Grandma Sujin asked with her eyes widening into circles.
“Hm? How do you know about that?”
Starlight Silk was a specialty of the Great Forest.
Just as its name implied, it was a glossy fabric that seemed to have starlight flowing through it—a treasure that even royalty and nobility could not easily possess.
Naturally, the Great Forest kept both its ingredients and manufacturing process secret.
Most people did not even know the name of the Starwind Flower, the material used to make Starlight Silk, so it was not strange that Grandma was surprised.
I smiled gently and told her about what I had experienced on the island. After hearing the entire story, Grandma was amazed.
“Goodness... I had heard that among the ancestors who came to this land, there was someone who secluded himself to create another Great Forest. I never imagined he would be fated to meet you.”
“If he was an ancestor, then how long ago...?”
“I am a twenty-second-generation descendant of the first person who came to Dongnae, so it has been more than ten thousand years.”
My mouth fell open at the staggering span of time, and Grandma Sujin patted me as though she found me adorable.
“Do you know what it was that you saw and heard there?”
“Karma, wasn’t it?”
“That is right. Karmic Energy, Karma. Even on this continent, which is full of every kind of mystery, it is the most mysterious power of all.”
It was a little burdensome when Grandma, who looked exactly like someone in her twenties, gently pinched my cheek.
She was like a mischievous older girl from the neighborhood, making me want to run away.
Whether she knew how I felt or not, Grandma continued her explanation.
“Magic, which manifests to some extent according to established principles, is different from Sacred Arts, which are governed by the will of the gods. Karma is different from both.”
“How so?”
“It is infinite and varied. What life you have lived, and what life you will live. Karma is what allows you to do anything based solely on those two things.”
“Even live for more than ten thousand years?”
“Yes. Perhaps that old man wished to create and cultivate another eternal, unchanging hometown. He had lived that way all his life.”
“Ah...”
Thanks to Grandma’s explanation, I finally understood what the old man had realized at the end.
That it was time to let go of the unchanging hometown he had always held in his heart.
That even someone who had transcended his lifespan by so much had a time when he had to go.
Even the old man, who spoke of impermanence, had not fully accepted it.
Yet with a single word from someone who knew nothing, he had finally acknowledged it.
“So that is Karma...”
As I understood the old man’s heart, Karma—which I had known only as a concept through the Sword Saint’s memories—suddenly felt much closer to me.
Karma was the sum of one’s deeds, and one’s life.
It was the path connecting the road one had traveled with the road one would travel.
What kind of life had I lived, and what kind of life would I live?
On the day I could fully answer that weighty question, I felt certain that Karma would come to me.
Grandma Sujin watched me with a smile, not interrupting as I sank into thought. Once my expression brightened, she asked me a question.
“It seems you have gained something?”
“Yes. It is thanks to the old man and you, Grandma.”
“Growing is a good thing. It is nice to see.”
“Thank you.”
“In that case, what do you intend to do with the flower field the old man gave you?”
“What?”
The conversation, which had been discussing intangible value, suddenly shifted to tangible value.
I could only blink at the abrupt change of topic.
“Starwind Flowers are the raw material for Starlight Silk, and Starlight Silk is the long-cherished wish of the Fairy Artisans living on the peninsula. You know its value, do you not?”
“Yes, it is a very... very precious thing.”
Precious enough to start wars over.
Long ago, countless territorial wars had supposedly been fought over garments made of Starlight Silk.
Starlight Silk was that valuable.
Only then did I realize that I had become entangled in quite a troublesome problem.
It was difficult to leave the field of Starwind Flowers alone, but equally difficult to do whatever I wanted with it.
Originally, that island had been a resting place for boatmen, and the old man who had kept them from noticing it had ascended.
Naturally, the field of Starwind Flowers could be discovered at any time.
I could not claim ownership of that field all by myself.
There were laws in the world, and I had no legal basis whatsoever to say that the island belonged to me.
Nor did I want to betray the gondoliere who had told us about the island with good intentions by blocking access to it.
I frowned at the difficult problem.
“I do not know what to do. If possible, I would like it if no one had to lose anything.”
“Then shall we lease it to Raechia?”
“Lease it...?”
“More precisely, we would lease it to the Jeong Family. Then the Jeong Family can move the Council to protect the island.”
“Why?”
“I told you, Starlight Silk is the long-cherished wish of the Fairy Artisans.”
Grandma Sujin smiled faintly.
She had looked as though she already knew the answer from the moment she began speaking of Starlight Silk.
Since it was Grandma’s suggestion, I was willing to accept it, but I continued asking questions.
“Then what will happen to the island?”
“Raechia City will strictly guard the area around it. Lodgings and workshops for the Fairy Artisans will be built as well.”
“Can’t the flowers just be brought elsewhere to be made into fabric?”
“Starlight Silk can only be made where the Starwind Flowers are born and grow. That is why Starlight Silk is produced only in the Great Forest.”
It was difficult for me to understand, but I accepted it as the effect of some sort of mystery.
Starlight Silk was, after all, an object that held mysteries within itself.
After thinking that far, I decided to leave the complicated processes I did not understand to Grandma.
I did not know much about laws or economics, and I had no experience with either.
Still, I made one request.
“Then please allow people to enter at least part of the island.”
“Part of it? It is not impossible, but considering security, it is not an easy request. Exactly where?”
“Only the beach. The island is too nice to keep to ourselves.”
It was a request for the people who had given me this opportunity.
If it were not for the gondoliere, I never would have met the old man there.
Grandma did not frown at my somewhat excessive request.
Instead, she seemed to understand all of my thoughts and gently pinched my cheek again as though she found me praiseworthy.
“You are a kind boy. A good child should receive a gift, should he not?”
“A gift?”
“I cannot give it to you right away... I look forward to next spring. Until then, let it remain a pleasant anticipation.”
When I tilted my head at her incomprehensible words, Grandma smirked and changed the subject.
“By the way, our Johan is rich now.”
“Huh? Rich?”
“The natural habitat of Starwind Flowers, the raw material for Starlight Silk, which had grown only in the Great Forest. How valuable do you think that is?”
“It must be... enormous.”
“I do not know how much rent the Jeong Family will offer, but it will not be disappointing. You may look forward to it.”
“Haha... I was not hoping for money, but it does feel nice.”
Through Grandma’s explanation, I realized that I had become rich overnight.
At the same time, I felt that Grandma was an even greater stroke of luck.
A treasure in the hands of the powerless was nothing but misfortune.
Without Grandma, whether they were powerful or wealthy, someone would surely have rushed in to seize it.
More than money or treasure, human bonds were what mattered.
Recalling the value of something I had already known to be precious, I smiled awkwardly.
Giving thanks for this moment.
***
After finishing our various conversations, I headed home with my friends, who had been doted on by the guild members to the point of harassment.
As we walked together, I was about to tell them what I had seen on the island and what it was worth.
But Andrea spoke first.
“Johan.”
“Huh?”
“Maybe I should become an Adventurer too?”
His face was filled with the worries of a boy approaching adulthood.
Hearing his thought-filled words, reality suddenly came rushing in.
The disposition of the island and its rental fees were matters for adults, so my conversation with Grandma had felt as though I were walking through a dream.
Andrea’s words about living as an Adventurer were different.
“Why do you think that? You did not like being an Apprentice Adventurer.”
I asked carefully so that it would not sound as though I were mocking or challenging him.
Anna, who usually could not resist provoking Andrea, quietly waited for his answer as well.
Under the serious gazes of both of us, Andrea drew in a breath.
As though he meant to breathe out his tension along with his exhale.
“You are right. I found the work of an Apprentice Adventurer too boring.”
“It really is boring.”
Finding cats or delivering letters was honestly difficult to call Adventurer work.
I could fully understand Andrea’s impression.
Anna must have found it quite boring too, because she unusually nodded without saying much.
Encouraged by that, Andrea revealed what he had been thinking.
“Even the work done by full-fledged Adventurers felt too vague to me. I thought that if I was going to make a living with swordsmanship anyway, it would be better to become a mercenary. I thought I would leave being an Apprentice Adventurer as a brief memory I made with you two.”
I could understand that too.
What mercenaries did was very intuitive and simple.
They fought.
What else was there to explain?
The work Adventurers did, on the other hand, was often utterly vague.
That was why people were attracted by the word “adventure,” became Adventurers, and then grew disappointed.
Andrea would not have been any different.
I was curious about why he had changed his mind so suddenly.
“Did this experience make you change your mind?”
“Yeah. I used to think adventure was only boring and difficult. It gave me a headache. But I get it now.”
Andrea quietly closed his eyes, as though remembering the field of Starwind Flowers.
Anna and I followed his lead and recalled that fantastical scene as well.
Even now, it remained vivid before my eyes.
The rapturous sight of flowers in full bloom beneath gentle moonlight, releasing starlight.
We were absorbed in an unforgettable memory for only a moment.
Then Andrea opened his eyes and brought us back to reality.
“So this is an adventure. Adventurers live to see things like this.”
“Haha, not every adventure is like that.”
“Of course, there must be plenty that are only boring and difficult, right? There must be people who never see scenery like what we saw for their entire lives. But we saw it.”
Andrea’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
As though he were pushing the words he wanted to say back into his chest.
But only for a moment.
In the end, he pulled those swallowed words out again.
“We saw something so beautiful it made us want to cry. We had a real adventure together. That is what I thought.”
“The thought that you want to become an Adventurer?”
“The thought that I want to go on adventures with you.”
Perhaps embarrassed after saying it, he avoided our eyes.
Surprisingly, Anna was the first to encourage him.
Her method was to give him a hard smack across the back, but it was certainly encouragement.
“Why are you so embarrassed?”
“Embarrassed? I am always confident!”
“Then why are you turning red and lowering your eyes in such an annoying way?”
Anna laughed heartily as she teased Andrea.
Yet no resentment remained between them. Perhaps that was simply Anna’s strength.
“For goodness’ sake, we can just go on adventures together! Right?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it. I think it will be fun if I am with you two.”
“We will fix Johan’s leg and make tons of money! Then, when we return, we can brag to the guild members about the incredible adventures we had!”
Once the awkward atmosphere blew away, what remained was the bold resolve of children chasing dreams rather than reality.
Looking at my friends, I could not help but smile warmly.
More than the island’s ownership or its rental fees, this promise felt larger and heavier.
“Next year, once my birthday passes, I am leaving right away.”
So I revealed the plan I had never told anyone before.
Anna and Andrea were not surprised at all.
Instead, they nodded as though they had expected it.
Andrea, whose heart had changed through what we experienced together.
Anna, who had pushed Andrea forward without hesitation.
And me, willingly revealing the journey I would take to pursue my dream.
The feeling of heart connecting to heart warmed my chest.
So this was a friend.
The kind of relationship where you bicker your entire lives, then laugh even after growing old as you say, “Those were the days.”
So light, yet so precious.
Words I could not have dreamed of hearing just a few months ago came to me.
Encouraged by that warmth, I made a request of my friends.
“You will come with me, right?”
Anna and Andrea looked at me, then at each other, then back at me as they nodded firmly.
“Of course!”
“Let’s go together, even to the end of the world!”
At the moment my friends’ answer became a promise etched into my heart—
I became certain that my journey would be neither lonely nor sad.
So long as I was with them.