Requiem of Subdued Souls

The hazy feeling he felt disappeared immediately.

‘What did I just see?’

The blood in his body went cold. It was as if someone broke his head and poured ice on him, and Seol Young closed his eyes.

“Seol Young must be so tired.”

It was Song Ok’s voice.

“Then let him be. Let him rest here as it is.”

“Shall I bring a blanket to cover him?”

“Hyo Wol, why are you so obsessed with blankets?”

“Because I was in charge of blankets. It was hard to wash and dry them.”

Baek Eon and Hyo Wol were also talking. Everyone was calm and happy. It was completely opposite from the scene Seol Young had just seen.

‘What was that thing?’

It was not an illusion. He actually saw something. No matter how much he lost his spiritual power, he could still tell the difference.

And he hadn’t forgotten the feeling.

But it was a reality that would happen in the future.

‘Why now of all times…’

His hands were cold. His body was about to tremble or was close to trembling, but his hyungs didn’t notice anything.

Seol Young desperately organized his thoughts.

First of all, the background in that scene wasn’t night but broad daylight. And it didn’t seem like a normal day. He thought it was like a festival or an event.

‘I need to find out.’

Seol Young got up, and when the youngest, who just closed his eyes, got up, everyone looked at him.

“What?”

“I forgot something. There is something I need to report to the High Governor about the festival…”

“Ah? Then hurry up and report it before the night is over.”

“Yes.”

Seol Young left the three of them behind.

He hurriedly headed towards the gate as if he were escaping from them and hid into the darkness.

First, he went to the training grounds and collected the arrows. Without missing a single one, he put them in a box and locked it.

And then, he sneaked into Hyo Wol’s room.

When he opened the drawer, there were small, plum-shaped instruments. They were small plum blossoms.

Seol Young put a pair of them in his pouch and hid himself in the darkness again.

His body trembled as he stepped out of the White Tiger Troop’s dorms.

‘If something happens to Third-hyung, what can… I do?’

He could only think of that.

Since it was a holiday, he didn’t know how he managed to get through the streets. Occasionally, something pushed his shoulder and tripped his foot, but he didn’t have the time to pay attention to them.

Eventually, he reached Zaha’s home.

The door wasn’t locked. He didn’t even think to call out for anyone inside. The moonlight shone on the wide yard.

And the couple was there.

The woman, who was skinny, looked like she was soaring through the air. In an instant, she jumped and landed on the long wooden board with a thud.

On the other side of the wooden board was her husband. His wife struck him with great force, but he didn’t budge.

“It is my turn this time!”

The husband chuckled and was about to throw himself at his wife, but he suddenly felt something, and he turned around to see Seol Young standing there.

“Seol Young-rang?”

Seol Young looked stunned even after seeing them because of all that had happened to him.

“Haha. You look flustered. It is holiday time so the master isn’t here and the inside of the house is quite lonely, so we have been dancing around …”

The couple looked a bit embarrassed and told him, and only then did they notice that Seol Young was trembling.

They both asked in surprise,

“What is it? Did something happen?”

“N-Nothing…”

Seol Young barely managed to speak.

What he was seeing and hearing wasn’t even reaching his head. But he could understand one thing from their words….

“The High Governor isn’t here?”

“He didn’t come home from the Moon Palace today.”

Seol Young was taken aback. That man didn’t come home?

“He cannot be somewhere else. He must have been stuck at the banquet.”

The wife said.

Right.

Only then did Seol Young realize it. He probably wasn’t stuck at the banquet, but….

‘He must have gone to investigate the harp box.’

It made sense when he thought of it like that.

The harp box was supposed to be sealed in the shrine by the head of the Great Heavenly Pavilion, but it appeared at the festival today.

Seol Young was sent to his hyungs to recover his spiritual power as soon as possible, and he went to investigate alone.

“I understand.” 𝑏𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝘭.𝘯𝑒𝑡

Seol Young immediately left the house and headed for the Moon Palace.

The lanterns were lit everywhere.

The events of the day were followed by singing and dancing, with the entire place buzzing. The Great Heavenly Pavilion head should also be there.

Seol Young headed for the shrine.

The officials guarding the entrance opened the path without even questioning him. Once inside, another person guided him, as if it were natural for him to go there.

He arrived at the octagonal room with stars engraved on the walls.

As expected, Zaha was there, examining the harp box. An official went inside and said,

“Seol Young-rang has arrived.”

While looking at the harp box with a candle, he said,

“I just cannot stop you. On days like this, I will just pretend like I don’t know anything, but why are you here again? Don’t you really not know that at this rate, you will not be able to rest even after death?”

Seol Young glanced at him as he was scolding him, but he wasn’t talking, and Zaha noticed his pale complexion.

“What now?”

“I have something to tell you.”

And he looked at the officials.

“It is dangerous, so please leave.”

As expected, they were afraid of the harp box, so they stood at a distance. And when Seol Young said that, they left without a word.

After they disappeared, Seol Young took out a pair of small plum blossoms.

The lid of the harp box was still stained with blood, and Seol Young held the small plum blossoms close to it.

And the small plum blossoms began to suck up the bloodstains on the harp box.

“…!”

Seol Young’s hands trembled, and he almost let go of it.

The tool of righteousness, imbued with spiritual power, could feed on the blood of its master. It wasn’t a recommended method, but in an emergency, it was possible to overcome a crisis by using it.

However, Hyo Wol’s blood weapon was sucking the blood from the harp box.

It proved that it was Hyo Wol’s blood, and that was what Seol Young wanted to know.

Zaha also knew what that meant, so he asked,

“Whose weapon is that?”

“… Third-rang.”

Seol Young’s face was red.

“The blood shed after the harp box was hit with an arrow, and the blood is Third-rang’s.”

So every drop of blood on it could be erased now.

Seol Young rubbed the bloodstains with the weapon over and over again, erasing them, and the bloodstains cleanly disappeared.

But that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. His hands shook, and he ended up dropping the weapon.

“How…”

Zaha’s eyes were full of questions as he looked at Seol Young.

“I don’t know what’s going on. How did you come up with the idea that it could be Hyo Wol-rang’s blood?”

“I managed to recover my memory.”

Seol Young pointed to his left wrist, and the golden letters that were written there have now vanished.

“The parts that were all scattered and missing are now connected, and even my memories of the first time I met my hyungs returned. But at that time, there was this scene that was like a vision. It is a future event that hasn’t happened yet, an image of Third-rang falling down after being hit by Second-rang’s arrow…”

“What?”

Seol Young explained what he saw.

“It seems like my hyungs are connected by some vicious curse. Second-rang shot the top of the harp box, and the blood of Third-rang flowed. I guess it is some kind of evil ritual. It seems like the two are tied together in a life and death bond.”

Seol Young couldn’t believe it despite saying it out loud. How could such an absurd thing happen…

“That is why I thought something would happen where Second-rang shoots an arrow and kills Third-rang. Its all because of that archery. I didn’t know that, and I was happy that Second-rang was placed in an honorable position…”

Seol Young couldn’t speak anymore. The words coming out of his mouth were so horrible.

“What should I do?”

“…”

Zaha’s face turned serious, and he thought for a moment.

“God, how did this happen…”

As if he couldn’t believe the terrible misfortune that had befallen the White Tiger Troops, he shook his head and approached….

Suddenly, right in front of Seol Youngs’s eyes, he clapped his hands.

“Get yourself together!”

Seol Young was startled.

What appeared on Zaha’s face wasn’t sympathy, but pity.

As he looked at Seol Young, he asked,

“I have a question. If you lose your spiritual power, do you also lose your mind?”

“No…”

“Then what is this? What would the other side, who is aiming for us, be thinking when they see you acting like this? Their plan would work!”

“…”

Those words brought him back to his senses. All of this was no accident, and some evil was lurking.

When Seol Young succeeded in regaining his memory by activating the chant, it broke down his composure by showing him Hyo Wol’s death.

That was true, but…

Seol Young opened his mouth,

“But it wasn’t an illusion. Since I’ve been doing something like Memory Projection for a long time, I can naturally tell things apart. Which is false and which is true….”

“Who said it wasn’t an illusion? Anyway, it is true that it hasn’t happened yet. Then, we can still stop it.”

“…”

“If you went to the hermitage, then you should have heard from my sister. That I wasn’t happy when I cut down those Hwarangs. I am the kind of person who never does anything I do not want to do. But why did I still do it?”

“Because it could only end when your sword cuts them down…?”

“Yes. So why did I have to do that?”

“To make sure the others were safe.”

“Right.”

Zaha nodded.

“Even if I killed a Hwarang, I killed him. I alone killed him. Do you get it? But Hyo Wol-rang will die? Because of an arrow Song Ok-rang will shoot? Then the White Tiger Troops end right there. Will you just let it be like that?”

Then, one word at a time, he spoke with strength,

“Hyo Wol-rang will not die. I will stop that.”

“….”

Seol Young looked dumbfoundedly at Zaha.

“Why? You cannot believe me?”

He asked.

“Do you think you can’t handle it? Or are you afraid that if you think about the past again, you will not be able to wield your sword?”

“… No.”

Seol Young lowered his stiff shoulders.

“Seeing the person who always has something to say confidently and gets things done assures me a lot. You must have a plan. I feel a bit reassured….”

When Hyo Wol’s weapon absorbed the blood, it was dark before his eyes.

All he could think was,

‘What do I do?’

But after coming here and talking, he managed to calm down. Zaha was right when he said that it hasn’t happened yet.

So what should he do now?

It wasn’t something he should be afraid of, but it was something he had to stop no matter what.

“I have calmed down. I will not be intimidated again.”

“Then sit down now.”

He pointed at the chair with his finger, and Seol Young went over there and sat down.

“Didn’t you say losing your spiritual power doesn’t make you lose your mind? Then prove it. If you are right, the skills you have learned from seeing a lot of Memory Projections will still be there. The skill of watching so many stories and storing them in your head. The skill to analyze what is right.”

“Right. Such things wouldn’t vanish so suddenly.”

“Then start remembering them now—what you saw earlier and what you might have missed—because I want to ask you something.”

“I understand.”

Seol Young closed his eyes.

He recalled what he saw earlier.

Hyo Wol’s body collapsing…