Chapter 426: The Seven Heavenly Virtues (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 426: The Seven Heavenly Virtues (3)
From the first moment she saw him, her eyes were drawn to him.
So she was always curious.
‘Why?’
Just what was it about that boy that drew her gaze?
She found the answer easily enough.
‘He’s like my dad.’
Son Si-woo.
The pride of South Korea, and her pride.
A kind father who always treated her with unwavering affection, even though she had hurt him several times with her own foolish heart.
Kim Do-jin resembled him.
A lot, at that.
At first, that was definitely the reason.
The familiarity she felt from a stranger was what had unknowingly opened the door to their connection.
‘It was fun.’
Thinking back on those days brought a smile to her face.
Kim Do-jin and the other team members treated her not as Han Ju-hee and Son Si-woo's daughter, but simply as Son Seo-yeon.
That allowed her to breathe.
It let her express the emotions she had kept bottled up inside.
So she could finally step out into the world with confidence.
They walked with her.
‘Good friends.’
A time that could be called short, or long.
Before she knew it, the team members—no, the guild members—had become precious people she couldn't live without.
At the same time, a question mark took root in her mind.
The object of this question was none other than Kim Do-jin.
All the guild members were precious to her.
But among them, Kim Do-jin was a little, just a little, more special.
‘Why?’
She was always curious about that.
Where did this difference come from?
Was it just because he was the leader of the team, of the guild?
‘That’s not it.’
It didn't seem like such a simple difference.
She could only guess.
That a very complex emotion she had never felt before was creating that difference.
A question that grew deeper the longer they spent together.
But she wasn't in a hurry.
‘This is fine as it is.’
With them.
Every day with Kim Do-jin was meaningful, fun, and happy.
So much so that the curiosity tickling her heart didn't seem to matter.
But that question was answered when she faced an unexpected situation.
A spear came flying toward Kim Do-jin.
It was filled with a power so terrifying and dreadful that the mere sight of it brought death to mind.
A single conclusion formed in her head.
‘Do-jin… is going to die?’
In that moment, she was already moving.
By the time she came to her senses, she had already snatched the shield from Elena and was running.
Reaching him just in time, she immediately readjusted her grip on the shield and drew upon her power.
The trait that had suddenly appeared one day, ‘One with Aptitude’.
Even unleashing the power that had sprouted from it.
As her hidden power and Kim Do-jin's power combined to block the mighty attack, she realized.
‘I like him.’
The overwhelming emotion that filled her chest whenever she saw him was affection.
Was it because she realized that?
“…Kim Do-jin.”
The three syllables of his name, uttered unconsciously by Han Ju-hee, jolted her back to her senses.
Even in her dazed state, she could clearly feel what her mother was thinking.
It had always been this way.
Her astonishingly level-headed mother was always overly intense when it came to matters concerning her.
‘No.’
That was why.
That was why she spoke, even though she hadn't fully regained consciousness.
“Don’t… do it.”
“Seo-yeon…? Don’t do what? What do you mean…”
To the question, asked as if unsure whether she was talking in her sleep or speaking to her, she continued.
“Don’t… hurt Do-jin…”
“Seo-yeon, you…?”
She didn't know.
What kind of emotional repercussions her words would have on her mother.
But she wanted to say it.
“Do-jin… is precious to me…”
She wanted to tell her mother, of all people, about the romantic feelings she had realized for the first time in her life.
Before her heart swelled up even more and she accidentally told him she liked him, or rashly told others whom she wanted to keep it a secret from for now.
“……”
It was such a simple, innocent thought.
And she just didn't know.
That Han Ju-hee's feelings for Kim Do-jin were far more complicated than she could imagine.
So complicated that recovering her broken composure became more urgent than worrying about her injured daughter.
She ended up speaking in a cold voice without realizing it.
“…You must still be in a lot of pain. To be talking such nonsense.”
And she herself was startled.
At having spoken to her injured daughter in such a cold, harsh voice.
Flinching in surprise, she unconsciously drew upon her mana.
“Get some more sleep.”
She covered Son Seo-yeon's eyelids, which were barely open, with mana.
A sleep spell to make her fall into a deep slumber.
“……”
After a moment, Han Ju-hee looked down at the peacefully sleeping Son Seo-yeon, then struggled to her feet and left the treatment room.
And a short while later.
Son Seo-yeon opened her eyes again.
She had clearly felt the flow of her mother's mana.
Realizing it was a sleep spell, she had resisted it.
It wouldn't have been bad to fall into a deep sleep, but…
‘I want to see him.’
I want to see his face.
I want to check with my own two eyes if he was badly hurt anywhere.
And one more thing.
Now that I'm aware of this feeling that swells up whenever I see him…
I wonder how I'll feel when I see him.
“……”
Srrk.
She gently pushed down the blanket covering her up to her neck and stepped onto the ground.
“Ah……”
As soon as she pushed herself up, a faint dizziness washed over her.
Thump.
She slumped back onto the cot, waited until she felt a bit better, and then got up again.
She was still a little dizzy, but it was bearable.
As she quietly exited the treatment tent, a rather chilly wind brushed against her back.
She felt much lighter.
After glancing around for a moment, she started walking to the right.
As she walked, she wondered.
What would be the first emotion he'd show when he saw her?
‘Will he get angry first…?’
He might.
The look on his face when she stood before him with the shield was still vivid.
He had yelled in such a fiery voice.
If she hadn't lost consciousness after blocking the spear, he probably would have unleashed all sorts of nagging on her.
“Hee…”
She must be crazy.
To feel this happy just imagining him nagging her.
Her fluttering heart urged her steps onward.
Soon, she reached his tent.
Beyond the tent, from which not a single speck of light escaped, she realized something she had overlooked.
“What time is it…?”
The world, which had seemed as bright as day in her cheerful heart, was actually in the dead of night.
Seeing that all the surrounding tents were dark, she couldn't be sure of the exact time, but it seemed everyone was asleep.
Even so, she lingered around the entrance to Kim Do-jin's tent.
Her feet wouldn't easily leave.
But she couldn't just wake a sleeping person.
‘I'll just see him during the day.’
It was as she thought that and turned to leave.
Suddenly, Kim Do-jin dropped down from the sky.
With a broad, refreshing smile on his face.
“Those bastards, tomorrow morning is going to be a total shitshow…”
Kim Do-jin, muttering to himself with a beaming smile, finally saw her too.
The sight of Son Seo-yeon turning away from his tent.
* * *
This was awkward.
“Seo-yeon… Sunbae?”
Why was she wandering around in front of my tent in the middle of the night?
And without even a coat on in this cold weather.
My questioning eyes scanned her up and down.
The flow of mana in and out of her body was perfectly stable.
Looks like the Saintess did a great job healing her.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Huh? Y-Yeah…! I’m o-okay.”
Seo-yeon, answering in a flustered tone, glanced at my face out of the corner of her eye and asked.
“You’re… not mad?”
“…Am I in any position to be mad?”
She must have thought I was going to nag her.
Well, she wasn't wrong.
The moment I saw her, I was about to start with ‘Why did you do that?’ and ‘What would you have done if you'd been seriously hurt?’ and then move on to ‘Why is an injured person wandering around dressed so lightly?’
I was about to unload a whole bucketful but held back.
No, to be precise, I shouldn't have.
“My opinion that what you did back then was an incredibly dangerous act that you should never do again hasn't changed… but anyway, thanks to you, I'm alive and unhurt.”
It was actually very dangerous.
She jumped in while I was debating whether losing an arm or a leg would be less inconvenient.
So, rather than getting angry, thanking her should come first.
I gave her a slight bow.
“Thank you, Sunbae. You saved my life.”
At that, Seo-yeon grabbed my arm and forced my bent torso back up.
“There's nothing to thank me for. We're comrades, right?”
“…Still, the fact that I'm grateful doesn't change.”
No matter if you're comrades, it's not easy to throw your own life on the line to save someone.
“Ah… is that so?”
The way she readily agreed brought a strange smile to my face.
Then, I voiced the question that was still on my mind.
“But why did you come here? You must have just woken up. Why aren't you getting more rest?”
“Ah, well.”
Looking flustered for a moment as if it was hard to say, she finally answered.
“T-To see if you were okay! I was worried about myself, but I was also worried you might have gotten hurt…!”
“Aha.”
I see. As I vaguely accepted her answer, her cheeks suddenly puffed out a little.
“…Though I think you were supposed to be the one to visit me.”
Looks like she was pouting because I didn't visit her.
I was dying to go see her.
But you know how it is, right?
“I figured I wouldn't get a warm welcome if I went now. I hope you understand, Sunbae.”
“…That's true.”
“……”
At this point, I was starting to wonder.
Was this kid spineless, or were my words just that convincing?
I'd really prefer it not to be the former.
“Ah… but where were you, out this late at night…?” she asked.
Where was I?
“Well… just getting some fresh air and making a declaration of war.”
“A declaration of war…?”
Right.
That was actually the main purpose.
Just because I'm short on power right now doesn't mean I'm so helpless I can't do anything.
So I went and landed a blow in my own way.
In a way that not just he and I, but everyone would know.
I smiled and replied to Seo-yeon, who was asking with a puzzled look.
“You'll find out soon enough.”
This story would be the talk of the town for a few days.
I was really looking forward to it.
“Hehehehe.”
As I let out a sinister laugh, Seo-yeon gave an awkward smile and landed a sharp jab.
“Right now… you look like a villain from a comic book.”
She might not be entirely wrong.