Chapter 252   – Growth (2)

Yeon-woo took his mask off in front of them without any preamble. It might’ve been from the influence of the alcohol, but he didn’t have any regrets.

This was the first time he showed them his face of his own volition.

Edora smiled with a nod, and Phante looked at Yeon-woo with surprised eyes.

“Heaven Wing…..?”

Yeon-woo began to tell them his story.

Thinking of what happened that day, his emotions raged inside of him, but he didn’t show it. He spoke like it was someone else’s story.

Phante was the one to break the calm. He pumped his chest with his fist like he was furious, and he even slammed his glass down.

Edora’s eyes shook hearing the story, which was more serious than she thought, but she shut her mouth and didn’t say anything.

“…….”

“And Father? Does Father know this?”

Yeon-woo shook his head.

“I never told him.”

“He’s only interested in his own business. Does it make sense that he doesn’t know his disciple went through something like this?”

Phante shot up from his seat.

“This won’t do.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Why are you asking me that?! You’re now a member of our tribe. Your business is the tribe’s business. You went through such horrible things, so does it make sense that the tribe leader is sitting his butt down sipping tea?!”

He looked like he was going to dash out. Before Yeon-woo could stop him, Edora shouted.

“Sit down, you bastard!”

“W, What? Bastard?”

Edora, who had been trying to act demure in front of Yeon-woo, wasn’t able to control her emotions this time. Phante was shocked.

But Edora continued to shout with squinted eyes.

“Yeah. Bastard. Do you really think Father doesn’t know about this?”

Phante closed his mouth. The Martial King focused on the village, pretending like he didn’t care about the ongoings of the world, but his eyes and ears were always open. He resembled his father, but Phante couldn’t deny that his father was sly. Also, their mother, the Psychic Medium was always next to him.

“You still don’t know? Father is giving Oraboni a chance so he can fly using his own wings. He’s protecting him from his natural enemies.”

“……!”

Phante suddenly felt sober. He just plopped down and tipped his glass back down again.

His sister was always logical; he didn’t know why he was so fiery all the time.

“Father knows that Oraboni will leave the nest one day. He also wants to see Oraboni finish things on his own.”

Phante nodded his head. The Yeon-woo he had seen so far definitely wasn’t someone to stay inside the tribe.

Suddenly, Phante became curious why someone who hadn’t said anything all this time was suddenly telling them everything.

Phante stared at Yeon-woo like he was going to eat him up.

He didn’t ask anything, but he looked at Yeon-woo with fierce eyes, as if compelling him to tell them the truth.

Yeon-woo knew what the question in Phante’s eyes was. He tipped back the alcohol. He could feel something hot moving down his throat. It had a high alcohol content, but strangely, he felt wide awake.

Tak!

“I.”

Yeon-woo spoke the truth that he had been pushing down all this time.

“Want you to become my wings.”

“Wings?”

Phante looked blankly at Yeon-woo. However, Yeon-woo could see the expectation that was burning in Phante’s eyes because Phante liked cheesy things.

Yeon-woo clenched his fists and continued.

“Yeah. Wings. Like I said, what I’m going to be doing in the future is useless. It’s fighting with the Tower itself. That’s why it’s hard for me to tell you guys to help me. Also, your tribe…..”

“Hyung.”

Phante picked his ear like he was bored and cut Yeon-woo off.

“What?”

Whew! The substance on Phante’s finger flew off as he blew it with a smile.

“In times like this, all you have to say is one thing.”

“…..?”

“Help.”

“……!”

“And here I was, wondering why you looked so serious. You were always so curt and made people feel frustrated. I see you’re also someone with a lot of words, huh? Hehehe.”

Phante chuckled, shoulders shaking up and down. Edora nodded as she looked at Yeon-woo. Yeon-woo heard her voice echoing in his head again. ‘I want to share your burden.’

Yeon-woo silently closed his eyes.

He only had one thing to say to the two.

“Thanks.”

It was something he had felt for a long time , but the best thing he had done since entering the Tower was meeting the two.

Phante scratched his nose that was either red from embarrassment or the alcohol. He gulped down the rest of his glass.

“Ke! You don’t have to worry about anything else. Father will take care of the tribe even if he doesn’t have us, and who cares if someone else takes over the successor’s spot? I can just give it to them.”

It was such a Phante-like thing to say. Phante grinned mischievously.

“Also, if you’re born a man, you should have the courage to fight with the world! Kya! It’s awesome when I say it!”

“But I’m a girl,” Edora said jokingly.

“Hm? Why are you a girl?”

“Do you want to die?”

“Your precious Oraboni is watching.”

“……I’ll talk to you later.”

“Hahaha! I’ll talk to you now, little sister.”

Phante burst out laughing, not caring if Edora glared at him.

Edora ground her teeth and promised herself that she would punish him when the influence of alcohol was gone. She looked back at Yeon-woo with a calm face.

“But Oraboni, what are you planning on doing from now? Didn’t you bring this up because you have something to say?”

Yeon-woo nodded his head.

“I have plans to make a clan.”

Their eyes widened.

“Clan?”

“I see you’re trying to establish an organization first.”

“Since that’s the most important part. We’ll only get somewhere after we have a foundation.”

“Hehehe. And we’re the founding members?”

Phante laughed with amusement.

“But we only have a small number of members, and it’ll be hard to create one right away since we’re not prepared. What should we do about that?”

“Hm.”

Phante shut his lips.

“Become strong enough until we can’t be crushed, regardless of who pushes you down.”

“You’re telling us to become stronger so we’re not an embarrassment to you. That’s a bit hurtful to my pride.”

Phante shot up from where he was sitting. His eyes shined like they were on fire.

“It’s a good thing, actually. I hate being a burden. You told me to become your wings, right? I’ll become your teeth, not your wings, so you should work hard too. You might be swallowed up by me.”

They were done drinking. Phante spun around and left. Edora bowed to Yeon-woo and followed after Phante.

Sitting there alone, Yeon-woo drank the last of what was left in his glass. Tak. The sound of his glass clicking on the table felt loud.