278. Qualifications of a Master (2)
The Sword Emperor silently regarded Baek Seol-hee.
She dropped to her knees before Baek Seol-hee and pressed her forehead to the ground.
"It was my negligence."
"......Sword Emperor."
Baek Seol-hee's eyes were merciless as she looked down at her.
"You are going to explain, properly, why you had to put my disciple in such danger. Otherwise......"
Baek Seol-hee trailed off, her gaze sinking low.
At that, the Sword Emperor, forehead still pressed to the floor, parted her lips.
"That is to say, this training—"
"I already know the training's intended purpose. That is not what I am asking. Why, why didn't you save my disciple until the very last moment?"
The training's intention and purpose were clear.
To instill a fear of death.
However, what Baek Seol-hee truly questioned was why, during such dangerous training, the Sword Emperor had not watched over Jin Yu-ha to the end.
If this point were not properly clarified, Baek Seol-hee intended to fight a life-and-death match with the Sword Emperor.
"......That is."
The Sword Emperor opened her mouth with difficulty.
* * *
18 days ago.
Ever since the Sword Emperor had dropped Jin Yu-ha into the pit.
Day and night.
She had stood guard before it.
Since this brutal training staked a life on the line, she had to take responsibility for Jin Yu-ha's safety.
One day passed, then two, and soon a week had gone by.
"Give us Jin Yu-ha!"
"Sword Emperor, get out of the way."
Unable to hold back any longer, Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee sought her out and began stubbornly insisting they had to see Jin Yu-ha.
"Denied."
Each time, of course, the Sword Emperor shook her head.
Their patience exhausted, Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee even began launching attacks laced with killing intent, targeting her.
Yet no matter what the two of them did, they could not defeat the Sword Emperor.
"Huff, huff......"
"Haa, haa......"
Covered in dust and wearing expressions of exhaustion, Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri forced themselves upright.
Yet the Sword Emperor still had not moved a single step.
"Ha... give us... Jin Yu-ha."
"Move aside. Sword Emperor......"
Just what did that boy mean to these two, for them to go this far?
At this point, the Sword Emperor had no choice but to explain what this training signified.
If things progressed further, it was clear they would cross the line and take dangerous actions.
"Jin Yu-ha's sword is one that kills him."
"Wh-what... are you talking about? Jin Yu-ha's sword kills him......"
"Yellow Dog doesn't need any of that—"
The Sword Emperor let out a deep sigh and spoke.
"Have you two never thought it strange?"
"......Thought what."
"This boy, wasn't he always the first to charge into the most dangerous place? Into a spot where a single slip could cost him his life. As though he had three or four lives to spare."
The Sword Emperor continued with a languid expression.
"This boy, even when facing an enemy far beyond his current level, or in a moment where he absolutely had to flee, would never, ever run away."
"......"
"......"
Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee clamped their mouths shut simultaneously.
It hit close to home.
Even in their eyes, Jin Yu-ha was someone who always ran ahead faster than anyone else.
He always prepared to ensure safety, but when plans went awry, or in truly dangerous moments, he was the first to throw his own body into the fray.
"That is why this boy has kept shattering his limits and growing at an uncanny pace until now. But it can't continue. You've been truly lucky so far. If your luck had been just a little worse?"
At that, Lee Yu-ri's and Kang Do-hee's pupils shook as if an earthquake had struck.
The next words were not hard to guess.
"If you don't fix this now, someday you will be the ones sending Jin Yu-ha off first. And only you two will remain alive."
Listening to the voice filled with helplessness resonating from below, the Sword Emperor clicked her tongue.
"This training is necessary to fix that."
Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri stared at the floor where Jin Yu-ha was trapped and clenched their fists tightly.
Still, to be told to just watch him endure without eating anything......
The Sword Emperor, who had been looking at them quietly, drew the sword from her waist.
An old, worn iron sword that seemed to have been without maintenance for a long time.
However, this was the sword that had been with her her entire life.
"I will swear upon this Mugeom. Whatever happens, I will take full responsibility for Jin Yu-ha's safety, and I will return that boy to your arms, safe and sound."
Hummm—
Her old iron sword began to glow with a bright blue light.
"So, you two go and become strong as well. So that this boy can no longer throw himself alone into such dangerous places."
With that, Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee bit their lips and nodded.
*
And another week passed.
The Sword Emperor still stood guard over Jin Yu-ha.
Gritting their teeth, Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee carried out their training even more fiercely.
Then, Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee came to find the Sword Emperor again.
Her brow furrowed.
"......It has only been a week since I said that—"
"Alice has disappeared."
"What......?"
"While she was watching my training... she said she was going to see Kang Do-hee......"
Kang Do-hee shook her head.
"She never came to my side either. When time passed and she still hadn't shown up, I found it strange and came to report it."
Even upon hearing this, the Sword Emperor initially thought nothing of it.
'Did she go off to train alone?'
Her granddaughter did have a bit of an airheaded side.
She had probably watched those two training and gotten fired up herself.
"Then, would it be alright if I asked you two a favor? Could you go find that child and bring her here? She's probably at the training grounds on the other side of that mountain."
And so, Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri nodded and departed. But even after three days, they hadn't found the granddaughter.
"Where on earth did that girl go......?"
The Sword Emperor was flustered.
There were only so many places her granddaughter could go.
After all, she hadn't even returned home for three whole days.
And she wasn't the type of child to go outside on her own.
At that, the Sword Emperor decided to leave her post for just a moment.
With the complacent thought that there would be no problem as long as she quickly found her granddaughter and returned.
The Sword Emperor glanced briefly at the ground where she had been standing.
'Hmm...... Still, he does possess a considerable amount of power. His innate stamina will carry him. He'll manage just fine for another week.'
That was the mistake.
The granddaughter she was looking for was nowhere to be found.
And while searching for her granddaughter, her intuition began to warn her sharply.
A warning that Jin Yu-ha was in danger.
Instantly hardening her expression, the Sword Emperor immediately turned back and opened the ceiling.
And what she saw then was the sight of Baek Seol-hee and Jin Yu-ha both collapsed.
* * *
A throbbing heat pounded in her head.
Baek Seol-hee had to exert tremendous effort just to forcibly suppress the surging killing intent and swallow it down.
In other words, this entire incident occurred because this woman, the Sword Emperor, had made a complacent judgment.
And because of that negligence, her one and only disciple had nearly lost his life.
"......So, did you find that granddaughter?"
At that, the Sword Emperor shook her head.
"Those kids are looking for her... but... still......"
The Sword Emperor's voice as she spoke trembled with anxiety.
"Idiotic woman."
When Baek Seol-hee spat out the words in a sharp voice, the Sword Emperor lifted her head.
"Then why is the woman who should be out searching for that granddaughter right now standing here?"
"I thought explaining to you came first, so I was waiting until you woke. Since I swore on my sword—"
Genuine anger surged to the top of Baek Seol-hee's head.
Kim Mal-sook.
She knew that child was the Sword Emperor's disciple, whom she called granddaughter.
Yet even after her own disciple had vanished, this idiotic woman was spouting nothing but foolishness.
If she intended to atone with her death, wasn't it only obvious that she should find her own disciple first?
What nonsense was this about swearing on that damn sword of hers?
Just as before, she was a woman she simply could not stomach.
Just then.
"Wait, what in the world do you mean? Alice has disappeared......?"
Beside them, Jin Yu-ha, having woken from sleep, was raising his body with wide, startled eyes.
* * *
"Disciple, the Sword Emperor and I will handle this matter, so you—"
When Baek Seol-hee tried to dissuade him, Jin Yu-ha narrowed his eyes and looked at her.
"I don't think that's something you should be saying right now, Master. You were trapped down there with me."
"But, you—"
"Well, my Mana's recovered to some extent now."
With a face still showing lingering fatigue, Jin Yu-ha opened his Subspace Tattoo and pulled out a calorie bar.
And unwrapped it, holding it out to Baek Seol-hee.
"Eat it. Master. You still haven't had anything, right?"
"......"
"Hurry up. Who told you to give me all of your own food?"
The calorie bar was stuffed into Baek Seol-hee's mouth.
Seeing this, Jin Yu-ha smiled.
"Thank you, Master. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be among the living right now."
"......"
At that, Baek Seol-hee swallowed her words inwardly.
'I am someone unworthy of being your Master.'
But now was not the proper time for such talk.
First, after they found the Sword Emperor's granddaughter, she could discuss it slowly.
Baek Seol-hee opened her Subspace Tattoo.
She took out a single syringe.
"What is that?"
"An injection that temporarily restores stamina."
"......You have something like that?"
"An item supplied only to the Demonized Human Extermination Squad. It draws in your future stamina, so you can't move a muscle for 10 days afterward. It's illegal."
"Give me one too."
"No."
"Quickly. Master."
Jin Yu-ha thrust his forearm toward Baek Seol-hee and pestered her.
"......"
"It's because I don't want to send you off alone, Master. And for this situation, I can be of help."
Jin Yu-ha stared intently at Baek Seol-hee and spoke.
He was right.
Jin Yu-ha had roughly grasped how this situation had come to be.
After all, inside that pit, he'd repeated the stories from the Velvetsra game over and over until he was sick of them.
Down to the most trivial one- or two-line interaction comments the game characters had thrown out.