The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-226

“Come in! Thank you so much for coming all this way!”

Seol Hong’s small hands quickly grasped Seol’s hands, wrapping them tightly. Her grip was both grateful and desperate.

“Huh? Wh-what is that black thing?” Seol Hong asked.

“Medicinal sea urchin.”

[Agony is a glorious sea urchin!]

“I-It even speaks too…”

- Medicinal sea urchin LMFAOOOOOO

- I can’t believe that worked LOL

Pinch…

Seol Hong had an utterly shocked expression on her face after pinching Agony’s cheeks.

“I-It’s so soft!”

[Ah! Don’t touch me!]

Agony hopped off Seol’s shoulders and onto a table.

Seol Hong watched Agony for a moment, but after remembering her maid’s critical condition, her expression quickly turned serious.

"It doesn’t matter who you are or what your 'sea urchin' is right now," said Seol Hong, "Can you take care of her? Can you heal Cheon Ju?"

“It won’t be difficult at all,” responded Seol.

In truth, it was difficult.

He wasn’t a real doctor. He was just a quack who had learned a few basic techniques through his title.

“What symptoms has she had these past few days?”

"Sh-she coughs a lot and has so much phlegm. She said her body feels too heavy to leave the bed."

“Does she have any chronic illnesses?”

“Not at all! In fact, Cheon Ju has always been on the healthy side.”

Cheon Ju slowly woke from her sleep, her vision blurry as she watched Seol Hong and Seol.

“Who… is this?”

“A doctor!” quickly answered Seol Hong. “Cheon Ju, we found a doctor!”

“Haah… that's a relief.”

Seol Hong and Cheon Ju continued to answer Seol’s additional questions about Cheon Ju’s symptoms.

‘Luckily, it’s just a regional disease.’

Given the vastness of the East, there were numerous regional diseases.

Fortunately for Seol, he knew of a few medicines that were effective against these diseases.

Moreover, he also had the necessary ingredients with him.

Seol disappeared for a few moments before returning with some medicine.

Luckily, the process didn’t require any complicated procedures, and Seol’s Cooking talent also had beneficial effects when creating medicine.

Seol was more than capable of taking care of a simple disease like this.

“It’s a bit bitter,” said Seol.

Gulp…

Cheon Ju slowly drank the medicine Seol had brought her.

Her eyes quickly flashed open.

“It’s bitter…”

“Is that so?” responded Seol.

“And it’s also… familiar…”

- Cheon Ju! The regional diseases in the East are all somewhat similar. If you grind up some watercock grass and mix it with vitality-healing medicines in water, you can cure most of them.

- How did you learn all of this?

- I just… It’s just something I picked up while wandering as a kid.

Cheon Ju quickly turned to Seol after recalling Yu Hwa.

“This medicine… Where did you… No, it’s nothing.”

“Cheon Ju, get some rest now,” said Seol Hong.

“I should properly thank…”

“Stop,” interrupted Seol Hong. “I’ll take care of that, don’t worry.”

Cheon Ju weakly lay back down on the bed as Seol watched her from the corner of his eye.

‘Cheon Ju… it’s been a long time. So you were still alive.’

Cheon Ju and Yu Hwa had an extremely close relationship, a bond that continues to tie them together to this day.

However, Seol Hong interpreted Seol’s affectionate gaze differently.

In her eyes, Seol seemed like a doctor willing to do anything for his patient.

As Seol Hong continued to stare at Seol, he asked her a question.

“As long as she doesn’t overexert herself, she should be fine.”

“Ah, th-thank you!” Seol Hong stammered. “I sincerely thank you.”

She then quickly crossed her arms to appear more imposing.

“I am the great Dragon Emperor’s daughter, a Dragon’s Flower. I promise to repay you properly someday.”

In other words, she couldn't afford to pay Seol properly at the moment. However, Seol didn’t mention this.

He hadn’t come here seeking a reward, and even if she could offer him one, it probably would be of little use.

After all, Seol was here for information.

Seol then began trying to feel out Seol Hong.

“But if you're a Dragon’s Flower… then you must be incredibly busy with the Dragon War, right?”

Seol Hong's expression quickly darkened.

“Haha... Yes, indeed. The Dragon War has been quite a burden for me as well.”

Seol Hong then quickly grabbed Seol’s hands.

Seol didn’t necessarily avoid it.

"I promise... I swear I will repay you. I, Seol Hong, may not succeed in my first trial, but I'll repay your kindness, no matter what. Haha! Maybe I'm being a bit shameless..."

Seol simply stared at Seol Hong.

“Your eyes… Are you pitying me?”

“How could someone like me pity a Dragon’s Flower…” answered Seol. “More importantly, is the Dragon War really that important?”

"It is. Enough to stir up all of the factions in the Dragon Palace. The Dragon’s Flowers who have failed are... well..."

“What happened to them?”

"I'm not entirely sure, either. I think some of them have been sent to other nations as a means of building friendly relations and are living ordinary lives. The Khan Empire has a large imperial family, and there are many Dragon’s Flowers who don't hold much importance."

Seol Hong had added a self-deprecating comment at the end, but it was undeniably true.

“Hahaha!” laughed Seol Hong. “Don’t worry, though. Since I’m not particularly pretty, I doubt I’ll be one of the first ones to be sent off.”

“...You are plenty beautiful.”

Seol Hong bore a striking resemblance to Yu Hwa.

She looked like a younger version of Yu Hwa, a flower yet to fully bloom.

Seol Hong grinned after hearing that.

The Dragon War had been an overwhelmingly brutal and immense trial for such a young child to face alone.

"The Dragon Emperor’s children are all given epithets based on flowers. Each year, various flowers bloom and adorn the land. That’s why they are called the Dragon’s Flowers."

Seol Hong continued to speak, and as Seol saw no reason to interrupt, he let her continue.

“The epithet that I was given, the Death Flower… is a curse.”

“A curse?”

“Because my mother died during childbirth, I was given the name of a flower that would never fully blossom—a flower destined to remain a bud for the rest of its life.”

Seol Hong began to tear up.

“Isn’t that just like me? Hahahaha! I don’t know who came up with it, but they really had such amazing foresight!”

“Does it hurt?”

“......”

After finishing her story, she looked at Seol.

“It’s… surprising.”

“What is…?”

“For some reason… I feel comfortable around you.”

“......”

“Even though this is our first time meeting… I can let down my guard around you. Is that why you chose to become a doctor? Or have we met somewhere before?”

“...We could have met once before.”

Not as strangers, but with a more special relationship.

“Hm… I can’t seem to remember. Regardless, what do you think about this?”

Seol Hong placed her hand forward.

“Would you like to become my friend?”

“Your friend?”

“Who knows… maybe someday, I might end up helping you too. I may not have a place in the Dragon War now, but… who knows what the future holds?”

“Then what do you want from me?”

“As my friend… heal Cheon Ju.”

“Okay. But more importantly… What do you plan to do about the Dragon War?”

In truth, this was what Seol was most curious about.

He was curious about Seol Hong’s resolve.

Seol had a strong sense that as long as he remained in the Khan Empire, many aspects of his life would inevitably be connected to the Dragon War.

“It is already underway! Each Dragon’s Flower has three to four archivists assigned to monitor them, and I'm sure they are listening to our conversation even now. If I gave up now... I would be dishonoring my mother's name.”

Seol Hong tightly clenched her fist.

“I won’t give up. I will prove my worth, no matter what.”

Seol smiled at her response, discreetly tucking the object in his hands closer to his chest.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Karen shouted at Ur.

“You idiot!”

Ur quickly refuted it.

“You’re all idiots!”

Karuna accepted it.

“We are all idiots.”

And Jamad shook his head as he responded.

"Enough. We already have our hands full with this issue. Let's not complicate things any further. So, Ur, what's the situation?"

"I get the sense that we’ll be staying here for much longer than I had initially thought,” responded Ur.

“Ptoo! He’s fucking useless!” Karen shouted.

“What did you say?” Ur yelled back. “How dare a knight, only useful for her brute strength, speak that way to the great Ur?!”

“Master trusted in you! And this is all you can do?!”

“And what about you?!”

“He didn’t expect anything from me in the first place!”

“Krgh…”

As their argument subsided, Jamad quickly turned to Ur with a question.

“So you still haven’t figured out what this place is yet, right?”

“It would be impossible to do so when I don’t even know where we are,” responded Ur. “But I do have some good news. Well… It’s good news for him.”

“Good news?”

“I found a few places where we can create a door.”

“Oh!” shouted Karen. “So you weren’t just playing around!”

"The issue is that there are a few more steps I need to take before I can be certain. And even if I manage to create a door, crossing it is an entirely different problem."

“...Could you explain it in simpler terms?”

“In the worst case scenario… none of us will be able to cross.”

“And if things go well?”

“If things go well, two or three of us will be able to cross it.”

“And what about you?”

“Unfortunately, the great Ur needs to tend to this space. There are a lot of things to still uncover here, after all.”

“Makes sense… it wasn’t like you were the type to come out often either.”

“Ahem… And on that note, there is an important ritual that we have to do.”

All of the summons turned to Ur.

“Ritual?”

“I’ve found four suitable locations to create the door. Conveniently, there are four of us too.”

Bark!

Koko barked as if reminding them not to forget him, but Ur dismissed him with a wave.

“You’re not ready yet,” said Ur.

“And? You want us to split up and head in different directions?”

“No, that would be too dangerous. It would be much more effective just to release your powers in that direction.”

“Like shooting out our powers? And not going there ourselves?”

“Because it would be too dangerous. If we get separated, we have no idea how long it will take to find each other again. Remember how long it took us to regroup the first time?”

“Yeah, it did take a long time.”

Karuna then butted in to ask a question.

“More importantly, what did you mean by releasing our powers?”

“If we’re lucky, we might be able to lend our strength to our precious master. After all, as long as we are trapped here, we won’t be able to help him. This is the only way we can support him.”

“Then… would releasing our strength make us weaker?”

“Well… that depends. If our powers don’t pass through the door, they should safely return to us.”

“And if it doesn’t, then…”

“That would mean our master received them.”

Jamad, Karen, and Karuna agreed to Ur’s plans.

“Alright! Let’s get to it!”

A few moments later, Ur positioned everyone, facing different directions.

He then gave a decisive order.

“I want each of you to release your powers in the direction I told you to. Give it everything you’ve got, until you’re completely exhausted. If you don’t put in enough strength, you might not even be able to send it through.”

Fwooooosh…

“Now… Fire!”

FWOOOOOOOOOSH!

Strange energies, extending in a variety of colors, began to shake the space.

* * *

After returning to his room and sitting down at the table, Seol looked at the hand mirror adorned with embroidered thread.

‘Is this… Yu Hwa’s keepsake?’

An item that belonged to Yu Hwa, the Swordsdancer.

This was undeniably her item.

- Oh, so you stole it again.

- I can’t believe you’re stealing from children now, Snowman! Incredible!

- I thought you were feeling sympathy for her LMFAO. I can’t believe you stole from her haha

“But… this is strange?”

The compass hadn’t moved at all.

It was still pointing toward Seol Hong.

Even so, Seol still had things to confirm.

Seol slowly rested his hand on the hand mirror, where his piece’s energy faintly lingered.

He then looked directly into it.

As he did…

Fwoosh…

The candles were suddenly snuffed out.

- Kyaaa!

- It’s a ghost!

- Something’s going to pop out!

Although it would have been natural for Seol to feel scared, his curiosity outweighed any fear he might have had.

He inspected the mirror more closely.

“A… woman?”

A woman's face slowly emerged in the mirror, making it clear that the hand mirror had been haunted by a ghost.

But for some reason… the ghost’s face… seemed familiar.

“...lp her.”

Seol closed his eyes.

He felt as though he was on the verge of being possessed.

It seemed that if he relaxed his guard for even a second, he would fall under her control.

“Help her… Help… Seol Hong…”

“Stop. What do you want from me?”

The woman in the mirror began to cry.

“O God… Seol Hong… that poor child… anyone, please…”

Fwoosh…

The candles quickly reignited as if responding to the ghost's finished words.

‘Her face… That was definitely… Yu Hwa.’

The face in the hand mirror unmistakably belonged to Seol Hong’s mother, Yu Hwa, the Swordsdancer.

She was desperately begging for help, almost as if she were praying. However, it didn't seem like her message was specifically meant for Seol.

Seol then took a moment to return the now silent hand mirror to Seol Hong.

“Ah! I looked so hard, thinking I had lost it…”

“Is it important to you?”

“It’s the only thing that my mother left behind. It’s the most important thing in the world to me. More importantly…”

Seol Hong bashfully giggled.

“Thank you for finding it. Cheon Ju would have been furious if she had learned that I lost it.”

Seol Hong did not suspect that Seol was the one who had stolen it at all.

As Seol turned around, ready to leave, Seol Hong quickly made a request.

“I wanted to ask if you could… watch over Cheon Ju for a while.”

Seol still hadn’t reached a decision.

He was still unsure if getting involved with her life was the right choice.

Seol was essentially her god. Every facet of her life would change if he got involved.

After returning to his room, Seol looked outside of the window.

Poooour…

‘It’s raining.’

As if it were also a window into his heart, the weather was awful.

It almost… felt like everything had come to a standstill.

Perhaps that was what Seol wanted at this moment, but as long as time remained, nothing was guaranteed to stop in this world.

Seol nursed Cheon Ju all day long, while Seol Hong often disappeared, only reappearing sporadically. Intentionally, Seol avoided getting involved with her, deciding to make a choice after Cheon Ju had healed.

But in truth… It was an excuse.

Seol simply did not want to make a decision.

As Cheon Ju slowly began to recover, she healed enough to manage to go to the restroom on her own.

Afterward, Seol visited her only once during the day and once at night to deliver her medicine.

As Seol had delivered the morning medicine, it was now time to deliver the evening medicine.

Crackle!

It was thundering outside.

“...Damn it.”

Cheon Ju’s bed was empty.

She had disappeared.

Fwip!

Seol quickly left the inn to find Cheon Ju. When did she leave? She was still in her bed when he left in the afternoon.

As the rain poured over him, he quickly found her. It was clear that she had only recently left her bed.

The old woman limped, nearly crawling on the floor.

Pooouuuuur…

“...Cheon Ju!”

“No… You bastards…”

“Cheon Ju?”

“You can’t take Lady Seol Hong… You mustn’t!”

Cheon Ju began to wail and cry into the air like a madwoman. A chill quickly ran down Seol’s spine.

He then slowly approached her from behind before supporting her.

Cheon Ju hadn’t fully recovered yet. Staying in the pouring rain like this would only worsen her condition.

“She… She left on her own! No… No!”

“What happened, Cheon Ju?”

“Lady… Lady Seol Hong… left on her own.”

“......”

“She left on her own… After those damned bandits!”

Seol couldn’t tell if it was rain or tears, but her eyes continued to pour.

“How… How could you, Lady Seol Hong…”

Thud…

Cheon Ju fell to the floor, begging Seol on her knees.”

"Doctor, please, could you find Lady Seol Hong? If… If anything happens to her… I won’t be able to face Yu Hwa, even at the cost of my own life…”

Seeing Cheon Ju beg like this brought back an old memory for Seol—a memory from when Cheon Ju was much younger.

- Hehehe… Yu Hwa, the Dragon Palace doesn’t suit you at all. What do you think about just running away?

- You’re always saying that, Cheon Ju. I’ve heard that line so much I can even hear it in my sleep.

- It’s the truth, though. You’re a free child, and the Dragon Palace is a suffocating place.

- But my future is here…

- What’s her name? Have you decided on a name yet? Did the Dragon Emperor name her?

- He didn’t. The Dragon Emperor shows me no more interest than necessary. But in return, I got to name her.

- What’s her name?

- Seol Hong… It’s Seol Hong.

Yu Hwa smiled faintly, gently rubbing her stomach, while Cheon Ju beamed with joy, offering sincere congratulations.

- I see! Hehe… At least you got to choose a pretty name for her.

- Cheon Ju.

- What is it? I’m already busy enough picking out your outfit for the evening banquet.

- Why are you still by my side, Cheon Ju?

- ……

- Everyone hates me. Cheon Ju… Didn’t the Dragon Emperor also show love to you as well?

- But I failed to bear a child with the Dragon Emperor. It simply ended there, hahaha… Now, I’m just another ghost in the Dragon Palace.

- You shouldn’t…

- I… I watched you dance, Yu Hwa. That was more than enough.

- ……

- You gave me, a ghost, a reason to live.

Cheon Ju had a miscarriage with the Dragon Emperor’s child. Now, she was just a ghost of an old woman, relegated to menial tasks around the palace. She was currently helping Yu Hwa.

- I hope that Seol Hong is as pretty as you are.

- I’ve been praying to god every night for a beautiful child, praying that she would be loved

- Hmph. That’s the first time I’ve heard of god granting a prayer like that.

- As long as you are sincere enough, gods can grant anything.

- Why would they?

- Well… Aren’t they gods?

In Seol’s eyes, she was the same Cheon Ju from back then.

“Please… Please… Yu Hwa, why… I thought you told me gods will grant any wish as long as you are sincere enough… Why did you lie to me…”

Cheon Ju continued to stammer and mutter nonsensically to herself, likely because she had been in the rain for too long.

Though Cheon Ju wasn’t in extreme danger, it was clear that she would have to rest for an extended period of time to recover all her energy.

Seol quickly returned Cheon Ju to her room, paying the tavern owner extra to change her into dry clothes.

Afterward, he stepped outside.

Agony quickly spoke to him.

[Where are you headed?]

“I don’t know…”

Seol’s golden eyes were honed in on the compass in front of him.

[Are you heading off now?]

“Yeah.”

[You begin your next Adventure.]

[Your 33rd Adventure is starting.]

[Adventure 33. Dragon War]

……

As long as one begged sincerely, the gods would grant one’s request.

And now, the god of those desperately struggling to survive had finally broken his long silence.