CHAPTER 164. This Is What You Call Heoheo-Silsil
“Then I’ll leave you to enjoy your time.”
Thud.
Once Ransi, who had brought the two of them, withdrew, silence fell over the room.
“……”
Meanwhile, I stared straight at Chenbi.
Brilliant morning sunlight poured into the room, making the smooth marble floor shine.
The summer smell of grass brushed the tip of my nose, birdsong echoed in my ears like lyrics to a song, and a thought struck me.
‘If he’s crazy… he’s really gone off the deep end.’
“Aster, I brought this to show you too. Look, this is yellow earth I scooped from the back mountain of Brando, and out of all the dirt I’ve tasted, this one’s…”
As if he were laying out treasured jewels, he took out one flask after another filled with dirt from his coat. There was no way this was normal.
And it wasn’t just his actions.
Look at his face.
His pupils were half unfocused, the corners of his lips curled up unnaturally. His expression was as stiff and awkward as a wax doll’s.
And yet, somehow—
My instincts were telling me:
‘Chenbi… isn’t actually crazy.’
Not only that.
My eyes sharpened and tracked over to Demian.
“Friend, over the break I learned how the Empire’s political climate drives society insane. I also learned what sort of strange sheep the great houses chase and what sort of nutrition they give society. So now I’m the horn of that nutrition that grows out…”
He was spouting what sounded like dignified, intellectual nonsense, but listening carefully, not a single word was right.
“The Empire’s political climate drives society insane?”
He had to mean “influences society.”
“And what? Great houses chase strange sheep?”
What noble house was chasing sheep—crazy sheep, at that.
He must have meant “ideals.”
“And nutrition… not that animal that looks like a sheep. Obviously he means influence.”
Even so, there was a positive point.
His vocabulary had grown.
“Political climate,” “society.”
Words that weren’t easy for a twelve-year-old to use… well, now that I think about it, that was only two words.
Anyway, I turned my eyes back to Chenbi.
Sure enough, Chenbi wasn’t—
“Here, look, Aster. This dirt is pretty salty. If you smear it on your hand like this and lick it…”
No, maybe he was crazy.
Seriously, he dipped his fingers in the stuff and licked it like it was delicious.
People say the craziest kind of crazy is the one that eats dirt, and Chenbi was doing that very thing.
Maybe that was why—
Brrr—
My fist trembled.
And I did not turn a deaf ear to that cry.
What does it mean that I didn’t turn a deaf ear here?
It means I swung my fist at Chenbi.
“And this one… oof!”
I planted one straight into Chenbi’s mouth so he couldn’t shovel any more dirt in, then comforted him with a aching heart.
“Chenbi, just hold on. I’ll get you back soon.”
“A-Ast… that’s not…”
Chenbi toppled backward, clutching his face, trying to say something, but I didn’t listen.
‘The one in front of me right now isn’t Chenbi.’
It was a madman wearing Chenbi’s skin.
So how do you drive out a madman?
“Old folks say clubs are the cure for mad dogs. The words ‘dog’ and ‘person’ only differ by one stroke, so I’ll just hit twice as much.”
“Aster, what are you even…!”
“Shut it! Get out of Chenbi’s body, you lunatic!”
I poured out my indignation in the form of fists.
The madman flailed, trying to escape my reach, but there was no chance. My fist had never once missed its marked target.
“Don’t worry, Chenbi. As the second-greatest rehabilitation expert on the continent, I’ll bring you back.”
Thus began the beating.
The New—Prototype Demian came over to the side right then.
“Chenbi, don’t worry! I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll help get you back too!”
Demian stretched both hands out to heal Chenbi. And maybe his level really had risen? His already astounding recovery skill was now even more astounding. Honestly, I didn’t know a stronger word than “astounding,” so I just added “even.”
Either way, I nodded as I watched him.
“Demian, healing successful.”
All that remained was Chenbi.
“Hang in there, Chenbi. You can overcome this.”
“Urk! Urgh! Ast… Aster…”
“Chenbi! Stay strong!”
For quite some time, the room echoed with the cries of Chenbi… no, of the madman.
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I felt refreshed.
“Really, that was cathartic.”
Everything was perfect.
The weather was fantastic, Demian was back to normal, and Chenbi had made it through a painful time admirably.
In conclusion, Chenbi’s treatment had been a great success.
But maybe it was a side effect of the treatment?
“……”
Chenbi was glaring at me with a pair of sharp, well-honed eyes I’d never seen on him before.
Had the madman not yet left his body? I tightened my fist, worried, and right then Chenbi’s voice cut in, cold as ice.
“Stop it. I’ve taken enough.”
“He’s right, Chenbi took a lot of hits.”
“Demian, you’re more trash than he is.”
“Recyclable trash?”
“……”
Chenbi gave up on Demian with a single weary look.
Honestly, I already knew.
‘Chenbi’s not crazy, and Demian hasn’t changed at all.’
I realized as soon as he started eating dirt.
Why?
Because a faint scent of chocolate was tickling my nose.
However he’d made it, the texture looked exactly like dirt, but he couldn’t do anything about the smell.
‘They must’ve been trying to play some prank since it’s been a while…’
To be honest, I still didn’t really understand what part of this was supposed to be funny.
Ah, so this is what it means to “play with kids.”
For a moment, I felt a bit… grown up. Not in a smug way.
I was a regressor.
‘I am an adult.’
Anyway, after that sort-of reunion and roughhousing, my gaze naturally turned to Demian.
“Friend, I don’t like being the one getting hit.”
“Demian, you’re not recyclable.”
“Ah, really? Then I get burned? Or not?”
“We’ll have to watch a bit longer to see.”
“Then keep a close eye and let me know.”
…What kind of out-of-this-world dialogue was this.
Anyway, looking at Demian, another thought came.
‘Come to think of it, Demian still hasn’t tasted justice y—No, that’s not it.’
What on earth had happened in these few short weeks?
I’d felt it earlier too, but Demian’s presence had changed so drastically he was almost a different person.
And it wasn’t just Demian.
‘…Same goes for Chenbi.’
It was just overshadowed by Demian’s dramatic shift, but compared to before, Chenbi had grown so much he was almost unrecognizable.
The break had only been, what, two weeks?
What kind of miracle had they pulled off?
Curious, I looked back and forth between the two, and that was when Demian turned his gaze on me.
But for some reason—
“Friend, you haven’t changed much.”
“……”
What was that? I could feel the superiority in his eyes.
More importantly, I’d completely hidden my aura—how was Demian picking up on that?
Sure, back when we first entered the academy, my level was a lot lower, so maybe he could’ve made some rough assessment…
But this wasn’t that.
That question only lasted a moment.
I realized quickly.
‘This bastard… he’s talking about height.’
He glanced at the top of my head, gauging it by eye.
Demian’s voice followed right after.
“Ransi told me.”
“Hmm, and what did Ransi say?”
“That if you don’t grow, you’re not human. But friend, you haven’t grown at all this whole time.”
“……”
Today, I will punch the young head of Brando.
I clenched my fist.
“Pfft.”
Chenbi snorted.
I twitched my lips and turned my head, and he instantly straightened his face and said:
“I told you—he’s had enough. If you hit me again, I’ll really get mad.”
What was this sense of alienation?
Chenbi had gotten sly while I wasn’t looking. Demian had gotten cocky while I wasn’t looking. And Brando, a prestigious magic house, was shutting me out.
I can understand the sorrow of being in Lortel, a prestigious swordsmanship house. I really can…
But I never thought I’d get the same treatment in a prestigious magic house.
‘Where am I supposed to go.’
I lifted my head and asked the moon.
The sun greeted me.
Sparkle, sparkle.
If it sparkles, it’s a little star. But the pen nibs in the Lortel magic wing sparkled just as much as any star.
Ah, I suddenly felt refreshed.
I steadied my gloomy heart and smiled, and Demian asked:
“Friend, are you crazy?”
I looked at Demian and taught him about life.
“Demian, listen carefully. The crazy one isn’t me, it’s the world. If someone calls you crazy, say this.”
“That the crazy one isn’t me but the world?”
“No, in your case you actually are crazy. What I mean is—if someone asks, ‘Is Aster crazy?’ that’s what you say.”
At my words, Demian clapped like he’d just attained some great enlightenment.
Then, with a bright expression, he turned to Chenbi and asked:
“Chenbi, is this the kind of trash you can’t burn?”
“Mm… similar. But I think you’re kind of similar too—”
Demian’s face hardened instantly.
“Chenbi, don’t insult me.”
“S-sorry.”
Demian… what was with this guy.
‘He looked kinda sharp just now.’
Maybe that whole act of hovering somewhere between beast and man was actually a high-level smokescreen.
If it wasn’t that, then…
Just as that thought got that far—
Demian smiled brightly and looked at me.
“Right, friend. Did you know?”
“Know what.”
“It’s my birthday today.”
“…And?”
Demian’s eyes sparkled.
Looking into those eyes, I felt something familiar.
No—more precisely, in the reflection of myself in Demian’s pupils, I saw something I recognized.
My scum hyung who’d given me a token of sincerity.
His figure overlapped with the image of me in Demian’s eyes.
And this bad premonition—
“On birthdays, you’re supposed to give presents.”
—was never wrong.
But who was I?
The Eastern Continent’s top authority on evasive maneuvers.
I relaxed, took my time sipping my tea, and smiled.
“You’re right. On birthdays, you have to give presents. So, what did you prepare?”
“…Prepare?”
“It’s your birthday, isn’t it? And on birthdays, you give presents.”
“Right, that’s… true?”
“Then shouldn’t the birthday boy be the one giving presents? Think about it. Why do they hold a banquet at your house when it’s your birthday? You didn’t know that was all part of the same thing?”
“That’s… what it was?”
“Yup, that’s what it is. So what are you going to give me?”
Demian’s pupils trembled.
I smiled with victory.
‘How’s that, you little punk!’
If you were truly sharp, you’d pick out the logical holes in what I just said and argue back.
But you can’t.
If you’re not sharp, you literally can’t. And even if you are sharp, as long as you don’t take off that mask…
“Chenbi, did you see that?”
“Yeah, I saw.”
“This is what they called bullshit.”
…Damn it.
Either way, I was sure of one thing.
‘He’s trickier than I thought.’
I wouldn’t be able to tease him as freely as before. The New—Prototype Demian wasn’t just an empty slogan.
Anyway, I nursed my bruised pride from the unexpected loss.
And Demian circled back to the topic.
“So, the present?”
This, I hadn’t seen coming.
I was pretty sure Ransi had said Demian didn’t care that much about his birthday…
“Did you not prepare anything? I didn’t say anything, but I thought Ransi would’ve mentioned it…”
Yeah, you’re right.
I hadn’t prepared anything.
But—
“Present… of course I’ve got one.”
“You do?”
“Obviously.”
In a present, the most important thing is the heart.
In other words, for a materially well-off Demian, a gift filled with pure sentiment was the best fit.
So what would that be?
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat.
I even wetted my lips.
“I own a Tower, you know. I’ll give you one floor.”
This was what you call heoheo-silsil—feint and reality.
A stratagem where you use emptiness to secure substance, offering a floor of the future to escape a crisis of the present. Of course, I was just slapping the phrase on.
Anyway.
If I’m the first Tower Lord, then Demian would be the first Floor Lord.
“The top floor?”
“Nope.”
Not a chance, kid.
