Chapter 50

My departed seniors said, never trust a monster.

‘They’re not wrong.’

Cha Ara was someone who acknowledged the deep-seated mistrust of monsters embedded in the Hunter world.

In fact, even the word ‘mistrust’ was a bit strange, since no one would trust a wild boar that came down from the mountains, would they?

‘Believing them is foolish.’

Before even considering a relationship of trust or anything of the sort, the very existence of Hunters and monsters threatened each other’s right to survive.

The monsters spoken of here mainly inhabited dungeons, and in modern times, some had even settled on Earth.

What all these monsters, varying in size and preference, had in common was that they were dangerous.

‘Monsters basically harbor hostility towards Earth’s life forms.’

It didn’t matter how trivial or how powerful their abilities were.

Being unilaterally subjected to hostility from something other than a human was, in itself, enough to devastate a person’s spirit.

“…….”

In that context, Cha Ara found the current situation hard to accept.

“You should watch your step.”

“Ah, what?”

“There is a ledge right in front of you.”

“Ah….”

“Your eyes are dim.”

No, your eyes are just bright.

‘He wouldn’t understand even if I said it to a monster.’

The bird that the Black Cape called ‘Honey’ brightly lit up the world for a moment, then returned to a gentle glow and hid inside the hood of the cape.

Thanks to that, Cha Ara was following the Black Cape, guided by the light of the Anticat.

‘Is it because his true form is so dark? I can’t see him well even when he’s close. If it weren’t for the Anticat, I might not have been able to follow at all….’

In any case, I understood that ‘Seo Jio’ was being considerate of me.

‘Separate from the fact that his human imitation is a bit clumsy… that is.’

In the first place, who comes barefoot to a cold cave like this?

In truth, Jio had its own reasons for this.

The reason he sometimes walked around barefoot outside the portrait was that he lived without shoes at home.

Since he created passages and entrances by painting, the places he moved through were mainly the workshop in his cabin and Jio, having come straight to the dungeon from there, hadn’t bothered to bring shoes.

He had figured that since the ‘Water Vein of Jewels’ was dark, even if he ran into someone, they wouldn’t possibly see his feet.

“…….”

But from Cha Ara’s perspective, it felt like he was awkwardly mimicking human attire.

“Um, but, the house you mentioned….”

“We’re almost there.”

“Oh, really?”

Being treated rather kindly, Cha Ara felt a little relieved.

‘…Seeing how he answers every question, it seems he doesn’t have any ill feelings toward me.’

Ordinary monsters didn’t possess this level of intelligence, so they couldn’t be a point of comparison.

But monsters were fundamentally low on intellect, and upon seeing a person, they only wanted to see the color of their insides.

‘I heard that humanoid monsters aren’t that different either….’

Even if a monster were to show favor to a human, it was a disaster from a human’s perspective.

So, while this polite treatment was hard to understand, Cha Ara suppressed her fear and followed behind the Black Cape.

‘I was going to starve to death anyway if I stayed. It’s better to try something than to do nothing.’

Just as Cha Ara was stealing her resolve, the Black Cape, who had stopped in his tracks, opened his mouth.

He pointed to the wall.

“We are here.”

“…….”

A picture frame?

‘…It’s an empty frame with only a forest background, no people.’

If so, it could have just been called a ‘landscape painting,’ but something felt empty and Cha Ara sensed that this was not a complete work.

“…Ah.”

She soon realized it looked familiar.

“Could it be the one I saw last time….”

“Yes, it is the place where I am staying.”

“…Ah, I see.”

A picture with a person drawn in it.

I didn’t know the details, but I could tell that the Black Cape’s essence was a portrait.

‘Was he in the form of a portrait when I encountered him before?’

The Black Cape extended his hand.

“Please, enter.”

“…….”

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t scared.

‘…If I stay here, I’ll just starve to death.’

I was already sick of waiting in the pitch-black darkness, starving, for new Hunters who might or might not come.

Some might call it a foolish decision, but Cha Ara didn’t want to miss the opportunity laid before her.

“Hoo….”

With a slightly trembling hand, I grabbed onto him.

“…Ah…!”

Then, for a moment, my mind went blank.

Cha Ara felt as if her body was entering the painting.

I didn’t feel like myself, experiencing a hazy sense of floating, and after dozens, hundreds of strange sensations brushed past, she was finally able to come to her senses.

“…….”

A gentle and clear air, and reason, welcomed Cha Ara as if that brief moment of confusion had never happened.

“…….”

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes, yes.”

It had all happened in a flash.

‘…Just now, something….’

But I definitely felt a chillingly vast emptiness as I passed through the frame.

“…….”

It was fear.

Or was it loneliness?

Having never even attended school, Cha Ara, with her poor expressive skills, pondered how to describe the sensation she had felt for a moment.

To evaluate it after some time had passed, it was an eerie and bizarre sensation, as if I had been left all alone in the universe for a brief moment.

“…This place is….”

“It is the house where I am staying.”

The Black Cape said so and set down the cat he was holding in his arms, the Anticat.

“Honey, he will be your younger sibling, so take care of him.”

“Kurururuk.”

“Good boy.”

The sight of him talking to a bird made of water was like a scene out of a fairy tale.

“…….”

This space was like that too.

A dense chest of drawers filling the wall.

Paints imbued with the scents of nature, and a canvas draped over an easel carved from wood….

“…A workshop?”

But.

‘Why is it empty?’

Not a single canvas had a painting on it.

The air was gentle.

The scenery was peaceful, too.

But for some reason, seeing the one or two things that were different from the human way of life, despite being mostly similar, Cha Ara unknowingly felt a chill.

“Yes, it is my workshop.”

“This might be a rude question, but… there are no paintings.”

“I am always painting.”

“…….”

“It’s just that they are no longer paintings.”

It was a story that was so abstruse it sent a further chill down my spine.

“A completed painting leaves on its own, or… it remains like this.”

“…Wasn’t it a passageway? This, uh, was a painting?”

“It is both a passageway and a painting.”

The monster, who answered bluntly, covered the frame of the ‘Water Vein of Jewels,’ which had been Cha Ara’s entryway, with a black cloth.

Only then did Cha Ara realize that there were several such cloth-covered frames scattered around the workshop.

“…….”

“Would you like to have a look?”

“Ah, no.”

“Right, you must be hungry.”

At his words, Cha Ara blinked.

‘…Hasn’t his voice changed somehow?’

No, the voice itself was no different from a moment ago. But….

“Are you not afraid of me now?”

“…What? Ah, what?”

“I asked because you seem more relaxed than before.”

“That, uh, that, that is….”

“…….”

At Cha Ara’s stammering, the monster tilted his head but waited for her.

Reading consideration from his gesture once more, Cha Ara soon calmed herself and was able to continue speaking.

“…Yes, I think… I’m less scared… than before.”

“I am glad.”

The Black Cape’s voice was polite and gentle.

“When I go outside, people are afraid of me. I believe this is a problem that arises because I am a portrait.”

He opened the workshop door.

“The kitchen is on the first floor.”

“Kitchen….”

It was too domestic a word to hear in a monster’s lair.

Feeling a strange awkwardness, Cha Ara mustered her courage and asked.

“C-Can I go with you?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you….”

Cha Ara followed behind the monster, just as she had in the ‘Water Vein of Jewels.’

Though the atmosphere was completely different from back then.

‘…It’s very bright.’

To be precise, it would be more accurate to say it was gentle rather than bright.

This place, filled with warm air, gently loosened her hands and feet, but there was a calm, settled aspect to it that wasn’t entirely light.

“…….”

Why?

‘It looks like a fairy tale.’

A fragrant scent emanated from the wooden walls.

The stairs, despite being made of a hard material, were so soft it felt like an illusion of plushness, and the inside of the cabin, gently filled with sunlight, had a fluffy atmosphere like that of well-dried blankets.

‘And yet, strangely….’

Cha Ara thought this place felt like a tomb.

“…….”

“You may look around.”

“What?”

“It seems it will take some time to prepare the meal.”

The Black Cape’s voice as he said this had a certain aristocratic grace.

“In the meantime, it would be best for you to rest while looking around the cabin.”

“Is… that okay?”

“I will make you some fruit tea. How about you carry it with you?”

“Ah.”

Fruit tea.

‘Isn’t that incredibly expensive?’

While I hesitated, the Black Cape went into the kitchen and soon came back with a glass.

The tea, which shimmered with an exquisite color like a sunset, looked like a magic potion, and it was cool, perhaps thanks to the round ice cube inside.

“You may sit on the sofa and drink it.”

“Th-Thank you.”

Do all humanoid monsters act this human-like?

‘The word humanoid is attached to them in the first place, so in a way, it might be natural….’

Taking the glass, Cha Ara carefully sat down on the sofa.

“!”

It was incredibly plush.

‘It must be an expensive sofa.’

Thinking that, Cha Ara felt a little embarrassed when she realized that a monster was unlikely to buy furniture according to human rules.

In the first place, trying to understand the rules surrounding a monster from a human perspective was a foolish thing to do.

“…The scent is really nice….”

It looked more like a work of art than food, but it had a very soft and sweet aroma.

“…….”

I took a sip.

A gentle sweetness enveloped my mouth.

“Wow….”

Cha Ara’s pale cheeks turned faintly red.

‘…What is this, it’s incredibly delicious. Is all fruit tea like this…?’

Because sugar itself was so rare, Cha Ara had never properly had fruit tea, let alone a piece of fruit.

So for a moment, I wondered if all the fruit tea in the world was like this, but that thought was fleeting as Cha Ara, sipping the tea, realized an amazing fact.

“…….”

I’m, I’m not hungry.

‘No, I’m still hungry, but….’

The terrible feeling of starvation that had felt like my stomach was being scraped with a fork was gone.

‘What is this? Was it really a potion?’

It was, after all, fruit tea from a dungeon where a humanoid monster lived.

Perhaps I shouldn’t compare it to ordinary human fruit tea.

As Cha Ara pieced together the situation, she pressed her lips together firmly.

“…Mmm….”

Strangely, I felt good.

It wasn’t to the point of grinning, but my stomach felt ticklish, and I could tell that I had relaxed.

I felt the stress I’d received from work recently and the resentment towards the team members who had abandoned her subsiding a little.

“…….”

I finished the fruit tea quickly.

‘…My body feels so light.’

Perhaps the tea had a special effect, as what little injuries and fatigue I had were washed away.

As my tension also eased, Cha Ara was able to look around with a bit more leisure.

“The ceiling is really high.”

I didn’t realize it when I was so tense, but now that I think about it, coming down the stairs seemed to take quite a while.

It was only a two-story building, but its scale was enormous.

‘And yet, the reason it doesn’t feel like the rich houses I’ve seen in dramas is maybe because this place is also a kind of dungeon. Since a monster lives here, if this is a dungeon, then it must be one….’

Cha Ara blinked her eyes slowly.

The sound of clattering, and the slow breeze unique to spring.

The chirping of a bird coming from beyond the window was as resonant and clear as the vibration of a round bead.

“I’m a little sleepy….”

I keep thinking about it, but it really was like a fairy tale.

“…….”

And.

It resembled a funeral.

“…Is it because it’s so quiet.”

It was different from sadness or sorrow.

It didn’t resemble someone’s bitter cry.

Nor did it resemble a visitor mourning calmly.

It just felt as full and heavy as the many white chrysanthemums placed silently before a deceased person’s photograph.

“Hmm….”

It was an air that was hard to describe.

‘It’s not uncomfortable.’

It was just peaceful.

So much so that it could be considered suffocating.

“Ms. Cha Ara.”

“…….”

“Ms. Cha Ara.”

“Aah, yes, yes…!! Hunter Cha Ara, present!!”

“I am aware, so you do not need to be so tense.”

The monster that came out of the kitchen had, at some point, taken off his cape.

“…….”

“Is there a problem with your mobility?”

“Ah, no.”

Wow.

‘Crazy.’

A person can look like that.

‘Ah, no, he’s a monster, so I shouldn’t call him a person… but still, he’s really handsome.’

Why is something that should be in a museum preparing a meal in a cabin like this.

He was so handsome that it created a sense of distance.

In many ways, he didn’t seem human.

Unaware of Cha Ara’s thoughts, the monster spoke with his characteristic blunt expression and voice.

“I have prepared a light meal, I was wondering how you would find it.”

“Ah, thank you.”

And Cha Ara came to witness an unexpected sight.

“…….”

“Do you like rice?”

“I’d eat it if I had it. I mean, I would, but….”

“Are there any side dishes you dislike?”

“I’m in no position to be picky when I’m being fed. But, no. That….”

“Is there a problem?”

“…Were you Korean?”

What is this seven-dish meal?

“I introduced myself as Seo Jio. Does that not sound like a Korean name?”

“Ah, I see.”

I was scared to death, so I had no time to think about whether the name was Korean or not and I never expected that this noble, neat, and somber face would prepare such a warm meal.

‘So that’s why he was Seo Jio.’

This was also the first time I learned that the reason for his three-syllable name was to adopt a Korean feel.

Although the table was lined with pristine white rice and various side dishes that she couldn’t usually eat, Cha Ara felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘…Why do I feel the spirit of my late grandmother?’

Cha Ara’s mood became a little strange.

Considering the noble atmosphere of the humanoid monster named Seo Jio, it should have been unfitting, but it looked so natural that she felt an even stronger sense of incongruity.

“…….”

Cha Ara suddenly realized one of her emotions.

“Please eat comfortably.”

“…Yes.”

It was a very faint, and perhaps quite a foreign feeling in this peaceful atmosphere.

It was a kind of ‘awe.’

“Thank you.”

The kind of emotion one could feel towards a non-human entity.

‘…It’s a bit of a funny thing to say after receiving such a friendly meal….’

Cha Ara suddenly lifted her head and looked into Seo Jio’s eyes.

She saw ordinary black eyes.

“…….”

“Is there a problem?”

“…No.”

Right now, they seemed quite human.

“I will eat well.”

In other words, it meant that he never felt human at all.

Since it wasn’t fear, I could only call it awe.

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