After I refused Seomun Hwa-rin's proposal for the second time, her condition became a little strange.
Thanks to the extra time bought by Seomun Hwa-rin having traveled a greater distance than expected, I decided not to leave the cave immediately, but instead to scout a bit further ahead and confirm where the nearest village was.
After all, I couldn't live in these mountains forever. Besides, since I'd been kidnapped with some degree of planning, I had brought along a grain-avoidance pill… but I had none of the other necessities of life.
It was for that reason that I was retracing the path we had taken, following Seomun Hwa-rin's memories.
"Ah!"
Suddenly spotting something, Seomun Hwa-rin scurried over on her short legs and plucked several red things from the nearby underbrush.
"Look at this!"
"What is it?"
"Wild raspberries! They usually last until early summer, so they should be getting hard to find by now… but it seems a few of them have lingered a little longer than usual!"
Seomun Hwa-rin beamed as if she had stumbled upon an unexpected windfall. She held out her hand, palm full of raspberries.
"They're a bit scarce… but let's share them one by one."
"I'll eat them gratefully."
I gave a small bow of my head, then we took turns eating them one at a time as I asked,
"Still, you seem to know these kinds of fruits quite well? I know what wild raspberries look like, but I've always found them hard to spot in the mountains."
"Hmm. I suppose it's because I used to eat them often myself."
"You mean when you were still with the Seomun Clan as a child?"
"Indeed. I often used to run off to the small hill behind the house because I disliked martial arts training, or perhaps because I disliked studying. I would eat them often then, partly to stave off hunger."
So it wasn't simply a tasty food—it was food steeped in memories.
We continued walking along the mountain path, exchanging light conversation. The last wild raspberry, which we had been eating one at a time, stopped at Seomun Hwa-rin's turn.
"Mmm."
She furrowed her brow slightly, glaring at the berry, then, as if making a grand resolution, squeezed her eyes shut and held out her last wild raspberry.
"T-take this one! You eat it!"
"Huh? But don't you like them?"
"I've already eaten plenty! And…"
Seomun Hwa-rin paused to choose her words, then spoke with a solemn expression.
"Isn't it only natural for a mother to want to feed her child just one more bite?"
"…"
She still wasn't giving up, was she?
I watched her in disbelief, and Seomun Hwa-rin dangled the wild raspberry in front of my eyes with a sly smile.
"Come now. This is the last one. If you miss this chance, you won't get another until next year. However, if you become my son, I might be willing to yield it to you. What do you say? Won't you become Seomun Hwi?"
"Forget it. Senior Seomun Hwa-rin, you should just eat it yourself."
"Ah! How can you be so cold-hearted! …But if you insist so much, I suppose there's no helping it. I'll eat this last wild raspberry myself."
She looked like she might sulk, but in the end she popped the raspberry into her mouth and smiled with satisfaction.
Even as she said it, she must have felt a little regretful thinking it was the last one of the year.
I shook my head and continued on my way.
…At the time, I didn't know. That this was only the beginning.
***
It took a long while to walk, but at least I could make out the village's location from a distance.
It was a small village, and since we'd come this far, Seomun Hwa-rin's reputation probably hadn't spread here yet. I'd planned to cover my distinctive white hair and rent a room, but…
"I didn't expect an inn, but I never thought there wouldn't be a single spare room or house."
"No matter how small the village, there's usually at least one left. You've had a bit of bad luck."
There was nowhere to stay. Going back to the cave wasn't an option either, since it was already too late, so I just borrowed a barn and some bedding.
I handed over a generous stack of Iron Coins, and they gladly let me use it.
So I roughly swept away the dust and spread the bedding on top. Just as I was about to sleep, I figured I might as well loosen up my stiff body, and was swinging my sword in the clearing behind the barn when—
"Ahem, ahem."
"?"
Seomun Hwa-rin suddenly appeared, clearing her throat. She kept staring off into the distant mountains and started muttering to herself.
"Hoo. Since I have mastered the Fist and Leg Art, the Seomun Clan's Sword Art will die out with this generation."
"What are you suddenly…"
"Ahh. For the martial art of the Seomun Clan, once renowned for its sword mastery, to be buried so meaninglessly—as one who carries the blood of the Seomun Clan, as a single Martial Artist, this is a lamentable thing indeed."
"If you're bored, go inside and get some sleep first."
For a moment, Seomun Hwa-rin flinched, but then continued her awkward muttering as if nothing had happened.
"I wish someone else could learn it in my place, but I cannot just hand it to anyone. Unless it were my adopted son…"
"…"
Good heavens. So she's trying to lure me in with martial arts now? She wants me to become the Seomun Clan's adopted son?
I unknowingly made a strange expression as I stopped my sword. Whether she took this as an opportunity, Seomun Hwa-rin's words grew faster.
"Hoo. Though you are outstanding for your age, watching the martial arts of a rising talent sometimes makes me feel frustrated. Even if I don't know how to wield a sword, I know better how to fight, don't I? My mouth keeps itching to speak, but… it feels a bit much to give advice carelessly to someone who isn't even my child."
"…Hah."
Now she's even adding coaching to the mix.
What's a bit funny is that learning the Seomun Clan's martial arts, or having Seomun Hwa-rin coach me in martial arts, is something I already experienced entirely before the regression.
Even back then, I knew she thought especially highly of the Iron Blood Faction—particularly me and Seol Ri-hyang—but I didn't know it was on the same level as an adopted son.
I let out a snicker and began swinging my sword again.
"If I ever hit a wall, I'll think about it. However, it doesn't seem like that time is now."
"Ughk…!"
It was clear things weren't going her way. Seomun Hwa-rin ground her teeth and let out a strange sound.
After that, her not-quite-temptations continued.
The next morning, as I was buying necessary supplies and heading away from the Murim Alliance—
If she spotted anything that looked even slightly nice, she'd scurry over and gift it to me (most of it was things like suspiciously smooth stones).
When I found an inn in the next village and started training in a suitable open area, she'd casually drop by, offer advice as if giving me a taste, then cut off right at the crucial part.
And when I was quietly focused on Qi Circulation Meditation, she'd whisper in a voice dripping with cunning, asking if I wanted power.
In the end, I decided I couldn't let this go on, so I tapped the ground in front of me with a serious expression.
"Please, sit."
"Finally…!"
I let out a deep sigh at Seomun Hwa-rin's expression, so full of vain hope.
"As I've told you for the third time, I have no intention of becoming your adopted son, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin."
At my unexpected words, Seomun Hwa-rin's eyes trembled slightly.
"W-Why not? Didn't I say I'd share the good things with you first and look after your martial arts? I didn't say it outright, but of course I was planning to be a strong backing for you. You know well what it means to have a Harmony Realm martial artist behind you."
"Of course I know. It's precisely because I know that I'm saying this."
At my words, Seomun Hwa-rin's expression shifted here and there, as if she had heard something incomprehensible. The expression she finally settled on was one of frustration.
"Surely it's not because my appearance is too young that you dislike me…"
"That's not it. When you know someone's true age, what does their appearance matter?"
"…That's its own reason to dislike me a little. Then what exactly is your reason for refusing?"
"It's because I cannot be bound by the name of the Seomun Clan."
"Bound! Hah, it's true that I have more than a few infamous reputations attached to me. Perhaps if I were to raise the Seomun Clan's name again, I might bring shame to the honor of a family that fell as an Orthodox Sect. Perhaps even upon you as well."
She was right. If word spread that Seomun Hwa-rin was rebuilding the Seomun Clan, the Seomun Clan would be remembered as an Unorthodox family.
It was precisely because she hated that, that before her regression she had never taught the Seomun Clan's martial arts to anyone, nor claimed herself to be the clan head of the Seomun Clan.
Within her, the Seomun Clan had already been exterminated—a name that would end with her as its last.
…but now, it seems, she was feeling greedy again.
As I watched her with complicated feelings, Seomun Hwa-rin trembled slightly and continued speaking.
"But I hope you don't misunderstand. I am not trying to use you or, through you, to ride on the Tang Clan's reputation and wash away my infamy. If it becomes a problem, we can keep the fact that you are my adopted son a secret."
"I've never once thought you would use me in that way."
"Y-you said you knew my wish, didn't you? Your words are correct. I've already seen all the blood I will ever see in my lifetime—what would be left if I saw more? Even if it's not now, if I show that I have changed with time, things will surely get better little by little."
"It would take too long, and I don't think it would hold much meaning."
"Isn't it a good deal for you as well? Becoming a live-in son-in-law of the Tang Clan as an orphan must be difficult. Sister So-wol… ahem. You seemed to get along well with So-wol, but the other members of the Tang Clan won't be so friendly toward you, will they?"
Seemingly accustomed to calling Tang So-wol "sister," Seomun Hwa-rin hastily corrected herself, and I slowly shook my head at her.
"I get along well with my father-in-law. And while the Tang Clan is closed-off and often shuts out outsiders, they don't hold that strict standard against someone who's already come inside their walls."
"Kugh…! Th-then what about martial arts? If you become my adopted son, you can learn all of the Seomun Clan's martial arts—not quite on the level of the Five Great Families, but they were considered right below them!"
"…"
Honestly, this one was tempting. Before the clan's extermination, the Seomun Clan had been a prestigious sword family.
Seomun Hwa-rin herself hadn't been interested in martial arts as a child and never learned the sword, but… that didn't mean the power of the Seomun Clan's swords had faded.
Not quite a divine art, but at least a high-grade martial art. And among those, it would surely rank near the top.
…But even so, what couldn't be done couldn't be done.
As if severing a lingering attachment, I swallowed once and shook my head again.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you so stubbornly refusing? At least explain your reason properly."
"Because even if you rebuild the Seomun Clan that way, you still won't obtain what Senior Seomun Hwa-rin truly desires."
"What?"
Seomun Hwa-rin blinked with a blank expression. I calmly continued my explanation toward her.
"What Senior Seomun Hwa-rin desires is neither simply rebuilding the Seomun Clan, nor escaping the shackles of the Unorthodox Sects you've been deeply immersed in."
"That is…"
Seomun Hwa-rin must know it well herself. How many profound Realizations must she have repeated to reach the Harmony Realm, and to attain Rejuvenation through Bone-Exchange Rebirth?
I knew this because I had heard it from Seomun Hwa-rin before my regression, and had come to realize it subtly over our long time living together…
But to Seomun Hwa-rin, this must be a story that had already ended long ago.
It was just that, for now, her eyes had grown clouded at the fact that someone she didn't know about had inherited the Seomun Clan's martial arts.
"It's fine if you can't enjoy Wealth and Glory, and it's fine if things are sometimes a little hard—a life where you can be satisfied with small things. A life where you keep a good person by your side and continue pleasant exchanges. A life as a single person, as a woman, rather than as a Martial Artist. Aren't those the things Senior Seomun Hwa-rin desires?"
"…"
Seomun Hwa-rin, her small mouth tightly shut, looked at me with trembling eyes. Though her appearance was completely different, for some reason, in that unease, I could see the Seomun Hwa-rin from before the regression overlapping with her.
Perhaps that was why. The tension between my brows loosened on its own, and a faint smile formed on my lips.
"The reason I wish to help Senior Seomun Hwa-rin is because my master would have done the same. And the reason I know what Senior Seomun Hwa-rin desires is."
With that, I gently took the hand of Seomun Hwa-rin, who had bowed her head deeply.
"Because Senior Seomun Hwa-rin and I are alike."
Before the regression. When I had asked her why she taught me so many things and treated me so well, Seomun Hwa-rin had answered with a bitter smile.
She said I resembled her. That was why she kept finding her eyes and hands drawn to me.
The words I had received back then, I could finally return them now.
A life reeking of blood, forced upon me. A life like ashes burned to the end, never thinking of what came after because I only stared at revenge.
And yet, even so, I find myself wishing for it again.
"Let's be happy together."
"Ngh?!"
Seomun Hwa-rin's face suddenly flushed red.
…Perhaps I misspoke.