The Regressed Young Master’s Guide to Living on Easy Mode

Chapter 46 : Blood is Thicker Than Water (2)

Early dawn.

Creak.

Yoo Su-a opened the side door and entered. And seeing the old man waiting inside, she hiccuped.

"Hic!"

"Su-a. Did you resolve the matter you went out for?"

"Yes, Chief Steward. I'm sorry for leaving without permission."

Here, Yoo Su-a was using the alias Su-a, without the surname Yoo.

"It's fine since you've returned. Come in and have some food."

"Yes."

"And rest today, and start working from tomorrow."

"No. I can work from today."

"Are you disobeying my words now that you're older?"

"N-no. Since I was away for three months, I thought I should work hard to make up for it."

The maids and servants working in the Heavenly Demon Hall had one chronic disease. That was that they would run away after working for about 5 years.

As the Chief Steward of the Heavenly Demon Hall, he understood their feelings to some extent.

It was the job of serving the direct lineage of the Heavenly Demon. How physically and mentally exhausting would it be?

And there was no particular way to express it.

And so, after enduring it for about 5 years, it would eventually explode. The result was running away.

As he gained experience in this, he could distinguish between those who would run away for good and those who would run away and then come back.

In the Chief Steward Gu's eyes, Su-a was one who would return.

Though it was true that Su-a was the only child who had run away for three months and then returned.

"Tsk tsk. You do know what you did wrong. Looking at your face, it seems you had a good time playing. But you weren't scammed outside, were you? It looks like you were scammed and ran out of money, so you came back."

"Chief Steward, it's me, Su-a. The youngest third-class maid of the Heavenly Demon Hall. Su-a!"

"You probably don't know because you've only lived inside the Heavenly Demon Cult, but the world outside is much scarier than you think. There are so many guys who deceive people with a smiling face! You've always had an innocent side since you were young. I'm worried. Next time you go out, let's go out together. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I'll think about it."

"You won't say you'll go out with me even if you die."

"That's because you're too old, Chief Steward."

"Haha. I'm still active, you brat!"

"You sing about wanting to retire every day."

"Ahem! That's like a work song."

The first time the Chief Steward Gu had discovered Su-a was 5 years ago.

She must have been about five years old.

She looked even younger on the outside.

A child was standing in front of the side door of the Heavenly Demon Hall, sucking her thumb.

The Chief Steward Gu could understand the child's situation at a glance.

Because occasionally... very occasionally, something like this had happened.

Someone whose identity could not be revealed giving birth to an illegitimate child and secretly abandoning it.

That someone was presumed to be a person of quite high status. Because they had thought of abandoning the child in the Heavenly Demon Hall, where the Heavenly Demon resides, of all places.

And that someone seemed to be a person who knew him quite well.

Because no one used this side door except for him.

-Haha. This is quite a predicament.

At that time, the Chief Steward Gu had looked at the child and laughed in vain. He approached the child and held out his hand.

-Come with me. I'll make sure you never go hungry for the rest of your life.

The child, looking at him, left her good hand alone, tilted her head at the hand she had been sucking, and then held it out as it was.

The Chief Steward Gu, who had been lost in reminiscence for a moment, looked up at the sky. The sky was the same as it was 5 years ago. But the child who had just been sucking her thumb had grown up like this and had even gone out into the world alone.

"Time really flies."

The Chief Steward Gu, after Su-a had run away, had prepared for her return and had waited every day inside this side door whenever he had time.

"It's about time she's curious about the world outside."

To the Chief Steward Gu, Su-a was like a daughter he had raised himself, even though they were not related by blood.

"She's too good a child to just be a maid in the Heavenly Demon Hall."

The Su-a the Chief Steward Gu saw was not a child who would just do the work of a maid.

Su-a was different from other children. This was not something he was saying because he thought of Su-a as his daughter, but she was really somewhat extraordinary.

When she was young, her body was weak because she hadn't eaten much, but after coming here and being fed various things by him, she had become remarkably healthy.

And she had quickly learned the self-defense techniques he had taught her for the purpose of self-protection, and had developed them to the point of creating them herself like a martial arts technique.

Well, was it called the Reversal of Heaven? It was a strange name.

The Chief Steward Gu, seeing that, thought she might have a talent for martial arts and had even gotten her a martial arts book. Though it was just a basic one. Now, he couldn't even gauge where Su-a's realm was, even though he himself was a first-rate.

She had surpassed the first-rate in just 5 years, having learned only the basics of martial arts. The talent she possessed was too good to just be a maid.

"Should I recommend her to the Heavenly Demon?"

But in the Chief Steward Gu's eyes, Su-a still looked like the 5-year-old kid from when he had first met her.

If he were to tell the Heavenly Demon, she would be subjected to difficult and harsh training.

"Yes. She's still too young to be a martial artist. It might be different in about 8 years. I should assign her a new job."

She had been working only in the kitchen until now, so she must be tired of it. At that time, she was young, so it couldn't be helped, but now that she had grown up to some extent, it seemed okay to assign her a different job.

* * *

Since the end of the Divine Demon Tournament, it had become a rule to always have dinner at the Heavenly Demon Hall.

To be more precise, if I refused this, there was a strict order from the Heavenly Demon that I had to stay in the Heavenly Demon Hall, so I had no choice but to have dinner at the Heavenly Demon Hall.

As I headed to the Heavenly Demon Hall today as well, the warrior guarding the main gate greeted me.

"Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand years!"

Usually, this greeting was only for the Heavenly Demon or the one designated as the Heavenly Demon. But why was he giving me such a greeting? The reason was simple. Because I was the official designated Young Lord.

At first, I had refused a few times, but after receiving such a greeting so often, I was no longer bothered by it.

"Good work today too."

"Chung!"

Perhaps each and every one of these things was a sign telling me that I had to escape from the Heavenly Demon Cult as soon as possible.

I had thought I had about 8 years of leeway, but I had forgotten that variables always appear without warning, even though I had regressed.

You were complacent, Yoo Jae-ha! That's why your stomach was pierced!

I passed through the long corridor and headed for the dining hall.

When I opened the door and entered, a long table and a feast that filled it greeted me.

Of course, the Heavenly Demon and my hyung-nim were already seated. I bowed my head to the two of them.

"I'm sorry for being late."

For reference, I had arrived a good while before the appointed time. It wasn't that I was late. It was that those two were early.

"Yes. From now on, come early."

I answered immediately.

"Yes!"

Who in the Heavenly Demon Cult could disobey the Heavenly Demon's words?

From now on, I'll have to come twice as early as now.

As I sat down, the meal began.

Unlike before, the Heavenly Demon did not put side dishes on my rice. This could also be said to be a surprising development.

-I can eat by myself.

-Do you dare to dislike what I'm giving you?

-It's absolutely not that I dislike it! It's very good! But I wanted to say that I can also eat by myself.

-Yes. I understand.

However, since that day, the side dishes were somewhat biased towards my side.

Well, at first, this was also burdensome, but now I just live with it.

"Your progress in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is fast."

Cough, cough!

At the Heavenly Demon's words, which came out of the blue while I was eating, a grain of rice went down the wrong pipe for a moment, and I coughed.

"To be at the 4th star already, is there anything you need?"

Not only the Heavenly Demon, but my hyung-nim also chimed in.

"Yes! Little brother. You won the Divine Demon Tournament, but you didn't receive anything, did you? Among the past winners, you will be the only one who has not received anything! How about telling father on this occasion?"

"There's no need for this; if you just say you'll be the Young Lord, you can do whatever you want in the Heavenly Demon Cult."

"Father's words are a hundred, a thousand times right. If you just become the Young Lord, there's no need to take care of you separately like this. Because what belongs to the Heavenly Demon Cult belongs to my little brother."

"On this occasion, it wouldn't be bad to hold a council of elders and pass the Young Lord agenda."

"Father, shall we hold a council of elders right now?"

"The Grand Elder is out on another mission, but I have already received his power of attorney, so you don't have to worry."

"As expected of the Grand Elder. It's good that his work is fast. This is what you call experience."

What is the situation all of a sudden!

Weren't we just having dinner today!

If I just listen quietly like this, they're really going to hold a council of elders.

"I will go to the strategist right now and order a convocation of the council of elders."

"Why go through the trouble of doing that? You can just call the elders here."

"As expected of you, father."

It's real. I thought they were just joking, but these two were really talking about it now.

Tap!

I placed my chopsticks on the table.

The two's gazes gathered on me.

There is a certain flow. And I was confident that I was almost the best at reading this flow.

In fact, I had been in the position of the Young Lord, above all others, and I had also been in the position of a commoner with nothing.

And what I realized was that in this world, there is a great flow that you eventually reach, no matter how much you deny it.

To put it grandly, it could be called causality.

Simply, cause and effect.

What is created when these two are combined is the flow.

By winning the Divine Demon Tournament, I had blocked the great flow of my hyung-nim's escape, but I had become unable to resist the other great flow of becoming the Young Lord.

This was not a problem that could be refused just by refusing. Because someone had to be the Young Lord. And seeing the actions of these two today, I was certain.

That something big will happen soon. Of course, it will flow regardless of my will. The fact that they are doing this openly in front of me now is not asking for my opinion, but a kind of notification.

I had thought that these two were not alike at all. One was a blunt Heavenly Demon, and the other was an affectionate Young Lord. And their faces didn't even have any resemblance. I was certain that my hyung-nim had inherited the blood of his mother's side... but seeing the two of them now, they were just a spitting image.

This is why they say you can be a needle thief, but you can't be a seed thief.

It's a new realization. It was also an unwanted realization.

For now, I needed to stop those two.

Towards the two whose gazes were on me, I spread my five fingers wide and said.

"5th star!"

"5th star?"

"5th star?"

As expected of a father and son, their reactions are also the same.

"Yes. When I reach the 5th star of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art! At that time, I will become the Young Lord without any excuses. Because I don't think I'm qualified to be the Young Lord yet."

The Heavenly Demon was purely convinced.

"As expected of my nephew, a clear answer. Good."

My hyung-nim also nodded his head.

"Since my little brother's realm is now at the 4th star, it won't be long."

These two may not know, but there was a huge wall that I could never break.

That was the realm of the 5th star of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was divided into realms based on the 5th star.

Up to the 4th star was the Transcendent Peak.

From the 5th star was the Demonic Zenith.

Before my regression, I had not spared any means to raise this one realm, and in the end, I had to taste frustration.

The 5th star of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was like a wailing wall that I could never overcome.

The dinner was over.

* * *

The Heavenly Demon headed to the Heavenly Demon Hall to do the remaining work.

My hyung-nim also went to do the remaining training.

I was still in the Heavenly Demon Hall. At the words to sleep over today, I decided to sleep over, thinking of taking a hot spring bath after a long time.

As I soaked my body in the warm water and lay on the bed, the tension was released, and I became drowsy.

The current Heavenly Demon Cult was like a time bomb to me.

I couldn't know what situation would happen when. For now, I had bought some time.

The door opened, and a maid came in.

"Is there anything you're uncomfortable with?"

"Yeah. I don't need anything in particular, so you can go out and rest."

I said with my eyes closed. But since I didn't hear the sound of her leaving, I opened my eyes and looked towards the door, and there was a familiar face.

The maid closes the door.

She spreads a qi barrier throughout the room.

The room I'm staying in is a good 600 myo.

A 6-character square area is 1 bo, and 100 bo is 1 myo.

In other words, the place I'm staying in now had to be seen as having an area of about 600 bo.

How many Jiazi of internal energy would be needed to spread a qi barrier in a space of this size? A rough calculation showed that it would be at least three Jiazi.

Swish.

The maid, no! My junior sister approaches.

"I've been assigned a new job."

It was the first time I had seen my junior sister in a maid's uniform. I could tell at a glance that it didn't suit her.

"S-so?"

"I'm your dedicated maid."

"I-I see."

"That's great. This way, I don't have to take separate time to learn martial arts."

"T-that's right."

"Teach me the Heavenly Demon Divine Art."

The fact that I had bought some time was purely my own misunderstanding.

The day my stomach would be pierced was approaching at an exponential rate.

Three years passed.

* * *

Before I knew it, winter had come.

Rustle.

The snow falling from the sky melts as it touches my face. The cold sensation awakens my mind.

I had taught my junior sister everything except for the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Now, only the Heavenly Demon Divine Art remained. And I was still stuck at the 4th star of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

I had turned 15.

* * *

Yoo Su-a had something she always did when winter came. She secretly slipped out of the Heavenly Demon Cult and was strolling through the capital.

Originally, she was going to come out with her senior brother, but for some reason, he seemed to be down, so she didn't bother to say anything.

"Heehee! I'll have to surprise him."

Her senior brother would probably cheer up if he saw this.

Because this held memories with her dad.

Fortunately, the skewer-selling uncle was in the same place as before. However, perhaps because it was winter, only one last skewer was left.

"Oh no!"

Yoo Su-a stepped on a movement technique. Her movements were as smooth as gliding on water.

The people who were blocking her way in the middle were no obstacle to her at all. Arriving in front of the street stall in an instant, Yoo Su-a grabbed the last remaining skewer.

"Mister! I'll buy this!"

At the same time, a hand was also grabbing the skewer.

"Little girl, I grabbed it first."

Yoo Su-a tilted her head and looked up at the one who dared to snatch her skewer.

He was an ordinary middle-aged man with no particular features.

"Mister, I grabbed this first."

"Little girl, I was a little faster."

Yoo Su-a could tell at a glance that this middle-aged man was by no means ordinary, unlike his appearance.

'I didn't see his hand touch the skewer.'

But she was certain that she had touched it first.

"I can't give this up!"

"Haha. What to do? Me neither. But I can't fight with a young kid over a single skewer. How about a bet?"

"What kind of bet?"

"It seems you've learned some martial arts. If you can land an attack on me for even a single second, I'll give you this skewer. How about it? If you're not confident, you can give up the skewer and leave."

In Yoo Su-a's mind, the image of her senior brother, who had cheered up after receiving the skewer she had given him, came to mind. She could never give up this skewer.

"Alright!"

"Good. Follow me."

The middle-aged man would always come out to the capital and secretly buy and eat skewers when the first snow of winter fell each year.

That was because of a memory with his brother, the previous Heavenly Demon, that he could never forget.

Therefore, this was the Heavenly Demon, Hyeok Sa-wol's, only amusement.