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Chapter 26
"Young master...!"
The moment Soya raised her voice, Gayul leaped down from beneath the tree and bolted away.
Soya immediately ‌‌gave chase.
"Kyahahaha!" ‌‌‌
Gayul was caught by Soya in no time at all.
Soya ‌‌‌had completely forgotten that she'd received the Wind Orb from San Ho.
Gayul, whose competitive spirit burned fierce, felt somewhat cheated at being overtaken by Soya.
"Kwang! Kwang, kwang! (That's cheating, cotton ball!)"
Gayul was stamping ‌‌‌‌her front paws against the ground in protest. ‌‌
Soya delicately tucked a flower blossom behind Gayul's round ear.
"Krrrgh? (What, what is this?)"
Watching the bewildered Gayul, Soya burst into bright laughter.
"It's your penalty. You were caught by me, after all."
"Kwang! Kwang, kwang! (I don't like it! I'm the third son of the great Baekho Family...)"
Gayul sprang up, thrashing with her short front paws to remove the flower.
"No, you ‌‌‌can't! A penalty is a penalty!"
Soya quickly grabbed Gayul's front paws to stop her.
"Krrrgh...! (Who decided this was a penalty!)"
Soya smiled brightly at the huffing Gayul and made ‌‌a proposal.
"Then this time, you be 'it,' ‌‌‌young master. If you catch me, I'll let you remove the flower."
"Krheng? Krrr... Kwaaang! (What? I don't... cotton ball! Where are you going!)"
Before Gayul could even finish speaking, Soya was already dashing off in the opposite direction.
And there, blooming across Soya's face, was a radiant smile.
It was a bright, crystalline laugh—one that even Soya herself had forgotten how to wear for so long.
* * *
Thanks to the Wind Orb, Soya could bound effortlessly across the uneven slopes, yet she ‌‌‌could not match Gayul's ‌‌endurance.
Because speed and stamina were ‌‌evenly balanced between them, their game of tag became far more competitive than when they played ball in ‌the Garden.
After playing tag for quite some time, Soya and Gayul collapsed, panting heavily.
They had played with such exuberance that even Gayul, who never lost to anyone in terms of stamina, was beginning to tire.
After sharing the lunch box that Yeon Jeong had prepared, Gayul returned to human form and lay sprawled across the Grassland, dozing peacefully.
While Soya ‌‌played with flowers beside her, she noticed that Suri's expression ‌‌had grown troubled.
"Suri, what's wrong?"
"I think I may have an upset stomach."
Suri answered while wiping cold sweat from his brow.
"Are you all right? Shouldn't you head back down right away?"
"I cannot let your first outing be ruined because of me. I'll make a quick trip to Baek Ho Palace and return, ‌‌‌so stay right beside the young master and don't wander off, understood?"
Suri smiled at Soya, who ‌‌‌was ‌fidgeting anxiously. That smile looked so strained that Soya grew worried.
"Yes, yes! I'll stay right beside the young master, so please hurry back, ‌‌Suri!"
The moment Soya finished speaking, Suri transformed with a whoosh into a massive wolf.
Suri must have been in quite a hurry, for he bolted down the mountainside in a single bound and vanished in the blink of an eye.
'Suri is remarkably swift even without ‌‌a wind orb.'
The beastkin of the Blue Wolf Clan, renowned for their wind-like speed, had become the direct protectors of the Baekho Family generation after generation ‌‌thanks to such extraordinary abilities.
'I wish I possessed such a magnificent gift.'
I found the Blue Wolf Clan ‌‌members, who protected others with their abilities, truly admirable.
Unique abilities.
Inherent powers possessed by ‌‌‌beastkin, typically passed down through bloodline.
For any beastkin, awakening the spirit core to manifest these abilities was natural, yet for me—who had been stripped of my spirit core for three years after my first transformation—it was impossible.
Though I had reclaimed my spirit core, it no longer functioned properly and was in such poor condition that neglecting it threatened even my physical body.
The last time my spirit ‌core ‌‌‌had caused trouble, I had collapsed and worried everyone around me.
I diligently consumed the medicinal tonics Sara had ‌‌sent me morning ‌and evening, yet I understood something unspoken within myself.
Perhaps I would spend my entire life as a half-baked beastkin with a broken spirit core.
[Steal the child's spirit core and confine her to the ‌‌Cold Palace.]
[If she troubles you, I'll ‌‌‌‌remove her from your sight forever. ‌‌‌‌So don't cry, Riri.]
Remembering Father and my ‌‌older brother Hwa Yu still made my chest ache.
Yet I realized that thinking of them no longer hurt as deeply as ‌‌before.
Now I understood it all too well.
They had never been my family from the beginning.
My broken spirit core was the price for stealing Riri's place and causing them sorrow and pain.
With that thought, I could swallow my sadness, however slightly.
Besides, there was also the warmth of a gentle hand that had ‌‌‌comforted me when I wept bitterly.
'And ‌‌‌it's alright without an ability. ‌‌‌I've protected people too.'
I recalled the colorful stone talismans I had completed with the help of Yeon Jeong and San Ho.
My melancholy mood lifted considerably.
'When I go down this evening, I'll make a talisman from these flowers to gift to the young master. I hope he'll like it this time.' ‌
It was as I gazed at the sky flowers in my basket with a gentle smile.
"Huh...?" ‌
Suddenly, ‌‌‌my ears perked up.
Grrrrrowwwl...
An unfamiliar cry echoed from the Shrubland.
"...!"
I instinctively sprang to my feet and looked toward the ‌source ‌‌‌‌‌of the sound.
Then I froze in place.
A wild beast stood there, its threatening gaze gleaming fiercely, drool dripping from its mouth.
'Why...'
My eyes trembled as I thought, my body rigid with tension.
'Yeon Jeong said ‌‌‌‌the beasts of Horim Mountain ‌‌‌‌don't attack people.'
But now there was no time to question what had changed.
'I have to run...!'
My hands and feet began to tremble violently.
Soya remembered when she had last felt this sensation.
On the day she had left the Jujak Residence, after the ‌‌‌Summer Festival ended and she found herself alone facing the man in the black mask—that was the aura she had sensed then.
This was unmistakable killing intent.
'I can escape. Last time I foolishly fell and nearly died, but this time I have the wind orb that San Ho lent me.'
Soya clenched both fists with determination and cast a quick glance at the youngest young master.
The youngest young master lay sleeping soundly a short distance away.
The mountain beast before me seemed too focused on me to have noticed him.
Thud!
Soya stamped her foot and bolted in the opposite direction from where Ga-yul was.
The mountain beast immediately gave chase.
Thud! Thud, thud, thud!
Urgent footsteps echoed through the mountain.
Hearing the commotion, more beasts began joining the pursuit one by one.
Fleeing from the creatures, Soya found herself driven deeper and deeper into the forest's interior.
After running for some time, Soya reached a dead end. A massive black rock loomed ahead, blocking the path.
Soya glanced back over her shoulder.
Realizing she had nowhere left to flee, the mountain beasts began closing in on her with leisurely confidence.
Growl....
Growl....
Growwwl....
Soya swallowed hard, then turned her gaze back to the rock.
The black rock blocking her path was far ‌‌‌too large and tall.
After a moment's hesitation, Soya began climbing the rock.
Under normal circumstances, she would never have attempted such a thing.
But Soya possessed the wind orb, which strengthened the power in her ankles and legs. ‌‌‌
She moved her hands and feet rapidly, scrambling up the rock face.
Though she nearly slipped several times, she safely reached the summit.
Just as the panicked beasts surged toward the base of the rock—
Roooaaarrr—!
The sky suddenly darkened, and ‌the earth began to tremble.
The violent tremor sent Soya, who had been clinging to the rock, sliding down to crash hard on her backside.
"No...!"
Soya scrambled to her feet in panic, then froze.
The beasts that had been baring their fangs at me moments before now whimpered fearfully, backing away.
'What...?'
As she blinked in confusion, unable to comprehend why the creatures had lost their will to fight and were retreating ‌‌with hesitant steps—
A massive shadow suddenly fell across her head.
Soya slowly tilted her head back and froze solid.
Now she understood why the mountain beasts had taken fright.
What she had thought was a large rock rose up before her.
In an instant, a ‌‌bone-chilling terror unlike anything before crashed over me.
'It's not a rock! That's...!'
My eyes trembled uncontrollably.
Beneath the black, hardened carapace gleamed ashen eyes that flickered with intelligence. Four thick legs supported a body as ‌‌‌‌massive as ‌a boulder.
It was a Demonic Beast.
"Grrrrrrrrrowwwwl!"
As the savage cry echoed out, the ground trembled once more,
Crash!
The Demonic Beast brought its thick foreleg down upon the ground, and the earth split asunder.
"Screeeee...!"
"Shrieeeek...!"
The beasts that had been cautiously observing ‌tumbled into the gaping crevasse before ‌‌‌‌they could even flee.
In a heartbeat, I found myself alone in the empty clearing with the Demonic Beast.
"Grrrrrowwwl...."
"...."
I could not even draw a single breath, frozen in place.
I had to escape.
I had to run, now.
The terror from what I had just witnessed coiled tightly around ‌‌‌my ‌‌‌body, suffocating me.
"Grrrrrowwwl...."
The Demonic Beast regarded me with its gleaming ashen eyes.
Tears were beginning to well up from instinctive fear.
Fwissssh― ‌‌‌‌
The rough, hardened ‌‌‌‌black skin peeled away like tree bark, and the Demonic Beast's body melted and oozed like mud....
"Poof!"
It became a small, black furry lump.
"Chirp?"
The black furry lump ‌‌‌tilted its head at me.

---------------
Brought to you ‌‌‌‌‌by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------