Absolute Regression

Episode 242: If not an opportunity like this, when?

Grand Duke Geommuyang stood alone at the edge of the cliff of Daecheonsan Mountain.

In the distance, the buildings of the Heavenly Demon Church looked small.

Geommuyang held out his hand. If you hold it like this, you can get it with one hand.

He opened the empty fist he had clenched in the air again and recalled what Geommugeuk had said before.

―There is no coexistence between brothers in a power struggle? They end up killing each other? Who decided? Why should we be swayed by the precedents and suspicions of idiots who can’t even control their desires? So don’t even dream of being swayed. If you ever feel anxious, like I’m going to kill you, come see me.

Then, even if I did visit, I would have had to visit ten times. I’ve been having frequent nightmares lately. Every time in his dreams, Geommugeuk killed himself while laughing.

-My brother is so naive. Did you believe everything I said? Well, I guess this is what happens. Did you think you could share power? And the greatest power in Moorim? I’m thankful that you’re so naive. It’s so pathetic, so pathetic.

Then I wake up cursing at him. Despite all the criticism, he is the one who loses every time. And Geommuyang knows. Those words spoken by Geommugeuk are ultimately his own thoughts.

Geommuyang has also been busy these days.

Handle school work and meet people in various positions. I went to take care of some external work. I was doing many things while saving up time to sleep.

However, it was impossible to keep up with Geommugeuk’s unstoppable moves.

When you open your eyes, you become a disciple of a demon. When you open your eyes, you are wandering around in the forest looking for poisonous insects. When you open your eyes, you are excommunicated from the evil soma. When I opened my eyes again…

I was a person who couldn’t bark in the training hall and couldn’t run until I was about to die carrying the evil Soma on my back.

Wow!

It felt like the people’s enthusiasm for the sword dance was ringing in my ears. I didn’t want to be a narrow-minded and mean person, but it was difficult to hold back this crazy jealousy.

Just when I felt like screaming, Mabul arrived there. Despite his short stature, his golden brilliance was still there.

“Did you call me?”

“welcome.”

Mabul stood on the cliff side by side with him.

“Extreme Soma has awakened.”

“I heard it too.”

Geommuyang’s voice was dry. Mabul could tell. That he is not in a good mood. Since the Mazons were turning to Geommugeuk one by one, it couldn’t be good, of course.

Mabul understood Geommuyang’s feelings better than anyone else.

“Kwon Ma still supports the Archduke.”

The corner of Geommuyang’s mouth curled up slightly.

“The disciple is a non-pole.”

He judged that Gwonma’s support would not last long.

“Gwonma is a person who distinguishes between public and private affairs. “I will not tamper with the words I said.”

Mabul quickly added,

“The King of Poison will also support you, Confucius.”

“Barking in the gym with Mugeuk?”

“So Gongja Lee became further distant from the successor. “The person who would become the Heavenly Demon should not have done that.”

“Are you aware that Mugeuk’s popularity on campus has increased since that day?”

“What’s important is the leader’s will rather than popularity. “The Archduke is the eldest son of the religious leader, and he gave me confidence from a young age that he would be the successor.”

Mabul tried to give him strength, but Geommuyang asked in a weak voice.

“I feel that way when I look at Mabul and I these days. Defeatists and groundless optimists. “Isn’t that right?”

“Who is a defeatist?”

Geommuyang’s expression frowned slightly at Mabul’s question.

I don’t know if Geommuyang knows. Mabul was so frustrated and disappointed so many times in her relationship with him that she almost fell into defeatism. I got to this point by putting my mind together several times.

Mabul asked calmly.

“I’ve never been optimistic, but even if I were, why do you think it’s unfounded?”

“Then do you believe that I can be your successor?”

Mabul stared into Geommuyang’s eyes and answered firmly.

“I believe it.”

“So that’s the problem. Because your judgment of the situation is so dark. “While we were stagnant and rotting, Mugeuk burst like a waterfall and flowed into the sea.”

“No matter how talented a scientist is, we just have to do one thing well.”

“What is that?”

Mabul raised his voice and shouted like people shout from the top of a mountain.

“An archduke is more suitable for the position of religious leader!”

His cry echoed several times.

When the echo disappeared, Mabul spoke.

“All you have to do is convince everyone of that. There is no need to be offended or angry that Lee Gongja took the hearts of the Magons. The Archduke only needs to do that.”

Miss Geommu expressed her anger in a somewhat accented tone.

“You are truly frustrated! “Do you really think that I am better suited for the position of leader?”

Mabul said with confidence.

“Yes, it suits you better.”

“This is why it is an unfounded confidence. “Isn’t Mabul left with me because he wasn’t chosen by Mugeuk?”

Geommuyang said without filtering words that she should never have said and that would cause great harm to Mabul.

Unexpectedly, Mabul was not that offended. Because those words sounded like screams.

Until now, Geommuyang had treated herself while hiding her true feelings. It made me wonder what he was thinking now. But now it is screaming that it is difficult.

“That statement is completely baseless.”

When Mabul answered calmly, Geommuyang took out a small vial from her arms.

“Do you know what’s in this?”

“What did you hear?”

“It’s intangible and terrible.”

Mabul was surprised to hear the words “intangible hell.”

“Are you saying you are going to kill Gongja Lee for that?”

Then Geommuyang answered without hesitation.

“There’s nothing you can’t kill.”

Mabul asked, staring at him.

“Then why bring it out here? Ask Lee Gongja to have a drink and feed him! “Kill him!”

After pushing him like that, Mabul sincerely tried to calm him down.

“You know you shouldn’t do that, right? Duke Li declared that he would fight for succession without bloodshed, but if Duke Li was poisoned, no one would follow Grand Duke Li. “The mazons and the demons below them.”

Geommuyang said, looking down at the medicine bottle.

“So… I’m thinking about using it for myself.”

match!

Geommuyang’s head turned.

Mabul jumped up and slapped him mercilessly on the cheek.

Surprised, Geommuyang looked at him. I was so surprised because I never dreamed that Mabul would touch my body.

Mabul held out his hand.

“please give it to me.”

A cold energy was radiating from Mabul’s body along with a golden glow.

It was my first time seeing Geommuyang. Seeing Mabul get so angry in front of him.

“please give it to me!”

In response to his strength, Geommuyang gave him a vial of medicine.

Mabul opened the cap and poured it right down to the bottom of the cliff. And I threw the bottle too.

The two were silent for a long time.

“This is my first time getting hit.”

“It’s my first time hitting a religious leader’s blood relatives.”

I thought the proud Geommuyang would go crazy, but unexpectedly he was calm. If I had hit him when he said he was going to kill Geommugeuk, he might have exploded.

“I bought this poison at a high price, but it’s a waste.”

“What’s a shame is the time I spent thinking in vain like that.”

The corner of Geommuyang’s mouth, which had been curled up the whole time, returned to its original position. Geommuyang sat down. I was talking while looking down at Mabul until now, but now we are at eye level.

“Grand Duke, take a look at the sky.”

Mabul looked up at the sky.

Geommuyang’s gaze, which had been looking at the Heavenly Demon Church in the distance, also turned towards the sky.

Originally, Mabul was not this kind of person. Geommuyang felt it. Both he and Mabul have changed a lot. Everyone is changing as they become entangled with sword dance.

“You must overcome anxiety to become a successor. If Prince Lee blows like a typhoon, Prince Duke should be like a rock. “Be a rock that stands strong even in the face of typhoons.”

Geommuyang’s eyes wavered. Mabul This guy is sincere.

The last Mazon left.

Come to think of it, Mabul was there from the beginning.

It was Mazon who stayed from the beginning to the end.

“I am not a rock, I am just a pebble rolling around in a typhoon. Even seniors can go to Mugeuk! Mugeuk will understand the heart of the elderly more. “He will speak better than me and be more considerate.”

“That’s why I don’t like it. That’s my role, so why do I do it? As an older person, I need to be considerate and understand. Just as I am now trying to understand the Archduke.”

Geommuyang was in tears.

I said this to Geommugeuk the last time we met.

―If you think that the Mazons are smiling in front of you, it is a big mistake. They will ultimately make a choice at the last moment that is in their own interest.

I’ve been living with this mindset until now.

“Why did you choose me?”

The wind that blew shook the hem of their clothes.

“I think I like being an archduke better than a scientist.”

Mabul laughed and said it as if it were a joke, but Geommuyang did not laugh.

When his life was pushed to the edge of a cliff, there was someone protecting him in front of that cliff.

Mabul, who was only half the height of an adult, was blocking his path like a giant.

“Then I’ll go down first.”

Mabul said goodbye and turned around.

“Mabul.”

“yes?”

“Actually, the drug I mentioned earlier wasn’t an intangible poison. This is a treatment for internal injuries created by a magician. “I had no intention of drinking it.”

“I know.”

Geommuyang was surprised.

“You knew?”

Mabul took out the same vial from his arms.

“Because I have it too.”

“Did you hit me knowingly?”

Mabul smiled awkwardly.

“If not for an opportunity like this, when would you try to hit the Archduke?”

Without waiting for an answer, Mabul quickly turned around and went down the mountain.

Looking at that scene, Geommuyang ended up laughing awkwardly.

Geommuyang also stood up. He looked up at the sky at the Heavenly Demon Church visible in the distance.

“…If we continue like this, we will end up losing.”

I may have already lost.

Still, I can’t just lose. I thought I had to do my best until the end.

For some reason, I felt like I wouldn’t have any nightmares like today.

* * *

“Do you want to keep annoying me?”

Hyeolcheondoma, who was reading a book, raised his head and looked at me.

I was walking back and forth between Hyeolcheondoma’s room.

“I’m thinking about something important.”

“So, why are you worrying about such important things here?”

“Maybe because there are a lot of books here, I feel smarter.”

“Then go into the Heavenly Demon’s Pavilion and think about it. “Because you will become the smartest person in the world.”

“There are no elders there, right?”

I quietly approached Hyeolcheon Doma.

“What do you do when you’re in a crisis and the person you think of is an elderly person?”

“Isn’t there a masker you like? I’m in a relationship where I’ll give up the perennial snow ginseng as well. “Go there and find out.”

I suppressed my laughter.

This little guy gets uncharacteristically jealous from time to time. In particular, it was Hyecheondoma who was very jealous of Soma.

“Who would you compare to our elders? Soma, tell him to just look at the wall over there in Akin Valley.”

“I guess that’s not it. “I guess you’re not going to disturb me so I can have a good time with the woman I’m with.”

“You all know that Tianhuaruju came.”

“All kinds of reports come in all day long, even if you don’t want to know.”

Hyeolcheondoma read a book.

“So, go talk to the masker or the drunkard and discuss whether it’s Operation Golden or something.”

I sat on the floor next to the window seat where Hyeolcheondoma was reading a book.

“The name of the operation was grandiose, but no detailed plan was made. “Since you’ve read so many books, shouldn’t there be a method in them?”

“You bastard, the book is a place where you come to rest and avoid those ridiculous strategies. Find the answer there.”

“great. “I will camp here until I find the answer!”

“Anyone wants!”

The moment I threw myself onto the bed, an invisible force pushed me away.

“Do not lie down in bed wearing the clothes you used to wear outside!”

Hyeolcheondoma took me to the door through empty space.

I leaned against the window next to the door and thought about it.

“What are you worried about?”

“This operation is difficult because it is not about blindly making Mabul my own person.”

“Why can’t you just make it four people?”

There’s no way the Blood Heavenly Chopping Demon doesn’t know the reason?

“Well, if you take Mabul away, you’ll be putting your brother in too much of a corner.”

So I was worried that my brother would make a move that he shouldn’t have made.

However, Hyeolcheondoma was looking at this situation from a different perspective than me.

“Is that really the case?”

“Isn’t it?”

After a moment, Hyeolcheondoma spoke.

“If even Mabul turns around, wouldn’t the Archduke also give up cleanly? “I thought the Archduke was someone of that level.”

“!”

I guess I trusted my brother more than Hyeolcheon Doma. It may be because of something that tormented me when I was young. I had a preconceived notion that if I was pushed into a corner, I would end up doing something mean and mean.

However, there is also a relationship with my brother and the Magons that is separate from me. For the Magons, the older brother is the person who steps down when they step down.

“We must give the Archduke a chance to properly admit defeat. “The things you worry about now will explode when you have more regrets.”

Hyeolcheondoma, who had been talking while looking down at the book, raised his head and looked at me.

“When you step on something, you step on it clearly. Even for the Archduke.”

I looked at the Hyeolcheon Doma in silence.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I always say this, but I was wondering how I would live without my elders.”

“I always say this, but I will live well by sharing a meal with the masked man.”

“You’re persistent.”

“Okay, don’t worry about this side’s grudges. Why are you worried about their relationships? “Insolent.”

I bowed my head respectfully to Hyecheon Doma.

“thank you. Thanks to you, I found the answer.”

What Hyeolcheondoma said is correct.

Only when I fight against him with all my might will he finally smile and admit defeat.

Clumsy consideration will only hurt your brother’s pride. I will definitely make Mabul my person. Rather, when I do that, the relationship between my brother and Mabul will also reach a new point.

After leaving Thomas’s residence, I walked straight toward Mabul’s residence, which was crowded with monks.