Silver Dragon Legend – Episode 9
At Sawolrin’s words, Sawolma furrowed his brow.
“You’re saying we should let such a clueless child into the cult on a whim?”
“Ahem!”
At Sawolma’s words, Sawolrin coughed once and pulled a note from her bosom, beginning to read.
“Name: Eunjehwa. Age: estimated at eighteen. Lives in a very small village near Innyeong of Sin’gang and makes a living by hunting. Distinctive features are silver-tinged hair and pupils, and a very beautiful appearance. An orphan with unknown parents. Since being discovered in the village at a young age, could sleep in snowfields without issue and is called a child of the Snow Woman.”
Having read that far, Sawolrin turned to Sawolma and said again.
“Isn’t this enough to let him into the cult?”
Her eyes sparkled.
‘If only she would fix that ditziness, that dirty personality, and that hot-headed temper…’
Sawolma, muttering to himself with an inward sigh as he looked at his daughter, scowled and spoke.
“I presume that this Eunjehwa is a master of the Banro Hwandong realm. An eighteen-year-old who casually crushed the First Rank of the Heukwoldan? At that age, even a once-in-a-century prodigy would barely be able to use Bangeomgang. So, the answer is no.”
At those cold words from Sawolma, Sawolrin began to whimper.
“Hic… Hic…”
Sawolrin’s attempts to hold back tears looked exceedingly pitiful, but to Sawolma, she looked like the Grim Reaper. Why was she suddenly about to cry again!
“W-Wolrin! H-hang on!”
“Waaaaaaah! Waaaaaaah! Heeeeegh!”
Though Sawolma urgently called out to Sawolrin, it was already too late—Sawolrin had begun to cry loud enough to shake the Cult Leader’s residence.
“Keuk!”
Watching Sawolrin cry herself into a frenzy, Sawolma’s face turned pale.
Normally, once those floodgates opened, she would cry for at least three days straight; aside from when she slept, ate, or hiccupped from exhaustion, Sawolrin truly cried without stopping.
“W-Wolrin.”
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
Sawolma called again with a trembling voice, but Sawolrin ignored her father’s pleas and continued to cry.
If she were merely throwing a tantrum, he could coax and appease her, but once she started crying like this, there was truly no solution.
While Sawolma was at a complete loss, Demon Brain Akseha, the military advisor of the Cheonma Divine Cult, opened the door to the office and entered with a blank expression.
To Sawolma, this was like a ray of light—a saving hand.
“Military Advisor, come quickly and calm Wolrin down.”
At Sawolma’s words, Akseha looked startled, then smiled faintly and said,
“You seem busy, so I will take my leave.”
At Demon Brain Akseha’s words, Sawolma’s face turned pale.
“M-Military Advisor! Wait!”
“Farewell.”
“Don’t abandon me! Military Advisor!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaah~!”
Sawolma let out a desperate scream as he called out to Akseha, who was leaving the office, but Akseha only hurried out of the room. As for Sawolrin, she simply kept crying whether her father screamed or not.
“Military Advisor, what is the matter? You said you had urgent business and went to meet Father…”
Black Dragon Sawolmu looked at Akseha, who was leaving the Cult Leader’s residence with an urgent expression, and asked with a puzzled look.
He was Sawolrin’s older brother, and at twenty-one years of age, he had already reached the realm where he could use Bangeomgang.
Normally (with the exception of Sawolrin), he feared nothing; he had been on his way to the Cult Leader’s residence to meet his father, the Cult Leader, but when he saw Akseha—who had gone ahead of him claiming urgent business—coming out, he couldn’t help but look puzzled.
“You are quite fortunate, Young Cult Leader.”
“…?”
“The young lady is crying inside at this very moment.”
“…”
At Akseha’s words, Sawolmu’s face stiffened.
“Is that true?”
“Yes, which is why I, too, fled.”
At Akseha’s words, Sawolmu let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew… That was a close call.”
“Indeed.”
“I’ll have to avoid the area for the time being.”
“Yes.”
It seemed even the Demon Brain of the world feared Sawolrin when she was determined to cry.
“Hic… Hic… Really? *Sniff.*”
“Yes, so please, stop crying. Will you?”
The great Cult Leader of the Cheonma Divine Cult, Sawolma, accomplished what even Demon Brain had surrendered to.
In the end, he granted permission to allow Jehwa into the cult, and the moment that permission was given, Sawolrin astonishingly stopped crying.
Only then did Sawolma let out a sigh of relief.
‘I’m saved…’
Sawolrin wiped away her tears and asked,
“Can I go bring him here now?”
“Do as you wish…”
When Sawolma answered with a deep sigh, Sawolrin beamed.
“Then I’ll be right back.”
Watching Sawolrin immediately dash out of the Cult Leader’s residence, Sawolma muttered with a worried expression,
“Honestly… I worry about who in the world would take that child…”
***
*Yawn.*
Jehwa, sprawled out on the snowfield and yawning lazily, suddenly felt a presence and turned his head.
“Huh?”
“Hi!”
When he turned his head, a woman was greeting him as if they knew each other.
“Who was that again…”
“Huh!”
The woman looked shocked at Jehwa muttering blankly.
“Have you already forgotten me?”
“Hmmm… Aha! It’s the one from yesterday!”
Only then did Jehwa realize she was Sawolrin, and he clapped his hands.
“What, you forgot me after just one day?”
“Yeah.”
“…”
Sawolrin had protested with a displeased expression, but seeing him answer “Yeah” without the slightest hesitation at her rebuke, she made a blank face; soon she exclaimed in a fuss,
“You forgot a face this pretty after just one day?”
“Is it pretty?”
“…”
Sawolrin was utterly shocked by Jehwa’s indifferent words. She had never once considered that she might be outshone in beauty.
“I may look like this, but I’m called a pitiful little flower!”
‘A pitiful little flower is a bit much…’ It was true that she was called a flower, but there were all kinds of flowers. What deranged soul would call a demonic flower a pitiful little flower?
As Sawolrin shouted with an angry face, Jehwa examined her for a moment then drove a nail straight into her heart.
“I’m prettier, though.”
“…”
At Jehwa’s words, Sawolrin couldn’t dare muster a retort.
‘Is a man being prettier than a woman something to be proud of!’
For some reason feeling wronged, Sawolrin couldn’t bring herself to speak her thoughts aloud and chewed him out inwardly instead.
Seeing her expression turn quite sour, Jehwa tilted his head and asked,
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
‘He really is pretty…’
Sawolrin, who had been inwardly grumbling and cursing him out, let out a sigh.
That beautiful appearance held a purity untainted by the world’s filth, and the cruelty hidden beneath that purity seemed entirely disconnected; yet the boy before her was the very same master of pure cruelty she had witnessed yesterday.
Someone terrifying precisely because he knew nothing.
Jehwa looked at Sawolrin, who was sighing, and asked,
“Are you going to buy me something tasty again today?”
Looking at Jehwa’s eyes sparkling with anticipation, Sawolrin burst out laughing.
“Want to come with me? I’ll give you much tastier things than what I bought you yesterday.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow~”
‘Hehehe! Easy. So easy.’
Watching the delighted Jehwa, Sawolrin laughed sinisterly to herself.
This wasn’t taking him with her—it was abduction.
“So I have to go all the way to where you live?”
Jehwa, who had assumed they would eat something immediately, frowned at the realization that they had to go somewhere first.
Seeing Jehwa’s reaction, Sawolrin sighed and said,
“It’s only half a day away anyway.”
That was assuming Jehwa knew lightness arts. But unfortunately, Jehwa did not know lightness arts, and even more unfortunately, Sawolrin was unaware of that fact.
Naturally, Sawolrin assumed that Jehwa, who was far stronger than her, must know lightness arts.
“I’m hungry. Give me food.”
“…”
Sawolrin made an absurd face at Jehwa’s words, then tilted her head and asked,
“Should I buy you something tasty right now?”
“Yeah.”
“But we’re already far from the village.”
“…”
At Sawolrin’s words, Jehwa was crestfallen.
‘What a simple person.’
To think his emotions could swing so wildly over a single meal. Sawolrin thought Jehwa was a truly fascinating person.
It was then.
*ROOOOOAR!*
“…!”
At the sudden roar of a ferocious beast, Sawolrin’s face drained of color.
‘W-what kind of beastly aura is this…’
It was unmistakably the roar of a ferocious beast. But it was absolutely no ordinary beast’s roar.
While Sawolrin stood frozen at the roar, a massive white tiger appeared before them.
Gazing into the eyes of the gigantic white tiger, Sawolrin swallowed dryly.
‘I-it’s a spiritual beast!’
Seeing a tiger at the level of a complete monster, Sawolrin involuntarily stepped back.
*Grrrrrr…*
As the white tiger let out a low growl, Sawolrin was overwhelmed by its momentum and involuntarily stepped back again.
As a spiritual beast, the hide of such a white tiger was difficult to pierce even with sword qi.
‘Can I win?’
As Sawolrin watched the white tiger with extreme tension, it suddenly kicked off the ground and charged at the two of them.
‘Heok!’
Startled by the sudden charge, Sawolrin frantically tried to draw her sword, but realizing the tiger’s target was not her but Jehwa, she quickly looked toward him.
However, Jehwa showed no reaction whatsoever even as the white tiger lunged at him.
‘D-dangerous!’
Just as Sawolrin was about to cry out in alarm at the sight.
“Baek Ah!”
Jehwa smiled brightly and shouted cheerfully at the white tiger. At his cry, the beast landed softly before Jehwa and began rubbing its face against his chest.
At that sight, Sawolrin completely lost her balance and collapsed on the spot.
“What are you looking at?”
Jehwa scrunched up his face at Sawolrin, who lay collapsed and staring blankly at him.
“A-a tiger you… know?”
“Huh? Yeah, it’s our Baek Ah.”
At Sawolrin’s question, Jehwa smiled faintly and stroked the white tiger’s head. The massive white tiger called Baek Ah purred loudly, showing its delight.
“How can you possibly tame such a ferocious beast?”
It looked like no ordinary creature; how could anyone tame something like that?
“Was it about three years ago? After I saved it from being chased by wolves, it started following me? It used to be so tiny and cute… Now it’s bigger than me. Whoa! Hey, you’re heavy!”
Jehwa had been stroking the tiger’s head, but he suddenly cried out in alarm as the massive Baek Ah crushed him with its bulk. Happy to see Jehwa after so long, however, Baek Ah paid him no heed.
Sawolrin watched Baek Ah acting like an obedient puppy before Jehwa and felt like a fool for having been so tense for no reason.
As Baek Ah licked his cheek with its massive tongue, Jehwa laughed and said,
“That tickles, stop.”
Laughing, Jehwa spoke, and Baek Ah immediately backed away from him.
“Whew.”
Jehwa straightened up and said to Baek Ah,
“I’m following this woman right now because she promised to give me tasty food. Let’s meet again on my way back.”
As if understanding Jehwa’s words, Baek Ah nodded and let out a low growl.
“Good boy.”
Jehwa smiled at Baek Ah, then turned to Sawolrin, who was staring blankly at him.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Y-yeah.”
At Jehwa’s words, Sawolrin snapped to attention, nodded, and walked ahead.