Chapter 362

M E M O R I Z E

There was really no need to ask. Now that we were in a full-scale battle, any rash actions were severely restricted. Which meant that he had to be somewhere in the camp we'd established near Barbara.

The clan members were all looking at me with anxious faces. But whenever I tried to meet their eyes, they would hastily look away. I let out a soft sigh and took a step forward.

"As your Clan Lord, I'm ashamed to have shown you you such a pathetic side of myself. Still... I'm truly grateful that you all came here despite being so busy."

"S-Soohyun."

"My condition is perfectly fine now. I'll go see my brother and the Queen of Swords later myself. For now, it would be best for you all to return to your posts."

"Th-then, if you're going, we'll go..."

Jungg Ha-yeon tried to stop me in a small voice, but I calmly shook my head. And leaving behind the still-hesitant clan members, I left the barracks.

I had no intention of changing the final outcome. If I had only taken trust, when it might have been neglect, struck me.

Right. I'll just go meet him. I'll meet him and hear what he has to say. With that thought, I walked quickly toward the area where the Third Squad's barracks were located. Even if Shin Sang-yong tried to avoid me like last time, I was determined to meet him no matter what, and I began to search through the barracks.

The Third Squad alone had well over two or three hundred barracks, but by asking the Users I passed, I managed to find Shin Sang-yong's. The moment I stepped into the barracks they pointed out, I saw him lying in a corner as if he were dead. Fortunately, it seemed he had remained in his barracks today.

Perhaps sensing someone enter, Shin Sang-yong, who had been lying motionless, turned his head toward me with great difficulty.

"Mr. Shin Sang-yong."

"Ugh...?"

Thinking he was still awake, I called his name, and soon saw Shin Sang-yong's eyes fly wide open.

"C-Clan Lord?"

"It's all right, you can stay lying down."

Finally seeming to register that I was here, Shin Sang-yong scrambled to sit up. But his arm immediately slipped, as if he had no strength in his body. I quickly went to his side and helpedped support him. At that moment, a sour smell suddenly hit my nose, and I guessed that he had just thrown up.

'He must be having a really hard time.'

Up close, Shin Sang-yong's face looked so pained it was alarming. His once simple-looking eyes were now utterly hollow and devastated. The pupils that once held a calm warmth had long since lost their light. Only a gaunt face and empty eyes that seemed to have fallen into an abyss stared back at me.

Shin Sang-yong and I stared at each other like that for a long while.

"User Shin Sang-yong, Are you feeling any better?"

"...."

"I heard you've been struggling."

"....HK."

At that moment, as if my words had touched something deep inside him, Shin Sang-yong suddenly bowed his head. It seemed he didn't want to see his haggard face, but a few tears eventually streamed down past his tightly bitten lip. He didn't even think to wipe them away, sobbing silently for some time.

Seeing the darkness that overshadowed Shin Sang-yong, so thick I couldn't bring myself to speak, I remained silent. And after what felt like three hours but was only three minutes, I could see the trembling in his shoulders gradually subside.

Finally, a hoarse voice drifted up from his bowed head.

"I don't know if you remember... but there's something you once told me, Lord."

"What was that?"

"When you feel you've hit a limit. You have to break through that wall with your own strength. Of course, the process will be difficult... but once you overcome that wall yourself, it will become a solid foundation beneath your feet."

I remembered. It was what I had told Jungg Ha-yeon and Shin Sang-yong when they first joined, when I was still in Mule. I nodded silently.

"Before I met you, Lord, I was always someone who prioritized my own life. I rarely left the city and lived my life seeking maximum safety... But after meeting you, and after living with all my comrades... I slowly, very slowly, started to think that I wanted to change. No, I think I started to feel that way."

From 'started to think' to 'I think I started to feel that way,' The words held a strange, profound meaning, and I inwardly held my breath.

"That was my reason for joining this war, too. That's why I acted so boldly to the Clan Lord and followed you here. But only now do I realize. It wasn't boldness, it was recklessness."

"......."

"I wanted to prove myself, no matter what... I wanted to show you that I could do it, that I could change... Haha. I guess a lost cause is always a lost cause."

"User Shin Sang-yong."

At my call, Shin Sang-yong slowly shook his head. A faint laugh could be heard at the end, but it was a self-deprecating laugh, thick with scorn for himself.

"I heard you collapsed. I'm sorry I couldn't go see you. I wanted to run over and check on you right away, but..."

Shin Sang-yong paused for a moment. Then, he slowly lifted his bowed head and showed me his face. A sorrowful smile played on his lips. Finally, his lips, which had stopped moving, parted again.

"To you, Clan Lord, of all people... I didn't want to show this side of myself."

And at those words, I immediately opened my mouth.

*

A faint moon hung in the sky. The dark, inky clouds and the halo around the moon foretold rain

for the next. Before entering my barracks, I calmly looked up at the sky. Suddenly, I felt a chilly night breeze wrap around my body.

A quiet energy filled the eastern camp. Yet, a gloomy atmosphere had settled over it for some reason. It was likely the lingering aftermath of yesterday's battle.

They said the Eastern forces had suffered their greatest losses yet since the start of the war. The confirmed death toll was 22. It seemed they had been unable to withstand a portion of the enemy's explosive barrage on the front lines. Of course, the enemy must have also taken heavy damage, but there was no way to confirm the details at present.

Personally, I found it rather ironic that a gloomy mood had fallen over us because of just 22 deaths. In the end, it all came down to morale. Having consistently held the upper hand in every battle until now, the fact that they had come close to a major defeat must have been quite a shock. Fortunately, since I had apparently dealt a huge blow to the enemy by turning back the Dragon Flame, it seemed our morale hadn't completely reversed.

"Tomorrow is the problem... Will we maintain our ground, or will the tables turn? But I don't think they can launch an attack like that again..."

"Mercenary Lord."

It was then. Just as I decided to stop brooding and get some sleep for tomorrow, a voice full of rich allure reached me.

"You aren't asleep yet. I'm glad."

"Lord of the Magic Tower?"

The woman who had called me was none other than the Tarot Card Magician, Seon-yul. She shrugged once, then nodded a couple of times.

"Isn't that a mouthful to say? I'd be very grateful if you just called me Seon-yul."

"It's late. What brings you here?"

"Oh, my."

When I immediately asked for her business, a wry smile appeared on Seon-yul's lips. Then, as if to meet my expectations, she began to speak very quickly.

"Alright. I came to see you, Mercenary Lord, for a total of three matters, both official and personal. First is your request to transfer a User. Second is because I have a personal apology to make. And third, I have some news to deliver."

"The transfer request... Are you on your way back from the squad now?"

"Yes. Someone else was supposed to deliver the news, but since I had business with you anyway, I took care of it at the same time."

I stared at Seon-yul, who spoke as fluently as flowing water, with a renewed sense of wonder.

"Besides, I'm not the type to leave work unfinished and go to sleep. Is this a bad time?"

As Seon-yul gently raised her eyes to meet mine, I sighed and scratched my head. To be honest, it wasn't an interruption at all; I welcomed it. Because I was the same way.

"Whew. About the transfer request... It's been decided. I ask for your understanding, Lord of

the Magic Tower."

"If it's about User Shin Sang-yong, I know him well. I've been watching him with great interest. Anyway... well, I'll approve the transfer. But there's one thing I want you to know, Mercenary Lord."

"And that is...?"

"If you've heard the rumors surrounding Mr. Shin Sang-yong, I want to tell you that they're false. I can vouch for that."

The strange rumors about Shin Sang-yong were about how he frequently left his position during the march. That, combined with his attitude of not participating—no, of being unable to participate—properly in battle, had led to some unpleasant rumors spreading.

"Regardless of what people say, Mr. Shin Sang-yong has participated in every single skirmish we've had so far. As long as he could endure it, he, truly, truly fought with all his might."

But since I already knew the rumors weren't true, I simply nodded in response. Seeing my reaction, Seon-yul continued in a low voice.

"So, the transfer issue is settled... Now for my personal apology."

"Did you do something wrong to me, perhaps?"

"Yes. Do you remember when you had your fortune told by me?"

"I do."

"After you left, I took the liberty of laying out the rest of the cards. I couldn't interpret them, of course... but I'm sorry."

"Is that all?"

I couldn't understand why she came all this way to apologize for simply looking at some cards, but I figured it might be something related to her class. And since she said she couldn't even interpret them, it wasn't anything to worry about.

"I only did it for fun anyway. There's no need to apologize."

"Fufu. I'm glad you think so."

Pleased with my answer, Seon-yul let out a subtle laugh and began to close the distance between us. When she was just two steps away, she suddenly held out her hand. In her hand was a single, rectangular card.

"This is a gift. For you."

"Isn't this... one of your exclusive magic cards, Lord of the Magic Tower?"

"This is the very last of the fifteen cards you drew that day. The first twelve are cards I always use, but the thirteenth through the fifteenth are not. You can think of them as tools that assist in the fortune-telling, like the clock I showed you."

"But still..."

"What's important is that this card is useless to me, but it might be necessary for you, Mercenary Lord."

Her words were sudden and vague, but I swallowed the refusal that was about to leave my throat. After a moment's hesitation, I calmly reached for the card. I couldn't feel any magical reaction from it, and even when I looked with my Third Eye, no special information appeared. I had no idea how a card like this could possibly be helpful, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to accept it.

The card she handed me was face down. As I held it and gave it a little shake, Seon-yul shrugged again, as if to say I could do as I pleased. For a moment, I debated whether to look at it, but I decided that since I had it now, just looking at the picture wouldn't matter much. It wasn't like I had seen the other cards it connected to, and the chances of me being able to interpret it were extremely low.

So, I immediately flipped the card over.

The card depicted a man and a woman. The woman was particularly prominent in the illustration; with her wings, she appeared to be an angel. At first glance, the angel had a blank expression, but upon closer inspection, she was shedding a single tear. And held in the crying angel's arms was a man.

If I had to point out one peculiar thing, it was that the angel's wings were dyed black.

"Oh, right. Mercenary Lord. I almost forgot, I said I had news for you, didn't I?"

Had I been staring too intently? Her voice sounded dreamlike as I took one last look at the angel and began to raise my head. The moment my gaze locked onto the angel's face, I was at a loss for words.

"Huh...?..."

"We haven't announced it to the other Users yet... Fufu. It's good news. We've finally received word from the North and the South."

I didn't know why, but the moment I saw the angel's eyes, a familiar face suddenly flashed through my mind. This is...

"Seraph?"