Late that night, Bi Sa-in was pacing alone in the courtyard of the safe house.
Tomorrow was finally the day the Alliance Leader would leave the alliance.
He had said he would sit it out, but—
‘Should I have said I would go?’
The reason he had said he would not was because he worried that, with his body not fully healed, he would only become a burden.
But if, by some chance, something were to happen to the Alliance Leader, he would spend the rest of his life regretting that he had not been there.
Surprisingly, he was not worried about Geom Mugeuk. Even if he ran away, he would manage just fine on his own. He was the sort of man who, even if he fell into water, would persuade the fish and make his way out.
‘Will the Alliance Leader understand my feelings later? What if he misunderstands and thinks I didn’t come because I was afraid?’
Soon, Bi Sa-in shook his head. To be worrying about himself in a situation like this.
Just then, someone walked out from behind him and spoke.
“Your heart is troubled, so you cannot sleep, can you?”
When he turned, it was Goeak.
“You said it was tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
Bi Sa-in wanted to ask Goeak to go and help the Alliance Leader. He even wanted to say, This is an order from the Young Alliance Leader, so go.
But he could not. He himself was not going to a dangerous place where they might die, so how could he tell Goeak to go? If Goeak had intended to help, he would have spoken first. He would have said that he would go and lend his aid.
“Do not worry too much. You know what kind of person the Alliance Leader is, don’t you?”
He knew. He knew better than anyone. That was why he was worried. The Alliance Leader was not a man who would ever back down. Ordinarily, he was cold and realistic, but when it came to battle, he was a man of fire. He was the greatest true man Bi Sa-in knew.
And, as always, there was someone else who solved his worries.
“If you’re worried, let’s go together!”
Startled, he turned and saw Geom Mugeuk entering.
“Why are you here?”
“Why else? I came to take you with me.”
As he said that, he held something out. In Geom Mugeuk’s hand was a suit of protective armor.
It was the very armor that had saved his life before, thanks to wearing two layers of it. The one that had been soaked in blood was now clean.
“I came earlier and washed it by the stream. I’m going to see my master for the first time in ages—how could I go reeking of blood?”
It truly had been washed clean, and it was completely dry.
“I was afraid it would smell if it wasn’t dry enough, so I put it on myself and dried it by circulating my heat-yang energy.”
“What?”
“I made quite a scene by myself in the middle of the night.”
Bi Sa-in pictured Geom Mugeuk standing by the stream, washing that protective armor, then putting it on and drying it with heat-yang energy.
Astonishment, bewilderment, gratitude. Several emotions surged over him all at once, and Bi Sa-in stood there blankly for a moment.
Truly, this Young Cult Leader was a man impossible to predict by even an inch. And the emotion that adorned the end of all those feelings was joy.
A bright smile spread across Bi Sa-in’s fierce face.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Going was the right choice. Seeing how happy he felt, he knew it was right.
“That’s right. This is a matter of the Sado Alliance. You should go.”
Bi Sa-in nodded vigorously.
Once the fog in his heart cleared, a man stood there. A disciple who wanted to protect his master, a man who was unafraid even of losing his life.
Yes, let’s do it. Let’s give it a try. If I die, then I’ll die there.
“Help me, my friend.”
At the added word friend, Geom Mugeuk broke into a broad smile.
“Of course. Am I not your one true friend? Never forget that I am the only friend who risked his life to help you when you were in trouble! And the friend who will later roam the beaches with you is also me. As for the young ladies, I’ll win them all over for you!”
Bi Sa-in knew that, unexpectedly, Geom Mugeuk was weak to being credited for his deeds. He found being thanked burdensome, and he disliked boasting.
He thought that perhaps, within the fog hidden behind all that chatter, there might be a man standing there who was even quieter and more taciturn than himself.
Bi Sa-in put on one suit of protective armor and held the other out to Geom Mugeuk.
“You wear one.”
“I’m already wearing mine. So wear two layers again this time.”
The top-grade Heavenly Silkworm Silk that had been tied around the hilt of the Black Demon Sword was already wrapped around the vital parts of Geom Mugeuk’s body.
At that moment, Goeak, who had been listening to the two of them, cut in.
“There may be poison applied inside the protective armor.”
It was a joke, but one with a barb. Advice telling him not to trust Geom Mugeuk completely.
“With you here, Senior, at the very least the Young Alliance Leader won’t be poisoned to death.”
Geom Mugeuk sincerely hoped the relationship between these two would develop well. Bi Sa-in, it’s up to you.
Bi Sa-in said to Goeak,
“Will you help me and go with me tomorrow?”
Goeak answered without hesitation.
“If the Young Alliance Leader goes, then I must go as well.”
He had not stepped forward of his own accord for the Alliance Leader, but at the very least, he had the heart to move for Bi Sa-in.
Bi Sa-in realized something. If he had forced Goeak earlier and told him to go, such a willing answer would not have come now. Because he had held back then, he had gained something now. He must not forget it. When our hearts are urgent, we easily forget the distance between ourselves and the other person.
As for the one who had the greatest influence on this realization, how very busy he was. Geom Mugeuk bid them farewell.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’ll come to pick you up.”
“Where are you going at this hour?”
After saying something inscrutable, Geom Mugeuk vanished in an instant.
“You’re not the only one I need to put protective armor on.”
* * *
Late that night, Baek Jagang was training in his own practice field, his upper body bare.
His opponent was an iron figure made by mixing in ten-thousand-year cold iron.
The iron figure became Geom Ujin, then Hwang Seokgyeong, and then himself.
He could have cut it down in a single stroke, but only crisp sounds continued to ring from the iron figure.
After swinging his sword for a while, Baek Jagang approached the iron figure.
Slowly, he ran his hand over the marks that had just been carved into it. So many lines had been drawn across its surface that the lines seemed to have become a plane.
And yet Baek Jagang knew exactly which marks among them had been left by him just now.
It was a realm higher than cutting ten-thousand-year cold iron, and the ones enjoying this great realm were his fingers, tracing the sword lines.
The lines were telling him that he had by no means easily inherited the seat of Alliance Leader. That he, too, was a man who had walked a road of blood to reach the grand seat.
At that moment, the voice of the captain of the guards came from outside.
“The Young Cult Leader has arrived.”
* * *
Geom Mugeuk was standing before the steel wolf again today.
“What brings you here at this late hour?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came to see you.”
If it were anyone else, Baek Jagang might have thought they were simply nervous, but not Geom Mugeuk. He must have a reason for coming.
“Why are you not inside?”
“Ah, because I like it here.”
Baek Jagang stood beside Geom Mugeuk.
“They say you said this wolf would come alive?”
It seemed the captain of the guards had relayed those words.
“For some reason, I think it would be nice if it did come alive.”
“Are you wishing for a crisis to befall this alliance?”
“Ah, I suppose I was. No wonder! I had such a strong feeling it would come alive.”
This was why conversation with Geom Mugeuk was amusing. He said things no one else would dare say so casually.
“You said it would be a formidable foe?”
Geom Mugeuk spoke into the air.
“Are you not telling the Alliance Leader too much of what I say? Are there no secrets between us?”
Only after joking like that did the playfulness vanish from Geom Mugeuk’s face.
“Yes. Among the enemies the Alliance Leader has encountered, he will probably be the strongest.”
“As strong as your father?”
“Not quite that strong.”
Before a relaxed smile could form on Baek Jagang’s lips, Geom Mugeuk spoke first.
“But he is not an enemy you can afford to let your guard down against.”
He knew such words might wound the pride of the Sado Alliance Leader, but even so, he gave the warning.
“Are you afraid I will die?”
After a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk answered.
“I am.”
There was no reaction at Baek Jagang’s ear. This Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult was sincerely worried that he might die. How on earth was he supposed to take that?
“There must be treasured armor for the Alliance Leader. I ask that you wear it when you leave the alliance.”
“Why treasured armor?”
“The other side will be wearing it as well.”
Geom Mugeuk already knew from his life before regression that the Fighting King wore protective armor. Not only protective armor—if it could help him win a fight, he did not hesitate to use all manner of rare artifacts and divine objects.
The reason this was known was because the Fighting King was not at all ashamed of it. The only thing he was ashamed of was defeat.
A man whose skill was already as strong as the Demon Venerable’s, and who even used the greatest artifacts on top of that—this was why Geom Mugeuk was worried for the Sado Alliance Leader.
“I felt this before as well, but you seem to know quite a lot about him.”
What should he say?
“Yes. I know information about him.”
The longer one spoke, the more openings appeared, so he said nothing more. He had already told Baek Jagang before that similar conspiracies had taken place in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Murim Alliance, and the Pungcheon Cult beyond the borders, so Baek Jagang would likely assume he had learned it in the process of resolving those incidents.
“Please do not misunderstand. I am not saying this because I look down on you, Alliance Leader.”
“I know that. But let me ask you this.”
Baek Jagang stared intently at Geom Mugeuk and asked,
“If it were your father, would he wear it?”
After briefly thinking of his father, Geom Mugeuk shook his head.
“He would not.”
Baek Jagang emitted a cold aura.
“Then why are you telling me to wear it?”
“Because I would have told my father to wear it as well.”
If the situation were the same, he would have advised his father too. Though his father would absolutely not have worn it.
“I know. I know the pride and self-respect you possess as a martial artist, Alliance Leader. Even if your opponent were to come wrapped in every rare treasure in the world, you would face him with a single sword. I know very well that both my father and you are such men. That is why he is the Cult Leader, and why you are the Alliance Leader.”
“Knowing that, why tell me to wear it?”
“Because I will wear it. I will go out wearing the best protective armor, layered over itself. Even if I become Cult Leader, I will do the same.”
Baek Jagang stared into Geom Mugeuk’s eyes, which did not waver by even an inch. He was curious why this young Young Cult Leader, who would shoulder the next generation, was saying such things.
“The honor of a Cult Leader, as I see it, does not lie in the elegance of winning under unfavorable conditions.”
“Then where does your honor lie?”
“It lies in the result of killing the ones who must be killed. That is why it is all right to be a little less impressive. I do not need to unfold some heroic tale. I simply want to return safely and see my people. I want to return safely, drink with them, and talk with them. I will not say a single word about an enemy who is already dead. I will take off the bloodstained protective armor, then laugh and make merry. People will think in their hearts, Yes, if it is the Cult Leader, he can surely kill those who must be killed. That is where my honor lies.”
It was something Baek Jagang had never once considered. Whenever he was with Geom Mugeuk, things he himself did not possess kept unfolding before him.
Everything Geom Mugeuk had said earlier had been for this conclusion.
“I hope that you are not hurt by even a hair’s breadth, Alliance Leader. I hope that becomes your honor.”
From the moment Geom Mugeuk began speaking until he finished, not a single hair rose by Baek Jagang’s ear.
* * *
The next day, a carriage carrying the Sado Alliance Leader was racing along.
The small number of martial artists running as they escorted the carriage were the Sado Alliance Leader’s guards. Only the most skilled among the guards had accompanied this secret journey.
Inside the carriage were Baek Jagang and the deputy strategist, Hyeok Sagun.
“Are you nervous?”
At Baek Jagang’s question, Hyeok Sagun, who had been looking out the window of the moving carriage, turned his head.
“No.”
“You look nervous, unlike usual.”
Of course, Hyeok Sagun was nervous.
His fate would be decided today.
He believed Hwang Seokgyeong would win, but that place would become an extremely dangerous battlefield. There was no telling what variables might threaten him.
“May I say one thing regarding this matter?”
“Go ahead.”
“To be honest, I felt disappointed. I wished that if you were going to trust me, you would have trusted me completely.”
“You were disappointed because I did not tell you where the chief strategist’s residence was.”
“Yes.”
Hyeok Sagun soon lowered his head and apologized.
“I apologize for my disloyal words, Alliance Leader.”
“No. You are human as well. It is only natural you might feel that way.”
Hyeok Sagun was doing his utmost to hide himself. The Alliance Leader was a sharp man. He was someone who could see through people with those small eyes.
That was why, today, he hid his excitement beneath disappointment. Because they had to reach the place where Hwang Seokgyeong was waiting.
How long had they traveled like that?
When the carriage slowly began to reduce its speed, Baek Jagang unexpectedly spoke.
“Today is the day the Sado Academy accepts new recruits, is it not?”
“That is correct. It is today.”
When Baek Jagang brought up the Sado Academy, Hyeok Sagun grew tense inwardly.
“I heard Instructor Hwang took leave today?”
“Yes. I heard it was the first time he had ever done so. But how did you know?”
“Is he not famous for his diligence? Do you know what happened?”
“I heard he had an urgent personal matter.”
“I think I know where that man went.”
At some point, the carriage had come to a stop.
Baek Jagang’s gaze turned out the window.
“That man is over there.”
Up ahead, the Fighting King stood blocking the road.
Revealing his aura in full, the Fighting King exuded a tremendous presence. The aura he was displaying now alone was enough to explain why Geom Mugeuk had been so worried.
The guard warriors, who had already received Ingung’s instructions, showed no agitation whatsoever.
Baek Jagang slowly stepped down from the carriage. The Fighting King’s fighting spirit came whirling in like blades, but Baek Jagang spoke with utmost composure.
“This is rather too flashy a vacation for you, is it not?”