The day was peaceful as any other.
There were still a lot of people coming to see the fortune teller, and Imugi was busy stealing money in his disguise as a Sleeping Dragon member.
In the meantime, seeing the letter which arrived, Seol-Hwi was stunned.
“What is the content…”
As soon as it arrived, it was handed to Seol-Hwi, so this time Songhwa did not confirm the contents of it. There was no strength in Seol-Hwi’s voice.
“The Earth Demon passed away.”
“Ah…”
At Songhwa’s sigh, Seol-Hwi looked at the sky.
Damned sky.
Would it not be better to receive the news on a day when it rained or something?
The world felt so unique. Even if someone died, it did not seem like anything would change. Seol-Hwi felt gloomy for a moment but then regained his composure.
“Phew…”
It was his people who sent this order. As Seol-Hwi suggested, the Earth Demon went to the Second Disciple’s place before having a talk with the First Disciple, and his subordinates retreated.
And the battle was fought at the place where he met the Second Disciple. This was expected, but the problem came next.
At the place where they met, now it was not just the Second Disciple, even his subordinates got involved.
Seol-Hwi doubted this.
How…
There are skilled people on the Second Disciple’s side and dozens of Fangshi.
Two of the captains were too skilled, and there were six unknown warriors who died.
It was said that the Earth Demon himself killed many skilled people alone. Seol-Hwi just read the letter with goosebumps all over his body.
‘Second Disciple, did he prepare all this and a trap…’
The Second Disciple—
He was a person who was smart and meticulous.
He tried to ally himself for the sake of appearances, but his men accompanied him in the meetings with the Earth Demon.
Even after driving the other side into a corner to force them to accept his proposal, he still made additional plans in case of an emergency.
It was a precision that did not allow the slightest bit of carelessness. At the same time he realized what the power of the Earth Demon would be like.
The one who disregarded the meticulous plan got annihilated by them.
Despite all the preparations the guy did, the Fourth Disciple died. And this was the part where Seol-Hwi felt scared of the Demon Lord.
“Then what happens to the war in the future…”
When Songhwa asked, Seol-Hwi said,
“Call the subordinates.”
“Uh? Can they come?”
Songhwa asked an obvious question.
With the death of the Fourth Disciple, a center of power in the place disappeared. The First Disciple would now try to absorb all the remaining forces.
“No. Maybe the First Disciple will be generous. Of course, it can ignore the hopes of the Fourth Disciple, but…”
Seol-Hwi smiled as he said,
“Still, our members will be released.”
The reason he was convinced was because of the hidden troops’ level of martial arts. Despite being in a scouting team, the members are pretty skilled. Now that the alliance is over, it will be different for him alone.
And he has elders around him, escorts, and many more protecting him.
It was because the subordinates were not strong enough to take down even one strong pillar of his.
Of course, it would be a different thing if they were secret warriors, and escorts of the Earth Demon.
Earth Demon… I am sorry.
Seol-Hwi put aside his thoughts and thought of the Earth Demon for a moment. The guy risked his life and walked to his own death.
What kind of person was he?
Even knowing that everything would end for him, how could he just throw away that life of his for the sake of his subordinates?
“Do you have romance?”
“Haha. Wouldn’t wishing for such a thing be the…”
Maybe the Earth Demon had his own philosophy about life. In the constantly repeating days, he knew what to value and what to not.
Seol-Hwi wondered if that was the only way that would allow him to accept his intentless life.
Two months had passed since the letter was sent. It was around the time when they were deeply concerned about the news being conveyed right or wrong or whether the behavior of the First Disciple had changed.
“Captain!”
“You are here?!”
“Eh, the building is.”
“I guess they are rich?”
Familiar faces appeared.
Surprisingly, all four members of the team came to Hangzhou.
“Uh?!”
It was Songhwa who brought them. After stopping by the station for a short break and having a meal, he found them together and quickly guided them to Seol-Hwi’s room.
“You people… are here!”
Seol-Hwi was happy to see them. His heart was racing like he met his childhood friends.
It wasn’t that long since they broke away, but it felt like decades had gone by.
“Let’s head inside… uh, Songhwa?”
“Yes, master.”
“Call Imugi.”
“Yes.”
Songhwa quickly left and all the members entered Seol-Hwi’s room with shouts.
“Honestly I was a bit disappointed. How have you been?”
Yong Jin, who was always strong, showed his true feelings right away. That would be the case since at that time, Seol-Hwi suddenly spoke about leaving the sect.
For that reason many of the members had to head back to the sect to prevent him from getting caught, but it was a long time so it must have been sad.
“Well, I got better while wandering around the places in Hangzhou.”
“Wah. I knew it. Then he abandoned us and lived alone enjoying all such things. Kyaa… You are as amazing as your martial arts!”
Yong Jin was exaggerating this and laughing, but Seol-Hwi knew what this meant. He was like a child.
“Captain. You said this is a complicated situation… can I ask a question now?”
Jeok Song asked.
That was what Seol-Hwi said when he was parting from the subordinates. There were complicated circumstances, so you people would not know.
This part was a bit more detailed.
“Hmm…”
Seol-Hwi was silent for a moment. He was thinking about what he had to say.
“There are many reasons, but one of them was for this moment.”
“This moment?”
“Yes, that you people are free and will not fall under someone. To bring you here like that.”
“Then now, are we going to…”
“It is as you thought. Don’t ask me how I knew. Well…”
Seol-Hwi stopped talking and looked at a man. Unlike before, the feelings he felt for this man were special.
Yorim—
The one who killed him, in the past life.
Because of how much he trusted them, he was killed in the most vain situation. At that time, he did not think it was a big deal but now that he was back he realized what happened had bothered him.
Because of what the Second Disciple did to him…
What instructions did the Second Disciple give him for him to do that? It was still unknown.
“Captain, what is it?”
As Seol-Hwi continued to look, Yorim asked.
“No. I am so glad…”
Seol-Hwi who said it looked away.
There was Seo Ryeong.
“Huh…”
Her appearance was still the same, beautiful. It made him wonder why such a woman was within the Demonic Sect.
She greeted him with a light glance.
“And—”
Seol-Hwi looked at each of the members and continued,
“Another reason why I came here before you was because I wanted to do something for you when you came. I will say it.”
At his words, all the members listened.
Seol-Hwi looked at Yong Jin and asked,
“Coming here… what did you want to do the most?”
“What we…”
“Like a dream, for example.”
“Dream…”
At the sudden question Yong Jin could not smile. He was seriously thinking in silence about it.
“I want to work with statues.”
“…Statues? What is.”
Yorim who listened to it chuckled, but Yong Jin was being serious.
“I want to sculpt a small statue. Even if it doesn’t seem like a huge thing, it takes a lot of concentration to do that… I think it will be fun.”
Seol-Hwi spoke in a serious tone.
“Wonderful thought. I tend to respect the choices of everyone. That is why I could forgive Imugi for what he preferred.”
Ddrr
“I missed you my brothers!”
Just then, Imugi ran over, opening the door. As if he didn’t hear what Seol-Hwi said, he was smiling brightly.
After that, Jeok Song in the back took his turn and said,
“I want to open a small food place.”
“You, you know how to cook?”
When Yorim joked again, Seol-Hwi frowned.
Thanks to that, he kept his mouth shut.
“The days of Hidden Truth… I once distributed delicious food to people. Strangely, the thought of it makes me feel like we are having a lot of fun. So…”
Well, he was always good natured.
Seol-Hwi could understand this. Both of them were from butcher families. How many times would they have skipped meals?
Maybe he is trying to forget the painful memories of the past by sharing the happiness of being able to eat food and joy with others.
“I am…”
It was when Yorim’s turn came, he carefully tried to say,
“Captain, do you know that?”
But Yong Jin intervened this time.
“I really saw something which I shouldn’t have. On the way to Hangzhou, Yorim-hyung approached Seo Ryeong and…”
“You!”
Yorim jumped up at that.
“Didn’t we decide to not bring that up, ever? Didn’t we speak and agree on it!”
“Ah, right. But didn’t hyung make fun of me earlier?”
“You, you, brat!”
Yong Jin hurriedly stood up at the attacks of Yorim.
“But I said nothing yet.”
“You almost said it!”
Srng!
In the fit of rage, Yorim touched the hilt.
“Uh? Will you take out the knife? This person, seriously. Because you are so narrow minded you never got to even date someone all this while…”
“As I thought. You need to disappear!”
“Ah, I am not joking either… no…”
The two who were talking began to rush out of the room. Jeok Song who glanced at them said,
“Captain. Do not care too much. Anyone can see that Yorim-hyung was in the wrong. A confession can be a bigger wound for the victim depending on who the other person is.”
“…”
“…”
The calm way he said it, turned it more strange.
Seol-Hwi was silent and Seo Ryeong had flushed cheeks as she averted her gaze. Thanks to this, he knew something was fishy.
“Even though I said not to… finally confessed. Tch tch.”
Everyone was informed by Imugi who just came.
“Fuck, because he is hyung… ah, the bet? He must have a death wish…”
However, Seol-Hwi was not at ease while watching Yorim play around. He had never thought he would also like Seo Ryeong.
Maybe…
This was what the life before had caused.
He thought this might have something to do with what the Second Disciple did.
Four months passed since the subordinates arrived.
Seol-Hwi led the party and moved to Haenam like the previous time and set up the base there. Fortunately this time there were no demons running around.
Upon arriving there, Yorim decorated the mountain dwelling pretty nicely. His childhood dream was to work with wood.
Seol-Hwi said that he just needed to build a place for them to live, but Yorim himself wanted a more luxurious place, as if he was not satisfied with the place.
So, even though it had been four months since they came, he was still busy expanding the building and creating more space.
Just as he said, Jeok Song opened a restaurant in Haenam. It wasn’t like the food was amazing, but through a lot of trial and error he managed to turn it into a place where customers came.
There was a great contribution from Imugi and Songhwa.
Imugi sold alcohol on the second floor of Jeok Song’s shop, and every day, women came in.
On the third floor was the fortune telling shop of Songhwa, and the guests would come there after filling their stomachs below.
Thanks to this, Jeok Song was able to do a lot of cooking, and later his skill increased and the shop became famous.
Yong Jin set up the workshop across from Jeok Song. He must have had a knack for making things from the start since people came looking for him. Now, it was so popular that he had regular customers coming there.
“… Captain. What are you doing here?”
While Yorim was working on the building, Seo Ryeong approached Seol-Hwi who was watching.
“Just watching you? Is your training done?”
“I did work hard… but the results aren’t that great.”
“Results don’t come overnight. As the effort accumulates and accumulates only then with the right results come.”
“Yes. I will remember that.”
Seeing Seo Ryeong speak this kindly, Seol-Hwi smiled.
Unlike others, she did not stop training, and it seemed like she was still doing her best considering the questions he asked.
Seo Ryeong sat next to him.
“But, Captain.”
“Hm?”
Seol-Hwi turned his gaze.
“Captain… you didn’t tell me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Captain’s dream. Your dream.”
Dream—
Seol-Hwi made an awkward expression at the sudden words.
“Isn’t that the same for you?”
He quickly passed the topic.
“I said I would inform you later.”
“Then I will tell you later.”
“Do you want to act like that?”
Seeing the serious eyes of Seo Ryeong, Seol-Hwi smiled.
Because he did not want to push boundaries with her.
“Dream…”
Seol-Hwi looked at the sea under the distant mountain. And there was silence for a while.
The breeze, the green forest, and the sea beyond—
When he saw so many things unfold in front of his eyes, he felt at ease.
Maybe that was why he did not know that he said something he should not have.
“That dream. Actually, it has been achieved.”
“…Uh? You achieved it?”
Seo Ryeong looked at him surprised, but Seol-Hwi still looked at it.
“Leaving the Demonic Sect and to live in a peaceful environment. Finally…”
“…”
“Looking at the same place with you like this.”
“Uh?”
The words came so naturally that Seo Ryeong did not understand what he meant.
“That was my dream.”
It was only then did Seol-Hwi look at her and she realized. And her face turned as red as the sunset.