The final boss of the Witch of Heaven, Weijichun, died two years ago.
To be honest, when I first heard the news, I was a bit taken aback.
The notion that Weijichun, who could be considered the mastermind behind all the events in the original work, had died meant that the events I was familiar with in the original would no longer occur.
Yet at the same time, I thought, ‘Isn’t this actually a good thing?’
In many novels where the protagonist is reincarnated into a book, they often gain advantages based on the information they already know.
However, since not all variables can be controlled, I’ve seen many plots where blindly trusting that information leads to unexpected consequences. So, it might not be too bad if nothing happens at all.
After all, it began as a job just for the money, but over the past two years, I’ve developed bonds with various people while working in the Dokgo household.
If things had gone according to the original plot, everyone working in the Dokgo household would have perished, but since the culprit Weijichun is dead now, such things wouldn’t happen.
“Ah, by the way, miss.”
While descending the mountain behind the village after finishing my training, I suddenly had a thought, so I asked Dokgorin.
“Is there anything you want for your birthday?”
Dokgorin, who had been walking alongside me, paused and asked with a mix of laughter in her voice.
“Why? Are you going to buy it for me?”
“Well, it is your birthday. I didn’t get you anything last year, did I?”
Then, with her finger on her chin in a contemplative gesture, Dokgorin suddenly giggled and said.
“The thing I want the most right now is you, Chilbongi.”
“So I mean ‘an object,’ not me.”
As I said this and slapped my hand over my head, Dokgorin let out a cute “Ow!” and pouted her lips.
“You’re so dense!”
“Isn’t it about time you give up? How long do you plan to keep saying you like me?”
“Of course, for a lifetime. I told you before.”
“Thanks to you, these days the master is glaring at me with fiery eyes whenever he sees me.”
“Well, that’s fine. I talked to my father before, and he said if dirt gets in his eyes, he’d allow you to be my partner.”
“…Miss, do you know what verbal irony is?”
“Then does Chilbongi know the phrase ‘a man’s word is worth gold’?”
“Sigh, let’s not talk about it.”
“You thought well.”
Dokgorin seemed unwilling to bend her stubbornness.
Honestly, I thought she’d change her mind quickly, but she’s been steadfast in her feelings for two years now.
However, realistically speaking, it was evident that the love between us was impossible due to our different statuses, and even if I did start dating her, I doubt Dokgojin, her doting father, would allow it.
Above all, the love she gives is exceptionally heavy, and sometimes it makes me flinch.
If we were to actually start dating, I feared the symptoms would worsen.
“By the way, miss, I heard you’ll be attending the academy starting this April. So, I guess I won’t see your face for a while.”
As I said this, Dokgorin, who had been humming a tune while going down the mountain, tilted her head as if it was news to her.
“Why are you acting like it has nothing to do with you?”
“Well, it’s because I’m not going to the academy.”
“That’s not true! You’re going too!”
I blinked in surprise at Dokgorin’s words.
“Huh? What do you mean? That’s the first I’m hearing of it.”
“I applied to the academy in your name. You just need to show up.”
“No, why would I go there?”
“Come on, you’ve learned martial arts. With your current skills, you can easily beat any intermediate martial artist at a standard academy.”
As she said this, Dokgorin drew a V sign with her fingers.
It’s a place I provided info about, but her timing made it all the more irritating.
“And where the master goes, the disciple should follow. You can’t just sneak away.”
Clearing her throat subtly, Dokgorin looked at me for a reaction and asked.
“…You’re going, right?”
Now that I realized the conversation had shifted to my control, I chuckled and nodded.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Yay!”
Her fists clenched in joy, Dokgorin unabashedly displayed her happiness right in front of me.
“I haven’t said I’m going yet, you know?”
“Anyway, if I ask you to go, you’ll come with me!”
“Ugh!”
I couldn’t deny it.
I’m weak against Dokgorin’s requests.
“If it’s really an issue, I don’t mind considering going to the academy together as your birthday gift instead.”
“No, that’s separate from this. I’ll definitely get you a gift.”
As I stated firmly, cutting off Dokgorin’s suggestion, I took off the heavy lead uniform I was wearing over my clothes.
It was a special item Dokgorin had ordered for me, and while it looked ordinary on the outside, it was incredibly heavy because it was made of lead.
In fact, the inside of the uniform had considerable storage space, allowing for placing additional lead weights to adjust its heaviness.
“By the way, miss, when can I take off this training uniform?”
“Hmm, until Chilbongi becomes strong enough to not get beaten up anywhere.”
“And when would that be?”
“Well, you should at least reach the pinnacle level of martial artists.”
“…That sounds like you’re saying I should wear it for life.”
After two years of hard work, I’m barely at the edge of being a second-rate martial artist, and I wonder if I’ll ever reach the title of a pinnacle martial artist.
However, Dokgorin had a different view from what I was saying.
“No way, someone like Chilbongi wouldn’t take that long. Maybe by twenty?”
“Am I really that talented?”
“To be precise, it’s because your master is good. They’ve been helping me with martial techniques weekly and sharing expensive elixirs without hogging them.”
“Funny, but it feels like your martial skills have skyrocketed instead.”
“That’s purely skill difference.”
With that, Dokgorin puffed out her chest proudly.
Compared to two years ago, her little rice cooker has grown so much that it looks like it could burst out of her uniform.
Even more frightening is that it’s still not at the end of her growth period.
“Pervert♡”
Did she catch on to where my gaze was directed? She covered her chest with her right arm as she said this.
But I stood my ground.
“This is beyond my control. Men are instinctively drawn to breasts.”
“If you became my partner now, you could freely grope these huge breasts!”
“That’s a very tempting offer, but I’ll have to decline. I don’t want to die young.”
“Tsk.”
She clicked her tongue as if disappointed, glanced at the sky, and then said we should hurry down before it got dark since we had wasted time chatting.
“Understood.”
Agreeing with that, I quietly began to follow Dokgorin down the mountain.
*
Thanks to our mutual focus on running in silence, we managed to descend to the village safely before sunset.
Before entering the village, Dokgorin, who always covered her face with a black veil, glanced at me and said.
“Let’s go, Chilbongi.”
“Yes, miss.”
As the adulthood ceremony approached, Dokgorin, whose beauty was blossoming, began to wear a veil whenever going around the village.
Since the veil mostly hid her lower face, the only visible feature was her eyes, but those intriguingly alluring eyes were stealing the hearts of many men.
When she was little, she was considered cute rather than pretty, so she didn’t have this level of popularity; now, she’s practically an emotional bombshell walking around.
What do I think about it?
Knowing how she looked as a child and seeing her almost every day, I’ve grown somewhat immune to her charm.
As we revealed ourselves at the village’s edge after what felt like an intense training session on the back mountain, young men began to lurk around like hyenas looking for prey.
Yet, perhaps due to Dokgorin’s unique haughty aura, they didn’t approach easily, merely watching from afar.
‘If it’s like this now, it’ll probably be a massive crowd later on.’
While I was thinking this and walking along with Dokgorin, someone suddenly called out to us.
“Hey, you two.”
As we passed through an alley, an elderly man seated on a mat on the ground stopped us.
Though his face was hidden beneath a large wide-brimmed hat, he had an unusual aura about him with his white hair.
“What can we do for you, sir?”
When I cautiously inquired politely, the old man, who had been quietly observing us from under his hat, suddenly spoke.
“If you’re not busy, how about having your fortunes told?”
“Fortunes?”
It was such an abrupt proposal that I looked back at Dokgorin to see how she would react, and surprisingly she readily accepted.
“Fine, let’s give it a shot.”
“Are you sure? You know if we’re late for curfew, we’ll get in trouble with the master?”
“Really, how long could a single fortune-telling take? Plus, opportunities like this are rare.”
Indeed, it’s quite uncommon for a fortune-telling sage to come to a rural village like Sangam.
They’d be better off heading to a big city to rake in more fortune-telling fees.
In the end, I agreed to her suggestion and squatted down in front of the fortune-telling old man’s mat.
Then, the old man pulled out an old book and a brush from his robe and addressed us.
“Then let’s unveil your destinies.”
