Chương 101: S.05 Time to Fly 05(05)

Scene 09_01. The groceries So-hui had brought back made for quite a heap. The sun, sinking low, came flooding in through the wide window. While Lee Yeon sat with So-hui on the living room floor, slivering onion and green onion on the cutting board, Si-yeon and Jeong-seon were cutting radish for the braise at the sink. As the rat-a-tat of cutting boards filled the tranquil evening light, Si-yeon, seeming to have finished her prep well enough, left the gas burner lit and ambled loosely over to So-hui.

So-hui hadn't even managed to change out of the uncomfortable 한복(Han-bok_Traditional Korean dress) yet. Si-yeon: You done slivering? Instead of answering Si-yeon's question, Jeong-seon handed over a basin brimming with vegetables. Only then did So-hui straighten up and ask Si-yeon, who'd come over. So-hui: We've got enough hairtail, right? Si-yeon: Must've been heavy. How'd you carry it all back? So-hui: I called a cab from the market. Man, out in the sticks it takes half a day for a cab to even show up.

Pushing up hard with her weight on her knees, So-hui took the hand of Jeong-seon—who was flailing like a child trying to get up—and hauled her to her feet. Si-yeon: Ah-ni, they didn't even give you a lift? So-hui: I thought about calling you, but Jeong-seon said you were dead asleep, so I just took the cab. Jeong-seon: Ah, by the way — when do I get my driver's license. Lee Yeon: You want to get your license? So-hui and Si-yeon headed for the sink.

Jeong-seon trailed along too, putting the washed rice into the cooker. Jeong-seon: Yes. I figure it's good to get it done while I've got some time, at least. So-hui: For road practice, use my car, not Si-yeon's. Jeong-seon: What's the difference? So-hui: If you do road practice driving that car, Si-yeon'll rack up tickets by the fistful. She won't even know when she floored it.

When Lee Yeon set the spoons and chopsticks on the table, Jeong-seon—having set all the rice to cook—began helping Lee Yeon lay out the dishes. At So-hui's listless laugh, Si-yeon recalled something and counted off numbers on her fingers. Si-yeon: Jo So-hui, six. Doe Yeon-su, three. So-hui: Hey, I paid those all off. Si-yeon: And the demerit points — what, your ancestors top those back up for you? At Si-yeon's offhand remark that came out so very like Ji-young, So-hui stared at her, aghast. So-hui: Whoa, SSibal.

I just got chills. Jeong-seon: Why?? So-hui: That line — Ji-young sis only ever says it when she's talking like some old ajeossi. Whoa, hearing it out of Lee Si-yeon's mouth, I really can't take it. Scene 09_02. Ji-young, listening in a relaxed posture to the staff's grievances at the eatery, abruptly burst into a fit of unrelenting sneezes. Ji-young: Ah, SSibal. Somebody bad-mouthing me again. Scene 09_03. The night had grown fairly deep.

From outside came the small commotion of Jeong-seon and Lee Yeon, carrying on their practice by the garden lights. So-hui and Si-yeon, having finished even all the dishes, sat in Si-yeon's room. With a small sigh, So-hui recalled the brief spat from earlier in the day. Gathering up the hem of the 한복(Han-bok_Traditional Korean dress) skirt she still hadn't changed out of, she crossed her legs where she sat on the bed and reset her posture. So-hui was the first to speak, quietly.

So-hui: She's having a hard time of it. Just as I thought. Si-yeon: That's the part I really don't get, honestly. I figure she could just smash that Envoy's Legion or whatever it is to bits, together with us. So-hui nodded. She couldn't quite agree, but it was only natural that Si-yeon would think that way. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

So-hui: Even if we deal with the seven of the Envoy's Legion, the rest that haven't woken won't be any different. We've got to overturn the very foundation. And for that — yeah. Just as the Strategist laid it out, in the end we'll have to wage the greatest battle of all — the battle of The Beginning, that is. Only then will every foundation change. Si-yeon: Ah, the thing you mentioned before? So-hui: The 셍굿무가 (Saeng-gut-mu-ga). Si-yeon: That — what, you can't just hold it anytime?

So-hui: There's said to be a particular window for it, but I don't know the details yet. Only — Si-yeon: Only? So-hui let out a somewhat larger breath. Having pushed out the stifled breath, So-hui knit her brow slightly and loosely folded her arms. So-hui: Whether it'll really be a Saeng-gut-mu-ga — that's what worries me. As if she couldn't make heads or tails of it, Si-yeon slid a hand behind her long hair and scratched her head roughly, then sprang up from where she'd sat on the vanity chair.

At the sudden rise of Si-yeon's towering height, So-hui, arms still folded, let a startled look cross her. Si-yeon: Anyway, I just slice them all up, and that's that, right? So you and the sisters don't get hurt. At Si-yeon's bravado, So-hui set aside her stifled mood for a moment and let a light smile form. So-hui: What, you're the only one who cuts? I'll be cutting too. And hey — the one who held out to the end at the Black Doctrine was me, you know.

Half-unfolding her arms, So-hui held one hand out toward Si-yeon. At So-hui's gesture asking to be helped up, Si-yeon reached out and clasped So-hui's warm, slightly rough hand tight in her own cold one. Si-yeon: Damn grateful, aren't you? Pulling So-hui's hand, she lifted So-hui, who'd been perched on the bed. Checking over So-hui's clothes once more, Si-yeon twitched the corner of her mouth. Si-yeon: You still wearing it 'cause I threw a Jiral about it? So-hui: Why else would I still have it on?

Si-yeon: How sweet of you. Scene 09_04. It was deep night. Hee-jin, propping up Ji-young—who couldn't so much as stagger—was hauling her along with strained grunts. As the blackout-drunk Ji-young came in through the open gate, with Hee-jin entering while propping her up, Chae-rim—who'd been perched atop the eaves—darted over to them. The reek of liquor hung heavy, but the two paid it no mind and, each propping up one of Ji-young's arms, stepped up onto the wooden floor of Ji-young's quarters.

Tonight there weren't even any drunken antics. Chae-rim: Ah-ni, did she drink so much today she can't even manage her usual antics? At Chae-rim's strained question, Hee-jin nodded as if she had neither the wits nor the strength left to speak. Lean as she was, Ji-young stood tall and, owing to her firm, fine muscle, carried a fair bit of weight—drunk to the point of losing consciousness as she was. Ji-young's slack, dangling body wasn't easily propped, even with the two of them throwing themselves at it.

When Chae-rim moved to head for Ji-young's room, Hee-jin shook her head hurriedly and, with barely a jerk of her chin, pointed toward the reception room on the far side of the wooden floor. Chae-rim: She's gone... completely out cold, so why... Hee-jin: She said... there's something she has to do... when she wakes. Not the room — she asked to be brought here... ugh. Groaning, Hee-jin and Chae-rim barely made it into the reception room.

After sitting her down into a chair, the two wiped away the sweat beaded on their brows. The two stepped outside. After carefully shutting the opened reception-room door, Chae-rim asked Hee-jin in a slightly lower voice. Chae-rim: Just how much did she drink with dinner, that — Hee-jin: With tomorrow being the weekend, she did drink a good deal. Making the rounds of every table and taking a glass from each of the Headquarters staff, it could hardly have come to little.

The steeped liquor she'd brought from the Black Doctrine runs high in proof, especially, so she got drunk easily. Chae-rim: Ah. Right. I tried it for the first time the other day myself, and I did suffer a fair bit of a hangover the very next day. Hee-jin: She said she'd be heading out with Yeon-su tomorrow, so I worry whether she'll even get up properly. Chae-rim: Shall I wake her in advance? At Chae-rim's light suggestion, Hee-jin knit her brow softly and shook her head.

Hee-jin: For now, I'll stay by The Oldest's side and sort the documents she'll need to review in advance. Captain, do hold your post. Chae-rim nodded and vanished from sight in moments. Hee-jin opened the reception-room door she'd shut and went inside. Hee-jin hung a 주식(Jusik_Incantation Guard) over the reception-room door she'd entered, then turned to look at the spot where Ji-young had been passed out.

Ji-young, who'd been slumped over as if sprawled, now sat composed in the chair, a document from the reception-room desk spread open before her, reading. Ji-young: By now, I can't even come up with lines to use for drunken antics. I've done it so much. At Ji-young's light banter, Hee-jin let out a small sigh. Ji-young: I haven't gotten dumber from doing it over and over, have I?? I'd hate that. Hee-jin: I can guarantee it.

It's a matter of hiding your existence for a while — it's not a 주술 (Jusul_Incantation/Sorcery) that turns you into a fool. Ji-young made a playfully relieved face. After a small sigh, forcing herself to seem unaffected, she nodded and set down the document she'd been reading. She took off the black bracelet from her wrist, laid it atop the documents, then pushed it a little ways off. Ji-young: Before, once was enough — why do we have to do it several times this time?

Hee-jin: To conceal you as a different being, there's no other way. Before, since I overlaid you with Si-yeon — someone you already knew well, The Oldest — only a slight alteration was needed. The Harbinger within you was fully in place, too. But this time, since we've decided to overlay you as someone else entirely, both The Oldest and the Harbinger must be put to sleep for a while. As if that were explanation enough, Ji-young nodded and tidied up the rest of her preparations.

In time with Ji-young's preparations drawing to a close, Hee-jin too opened the reception-room cabinet and took out the censer, by now grown rather familiar. Drawing out the palm-sized gilt-bronze censer, she tugged at the strand of 삼베(Sambae_Hemp cloth) threaded to it. White smoke burst out as if pouring forth, prying through the gaps of the gilt-bronze censer and beginning to spill out. After setting it beneath the chair where Ji-young sat, Hee-jin let out a small sigh.

Hee-jin: On the day the Incantation is all tidied away, both the Harbinger and The Oldest will sleep a shallow sleep together for a while. The Oldest will fall into a sleep so deep that the Black Wire alone won't be enough to make her grasp her own existence. Ji-young nodded flatly. The white smoke rising from the censer began to mingle into Ji-young's breath. Ji-young: What number is today? Hee-jin shook her head without a word.

As if bantering, Ji-young twitched the corner of her mouth and offered a light reproach at Hee-jin's silence. Ji-young: I really must've been gotten to a lot. Without my even knowing. Hee-jin: To speak with my own mouth of the wickedness I've already worked would, I felt, make me look back on myself in spite of myself. It seemed I might feel guilt. So I didn't count it out in detail. As if she understood, Ji-young nodded with a smile.

Hee-jin took a 금줄(Geumjul_Ritual Taboo Rope to suppress power) from the cabinet and settled respectfully beside Ji-young. Hee-jin: And so, for what time remains at least, I mean to live all the more happily among people. From now on, only regret will lie along the path I walk. The time already passed, at least — I didn't want to regret that. Ji-young: Sis. Hee-jin:... Ji-young: I'm sorry. For not stopping you, in the end. For shoving even myself onto that lonely path, in the end.

Hee-jin: The Oldest's mother could not stop me either. It's a path The Oldest's mother allowed in silence. In truth, I've already been held in the former The Oldest's arms and wept aloud, many times. For me, that alone is enough. Ji-young nodded. Hee-jin carefully wound the Ritual Taboo Rope she held around one of Ji-young's wrists. The moment the Incantation Ji-young harbored was stoppered, Ji-young's breath turned languid in an instant.

Hee-jin: Upon the daughters of the former The Oldest — the only grown-up I ever had — I will commit cruel and wretched things. But I will not ask to be forgiven. For the daughters of the former The Oldest will surely forgive my every wickedness, and me along with it. So I will quietly do what I've set out to do. I will never beg forgiveness. Ji-young could say nothing to Hee-jin's resolve. Straining to hold onto her dimming consciousness to the last was all Ji-young could do now.

Hee-jin: I will, without fail, hunt down the four butterflies and trample them mercilessly.