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Vur munched on a piece of caterpillar meat, the chunk of flesh as large as his head. It looked like a steak, but instead of brown and red, it was a mixture of black and green. Despite the relatively unappetizing colors, Vur didn’t complain. He was in his human form, but the caterpillar flesh was disappearing at an alarming rate.
“This tastes a lot better than I thought it would,” Stella said from her spot on the table, which happened to be close to Vur’s unused utensils—which admittedly were all of them.
“Huh?” Erin asked from her spot on the table. She was sitting next to Lindyss’ plate. “You haven’t eaten bugs before? What do you usually eat?”
“Bear,” Stella said, not looking away from her food.
“Bear?” Erin asked.
“Bear.” Stella nodded. “Vur has a lot of bear.”
“I should’ve found a dragon to stick by,” Erin said and glanced at Vur. The fairy queen’s head turned to look at Lindyss. “The only thing this elf feeds me is alcoholic drinks.”
“I don’t feed you anything,” Lindyss said. “You swipe my drinks.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “If you don’t want me to take your drinks, why do you always make two of them?”
“I make three of them now,” Lindyss said, giving Erin the stink eye. “I always made two of them at the start, so I wouldn’t have to make the second one after the first one already helped me relax.”
“Auntie, you shouldn’t drink that much,” Tafel said. “It’s not good for you.”
“I wouldn’t have to drink so much if some people”—Lindyss glared at Vur before glaring at Tafel—“didn’t cause me so much stress all the time.”
Vur nodded. “Since those people aren’t here with us now. You should take this time with us to relax.”
“She was relaxing before we brought her here,” Sheryl whispered.
Vur shrugged. “She can relax here too. There aren’t any kingdoms that need managing.”
“We’ll see about that,” Stella said and looked around. “So, everyone gets their own room inside of the tower? Even us?”
“Everyone can establish residences,” Gaegukja Yeol said. She was sitting on the other side of the table with her eyes trained on Vur. More specifically, she was watching him manipulate threads through the tips of his fingers to eat the caterpillar meat he had been given. If Hyeonhu Geomi knew her legs were being eaten by Vur through usage of her own ability…, it was a good thing they were eating in the residence and not outside. “Even if everyone can establish one, that doesn’t mean everyone has their own. It’s costly, and one of the incentives to joining a guild or a clan is usage of their residence.” Her gaze drifted off of Vur and onto Stella. “It shouldn’t be a problem for you to purchase your own place.”
“Oh, no,” Stella said and shook her head. “I already have a well-decorated home. I was just curious.” Her head tilted to the side. “People die climbing the tower all the time, don’t they? What happens to the stuff they leave behind in their rooms?”
“The clan or guild claims it,” Deowi said. “If the dead person isn’t in a clan or guild, the tower will recycle their items as rewards for completing tasks; of course, it’ll issue a mission to clean or repair the items first.”
“By the way, Vur,” Gaegukja Yeol said. She remained sitting, and none of her limbs moved, but her body floated and drifted around the table until she was sitting beside Lindyss. She had wanted to sit next to Vur, but who told him to have his body sandwiched between two women? “Can I see the egg Hyeonhu Geomi gave you?”
“Yeah,” Deowi said and nodded. “The look on Geomi’s face was priceless when Vur dropped the egg into a hole in the ground. Are you sure it didn’t break when you did that?”
“Deedee caught it,” Vur said after chewing and swallowing the piece of caterpillar meat in his mouth. “He’s a mountain elemental.”
“A mountain elemental?” Deowi asked, raising an eyebrow.
The brown runes on Vur’s arms lit up, and a clump of brown mana appeared, taking on the shape of a rock with sticklike arms and legs along with a pair of diamond eyes. “My name is Diamant. See what’ll happen if you call me Deedee.”
“Oh my goodness,” Gaegukja Yeol said and blinked as she leaned forward. She peered at Diamant’s head-sized body. “It’s so cute. You called it a mountain elemental?”
“Damnit, hey!” Green mana materialized in front of Vur, taking on the shape of a green rock with emerald eyes. Like Diamant, Zilphy’s arms and legs were as thing as sticks. “Whose husband do you think you’re flirting with?”
Gaegukja Yeol blinked and reared her head back. “This is…?”
“Zilphy,” Vur said. “She’s a gust elemental.”
“Excuse me,” Zilphy said, placing her hands on her body where her hips should’ve been. “I’m a squall elemental now.” She glanced at Gaegukja Yeol and narrowed her eyes, the emeralds glinting in the light. “Listen here, there’s someone who really has the hots for you, and it’s none of us present at the table.”
“Oh?” Gaegukja Yeol asked and raised an eyebrow. “You’re talking about Kim Hajun, yes? I heard everything while watching over the admission exam.”
“Wait one damn second,” Deowi said and slapped his hand against the table. He turned his head towards his sister. “You said I was slacking because I was sleeping on the job, but you’re literally not at your job! Doesn’t the admission exam take three days? It’s not even the second day!”
“I’ve already established good relations with the promising individuals,” Gaegukja Yeol said and crossed her arms. “As for the people that didn’t finish yet, well…, do we really want them?”
“You have a point,” Deowi said and nodded his head as he leaned back in his seat, pressing the sole of his foot against the table. It was made of metal, so instead of catching fire, the area around Deowi’s foot glowed orange instead.
“Wait,” Tafel said. “You were spying on us during the exam?”
“I was monitoring the examinees,” Gaegukja Yeol said and beamed at Tafel. “It’s not spying the same way guards aren’t spying on people who approach their station. Keep in mind, unless you’re in your own private residence, there can be eyes on you at all times inside the tower.”
Tafel scratched her head. She looked at Vur. “Should we get our own place?”
“Definitely,” Lindyss said. She glanced at Gaegukja Yeol. “What’s the tower’s stance on turning someone into an undead puppet to occupy their residence?”
Gaegukja Yeol fell silent. “…Against.”
“Against just the residence part?” Lindyss asked. She drummed her fingers against the table. “I haven’t been chastised for turning Hyeonnam Tokki into a skeleton yet.”
Gaegukja Yeol pursed her lips. “The questions you ask make me uncomfortable; it feels like I’ll become an accessory to a crime if I say the wrong words.”
Thanks for the chapter!
Mmmm Lyndis seems to create stress for herself? She could just go with the flow and chill?