A Dragon Lives In That Scholar's Deep Spring - Chapter 11

– CHAPTER 11 –

Master again. Even though she thought he was a decent guy for a moment, frustration welled up without a doubt. It was difficult to adapt to seeing him, who always groveled weakly in front of Farang, stubbornly begging on such a weak subject.

It didn’t sit well with her. His cunning to aim for superiority by risking his life rather than just trembling constantly.

“Someone willing to work together should at least have some backbone. Shouldn’t you consider that? You probably don’t fully trust me either.”

He even saw through Farang’s insight, which wouldn’t have relied on obedience but rather resisted it.

“Should I just kill him?”

“Why? Do you want to beat me up like earlier? Tonight, are you planning to lie behind the screen and smell the fragrance?”

Farang, who had been deeply engrossed in thought, finally glanced at Sun-yi. For some reason, she had been deliberately provoking her more than usual since earlier, and her incessant chirping was quite annoying.

“You must never hurt anyone else again. Do you understand?”

Maybe it was because of trust in Choi Do-gyeom’s words. It was frustrating, but for now, doing as Choi Do-gyeom said seemed to be the best option. If she couldn’t go back to where she came from in the beginning, there would be no solution afterward. At least until she escaped from here, she needed him.

“Are you still dragging your feet?”

Sun-yi put the dirty rag in the bucket and scrubbed it vigorously. Thanks to the sound of water, she was able to get rid of her distractions, but soon Farang’s face grimaced fiercely.

“What… What are you doing right now?”

Everything’s fine. She can endure everything. But she couldn’t bear to watch the water get dirty.

“You have two eyes, where are you using them? I’m washing the rag!”

Finally, irritation started to erupt like a geyser. Farang’s gaze darkened rapidly.

“You seem to trust that weakling Master or whoever too much… How long do you think I’ll keep playing along? I just need to find the palace or something, and if I find a way back, it’s over.”

It seemed like the most prudent path to endure patiently and hold on to one’s own. Suddenly, as if flipping a hand over, Farang’s mindset here turned upside down. She momentarily entertained a grim thought that perhaps if she just killed off the people who were using water recklessly here, some way forward might become visible.

“…Wouldn’t it be better to just kill off the things that are blocking me?”

Her aversion to complexity found a much better match in this course of action.

“Hey, look at what you’ve cleaned. You’re supposed to wipe it so thoroughly that even a fly sitting on it slips and falls, remember?”

“With the humans here, it wouldn’t take much to kill them off.”

“Hey, why is the floor of the stage like this? It’s scratched and damaged! I told you to make it shine, but now it’s all messed up.”

“If only I could transform, it wouldn’t be a big deal to wipe out this entire land.”

With a frustrated heart, she approached, holding the wet rag, and finally, Sun-yi’s eyes widened as she heard Farang muttering something harshly.

“Lady, what are you saying right now…”

Suddenly, a faint mist appeared around Farang’s hand as she grabbed the rag from Sun-yi. It was steam generated from the wet rag.

Gradually, as she tore the dry rag pieces apart like tearing up a letter, Sun-yi’s round eyes filled with pure admiration. Although the rag was dry, it seemed like Farang herself was drying up to death. The burden on her heart was so great that even breathing was difficult due to the pain twisting in her heart.

Was it really necessary to exert such force just to dry a small piece of cloth? Despite it being an easier task than gathering scattered water, the burden on her heart was immense because the target was clear.

And just as Do-gyeom had said, the ring truly began to shine on its own.

“…No way.”

“How long do you think that power of yours will last, huh? Nothing lasts forever…”

Was it just a matter of the power being drained from the ring?

“Where on earth did that bastard get something like this?”

If it was an object absorbing power, it was right to somehow sever the connection. Without hesitation, Farang grabbed the ringed index finger. If the ring didn’t come off, then pulling out the finger would end it.

“You’ve just been muttering to yourself since earlier! What’s going on?”

At the moment when she was about to exert force on her fingertips, Sun-yi burst into anger, causing Farang to almost pull out her wrist instead of her finger.

“You should at least pretend to listen when someone speaks! What are you going to do about this floor?!”

Her voice was so loud that if she left it alone any longer, blood might start flowing from her ears. Farang, who had endured as much as she could, finally stared at Sun-yi with a cold gaze.

Even though she had black eyes, the flashing energy was still evident.

“…You look tired. Maybe you should rest a bit.”

“Huh? I’m not even done with my work yet, why suddenly sleep…?”

At this point, even the most innocent child couldn’t ignore the intimidating aura emanating from Farang as she approached with a stern gaze. Before Sun-yi could comprehend, she instinctively stepped back.

“You slept well earlier, didn’t you?”

“…Yes?”

It was just as Farang’s white hand was about to ruthlessly reach out to the child.

“Are you doing well with teaching the guest?”

At that moment, Do-gyeom, who had just crossed the inner gate, approached. Sun-yi, relieved, quickly ran to his side and hid behind him.

“Master! Well, that lady…!”

It was obvious that her small mouth was about to start chirping about everything, from the incident where she destroyed the floor to ignoring her words and pressuring her again. Not wanting to bother, Farang played dumb.

“Oh, I feel dizzy!”

It wouldn’t be good to create an immediate hostile situation. Farang weakly sank, as if asking when she had ever broken the floor or torn the rag.

“…Farang!”

As expected, Do-gyeom approached and grabbed Farang’s shoulder, lifting her.

“What’s wrong?”

She wanted to give Sun-yi a taste of what it felt like to hang on to only him. Farang put on the most pitiful expression she could muster and lowered her head.

“I’m fine.”

“With your hands frozen like this? How?”

Do-gyeom firmly held Farang’s cold hands, reprimanding Sun-yi gently.

“Sun-yi, didn’t I tell you to teach slowly because it’s her first time?”

“M-Master. That’s not it! I just told her to wipe the floor once with the rag…!”

“That’s enough. Stop it for today.”

Sun-yi’s lips trembled as if she was about to burst into tears at Do-gyeom’s cold response.

“…Just rest.”

The child, who seemed somewhat upset, just nodded and quickly left with the bucket. As soon as Sun-yi disappeared, Farang harshly shook off Do-gyeom’s hand.

“Do you think I wouldn’t notice if you lurked around secretly?”

She already knew that someone had been hiding behind the gate. Instead of pretending not to know like Do-gyeom, who had been eavesdropping from behind the inner gate, Farang confronted him.

“Are you trying to make the child faint again?”

“I was just trying to put her to sleep for a moment because she seemed to be working too hard.”

“How long have we agreed not to hurt others? Huh?”

His eyes were already glaring fiercely as he picked up a rag fragment and spoke.

“We don’t have to shed blood or kill to get things done. It’s not right to intimidate people and confuse their minds. Just because it’s not visible doesn’t mean the wounds aren’t real.”

“Then, my anger from being scratched by that little kid isn’t anger?”

“Did I not reprimand that child first?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Is he worried about something happening to the child again? Choi Do-gyeom’s calculations were visible.

He probably deliberately showed his support for Farang, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to deal with her recklessly if her master supported her. Even as Farang looked away, Do-gyeom shamelessly persisted.

“I only did it so that I could take your side first.”

That was enough to nip the conversation in the bud. Farang, tired of the meaningless pride battle, bluntly asked.

“But aren’t you supposed to be an official? Aren’t you supposed to work instead of following me around?”

“That’s true, but I came early because there was something else going on. I’d like to take a quick trip to Haeju with you.”

Farang, who didn’t even know where they were, let alone where Haeju was, started with the most important fact from her perspective.

“Where is it? Is it far from Buyongji?”

“Haeju is a region in the northwest of Hwanghae Province, where my uncle lives, and from Buyongji…”

Do-gyeom, who was explaining smoothly, stopped speaking and scrutinized Farang as if realizing something.

“Come to think of it, you probably don’t even know what this place is.”

“Since I’m going back anyway, do I need to know?”

With her mind already cluttered, she didn’t want to complicate things further. Seeing Farang’s indifferent response, Do-gyeom sighed as if disappointed.

“Right. There’s no need to know.”

Farang simply thought that Do-gyeom took great pride in this land.

“Is Haeju far?”

“It’s not a long way if you travel by horse. You can go there and back twice within three days.”

So he proposed to accompany him not only for his own business but also to monitor Farang.

Even though there was no real choice. Reluctant, but without further questions, Farang accepted.

“Let’s go, then.”

She was about to leave, but Do-gyeom stopped her.

“This won’t do. It’s still cold, so if we’re going a long way, you need padded clothes or winter clothes. I’ll have someone prepare them for you, so please wait a little.”

“Padded clothes? Winter clothes? What’s all that?”

“Padded clothes are fur coats worn over your current clothes, and winter clothes are worn from head to toe, covering everything from your head to your toes when you go out.”

Do-gyeom was trying to dress Farang, who was already dressed in layers. Annoyed, Farang resisted.