Chapter 111 – Dropping Water (2)
Right!
The wind that I lightly blew hit the enemy’s forehead.
“Ah!”
The enemy grabbed his forehead and sat down. While staying here, he continued to help with the training of the Jeokryongdae, and of course Jeokha was included in one of those targets.
The problem is.
The kid is a bit strange. Don’t you look at me and let out a meaningless sigh? Don’t you sneak up on me and run away?
I thought it was because of the conversation with midsummer, but when I think about it, it doesn’t seem like it. It’s because I’ve been blind all of a sudden since yesterday evening.
“I just flew it to block it. What are you up to? Why can’t you concentrate?”
I approached the front of the fallen enemy. Covering her forehead with her hands, the enemy stared at me blankly. The scarlet eyes trembled slightly.
“That’s what you mean.”
Stop talking and the enemy poked his finger at the gymnasium. One by one, holes formed in the hard stone floor.
“What’s wrong with the kid who usually only rushes without reversing? It doesn’t suit you.”
“That captain.”
“Why.”
“Would you like to go somewhere with me?”
“With me?”
“No matter how you think about it, I think it should be.”
Taktak. The enemy got up again and brushed her butt. I feel like my condition is better than before.
“Only the two of you?”
“Yes. Just the two of you.”
“…”
I looked at her suspiciously, but the enemy proudly opened her chest.
“When?”
“The sooner the better. Does it matter if I ride a mountain?”
“It doesn’t matter. Where are you going?”
“Chuncheon, Mt. Samak.”
It was a name I had never heard of. Chuncheon wasn’t too far from here. If you leave now, it’s a distance that you can visit on a day trip. I nodded and spoke out.
“Let’s go right away. Get ready.”
Isn’t the subordinate’s mental care also the role of a superior? A day or so is enough to invest. Just looking at it, it looks like something is going on.
“Yes.”
The enemy turned around with a cool smile.
***
Samaksan Mountain,
Most of the mountains with the character “Ak” Attached to them boasted a steep mountain shape. Samaksan Mountain is no exception, and it is said to be famous for its steep cliffs and waterfalls. Many mountains were banned from entering due to the gate incident, but the Samaksan side was a safe zone that the general public could enter.
“But it is.”
I said while looking at the enemy who was slurping the lunchbox food in his mouth. The puffy cheeks are just like a squirrel.
“Eh?”
“Eat and talk.”
“Cellar.”
Gulp. The enemy who swallowed a big mouthful drank the water coolly and looked at me.
“Do you have any reason to take the train?”
We were traveling by train now. The enemy asked me to do it, so I couldn’t help it. Of course, watching the scenery of the Gyeongchun Line passing by through the window had its own taste. He still hasn’t said what he’s hiding.
I just repeat what I know when I go.
“What do you not eat, Captain?”
Grabbing his hair and fidgeting, the enemy averted his gaze.
“Don’t talk back.”
“Just.”
“Just?”
“…It’s a bad habit to keep prying into a woman’s secret.”
“Did you have any secrets?”
“Because there is.”
“Ouch.”
I grabbed the enemy’s head and squeezed it. The enemy held her back as he shrank her body. I stuck out my tongue, removed my hand from the enemy’s head, and looked out of her window. Fortunately, it was perfect for climbing the mountain, and the sky was clear.
“Would you like one?”
The enemy handed me a small pudding.
“Uh.”
Small bite size. They’re eating pudding together, so it’s funny how they look. Still, the right level of sweetness was my preference.
Suddenly, the train stopped and we arrived at our destination, Gangchon Station.
“Go.”
The enemy grabbed my hand and skillfully led the way. It’s not like she’s only been there once or twice. Transferring to the bus, we arrived at the trailhead. Since it was a weekday, there were not many people.
Looking at the guide sign, it seems that there are three main peaks: Yonghwabong, Deungseonbong, and Cheongunbong, so it was named Samaksan.
She could have used light air to run, but Jeokha walked slowly as if he had no intention of doing so. I stood next to the enemy and walked leisurely, matching her stride.
“Isn’t that exotic?”
“I know.”
The wide Bukhangang River was visible in the back, and the appearance of the mountains colored with strangely shaped rocks and autumn leaves in the front was quite bizarre. From the name, it was the leader. I wonder if some master trained and at least reached the top line. The sound of dripping water was loud from the side. Did you say Deungseon Falls? There were waterfalls here and there, befitting the steep mountain.
“Do you know that Sichuan is Daojiang?”
“Chinese Sichuan?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that the one from the Three Kingdoms?”
The name of the facility that Zhuge Liang had extensively repaired was obviously Dao Kang-eon.
“Right. My master talked about it every day. By the way, Dujiangyan is the name of an embankment built on the Minjiang River. It must have been a very long time.”
“Know.”
“They say there is Mt. Cheongseong right next to the Min River. I don’t know either. I’ve been listening to it since I was little.”
“Are you talking about Qingcheng?”
“Yes. Cheongseong Cheonhayu. Whether it is the scenery of Qingseong Mountain, which is green all year round, or the scenery of the Min River that flows quietly when viewed from the mountain.”
“…Was Master from Sichuan?”
The enemy slowly shook his head.
“It can’t be. They say they’ve never been to Sacheon.”
“I guess so.”
Sichuan was one of the fastest-growing regions in China due to the gate crisis. I heard that the damage was toxic due to the closed topography.
“Isn’t it funny? Now that it’s become full of monsters, it’s that I miss places I’ve never been to. The master just listened to your master. It seems that it has become a grudge for the literary men of Qingcheng.”
It was a very dark story. I was selected as a subordinate, but I honestly don’t know what kind of background the enemy has. If it was in the game, it would have been just a few lines of text. I silently listened to the enemy.
“Master didn’t like that. The act of clinging to an impossible goal forever. Even with excellent martial arts, the moment you pursue an infinitely impossible and meaningless goal, your downfall was predestined. It seems that Master was planning to close the door of Cheongseong in his generation. You must be tired.”
The reason why the name of Cheongseong disappeared in the future. What the enemy is saying now will fall outside the scenario. Stories that do not appear in the game or are not even in the setting.
“That’s how the master found me, who had lost my parents in the gate incident, while wandering around the erosion zone. I was too young to remember. It’s common in this world.”
“…”
“He got me out of the blue, but what could an old man who had trained in martial arts all his life know? As you have experienced, as your master did to you. He brought me up by bringing back memories.”
He looked at me once and smiled.
“I didn’t mean to be depressed.”
“It’s not particularly depressing.”
“The atmosphere is like that, the atmosphere. Anyway.”
Like a chattering quiver, the enemy continued her words.
“Clouds usually have a shape, even vaguely, but a sunset has no shape, right?”
“Right.”
“So drop it. Master wanted me to live freely, not to be bound by recluses. Like a shapeless sunset. She didn’t want to become a Taoist, nor did she want to inherit the heavy karma of Qingseong.”
Is that why she wasn’t a guru? It was only now that I understood to some extent what the enemy had said. The reason why she brought up the story of the master when she was bored.
“The problem is. It turns out that the thing that came out of the orphan gacha that the master accidentally did while voila was an SSR grade. Enough to follow the rising martial arts she had seen over her shoulder a few times. Originally, she had no intention of teaching martial arts. Isn’t that too much?”
“I don’t know if it’s too much. What is an orphan gacha, an orphan gacha?”
“Who said that?”
“It’s a bad word.”
“When we fight, we swear without mercy, so what?”
“Don’t write.”
“Yep.”
As I was walking, I strayed completely off the road. Seeing that the cargo in the lead went silently, it seemed that the destination was not an ordinary hiking trail in the first place. It was a rough road that was difficult for ordinary people to come and go, but to us it was no different than a flat land.
Like that.
After going through the forest for a long time, I came to an open place. The enemy’s footsteps stopped in front of the stone tower. The enemy, who was staring blankly at the stone tower, raised an example. I also politely followed him.
“Today was Master’s anniversary. The body was cremated. Even though the master was a guru, he wanted to be like that. Master liked this place. As a habit, he asked me to cremate it and sprinkle it here when I die.”
I had guessed from before. It’s like the fact that you keep bringing up the master’s story, and the state of being fierce since yesterday.
Thanks to the cool scenery, you can see the whole view of the Bukhangang River below at a glance and get good sunlight.
“It’s a great place.”
“Isn’t it? Perhaps in Master’s imagination, the scenery of the Min River overlooking from Qingcheng was like this?”
With our backs to the stone tower, we sat amicably and looked down. A cool autumn breeze brushed my cheeks. I silently nodded.
“Just.”
He licked his lips in a low voice.
“Because this is where I started.”
Holding his knees with both of his arms, he leaned his head toward me. Start. I don’t know how he must have felt when he lost his master who was like his parents and built a stone Tower by himself. I can only dare to guess.
“You were wondering why I wanted to come with you?”
“If it’s because of the master’s anniversary, tell me in advance. It’s better if we all come together.”
The question was roughly cleared. To the enemy, how many people would come together on the anniversary of his master’s death? The Red Dragon Squad or I would be everything.
“No.”
The enemy sighed softly.
“Like I started here. I want the captain to be the end of me. So, we had to be alone.”
Although it was similar to the usual drop-down voice she used to make.
Because the place is a place, the weight of those words felt different.
“…”
In a somewhat complicated state of mind, I blankly stared straight ahead.
The crimson sunset, which had settled down before I knew it, was slowly dyeing the river.
