Chapter 41

Chapter 41

A salty wind blew in.

It was a scent I'd never experienced before.

And yet, because there were certain things I'd always associated with the sea, it somehow felt strangely familiar and nostalgic.

"The ocean is beautiful, isn't it? But it's dangerous to sit here too long. Monsters living underwater might catch the scent of people and crawl ashore."

"...Is it really that dangerous? There are so many houses here."

I only had to turn my head to see more than ten.

They were all single-story homes, their walls cracked from years of sea wind.

But there were unmistakable traces of life.

Kim I-sin slowly shook his head.

"Most of them are empty. The majority of the villagers live farther inland now. The market is there too."

"Then why don't the people here just leave the village?"

It was something I'd wanted to ask since the first day.

Wouldn't it be better to move somewhere safer than a place that had to hold rituals for a plentiful catch?

At least somewhere with even a small guild nearby.

"I wondered the same thing and asked them. They said leaving your hometown isn't easy."

"Their hometown...."

Despite warning me that the beach was dangerous, Kim I-sin dropped down beside me.

The colorful fur around his head whipped wildly in the sea breeze.

It rose, fell, and twisted everywhere.

Kim I-sin didn't seem to care.

He only stared out at the sea.

"But from what I've seen, that's a lie."

"A lie?"

"After living here and watching them, I realized this isn't simply their hometown."

For a moment, the sea breeze stopped.

Crash!

In that sudden silence, Kim I-sin's words filled the gap.

"Everyone in this village has had something precious taken from them by the sea. Their ancestors drowned in it generation after generation. In modern times, relatives were taken by sea monsters."

"..."

"This place is one enormous funeral hall. That's why they can't leave. Leaving behind the lives of the people they shared affection with... must be incredibly difficult."

They said funerals were for the living.

The people here were trapped by lingering attachment.

And yet, trying to forget their fear and keep living, they still held the ritual for a plentiful catch.

"That's why I like you, Artist Do Hwa-in."

"That came out of nowhere."

I blinked at the sudden turn in conversation.

Kim I-sin gave a soft laugh and continued.

"I wanted to comfort the villagers, so I kept carving masks even though that's not my specialty. I painted dokkaebi. I helped with the rituals too. None of it seemed to work. Honestly, I was disappointed. I started thinking maybe this was the limit of art. When really, my own ability just wasn't enough."

I thought back to the studio Kim I-sin had shown me yesterday.

He was a skilled painter.

He mixed Eastern and Western characteristics in subtle ways that created something strangely compelling.

If this had been an era when the government properly supported artists, he probably would've made quite a name for himself.

"But when <Pilgrim> and <Gate of Heaven> were revealed to the world... the elders in this village wiped away tears. They hadn't even seen the real works. They were only watching them through a TV screen."

I looked slightly surprised, then stopped myself.

Thinking about it, maybe the impact had been even stronger for people whose entire lives were tied to the sea.

They wouldn't have been able to feel the Aura of the actual sculpture directly.

But if the camera had captured the details properly...

Then the meaning I'd placed inside the work would still have reached them.

"That's something I'm proud to hear."

"And I'm grateful. You did what I couldn't. After <Gate of Heaven> was revealed, the village slowly started regaining some energy. Next time, we're planning to rent a tour bus and all go to the Han River together."

"To see <Gate of Heaven>?"

"Yes. They said they want to watch the water carrying their grief flow toward the Gate of Heaven. Funny, isn't it? People who had precious things taken by the sea want to go watch flowing water."

Kim I-sin smiled awkwardly, half joking.

It didn't feel like he genuinely found it funny.

More like he was trying to lighten the mood that had sunk too low.

I quietly shook my head.

"People say the sea is both cradle and grave. If flowing water has only felt like a grave to them until now, maybe they want to see water that feels like a cradle at least once."

"Ah. That's true."

He smiled faintly.

"I hope that when they do, their hometown can feel like a hometown again."

For a while, he muttered to himself.

"That hateful sea. That beautiful sea."

Then he fell silent.

A moment later, he pushed himself up with a grunt.

"All right. We really should get going now, Artist Do. I found the contact information for the student you were looking for."

"Oh. Really?"

"Of course. Professor Park and I both worked hard."

Kim I-sin had been contacting the other students he could still reach.

Professor Park had been searching based on the information Kim I-sin gave him about Ryu Seon-hwa.

"You found her in a single day?"

"I'm pretty capable."

It felt as though the journey into Grandfather's past was finally approaching its end.

Unfortunately, Ryu Seon-hwa wasn't in Korea.

But for some reason, after hearing that Artist Do Hwa-in was looking for her, she said she would return.

It was strange.

I'd heard often enough from the news that my name had become known overseas.

Still, travel had become dangerous in this era.

Would someone really return to Korea just because I asked?

Especially when I'd already told her I wanted to ask about Master Painter Do Jae-hwan's posthumous work.

Could Ryu Seon-hwa have been the one who gave the information to the Association?

The fact that she'd been overseas fit too.

I was piecing together every bit of testimony I'd heard, from the Association to Eumgil Village to now, when someone beside me cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

"What's wrong, Professor?"

The car had already left the coast behind and was speeding along a national highway.

"Student."

"..."

"Oh, come on. Hwa-in."

"Yes?"

I straightened my shoulders after flinching at the unfamiliar way he addressed me.

He was putting on far too serious an expression.

This sounded like it was going somewhere.

"You know I worked really hard for you this time, right?"

"I know."

"So you're grateful?"

"I am...?"

"You little brat. Listen to the way your voice rises at the end. Of course you should be grateful!"

"I said I am."

"Tsk, tsk. Then hold onto that gratitude and bring it to school next month."

"What?"

Next month?

Why?

"Come meet your juniors. Give a lecture while you're there. Let me brag about my student who surpassed his teacher."

"If that's all you want, sure. I'll visit."

There had been similar events a few times while I was in university.

Things like Meeting with Alumni.

The department hosted them, and depending on who attended, the department's reputation could rise.

When I was a student, most of the alumni who came had gone into guild-related work or Hunter marketing.

In a way, they had still used their majors.

And I skipped every single one.

Back then, just like now, all I cared about was sculpture.

I had no interest in listening to lectures from seniors who had gone down other paths.

I wonder how many juniors would actually show up if I went.

Ah!

"Did the art department fail to meet its enrollment quota or something?"

"No, you brat."

"Oh."

"There are already barely any art departments left in Korea. Every kid in the country who wants to study art gathers at the few that remain. If our department starts failing to fill seats, then Korean art has no future at all."

I simply shrugged.

But apparently Professor Park still had something else to say.

After hesitating, he lowered his voice.

Almost like he wanted only me to hear.

"I couldn't say this in front of someone who said Master Painter Do Jae-hwan threw him out. But you're his grandson, so you should know."

"What is it?"

"If it weren't for Master Painter Do Jae-hwan, Park Cheol-yong, Kim Ha-un, Do Ji-wan... and the others from that generation, forget art universities. People who wanted to study art wouldn't even have thought to learn it. They would've just doodled as a hobby. No, life might've been so difficult that they wouldn't even have done that."

Professor Park told me that the Korean Art Association had only managed to survive at all because of elders like Grandfather.

"Whether a university has a department or not matters more than you'd think. If a department exists, people at least assume there are people who want to learn that subject. It also gives artists a central place to gather. And if someone wants to support artists, it's easier to do so through a university."

"..."

"I know about your family situation."

My heart jolted.

"If you walked around university looking that miserable, anyone would've noticed."

"Oh. Was it that obvious? I thought I hid it pretty well...."

"I was your supervising professor. And I care about my students."

"I know. Thank you."

"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is this. As long as you're an artist, don't hate your grandfather too much. The fact that you graduated from an art university in Korea and can still work as an artist means you're benefiting from what your grandfather did."

"I don't hate Grandfather. I'm grateful to him."

It was just that, in our family, every generation seemed to have terrible relationships with their fathers.

Soon, a familiar city name appeared beyond the window.

If he managed to get an art university included during city reconstruction... he must've met a lot of people.

Politicians.

Existing artists.

And probably Hunters too.

The government had nearly collapsed back then, and Hunters were holding the country together.

Could Grandfather have met Yeonwoo Guild or Badger Guild too?

I thought of the first-generation Hunters I knew.

Especially Yoon Jamok, whose reputation had been enormous even then.

Clang!

The flat face of the chisel met the hammer and produced a clean sound.

I brushed the fallen stone fragments aside with my foot and stepped back to look at the sculpture.

I'd been slightly worried because I was returning to the hammer after going out for a while.

Strangely enough, though, my head felt clearer than before.

Maybe the sea breeze helped.

Or maybe Kim I-sin's stories about the villagers had given me strength.

Moving someone's heart was never easy.

Still...

I'd done it once already.

Why couldn't I do it again?

And the vague pieces of Grandfather's past I'd learned were also helping me understand Father.

The path Grandfather had walked must have been covered in thorns.

While everyone else was worried about finding food, water, and clothing, he had been talking about the future and insisting that art had to survive.

Plenty of people probably laughed at him.

From Father's perspective, Grandfather must have looked impossibly foolish.

Maybe even insane.

I understood Grandfather.

And I understood Father.

I even understood my own father for refusing to give up on a father he couldn't understand.

I wiped the sweat away and stepped back several paces.

The sculpture was still unfinished.

It depicted a person walking forward.

But the body was bent overall, making each step look unstable.

Yet if I moved a few steps to the side...

It looks like someone confidently marching forward.

For now, only the posture changed depending on the viewer's position.

Once I started the delicate details, it would become much more striking.

I checked the sketch again using the skill on my carving knife item and nodded firmly.

"Dad!"

Perfect timing.

Chaeri came flying in.

"Dad, you're resting right now!"

She had flown over shouting loudly.

But when I immediately met her eyes, she bobbed in the air in surprise.

"I was checking the sketch. What's wrong?"

"The guest you've been waiting for is here! The person who flew in from overseas!"

"Ah."

The ambitious student.

Ryu Seon-hwa had arrived.

"Got it. Tell the guards to bring her inside. I'll clean up and come out."

"Okay!"

Her tiny body shot away energetically.

I watched Chaeri disappear, then turned around.

I needed to wipe off the sweat and change clothes before greeting a guest.

"Thank you for inviting me, Artist Do Hwa-in."

"Thank you for coming all this way so readily."

"If Artist Do Hwa-in is looking for me, of course I should hurry over."

"I'm not anyone that important."

I studied Ryu Seon-hwa across from me without making it obvious.

There wasn't a grain of sincerity in her words.

I couldn't help thinking she had some ulterior motive.

"What do you mean? You're Korea's pride."

"I don't know about being Korea's pride. But I do know one thing."

I paused.

"I'm Master Painter Do Jae-hwan's grandson."

"Hearing Teacher's name here after so long feels strange."

I tested her lightly.

Ryu Seon-hwa only smiled brightly.

"As I said when I first contacted you, I reached out because of Grandfather's posthumous work. Do you know anything about it?"

I didn't want to drag out a conversation with someone whose intentions I couldn't read, so I went straight to the point.

"Ah. Of course I do. I was the one who left it at Teacher's old house."

Ryu Seon-hwa said it confidently.

As though there was nothing wrong with that at all.

Given everything I'd learned, I'd already suspected the person who moved Grandfather's posthumous work to his old house had also passed the information to the Association.

For a moment, I was too dumbfounded to speak.

Then Ryu Seon-hwa dropped another bomb.

"Of course, you're probably also wondering who told the Association where the posthumous work was."

"...Yes. Do you know?"

"Of course."

She smiled.

"That was me too."

My brows drew together sharply.

"I don't understand your intention here. Are you saying you took the posthumous work without notifying the bereaved family, then gave the information about it to the Association instead of the family?"

"First, there's one thing we should make clear, Artist Do."

Ryu Seon-hwa raised both palms as though showing she was innocent.

"I left Teacher's posthumous work at his old house because that was Teacher's final request. He contacted me the night before he died and told me where the painting was and how he wanted it disposed of."

"Disposed of?"

"Ah. That was Teacher's wording, not mine."

Ryu Seon-hwa held up her hands again as though emphasizing she had done nothing wrong.

"Phew. Fine."

At this point, I wasn't even confident I understood Grandfather anymore.

"Then how do you explain giving that information to the Association?"

"If the bereaved family had contacted me first, I would've told the bereaved family."

A dry laugh escaped me.

"I had the information. So selling that information was my freedom too. I happened to be broke and on the verge of starving to death. And the Association just happened to track me down and contact me."

Listening to her, I understood immediately.

Ryu Seon-hwa had known why the Association wanted Grandfather's posthumous work.

She had probably even guessed how they planned to use it.

And she'd likely predicted to some extent that I would become obsessed with recovering Grandfather's work.

Did she seriously fly all the way here from overseas just to provoke me?

No.

That made no sense.

She clearly wanted something from me.

So what was with this shameless attitude?

Before my thoughts could go any deeper, Ryu Seon-hwa moved first.

"I heard the painting is already in your possession, Artist Do. And from what I looked into, it seems things with the Association were resolved cleanly enough. So instead of talking about something that's already over, why don't we talk about the future?"

The future?

One thing became absolutely clear.

This woman really is greedy.

Exactly as Kim I-sin had said.

Among all of Grandfather's students, she really had been the most ambitious.