Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 598 (Part 1)



598 (Part 1)

**Chapter 599: North Sea. (Revised)**

“Why aren’t you going?”

A bright question as if genuinely not knowing passes through the silence.

Is it because of the sudden situation? I find myself at a loss for words.

‘What’s going on?’

Why is that person here?

I had intentionally kept quiet to avoid drawing attention.

How did they suddenly end up here?

Thoughts swirl in my mind.

Especially now it was a moment I wanted to avoid encountering them.

‘Since I just sold out that old man…’

Memories of the ‘things’ I did against the old man make it hard to look at the Master.

If they ever find out what I did using their name later on…

‘It won’t end with just that.’

As a disciple or whatever I could easily pull their limbs apart and scatter them in different rivers.

If it’s that person they would definitely do that and more.

While I was sweating coldly thinking about this.

The Master looks at me in silence and asks.

“What’s wrong? You look like a thief caught in the act.”

“…What do you mean? When have I ever stolen anything?”

Their intuition was annoyingly sharp.

“So that’s what’s strange—”

“When did you two decide to be brothers?”

“Indeed. Haha.”

At the interruption from Mo Yong-hee the Master hurriedly changes the subject.

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“Hahaha! Must be the morning; my tongue is acting up.”

“…”

I thought their late recovery was quite pathetic.

Of course I couldn’t voice that thought.

“Uh Mister.”

-Elder.

“Yes.”

-Why you.

“Are you planning to come with us?”

-Why would that old man want to follow? Stay quietly at home.

“It doesn’t look fun. I’ll be of help so please take me with you.”

-Shut up and take me.

-If you don’t want to die.

“…”

“Haha.”

In the brief exchange I could feel all the underlying emotions.

Especially the last words felt particularly chilling.

I could sense the Master’s determination not to let go.

If it were up to me I would want to just leave them behind.

‘But they’re not someone who can be easily discarded.’

This person is someone who would require everyone here to band together just to push them away.

Even if we manage to push them away it would be a stroke of luck.

‘In the process…’

I glance at Dang So-yeol and Mo Yong-hee.

‘I don’t know what that person might do to them.’

You might think I should trust my master but…

‘I don’t. Why would I have that kind of trust?’

If I were to pick someone who knows the Master well in the current Central Plains I would definitely be among the top ten.

That person sees nothing but martial arts.

Especially since I’m just a launching pad for their romantic ideals as a disciple.

I’m just someone who’s too lazy to go out and is stuck with orthodox sects.

The Master I’ve seen is exactly that kind of person.

“Huh….”

I let out a quiet sigh.

Since the Master has decided there’s no escape.

“Do you really have to… stay quiet?”

-Please don’t cause any trouble.

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“After living this long to hear such a warning from you Mister is quite refreshing?”

-That’s not something you should be saying.

-You’re being cheeky?

‘…’

Ending a conversation that yielded nothing I clicked my tongue and looked straight ahead.

“…Let’s get going.”

Thinking about going with that person already made my head throb.

What can I do? It’s all my Karmic Retribution.

Of all people my master had to be someone like that.

What a truly unfortunate life I lead.

I suppressed my irritation and lightly tapped Ddoll-ddol.

“Hey let’s move as quickly as possible—”

“Uh um….”

I frowned at the voice that came from behind.

It was Yu-ri speaking.

“What now?”

“If we’re going… how… how do we go?”

It’s fine that she’s excited but her eyes tremble as if she doesn’t know how we’ll move now.

It seems she had already anticipated everything.

But it looked like she was hoping it wasn’t true.

Seeing that I smiled and said.

“Haha what? Are you worried we’ll fly away or something?”

At my joking words hope flickers in Yu-ri’s face.

“Right? Flying in the sky that’s such a ridiculous fantasy. There’s no way that could happen—”

“You’re right. You’re smarter than I thought.”

Tap-.

Without hearing all of Yu-ri’s words I nudged Ddoll-ddol with my foot.

Then.

Whoosh—!!!

It moved its massive body and soared into the air.

“Ahhhhhhh—!!”

At the sudden jolt Yu-ri clung tightly to my back and screamed.

It was quite loud.

The wind brushed against my face.

The speed was still something I couldn’t adapt to.

As Ddoll-ddol stabilized itself in the air the scenery finally came into view.

It was still a view I couldn’t get used to.

The vast land of the Central Plains spread out beneath the clouds.

The wind brushing against my cheeks and the cool sensation that felt impossible for summer.

‘Not bad.’

It was one of the few sensations I liked in my current life.

Of course.

“Ughhh…!! I’m flying! What the hell is this!!”

The person behind me seemed to be in sheer terror.

Grrr—!

Ddoll-ddol gradually increased its speed.

I had told it to go as high as possible.

At the same time I had to brace myself in front.

The wind was so strong that I had to be careful not to fall.

‘At this speed how long will it take?’

I couldn’t calculate precisely since I didn’t know the distance but I would estimate it would take about a month to go back and forth.

If we could keep flying it would be faster but that wasn’t the case.

At the very least we had to take a break every three days.

That was the time I calculated.

So.

‘That means I have just under a month to resolve things.’

I had to return within two months.

That meant I had to finish everything within that time frame.

Could I do it?

I didn’t know.

But I had to. That was the mindset I started with.

As I gathered my thoughts and organized my plans step by step.

“Ugh… I think I’m going to throw up….”

“…”

I closed my eyes at the voice coming from behind.

Should I knock them out? I felt that impulse again but I had to hold it back.

It would be more troublesome to take care of someone who fainted here.

‘…We’ll get there eventually.’

Just like always. If I endure it will be resolved.

I spent time thinking that way.

Fortunately we arrived at our destination sooner than expected.

On a day that marked seven days since we set out.

We had arrived at the North Sea.

******************

We passed the mountains and crossed the sea.

Considering everything that had happened there were countless stories to tell from the night.

But it was still a complicated moment to bring them up.

This was no easy journey.

I had expected it but it was quite different from traveling by carriage.

The speed was dozens of times faster but the biggest issue was fatigue.

It was night and day and we couldn’t sleep properly so we had to stay awake all night.

It wasn’t just someone keeping watch; everyone had to be awake which compounded the fatigue.

We said we would take a break for Ddoll-ddol every three days but given the long distance it also became a break for us.

Going fast was good but personally it was something I wouldn’t want to do twice.

If we had moved at a more leisurely pace it might have been fine but the urgency made it feel particularly exhausting.

Even with a body that had reached the peak of physical condition it was still this tough.

“…Ugh….”

Yu-ri who was at a first-class level looked like she was on the verge of death every day.

She seemed to be trying not to show how hard it was.

But it was beyond the level of just hiding it.

At least she didn’t whine about how hard it was so that was a relief.

‘She probably has nothing to say.’

I was the one who took on the request to deal with the chaos in the Ice Palace.

What could Yu-ri possibly say?

She had to keep her mouth shut and follow quietly.

If she had started whining throughout the journey.

‘I would have just left her behind.’

Whether it was in the mountains or the sea I would have thrown her away.

Since she didn’t I let it slide.

‘But still the fortunate thing is.’

Whoosh—!

I frowned as I felt the wind brushing against my cheeks.

It was an extremely cold wind.

For summer it felt unusually chilly.

Feeling this I slowly lowered our altitude.

As I did the clouds brushed by gradually revealing the scenery.

On the seventh day since we departed from the Central Plains.

We had arrived at the Outer Regions North Sea.

It was an earlier arrival than I had expected.

“Wow….”

Dang So-yeol exclaimed in admiration at the sight before us.

Snow was falling all around.

Snow in the middle of summer.

It was such an alien sight.

What about below?

A thick layer of snow covered the ground completely.