"...And besides..."
The woodcutter spoke again. "Little brother."
"If you fail next year, won't that make your current self look ridiculous?"
If that happened, could the Young Scholar still blame the Black Monster with a clear conscience...?
Could he still think the Black Monster had held him back?
After all, even without the Black Monster's influence, he had still failed the following year.
The woodcutter had tried every argument he could think of.
He couldn't believe that even this wouldn't make his little brother do as he said.
The woman silently stayed quiet.
For the first time, she realized...
The woodcutter was actually pretty eloquent.
As expected.
The younger brother was good at studying.
Even if the older brother wasn't much of a scholar, he still had some skill.
The Young Scholar fell silent.
But inside, he was nowhere near as calm as he appeared.
He clenched his knuckles.
As if he wanted to crush them.
"Little brother."
The woodcutter didn't give the Young Scholar much time to think.
"Don't dwell on it."
"Besides, the Black Monster has made its own choice."
"It hasn't appeared."
"So let it go."
Let go of his obsession.
Admit his failure.
The woodcutter was starting to think...
The so-called Black Monster was something his little brother had made up himself.
Something he had created to share the burden because the pressure had become too much.
Something he used to vent his anger because he couldn't accept his failure.
What Black Monster?
It was all just his little brother.
The woodcutter was furious with himself.
He hadn't noticed his little brother was having problems...
He had trusted him too much.
And his little brother's behavior all this time had misled him.
He had never imagined that his little brother might also