Rumors of the Black Cloak

“Ji-oh.”

4:29 a.m.

Yu Seong-un called out to the portrait.

“Ji-oh, are you awake?”

“I am awake.”

“Good.”

He had known Ji-oh usually opened his eyes around this hour, which was why he had called, but still.

There are days he skips, yet the window when communication is possible is generally between four and five in the morning… I’ll need to watch the situation longer, but it would be best to treat this as a rule as well.

This “Portrait of Ji-oh” was friendly toward humans, yet no existence of the Source ever showed mercy to a human who broke its rules. Even an entity gentlemanly enough to almost seem human had to be handled with care.

“I wanted to talk a little.”

“What business do you have with me?”

“I hear you’ve been wandering around the guild building lately. The rumors are flying.”

“I am curious what sort of rumors those might be.”

“You may not like it, but… they’re calling you the ‘Black Cloak.’”

Yu Seong-un continued with his usual mild smile.

“There’s a rumor that ‘the Black Cloak gives gifts to good people.’”

These were guild members Bi Sa-beol had personally gathered one by one with his sharp eye. Regardless of combat strength, their ability to put two and two together was not bad.

They had figured out the Black Cloak’s rules in their own way.

“Looks like you handed out gifts to other people again this time?”

“I did not give them to everyone.”

“I know. Only to people who were especially polite or kind, right?”

Those who claimed to have received gifts from Ji-oh shared a common trait.

Either far too weak… or strong.

He could roughly guess the reason.

The overly weak ones had trembled in terror at the sight of him, so he had given gifts as an apology. The strong ones had managed to converse decently even before Ji-oh’s presence, so he had judged them “polite.”

Gifts of apology, or of gratitude. Results that fit the 1:1 rule well enough.

The ones who were neither one nor the other received nothing.

Employees strong enough not to dissolve into tears and snot, yet lacking the backbone to hold a proper conversation before that overwhelming presence. Those people had received no gifts.

“Hmm…”

To prevent any possible accident before it could happen, he felt an explanation was needed on this point.

He’s imitating a human, so at least he’s not so rough that communication is impossible.

Well, how one defined “gentlemanly” when speaking of an existence of the Source was another matter.

This much should be fine.

Yu Seong-un steeled himself and opened his mouth.

“If some of our employees fail to answer you properly, or run away entirely, or dodge the conversation… that doesn’t mean those people are bad. They’re just a little more timid than most.”

“……”

“Anyone would be scared of a huge stranger in a black cloak suddenly appearing in the middle of the night when no one should be around, don’t you think?”

Yu Seong-un deliberately described Ji-oh as if he were an ordinary person.

Ji-oh believed himself to be an ordinary human; exposing the rank of his soul or his true nature did not seem likely to lead to anything good.

“Of course it might feel rude to you. But I’m saying those people weren’t deliberately trying to be rude—from their frightened perspective, it might simply have been a bit much.”

A calm voice answered shortly after.

“I understand what you mean.”

“You do? Then thanks.”

As both curator and Gardener, Yu Seong-un could not help but worry.

It’s only natural for a rabbit to shrink before a wolf. If he decides that is rude and evil behavior, things get extremely difficult. Innocent people could end up dead.

To an existence of the Source, human standards were meaningless. Especially since the Portrait of Ji-oh was sensitive to good and evil and to manners—yet the problem was that its standards might differ sharply from a human’s.

Someone who, from a human viewpoint, had done nothing particularly wrong or was even a good person could still be a thoroughgoing villain from the perspective of Ji-oh, an existence of the Source.

Considering how many times Ji-oh had said he disliked rude and wicked people, the thought was chilling.

When I first learned there were people who received no gifts at all, a real chill ran down my spine.

It meant Ji-oh had “sorted” the humans.

“You said once that Guild Master Bi Sa-beol isn’t a bad person, right?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Every single employee in this company was chosen by him personally. Not through some mass job posting and large-scale interviews—he scouted each guild member one by one with real care.”

“That must have taken a great deal of time and effort. I am impressed.”

“What I wanted to say is that our guild staff, even if I can’t claim they’re all kind, are capable and good people.”

In a world like this, who had never committed a single crime? Still, the people Bi Sa-beol had personally selected were not the sort who could be called villains.

“They may not have especially fine characters, but they’re just ordinary people.”

“Yes.”

“…Is it too rude of me to hope you won’t look badly on them?”

He did not know by what standard Ji-oh distinguished human good and evil.

But just as humans have emotion skills… I’m certain Ji-oh has some criterion for judgment. Otherwise he never would have declared Guild Master Bi Sa-beol “not a bad person” without even speaking to him.

Contrary to Yu Seong-un’s thoughts, as long as he was not inside the portrait Ji-oh still had no means of gauging the “safety” of the person beyond the frame.

The reason some people received gifts this time and others did not was simply that whenever the thought “Ah, thank you” or “Ah, I’m sorry” occurred to him, he had given a gift by way of compensation. There had been no particular value judgment involved.

But knowing none of that, Yu Seong-un could not help suspecting some sort of emotion skill.

I just hope the skill’s standards aren’t too harsh.

Bi Sa-beol had called this whole ghost-story uproar a kind of vaccination.

It was a chance for “the Portrait of Ji-oh”—a natural disaster that could never be disposed of or controlled—to adapt to this world and respect its members, and for the humans of this world to understand and make allowances for him in turn.

So Yu Seong-un had no choice but to try every approach he could.

“What do you think?”

“……”

Fortunately—or perhaps inevitably—Ji-oh answered with his usual blunt expression.

“I did not think those people were bad.”

“You didn’t?”

“The only reason I did not give them gifts is that I judged they would not need them, and because some people fled before I could do anything. I did not consider them evil.”

“……”

“I simply thought there was no need to give them anything.”

That was truly welcome news.

At least he hasn’t decided those people are rude and wicked. So that’s why there were no injuries even as the eyewitness accounts piled up.

Just as he was relaxing, Ji-oh continued.

“I do feel a little resentment toward those who ignored my questions or ran away without answering.”

“Ah.”

“But I understand. As you said, a man of unknown identity in a black cloak suddenly appearing in a deserted corridor is more than enough to inspire terror. It would be a lie to say I was not displeased, yet I have no intention of becoming angry.”

He added an explanation.

“However, because I too am human, I cannot help feeling negative emotions.”

“Y-yeah, of course.”

“I tried to converse politely, yet if this keeps happening it hurts. I hope the employees here will not continue to ignore or avoid the ‘Black Cloak’ in that manner.”

“I’ll speak to the Guild Master about that.”

Yu Seong-un swallowed his awkwardness as best he could.

…So he really was a little angry after all.

It seemed the level was only “they’re not bad people,” not “they weren’t rude.”

Even an ordinary person would grow angry if everyone around rejected them; Ji-oh was an existence of the Source who believed himself human.

Even while mistaking himself for human, there was no way he would not grow angry at humans who violated the clear rules he held.

Even so… we’ll never completely put the terror of the ghost story to rest. His soul’s rank is simply too high; humans standing before him shrinking is only natural. In that case, maybe we need to create new rules inside the building so we can at least regulate the employees’ behavior.

After a moment’s thought, Yu Seong-un nodded.

“…We have a tight-knit relationship centered on the Guild Master. Because he brought each person here himself, the employees’ attachment to him is quite strong.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll speak to the Guild Master so that the discomfort you felt doesn’t continue, and we’ll improve things as much as possible. If the Guild Master makes a strong case, the other employees should accept it.”

“I would be grateful if you would do so.”

As he spoke, Ji-oh was already holding an unfamiliar glass jar.

“……”

No, wait a second.

A jar?

It was not a bottle but a jar—large enough that he had to cradle it in one arm rather than hold it in one hand.

“…What’s that?”

“I will call it a gift of thanks for listening to my complaints and my request.”

“I still haven’t finished the cookies you gave me last time.”

“Why is that?”

“Ah…”

“I am not angry. The amount was not large, so I simply wondered why any remain and asked. Would you answer me?”

An ordinary human might have thought he was being sarcastic and angry, but Ji-oh was unmistakably an existence of the Source. It seemed pure curiosity, so Yu Seong-un answered with an apologetic face.

“Sorry. When I’m tired the effect is so good that I’ve been rationing them little by little. It wasn’t that your gift was inconvenient or that I didn’t like the taste.”

“There is no reason for you to apologize to me. I gave a gift, and it is now Yu Seong-un’s. You need not make excuses to me. Still, I am glad to hear it gave you strength when you were fatigued.”

“When you put it that way I feel even more undeserving…”

Yu Seong-un looked at the glass jar inside the portrait.

“So, what is that?”

Ji-oh removed the hand that had been cradling the jar and showed it to him.

“Fruit preserve.”

“…That?”

“Anyone can see it is fruit preserve.”

“Ah, right…”

Anyone could see it was not fruit preserve.

…He’s calling that fruit preserve?

Even though fruit and sugar were expensive ingredients one rarely got to eat, Yu Seong-un was a capable hunter. With the money he earned there was no way he had never tasted the fruit preserve that even 2nd-Class citizens bought.

But this is somehow… very different from any fruit preserve I know.

It held the color of twilight. A vermilion closer to orange, perhaps.

The transparent, pure liquid gleamed like the surface of a gem, and within that evening-glow hue slept a color so vivid it almost stung the eyes.

Something fruit-like is settled at the bottom, but…

The color was so enchanting he could not imagine actually eating it.

“These are ice pieces that go well with it.”

“…They look exactly like pearls.”

“They are called Ice Pearls. Yu Seong-un seems to possess the insight to guess the name correctly on the first try.”

“Oh. Right. Insight…”

“They will not melt unless the liquid is hot, so if you wish to consume them I recommend dissolving them in hot tea.”

“……”

Wow.

He could feel it.

I don’t think I can handle this.

After receiving tea leaves from Ji-oh the first time and asking him to “please hold back a little,” he had received cookies in exchange for seeds. Those had not been ordinary either. The fatigue-recovery effect had been so tremendous he had not been able to eat them all at once and had left some—which was exactly the present situation.

And this time the quantity is huge.

He said he enjoyed cooking, and apparently his hands were generous. This existence of the Source seemed not to know how small a human stomach was.

“Please accept it.”

“…Isn’t this too much?”

“Please eat plenty. It would be better for Yu Seong-un to put on more weight than he has now.”

“I’m pretty solid as I am.”

He had never seen the body directly, but judging by the outline of the cloak, Yu Seong-un actually had more muscle mass than Ji-oh.

And he wanted him to put on more weight? Yu Seong-un found it hard to understand.

…Wait a second. By “weight,” does he mean fat?

Was Ji-oh a man-eating monster?

“I don’t taste good.”

“An amusing joke.”

“I was serious.”

Fortunately it did not seem to be the mindset of a witch from a candy house fattening people up before eating them.

It’s not a human’s place to judge what aesthetic tastes an existence of the Source might have.

Apparently Ji-oh preferred humans who looked a little plumper.

While his own body was so perfectly proportioned, he liked chubby people to look at— a bit unusual. Yu Seong-un had no idea what sort of past this existence of the Source possessed.

…Come to think of it, whenever he gives gifts they’re always food, and when he’s bored he cooks or eats. He really seems to love food in every way. Preferring people with some flesh on them, those strangely generous hands, the way he enjoys giving gifts…

This guy… is he a grandmother?

“……”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah, sorry. Just a random thought.”

“I see.”

Fortunately Ji-oh did not press further.

“These are gifts offered in return for your kindness, so I require no reciprocal gift. Above all, this newly blended fruit preserve seems to have matured deliciously, and I wished to share it with all of you.”

“Hmm… I see.”

While nodding calmly, Yu Seong-un thought to himself.

…Does he know he’s bound by rules?

Ji-oh’s words just now had sounded as if they rested on the premise “In order for me to give you gifts, I must receive something.” Perhaps the one-to-one rule was not something Ji-oh himself had created.

Or he created it and then forgot.

If an entity of that rank possessed only the memories of a twenty-nine-year-old youth, it was a plausible hypothesis.

“…Well, since you’re giving it, I’ll take it…”

Yu Seong-un looked at the fruit preserve and activated his emotion skill.

“……”

“Does the fragrance not please you?”

“You’re really good at cooking.”

He could stand to be a little less good.

(To be continued)