Necromancer Survival

  Bang Eunji murmured as if she were angry, but her voice, talking about her entangled past with Jung Garam, was the brightest it had ever been.
I wondered what I should say but, in the end, continued to listen to her quietly.

[Eunji has no idea what he’s thinking.
Sometimes, he tries to place living monsters in his inventory…?]

     “……”

[Isn’t that totally weird? Do you think he tries to make conversations with those monsters, squirreled away in a training room somewhere?… He’s like a kid.
Of course, he looks like one, too.]

     She spoke as if she found him pathetic, but Bang Eunji seemed to have no idea what expression she was making at the moment.

      Even though her current form was a cat, her eyes twinkled; her nose scrunched repeatedly, as if she were ticklish.
Wanting to understand the mysterious and incomprehensible mind of her beloved…Despite accusing him of being a fool, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his face, gazing at him with an innocent expression.

       Bang Eunji truly liked Jung Garam.
However, her methods to show her love were so tailored to her perspective that it was easy for a free-spirited person like Jung Garam to misunderstand her interest as malicious teasing.

     After thinking about what to say, I swallowed my saliva and cautiously pushed my luck, “But… Garam-ie… Doesn’t like it when you mock his height…?”

     Bang Eunji, who had been licking her paw pads, raised her head and looked at me.

[…And?]

     “So… Hmm.
Well, if you compliment him without teasing him, I don’t think he’ll ignore you or say harsh things to you…”

[He ignores me even if Eunji treats him well, though?]

     “R-Really?”

[Jung Garam has been called a genius ever since he was young, and there are more than a few people that gather around him, plying flatteries in order to raise their esteem in his eyes.
That man isn’t interested in compliments…]

     “Hmmm…”

[Eunji would rather be hated.
At least, then, he can’t ignore me–ignore me when we’re in the same space.]

     Bang Eunji spoke coldly before soon drooping as if she lost all energy.
She languidly stretched out her front feet again, blinking slowly.
It felt like she was spacing out after expressing the intense emotions within her… Anyways, I was worried–she looked too weak and despondent for someone her age.

     ‘But… though I feel a little sorry for her, Bang Eunji is too egocentric.
Personality-wise, she doesn’t fit with Garam-ie…’

     No matter how much I racked my brain, her self-righteousness was a bigger obstacle to a possible relationship between the two than Jung Garam himself.

     I recalled when I first met with Jung Garam in his [Vengeful Ghost Memory].
When I acknowledged the things he worked hard to achieve…  For example, when I recognized the value of one of his titles and praised it, the young Assassin was delighted.
His affection rose significantly.
That sort of attitude worked on Jung Garam afterwards as well.

     If she acted sour to Jung Garam every single time they interacted, would he be wary of the times she did praise him? Perhaps he thought she was being sarcastic and that she didn’t value his accomplishments.

     Moreover, Bang Eunji was stalking another man.
Most people wouldn’t think she liked Jung Garam because of that.

     Recalling her attitude throughout the [Vengeful Ghost Memory], I cautiously asked, “Excuse me… Then, you don’t like Seo Dawon in the romantic sense?”

     The pink cat snorted, but, fortunately, she answered without behaving too grumpily.

[Guildmaster-nim is my favorite.]

     “…Favorite?”

[Just… Isn’t he a perfect human being?]

     “Hmm… I-Is that so?”

[Also, there are times when he knows what Eunji is thinking better than Eunji herself…]

     When I looked into her blue eyes as she spoke, I felt yearning and respect meshing together in her expression.  It appeared that her romantic affection and her stalking were separate.
I became relieved for some reason, and exclaimed, “Aha…”

[So, I depend on him in various ways.]

     As I listened to her, I carefully voiced my opinion, “B-But… For those that don’t know your intentions well, Eunji, you… look like you like Seo Dawon.”

[I like him.
He’s my favorite in the whole wide world?]

     Again, she didn’t seem to understand what I meant and answered immediately.
Trying to make her understand, I slowly explained, “No, I mean… Should I say that, others are misunderstanding you? Rather than Jung Garam… Basically, it looks like you want to date Seo Dawon.”

[Who would think that?]

     I heard a half-flustered, half-angry counter-question from above.
Bang Eunji, grumbling, bared her sharp teeth as if she would rip apart the person that would ever claim that she wanted to date her Guildmaster.
Her tail was completely fluffed up.

     Panicked by her agitation, I hurriedly waved my hand in front of me and said, “Just, you know.
People usually….believe only what they can see.”

[Unbelievable.
Eunji likes Jung Garam, and she only wants to be adored and doted upon by Guildmaster-nim!]

     “R-Right… But, hm….
Garam-ie is probably confused as well.
He only sees you brusquely mocking his height daily, while that same girl would praise Seo Dawon kindly and place him on a pedestal…”

[……]

     “He might wonder if you like Seo Dawon more than him… And then… Wouldn’t it be logical that your affections and interest wouldn’t reach him?”

[Ah.]

     Bang Eunji lowered her head as if she understood what I was saying.
There was a tinge of disappointment in her movements.

     However, she began speaking angrily again–

[Is Jung Garam-kun a fool?! I like Guildmaster-nim, but I wouldn’t want to date him at all.
He’s not interested in Eunji that way either! And, he’d notice that if he only paid a little attention.
As expected, Jung Garam is a fool, a psychopath with Peter Pan syndrome, dwarf, dumpy idiot who isn’t interested in me! Stupid!]

     “W-Well…”

[Whenever Eunji even looks at him, he always says, ‘What are you staring at?’ and is always so crude to me.
And Eunji hadn’t even teased him first during those times! He always ignored me and bullied me, acting like Eunji wasn’t there! He always harassed Eunji first! Eunji was going to give Garam-kun a present to celebrate his birthday, but Garam-kun has no idea when my birthday is…! Eunji wouldn’t be so disappointed if he was like Woo Ragi-ssi who was a despicable person that never remembered nor celebrated anyone’s birthday.
But, he always gives a lot of presents on other people’s birthdays… Just not on mine…]

“”

     Bang Eunji’s pretty blue eyes soon began to water.

     I panicked and dithered, worried she’d start crying, but the tears did not flow from her eyes.
However, Bang Eunji stared resolutely somewhere else in the air, as if she were resentful.

     Blink– Blink– With every blink, her chest swelled and deflated slowly, as if she were trying to calm down.
Staring at her, I felt that for someone so obstinately lost in her own world, she had incredibly high self-confidence as well.

     People with such firm egos could not easily lower themselves to another’s level.
Therefore, no matter how much she liked Jung Garam, she probably could not have expressed her love in a ‘normal way.’ As a result, the two kept arguing as if they were bitter rivals.

     ‘Seo Dawon…Did he know about this?’

     I suddenly thought of the Mage, but I soon shook my head to clear those thoughts.
What was important now was to relieve Bang Eunji’s frustration and anger and to entice her into signing a contract with me.

     However, I couldn’t promise that Jung Garam would return her feelings and hand her his heart; I looked up at the cat hopelessly.
I thought about what I should say carefully before grabbing her front paw, shaking it cautiously.

     Bang Eunji looked down at me with those still tearful eyes.
Without avoiding her gaze, I spoke bluntly, “Eunji-yah… But, don’t you still want to see Jung Garam again?”

[…Is Jung Garam really dead as well? Eunji thought he might have been able to run away.]

     “He’s dead, but…he’s signed a contract with me and has been half-revived.”

     As soon as I finished speaking, the tears began to drop from the corners of Bang Eunji’s eyes.
She wasn’t yet aware of her tears that had burst forward like a now-free stream that had been stymied by a levee.

[Still… I’m glad he’s been resurrected…]

     Though she mumbled a bit absently, her smile was definitely affectionate.
The sight made my heart ache–I couldn’t be too compassionate to her plight, and I needed to respect Jung Garam’s emotions as well.
I should have remained neutral in their conflict, but…

     “…Eunji-yah, You… If you sign a contract with me, you can meet with Jung Garam again.”

[……]

     “And, if you’re truly revived… I’ll help you.” The words tumbled automatically out of my mouth.