NOVPUB
Chapter 1019
Aeonitia O’Rowane.
She was frozen like a statue, as if petrified.
Her lips trembled violently, and her eyes were filled with fear and confusion.
She was a genius beyond even her own awareness—that was why Davey had planned to push her to her limits.
But seeing the resulting pure devastation to her innocence made it painfully clear that she was different from him.
"Davey...? Did I do something wrong?"
"Huh?" he responded with confusion.
"Please forgive me! I’ll try harder! If I just had a little more time and budget—!"
"No, it’s fine. Just wrap up the research."
"T-This can’t be...!"
She collapsed, looking utterly crushed.
From the way she was reacting, she must’ve assumed that he’d deemed her useless and was discarding her.
‘Wait... that’s not what I meant at all.’
Seeing her entirely unexpected negative reaction, Davey himself was just as flustered as she was.
"You have it all wrong. Let’s talk about it over a meal. Aeonitia, is there anything you want to eat?"
She fell silent for a moment before cautiously clarifying, "You're really not getting rid of me?"
"Of course not. Just take a good rest. I’ll handle the rest."
"Could it be that you're planning to put your own name on the research?"
"Do I look like someone who’d do something that petty?"
Having no response to that loaded question, she eventually nodded to his invitation.
"Something I want to eat... Ah, I know. I want tuna."
"Tuna?"
"Yes. Freshly caught tuna. I once saw a chef skillfully carve up a massive tuna, right on the spot, when I was with Tiara."
"Okay. Wait here, I’ll be back soon."
Seeing the exhaustion plaguing her body, he felt a heavy sense of guilt wrap him.
Being an older brother who had shattered his little sister’s innocence, all he could feel was bitter regret.
* * *
Davey still hadn’t been able to do anything with the life essence orb that Bi Yeon had given him.
He had no clue how he’d even go about altering it.
Fortunately, time wasn’t pressing—at least, not yet. His top priority was improving Aeonitia’s condition, even if only by a little.
He didn’t hold any particular grudge against her, despite the recently discovered circumstances. Their true relationship had started when she approached him, offering a deal in a desperate bid to survive.
Yes, her mother Lynesse Bariatta had been responsible for his own mother’s death, as well as an attempt on his own.
But most importantly, unlike those bastards Carlus and Benedict, she had never actively sought to harm him. Even during their childhood, she had only watched him from a distance, never daring to step closer.
It was a relief that she hadn’t inherited her mother’s toxic jealousy.
In the end, she had feared him—the man who had killed her mother—but Davey had never judged her by that bloodline connection.
At first, he had taken her in simply because it was funny to watch her struggle so hard to survive. But over time, whether he liked it or not, he had grown attached. Then, watching her claw her way toward survival had reminded him too much of his past self.
Soaring high above the vast ocean, Davey rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"Hmm. Tuna, eh? I can handle the food prep and cooking, but where do I even catch one?"
His knowledge of Earth came mostly from popular media he had seen in his past life, back when he had been stuck in that clean room.
"Didn’t the shows say people catch tuna in bulk with deep-sea fishing vessels?"
All he really knew was that the big ones could exceed five hundred kilograms and they all traveled in schools.
Catching one wouldn’t be difficult—as long as he could get his eyes on one in the first place.
Pondering as he flew over the water, his attention was drawn by something massive—as big as a small island—floating in the distant sea.
"Oh? Long time no see!"
A massive, bearded whale lay belly-up in the water, and sprawled lazily across its stomach was a mermaid.
Seeing Davey, So-Ya perked up and waved, rendering him speechless at the ridiculous coincidence.
"Do you guys just drift around like this all the time?"
"We were spending too much time wandering around and got tired, so now we’re resting. Oh, right! I found something really intere—"
"Don’t. The last time you said anything, it was hell on earth. Never do your cursed stand-up comedy in front of me ever again.”
[Huh? Contractor, what are you doing here?]
"Just passing through. Don’t mind me."
Realizing there was no need for further conversation, Behemoth lazily flopped back down.
It was the same Behemoth who was once notorious for devouring anything and everything in sight. Yet there it lay, in an extreme state of blissful laziness.
"Do you even eat these days with that lazy ass of yours? With that size, you must need a ridiculous amount of food."
Behemoth let out a chuckle.
[Mythical beasts mainly sustain themselves on mana. The mana you’ve spread across the world is so vast that I barely need to worry about it. Besides, I already had a snack earlier.]
"A snack?"
[A massive school of tuna happened to pass by earlier, so I ate them all.]
Davey slowly turned to So-Ya.
"Is that not a problem for the local marine ecosystem?"
If Behemoth had been like Megalodria, who devoured radiation like it was candy, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But the goofball was straight-up dismantling the ecosystem.
"Shandra Minea eats lava for snacks, Megalodria eats radiation... and as for you? What the hell, man?”
[Don’t question my diet. You should let people eat in piece! You’re just ignorant!]
"You oversized fish. Did you eat in peace or pieces?”
Behemoth visibly flinched.
[So-Ya! She told me that it was pieces!]
"I distinctly remember telling you peace. Maybe you just forgot...?"
‘This idiot...’
"Anyway. So, tuna—do you know where I can find some?"
"Hmm. Why do you need tuna?"
"To make sashimi."
So-Ya sat up straight with a hand on her chin, deep in thought.
"Well, it already ate all of them that were around here, so...”
Throwing all hesitation aside, Davey stomped on Behemoth’s stomach.
[Guh!!]
"Eat less, you pig. Ugh. So, none nearby?"
"Hmm. Ah! Some new ones came over from the Northern Hemisphere recently. They’re an unusually aggressive school. I tried talking to them once, but they almost beat me up."
‘Yeah, I’m sure all this big lazy glutton wanted to do was talk. What a joke.’
Davey listened carefully as she told him where they had gone, then floated back up into the sky.
"Oh yeah, hey,” So-Ya suddenly called out, making him pause. "What’s that thing on your body? It’s... really unusual,” she said while studying his body.
She then clapped her hands together and grabbed one of her own scales. Her expression tensed, her grip tightening as if she were about to rip it out.
"Okay... On three. Hrmph!!"
Snap!!
"Kyaaa!!”
She rolled across Behemoth’s belly, flopping around like a fish on dry land.
Once she eventually got ahold of herself, she crawled over to hand Davey a shimmering, iridescent scale.
"Here. Take this."
"What for?"
Mermaid scales had a lot of cultural history. Mermaids were said to be symbols of immortality, but that didn’t mean obtaining their scales was as simple as it sounded.
"It’s a gift. Someday, I’m sure you’ll need it."
Davey took the scale and examined it briefly before storing it in his Pocket Plane.
"Alright. I’ll be sure to put it to good use."
"Then, see you next time! Guardian, let’s go eat giant squid this time!"
[Hold on tight, you fool!]
The bizarre duo flipped over and vanished beneath the ocean waves.
Davey shook his head before turning toward the direction So-Ya had indicated.
He didn’t have to travel long before he spotted large-scale movement.
"Found ‘em."
The massive, rapidly moving school of tuna.
Extending his hand toward them, he gathered his strength.
"I should make sure they stay fresh."
Crackle!
The seawater before his fingertips began to freeze.
* * *
"Whoaa. This is my first time seeing one in real life."
"Davey?! What is that?"
Aeonitia and Tiara, who had come outside to sip coffee after learning that the research was nearing its final stages, stared blankly at Davey.
They could see a tail fin on his shoulder, dragging an enormous, frozen tuna behind him.
"You said you wanted some. Tuna, right?"
"Whoa..."
"My goodness. You actually went and caught one just because she wanted to eat it?"
"Yeah. I couldn’t just let my little sister miss out on something she really wanted."
Tiara leaned over and whispered into Aeonitia’s ear. "He’s insane... What’s up with him?”
"I... have no idea."
They both looked at Davey with concern for his mental health.
“I can hear you."
Tiara crossed her arms.
"You know, there’s a saying that if someone suddenly starts acting out of character, they’re planning to die soon. So what’s with you today?"
"What do you mean? Can’t a brother just get his sister something she wants?"
"No, it’s weird because you don’t usually do this.”
A strange pang of guilt hit him.
"Well. Seeing Aeonitia like that just made me..."
"Made you what?"
"Made me wonder if I went too far with how I worked you two."
Hearing that, Tiara let out a sigh and shook her head.
"So you're only just now realizing that stuffing a twelve-year-old in a research lab, forcing her to work insane hours, and having her pull all-nighters constantly was wrong?"
"Well. Uhhh."
"Wow. Well, you’re too late—she’s probably already wasted all her growing time working sleepless nights, and won’t ever be tall now. What are you gonna do about it?”
"Hey! That’s what the ring is for! The ring!!"
"What ring?"
Realizing his slip, Davey reflexively covered his mouth.
"Oh. So you’re Santa, huh? It all makes sense now."
Tiara turned to him, looking utterly horrified. At the same time, her eyes demanded an explanation for how he’d compensate her for the trauma.
"Well, uh..." he muttered.
"If it’s from you, Davey, I’ll wear it. But how was I supposed to wear a ring left behind by some mysterious intruder? The obvious choice was to just leave it as it is.”
"You weren’t supposed to say that part out loud!" Tiara shouted, exasperated.
Davey had never explicitly told Tiara about his little Santa shenanigans, but she was sharp enough to piece it together after hearing Aeonitia’s story that morning.
Thanks to his clumsy mistake, any remaining shred of her childhood innocence had been finally obliterated.
"Alright, just shut up! Both of you, follow me!"
Grabbing them both, he jumped through space, warping to his villa in Busan.
After setting them down, he laid the giant tuna onto a massive cutting board he’d prepared in advance.
Normally, Davey would’ve just let Aeonitia continue her daily routine.
Unfortunately, it was clear that her condition was far worse than he’d initially thought.
He never would’ve thought that a vibrant and youthful child her age could be reduced to such a dire state of exhaustion. She was supposed to be busy messing around with friends and dreaming of what life had to offer later on.
All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind. He knew that if nothing changed, she’d soon go through extreme consequences. He had invested years into her—he wasn’t about to let her fall apart.
To break her extreme work addiction, it was clear that he would need to do something more forceful.
Thunk!!
He sliced off the tuna’s head and spoke firmly, "Aeonitia. From now on, doing research is off-limits for you.”
“For real?!”
She looked at him like the sky had just collapsed.
"I swear, I’ve never seen such a brainwashed workaholic like you in my life."
"I’m not as bad as you, Davey! And—no! I need to keep working! There’s an alchemy conference coming up, and I was really looking forward to—"
"But you’re not like me! If you don’t like it, we can tear up our contract. From then on, you’ll be free. Do whatever you want—work, play, I don’t care."
"Davey!!!”
Ignoring her dramatic wail, Davey focused on quickly preparing the tuna.
"Enough. For now, just eat whatever I give you."
Pouting, Aeonitia reluctantly took a bite of the sashimi.
It soon brought a slight smile to her face.
"I really did want to try this... It’s delicious. Thank you, Davey.”
Seeing her gentle smile, Davey let out a bitter chuckle.
"Alright, then after I eat some more, I’ll just check over a few more research documents—"
‘Yeah. She’s definitely addicted. If Perserque sees her like this...’
A chill ran down his spine.
