episode_0136

◦Come to the %◦ system.”

I said it with a very tense expression on my face.

“There you can be together with all your disciples.”

“Hmm.”

After hearing my persuasion, Geomseong seemed lost in thought for a moment and let go of the strength in his hand that was holding the sword.

After seeing that sight, I felt relieved for a moment—

Exactly!

“Huh!?”

The Sword of the Black Sword has once again set my mind at ease.

Without realizing it, I held my head with both hands and looked at the sword.

Geumseong was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“Didn’t you hear what I said a little while ago? I came here because I hate the secular world. Are you saying that I should live in the middle of the busiest place in this island, suffering from all kinds of human beings? ”

Geumseong snorted.

“And as your bait? I’m not so weak as to fall for such a petty trick.”

Of course, that would be so.

I secretly agreed with what Geomseong said.

If a person who has lived in the mountains for decades would come down from the mountain at the word of a stranger, I would have tried it a long time ago.

“Then, I’ll be here.”

“Huh?”

“I will stay here until I can convince the Black Lord.”

But it’s not like I came without any mental preparation.

Although there are only about two weeks left in the vacation, I tried hard to persuade them during those two weeks, and after selecting only the words that seemed to have some potential, I turned back the clock—

Exactly!

“What the!?”

“Do you have his idioms recorded inside you?”

It really annoys me when you say something like that while hitting someone on the head without warning.

Of course, I don’t think I have the skills to properly defeat this person.

“A grown woman, even though she’s old, wants to come to a man’s house and spend the night? If you do that, it’ll tarnish your reputation, right? No, more than that, the problem is that you can confidently say that you want to stay at a man’s house. And that’s because you’re a princess. ”

“… … .”

When I came with Jennifer, we stayed the whole night and she didn’t even say anything.

Besides, Alice had already stayed up all night like that. So did Claire.

Of course, Jennifer was there at that time, but in the original work, Geumseong was a character who didn’t care about such things. He probably said that to give me a reason to send him back.

Regardless of whether I looked at him or not, Geumseong ignored me, who was sitting in front of him, and turned his gaze to the side.

“And why are you frozen like that?”

“Ah, that’s… … .”

Leo’s forehead was already soaked with sweat. It wasn’t just a metaphor; there were actually a few strands of his bangs stuck to his forehead.

“Why, do you not like the fact that I keep hitting the ‘Princess’s Highness’ head with a weapon?”

“… … .”

“I’ve already met another princess before? And if I had been someone who cared about my status in the first place, I wouldn’t have even thought of taking Jennifer as my disciple.”

“That, that’s true, but… … .”

“Oh, come to think of it, I see.”

Geumseong looked at me again.

“Is Alice your sister or sister?”

“Sister—”

Leo was about to answer next to me, but he caught my gaze and quickly shut his mouth.

“… … ‘Sister’.”

“Hoo.”

At my words, Geumseong smiled with his lips twisted upwards.

“I see. That’s right… … .”

And then, with his arms crossed, he sat lost in thought for a moment.

“Well, fine. It’s already late at night. Sending her down at this hour isn’t the right attitude for a man to have towards a woman.”

After saying that, Geomseong got up from his seat.

“I’ll let you stay for today. But you have to leave tomorrow. I’m not the kind of person who has the luxury of playing along to your beat.”

No, I have free time.

However, there is no reason why it must unconditionally match the internal structure.

Still, I was relieved to receive permission to stay for a day or so.

Because it means that an opportunity has arisen.

*

“Did you learn it from Alice?”

The next morning, at around the same time as Leo, I opened my eyes and saw him sitting cross-legged in meditation. Geomseong asked me that.

It was the first time he had spoken to me since our conversation yesterday. After that, Geomseong completely ignored my presence there. Thinking back, I realized that he did speak to me even though he was ignored. He was so arrogant that he almost gave me orders.

However, if you don’t talk to them, you can persuade them with actions.

Since you said I have no talent last night, I just need to show you my ‘talented’ side. And by waking up at the same time as Leo.

I opened one eye slightly and saw Leodonna looking at me with slightly surprised eyes.

But Leo’s face was more ‘deeply thoughtful’ than surprised. Although he didn’t say it out loud, Leo was there when they fought the black robes in the ruins of the Northwood Estate.

Maybe you’re thinking that there’s a chance that I’ve already been here before.

“… … .”

It is true that I have absolutely no talent for this, and I have never learned it before, so it took me 300 days to learn the most basic meditation from a gentleman named Geomseong. It may take even longer to learn other movements.

But, at least for now, I have to pretend that this ability is my ‘talent’. That way, Geomseong will trust me a little bit.

I heard the sound of Black Sword’s footsteps. I closed my eyes, which had opened slightly, and went back into full-fledged meditation.

As if to take a closer look at my posture, I hear the sound of the swordsman returning in front of me—

Before I could even say anything to Geumseongina—

bang!

The door opened with a creaking sound.

“… … Alice. If you open the cabin door like that, it might break. ”

Blacksmith spoke leisurely, as if he already knew Alice would come. It was a completely different attitude from when he greeted me.

“If it breaks, I will buy the best door I can and put it up for you.”

Alice’s voice was so calm as she spoke that it actually sounded like she was incredibly angry.

“Even if you put up a door like that, it doesn’t seem to fit at all.”

Geumseong replied in a voice that said it was utterly absurd.

But Alice didn’t seem to hear it.

Honestly, the conversation between the two was quite interesting.

I’ve met Geomseong and seen what kind of character Geomseong is in the game, but this was the first time I’ve seen a direct conversation between Alice and Geomseong.

In the game, except for the main story dialogue, it was common for other party members except Leo to become nothing in the subquests. Even though they said they put a lot of effort into making it, it was difficult to pay attention to each and every one of the subquests because the main story had a lot of text.

As you go further back, the number of characters that can be set as a party increases, and the personalities of the set party members are all different, so the lines need to be made for each party member to fit the situation. In order to reduce production costs, it is easier to just make them all not say any lines.

But reality isn’t a game.

We cannot just pass over it with a single sentence like, ‘We all shared our opinions’ or ‘We all practiced together.’

“What brings you here? It doesn’t seem like you came here to train like Leo.”

“… … I came to find my ‘little brother’.”

I can’t read other people’s minds, but at least I could tell that Geomseong was staring back at me right now.

“Is something going on in the royal family?”

I kept my eyes tightly shut and tried to look as if I was absorbed in meditation, as if I had not noticed Alice at all.

Of course, that didn’t seem particularly… successful.

Well, that doesn’t mean I become invisible.

“Wait, I’d like to talk to Sylvia.”

Following Alice’s words, a rustling sound was heard. It seemed as if Geomseong was pointing to the table with his hand.

“You can use the table as much as you want. There is no separate room, so we can’t share secrets.”

“That’s okay.”

There was a hint of laughter in Alice’s voice as she answered like that.

It didn’t seem like a particularly warm smile.

*

“I heard the story.”

“… … What are you talking about?”

The two of us sat across from each other at a worn-out table, and Leo and Geomseong stood about three paces away from us. They both looked like they were curious about what we were going to talk about.

I thought seriously. Could it be a story about Lucas? Could it be that Alice and I are biological sisters—

“You said you called Jaden ‘brother’.”

—It looks like you didn’t hear it.

Of course, aside from that, I knew that what Alice was saying just now was incredibly important.

I turned my gaze and looked at Leo.

Leo was staring at me with his mouth open.

As if I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to control my heart that was beating so hard with shame.

… … At least during the two weeks I stay here, I’ll make sure I learn at least one thing.

And I will definitely kill Jaden, who couldn’t hide the fact that I called him ‘brother’.

I forgot what you asked me to hide, but anyway.