In the meantime, the Grand Elder took a sip of tea and spoke again.

“Still, I didn’t expect it to be this much.”

“What…”

“Your master had reason to worry.”

“My master?”

“I thought he was overly concerned when he first took on a disciple. I thought he was making a fuss over nothing when he said he was troubled because you didn’t seem like other kids your age. But now I think I understand.”

So that’s what he said.

Although I still felt a bit embarrassed, I pretended to be calm and focused on the current conversation. Come to think of it, I remembered my master looking worried a few times when I showed reactions unlike a child.

As I wondered if I should make an excuse, the Grand Elder saw my expression and waved his hand.

“Well, never mind. You must have your own circumstances. Anyway, you’re already a disciple of Hwasan, so there’s no need to pry into your secular affairs one by one.”

“…Yes.”

It seemed he knew that just before I entered Hwasan, when my master found me, my family had already been wiped out and I was left alone.

Well, as the Grand Elder, he must have heard about it from my master long ago. I’m grateful if he misunderstands my age-inappropriate behavior as stemming from that experience.

“Still, act childish with your master sometimes. It’s okay to behave your age. He’s only ever held a sword in his life, and you’re his first disciple.”

“Ah… I understand.”

I actually didn’t understand, but I answered like that anyway.

“Good. Now then.”

The Grand Elder changed the slightly lightened atmosphere again.

“What do you want to do about your senior disciples?”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, we were clearly talking about my senior disciples at first.

“Of course, you didn’t speak nicely to your seniors either. You spoke well. I was impressed.”

“Th-that…”

“However, it was ultimately your seniors who provided the cause for you to speak that way. No matter how dissatisfied they were, it wasn’t right for them to do that to a junior disciple their age, that’s what I mean.”

I fidgeted with my teacup and rolled my eyes. The Grand Elder looked at me quietly and added:

“What do you want to do? Since I’m the Grand Elder of the Medical Pavilion, I can push one proposal to the Sect Leader. If you want them to enter the Repentance Hall, I could put them in for a day or so.”

At those words, I couldn’t help but laugh despite myself.

I knew it wasn’t the time to laugh, but that last statement was clearly meant to appease me, as anyone could see.

They can’t put disciples in the Repentance Hall just because of some squabbling among peers. The Repentance Hall is for greater offenses, like greatly disgracing the sect or breaking precepts.

When I laughed, the Grand Elder paused in turn. I looked at him and spoke slowly.

“It’s alright. It’s not good to escalate conflicts among senior and junior disciples either. Even if my seniors provided the cause, it doesn’t erase the fact that I was also wrong. They are my seniors after all.”

“…How did he manage to bring in someone like this?”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, never mind. So you’re just going to let it be?”

“Yes.”

Seeing him looking at me with a strange gaze, I explained a bit more.

“You said earlier that the issue wasn’t completely resolved, but just you coming and scolding them a bit would have surprised my seniors, so the same thing probably won’t happen again.”

The Grand Elder finally nodded slowly. After a moment of silence, he asked:

“Is that the end of it then?”

I smiled bitterly.

“…Probably not. I think the unresolved resentment from today’s incident might build up and become an even bigger problem later.”

“Do you have any thoughts on that as well?”

I did have some.

In fact, for about 3 months after waking up, I was too busy adjusting to living itself to think about this issue. However, since encountering the Second Class disciples returning from their travels in the martial world, and overhearing Senior Liu’s words expressing dissatisfaction towards me, I had been thinking about it whenever I had the chance.

I thought of many things, but in the end there was only one.

“Somehow, I need to make them acknowledge me. But I couldn’t think of a proper method. I just thought that if I worked harder, time would eventually resolve it.”

Hearing that, the Grand Elder chuckled.

“That’s the right answer. In fact, you shouldn’t dwell on anything beyond that. Looking at it differently, constantly questioning your entrance is tantamount to objecting to the sect’s decision. As you said, problems arise because even those living in Hwasan are human, and if noise continues to occur, measures will be needed, but you’ve done nothing wrong in all of this.”

“I understand.”

With that conversation, we ended all mention of it by unspoken agreement.

“Have another cup of tea before you go.”

“Yes…”

He said one cup, but it was only after two more cups that I was able to get up from my seat.

After paying my respects to the Grand Elder and leaving the hall to return to my quarters, I suddenly became lost in thought.

Not just from the talk about the Jade Plum Sect, but also from the conversation that followed. The Grand Elder was just someone who looked a bit scary, but in fact had never really disapproved of ‘Haheun’ at any time.

He probably would have accepted me as I was even if I hadn’t been so un-childlike and talented.

‘He just looks really scary. To the point where it feels like I’ve done something wrong when I haven’t…’

Thinking about it again, this is my fault. I should live without such arrogant prejudices.

‘I wonder if the original Haheun knew this too.’

That there were people who cared for her besides her master.

Maybe it was a bit difficult for a 12-year-old to know.

Three days passed after that day. I spent my time peacefully.

I woke up, regulated my qi, ate, trained… The Grand Elder often came to oversee my training, saying my master had asked him to, so I didn’t become lazy.

My senior disciples were also quiet as I had thought, so I believed I would continue to spend time like this without incident until my master returned.

But on the very afternoon I thought that.

“Um, junior sister. Can you spare a moment?”

Senior Liu came to find me.

Regardless of whether the purpose of his visit was good or bad, I hadn’t even thought he would come to see me directly like this, so I blankly looked up at my senior’s face when he spoke to me.

At first, my senior seemed to try to maintain a deliberately nonchalant expression, but as my gaze didn’t leave him for a long time, his face gradually began to turn red.

I finally came to my senses and replied.

“Ah, yes.”

It wasn’t that I had any intention, I really only grasped the situation belatedly.

“Where should we go?”

“No, I just have something to say… let’s talk here.”

With a face that looked like he might heave a big sigh at any moment, he sat down carelessly on the training ground floor. I watched him quietly for a while before deciding to go along with it for now.

When I sat down across from him, my senior, who had been silent for a while, finally let out a deep sigh. Then he spoke as if pouring everything out.

“I came to apologize. I’m sorry.”

In fact, from the moment I saw my senior’s face when he came, I had guessed he hadn’t come to pick a fight again.

‘But I didn’t expect him to apologize right from the start like this.’

I looked at him quietly.

But this time, my senior didn’t hesitate under my gaze. As if opening his mouth had been the hardest part, he continued speaking without stopping, as if he had gained momentum.

“You’re right that I was jealous of you. And then I did those things, so as Elder Jin Neung said, it wasn’t befitting of a disciple of the Dao. No, being jealous in the first place wasn’t a feeling a disciple of the Dao should have had.”

“I, I see.”

“Actually, I had been restless because the Elder didn’t say anything after that, but yesterday evening he called for me, and I went to see him thinking the time had come. I went prepared, but far from scolding me, he told me that you said there was nothing good about causing more discord among senior and junior disciples and to leave the seniors be. When I heard that…”

I wondered if he was breathing while speaking, but indeed, my senior hesitated, unable to finish what he was saying, as if he was out of breath. As if he had just realized he had been speaking very hurriedly, my senior slowly took a breath and finished his sentence in a deflated voice.

“…When I heard that, I just felt more ashamed.”

“Yes…”

I was surprised in my own way, not expecting him to not only apologize but also tell me what conversation he had with the Grand Elder when he was called.

However, regardless of my surprise, my senior, who had really spilled everything without hiding anything, now muttered as if he had transcended it all:

“And the kids who were with me then didn’t really think much of it, but I kind of instigated them… Even so, wrong is wrong, so those guys are probably hanging their heads in shame right now too. They all wanted to apologize, but I said I’d go first. I’ll say it again… I’m sorry.”

My senior’s expression was miserable as he finished speaking. But inwardly, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

‘The Dao sect is the Dao sect after all.’

Well, this person too had passed the entrance exam and lived in Hwasan for a long time.

Moreover, among the disciples of the same rank as me, Senior Liu was one of the youngest besides myself. I think he was about 23 now.

Of course, that was old compared to 12.

But if you just took the number 23 separately and thought about it, you’d say he was young, or youthful, anyway not quite like a full adult…

Of course, if you say that at that age he picked a fight with a 12-year-old, we go back to square one, but still, confessing ‘that’ mistake to a 12-year-old and apologizing like this wasn’t something just anyone could do.

Anyway, I was going to let it pass as if nothing had happened, but if he came to apologize on top of that, there was only one action I could take.