I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 88
#088 The Carriage-Pulling Unicorn
I had a dream. My mother and father were cursing Santa, calling him a son of a bitch. Come to think of it, my mother was the type of person who would smile brightly while calling someone a dog, a cow, or any other slur. Even in the dream, I found myself smiling. It was the first time I felt good after meeting my parents in a dream.
Joo-hwan slowly opened his eyes. He saw a narrow ceiling. It was the ceiling of a carriage. At first, he couldn't quite grasp the situation. Only after blinking a few times did he recall what happened before he collapsed—ah, right, I beat down that two-headed dog.
"Lizzie, Dorothy."
He sat up abruptly. He knew Orthos was dead. He had only lost consciousness after confirming for certain that its life had ended.
However, neither the villagers nor the magic beast hunters could be considered safe. Everything in this world could harm Joo-hwan's family if it suited their needs. He trusted Oz, but he still felt anxious.
"Uwah!"
As Joo-hwan sat up and looked ahead, a strange sound escaped his lips.
Lizzie's face was right in front of him. She was sitting as still as a statue, watching him. But her eyes were so swollen that she looked like a baby panda.
"Lizzie..."
When he softly called her name, thick teardrops began to fall from her eyes, which were as red as a rabbit's.
"...I was so worried."
Good heavens. Joo-hwan opened his arms and pulled Lizzie into a hug. In her lap, Dorothy was cradled, having fallen asleep from exhaustion after crying.
"Have you been like this the whole time?"
"...."
With a nod, Lizzie lowered her head, weeping too hard to speak.
"I'm sorry, Lizzie. I'm so sorry."
"...."
Pulling both Lizzie and Dorothy onto his lap at once, he pressed his lips to their foreheads in turn. To think they cried until their eyes looked like this—he had truly done something regrettable.
"...I can't do this without you, Joo-hwan... I can't go on without you..."
Lizzie's voice vibrated softly against his chest.
It seemed the movement had woken her. Dorothy's body squirmed, and her curly hair suddenly popped up.
Sandwiched between Joo-hwan and Lizzie, the child tilted her head back as far as it would go to look up at him. Her golden hair was sticking out in every direction. Upon seeing Joo-hwan, Dorothy's face brightened instantly.
"Daddy!"
Looking at Lizzie's face from the narrow gap, Dorothy said proudly.
"See, Mommy? Dorothy told you, right? Daddy is strong, so he's okay. After sleeping for one night, he's all better! Got it?"
"...Yes, I know, Dorothy."
Lizzie nodded like a child.
"...Mommy knows too..."
Joo-hwan held them both tight. He had really made them worry.
He really had to be careful. He had to make sure he never died and never made them worry again. He was no longer in a position where it was okay to just fight, win, and get hurt on his own. He had a family now. He had to keep safety as his top priority at all times.
"Ah, really, I'm sorry. I won't make you worry like this ever again.
To both of you, I'm truly sorry."
"...."
"It's okay because Daddy is strong."
Dorothy blurted out out of context. Quiet laughter flowed from both Joo-hwan and Lizzie.
Joo-hwan held them like that for a while. Dorothy, stuck in the middle, seemed to get bored as she fidgeted and tilted her head.
"Oh, right. Daddy! We got a white horse. They said it's a unicorn. A horse with a horn."
"...."
What was this about now? It wasn't like a two-headed dog could suddenly become a unicorn. Was it an imaginary friend? As he hesitated without a proper answer, Lizzie gave a small laugh.
"...Joo-hwan, after you collapsed, a unicorn really did come running from somewhere. It was that unicorn that moved you to the carriage. It's very beautiful."
"It doesn't run away, Daddy. It didn't run away, and it even gave Oz a kiss!"
"...."
That was, somehow, a bit subtle. Lizzie giggled and pulled back slightly from Joo-hwan's embrace.
"The unicorn is important too, but... Joo-hwan, how are your wounds? They healed a lot as dawn broke, but does it hurt?"
"Hmm, I'm fine."
The place with the most severe injury was the hand he had shoved into Orthos's mouth. However, his wrist, which had been mercilessly shredded by teeth until the bone was exposed, was now covered in flesh. While a throbbing sensation remained intense, the pain of his flesh and bone being torn was gone.
Joo-hwan stared silently at his wrist. The wounded area was smoothly indented, like an old burn. The healing process, which usually took a long time and progressed bit by bit, looked as if it had skipped several stages at once.
Joo-hwan stroked his wound with a finger and then grinned.
If he consciously used healing magic, his magic would be far more powerful than this. He knew this from experience.
'This is it.'
With this level of healing power, he could save Lizzie and Dorothy in any situation. Even if the two were on the verge of death, he could save them if he poured in everything he had. Yes, it would probably be possible. Confidence stood tall like a pillar.
He had thought about it before, but his abilities really did seem to grow stronger in response to how much he needed or desired them.
He stretched his body long to loosen his muscles. The places where he had been scratched here and there were still a bit stiff. But it wasn't enough to hinder his movement.
Joo-hwan picked up one person in each arm and went outside. Lizzie and Dorothy, suddenly lifted into the air, let out small screams and wrapped their arms around his neck from both sides.
It seemed dawn had just passed. The sun had risen and brightened the world, but the air still held the unique chill of early morning.
Joo-hwan's gaze turned toward Lizzie and Dorothy nestled in his arms.
Seeing them in the bright light outside, their swollen eyes looked even more like pandas.
A strange "ke-ke" laugh leaked from his throat. The two of them with their panda faces were adorable. He was truly sorry for making them cry until they looked like this, but they looked so beautiful to him.
Lizzie seemed to think her face looked strange because it was so swollen. She hid her face against Joo-hwan's shoulder. Her lips moved, tickling the skin of his shoulder.
"Don't look, Joo-hwan."
"You're cute, Lizzie."
Dorothy didn't seem to realize what her face looked like. She looked back and forth between Lizzie and Joo-hwan with a puzzled expression, then suddenly said.
"Dorothy is cute too, Daddy."
"Of course our Dorothy is cute. It's such an obvious fact that I just didn't say it."
"Really? Hmm, but Dorothy likes it better when you tell her."
"Right, our Dorothy is truly cute."
"Right?"
Dorothy beamed with her panda face.
Neigh! Just then, along with the sound of a horse, something nudged him gently from behind.
Turning his head, he saw a white horse much taller than himself. It had a long horn on its forehead. Its body was much larger than a normal horse. Standing side by side, Joo-hwan, who was nearly two meters tall, would likely look smaller than an average person.
"A unicorn..."
As Joo-hwan muttered, the unicorn rubbed its head slightly against his body as if acting spoiled. It looked like it was treating a master it had been with for a long time.
"What is this? Where did you come from to suddenly act so spoiled?"
At Joo-hwan's words, the unicorn looked at him somewhat reproachfully and neighed. It was as if it were asking why he didn't remember it. No, I really don't know you, so it's no use making that face. We've never met.
Oz was sitting on top of the unicorn's head. He was managing to keep his balance even as the unicorn moved its head around. It almost looked as if Oz were telling Joo-hwan to accept this creature as family, just like himself.
Lizzie, who had her face buried in Joo-hwan's shoulder, lifted her head as if she just remembered something.
"Oh, right, Joo-hwan, the horse ran away because of Orthos."
They couldn't keep the horse harnessed all day. They had unfastened the gear to let it rest and only tied the reins to the carriage, but it seemed the horse had been spooked by the magic beast and fled at dawn. She said it was gone by the time they regained their senses.
The thought briefly crossed his mind that a villager might have stolen it, but it was wrong to suspect people without evidence. Joo-hwan let out a small sigh. What now? Would he have to pull the carriage himself until he could buy a horse?
Neigh! The unicorn snorted and nudged Joo-hwan with its head.
It was as if it were saying not to worry because it was here.
"Should I ask this one?"
When Joo-hwan spoke, the unicorn shook its white mane and scraped the ground with its hoof. It was a bit funny because it looked like a student fired up before studying. Dorothy giggled and hugged Joo-hwan's neck.
"Daddy, look at those nostrils. They're huge."
Dorothy, can't you see the unicorn is getting angry? Snort, snort! As if it understood human speech, the unicorn took Dorothy's hair into its mouth and began to chew.
A strong gust of air escaped the unicorn's nose, hitting Lizzie and Dorothy's faces.
Lizzie and Dorothy burst into laughter at the same time, and as if mimicking them, Oz jumped onto Lizzie's head and began to nibble on her golden hair.
The whole family became a single huddle of laughter. Something warm permeated his chest. They were becoming a large family. Somehow, that made him happy.
Though she was an only child, Dorothy would never be lonely like he had been.
"Well then, shall we go see what happened to Orthos's carcass?"
Joo-hwan turned and walked toward where Orthos was.
A few villagers were staring at Orthos's carcass from a distance. Hatred was visible in their eyes. But they seemed afraid even though it was a dead body. They couldn't get close and were only glaring from afar.
As he approached, several stones that looked like they had been thrown by people were lying near Orthos's carcass.
There didn't seem to be any wounds on Orthos's skin caused by the stones. Even the burns and wounds Joo-hwan had made didn't remain much. Its body was in almost perfect condition, as if it had healed while it was still alive.
"Good heavens!"
Jack came running from afar. His eyes were wide with shock.
"The, the wounds were massive. How did this happen? I heard you were a healing mage, but I never imagined this in less than a few hours..."
Jack stared blankly at Joo-hwan with a surprised face, then suddenly threw himself flat on the ground.
"Please save him, sir. My master is dying. Please, please save my master. I'll pay back the treatment costs no matter what I have to do. If you tell me to sign a slave contract, I'll do it, and if you tell me to live as a slave right now, I'll do that too. Please, just save my master."
If he meant his master, it was likely the owner of the voice that had taught Joo-hwan about magic stones. He had said he was tracking Orthos; had he been injured?
"If it weren't for your master, I wouldn't have been able to kill this thing either. My life was essentially saved by him too, so there's no need for treatment fees. Let's go."
As he moved his feet, Jack scrambled up and began to lead the way. He seemed to be in a great hurry. He would run, then come back, then run forward again. As he did, he spoke to Joo-hwan in snatches.
"He seemed fine at first. It just looked like he was bleeding a lot, but then he suddenly collapsed and hasn't regained consciousness. His body is like a ball of fire, and even when I apply ice, the fever won't go down. I'm afraid he's really going to pass away like this..."
Jack wiped away his tears with his fist.
"Master is a good person. I, actually, have no talent and I'm really nothing special, but he said he would officially take me as a disciple when I turn 16 next year. He's a truly wonderful person."
"...."
Joo-hwan reflexively looked at Jack's face. He had been certain the boy was over twenty, but with that face, was he really only 15?
In this world, everyone turns a year older on New Year's Day. This child had been 14 until just a few months ago.
Knowing his age, it made sense why Jack had shown interest in Lizzie. Rather than a typical man's lust, it seemed to be the simple feeling of blushing at the sight of a pretty older sister next door. At that age, if there's a pretty older sister nearby, boys tend to show off and act tough for no reason. He was appalled at his own narrow-mindedness for being jealous of someone who couldn't even act his age.
"...."
The way Jack had bluffed as if he were someone great, and the way he tried to raise his own status by ignoring Joo-hwan—it was all because of his age. The term "eighth-grade syndrome" didn't come from nowhere.
At that age, Joo-hwan himself had thought he was the most miserable person in the world. Even though more miserable people are everywhere if you look, he believed he alone was carrying all the bad luck in the world. Looking back now, perhaps that too was a form of eighth-grade syndrome.
It was something to smile bitterly about.
Joo-hwan gave a pat on the back to Jack, who was about to run off in an anxious state.
"It's okay. I'll be able to save your master."
"...Thank you."
With a face messy with tears, Jack looked straight ahead and started running at full speed again.
