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Path of the Giant (6)

Kang Shin-hyuk aimed his pistol as Claire moved to block the exit. The wolfman, trapped and unable to escape, quietly raised his hands in surrender, and the two moved in to dig out information from him in earnest. They explained to him that they were outsiders who had just entered the city.

“Outsiders? I was lucky.” The wolfman, Mokoud, sat down with his third leg as a chair to support his body.

“I mean, this is where you came in. Had I fallen through the roof of another building, I would’ve become a beehive.”

“I think it’s best for us not to commit pointless killings. By the way, is that a dick?” Kang Shin-hyuk observed Mokoud carefully, but Claire seemed to be focusing on something else.

“No! This is the tail passed down from my ancient ancestors!”

“A tail! Sure enough, animals often use their tails for balance.”

“Claire, that couldn’t be a dick. If so, women of that race…”

“I see. Wow…”

“Oh…”

“No!” Mokoud grew angry at the two, knowing of their misunderstanding. It seemed that they weren’t the only ones who had seen his third leg and didn’t realize it was a tail.

“Cheh, I thought Heirech was back when I heard the noise. I wouldn’t have come in otherwise.” But it was already late, and Mokoud was a valuable guide to them.

“If he’s the owner of this place, what did you come here for?”

“Cocktail ingredients. His specialty is making cocktails with ingredients that protect the body from brainwashing. I needed one, so I don’t die.”

“Brainwashing?”

“Hah, are you guys serious?” Mokoud was taken aback by their lack of knowledge. However, Claire shrugged and chimed in.

“We call it something else. Are you talking about that video?”

“You must’ve been living in a cave if you don’t know about them. Yes, the brainwashing that the video uses. If you get hit by it, you’ll become the robots’ people.” The first thing that came to mind were the people walking in that downtown area. Now Shin-hyuk understood.

“That’s what we call the brainwashing.”

“We call it a demon.”

“That’s also quite the proper expression! Ha.” Mokoud and Kang Shin-hyuk nodded. Indeed, it made sense that the purpose of that video was to shoot out filthy mana to pollute human minds constantly. But a cocktail that could protect from it… Shin-hyuk glanced over at Claire, who nodded. Mokoud glanced between the two.

“Hey, so when can I be released?”

“We still have a lot of things we want to hear, my friend. Please give us an appropriate example.”

“Ah? Dried rattail is fine. There are plenty here.”

“I know how to make those cocktails myself.”

“What?” Mokoud’s eyes were wide open at Claire’s proud declaration.

“Hey, we’ve been moving so far and haven’t been polluted. You know what I mean?”

“Well, is this fate?” In other words, humans who had come from the outside and knew how to make cocktails had fallen into this bar. Of course, Mokoud wasn’t so naïve as he had survived this far, but he also knew that these humans had no reason to lie.

“We will use this house for a while, and we’ll help you.”

“Will you give me a cocktail?”

“Yes, first of all…” Claire produced a cocktail potion from her inventory and handed it to Mokoud. He accepted it with a dubious expression but soon closed his eyes and took a sip. Soon, a smile bloomed on his face.

“It works a lot better than what Heirech makes!”

“That’s, of course.” Claire squared his shoulders with pride. Kang Shin-hyuk knew that she had just handed him a status buff cocktail that had no additional benefits. In other words, her cocktails had the basic effect of defending against that mana because she dealt with spiritual power.

“Tell me whatever you need; I’ll help you with anything I can!”

“Well, then let’s hear more about this world.” Claire glanced over at Kang Shin-hyuk, who nodded in agreement, and they pulled out two dusty chairs. When the pistol was put away, Mokoud began to tell his story with a more relieved expression.

It was a familiar story from a perished world.

***

After sending off Mokoud, the first thing Kang Shin-hyuk did was to do some house cleaning. Using the water orb and the Shinfeng orb as delicately as possible, he swept through the three-story building. The trash was removed, and any useful items were cleaned and piled together. There was no dust left after a good solid cleaning with the two orbs.

“Oh, this hole… should I patch it up now?” The sky above the perforated ceiling was covered with soot clouds. There was no value in a night sky without any stars, so he decided to block it up. Kang Shin-hyuk tinkered with the broken wooden boards he had on hand, and in less than twenty minutes, he had repaired it. Claire applauded him once he was done.

“Wow, you did it so neatly.”

“I was the MacGyver at the Starlight Orphanage.” Because of his good agility, he was adept at all sorts of crafts. However, he had never actually seen MacGyver. Claire laughed at his words, then suddenly had a thought.

“The orphanage… can I go with you later?”

“You can if you like.”

“But going together is a bit different.”

“It’s completely okay for me.”

“…Okay? Yes, then let’s go together.” She tapped his shoulder with a satisfied laugh.

“Now, I want to take a bath.”

“Ah, of course.” He let out a sigh that soon turned into laughter. There was a bathroom in the building, but no bathtub. He went ahead and made a bathtub in the empty room next to the bathroom. As a bonus, he made a show as well. This time, Claire went fish-eyed as Kang Shin-hyuk built all of that, including proper drainage and new tiling, in less than an hour.

“…Are you really not MacGyver?”

“This is a plumber’s job.”

“Okay, then, Mario. Well, the water temperature is good.” Claire threw off her clothes and was soon only in her underwear.

“What, Claire, wait a second.”

“Hurray.” As Kang Shin-hyuk turned away in fear, she hugged him from behind. His sense of reasoning was being threatened by the scent and texture that warmly enveloped him. Claire put her hands around his abdomen and whispered in his ear.

“My Mario, would you like to bathe together?”

“Eh, ugh.”

“Fufu.” Claire laughed again when she noticed he was thinking very seriously about it. She put her head on his shoulder and pecked him on the cheek.

“It’s okay; I can stand it. Because I’m an adult.”

“That…”

“But if you can’t stand still, you’re always welcome.”

“Why are you saying things that test my patience?”

“That’s…. heh!” The next moment, the two fell into the bathtub full of hot water. Kang Shin-hyuk, who noticed Claire had thrown off her underwear after entering the bath, didn’t look back and jumped off.

“Ahahahahaha!” Claire burst into laughter as she watched Kang Shin-hyuk run away. He pledged to take revenge later after he became an adult!

-Your patience is superhuman. Actually, it didn’t seem like you had to endure it, perhaps.

“I’ll tell you that it’s not because of Eunah.”

-If so, is it because of the wife your previous life had?

“Surely… no, maybe a little.” The Anvil of his previous life was someone who valued others very much. He gave a lot of meaning to each and everyone, so he was very distressed when he lost them. Kang Shin-hyuk, who was recovering his memories day by day, clearly contained such a heart. So, simply put, he was very conservative in his relationships. Whatever Claire herself thought, she was a very important person to him, so he wanted more precious moments where they were confident in each other. He couldn’t say that in front of her, though, so he had to make excuses.

-So, the administrator is worried you will proceed with another woman first.

“If you’re concerned about it, try stopping Tsukuyo.” Kang Shin-hyuk grumbled for nothing and headed to another room on the third floor. It was a space created to fulfill his purpose in coming here. That was a studio.

“Then, let’s start.”

-I think she intends to run a bar.

“I think it’s good. If we’re staying here in the future, it’s good to build a relationship with the residents.” Maybe the next time he came here to do a dimensional quest, it would help. Kang Shin-hyuk hummed and pulled out Halo’s roots.

-Eunah’s whisper: Where are you? I miss you.

Only

He felt his heart falling.

-I’m on a dimensional quest.

-Eunah’s whisper: I wish I could’ve helped.

-I’ll ask you next time.

-Eunah’s whisper: Yes, I’ll do whatever I can for my junior.

Kang Shin-hyuk trembled slightly.

-You said it wasn’t because of the fox, right?

He struggled to ignore the administrator’s message and started working. However, with his hands trembling, it took him a while to start properly.