SDIV 31

Chapter 31

Once the battle ended, Arin naturally made her way over to Deneb.

Sweat beaded on Deneb’s forehead after expending a large amount of stamina and mana to cast his magic. Arin was struck with awe as she looked at his slightly damp face. Even though he was technically a villain, as one of the main characters, his looks were absolutely stunning.

Noticing her approach, Deneb curled a finger at her. Perhaps because it had been a while since their reunion, Arin didn’t feel the urge to snap that finger off for once. She let out a small chuckle.

Suddenly, Yello darted in front of Deneb and flopped onto his back.

[Boss! I missed you! Gwaaang~]

With his white belly exposed, he pounded his little fists into the air. Arin looked at his display of affection with a dispassionate stare.

“Anyone watching would think I neglected you.”

[Boss hunts for me. Loser doesn’t. Only loser doesn’t understand how big that difference is. Kkuhing.]

Yello lectured Arin while sitting in a “loaf of bread” pose. Deneb could sense a rare moment of peace.

“Quiet down.”

Though, of course, that didn’t mean his ears weren’t ringing.

Arin gently patted Yello’s behind, who looked a bit downcast at Deneb’s remark.

“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go see Ahd now.”

[Our baby!]

Yello’s eyes widened like ping-pong balls and he dashed off. Just the thought of seeing Ahd made his plump bottom wiggle with excitement.

[How have you been, my little baby?!]

Deneb’s face slightly twisted at Yello’s overly dramatic behavior.

“Still loud as ever.”

“Isn’t that his charm?”

“……”

Deneb said nothing in reply.

‘Who said silence means agreement again?’

She realized that Deneb’s silence wasn’t approval—it just meant he didn’t think it was worth responding to.

Leaving Arin, who was puffing her cheeks like a fish, Deneb stored the successfully sealed magical flask into his subspace. As the subspace closed with a pop, a sharp, intense pain shot through his chest.

Noticing the sudden interruption in Deneb’s fluid movements, Arin instantly understood something was wrong. She frantically pulled out a tonic from her system and brought it to his lips—he hadn’t had his medicine in quite a while.

Deneb took the tonic into his mouth—along with the tips of her fingers.

Startled by the soft touch on her fingertips, Arin’s eyes widened in surprise.

As he casually pulled away, Arin stood frozen, unsure of how to react. She neither retracted her finger nor let it fully relax.

As Deneb walked off, his back turned toward her, Arin suddenly felt a tightening in the back of her neck.

“Ugh, is this what it feels like when your blood pressure spikes?”

“Hey, I told you not to do things like that!”

She chased after him angrily. Deneb, as usual, responded with a straight face.

“What are you talking about? You gave me medicine, and I simply took it.”

His pace suddenly picked up. Arin kept up easily and argued right beside him.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you promise last time that you’d stop doing that? Hurry and make that promise again.”

Bickering all the way, the two arrived at Arin’s residence—the Antique Brown Estate.

As they neared the house, a high-pitched wailing could be heard. It was definitely Ahd.

Arin, empowering her legs with mana, leapt forward. She arrived to find Altair and Yello trying to console the crying child.

“What happened?”

Altair’s expression was serious as he hesitated, then asked a question that made Arin freeze in shock.

“Is he… an alchemist, by any chance? I mean Ahd…”

Earlier…

With the bug crisis mostly under control, Ahd had wandered off into the garden of the Antique Brown Estate without Altair noticing. He was enjoying the scent of flowers and playing in the dirt when the bushes began to rustle.

Without any suspicion, Ahd giggled and poked into the bush. He’d always seen Yello pop out with a game of peekaboo whenever the bushes moved. Expecting that, Ahd laughed gleefully.

Altair, who was searching the halls for Ahd, heard the laughter from outside and sighed. Since the situation wasn’t fully under control yet, he was worried. Just as he hurried to retrieve Ahd—

“Yello, are you gonna play peekaboo?”

Just as Ahd finished speaking, a black object sprang out and bit his chubby, sausage-like arm.

Altair dashed toward the child. He drew his sword to kill the small cockroach-like creature that had bitten Ahd, but he was too slow. Before he could act, Ahd activated alchemy.

Glowing blue letters formed above Ahd’s head. A vine shot out from the ground and mercilessly crushed the bug. Altair could only gape at the bizarre sight.

“What in the world…”

“Uwaaah!”

Ahd’s face turned red as a ripe persimmon. With tears pouring down, he looked utterly pitiful.

[Who dared make my baby cry?!]

Yello appeared with a thunderous roar. Seeing the crushed bug and the bite on Ahd’s arm, he grasped the situation instantly. He softened his expression and began playing peekaboo to cheer up the child.

[You squashed the bug? Good job! Well done! Peekaboo! Don’t cry now. The Loser is coming. Let’s ask them to heal you. Kyungkyung!]

“Waaahh!”

Yello tried to lick Ahd’s tear-streaked face clean, but something felt off. Ahd’s skin felt unusually hot. Tilting his head, Yello touched Ahd’s forehead with his paw.

Ahd’s temperature was rising rapidly. Altair quickly picked him up.

“He’s burning up. Is it an infection?”

The fever’s progression was too rapid for a child. Altair tried healing magic, but Ahd’s breathing only grew more erratic.

Then, shockingly, Ahd’s body temperature normalized on its own. The change was so sudden and complete that Altair realized something: Ahd wasn’t just an alchemist—something else was at play.

Alchemists always paid a price for their transmutations, or fused things to gain power. If Ahd’s temperature drop was due to alchemy, there should’ve been a cost. But Altair sensed nothing.

Once his body cooled, Ahd resumed crying loudly. Yello tried to cheer him up again, but to no avail.

Altair rocked Ahd gently in his arms, organizing his thoughts.

In the distance, Arin appeared, rushing over.

“What happened?”

How much did Arin know about the boy’s unusual powers? Altair decided to only ask about the alchemy for now, hiding the rest.

“Is he… an alchemist, by any chance? I mean Ahd…”

The four of them—and one beast—gathered in Arin’s office.

To Altair’s question, Arin explained the situation truthfully. She didn’t hide her own abilities either. She simply reframed her “system” as a common alchemy-related phenomenon in this world.

Altair nodded but was visibly conflicted inside. It seemed Arin didn’t know about Ahd’s other powers either.

“I see.”

“I’m sorry for hiding it.”

“It’s fine. Just be careful not to let anyone else find out.”

“Yes.”

“Yesh!”

Ahd mimicked Arin’s reply with a bright smile. His slightly lisped pronunciation was adorable, and Altair hugged him close.

“Who did you inherit all this cuteness from?”

“Ahaha~”

In their little world, the two of them looked so content.

Arin had expected Altair to be furious for being kept in the dark, but he let it go so easily that she felt both relieved and strangely deflated. Meanwhile, Deneb, sipping tea leisurely at the side like it was none of his business, was just annoying.

‘Que sera, sera. Whatever. Who even cares anymore.’

Relaxing her tense shoulders, Arin leaned back comfortably into the sofa.

Knock, knock. Selly entered and announced a visitor.

“Sir Lorend Vega has arrived.”

Deneb set his teacup down.

“Let him in.”

Vega entered, his armor still bearing fresh marks from battle. Bowing his head, he delivered his report.

“We’ve cleared out the remaining bugs in the territory. However, the damage to the residents is significant. It may be difficult for them to return to their homes right away.”

“Expand the temporary shelters and begin restoring the residential areas. Start returning healthy residents once cleanup is complete.”

“The plague spread further as a result of the battle.”

“Tell Ahom to distribute the disinfectant Haishan was testing, along with low-grade potions, free of charge to all citizens. Any symptomatic individuals are to be quarantined in the temporary shelters inside the construction site.”

“Yes, sir!”

“We’ll reconvene for a strategy meeting in two hours. Spread the word.”

As Deneb’s sharp commands continued, Arin wrestled with a decision.

‘Should I say something… or not…’

Eventually, she made up her mind. The moment Vega left the room to carry out his orders, she dropped a bomb on Deneb.

“I have a cure for the plague. Want it?”

Clatter. The sound of Altair slamming down his teacup echoed loudly in the now-silent room.