Ryun wanted to shoot back a retort at Hwaryun’s words, but what he said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Only then could she have an accident-free, disaster-free Long and Healthy Life!
Ryun looked at Heukwol—no, the black Phoenix, or rather, the Silkie chicken—who was shining with a brilliant gaze and a complicated expression.
The Silkie chicken moved its head elegantly, pecked at the remaining feed once, and then poked its beak slightly through the iron bars. Without realizing it, Ryun gently stroked that jet-black beak.
The Silkie chicken lightly bit Ryun’s fingertip, not enough to hurt, then let go. Ryun felt a gentle warmth from the tip.
“If it were a real spirit beast, wouldn’t it have run away already? Instead of staying in a place like this.”
“The person feeding it is right here, you know.”
“Ah…!”
That was true!
Ryun let out a silent lament internally. If it was becoming a spirit beast by eating her Spiritual Energy, naturally it would rub up against her here; where else would it go?
“Still, we should separate the coop a bit. It won’t do to leave it like this.”
For the sake of the other chickens, letting them stay together wasn’t an option.
*
“What? The chicken ran away in that short time?”
“I had separated it briefly while building the new coop, but the guy is so strong…”
Mr. Jeon from the kitchen looked like he was about to cry. Ryun also stared at the half-destroyed temporary coop with a flustered expression.
Although it was just a coop made of wooden fences with a barely attached lid, an ordinary chicken would never have been able to break it.
Following the direction the Silkie chicken had roughly flown, they reached the southern wall. A roof tile placed on the wall was shattered; it seemed he had kicked off it to climb over.
While Mr. Jeon clutched his head in distress, Ryun sent him back first and stood before the wall, swallowing a sigh.
“Sister, what are you thinking?”
“I’m wondering if he finally ran away even though the person feeding him is right here…”
“…”
Hwaryun, who had spoken to her, approached Ryun while averting his gaze with an awkward expression. Ryun continued speaking without looking back at him.
“I think I need to go look for Heukwol.”
“…You were thinking weird thoughts.”
“It’s not a weird thought. It looks like he ran away to that mountain. What if Heukwol wanders around at night and gets eaten by wild animals?”
“If anything, that guy would be the one doing the eating, not the one getting eaten. With that size…”
“To maintain that size, he needs to eat a lot. What would a kid who lived his whole life in a coop eat in that mountain?”
“Then just order anyone to go find him.”
“Well, I don’t think so, but I heard they have a violent side, so I’m worried something might happen. Plus, he looks unusual, so that makes me anxious too. Just in case. What if someone steals him?”
“Stealing the family’s chicken… unless they want to die, there’s no way they would…”
Hwaryun muttered. Hearing that, Ryun turned around to look at Hwaryun in shock.
An awkward silence flowed between the two.
Even so, is stealing a chicken really worth killing someone over?
Was he this extraordinary from a young age?
At Ryun’s gaze, Hwaryun seemed to snap back to reality, feigning ignorance before speaking hurriedly.
“So what are you going to do? Are you really going to go find him yourself, Sister?”
“Yeah. Blackie might be lost and unable to find his way back…”
And so, a dramatic Silkie chicken—presumed Phoenix—rescue team was formed.
It consisted of three people: Ryun, who insisted on going herself; Hwaryun, who couldn’t bear to watch Ryun go alone; and the bodyguard Jeong Yeong, who turned pale with fright upon hearing that the sickly Young Lady intended to climb a mountain.
Ryun climbed the hill, following the faint presence of the Silkie chicken. There were times when the unseasonal hiking made her breath catch in her throat and her vision spin, but she endured it with effort.
She was already dragging a body that lacked energy due to her Spiritual Energy condition, so climbing a mountain where Spiritual Energy flowed like breath made her feel suffocated.
The unrealistically beautiful scenery of the autumn foliage, her breath catching in her throat, her energy levels threatening to hit the red zone—everything made her dizzy.
Just as they had wandered enough that Jeong Yeong and Hwaryun were about to suggest giving up, they finally found the chicken with black and red feathers flickering like flames under a large tree.
“Heukwol!”
The Silkie chicken noticed Ryun’s presence and lifted its head sharply. However, it didn’t come to Ryun. It simply stood by the tree in an elegant posture.
“Heukwol…?”
“He doesn’t look like he has any intention of coming here, does he?”
Ryun raised a finger to Hwaryun to hush him, then gathered her collar and walked carefully. As she got closer, the Silkie chicken rubbed its cheek against her sleeve.
“Heukwol, how did you get all the way here? Wasn’t it hard? Now, let’s go ho…”
But as Ryun tried to embrace him, he flew up gently as if swimming and backed away. With an elegant movement that didn’t even make the sound of flapping wings.
While Ryun just watched in surprise, Hwaryun came to her side.
“Hmm. Looks like he’s just going to leave?”
“I told you to be quiet for a second.”
Ryun glared at Hwaryun, who was being annoying, and turned her head back to the Silkie chicken.
However, she couldn’t continue speaking. As the sunlight shone through the tree branches and touched him, the Silkie chicken began to look truly divine.
“Uh… Uh-huh, are you really going?”
At Ryun’s question, the bird nodded its head once. Then, slowly and quietly, he hid his figure among the bushes behind the tree.
Ryun stared blankly at that sight, or more precisely, at the space under the tree where the Silkie chicken had vanished.
“Now? Is that it? He said he was going to me and then really just went?”
“I guess so.”
“Just this simply?”
Without any reward for feeding and raising him, simply vanishing in vain?
“Well, coming to say goodbye instead of just running away isn’t exactly simple…”
Ryun, who had been dazed, snapped out of it and hurriedly rushed toward the tree.
Not that doing so would help her find the disappeared chicken again.
“Let’s go down now.”
Hwaryun approached Ryun, who was standing there blankly, and tugged at her sleeve.
“Sister, you collapsed just the other day. You’re not going to make me scour the whole mountain looking for medicinal herbs again, are you?”
“No, that’s not it, but…”
It was a chicken she cherished; could she let go of her lingering attachment so simply just because it nodded as if it understood human speech and then hopped away?
It was when Ryun was hesitating with wavering eyes. From far away, a difficult-to-describe sound, like the air tearing or splitting apart, was heard.
At the same time, a bright and auspicious five-colored light flashed and spread out. A massive shadow fell over them.
It was the shape of a gigantic bird. Because of the bright light shining from behind, it was impossible to look at it directly, but that much was clear. A massive form with wings large enough to cover the mountain, a long tail, and a beautiful crest, glowing brilliantly with all sorts of colors high in the sky, before fading away softly.
Ryun thought she heard a faint chicken cry from far away.
At the same time, a few feathers fluttered down slowly from the sky and landed on Ryun’s outstretched hand. They were bright red feathers that looked like they were completely burning.
At that point, Ryun sorted out her lingering feelings.
“Mm. I can just tell the mister in the kitchen that the chicken turned into a Phoenix and flew away. No one will suspect a thing.”
“…Sister, be careful not to get arrested by the Magistrate.”
“Don’t they say there’s non-interference between the government and the martial world?”
“What if the government changes its mind? Besides, if it’s a Phoenix, it won’t just be the government; the White Path Alliance and the Black Heaven Alliance will all come rushing in.”
“If I get arrested for making a Phoenix… you have to come visit me and bring sweets.”
“Will sweets be enough?”
“Candied Hawthorn too. Not the ones my uncle made. And do you think only the White Path Alliance and Black Heaven Alliance will come? The Demonic Heavenly Cult will come too.”
Her voice trembled a little as she said the last part.
But Hwaryun just snorted.
“That place is too far away. It’s ten thousand from here.”
“Right! It’s far, since it’s far…”
It was the moment Ryun thought,
The feather in Ryun’s hand suddenly caught fire.
“W-Whoa!”
“!”
“Y-Young Lady!”
All three people there were startled. They tried wrapping it in cloth and pouring water from their canteens, but it was no use.
“Whoa… Ah… It’s not hot? Ah. The fire went out… It’s gone?”
The three people gathered their heads together and looked down at Ryun’s hand.
It was just wet from the canteen water; it was a clean hand with not even ash remaining.
“Are, are you alright? Are there any burns…”
Ryun shook her hand and shook her head.
“None. I’m okay. Perfectly fine. Yeong, you didn’t happen to use something like Samadhi True Fire, did you?”
It was meant as a joke, but Jeong Yeong looked at her with strangely hurt eyes.
