## Chapter 173 – The Place Where I Was Born and Raised (10)
Leaving the air-conditioned city bus, a wide ocean came into view.
Not a beach or a seaside promenade, but a pier lined with fishing boats.
Other than that, it was just an ordinary, unremarkable countryside.
“The town is incredibly quiet.”
“Yeah.”
Chae-yoon’s voice broke the silence as she continued to look around after getting off the bus.
As she said, unlike the city filled with the noise of car exhaust and people’s voices,
this place was filled with the serene sounds of insects and the occasional chatter of elderly people.
The buildings were low, and there were few people passing by, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.
I blankly stared at the sunlight reflecting on the wide ocean and took a deep breath.
“…The air is nice. Should we go?”
“Huh? Do you even know where the mountain you were abandoned on is?”
Here, instead of tall buildings, there were green mountains surrounding the town.
Of course, I wouldn’t be able to find the mountain I was abandoned on just by walking around aimlessly…
“I’ll have to ask the elders around here. Rumors spread quickly in such a small, quiet town.”
“…Ah, wait, let me come with you!”
I grabbed a small bag containing water and a portable fan,
left the small shade created by the bus stop sign, and walked along the wide street.
“…Do you really think any of the passing elders will know your grandfather?”
“I told you, in small towns like this, everyone knows each other.
Especially the elders who don’t mind being close to their neighbors.”
We arrived in front of my late grandfather’s house much easier than I had expected.
Following the address my father had given me, I found a small house that was common in the countryside,
and when I told the elders resting nearby my grandfather’s name and that I was his grandson,
they patted my back, saying, “You’ve been through a lot,” and guided us back here.
At first, I didn’t know why they brought us back to my grandfather’s house…
Pointing to a small mountain behind the house, about the size of a local hill,
they told me that I had been abandoned in that mountain.
“I didn’t know it was so close.”
“It’s even small. No wonder you were found easily even after being abandoned.”
Chae-yoon and I silently stared at the small mountain covered in green trees.
“…Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
I took my eyes off the mountain, which I had glanced at briefly,
looked at Chae-yoon, and started walking towards the entrance of the mountain, stepping onto the overgrown path.
The slope wasn’t as steep as I had thought, but the uneven, protruding stones and the long grass,
and the muddy, wet soil made it an uncomfortable hike in many ways.
Just as the collar of my shirt was getting damp with sweat, we arrived at the summit after about 30 minutes.
Unlike the path up, the summit had no weeds and fewer trees,
offering a clear view of the wide sky and the small town at a glance.
A cool breeze brushed past my ears, cooling the sweat.
The view was refreshing, and I felt a sense of accomplishment, but…
“…Is this the right place? There’s nothing here.”
The mountain where I was abandoned was just full of grass, soil, and trees, and there was no one in sight.
Neither Iria, whom I had promised to meet here, nor anything suspicious was to be found.
“…Could it all have been a dream?”
Surely, after all this trouble, it couldn’t have been just a dream.
I chuckled quietly, sat on the stump of an old tree to catch my breath,
and was thinking about whether I should go back down and search carefully from the bottom when it happened.
“…Um…”
“Oh? Ah, do you want to sit too? Then you can go first…”
I turned my head at Chae-yoon’s tired, small voice tapping my back,
and as I made eye contact to get up and offer her the seat.
“Ta-da!”
“…Huh?”
Chae-yoon smiled brightly, spread her arms wide, and playfully showed herself.
Her eyes, nose, and mouth were all the Chae-yoon I knew, but her dark brown hair…
Was sparkling with a mysterious silver color.
“Phew, we finally made it here! We’ve met before, right? I’m Iria!”
“…Uh, uh…”
“Oh? Ah, this child? Don’t worry. I’m just borrowing her body to talk to you.”
My mind froze, unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events.
The woman introducing herself as Iria in Chae-yoon’s voice.
A small, slender hand reaching out to shake mine. She’s really Iria…
“Don’t just stand there frozen, sit down quickly! You have a lot you want to ask me, right?
I’m not as smart as Laputa, but I know a lot.”
Saying that, Iria plopped down on another stump that had appeared out of nowhere.
I snapped out of it at her voice, cleared my throat, and sat on the stump I had gotten up from.
“Th-then, nice to meet you… I guess? What should I call you…?”
“Hahaha! You’re starting with that? Then just speak comfortably, ‘I’ too, am comfortable with that.”
“…Okay, then. More importantly, I have something to ask you, and you know what it is, right?”
I could feel the sweat that had cooled down running down my cheeks.
I wiped the sweat from my hands on my pants, placed my hands on my knees,
and opened my mouth to ask everything I had wanted to know, everything I had been curious about.
As if knowing what I was going to ask, Iria cut me off before I could even get the words out.
“Your vision turns red, you can’t control your emotions,
and you become excessively honest with your desires… Is that it?”
Iria listed the symptoms I was experiencing one by one.
I quietly nodded at her words, and Iria continued her explanation.
“…Do you know? I was originally human too.
As you know, I was the first to gain the power of the flower, gaining strength and wisdom,
and became the same kind of being as those mysterious beings you met.”
“…I know, but why are you suddenly talking about that…?”
“It’s similar to when the petals first entered my body, your current state.
Your senses become so sensitive that you react to the sound of dust scattering,
and you’re confused because you can’t control the newly created power yourself.”
“…”
Everything she said was right.
“But there’s only one difference between the changes that have occurred in you and me.
‘Becoming excessively honest with your desires.’ I never had that.
Losing my reason and falling mindlessly into lust… Ohoho…”
“…Are you teasing me right now?”
Iria kept smiling playfully, glancing at me.
I suppressed the rising annoyance and forced a smile,
and suddenly, Iria stopped laughing, came closer to me, and sat next to me.
“Don’t worry. I know why you’ve become like this and how to solve it,
so I’ll explain it to you slowly. It’s going to be a long story.”
——————————————–
The memories that remained from the moment the petals scattered by the wind entered my body.
The wisdom that allowed me to think for myself and understand the concepts of this world.
At that time, I wondered, ‘What could be in the direction the petals blew from?’
I immediately acted on it and walked endlessly in the direction the petals had flown.
A journey of discovering rain and wind, discovering fire, and learning new things.
At the end of that journey, they were there. The ten creators who had created the petals.
Ten beings who possessed far superior knowledge and power than us humans,
they welcomed me as if they had been waiting for me and bestowed many things upon me.
I learned the knowledge necessary for survival and the special powers they used.
In the midst of all that, I met a ‘man’ who seemed to be their leader,
and he was always alone. He seemed to have the trust of his companions,
but at least to my eyes, he seemed lonely.
After that, I went to him and learned how to farm and raise livestock,
and I could see the loneliness gradually disappearing from his face, which had been awkward at first.
On one hand, I felt proud, and on the other hand, I felt my heart race every time I went to his side.
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. We became lovers,
and I accepted his proposal to become ‘his partner.’ I was happy. I was joyful.
And on the day of the ceremony to announce to everyone that I was the ‘King’s partner,’
a war broke out. Some of his companions who were dissatisfied with him had started a war.
Unable to keep the promise to live together forever, I died that day.
While protecting him, who was distracted by healing the humans who had come to bless him without fighting,
I was pierced by dozens of spears and died in his arms.
That’s definitely what happened, but when I opened my eyes, I was lying on a large tree.
The largest tree I had ever seen, but a desolate tree with only ten fruits.
Lying on top of it, I couldn’t resist the pouring sleep and fell asleep again,
and when I opened my eyes again, I was standing beside him, whom I had longed for so much.
I thought it was all a bad dream and hugged him,
but he didn’t reach my hands, and he didn’t seem to see me.
I walked beside him, who was walking aimlessly with the lonely look he had when we first met.
I boarded a ship steered by humans wearing clothes made of cloth instead of leather,
and traveled through the villages of advanced humans, riding in carriages that moved with the power of machines.
Even after so much time had passed, he was still kind.
He revived a young child who had been abandoned by his parents and was dying alone from illness with his power.
He also saved a child who had contracted an incurable epidemic, a child who had been bitten by a wolf while protecting his younger sibling,
and a child who had been hugging the corpses of his frozen parents.
But each time he did, the vitality was gradually disappearing from his face,
his gait slowed down, and he became weaker, coughing frequently.
Only then did I realize. He was planning to use all his power for the sake of humans and then die.
Crying, I clung to him and shouted at him to please stop, but my voice still didn’t reach him.
The journey continued, and I deliberately avoided looking at his increasingly emaciated face.
Now, humans were creating flying vehicles, exploring the vast ocean,
and even setting foot in the unknown place outside the sky, the universe.
As I moved my feet, which no longer moved, I leaned against a tree to catch my breath.
He didn’t have much power left. If he used his power one more time, he would die.
Hundreds of years had passed without me looking at his face. Now, the end was approaching.
If he died, what would happen to me? Would I be left alone like this?
Fearing the approaching end, I squeezed my eyes shut, which wouldn’t close, when,
I heard the sound of a child crying somewhere nearby.
As soon as he heard the sound, he moved his unmoving legs and started walking.
I followed him to a newborn baby surrounded by wild animals.
A newborn baby, not wearing a single thread, had been abandoned at this late hour.
Without a word, he approached the baby, and all the animals left,
and he wrapped the rags he was wearing around the baby lying on the dirt floor and lifted it up.
Then, he sat down in that spot and silently shed tears.
“…Human child, my child…! Why were you abandoned? Why were you hurt?
What wrong have you done, what wrong have you done…?”
He lamented to the baby, paused to sob,
stopped crying, lifted his head, stroked the baby’s cheek with his finger, and…
“…Never forgive me.”
Saying that, he poured all the immense power he had left into the baby.
A smile, the first in hundreds of years, spread across his tear-stained face, and he scattered into light.
The baby, who was dying from low body temperature and severe injuries, fell sound asleep,
and I, too, looked at the baby one last time before falling into another sleep, not knowing when I would wake up again.
“What~ It’s already over.”
“I know, it’s a shame. I wanted to take a picture.”
…What is this, whose voice is this? Where am I…?
It’s bright, and there’s a cool breeze… Am I flying in the sky right now?
Wait, I… Who was I…? I can’t remember my name…
My hands and feet won’t move, and I can’t make a sound… What is this…!
…No, was I even human? Can humans fly in the sky?
No, no. Then I’m not human. Am I still not fully awake…?
“Hey honey, look, there are flowers spread out on the road, it’s pretty. Shall we take a picture?”
Flowers? A swaying body, the wind felt from the sky…
Ah! I remember now… I’m a ‘petal.’ A petal that eats humans…
I feel my body gently landing on a woman’s shoulder.
Quickly, I have to eat everything in this woman’s head.
Only then does my body move freely. I stretch my body out and instantly burrow into the woman’s ear.
“Hic?!”
Who?! Stop it…! Get out of my head! Oh? Not that… Eek?!
No… I am, my name is… ‘Lee Chae-yoon’… 20 years old, female, a freshman who just entered college this time…?
That’s a difficult word. Why do humans these days use such abbreviations?
Ah, I’ve naturally learned the way of speaking, so shall I eat the rest?
…My parents’ names, my relationship with the man standing next to me is a romantic one.
Soo-ho oppa confessed first, and we started dating, and I have a habit of speaking politely to everyone.
Okay, that should be enough.
“…Chae-yoon?”
“…Should we take one, then?”
I turn my head at Soo-ho oppa’s call and give him a smile.
Hmm, hmm… Good, my voice is coming out well, that’s good.
…Haa, never mind that, why is ‘the previous me’ dating such a pathetic man?
Even just looking through my memories, this man’s genes won’t help our prosperity…
Where could I find a human male who looks better than this man… Huh…?
The man who made eye contact with me for a moment froze and turned pale.
Did that man see my true identity…? More importantly, the energy I feel from that man…
It feels like I’ve felt it somewhere before, a warm and comfortable… familiar power…
I feel like my panties are getting wet right away. What the heck is that man…♡
While I was blankly staring at the man, he immediately turned around and started running.
…Ah, he ran away. But it’s okay. He seems to be a student here too,
so I can meet him again later. Hehe♡ I found a good man right away.
————————————————
“…Wait, then you’re…”
“Hehehe♡ I wasn’t planning on hiding it, I only found out ‘what I am’ after coming here.
I’m Iria, and what was created from Iria’s body are the flowers that bloomed in the modern era,
and what gained a modern body from those flowers is me, ‘Chae-yoon.’ Oppa♡”
Wait, my head isn’t working properly with so much information.
The ancient human Iria is already dead, and what bloomed from the remaining body of Iria are the modern flowers?
“Wait, wait a minute… My head hurts, let’s rest for a bit…”
“Hahaha, that kind of reaction is natural. I was surprised when I first borrowed this child’s body too.
A modern human with a will that’s surprisingly similar to mine.”
“Then what about me? What am I, anyway?”
“Oppa? Hehehe… That is…”
Using both polite and informal speech, Iria, imitating Chae-yoon’s way of speaking, Chae-yoon, imitating Iria.
I don’t know which one it is, but the playfully smiling her leans her head on my shoulder and says.
“I, you see. I couldn’t become the ‘Root King’s’ partner, but I’m a ‘creator’ like them.
Oppa, you’re similar to me, do you remember what I said? A human who gained the power of the petals.”
“…”
“You accepted the modern petals that had lost their purpose into your body,
and at the same time, you’re a being blessed by the Root King. That means…
You’ll gain the same power as us and be reborn as the 12th creator.”
