Chapter 85
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 85
Wearing the flower shoes Ga-yul had given her as a gift, So-ya went to visit the garrison outpost where Ga-hyeon was stationed.
Today was Ga-hyeon’s final day serving at the garrison.
She planned to return home with him once his duties were finished.
“Hyeon-yi Orabeoni!”
Ga-hyeon was working alongside the low-ranking guards, dressed in a simple garrison uniform.
“Welcome, So-ya.”
Having been alerted to So-ya’s visit in advance by Jjaek-jjaek, Ga-hyeon greeted her with a bright, welcoming smile.
“Was it a difficult journey getting here?”
“Not at all, because I came with Seol-yo.”
Seol-yo, the massive wolf who had carried So-ya on his back, let out a soft snort of agreement.
“I see.”
It was just as Ga-hyeon was smiling tenderly at So-ya.
“Ooh, is that the famous Lady Cotton Ball?”
“Wow, even our prickly Young Lord turns into a softie in front of the young lady.”
The guards turned their attention toward So-ya, who had come to see Ga-hyeon.
“Ah, hello everyone!”
At So-ya’s greeting, the guards cheered and began introducing themselves.
“Greetings, My Lady! I am of the Gray Wolf Clan…!”
“It is an honor to meet you, My Lady! I am from the Southern Garrison…”
“Why are you all so interested in someone else’s sister?”
When Ga-hyeon frowned with a look of displeasure, the men burst into hearty laughter.
“It’s a relief the young lady doesn’t take after the prickly Young Lord. She is a blessing to the Western Lands!”
“Is my brother prickly?”
“Oh, yes. You wouldn’t believe how particular he is, and how much of a fuss he kicks up about cleanliness…”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
Ga-hyeon cut the man off with a cold snap.
Oh?
So-ya blinked her eyes wide, looking back and forth between Ga-hyeon and the guards.
Her second brother did have a sensitive and prickly side, but that was a side he usually only showed to those very close to him.
Seeing Ga-hyeon reveal his true nature like this—when he usually maintained the image of a polite and gentle nobleman in public—it seemed he had truly opened his heart to these people.
“I’m so glad you’ve been staying with such good people, Brother.”
As So-ya spoke with a giggle, the men grew rowdy, shouting things like, “My, the youngest lady certainly has a sharp eye for character!”
Ga-hyeon pressed his fingers against his temples with a slightly weary expression, then turned back to So-ya.
“So-ya, I think it’ll be about another hour before my shift ends. What should we do?”
“It’s okay, Brother. I’ll look around the area with Seol-yo until you’re finished.”
“Alright. But don’t go too far, So-ya. Understand?”
The guards jeered at Ga-hyeon’s worried tone.
Watching them get along so well, So-ya giggled and headed outside with Seol-yo.
The full bloom of spring weather enveloped them.
It was already the Leaf Month, the time when the sap-rising trees were each sprouting their new leaves.
As she spread a cloth over the grass and sat down, Jjaek-jjaek took flight into the sky, singing a song.
Pyu-reureu, pyu-reureureu—
Then, hearing Jjaek-jjaek’s song, all sorts of winged creatures—sparrows, larks, tits, redstarts, bulbuls, and magpies from the vicinity—flew toward So-ya.
Most of them were birds that couldn't fly well or were limping due to injured wings or legs.
So-ya opened her palm and conjured the Purification Flame to treat the ailing birds.
“There, do you want to try flapping your wings again?”
It was while So-ya was treating a young tit with a broken wing.
Suddenly lifting her head, she spotted wild animals peeking at her from behind the bushes.
Rabbits, deer, squirrels, leopard cats, water deer… Various wild beasts that had come after hearing the birds chirping watched So-ya from a distance, hesitant to approach.
Then, a baby rabbit hopped away from its mother’s side and scurried toward So-ya.
“Hello, little rabbit. Did you come because you’re hurt?”
“Kkiing!”
The baby rabbit thrust out a plump front paw.
“Oh no, what happened? You have a wound on your paw.”
So-ya murmured in a distressed voice as she healed the baby rabbit’s paw.
The baby rabbit wagged its stubby tail and hopped back to its group, showing off its perfectly healed paw.
Seeing this, the other animals rushed toward So-ya all at once.
“Oh, everyone, don't do that! You have to wait your turn.”
So-ya spoke in surprise as the animals crowded her without order, but unfortunately, unlike the birds, the land animals could not understand her words.
“Wait, you’ll get hurt more if you do this…”
At that moment, Seol-yo slammed his front paw down—thump!—against the ground.
At the threat of the large wolf, the beasts quickly and obediently lined up behind him.
“That’s it. Come one by one in an orderly fashion.”
Seeing this, So-ya giggled and opened her arms toward the doe standing at the front of the line.
While Seol-yo prowled the perimeter in his massive wolf form, So-ya treated the injured animals.
So-ya could now control the Purification Flame at will.
And it wasn't just the Purification Flame.
After finishing the treatment of the wild animals, she glanced at the White Tiger Divine Sword at her waist.
Three years ago, when she had defeated Hondon on Mt. Horim.
Back then, I thought it was just a coincidence that I found the divine object and received the White Tiger’s help…
But it wasn't. Defeating Hondon that day by borrowing the White Tiger’s power had also been her own supernatural ability.
“So, you’re saying that power is activated when I hold the heart of a Divine Beast?”
—That is right, Baby Bird. The heart that wishes to protect someone precious—that is precisely the Heart of Steel.
When So-ya asked the empty air, a voice transmission echoed in her head.
—Metal is something strong and solid. Thus, it manifests only when you harbor a heart that wishes to protect, not a heart that wishes to harm.
“I see. Then, even though I woke the White Tiger, the reason I couldn't use the power of steel until now was…”
—It means you grew up healthy in a safe place. It is proof that you, as a child, were never in a dangerous situation where you had to protect someone.
If there was another change that had occurred in So-ya since awakening the Vermilion Bird, it was this: she was now able to converse freely with the Divine Beasts she had awakened.
—Hahaha. I finally met the child who woke me after a thousand years, yet you didn't visit me even once during that time. You have no idea how bored I was, Baby Bird.
The voice speaking as if grumbling was that of the Western Divine Beast, the White Tiger Mountain Lord.
—Has this old tiger gone senile? Why are you pressuring the little Baby Bird?
The one scolding him was the voice of the Southern Divine Beast, the Vermilion Bird Celestial Maiden.
She had begun hearing their voices on the night after she had suffered through her growing pains and the trouble caused by her brothers.
After celebrating her successful growth with her family, eating delicious food, looking at her gifts, and having a wonderful time…
She had lied down to sleep when she heard a bickering sound from somewhere.
Mm…?
So-ya looked around, but she saw nothing.
Ugh, that’s strange.
She tried to go back to sleep, but the sound occurred again.
…!
So-ya poked only her eyes out from under the covers.
Could it be… a ghost?
She suddenly remembered something Ga-yul had once said—that there was a ghost in the White Tiger Palace that only took away children as small as her.
No way. That was just a lie Brother Yul told.
Now twelve years old, So-ya knew well that there were no such things as ghosts in the White Tiger Palace.
Nevertheless, she suppressed the fear she couldn't quite ignore and crawled back under the covers, only to hear the bickering sound once more.
Flip!
So-ya threw off the covers and sat up.
In that instant, the surroundings fell silent again, but…
There’s something back there.
So-ya felt it clearly.
The presence that had fallen silent half a beat late the moment she sat up.
Gulp.
So-ya swallowed hard and slowly turned around. And then…
[A-A ghost…!]
She discovered a man in white clothes and a woman in red clothes, both about the size of her palm, floating in the air.
—Aaaaaaaah!
—Kyaaaaaaaah!
The ghosts who made eye contact with So-ya screamed in unison.