Chapter 38

Around the time I, having successfully finished the jerky content, fell asleep.

The world outside the frame was in the middle of working hours.

“So you called me for this.”

“Hey, let’s have a chat, why the scary face.”

“If you think I’m only in charge of ‘Jio’s Portrait,’ you’re gravely mistaken….”

“I’m giving you an incentive.”

“Damn capitalist society.”

Yu Seong-un had been summoned by the guild master.

“Didn’t I tell you I’d organize the report and submit it soon?”

“How am I supposed to wait until then?”

“Why can’t you wait for this?”

“You know me.”

“I don’t know you well.”

“People should talk face to face.”

“That’s an excessive insult to our highly developed modern society.”

“There’s no affection in the world these days. And our employees are even more so.”

“I don’t know what kind of affection you’re looking for in this crappy world, and I also don’t know why you’re demanding it from me.”

“Everyone’s so cold.”

“It’s your own preference, what nonsense are you talking about.”

Bisabeol smiled brightly at the very tired-looking Yu Seong-un and made him some fruit cheong tea.

“Shall we drink this and cheer up?”

“Is this poison?”

“Hey, how can you call a gift from our precious portrait poison.”

“I’d rather you give me poison. So I can drink it and lie down….”

No matter how gentle ‘Jio’s Portrait’ was, he was a being of the Source and simply put, a monster.

Dealing with a rare humanoid monster was already overwhelming, but that wasn't the only task Yu Seong-un was in charge of.

“The sea has been quite noisy lately, so I was called out again.”

Yu Seong-un was also handling external requests.

“Upon inspection, the movements of the children of the Source were peculiar. I will submit a report regarding that matter soon as well. Probably tomorrow or the day after….”

“You can report that later. It wasn't my request anyway.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t care.”

“So, will you tell me about Jio now?”

“I knew it.”

For reference, Bisabeol still hadn't been able to speak with me.

“Isn’t it because you act so overwhelmed that Jio avoids conversation with you?”

“Hey, what did I do?”

“There are many employees who have seen The Black Cape, yet the guild master himself has never even had a conversation. At this point, it’s dereliction of duty.”

“I told you I tried to talk to him.”

“I meant you should try changing your approach.”

It was a problem related to my characteristics.

“Doesn’t Jio dislike rude people?”

“He doesn’t hate them.”

“That’s true, but….”

‘Jio’s Portrait’ dislikes two things.

Being rude, or being evil.

‘…But even though he’s wary of rude people, he doesn’t view them that negatively.’

Aren’t there people who like dogs and cats, but dislike reptiles?

It was something like that; I was wary of rude people.

I didn’t disparage their existence itself, but I didn’t enjoy associating with them.

“That indifferent side is quite similar to a child of the Source.”

“I suppose so. Even if he claims to be human, not all parts of him can be the same as a human. He might be trying hard to ignore the fact that he’s not human….”

Though in reality, I simply had no thoughts on the matter.

“Well, it seems he doesn’t have that indifference for criminals, though.”

While I thought ‘it can’t be helped’ when it came to rude people, I showed clear disgust in the face of malice.

I hadn’t actually encountered a criminal, but it was a fact that could be known from my usual words and actions.

“Either way, we have to be careful. You should be careful too, Guild Master.”

“I’ll try to restrain myself.”

“You’ll just say that again. Anyway, so….”

The reason Bisabeol had called Yu Seong-un was obvious.

“Are you curious about how Jio behaved during his Seoul sightseeing?”

“Of course I’m curious, a being of the Source whose identity we don’t even know wandered the human world. And I heard he came back peacefully without even causing any major trouble?”

“That’s right.”

Of course, there was one unsettling fact.

“Wasn’t a Priest of the Sun reported missing?”

“Eh, that’s nothing. I looked into it, and his background didn’t seem that clean.”

“So that’s why they seem to be hushing it up internally.”

“With the initiation ceremony coming up, they’d be even less willing to make it public.”

“…It seems likely that Jio had a hand in the disappearance.”

A Hunter who is a Curator can’t make do with ordinary observation and memory skills.

Yu Seong-un remembered the man in the scholar’s robe he had encountered at Gyeongbokgung and the priest who had gone missing this time was that very person.

“That day, Jio made a camera-like shape with his hands and looked at the man.”

“A camera, you say. Considering Jio is a portrait, wouldn’t it be closer to a picture frame?”

“That could be. Anyway, after his eyes met the man’s, he suggested leaving Gyeongbokgung, and he didn’t look very pleased.”

“Could it be that he was in a bad mood because he encountered a bad person who didn’t suit his taste?”

“I believe that’s highly probable.”

“So that’s how Jio appraises people. That’s good information to know.”

According to the information Bisabeol had, he was already a shady priest.

Yu Seong-un trusted Bisabeol, and the two of them never even considered the possibility that the priest I had dealt with was not a villain.

“Still, the fact that he handled it quietly allows us to confirm Jio’s level of understanding of human society. He probably didn’t want it to become a commotion.”

No. It was just Honey’s solo act that happened while I was sprawled out asleep.

Honey, too, hadn’t wanted to avoid a commotion, but rather had sensed a threat to his father, dealt with it, and then simply returned.

But I didn’t give off the impression of being that thoughtless.

Rather, there were strong moments when he felt like a being who was all the more silent because he knew so much.

The two of them continued their conversation under the premise that I already knew all of this.

“In that case, I am curious what would happen if he were to face a criminal head-on.”

“Why are you curious about something like that? Don’t get any strange ideas.”

“So cold.”

“…….”

Does he really want to act like that at his age?

‘I shouldn’t grow old like that.’

Yu Seong-un ignored Bisabeol, who was pretending to be pitiful.

“The most surprising thing about this tour and observation would have to be the part where Jio lowered his own stature to a human level.”

“…Lowered his stature?”

Bisabeol looked surprised for the first time in a while.

“Jio did you do? He lowered his own stature to a human level?”

“Yes, it’s surprising, isn’t it.”

“Before being surprised, it’s….”

Bisabeol paused to choose his words.

He soon found a suitable one.

“Disgusting.”

As expected, I was not human.

“To carve out his own flesh so nonchalantly.”

“I was scared to death when I first saw it too. If Jio were human, he would never have been able to make such a decision.”

“And if it was just to avoid causing a commotion, I can’t empathize with it even more.”

Bisabeol had never spoken to me, but he had ‘seen’ me many times.

The stature of the Jio that Bisabeol knew was on a level that couldn’t be compared to that of a mere human.

“And yet, to deliberately pull himself down to a point where he feels like a human is….”

It was no different from being tortured by being carved up alive.

“Did he seem to have any health issues?”

“There were no issues that I could confirm, and he had the same expressionless face as always.”

“I see.”

As for me, since I was originally human, the sensation wasn’t strange.

But to others, it was an act of eccentricity worse than pulling out one’s own eyeballs, cutting off limbs, and taking out innards.

“Were there any other unusual points?”

“Uh….”

Yu Seong-un chose a lighter topic.

“He seemed to like food.”

“No wonder he kept giving food as gifts.”

“He seemed to be interested in both eating and cooking.”

That was also a point of concern.

“I got the feeling he could easily be taken for a sucker.”

“Oh my.”

That was a bit of a problem.

“You said you talked to him about that, right?”

“I don’t know if he understood, though.”

“A favorable being of the Source is much trickier to deal with.”

If it were an ordinary monster, it could be dealt with normally, but since continuous mutual exchange was necessary, there were more things to be careful about.

Just as protecting is more difficult than attacking.

“Still, it’s a relief that he seems very willing to cooperate.”

“I suppose he is a good fellow….”

Excluding the eeriness of his stature, I was definitely a good fellow.

“It’s just that his very existence is a threat.”

“That’s not something we can do anything about, is it?”

“I know.”

But regardless of my diligence, continuous vigilance seemed necessary.

“…Ah.”

“Is there something else?”

“It’s about Jio’s personality.”

“Personality, you say. This is already interesting.”

“The Jio with the lowered stature seemed truly human.”

This required a bit of an explanation.

“It was to the point where he seemed like a completely different being from the usual Jio.”

“If it’s to that extent, then it wouldn’t simply be a matter of high or low stature, would it?”

“It has been confirmed to have a slight effect on his personality as well.”

“Could it be a side effect of lowering his stature?”

“Isn’t that highly probable? For us, this side is more harmless, which is good, but….”

The Jio inside the painting, or the Jio who sometimes wandered the building at dawn, had something eerie about him.

He was like a god of death.

‘No, it’s closer to death itself, which has no will or emotion.’

He wears a pitch-black cape, his footsteps are barely audible, he always walks neatly like a nobleman with his hands behind his back, and he observes the world with curious eyes and yet, his expressionless, gloomy face was somewhat chilly.

That low temperature didn’t mean my personality was cold.

It just seemed to say that the being itself could not harbor warmth.

“The Jio who hasn’t lowered his stature is extremely polite, orderly and heavy. Even those who have only witnessed the portrait without talking to Jio have often commented that ‘it’s like a painting of someone’s deathbed.’”

I felt like a being personifying a funeral.

And then there was that remoteness.

“He can never be called human.”

“But is it something that would bring up the topic of a change in personality?”

“It has been confirmed to have a definite effect.”

The Jio with the lowered stature was like a very ordinary person.

“A person who is a little very blunt, and polite.”

But the usual me was different.

“A bit more arrogant.”

“Hmm?”

“No, the word arrogant is a bit strange… how should I put it….”

It was hard to express.

“…As if he were a person of high rank….”

I looked down on humans.

Like someone with a hobby of raising insects watching a praiseworthy ant carrying a load, or as if adoring it.

“Jio has actually given gifts to people several times. It was partly as a reward, but it definitely took the form of a bestowal. While calling himself an ordinary 29-year-old human, he evaluated and praised employees much older than himself.”

To that, Bisabeol asked.

“But the Jio with the lowered stature was different?”

“Yes, at that time he really seemed like an ordinary young man.”

The ‘Jio’ that Yu Seong-un confirmed was a 29-year-old man with good manners and few words.

“Though there were times when he was a bit… overly curious, or tried to pay with jewels….”

“Since he’s not a real human, those peculiar aspects can’t be helped. But it’s still truly amazing that he acted like a sufficiently ordinary young man.”

“He said he took separate measures, so that was probably the effect.”

There were also points of concern.

“Usually, because of his high stature, I wouldn’t even think of trying anything, but since he looks like an ordinary 29-year-old young man, I was suspicious that he might get caught up in some strange scam.”

“…Is it to that extent? Still, he has the Emotion Skill….”

“When he is transformed into a human, not only does his personality become much gentler, but there seems to be limits to his abilities as well. He could only confirm his Emotion Skill by making that picture frame-like hand gesture.”

And one more thing.

“The longer he was outside, the weaker he became.”

It was just that his energy had been completely drained from being exposed to modern society after a long time, but for Yu Seong-un, who paid great attention to every detail of my state, he had no choice but to assign a variety of meanings.

“I’m worried that other people might pick on him.”

“That would certainly be a problem.”

“Right?”

“Jio is one thing, but that’s….”

Bisabeol stroked his chin.

“Just because he lowered his stature doesn’t mean his essence has gone anywhere.”

Let’s say you compress one of two large pieces of metal to be very small.

Then one side would certainly be large and the other small, but the weight would be the same.

In fact, being smaller would make it easier to injure a human.

A similar example would be a bomb.

Even if you process a bomb into a small and cute shape, it still explodes the moment you light it.

In fact, being compressed, it might be much more violent when it explodes.

“Since there’s no precise analysis, it’s just speculation, but… as much as Jio thinks of himself as human, the backlash will be much greater if you poke at his essence. There’s no need to cause such a disaster.”

“I think so too.”

“Unless the entire nation has agreed to a group suicide?”

Therefore, the Jio when he became ‘human’ seemed to require definite protection.

“We’ll have to issue a Hunter license.”

“With just that, there will certainly be fewer fights.”

In this world, a Hunter was a kind of powerful figure and a celebrity.

When a fight broke out, just showing a Hunter license resolved most conflicts.

This was because the Association thoroughly prevented fights between Hunters.

“And one more thing.”

Yu Seong-un continued.

“This is also related to his personality.”

“What more problems could there be here?”

“The Jio in his human state can be defined as a 29-year-old young man named ‘Seo Jio.’ Right?”

But Yu Seong-un had clearly witnessed it.

“When Jio dipped his feet in Cheonggyecheon….”

“…….”

“And when he rode the water taxi.”

A change occurred in me.

“He was looking at the water with the gaze of a different person.”

That gaze did not belong to the blunt and taciturn 29-year-old young man, Jio.

Rather, it seemed to have more experience, the emotions were more distinct, and while there was a clear sense of distance, it wasn't cold, but gentle like that of a beloved model student.

The smile that was faintly engraved even had a light and cheerful part, like a cool sea breeze.

In many ways, he was different from the existing ‘Seo Jio’ or the ‘Portrait.’

“There was also a change in his form. His hair was dyed white, and his eyes had a watery blue tint.”

“Oh, that’s quite similar to Curator Yu Seong-un, isn’t it?”

“It was a bit… a different feeling from me. It’s true that it was a similar type, but….”

That color was much warmer.

Like the summer sun, or the surface of the sea.

“…….”

It wasn’t certain.

“I will look into it further.”

“Let’s do that.”

There was too little they knew about me.

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