Chapter 674: Bridle (8)

The time in the boundary between life and death.

The watchman, who protects the bridle of reincarnation, has experienced a long time.

There was no soul so beautiful in that distant time, and no one told the watchman this.

The watchman fell silent as if he had forgotten how to speak.

“You are a beautiful, strong soul. You are worthy of being a savior. However, I am already dead.”

“What’s wrong with saving the dead? You are dead, but you are still here.”

The watchman couldn’t answer, distracted by the huge storm that hit his calm life.

The Silver Hero stared still as if waiting for the watchman to refute.

“I am looking for the first person killed by the ones who threaten the world after the worldly collisions. I finally met you.”

The Silver Hero’s words sound in vain at first.

Saving the world, threats and her other words sound absurd.

However, each word was uttered with persuasion, perhaps because the world was truly in danger or because it was the Silver Hero who spoke it.

“I’ll leave now that I’ve seen your face.”

The watchman’s spirit was lifted by the sudden goodbye.

It’s natural that a person with such a special soul cannot live a leisurely life, but he didn’t feel good.

The watchman immediately asked again.

“Are you coming back?”

“Of course. Didn’t I say that I was going to save you?”

“It won’t be easy to come and go to the bridle of reincarnation.”

“I will come even if it’s not easy.”

The watchman was relieved by the Silver Hero’s answer.

After seeing her off, the watchman was left alone trying to swallow his regret.

He felt the Silver Shadow dominating his head.

He had normal days after that.

‘Was I not killed in an otherworld spawning? Was I killed by someone?’

The Silver Hero said that the one who threatened the world was the one who killed him.

It didn’t seem like her words were false.

The watchman recounted his memory of his death which felt very distant.

‘I felt an energy wave and died shortly after I saw a strange pattern. I guess I wasn’t killed by an enemy.’

It was his first time fighting against enemies and he couldn’t know for sure.

The only one that could answer his questions was the Silver Hero so he now had no choice but to wait.

‘She said she’d come here even if it wasn’t easy. I hope she comes safely.’

The watchman couldn’t think that he should stop the Silver Hero from coming here.

He wanted to see her again.

She said that she would save him, but just seeing her face made the watchman feel rescued.

After a long anxiety that they may never meet again, the Silver Hero has reappeared.

“The landscape has changed a lot.”

The Silver Hero walked toward the watchman, leisurely looking around the bridle of reincarnation.

The bridle changes according to the dead’s resentment and the watchman would change the appearance accordingly.

It was easier for the dead to do what they wanted.

The watchman was well aware of this, but he was embarrassed when he heard her.

After hearing what she said, the watchman recognized how much the bridle had changed while she was away.

“Did you wait a long time? I came as fast as I could though.”

“The passage of time is different here. It can’t be helped.”

“How does time flow here?”

The watchman answered the Silver Hero’s question sincerely.

The two talked for a while, and the watchman was surprised to hear the current date said by the Silver Hero.

“It’s only been a decade since the collisions? I thought it was well past hundred of years.”

“Did it feel that way? You must’ve experienced a long time here. You did a great job alone.”

“It was my choice. I didn’t think I was alone because I dealt with a lot of souls.”

The watchman wasn’t lying, but he gradually felt lonely.

He would feel lonely whenever the Silver Hero returned to the world, but she was a living person so she couldn’t stay long in the bridle of reincarnation.

The Silver Hero had no choice but to come and go.

“How are you going to save me?”

“I’m looking into it now.”

One day, the Silver Hero answered the question that the watchman asked courageously.

Of course, the watchman was happy whenever she was around and considered himself saved, but that didn’t seem to be her purpose.

“Just staying in the bridle of reincarnation can disrupt his plans. He won’t touch you as long as I am here.”

“Why is that?”

“Because if I see him, he will be read. He’s a careful man, so he’ll save himself.”

That person didn’t seem to dare to set up a scheme while the Silver Hero stayed with him.

The watchman didn’t understand everything the Silver Hero was saying, but he was willing to accept her coming here to save him.

One of the days after the cycle of their meeting…

“This…”

The Silver Hero looked in one direction and sighed quietly.

Beyond her sight was a red-eyed Rabbit Clan.

The watchman found Ok Toyeon and spoke happily.

“Oh, Ok Toyeon-nim is here. I’ve seen her before. Do you know each other by chance?”

“She’s like a family to me.”

The watchman was nervous to hear that.

He thought he should look good so he cleared his voice and prepared for greetings, but Ok Toyeon didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

The rabbit quickly narrowed the distance and shouted at the watchman.

“Hey, watchman! Did you seduce my kid? How dare you call her to such a faraway place! I thought you were nice, watchman!”

The watchman became flustered.

She had one glance, but Ok Toyeon seemed to see through the watchman’s heart at once.

He tried not to show his emotions, but the watchman failed.

When such a wonderful being appeared and said that she would save him, he couldn’t help but fall in love.

“The watchman didn’t call me here.”

“But you came all the way here because of him! And his face turned really red after hearing me! It’s because his heart is for you!”

It sounded ridiculous, but he couldn’t lie so he kept his mouth shut.

He thought belatedly that he should change the topic, but he already missed the timing.

The Silver Hero smiled brightly while staring at the watchman’s red face.

“Really? That’s great then. I was trying to seduce him.”

“What!”

Ok Toyeon belatedly realized her mistake.

The watchman and the Silver Hero looked at each other and were in a world of their own.

With Ok Toyeon unintentionally playing the role of Cupid, the two formed a bond.

* * *

I admired Ok Toyeon’s great performance in the love story between the watchman and the Silver Hero.

It seems that Ok Toyeon was worried about the Silver Hero who was away, so she went to the bridle and unintentionally connected the two.

‘Ok Toyeon must’ve cared for her so much that she died just to follow her.’

The result was different from her intention, but ultimately, isn’t it a good thing that the Silver Hero became happy?

Listening to the watchman’s story, it seems that Ok Toyeon eventually accepted him.

The story of the descendants that came seemed sweet just by listening to it.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to leave anything behind because I’m already dead. But then Seoho, Iho, and Jaeho came.”

It was amazing that there were three descendants that sprouted.

There are some people of royal lineage who weren’t blessed with descendants at all, like the Monkey Clan of Jecheondaesung.

I thought it was great, but the watchman said something more.

“Oh, in fact, there could’ve been four children.”

The following words shocked me even more.

“It was near the end of her life that I found out.”

* * *

The Silver Hero was pregnant with the youngest, Eun Jaeho.

“I wanted four kids, but I guess it didn’t go my way. We missed the timing.”

“Huh? Four? Well, if it’s not too much, we can give Jaeho a little brother…”

The Silver Hero shook her head at the watchman’s cautious offering.

“That won’t be possible. My life will be over once I have this child.”

The watchman’s heart rattled down.

The end of her life sounded like the end of his happy days.

At the sight of her speaking calmly, the watchman spoke as if he were taking it out without realizing it.

“You don’t have a name yet. Do you wish to die without a name?”

“I know well your desire to name me. I’m sorry.”

The Silver Hero was nameless.

She refused any name that was given to her.

The watchman hoped that she would have a name one day, but he was hurt to hear that her life would be over before she got one.

Trying to hide his upset, the watchman searched for a positive side.

“Then will you come here? Can you stay with me?”

The Silver Hero was born without a soul, so couldn’t she escape the laws of the bridle and stay with him/

However, the watchman’s expectations were shut down.

“No. I’m going to stay in the world above. I can’t save you if I come here dead.”

“…What?”

“He will aim for the bridle of reincarnation after I die. You must remain in this world to guide those who will save you.”

The Silver Hero would lose her body after her death.

Then, the power in her body will disappear, and the one who wants to destroy the world will come after the watchman.

He knew the Silver Hero’s intention, but the watchman couldn’t agree with her.

“But if you remain in the mortal world in the form of a soul, you will disappear someday!”

“I have prepared myself. If I tie my soul under heavy constraints, I can manage.”

The watchman tried to change her mind, but the Silver Hero’s will was firm.

The watchman had no choice but to ask her to come to him before her soul was extinguished.

“What kind of person will come and save me? Is there another one like you?”

“He’s not in this world yet.”

Could it be someone who is yet to be born?

The watchman asked more about his new savior, but even the Silver Hero didn’t seem to know for sure.

“A prophecy is always vague and unclear. Just as the first child I wanted to meet was eventually born somewhere else, fate changes according to the choices of those who walk the path.”

Believing in such ambiguity, the watchman seemed to break down at the fact that the Silver Hero was at risk of extinction.

Leaving behind the watchman whose smile gradually collapsed, the Silver Hero spoke.

“The child must someday rely on the star of dawn to get through the darkness. However…”

The Silver Hero stared into the distance.

She seemed to be thinking of someone who was not in this world.

“The star of dawn hasn’t come to this world yet.”