The Tiger Clan and Bear Clan, both closely tied to the heavenly god, reflexively bowed and became polite after hearing the words “Son of God”
The Son of God walked toward Silver Tiger, the one who knelt first among everyone, and raised him up as he spoke affectionately.
“Please raise your head and stand up. It is my father that everyone owes a favor to.”
With the permission of the Son of God, those who bowed raised their heads and observed the four beings who came down.
All of them had beautiful faces, and the most eye-catching was the Son of God.
Everyone was amazed at his face, his goodness, and a voice that seemed to resonate like jade.
“Some people might already know, but I will formally introduce my party.”
The Son of God introduced the other three that came with him.
Pungbaek and Usa looked the same and were said to be twin brothers.
At first glance, it seemed impossible to tell who was who.
“Those two look the same.”
Yellow Tiger, who had just been defeated by Blue Tiger, spoke.
“There were people who looked alike among the tigers I fought earlier too. It seems like I’m dealing with one family after another.”
“Come to think of it, there’s that tiger too.”
The last one to be introduced was Unsa who was behind Pungbaek and Usa.
Unsa had a very different aura compared to the two.
“I am Unsa who has just risen and stood in the same place as Pungbaek and Usa.”
Unsa bowed politely to the crowd.
Yellow Tiger had his judgment after that short scene.
‘Maybe it’s because Pungbaek and Usa look similar, but Unsa seems far from them. He looks more like the Son of God if anything.’
After the introductions, the Son of God looked at White Tiger who was standing beside Silver Tiger
“Greetings to the greatest Tiger born in this land. Please protect this land by generously showing your skills.”
Shortly after the Son of God’s words, a light suddenly flashed from the sky.
Through the very brief open sky, a pile of cotton cloth slowly fell with subtle energy.
Son of God checked the contents, smiled, and then offered them to White Tiger.
It was the Great Sword.
The Heavenly God greatly admired White Tiger’s martial arts and gave him a gift.
“I have already received a great sword from my dexterous brother.”
White Tiger refused twice, but when Silver Tiger shook his head, he finally accepted on the third offer.
As soon as the cotton cloth in the shape of a large sword reached White Tiger’s hands, the cotton melted in the air and disappeared, revealing its contents.
It was a great sword that matched White Tiger’s name.
While everyone was admiring the energy of the great sword, it disappeared with a brilliant light as if it permeated the palm of White Tiger.
Son of God heard his father’s voice and added an explanation.
“Even knowing that White Tiger already has a sword, that great sword chose White Tiger. However, it is aware that it does not yet have a place with White Tiger. It will appear the moment you need it.”
With the Son of God’s words, the matches finally ended and all the spectators went their way.
Except for the Tiger Clan.
They came to live as one group, just as Heavenly God wanted.
Just like the Bear Clan, there was a rumor that the head of the Tiger Clan should be the head since he won the tournament.
However, White Tiger declined at handed the position to his brother, Silver Tiger.
No one opposed the decision, however, there was still a fuss.
“Why don’t you have a rematch with me if you’re free, Silver Tiger? It just so happens that I am not very busy.”
Yellow Tiger often invaded Silver Tiger’s office, his eyes sparkling every time.
Silver Tiger greeted the fussy Yellow Tiger as if he had been waiting for him.
“Welcome, Yellow Tiger-nim. I was just heating up tea. I knew it was about time you’d come so I prepared some for you too, Yellow Tiger-nim.”
Yellow Tiger used to ask Silver Tiger for a rematch whenever White Tiger and Blue Tiger were away, but no matter how provocative he was, Silver Tiger just gently serves him tea every time.
Not only that, but Silver Tiger always manages to fool him with his speech skills and they end up talking about work.
He doesn’t know what kind of trick goes into the tea, but after drinking it, the talk of a rematch would flow right out of Yellow Tiger’s mind.
Yellow Tiger was dissatisfied, but before he knew it, he became accustomed to the taste of the tea that Silver Tiger serves, and so he began to enjoy it without realizing it.
“Son of God will come today. I’d like Yellow Tiger-nim to join us.”
Yellow Tiger didn’t answer right away.
He was lost in thought, delaying his answer.
‘Son of God comes to the Korean Peninsula often lately. The Son of God is a hybrid between heaven and man. Even if there are fewer restrictions on going back and forth between heaven and earth, the limit will come soon. And then he’ll be unable to come to this land.’
After the Tiger Clan began to live as a group in this land, the Son of God, along with Pungbaek, Usa, and Usa, often came down to interact with them.
In particular, the Son of God became closer to Blue Tiger, saying that he wanted to study her art of Taehokwon.
Still, Yellow Tiger was skeptical of this.
Since the Son of God was neither a tiger nor a human, he thought that he would leave this land soon enough.
Blue Tiger thought the same thing and was sad about that fact, but she was careful not to show that loneliness in front of the Son of God.
Yellow Tiger and Red Tiger once played a prank to soothe her, but it ended in a big fight.
“Yellow Tiger-nim, you’ve never spoken with Pungbaek, Usa, and Unsa. How about talking with them today when the Son of God visits?”
Silver Tiger suggested so, but Yellow Tiger didn’t really agree.
He’s still unsure about the Son of God, and his impression of the three wasn’t really great.
The only thing he remembers about them is that two of them are twins.
“Why should I have to do that?”
“Because they are going to stay on this land and be with us soon.”
Silver Tiger spoke with a confident face.
“The Son of Good will come down to this land and lead humans to rule this land. They will be with us. Pungbaek, Usa, and Unsa will follow.”
Yellow Tiger was strangely impressed by Silver Tiger’s eyes.
And just as he said, the Son of God and the three stayed on this land.
* * *
After saying how the Son of God stayed on this land, Hwang Jiho turned silent for a while.
His gaze was on Silver Tiger’s descendants who seemed to struggle to keep their eyes open.
Despite that, the descendants still seemed eager to hear more stories about Silver Tiger, but Yellow Tiger and Red Tiger both stood up, their mouths pursed to a straight line.
“It’s already late. Let’s leave it there and go to bed for tonight.”
“…Eh? We still haven’t talked about the foreign enemies though?”
“The Bear Clan story hasn’t come up either!”
“When and how did Silver Tiger-nim fall asleep?”
The descendants pushed to hear more stories, but their eyes and voices already seem very sleepy.
The tigers comforted the whining descendants and tucked them to bed.
They fell asleep quite quickly.
‘They must’ve been very tired. The excitement of getting out for the first time in a while really got to them.’
The descendants have been prohibited from going out of the mansion ever since they came here.
They must’ve been very excited to go out, even though it was to express condolences to me and my family.
The sight of the descendants falling asleep exhausted from talking reminded me of my little siblings who fell asleep after a nice afternoon picnic.
Hwang Jiho confirmed that the descendants were asleep before addressing me.
“You should call it a day and sleep too.”
I still want to hear more about Silver Tiger though.
I felt conflicted, but I had to ask something now that the descendants are asleep.
“I have a question.”
“Tell me. If the answer to it is long, I will answer you tomorrow.”
With that, I decided to postpone all the questions I had that could possibly have long answers.
I opted to ask those that are answerable by “yes” or “no”.
“You said before that the reason why you drink tea is that the one who respected enjoyed it. Is that Silver Tiger?”
Hwang Jiho always enjoyed drinking tea.
He almost never skipped his morning tea time, and he would always serve a tea suitable for the season or the situation whenever I visited.
I recalled our conversation a while ago.
— When did you start drinking tea?
— I don’t remember exactly when. It reminds me of the person I respect the most. He enjoys tea.
In his story, he described Silver Tiger to be someone who likes drinking tea, while Hwang Jiho wasn’t someone particularly fond of it at that time.
“Yes.”
I didn’t expect Hwang Jiho and I to have something in common.
It felt quite odd that it reminds me of Cheon Sungheon and how he taught me all about tea ceremonies.
I don’t have a particular dislike of certain drinks, but it was thanks to Cheon Sungheon that I enjoyed drinking tea when I’ve always been a juice drinker.
“It seems that ‘Sungheon’ has something to do with ‘tea’ now that you ask that question.”
Considering the events today, the stories we talked about, and the timing of my question, it’s inevitable that he’d reach that conclusion.
Since he answered my question, I decided to answer him honestly.
“Yeah.”
“…I see.”
Hwang Jiho closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
He seemed to have reached a similar conclusion as I did.
While Hwang Jiho remained silent, White Tiger and Red Tiger, who were watching from afar, came one step closer.
“…Yellow Tiger? Jo Euishin? Why are you not going to bed?”
“…”
Although they were far, the sharp-eared tigers would’ve heard what Hwang Jiho and I were talking about.
It wasn’t a particularly dangerous conversation, but it may have been strange to hear us talking about Cheon Sungheon.
“It’s nothing. We just exchanged questions.”
I stood up and turned my back, thinking that our conversation was over.
But then, he turned around and grabbed my arm.
“I have another question.”
“Go.”
“Jo Euishi, is Stalemateless a word that refers to you?”
All the tigers’ eyes were on me.
“That’s right.”
Hwang Jiho nodded as if he was satisfied with my answer.
“I see. It’s a much better nickname than Nameless Supernova.”
Why does he have to mention that here…
‘Maybe he doesn’t like that nickname either?’
It’s a little fairy-like compared to “Red Wall Thief”
I don’t understand his intention, but I decided to drop it.
And then, the next day.
I headed to the Silver Hall with the tigers.
Together with the paralyzed Cheon Sungheon.
