Proofread by : Hogu
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“That’s an interesting idea you have there.”
There was a shrill laughter in the darkness of the night.
When Baek Sogo and Lee Sungmin became aware of the voice coming from Sima Ryunju, he was already up on the pavilion next to them. Sima Ryunju looked at the gourd of alcohol and raised it up to his nose.
“That’s a nice drink you have here.”
Sima Ryunju burst into admiration from the scent of the strong liquor that permeated near the glass.
He lifted an empty glass and poured alcohol for himself. Then, he moved his eyes that were behind the mask and looked at Baek Sogo.
“Eradicating all evil and getting rid of all the bad people in this world. Haha! What an arrogant thing to say.”
Baek Sogo was not embarrassed by the comments of Sima Ryunju. Baek Sogo’s expression was calm, even though she was laughed at, directly in her face.
Receiving Baek Sogo’s blunt and stoic gaze, Sima Ryunju lifted the mask slightly and tilted the glass towards his lips. After emptying all the liquor in his glass, Sima Ryunju exclaimed.
“I thought you were just an annoying and incompetent disciple. You seem to know your alcohol quite well. It’s only a shame you didn’t bother to offer this to your master first.”
“You didn’t ask for it.”
“Do you think and act only when you hear direct demands? That’s why this old man calls you stupid. If you have such an amazing liquor, shouldn’t you give a cup to your master regardless?”
“I’m going to pour you a glass then master, so please stop.”
“Thanks to you being so rotten, this old man is aging quicker.”
Sima Ryunju grumbled and pushed the gourd away, back to Lee Sungmin.
Lee Sungmin sighed deeply and lifted himself up. He took the gourd and Sima Ryunju’s empty glass and delicately poured his master some of Heoju’s wondrous alcohol.
“Good and evil can be interpreted differently as one wants, depending on the point of view. Silent Flare, Baek Sogo. You said you’d eradicate all evil in the world. Who are you to define the evil in the world to eradicate.”
“Because I am me, and it is my ideal. Therefore, I’m allowed to act on my own ideas.”
Baek Sogo answered the mocking question without hesitation.
Once again, Sima Ryunju laughed at the answer. He had no choice but to laugh.
“You have a way to determine if someone or something is inherently evil then? I’ll be impressed if you do.”
“No, I don’t have one. I know best myself, that my standards and views are narrow-minded.”
“And yet you say that you will eradicate evil despite knowing that?”
“Yes.”
“Crazy.”
When Baek Sogo answered, Sima Ryunju shook his head with a smile.
Knowing that her words and actions were distorted, Baek Sogo did not hesitate or falter in her conviction.
Baek Sogo looked directly at the eyes beyond Sima Ryunju’s mask.
“It’s a universal view that many share. The only difference is that I have the power to do something about it.”
“If the powerful gather together and speak with one voice that someone or something is evil, the ignorant underlings will not filter through the lies and think it is true. Take my incompetent disciple for example. Do you think they are speaking the truth of these so-called crimes?”
“Some may feel wronged by my choices. I do not intend to eradicate all evil unconditionally. I will see and witness those that are regarded evil with my own two eyes, and then make my decisions based on that.”
“You speak of an ideal that is impossible and ridiculous. What you’re speaking of is no different from a child’s rant about saving the world.”
“That may be the case.”
Still, there was no wavering in her conviction.
“But I am also not a child.”
“That’s why it’s more dangerous. There’s not many in this world that can stop you if you decide to act. It’s dangerous because you have an ideal that is childish, but have the power of a giant.”
“I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“Who would be the one to judge that what you do is right?”
Sima Ryunju asked with a snort.
“What if at some point you became evil yourself? What if the very ideal you are trying to seek and your actions turn you into those you are trying to eradicate?”
“I will die then without worry.”
It was something she had already thought of multiple times in the Trial of Time. Although she was saying something like her life being forfeit so easily, she was firm in her voice.
“If I become what I was trying to eradicate, then I will kill myself.”
“Crazy bastard.”
Sima Ryunju muttered, clicking his tongue. He was now convinced that whatever he said to her, he would never sway Baek Sogo, a girl he deemed as completely mad.
Sima Ryunju squinted and stared at Baek Sogo.
“If this old man is evil, will you kill me?”
“I would have done that if I could. But, not now.”
Again, this time, Baek Sogo answered without any hesitation in her voice.
During her days here, Baek Sogo clearly knew how formidable the character known as the Demonic Emperor, Sima Ryunju, was.
“And I thought you said you were unsure if I was evil.”
“Most people call you the Demonic Emperor and try to condemn you as evil, but I know that is not the case.”
“I told you. I don’t mean to take action unconditionally without seeing them with my own two eyes first.”
Baek Sogo replied like that and glanced at Lee Sungmin. She spoke with a slight bow toward Lee Sungmin, posing her next question at him.
“Do you think my words are ridiculous?”
“…… What do you expect me to say?”
“It’s not that I want you to say I’m right. I know well that the ideal and path I am choosing to walk is ridiculous.”
Baek Sogo muttered like that and lifted herself up.
“A group called Beyond the Heavens. What I’ve heard about them.… is only what I just found out from Lee Sungmin. I don’t share their ideals, but I can’t say for sure that they’re evil. Even if what they say is wrong, it’s for humanity.”
“Are you defending them?”
“Why do you fight them then?”
Baek Sogo responded with her own question at Lee Sungmin’s question.
“While they were trying to kidnap the Minor Heavenly Demon, that was when you first butted heads with them, was it not? Beyond the Heavens has since framed you. You say that you hunted them in order to not to die by their hand.”
“That’s correct.”
“If the misunderstanding is resolved, or they stop trying to kidnap the Minor Heavenly Demon? What if the bitterness between you and them ends? What about then?”
“Are you saying that you can just joke around and share drinks around a table with them, and act like friends with all that’s happened?”
“That might happen. Relationships can change as much as you put effort into them.”
Baek Sogo laughed bitterly as she said so.
“I can’t think of them as unconditionally evil because of their intentions of doing good for humanity.”
“Are you trying to say they are just in their actions? Are you serious?”
“I mean, that’s possible.”
“…… Baek Sogo, I think it’s gone too far for any kind of reconciliation. And I…. I can’t imagine myself ever getting along with their ideals. Ever.”
“How come?”
“Your beloved friend here is already gone down the path of a monster.”
It was Sima Ryunju who answered Baek Sogo’s question. Baek Sogo’s face for the first time, froze at the words.
“…… What do you mean?”
“I’m being completely literal with my words right now.”
Lee Sungmin sighed as he heard the words come from his master towards his friend. He put his hand lightly atop the left side of his chest, containing the beating Black Heart.
“I’m… closer to being a monster than I am a human. If the purpose of Beyond the Heavens is to eradicate all non-humans, then I’m included in those they plan to exterminate.”
Baek Sogo couldn’t speak. Her eyes shook lightly as her confident expression was nowhere to be seen as she received the sudden news. Clenching her fists tightly, she spoke.
“…… Just what happened to you while I was gone?”
“My decisions were made like this because I was weak.”
Lee Sungmin had thought about it several times. What if he didn’t have the Black Heart within his body? What if He never met Heoju? If he hadn’t, he would never be as strong as he was currently, even with the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques he received from Wijihoyeon.
Perhaps his performance in the Trial of Time helped him cross into Transcendence in the real world, but he certainly would have not been this strong even with that.
“I know it’s an excuse, and I made questionable decisions, and even had people die on me….”
“…..”
“I have no regrets.”
Lee Sungmin once again spoke with resoluteness. Baek Sogo remained silent for a long time.
During the heavy silence, Sima Ryunju took the bottle from Lee Sungmin and emptied the one glass after the other.
“It’s quite a lovely drink.”
[HA! He surely knows a thing or two!]“But it’s not a pleasant atmosphere to be drinking. This old man will have his drinks somewhere else, and you two can have your own space.”
Sima Ryunju said quickly and left in a flash, taking the bottle with him. Lee Sungmin had no time to exclaim that the bottle was his own gourd that he owned, and not something he picked out from a servant.
[That bastard!]Heoju shouted, immediately regretting praising Lee Sungmin’s shameless master.
“…… Are you really a monster?”
Amidst Heoju’s roars and yells in anger within Lee Sungmin’s shared conscience, Baek Sogo asked with a trembling voice.
“It’s at least a monster that’s closer to the form of a human being in form.”
“What kind of monster is it?”
“…a Yokai”
(T/N : so I’m not Japanese or anything, but this version of yokai means something closer to an actual ghost)
“Do you…cannibalize other monsters?”
Baek Sogo asked. Many monsters cannibalized their own to gain more power.
Not all of them did, but a good portion of them did, as monsters got stronger through evolutions of sorts and plundering others’ powers.
“I don’t.”
“……have you ever done it in the past?”
“Never.”
“You said you weren’t a complete monster. You’re something in between both of them… Answer me, please, and don’t lie…… honestly speaking, do you lean towards one side more than the other? If so, which?”
“I want to remain a human.”
Lee Sungmin answered without lying.
That answer was relieving for Baek Sogo to hear. Her cheeks, which had been stiff, loosened up. Baek Sogo sighed and nodded.
“…… Lee Sungmin. I’m leaving here.”
She started to talk about leaving after just meeting him.
“Of course, I’m not saying I’m leaving right now. I want to meet you badly before coming here. I wanted to meet, talk, ask for forgiveness. And… I wanted to be with you if possible.”
“…… Baek….. Sogo.”
“I know. We’re in different positions.”
Baek Sogo shook her head.
“…… Where are you going then?”
“I’m thinking of going to the Shaolin.”
The Shaolin. What Lee Sungmin thought of was not the faction of the Orthodox Factions or how they were technically under the wings of the Murim Alliance, but he thought rather of Jihak, his friend, and The Grandmaster, Bulyeong, who had helped dispel the aura of favorability on his body.
Lee Sungmin thought that Jihak and the Grandmaster were truly what one might define as morally upright people. He doubted they could possibly be connected to any kind of conspiracy within the Murim Alliance or had ties with Beyond the Heavens.
“Why are you going there?”
“Taesan Bukdu. It’s the time when the Wudang Sect and the Shaolin meet together. I can’t possibly think of all factions in the Murim Alliance as corrupted, and I don’t believe either of those two are corrupted.”
Baek Sogo replied and put her hand inside his sleeve. What she took out was a gray bracelet.
“I asked Scarlett to make it. It’s the same kind of bracelet she gave us.”
“Is it for us as well, in case either of us are in danger?”
“Yes, and… I just wanted a token that let me know I’m connected to you somehow.”
Lee Sungmin was handed the bracelet from Baek Sogo. Baek Sogo grinned as she showed off the gray bracelet on her wrist that matched Lee Sungmin’s.
“Of course, if you are in danger, I will come as fast as I can. No matter how far or wide we are apart, I will do my best to come and save you.”
“The world is very wide.”
Lee Sungmin smiled and wrapped the bracelet around his wrist.
“If you’re on the other side of the world, you won’t be able to come to my rescue even if you know I’m in danger.”
“Then just don’t get into trouble.”
Baek Sogo smiled whole-heartedly with a mischievous look in her eyes.
When Lee Sungmin opened the sliding door of the detached house, the smell of reagents still lingered in the air.
Lee Sungmin gazed down the end of the hallway, but Scarlett could not be seen. Instead, only Scarlett’s voice could be heard from beyond the hall.
“Sorry, I can’t leave because it’s a very important time for me in the experiment right now. But I’m using voice amplification magic. Can you hear me alright?
“Yes.”
“So, did you have a good time chatting with Baek Sogo?”
“Yes, she just went to bed.”
“I thought she’d leave right away, but I guess not.”
“She doesn’t have any reason to leave immediately, Ms. Scarlett.”
Lee Sungmin walked down the hall, answering Scarlett. As he walked down the long corridor to the hallway, he turned left and came to the living room.
The living room was completely different from how it was kept when Lee Sungmin lived alone.
All kinds of magic tools were cluttered about, and in a large pot, an unidentified sticky liquid was bubbling at a boil.
In the middle of the living room, it looked exactly like a witch’s laboratory straight out of a fairy tale, with Scarlett standing next to the pot, brewing the liquid with a large spoon. Her eyes were droopy and fatigue was etched across her face.
“Are you all right?”
“I can’t possibly be okay. I haven’t slept in two days already.”
“What are you doing?”
“Do you not understand what I’m really trying to say?”
“I don’t.”
“Then I won’t tell you either. If i ever meet a man as stubborn and as dumb as you, I’ll go insane..”
Scarlett moved her hands, muttering irritatedly. The red-colored mana that had gathered in her hands moved down to the cauldron and started to mix with the other colors of the ambient mana in the liquid.
Then she chanted, moving her lips and pointed her index finger up into the air, as she drew runes in the air with mana on her finger.
Lee Sungmin pulled up a chair and sat down a good distance away that would not disturb Scarlett. It was when the dawn passed and the morning came to a halt when Scarlett, who had been chanting and drawing tubes in the air, stopped.
“Are you free right now?”
Scarlett turned around and asked. She picked up a random towel and rubbed her sweat-soaked face and hair.
Then she mumbled, smacking her lips.
“I’m just gonna take a bath. I haven’t washed in two days and it stinks.”
“Can’t you just use magic?”
“Baths don’t necessarily mean washing your body to get rid of bad smells. I want to relax and soak in the hot tub.”
Scarlett plopped down on the chair, grumbling. Scarlett, who was rubbing her stiff shoulder, glanced at Lee Sungmin.
“You can’t steal a peek.”
“I don’t peek like a pervert.”
Lee Sungmin grumbled at the dumbfounding comment.