Chapter 180. Ku-meok-to 1
At Demian’s sudden drop in temperature, a chilly air settled over the spacious drawing room. He wasn’t giving off any special pressure, but the cold gleam in his odd eyes had the power to freeze the atmosphere solid.
And so, as the silence dragged on—
I watched the situation with my breath held, quiet as a goblin caught up in an ogre fight.
“This is… really not good.”
Demian’s icy gaze was anything but pleasant, and as if in response, Senior Mycelln’s eyes were also gradually losing their warmth.
At this rate, forget adventure and rescue—someone’s feelings were going to get hurt first.
Around this point, I felt Senior Mycelln’s greatness on a spiritual level. The fact that he wasn’t grabbing Demian and beating him senseless meant he had to be a man of considerable character.
“Yeah. At this point, that’s a real gentleman.”
If it were me, I’d have beaten him.
“Who the hell is he, acting disrespectful.”
In front of an adult, what—“Are you afraid of the responsibility you’ll have to take on because of me?”
Fine, I’ll let the casual speech slide a hundred times over, but that crossed a line. Senior Mycelln was, huh? saying all that because he was worried about you.
Crunch, crunch.
“……”
“……”
As the attention suddenly piled onto me, I quietly shoveled the cookie I’d been chewing so pleasantly into my mouth. It’s fine. I can just melt it with my tongue.
Anyway, what mattered here was Senior Mycelln’s response.
“Blue corner Demian, red corner Mycelln.”
How would the red corner answer the blue corner’s opening strike?
Unexpectedly, Senior Mycelln’s response was more refined—and more adult.
“You said you understood? What did you understand? Since you call me ‘Teacher,’ I’ll think of you as a disciple and ask comfortably. So… what did you understand?”
“That it’s dangerous. And that it might be hard.”
“Is that all?”
“What else do you need?”
Okay. The moment this conversation ends, Demian goes into special mental education.
Normally I could find it cute, but in a serious situation like this, talking down like that was something that would get you cursed out anywhere.
Anyway, as I made that vow to educate Demian, Senior Mycelln answered calmly.
“If you die, that’s none of my business.”
That was harsh.
But the next part was harsher.
“But if you die, do you think it’ll end with just you? What sin did the people supporting you commit? You can say you paid the price for your own delinquency, but they’ll suffer greatly because of your reckless action.”
“……”
Was he speechless?
Demian just stared at Senior Mycelln without replying.
Senior Mycelln leaned forward, straightening his posture. Then he spoke again.
“From the look of it, you seem fairly close with that servant named Ransi. And it looks like the household staff follow you well. But have you ever thought about this? That the people who treated you with goodwill could end up in serious trouble because of you.”
“……”
“To you, it’s just a light bit of acting out. But to them, it’s their life. Their livelihood—or it could even be a matter of life and death.”
Wow. Every word is right.
Yes. This is it.
They say a stone tossed as a joke can kill a frog—maybe to Demian it’s just a prank, but to others it might not be.
In fact, if you look at it with a slightly strict, solemn, serious perspective, even Demian’s previous “running away to the Black and White Zone” incident must have been pretty distressing from the lower servants’ point of view.
In other words, Senior Mycelln was teaching Demian about the responsibility an upper person ought to have.
“Not as an individual, but as the Young Lord of a family.”
Now the point of interest was Demian’s counterattack.
How would Demian respond?
“Will he throw a tantrum? Dig in his heels? Or just argue without logic?”
Either way, the situation would turn into a total mess—meaning the cookies would only get tastier.
But why was it that—
“…?”
At Demian’s next words, I couldn’t help tilting my head.
“What is it? Why…”
“I didn’t think that far.”
Just a moment ago, he wore that cold, detached face like someone who’d seen through the world, and now he was saying, with a downcast expression, that he hadn’t considered that far.
I wasn’t the only one dumbfounded by that response.
“Uh, um. You… you hadn’t thought… um. You hadn’t thought of it?”
“It overlaps with what Mom says. But sometimes I forget.”
“R-right. That’s… something you could forget.”
“Teacher, you really are a true teacher?”
At some point, even his form of address had changed from “Teacher” to “Master.”
At that sudden temperature swing, both Senior Mycelln and I were flustered, and a thought slipped into my mind.
“Is this pure evil?”
A flow I, a purely good person, could not understand at all.
Demian put on a refreshed expression as if he’d attained enlightenment, and I stayed silent—then Senior Mycelln spoke right at that moment.
“Then… are you giving up?”
“No.”
…So it’s not that, either?
Was the conversation about to loop back and return to the starting point again? As I sat there bewildered, Demian snapped his fingers.
What is he doing?
“……”
“……”
While both Senior Mycelln and I watched in silence, Demian tilted his head, went “Ah,” and rose from his seat.
Then he immediately leaned his head out the door and called for Ransi.
“Raaaaan-siiii!”
Demian’s voice boomed powerfully through the manor.
He summoned Ransi with a crude but reliable method, then looked at Senior Mycelln and smiled with innocent brightness.
“I learned another thing. Now I’m New—Prototype Demian Version 2. So if we solve just this part, it’s okay for me to go with you, right?”
Soon, Ransi arrived.
Demian looked at Ransi—whose expression was as blunt as always—and opened his mouth as if making the most natural request in the world.
“Ransi.”
“Yes, Young Master Demian.”
That single line startled me.
“Straight to it…?”
But the one who was probably more startled than me was Senior Mycelln.
[Is… is this really the right move?]
He wanted an opinion from someone riding the same boat, but I chose to take a step back from that voice.
[Huh? Don’t know, sir?]
[…?]
I didn’t hear that.
Right now, even if I hear it, I didn’t hear it, and even if I see it, I didn’t see it.
I am Cookie-Eating Totem 1.
Call me Ku-meok-to.
As a cookie-eating totem, I blended into the room’s atmosphere while driving the cookies on the table to extinction.
It was, in every sense, a complete disaster.
“Ahem. Ahem, ahem. Y-young Lord?”
“From now on, call me Demian, Master.”
“No, why would I be your mas—”
“You gave me enlightenment. No, you gave it to me?”
“Ghn…”
Just a moment ago, Senior Mycelln had shown the demeanor of a true master, but the moment the word “Gamo” appeared, he shrank like a shady con man who’d been caught by the parents while trying to lure a snot-nosed child.
On the other hand, what about Ransi?
“May I listen first?”
“Nope, you can’t.”
“You could at least give me a hint.”
“Nope, no.”
As if he’d detected something as an authority on Demian, he shot a strange look.
And that wasn’t all.
“And why… me.”
That sharp gaze swung toward me, as if scolding, “What did you trick him with this time?”
So what should I do?
Right now I’m Ku-meok-to 1.
A totem is just a totem. This kind of responsibility is for humans to bear.
When I subtly flicked my eyes at Senior Mycelln, Senior Mycelln flinched and widened his eyes.
[You…!]
Ransi’s arrow moved to Senior Mycelln instead.
The result was successful.
But perhaps Ransi couldn’t bring himself to say anything directly to Senior Mycelln—he let out a deep sigh and handed Demian a communication crystal orb connected directly to Gamo.
“Here it is.”
“Thanks. Ransi, you can go.”
“No, that—”
“I clearly said go.”
“…Understood.”
At Demian’s firm tone, Ransi had no choice but to retreat.
Even up to the moment the door closed, the glare he shot at Senior Mycelln was vicious enough to make you fear it would show up in your dreams.
Creeeak—thunk.
And then, after Ransi left—
Demian asked Senior Mycelln.
“Master, please block the sound.”
“…!”
Demian… used honorific speech?!
“D-do we really need to go that far?”
“Then I’ll do it.”
Demian had grown in such a short time.
He even used honorifics.
And he blocked the sound himself.
After blocking the sound in an instant, Demian looked at Senior Mycelln again—seemingly wanting a definite answer before contacting Gamo.
“If that problem is solved, we’re going together, right?”
“No, even if that’s solved—”
“I think this is a kind of discrimination. Is it because my friend is a vagrant from the Black and White Zone, so it wouldn’t matter even if he died, that my friend can go but I can’t? If that’s what you’re thinking, I think I’ll be very disappointed in you, Master.”
“…!”
Version 2 was strong.
A more logical counterattack than ever.
Because of that, Senior Mycelln couldn’t find the right answer, and he sent me a look—asking for support.
I closed my eyes.
“Senior, I didn’t think you were that kind of person, but my heart is deeply hurt.”
“Y-you—”
“That’s right. I’m sleeping.”
And so, turned into a kite with its string cut, Senior Mycelln let out a deep sigh and looked at Demian.
“If you receive permission from your parents…”
“You can call me Demian.”
“…Demian. If you get permission from your parents, then I’ll think about it positively.”
“I don’t have a dad, though.”
“…?”
Ah. Senior Mycelln still wasn’t used to Demian’s way of speaking.
Senior Mycelln came to his senses a beat late and tried to say something, but Demian slickly wrapped the topic up.
“Anyway, okay.”
Demian deftly manipulated the communication crystal orb. Before long, a voice came from the other side.
[Ransi? What is it?]
“Mother, it’s me.”
[…Who?]
“Demian.”
[…Who are you, you bastard.]
Was Demian’s honorific speech such a shock to Gamo that she couldn’t believe the caller was Demian? She clearly didn’t.
Still, it didn’t take long for her to accept it—because Demian adjusted the crystal orb into a video call.
[Dem…ian.]
“Yes, Mother. It’s me.”
[But what is it? You didn’t contact me just because you suddenly wanted to hear my voice.]
Another point of interest.
What would Demian say?
Crunch, crunch.
[Who is beside you?]
“My friend.”
Oops. Was that too loud?
But it couldn’t be helped. I’m Ku-meok-to 1 who woke up mid-nap—an unfortunate creature whose reason for existence disappears the moment I stop eating cookies.
Anyway, as I inhaled cookies to preserve my existence, both Senior Mycelln and I stared at Demian with anxious eyes.
And then Demian opened his mouth.
But what should I say.
“Is this bastard… out of his mind?”
I was shocked.
Truly shocked.
I pride myself on not being easily surprised, but Demian right now was more of a lunatic than any madman I’d ever seen.
Demian’s first words to Gamo began like this.
“Mother, I think I might die.”
