The delicate brow furrowed slightly.
It was like a line drawn across a flawless masterpiece, or like a crack appearing on a perfect sculpture.
If soone had seen it, they would have likely let out a sigh without realizing it. However, the woman's beauty was not diminished by that small flaw.
In fact, the small imperfection that appeared on an otherwise perfect face made her unreal beauty seem more human.
Considering who she was, though, I'm not sure if that's a good thing.
"It's too quiet," Edel murmured.
There's a saying in Korea that "no news is good news," but Edel didn't believe in that.
Looking back on her experiences, silence was never a good sign.
Could it be considered good news if you didn't know a cockroach was digging tunnels in your house?
To Edel, dinsional beings were like cockroaches.
Horrible, sure, but dangerous enough that they had to be driven out quickly.
The only difference between them and cockroaches was that they were fiercer, more violent, and devoured with more gluttony, making them more dangerous.
"It's too quiet, it's suspicious."
These creatures, who had relentlessly tried to invade Edel's world, had suddenly gone quiet.
At first, Edel thought her plan with the Administrator was going perfectly.
However, as the days and weeks went by, and then months and years, unease slowly crept up.
Even if things were going smoothly, the creatures that had once been hamring away at doors and walls were now eerily silent. Wasn’t that suspicious?
If they were the type to give up just because walls were repaired and the house’s location was hidden, they would’ve fallen apart during their battle with Edel.
And Edel wasn’t the only one who thought this way.
The Administrator, too, had grown concerned, and recently, they had been talking about it more and more.
However, their opinions didn’t align perfectly.
Edel argued that their silence was suspicious and that they should check outside.
Since the dinsional creatures wouldn’t give a warning before attacking, an unexpected assault could happen at any ti.
No matter how well-defended you are, once the initiative is lost, you’re bound to struggle in the fight.
And the indisputable truth was that attacking was always easier than defending.
So, Edel's opinion was to take the risk and check outside.
On the other hand, the Administrator was skeptical of Edel’s viewpoint.
He understood the importance of information, of course.
But there was no guarantee that taking the risk would yield useful information, and no guarantee that the information obtained would be worth the risk.
The effort and the risk involved were imnse, and the potential gains were unclear, so it wasn’t a good strategy to take such a gamble.
There was even the risk that their own information could be exposed.
So, the Administrator suggested strengthening their defenses rather than taking any unnecessary risks.
Even if they were attacked suddenly, they should be strong enough not to be shaken.
Both sides had valid points, so they understood each other, but neither was willing to change their stance.
Whenever this happened, it was always Edel who reluctantly gave in.
Although it seed like they were equal, in truth, it was always Edel who had more to lose and was therefore in a more vulnerable position.
Sigh...
That’s why Edel sighed today, her frustration apparent.
The reason for the significant difference in their opinions, which usually reached amicable compromises, was sothing Edel vaguely understood.
"It's probably the difference between having experienced sothing and not having experienced it."
While the Administrator had heard about the horrors Silia had endured, he had not witnessed it all firsthand.
As such, his sense of urgency was naturally weaker.
That wasn’t to say he was being careless—he had still been vigilant despite not experiencing it himself, so Edel didn’t bla him.
"Anyway, I hope it’s nothing."
Edel didn’t expect that it would end with the creatures giving up just because she had been persistent.
She only hoped that when they ca, she would suffer as little as possible.
"And, we’re the sa in that we need ti."
The silence from the dinsional creatures wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Edel’s weapon, for example, wasn’t yet sharp enough to pierce through their hide and strike their heart.
She needed to make it sharper, stronger…
Once she finally reached the divine level.
"Then, we’ll be able to reclaim what we lost."
"We’ll reach Jeju..."
Thud!
"—We’ve arrived!"
As soon as she stepped out of the airport’s gate, Da-eun energetically shouted.
Her loud voice drew a lot of attention from the surrounding people.
But that was fine.
"Let’s pretend we didn’t hear anything."
"Yeah."
Yuki and I had already sensed the situation and had moved a bit away from her.
Nodding at Yuki’s words, I turned and walked away.
"Wait a minute!"
Just as we were about to head to the other exit, Da-eun quickly ran up and blocked our path.
"You’re ignoring , that’s too much...!"
"It’s you who’s being too much."
"Yeah, yeah."
Nodding along.
"I don’t want to look like I’m with soone shouting in the middle of the airport. So, please, move away."
"Yeah, yeah."
Nodding again.
"...When did you two beco so close?"
As I kept nodding along with Yuki, Da-eun puffed up her cheeks.
"No way! Kana’s my little sister... I can’t give her away!"
"Kana’s my little sister, too."
"I’m not talking about age! Kana and I are tied by an unbreakable bond, not just a simple number like age!"
"...Really?"
That’s news to .
"Does Kana not understand?"
"It’s fine. Even if Kana doesn’t know, the red string of fate connecting us won’t break."
Da-eun said this while raising her pinky.
I couldn’t help but stare at her hand and was astonished.
"When did you prepare that?"
"Hehe, when it cos to being prepared, who else could it be but ? Shindaeun!"
Da-eun grinned, and as she wiggled her pinky, a thin red string attached to it swayed in the air.
Had she prepared this in advance, or had she sohow guided the conversation to lead to this point?
Either way, it was impressive for a number of reasons.
"Have you done this reaction at every trip?"
"No? Why would I?"
"?"
Honestly, Da-eun’s job might not be as a strear, but as a hook collector.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of hooks she’d collected in her life exceeded the tens of thousands.
What does she do with all those hooks?
Hmm...
"She probably uses them to exchange for sweets."
"I’d sell them to a junkyard before I did that! You’re not Kana, there’s no way I’d do that! By the way, how do you even know about this? The old tis when you’d trade scrap for sweets?"
"I read it in a textbook."
"Textbook...?"
Technically, since I gained knowledge from it, could the internet not also be considered a textbook?
Or not.
"Speaking of sweets, I’m suddenly craving them. Oh, Kana, you’ve never had any, have you? The taste is different from chocolate, and the freshly made ones are delicious, unlike the ones sold in stores..."
Da-eun continued rambling.
Normally, I’d just let it go in one ear and out the other, but…
Unfortunately, thanks to the little ruckus Da-eun had caused earlier, the attention was still lingering on us.
"..."
"..."
We exchanged glances.
Then, as if by silent agreent, Yuki and I both nodded at the sa ti.
Without saying a word, we quietly moved away from Da-eun, leaving her to her own world.
It wasn’t even a conversation, but it was like we were perfectly synchronized.
"...Why are you running away from ?! It’s not like I did anything embarrassing!"
"So, you realized it was embarrassing?"
"Isn’t the bigger problem that you did sothing embarrassing even though you knew it was embarrassing?"
"Mm..."
That was actually a good point.
Though Yuki might be a little off in so ways, she had her monts of surprising rationality.
Sotis, she even seed more reasonable than Da-eun.
"And it’s not even that embarrassing! The hosts of travel shows used to do this all the ti!"
"But Da-eun, you’re not a host, and we’re not filming a travel show."
"...True, but there’s such a thing as mories..."
"Well, I don’t get it."
"Neither do I."
If it’s not a shared mory, I can’t really empathize.
"You don’t get it, but Yuki doesn’t either?"
Da-eun asked Yuki, who quietly shook her head.
Still, after several attempts to ask again, Da-eun looked utterly defeated.
"Is this the loneliness a ti traveler feels…? Ah, so lonely."
"Maybe you’re just a little out of touch."
"No! It was a really popular show! Well, sure, by the ti we watched it, it was kind of outdated..."
"Are we the sa age?"
"-Anyway."
I stepped in, knowing they’d start bickering if I left them alone.
"What are we going to do now?"
I was the one who originally suggested going out, but Da-eun was the one who planned the trip.
So, I asked her about the plan, only for her to respond:
"I don’t know."
Da-eun shrugged her shoulders and said that.
"...Huh?"
I blinked, completely caught off guard by the answer.
A gust of wind brushed past us.
It was truly the beginning of a smooth journey.
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