novelraw Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Chapter 31
『 Translator – Divinity 』
“Cheok Gyo-woon, why didn't you just do that sooner?”
“……”
Cheok Gyo-woon also suddenly had nothing to say and quietly averted his gaze from Cheon Ha-seong.
Watching Cheok Gyo-woon, Cheon Ha-seong thought that you truly never know about people.
It was the moment that Cheok Gyo-woon, who he had thought would be the biggest problem candidate of this batch, was reborn as the most trustworthy candidate.
The atmosphere was good, but for some reason, Cheok Gyo-woon kept recalling his own misdeeds and sneakily excused himself. Cheon Ha-seong thought the time he had been waiting for had finally returned.
‘Finally, I can do what I want without worrying about what anyone thinks. I never knew it would be so difficult to get some time like this!’
Thinking that something else might happen if he delayed, Cheon Ha-seong hurriedly ran towards the hall where he was staying. Then he entered his room, locked the door, and spread out the Pattra Leaves on which the commentary was written.
‘Who could be the person who hid this in the Martial Arts Academy? Listening to what the Cult Leader said, it doesn't seem like they were an ordinary person. How much of the commentary's content did they understand? It would be nice if I could find out if my understanding is correct. But seeing as there's no problem executing the techniques according to the mnemonic verses, it seems I'm understanding it properly…’
However, he couldn't be certain.
On the contrary, it seemed he had been most confident when the depth of his knowledge about the Heaven-Shattering Will Art was shallow. He had wondered why people couldn't master something so easy and had felt that it didn't seem difficult for him.
But after dueling with the Cult Leader, there was a moment when he realized just how powerless he was. To find the answer to how he should prepare if such a moment came again, Cheon Ha-seong recalled the mnemonic verses and the commentary.
Then he decided to once again properly organize the mnemonic verses he had seen on the wall. It was a task he had kept meaning to do but had postponed because other things kept coming up.
Fortunately, there was plenty of paper there, so he could do what he had thought of without postponing it.
From then on, the mnemonic verses that had been carved on the wall were written down fluently. It was to the point where it felt as if someone were reading the verses to him from the side.
Cheon Ha-seong, who had been writing fluently, had a few moments where he hesitated. It wasn't because he couldn't remember the next verse. He was hesitating because he wanted to mark something more.
‘What were those regular markings on the wall? It's strange to see them as naturally occurring marks…’
Then Cheon Ha-seong began to mark them down on the paper. If they had no meaning, it seemed it would be fine to erase them later and create a separate copy of the verses.
However, after marking them on the paper, the regularity became a little more apparent. The spacing was uniform.
‘What is this? Could something like this be in the original copy too?’
Then Cheon Ha-seong thought that if he saw the original copy, his question would be resolved to some extent. However, the original copy was with the Cult Leader, and it didn't seem the Cult Leader had the capacity to worry about such things right now.
‘Right. It's my greed. It would look like I'm going to a burning house just to satisfy my own greed.’
In the end, Cheon Ha-seong gave up on the idea. Then he decided to first finish writing down all the mnemonic verses.
He hadn't thought he would need so much paper, but as he worked, there was no end to it. He had thought he was starting to run out, and then all that paper really disappeared.
Cheon Ha-seong, wanting to finish what he had started, stood up from his seat. It was because he remembered that there had been a lot of paper in Seo Hyo-eun's room.
With that thought, when Cheon Ha-seong went up to the second floor, Seo Hyo-eun was continuing the work she had been doing before with an unwavering posture.
A few books had been pushed to the side, and in their place were piles of newly written papers. They were spread out to the side as if to dry the ink, and it seemed she hadn't rested at all in between, as they were piled high.
At the thought that she was taking on that difficult task solely for him, Cheon Ha-seong felt his heart grow warm.
Even though Seo Hyo-eun knew Cheon Ha-seong had come, she did not raise her head. She was so tired and drained of energy that everything felt like a bother.
“Why don't you take a break while you work?”
“I want to, but who knows what might suddenly happen again. This is also a difficult task for anyone but me to do, and it's hard to ask someone else.”
Cheon Ha-seong approached from behind, feeling sorry for Seo Hyo-eun.
Then, he placed a hand on her back, and Seo Hyo-eun, wondering if a gentle mood was being created, stopped the hand that was holding the brush.
However, Cheon Ha-seong, not knowing what Seo Hyo-eun was expecting, placed his hand on her Gate of Life and slowly infused his energy.
It was something he had never done before. He had almost never even considered that he could transfer his energy by infusing it into an opponent. He thought it might be theoretically possible, but not something he could dare to imagine doing.
Even when he first placed his hand on Seo Hyo-eun's back, he hadn't intended to do so. But seeing her suffering so much alone, he felt sorry for her and wondered if he could provide even a little help.
So he had thought he should at least try to see if he could send his energy flowing into Seo Hyo-eun, and the energy slowly began to flow in.
Seeing Seo Hyo-eun's body stiffen, it seemed she had noticed it too.
“Head Instructor Cheon, you don't have to. Don't waste your energy on me for nothing. I can just hide if something happens.”
Seo Hyo-eun said, but Cheon Ha-seong did not stop.
At first, it was simply because he was thinking that what he had attempted for the first time was succeeding. But later, the reason changed.
He was surprised because Seo Hyo-eun was much weaker than he had thought.
‘It must have been tiring. She must have been very tense, too.’
That was his first thought. But when he wondered if it was simply a problem of physical exhaustion, he felt a little doubtful.
As he was thinking it seemed to be a more serious problem than that, his mind suddenly snapped to attention.
‘Surely, it couldn't be that, could it?’
What came to his mind was whether Seo Hyo-eun was pregnant. However, he thought the possibility of that was likely low.
‘It was only one time, wasn't it?’
Cheon Ha-seong barely remembered what he had done during the one night he spent with Seo Hyo-eun. He had only learned that they had done everything because of the traces left on his own body and Seo Hyo-eun's attitude.
‘Pregnancy from just one night… Right. It is possible, I suppose.’
Once his thoughts reached that point, Cheon Ha-seong's heart began to beat like crazy. So, from then on, he generously infused his energy.
It wasn't as if it would wear out and disappear anyway, and he could replenish his internal energy again if he did Qi Circulation Meditation.
Seo Hyo-eun, who had at first told him not to do it, saying it would be harder on him, also grew quiet at some point. After being continuously tired, she was filled with new energy and felt she could live.
Cheon Ha-seong also noticed that Seo Hyo-eun was gently accepting his energy and entrusting her body to it, and he felt good.
“This feels really good, Head Instructor Cheon. You can stop now. Really.”
Seo Hyo-eun said after a long while. At that point, Cheon Ha-seong was also thinking he should probably stop.
When Cheon Ha-seong took his hand off her Gate of Life, Seo Hyo-eun turned to look at him and asked.
“You knew how to do this too? If you knew how, why didn't you do it for me before?”
“Why would I do it for you, Head Instructor Seo? Talk about taking the liver from a flea. You could have just asked the Cult Leader to do it.”
“Ah, right. That's true. I should ask Father for some spiritual elixirs. You saved my life and you saved Father's life, didn't you? So it's good for Father too if you get stronger quickly.”
In truth, she was being greedy because she wanted to provide even one more thing for Cheon Ha-seong, who had become her person.
Cheon Ha-seong casually asked about what he had been curious about.
“Head Instructor Seo, have you perhaps not felt like your body has been heavy lately, or like something is coming up from inside?”
Cheon Ha-seong brought it up based on things he had overheard from others.
It seemed he had occasionally heard some of the married Head Instructors say such things when their wives were with child. Seo Hyo-eun, who at first looked as if she were wondering what he was suddenly talking about, suddenly stared into the air.
She seemed to have guessed what Cheon Ha-seong was getting at and was thinking about her own body's condition.
Then she suddenly started folding her fingers as if calculating something, and her eyes and mouth gradually widened.
“Why…?”
“Come to think of it, I don't think I've had that. I've always been really regular. It started on the same day every month without fail…”
Feeling awkward, she couldn't speak clearly and trailed off, but it seemed she was talking about her menstruation.
It felt as if Cheon Ha-seong's heart was beating even more fiercely.
“Did I hit the jackpot on the first try?”
At Cheon Ha-seong's crude words, Seo Hyo-eun's face contorted as if she were dumbfounded, and she stared at him.
“No, but. I am pretty amazing, aren't I?”
For Cheon Ha-seong, whose expressive ability was severely lacking, that might have been the best way for him to show his joy.
“Head Instructor Seo, this isn't the time to be like this. Shouldn't you be lying down right now?”
“Shouldn't we find out in more detail?”
When Seo Hyo-eun spoke as if it weren't certain, Cheon Ha-seong told her to stay put for a moment and then quickly disappeared.
Seo Hyo-eun shook her head, wondering where he had that kind of energy left, even after infusing her with so much of it just a moment ago.
Then, wondering if she really was with child, she looked down at her own stomach.
If you counted the days, it hadn't even been a month since she spent the night with Cheon Ha-seong, so there was no way her belly would be showing.
‘Haven't I been moving too vigorously until now?’
She hadn't paid any mind to it at all before, but now she suddenly even felt sorry.
“From now on, I'll move slowly and carefully.”
Seo Hyo-eun said, stroking her stomach. Then, thinking that at a time like this she had to finish that work quickly, she hurried to organize the content of the books.
Cheon Ha-seong becoming her partner alone would provoke countless people, but imagine if the Cult Leader's grandchild were to be born on top of that.
Wouldn't it be natural for the Cult Leader to want to pass on his position to Cheon Ha-seong for the sake of his own flesh and blood? If that fact were to spread, Cheon Ha-seong's life could truly be placed in a critical situation, like a lamp in the wind.
It would be right to see it as something that was destined to happen.
Not long after he left, Cheon Ha-seong returned. Next to him was the Cult Leader, who had a face just as surprised as Cheon Ha-seong's.
Seo Hyo-eun was a bit dazed, wondering if he had really finished explaining everything in that short time. She couldn't even imagine what Cheon Ha-seong, who had no talent for speaking, could have said.
Looking at her father's face, it seemed he had heard the story.
“Hyo-eun-ah… Is that… Is that true?”
“Father…”
Seo Hyo-eun, a little ashamed that this had happened before she was even married, blushed. At that, the Cult Leader strode over and hugged her tightly.