Chương 113: S.05 Time to Fly 07(05)

Scene 09_02. It was I-sim's detached annex in Jungang-do, set on a hill well removed from any residential area, with not a single proper house nearby. The streetlights of the distant highway looked like a single dot. The soft footsteps of the two pushed back the deep silence for a moment. The cheeks of the two as they walked flushed red with drink, but their gaits didn't waver. The calm steps of the two carried on a brief silence, but the mouth Lee Yeon had called So-hui out with seemed unable to part easily.

Just as So-hui slightly read Lee Yeon's expression, Lee Yeon halted her steps and sent a small voice to So-hui. Lee Yeon: Thank you for helping us. So-hui didn't answer and only shook her head with a smile. A smile was all she could give. Since both households were in the same boat, each having lost their greatest elder, she'd simply assumed they would hurt alike. From So-hui, who only shook her head wordlessly as if it were nothing, not a trace of the heavy shadow of self-doubt could be found.

Sharp yet dignified, she looked rather solid. After the brief silence, So-hui began to walk slowly again. Lee Yeon, who had stopped, walked side by side with So-hui through the garden of the deep predawn. So-hui: Because it's my mom's legacy.... It was So-hui's voice, laced with a sigh. Without pressing the voice So-hui hadn't yet gone on with, she quietly waited for what So-hui would say next. So-hui: Ji-young sis says she'll never let anyone die anymore. That everyone alive is my mom's legacy.

As long as that legacy follows her, she'll make sure no one dies. She says that was probably the biggest reason my mom placed her in that position. And that only she can do it. Because my mom helped her become able to. So-hui's meaning was clear enough to need no pondering. Lee Yeon: True. We too are likely the traces our Master left behind. So-hui: And the trace of all those people is Yoon Jeong-seon. Lee Yeon nodded. So-hui: So I couldn't just stand by and watch.

How much swordwork can you learn in just about a fortnight. Still, doing something is better. At my age. Lee Yeon: Because for us, it's been quite a long time since we suffered loss. So-hui: The Seventh Steward's age, this year.... Lee Yeon: Exactly one hundred eighty-eight. At Lee Yeon's level voice, So-hui, who had asked in the first place, scratched at her neck, looking unable to take it in. Lee Yeon had the appearance of someone in her early thirties.

The age of Lee Yeon, a woman who looked, quite literally, like a teacher, simply wouldn't sink in. Still, she was certain the time held within that age, shared with Hyang-rim, would not have been short. After feeling the weight of a farewell that had come after so long a time, So-hui carefully lowered the hand that had been scratching roughly at her neck. Lee Yeon: I've forgotten even all my friends' names. That's how long a time it's been for me.

It was after enough time had passed that I couldn't bring myself to even remember what parting was. After watching from afar, in this very form, as my friends let their wrinkled hands fall limp on their way to becoming white bones, I had no choice but to wrestle deeply with what I even am. But that wasn't resentment toward our Master. It was simply hard — what parting even was, how to get through it, how to soothe others to get through it. So, thank you. So-hui: It's a span of time I can't even dare to imagine.

But that's exactly why I came to understand. The kind of ribbing we trade among people our own age — it seemed like that's what Jeong-seon needed most. But, Steward. Lee Yeon: Yes. So-hui: What about you Stewards yourselves — are you all right? At So-hui's careful question, Lee Yeon shook her head without a word. In that head-shaking answer, not a flicker of hesitation showed. Lee Yeon: I was twenty-one when I lay ill and awaited only death.

My parents, watching my incurable illness, gave up food and drink entirely and made inquiries everywhere. And that's how they came to meet my Master. It's been nearly one hundred sixty-seven years. Since I received my Master's teachings and served her. There's no way I'm all right. But, Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Lee Yeon let out a great sigh and, still in her walking stride, looked up for a moment at the clearly risen night sky.

Lee Yeon's clear eyes, without a single tear, turned toward the sky. Lee Yeon: I've lost the way of it. The sorrow of serving and attending and living alongside her stayed deep in me and became each one's own burden, something even the Stewards couldn't share among ourselves — but to share it with one another, we've passed through so long a time that we've lost even the way of how to hurt, of how we once hurt. Into that gap, Jeong-seon burrowed. Lee Yeon's gaze stayed toward the sky and would not easily come down.

Lee Yeon: Rather than the time to mourn what we'd sent off and lost, I first agonized over what method there might be, wishing Jeong-seon wouldn't hurt. I figured that's what the place of an elder is. On the other hand, Only then did Lee Yeon's head come down toward the steps she'd been walking. Lee Yeon: I came to understand too the frail sorrow of my Master, who could no longer bear the long time of having to send off so many past Oldests before her and stopped associating with anyone.

And the one who barged in recklessly, raised hell, and shattered that — was none other than I-sim. So-hui: True, I hear my mom was quite a piece of work too. Lee Yeon: Because she'd come to the Black Doctrine every single day demanding liquor, throwing fits, cursing, going on drunken rampages, smoking and tossing cigarette butts wherever, and she burned the Fourth Steward's whole house to the ground, too. The smiles wouldn't fade from the lips of Lee Yeon and So-hui.

Lee Yeon: Even as she kept chasing I-sim around, kicking her, cuffing her, driving her off, I-sim stayed close as a sister to my Master to the very end. The one who had severed her own ties with the Covenant, vowing never to watch an Oldest die, went in person to keep silent vigil over I-sim's death. Saying it was her repayment to I-sim, who'd let her take Jeong-seon in. Saying it was her courtesy to I-sim, who'd let her walk a path she wouldn't regret. So-hui: The two of them must be resting easy now, surely?

At So-hui's calm question, Lee Yeon held her words for a moment. At the end of the silence that followed, Lee Yeon offered not an answer but a careful suggestion. Lee Yeon: If you ever have occasion to come to our Black Doctrine later on, there's teaching our Master left behind. Not quite scripture, but a journal our Master researched and recorded. Every tale of the Beginning and the story of the Envoy's Legion is written there in detail, so if the chance comes, do come and have a look.

At Lee Yeon's suggestion, offered in place of an answer, So-hui held only a faint question but didn't bother to let it show, merely nodding. The two carried on their calm walk a little longer. As if the deep predawn were slowly withdrawing, the edge of the sky began to take on a dark blue-black light. Scene 10. Having finished getting ready for bed, Hee-jin headed outside with a sheet mask still stuck to her face.

With a thick coat thrown over leggings and a comfortable knit, she stepped barefoot onto the wooden veranda, and the cold wind that had frozen the trees met the soles of her feet. Leaving the veranda a little hurriedly, Hee-jin crammed her feet sloppily into the sneakers set on the 댓돌(Dat-dol_Stepping stone) and carried on at a slightly quick pace. Walking soundlessly over the dirt path, Hee-jin moved for a good while toward what looked like a large wooden gate, the west gate.

A 경호부(Gyeong-ho-bu_Guard Corps) officer who spotted Hee-jin's quick steps from atop the watchtower came down from the great watchtower and approached Hee-jin as she made for the outside. Guard Corps Officer_03: Strategist. To the Guard Corps officer who bowed deep at the waist in greeting, Hee-jin too returned a light nod. Guard Corps Officer_03: At this hour, is there some urgent matter.... Hee-jin: Yeah, sorry. A friend I know called, said they'd be right out front.

Guard Corps Officer_03: Ah, then the outing paperwork.... Hee-jin: I'll be back in no time. Like five minutes? Guard Corps Officer_03: Understood. As if she'd accepted Hee-jin's persuasion, the Guard Corps officer bowed at the waist again and stepped away. The firmly shut four-meter wooden gate opened narrowly with a great groaning sound. Hee-jin lightly twisted her body through the gap in the gate and went out.

Quickening her steps again, when Hee-jin reached the edge of the forest path a fair distance from the west gate, a familiar voice came from the deep darkness. Yu-seok: Strategist. At the courteous call, Hee-jin, who had been moving with quick steps, came to an abrupt stop. After glancing briefly around, Hee-jin confirmed it was a distance not easily seen from the west gate, then carefully walked into the shadowed brush where the voice had come from. Hee-jin: Oppa.

At the casual form of address, Yu-seok's voice, the one that had called Hee-jin, also seemed to hold a light laugh, a small chuckle spilling out with it. Amid the brush, hard to see through, the presences of the two reached near each other. Yu-seok: You didn't sleep? Hee-jin: I'd washed up and lain down to sleep. Yu-seok: Sorry about that. Hee-jin: How did it go? Yu-seok: Looks like it can take hold and begin whenever. It's sleeping right now. Hee-jin: I see.

Yu-seok: Before that, I came because there's something I want to ask. Hee-jin: About what? Yu-seok: Whether you're okay. At Yu-seok's question, Hee-jin held her words for a moment. Hee-jin: Were you okay, Oppa? Yu-seok: No. Hee-jin: Me neither. At Hee-jin's voice, unexpectedly level in its confession, Yu-seok only nodded without a word. Yu-seok: Figures. Hee-jin: So tell her I hope she runs wild without regret. Yu-seok: It seems the Weeping of Retribution has already begun moving quietly.

Without the other Envoys knowing. Even down to the first Rites of the Wager at the Beginning. Hee-jin: Because I ordered it. Because I told it I'd tear the whole world of the dead out by the roots this instant if it didn't obey me. Yu-seok: You and I are merely human, though. Hee-jin: And this is the world of the living, where those humans dwell. Hee-jin's brazen voice was not loud, but it was clear. A scoff formed on Yu-seok. It wasn't audible, but it wasn't far off, so she could feel it.

Hee-jin: Anyway, move on schedule. We've finished our preparations here too. Yu-seok: Next week, the tail end. At Yu-seok's curt reply, Hee-jin nodded without a word. After letting out a small sigh, the two moved their steps from the dim brush and came out. There were two of them, but only Hee-jin's figure showed as they emerged. As Hee-jin looked down for a moment at the 검은 모래(Geomeun-morae_Black Sand) that had fallen as if rippling, Yu-seok's burst of laughter reached her ear.

Yu-seok: Hey, you — you came out like that?? At Yu-seok's jab, his voice the only thing audible, Hee-jin opened her round eyes and belatedly fiddled with her own face. The sheet mask stuck to her face met Hee-jin's small, pale hand. Hee-jin: Ah. Oh no. Damn it.