*** Arte's POV ***

Why did grandpa laugh? Was there something funny?

I frowned at grandpa and couldn't understand. He suddenly laughed and suddenly got mad.

But it was me who should get mad! I gripped Oppa's hand tightly.

When Oppa was sleeping, he usually woke up when I called or played a prank. But even after calling out to him, Oppa hadn't opened his eyes at all.

What if something happened to Oppa? And if something did happen, who was the bad guy to blame?

My gaze turned to the grandpa who was limping toward us. He was grimacing with each step as if enduring pain, but even that couldn't stop him from wanting to hurt Oppa.

"Grandpa."

"Who's your grandpa, just so you know, I am--"

"Why do you want to hurt Oppa?"

I couldn't understand this grandpa, so I should probably ask, right? Maybe Oppa played a prank or something.

But then, I remembered this grandpa also wanted to hurt me, even though I did no such thing. So why did he hate us?

"This wretch, how dare she cut the great me when speaking." Grandpa's hand trembled. "You want to know? Fine, I'll tell you."

Grandpa then pointed at Oppa.

"That whelp suddenly attacked and killed me. That's why I will kill him back now."

I blinked, my mind blanked for a moment.

"Grandpa was killed?"

"That's right."

"But grandpa is alive?"

"That's because I came back to life."

"But grandpa said grandpa was killed by Oppa. How can someone get killed and be alive?"

"Were you listening to me, wretch? I said I came back to life."

"Hnnn…!"

I frowned hard. I asked questions to understand, so why did I get even more confused?

Then, I remembered Oppa's words one day. If someone said something contradicting, that person must be lying.

And since what this grandpa said didn't match up, this grandpa must be lying! I shuddered at the realization.

"Grandpa," I sulked, "why are you lying to me?"

"What?! You accuse me of being a liar?!"

"Lying isn't good, you know? Bad kids will be punished, and bad grandpas will be… punished?" I tilted my head.

"Why are you asking me, wretch?"

"But I don't know. I'm not old like grandpa?"

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"I am not old! I am still in my late middle-age!"

Grandpa's wrinkly skin proved otherwise.

"See?" I said, "you are lying again."

"It's not a lie! I swear!"

"Is this a lie too?"

"Why don't you believe me?!"

"How can I when grandpa keeps lying?"

"This wretch…" He clenched his bony fists.

"Ehew. Enough. I don't want to talk to grandpa anymore. Grandpa is a bad guy who lies."

"Hahaha! How dare you! How dare you judge me so!" Grandpa laughed again, "Fine. I will make you regret your insolence so much that you twist and turn in grave. And now that I've draw near, just wait until I stabbed this dagger to your eyes and--"

"[Wind Blast]"

"Heok?!"

Grandpa seemed intent to hurt me and Oppa, so I blasted him again to where he began.

"Heuk… cough…"

Grandpa's body hit a tree and something seemed to break. Maybe a branch?

When I was tilting my head, Grandpa glared at me like he was mad. He then spouted a plethora of new words that I didn't know the meaning of.

Grandpa seemed really passionate about it, so it must be important words, right? I should ask Oppa about it later.

Me and grandpa then repeated the same thing. Grandpa limped toward us and was about to attack, then I blasted him with [Wind Blast] or [Wind Wall].

"Heok…"

It was only after grandpa went whoosh a few more times that he finally did something different. He gasped while glaring at me.

"You… why won't you… kill me?"

"Eh? Why would I?"

"When I said I would kill him, you said you would kill me!"

"Eh?"

Did I say that? There was no way I would say that. I looked at him with pity.

"Grandpa, are you senile?"

"What?!"

"When you tried to kill Oppa, I only said I won't let you do that, you know?"

He frowned. "Is that why you only pushed me back?"

"Mhm." I nodded.

"So if I give up, will you let me be?"

"Mhm."

"Haha, hahahaha!" Grandpa laughed again.

Grandpa said, "Alright, alright. I give up."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You won't do bad things anymore?"

"Of course."

"You won't harm me or Oppa?"

"…"

"Grandpa?"

"Sure…"

"Hnn…. I don't trust you."

My gaze went to his dagger. He noticed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah~ is this why you still doubt me? Then here, catch it, I don't need it anymore."

He then threw the dagger in my direction. I was about to defend with [Wind Wall], but I realized the dagger was not going to hit me or Oppa. So I just watched as the dagger fell close to my feet.

Grandpa's shoulder seemed to creak from the throw. He uttered some words and glared at me again.

But was it just my imagination? He returned to a smile and put both hands up in the air as he walked close.

"There. This is proof that I no longer wish to harm you two."

"Hnnn…"

Was this a lie? There didn't seem to be any contradiction, so…

"Do you believe me now?" Grandpa asked.

"For now…" I nodded with difficulty.

"Good… Good! Haha! Now stop blowing me away. I just wanted to take a closer look at the boy."

"… Why?"

"So I can lift my curse from him. As you know, he hadn't woken up no matter how much you tried to wake him. That was because of my curse."

"You cursed Oppa?!"

"Yeah. But I realized my mistake now. I shouldn't be so angry at the little boy. So let me come closer and lift my curse, okay?"

"… Why?"

"Because I am the only one who can lift the curse."

"Can't you lift it from there?"

"Don't ask the impossible. I needed to touch him directly to lift the curse."

"But even I can use magic from afar… Grandpa, are you weak?"

"Kehok…!"

Grandpa coughed and vomited something red like a sauce. It seemed like Grandpa's inside was extremely weak to spiciness.

I looked at Oppa. Was Oppa really cursed? I didn't know. However, if what grandpa said was true, I should let Grandpa closer?

"This wretch, I swear…"

"Did you say something, Grandpa?"

"No? Anyway, that's about it. Now stop disturbing the treatment, okay? Don't you want the boy to get better?"

"I do…"

"Good! Hehe."

Grandpa started to limp closer. Something about grandpa made me feel uncomfortable, but what?

It would be nice if Oppa woke up and told me what to do here. I looked at Oppa again and caressed his face.

'Oppa…'

While I was doing that, I didn't realize that grandpa was already within reach.

"Kyaaa!"

He suddenly fell on top of my body and strangled my neck with both hands.

"Grand…pa… stop…"

I tried to push grandpa away and released his grip, but there was only so much I could do against a grown man. So I tried to use wind blast again to blast him away, but--

"Kehok!"

Grandpa didn't let go. I blasted his stomach again with the wind. However, he strangled me even stronger as if he wouldn't release me even if he fainted. It was then that he spoke up.

"Hehe, hehehe. I got you." He smirked. "You shouldn't be too trusting, wretch."

I tried blasting him away again.

"Heok?!"

He winced from the pain and started to breathe roughly.

"How dare you?!"

My consciousness started to get blurry and I couldn't think straight. So I just continued to cast magic.

But why? Why wouldn't he pull back?

That was when I became certain I was about to be killed.