Birth Festival (2)
Birth Festival (2)
Contrary to my worries, the meeting with Elder Hong Seong-jin took place in a gentle atmosphere.
"Have you been comfortable at the main house? It's a place that has stood firm ever since the founder established himself there, but the facilities have always been a bit rough around the edges. More than a few people have felt out of place."
[Not at all. The facilities were excellent, and there were people at my side who assisted me with the utmost care, so I spent the break very comfortably.]
"I'm relieved to hear you say so."
[Ah! I also received a great deal of help from Master Hwa Byeok-un. I first learned metalsmithing techniques from him, and I still use them well today.]
"Hwa Byeok-un? That foul-tempered old man taught you his craft?"
[Ahaha... His manner of speaking was a little rough, but he was very considerate, so I was able to follow along well.]
Refreshments were set out on the table, and light topics were raised.
There wasn't the slightest hint that he would grill me relentlessly or seize on something to pick a fight.
Instead, he guided the conversation gently, considerate of my position, so I was able to relax and answer.
"The Calamity Flame is a fire that prides itself on being the best, but it is also a ferocious flame that can easily devour even its own wielder."
And it wasn't all simple small talk. Occasionally, earnest, rare advice passed his lips—like now.
"It is not uncommon among the clan's ancestors to be consumed by their own Calamity Flame. Because of this, those who manifest the Calamity Flame must always prioritize mental cultivation."
- Fwoosh!
"Yet, for such a Calamity Flame to be this docile..."
The elder's hand, etched with the weight of years, conjured a flame and caressed the Calamity Flame. Though the flame coiled around his bare hand, it caused no calamity or screaming.
That was because his hand, hardened by a lifetime of cultivating the Calamity Flame, was not so tender as to burn, and my Calamity Flame had no intention of burning him.
"Though each manifestor blossoms a slightly different nature, I have never seen a child so gentle before."
Fwoosh! The flame flickered as if dancing. At that movement, almost like a soft, coy display of affection, admiration settled in Hong Seong-jin's eyes.
"How can one even call this a Calamity Flame? And yet, the term Calamity Flame is correct for the power it contains, so truly, you are a mysterious child."
Having identified the peculiarity of my Calamity Flame, he did not hold back advice born from his own experience.
A stream of pure, unadulterated information poured out, things not even found in my knowledge of the original story or in the knowledge the 11th Iteration had plundered from the clan's secret vault.
'As expected of Yeon-hwa's grandfather...!'
My eyes, which I kept slightly open because Yeon-hwa was beside me, sparkled. Any worry that he might mistreat me had long since faded away.
Elder Hong Seong-jin was a very benevolent and affectionate grandfather...!
"Here, eat more."
[Thank you.]
The plate of cookies slid all the way toward me. Lowering my head in a bow, I picked up one and placed it in my mouth. I couldn't taste it at all, but it felt a little awkward to refuse something he'd offered me to eat.
- Nibble nibble.
"Ho ho, you're eating like a good, healthy child."
"Mm."
[......]
Whenever a compliment of that sort came up, it made my throat itch with awkwardness. And thanks to Yeon-hwa's fawning reaction right beside me, it itched even more.
Still, washing it down with tea made it bearable.
The sticky cookie crumbled in my mouth. When I analyzed it, it was a cookie cured in honey.
It would have been much better if I could have felt that through my sense of taste instead of analysis, but that's just an ungrateful complaint. Wasn't I in a situation where I should be grateful just to be alive?
'......'
The thought of my missing senses of taste and smell flickered for a moment. I forcibly reined in the gaze that was about to move on its own.
Sensory Sealing... no, was it called the Curse of Solitude? Thanks to the arrangement of the Tower Masters, the level of the curse had been reduced, and the curse could be weakened under certain conditions.
Yeon-hwa was one of those conditions.
In this bleak, colorless world, I could see Yeon-hwa's form. Her scent lingered in my barren nose, and sometimes, I would lightly lick her skin...
"Ahem."
"Something stuck in your throat? Here."
When I coughed softly, Yeon-hwa immediately tilted a teacup to my lips. As it happened, my mouth felt coated, so I gulped down the now rather lukewarm tea.
"Hoh..."
It was just as I was washing down the tickle in my throat with the tea.
Suddenly, an exclamation came from across the table. When I checked to see what it was, Hong Seong-jin, who had pushed the cookies toward me, was staring blankly, his eyes wide as if he'd seen something unbelievable.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Hoh... Truly..."
It was a reaction twice as astonished as when he'd admired my Calamity Flame earlier. At the sight—as if he had suffered culture shock—Yeon-hwa narrowed her eyes and asked again.
"Truly... seeing it with my own eyes, I still can't believe it. I'm almost to the point of suspecting I've fallen under an illusion."
Hong Seong-jin blinked, then rubbed his eyelids. Fwoosh! In a rush, a faint Calamity Flame rose from his body.
When I observed it, he was burning away any harmful foreign matter that might have clung to him.
At that blatant display of Calamity Flame, Yeon-hwa's face crumpled in an instant.
"Honestly, I'm speechless. What kind of reaction is that?"
"In truth, even now it doesn't feel real. To think I'd live to see the day you'd bring a boy to your side... and such a sweet, lovely boy at that? You, that troublemaking mad dog?"
"What, m... Ahem! What kind of thing is that to say to your granddaughter?"
"And your words and actions are truly, truly refined now. Fewer curses, and no news of you beating people up or causing incidents. Do you have any idea how worried your mother was that you'd go beat up someone else again at Siyoram?"
"No! Don't phrase it so weirdly! You'll give him the wrong idea! Anyone listening would think I'm some kind of girl who just grabs and beats up random people!"
Having said that, Yeon-hwa stole a glance my way. An expression worried that I might misunderstand. When I met her eyes, a look of relief spread across Yeon-hwa's face.
Seeing Yeon-hwa like that, an even deeper shock settled on Hong Seong-jin's features.
"...Hoo, I find it hard to believe. Truthfully, when I first met him, I was thinking perhaps this child was being threatened."
"Goodness, just what do you think of your own granddaughter?"
Snorting derisively, Yeon-hwa suddenly placed a hand on my head and gently stroked it.
At that, my mind and body instinctively began to turn soft and limp...
...just as I was about to melt completely.
Whatever the case, this was our first meeting. I had been sitting quietly, trying to show a decent side of myself, and I didn't want to show an overly relaxed, easy demeanor now.
But contrary to my inner thoughts, Yeon-hwa's touch didn't stop. 'H-Huh? U-Uh, w-wait a second...' Her hand, saturated with affection as sweet as honey, swept through my hair.
[Uwaaa... Ugh, happiness.]
[Happiness.]
"Uhe, ehehe..."
By now, maybe because her skill was even more refined, I melted helplessly under the touch that continuously passed through and stroked my more sensitive spots.
There was no resisting this. My body melted into a puddle, and I leaned my head fully into Yeon-hwa's embrace. It was soft, and a nice scent wafted thickly around me...
[Nice...]
"Nice..."
"Heung."
Soon, Yeon-hwa grinned as she looked at me, now tucked snugly in her arms. Then, she spread her shoulders as if showing off.
After a moment of silence, Hong Seong-jin cautiously spoke.
"...Did you use some kind of drug?"
"You crazy—what are you saying!"
Yeon-hwa shrieked.
.
.
.
A short while later.
Having come back to my senses, I stopped the Sky Wing Feather from coiling around my face and kept my head deeply bowed.
[...I am deeply sorry for showing you such an unsightly display...]
It was incredibly difficult to lift my head. I'd tried my best to leave a good impression, but it felt like I'd completely blown it at the end...
"Not at all. It was just that it didn't feel real, but it was pleasant to see."
Hong Seong-jin waved his hand and sipped from the tea that had been brought again. When I discreetly observed him in detail, his expression truly didn't seem to mind.
As I felt a small sense of relief, Yeon-hwa, with her arms crossed, spoke up.
"But did you really come just to see his face? Don't you have anything else to say to us?"
"Something else to say... Wouldn't your mother have already told you most things worth telling?"
"Still, there might be something we haven't heard."
"Hmm... Ah, right you are."
Hong Seong-jin, who had seemed to be searching his memory for a moment, let out an exclamation.
"You may not have properly heard the story about the tower."
"Tower?"
Yeon-hwa, who had been asking with a casual attitude, blinked. I too quietly lifted my head, which had been drooping downward.
Towers. Not a topic I could afford to take lightly.
"As you both know, the clan head and I have been leading the Purification Unit and moving around the Demon Realm since last year, and relatively recently, we discovered a tower."
"Yeah, I heard. An unconquered tower, right?"
'Unconquered, huh.'
I, who had been quietly listening to the story, let out a deep sigh inwardly.
There is an unconquered tower in the Demon Realm's inner core. And it's not just any tower, but one on a similar scale to the Five Towers of this world and the invading towers.
But the tower appearing in the Demon Realm is not the only one.
There are small... dungeons too insignificant to be called towers, but someday, the Tower of the Dead also appears.
I had worried that the Tower of the Dead might have emerged by this time, but for now, the discovered tower appears to be an unconquered one.
"After much deliberation, the clan head and I entered the tower."
"Huh? Really? I didn't hear anything about that during the break?"
"At that time, we had just discovered the tower and were at the stage of announcing its existence. The decision to enter was made after further deliberation."
When Yeon-hwa asked, her eyes wide, Hong Seong-jin replied with a shrug.
"Anyway, with the consensus that we should at least try entering once before withdrawing, we all went inside, but we judged it was impossible and withdrew."
"What was inside?"
Yeon-hwa, who had gulped down her tea, urged him for an answer, looking thoroughly intrigued. It seemed the story about towers, especially an unconquered tower, was quite fascinating to her.
It was the same for me. I needed to verify if it was identical to the tower from the original story, so I pricked up my ears.
Seeing the two of us like that, Hong Seong-jin let out a chuckle and continued.
"The inside of the tower... was similar to a dungeon. It was very vast. The sky was a swirl of all kinds of clouds, and within them, thunder roared so loudly the very noise seemed to billow. Below, it was filled with monsters that wielded the lightning attribute."
"Lightning-attribute monsters?"
"Yes, right from the entrance, there was an absurd number of them. So many you'd think the sky and the ground were entirely covered by monsters. We tried to go as far inside as possible to gather information, but if we went any deeper, it seemed we wouldn't be able to get out, so we just came back."
"Hmm..."
"And it wasn't just a matter of numbers. Their ranks were all high, and I saw quite a number of 3rd-Rank monsters."
"Heck... Shit, ahem! What kind of demon's den is that?"
3rd Rank. At this present time, when 1st Rank monsters practically don't exist, that's the next most perilous rank after 2nd Rank.
At the revelation that several monsters, each capable of being the Alpha of a Grade 1 Dungeon, were present, Yeon-hwa, who had been stroking her chin as if imagining the tower's interior, was aghast.
"So we came out. Maybe if we brought in folks from Azure Sea or Taesan later and went in with serious intent, I don't know, but we judged it too dangerous with our forces at the time."
"You were right to leave. So, will you form a coalition and go in later?"
"Who knows. There isn't much information about towers to begin with. What's certain is that we don't dare attempt to enter again anytime soon."
The conversation paused there for a moment.
Yeon-hwa seemed to have things to think about for herself, and perhaps because he had spoken at length, Hong Seong-jin moistened his throat with tea as well.
I also had plenty to think about.
'It really does seem to be the same tower as in the original story.'
A sky where all sorts of clouds mix together and the ceaseless roar of thunder. And a tower interior teeming with lightning-attribute monsters.
This description matches the unconquered tower in the Demon Realm from the original story.
The 8th Iteration had withdrawn midway through the assault and ended. The 11th Iteration, however, had finally conquered it and obtained a Wish Ticket.
Back then, I just thought it was that kind of tower. A gimmick where they pack it with crazy-strong monsters and grant a Wish Ticket when you clear it.
But Master Ariel told me it wasn't that kind of tower.
'To become a Tower Master, the conditions must be met.'
The 11th Iteration did not meet the conditions to become a Tower Master. So instead of the position of Tower Master, the tower processed its stored power into the form of a Wish Ticket and delivered it.
'Hmm...'
I racked my brain for a moment.
The 8th Iteration, strictly speaking, had failed.
But I had possessed the latent strength to conquer the tower.
My attribute had been a good match too, and I had room to spare.
Because we both shared the lightning attribute, the effects of attacks were halved against each other, but I specialized in long-range sniping. Given enough time, I could have employed guerrilla tactics and cleared out all the tower's monsters.
But in the end, I hadn't been able to conquer it. That was because of the Tower Master of Bitter Cold, who descended just as the end was coming into view.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Tower Master of Bitter Cold appeared on the Inland mainland. Since it was obvious the Inland would be finished if I left him alone, I had hurriedly scrambled out of the tower.
That was how I fought the Tower Master of Bitter Cold, and then I was stabbed in the back by Baek A-rin and died.
'...You can't become a Tower Master if you're not qualified.'
The 11th Iteration hadn't been qualified.
Was the 8th Iteration also unqualified?
I don't know. Of all the iterations, the 8th perished without being able to conquer the tower, so I never got an answer.
'...It's all Baek A-rin's fault...'
An iteration where I could have grown even stronger if only I hadn't been betrayed...
At the sudden thought, my lips jutted out in a pout.
"Hm?"
- Thud!
"Agh! What the heck! Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"
As she walked along the main avenue lined with stalls on both sides, Baek A-rin abruptly halted. The friend following behind bumped into her and clutched her forehead, but Baek A-rin paid her no mind, looking around in all directions.
"What's going on? Did something really happen?"
Her friend, who had been grumbling playfully, blinked and asked.
Baek A-rin furrowed her brow slightly and tilted her head.
"Umm... No, I just suddenly felt like something was poking me sharply."
"Ah, that happens when someone's badmouthing you. Just what kind of grudges have you been building up as you go?"
"Grudges? I'm as good and kind a person as they come."
"You totally abandoned all of us. We're the Hong-Baekless Hong-Baek Team. Do you know how it feels to be abandoned the moment you get to Siyoram?"
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry~ Can't be helped, you know~"
Shrugging her shoulders, Baek A-rin nonetheless kept looking around, still half-doubting the lingering sensation of being sharply poked in the back.