Chapter 906. Sera (6)

It was natural for Jung Ha-Yan to hide her condition. I thought she would come to me for advice, but nothing really changed. Perhaps it was because she was still used to the old ways.

It seemed like she was still convinced that she had to be competent to receive any love.

She also thought that since she was the one who had made a big mistake, she couldn’t blame other people for it. I decided to think about this as her paying the price for growing stronger in an unusual way.

‘Thinking of it like that actually makes me feel a lot better.’

I turned while sipping my tea and saw Jung Ha-Yan looking around anxiously.

She didn’t seem all that different from her usual self, but I could tell that she was feeling dispirited. She was trying to act normal, but it was so unnatural that she looked strange.

She kept glancing over at the tent, and her facial expression was telling me that she wanted to go in. I was sure she needed time to figure out what was going on, and I was sure she could feel her mana evaporating even while sipping on her tea.

It was like Jung Ha-Yan to act like nothing was wrong despite the abnormality. I was sure she didn’t want others to find out that there was something wrong with her. Many different thoughts were popping up in her head because it happened so suddenly, but the first thing she thought of was to make sure that no one would notice it.

‘It could’ve been really bad.’

Of course, nothing bad would actually happen, but I felt kind of uncomfortable as I made many different assumptions. If we were actually in the middle of an expedition or if we ended up entering a dungeon while her magic was sealed...

I had Mind’s Eye, so I could check her condition, but her status was a wall of text that strained my eyes. If I weren't a member of the expedition, the problem would be even more serious. The party could get annihilated, or the worst-case scenario could happen.

If we were in the middle of a war, we wouldn’t make it this far.

I thought things were going pretty well, but it didn’t seem to be the case. There were things that made me worried, and I was still worried about them right now.

Jung Ha-Yan’s expression was changing continuously.

“Ha-Yan, are you okay?” I asked.

“

Huh?

W-W-What... do you mean? I-I’m fine...” Jung Ha-Yan answered.

‘She’s answering with an excuse.’

“Well, you don’t look so good... is it because of Sera?” I asked.

“N-No, it’s nothing like that.

Ah!

Come to think of it, is Sera... d-doing okay?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

‘So she does care about him.’

“He’s working with the party members, so don’t worry so much,” I replied.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“I-I’m glad,” she said.

“If there’s something you want to say, you can tell me anytime,” I told her.

“Okay... b-but there’s nothing... I want to say right now,” Jung Ha-Yan stuttered.

“Really?” I questioned.

“Yes, r-really. I-I’m the same as always. O-O-Oppa... I’m kind of... tired right now...” Jung Ha-Yan said.

“Oh yeah?

Ah

, I want to visit the Democratic Country real quick. Can you open up a warp gate...” I asked.

“I-I’m sorry... but I can’t. I’m... really tired right now... I-I think I should head in first,” Jung Ha-Yan refused.

“Okay, go ahead,” I said.

“Are you heading in already, Miss Jung Ha-Yan?” Han Sora asked.

“Y-Yeah,” Jung Ha-Yan answered.

“Is there anything you need?” Han Sora asked.

“N-No... don’t come in, Sora. I-I want to be alone... for now,” Jung Ha-Yan said.

Jung Ha-Yan looked nervous.

“What?”

“I-I don’t want you coming in either... Sora...” Jung Ha-Yan stuttered.

“

Ah...

”

Han Sora looked shocked and nervous as well, but I was sure there was a different reason behind her shock

‘She had definitely never imagined that this would happen.’

Han Sora had probably never imagined that Jung Ha-Yan would hide things from her. She thought Jung Ha-Yan would always rely on her to deal with hardships, but...

‘She must be thinking that she's mistaken...’

At one point, Han Sora desperately wanted to leave the party... but right now, she was too sad to leave. Human emotions were truly funny.

“I-I’m really sorry... I-I’m going to go rest, oppa. I’m sorry... Sora,” Jung Ha-Yan said.

“You don’t need to apologize. I can ride my griffon to the Democratic Country. Your health takes precedence over everything. Take care of yourself, Ha-Yan,” I said.

“Miss... Jung... Ha-Yan...” Han Sora muttered.

Just like that, Jung Ha-Yan entered her tent.

“At one point, you asked me to transfer you elsewhere,” I reminded Han Sora.

“W-When did I say that?” Han Sora stuttered.

“Did you not expect Ha-Yan to start hiding things from you?” I asked.

“I...”

“I think you drew that conclusion because she has low self-esteem. Isn’t it normal for humans to live while not knowing when they’ll be abandoned?” I questioned.

I had similar thoughts as well when I first met Kim Hyun-Sung.

It seemed that Ha-Yan and I had more similarities than I thought.

“It’s not that... It’s just... she doesn’t need to feel like she needs to hide things from me...” Han Sora said.

“That’s what you want, Miss Sora. Ha-Yan doesn’t think the same way. Since you learned many things from her, she probably cares more about you than me.

Ah

, let me send a message,” I told her.

[Check it for me.]

[Are you doing your job properly?]

[Don’t even think about nitpicking ridiculous things, Lee Ki-Young.]

[I checked to see if Commander Jin had done this part, oppa. It’s not bad.]

[Check thoroughly again, Noona.]

[Bastard. I told you not to be nitpicky. I already assumed that you would do that.]

[By the way, Dominions contacted me. What are you doing over there?]

[Just trivial errands related to Seraphim. There’s also an issue with Ha-Yan.

Ah

, I’m currently trying to lure the Mole Saint out. There are a lot more things to handle than I thought. Anyway, it’s going to be hard for me to focus on that place for the time being, so take care of things for me. Commander, please make sure to do your job properly.]

[Everything happened all at once... Still, I’m glad we have Commander Jin here. Don’t you agree, Oppa? We can focus on the other parts, all thanks to him. You should reward him someday.]

[Of course, but has he done something amazing that deserves a reward? All he did was take care of some chores. It’s not good to promote a rookie who just started working.]

[Say that after you’ve checked my work.]

[Talk to me after you've done something that is worthy of a reward, Commander. You're like a rookie giving advice to an expert.]

[Damn it, Lee Ki-Young. You’re getting on my nerves. If I—]

[Mr. Lee Ki-Young has left the chatroom.]

[Miss Lee Ji-Hye invited Mr. Lee Ki-Young to the chatroom.]

[Take good care of our Domi, my love.]

[Don’t worry, my other half.]

[Damn it. You’re making me sick.]

[Mr. Jin Cheong has left the chatroom.]

Ah

, I should contact Hee-Ra noona as well...

[Noonaa❤]

[What’s wrong, darling?]

[It’s kind of hard to explain, but if Cherubim contacts you, I want you to ignore him.]

[All right.]

[Just like that?]

[I thought we needed to do something like this at least once. He needs to learn how to live alone. What is he doing right now?]

[He’s crying.]

[Really? Make him cry more, and you should stop by the guild. I have things I need to discuss with you.]

‘We’re raising him to become independent.’

Cherubim entered a cave with Seraphim, and he started comforting the latter.

I immediately stopped looking at them because they weren’t important right now.

“You know what’s important right now, right? This isn’t the time to be sending messages...” Han Sora's voice echoed in my ears.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said.

“What is Miss Jung Ha-Yan doing? Are you sure she’s okay?” Han Sora asked

“Hold on. I’m worried about her as well. I just needed time to organize things since there are many things I need to handle. I’ll check out Rafael, Thro, and Domi later. Also, we have eyes in the tent. Turn it on. Ha-Yan doesn’t have access to her mana right now, so she can't sense those eyes,” I told her.

“

Oh!

Right...”

Han Sora grabbed the mirror, and I looked at it with her.

Honestly, I knew how Jung Ha-Yan was feeling without even looking at her. She was probably really anxious and was feeling the same way when she was still in the tutorial dungeon. Just as I expected, she was pacing around the tenth.

- W-What should I do? W-What... W-Why is this happening? Why...

She was evaluating her condition while talking to herself.

She raised her hands and channeled a spell quietly to no avail. There was no way she could resist the effects written on the potion that the system itself had declared. Jung Ha-Yan was currently suffering the effects of that potion.

- W-What should I do...

Hiccup

... W-What do I do...

Jung Ha-Yan was shaking, and tears would fall down her eyes every time she blinked. Her bad habits were also coming back, even though I thought that she had long abandoned those habits. She started biting her nails and scratching her head.

She was too nervous in my eyes.

- No... Please... please...

Heuk

... Please...

Hiccup...

‘I don’t really want to keep watching this.’

I was sure Han Sora felt the same way.

“

Ah...

Miss Jung Ha-Yan... what do we do? I feel bad... I feel bad for Miss Jung Ha-Yan,” Han Sora said.

“We’re doing this to fix her,” I told her.

“...”

“Still... this is worse than I imagined,” Han Sora said.

-

Heuk...

I-It’s over. It’s... all over. What should I do...

Heuk...

Move...

“...”

- Y-You stupid! Move! Why aren’t you listening to me?!

In the end, Han Sora ran out.

- Miss Jung Ha-Yan...

-

Huh?

Uh...

H-Hold on... Wait...

- Miss Jung Ha-Yan, I...

- Don’t come in... D-Don’t come in!

- I heard you crying...

- I-It’s nothing.

- Are you sure you’re okay?

- I said... it’s nothing.

- Are you really... really... okay?

- ...

- ...

- Y-Yeah...

- You don’t have to hide it from me.

- ...

- You said you would tell me everything, right?

I thought Han Sora was being a little too hasty, but I didn't think that it was a bad idea overall, as it seemed like Jung Ha-Yan felt like she was in a corner. She needed someone to rely on to make it easier for her to speak her mind.

‘The problem is...’

I had no idea whether she was going to open up or not.

- You said you'd tell me everything, including the bad and the good. You promised me... didn't you?

I saw Jung Ha-Yan wriggling her fingers in hesitation.