Finally found it.
After wandering around for a long time without any sign, I began to wonder if it might be hiding inside the house. Indeed, that was the case.
As I entered the second-floor hallway, where Hwangdo's room was located, I could hear the sound of a child crying. It was unmistakably Hwangdo. I was worried that something terrible might have happened to him, but fortunately, it seemed that the worst-case scenario had not occurred.
"There were those who were late."
The body of a woman who could no longer open her eyes lay there. People wearing Dowon's clothes were dead in various places throughout the house.
They appeared to be nobles from the Peach Tree family and the warriors guarding them. It seemed that a considerable number of hunters had entered the area.
-Step.
Traces of the fight extended beyond the hallway into the rooms. From daggers embedded all over the body to fresh burn marks.
In a world where so many were only looking out for themselves, it seemed there were still a few good people left by their side. I wondered what this woman was thinking as she was dying.
She seemed to be smiling rather than despairing as she died.
"…Elder sister, sniff. Sniffle."
Ah.
So this person was that person.
Hwangdo's crying. I sat down and closed the woman's eyes. As I walked from the hallway to here, Baekdo was staring at me with a complex expression.
I told her.
"Put the dagger down. It's okay."
"...."
Trembling hands. Blood oozed from the hand gripping the dagger tightly.
It seemed to be the place where I saw a scar when I was with Baekdo once.
"I wish I could heal you, sorry. My body is not in a good condition right now."
My powers were no longer working.
"Has it been hard?"
"…No. Sniff."
Baekdo, shedding tears the size of chicken droppings, had been so tense for so long that as soon as she started crying, her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees. The dagger fell from her grasp.
It seemed she couldn't think of anything, not even disliking me, at that moment. I gently patted Hwangdo's shoulder as she lay prostrate.
"Big brother… sniff, ugh, waaah. Elder sister… elder sister…"
"Sniff, sniff…sniff."
Both were sobbing.
I was momentarily taken aback by the sight of them crying, but realized this was actually the appropriate response. Cheondo had been too brave. Despite my sporadic consciousness, I continued to pat Hwangdo's back.
Eventually, Baekdo came to my side and began pressing her face against me.
For a while.
I spent our last moments together calming them down. After the crying stopped, Hwangdo was trembling all over. This trauma would probably last a long time.
Even now, just mentioning Elder Sister makes Hwangdo's eyes moist, and she bursts into tears if anyone speaks about it. Of course, the shock was severe. Baekdo, despite being a troublemaker, had a tender heart unseen by the eyes, and it seemed unlikely that she, like Hwangdo, would easily accept this situation.
After checking my condition belatedly, Hwangdo asked with a trembling voice.
"…Big brother."
"Yeah."
"Are you… okay?"
Asking that now.
I took it as her not being in her right mind.
I patted Hwangdo's head.
"It's okay. It's okay, now let's go to Cheondo's side."
"What about Elder Sister?"
"Sniff, sniff."
Baekdo pressed Hwangdo.
"Enough, Hwangdo."
"Sniff, sniff."
At least, Baekdo was holding onto her sanity. I leaned over and whispered to Baekdo to take good care of Hwangdo, and Baekdo nodded after wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
Hwangdo squeezed her Elder Sister tightly and squeezed out her last tears. I wanted to wait a bit longer, but now I was the one who's struggling.
"You know my magic, right? I'll send you to where Cheondo is."
"What about you, big brother…"
"I can't go."
Startled by my words, Hwangdo grabbed my clothes.
"Why, why can't you go?"
"I have a lot to do. You know? I have to go save kids like you."
"…You won't die, will you?"
"Why would I die?"
I slowly extracted my magic. Considering the naturally recovering mana, it seemed I would have to scrape the bottom to barely send these two.
"Baekdo."
"…Yes."
"Come here too."
Baekdo took a step forward. Then, with a trembling voice, she asked.
"You're really going to come back alive, right?"
"Why do you all ask that?"
"Your body… it's a mess."
"Wouldn't you be happy if I died?"
Baekdo's lips were tightly sealed, her eyes filled with sorrow.
Suddenly, I felt playful, but their reaction showed they didn't hate me to the bone. A word unexpectedly came out of Baekdo's silent mouth.
"…Lord Young Demon."
An unexpected title. I was surprised but didn't show it.
"Since you're in Cheondo's place… don't die. I, I won't hate you. I won't ask you to step down."
"...."
"I was wrong all along…."
Once she started talking, apologies flowed like a waterfall. It seemed she was already aware of her mistakes.
Still, it was good to see her overcoming her stubbornness. I wish the current Baekdo was like this too.
[Lee Shiheon.]
'Yes.'
[It seems the time has come.]
I activate the magic I extracted. Looking at Baekdo and Hwangdo with their eyes reddened, I smiled bitterly.
-Flash!
"-!"
The two opened their mouths as if to say something, but the magic activated faster than they could speak. I wonder what they wanted to say, but it seems I'd really die if I stayed.
I leaned against the blood-stained wall in Hwangdo's room.
'…I'm tired.'
The sleep and fatigue I had been ignoring while living in Dowon. It felt like the times I stayed up for weeks were catching up to me.
Wasn't it often said that working at dawn was like borrowing future time? My head felt foggy, as if I had been ringing the New Year's bell.
My hands were turning cold.
[Only the last part remains.]
"Yeah."
It seemed there's still so much I didn't know.
"Hey. Didn't I say last time… that wasn't the only thing I had to do?"
[Yes, you did.]
"So what was it, in the end?"
[…I can't say here.]
Avoiding till the end. I understand. She was going to die soon too.
I burst into rotten laughter and bowed my head. Blood still flowed between the decayed skin.
"Have I seen every unlikely scenario?"
It was a training camp visited to commend the efforts and relieve stress. The location happened to be Japan, and there was the World Tree of Time, waiting for the descendant of the Spirit King.
I ended up coming to the past, as if fleeing, without even properly responding to a confession.
"Only a little left."
I shook my head to stop the thoughts and pushed myself up from the wall. I walked out of the building alone.
The collapsed Dowon caught my eye.
"Sigh…"
A sigh escaped my lips. Blood. Endless stray thoughts. The houses of the collapsed Dowon stretched to the end of my sight. The residents of Dowon, who had suffered an ordeal. Occasionally, I saw a familiar face lying in an awkward place, and I stood silently on the roadside, looking on for a long time.
"..."
I couldn't say anything. I looked at the place silently and then hurried on my way.
Dowon's upper, middle, and lower sections.
"Lord Young Demon! Are, are you okay…?"
"Yeah."
I brushed off the warrior's attempts to stop me and walked. As my mana returned, I sent the surviving civilians to Hongyeon.
Legs that felt like they might break. Eyes red and dry from congestion. My body was sending signals not to move any further.
"Is it necessary to go this far just for acting dead?"
[…This is indeed an immortal work. No one will be able to call your death a lie.]
"Kukkukkuk."
Bloodied and clothes torn haphazardly. From the only pocket left, I took out a ring case.
It was still there, a gift from Cheondo. A ring I had gotten by rolling desperately in the past.
Not something that makes you stronger when you eat it or anything like that. To anyone else, it would look like a common flower available anywhere.
"Usually, you get something important in places like this, right?"
[…Given the power you have acquired, it would be greedy to expect anything more.]
"Is that so?"
The blood-stained peach blossoms were scattered by the wind.
At the edge of my vision, I saw Baekdo and Hwangdo playing with a broom. Now it's hallucinations. Rubbing my eyes, the two figures disappeared from my sight.
[It's time to return.]
Dowon was dying.
Cheondo gave me the name… Aside from overlapping with this place's name, I thought it was quite a cool name. I might use it as an alias if I need one later.
-Ssararak.
Peach blossoms didn't last long. They bloomed briefly and faded soon after.
However, the peach trees of Dowon strangely had flowers that lasted a long time. Beauty because they did not last long. There's a rumor about peach blossoms, but being beautiful despite lasting long was just the same.
I followed the path of petals.
The already fallen petals gathered on the ground, waiting for someone to sweep them up. Over time, they naturally gather into the river and become fertilizer on the bank.
I continued walking along the path of scattered flowers.
Hunters gradually came into view in the distance. They held their weapons at the ready as soon as they saw me.
"…So, I won't be able to see that Cheonma till the end."
I could still feel the fluctuations of mana from afar. A dangerous aura of fighting for over half a day brought out a burst of laughter.
-Woong woong!
I squeezed out the last of my mana.
A look of terror spread across the hunters' faces. The dark energy gathered in my hand. I detonated it, urging life to continue.
The setting spring, above the bank. The blood dried and flickered.
-Bang!
When the flowers bloomed, they arrived, and when the flowers wilted, they departed.
Would anyone believe a person who lived out a sentence that a poet, basking in the beauty of life, might consider trivial?
"If we keep up this pace, we'll rebuild it soon."
"…Yeah."
At Cheondo's words, Hongyeon laughed bitterly.
Beneath the bare peach trees, cruel memories were etched. Without a moment to forget, they began rebuilding.
"It's time to go in for today. The sun has set."
"Understood, Sect Leader."
"Yes, Lord Young Demon."
The current Lord Young Demon. Even the Sect Leader of the demonic cult became aware of their identity. Of course, it wasn't disclosed to everyone in Dowon, to maintain secrecy.
"…Wait a moment. Cheondo."
"Yes?"
Cheondo, on the verge of entering the house, was halted by Hongyeon. With an unchanged expression, Hongyeon solemnly announced.
"…They said he's dead."
There was no need to specify who.
"Ah…"
Cheondo, her bright red eyes wide open, initially showed no reaction… then she managed a forced smile.
"Understood."
"Go ahead, then."
Hongyeon observed Cheondo's departing figure with a sorrowful gaze.
-Step. Step.
The ceaseless steps of a young girl. Dressed in black martial arts attire that seemed somehow adorable, yet demonstrated remarkable talent. Hongyeon did not detain Cheondo any longer.
-Thump!
Upon reaching home, Cheondo immediately went to her room.
The dark room. A place filled with memories, yet devoid of any warmth. She remembered a face that made her long for even her own sleeping quarters.
Cheondo removed her clothes, changed into indoor attire, and sat on the bed. Handmade pajamas crafted from soft cotton. Sitting on the cold bed, Cheondo gazed at the nightstand.
"Ah."
A hand mirror and an ear pick.
The emotions she had been suppressing welled up.
"..."
Tears streamed down Cheondo's parched cheeks.
"…Ugh, sniff. Sniffle… Ugh, sob."
Like rolling jade beads, the tears that fell gathered on her chin and dripped onto the cotton blanket, leaving marks.
Her shoulders trembled.
"Ugh, sob… Sniffle."
Huddled up, she squinted her eyes.
She kept wiping the tears that flowed down her fists and arms.
No matter how much she tried to hold back, she couldn't stop, and it eventually burst out.
"Waaaaah…"
First love. Farewell.
Sleepless nights.
Yearning for an unfulfilled old love, Cheondo dearly missed it.
The overflowing tears blurred into a beautiful haze, leaving a scar that would never fade in a lifetime.