Today, work concluded earlier than usual.
“Ughhh!”
The biting winter air assailed my cheeks repeatedly as I stretched.
“Ugh, it’s freezing.”
I needed to quickly grab some beer and head home.
The street was a blur of rapidly moving cars.
Passing by the vibrantly lit signs of various restaurants, I stepped into a convenience store and selected some beer and snacks.
“Thank you~”
After receiving the convenience store clerk’s emotionless thanks, I emerged outside, where the full moon invariably shimmered before my eyes.
“…Are you doing well?”
Three years prior, on the day my younger sibling died, a bright full moon had similarly hung in the sky.
“You brat, you said you’d come visit.”
My sibling had wanted to become a bird, but it seemed God had not granted that wish.
-Hiss!
“Ack.”
I had been so lost in emotion that I’d popped open the beer.
Yet, the foam overflowed, spilling all over my hand.
“What a waste.”
Taking a swig of beer and shaking my hand clean, I resumed my walk toward home.
Even on my way home, the moon brightly illuminated my path.
****
“I’m home~”
Inside the empty house.
Only my solitary voice echoed mournfully within its walls.
Only the brightly smiling faces of my family in the photograph hung by the front door offered me any welcome.
“Everyone, what was the rush?”
I had even tried resenting the family members who had left before me.
However, doing so only deepened the wounds in my heart.
As the harsh reality remained unchanged, I quickly gave up.
I was now thirty-four years old.
‘Mino always told me to meet a good man and get married…’
Though a little late, I was getting married next month.
My fiancé, the same man who had come to comfort me at the funeral three years ago.
“Mino, can you see? Noona is doing well.”
On lonely days, I would find myself muttering such things without realizing it.
This was especially true when I had been drinking.
“Noona’s getting married?”
“When you get married, aren’t you supposed to be a white dove? You can come to my wedding, right?”
Of course, speaking to myself didn’t bring a reply from my sibling who had passed on.
“…I really hope you’ll come.”
Yet, if I didn’t even do that, I lacked the confidence to face reality.
-Ding!
“Ah, it’s Seungho. Hehe.”
A text message had arrived from my boyfriend.
Instead of replying to the text, I simply called him.
“Hello~”
–Hello there~~~
“Really?”
–Yeah, really.
“Hehe.”
I, who had lost my entire family, was now attempting to create a new one.
–Have you been drinking?
“Yeah, work finished early, and the full moon is out tonight.”
–You always drink when the full moon is out.
“Well, it makes me think of my sibling…”
–I wish I could drink with you.
“No, you’re tired too.”
–Yeah, I am tired. My stamina definitely seems to have dropped. We’re in our mid-thirties, after all.
“Don’t talk about sad things! We’re still in our prime.”
As I said that, laughter echoed from the other end of the phone.
–Right, of course.
“Yeah~ Hehe.”
–Don’t drink too much and get some sleep~
“Mhm, okay, I love you~”
–I love you too~~
-Click.
The call disconnected.
Once again, the house was enveloped in quietude.
“…Should I sleep?”
I pushed the remaining beer into the refrigerator.
Then, as if possessed, I walked towards the veranda.
I could feel my slip-style nightgown fluttering in the breeze.
A colossal full moon.
The enormous full moon seemed to smile down at me.
“It’s a relief to know you seem to be doing well over there.”
“Again, if we were to meet again.”
“I would treat you even better then.”
I began to murmur incomprehensible words to myself.
“In the next life, if such a thing exists.”
‘Then what?’
“I want to be your Noona again.”
‘…What is that?’
“Even if we’re not family, I’ll come to meet Mino.”
‘…Alright.’
Having said that much, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
The full moon continued to shine brightly.
****
“What am I even saying to myself?”
Even I found myself incredulous.
Perhaps it was due to being so busy lately.
The brief moment of respite seemed to have made me overly sentimental.
“Ugh, when I’m like this, I should just rest. Let’s just sleep, Yuri!”
The moment I pushed myself up from leaning against the veranda railing.
-THUD!!
With a loud noise, screws came loose, and the fence in front of me collapsed.
“Huh?!”
Simultaneously, my alcohol-laden body lost its balance and pitched forward.
“Aaaahhhh!!!”
I thought I was certainly going to die, unable to move.
-FLASH!!
“?!”
A magic circle suddenly appeared before me as I fell.
By the time I regained my senses.
“O Hero!”
“Ah, O Savior!”
“Please, deliver humanity from ruin!!”
A scene straight out of a video game was unfolding before my eyes.
Three unidentified old men surrounded me, shouting something, but I couldn’t quite make it out.
[The King does not permit your death!!!]
I could only stare blankly at the mysterious message.
****
The Hero was captured in a sub-dimension; the rest were all killed.
‘With this, humans won’t be able to track them, either.’
‘They must have assumed the Hero was dead and summoned another one.’
‘They will surely investigate whether the title still functions properly even if the predecessor is alive.’
“E-Elder!”
A soldier rushed up from behind.
“What is it?”
“A Hero summoning reaction!”
“Hmph, last time they hid it perfectly. Those damned bastards must be running out of magic.”
‘Why are they trembling so much over just one human being summoned?’
“Don’t fuss.”
“Yes!”
“The wounded?”
“They have all been laid down.”
“Lead the way.”
“Yes!”
Pinching my nose, I walked through piles of blood-soaked corpses.
The corpse of a dragon, its chest blasted open by magic fire, lay fallen.
Other bodies had half their torsos blown away, unable to revert from their polymorphed forms.
Such gruesome sights met my gaze.
“Wait. I should at least pray for their repose.”
After a brief moment of silent prayer, I proceeded towards where the wounded soldiers were gathered.
“Let’s finish this quickly and go. I’m tired.”
“Y-Yes! Understood.”
****
Not long after the report came in, grandmothers and grandfathers sat around the circular table in the Elder Council, peering into a crystal ball.
“Report.”
As Lavender Icicle spoke, the soldier standing beyond the crystal ball began to report in a tense voice.
“Th-The situation has now concluded.”
“Although I do not know how, it appears the 10,854th Hero had already been summoned.”
“However, Anuket has already finished tidying things up.”
Upon hearing the report, the grandmothers and grandfathers finally wore satisfied expressions.
“Indeed, she handles such matters cleanly.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“As expected of the youngest.”
“What about the damage?”
Amidst the celebratory atmosphere, Lavender Icicle alone maintained her composure and inquired about the casualties.
“Out of a total of 105 individuals, 32 are wounded and 22 are deceased.”
Hearing the report, Lavender Icicle tutted her tongue and scrunched her face.
“Given the current situation where hatchlings aren’t being born, if casualties continue to mount…”
“Should we just spray aphrodisiacs?”
“…Surt.”
Baal Breeze stared at Surt Igrid with a look of genuine disdain.
At that, Surt Igrid, whose face was already red, flushed even deeper.
‘Even so, he’s a person—no, a dragon—who still possesses a sense of shame.’
‘I feel like teasing him a little.’
“What’s an aphrodisiac?”
I deliberately mispronounced the word.
‘Come on, get flustered now.’
“Uh, uh?!”
“P-Princess? It’s nothing at all~~”
“Surt!”
Everyone was flustered, trying to come up with an excuse to tell me.
‘Hoo-hoo.’
‘Just watching them makes me laugh involuntarily.’
‘But I must hold back; I absolutely cannot forget the fact that I am a newborn armed with innocence.’
Just as I was striving to maintain my poker face.
Flashy Grandpa, who had been the only one with his head bowed in thought, finally spoke.
“So, that’s what you’re curious about.”
“A child’s curiosity is a very good thing.”
At his words, the gazes of the other grandfathers and grandmothers converged on him.
“Therefore, it would be foolish to suppress that curiosity, wouldn’t it?”
‘Huh, what is this grandfather talking about right now?’
“F-Flashy, surely not? No, right? Huh?”
“…Seriously?”
“Why is everyone like this today…”
The grandfather pulled an empty water bottle from his pocket.
“Now, then, I shall show you; from the manufacturing process to its effects.”
“Lavender, I’ll need a little help.”
“???”
“Grandpa?”
“What kind of crazy talk is that?!”
“The child is curious, isn’t she?”
Upon hearing that, the grandmother, genuinely enraged, began to unleash her magic.
“You, stop it.”
“Even if I die, I will satisfy my granddaughter’s curiosity!”
‘Grandpa… what on earth is driving you to such lengths?’
‘…Is it me?’
“Behold!! The recipe for the ultimate potion!!!”
“You crazy bastard!!!!!!”
The grandmother conjured icicles from her hands, while the grandfather pulled out some strange herbs (?) from his robes and began to combine them.
‘This, something’s not right here?’
“The solution to low birth rates!!!!”
“Get lost!!!!”
The Elder’s Chamber was on the verge of being utterly destroyed.
“Are you two crazy, Elder Brother, Elder Sister?!”
“You crazy old hag and geezer!!! We’re going to die!!!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Surt Igrid and Baal Breeze began to shout.
‘Th-This is a bit dangerous.’
‘This isn’t what I wanted!’
The desired outcome:
‘Mom, Dad! How are babies made?’
‘A-Ahaha~ You tell her.’
‘W-What?!’
The actual outcome:
‘Mom, Dad! How are babies made?’
‘Honey, let’s get a divorce.’
‘That’s what I wanted.’
Clearly, something had gone terribly wrong.
‘W-What should I do about this?’
Before my eyes, a battle of epic proportions, akin to Naruto (TL Note: A popular Japanese manga and anime series featuring powerful ninja battles) and Sasuke (TL Note: A prominent character from the Naruto series, known for his rivalry with Naruto), was about to erupt.
“S-Stop it!!”
“I-I’m scared!!”
I cried out without realizing it.
“Oh dear~ Our Princess!!”
“Ahem.”
The fight between the two was easily quelled.
-Sniffle.
-Drip.
“Eh?”
And tears were streaming from my eyes.
“?!”
“?!”
“?!”
“…?”
The grandfathers and grandmothers, as an added bonus, were thrown into a state of emergency.
