D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 183

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story 2-5
“….”
The Grand Duke regarded Franson with a concerned expression.
If he broke down over something so trivial, how did he expect to endure the harsh trials of life in Sungdo?
“I want to stop caring what others think too, and live rationally—or rather, calculatingly—and become a magnificent Constellation, but I was born unable to do that.”
“Yes…. It seems someone with those sentiments turned a blind eye to the Empire’s people for quite a long time.”
“….”
He had struck Franson’s nerve again.
Franson, who had ignored his own dying subjects in a manner that didn’t suit his temperament.
Ultimately, that was why he had become a resident of Sungdo.
The Grand Duke had only meant it as a jest, but it seemed to have been too harsh a joke for the tender-hearted prince to accept.
The Grand Duke patted his back as he gasped for breath and wept, exhaling a long sigh.
“I apologize. I spoke carelessly.”
Franson would likely remain an indestructible Constellation for a very long time.
With so much of the world to regret, what was he even trying to accomplish?
“So, are you thinking of apologizing to that Constellation? Actually, you’ve been deliberating until now because you’re uncertain whether to apologize or not, haven’t you?”
Franson exhaled a sigh as if the earth itself were collapsing beneath him.
Yes, that was right.
Back then, I had acted emotionally in a fit of rage, but now I regret it somewhat.
I didn’t need to go that far—I simply failed to maintain my composure and acted emotionally.
“I should apologize. And I’ll put off becoming close with that Constellation for later….”
“You haven’t given up entirely then.”
“Not yet. Still, I know that Constellation isn’t a bad one, so I want to make the effort.”
Though I’m not sure where to begin.
Don’t such people exist from time to time?
Those you want to become close to for no reason. Those toward whom you feel a vague fondness without any logical basis.
That was exactly how I felt about Natalia.
‘Our personalities don’t seem to match.’
Sometimes you have friends whose personalities don’t align.
After all, my compatibility with this Grand Duke standing before me isn’t that perfect either.
“What sort of effort are you planning?”
“I’ll wait until the right moment comes. An opportunity will present itself eventually.”
“So you’re saying you won’t do anything at all.”
Franson’s eyes gleamed with solemn determination, as if he could no longer hear the Grand Duke’s words.
And the opportunity arrived not long after, accompanied by an absurd turn of events.
* * *
Client deceased.
Tasha gazed at the countless karma being settled with an indifferent expression.
This wasn’t it either.
For two hundred years, the Constellations had not asked her a single question about herself.
‘Perhaps I should shift my focus toward my clients instead.’
At some point, it had become a matter of pride.
That handsome Constellation had cast a single pebble—how vast a ripple it had created.
What I had never bothered to consider before now began to irritate me.
No one had ever been curious about me, Natalia the Constellation.
Are you a god? Are you a Constellation? Can you help me?
I had heard countless such questions, but they were never truly about me.
“What am I even doing right now…”
Yet I couldn’t turn to my clients and ask if they were curious about me at all.
It felt somewhat embarrassing, like I was begging for their attention.
And unconsciously, I had begun sponsoring them based on efficiency rather than genuine conversation.
Habit was a terrifying thing.
Having failed with sixteen clients already, I was utterly exhausted.
“Perhaps I should just abandon this line of questioning and think of something else…”
“Originally, to receive questions, one must first ask questions of others.”
A voice responded to my unconscious murmuring.
I turned my head slowly.
Franson was leaning casually against the doorframe, his head turned away as he grumbled.
“When did you arrive?”
“I’ve been here for a while, but you seemed busy with your clients, so I was waiting. And I wasn’t sure what you were troubled about…”
Constellations are inherently prone to talking to themselves.
Sometimes they unconsciously respond because clients keep speaking to them.
But since most exist in solitude, such murmuring is usually the norm.
Yet I was different from other Constellations—I was excessively taciturn.
So he couldn’t approach me carelessly and was worried about when to speak.
“Are you bothered because I said last time that you don’t ask questions of yourself?”
My murmuring seemed to have made him feel a subtle sense of responsibility.
It wasn’t intentional at all, but it seemed I had been causing a misunderstanding for quite some time.
“May I come in?”
“It looks like half your body is already inside the room—shouldn’t you be asking that now…”
“No, in moments like this, you should pretend you can’t resist and say ‘come in,’ showing that expression.”
“How bothersome…”
As if to be heard, I murmured and flicked my twenty-seventh tentacle, summoning a chair for him.
Franson came over with an air of indifference and plopped down, staring directly at my face.
“What?”
“Would you prefer your clients to be curious about you? Or other Constellations?”
“Well, I hadn’t thought about it until now, but thanks to you, I’ve become aware of it.”
My tone was reproachful, yet strangely, Franson seemed pleased by my words.
“Then let’s pursue a mutually beneficial strategy.”
“Mutually beneficial?”
“I’ll teach you how to converse emotionally. Natalia Constellation teaches the way of rational thought.”
‘Is this a contract proposal?’
Franson grasped Tasha’s fourth tentacle like a handshake, speaking with genuine seriousness as she attempted to measure its efficiency.
“In truth, there’s an optimal strategy for receiving questions. I ask first.”
“You ask first… That doesn’t mean simply asking what I need today, does it?”
She had already posed such questions countless times.
And gained nothing from them.
They never asked about her, and since Tasha found that relatively comfortable, she never pushed further.
But this Constellation seemed determined to make her attempt things she deemed ‘unnecessary’ and ‘inefficient.’
“What sort of things, for instance?”
“How you’re feeling today, for example. Or if you discuss your mood, asking why you feel that way is equally valuable.”
“So focus on why rather than how? Why you ate bread, for instance…”
“Bread! Enough about that blasted bread! Why are you so obsessed with bread!”
Franson let out an anguished cry, shaking his head vigorously.
This Constellation seemed excessively emotional.
Though Tasha knew it wasn’t the right moment, she found herself somewhat amused.
“Give me an example.”
Normally she would have chosen a more efficient path to acquiring knowledge, yet here she was asking this roundabout question instead.
Franson, who had been growling in frustration, glanced sideways at Tasha.
‘Is this also… an attempt at empathy?’
Still, it felt better than a cold machine.
“An example, then.”
“You’re asking me to show you the pinnacle of emotional conversation.”
The pinnacle of emotional conversation.
He cleared his throat deliberately before speaking.
“Natalia Constellation, have you ever experienced love?”
“Well, love seems to have such a broad scope when you put it that way.”
“What do you think love is? What kinds of love have you experienced?”
Tasha fell into contemplation for a moment.
What would constitute love in its dictionary sense?
She had grasped it theoretically, but had witnessed no concrete examples in practice.
Her support toward clients was also a formal kind of love, though she couldn’t claim to have felt such emotion directly toward them.
“My case accumulation is still incomplete. Would it be alright to discuss this properly after I’ve experienced it?”
For some reason, that remark delighted him immensely.
A radiant smile bloomed across Franson’s face.
“Then, since I’m curious, let’s be friends until then.”
“Friends?”
“Yes, what do you think?”
“What kind of friends?”
Bread had transformed into a friend.
The smile crumbled from Franson’s face.
And so the two Constellations became ‘friends’.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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