"Mom."
Seeing the elegant blonde lady, Michael jumped up from his seat. That was Countess Luiza Elorance, his and Irel's biological mother.
“I searched the whole downstairs just to find you two.”
Luiza turned to reprimand in a dignified manner, averting her gaze. Her gaze turned towards Irel.
"Daughter."
Different from her stern face, her youngest daughter's voice was as gentle as a spring breeze. This is also easy to understand.
[Luiza Kalveran Elorance: Current favorability 99]
The love she has for Irel is sincere. This was evident right from the slightly raised corners of her lips, as if she loved her so much that she didn't know what to do when facing her daughter.
"If you don't come down for tea, what are you two doing here? You sleepy moles!"
Mole?
The first time he heard this call, Irel blinked. Seeing that, Luiza chuckled softly, looked around at her children and asked.
“Do you know what day today is?”
“Gym day?”
Michael unintentionally asked again, then closed his mouth immediately when he received a sharp gaze like a javelin. Looking at her eldest son who only knew how to practice, even though he was a descendant of a Border Marquis family, Luiza let out a long sigh. She completely ignored Michael and asked Irel.
“You didn't forget that mom and I agreed to go to the tailor shop today, right?”
"Yes? Oh, of course."
"It's almost summer, so I have to buy new gloves and dresses. Oh, of course don't forget the cute hats. You can use them later when you return to the summer villa."
“I agree, Mom.”
Even though she didn't know anything, Raeyeon's new habit was to just nod first. This is the only way for her not to be suspected in this strange environment.
Even though she didn't know anything, she was forced to adapt. From the beginning, she didn't even know whether her real-world self was dead or alive, so Raeyeon could only do so much. Luiza, unaware of her complicated mood, smiled and turned to ask Michael.
“Do I have to go too?”
"No, I refuse. Mom and I, please enjoy our private time."
Michael quickly shook his thick arm to refuse. Looking at his bored expression, perhaps Luiza's 'shopping' trip was not simple.
"Hmph! It's true that you don't have any chivalrous spirit. You should also find a fiancee for the upcoming social season, right? To do that, you have to dress up and take care of your face. What's the use of just working out every day?"
Under the pouring rain of continued grumblings, Michael's expression became more and more haggard. Hearing that, Irel couldn't hold back
Phew
laugh. Whether in the real world or here, parents' nagging seems to be the same.
Thinking like that, this strange game world suddenly became more familiar, like a place where people lived. At least until Michael suddenly opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“Besides, mom, remember to be careful on the road.”
“Be careful of what?”
"Lately, Keytan has appeared more and more. Mom, don't you remember? Last time they appeared in the slums, eating homeless people, causing a huge commotion. Almost the massacre in the red light district twenty years ago happened again."
Hearing that, the smile on Irel's face disappeared. She felt stupid for once feeling that this place was familiar.
‘In the first place, a place with monsters that eat people cannot be reality.’
That's right. Game
“Salvation”
has a worldview based on fantasy elements. Therefore, different races and monsters are real.
Among them, the biggest problem is the monsters called 'Keytan' that Michael just mentioned. This monster, said to be created by the Evil God Abihshan to destroy humanity, especially likes to eat human flesh. Furthermore, they are extremely strong, ordinary people cannot kill Keytan.
Yes, if you're an ordinary person.
"What Keytan, son! How dare you say such disrespectful words!!"
At this moment, Luiza frowned her delicate eyebrows and scolded lightly.
"Even though we are not Royal Capital nobles, the security here is very good. As long as Lord Hashva protects us, such a tragedy will not happen."
“That's why I told you to be careful.”
The expression of Michael, who would become the Marquis of the Frontier in the future, became even more serious. He went to deal with the aftermath of the ghetto massacre and witnessed it with his own eyes.
The reason why Keytan is called the great disaster of humanity.
“It seems that the Lord God's gaze only reaches extremely limited places.”
The words of Michael, who had witnessed a terrible scene that humans could not bear in their conscious mind, were sharp. Because of that, a cold, icy silence enveloped the living room.
"Ah, but we can't give up our summer dresses and new hats anyway. Is that right?"
Realizing his actions, Michael hurriedly tried to calm the atmosphere. As the eldest son, he should not threaten his mother and sister instead of reassuring them.
“Nothing will probably happen, because we have Masaka to protect us…”
“Hey, Michael!”
Luiza quickly stopped him. It was as if he had just blurted out something that shouldn't have been said.
But something even stranger happened next. As promised, both of them stopped and looked at Irel's face at the same time. That worried look was clearly probing her face.
'Why are they looking at me with those eyes?'
Irel found it difficult to understand. Something was going wrong somewhere she didn't know about.
In the first place, she didn't understand why they kept the topic of Masaka hidden. Masaka is a unique existence found only in
“Salvation”
.
They are people who are human but not human, more evolved existences. Thanks to that, they can destroy Keytan - a monster that ordinary people cannot kill.
Without Masaka, humanity would have been eaten by Keytan and become extinct. This is basic knowledge and common sense in the game's worldview
“Salvation”
.
'But why are they afraid to mention it in front of me?'
Irel was confused by her family's confusing actions. At that moment, Luiza clapped her hands
ach
and exclaimed in a deliberately cheerful voice.
“Come on, stop with the useless things.”
Truly an experienced lady, Luiza changed the atmosphere in the blink of an eye. She elegantly turned her head and gently pulled her daughter's hand.
"Just worrying won't solve anything. Let's go quickly, my little Princess, before it gets even darker."
"I hope mom and I have a good trip. If it's convenient to buy you some protein powder, that would be great."
Michael leaned against the door frame, quickly caught up with the atmosphere, and waved. Therefore, Irel missed the opportunity to ask about their puzzling actions.
She looked up at Luiza, hoping to find some opening to interrogate her, but she never glanced at her. That noble and stubborn profile didn't look like it was going to give any answers.
'Maybe today won't work.'
Perhaps dealing with Michael will be easier than Luiza. Unlike the reserved Luiza, Michael is quite open, and more importantly, he is weak in front of his sister. Just looking at how he immediately sulked just because she didn't talk to him was enough to know how much he pampered Irel.
Irel decided to wait for the next opportunity and obediently let Luiza lead her down the stairs. But the outing with her mother did not make her uncomfortable.
No, on the contrary, she felt a little excited.
‘Why is that? Why is this hand so warm?'
When she was with Irel's family, she should have been worried about her identity being discovered. But she didn't understand why she felt so peaceful.
'It's probably due to the memories left in Irel's body.'
But the comfort only lasted a moment, as soon as the carriage started rolling, Irel realized something was wrong.
Knock knock,
The sound of horse hooves and the carriage began to shake strongly both vertically and horizontally.
This was the second time she rode a horse-drawn carriage but still couldn't adapt. The roads here are not carefully paved like in Korea. So this road is more like a rough mountain road in the countryside.
Even traveling in a comfortable car can still cause motion sickness, let alone a horse-drawn carriage! She felt like her insides were turning upside down in an instant.
‘Oh, so nauseous.’
Irel tried to answer the gossip that Luiza was chatting next to her in an observant way. But she couldn't stop her face from becoming increasingly pale. She has a body as fragile as crystal, making it difficult to withstand even the mildest bout of motion sickness.
“By the way, daughter. Do you remember Joshua of Earl Barell?”
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Luiza was so engrossed in the story that she didn't notice her condition. During difficult times, Irel still listened tensely to the topic that Luiza was talking about.
“Joshua? Yes, of course.”
Of course she didn't know, but she still answered. She prayed that Luiza would not interrogate her further on the subject.
"A few days ago, Mom went to the Royal Palace and happened to meet Lady Count Barell. And Joshua was right next to her. When he was young, he was skinny and looked like nothing, but now he has become quite mature, which surprised Mom."
“Really?”
"And Lady Count Barell said, Joshua has become a Supervisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! You also know, Supervisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a bright future. Furthermore, looking at the way he escorted his mother to the Royal Palace, it seems that he is also a very considerate person."
At this point, Irel almost understood what Luiza wanted to say. Whenever they see a potential son-in-law, mothers with daughters want to quickly "mark" it.
“…He seems like a good person.”
However, Irel doesn't care about Joshua or anyone else. What was more urgent was to control the nausea that was rising in his throat.
"As expected, isn't it? By the way, I already hinted at asking Lady Count Barell..."
Ah, the limit has been reached. Irel quickly stood up, opened the carriage window and stuck his upper body out. And she vomited up the things that were stuck in her stomach.
“Oc…!!”
"Oh my god, Relle! What's going on!!"