Hearing the words that came mixed with the spring breeze,
I couldn't say a single word.
'Just now... what did you say?'
Did I hear that right?
I had heard what Wi Seol-a said, but it felt as though my mind was rejecting it.
It couldn't be helped.
Because it was far too bizarre a statement for me to comprehend.
"What... what did you say just now?"
"..."
At my repeated question, Wi Seol-a makes a bitter expression.
Setting aside why she would make such a face,
I needed to hear it more clearly.
"The one who sent me back...."
Not anyone else, but the being who turned back my time to the past—
"was the Heavenly Demon...?"
The very figure who had plunged my life, which was already at rock bottom, even deeper into the abyss.
The master of the Demonic Cult.
The existence who would soon bring a bloody calamity upon the Central Plains.
'Sent me back?'
No matter how much I thought about it, it was incomprehensible.
"Young Master Gu..."
"Explain... explain it. What does that mean?"
"..."
I grabbed Wi Seol-a's shoulder and asked.
Perhaps I had grabbed her too hard without realizing it; I saw Wi Seol-a wince.
Seeing that, I faltered and loosened my grip somewhat.
"...Please calm down..."
"That's going to be a bit difficult. This isn't exactly a story one can calmly hear."
"..."
"You know, don't you? Why I'm living like this right now."
What I've been struggling all this time for.
Focusing solely on raising my realm, hardly getting any sleep.
The reason I'm desperately pushing forward.
Wi Seol-a before me surely knows.
"...Young Master Gu."
To kill the Heavenly Demon and stop the bloody calamity.
That is what this life is for.
Not for myself.
If it had been for myself, I would have holed up in the mountains, meeting no one, and lived out my days alone.
That might have been better, even.
In the end, the reason I am the way I am
is not for my own peace,
but as an apology to those who died and lived for me.
And yet.
"...Why the Heavenly Demon?"
Ever since Yeon Il-cheon asked if my regression was merely a miraculous occurrence,
I had always thought
that someone's will seemed to be hidden behind my regression.
If it were true, as Wi Seol-a said, that the Heavenly Demon sent me back to the past,
then should I see everything I'm doing now,
every situation happening to me, as something the Heavenly Demon foresaw, or as containing the Heavenly Demon's will?
Thinking so made my head spin.
"Young Master Gu..."
"Is it true?"
"..."
"Really... is the Heavenly Demon truly the one who regressed me?"
I wanted to hear her say no.
That it was a joke. That she had just been trying to lighten the mood because it was too heavy.
I wanted to hear such words, but
"...It is."
Wi Seol-a was resolute.
"If it wasn't me... then she is the only one on this earth capable of doing such a thing to Young Master Gu."
"...That."
At Wi Seol-a's words, I bit my tongue inside my mouth.
The words that if it wasn't her, it could only be the Heavenly Demon.
Those words held many meanings.
Namely, that neither Wi Seol-a nor the Heavenly Demon were human.
That they were lofty existences capable of turning back another's time, much like the World Tree.
Furthermore,
it meant that Wi Seol-a herself was aware she was not human.
"...You."
"I think Young Master Gu already knows."
"..."
I do know.
That Wi Seol-a is not human. Perhaps in the past, I might have vaguely suspected as much,
but now I could be certain.
Reading my expression, Wi Seol-a smiles.
Was I making such a funny face?
"I'm glad."
What was she glad about?
"...Even knowing that, your attitude remains the same."
I furrowed my brows at her words.
"Is there any reason for it to change?"
At my words, Wi Seol-a, who had momentarily opened her large eyes even wider, soon covered her mouth and laughed again.
"That's exactly it. What was I so afraid of?"
Though her shoulders seemed to shrink slightly, which bothered me,
right now, the conversation we were just having was more important.
"...So when you say that if it wasn't you, it must have been the Heavenly Demon, that's ultimately just a guess, right?"
"No. It's a conviction."
"Why...? Why do you think that?"
The Heavenly Demon died by Wi Seol-a's hand.
That is an undeniable fact.
And my death in the underground prison of the Alliance had come several days after that.
The Heavenly Demon should have already been dead by then.
For such a Heavenly Demon to have regressed me, there are too many holes in that story.
Then why is Wi Seol-a so certain?
Hearing my question, Wi Seol-a averted her gaze and spoke.
"Because it is something I cannot help but know."
"...What does that mean?"
"That is what we are."
The words 'cannot help but know' seeped particularly deep into my heart.
"What on earth are you?"
"..."
"What... is your relationship with the Heavenly Demon?"
They couldn't possibly be unrelated.
You could tell just by looking.
It wasn't merely a resemblance; Wi Seol-a and the Heavenly Demon looked exactly alike, as if looking into a mirror.
Aside from the color of their hair and eyes, everything was the same.
Though countless coincidences and miracles run rampant in this world, could this truly be called a coincidence?
"If you ask what sort of relationship she and I have... it is difficult to define."
"What do you mean..."
"It's simply... that from the very beginning, we were not 'us,' but should have been one person."
"Do you have to talk in such difficult terms too? You know I'm not that bright."
"...I'm sorry. Please understand."
Wi Seol-a smiles pitifully and grips my wrist.
I could feel that my voice had grown a bit rough from my own frustration.
Though I felt my anger subside a little as Wi Seol-a held my wrist,
it didn't mean it had completely cooled.
I was only holding back because I didn't want to ruin this unexpected reunion in such a manner.
'So, it seems it's true that the Heavenly Demon regressed me.'
If Wi Seol-a's words are to be believed, that would be the case—
but it is a mystery.
Setting aside the fact that the Heavenly Demon had such power in the first place,
the World Tree, the master of this world, had been imprisoned in a false world as the price for regressing a human named Yeon Il-cheon.
As the World Tree was imprisoned, all records and memories of its existence in the world disappeared,
leaving not even a trace that it had ever existed.
If it is true that the Heavenly Demon regressed me,
'then how can the Heavenly Demon still exist?'
What was the Heavenly Demon I saw yesterday?
Could it be that she is not receiving punishment?
'And above all.'
If she had such power, she could have regressed herself.
Why did she bother regressing me?
Furthermore, hearing Wi Seol-a's words,
it seems Wi Seol-a cannot do such a thing, but the Heavenly Demon could.
'That means...'
Doesn't it mean the Heavenly Demon's power was greater than Wi Seol-a's?
It was something I had once mused upon in passing.
The Divine Sword was strong.
I hadn't fought her directly, but at least I could see from afar how strong Wi Seol-a had been in her prime.
She was strong.
She was truly a powerful martial artist whom I dared not fight, one I could say with certainty I could not defeat—
but 'the Heavenly Demon... could the Heavenly Demon really have been weaker than the Divine Sword?'
If asked whether the existence called the Heavenly Demon was weaker than the Divine Sword,
I could hardly answer.
That existence truly seemed to be of a different caliber.
That is why, when I heard that the Heavenly Demon had died near the end of the final war,
alongside the faint peace that had settled in a corner of my heart, a question had arisen.
The question of how the Heavenly Demon could have died.
"The more I learn, the more questions pile up, even as they seem about to be resolved."
Just when I think I've finally learned one thing,
the world throws another secret at me.
"As if... it had been waiting for me to unravel its secrets."
"..."
At my suffocated-sounding voice, Wi Seol-a said nothing.
"Even you have to be like this?"
"...Young Master Gu."
"You said you don't resent me. That you're sorry. Then..."
"I'm sorry..."
Wi Seol-a apologized to me once more.
"I want to tell you everything you're curious about... everything I know."
"Then just tell me."
"..."
If she knows and wants to tell me, she should just tell me.
What this shitty world wants from me.
What the Heavenly Demon's intention was in regressing me. It should just tell me everything.
Everyone seems about to say something, only to close their mouths.
"Just..."
"I have no more time."
"What?"
My mouth, which had been trying to force out words in frustration,
snapped shut at Wi Seol-a's single sentence.
"What did you say?"
A bitter smile rose on Wi Seol-a's face as she confirmed my reaction.
No more time?
"What do you mean, no more time?"
"...Now, I no longer have the strength left to tell you the stories you would be curious about. The matter of the Heavenly Demon was my limit."
What is she saying right now?
It felt even less comprehensible than when she spoke of the Heavenly Demon moments ago.
No more time.
"...I'm sorry... for not being able to tell you more."
"Wait... what do you mean? Are you saying you're going to disappear?"
"I've endured for a long time even now. Since this is her body, I cannot strain it."
Hadn't the current Wi Seol-a said that she was borrowing the body of the Wi Seol-a of this life?
"...Then, then what about the girl who was originally here?"
"I've put her to sleep for a while. This child will learn of it someday, too... but it's not a story I wanted to tell her now."
"Then, are you really saying you're going to disappear?"
"..."
"Answer me...!"
She didn't answer, but
I could hear the silent answer in Wi Seol-a's smiling face.
Suddenly,
Wi Seol-a's hand touches my cheek.
It is cold.
"I've never seen such an expression before."
What expression am I making for her to make such a face?
"I like it. Being able to see this face too."
"H-...how much time do you have left? A few years?"
"..."
"If not that, one year? A few months?"
If not, there should have been at least a few days left.
If even that was not left,
then this is truly a shitty story.
"Young Master Gu..."
"When you said earlier that I would regret it, was it about this?"
"It's not that... I didn't think you would regret it because I'm disappearing..."
"What could be more regrettable than this?"
"..."
Wi Seol-a flinches at the firmly uttered words.
"If you go back inside the body and rest, will you get better? Then go back in right now."
"...I'm sorry."
"Please... stop with those damned apologies and tell me if there's a way."
I wanted to shout, but I forced myself to hold back.
I didn't remove the hand touching my face either.
I merely looked into Wi Seol-a's trembling eyes.
What expression am I making right now?
All I know is that it is definitely not a normal one.
Wi Seol-a, looking at me, smiled again.
"Stop smiling... what is there to smile about in this situation?"
"How could I not smile?"
The hand on my cheek moves.
Should I call it a caress?
"You are looking at me and worrying about me."
"...Then should I curse at you instead?"
"We are this close. You are touching my cheek."
"..."
"Do you know?"
Damn it all, she smiles so beautifully. It leaves me speechless.
"This was my dream. More than peace for the world. This is what I must have wished for."
Her voice trembles.
"Why didn't I know that?"
"...Then you can have it now. If you don't disappear..."
Wi Seol-a's eyes curved even more at the words I had unwittingly spit out.
"That is greed."
"What's wrong with being a little greedy? Everyone lives with greed."
She must have lived her whole life without a single greedy thought.
Such was the life of the Divine Sword.
So what if she were a little greedy now, even just now?
Though I spoke such words, Wi Seol-a merely shook her head.
"...It is also an attachment."
As she spoke, Wi Seol-a slowly withdrew her hand from my cheek.
"I have been very greedy. I even once thought of taking over this child's body."
"..."
"Could the Young Master tell me to do such a thing?"
The answer that arose in my heart
could not leave my mouth.
The notion of the Divine Sword entering and usurping the body of the Wi Seol-a of this life.
Since they were the same existence, one might think it possible,
but could I say she would become the same person as the current Wi Seol-a?
The answer would not come out.
"I thought the Young Master would be unable to answer."
"...That."
"That is why I am glad. That you are that kind of person."
"...You."
"This life belongs entirely to this child. There is no place for me to interfere. That is why this moment, meeting you, is like an attachment to me."
Wi Seol-a takes a step back.
"My regrets are fading."
"...Regrets?"
"The regrets of wondering what might have been if I had met you differently, if my life had been just a little different. They are being erased through this child."
"..."
"I know of Young Master Gu's efforts. That must be why I remain all the more attached."
That I had strived to be different from back then.
She must have seen it all.
"That is why I can no longer stay here."
"What does it matter... If you don't want to interfere, you can just watch."
"I cannot do that. And even if I could, I would grow greedy. I would want to feel that happiness directly."
Two more steps back.
I took a step forward to close the distance.
No. I tried to approach, but I couldn't.
"...!"
A faint light began to emanate from Wi Seol-a's body.
Anxiety surged within me.
For some reason, I couldn't approach her.
******************
The woman looked at the man.
Even within her blurring vision, his face was unusually clear.
The man shouted.
"You...! Wait!"
He had the face of one flustered by the sudden situation.
So I can see that kind of face too.
Today, there have been many faces I've seen for the first time.
That made it all the better.
Suppressing her swelling emotions,
the woman speaks.
"I did not want to say goodbye like this. I knew there was no time left... and if possible, I did not want you to find out."
All of those actions—
because her very existence might become a shackle to him.
That is the woman's reason.
"...Still. To think I can be happy to have met you like this, even at the end—I feel that is a blessing."
The karma of defying fate and twisting cause and effect had accumulated in her soul,
and if she disappeared like this, she would undoubtedly be punished.
The woman was terribly afraid of this,
but she did not show it.
She looks into the man's eyes.
His face is a wreck. Is what has welled up in the corners of his eyes tears?
Probably not.
I have never seen him cry.
'No... perhaps when she died, did he not cry?'
Might he have cried when the Demonic Sword Empress died?
Such petty jealousy arose even at this moment.
Recalling that, the woman speaks.
"I am not in a position to dare ask this of you, but... I have two requests."
Even as the woman spoke, the man was struggling desperately to move.
His efforts are pitiful, but he will not be able to move.
It is the process of the world enforcing karma.
Simply being able to witness that with his own eyes is remarkable.
"Please cherish this child dearly..."
The unspoken follow-up, 'as much as you could not for me,' was not attached.
Because she did not wish to burden him.
The other request is,
"...Please call this child by her name."
The man who had been forcing his body to move,
Gu Yangcheon, flinches.
Not once.
Not even once had Gu Yangcheon ever called someone by their name.
He and everyone else had been the same in that regard.
The reason for this was unknown.
If one were to hazard a guess,
perhaps it was because he did not wish to keep someone precious enough to call by name by his side.
That was true for her as well,
but he was also a man of many fears.
Asking this while knowing that seems selfish and shameful, but
she thought that perhaps it was a request she could make at least in this moment.
Yet, excluding the women around him,
to voice this request solely for this child
was the only selfishness she could allow herself.
Fsssk...
She feels herself crumbling.
It is not her flesh collapsing.
It is the sensation of her soul vanishing.
So this is what it feels like for a soul to disappear.
What remains after disappearing?
Whatever it may be, he will not be there.
'That... would be very sad.'
At the thought that arose even now, the woman smiled.
Regrets still remained.
There were too many words she could not say to him.
She could not say she had missed him.
She could not say the most important words.
That she had liked him.
Dared to say she had loved him.
The woman could not bring herself to utter those few words.
Because she knew what heart the man would harbor if he heard them,
and seeing that he would suffer because of her words, she forcibly swallowed them.
This was enough.
'I am sorry to you.'
Words spoken to the young self sleeping within.
There was much she wanted to tell her,
but it seemed there was not much time.
Still, she was envious.
Of the young self who would live a life with him—
a life she herself could not have.
With such thoughts, the woman closed her eyes.
Then.
Rip—!
With the sound of something tearing,
a warm hand appeared and embraced the woman.