"Why don't you go and find out~? A little birdie told me that there might be some interesting challenges before you, if you aren't so careful.

"...I want to really punch you, the way you worded it. It feels like the country can be covered in monsters for all I know... but I feel somewhat responsible for this despite not having your powers."

A deep sigh.

Well, perhaps he should go look. She's been busy, after all. And she's going to 'sneak' up behind him with a

A bead of sweat falls down his face!

He is spooked despite everything. Still unable to truly sense her presence.

"I understand. You want to strike out on your own two feet."

That wasn't a terrible desire. Carmen sways from her toes back to her heels, a touch too whimsical for her words.

He does not buckle.

"If a leader cannot remain strong even to the grief of their own followers, what kind of leader would that be? a weak unsuited one."

Balance is always key, and Muyeon had the best of teachers. His own mother who had a thousand curses pointed at her for her own scheming, but one that allowed the clan to rise so much.

"Because they will. On their own, people crumple and fade into dust... while it's noble to become the fertilizer that nourishes the next generation, shouldn't you want to live for your own sake?"

She seems unimpressed, really. Too many people fell apart before reaching anything close to their potential, lost in the noise of it all.

Carmen responds, a little on-the-nose but with a hint of curiousity in her voice. The fear of the unknown often caused people to make irrational or less than optimal decisions.

She shrugs.

"I am spread a little thin across multiple worlds and possibilities. If someone needs me, I come to them." Carmen pauses in thought, before smiling softly.

"However, there's no need for me to speak to anyone else here as of now. Most of them haven't opened their hearts enough to see me, sad as it is."

Only someone who had potential was even worth talking to. Usually she'd whisper at them until they'd finally crack... but some people took longer than others.

Saved lives. Yes, because even bandits come and learn martial arts. But at the same time, being in the debt of a god is not on his list of things to do.