“Are we simply leaving those two be?”
On the way back to the Demonic Alliance’s main compound, Irang asked. Bisa In had sent Geom Mugeuk to guard Pyo Gigwang and had issued no further orders.
“The Young Cult Leader will handle it.”
These were words born not of indifference, but of faith. The faith that if Geom Mugeuk could not uncover it, no one could.
Irang, who had been watching silently until now, spoke the words he had been holding back.
“I know the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult is an extraordinary figure, but do not trust him too much. No matter what he says or does, he is ultimately nothing more than a demonic human.”
Irang had a deep-rooted distrust of demonic humans. Moreover, the relationship between Bisa In and Geom Mugeuk could only be described as abnormal.
“I shall do so.”
Because he knew well what Irang was worried about, Bisa In readily accepted his concern. After all, a prejudice held for so long would not change in an instant.
“Irang.”
“Yes, Young Alliance Leader.”
“Irang, what is the most memorable moment of your life as a martial artist?”
At the sudden question, Irang was taken aback.
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that question before.”
“Think about it now.”
Irang fell into thought for a moment. Swimming upstream against the current of time, he recalled a moment when a droplet of water, leaping forth, had shone dazzlingly in the sunlight.
“I believe it was when I first became one of the Demonic Alliance’s Thirteen Wolves.”
He remembered how joyful he had been. Many things had happened since. He had rendered great service and earned vast sums of money. But he didn’t think he had ever been as happy as he was then.
“I started as the youngest of the Thirteen Wolves, yet before I knew it, I became Ilrang.”
“How long has it been since you became one of the Thirteen Wolves?”
“It has been twenty-nine years.”
“Next year, we must hold a thirtieth anniversary celebration.”
Irang’s face flushed slightly.
“But why did you ask that?”
“Because I feel that moment is now. When I look back thirty years from now and ask what the most memorable moment of my life was, I believe it will be now.”
Now, when he had ridden a carriage through the Central Plains with the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult and the successor of the Righteous Faction; now, when he was uncovering a conspiracy alongside the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. Would there ever again be events that excited and thrilled him so?
“But do not worry too much. I was not born with a temperament to sincerely trust and fall deeply for someone.”
Irang had reached an age where he knew that the human heart did not always obey one’s will.
But he did not say this. Because he thought that the problems arising from never having a moment where one felt oneself shine were no less serious than the negative events that might occur because of the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.
Shining more brilliantly than ever, Bisa In strode forward.
“Let us go. We too have much to do.”
* * *
Pyo Gigwang cast a sidelong glance at the young man following him.
When their eyes met, the young man smiled brightly. Naturally, it was Geom Mugeuk.
‘Poor fellow. He doesn’t even know what predicament he’s in.’
His young, handsome face was far too precious to die.
“What is your name?”
“It is Geomyeon. I use the ‘yeon’ from yeongi, meaning smoke. They say I will disappear like smoke when this meeting ends, so I am called Geomyeon.”
From the way he explained what had not been asked, his personality was plain to see.
‘How naive.’
Was it because he had nearly died to an assassin? The words “disappear like smoke” resonated deeply with Pyo Gigwang today.
“Do you know why you must protect me?”
“I have a rough idea.”
“That assassin from earlier might come to kill me again. Aren’t you afraid?”
As if believing in his own skill, Geom Mugeuk lightly tapped his sword.
It was a sword wrapped tightly in blood-stained bandages. Naturally, Pyo Gigwang did not know what kind of sword it was or what manner of bandages these were, so he took it for youthful arrogance.
“How long have you served the Young Alliance Leader?”
“It has been a few days.”
It was not a lie. It had indeed been that long since he had donned the uniform of the Demonic Alliance’s Thirteen Wolves.
Pyo Gigwang frowned.
‘I had wanted to die with dignity even in death, yet it seems I am fated to die burdened with a novice.’
Pyo Gigwang’s house was not far from the main compound, in the outer district. A mountain lay behind it, and a stream flowed nearby.
Though it was a scenic place, his house held no warmth. There was no food, and even the bedding was something used in summer—one couldn’t tell when it had last been washed. His usual life was plain to see.
“I only come here occasionally to sleep, so there is nothing of note.”
He lay down on the bed.
“There is no need to protect me.”
Pyo Gigwang was certain that this young man could not protect him alone. The assassin was someone whom numerous martial artists had chased earlier yet failed to catch.
‘If the Young Alliance Leader had truly been worried for me, he would have left more martial artists.’
He must have realized how formidable the assassin was during their clash. Thinking that even if he left several subordinates, they would all die, he had left only this young man.
Thinking so, the young man—who was about to die alongside him—felt as pathetic and pitiful as himself.
“Please rest.”
After a brief farewell, Geom Mugeuk went outside.
Pyo Gigwang tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
Emotions he had not felt earlier due to the chaos came flooding in. No matter how resolved he had been to face death, truly feeling it approach step by step filled him with fear.
—“The Alliance needs you.”
His expression when assigning the task came to mind.
At first, he had refused.
—“I am already broken beyond repair. Find someone else.”
—“That is precisely why I chose you. No one will suspect this operation.”
Honestly, it had stung. To be chosen because he was broken. But in the end, he had accepted. He had said it was out of loyalty, but in truth, it had been for himself. He had wanted to show those who scorned him: I am doing something more valuable than you. He couldn’t say it aloud because it was a secret operation, but he had wanted to shout it in his heart.
‘Scorn me to your heart’s content! I am doing something a hundred times more important than you.’
Perhaps that person had anticipated these very feelings of his.
Afterward, he had lived diligently as instructed.
But to think that just because the secret had been revealed, they would so easily cast him aside to die.
If he had come in person and said, “I’m sorry, it can’t be helped,” while killing him, Pyo Gigwang would not have felt this sorrowful.
He would have gladly died smiling. But to send an assassin without giving him a chance to leave a single word? It wasn’t the fact that they wanted to kill him that angered him—it was how thoroughly insignificant they had made him feel in the process.
‘It wasn’t for you. It was out of loyalty to the Alliance.’
In the end, he was so upset that he had to console himself with such words.
* * *
Pyo Gigwang dreamed of being chased by assassins.
In the dream, he was neither composed nor magnanimous. To survive, he ran through mountains, dug into the earth to hide, and concealed his body even in foul-smelling filth.
Then he woke at dawn.
A thick cotton blanket had been draped over him at some point. It seemed the young guard had found it and covered him.
Pyo Gigwang rose from his bed and walked to the window.
Geom Mugeuk stood alone in the courtyard, looking up at the night sky. Seeing him staying awake rather than sleeping to keep watch, Pyo Gigwang felt sorry.
Sensing his presence, Geom Mugeuk turned toward him.
“Are you awake?”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“I am fine.”
He said he was fine, but the early winter dawn wind was bitingly cold.
“What were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about people.”
“Who?”
“People who I think might think of me at least once.”
From someone who would faint from shock if they heard of Pyo Gigwang, to someone enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime vacation right now.
Leaning against the window frame, Pyo Gigwang asked.
“What of your family?”
“I have a father and an older brother.”
“And your mother?”
“She passed away when I was young.”
“Your father must have had a difficult time raising you. How is he now? I suppose he must be pleased that you entered the Demonic Alliance?”
‘If he heard that I had joined the Demonic Alliance after leaving home, he’d probably be sneering in that characteristic way of his.’
“He will not be pleased.”
“Why?”
“He dislikes the Demonic Alliance.”
Pyo Gigwang smiled faintly, for it had been the same with him. His parents had been truly displeased at him entering the Demonic Alliance. They had wished he would enter the Martial Alliance. They hadn’t known how hopeless their son was.
“The dawn wind is cold; come inside. If you can protect me from there, you can protect me from here. Come in.”
Geom Mugeuk came inside, pretending he could not refuse.
“I will warm myself for a moment and then go back out.”
“There is nothing better than this for warming the body.”
He found some liquor. In a house with not a morsel of food, there was alcohol.
“Do you like to drink?”
“I do.”
He could have said he didn’t drink while on duty. Was it because he was a young martial artist of the current generation? He could sense that this was someone honest with his emotions.
Pyo Gigwang poured a cup for Geom Mugeuk and filled his own as well.
Perhaps he would die before seeing the morning sun. It would not be strange at all if a hidden weapon came flying through that window right now. If not today, then tomorrow, or within a few days, he would die. At this rate, he would end up dying alongside this young man.
Pyo Gigwang emptied his cup first, and Geom Mugeuk followed suit.
“I don’t wish to nag, but you shouldn’t recklessly drink alcohol offered by others. What if it’s poisoned?”
“I will be careful from now on.”
He felt pleased that Geom Mugeuk readily agreed to be careful. He was someone who missed such obvious reactions. Because for the past dozen years or so, no one had treated him properly. Though it was something he had brought upon himself.
“After I was injured, everything changed. My life and my surroundings all changed completely. Things that wouldn’t even dare meet my eyes began glaring at me. Trash, all of them.”
“They weren’t all trash. The trash must have covered your eyes and nose, keeping you from seeing what you should have seen.”
Pyo Gigwang looked at Geom Mugeuk with a gaze that asked, “What do you know?”
“I apologize. I overstepped. Memories of being cursed and yelled at linger longer in me than praise.”
Pyo Gigwang could not completely deny those words. Surely, there had been those who sincerely cared for him. But in the time he spent hating and raging against those who scorned him, they had all disappeared.
“Tell me honestly. What orders did the Young Alliance Leader give you? He told you to find out a name from me, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Geom Mugeuk answered readily. Pyo Gigwang had expected him to play dumb, so this unexpected reaction took him aback. Somehow, this young man kept defying his expectations.
“You will never hear it from me. So give up.”
“The reason you hide it must be your loyalty to the Alliance. I am the same. We each serve in our own way.”
The word “loyalty” felt strangely unfamiliar today. Perhaps it was because he kept thinking:
‘You and I have both been abandoned.’
It felt as though the person had been discarded, leaving only loyalty to drift about like a ghost. Pyo Gigwang emptied his cup again, using that ghost as his drinking snack.
“If I were you, I would have run away.”
Pyo Gigwang wanted to die alone. He wanted to calmly board the boat to the underworld by himself. He did not want to have to apologize to this young man who would already be aboard.
“I would have made some excuse and fled.”
Then Geom Mugeuk suddenly asked him,
“I heard you were the leader of the Black Dragon Division.”
“I was.”
“How was it then?”
“What do you mean, how was it?”
“I heard that in the past, the Black Dragon Division fought the Martial Alliance at Xinye Ping despite being outnumbered and achieved a great victory.”
“How did you know that?”
“It is a famous tale, is it not?”
Pyo Gigwang’s pupils trembled slightly.
“Yes, I was there too. I was a new recruit then, much like you.”
“I am curious. About the battle that day.”
The very story he had been proudly boasting about at the banquet earlier was this battle at Xinye Ping. It was then that he had been humiliated by his former subordinate.
Seeing someone ask about that moment with sparkling eyes in such a situation gave him a strange feeling.
“You wouldn’t know since you haven’t fought in real combat, but when you truly face an enemy, your heart pounds as though it might burst.”
“Were you afraid that day as well?”
“I was afraid. If I hadn’t had my fellow disciples and seniors with me, I would have turned and run. That day was especially bad. From the far end of that plain, the Murim Alliance bastards came swarming in like a horde of ants…”
He told him of the battle that day. Even as he spoke, the subordinate who had driven him into a corner in the banquet hall earlier kept coming to mind. Would this fellow sitting before him be sick of it inside, too? Would he be thinking, deep down, that it was just an old man bragging?
It was needless worry, an old man’s anxiety. Geom Mugeuk listened to his story better than anyone. He did not simply let it wash over him. He listened intently, asked questions, and responded in all the right places.
Listening to the embellished tale of heroics, Geom Mugeuk could tell. This moment was the most memorable and shining moment of the man’s life.
The long story came to an end. Geom Mugeuk had been with him in that battle from beginning to end.
“Thank you. For listening.”
“No, I should be the one thanking you for telling me. You were truly magnificent.”
The moment he heard those words, Pyo Gigwang felt an emotion he could not name welling up inside him.
It was a story he had repeated many times after injuring his body and stepping down from his position as unit leader. And yet, never once had he felt this surge of emotion.
Soon, he understood. No one had ever listened to his story this earnestly, or with such excitement. Everyone had been bored. They had only listened out of courtesy.
And today he realized that what he had longed for, for a very long time, was to see someone sincerely listening to his story like this.
Because after he had been injured, that was the only thing he could do.
* * *
When Pyo Gigwang opened his eyes, he was asleep on the bed.
‘When did I fall asleep?’
Seeing that he was covered with a blanket again, it seemed the youngster outside had taken care of him.
Bright sunlight was streaming in through the window. So he had survived, at least for now.
He got up from the bed and looked out the window. Geom Mugeuk was standing in the yard. It seemed he had stood there like that all night.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“I am.”
At the honest answer, Pyo Gigwang came outside with a disheveled face.
“Let’s go eat.”
The two left the house and headed toward the marketplace.
Pyo Gigwang suddenly spoke.
“We’re like fish caught in a net. We don’t know when the fisherman will haul us up. You should at least get out while you can. There’s still time.”
An ordinary net won’t be enough for that. Unless the Majeongsa’s Heavenly Net is spread in three layers, perhaps.
“You know, don’t you? If I’m to ask my fisherman not to haul up the net, you have to tell me his name.”
Pyo Gigwang silently shook his head.
As if he had expected as much, Geom Mugeuk was not disappointed at all. Instead, he spoke with a bright expression.
“Then please tell me some more stories. I want to hear more about you, senior.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 348