I held a housewarming party and called my clan vassals. I didn’t call Raviel. I had nothing more to say about her when it came to this garden. The talk I had with the Primordial Staff still stood true. This garden was a place where the flowers reigned, and it wouldn't receive guests.
“We may receive mourners in the future,” I said. “Among these people, some may have family or beloveds. If they wish to reunite with their loved ones, we should let them.”
“I see. Mourners.” Estelle, who had cried once more to raise the sea level, wiped her eyes with Sylvia’s handkerchief. “A shared grave… No, I believe this is closer to a rehabilitation hospital. ‘Visitors’ would be a more fitting term than ‘mourners.’”
“Ah, you’re right.”
“But for a rehabilitation hospital to receive visitors, it needs doctors, nurses, and security guards.” Estelle blew her nose into Sylvia’s handkerchief. “Here, I’ll take on the role of head nurse, the gardener. As I said, in their sector of the garden, the gardeners become stronger than the patriarch—”
I turned to look at Sylvia. “Sylvia, for your information, she’s blaming you for how she ended up like that.”
“That’s absurd!” Sylvia, who took the handkerchief with only her thumb and index finger, looked extremely disgusted. “No, no, no, no. That’s very, very, very absurd! Something! Has been! Wrong with the advisor! From the beginning!”
Estelle scowled. “Head Steward, do you want me to beat you? Is that what you want?”
“Look at her! She’s so quick to resort to violence! You’re an advisor, so how come you only know violence as a strategy?”
“War is the extension of strategy, and everything that happens in this world is physical. Do you understand what I mean?”
“You’re so right that I want to punch you[3]!” Sylvia shouted.
“The force and speed of your attacks are great, but the direction is slightly off."
Sylvia picked up her hammer, and Estelle summoned her great sword. They had a brief session of aiming for each other’s heads. From behind me, Uburka chewed on vanilla salt popcorn as white as his skin.
“Ugor, is it okay if you don’t stop them, Daddy?"
“Son, have you thought about doing things yourself before asking me?”
“What do you think I’ve been doing all this time while you were gone? Ugor, now it’s your turn to face the pain I felt while you were away.”
I sighed. “So my clan was already falling apart before the housewarming even started.”
Still, I didn’t really stop Estelle and Sylvia. After all, kids fought as they grew up. Deciding to let them be, I looked at the others.
“Director. Mr. Kim Yul. Could you take charge of managing this garden?”
✦ ✦ ✦
1. Referring to the “Constellations that reach this stage are usually torn between two choices. / Surviving that seems tough.” exchange. Not sure why the mage had such a delayed reaction, though. ☜
2. The Primordial Staff is talking about 기수열외. It’s a bad custom that used to be done in the Korean military. One’s position was decided based on when they enlisted, even among the same rank. The earlier they enlisted, the more they were respected, but when one became a target of this custom, they weren’t really treated as a member of the military base they were stationed at. Their seniority didn’t matter anymore. ☜
3. Korean wordplay. 맞다(right) sounds similar to 맞다(getting beaten). ☜
✦ ✦ ✦
Translator's Thoughts