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Chapter 152: Chapter 152

Ju-hyeon offered to help with the meal preparation, but he was rejected.

"It would be best for you to stay here."

"But I feel so shameless just receiving meals...."

"If you wish to remain part of the human race, stay put."

"...Ah."

"Precisely."

Iseur nodded and went into the kitchen.

Aria, who gently escorted the dumbfounded Ju-hyeon to the sofa, provided a brief explanation.

"Unless the teacher prepares and cooks it himself, it would be difficult for a human to consume."

"What would happen if I were to eat ingredients not prepared and cooked by Mr. Jio...?"

"You would become one with this portrait. You wouldn’t wish for that, I presume, mister."

"Would simply preparing them also be a problem?"

"Unfortunately, you possess a very fragile body, so it seems it would be difficult."

Aria smiled faintly.

"It seems you wish to do something, so how about clearing the table?"

"...I suppose there would be no problem with me just setting the cutlery, right?"

"You need not worry, as a transformation will not occur from something so trivial."

"Thank you for the advice that will become my flesh and blood."

"Think nothing of it."

Watching Aria nod lightly and also enter the kitchen, Ju-hyeon inwardly swept his suddenly chilled chest.

Whether it was a dumbfounding coincidence or Jio’s consideration, Ju-hyeon had never eaten the raw ingredients here.

’Come to think of it, everything I drank was also in the form of tea or juice.’

It seemed to have been a very dangerous situation.

’I was careless because ingredients from dungeons are often harmless for humans to eat....’

Perhaps because it was the dungeon of the ’Black Cape,’ who was treated as a humanoid monster, Ju-hyeon had judged it by the standards of ordinary dungeons.

For him, who knew nothing of The Source and The Garden, it was a matter he was bound to be careless about.

And for good reason. In modern times, ingredients from dungeons have become a useful food source.

Thanks to their lower prices than Earth-grown products, even the average middle class favored dungeon-sourced ingredients. The same was true for Ju-hyeon.

"Hey, mister."

"Ah, yes."

"While the meal is being prepared, would you not enjoy some tea with me?"

Aria, who had come out from the kitchen, said as she held up the tea set on a tray.

"Jio made a new tea."

"A new tea, you say...."

"It’s a tea with small flowers that resemble stars."

"I have tried it before."

It was a flower that Jio had brought one day, saying, ’I tried growing it in the water birds’ nest.’ Ju-hyeon, with a pleased expression, took the tray from Aria.

"It was a tea with a strong, nutty aroma."

"The kitchen staff seemed so busy, so I just brought it."

"Is... is that alright?"

"He’s not one to get angry over someone stealing food."

"So you stole it."

Hearing the words ’stole it’ from the mouth of a humanoid monster, Ju-hyeon felt a peculiar mix of emotions.

Perhaps because she was a monster born from the race of mermaids, who were sometimes treated as a subspecies of humans, he was once again surprised that she was aware of the act of stealing.

’Not that I should show it.’

Ju-hyeon placed the tea set on the table and brewed the tea.

"I heard from Mr. Jio that it is a tea made from dried Basuram Flowers."

"The Basuram Flower is a flower that was cultivated in the world I was born in."

"So it was a famous flower tea, enough to be cultivated."

"A single flower had the value of gold equal to its volume."

"...Gold was expensive in that world too, I presume?"

Ju-hyeon asked with an awkward smile.

"Why was it so expensive?"

"Because it was too difficult to cultivate."

"How must one cultivate it?"

"These things are picky about who grows them."

"Picky about who grows them...?"

"Yes."

Aria smiled faintly.

"Only a few among the priests of the sun could grow them healthily."

"A flower that can only be cultivated by priests... that certainly sounds alluring."

"The Basuram Flower is grown underwater in the place with the strongest solar energy."

"Underwater cultivation? Right, he did say he grew it in the water birds’ nest. That’s unusual."

"Once upon a time, the Basuram Flower was in a pond in the deepest part of the Temple of the Sun...."

Aria, who had trailed off, continued a moment later.

"That’s where they grew."

"The deepest part of the Temple of the Sun?"

Ju-hyeon surmised the situation.

"What was the position of the Solar Cult at that time?"

"It was the religion that ruled the land."

"Then this Basuram Flower must have been a truly precious flower."

"It was treated as an elixir that had touched the sun."

"..."

Ju-hyeon, who was pouring the tea, paused.

"...An elixir?"

"Yes, the most prized elixir on land."

"Am I brewing tea with an elixir right now?"

"Why do you ask something so obvious?"

Aria gave a neat smile.

"Everything you’ve eaten so far has been of that sort."

"...Oh...."

Trickle.

Ju-hyeon finished pouring the tea.

"Suddenly, I feel uncomfortable drinking it."

"The teacher likely has no special intent, so it’s probably best to just drink it."

"From the standpoint of a mere human, I am scared."

"Drinking this won’t bring about a major change in your identity as a human."

"If not a major change, does a small change occur?"

"You will become a very warm person."

"...Wild ginseng?"

"Perhaps similar."

Aria took a sip of the tea Ju-hyeon had poured.

"Though the effect is likely better?"

"...The aroma really is nutty and nice...."

"It’s just like the scent of well-ripened grain, isn’t it?"

The mermaid’s lips formed a gentle arc.

"Giovanni was the one who held the warmest energy among the priests of the sun."

"..."

"The Basuram Flowers he raised had the sweetest, most gentle fragrance in the world."

"...Could this be...."

"Although in my dungeon, the Basuram Flower can no longer grow."

Aria, who had been stroking the teacup, soon continued.

"Until the flower is harvested, the Basuram Flower will wither if even a little bit of cold air gets in. Only when those closest to the sun constantly guard its side can it grow properly."

"It truly is a delicate flower."

"My human teacher was the priest who could make the Basuram Flower bloom the best. The Temple of the Sun wanted to somehow call him back and keep him confined within. Because they needed him to do their elixir business."

"That’s more... secular story than I expected."

"But Giovanni was busy spending his time going out into the world to heal and care for people. The temple must have been extremely anxious. There were many who hated him for not obeying the orders of the religious order."

"Hmm...."

Ju-hyeon, who had sipped his tea, asked.

"Were there no priests who cultivated the flowers personally?"

"Why wouldn’t there be? It’s just that most priests couldn’t do it."

"Was it that difficult to cultivate?"

"It wasn’t something that could be done simply by being full of solar energy."

"In that case...?"

"It had to be loved."

Aria looked at the small flower blossoms floating inside the transparent tea set as if they were cute.

"They only grew when truly loved and cherished."

"...That’s amazing."

Ju-hyeon nodded.

"And it takes a lot of effort."

"That’s why it was difficult to cultivate."

Soon, Aria let out a small laugh.

"Even so, there were priests who personally cultivated the Basuram Flower. They didn’t hold enough solar energy, nor could they love a mere flower submerged in water, but in the end, they managed to cultivate a little bit."

"How was that possible?"

"It’s simple, they would bring items imbued with the sun’s energy into the cultivation room. The more such items there were, the more the cultivation room would be imbued with an energy similar to that of the Temple of the Sun. Let’s see, for example, there would be the holy relics of the sun. The belongings of a saint, and so on...."

"But does that fulfill the condition of ’love’?"

At Ju-hyeon’s question, Aria put down her teacup.

"It was not fulfilled."

"Then how...?"

"That’s why another method was needed."

"What method was that?"

"To place a priest’s corpse with them."

"..."

"For that reason, the temple pond was also used as a tomb for the saints (聖人)."

Blinking, Ju-hyeon asked again.

"Pardon? A corpse in such a way...?"

"They said it produced a result similar to ’love’."

"...Why like that...?"

"It seems a devotion that offers one’s entire being as fertilizer was also considered a form of love."

Aria smiled.

"That’s why the Basuram Flower was also called the ’corpse-eating flower’."

Wouldn’t it have been much more cost-effective to use the corpses of a few priests with moderately strong solar energy than to have the highest-ranking priests full of solar energy grow them directly?

"It was an era when the corpses of Solar Cult priests were actually sold in secret."

"..."

"Of course, the quality is lower than flowers grown with genuine love."

"Uh...."

"But even the Basuram Flowers grown that way had good efficacy."

Aria continued in a nonchalant tone.

"It just means it was an elixir that was in enormous demand. It was a flower so precious that they had to use the holy relics of the sun and even the corpses of priests, and it went beyond just symbolic meaning to have great practical effects."

"...Could you tell me exactly what effects it has?"

"There’s a story that it can revive the dead, and there have been similar actual cases; it makes a person’s body that warm. The method of consumption was to dry it thoroughly in the sun, then grind it into a powder and mix it with water to drink."

"Wouldn’t that just give you burns...?"

"If it did, it wouldn’t have been treated so preciously. There are no side effects. It simply has the effect of always keeping the body warm at an ideal temperature, and as a result, one does not get sick easily."

"..."

Ju-hyeon looked down at the teacup in his hand. Then he looked at Aria again.

"Is it okay for me to drink this?"

"You won’t die."

"No, that seems to be the problem."

"Do you want to die?"

"Don’t be tempted, I. I want to die as a human."

"There was a story that it extended one’s lifespan."

"This flower?"

"Well, there was no story of making it into a flower tea like this, but...."

"Ah...."

His eyes darting around, Ju-hyeon contemplated.

"Will the effect be lesser if I drink it as a tea?"

"Do you wish for the efficacy of a flower dried by the Sun God himself to be lesser?"

"...Wait a moment."

Ju-hyeon asked.

"The Sun God?"

"Oh dear, it seems you didn’t know."

"Mr. Giovanni is...?"

"Do you see that teddy bear mister over there?"

"Oh."

He could see the teddy bear waving from inside, apparently helping with the kitchen work.

"Yes, I believe he’s his father...."

"He is the former Sun God."

"Pardon?"

"Jio inherited that divinity."

"..."

Seeing his face turn pale, Aria smiled faintly.

"Isn’t it great? Your friend is the Sun God, what could be more glorious."

"It is certainly glorious, but, no, no matter how I look at it... still, this is...."

Ju-hyeon wore a troubled expression.

"It’s far too much for me."

"Your friend? Or this tea?"

"How am I supposed to repay this...."

"You are thinking of repaying a divine gift."

"Well, it could be seen from that perspective, but."

As if embarrassed by his own thoughts, Ju-hyeon’s face flushed in distress.

"I can’t just keep receiving."

"..."

"And Mr. Jio is no ordinary god."

"...Just a little...."

Aria, her smile gone, let out something like a deep sigh.

"You resemble my foolish younger brother."

"...I do?"

"Yes, just a little."

Aria soon showed a gentle smile again.

"It would have been nice if my brother could have received the god’s mercy at a good time, just like you."

The emotions contained in those words were so complex that Ju-hyeon could not dare to understand them.

"Then he would have become a priest of peace, not a monster."

"...Do you have regrets?"

"As you probably know well, if one has regrets, one is not a monster."

"That would be so."

Those who had anything left—a dream, a lingering attachment, a daily life—could not become monsters.

Ju-hyeon knew that well.

"..."

And that was why he could foresee the end of these mermaids.

***

The dinner prepared was lamb skewers.

"Lamb skewers...."

"Do you dislike them?"

"Not really."

Ju-hyeon gave an awkward smile at the meat skewers that looked well-marinated.

"This was the meat of the Golden Sheep, wasn’t it?"

"You remember well."

Jio smiled brightly.

"It seems you enjoyed the taste of the lamb chops last time."

"Well... that’s true. It certainly was, but...."

"Is there any problem? I will adjust it for you."

"..."

Soon, Ju-hyeon gave up.

"No, it looks delicious."

"Of course, since I made it."

"Hahaha...."

I have to become independent quickly.

’I have to become independent and live a normal life with normal food.’

The time when Dana was still wary of him was his last chance.

Ju-hyeon resolved to get a house on Earth again.

It was a trauma overcome in an unexpectedly unique way.

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