Chương 106: S.05 Time to Fly 06(04)

Scene 03_04. Seong-hyeon, who'd forced down the words that had risen to her throat, let out a ground-caving sigh and headed for the coffee machine set in Yeon-jin's office. Pressing the button without much thought to brew the coffee, Seong-hyeon set the warmly brewed cup on Yeon-jin's desk. Yeon-jin glanced at the cup set on her desk. Lifting her gaze from the ledger, Yeon-jin took the cup steaming up white wisps and lightly wet her lips.

Having drunk the hot coffee, Yeon-jin twitched her lips, watching Seong-hyeon, who couldn't bring herself to leave the spot. Yeon-jin: Now that Si-yeon's gone, in the end there's no one but you now. Seong-hyeon: I came on my own two feet. Yeon-jin: Fair enough — I did do Si-yeon dirty as fuck. Seong-hyeon: No — it's a relief. Yeon-jin: The thing with Si-yeon — you know all of it? At Yeon-jin's difficult question, slipping out as if grumbled, Seong-hyeon gave a small nod.

Yeon-jin: And yet how is it you stuck around to the very end? Seong-hyeon: I told you. I came on my own two feet. Scene 03_05. FLASHBACK Even calling it a Calamity in which not one single person had died, the price was death and death alone. Whether one had fallen for the beguiling or not, none of it mattered in the least. Even those who had not taken part — every being whose future trouble was a concern had been dragged in and held in the assembly chamber of the Great Hall.

Seong-hyeon, returned from her cram school, couldn't even gauge why she had to be here. The 금줄(Geumjul_Ritual Taboo Rope to suppress power) hung slack, and a situation where no 주술(Jusul_Incantation/Sorcery) could be felt at all was simply terrifying. Looking around her, the young Seong-hyeon was receiving the icy gaze her own elder sister had come up to cast down on her. She had to say something, anything, and press on with a defense, but Seong-hyeon's mouth served for nothing but trembling.

Watching such a Seong-hyeon, Jeong-hyeon, a sneering smile held on her lips, turned and moved off toward the 단장(Dan-jang_The Oldest) seated at the head seat of the Great Hall. The 사무장(Sa-mu-jang_Executive Secretary) Yu-seok, stationed beside the now-empty head seat, was forcing a troubled look as he offered a bow to the back of the departing Oldest. Straightening his back, Yu-seok set out together with each Director and took his place before the people steeped in terror.

Yu-seok: The active participants are to be executed. The passive participants, the Oldest has ordered into exile. I trust none of you have any objection. The one who had already passed along the cunning whispers, the Director of Occult Affairs Kim Se-rim, was defeated at the hands of her own attending Deputy, Doe Yeon-hui, and executed at the hands of the Director of the Library, Song Hee-jin. Whether you intended it or not — such things no longer matter in the slightest.

As for me, I'd have liked to strike off every head and hang them at the north gate, but the Oldest, bearing deep within the wounds of the first Calamity, has looked after all of you here — so much younger — and lived among you. She no longer wishes to see blood. Apart from the ringleader Kim Se-rim, all will be deemed passive participants and merely cast out, so you will be able to go on living. Seong-hyeon: I — I. Ah — nothing. I didn't do anything.

Seong-hyeon, who hadn't been able to get out a single word, somehow forced words out at last — as if she were now in the most wronged position of all — and cut into Yu-seok's speech. At Seong-hyeon's stammering protest, Jeong-hyeon stepped forward and kicked her in the face. Tumbled limply to the floor, Seong-hyeon couldn't even rise properly with her body bound. Jeong-hyeon: Shut your mouth before I kill you. Because of you my own neck nearly went flying.

It was you, you wench, tipping off the Director of Occult Affairs to Yeon-hui's whereabouts, that landed Yeon-hui in that state. You get it??! At Jeong-hyeon's browbeating, Seong-hyeon, her pupils gone listless, lay collapsed on the floor, struggling to retrace her hazy memory. Yu-seok: It's no wonder you can't recall a thing, but you did do something. The people dragged in here may not know what it is they committed. Even so, they can't simply be left be. Being wronged changes nothing. That is what a whisper is.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Yu-seok unfolded the Oldest's edict. Yu-seok: The punishment will be handed down. Scene 03_06. FLASHBACK How many days she'd spent outside, she could no longer even count. A single small one-room was all that had been given to Seong-hyeon, cast out at such a young age. And even that she didn't want to go into. It wouldn't have been strange for a pursuit squad to come at any time and quietly kill her. Such was the lot of the dethroned.

She was supposed to hold no 주술(Jusul_Incantation/Sorcery) at all, yet for some reason the Sorcery she carried could still be felt even after she'd come free of the 금줄(Geumjul_Ritual Taboo Rope to suppress power). Not that she meant to use it. She just wished they'd take it away. It wasn't that she wanted to die. She only wanted to clear the wrong done to her. They could take it, fine — she wanted to make it known that she'd done nothing. The Sorcery would surely remember.

But it was a far-fetched story out of some novel that no one would ever listen to. In times like these — Sorcery, of all things. And it was just as certain that if she used the Sorcery to try and prove herself, the 감사원(Gam-sa-won_The Inspectorate) would come for her and she'd die on the spot. Able to do neither one thing nor the other, Seong-hyeon only buried her head deep and held her breath, grief-stricken. Toward such a Seong-hyeon, the click-clack of a single pair of heels approached. Hey.

There was hardly anyone crouched at the roadside. To Seong-hyeon, who sat deep in a narrow alley as if buried in the shadows of the bustling downtown, a listless reproach came. It was not a particularly kindly voice. The heeled steps had halted before Seong-hyeon. She was sick of unkind voices by now. No — they had even come to frighten her. Cringing her body hard, she denied and denied it again. She wished it wasn't a voice calling for her.

But against such self-denial, the voice of the woman standing before her, carrying a slightly colder scorn, turned toward Seong-hyeon. The evening light nearing night was touching Seong-hyeon's skin. The shadows behind the dim downtown, against the lowered light, sat all the brighter. The woman standing before Seong-hyeon threw something down in front of the trembling Seong-hyeon. Seong-hyeon flinched and shrank back further. Si-yeon: Nowhere to go? You got no mom?

Stay in this neighborhood looking like that and you'll get fucked, so — get up. Fast. Scene 03_07. FLASHBACK To Seong-hyeon, come out from washing, Si-yeon tossed a large towel. The hair of Seong-hyeon — who'd come out of the bathroom in the everyday clothes Si-yeon had handed her — was still not free of its damp. Seong-hyeon caught the towel Si-yeon had all but flung at her and began fumbling to dry her hair. Si-yeon: Were you like that because you've got nowhere to go?

At the listless question of Si-yeon, a cigarette bitten between her lips, Seong-hyeon, looking unsure how to answer, managed only a nod. Si-yeon: What, you run away from home? Since that wasn't quite it, Seong-hyeon shook her head. Something occurring to her, Si-yeon asked Seong-hyeon with an awkward air. Si-yeon: Ah — are you a mute or something? Can't talk? Then my bad. Seong-hyeon shook her head again.

As if only now hearing a relieving and satisfactory answer, Si-yeon rose from where she perched on the vanity, pulled money from the vanity drawer, and thrust it abruptly at Seong-hyeon. Si-yeon: Mouth works, you've washed up — now hurry up and get lost. In my clothes. Seong-hyeon: Sorry? Si-yeon: You're not the type to be in a place like this. Look like you'd study well, too.

I only dragged you in and cleaned you up because your alley stank of mold this SSibal early summer, so clear out before the boss bitch here shows up. Don't act like a damn idiot. Seong-hyeon: Um, but — I really don't have anywhere to. Si-yeon: That's not my problem. Take it. Si-yeon shook the money in her hand again. The money waved as if willing Seong-hyeon to take it quickly — but Seong-hyeon only stared at it without a word.

When Seong-hyeon just kept standing there blankly, Si-yeon, as if it were a nuisance, crumpled the money into the everyday clothes of hers that Seong-hyeon was wearing. Si-yeon: Take it and get lost. Quick. Seong-hyeon: Um, but. Why — to me. Something like — Si-yeon: Dunno. So hurry up and clear out already. Seong-hyeon fumbled the money back out. It was a far larger sum than she'd thought. Seong-hyeon: Um, maybe, like, just. Um — here …. Si-yeon: Fuck off.

You think I want some shitstorm from keeping a minor like you around. As Si-yeon, muttering as if grumbling, tapped ash into the ashtray set on the vanity, the door of Si-yeon's room swung wide open and Yeon-jin came in. Yeon-jin: Well, well. Lee Si-yeon — you're even doing my job for me now?? Si-yeon shut her eyes tight and let out a big sigh. Yeon-jin: Just as well — I've been fretting over being short on girls lately. Let's see now. How's this one Si-yeon dragged in.

Brightening, Yeon-jin came in and stared Seong-hyeon over. As she made to look Seong-hyeon over in every corner, as if flipping her up, Si-yeon caught Yeon-jin's wrist. Si-yeon: Hey, you crazy bitch. She's underage. Just leave her alone. I'm sending her off. Yeon-jin: What? Why send off a girl like this? On whose say-so. Si-yeon: Ah, this crazy boss bitch, for real. How many times have I told you stuff like this'll come back to bite you?! Yeon-jin: Hey. You. How old are you.

Seong-hyeon: I'm — seven — Si-yeon: Hear that? Send her off. You idiot bitch. Greed be damned — don't go getting us all cuffed over an ID check. You — if you're done washing up, I said clear out, so what are you doing!? Yeon-jin: Ah, it feels off to just let her go, though. Hey. Minor. Seong-hyeon: Y-yes? Yeon-jin: You — for one year, want to just help Si-yeon out a bit? At Yeon-jin's offer, Si-yeon blocked the front of Seong-hyeon and snapped at Yeon-jin as if flaring up. Si-yeon: This SSibal bitch, for real!!

Yeon-jin: Why are you throwing Jiral at me over this!! You're the one who dragged her in!! Si-yeon: Didn't you hear me?! That I was just gonna wash her and send her off?! What kind of SSibal bitch loses it trying to fleece every halfway decent-faced girl she lays eyes on, for real!! Si-yeon snatched Seong-hyeon's wrist and tried to haul her outside. Yeon-jin couldn't bring herself to stop Si-yeon's fierce motion.

After all but flinging Seong-hyeon out the door, Si-yeon slammed it shut and raised her voice at the Yeon-jin left inside. Si-yeon: Have you gone crazy!? You dog of a bitch!? Yeon-jin: Why are you throwing Jiral at me over this!! You're the one who brought her in!! Si-yeon: Didn't you hear me?! That I'd just wash her and send her off?! What kind of SSibal bitch loses it trying to fleece every halfway decent-faced wench she lays eyes on, for real!!

To the ears of Seong-hyeon, left standing alone outside the door, only the raised voices of Si-yeon and Yeon-jin came through. It was a cold yet warm kindness she'd never once known even from her own elder sister. Without a word, Seong-hyeon drew out the wad of money in her pocket and laid her dazed gaze upon it.