Chapter 17
“Amazing. If I were a mana stone processor, I’d become Yeoul’s apprentice. How can you carve them so beautifully?”
“Hehe….”
Ten minutes.
Nari’s eyes lit up as she looked at my mana stones, and she showered them with endless praise. Some of it was exaggerated, but I didn’t mind.
Most of it was sincere.
Just look.
Fiddle, fiddle.
Nari examined each mana stone I’d taken out, studying them closely.
Unlike when she’d thought it was just a kid’s game at first, she was serious now.
That meant my mana stones were pretty good!
I’d be able to sell them for a decent price.
“They’re definitely cleaner than last time.”
“I’ve gotten the hang of it a little.”
“They’re all the same shape this time, too. Did you carve them that way on purpose?”
“They look better that way.”
“Doesn’t that cause more waste?”
“I heard that when using mana stones, you lose some if their shape is irregular. I carved them uniformly to reduce that loss.”
“I see.”
As I answered Nari’s questions, I picked up a mana stone, too.
It was translucent.
It gave off little light.
Those were the characteristics of the mana stones I carved.
At first, I wondered if that was a bad thing, but their processing grade had turned out to be S.
Naturally, this batch would be S-grade or higher, too.
Had Nari noticed that as well?
“Yeoul’s hands must be blessed by the gods!!”
“Huh?”
Grab!
Nari clasped my hand, making a fuss about how it was the hand of a god.
She wasn’t wrong.
It was possible because I was the god of Yeoulrim.
Without my ability, I probably would’ve just kept breaking mana stones until I gave up.
“How can such tiny little hands… Hehe. They’re so small and soft.”
“…?”
Knead, knead.
Nari massaged my hand.
She wore a melting smile and had an expression that said I was too cute to bear.
Was this really a compliment?
For some reason, the way she was rubbing my hand felt full of ulterior motives.
I didn’t resist.
Nari’s hands were warm, and the massage felt nice.
“But how do you carve mana stones? I don’t see any special equipment at home.”
“Trade secret.”
“What? You even know how to say things like that?”
She was probably curious.
How had a little kid managed to carve mana stones?
I should explain a little. She was my business partner, and we’d be in this together going forward.
“Do you want to know?”
“Of course! You carved such wonderful mana stones, Yeoul. How could I not be curious?”
“Take a guess. How do you think I carved them?”
“Hmm. Did you Awaken or something?”
Flinch.
She got it right immediately?
No, now that I thought about it, it made sense.
There probably wasn’t any way for a child to do something this abnormal without Awakening.
“Ooh, that reaction. It’s true!?”
Maybe my hesitation convinced her, because Nari’s eyes lit up and she pressed me for an answer.
She was quick on the uptake.
“It’s a secret from everyone else.”
“A secret? Isn’t Awakening a good thing?”
“I don’t particularly want people to know. It’s not like I have any other talents.”
“Hmm… All right! Your big sister can keep a secret, so don’t worry. What kind of ability did you get?!”
“I’ll tell you when we get closer.”
I had no intention of telling her everything.
I told her only enough to satisfy her and hid the details.
Yeoulrim.
World Power.
They were both extraordinary, no matter how you looked at it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Nari, but if word got out, it could become a hassle.
I had that much sense.
My resolve from the first day was still unchanged.
I had no intention of working as a Hunter.
“Now I’m even more curious.”
“I still can’t tell you.”
“You’ll tell me when we get closer?”
“We’ll see.”
“Then it’s a promise!”
"Uh….”
Nari held out her pinky.
Did she want to know about my ability that badly?
Clasp!
I hooked my pinky around hers.
Judging by Nari’s bright smile, it felt like I was just playing along.
Don’t treat me like a little kid.
Well~ I had a generous heart, so I’d let it go.
“Oh! I made an amazing deal with the mana stone you gave me as a present, Yeoul. Want to hear about it?”
“What is it?”
“Well~”
After that, we chatted.
Interestingly, Nari had struck a deal with Dr. Min Jeong-woo involving the mana stone I’d given her.
Apparently, he’d been eager to make a deal, so Nari negotiated some good terms.
Not money for herself.
Promotion for Yeoul Workshop.
A discount on mana stone appraisals.
Those were the two things.
The deal came with the condition that any other mana stones she carved be appraised by Dr. Min Jeong-woo, but that wasn’t a bad deal.
Dr. Min Jeong-woo was highly skilled at appraising and evaluating mana stones. He knew plenty of important VIP customers who were looking for mana stones.
He could introduce us to them, and we could get our stones appraised cheaply.
A win-win.
That was Nari for you.
She was serious about doing business.
“He sounds like a good partner.”
“It’s all thanks to your mana stones, Yeoul.”
This was exactly what I’d hoped for.
Rather than becoming widely famous, we could quietly build a reputation in the industry.
Like a hidden gem of a restaurant known only to those in the know?
It was a pretty good start.
Nari had sacrificed her own mana stone, but that was fine, too.
I’d give her another one.
“You did well, so I’ll give you this as a present, too.”
“Hmm? What’s this?”
A mana stone fragment.
More precisely, it was a crystal made by joining eight mana stone fragments left over after carving. It looked useless, but it was quite pretty.
“Whoa! It comes apart!?”
Click, clack, click, clack.
Nari picked up the mana stone, looking surprised as she pulled it apart and put it back together.
Each time, it glowed faintly blue, adding a beautiful visual effect.
“What… This feels… good.”
ASMR.
Beautiful colors.
And it fit perfectly in her hand.
Nari fiddled with the mana stone fragment for a while.
“Just in case, have this appraised, too. It probably won’t be useful, though.”
“No! It’s useful enough as it is!!”
It seemed she liked it, thankfully.
She’d get it appraised by Dr. Min Jeong-woo herself and tell me the results.
That more or less wrapped up our discussion.
After chatting a little longer.
“Before you go, let your big sis give our Yeoul a hug~!”
“Ugh!?”
Whoosh!
Nari grabbed me and played with me.
She picked me up and hugged me, patted my head, and put me through all sorts of awkward situations.
None of this had been part of the plan.
I couldn’t let myself become a doll.
“G-get away.”
“Heehee. Come here!!”
“Gah!!”
I struggled hard to get away for a while.
I didn’t like the situation… but I felt like I’d gotten a little closer to Nari.
*
Flash!~
I logged into Yeoulrim.
I’d worked hard to carve the mana stones and entrusted the sales to her, so it was time to focus on my main job again!
[Pipyu-uuu~]
“Pipyu!~”
I went straight to find Little Squirmy.
It was busy looking after its young, and the mini Little Squirmies sang along each time its mysterious, echoing cry rang out.
“Agh~ I can’t stand how cute you all are.”
My heart hurts.
I was tempted to project an avatar and appear.
But I wasn’t so inconsiderate that I’d interrupt family time. I just watched the Little Squirmy choir sing with a fond smile.
“It’s about time you moved onto land, right?”
After that, I thought hard.
Little Squirmy had become the master of this sea, with a clever mind and tremendous strength.
Even if it moved onto land, it should have no trouble finding a way to survive.
“You’ve already developed an organ for breathing air. You occasionally dive above the surface, so you’ve adapted plenty. A complete transition to lung breathing should happen soon.”
All it needed was arms and legs.
To achieve that, I’d need to modify the broad, flat arms at its sides and create legs. Its biological structure was at a very complex stage, so it would take time, but if things went well, it could evolve within a hundred years.
All right, first, let’s calculate.
About 50 years spent so far.
1,740pt of World Power remaining.
Would that be enough to move onto land?
How much more World Power would I replenish along the way by increasing the Little Squirmy population?
“It should be about enough.”
All right, let’s begin.
Little Squirmy’s evolution!
[Modifying the individual's genetic traits.]
[Inducing dexterous hands and arms.]
I poured in World Power and guided its limbs to develop the way I envisioned.
Rather than simply imagining arms and legs as I used my power, I drew on what I’d learned in biology and pictured the detailed characteristics of its limbs.
World Power was a force that responded to thought.
The more specific my knowledge, the more it helped with evolution.
Later, I intended to study genetics and delve into it properly. I’d need to do at least that much to guide more precise evolution on land.
After inducing the traits.
[Accelerating time.]
Fwooo!!—
Time acceleration.
I watched the rapidly shifting days and nights, observing the changes. If anything went wrong or a problem arose, I stopped the acceleration and observed.
At the time, I was still carefree. I thought everything would go smoothly all the way to civilization.
But around ten years later, a serious problem I hadn’t expected occurred.
“Little Squirmy… what’s wrong with you lately?”
KWAANG!!
Little Squirmy began hurting itself.
For some reason, it hadn’t evolved in ten years and had grown increasingly lethargic. Now it was even skipping meals and ramming itself against sharp rocks.
Why had it changed so suddenly?
Had I made a mistake?
“Could its lifespan be up?”
A bad thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I’d worked hard to extend its lifespan, but Little Squirmy had been alive since its days as a cell. Living for fifty years could be considered a miracle.
If it hadn’t kept evolving, it would’ve died and vanished long ago.
The problem was that its evolution had slowed and it hadn’t changed much since it became a mammal.
Its lifespan might have run out.
If that was why evolving had become difficult…
If that were the case…
“W-what should I do?”
Panic.
I snapped to attention.
Maybe it was hurting itself because it was looking for a place to die.
My heart sank.
If Little Squirmy died, I…
What should I do?