The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 37
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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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Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with Song – Episode 037
“Are you upset?”
“No, I would’ve been curious too. But why did you suddenly stop me, Staff? I’m grateful, but…”
I lifted my gaze to the bird doll perched above Rosalind’s head.
It shrugged its shoulders once, then pointed at me.
“Who’d act recklessly in front of that one?”
“That one?”
Puzzled, I reached toward my shoulder where the Staff was pointing.
An extraordinarily cold and soft sensation met my fingertips. Startled, I opened my palm, and a small snowman with a pair of white wings descended onto it.
It looked up at me and bounced.
“Finally, you noticed me!”
“…Liri?”
The snowman I presumed to be Liri grinned widely. That voice belonged to a gentle man, and if he read books in that tone, the night would feel blessed.
The purple cubic crystals embedded where eyes should be curved naturally into a smiling expression.
It was too late to be surprised. With a bewildered expression, I lifted him up. I’d thought he was made entirely of snow, but the warmth radiating from Liri in my palm was incomparable.
Yes, it pulsed distinctly, just like when I’d held those feathers in my hand.
“I came because I was worried about you. There are many Staff members here, so while messages are difficult, the flow of divine energy is relatively free.”
“Is this your avatar, then?”
“Yes!”
Knowing that I didn’t reveal my name here, he—who always called me Yea—maintained the formal address of “you.”
Liri floated upward and stared at Pene, who was clinging to Rosalind. Though Liri appeared in the form of a completely non-threatening snowman, the bird doll subtly shifted away.
Those of us humans in that space couldn’t discern what communication passed between the Staff members, but we could sense that some hierarchy had been established among them in that brief moment.
Judging from Lucy’s reaction and what Liri typically said, I could infer he was quite a powerful being. I simply hadn’t anticipated it would be to this degree.
“What’s wrong, Pene? Did you get intimidated? By a snowman?”
“A bird doll can get a little intimidated by a snowman, can’t it?”
Rosalind laughed without a hint of alarm, bending at the waist and cackling so hard that tears formed at the corners of her eyes.
Right, I understood well that she wasn’t acting that way out of malice toward me. If she were, she couldn’t possibly laugh so casually in front of me like this.
Observing her directly, the expressions recorded by Jiyook were bewildered at worst, but they didn’t carry the tone of someone truly dangerous or disliked.
“Well, Yea seems to be the kind of talent worth recruiting from Hanttae. If our Pene is scared enough to flinch, you must’ve contracted with an extraordinary Staff member.”
“Yes, my Staff member is truly a remarkable snowman.”
“You’re even joking with the person you just tried to poison? Yea doesn’t seem like an ordinary person either. Maybe that’s why everyone’s curious.”
Rosalind flicked her finger toward the white wine containing the drug.
Despite the light gesture, sparks flew, and the various glasses beside it shattered like dominoes. The hunters sitting nearby let out annoyed screams.
In the process, shards scattered across their cheeks, scratching and cutting them. Just as I unconsciously moved closer to those groaning in pain, Liri grabbed my collar and held me back.
“Watch.”
The voice touching my ear carried an irresistible force, and without thinking, I relaxed and nodded.
Rosalind, who had been observing my expression carefully, let out a short sigh before flicking her finger once more.
A pale light enveloped those in agony, and in the blink of an eye, their wounds vanished as if they’d never existed. Only the shattered glass remained in its pathetic state, showing no sign of being restored.
Having witnessed someone else heal another for the first time, I must have been staring too intently. Rosalind burst into laughter.
“What, too violent for you?”
“No, I just thought it looked cool. But it’s wrong for the staff members to have to clean up such a mess.”
“You’re right. It was wrong.”
Pene, fluttering her stitched wings as she flew about, let out a disgruntled sound. It seemed she’d been holding back quite a bit of frustration.
When the handler didn’t take her side either, Rosalind’s face crumpled in disappointment. Watching her behavior, she seemed far younger than I was.
“Pene, are you taking their side because you got scared? Though come to think of it, I’ve only seen you scared twice, and both of them are right here in front of us.”
‘One of them must be Lucy.’
As if wanting to join in on the trend, Lucy appeared in the form of a small grim reaper and floated about with a giggle.
He didn’t stop there—he flew up and poked Liri and Pene repeatedly, picking a fight with them. Liri responded with dignified composure, but Pene’s wings fluttered irritably, and she did seem noticeably more agitated.
Whether Jung Hwan-jae thought the conversation had wrapped up or had been waiting for an opening to interject, his voice suddenly cut through the gap.
“Still, we should clean up the glass so people don’t step on it as they pass.”
“Me? Come on, give me a break. You could just hire someone.”
Memories of my part-time job at a restaurant suddenly came flooding back. It was a place with plenty of drunk customers, so broken glass was far more common an occurrence than I’d expected.
I remembered how depressed I’d felt sweeping the floor back then. I could instantly understand the hardship of the part-time workers here without even asking.
Before I knew it, I was glaring at Rosalind. The moment her face caught that gaze, it drooped immediately.
“Since I’m the one who caused the trouble, I suppose I have no choice. Pene, let’s go clean it up together.”
“No matter how I think about it, I really messed up this contract.”
Even as Pene grumbled, she flew after Rosalind, who trudged along dejectedly.
The fact that all this commotion had unfolded so shortly after my arrival was simply unbelievable.
Now I finally understood what Jung Hwan-jae had been trying to warn me about.
As I watched Rosalind sweep the broken glass shards into a pile with her broom, the interior finally came into proper view.
“Everyone seems so unbothered despite all that commotion just now… Even the people who got hurt.”
“These kinds of incidents happen so frequently here. Rosalind especially tends to cause accidents like this often. I’d wager everyone here has been injured by her at least once.”
“Even you, senior?”
“Of course.”
The way he answered so casually made it even more frightening. I’d nearly become another victim myself.
Jung Hwan-jae naturally wrapped an arm around my shoulder and began walking. He spoke in his characteristically composed tone.
“However, if Rosalind had injured you, I wouldn’t have let it slide.”
“Pardon?”
“I didn’t think you’d actually drink after receiving my warning about the wine, but if you’d even made a move to, I was planning to stop you. Had you drunk it, collapsing the building was one of my contingency plans.”
“…You really don’t need to go that far. I’m not so foolish as all that.”
His tone made it impossible to tell whether he was serious or not, which only confused me further.
The other people continued their conversations among themselves, occasionally glancing over, but they didn’t seem particularly observant.
I’d initially thought this place was where people came to spy on their ranking match opponents, but perhaps I’d been overthinking it.
Once we’d climbed the stairs and stepped out onto the Terrace, we finally had the place to ourselves.
“They don’t seem very interested in each other, do they?”
“Since you’re new here. Many people don’t show up again at the next gathering even if they come today. They just pretend to know each other, thinking, ‘I suppose I need to show my face at least once a year or I’ll fade away.'”
“It’s rough just trying to survive.”
I said it with a sigh, and Jung Hwan-jae let out a slight laugh. I’d meant it sincerely, but apparently he found it amusing.
Not only that, but Liri, who had flown up after me, was rolling along the Terrace railing with her belly in her hands.
Seeing those eye-like lumps that would probably leave fingerprints if pressed enjoying themselves so much somehow warmed my heart.
Snow that doesn’t melt even after winter passes—isn’t that the very romance countless children once dreamed of? Especially when that snowman is beautiful, speaks, and performs magic.
As I extended my hand toward her, Liri clung to my fingers as if she’d been waiting for exactly this moment, rubbing herself against my palm. How adorable.
“But Liri, why did you suddenly come down here?”
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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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