CH 264

Chapter 264

Bowlingual was a toy that briefly earned fame as a ‘machine that can interpret your dog’s barks.’ Whenever your dog barks, messages like ‘Give me food!’ would appear on this Tamagotchi-like-device. So, that functionality was somehow incorporated into this choker?

“Then, Lackey can talk now?” I asked.

“It can speak very simple words.”

“…Why did you make this so suddenly?”

“Lackey seems to enjoy it, though?” Seo Dawon smiled and dodged by shifting the attention onto Lackey.

As soon as the Mage finished speaking, Lackey answered with clacks of its own. After its teeth finished chattering, a dry, mechanical voice echoed out of the choker.

[Like it.]

“……” ‘Can I really trust that thing?’ I couldn’t help but suspect the convenient, well-timed choker and began fiddling with it. Lackey began making vibrations in the back of its throat.

[Clack Clack Clack].

[I like Master.]

Then, it grabbed my arm and burrowed its face into my embrace. Though I’ve often seen the skeleton rubbing its face on my body, this was somehow more emotional.

‘So, I’ll actually be able to understand it?’

Half convinced, I called up the skeleton’s status window–the first time in a long while. “Lackey, status window!”

[Lackey — ‘Choi Lee-kyung’s’ servant.

Rank: Medium-grade skeleton (Skeleton Soldier) +1

HP – 55,500/55,500

MP – 10,000/10,000

Loyalty: Very high

Attributes: Darkness, Evil, Perseverance, Obsession, Destruction.

Current Mood: ‘It’s difficult…but.’

Durability: Infinite (If it is attacked for more than its total health, the skeleton will be reversed summoned back into Choi Lee-kyung’s personal system space, and the user will sustain the overflow damage. Re-summon Cooldown time: 24 hours)

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.

Evolution – You currently lack the materials to evolve this servant.]

I looked at the status window, but there was nothing particularly different in it.

Although Lackey’s current mood was a little vague, there was nothing like ‘I hate this’ or ‘Please help me,’ so it was difficult to press Seo Dawon for a proper explanation.

‘…Huh? Now that I think about it…’

While I browsed through Lackey’s status window, suddenly the system message that stated I had significantly increased my control over Seo Dawon bubbled up to the forefront of my mind. And, if I remembered correctly…

‘It said…I could view Seo Dawon’s [Current Mood], right…?’

I gulped down my pooling saliva and stared at the Mage.

When our eyes met, the Mage’s eyes looked soft. I shouted for his status window inwardly, hoping he wouldn’t feel or notice anything strange. ‘Seo Dawon, Status Window!’

[Seo Dawon – ‘Choi Lee-kyung’s’ servant.

Rank: Legendary Mage (8th circle)

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Loyalty: Very high.]

As soon as the status window manifested, the loyalty section caught my eye. When he was first summoned, his loyalty was ‘very low,’ but now it changed to ‘very high.’

That wasn’t all.

[Attributes: Darkness, Anger, Charisma, Leadership, Wisdom, Artistry, Inspiration, Curse, Loyalty.

Title:

Sweet Submission – This title can be attained when you meet certain conditions in the ‘resurrected as a servant’ scenario. As long as you faithfully follow your master’s commands as a servant, you can exert a powerful strength.

Dragon Slayer – violent, crazed dragon. A limited title given only to the first warriors to slay the Second Company’s ruler, Aestheya.

Besides the unprecedented increase in his loyalty, there was a new addition to his ‘Title’ category. Furthermore, if Seo Dawon utilized that title…

I browsed his status window in a daze. The title’s effect seemed like a total fraud, but I wondered if this would be effective against Bae Jaemin. However, something definitely was better than nothing.

And, below that, I saw what I was most curious about: his [Current Mood].

[Current Mood: Press ‘HERE’ to activate your servant’s ‘current mood’ function. You can only check Servant ‘Seo Dawon’s’ mood once per day. Would you like to activate this?]

I took a sneaky glance at the Mage. He continued to stand still by my side, looking over me. It felt like he knew what I wanted to do but seemed to think nothing much about it.

After my conscience and curiosity conflicted, I finally grabbed the Mage’s hand. “I-If…”

“Yeah?”

“If I could read your thoughts… How would you feel?”

“Right now?”

​​”Yeah….”

Seo Dawon looked at me, thinking. “You’ve been able to read my mind since that last ‘incident?'”

He was truly quick-witted. I nodded meekly. “That’s… There are some restrictions, but… It’s possible. At least, I think–I haven’t tried yet.”

“Ah.” Seo Dawon exclaimed ambiguously before responding with a question. “Would you be fine with it?”

“Huh? Uh… If you’re asking for my opinion… I really want to see your thoughts. B-But, I wouldn’t force you to let me.”

“If you want to see, then do it.” Unexpectedly, the Mage had no qualms. If it were me, I would have hesitated for a little while.

‘Of course, I’m Seo Dawon’s Master, but… We’re also in a r-relationship…?’

Well… I never really received a confession, so I was worried about the veracity of our relationship status, but…

However, I thought it was meaningless to argue about this point right after he fed me that disgusting potion with his mouth. I mean, even though Seo Dawon and I were in a contractual relationship, we still had a personal connection as well, right?

So, I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing to be able to read his detailed inner thoughts. In a way, it was like I was invading the Mage’s most private domain.

After long contemplation, I sighed deeply and revealed my inner thoughts. “You know… You said you could hear whatever I said wherever you were, right?”

“Correct.”

“Then… It should be fair for me to read your mind once a day…?”

Seo Dawon stared blatantly at the crown of my head before bursting into laughter. Then, treating my complaint as the trivial grumble it was, he asked, trying to keep a straight face, “Do you want things to be fair?”

“Uh… It’s important to me.”

“If it were me, I would have already peeked.”

“…You’re someone with no conscience.”

Seo Dawon seemed to find it strange that I was even contemplating conceding this ability.

I stabbed my finger against this scam-like-beauty-of-a-man’s chest. 1 I wanted to physically express how little conscience he had.

After letting himself be pushed away a couple of times, he soon caught my fingers and kissed my fingertips. My ears felt like they were burning, but I didn’t want to snatch my fingers away.

After munching on my fingertips for a minute, he whispered, “Actually, I’d rather you look at my thoughts.”

“R…Really?”

“I also wonder what I’m thinking.”

“……”

“If it really bothers you, you can let me know what’s written there.”

“Ah… Should I?”

Somehow, it felt like he was giving me a good excuse…

I pretended to not notice his machinations and called forth the status window, glanced at the Mage, and pressed where I could begin to see his [Current Mood]. Soon afterwards, the instructions vanished and new letters gradually took their place.

[Current Mood: ‘Cute.’]

When I saw that very succinct word, I felt a little disarmed and discouraged. Inadvertently, I grumbled, “Is that it? Geez, I… Well, Lackey’s thoughts were simple sentences too, but…”

“What did it say?”

“Well….” However, when I tried to inform the Mage, the words were strangely blocked in my throat.

Seo Dawon had a mysterious expression on his face; I flapped around, trying to hurriedly calm myself. However, the word ‘cute,’ kept bouncing around like a ping pong ball in my head; my thoughts were chaotic.

‘Seo Dawon thinks I’m cute… Me…’

He simply stared at me curiously with his normal expression on his face; to think those were his inner thoughts…

“It’s…It’s nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, then why are you stuttering?”

“It’s just….just…! Just… Pretty insignificant….” I spoke evasively and laid down on the bed with my back turned to the Mage. I felt a little guilty because I was supposed to inform him of his inner thoughts, but that was nothing compared to my embarrassment.

However, Seo Dawon did not stop there; he leaned towards my prone body and whispered into my ear, “Are you disappointed with me?”

“What? N-No?”

“Really? You suddenly wouldn’t talk to me… I wonder if my inner thoughts displeased you.” His voice sounded a little low–a little subdued–but he probably did that on purpose. It was a shallow trick, but… But, I was still concerned.

‘That tone is such foul play…’

In the end, I had no choice but to endure the shame and confess to the Mage. I straightened my back, turned around, and looked into his eyes. “It’s not that… You…  To me…”

“Yes?”

“Haah…” Despite my resolve, I hesitated in front of the Mage’s straightforward gaze.

He thought hard and asked, “Are you embarrassed?”

“Um… A little…?”

“Ah.” He blatantly stared at me and asked with a small smile, “Have you never looked at me and thought something like that?”

‘…What the heck? Did he already figure it out?’

It sounded like he already knew, so I nodded while staring back. Of course, I’ve thought that Seo Dawon was cute before. Actually, I’ve thought that many times…

‘I thought he was cute yesterday as well…’

The memory of him leaning, dazed, into my embrace was still vivid in my mind. Reminiscing, my cheeks slightly flushed; Seo Dawon gently stroked my cheek. “This [Current Mood] business is more explicit than I imagined.”

“Huh?”

The Mage mumbled something to himself; somehow the gleam in his eyes felt a bit dangerous.

Then, Seo Dawon pushed on my shoulder and gently laid me back on the bed. Slowly, he unfastened the buttons on my hospital scrubs. This was all too sudden!

“W-Wait a minute…!” Bewildered, I held my hands up; Seo Dawon stopped after undoing a couple of buttons and removed the gauze from my collarbone. In other words, maybe I was simply overreacting from an overactive imagination.

The Mage looked up from the gauze to stare at me with a questioning gaze. I shut my eyes tightly; I couldn’t bear my embarrassment.

“Does it sting?”

“Ah… A little?” Fortunately, the Mage didn’t tease me and stopped–perhaps because of my injury.

Only then did the tension seep out of my body; Seo Dawon took a potion out of his inventory and slowly rubbed at the wound with sterilized gauze.

As he did so, I glanced at the wound as well, curious. Under the gauze, there were straight cuts drawn into a cross symbol. “Did I have this scar before…?”

“Garam-ie did this in order to remove all the poison left in your body.”

“Oh?”

The Mage replaced the gauze and dressed the injury well, covering it from the outside elements.

Then, he placed a hand on my chest. I slightly flinched at the cold temperature that met my bare skin, but I tried to show no outward sign of discomfort. However, when the Mage saw my docile and still body, he smiled incomprehensibly and asked, “You’re not going to do anything?”

“Huh?”

“Then, you’ll let me act as I please, according to my [Current Mood]?”

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TL: Oh my my, Seo Dawon! Were you thinking naughty things?

Also, sorry for my grammar. I’m just really busy these past two weeks T_T

I got a new cat! Join my discord for all the pics haha.