In the Name of God - Chapter 38.1
Without a word telling me to come in, I leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms.
“What did you come here to talk about?”
There was deliberate sharpness at the edge of his voice.
“Here to tell me not to act all high and mighty just because I’m an Awakener?”
“…It’s not like that.”
Seong Do‑wan exhaled softly and stared straight into my eyes.
“Where did you learn to manipulate mana? From whom?”
For a moment, I remembered Nam Hojin, who had asked questions just like this.
“I just taught myself.”
“Don’t lie. Mana manipulation isn’t something you can learn easily by yourself.”
Seong Do‑wan was watching my eyes closely, trying to detect any falsehood in my words.
He might have been planning to deal with the annoying guy who recklessly taught his 9th-rank younger brother how to use mana and might have wanted to use that as an excuse to keep me nearby.
Just like Nam Hojin had, he could be thinking of assigning someone to properly teach mana manipulation.
But now that Seong Do‑wan wasn’t just hiding in the background, in this case, he would probably teach me himself. That way, he could justify keeping Seong Do‑yoon close.
‘It’s obvious, so obvious.’
I smirked while roughly picturing what was going on in Seong Do‑wan’s head.
“Maybe I just have talent. I read a theory book and tried it out, and it worked.”
“Do you think that makes sense?”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
I deliberately spat the words sharply.
“Do you think I have no talent because I’m considered trash, or do you want me to have none?”
Maybe it was both.
Seong Do‑wan’s jaw trembled. Was he angry?
‘Maybe it’s because my normally quiet younger brother was acting out all day.’
He might have been holding back the urge to punch me.
But I was completely wrong.
“…Why are you trash?”
“What?”
Who didn’t know that the 9th-rank’s nickname was “trash”?
That casual insult I let slip became, more than anything else, a fuse that directly triggered Seong Do‑wan’s anger.
“You are not someone who deserves to be called trash. If anyone ever speaks to you like that, I will…!”
As Seong Do‑wan barked the words harshly, he noticed my slightly surprised expression and quickly stopped.
“…Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
He turned his gaze away and clenched his teeth, seeming to barely suppress the anger rising to his throat.
Honestly, it was more surprising that he apologized than the fact he had yelled.
‘Is he being cautious because he thinks I might be scared? Before he darkened, he used to get so frustrated whenever he couldn’t intimidate me.’
Can a person really change this much?
This must be his true self, so there’s no need to wonder if he changed, but as someone who still carries the memory of how Seong Do‑yoon had been despised, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
‘This is more than I expected…’
It seemed that Seong Do‑wan cared for Seong Do‑yoon more than I had realized.
‘Now I feel a little guilty.’
I had been planning to take full advantage of him, but seeing that kind of younger-brother-blind affection made me feel a bit sorry.
Of course, even if I felt guilty, I would still make use of him.
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
I composed my expression and pretended to be tired just from the conversation. I acted as if I didn’t want to know the true feelings that the older brother had inadvertently revealed.
“If there’s nothing else, then go. Don’t say anything useless.”
Useless words.
In other words, if he expected me to stay quietly in the house like before, it wouldn’t work. So he should just leave.
On the other hand, it also implied that he might really have something else to say.
I thought Seong Do‑wan was selfish, frustrating, and oblivious to his younger brother’s feelings, but not stupid. He must have realized that using the same methods he used in the past would have no effect on the current Seong Do‑yoon, and that there was no need to.
Then the only way for him to both protect his talented younger brother and satisfy his own desire was one thing.
“I’ve saved you a spot in the clan. Join.”
Just as I had expected, those words came from Seong Do‑wan.
Horizon, one of the four major Korean clans, a group so large that the term ‘gigantic’ followed its name.
The lowest rank was supposedly 6th rank.
Even those at the bottom had at least two years of experience in the field.
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