53. A Shadow Cast Upon the Wind (3)
Originally, Flame’s group had been assigned a 2-Risk mission to hunt a monster bear. But due to an “unexpected emergency,” three giant monster bears of 4-Risk level had appeared instead. Even so, the mission ended smoothly, with the bears being cleanly taken down without any complications.
“Well? Assistant Instructor, this earns us bonus points, right?”
“…Yes.”
The assistant instructor who had come along to monitor and support Flame’s team pushed up his glasses and shook his head.
He had expected something like this from the start, but to think they would actually lure 4-Risk monster bears out of their nest and hunt them down.
He knew they were remarkable students, but perhaps this was the first time this year he had seen first-years stand out to this degree.
Boom! Crack! Rumble—!!
At the thunderous noise that came while he was calculating their score, the assistant instructor clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Whew… He kept whining that he was bored, and it sounds like that side is making quite a racket too.”
Dok Cheolgwang, Class S, second year.
He had come along to supervise the first-years, but after watching them cooperate to hunt three 4-Risk monsters, he had apparently become too excited to hold himself back and had dashed off into the forest, where he was already causing trouble of his own.
A short while later, Dok Cheolgwang emerged, his whole body drenched in vivid blue blood as he dragged a monster corpse behind him.
It was the corpse of a Monkey Ogre, a creature generally classified as a 4-Risk monster but infamously difficult to hunt because it could freely move through the trees.
“That lunatic… did he catch that by himself?”
“Hah-hah! I killed three more too, but didn’t have enough hands to bring them. This should be enough for dinner tonight!”
“…Why would we eat that? Cadet Dok Cheolgwang. We will be having a perfectly normal, civilized dinner this evening.”
“Hah, Assistant. That’s not manly. A true mage ought to tear into the flesh of the monster he hunted so that the experience and passion can accumulate inside his body!”
“…I’m sure.”
The assistant instructor gave up on talking to Dok Cheolgwang and turned to Flame instead.
“In any case, you pass, and I fully intend to give you bonus points as well. The professors will decide the final grade, of course, but I think you can expect an A+.”
“Oh—yes! Thank you!”
At the assistant instructor’s words, Flame broke into a bright smile, her mood immediately lifting.
And the moment her face brightened, Pung Harang’s mood rose along with it, and he spoke almost without thinking.
“We finished earlier than expected. Before we return after completing the mission, would you care to stop by the capital of the Pung Empire for a bit?”
“Oh, really? Are you going to give us a tour or something?”
“I do not know whether we will have time for proper sightseeing… but I can at least show you the city.”
“Oh, then can we visit your house?”
“…My house?”
At Flame’s innocent question, Pung Harang was briefly caught off guard. If one spoke of his house, that could only mean the main house of the Pung Family, who currently sat at the center of the dynasty—and bringing ordinary people there would not be easy.
Of course, if he truly wished to, he could take them there as much as he liked, but because his standing within the family was quite narrow, even something minor like this required him to be mindful of others.
“Though even so…”
“What do you think? If it’s not possible, it can’t be helped.”
“It’s fine. It is not such a difficult thing.”
It was her request—how hard could it be to cast aside a little shamelessness with his family?
“It may not be all that interesting to those two… would that be all right?”
When he asked Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang, they nodded.
“The Pung Family… that sounds rather interesting.”
“I’m looking forward to it too. I’ve never gone to hang out at a friend’s house before.”
At that unexpected word, Pung Harang’s eyebrow twitched.
“…Were we friends?”
“Yeah. We even carried out a mission together. Doesn’t that make us friends?”
“What nonsense. That is not friendship. That is what one calls comrades.”
“But we are not officially magic warriors yet, are we? So I do not think ‘comrades’ really fits.”
As Ma Yuseong said that with a broad grin, Pung Harang turned his head away.
“Think what you like.”
The assistant instructor saw the first-years acting however they pleased, yet left them alone. S-Class students were forever breaking school regulations one way or another, and compared to that, this was only the level of children going out for a light little excursion, so he let it slide.
“Even so, do not spend too long there before returning. Cadet Dok Cheolgwang. Remain behind until the end and stay by the first-years’ side before returning.”
“Hm. That sounds boring.”
Dok Cheolgwang grumbled, but nodded anyway. He had remembered Ban Diyeon’s sharp rebuke telling him to listen to the assistant instructor.
After the assistant instructor left, Flame’s group boarded the automatic carriage Pung Harang had arranged in advance and entered the capital of the Pung Empire, Taeyusan.
“Ooh…”
Flame looked around the city in a daze, her eyes sparkling.
“This feels familiar…!”
The Pung Empire, with its atmosphere close to an East Asian aesthetic, had been a country she had been deeply attached to ever since reading the original romance-fantasy novel long ago.
Though most of its characters had not been especially popular, so it had never become a major topic among devoted readers and the wiki never properly documented it, Flame alone had faithfully remembered the Pung Empire’s setting.
“Wasn’t it called progressivism wearing the mask of conservatism?”
In the fan café for the original romance-fantasy novel Don’t Love the Unhappy Lady, there had been one member who loved political satire, and that phrase he had once left behind had become so famous even among people who hated political topics that it came to be the single sentence used to sum up the Pung Empire.
Outwardly it looked open and welcoming toward outsiders, but within it lurked a kind of chosen-people mentality that viewed the Pung Empire’s traditions as superior to all others in the world.
Still, regardless of what lay beneath the surface, the culture of the Pung Empire itself was dazzlingly beautiful, and that alone was enough to earn passing marks in Flame’s book, so she was able to fully enjoy this little tour.
“We have arrived.”
The driver said so, and Flame instinctively moved to open the door first, but Pung Harang stopped her.
“Eh?”
Looking now, Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang were also quietly sitting still, waiting for something—and suddenly the door on the right side where Flame was seated opened.
It was not an automatic door.
The driver, who had just announced their arrival, had hurried over and opened it for them.
“Oh, come on. Were you all waiting for this?”
When she asked with a dumbfounded expression, Hae Wonryang and Ma Yuseong nodded.
“Is something wrong?”
Seeing the two boys looking genuinely unable to understand what the problem was somehow made her feel like the fool instead.
“The lives of rich brats…”
Shaking her head, Flame stepped down from the carriage—and then her mouth fell open at the sight in front of her.
Hanok villages, Gyeongbok Palace, Gwanghwamun, and more.
Before her spread a residence on such a colossal scale that it looked as if every East Asian-style palace she knew had been smashed together into one.
“So this is the Pung Family’s Seoldo Palace…”
At a single gesture from Pung Harang, the mages dressed in East Asian-style robes withdrew their staves and split to either side, and the enormous red gate creaked open.
“Come.”
Following behind Pung Harang as he led the way, Flame hurried along, looking around in a flurry—only for Hae Wonryang behind her to mischievously press down on her head, leaving her unable to turn it.
“Keep that up and your neck’s going to snap.”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, true.”
Only then did Flame realize how childish and country-bumpkin-like her behavior had been, and she stiffened her neck at once.
Since they had already gotten off the automatic carriage, she assumed they would no longer be traveling by vehicle, but apparently that was not the case. A special carriage for use within Seoldo Palace itself was waiting for them.
As Pung Harang was walking toward it to board, he belatedly noticed someone and suddenly stopped, his fingertips twitching.
“Hm? Why? Is there a problem?”
When Pung Harang came to a stop, Flame, who stopped a beat later, leaned her head out from behind him and looked ahead.
“You came, Harang.”
“…Yes, Mother.”
A woman stood there wearing a dress made of silver silk, and her eyes looked exactly like Pung Harang’s.
She looked past him toward the people behind him, then smiled with her eyes.
“So you brought friends with you.”
“There is no need to be so wary. I am grateful that you came at this time.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Only then did Flame remember what kind of relationship Pung Harang had with his mother.
“Wasn’t that mother of his supposed to not like him very much?”
Pung Harang had two older full-blooded brothers and one older full-blooded sister.
Among them, the eldest brother had been the closest to the right of succession, but Flame had heard that he had recently lost in a political struggle and was currently under confinement.
Which meant…
That so-called mother, having lost the eldest son—the only one she had truly believed in and supported—was now in a position where she had nothing left to rely on.
His mother approached Pung Harang and warmly clasped his hand in both of hers as she spoke.
“I heard that the daughter of the head of the Starcloud Merchant Company is visiting Cheolhu Palace.”
“…And what does that have to do with me?”
“All your other brothers and sisters have been dispatched elsewhere, so there is no one to receive her. You will welcome her in their place. It is not such a difficult task, nor will it take very long.”
“You want me to act as nothing more than a figurehead?”
“That is not what I said.”
“Will that change your standing? Is it truly right for the Seven Families of Wind to wag their tails before a mere merchant?”
Pung Harang raised his voice, forgetting entirely that Flame was standing behind him, but his mother replied without a change in expression.
“It is right. And yes, it is true that standing can change. She is in need of the help of the Wind Families, yet none are in a position to lend her a hand. If you become of help to her… would that not itself become a great merit to our Pung Family?”
I almost forgot.
She was someone who had long since thrown away her pride. Probably ever since the moment the eldest brother had been placed under confinement.
“…Very well. I will go.”
After answering like that, Pung Harang belatedly realized that Flame, Ma Yuseong, and Hae Wonryang had been watching the whole exchange.
Turning back, he bowed his head to them in apology.
“My apologies. I wished to show you the traditions of the Pung Family, but an urgent matter has arisen.”
“Huh? O-oh, no, it’s okay. If you’re busy, that can’t be helped. We can still have fun here even without—”
“Wait. Could we perhaps attend that meeting as well?”
“…What?”
Flame had been trying to reassure him because he seemed apologetic, but Hae Wonryang cut in before she could finish.
“Attend…?”
“Yes. I myself may be of little account, but outwardly I am known as the heir to the Full Moon Tower. If you go with me, it will also help strengthen your standing. …Because we are friends.”
It was true.
Pung Harang might have little to his name and little to boast of, but if he could present his closeness to Hae Wonryang as an advantage, then he would surely win a bit of favor from Zeliel.
Zeliel had once received help from the Tower Master of Full Moon Tower, and her father had also been very close with that Tower Master.
At Hae Wonryang’s words, Ma Yuseong nodded three whole times, his eyes sparkling.
“Zeliel of the Starcloud Merchant Company… I want to meet her too.”
“Huh? Then me too!”
“Yawn… Hm? Do I have to answer too?”
“Hurry up and say you’re going, Senior Dok Cheolgwang.”
“Tch, sounds boring. Fine, then.”
Hae Wonryang, Flame, Ma Yuseong—even Dok Cheolgwang.
He could not bring them to a strictly official occasion, but since Zeliel herself had asked for this as a simple favor, it probably would not matter too much.
“That is fine. Bring your friends along.”
Perhaps his mother, too, had been tempted when she heard Hae Wonryang’s status, because she approved it. With that, Pung Harang no longer had grounds to refuse.
“…Very well. Let us go together.”
Meanwhile, Cheolhu Palace.
Zeliel stood blankly gazing out the window, basking in the sunlight pouring down.
As a high elf, she could receive enough nourishment to last several days simply by being exposed to sunlight, but that was not why she was doing this. Someone like her, who filled herself with nutrients from luxurious meals every day, had no reason to do something so useless.
“This has become troublesome.”
Frowning, she looked over the disagreeable state of Cheolhu Palace.
“This was not what I intended.”
Originally, her purpose had been simple.
She had heard that Baek Yuseol had stopped briefly in Taeyusan of the Pung Empire on a mission, so she had only planned to quietly go there and see his face for a moment.
But because of the driver’s mistake, one Starcloud emblem had not been removed from the automatic carriage, and the Seven Families of Wind had all but rushed out barefoot in a frenzy to receive her, which had left her in a very awkward position.
She did not enjoy being treated like royalty. To begin with, she might have had a desire for money, but not for honor.
If anything, it put her in a very bad mood.
Every time she saw royals bowing their heads before her over nothing more than money, it made her feel disgustingly miserable.
“I need to get out of here quickly…”
There was no telling when Baek Yuseol would finish his mission and emerge from the Persona Gate. Yet the royals seemed convinced that Zeliel had come here for some grand and important reason, and not only were they treating her with excessive ceremony, they had even tried to gather all Seven Families of Wind and convene a grand council. Only because Zeliel hastily refused had that disaster been avoided.
Did they even realize it?
That the grand reason Zeliel had come here was nothing more than to see the face of a single first-year student from Stella.
For now, she had sent people away under the excuse that she wished to request a small favor or two, but the problem was that she still had not decided what she even wanted help with.
To begin with, was there anything the Seven Families of Wind could even do for her?
There were only two people she wanted to find in this world.
Silver Age November, and Baek Yuseol.
And it did not seem likely that anyone among the Seven Families of Wind knew where either of them was.
“…I just need to kill some time.”
No matter what favor she casually asked for, they would be unable to grant it.
And when that happened, she would simply express mild regret and leave.
“Time is money.”
Even now, the thought that Baek Yuseol might already have left while she was stuck here made Zeliel stamp her feet in frustration, but that did not make time move any faster.
As if ignorant of her feelings, the clouds of the Pung Empire drifted by only slowly.
[Read only on MugenCodex.]
