Multivers, Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 420: 420 Return to the Volcano 6

He went back to the kitchen, ground the grains as I’d suggested, made rice porridge, and fed the baby. She must have been very hungry, because she stopped crying and ate well.

Seeing that, I spoke to him with a worried expression.

"Oh my—building a house in the forest like this, and the calluses on your hands suggest you’re a reclusive swordsman training in seclusion. But until your daughter grows up a bit, wouldn’t it be better to focus on gathering firewood? If you keep on like this, you might lose her too."

At that, he sighed heavily and said,

"I have something I must complete."

"Is that so?"

Yi-seol’s father had been a disciple of Huashan, but he had left the declining sect. However, he missed Huashan and devoted his life to restoring the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique manual—half-burned during the Demonic Cult incident—but ultimately failed and died.

The reason no one stopped him from taking the manual out of Huashan was that there was no way to restore the half-burned manual.

Even Cheongmyeong acknowledged that restoring a manual with less than half remaining was essentially creating a new sword technique from scratch. In the end, he was pouring his life into a futile endeavor.

"Hmm... I don’t know what it is you need to complete, but it seems very important. So why not entrust your daughter to my estate? The Jin Estate will raise her alongside the other children. That way, she won’t go hungry, she’ll learn letters and martial arts, and she’ll make friends."

At my proposal, he thought for a moment and asked,

"Why would you go so far..."

"She’s only just been born, her mother is gone, and her father is absorbed in other matters... I just felt sorry that she might not grow up properly at this rate."

When I put it bluntly, he scratched his head without lifting it, unable to reply. He seemed to know he was a poor father.

"I-I see... I’ll do that."

"If you miss her, you’re welcome to visit the estate anytime. The location is well-known in Sichuan, so you’ll find it easily."

"Understood."

Knowing his own situation well, he accepted my offer. He gazed at his daughter in his arms for a long while, sighed, and carefully handed her over to me. He seemed reluctant to part with her, but in the end, he must have thought it was unavoidable for the sake of restoring the manual.

"Then, I entrust my daughter to you. Her name is Yu Yi-seol."

"Understood."

We exchanged farewells, and I took the infant Yi-seol and set off. I had only gone to build a connection, but I ended up gaining Yi-seol herself.

’Is this... things working out well?’

After getting some distance, I teleported back to the estate, took out baby supplies from my inventory, and began caring for Yi-seol.

"Huh? A baby? Don’t tell me—no, she doesn’t look anything like you."

The steward saw the baby I was caring for and said that.

"From today on, I’ll be looking after the child of an acquaintance."

"Understood. I’ll let the servants know."

I had already raised several children before, so taking care of Yi-seol wasn’t particularly difficult.

Time passed, and five years had gone by since Yi-seol came here. She thought of me as her father and always followed me around.

’Hah... This wasn’t what I wanted...’

The funny thing was, even though I raised her, her personality remained similarly quiet and reserved as in the original—some things didn’t change. And her biological father had never visited or sent any word in five years. As a result, the estate’s people also assumed Yi-seol was my daughter.

’Her family name is different—why is it like this... Could they think her name is ’Jin Yi-seol’?’

That seemed possible—in China, four-character names including the family name were common. But as the estate lord, I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

Still, I was grateful that raising Yi-seol kept me from getting bored.

"What’s 3 plus 2?"

"5."

"Good job!"

I patted Yi-seol’s head, and the steward, watching, remarked,

"Goodness, honey’s dripping from your eyes."

"Why don’t you have a daughter yourself, Steward? Then you’d understand how I feel."

"I think I already understand. The young lady is that adorable. She’ll probably grow into a great beauty."

"I suppose so... Anyway, my son will be arriving soon. His personality is similar to mine, so prepare accordingly."

"Ah, I see. Time really does fly."

This steward also knew that when his son came of age, he would inherit the estate—it had always been that way.

This time, with the original story approaching, I planned to take on the role of the son myself and use a clone as the current estate lord.

A few days later, I replaced the estate lord with a clone and transformed into a young body. Along with pre-hired people, I arrived at the estate with wagons loaded with supplies. Upon arrival, I greeted the clone acting as estate lord with a fist-and-palm salute. My physical age was ten.

"Father, I trust you’ve been well."

"Yes, welcome. You look healthy—I’m relieved."

The clone then introduced Yi-seol, who was clinging to him, and the steward.

"This is Yi-seol, and this is the estate steward."

"I see. Nice to meet you."

The steward returned the fist-and-palm salute.

"Nice to meet you, young master. I’ll serve you well."

"I look forward to working with you. I’ve heard a lot about you."

Yi-seol didn’t greet me but hid behind the clone, staring at me. So I approached her first.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Jin."

Yi-seol, still shy, eventually greeted me.

"Ah, hello. I’m Yi-seol."

The clone then said,

"Get along well from now on—you’ll be living together. Anyway, let’s go inside."

The estate workers began moving the supplies I’d brought into storage, while the clone and I continued a pre-arranged conversation—mostly about things in the Western regions, which no one else would understand.

"Hmm... I see. You must be tired from the long journey—rest today. Tomorrow I’ll show you around the estate."

"Understood."

That day passed, and the next day, the clone introduced me to various parts of the estate. Yi-seol followed along, but since she was young and struggled to keep up, the clone carried her as we moved.

At one point, Yi-seol stared at my hair for a while, then touched her own hair and looked sad. She must have vaguely realized she wasn’t the estate lord’s biological daughter. But she seemed to try not to show it, wanting to preserve the current relationship. It was heartbreaking, but telling her now didn’t feel right, so I decided to pretend not to notice.

Another five years passed. During that time, I treated Yi-seol well, and while she got over her shyness and became closer to me, her reserved personality remained. But she was the same with the estate lord, so that was just how she was.

Now ten years had passed since Yi-seol left her father. He hadn’t sent a single word, and I thought, "Isn’t this too much?" So I decided to take Yi-seol and go see him.

"Is anything uncomfortable?"

"I’m fine."

We traveled not in the era’s uncomfortable carriage, but in a state-of-the-art carriage I’d prepared earlier. Naturally, the coachman was an android-like robot made for such occasions.

As we ate roasted chestnuts and eggs, traveling toward Hubei where Yi-seol’s father lived, some unexpected guests appeared.

"We are Greenwood folk guarding this mountain! Do not worry—we mean no harm. However, living in the mountains, we ask only for a small token of your sincerity. We would be grateful if you could spare a little for our plight!"

"Oh~ Bandits with a different style?"

The bandits, surprisingly, spoke politely with a fist-and-palm salute. After a moment’s thought, I realized this route connected Sichuan and Hubei, and many disciples from various sects passed through, so they avoided unnecessary provocation.

The clone got out of the carriage and asked,

"So how much are you asking?"

"Gasp! Silver hair, golden eyes... Could you be the lord of the Jin Estate in Sichuan?"

"Yes, what of it?"

The bandit sighed and said,

"Huff... A waste. Just go on. We don’t want trouble with a major faction."

"Is that so?"

They reluctantly stepped aside. It was a bit disappointing compared to the cheerful bandits from Nanomachine, but I’d probably meet others along the way.

The clone tossed them a silver coin and said,

"You were entertaining enough—this is for that."

"Thank you."

We set off again and arrived at our destination in Hubei. Since it was a mountain trail, we left the carriage with the coachman and walked, but the clone carried Yi-seol, so it wasn’t a problem.

After climbing for a while, we reached the house I’d visited before. Someone was inside, but no one came out when I called. So we entered and went to the room where we’d heard sounds.

"Cough! Cough!"

Inside, Yi-seol’s father was lying down, coughing heavily. He looked emaciated, having not eaten well for a long time, and his complexion was poor. He tried to rise when he saw us, but the clone stopped him.

"Please stay down. You seem unwell."

"I’m sorry. I’ve been pushing myself lately and caught a cough. That girl is... ah, I see. She’s already grown so much."

The clone looked at me—asking if it was okay to tell the truth. I nodded.

"Yi-seol, this is your father. Greet him."

Yi-seol was shocked and stared at her father in silence for a long time.

"Judging by your surprise, you didn’t know. I’m sorry—your father had work to do and had no choice but to entrust you to the estate lord."

At that, Yi-seol began to cry bitterly—it seemed a part of her had hoped it wasn’t true. So I hugged her and patted her back to comfort her.

When she calmed down, we talked about various things—how he had been a Huashan disciple and about her mother. Since the clone and I already knew, we stepped aside and, to help him recover his strength, I took out chicken and rice from my inventory and made ginseng chicken porridge for him.

But this wouldn’t cure him. My [Keen Eyes] showed he had severe pneumonia with lung abscesses—even with modern antibiotics, it wasn’t certain he could be saved.

"Thank you. I’ll enjoy it. Cough..."

"Take your time."

"Thanks to you, I’m having a warm meal for the first time in a while. And you’ve raised my daughter so well... How can I ever repay you..."

"It’s nothing. I’ve enjoyed having Yi-seol like my own daughter."

"That’s a relief. Cough, cough..."

After finishing his meal, he leaned against the wall and began to speak.

"I tried to save the dying martial arts of Huashan, but I failed. I don’t have much time left. I’m glad I could at least see my daughter before I die. It’s presumptuous of me, but could you grant me one favor?"

"I will. Please speak."

He pointed to some books in the corner of the room.

"Those are the martial arts manuals I’ve been trying to restore, and beneath them are my notes from the process. I don’t know how useful they’ll be, but please deliver them to Huashan. If you say they’re from Unyeol, the sect leader will know."

"Understood. I’ll do that."

"Thank you."

The clone agreed, and he looked relieved. I actually thought it worked out well—I needed to visit Huashan before the original story began anyway.

We stayed near the house for several days. I judged he wouldn’t last much longer, and with Yi-seol here, I wanted to at least see him properly buried.