Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: A Father's Promise
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Heuk Biwon was still smiling, but a shadow had fallen over his face.
The closer the brothers got, the more Heuk Biwon's eyes gleamed.
“You know, I thought you would have taken precautions.”
His younger brother, Heuk Bihu, was a warrior, but he was also exceptionally sharp. That was how he’d discovered his own illness in its early stages.
“I thought your child was living well in the main house.”
He had.
He, who had locked himself away in his residence, in a storeroom, occasionally used as a mere butcher, had not known.
How pitifully his niece had lived. He seethed with anger at his brother, who hadn't taken even this simple measure.
How terribly his brother and his wife had cherished one another.
Enough to elope for love.
*‘As if forgetting the wife he loved to death wasn't enough...’*
A large hand came to rest on Heuk Biwon’s, which was clenched so tight his teeth were grinding.
Heuk Bihu smiled faintly.
“What am I supposed to do? She's a daughter I don't even remember.”
“...”
“If I can't remember her, she isn't my daughter.”
A wind like a razor's edge passed between the two men.
“However, I did promise to do anything for her. I will do my best for that child. Isn't that enough?”
“Did she say she'd cure you?”
“...”
Heuk Bihu didn't answer, but his silence was an affirmation.
“Now that you've put it that way, I think I get the gist of it.”
Seeing his brother so incensed, it seemed the little kid really was his daughter.
“Even if I remembered, I would just forget again someday. Whose misfortune would that truly be, Brother?”
“...”
“Doing my best as a stranger might be the best thing for both of us.”
“That's a damn roundabout way of saying you want your three-year-old daughter to treat you so you can get better.”
Instead of getting angry at his ignorant brother, Heuk Biwon gave a savage smile that showed his canines.
“Wow, my little brother's a real son of a bitch. I hope you live to regret this.”
Despite being cursed to his face, Heuk Bihu was unfazed. His brother had been like this for a long time.
A moment later, a smile of picturesque beauty graced Heuk Bihu's face.
“Looks like she fixed you up a bit, too.”
It was then.
Down below, Heuk Biyu and Heuk Gyewon were looking at the fields. A group of people approaching the two children came into view.
*‘Until yesterday...’*
The little one who used to visit so frequently hadn't shown up today, so he had merely come here for a walk.
A battle had begun below.
He could see Heuk Biyu holding someone captive with water.
He wondered where a mere three-year-old got such cleverness.
“Not going to step in?”
Bihu only raised his eyes. There, he saw his brother's face, smiling so cheerfully it was annoying.
An expression full of hidden rage, masked by a look of amusement.
The color of his irises was distorting.
It was a symptom he suffered whenever he felt rage, ever since the madness had taken hold of him.
“Little brother, I don't know how much you remember of me, but if I step in, there'll be nothing left for you.”
“...”
“Biwon is going to go play the part of the great big uncle~”
His gaze was clearly a provocation.
“I'll count to exactly three.”
Heuk Bihu wore an expression that said, *so what?*
However, he did raise an eyebrow slightly.
***
“Oppa!!”
Heuk Gyewon was trembling as he barely managed to block the sword.
His opponent was clearly swinging his sword playfully. A gesture full of mockery.
“You're still a long way off, aren't you?”
The warrior chuckled.
No matter how exceptional a prodigy Gyewon was, he was still only nine. The longer he fought the skilled warrior, the more his injuries piled up.
*Squeak...*
I saw the divine beast collapsed on the ground.
I quickly upended my water bottle.
*‘Diagnosis, can I use it again? Please, just one more person...!’*
There's a time limit to how long I can hold someone with Diagnosis.
Still, if I could just hold that one guy, there would be enough time for me and Heuk Gyewon to escape.
*‘Uncle, let's go toward Uncle's building...’*
The moment my hand was soaked, a wave surged.
But it didn't go as planned. The remaining warrior dodged it with a swift movement.
The warrior sneered at me.
“I won't fall for something I've already seen.”
I bit my lip hard.
“I suppose I'll have to switch up the order, then?”
The warrior stomped toward me. In that instant, a thousand thoughts raced through my mind.
Should I have tried to concoct something?
Should that have come first...?
The moment I failed to restrain him, I knew it was my turn.
And yet, Heuk Gyewon came first.
*‘He's holding his sword to save me, even though he's bleeding!’*
...How could I stand by and do nothing when he was on my side?
The moment I saw the sword rushing toward me, I squeezed my eyes shut.
*‘Damn it, I wonder if dying by the sword hurts more than falling off a cliff?’*
Nothing to be done about it. In my next life, I'll be more careful...
At that moment, my body floated into the air.
I thought it was just my imagination.
...Why doesn't it hurt?
“You shouldn't just close your eyes. You should scream, too.”
I slowly opened my eyes.
“Kuh, ugh, heuk... Keoheok!”
I was floating in midair. The one who had tried to attack me was floating in midair as well.
But he was struggling, his neck wrapped in an invisible wind.
His legs kicked pitifully as if he were suffocating.
Perhaps because I was so shocked, the water I had been holding with Diagnosis disappeared.
My eyes met with my father's, who was standing there nonchalantly.
“Quite a few of them came. Are you hurt?”
The scoundrels had no chance to escape.
*Thud!*
As soon as Dad stomped his foot, the wind restrained every person there, as if it had been waiting.
“Ugh, save... kuh!”
“Mommy!!”
Not just Heuk Daewi and his party, but the other warriors were all subdued.
I couldn't believe the scene before my eyes.
I stared blankly at my dad. How did he get here?
Why was he here?
“Scream. Then someone would have come running.”
With the sounds of gasping and choking in the background, Dad spoke leisurely.
“...What if there's no one like that.”
Someone to help? There was no way I had anyone like that. What was I supposed to do, if this was the first time in this life?
“Why not?”
“There isn't. I don't have anyone!”
Dad strode closer and leaned his face in. I flinched in surprise.
“I came.”
He pointed to himself with a finger.
I wondered if he was joking, but his relaxed expression gave me a strange feeling.
“I'm here. See?”
Dad's hand casually took mine.
“You told me to do whatever you asked. A safe return home.”
His unhurried voice continued.
“You told me to escort you, so I did. I kept that promise. Then you asked to be notified immediately if a letter arrived.”
“...”
“So I came to play mailman, too.”
My eyes widened slightly.
A letter clearly meant a message from the main house.
“I don't remember... but I must have been good at keeping promises. Probably?”
I let out a dry laugh at his words, unsure if he was joking.
“Are you hurt?”
“Why do you keep asking...”
“I have to hit them back just as hard, don't I?”
I froze at his unexpectedly affectionate tone. For a foolish moment, I felt like I was about to cry.
I quickly wiped my face, pretending some water had splashed on it.
“I'm okay. Put me down. I gotta see if Gyewon-oppa's okay.”
I had seen him collapse with a look of relief the moment Dad appeared.
He had clearly passed out from exhaustion.
Dad furrowed his brow.
“...I show up, and this is your reaction?”
“Wha?”
“More admiration, or praise.”
I was a little dumbfounded. Can I have my touching moment back?
“...Are you a child?”
Dad raised an eyebrow slightly.
I glanced over, wondering if the warrior had died.
Thankfully, he just seemed to be unconscious.
“Aren't you so impressed by me suddenly appearing and doing a good deed that you feel like treating me? Maybe restoring my memories?”
*Huh? Look at this father of mine. He's trying to get my lifespan for free. Of course, he doesn't know my life is the price.*
I stuck out my lower lip in a pout.
“Too bad, but no. You'll have to do something even more amazing.”
“Is that so? A shame.”
As if he hadn't been serious, my father backed down easily.
Before he could move further away, I grabbed the hem of his clothes.
I should at least thank him.
Just as I was about to speak, I heard a slicing sound and turned my head. It seemed another warrior who had been caught by the wind had broken free.
He stood panting, sword in hand.
Dad wasn't surprised.
“Daddy, aren't you gonna catch him?”
“There's no need.”
At the same time, the warrior collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Huhu, you get to play with me, mister~”
The owner of the foot pressing down on the warrior's back was my eldest uncle, Heuk Biwon.
“Biwon is bored because he missed his chance to score points~”
...Why is that man here?