Chapter 178 – Afterword (4)

“At first, I was against it. Unmarried woman. Let’s just say she’s my one and only daughter. I hope you don’t think too sadly.”

Seomun Seju Seomun Yulcheon. He, who has now become my father-in-law, opened his mouth heavily. It was hard to find the cold impression of him before, after losing one of his arms and passing quite a bit of time after the death of Danmun. A philosophical attitude radiated from his whole body. He didn’t seem to have simply lost his arm.

Thanks to this, I am now closer to President Dokgopae or his older brother Seomun Jeongcheon. I silently nodded.

“I understand.”
“She is a daughter who lost her mother at a young age. Because she was raised by her ugly father, who only knew her family, she learned to control her emotions rather than show them. The next family head of the Seomun family faces countless attacks. She thought that if she restrained her emotions, the more restrained she was, the better.”
“⋯Yes.”
“That child has changed since you disappeared.”
“It doesn’t seem like a big difference to me…”

If I wanted to, I could look into Yerin Seomun’s heart. However, the first thing he sealed as he crossed over into the world from the void was the ability to read people’s minds at will. Convenient, but the price is probably a loss of humanity. I did not want to give up my humanity and become a god looking down from above.

“I am hiding it from you. You’re playing the ‘past self’ you remember. It’s hard for me to understand.”
“⋯You mean acting?”
“It’s similar to what a child does to get attention.”
“Seomun Yerin is a grown adult.”
“In front of love, she is an adult and she has nothing. She marries for her family, inherits her heirs, and practices martial arts. Because she thoroughly lived for her family, it is very unfamiliar to me as I have never done a push-and-pull ‘dating’, but she is probably right.”
“⋯We need to talk some more.”

Seomun Yulcheon smiled softly. Certainly, people have become softer than before. She used to have the impression that even if she was cut by her sword, she wouldn’t bleed.

“That’s right. Conversation is important between couples. Even though it was an arranged marriage, it wasn’t that she didn’t love the child’s mother. Yes. Not to mention she has only one daughter. How would I have felt when such a child, she came to visit me and said, ‘I want to marry you’.”
“You must have been very upset.”
“As she said before, she dried up at first. Yes. She is the sixth wife. In fact, she is not a concubine. She is a father, of course. However, her daughter’s thoughts were already firm. She was ready to disown me if I didn’t agree.”
“I have no intention of treating her like a concubine.”
“⋯I guess so. I trust you will cherish her daughter.”

He let out a long breath, closing her eyelids narrowly.

“So that the worries of the father-in-law ⋯ adults are over. We will try.”
“How are you going to eat?”
“I’m thinking of doing it all at once in Protestantism. If she did it separately, unnecessary words would come out even with the order. I have no intention of doing it casually. Sooner or later, I will formally put a yeontong in Seomunsegae.”
“Is it. Thank you for caring.”
“No. It’s definitely something you have to do.”
“By the way.”
“Yes.”
“I hope to see my grandchildren as early as possible. Granddaughter or grandson, it doesn’t matter. I wonder if I’m already old, I’m young. You take away your only daughter.”

It was an unexpected thing. Master also hinted at a similar story the other day. In fact, they are all too young to have children from her. Except for one person.

“⋯I’ll try.”

I haven’t even slept with Seomun Yerin yet. She said politely.

“That’s it. Next time I see you, it will be a wedding. I can’t often catch someone who is busy with construction work.”
“It won’t be long. The preparations have already begun…”
“You will do well. I believe in you.”
“⋯Yes.”

***

My image was reflected in her ruby-like, transparent and beautiful eyes. It’s a very boring expression, but every time I look at it, it’s like a jewel. She looked at me blankly, then pursed her lips.

“Are you done talking?”
“It is over.”
“That.”
“That?”
“Opening up space.”
“Is there a place you want to go?”
“Fly.”
“Suddenly?”
“Huh.”

Words spoken suddenly. I’m pretty used to it now. I put my arm around Seomun Yerin’s waist and jumped through the space together.

Incheon to Paris.

One step was enough. Unlike Korea, which was at night, the sun was still up in the sky here.

“It’s really been rebuilt.”

Seomun Yerin muttered softly. In front of us was the completely reconstructed Eiffel Tower, just as it was before. Mars Square in front of the Eiffel Tower was full of people having picnics, as if trying to forget the scars of the past.

“Why are you here?”
“⋯When I was young.”
“Huh.”
“I came with my mother. Even if it’s faint, it’s my only memory.”

Is she a place of her own memories for her?

“The Eiffel Tower?”
“⋯Yes. I hope it has been rebuilt.”
“Would you like to go upstairs?”

The structure of the Eiffel Tower was almost the same as before. Even the convenience facilities including the restaurant on the upper floor were reproduced as they were. Preface Yerin shook her head slowly.

“No. I want you to see it.”
“Shall we go somewhere else to see?”

Although there were areas where the scars of the war remained, restoration was quick as it should be the capital of France.

“I want to walk with you.”

A somewhat unexpected request came in.

“Okay.”
“I want to hold your hand.”

I could feel the soft, yet warm touch of my palm. Suddenly Yerin, the preface, let go of her hand.

“Why?”
“⋯ Calluses.”

Seomun Yerin was a prosecutor. Even though she went up to the hwagyeong and she suffered a metamorphosis, it was enough time for her palms to become hard again when she thought of the fierce fight.

I grabbed Yerin’s hands and lightly kneaded them. Her pupils turned round.

“No?”
“⋯How?”

Divine power. Absorbed from the demon king and still obtained through people’s prayers, it was literally ‘the power of God’. God is a being who works miracles.

In terms of destructive power alone, it was difficult to say that divine power was better than martial arts, but it was quite useful in many ways. Of course, if you use the power of will, it should be possible even with martial arts, but the efficiency was different.

“It’s not that you don’t like it because it’s gone, right?”

Come to think of it, I wonder if I got rid of it too quickly without even asking. There are many people who regard the calluses of a swordsman as a wound of glory. Nine out of ten were men.

“No, fine. Thank you martial arts.”
“If you say that, you get confused about what kind of ‘martial arts’ it is.”
“Thank you, Mugong Kim.”
“⋯I was joking.”
“Huh.”

We held hands and started walking through the streets of Paris. No one recognized him because he was using a technique that distorted perception.

‘Paris’, as we often say, is a smaller city than we thought. It is not unmanned, but it is possible to walk around the entire city with the walking pace of ordinary people. For Koreans who are familiar with the Han River, the name ‘Sencheon’ would be more appropriate for the ‘Sen River’ flowing through the center. It was narrow enough to even think of that.

Instead of being compact, the density is quite high. This means that there are a lot of things packed into a small space.

As I was holding hands with Yerin, I frowned. It’s awkward to look at.

The obelisk in Concord Square was destroyed without a trace along with the square during the Great War.

What took its place was a statue of me that could be seen from far away. It was a very exaggerated form even from the posture. Guess who is not the country of art. The quality was really excellent, but it was a bit embarrassing to the person concerned.

“⋯Do I really need to install something like that?”

It is said that divine power increases a little, but anyway, the divine power I absorbed by killing the demon king was enormous.

“It’s nice.”

A small voice whispered from the side.

“That one? You’re exaggerating too much. It’s like you’re in for some kind of revolution.”
“⋯The real thing is better.”
“There is something I want to ask you.”
“Huh.”
“I know this kind of question, but why do you like me? Four years is quite a long time…”
“It’s cool, and I think I can rely on it. And.”

I stopped walking and Yerin Seomun stared blankly at me.

“Because you’re handsome.”
“⋯.”
“You hate me?”
“No, I was just curious.”
“It’s okay if you don’t love me.”
“What are you talking about? I signed the marriage registration because I like you too. If I didn’t like it, I would have refused in the first place.”
“Then.”
“Then?”
“Let’s go over there.”

Preface Yerin pointed her finger at the place. It was a place I knew because I had been so busy traveling around the world.

“Do you know where you are talking about?”
“Hotel. You can just go.”
“Huh?”

Before I could answer, Seomun Ye-rin had already taken my hand and entered the hotel. As soon as she presented her ID, her hotel staff escorted her to her luxurious suite. Roughly over 10 million won per night.

It’s money now, but the process was so quick that it was like roasting beans with lightning.

“Tell me if you want to rest. It doesn’t have to be here.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
“Did you prepare in advance?”
“Huh.”
“Why?”
“Only me.”
“Only me?”
“I just couldn’t. No. I will too.”

I thought I heard it wrong for a moment because of the distinctly different tone of voice.

“I couldn’t do it, could it be that?”

Nod Foreword Yerin made her loop with one hand and inserted the index finger of her other hand into her loop.

⋯I understood very well what it meant, even if I didn’t have to say it.