Chapter 97: Change-4
Chapter 97: Change-4
After finishing my training, I went to the women's quarters before Cheon So-jeo and knocked on the door.
"Cheongyeon So-jeo, are you inside?"
Truthfully, I already knew she was in there.
Because I could sense her presence with my perception.
But as if I didn't know she was there, I knocked like that and then waited outside for a moment.
Since she would also sense that I was standing outside, I intended to wait until she felt willing to talk.
Then, after a moment, a voice came through.
"What is it?"
It was a dry voice from which I couldn't guess her feelings.
But for now, I decided to take meaning from the fact that she responded at all.
The fact that she answered—didn't that mean she had at least a little willingness to talk?
I agonized briefly over what to say, then decided to just speak honestly.
"I simply wanted to have a conversation with you, So-jeo."
Then, after a bit more time passed, a voice came again.
"I'm sorry, but I don't wish to do so right now."
It was a flat tone, but it was a clear expression of refusal that left no room for argument.
The old me would probably have backed off flustered at this point.
'But not the current me.'
I didn't give up, and once more knocked at the door of her heart.
That was because I interpreted the slight pause before she answered my words as probably signifying her hesitation.
"It doesn't have to be right now. Whenever you feel like talking, So-jeo, please let me know. I'll wait."
Having said that, I waited.
But still no answer came.
It seemed I would have to wait quite a bit longer.
I let out a small sigh and turned my steps.
And then her voice came at that moment.
"Later, after dinner tonight... we'll talk then."
Somehow it sounded a little less cold than before.
Unlike her usual tone, it was a voice with some emotion in it.
I smiled slightly as I spoke.
"Let's do that. After dinner, let's meet at the training grounds."
As I moved my feet, I thought to myself.
'Now that I've actually tried it, it's not as hard as I thought?'
Maybe approaching a person was always this kind of thing.
I had simply been excessively afraid all this time.
If I had mustered just a little more courage in my past life, could I have not lost them?
My father, perhaps even my siblings?
Suddenly, I found myself looking forward to the conversation with Cheongyeon So-jeo after dinner.
And also the moment I would see Na So-jeo again.
Now I felt I could speak a little more confidently.
And a short while later, dinner time arrived, and I was on my way to eat with Bi Sa-yeong and Bae Jong-gwan.
Then suddenly, I overheard the conversation of squad members from other units talking nearby.
"What? Three Iron Demons appeared at the Fifteenth Unit?"
"Yeah, our vice squad leader heard it from the Daeju."
Startled, we perked up our ears at their conversation.
"Whoa! Good heavens! So what happened? The Fire Bone Mountain hasn't even been supplied to the Fifteenth Unit yet, has it?"
"That's right. So I heard they lured them somewhere other than the Fifteenth Unit headquarters with the sacrifice of a few squad members. Apparently they don't know where they went now? They said the Flying Dragon Corps main headquarters dispatched a subjugation force carrying Fire Bone Mountain, but who knows how it'll turn out."
"Whoa! That's fortunate at least, but still worrying. Three of those monsters appearing at once. I hope nothing serious happens."
"Yeah, seriously."
Three Iron Demons had appeared...
Of course, it was about that time.
In my past life too, after they first appeared in our unit, they appeared consecutively in other units not long after.
Back then, our Thirteenth Unit, where the Iron Demon first appeared, had taken a massive blow and couldn't report properly, so enormous casualties had occurred in the other Flying Dragon units as well.
At least this time, it was fortunate that our report was fast enough that the headquarters could respond at their level.
The fact that the other Flying Dragon units had also decided to evade rather than confront until Fire Bone Mountain was secured was the same.
Come to think of it, all of this could be said to be thanks to my return.
Somehow I didn't feel bad about it.
Just then, Bi Sa-yeong asked out of the blue.
"The Fifteenth Unit's area, is that up toward Heungin?"
Bae Jong-gwan answered.
"No, it's probably more toward Heungui? It borders Guangxi Province, right?"
In an instant, my feet stopped dead.
At the same time, Bi Sa-yeong furrowed his brow and asked.
"Heungui? Didn't someone say before they were from there? I feel like I've heard that?"
Then I muttered with a stiff face.
"Na So-jeo."
"Huh?"
"Where Na So-jeo's family home, the Na Clan estate, is located—it's Heungui in Guizhou Castle."
At my words, Bi Sa-yeong's face stiffened as well.
"...No way?"
It seemed it really might be that "no way."
If the Iron Demons that passed the Fifteenth Unit had crossed the frontline and moved north, Heungui, where the Na Clan estate was located, was right at their doorstep.
I quickly spoke to the two of them.
"Sa-yeong, Jong-gwan. Listen carefully. I'm going to the Na Clan estate right now."
Then Bi Sa-yeong spoke urgently.
"How do you plan to handle it? You don't even have Fire Bone Mountain?"
Currently, the Fire Bone Mountain supply within the Thirteenth Unit had all been taken by the squad leaders, leaving only a small quantity to defend the Thirteenth Unit main force.
So naturally, there was no Fire Bone Mountain that I could use.
"I still have to go. Even if it turns out the way we fear, it would still be better for me to be at Na So-jeo's side."
"Then I'll go too!"
"Yeah, me too...."
My friends tried to follow me as if it were only natural, but I immediately shook my head.
"No, Sa-yeong, you go find the squad leader right away. And ask him to bring Fire Bone Mountain immediately."
I couldn't know exactly where the squad leaders who had gone out searching were currently located.
So the fastest Bi Sa-yeong had to be the one to go.
"I'm counting on you, Sa-yeong. How quickly you find the squad leader could mean life or death for me and Na So-jeo. And Jong-gwan, you inform the squad members and Commander Pungyang of this fact. After that, if possible, try searching for the squad leader from a different direction than Sa-yeong."
If we needed to move at full speed, naturally Bae Jong-gwan wouldn't be able to keep up with me or Bi Sa-yeong.
So this seemed the most reasonable approach.
Then Bi Sa-yeong and Bae Jong-gwan nodded heavily as if they understood my words.
"Got it. Stay safe."
"Jin, take care of Na So-jeo."
"I will. Trust me."
Then I immediately launched myself into the air.
Considering that this news had only just been relayed now, there was no guaranteeing when exactly the Iron Demons had passed the Fifteenth Unit.
I couldn't delay for even a moment.
***
Hae Cheong-yeon was staring into a bronze mirror inside her quarters.
In the mirror was her own reflection, with her bangs hanging down to her nose, covering her eyes.
It was always a familiar sight, but somehow today it felt suffocating.
After hesitating briefly, Hae Cheong-yeon swept her bangs upward.
Then her eyes and face, which had been hidden, were revealed.
The face that everyone in the world praised as beautiful, but that she herself had always found only bothersome...
Hae Cheong-yeon gazed at her own face and murmured.
"Today... shall I try going like this?"
Just for today, she wanted to share words with him with this face.
She had already confirmed that he wasn't someone swayed by her appearance, but still, you never knew.
Perhaps it could create a small variable.
Hae Cheong-yeon was thinking that and had just revealed her face, on the verge of tying up her hair.
Cheon Ju-eun burst urgently into the quarters.
"Cheong-yeon eonni! Big trouble!"
Without any change in expression, Hae Cheong-yeon looked at Cheon Ju-eun and waited for the next words.
And sure enough, Cheon Ju-eun immediately poured out her words.
"They lost track of three Iron Demons at the Fifteenth Unit, and if they move north past the frontline, the first place they'll reach is Na Seo-yu eonni's family home, the Na Clan estate! So Seonu Gongja departed for the Na Clan estate right away, and Bi Gongja went to find the squad leader! Shouldn't we move too?!"
Hae Cheong-yeon's expressionless face turned grave the moment Na Seo-yu was mentioned.
But when Cheon Ju-eun's words ended, what Hae Cheong-yeon inadvertently blurted out was about something else.
"Seonu Gongja... left?"
The bangs that Hae Cheong-yeon had swept up above her head were gently flowing back down again.
***
Na Seo-yu, who had departed the afternoon two days prior, pushed on even through sleeping outdoors, and was able to arrive at the Na Clan estate in Heungui, Guizhou Castle, the following afternoon.
It was because she had been so worried about her father that she couldn't rest even for a moment.
But at her family home, which she had rushed to in such a frantic daze, Na Seo-yu ended up hearing that she could not meet her father.
The shocked Na Seo-yu cried out.
"What?! I can't see my father?!"
Then the arrogant-faced woman sitting on the upper seat across from her answered.
"The physician says he absolutely needs stability. So no one but me and the physician is entering your father's room. I understand well enough that you're worried about your father, but if he sees you and loses his stability, worsening his condition, that wouldn't do, would it?"
The woman speaking with such a cold and arrogant expression was none other than Na Seo-yu's stepmother, Madam Min.
She was the very woman who, three years ago, had sent Na Seo-yu to the frontlines instead of her own son, claiming it was for the sake of the Na family.
Na Seo-yu simply could not accept her words that she couldn't see her ailing father.
So she spoke as if pleading.
"Then when Father is sleeping, even just for a brief moment would be fine. Please, let me see him!"
Then Madam Min suddenly began to flare up in anger.
"You ill-mannered wretch, how dare you raise your voice before me?! With such conduct, do you intend to cause worry to your already ailing father?! Do you wish to disgrace the Na family's honor and bring shame upon your dead mother?!"
These words were like a magic spell that had allowed Madam Min to break Na Seo-yu's spirit and control her at will since childhood.
Because she loved her father more than anyone and did not wish to cause him worry, Na Seo-yu had always silently endured all the unreasonable treatment her stepmother inflicted upon her with just these words alone.
And it was the same now.
Before Madam Min, who had offered no comprehensible explanation regarding her request, Na Seo-yu could only bow her head deeply once more.
"...No, it's nothing. I apologize, Mother."
Though Na Seo-yu was now a martial artist of the first-rate upper level, she could not bring herself to oppose Madam Min.
It was because of a kind of learned helplessness.
Na Seo-yu closed her eyes tightly with her head bowed.
Having been tormented by Madam Min for many years, she could fully predict what would happen next.
Whenever Na Seo-yu did not follow her will, Madam Min always threatened her using her father as an excuse and then continued with abusive language for nearly half an hour afterward.
And the wounds and fear she had received since childhood were still engraved in Na Seo-yu's heart as they were.
Na Seo-yu expected that such a time would repeat itself again from now on.
So she kept her eyes firmly shut with her body tightly curled up.
But surprisingly, Madam Min did not do so.
She opened her mouth with an unbelievably gentle voice.
"Hmm, since you are reflecting on yourself, I shall leave it at that as well."
Na Seo-yu was startled and looked at Madam Min with her eyes wide open.
It was stranger that she did nothing at all.
Then Madam Min smiled a snake-like smile and asked Na Seo-yu.
"Let me see. Seo-yu, how old were you this year?"
"...Twenty-five."
"My, has it already been that long? Isn't that an age at which you should have already married? I have been too neglectful of you all this time."
She was pretending to be sorry and making an exaggerated fuss.
Her behavior was increasingly suspicious.
Na Seo-yu suddenly had an ominous feeling, but answered politely for the moment.
"I believe twenty-five is not such a late age for a martial artist. Besides, I am currently serving in the Flying Dragon Corps."
But Madam Min sneered and said.
"Hmph! Are you going to stay in the Flying Dragon Corps for a thousand, ten thousand years? Since you've come home, I should take this opportunity to arrange your marriage."
"...What?!"
Na Seo-yu looked at Madam Min with startled eyes.
But Madam Min didn't care whether she glared at her or not and began to say only what she wanted to say.
"Where would be good? That's right! The Salsangbang, which is rising rapidly after the Heuksangbang collapsed, would be good! A promising young talent of the Salsangbang would be a match good for you and beneficial to our Na family's position, wouldn't it?"
"Mother!"
"Think about it. If you can marry before it's too late and our Na family can gain a reliable backer, what could be better than that?"
Only now could Na Seo-yu realize the reason Madam Min had sent a letter to summon her while preventing her from meeting her father.
From the start, the purpose had been her political marriage.
Na Seo-yu's face was now completely hardened.
But Madam Min continued speaking as if she had no interest in her thoughts.
"Wait just a moment. I will send a marriage proposal to the Salsangbang right away...."
At that moment, Na Seo-yu spoke firmly.
"I have no intention of marrying!"
Marriage.
A political marriage at that.
Even Na Seo-yu, who had always lived a life of sacrifice since becoming a teenager out of a desire not to worry her father, absolutely could not endure this.
Wasn't this saying that they would use not just her childhood but her entire life?
Then Madam Min's face filled with anger once more.
"How dare you glare at me and raise your voice?! Must I truly tell your father of your wicked behavior?! Your already ailing...!"
But due to her great anger, Na Seo-yu did not back down this time.
She opened her eyes wide and straight and asked Madam Min.
"You said Father was too ill to even meet me, yet you'll speak to him of this matter? Is he well enough to have such a conversation?"
Then Madam Min flinched slightly.
In the first place, if Na Seo-yu, a first-rate upper level martial artist, properly displayed her momentum, there was no way Madam Min, who had only learned body-protecting martial arts, could withstand it.
As Na Seo-yu's demeanor became unusual, she slightly averted her eyes and changed the subject.
"When did I ever say I would really do that? Didn't I say it was just talk? Just talk!"
Then she began to soothe Na Seo-yu again with a subtle expression.
"And... think about it carefully once more. If you marry, wouldn't you get to meet your father anyway?"
"...Pardon?"
"It's a marriage, a great matter of human ethics — no matter how ill he is, you cannot marry without seeing your father's face, can you? And if he hears news of your marriage, his mood might improve and his condition might get better."
In short, it meant that only if Na Seo-yu decided to marry would she be allowed to meet her father.
It was nothing short of absurd and unreasonable.
But to Na Seo-yu, it was also no different from the actions Madam Min had always taken.
Na Seo-yu clenched her teeth and said.
"I absolutely have no intention of marrying."
Then Madam Min, who had been coldly glaring at Na Seo-yu for a while, finally opened her mouth.
"Fine, I had forgotten. You have been a selfish child since childhood. To think you cannot even do this much for the parents and family who raised you with blood and sweat. How utterly heartbroken your father would be to hear this — it is truly beyond devastating. Get out of my sight! Why are you even here when you have no intention of lifting a single finger for the family?!"
Na Seo-yu felt a heavy suffocation as if a stone had been placed on her heart.
Calling her selfish.
Saying she hadn't lifted a single finger for the family.
To Na Seo-yu, who had yielded everything since childhood for the sake of her younger half-brother born of Madam Min, and had even gone to the frontlines in his place, it was nothing short of suffocatingly frustrating words.
Na Seo-yu, whose chest was so tight that it was difficult even to open her mouth, barely managed to speak.
"...Mother."
But Madam Min had no intention of listening to her words.
"You won't leave?! You won't even listen to your mother's words now?! Ha, fine. Do as you wish! If you won't leave, then I will go! I raised a daughter wrong, and now she drives her mother out of the room!"
Madam Min shouted like that and stormed out of the room.
Na Seo-yu could not do anything about it.
Kwang!
Madam Min's voice could be heard from outside after she closed the door as if breaking it and left.
"Such a mannerless and undutiful wench who even talks back to her mother! I am so ashamed before the world that I can hardly bear to live!"
At Madam Min, who shouted loudly as if wanting the whole world to hear and grew distant, Na Seo-yu closed her eyes with a devastated heart.
This was what had happened on the first day of Na Seo-yu's return.
And it was also the last.
Because after that incident, Madam Min never met with Na Seo-yu again, and the people of the Na family, who had already become Madam Min's trusted subordinates, gave Na Seo-yu no help either.
For Na Seo-yu, it was simply frustrating.