“Uh……. What. Betty, why are you here…….”
Why else would she be?
The moment Diesel let the question slip out of his mouth, he realized it was a stupid one.
He already knew that Betty had been staying at this hotel for a long time.
“Why am I here? That’s what I want to ask……?”
Betty asked, her round eyes widening even more.
“Why are you here, Diesel?”
Then she sharply turned her head and looked toward Kang Da-hee.
“And why is she here? And why are you in the same room with her…….”
Her gaze drifted toward Diesel’s body, wrapped in a bathrobe.
“Uwaaaah……!”
“……?”
She hurriedly covered her face with both hands, but after a brief delay, she slightly spread her fingers.
“Y-you, you two, don’t tell me…….”
“Be, Betty Barosi. That’s not what this is…….”
“I wasn’t asking you!”
“…….”
“Diesel! Explain right now what the hell this situation is!”
Diesel’s answer to that question was simple.
Click.
Without saying a word, he shut the door.
‘Please just go away…….’
He had just returned from a long battle and was so exhausted he felt like he might die.
If he treated her this coldly, maybe she would just leave.
Or maybe the two of them would work it out on their own.
With those thoughts, he leaned his back against the door and roughly assessed the situation.
But, as expected, Diesel’s wish did not come true.
“Hey, hey……! Where do you think you’re closing the door……?”
Betty rattled the locked doorknob violently.
“Aren’t you coming out right now……?”
She looked like she might breathe dragon fire if he did not open it immediately.
‘Ha…….’
Frowning as if he had a headache, Diesel flung the door open.
“Open it alrea—!”
“Stop shouting and come in first so we can talk.”
“What are you saying, right now! Ugh……!”
He grabbed Betty’s wrist and roughly pulled her into the room.
Then he looked at Kang Da-hee, who was standing there blankly.
“What are you going to do?”
“…….”
“If you’re going out for some air, take this with—.”
“No.”
After glancing at the fuming Betty inside the room, she clenched her fist.
“I want to talk too.”
“…….”
An awkward silence settled among the three of them as they sat around the table.
Betty narrowed her eyes and glared back and forth between Diesel and Kang Da-hee.
Kang Da-hee looked as if she were calmly organizing her thoughts.
“So……. you recruited her as a Ghostcatcher, Diesel?”
“Yeah.”
“But that’s not what I asked.”
“…….”
“I asked why you two are staying in the same room.”
“Because Kang Da-hee is officially listed as dead.”
“What?”
At Diesel’s words, Betty frowned deeply.
“There was no other choice. That’s why she couldn’t go back to the apartment she was living in.”
“Then why did you book a hotel room together?”
“Her Ghostcatcher registration isn’t done yet, so she couldn’t make a reservation on her own.”
“If you asked, the Madam would take care of it right away, wouldn’t she?”
“That’s because Sis said……. Ha, anyway, she said there was a backlog with the Madam, so we had to wait until morning.”
“Even so, you could just rent the room and go back yourself.”
The half-dragon tail swaying back and forth grew more agitated.
At the same time, her pointed elf ears twitched irritably.
“I need to lie low for a bit too right now.”
“But if it’s a hotel, there are plenty nearby besides the Underground Great Hall!”
“Why bother going back and forth?”
“Why bother? You’re being awfully casual about this.”
“Anyway, I’ve already slept in the same room with her a few times, so it’s fine.”
“W-what……?”
At Diesel’s words, Betty shot up from her seat.
“Y-you, you…….”
“Mr. Diesel! If you put it like that…….”
“Y-you slept together……?”
When even Kang Da-hee looked flustered, Diesel finally realized his words might have sounded strange and hurriedly added,
“No, I mean…….”
“Y-you…… you…….”
Crackle.
A spark flared up at the corner of Betty’s eye, where tiny droplets of moisture had gathered.
“You…… bastard…….”
An ominous wave of mana spread out around Betty.
“Betty, what are you doing right no—.”
Noticing it, Diesel tried to stop her in a hurry, but—
“You…… bastard……! You……!”
Bzzzzzt……!
The sparks began to crackle even more violently.
Diesel knew instinctively.
If he did not stop Betty here, today would be the day he returned to the afterlife once again.
Desperate, he blurted out words in a rush.
“Hey! I-I misspoke! It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!”
“…….”
“Back when we infiltrated the Podvig Moon Base! That time, we had no choice but to use the same room! Because of internal rules, rookies had to share rooms, that’s all!”
Had she understood at least a little of what he was saying?
Betty’s mana subsided slightly.
“I’m not in that kind of relationship with her like you’re misunderstanding!”
“…….”
“Really?”
After glaring at Diesel, Betty looked toward Kang Da-hee.
“Yeah! Hey, hurry up and say it. Say that we’re nothing.”
Diesel urgently called out to Kang Da-hee.
But she just stood there blankly, saying nothing at all.
‘This is driving me crazy……. What’s wrong with her now……?’
After a short while, Kang Da-hee carefully opened her mouth.
“That’s right. We’re nothing.”
“See, you heard her, right?”
Only then did the sparks pouring out of Betty finally subside.
“Hm……. So it really was unavoidable because of the job?”
“I told you it was.”
“And nothing happened between you two?”
“What do you mean, happened. Nothing happened at all.”
Once the mana completely settled, Diesel let out a short breath and leaned back against the chair.
Then, a question suddenly occurred to him, and he looked at Betty as he asked,
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Now that I think about it, it’s kind of funny. Why did you suddenly get so worked up?”
“……?”
“Why did you react so violently just because I stayed in the same room as Kang Da-hee? Is that really something to get that angry about? It felt like you were actually trying to kill me.”
“Th-that’s…….”
Betty started to say something, then swallowed it back.
She lowered her head and muttered something quietly, but it was inaudible.
“What?”
“…….”
At that moment, Kang Da-hee, who had been watching the two of them, suddenly cut in and changed the subject.
“B-Betty, which room are you staying in?”
Betty hurriedly answered.
“Ah, ah! I’m right next door. Room 2047.”
“I see. We keep running into coincidences.”
“Yeah.”
An awkward silence settled in again.
Then Kang Da-hee carefully spoke to Betty first.
“I’m sorry about what happened back then.”
“Huh?”
“At the Podvig interview site. I was rude to you.”
“Ah……. Right, you were.”
“It’s an excuse, but that was a time when I was really under a lot of pressure. I’m sorry.”
She bowed her head deeply toward Betty.
“Uh……. You really didn’t have to go that far……. I already forgot about it, so it’s fine. Don’t worry.”
After the apology was accepted, silence once again filled the room.
‘This is really going to drive me insane.’
It might have been better to raid a Mega Corp power plant one more time.
As he was thinking that, Betty cautiously spoke.
“Then what should I call you?”
“Huh?”
“Your name. You said Kang Da-hee is officially listed as dead.”
“Ah, for now, I named myself ‘Yubin.’”
“Yubin? Don’t tell me, that Yubin from Yubin Roji?”
“Oh, you know it?”
“Of course!”
“What is it. Is that a famous name?”
At Diesel’s question, Betty replied with a slightly smug look.
“The Dimension Library of Block 73, you don’t know it?”
“What even is that.”
“Unbelievable……. You really don’t know anything.”
“It’s a very famous novel. Even if you’re not interested, why don’t you try reading it at least once? Even someone like me, who doesn’t know much about that stuff, knows it.”
“Are you sure you don’t know much about it?”
“…….”
“Anyway, Yubin Roji is the name of a character in it.”
“To be precise, she’s the heroine.”
“Huh? The heroine? No way.”
“What? She is the heroine.”
“What are you talking about. The heroine is Lily Cooper.”
The atmosphere suddenly turned into a discussion about the work.
“But it shows that the protagonist likes Yubin Roji more.”
“That’s……! That was only because he had something to get out of that sly fox! Later on, he turns his heart toward Lily!”
“Even so, the first kiss was with Yubin, you know?”
“Th-that was just an accidental kiss! That doesn’t count!”
Watching the two of them argue, Diesel spoke tiredly.
“Why are you fighting over something that isn’t even that important.”
At that, vicious glares flew over simultaneously and stabbed into him.
“It is important!”
“It’s important in its own way.”
“…….”
Feeling like he might end up dying from collateral damage if this kept up, he stood up from his seat.
“Anyway, that’s enough of that. Betty, your curiosity’s all satisfied now, so leave.”
“H-huh?”
Then he flopped down onto the bed.
“I’m going to sleep. I’m tired.”
“…….”
“Ah, then I should get ready to sleep too…….”
As Kang Da-hee stood up and headed for the bathroom, Betty hurriedly spoke while looking at her.
“W-wait a second!”
“Again, what, why.”
“Kang Da-hee. No, Yubin. You.”
“……?”
“Come sleep in my room.”
“Huh……?”
At the unexpected words, Diesel closed his eyes as if he no longer cared what happened, while Kang Da-hee looked slightly flustered.
“Your room, Betty……?”
“Right. You need a place to stay for today anyway, don’t you? There’s no reason it has to be the same room as Diesel.”
“Th-that’s true, but…….”
“Or could it be that you have some other motive?”
“Huh? No!”
At Kang Da-hee’s reply, Betty also stood up from her seat.
“Then that settles it. Diesel, you don’t mind either, right?”
“I don’t care what you do, so just hurry up and get out.”
“Let’s go.”
“……Yes. Let’s go.”
Once the two of them left, the storm-like chaos in the room finally calmed down.
Left alone at last, Diesel pushed himself up, looked toward the door, and muttered his thoughts.
‘I’ve got a feeling things are going to get rough from here on…….’
Then, thinking he did not care anymore, he lay back down on the bed.
Hwayang Hotel, Room 2047.
As Kang Da-hee entered the room, she muttered,
“There’s…… only one bed?”
“Of course. It’s a room I use by myself.”
“…….”
“Why. Is it uncomfortable?”
“No. It’s fine. Then I’ll go take a shower…….”
As Kang Da-hee walked steadily into the bathroom, Betty narrowed her eyes and stared at her back.
‘That woman…… there’s definitely something about her…….’
After watching her for a while, Betty let out a sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed.
‘Anyway, earlier was almost a disaster. Why did I do that?’
Thinking back carefully on what had just happened, she realized she had been far too worked up.
To suddenly release mana like that.
Why had she done such a thing?
‘This kind of feeling is new to me…….’
For Betty, who had been cooped up in a magic tower doing nothing but studying magic, these were completely unfamiliar experiences.
In the first place, even meeting people around her own age was almost a first for her.
There were young disciples in the Brain Dragon Magic Tower, but because of her unusual status, Betty had always spent her time only among the elders.
‘Haa……. From next time on, don’t get so worked up, Betty.’
Ever since she had started magic training with Diesel some time ago, Betty’s head had been filled with nothing but thoughts of training.
To be precise, they were thoughts about Diesel, but whenever that fact occurred to her, Betty shook her head and brushed it away.
‘It’s just because Diesel learns so well…….’
Teach him one thing, and he accomplished not ten, but twenty or more.
From Betty’s perspective, Diesel seemed like someone who could surpass even an Archmage and become something far greater.
‘He really was incredible. Diesel’s mana core…….’
Betty recalled that day.
The day Diesel had forcibly grabbed her hand and placed it against his own chest.
Then, all of a sudden, she remembered Diesel’s body from earlier in the hallway.
“Uwaaaah……!”
Crackle.
Sparks flew between Betty’s small horns.
“……?”
At the sound, Kang Da-hee, who was standing by the shower, briefly glanced outside.
Some time later.
Kang Da-hee came out of the bathroom and began drying her hair.
Peeking at her from under the covers, Betty muttered without realizing it,
‘She’s pretty…….’
Skin as white as snow, and long hair as black as pitch.
Although beauty was as common in this world as streetlamps lining the road, Kang Da-hee’s appearance carried a unique dignity that could not be found in such mass-produced looks.
Watching her, Betty asked without thinking,
“How old are you?”
“Huh?”
“Ah, I was just curious.”
Kang Da-hee stopped her hand that had been fixing her hair and replied,
“I’m twenty-five.”
“Mm, I see.”
“What about you, Betty?”
“I’m twenty-one.”
“Ah, okay.”
“You’re a lot older than me, so talk more casually.”
“……I’ll ease into it slowly.”
“Sure. But hey, you’re the same age as Diesel, right?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He’s twenty-five too.”
“Ah…….”
“You didn’t know?”
“…….”
Age was not important information at all.
But for some reason, Betty felt like she had won, and a faint smile formed on her lips.