Our gazes turned to Geomhu, and this time Sehei stepped forward and shouted.
“Master knows nothing! Try touching her, I dare you!”
“Sehei-ssi. Do you consider that a defense?”
Who in the world defends their master by so boldly declaring them a fool?
“I have no intention of touching her. I don’t want to suffer a counter from the Celestial Reflection Technique. I’ll just ask. What command has been issued to the Zodiac Twelve Palaces?”
“Can’t say. It’s top secret.”
‘I sided with my disciple, not with the other side. I owe the empire nothing, but I have a sense of duty. I won’t betray them like this.’
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Geomhu’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. It was the poker face of the Celestial Reflection Technique. Had I not read her mind, I would have thought she was an emotionless person.
Sehei spoke on Geomhu’s behalf.
“Master doesn’t care much about the empire’s orders. She received nothing from them. She came here for another reason. It’s because the Sword Saint vanished here.”
Sword Saint? Come to think of it, Geomhu had come in from the start asking about the Sword Saint’s whereabouts. And the Sword Saint had seen Sehei and said he wouldn’t kill her since she was his former colleague. There must be some relationship between them.
Reading Geomhu’s thoughts is all well and good, but first, let’s hear what the world says.
“Hilde. You know gossip well, right? Do you know about the relationship between Geomhu and the Sword Saint?”
“Could you call it information gathering instead of gossip? Honestly, anyone would think I’m someone who just digs up gossip with nothing better to do.”
That’s exactly right.
“Geomhu and the Sword Saint are from the same school~. The previous Virgo Palace Lord, who is also Geomhu’s mother, brought the Sword Saint in and taught him. Originally, the palace only accepted women, but recognizing his talent, she had a special house built outside the palace for him to live in! Under the Virgo Palace Lord’s guidance, the Sword Saint’s skill improved by leaps and bounds. He achieved the rebellious heavenly karma and became the youngest to join the Zodiac Twelve Palaces!”
“Rebellious heavenly karma?”
“Yes! It’s called rebellious heavenly karma when one who has not reached the principle defeats a master in a fair duel! It’s an event that has only occurred a handful of times in this long history!”
He defeated a master without even reaching the principle? That’s near impossible.
A master possesses ‘ri’—the power to twist the principles of the world and enforce their own mental image. That advantage is worth more than having an extra pair of arms. For a master to lose to a non-master in a fair fight is a terrible shame and a stigma that would follow them for life.
“Not long after, Geomhu also ascended to the Zodiac Twelve Palaces. It’s a rare thing for schoolmates to join the Twelve Palaces side by side. So the rumors grew large!”
“Then, that means Geomhu came to find her senior brother, the Sword Saint’s whereabouts.”
“Most likely! …Oh dear?”
“But we blasted the Sword Saint out of the Earth, didn’t we? Perhaps she came here to avenge the Sword Saint?”
Everyone stole glances at Geomhu, but her expression didn’t change one bit.
The poker face of the Celestial Reflection Technique remained unshaken even after hearing gossip that covered a miserable truth. Geomhu’s body showed no sign of reaction.
However, her mind was a bit different. The mind concealed by the Celestial Reflection Technique…
“Wrong. Master isn’t here to avenge the Sword Saint. It’s because she created and endlessly trained in the Celestial Reflection Technique to defeat the Sword Saint.”
“Defeat the Sword Saint? I thought they were from the same school? Is there some grudge?”
“It’s not a matter that can be simply called a grudge or a school bond. However, Master intends to show the Sword Saint that this world isn’t easy.”
‘Even that? How did she know?’
Her true feelings, which she had never spoken of to anyone, were laid bare by this person pretending to be her disciple whom she’d met for the first time today. The confusion in Geomhu’s heart only grew.
Guessing that feeling, Sehei made a resolution and spoke.
“I’ll explain exactly how I know that. Everyone here is someone I trust, so….”
Sehei, who had been glancing alternately at Cheongtapju, me, and Geomhu, suddenly discovered Hilde wedged between us. Hilde scratched her head with an awkward smile, and Sehei's expression slightly crumpled.
“There’s one person who isn’t, but it’s too late to pick and choose now. Master, I’m a returnee.”
She’s revealing it. Even after traveling with me for months, she had never disclosed it, but as soon as Geomhu arrived, she confesses right away. Hmph. Not that I’m disappointed.
Sehei’s explanation was, uncharacteristically for her, concise and adept. It’s probably because she had given similar explanations many times in previous loops. Cheongtapju and Geomhu had been Sehei’s allies in past iterations, and Sehei continued her explanation comfortably, as if she had returned home.
“When I die, I return to a certain point in the past. And I start a new loop with my memories from before dying. So far, the world has been destroyed many times by the King of Sin, and each time I returned and acted to reach a different future.”
Sehei mentioned the apocalypses she had seen in various futures and said that the King of Sin would soon appear, and the world would soon be dyed in darkness.
Just a few months ago, no one had believed Sehei’s prophecy. That was natural. If someone suddenly claimed the world would soon end, they would only be treated as a cult prophet.
But now that ‘the big sister’ had awakened, Sehei’s prophecy was sufficiently plausible.
“The reason I confess this is that both Elisha and Master were people on my side in the past as well. And Hughes has been on my side since this loop.”
“Wow. Am I also on Sehei-ssi’s side~? I’m honored~!”
“No, you’re not. You were my enemy from the start, remember?”
After speaking coldly, Sehei completely changed her expression and approached Geomhu.
“But Master, from the moment we first met, you were on my side. When I participated as a mercenary in the Conviction War, you gave me brief guidance and said you were sorry there wasn’t enough time to teach me more. I remembered those words and searched for you. And every time, Master, you believed me—a complete stranger—and took me as your disciple.”
“Because of the Celestial Reflection Technique.”
“It’s because Master’s art, the Celestial Reflection Technique, even when I returned to the past, held the traces of training intact. Though you may be bewildered and unable to believe it….”
Sehei said, gauging the reaction.
It’s a pretty outrageous statement.
Geomhu is the Virgo Palace Lord and had never taken a single disciple in her life. If someone suddenly appeared and claimed, ‘I’m your disciple,’ what could she say? You can’t accept someone as a disciple just because they’ve mastered a technique you never taught. The head might understand, but the heart wouldn’t.
Even if Geomhu could accept her as a disciple, she wouldn’t be a real disciple. It would have been right to raise her affection a bit more before confessing. Sehei, as always, seems to have jumped the gun this time too…
“I believe you.”
Huh?
Geomhu immediately extended her fist. That fist, carrying the subtle principles of the Celestial Reflection Technique, was too slow and gentle for an attack. Sehei reacted with the Celestial Reflection Technique. Slowly, as if matching the rhythm rather than countering. The two fists met in the air.
The Celestial Reflection Technique met the Celestial Reflection Technique. The moment they clashed, counters followed counters endlessly. Hooking and pulling with the hand, lightly shaking off and thrusting, coiling and deflecting. It wasn’t a terrifying aura, but the exchange of moves was so rapid and sudden that it couldn’t be counted.
Meanwhile, their exchange continued. At some point, Geomhu stopped her fist. Sehei’s fist also stopped.
“Through a thousand exchanges, the sequences are identical.”
“There’s more after that too. It’s something Master newly taught me.”
“Right. I see. You… are my disciple.”
The sequences carved into the body were perfectly the same. When the Celestial Reflection Technique fought against itself, the ensuing exchange continued endlessly. This was impossible even with precognition or mind-reading.
There were even unknown sequences that Geomhu hadn’t yet created. Those were things past Geomhu had developed while teaching Sehei. Sehei’s body held insights of Geomhu that had yet to arrive.
Geomhu extended her arms toward Sehei. Sehei suppressed her surging emotions and leaped into Geomhu’s embrace. This time, the Celestial Reflection Technique didn’t activate. The two embraced deeply.
I read the thoughts coming from Geomhu’s heart.
‘How hard must it have been…?’
What?
‘How many decades of experience are melted into that body? To have gone through that grueling training, yet still failed and died, only to start again… My goal seems so trivial and laughable compared to this child.’
What is this emotion?
Geomhu had clearly seen Sehei for the first time today. She had just barely recognized her as a disciple through the Celestial Reflection Technique.
And yet, she was deeply empathizing with Sehei’s existence!
Isn’t she Geomhu? The master of the Celestial Reflection Technique who repels all attacks? Is it okay to believe someone you’ve just met today so easily? Her empathy is off the charts!
“In my Celestial Reflection Technique, there remain insights that Master from the past engraved. Later, as we continue the sequences, even the insights will…”
“No. You are my disciple. Not my secret manual.”
She’s not even beating around the bush and refusing. I can’t understand it at all.
If she trusts people like this, then what does that make me, who uses mind-reading to slowly build affection, leave impressions, and then strike from behind?
“Then is the Sword Saint matter okay? Since we blasted him out of space.”
“You did?”
“To be precise, the Demon Lord did it.”
Upon realizing that the Sword Saint’s fate was unknown, Geomhu showed no significant disturbance. Her feelings for her junior brother ran so deep, yet she had no such bond for her fellow disciple. That’s even more surprising.
“It’s fine. That’s enough.”
“It’s enough?”
“He had no rivals. The world was fragile handiwork to him. Even laws could be cut down with a single sword stroke.”
That was indeed the case. With his ability to freely expand his principle, he was not bound by the laws of the world. If the Sword Saint had aimed for annihilation, everyone here would have died. Only someone like the Demon Lord could have opposed him.
“But he was not the pinnacle. There is a power in the world that can oppose him. There are rivals. He must have realized that, so it’s enough.”
‘I had intended to become that rival, but…’
…No. It’s not that Geomhu lacks a bond with her fellow disciple.
On the contrary, perhaps she empathized too deeply with the Sword Saint as well.