Chapter 6: Seeing Stones as Gold (2)

The scenery after disembarking at the port was completely different from what I had seen in the East.

The people's accents and food were different, and adventurers and mages walked around in their distinctive attire.

"Master, didn't you say this was your second time coming to the Western Regions?"

"Yes, it's been quite a while since my last visit."

Bi Wol stuck close to my side, watching everything around her with curiosity.

Her hands were full of desserts, and she seemed to particularly enjoy the fruit tart made with green grapes.

"Then why didn't you tell your disciple about such delicious things?"

Bi Wol spoke with her mouth full of food like a hamster. Her muffled pronunciation was endearing.

"I'm sorry. Since the ingredients are hard to find in the East, I thought it might only make you uncomfortable."

When writing "The King of the Vajra Fist," I had established that Bi Wol, as a Heavenly Demon, had an attachment to sweet foods because she had consumed human flesh and blood in her childhood.

Reflecting this, the real Bi Wol also loved sweet and stimulating foods like hawthorn tanghulu and dumplings filled with spices.

"...This disciple would happily eat anything Master gives. Even plain rice cakes would taste as sweet as mahua with Master's sincerity added."

When I spoke self-reproachfully, Bi Wol replied in a small voice. She must have thought her request was too unreasonable.

During our ship journey here, Bi Wol had suffered from seasickness. I had comforted her as she vomited and worried.

The reason I was buying her so many sweets now was because I didn't want my disciple's first journey to be remembered badly.

Like when I first saw the sea in Busan, I hoped she would come to love the sea someday too.

"Please don't blame yourself too much. This disciple was momentarily entranced by sweet foods in front of her heaven-like Master..."

"What's wrong with that? It's natural at your age. Pure emotions like crying and laughing over snacks aren't bad things."

I slightly raised the corner of my mouth watching Bi Wol stuff her mouth with food. She seemed more like a normal young girl than a Heavenly Demon bearing the karma of the Heaven-Killing Star.

It brought me deep joy to see her living the life she should have had originally.

"Please don't treat me too much like a child. Someday I'll grow several spans taller than Master."

Bi Wol looked up at me with puffed cheeks. She even measured with her hand from her head to above mine.

"I really hope that happens."

I imagined Bi Wol's future greatness. Like in the final parts of the web novel "The King of the Vajra Fist," a woman with the impression of a well-honed sharp sword.

Though I could say my desire to see the ending of my story here was stronger than anyone's.

Would I live until then?

The sensation of someone piling dirt over my head day by day - that's what the feeling of life gradually fading felt like.

"You'll definitely be able to see it."

"Yes, I look forward to it."

I had to tell Bi Wol this small lie. Not wanting to be sad in advance, I forced a smile.

***

Bi Wol, Wolfram, and I took another carriage after leaving the port. During this time, I cross-checked the information I knew with her.

"The hero's name is Verdandi Astraea. I heard she's originally the daughter of a farming woman in the countryside."

"What's the name of her village?"

"Wonder Hill. They say it got its name because when there was a great drought in the village, a miracle occurred where rain fell."

This matched the setting I had created.

When I came to the Western Regions alone, I couldn't find Verdandi no matter what I tried, so I would need Wolfram's help to meet her.

"What about the holy sword or holy armor? Does she have them?"

"Don't know. She just received the divine oracle, so I doubt she has such things?"

These were Verdandi's two secret weapons. The equipment she had used to fight the protagonist in the original "Must Kill the Hero."

I had made Verdandi grow alongside the protagonist because I thought it would be interesting to have the final boss level up too.

'One is a weapon that allows her to make powerful attacks, and one is armor that prevents anything from harming her.'

This was also why I brought Bi Wol here. If dialogue with Verdandi proved impossible, fighting might be inevitable.

It was a plan to use a final boss to catch another final boss - using barbarians to control barbarians.

"Bi Wol, if a new sister tries to kill me, could you subdue her without killing her?"

"...That would be difficult. How can you ask me to subdue someone who tries to harm Master without killing them?"

I looked at Bi Wol as she mumbled with her head down. From her position, these words must have been incomprehensible.

Suddenly getting a new sister was bad enough, but one who would try to kill me - she must really hate it.

"She's a pitiful child who can't trust people. Because she sees the world in black and white, she doesn't know the emotion of love-hate."

I spoke while slowly stroking Bi Wol's head.

By this point, one might doubt whether she was a disciple or a puppy, but she moved her head to make it easier for my hand to pat her.

"Humans are contradictory and complex creatures. Like a well-honed blade, they can hurt others but..."

"...They can also protect, right? Just like how Master saved me."

Bi Wol smiled broadly, seemingly not minding my touch. Seeing this, I could understand why fathers became daughter-obsessed.

"Hey, do you know the newly chosen hero? How do you know so much?"

"We can't help but know each other."

I was the creator of Verdandi, Bi Wol, and Azazel. I had brought them to life through words on blank pages.

Facing Wolfram's constant suspicion about my identity, I decided not to lie.

"I too received an oracle from the Main God. I heard a voice telling me to take the hero as my disciple and cure her madness."

Sometimes mixing truth and lies equally was more easily trusted than the truth alone.

"So that's why you came all the way to the Western Regions? You're really unusual. I thought Eastern people didn't believe in gods."

"Actually, I prefer people who try to change themselves over those who just pray to gods."

As a math instructor who had given up on my dream of being a writer, I had met many students.

Half would postpone studying until tomorrow,

Another half would only talk about studying hard.

And half of them would say they couldn't study because of poor family circumstances or lack of parental support.

"People who build their bodies first if they lack strength, who work hard if they lack talent, who blame themselves rather than heaven - honest people."

However, among those remaining, there were students who wanted to change.

"Anyone can make excuses, but not everyone can put in effort and show determination."

There were students who exercised every morning to prevent themselves from dozing at their desks due to lack of stamina.

I saw students who, despite poor circumstances, weren't ashamed of their poverty and honestly spoke with their homeroom teachers to receive support.

"I like imperfect people with flaws and rough edges. There are no perfect people in this world."

Seeing such students, I often thought that my life hadn't been wrong.

Though I was a coward who ran from my dream of being a writer, I seemed to have become a proper teacher. I was glad that one failure didn't lead to another.

"...Master, do you like me too?"

"What master in this world would dislike their disciple? In my life, saving you was the best thing I ever did."

I smiled gently while looking at Bi Wol. Even if it strained my body, saving Bi Wol had been worth it.

"You need to be careful later. You play with people's hearts without even taking a breath."

Watching this, Wolfram spoke with crossed arms, seemingly irritated. Her twitching foot suggested she was holding something back.

"I've always been told I have a way with words."

"No, that's not what I... Ah, this is so frustrating! It's ambiguous - you're not completely oblivious, but not entirely aware either!"

Wolfram messed up her golden hair in frustration. She glared at me as if angry.

"You'll regret it when your disciples torment you! I warned you clearly!"

"Yes, I'll keep that deeply in mind."

As if our gentle and cute Bi Wol would ever try to kill me? I raised the corner of my mouth slightly, almost mockingly.

"Anyway, if you want to take the hero as your disciple, shouldn't there be something in it for me? After all, I guided you to this village!"

"......"

Wasn't saving her life enough?

I couldn't quite understand Wolfram's behavior and thought process. In common terms, the 'character was moving beyond the author's intentions.'

To demand a deal for profit right in front of the person who created all her settings and backstory.

"How much do you want?"

This was actually good.

Such variations were always welcome. Sometimes when writing, following the characters was more right than following the plot.

"300 Aslan gold coins."

"That's an unreasonable proposal. Can't you lower it?"

Wolfram's eyes sparkled, and I almost thought I could hear the sound of her mind working.

"Haha, are you trying to negotiate with the Gold Tower Master?"

She was a born negotiator. Someone who had unparalleled knowledge about money-related information and judged people by monetary value.

"I'm negotiating because you're the 'Golden Sage.' If you can turn roadside stones into gold, why do you need gold coins?"

"Because the gold I make isn't 'real.'"

In fact, the gold Wolfram made wasn't pure gold.

Made from stones rather than metal, it was a fake, an imitation full of impurities that wouldn't even show teeth marks when bitten.

"Isn't a fake that wants to be real always admirable?"

I had set up all the mages in my novel to be mad in some way.

Among them, Wolfram dreamed of 'perfection.'

"Then, let me give you better information instead."

"Could there be information more useful than 300 gold coins?"

Knowing her personality, I pulled out a different solution. Information that only I, the creator of this world, knew.

"...The Philosopher's Stone. Don't you want to know where it is?"

I knew where the legendary stone that could turn lead and other metals into gold was currently located.