“What is that noise? You told him to cross the Non-Swordsmanship Law?”
“Yeeah! This guy almost got killed because of his ability?!”
As Gapwoo, Minja, and I retraced our steps, another priest named Mujoo was waiting for us with a death sentence.
Holding a higher rank than Won-ho and Minja, he was an Upper-ranked Disciple.
When Minja, whose eyes were puffed up, raised her voice, Mujoo wore a serious expression.
“That can’t be. No disciple, not even of a lower rank, would be ordered to do something so reckless. Who exactly said that?”
“…? Huh? It came directly from the Elder! Wasn’t it urgent enough that they sent a bird?”
“When I went, the order was to ‘wait’. A few Elders might have left their seats, but everyone’s opinions were expressed, so it was no different from the Council as a whole.”
[?]
[Oh no]
[Is there a betrayer?]
[The Council was all present, yet an Elder sent it?]
[Oh my…]
[What a chaotic family!]
Minja, who had been crying up to that point, suddenly stiffened.
If all the Elders were expressing opinions, then which Elder gave a ‘different order’ to Minja?
“Which Elder was it?”
“…Just a sparrow came. I couldn’t feel any energy, and it was only tied to the leg.”
“The message?”
“You know it. It gets burned for security reasons. The characters were all distorted too.”
“…So it was intentional?”
“What went wrong?”
When I asked, Mujoo shook his head with a complicated expression.
“That’s not something you need to worry about.”
Crack!
Saying that, Mujoo threw something at both Gapwoo and me.
Intermediate.
Inside the wooden plate, sized to fit in one’s hand, words proving us as Intermediate Disciples were inscribed.
[Oh]
[It’s Intermediate]
[Starting from Intermediate, here we go! Haha]
[Why don’t we get promoted?]
[So cocky!]
“It’s an Intermediate nameplate. Starting today, you guys will live in the dorm as Intermediate Disciples. You’ll be called soon, but for now, you’ll stay as Intermediate. Minja.”
“Then what the heck happened… and why am I…”
“Minja, Priest!”
“…?! Yes, yes! Death Sentence!”
“You’ll take care of these two. Treat them just like other Intermediate Disciples. I will look into this matter further.”
“Ah, understood… Hey. Follow me.”
Still looking in a daze, Minja led Gapwoo and me.
■
“…..”
“Minja, Priest?”
“Just call me freely.”
The Inner Hall’s middle section.
It boasted a size bigger than a modest-sized city, where Intermediate Disciples stayed and trained.
Crossing through there, while Minja pointed out each facility, her face looked ten years older as she turned back at us.
“We’re still at the same Intermediate level, after all. This means we’re on the same rank now.”
“Beggar.”
“Won-ho treats him with great respect.”
“Won-ho and Minja are both mid-ranking, but they act as if they belong to different classes.”
“Minja doesn’t seem to mind it either.”
“Rather, she enjoys it.”
She muttered while scratching her head with an awkward expression.
“…I don’t care! You’ve seen my ugly side already, and you’ll probably ascend soon, so just relax!”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! You can’t say anything later, right? There were some strange things, but I really did my best to help.”
“Come on!”
Minja opened her arms wide, as if telling them to cheer up.
Even if she said that…
“Uh, I find this more comfortable…”
Gapwoo usually speaks formally unless it’s someone he’s really close to.
Even during his time as a Celestial, he spoke respectfully to contractees like they were nothing.
“R-really? Then you at least…”
“I also find this more comfortable.”
And I’m someone who prefers formal speech over informal.
It’s also part of my nature as Lily Elbrite.
“…..”
[Hahaha]
[Relax (both are using honorifics)]
[LOL, it’s comfortable to use honorifics]
[Lily really never uses informal language…]
[Of all the people, it’s the two of them, haha]
[I feel like I’ve never seen Lily use informal language except when she gets penalized]
[Polite Lily LOL]
[Isn’t it only Sre who uses informal language?]
[I wouldn’t be surprised if they continue using honorifics even after their ranks change]
Minja had a frustrated expression, as if words were welling up to her throat.
But she sighed and had no choice but to turn away.
“Enough… I’ve already shown you everything embarrassing. There’s no way you’ll hold it against me later, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s… unlikely.”
“Alright. From now on, I’ll properly teach you. First, this is the training… What are you doing not coming?”
“…I’ll go.”
…?
■
At the moment when Lily and her party were wandering around the Inner Hall, somewhere deep in the ground.
The robed man standing in the space where the ‘ancestors’ slept turned his head to the shimmering void.
The long beard visible through the darkness of his robe seemed to prove that he had lived for a very long time.
The humans of this place were born with special powers that slowed their aging remarkably.
“…So what happened to that woman?”
─She noticed the Revelation and left. While she may not be able to control the destruction, she seems able to discern it.
“I see. Well, if she doesn’t have that level of ability, she wouldn’t be able to come across the world.”
Tsk, the man clicked his tongue and stroked his long beard.
It had been a long time.
The seven stars that had fallen to the world.
Those stars had turned the humans, and indeed the entire world, upside down, and their influence has maintained even after thousands of years.
Their influence has been maintained for thousands of years even until now.
Their power and body are blessings that no one can deny, but within lies an irreversible ‘disaster’.
The man suddenly looked up at the sky.
Our ancestors, asleep as if sealed deep underground.
With the power of these ancestors, the whole land has grown strong and prosperous, but such a thing can only be possible if they remain ‘asleep’ peacefully.
If awakened, they would undoubtedly cause great upheaval to themselves and this world.
Enough to completely crumble the authority of the Seven Factions, built solidly over thousands of years.
“O our ancestors, please sleep long and deep.”
If possible, completely.
“Keep your focus. As outsiders, they will surely try to influence this world. They will not remain still.”
─Zonmyeong!
Crackle…!
The tremors of another space are felt.
The man filled the space where he had been conversing and tossed his robe behind him.
He gazed into the opened void with brown eyes.
Beyond the void stood an elder with a very troubled expression.
“Elder Gayu, what brings you here without any notice?”
─Did you send him?
“What do you mean? Did I send someone?”
─…Was it not you? If not, then who did such a thing?
“Please explain clearly.”
─Someone led the outsider down the path to seal the Qinghua Reverse Beast! How much blood has been spilled to stop that monster…!
Elder Gayu was greatly enraged.
Qinghua Reverse Beast.
One of the monsters born from the influence of the ‘ancestors’ behind it; it lacked intelligence and rank, but its power was strong enough to bring about the end of the world.
Most of these monsters were under the control of the ancestors, but as the ancestors fell asleep, they began to run amok.
The elders of that time suffered great sacrifices and finally succeeded in sealing them away; the monsters became trapped in the ‘Non-Swordsmanship Law’.
Looking back, it’s truly a miraculous event.
‘Each one was strong enough to destroy the world, yet it’s merely trapped by a technique.’
If their rank and intelligence had been even a little higher, they would have never succeeded.
Perhaps if attempted again, the success rate would not even reach 10%.
─What kind of elder would initiate something through an official document to move an intermediate disciple? That official document must have been destroyed, of course.
“Oh… this is serious. Just when the state of this side seemed unusual, another problem arises.”
Tsk tsk. As he clicked his tongue in disappointment, Gayu let out a deep sigh.
─You’ve been having a hard time too. Keeping an eye on ‘that existence’ must not be easy.
“It’s my duty, so don’t worry too much. Ultimately, this person isn’t someone that can be entirely rejected. There must be a reason.”
“Well, I guess there must be a reason.”
─”Being too kind isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Please take care of yourself. I bring this up because I’ve heard some unusual tidings from other sects.”
The man simply smiled at Gayu’s concerned words.
As the space twisted once more and closed, the man wrapped his robe around himself again.
“Haha… Kind, huh…”
Indeed. No doubt about it.
“Who else thinks of ‘us’ as much as I do?”
■
“…?”
“Why?”
“It feels like something is watching us…”
After briefly stopping by the training ground, I arrived at the ‘Intermediate Library’ where the intermediate disciples could see, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.
It did seem like something had been following me for a while now… but I couldn’t be sure.
Having sealed most of my power and only containing the power of the earth in my body, it didn’t seem to carry any malice; it felt like its only purpose was to follow…
‘Is it a stalker?’
“C-could it be a stalker?!”
“Maybe something like that.”
[Ugh]
[Let’s kill it]
[Lily’s hanging around, we’ll get banned lol]
[Who is it?]
[But it’s hilarious reading in front of it lol]
[Looks like the relationship has changed, huh?]
Boom!
Countless books were piled up outside the Intermediate Library.
Minja, having gathered a ton of books, looked at me with discontent.
“Damn… What am I, a priest? Why do I have to carry all these…?”
“If I don’t use the mask, the library will all break.”
It seemed there wasn’t much of a hostile array in the Inner Hall, but since it was an important place to ‘store’ something, there had to be a hostile array in place.
Therefore, I had to read the books from a distance, away from the library.
“Why not just ask Gapwoo to do it?”
“Gapwoo wouldn’t know what’s good, you see. Since we can’t take the whole library out, if we leave it to an expert, we can borrow just what we need.”
“Why should I do that?”
“You said to treat me like a friend, right?”
Now that I was subtly making this ‘request’, it felt reasonable to consider it.
I said with a smile, and although Minja’s fists were clenched, she held back from striking me.
“Oh. Is there no volume three?”
“……”
That day, Minja made nine trips back and forth to the library.
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