It’s not that I miss him right beside me. Rather, it’s because he must have been quite flustered when I suddenly burst into tears and ran out, mumbling an incomprehensible apology before fainting.

“Um, by the way.”

“Speak.”

“Do you know where Master went?”

“Ah.”

Daesabu let out a short exclamation before speaking.

“Well, he went down to Hwayeomhyeon with your disciple, Ha Hyun.”

“Excuse me?”

“They were gallivanting around like they were about to die, so it was difficult to watch them… I sent them to buy some snacks for you when you wake up. I honestly didn’t think you’d regain consciousness so soon.”

Daesabu added with an awkward expression.

“They’ll be back soon. Don’t be disappointed; they’ll bring the snacks they bought.”

…There was nothing to be disappointed or not disappointed about; I just realized one thing.

‘There’s always a bigger fish.’

Such is the way of the world.

As Daesabu said, my master and Ha Hyun soon returned.

Master, who must have been surprised to see his disciple clinging to me and crying, let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that I woke up safely and that the problem was well resolved. The stiffness on his face clearly relaxed then.

Ha Hyun, whose soul seemed slightly absent from his pupils probably because he had recently gone down and up a volcano right after taking the entrance exam, also looked relieved.

Seeing the reactions of the two almost made me feel weird again.

While I felt most sorry for Master, I also felt sorry for Ha Hyun.

We get along quite well now, having taken the entrance exam together and helping each other out, but the ‘Ha Hyun’ in my memories and he were…

‘I had hated him unilaterally for no reason and even committed suicide before his eyes.’

I really regretted it.

Still, I couldn’t cry here, so I tried to calm myself by thinking of other things.

Those were incidents that now had no chance of happening, so it would be good to try to forget them, even if forcibly.

‘At least the spell is broken, that’s a fact.’

After calming myself down, I exchanged a few words with them and even received some comforting pats from Master. Then Daesabu kicked everyone out of the room, saying that the patient needed rest.

Alone in the now-quiet room, I let out a small breath and organized my thoughts.

‘First of all…’
The reason why the demon cult left only me and annihilated the Baek family is of course a matter that I must not forget and should investigate. However, there was no immediate need to rush.

‘After all, there’s no other way to investigate right now.’

According to the Head Priest, the task I had to do now was to rest well and recover my body, and I agreed with that.

So for two weeks, I really did nothing and just rolled around in the small room of the temple.

‘This isn’t too bad either.’

Although I had been particularly active learning swordsmanship since the possession, I originally didn’t mind staying indoors.

Master and Ha Hyun both bought a heap of sugar confections as instructed, and although we had been eating them together while taking medicine for two weeks, we hadn’t even managed to finish half of it.

‘Well, that’s probably a good thing.’

After two weeks, I received permission from the Head Priest to leave the temple and returned to my daily life.

The real end of the incident.

Many things happened after I left the hospital with the remaining sugar confections in my arms.

Firstly, I was summoned by Elder Jangmunin and received consolation for my hardships, and in addition to sending further investigations to the Martial Arts Alliance about the annihilation of the demon cult and my family, I was told by the adults to keep it a secret from others for now.

‘If something comes to light, we will not hide it from you. You’re still young, so even if you want to get revenge right now, could you hold off for a bit?’

The fact that I had entered the volcano under a spell aside, it was true that there were no immediate visible threats, so it was the right course of action to not stir up any confusion.

I believed the elders of the volcano would investigate well, and I also had absolutely no intention of going around spreading rumors about the demon cult right now.

I obediently agreed.

‘I don’t have grandiose thoughts about getting revenge anyway.’

I just want to live peacefully.

On the other hand, among my sworn siblings, I don’t know what was said, but most of them would encounter me and say, “Ah, our youngest…” and look at me with sentimental eyes, pat me, or give me treats like pulling grass for a rabbit.

What was more unfair about this was,

‘I’m not the youngest.’

There’s that priest.

Although he’s two years older than me, shouldn’t the order of entry into the sect be what matters here?

‘…Ah, forget it.’

Grumbling alone won’t do any good.
Even excluding that part, when I thought about it carefully, the situation wasn’t dramatically different from before the incident occurred. The behaviors were almost similar.