Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 1.7
Surely he’s not some spirit that lives for hundreds of years or a demigod or something.
Looking at his face alone, it wouldn’t be hard to believe he’s not human.
“But Ju-in. Why are you curious about my age?”
“Huh? Well.”
I was just trying to lighten the mood and build a friendly rapport. Did it sound like a survey?
“It seems like you’ve been hunting monsters alone for a long time, Callion. I thought you must have been lonely.”
“……”
I was about to wrap up the conversation, but Callion’s expression changed subtly.
His eyes were slightly red, but it wasn’t the embarrassed look from earlier.
It was more like he was… moved? Overwhelmed?
“Callion?”
When I called his name, he flinched as if he’d just realized something, then quickly composed his expression.
“You should get some rest now.”
“Shouldn’t you rest too, Callion?”
“I’m fine, thanks to your healing. We have to walk through the mountains tomorrow, so I think it would be good for you to get some sleep.”
Unlike Callion, I have poor stamina, and my physical abilities deteriorate rapidly if I don’t get enough sleep.
I’m already treated as a troll and a useless person, I can’t become even more of a liability.
‘I should obediently go to sleep.’
Callion took out a small blanket from his inventory—well, that’s what I’ve decided to call it for convenience—and draped it over my knees.
I wonder how many items are in that bag that’s only as big as a palm.
It’s getting to the point where I’m amazed.
“Sleep well, Ju-in.”
“Yes. You rest too, Callion.”
After exchanging customary good night greetings, I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.
***
Listening to the soft snoring of the sleeping Ju-in, Callion fell into complex emotions.
‘What was that feeling?’
He slowly rubbed his chest, which had healed and was now perfectly fine. As he rubbed the smooth skin without a single scar, as if the memory of being torn by the monster’s claws was just a dream, he felt somewhat strange.
‘Is it because the miraculous healing of the wound feels unreal, or…’
He raised his left hand and looked at the back of it. It still felt like Ju-in’s lips lingered there, so Callion carefully clenched and unclenched his fist.
An impulse to press his lips against that hand arose, but he barely managed to shake it off.
‘Why am I like this?’
To calm his stirring heart, he turned his eyes outward.
The mountain, shrouded in darkness, was silent. With no sense of magical beasts nearby, they wouldn’t be attacked for a while.
Only when the chirping of crickets in the distance began to fade did he finally turn his head to look down at Ju-in beside him.
She was curled up, sleeping while leaning slightly against Callion. Such a small, warm body. How could such a frail body, seemingly so delicate it might break at a touch, conceal such remarkable power?
Callion gazed intently at the tiny back of Ju-in’s sleeping head, recalling when he first met her.
***
It was by chance that Callion, wandering the mountains to hunt magical beasts as usual, discovered an unfamiliar trace.
Evidence that someone had briefly stayed there.
Crushed fallen leaves where someone had sat, soil particles scattered along footprints.
It seemed as if something had dropped from the sky, lingered there, and then trudged off somewhere else, rather than a traveler crossing the mountain.
That trace somehow caught his eye. Callion stared blankly at the empty space, unable to even think of moving on.
How long had he been standing there?
The presence he thought had disappeared was felt again from afar. Trudge, trudge. It didn’t take long for the owner of those slightly unsteady footsteps to appear.
“Oh… a person?”
It was a small woman. Though wearing worn travel clothes, her posture and expression were far from those of a wanderer.
It was as if a supreme being, detached from everything in the world, had descended here wearing awkward human clothes. Even though she stood right before him, she seemed so ephemeral, as if she might disappear at any moment.
Such a naive and innocent appearance, ill-fitting for this desolate mountain where magical beasts roam, is actually the most suspicious and should be the most guarded against in this place.
It wouldn’t be strange to consider her a magical beast disguised as a human, yet Callion felt no desire to attack her.
“Why are you in a place like this?”
“I don’t know either. I lost consciousness for a moment, and when I woke up…”
It was strange. If she wasn’t wandering or fleeing, there was no reason for a woman who couldn’t even protect herself to be alone in such mountains. Approaching such a suspicious being from any angle was suicidal. He should have immediately drawn his sword, cut her down, and fled the scene. That was the iron rule of magical beast hunters.
But Callion didn’t draw his sword. Instead, he extended his hand.
He wanted to hold onto her, this being who seemed so out of place in this desolate landscape, as if she might scatter like mist, insisting this wasn’t where she belonged.
So that she could be here.
He thought he wanted to be a fence for her, to help her fit into this alien landscape that surrounded her.
It wasn’t a protective instinct to guard a fragile being, but closer to the longing of reaching out when discovering a mysterious treasure in the mist, hoping it wasn’t an illusion.
He couldn’t understand why he had such an odd thought about a suspicious woman he was seeing for the first time, but that question was soon answered.
“My name is Ju-in.”
Ju-in. The moment he heard that name, Callion completely understood why he was acting so unlike himself.
It was because she was Ju-in.
***
“I’m sorry. If only I could take your pain away instead…”
Being injured wasn’t frightening. Callion wasn’t weak enough to faint from a chest wound. He could endure the pain of the wound. He had to protect Ju-in, after all.
But when she grasped his hand, Callion’s entire body froze. The moment her lips touched the back of his hand, all thought flew away.
It felt as if he had lost control of his own body.
Unable to look away, staring down at the small head gently pressing lips against the back of his hand, Callion thought time had stopped. If not for the violent pounding of his heart, he would have thought he was dead.
It was then that his chest began to tingle and the wound started to heal. It felt as if something was kneading his body like dough, filling in the open wound and sifting out the pain.
Even as he felt the wound healing at an unbelievable speed, Callion couldn’t take his eyes off Ju-in.
Only when the pain had finally ceased and the wound had completely healed did he manage to move his lips with difficulty.
“…Ju-in.”
As he called her name, the soft lips left the back of his hand. She raised her head and looked at him. The relieved smile that appeared on her flushed face was brief, as she closed her eyes like a puppet with cut strings and collapsed into Callion’s arms.
“Ju-in!”
Callion hurriedly embraced Ju-in. She placed her hand on his chest, furrowing her brow and breathing heavily.
Why had Ju-in, who had been fine, suddenly collapsed?
Could his wound have transferred to her somehow?
Remembering what Ju-in had said before kissing the back of his hand, Callion became frightened and tried to check if there were any wounds on her body.
But the moment he touched her light and soft body, he froze again.
Ju-in’s body was so small and delicate that he felt as if he might break her bones if he handled her carelessly.
“Ju-in, Ju-in…”
In the end, unable to do anything, Callion just called her name anxiously.
He could feel her labored breathing against his chest gradually stabilizing. He felt her small face nuzzling against his chest as she caught her breath. Callion was dazed by the sensation of her fine hair tickling his skin as it became disheveled.
Like a newborn puppy burrowing into its mother’s embrace, Ju-in buried her face in his chest and slowly exhaled. He felt as if her soft, warm breath was slowly crawling across his skin.
The soft, warm flesh felt even through clothes. The pulsing heartbeat beneath transmitted through his palm.
Callion became intoxicated by these sensations, forgetting even that he needed to check on Ju-in’s condition.
It was Ju-in’s voice that brought him back to reality from his dazed state.
“Ugh, Callion. I’m sorry…”
The moment their eyes met as his hazy consciousness returned to the Ju-in in his arms, his face flushed hot. It was so hot and burning, as if on fire, that Callion couldn’t regain his senses. He couldn’t tell what he was saying, or if he was speaking at all.
Ju-in, flustered, moved away from him. As the warmth left his arms, his chest felt empty and hollow.
Feeling something welling up inside him, Callion turned his head and bit his lip. Unlike his wildly beating heart and heated skin, an inexplicable anxiety and emptiness kept urging him on.
Just one more touch, he thought.
‘No. To harbor such immoral thoughts towards the person who healed me… I mustn’t.’
To use such exceptional healing magic must also be taxing on the mage. As proof, didn’t she collapse right after healing his wound?
Knowing she would be affected herself, she still healed him because she felt sorry for his injury. So he must repay this kindness.
Callion untied his fur cloak and draped it over the sleeping Ju-in. Seeing her buried under the oversized cloak somehow made his heart tingle.
Very gently, he touched her hair. Under the pretext of tidying her disheveled hair, he indulged his selfish desire for a brief moment. After confirming that she was sleeping comfortably, he turned his head again to look at the night sky.
Even if he couldn’t sleep, it wouldn’t be a problem for recovering his strength. Feeling his fatigue melt away from the warmth at his side, Callion spent the night with open eyes.
