Chapter 428

Well, to be honest... it's because she's beautiful.

His eyes looked lifeless, subdued by [Wordcraft], but his voice carried a brightness that seemed determined to convey his true feelings.

"Yes?"

The first reason is that, out of all the S-ranks I've seen, Esther is the most beautiful, so I even considered proposing an arranged marriage.

"Aha."

And since it eventually became obvious that I cared so much about appearances, Miss Esther got really upset and even blocked my contact information.

Interesting.

Appearance. A clichéd reason, yet one that was surprisingly easy to accept. Even among birds, many species use the beauty of their feathers as a criterion for choosing a mate; surely mammals do something similar. In nature, appearance serves as a kind of mirror, roughly reflecting an individual's health and vitality. Therefore, choosing a partner based on looks could, in a way, be considered reasonably logical.

"The only slight problem is that humans have brains far superior to those of beasts, though."

Still, personally, I had hoped that beings with intelligence comparable to Earth humans would follow some unique set of criteria, but alas, that wasn't the case.

Ah.

It was at that moment that such inconsequential grumbling surfaced in my mind.

"Hmm?"

For reference, the other person was still under the effect of [Wordcraft]. Thus, Leo still had plenty left to say and began pouring out the sincerity lingering in his heart.

But don't you think that was just too much?

"What do you mean?"

When I asked aloud, the bespectacled man continued.

Honestly, people can judge others by their appearance. Besides, I even came clean and confessed it first, but Esther treated my brave confession like trash, belittling and condemning it.

His words were interspersed with huffs and puffs, as though he were bristling with emotion.

Anyway, for a while, the way I was treated was just too harsh. So even aside from the misunderstandings about the [curse], my feelings toward that woman weren't exactly good.

For now, I could understand the feelings of that male mammal... The problem was that being empathized with by a scholar from another planet wasn't necessarily a good thing 100% of the time...

"Ahem."

Just as I was pondering what to say next, having dawdled a little, the other person spoke up sooner than I expected.

Even if the number of high-rank hunters has suddenly increased lately! S-ranks are still incredibly scarce, so is it really that offensive to suggest that two well-established families unite!

Wait a moment. Somehow, I couldn't let that part slide.

"More high-rank hunters have suddenly appeared?"

I cautiously asked him what he meant by that. Specifically, on what basis was he claiming that the number of high-rank hunters had suddenly increased?

What? You... don't even keep up with the news normally?

The foreign Awakener widened his eyes as he answered. Watching him effortlessly spill information like a search engine on a portal site, I thought that this human must have a rather weak mental constitution.

"In other words, the type who's easily affected by skills like [Curse]."

But let's put that aside for now.

Korea might not cover this kind of news from foreign media, but anyway, Esther seems to have known about it.

"The increase in Awakened people?"

Over the past year, if you roughly estimate the global statistics, the so-called advanced psychics, including C-rank and above... have appeared 9% more often than in previous years...

"Isn't a 9% increase still within the margin of error?"

It's strange because the increase occurred only among C-rank and higher advanced Awakened.

"Hmm."

Of course, there are so few S-ranks to begin with that the overall total hasn't changed much, but anyway...

Especially in Asian countries like China and Japan, the sudden increase in S-rank Awakened had drawn attention. Leo, being European, grumbled that with so many new options entering the marriage market, Esther might have casually rejected him. However, I didn't focus on his rare confession and instead continued along my own line of thought.

"Certainly... it doesn't feel like a natural increase in mutations caused by the ecosystem."

A series of phenomena that somehow felt unnatural. Later, I'd have to check some papers written by Earthlings, but if these statistics were true, their implications were quite significant.

"It can't be."

It might be an issue I'd have to deal with someday. But for now, I'd set aside any speculation about artificial awakenings. After all, what could a penniless mage—who didn't even own a single golem—possibly do about it?

"My priorities are a bit different."

I didn't bother commenting on that topic. But because I remained silent, the poor Earthling—still under the influence of [Wordcraft]—took it upon himself to break the awkward silence.

Oh, right!

What Leo brought up next was, once again, a topic concerning Esther.

By the way, where were we...? The topic got a bit sidetracked, but your question was...

"Why did you want to start a family with that woman?"

"I see. Yes, that's right. That was it."

However, the sentence that followed immediately...

My primary reason was her appearance, as I mentioned earlier.

So far, that was easy enough to listen to.

Then, I suppose I should reveal the second and third reasons. Honestly, I was even more interested because that Awakener is Korean.

There really wasn't any problem. At least, not up to this point.

Even if she's an S-rank, she seemed like the type who wouldn't be too proud to listen to what I say.

"Huh?"

The dog-meat-eating culture is a bit hard for me to tolerate, but still, don't Koreans—men or women alike—have kind of a gentle image?

But the moment that last sentence left his mouth, my body moved on reflex.

Crack!

I grabbed Leo by the head and slammed him down onto the artificial marble sink, the faucet still running.

"Gasp!"

Damn it, I'd promised myself not to cause any trouble at the event, but the spirit sleeping in my right tendril just had to act on its own...

"There's only one soul in this body, which means... I did that of my own will."

Crash.

The solid marble sink shattered into dust.

"He actually dared to spout racism—even aliens know better than that. I didn't even realize I'd moved until it was too late."

In truth, it was only because I'd lost my hunting license. An attack from someone who had never once revealed his true power—and for someone rumored to have grown weaker to fling him down like a rag doll... the poor man froze, his breath catching as his eyes widened in dazed disbelief.

".........?"

That probably broke the influence of the Wordcraft spell completely. Still, just as I'd been insisting since this morning, we couldn't afford to add another ex-convict to the roster of Korea's S-class hunters.

Tuk.

I placed a hand on the kneeling man's shoulder. Then, casting a genuine [Mind Control] spell that perfectly compensated for the flaws of Wordcraft, I spoke in a calm, steady voice.

"You're the one who broke this."

I still hadn't regained my hunting license—and if I ended up as a criminal on top of that, finding another job would be a nightmare.

"We'll say you broke it in a fit of anger. Make sure to tell the officials that you suddenly felt ashamed for having misunderstood Esther, so you reflexively struck it and accidentally smashed it."

Y, yes...

"Good."

In modern society, maintaining a clean record was a basic requirement for holding any proper job, no matter how unpleasant that might be.

"Phew."

After confirming that the spell had taken hold, I hurriedly scanned the area, worried that someone might appear as a witness. Fortunately, it seemed no one was passing by near the men's restroom. I scrambled to squeeze out my magic to minimize the fallout. Then I cast [Mind Control] on the other guy's mind so it would last as long as possible, but...

"This isn't my area of expertise. He'll probably feel the memory fading as time goes by, but what can I do?"

A vague curiosity came to mind. Since I'd already made him obedient, I went ahead and asked one more question.

"By the way, do people from your country usually think that way about Koreans?"

Because of this, I couldn't help but recall my own past—how I, too, had constantly discriminated against Homo sapiens simply for being a different species.

N, n, no.

"No?"

My friends aren't like that, but... I can't really say for the ones I've never talked to.

Well, anyway.

"A creature like this actually has friends?"

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind in that moment. Among them was the serious question, "Is humanity really going to be okay like this?" Honestly, it wasn't something I could blame only on foreigners—after all, even within Korea, there were plenty of people trying to classify and divide other humans.

"There were quite a few online posts that criticized Kang Changho just for being mixed-race."

Classifying individuals within the same species. These petty forms of discrimination were among the main factors that could lead to genocide. Yet, even after noticing these fragments of selfishness, I didn't take any particular action. By now, I had come to understand Earth to some extent. On this planet, where humans like this existed, there were also innocent college students born on the other side—such was the world called Earth.

"Hmm."

Come to think of it, it was strange how much that one human, Ahn Yoonseung, had influenced my life. A trivial creature who would've barely lived a hundred years even in perfect health. And yet, simply by experiencing that one existence—now, even when I encountered someone like Leo,

I found myself somehow forgiving this entire world.

"Is this the compassion I've only come to feel after hundreds of years?"

Tuk, tuk.

I brushed the marble fragments from my hands and steadied my breathing. In any case, amid those various reflections, the [Mind Control] procedure was successfully completed.

Ugh.

Directly manipulating a creature's mind was a delicate task, so very minor issues might arise—but let's set those aside for now.

"Wait... my chest feels... strange..."

By the time I sharpened my senses again to avoid running into any humans in the hallway, I realized—through the subtle shift in the flow within my body—that something had changed.

"No way... is my magic really showing signs of depletion just from casting a small spell like that?"

But the thought went no further. The fact that this magically primitive planet called Earth was fragile enough to crack under the slightest strain—well, that wasn't exactly surprising anymore. There was no point dwelling on frustrations that couldn't be resolved here anyway.

At least in a place like this...

"Hmm."

For now, I decided to stop overthinking and slipped out of the restroom as naturally as possible.

"I suddenly realize just how much has piled up."

Honestly, once I got away from the crime scene, everything moved swiftly. The cost of the broken sink would be paid by that Earthling himself—assuming the mind control I'd cast had been working properly.

"Looks like things are about to get busy."

Step, step.

Ending with a light reflection on my schedule, I concluded my brief excursion to Switzerland.