Vol 6 Chapter 20

As Kapros answered, unable to take his eyes off the high ceiling and the soft lights embedded in it, Kion-hyung stepped forward and began talking with Il Drel.

"Let's end the greetings here. So, what do I need to do here?"

"High Priest, you have awakened the sleeping goddess and gathered her servants back to this continent. However, the current times are not favorable. Therefore, the goddess said that when the High Priest comes here, you should first strengthen the foundation of this place, and then meet people who will be of help to you."

It sounded very difficult, but Kion-hyung's expression was indifferent, as if he was used to it.

"Then the first thing to do is something about the pillars here, right? What should I do first?"

"Please follow me."

Il Drel, who had slightly bowed his head, started walking forward. Kion-hyung followed him, and just as Kapros was about to follow, Il Drel turned his head to look at him.

"Ah. I forgot to mention this first. I'm truly sorry, but this task takes place in a location that can only be entered by servants of the goddess, so Kapros-nim cannot follow us."

"Huh? Then what will Kar do in the meantime? Even if we finish the pillar thing quickly, it'll take quite some time to hear about the people we need to meet next, right?"

Kapros was about to say it was fine, but Kion-hyung frowned with a dissatisfied expression before he could. Although Kapros knew well that Kion-hyung was now a respectable adult, seeing that expression still made him look like a back-alley thug.

And Il Drel, who suddenly found himself being intimidated by this thug-like High Priest, showed a troubled expression.

"Well..."

"It's okay. If it's going to take quite a while, I have some business to attend to, so it's fine if I go out for a bit, right?"

"Huh? If you say so..."

As Kapros interrupted, cutting off Il Drel who was starting to look a bit pitiful, Kion-hyung's expression softened a bit.

"Ah. That'll do. That's a really good idea."

Ignoring Il Drel, who was innocently rejoicing despite his muscular priest appearance, Kion-hyung pushed his hand into Kapros's hood and ruffled his hair wildly as if making a bird's nest.

"You brat. Why are you so cute? Then I'll be back as quickly as possible, so you go and come back too."

"..."

In Kapros's view, Kion-hyung calling a man of almost the same height and equally dark appearance "cute" was more impressive. He had mentioned having many younger siblings before, was that why?

Still, his hair getting tangled and pulled hurt a bit, so when Kapros frowned, Kion-hyung quickly withdrew his hand and patted his back firmly.

"See you later!"

"...You too, hyung."

Kion-hyung grinned and turned around, disappearing.

Kapros took one last look around the vast interior of the temple before going out through the door he had entered. Once outside, he was again in front of a shabby building in Bala Monyak. Standing in front of the small house that no one would imagine contained such an enormous interior, Kapros couldn't bring himself to pull the doorknob he was holding and looked back several times.

"Truly amazing..."

However, amazing as it was, he had his own path to follow. He made a mental note to check if other Skaga temples in different cities had the same structure if he got the chance to visit them, and then started walking.

The place Kapros was heading to was Edenia's house, which he had visited before with Kran to meet someone who knew how to make a potion that could withstand the sun of the Desert of Death. He thought it would be better to get it in advance since it seemed he would be crossing the desert again.

'Do I have to drink that disgusting potion again...'

A sigh escaped involuntarily. Although Kapros was someone who ate everything without being picky about food, he really couldn't stand the taste of that potion. As Kran had evaluated after tasting it back then, it had such a terrible scent and aftertaste that it could only be described as "toilet flavor." The thought of having to drink it again made him feel like the strength was leaving his steps.

Still, encouraging himself that it might be better this time when he tried it, Kapros was just about to enter the street where people were starting to become more numerous when it happened.

Among the many users constantly moving about, someone's appearance suddenly caught his eye. A man wearing a hooded cloak, with only his coldly set lips barely visible under the brim of his hat, was leaning against a wall with his arms folded, meaninglessly watching the users pass by.

He wasn't paying attention to Kapros, and he was just one of the many people passing by, but the moment Kapros saw him, he realized who he was with a shock like lightning striking.

'Why is he here...'

"Jeong Seung-jo..."

The man, not hearing his name called out softly, continued to keep his gaze elsewhere.

"Have you... ever liked someone?"

Thinking he might have misheard, Kapros asked again, but Min-hoo's expression remained dark.

"Yeah. A person."

"What do you mean... by that?"

"Romance. I'm asking if you've ever liked someone in a romantic sense."

Romance... romantic... Kapros felt his facial muscles involuntarily stiffen at these unexpected words.

If the question meant whether he had ever liked someone, he hadn't had such an experience yet. He had only received confessions a few times when he was young, but kendo had been everything to him before, so romance and such weren't even in his mind.

Of course, since the incident three years ago, he had been reluctant to even meet close friends, so he naturally hadn't thought about dating anyone.

"No. ...Why?"

When Kapros asked back as if in defiance, Min-hoo slowly nodded without changing his expression.

"You know what? When people start to like someone 'in that way,' most normal people tend to worry about and be curious about the other person to a degree that might seem excessive. Sometimes to the point where others who aren't involved might wonder if there's something wrong with their head."

"People do that even when they don't like someone romantically."

"You know, my oldest sister has a boyfriend they're crazy about. If he accidentally coughs once during a phone call, she'll go into a frenzy preparing all sorts of foods good for colds, thinking he might have caught one. She pays extremely close attention, not missing even a single change in his mood or a casually dropped word. To us uninvolved outsiders, doesn't it make you wonder why she's acting like that?"