Chapter 314

"Did you hear it last night too?"

"What, that earth-shaking noise again?"

The voices drifting over from the next table drew Han Su-yeong's attention before she realized it.

The two men, who looked like traveling peddlers, had faces flushed red despite the daylight hour, and they were grumbling away.

"It's not just one or two days at this point — I'm about to lose my damn mind! What in the world is the country even doing about it...."

"What, you didn't hear? The army already issued a subjugation order ages ago, and they sent troops out several times. But every single time, every man was wiped out except for one."

"What...? Hold on, never mind sparing anyone — why leave just one alive?"

"From what I heard, they leave one alive so somebody can carry word back that the subjugation force was annihilated...."

"That's insane, what kind of...."

As the two of them traded gossip, another voice cut in.

"You boys are slow on the news, aren't you. The monster that's set up shop in the mountains over there — you still don't know what it is? ...That's the Black Calamity, the Black Calamity itself...!"

"Mmph."

Han Su-yeong nearly choked on a swallow at that.

She knew laughing right now would absolutely cause a problem, but a vivid picture of how Minerva would react to overhearing that title popped into her head, clear as day.

'Looks like she's planning to just wait it out until the time comes.'

The mountains were a solid two-day trip from the village.

For Minerva, of course, it was a distance she'd cross in an instant.

'...Still, there's a good fifteen days left.'

Han Su-yeong decided to keep things as positive as she could in her own head.

She pretended not to be listening while soaking in every word as they went on: a new master had moved into the mountains, the territory of the local monsters and beasts had been thrown into chaos, and since that pass was the only route troops could take, the village was effectively cut off.

"Here you are, miss. The items you asked for."

"Thank you. Take care."

Han Su-yeong took the daily supplies she'd ordered and, reluctantly, turned back the way she'd come.

It had only been about two weeks since she'd settled in the area, but she already seemed to be the talk of countless rumors — whether she knew it or not, her expression looked downright relaxed as she walked.

After a long stretch on foot, she finally stopped in front of a small cabin tucked away in a secluded spot outside the village.

"I'm back."

Knock, knock-knock, knock knock.

She tapped out the pattern they'd agreed on in advance.

A latch clacked, the door swung open—

"Oh, you were in the middle of a bath? Sorry, Rauné."

Rauné, wrapped in a handkerchief like a bath towel, peered up at Han Su-yeong with a vacant expression.

"......"

Rauné, who had answered the door, gave Han Su-yeong a crisp little salute in greeting, arm rising sharply in place.

Then it plodded back over to its enormous basin and sank itself back into it with a soft plop.

The handkerchief had been folded neatly and set down beside the basin.

For the past two weeks, Rauné had spent nearly all its waking hours in that basin to aid Yu Ji-hyeok's recovery.

Once its body had steeped enough medicinal essence into the water, she'd climb into a fresh basin and start brewing the next batch — over and over again.

Rauné had originally considered Han Su-yeong a trespasser who'd barged into its territory, but two weeks of nursing Yu Ji-hyeok together had brought them close enough to chat — close enough that Rauné had come to accept her. Opening the door so readily for Han Su-yeong, fresh in from outside, fell along those same lines.

"I'm back, Ner."

Han Su-yeong crouched and tapped the back of her hand against a shadow that was poking out in an oddly unnatural way.

The shadow stirred in response, swaying just slightly as if returning the greeting.

Rauné wasn't the only one she'd grown close to over the past two weeks.

"Ji-hyeok's... still asleep, huh."

Yu Ji-hyeok was still sprawled on the bed, dead to the world.

In truth, he'd regained consciousness several days ago, but that was literally all — he'd regained consciousness, nothing more.

It was a wonder he hadn't died on the spot from the wounds he'd taken.

For the sake of a quicker recovery, he'd opted to spend most of his time asleep, and Han Su-yeong had backed his decision by casting a sleep charm on him and even tracking down sleep-inducing herbs.

"Hup...."

After laying a hand on his forehead to check for fever, Han Su-yeong settled into a chair to rest.

Meanwhile, Rauné climbed out of the bath, soaked the handkerchief in medicinal essence, and scampered up onto Yu Ji-hyeok to dab it over his wounds.

In the middle of all this, something quietly slipped out of his long shadow.

None other than Minerva — who had announced she'd refrain from emerging in this past time period as much as possible. Only the top half of her body protruded as she studied Yu Ji-hyeok and nodded.

"...Hm. He'll be waking soon, that one. Su-yeong, bring out the thing this Minerva requested of you."

"Oh, right."

Han Su-yeong fished something out of her shopping basket at Minerva's prompt.

A stuffed plushie shaped like a dragon.

She handed it over, and Minerva turned it this way and that for a look before giving a satisfied nod.

"Mm."

Han Su-yeong took the plushie back and set it down on the table.

Minerva slipped back into the shadow — and the moment she did, Yu Ji-hyeok stirred and opened his eyes.

"......!!!"

At the sight of him conscious again, Rauné flung both arms straight up in joy.

The handkerchief fluttered along with the motion.

"...Rauné."

A smile crossed his face, and he managed to mutter the name in a hoarse, scraped-raw voice. Then he startled and grabbed at his own throat. Rauné, for its part, was equally startled.

"Hold on, Rauné. You'll kill Ji-hyeok at this rate."

"......?"

"Mmph."

By the time Han Su-yeong returned with water, Rauné was busily packing the damp handkerchief into Yu Ji-hyeok's mouth.

He couldn't even bring himself to look reluctant about it — he just sat there with his mouth open, letting Rauné do as it pleased.

"Here, water."

"Thanks."

Yu Ji-hyeok propped himself half upright and took the water.

He drew in one long breath, then asked.

"How long has it been?"

"Mm, about two weeks."

"...Must've been rough on you."

Han Su-yeong's face said what are you on about.

"It really wasn't bad. All I did was change your bandages and stuff. Master taught me how back when, and I've patched up Hyun-woo plenty of times too... and Rauné helped a lot besides me, anyway."

She brushed her fingers fondly over one of Rauné's leaves.

Rauné paid no mind and went on rumpling around with the handkerchief that had been in Yu Ji-hyeok's mouth, tidying it up.

"And, well... this place and the money and everything, Landschi put it all together. I was really just keeping you company."

"Yeah, I know."

Yu Ji-hyeok nodded slowly.

Maybe it was because he was still half-asleep — his eyes had a strangely hazy look to them.

"So I'm saying thank you."

"...Wh-what, come on. You're embarrassing me."

Han Su-yeong muttered the words as she snatched the plushie off the table and pressed it half-forcibly into Yu Ji-hyeok's arms.

A plushie? he started to mumble — when:

"Ah, aah. Ahem, mm. It seems to have connected properly."

The plushie's mouth moved, and Minerva's voice spilled out. Han Su-yeong stared at the plushie with open curiosity, and Yu Ji-hyeok, just as startled, picked it up.

"Minerva?"

"Mm. Your body seems to have improved. Seeing you in good health takes a weight off this Minerva as well."

For a second, Han Su-yeong found herself thinking, in a daze, that Minerva's voice really was beautiful — sweet beyond words. The next thought to follow was, '...then how much more beautiful must it sound to Ji-hyeok?'

"...Have you any notion of how this Minerva's heart has been wrung over you?"

The bare-faced honesty of it left both Yu Ji-hyeok and Han Su-yeong momentarily speechless. Han Su-yeong recovered first, her face faintly pink, and cleared her throat with a loud ahem.

"Anyway, Ner — you said there was something you needed to tell us? What's so important you wanted to wait until Ji-hyeok was awake?"

"Hmm, yes. I suppose that's the matter to address first."

The Minerva-possessed plushie nodded.

It glanced from Yu Ji-hyeok to Han Su-yeong and back, and said:

*"You remember, do you not? That this Minerva told you to cut into the fight while my past self and Juno were locked in battle?"

"I remember. Including how you said you'd explain it to me later."

"Indeed...."

The fluffy plushie nodded.

Then it tapped its little head at Yu Ji-hyeok and went on.

"You remember cutting the horn of the other me, do you not? And as you well know, this Minerva's horn never bore any such wound to begin with."

"Right."

Yu Ji-hyeok nodded.

He remembered that horn perfectly clearly, having once been skewered on it like meat on a spit.

More than that, he'd helped polish and care for that horn countless times at her request — there was no way he could've forgotten it.

"...However, after you cut the horn of the other me, this Minerva's own horn proved to be missing in the exact same place."

"...What?"

It wasn't a remark he could let slide; Yu Ji-hyeok sat himself upright before he realized it.

Han Su-yeong's eyes went wide too, and her face settled into a serious, contemplative look. Rauné, perched beside them, had no idea what was going on but went ahead and made a serious face along with everyone else.

"So what you're saying is — the past you know and this time period are getting tangled together?"

"Hmm. You could say so."

Minerva nodded.

"However, this Minerva's memory is far from intact, so I cannot pinpoint what has changed and what has not. But there is one thing I can say for certain...."

"...That we don't need to be so paranoid about whether the future's going to change?"

"Precisely."

Minerva nodded at Han Su-yeong's casual interjection.

"We've been trying our best to avoid doing anything that could seriously affect the future. That's why you didn't push the fight, Ji-hyeok, even when you had items that could exploit Venus's and Juno's weak points. But going by what Ner's saying, there's no need for that at all. Whatever we do here is already what becomes our timeline's history."

She started to explain, slowly but in a clear voice.

"You know this too, Ji-hyeok — the reason we've been trying not to mess with the past is the risk of ending up in a world different from the one we know. A parallel world, basically. There's actually a theory about it. The moment a major variable gets introduced into the past, a new world branches off from that point... that kind of theory."

She let out a small sigh.

"To put it dramatically, even some trivial thing we do in this era could trigger god knows what. Nobody knows how a tiny change might snowball into a huge one. Well... want some examples? Like, we go back and suddenly Hyun-woo or Ivan is a girl, or someone we know is already dead, or we're villains in that world...."

She gave a small clap of her hands.

"But what Ner's saying is, our world stays the same no matter how much we intervene. So at the very least, there's no danger of getting dumped into some totally different parallel world. Of course, how we act in this era still affects the future, so that much we can't afford to forget."

She glanced at Minerva briefly before continuing.

"...Putting it bluntly, we could go back right now and there'd be nothing to feel guilty about. Except, then the past where Ji-hyeok and Ner met wouldn't exist anymore...."

"And if that came to pass, I wonder what would become of this Minerva."

Minerva's tone was matter-of-fact.

I might well have fought you to the death, that day.

"...Right. So a few things we're committed to still stand. Making sure you and Ner have that point of contact, for one. But that aside, we've gained a huge amount of freedom in how we act from here on out. And that's a massive win."

"......"

She wasn't wrong.

Aside from a handful of things to watch out for, the constraints on his actions going forward had essentially vanished.

"...Sounds like there's one more reason to go find Venus and Juno."

Yu Ji-hyeok muttered the words.

If that was the case, there was no reason to leave those two intact.

He could drive them to the brink of death and seal them off here, then return to his own time and finish them off — that's what it came down to.

"Hm? Did someone come by?"

While Han Su-yeong got up and walked toward the door, Yu Ji-hyeok was deep in thought about what to do next, what he ought to be doing. His brief contemplation, however, ended almost immediately.

"Uh... Ji, Ji-hyeok? You should probably come look at this...."

The flustered note in Han Su-yeong's voice made him wonder what was up, and he started extending the World Tree's Branch to serve as a prosthetic. He'd just begun to pull himself out of bed when:

"Leave Rauné. Just you, Ji-hyeok — can you come out alone...?"

The instant she said it, Minerva detached herself from the plushie and dove back into the shadow. Even Yu Ji-hyeok could tell that line wasn't directed at Rauné or himself but at Minerva.

Who the hell could've come for her to be that flustered?

Thinking that, he got up and stepped out of the room.

"What the."

A massive black shape filling the view outside the door.

Han Su-yeong beside it, looking around with the same flustered expression.

A pile of wild boars and deer heaped in front of them.

[You look a fair sight better than I expected.]

Minerva.

The Minerva of this past had come all the way out here.

"...What brings you here?"

Yu Ji-hyeok asked, forcing down his surprise.

Surely she wasn't here to fight him right this minute — that was what he was thinking when:

Thud.

Something heavy dropped to the ground.

He looked over, and it turned out to be a massive bear.

[A gift for your sickbed.]

Minerva said it and stared at Yu Ji-hyeok intently.

He was still flustered, but he managed a small bow of his head toward her.

"Uh... thanks. I'll gratefully accept the gift."

He met the eyes of the dragon looking down at him, and asked.

"...But you didn't really come all the way out here just to drop this off, did you?"

She reacted to his question with sharpness bordering on extreme, and let out a derisive snort.

[Ha! Truly a thought befitting a lowly mortal. You think this Minerva would stir for such trivial business?]

She looked down at him with eyes of a slightly deeper crimson.

[Fifteen days have passed since that day.]

She muttered it like she could barely contain her anticipation.

[The agreed-upon term ends in just a few days. I came here to see whether you might break your word and run.]

A threatening venomous mist curled from her slightly parted jaws.

Thankfully, she had no intention of unleashing it yet.

At least, not yet.

[After all, in a week, the one month we agreed upon will be up.]

"...Huh?"

Yu Ji-hyeok caught something off about that and asked her back before he could stop himself.

"What are you talking about?"

[About what?]

"No — a week from today doesn't add up to a month."

[Foolish creature. Can you not even count?]

Minerva shot back as though astonished.

[A week past fifteen days makes a month, does it not.]

"......"

Yu Ji-hyeok shut his mouth.

Han Su-yeong, who'd been standing nearby just in case, made an expression beyond description, and only the enormous dragon was wearing a triumphant look.

And inside Yu Ji-hyeok's shadow, watching her past self, Minerva was groaning in agony.

[S-seven times three is twenty-one... seven times four is twenty-eight, you blockhead....]

It was all the more wretched a voice for the fact that it would never reach her.