Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Family
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"Alright. Now, let's hear it. What dissatisfaction made you bolt out the moment your master entered secluded training?"
"Well... I originally planned to wait at first."
"Your resolve to wait lasted all of a few hours, how amusing. I heard you left the very day I went in."
'...'
*Squirt squirt*
I tried to make excuses, but it only made things worse.
I'd planned to say I tried waiting but it seemed like it'd take too long, so I left. But she knew I'd run off that same day.
'...Sigh.'
Yeah.
No point in excuses now.
Better to just come clean and seek forgiveness.
"...I got bored and ran off."
"...?"
"You said you'd be in secluded training for two and a half to three years. The thought of spending all that time alone on the mountain without you was so boring I felt like I'd die, so I bolted."
"..."
I said that and cast my eyes down to the floor.
Master would probably explode in anger now.
*Swish*
*Flinch!*
Then I felt Master reaching out and pulling me toward her.
Bracing for who-knows-how-many hits, I gritted my teeth against the coming pain.
*Pat pat*
"...I see."
"...?"
Her soft touch made a stark contrast to what I'd braced for, so I looked up in confusion.
"I was thoughtless there. A child who hates being alone so much couldn't possibly endure it by herself. I should have at least given you something to do in the meantime. It might have been a little better that way."
"Ah, no, it's fine! I don't hate being alone that much..."
"Before going into seclusion, I asked the merchants at the base of the mountain to bring supplies regularly. I should have told you ahead of time. I kept quiet hoping to surprise you, but it backfired in this case."
"...Pardon?"
There was something like that?
I had no idea.
"Wh-why didn't you tell me...?"
"I figured you'd find out naturally if you just waited a bit. How was I to know you'd run off right away like you couldn't wait?"
"..."
For a moment, I thought maybe I didn't have to go through all that hardship outside the mountain after all.
Well, even so, coming down let me meet Dang Ayoung and travel around, encountering the Sword Empress and Lady Nightsky along the way, so it wasn't all bad...
"You kept singing the praises of the outside world, so I planned to take you with me once I finished training. But you told me not to jinx it."
"...Right."
What the hell have I been doing then?
If I'd just waited and come out with Master, it would've been way safer.
'No, wait. By then, the Central Plains would already have been in chaos.'
But thinking back, that parallel world's Central Plains probably wasn't in great shape either.
I don't think I made any major contributions stopping the Blood Cult, but that world would be at war with them too.
Traveling and enjoying it properly in that state would've been tough, so it was better to come out early and have my fun while I could.
...That's what I'll tell myself.
Anyway, Master's reaction turned out softer than expected, so I could finally relax...
*Stab*
"Now that we've covered my shortcomings, let's talk about yours."
"Uh."
When I came to, I was lying stomach-down across Master's lap.
And in this position...
*Smack!
"Ow!"
"First one. You wrote every nasty thing imaginable about your master in that letter you left. Calling me a spinster who can't cook or do laundry, a cranky old hag—you had me thinking your first impression was so bad you wanted to kill yourself."
"Th-that was... Ow!"
*Smack!
"What's wrong? Keep talking. This master of yours is getting on in years, so my hearing's not what it used to be."
I'd been pretty worked up when I wrote that letter before running off, so yeah, it was a bit extreme.
Back then, I was mostly thinking, 'See if I ever come back.' Even if I did return, I planned to clean up all traces before Master came out, so I didn't think much of it...
*Smack!
"Urk!"
I never imagined things would turn out like this.
It hadn't even crossed my mind that something might keep me from returning and that Master would scour the vast Central Plains to find me.
*Smack!
"Alright, warm-up seems done. Pick how many you want."
"...Warm-up now?"
"If you leave it to me, I won't stop you. If my disciple wants to show filial piety one last time before dying, I suppose I should accept."
*Squirt squirt*
One of parents' ultimate moves: "How many do you want?"
I'd been eating that line for over twenty years now.
And with my girlfriend and some strange woman right there.
'H-help...'
I subtly signaled Dang Ayoung with my eyes for rescue, but...
"I-I'll go recruit some laborers to fix the house!"
'Even you, Brutus!!'
As if getting revenge for me ignoring her ordeal with Master earlier, she quietly slipped away.
And the vampire girl, stuck in the corner watching us without moving...
"..."
'What the hell is that look?'
She was glaring at us with an unreadable expression.
I needed to hand her over to the Murim Alliance quick to interrogate her, but who knew when that mess would settle down.
"You're taking your sweet time. Shall I take that as leaving it to my discretion?"
"No, wait! Hold on!"
"I'll give you ten seconds. Ten..."
"T-twenty! I'll take twenty!"
I said that and gauged Master's expression.
How would my bold choice turn out?
Pass? Fail?
*Smile*
Relief washed over me at Master's bright smile.
"Let's make it thirty then."
*Smack!
In the end, after Master beat me black and blue, I barely escaped.
.
.
.
"Discipline for my wayward disciple is done... Now, bring that thing."
"...That thing?"
"The orb you always played around with. You haven't forgotten it, have you?"
"Ah. That."
I pulled a blue orb from my bosom at Master's words.
That had to be it.
It held a strange energy inside, one I'd used many times when reading heavenly secrets.
"No way I'd lose it. I've kept it on me the whole time."
"...Hand it over."
If I'd learned how to use it properly before Master went into seclusion, I could've made better use of it. A shame I'd just fiddled with it haphazardly.
Honestly, that orb was what let me play the proper fortune teller.
Master's face darkened the moment she saw it, but I handed it over anyway. She brought it close to her eye and examined it closely.
She studied it for quite a while, making me increasingly anxious that maybe I'd messed up somehow.
"...Haa."
*Jump!*
I couldn't help but react sensitively to that sigh, which never boded well.
"...Thirty years' worth. You burned through that much in just three years."
"Wh-what do you...?"
"This orb had energy stored in it, and you used up thirty years' worth. In a mere three years."
"..."
Okay, this one really was my fault.
Of course, Master wasn't entirely blameless for not warning me beforehand, but did she ever imagine I'd run off, set up a fortune shop, and blow through it like that?
She gave me the card thinking I'd buy snacks, and I scratched up a building with it. Of course she'd scold me.
Thirty years wasn't some dog's name.
"...Sigh. Fine. Considering how long I've waited... If I go back to the forest and gather your essence too, I can recover it faster than thirty years..."
"...I can't go back right now."
"...What?"
"Well..."
I gave Master a brief rundown of the current situation in the Central Plains.
"...So, strange yokai invaded from a world different from yours, took over the Blood Cult, and are impersonating them?"
"More or less."
"And if we don't stop their scheme, this world ends?"
"Yes."
"Hard to believe, but there's plenty of evidence. I can't deny it. That weird type of jiangshi I've never seen... or the strange seal on your soul..."
*Flinch!*
I flinched at the mention of what seemed to reference my contract with the Saintess.
"...And I kept meaning to ask—what's with the white hair? Did you age that much while I was away?"
"Ah. It's not real white hair. It just pulls right out."
"Oh, that kind. I thought you'd dyed it on purpose."
With that, Master naturally pulled me onto her lap and rummaged through my hair.
*Pluck*
"...Master. This position is uncomfortable."
*Tug tug*
"It won't take long, so bear with it. These come out easy."
Given Master's build, even someone as small as me was uncomfortable on her lap, but thankfully it didn't take long.
"Mm. Done. Hair looks healthier all black without the white, doesn't it?"
"...When you come out later, I'll pluck yours for you."
"Who knows if that day will come."
Once she finished with my hair, Master pushed me off, freeing me from the awkward position.
*Swish swish*
"Anyway, with circumstances like that, returning to the mountain right away seems tough. I don't know what 'extinction' means exactly, but if it's as bad as it sounds, even deep in the mountains won't be safe."
"...Then why are you casually digging in my ear?"
"Do you know how much I worried about you in there? If you were eating properly. If you were washing your clothes right. If you were dressing decently..."
"That's my line?!"
Who's worrying about who?!
Who does all the housework around here?!
I lived just fine without you, you know?!
"And did you eat properly in there, Master?"
"Ever had wall-grain pills?"
"Got it. You didn't eat well."
What do cultivators even taste in that awful stuff?
And I knew what she'd say next without her even voicing it.
Family and all.
*Stand*
"Any dish you want? Since we're out in the secular world, let's use good ingredients."
"Anything you make will be fine."
"Dang Ayoung's better at cooking."
"It's not about skill. It's who makes it."
I knew what to cook even before she asked.
Ingredients available in the mountains limited the options anyway, and there weren't many varieties to begin with.
Plus, I knew exactly what Master liked best.