she had a feeling that words wouldn't get through to her.
Lee Arin, seeing her resigned expression, quietly climbed up onto the sofa.
Then, before Ella could say anything, she took out her smartphone, held it out to her, and said:
"I was trying to gather these things, and I thought I could get them from our Rabbit~"
"Our Rabbit..."
The title had been upgraded.
Not just Rabbit, but our Rabbit.
But now it seemed too tiring even to point it out, so Ella just let out a deep sigh.
Ella looked at the text message she held out, and couldn't help but sigh deeply again.
"This is Korean, right?"
"Yes!"
"...I told you I can't read Korean, didn't I?"
"Huh? You can't? But it’s already been..."
"Do you think I can master a language in an instant like you guys?"
Ella glared at the deceiver who was unconsciously boasting about her language acquisition ability.
"Originally, it takes a long time to master a language. It's because martial artists like you have a developed Language Acquisition Device that you learn quickly."
"But Serin mastered it in an instant too?"
"Your younger sister is a contractor! For contractors, the transcendent being they contract with acts as a schema!"
"But orae-bi mastered it in an instant too?"
"What's o-rae-bi?"
Ella tilted her head at the unfamiliar expression she heard for the first time.
Orae-bi? From the context, it seems like a person's name... Was there such a person at school?
"It's another expression for ‘bruder’."
"Huh? You had an older brother? Is he a martial artist too?"
"No~ he's a sorcerer."
A sorcerer?
She has a sorcerer brother?
She looked at Lee Arin as if curious.
"Having a sorcerer brother. That's impressive. For the first time, I'm interested in your family background."
"Family background? Why?"
Ella looked at her as if to say 'Don't you know?'
From a wealthy family.
The older sister among the sisters was a strong martial artist.
The younger sister among the sisters was a contractor.
These three things alone made them seem like a prestigious family, and on top of that, the brother was an eccentric sorcerer.
Naturally, questions like 'What kind of noble family is yours to make all your children supernatural ability users?' or 'It seems you've raised your children well, is there any secret?' would come up.
"Anyway, orae-bi mastered the language in an instant too."
"Your brother is a sorcerer... so... um..."
Ella's voice grew quieter.
She wanted to say that because he was a sorcerer, he probably used some special method, but if asked what that special method was, she didn't have anything specific to say.
Sorcery was difficult to define precisely.
Moreover, while those who mainly use sorcery were generally called 'sorcerers', the techniques they used varied greatly, and because the form in which it manifested differed from person to person, they often used titles to express their individuality.
Jiangshi sorcerers who used corpses through special treatment, necromancers who controlled evil spirits and demons, possession sorcerers who captured souls and uses them in their own body, astrologers who used precognitive abilities, machine sorcerers who used sorcery through machines as a medium, puppeteers who controlled dolls, and so on...
There was even a joke that 'the number of types of sorcerers is the same as the number of sorcerers'.
So there must surely be sorcery that made it easy to learn languages or made the brain better, but if asked what that sorcery was, she couldn't say anything more than 'I just think there must be something like that'.
And what did it mean to utter such baseless words?
It meant losing the argument.
Did I lose a war of words? To this animal-like person of all people?
She didn't want to be verbally defeated by Lee Arin, if no one else.
So Ella used a cheat key.
"Anyway, language is hard to learn! Just know that!"
Ella chose to end it by being forceful instead of continuing the argument.
Then she slightly changed the subject.
"So what are these things you need to gather?"
"Ah, that’s what we were talking about. Shall I read it to you? 30kg of birch firewood, one goat not older than 10 months..."
Lee Arin started reading the text message in German, and Ella stuck out her tongue at the list of 'not precious but subtly difficult to obtain' items coming out of her mouth.
"...one first-born rodent! That's it!"
"Well... They're not expensive, but they're subtly rare, and while you could get them if you tried, they're all just annoying to obtain. So, did you come to ask me to get these items for you?"
"Yes!"
"I may be a witch, but I don't have such items. I think you've come to the wrong place."
"No~ you know, you have it. You said you had babies recently and were going to sell them for pocket money~"
"What?"
Ella asked, puzzled by Lee Arin's words.
"You haven't sold it yet, right? The goat."
"Goat...?"
Annoyance clouded Ella's face.
"It's not a goat, it's a mountain goat! A mountain goat with completely different symbolism!"