Ch#192
Ardiana mulled over Lucarion's words.
A crack.
The great magic of twisting the timeline was never easy.
At the very least, in the history she knew, not a single human had ever successfully cast such a spell.
Ardiana gazed steadily at Lucarion.
'It was you that day too?! On the Eldrin Plains, the one who annihilated us...!'
Libia had said.
That Lucarion was the one who annihilated Trebaga in the future.
And the monster who had tried to kill Tese tan and Tie as well.
'But it doesn't add up.'
The current Lucarion showed no hostility toward Trebaga.
On the contrary, given the circumstances, it was right to say he had been protecting Tie all this time.
"I have a question."
As she opened her mouth, everyone's gaze turned to her.
"About you, not Tie."
To sum it up, that was the situation.
Everything Lucarion had explained so far was only about Tie.
How Tie had lived in the other world.
What situation the child left alone after Tese tan's death had been in.
And the reason she ultimately had no choice but to return to Talochioum.
'But that's not the important thing right now.'
What needed to be resolved at this moment was retrieving Tie and Tese tan, who had been sucked into the other world.
For that, the intentions of the spellcaster, Lucarion, were most crucial first.
"Are you our enemy? Like Libia said."
Lucarion hesitated.
His head slowly dropped downward.
"I..."
A faint voice barely audible escaped Lucarion's lips.
"I can't live without Tie."
Deep confusion dwelled in Lucarion's eyes.
"That's the only answer I can give."
But that was enough for Ardiana.
"I understand."
After replying, she turned her head to look at the others.
"Lucarion helped me when we dealt with the Mana Stone's heart."
Silence fell over the plaza.
"If he truly intended to harm Tese tan and Tie, I don't think he would have helped me in that situation."
Libia, who had been listening with furrowed brows, let out a sigh.
"Libia."
Just then, Aleric carefully called her.
Libia clamped her mouth shut before nodding very slightly.
"...Fine. Let's put it aside for now."
As if there was no helping it, she stood up from her spot.
"So what do we do from here?"
She looked around at the others.
"We have to go get the young miss and the leader!"
It was at that moment.
A small rustling sound came from behind.
Libia turned her head and frowned.
Something was crawling out unsteadily from between the rocks.
"Ppip! Ppueut...!"
It was Ppuppue, making a grumpy face.
Ppuppue was dragging Tie's kindergarten bag behind its back.
And,
[Oh! So you're all here! I've been looking everywhere!]
As if it had been waiting, Marbas rolled out tumbling from inside the bag.
* * *
"Now look here! Ma!"
Tie stared at Grandma with wide sparkling eyes.
Grandma was tapping the photo stuck to the fridge with her dutiful hand.
"Can't ya see this? It's you in there! With Tie, sittin' on the front steps!"
The photo Grandma pointed to was one taken when Tie was very young.
When she had just started walking, sitting side by side with Dad at the front door.
"Who else could it be if not you!"
Grandma thumped her chest.
But Dad just kept his mouth firmly shut.
Of course, Tie could understand Dad.
'Dad must be super super frustrated too.'
Strictly speaking, the Dad in front of her had truly never been to Korea even once.
The one who had lived here with Tie was the future Dad, not the young Dad now.
"Wah, I'm goin' crazy!"
But to Grandma, who didn't know the situation, all this was bound to be frustrating.
Grandma rummaged through her bag and pulled out an old cell phone.
Her wrinkled hand opened the worn leather case and pressed the screen.
"Now look at this!"
A video from the album app was thrust in front of Dad.
'Buba, paa! Appuu!'
'Oh my, good job! How's our Tie so smart! Kim, did ya hear that!'
'Yes.'
Tese tan watched the playing video in silence.
A baby wrapped snugly in blankets was babbling.
Curly platinum hair, green eyes like spring buds.
The baby was unmistakably Tie.
And the man opposite, unable to hide his misty eyes...
"...Ha."
Tese tan frowned at the throbbing pain in his head.
'That's me.'
Actually, that made it all the more disconcerting.
He swore to the heavens he had never been here before.
Of course, he had felt a strange sense of familiarity on the walk to this house.
What was it.
Every single landscape felt subtly familiar.
'Have I gone mad from hallucinations?'
"Now look at this one too!"
Then the old woman thrust another flashing screen at him.
A different video was playing inside.
'Eatin' well, my girl.'
Tese tan was feeding baby Tie a bottle.
As if the milk was delicious, the child gripped Tese tan's pinky finger tightly.
Panting breaths came through the screen.
The video switched again.
'Kim Tie. Dad said to run at the front door, right or wrong.'
'No wun...'
Again.
'Guy bye po!'
'What, Dad lost? Gotta win next round. Come on, again!'
'Bye guy po!'
'Eh! Tie finally lost! C'mere, tickle time.'
'Uhehe, uhngng!'
The videos kept changing over and over.
But the only thing that changed in them was the child's appearance.
In the next video, and the one after that.
Tie was always with Tese tan.
Tese tan lounging comfortably in the room.
Tese tan playing with the child in the alley.
Tese tan hugging the child and kissing her cheek.
"What in the world happened to ya, Kim!"
The old woman snapped the case shut and stared at Tese tan in bewilderment.
Tie grew sullen seeing Grandma looking like she was going insane.
Grandma turned toward Tie.
"This ain't somethin' to brush off now, is it? Where in the world is there a father who forgets his own daughter...!"
Suddenly, Grandma stopped mid-sentence.
Her expression turning serious, she scooted closer to Tie with a hunch.
"Baby, then."
"......"
"All this time, ya couldn't even call yer dad 'Dad'?"
Tie clamped her mouth shut.
Her eyelids trembled faintly, and soon tears welled up on her lashes.
"...What in the world is goin' on."
Chae Bok-su of room 107 hurriedly pulled Tie into her arms.
Turning her head, she saw the young man from next door still rigidly seated.
Her chest felt stuffy on its own.
'What am I s'posed to do about this?'
What on earth was happening right now.
Her already aged, stiffened mind couldn't keep up.
And not just that?
'Kim clearly died...!'
As if remembering something, she stood up abruptly while holding Tie.
Then hurriedly opened the drawer of the old TV stand.
After Tie disappeared, she had kept the urn there all this time.
But it was empty inside.
As if there had never been anything there to begin with.
"Wh-what, this ain't makin' sense...!"
Chae Bok-su swallowed hard and turned around.
Suddenly, the day she first saw him overlapped with Tese tan's face.
'Young man! What ya doin' right now?!'
It was back when she ran a small street stall in the neighborhood alley.
The day was cold, but she had to do that work or nothing else, and that's why she had stopped Tese tan that day too.
'What era ya think it is, stealin'! I'm callin' the cops right now!'
However, the turning Tese tan wasn't alone.
Because he was cradling a newborn baby not even 100 days old in his arms.
