Chapter 127
Chapter 127
Astral’s Hair (3)
Anyway, it was a relief that Aro had come back to her senses. I took out my canteen and handed it to her.
Aro accepted the water and drank, trying to shake off her dazed expression. Her body seemed stiff and unmoving, so I rubbed her hands and feet.
“Ugh.”
After regaining some composure, Aro let out a long sigh. She slapped her own cheeks a few times, completely driving away the lingering fear.
“……What is that.”
Watching Aro move cautiously, I quietly followed behind her. She stuck close to the window and sneakily examined Astral, then clicked her tongue.
“I’m thinking of going down there. What about you, sunbae?”
“I’ll go too.”
I answered firmly, then lifted Aro and leapt down toward where Astral was. Seeing Astral up close, it was still enormous.
“Wow. It’s pretty.”
The absurd remark I heard the moment I set Aro down made me stare in disbelief.
As if she had already forgotten how she had been gasping just from looking at it, Aro’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at Astral’s face.
I didn’t realize her tendency to be captivated by good looks applied even to Astral. I clicked my tongue quietly and examined it.
‘It looks fine.’
The moment I stared at it, I felt an intense sense of incongruity. A tension that made my sweat glands open on their own gripped my body.
I forcefully shook off the fear and steadied myself. The restraints were intact, and there were no signs of life coming from Astral.
“It’s alive, but not alive.”
At that point, Aro blankly muttered something. I glanced at her for a moment, then looked around. I was trying to find the metal that had turned into the gauntlet.
“It’s alive, but you’re saying it’s dead?”
As I searched the area thoroughly, I asked her. Aro nodded repeatedly. If I hadn’t turned back just in case, I would have missed her answer.
“That’s wrong. Not being alive doesn’t mean it’s dead.”
“Huh?”
I made a puzzled expression. Weren’t those the same thing? Tilting my head, I looked at Aro.
“This world isn’t made up of just black and white. There’s always gray in between. Not being alive usually means death, but that’s not always the case.”
As I slowly mulled over Aro’s words, they seemed to make sense in their own way. Maybe not in the modern world, but in this world where magic existed, it felt entirely possible.
“It’s because of magic. The soul and mind are still there. Since it’s such an overwhelmingly powerful existence, it remains like this. Especially in the Far East, both the soul and the body have to die for it to be defined as death.”
Hearing that far, I hesitated. Did that mean there was a possibility that Astral could hear our conversation?
“Can Astral hear what we’re saying?”
“No. The body isn’t functioning. So sensory actions like hearing are impossible. But it’s probably vaguely aware of our existence. Magic power isn’t tied to the body.”
I let out a small groan. I wondered if I had done anything that might offend Astral.
“Can it show any kind of reaction?”
“Well. I don’t fully know either. If we completely analyze that magic, we might find out something. But if I had to guess, it could show small reactions.”
Just in case, I asked Aro. The brilliant shaman, Aro, answered without hesitation.
Even so, she didn’t take her eyes off Astral’s clean, flawless face.
“What do you mean by a small reaction?”
“Well. Maybe drooling a bit?”
“That’s something only you do, sunbae.”
For the first time, Aro turned her head. She stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“I-it’s because my snout is long! I’m not like that when I’m human!”
“Shh~ You might provoke Astral.”
“Ah.”
Aro, who had been flaring up and making excuses, shut her mouth tightly at my words. Then she turned her gaze back to Astral’s face.
“Huh?”
I searched the surroundings and, finding nothing worth taking, stared blankly at Astral.
It had a beautiful face, but knowing its might, I felt no attachment at all. Just how many attempts had I made to defeat that thing alone?
I was making a bitter expression when suddenly, a single strand of hair slipped down from Astral’s head.
“…….”
I froze awkwardly, and Aro quickly pulled her body back. Faced with the sudden anomaly, we raised our guard to the limit.
“Based on my estimation, Astral is a giant.”
“I think so too. It seems like one of the giants that lived in the past.”
“Then, just in case, I’ll ask—do giants suffer from hair loss?”
The question itself sounded like nonsense, but for us right now, it was an extremely important matter.
“According to the records, giants have robust bodies that don’t fall ill. But if hair loss is an incurable disease, there’s no reason they couldn’t suffer from it.”
“Then……”
“No. Even if it exists, logically, it would have all fallen out by now. Don’t you think?”
Listening to Aro’s answer, I frowned. Then I slowly approached her.
“If that thing suddenly opens its eyes, I’m confident I’ll pass out on the spot.”
“If Astral opens its eyes, forget passing out—the entire academy will explode.”
It was something that could drop a meteor capable of destroying part of a continent. Forget the academy—it had the power to blow up Museion Island itself with its own hands.
Praying that Aro’s words wouldn’t turn into a flag, I slowly lifted her. Her body temperature felt higher than usual.
“Wait.”
I wondered if I was just overreacting, but suddenly Aro jumped out of my hands. Startled, I almost shouted but quickly covered my mouth.
Without any fear, Aro headed toward where Astral was.
“What are you doing!”
I shouted at her in the lowest voice I could manage. Aro was looking down at the ground beneath Astral.
It looked as if Astral was looking down at a white fox.
“Come here for a second. I think we misunderstood something.”
At the word misunderstanding, I hesitated suspiciously, then relaxed my posture and approached. After confirming I was coming closer, Aro pointed at the ground.
“They’re letters.”
“What?”
“It made letters using its hair.”
I had clearly collected all the hair the last time I came here. But now that we had returned, there was hair beneath Astral again.
At first glance, the strands seemed scattered randomly, but after hearing Aro’s words, they did indeed look like letters.
“Is it an ancient language?”
Aro examined the hair-letters carefully, deep in thought. I scratched my head. Back when I first came here, could it have been letters then too?
But at that time, there hadn’t been this much hair, nor had it been gathered in one place like now.
“Did you memorize the letters?”
“Yeah. I stored them in my head.”
“Make sure to distinguish the colors as well.”
After saying that, I looked up at Astral. Its face resembled a cracked porcelain doll.
“I memorized everything.”
“Let’s collect them and leave.”
At the mention of leaving, Aro showed a hint of regret but didn’t refuse.
After carefully gathering Astral’s hair, Aro quickly climbed onto my shoulder.
I wanted to check the matter of the gauntlet as well, but after hearing that it could perceive us, all motivation to do so disappeared.
“Let’s head back.”
If it reacted and woke up, it would truly be a catastrophe. Even for me, Astral in its current state was absolutely impossible to handle.
And so, we left the laboratory.
***
“Ah! You’re here. Do you need Silent Bell?”
As soon as we arrived at the chapel, Winter greeted us. As if she had been waiting the entire time, her face was filled with worry.
At Winter’s offer, I hurriedly nodded. Winter shook Silent Bell, which had now turned into a flag.
—Clink.
As I sat down carelessly on the floor, a clear chime that seemed to cleanse the mind rang out. Only then did the tension that had been constricting my body fade away.
With the tension gone, my stiff body loosened all at once. Seeing me slump, Winter hurried over.
“Are you alright?”
“Y-yeah. I’m not injured.”
Despite my answer, Winter examined my body here and there. After finishing her check in her own way, she let out a sigh of relief.
Then she approached Aro and did the exact same thing to her.
“You’re both safe.”
After confirming that neither of us had any issues, Winter wiped the cold sweat from her brow. She must have been extremely worried.
“Winter.”
“Yes?”
“You know that research report from back when I brought the gold coins? Do you still have it?”
Judging that I was in decent condition now, I went straight to the point. At the mention of a research report, Aro’s previously dazed eyes sharpened.
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Winter nodded.
“I-I do have it.”
“That! That—let me see it too!”
At Winter’s answer, Aro rushed forward. Perhaps Astral had left that strong of an impression—she was unusually proactive.
Though flustered, Winter diligently brought the research report. She really was good at handling her responsibilities.
“Ancient text. Have you studied this?”
“Huh? Yes. It looked similar to the writing in the Holy Scripture, so I researched it.”
Leaving the two chatting quietly, I headed toward the safe. From inside, I took out the carefully stored strand of Astral’s hair.
Even after quite some time, the hair kept inside the small pouch hadn’t become brittle at all.
‘Was there a message back then too.’
I never imagined it would write letters using its hair. Holding the strand, I sat down in a rocking chair.
I fiddled with the hair. Its texture was remarkably fine. Unlike Aro’s fluffy fur, it felt like incredibly soft silk.
“I figured out one character.”
At the words that she had already identified one, I quickly turned my head. I saw Aro and Winter with bright expressions.
“Turns out it’s similar to a character Winter had researched.”
At Aro’s praise, Winter smiled awkwardly. Aro’s face was filled with pride.
“What character is it?”
“It’s the first one. It’s ‘sal’.”
The moment I heard the word, I froze. Both Winter and Aro froze along with me. I slowly opened my mouth, just in case.
“……‘sal’ (殺)?”
“No, just ‘sal’. The ‘sal’ from ‘gently’.”
I let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, I thought it might mean something like killing everything.
“We’ll need more research for the rest.”
Even that alone was a remarkable achievement. It was possible because Winter had already studied something similar.
Anything related to Astral was important. However, Astral was only first mentioned after surpassing Episode 6.
“Let’s take the research slowly. We have other things to do right now anyway.”
“……Ah. Right.”
At my words, Aro showed a hint of disappointment. She looked like a child who had only gotten a taste of ice cream before dropping it.
Normally, I would’ve told her to proceed, but this was a very important period. The starting point of expanding the Religious Order.
“There’s still plenty of time.”
Episode 4, which would happen soon, and the Floating Island event—there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t important.
Not just Winter, who specialized in mental defense, but also the shaman Aro and the mage Canis. They were all figures who would play key roles in various aspects.
Worden and I only needed to focus on combat, but they had much bigger responsibilities.
“For today, let’s stop here.”
In the end, we hadn’t resolved anything in the laboratory. We hadn’t even taken out the fragment of the star embedded in the gauntlet, which had been our original plan.
But we had discovered something even more important. I thought that perhaps I might be able to change the way I deal with Astral.