Most small villages like this—unknown, overlooked, and lacking the strength to defend themselves—had learned to make smart use of the world's most terrifying deterrent.
They would distribute Black Dragon scales evenly around the settlent. That alone was often enough to keep wandering monsters at bay.
So villages that didn't have scales would even pool their money under the village chief's direction to purchase them together. To the villagers, it was entirely reasonable—no one wanted their ho to beco a tragedy.
Xien glanced at his teacher beside him. Alfia didn't pay the scales any special attention at all.
She seed to catch Xien's little movents and imdiately understood what he was thinking.
"Sure, that thing was strong. And sure, we lost," she said calmly. "But it's not enough to leave with trauma."
"They're just scales. To , they're no different from any other trophy."
"…Using them to protect people isn't a bad thing."
Xien understood.
This was the mindset of a true powerhouse.
Not everyone could face death head-on.
Xien had trained so relentlessly partly because fear drove him—after the assassination attempt, he never wanted to experience that helplessness again.
Yet Alfia, even after facing absolute despair, could still gather herself and move forward.
That was sothing worth respecting—beyond raw strength.
The village felt as if it were cut off from the world.
The quiet seeped into his bones, soothing his mind without him noticing.
Birdsong drifted through the air. Floral scents followed the breeze.
Before long, they arrived at a small bamboo grove—within it, a simple cottage.
Alfia stepped forward and knocked.
A mont later, the door opened. An elderly woman in plain clothes appeared.
When she saw Alfia's face, she froze—then her wrinkled features softened into a smile.
"I thought you wouldn't co," she murmured, voice rough with age. "Good. Good… Co in."
She stepped aside, and Alfia and Xien entered.
Only then did the old woman notice Xien behind Alfia. She looked him over, puzzled.
It was rare for Alfia to bring a "kid" along.
"And this one is…?"
"My newly accepted disciple," Alfia answered simply.
"I see." The old woman's mouth curled up. "I thought he was your child."
The air changed.
Alfia stopped mid-step.
Her aura snapped outward like a blade.
Pressure flooded the room.
Behind her, Xien broke out in cold sweat.
Unbelievable. Soone actually said that to Alfia's face.
"Master Yezi," Alfia said, voice gentle and lethal at the sa ti, "I appreciate that you've protected taria for so long."
"But if you can't control that mouth of yours, don't bla for helping you leave this world a couple of days early."
The old woman visibly flinched and instantly changed the subject—regretting her slip the mont it left her lips.
When she was young, that sharp tongue had caused her endless trouble. It was part of why she'd ended up hiding in a quiet village like this.
She also hadn't expected Alfia to be this terrifying.
The last ti Alfia ca, the old woman hadn't felt anything like this.
"Ahem… Right." She waved them onward, hurrying. "Co. Her ti is almost up."
Alfia's expression tightened. "What do you an? Your letter said there was still ti."
"Sothing went wrong during childbirth," the old woman replied. "The fact she's held on this long is already a miracle."
She pushed open an inner door.
The room beyond was painfully simple: a bed, a table, a vase of flowers.
On the bed lay a patient.
And beside the bed sat a man—watching over her without leaving her side.
The patient was beautiful.
She resembled Alfia by seven or eight parts—white hair, delicate features—
But her body was frighteningly thin, as if skin clung to bone. Her eyes were shut. A faint, constant pain sat in the crease of her brow.
Even soone who knew nothing about dicine would look at her and think:
She doesn't have long.
The man turned toward the newcors in surprise.
"taria!"
In front of her closest family, the proud queen shed everything.
Alfia moved straight to her sister, as if the man didn't even exist.
The man seed used to it. He quietly stepped out of the room.
He understood one thing perfectly:
If he did anything wrong right now, he might not survive the day.
The old woman rely guided them in and withdrew.
Soon, only three remained.
As if she'd heard the call of soone she loved, the girl on the bed slowly opened her eyes.
When she saw Alfia, she managed a weak smile.
"Big sister… you ca…"
"I'm here."
taria's smile trembled.
"I'm sorry… I think I'm going to break my promise."
"I might… have to go first. Just for a little while."
Even now, she didn't want her death to crush her sister.
So she tried—clumsily, gently—to soften it.
"Before that…"
"Can you… hold my hand one more ti?"
She tried to lift her arm—thin as a dead branch—
And failed. She didn't have the strength.
Anyone would feel grief at the sight.
At this mont, power, wealth, status—none of it mattered.
Only this.
Alfia's voice stayed steady, but there was a tremor buried deep in it.
"Of course."
"But wait a mont."
"Later… we'll go for a walk together."
"…?"
taria blinked, stunned.
A walk? Outside?
With her body like this, that was an impossible dream.
Then Alfia turned her head and spoke—firm, undeniable.
"Xien. Please."
taria's gaze drifted to the boy who had entered with her sister.
Who is he…?
Xien stepped forward.
"No hesitation," no theatrics.
"By your command, Teacher."
He took taria's hand.
The mont he felt her pulse—if it could even be called that—his heart sank.
By all logic, she shouldn't be alive.
Her organs were nearly inactive. Her state was almost indistinguishable from death.
Then he lifted his eyes—
And saw a faint light inside hers.
A stubborn spark.
So that's it.
This was—
Will.
Then he moved.
One Thought: God and Demon—activated.
taria, still confused, tried to ask what he was doing—
And then warmth flooded into her.
A warmth so gentle it felt unreal.
Xien spoke, voice low and resonant, as if reciting a vow.
"Let the song of life be sung here."
"Gentle one—your hope should not end here."
"Now, by the principle of abundance… I will continue your road ahead."
Life-force circulated.
In the real world, it manifested as phenonon—
A vast erald cocoon wrapped around taria's body.
"At this mont, the First Cause of life—
Why we exist—
Finds its reason here."
His gaze did not waver.
"And the answer…"
"…is love."
"Because of love…"
"…we exist."
Yes.
He had seen it in her eyes—
Her love for her family.
That refusal to let go.
That devotion, so quiet yet so absolute, had held her together until now.
If that was what she offered to the world—
Then he would answer it with everything he had.
Miracle surged again.
Under the bearer's wish, it beca the ultimate engine of rescue.
Seconds passed.
The light cocoon cracked.
Then shattered like a shell.
And the girl inside—
Returned to the age she should have been.
The na taria regained its rightful form.
In that instant, she was granted a second life.
Behind Xien, Alfia watched the scene—
and at so point, her heterochromatic eyes had opened fully.
She stared at him as if he were a god walking in mortal skin, and sothing unshakable settled into her heart.
"Then…" she whispered, vow-like,
"May everything I have… be with you."
"I will remain at your side…"
"Forever."
Fate of an important figure rewritten. Interference Points 5000
Xien's eyebrow twitched.
…Huh? This whole family is stacked? Even this 'frail' girl is worth 5000? Just who exactly is she?
Half an hour later
Two breathtaking white-haired girls ran through flower fields at the edge of the village.
At this mont, they weren't "the strongest" and "the dying."
They were simply sisters—close as blood could be—finally living the happiness they should have had long ago.
"It really feels like a dream," taria said, laughter trembling with disbelief.
"Big sister… how long has it been since we played like this?"
They fell onto the soft grass, leaning against each other.
Their smiles refused to hide.
The invisible wall between them—years of distance, guilt, fear—
Had quietly dissolved.
Now it was heart to heart again.
Only joy remained.
Alfia looked at her sister's face—bright, alive—and exhaled.
"…Maybe more than ten years," she admitted.
"If I think about it… I don't think I ever truly stayed with you."
Watching taria like this, Alfia finally understood why everyone had loved her.
taria carried gentleness and strength in a way that didn't seem possible.
Looking at her life was like watching the greatest kind of adventure—
The kind that didn't need swords to be heroic.
How ridiculous.
Alfia had always thought taria was weak—
Without realizing her will was stronger than most.
"Eh?"
taria's eyes suddenly turned mischievous.
"What is it?" Alfia asked, wary.
taria leaned in, eyes sparkling.
"Are you really Alfia… Big Sister?"
"…Or is soone pretending to be you?"
Alfia's forehead vein twitched.
Her hand curled into a fist.
If taria didn't provide a satisfying explanation, she was about to be reminded—physically—why Alfia was the elder sister.
"taria."
"You—"
"Hahaha!" taria imdiately surrendered, waving both hands. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"
"It's just…"
"You've changed so much."
"And I'm happy."
"So… you'll forgive your cute little sister, right?"
Alfia stared at her.
Then—helplessly—she sighed.
"…You really haven't changed at all."
taria bead. "Because I'm still your adorable little sister."
And that was exactly why Alfia always lost.
No matter how unstoppable she was in battle—
This was her natural enemy.
After a mont, Alfia shifted topics like soone saving herself.
"Where's that kid of yours?" she asked.
"I haven't seen him."
"That idiot didn't ss up even sothing as simple as watching over you, did he?"
taria's expression softened into mory.
"When I sensed I didn't have much ti left…"
"We decided to send Bell sowhere safer."
Even saying it aloud made her chest tighten.
No mother wanted to send away a child who had only just been born.
She had cried for a long, long ti before agreeing.
Alfia's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Safe?"
"He was only a few years old, wasn't he? I rember the beginning was… pretty bad."
taria smiled—soft, proud.
"That child is strong."
"And of course…"
"It also helps that he has his mother's love."
She said it lightly, teasing, trying to make her sister smile.
It worked—almost.
Then taria grew quiet again.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Big sister…"
"I had already… decided to accept my death."
Her fingers brushed a flower gently, as if confirming it was real.
A mont like this—
Sitting in a field, talking with her sister—
Had been sothing she never dared to imagine.
"It's like a dream."
Alfia's gaze drifted, heavy with feeling.
"…For too."
"The mont that boy appeared…"
"It was like…"
"…a miracle."
taria's smile faded, replaced by seriousness.
"So…"
"You must have paid an enormous price."
"For ."
Her weak body had not made her foolish.
taria understood that miracles always demanded sothing.
Especially one that even the gods couldn't perform.
She was astonished by Xien's power—
But what she cared about more was what Alfia had done to secure it.
If her sister had relied on force, coercion, deception—
taria would not ignore it.
She turned to Alfia with a gaze sharper than her frail appearance suggested.
Alfia's scalp tingled.
A single bead of sweat ford at her temple.
They were sisters.
She knew exactly what taria was thinking.
So she answered plainly, almost lazily.
"Sorry."
"Your clever little head guessed wrong this ti."
"I didn't do anything."
taria blinked. "That can't be true."
"He called you 'Teacher.'"
Alfia's eyes flickered.
"…I know."
"It's strange."
"But that's how it was."
"He asked for nothing."
"He was like a compassionate angel scattering rcy."
"When I requested help, he only smiled…"
"…and gave a clear yes."
"And then he did it."
Her gaze shifted toward the cottage in the distance, as if she could see the boy through the walls.
"As for why he calls 'Teacher'…"
Alfia's voice lowered slightly.
"That's because I shalessly demanded a connection with him."
taria went still.
Then, softly:
"…Then we owe him far too much."
Alfia didn't deny it.
She simply closed her eyes for a mont—feeling the weight of gratitude settle into sothing more serious than words.
"Yes," she said.
"We do."
....
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