LE V1 (Main) C10-2
Chapter 10 - The Road to the Holy Land Namsan - Part 2
TL: Eevee
Ed: Isalee
"I understand."
There's almost no one on the streets.
I was almost expecting the standard fantasy tropes of villagers in trouble, or a child pickpocket aiming for me. Pity.
Of course, it wasn't like I was the one that would be doing anything about it. I'd leave it to Nakran.
"Is this road always so empty?"
"This district is the closest place to the holy land Namsan, so only high-ranking nobles and royalty may live here. In addition, you need Sunang-nim's permission to begin with. Tthere are very few residents living here."
So is it worth 'roundabout something like Gangnam Chundamdong(1) then. Seems like property there's expensive. The buildings are pretty big as well. Plus it's all under my name! It was given to me as my house after the trial.
"Now that I think about it, I know nothing about Sunang-nim and the other gods. Seeing as we have some time to kill……"
At my words, Nakran's ears and tail started twitching.
"I'm counting on you, Flute."
Nakran's steps are still as proud as ever, but her drooping ears and tail look so cute. Please understand, it's not that I want to tease you like this but Flute's been getting more and more depressed.
On the flip side, Flute's perked up significantly. Her expression's the same as normal, but I can tell. That's the aura of victory.
"The age called the prehistoric civilization disappeared due to unknown reasons, and the humans of the prehistoric era and their shining culture vanished with it. The next hundred or so years where there were no people but animals and monsters were called the Dark Ages."
"Monsters? You're telling me monsters exist?"
"Not within Seoul, but they are common in the forests and hills outside of Seoul."
Oh! So would they be the orcs and trolls you only see in fantasy?
I'm kinda looking forward to it. But it's dangerous outside of Seoul so let's not head out.
"And at the end of the Dark Ages, the four great gods opened the door of worlds and descended. The god of light and courage, the Angel God, created the angelkin, the god of darkness and wisdom, the Demon(2) God, created the demonkin, the god of nature and harmony, the Beast God, created the beastkin, and the god of guardians and foresight, Sunang-nim, created the dragonkin and gave them strength and intelligence."
"Do the other gods not have names?"
"The other gods supposedly had their own names as well, but they were lost because they fell into slumber. Before they slept, each granted their children a memento, the wings of light, 'Al', to the angelkin, the 'Horn' of darkness, and a companion of souls, 'Divine Beast', to the beastkin. Due to this, the dragonkin have no memento. Instead, they exist with Sunang-nim. The time where the Angel God, Demon God and Beast God began sleeping is where we move from the Age of Mythology into the Metal Age."
A similar analogy would the western calendar, where BC refers to Before Christ. It literally refers to the period before the birth of Jesus Christ. I think you'd be able to think of it similarly to that.
"Don't they call Sunang-nim the Dragon God?"
"Normally people did, but after the other gods fell into slumber, that person ordered them to stop calling her that. That was because Seoul is a district where all four races lived."
How nice. But that person doesn't do much anyway. Is there a need to care?
"So why did Sunang-nim stay behind?"
Was that person less tired than the other gods or something?
"That reason is not known, but for that reason, that person is even more respected. Because that person is still with us today."
Then again, some people gain strength just by having people by their side, imagine what it would feel like if you had a god; even if that god apparently does nothing.
In other words, I don't have to listen to that bullshit 'according to god's will.' As far as I know, even though there are cases of bullshit like 'according the Angel God's will~' getting by, no one ever uses 'according to Sunang-nim's will~'. Because that's blasphemy even more serious than open rebellion. And that sturdy existence has got my back. I can say I don't envy golden spoons(3) one whit at this point.
"Because of that, even emperors cannot pressure Jinsu-nim in the slightest. That would never happen, but if it did then they would be certain to make enemies out of Sunang-nim and the dragonkin. That signifies their demise on this continent."
"Sunang-nim aside, why the dragonkin?"
"The dragonkin worship Sunang-nim more than any other. Since Sunang-nim extremely stresses the importance of the prehistoric civilization, the dragonkin too treat the prehistoric relics like an absolute treasure. Pyongang-nim's case can be treated as special even among them."
When you think about it, the dragonkin are a blessed race. They don't have a memento they can lose to screw their entire lives over with. And they're the strongest race to boot. A race of golden spoons.
The fact that Pyongang has a Divine Beast is because she's half beastkin. If you look at it one way, it's balance OP, on another, it's a handicap.
"Nakran, is that really true?"
"Of course. If it's by Sunang-nim's command, the dragonkin would be ready to wage war with the world."
Nakran's words are filled with pride and confidence. It actually reminds me of the legendary words of the naval general who said, 'Your servant has twelve ships. Which country should we beat the crap out of?'
"Thanks. Even if I look like this, I'm weak, so please take care of me."
With a height of 178cm and broad shoulders, people think I was an athlete or something. But I'm nothing more than a ordinary person with next to no fitness or coordination. Plus this is a world where humans that would snort at Olympic gold medalists are everywhere.
If they so much as poked me I'd go 'urgh' and be sent flying.
"I will protect you even at the cost of my life."
"And I keep telling you to stop staking your life."
***
Meanwhile
The center of the holy city Seoul, the holy land Namsan
"Finally."
The tower was raised so high it seemed like it would pierce the heavens. Even while being buffeted by the wind, the unflinching girl looked due north and smiled.
"The long-halted gears are beginning to turn again."
When she closed her eyes, she could see him.
The possibilities belying that playful appearance were incomparable. The winds that buffeted her now would be nothing compared to the storms that he would bring, and would take them all ever higher.
"Even though my other friends slept, I could not give up."
The sole wish of her and her comrades. Something that they could not achieve, nor help with. But through her 'foresight' she knew of a person that would arrive to grant their wish. But not knowing how long that would be, her comrades fell to exhaustion and slumbered.
"And that wait has been rewarded."
She had waited a long time for this. And just as her foresight had predicted, he had come. It had taken a lot longer than she had expected, but she didn't want to blame him for being late. If anything, she wanted to thank him for appearing.
She had done everything she could. All of her efforts till now would blossom in his hands.
A smile traced the corners of the girl's mouth for the first time in a thousand years.
[][][]
Hey guys, a lot of the preceding chapters had me irritated at the un-gendered ways of referring to people, which as far as I remember English lacks. Should I just abide by the Rules of the Internet and assume male until stated explicitly from now on?
(1) District in Seoul, house prices there be expensive as f***.
(2) I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but the character 마 (魔) (ma) in most Korean and Japanese novels doesn't directly to 'demon' in particular, but the same character in 魔法 or 'magic.' So a word-to-word translation would be translated as 'magical/supernatural beings' but due to precedent, lack of a corresponding direct translation and the assimilation of Western values and tropes in terms of naming and appearance, means that 마족 is translated as 'demon' or 99% of the time, not helped by the fact the translation of the Bible uses that character (악마)and most post 2000-illustrations mostly depict them (or other 'magical monsters') as beings similar to Western demons and devils. Okay, finally got that off my chest.
(3) Similar to the English phrase 'to be born with a silver spoon in his/her mouth' but upgraded to gold, and used in Korean to describe people of privilege instead of just privilege by birth.