Chapter 1437. Continental War (17)

"What... is this?" Sung Ji-Hoon asked.

"Ask her yourself, Mr. Ji-Hoon," I said.

"..."

"..."

'Geez... at least, ask the questions yourself.'

It seemed he still didn’t have the courage to speak to Lady Brush on his own. Fortunately for him, Lady Brush’s gaze happened to fall our way. Moving over discreetly, she walked up next to the Holy Sword Hero and me. Then, she looked up at the wall.

The names and words written densely across it felt far larger than they appeared.

"These are my friends who built this place with me and fought beside me. You could call it a kind of tradition. Whenever we do something, we would all carve our names there," Brush said.

"..."

"Even though we ended up scattered, we’re active all over the continent now. Of course, there are friends who have gone to places where we can never see them again," she continued.

"So that means..."

Lady Brush answered the Holy Sword Hero’s question with a slight smile. It was a natural-looking smile, yet it looked so painfully bitter.

"Then, this whole place was made by people like you... is that what you mean?" he asked.

"Yes. Right after the war broke out, everyone had to hide. Later, we resolved to fight and went out into the world," she answered.

"..."

"The Black Rose Salon wasn’t created by me alone. Strictly speaking, it exists and has grown because of the young ladies whose names are written here and the many others who helped us grow," she added.

"

Ah

, then the others..." he asked.

"They’re all walking their own paths. Some are serving as officers or soldiers in the allied forces, some are working as mercenaries, some joined the Magic Tower, and some even became citizens of the Republic.

"Even so, the reason the Black Rose Salon has yet to be discovered is that everyone still treasures this place.

Ah

... there are even people who secretly support the salon," she explained.

'Yeah, figures. They seemed to be living a little too comfortably.'

“...”

I had no idea what kind of connections they had, but their resources exceeded what would normally be available.

Naturally, it was only reasonable to think that the young ladies of the Union, including Lady Paint, were helping this place.

The fact that there was even a young lady who became a citizen of the Republic was surprising, but it doesn’t feel particularly strange.

During war, the boundary between good and evil would become vague.

She could have started feeling doubts about the behavior of the Union of Kingdoms, or perhaps she felt the Republic treated her better. Since the Republic didn't discriminate based on one's status, birth, or gender, I felt like this could be the reason she decided to become a citizen of the Republic.

In a nutshell, their choices were born from many different reasons, but the important part was that those who had decided to become a part of the Republic were staying silent about the Black Rose Salon's location.

‘There are still ties left, after all.’

“

Um

... by young ladies, you mean...” Sung Ji-Hoon asked.

“It means noble young ladies. You may not believe it when you look at me now, but I was once a promising noble young lady of high society,” she answered.

‘That’s a lie... You were the troublemaker of society.’

It felt like a bit of liveliness returned to Lady Brush’s face for the first time in a while.

"When the young lords saw me, they would line up to ask me to dance. Since I wasn’t bad at dancing, it was only natural that they wanted to dance with me.

"Of course, my fellow ladies at the salon had an influence too. In fact, the name Black Rose Salon was taken from the name of the salon that the ladies and I had used together at our debutante ball. It was truly revolutionary.

"Whenever the ladies of our Black Rose Salon entered the ball, screams would erupt, and it would always be absolutely chaotic," she added.

"..."

Of course, it lasted only a short while.

"That was already four years ago," she added.

Her face darkened, and it looked as if she had recalled a bad memory.

The Holy Sword Hero’s expression was the complete opposite, fascinated by what he just heard. Naturally, he would be interested. If what Lady Brush said was true, it meant noble ladies who had only danced at balls had fought for all this.

"..."

"This is truly..." he muttered to himself, and then he looked at Lady Brush again with wonder.

"Weren’t you afraid?" he asked.

"..."

"I mean, back then... when you all decided to fight together," he clarified.

"Of course, I was afraid. How could I not be?" she answered.

"..."

"..."

"My friends were braver, wiser, and more capable than I was, but I truly had nothing. To be honest, I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to run away. I was failing at magic, I couldn’t perform the basics of fencing, and I wasn’t smart like the others. I was just someone who passed the time reading books in the mansion. I was a bit dumb and completely ordinary," she replied.

"..."

"Every day I talked big. I talked about changing the world, and I talked about how I would prove my ability to everyone if the chance ever came. I even thought the Union of Kingdoms, and by extension the whole continent, was unjust.

"Maybe it was because I read so many seditious books back then, but I went around acting up despite knowing nothing," she added.

‘Ji-Hoon looks guilty.’

"I never worked as hard as the others, and I was never as brave as the others, either, so what could I have possibly done? The only reason I survived those many incidents was that I was scared. I can still remember trembling so much that I couldn’t move... but someone I knew threw herself into them," she said.

"..."

"My jaw froze so I couldn’t make a sound... but someone I knew screamed until her voice broke. I wanted to run away immediately... but someone I knew chose to trust everyone," she added.

At this point, I had no choice but to say something.

"Still... in the end, you didn’t run away either, Lady Brush."

"..."

"..."

I saw her face as she stared straight at me.

"You still fought together, shouted together, and struggled together. That’s why the Black Rose Salon exists now," I added.

I could see a faint smile on her lips.

"Yes, that is true," she said in agreement.

"..."

"I guess I have grown a little,” she said.

'No. You didn’t grow just a little. Look at Ji-Hoon’s face.'

He was looking at Lady Brush the way someone would look at those truly remarkable. Of course, she really was impressive, but to him, she seemed even larger than life right now. It had to be like looking up at a giant.

A timid noble lady who once did nothing but read had grown and grown until she became a hero. From his point of view, what story could strike deeper than hers? Meeting Lady Brush could very well become his second turning point in life.

"I must’ve talked about too many pointless things. Would you come this way? I’ll show you the place where you can stay," Brush offered.

"Okay."

"Will you be sharing a room?" she asked.

"Yes. Mr. Ji-Hoon can’t sleep if I am not there," I answered.

"D-don’t say that!" Sung Ji-Hoon shouted.

"Why not? You said it yourself. You said you couldn’t sleep because of nightmares. I’m just telling her exactly as it is," I said.

"I’m fine now!" he exclaimed and pouted, looking clearly embarrassed upon losing face in front of Lady Brush. However, he still didn’t insist on having a separate room.

When she said we could share one, he even looked relieved, but he also seemed worried that she could take the offer back. It was frustrating to see, but in his own way, he seemed desperate.

She showed us the room and turned around to leave, but he stopped her.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Lady Brush, may I ask one last question?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Why didn’t you run away?" he asked.

"..."

"..."

"Because it was my duty," she answered.

“...”

"A noble’s duty..."

‘That’s such a textbook answer. Damn, you need to learn a lot from her.’

"Duty..." he mumbled.

‘Yeah. Keep muttering to yourself like that. Hold those words in your heart and live by them.’

One thing was certain—this day was full of realization for him. Even after we reached the room, he barely spoke, clearly lost in his own thoughts. He wandered out to look around at the people inside the Black Rose Salon, and then he drifted back to hover near Lady Brush again.

Even late into the night, he couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t as if he was having nightmares, either. Normally by now, he would be mumbling in his sleep, but at the moment, I couldn’t even hear him breathing.

‘It is not like you’re craving a midnight snack. What is going on with you?’

Naturally, I turned slightly on my side and looked at him. "Mr. Ji-Hoon."

"..."

"Mr. Ji-Hoon, are you asleep?" I asked.

"..."

"Mr. Ji-Hoon?"

"No. I’m not asleep yet," Sung Ji-Hoon answered.

He also turned on his side to face me.

"Is something wrong? You’re going to bed late tonight," I asked.

"No, not really... It’s just..." he paused.

"Yes?"

"I have a lot on my mind. I can’t really explain it, but all sorts of thoughts are keeping me awake," he continued.

"Is it because it’s too dark? Should I light a candle?" I asked.

"No... it’s not that. It’s not because it’s dark... My head is just a mess," he replied.

"Just try to describe it," I said.

"I really can’t. It’s too complicated. From thoughts like why Yuriel isn’t answering my voice... to why I ended up here. Why the gods chose me... What’s a lie and what’s the truth, and... what my duty even is. Lady Brush said it, right? She didn’t run away because it was her duty..." he explained.

"..."

"Do you think I have something like that, too? Maybe my voice isn’t reaching Yuriel because I failed to fulfill my duty," he questioned.

"..."

"..."

"I also—"

"Why don’t we go outside for a bit?" I hurriedly cut him off.

"

Huh?

"

"Let’s go out, even for a little bit," I suggested.

I quickly lit the candle and urged him to go.

"R-right now?" he asked.

"If we tell the guards on duty, we can step out for a short while under supervision," I told him.

"But it’s way too late right now," he argued.

"Please, let's go out. Right now," I urged.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

He sat up on the bed with a reluctant look of giving in.

"Hurry," I said.

"W-wait..."

"Hurry, Mr. Ji-Hoon!" I shouted.

I grabbed his arm and ran outside. He matched my pace as we dashed out together. Having to take the salon’s soldiers along with us was a bit of a nuisance, but for the sake of that youthful-drama feeling, it had to be done.

In teen dramas, the rule was that people would run around for no real reason. Walking was basically illegal. The scenery of the Black Rose Salon we had seen a few hours earlier rushed past again, as expected.

The only difference was how quiet it was.

The forge, the huts where people slept, the living quarters, and the great wall... everything lay still. The air felt strangely humid and warm, yet because we were running, it felt cool. Even though it wasn’t summer, it felt like summer. Sweat rolled down my forehead and hair.

Pulling him by the wrist, I ran up the stairs through a narrow passage...

"..."

"..."

An unusually large full moon greeted the Holy Sword Hero and me.

"Look at the sky, Mr. Ji-Hoon," I said in a slightly lifted tone.

"..."

"It’s beautiful, isn't it?" I asked.

The ruins were bathed in bright moonlight.

"Whenever I have too many thoughts, I always look at the moon," I said.