Yeon Baekjin laughed aloud.
“Why do you laugh?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, he made a scornful expression.
“Three newcomers say they’ll take over the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall—laughter is inevitable.”
“Then will you help us?”
“What?”
Geom Mugeuk looked at him and asked.
“If the Great Hero helps, wouldn’t we be able to take it over?”
In that moment, Geom Mugeuk saw it. Yeon Baekjin’s pupils trembling slightly. It was a moment that should have been laughed off as nonsense.
This uncontrollable agitation clearly stemmed from accumulated, long-held regret.
Yeon Baekjin set down his wine cup with a sharp clack.
Geom Mugeuk quickly spoke to him.
“I’m sorry. I’m nervous about tomorrow’s exam, so I was spouting nonsense.”
Yeon Baekjin glared at him with an intensity that could bore holes through him—the one who had requested to sit together with a beauty who could be called the most beautiful woman under heaven.
“Who are you?”
The intense suspicion that had been momentarily suppressed by Ian’s appearance surged forth.
“I’m Geom Yeon. Not the yeon from inyeon, but the yeon meaning smoke. When the work is done, I’ll disappear like smoke.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Yeon Baekjin’s suspicion soon subsided. If someone had intended to approach him deliberately, they wouldn’t have sent such a strange fellow. And they certainly wouldn’t have sent such a beautiful woman along with him. These two stood out too much, even if one were trying to stand out.
Yeon Baekjin stood up from his seat and spoke to Seo Jin.
“Let’s have a drink next time when it’s quiet.”
Seo Jin silently lowered her head slightly. That he asked her for a drink even with Ian beside him meant he didn’t see her as a mere object of desire. If he had, he would have approached Ian.
Before leaving, Yeon Baekjin glanced at Ian. Truly, she was beautiful even upon a second look. It seemed things would get noisy for a while once this woman entered the martial hall.
When Yeon Baekjin left the inn, only three people remained there now.
Seo Jin saw it. Geom Mugeuk’s change. Before Yeon Baekjin, he had truly looked like a greenhorn facing tomorrow’s entrance exam. He had really seemed to misspeak and appeared genuinely flustered. But now, nowhere in Geom Mugeuk’s bearing could such clumsiness be felt.
“He regrets failing to become the Hall Lord of the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall.”
Seo Jin confirmed that Geom Mugeuk had seen correctly.
“You saw well. When he introduced himself to me, he said he was someone who couldn’t become the master of this place because he was born too late.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded. When he had carried out Seo Jin’s revenge in the past, he hadn’t been able to thoroughly investigate Yeon Baekjin or the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall. Because revenge was urgent then. Now, it was necessary to calmly assess him.
Seo Jin spoke to Geom Mugeuk and Ian.
“Shall we go up to my room for a moment?”
Seo Jin led the two to her room on the upper floor of the inn.
She greeted Geom Mugeuk with the utmost courtesy she could muster.
“I offer my formal greetings. I am Squad Leader Seo Jin of the Ghost Shadow Division, and I greet the Young Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk welcomed her with a smile.
“Welcome to the Ghost Shadow Division.”
She wouldn’t know. How moved he was right now. With what heart he was looking at her.
‘In this life, it seems I won’t be able to hear those grateful words you spoke to me as a friend.’
That was regrettable, but an incomparably better life awaited her. She would take Ian as the Great Leader, Cheongmyeon as a fellow squad leader, and meet other comrades.
‘Now, there will be no more dying as a nameless vagabond in some nameless field.’
This time, Seo Jin showed courtesy to Ian as well.
“I, Squad Leader Seo Jin, offer my greetings to the Great Leader.”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
“Please speak comfortably now, Great Leader.”
“I will, Squad Leader Seo.”
Ian spoke with an inscrutable smile.
“You know I’ve gone through a lot because of you?”
The two women looked at each other and laughed. It was something that let one know how much Ian had struggled to persuade her. Because Seo Jin was by no means an easygoing personality.
“Still, I wanted to make you my person even a day sooner.”
“Thank you.”
After exchanging greetings, Ian asked.
“Squad Leader Seo, tell me what the situation is.”
Seo Jin told everything that had happened since coming to the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall.
“So you mean your master Gi Seok and Instructor Pyo San are hiding something, and that Yeon Baekjin we saw today also seems to know something.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Ian looked at Geom Mugeuk. Asking with her eyes what to do now, Geom Mugeuk took a step back.
“Don’t look at me. This is the Ghost Shadow Division’s affair, so handle it yourselves. I’ll only play the role of shield and sword.”
That was also what Ian wanted. Because she wanted to resolve this matter on her own with Seo Jin as much as possible.
“With the sturdiest sword and shield in the martial world, there’s nothing to fear. Shall we go conquer the martial world then?”
Literally, Ian didn’t hesitate at all.
“First, let’s enter the hall tomorrow, then decide what to do.”
“Great!”
Geom Mugeuk was excited, saying it was his first time entering a martial hall since birth.
But he didn’t let his guard down. Geom Mugeuk went down and took the room next to Seo Jin’s from the innkeeper.
“It may be inconvenient, but you two use the same room. I’ll stay next door.”
If there were an ambush by any chance, it would be safer for them to be together. Besides, it would be a chance for the two to get close.
That night, Geom Mugeuk practiced martial arts by unleashing the Heaven-Soaring Secret Technique within the Space-Time Reversal Art.
There, Geom Mugeuk strove and strove again to break through the seventh star of the Nine Transformations Demonic Art and ascend to the eighth star. Because far more time was given to him than others, his effort was also multiplied several fold.
A space that belonged to him alone.
For Geom Mugeuk, this place was the true martial hall.
* * *
The next day, Seo Jin was attending the martial arts class of Pyo San of the White Dragon Class.
“With vigor! With precision!”
The number of hall members in the White Dragon Class led by Pyo San was about thirty.
He had taken charge of the new recruits’ class in order to monitor Seo Jin. Among these, those with sufficient skill would be sent up to the next class, and after going through several stages within the White Dragon Class, they would take the exam to ascend to the Azure Dragon Class.
The hall members feared the instructors and tried their hardest to impress. If you got on their bad side, you wouldn’t even be able to take the class promotion exam. Today as well, everyone was sweating hard, lest they incur Pyo San’s displeasure.
When class was almost over, an instructor brought two people walking there.
One member practicing forms stumbled and his posture collapsed.
But no one paid him any mind. Everyone was too busy looking at the two people coming there to notice their surroundings.
“New recruits for the White Dragon Class.”
The two who captured everyone’s gaze were none other than Geom Mugeuk and Ian. Having passed the entrance exam, they were joining the White Dragon Class.
Not only the White Dragon Class members, but even Pyo San, who was teaching them, had his gaze stolen by Ian. Before long, Pyo San spoke to the two.
“Come out and introduce yourselves.”
Geom Mugeuk went out first and greeted them.
“I’m Geom Yeon.”
“I’m Ian.”
Pyo San spoke to the two.
“Come here starting tomorrow.”
Geom Mugeuk and Ian said spiritedly:
“Yes, understood.”
Pyo San’s gaze turned to Seo Jin. Seo Jin was also looking at Ian. She, too, acted normally like the other members.
“Today’s training ends here.”
When Pyo San stepped back, attention focused on the two. There were those who stared openly and those who stole glances.
Among them, one stepped forward, brazenly taking the lead.
“I am Yu Gwang.”
He seemed somewhat belligerent, but he was quite large and loud.
“I’ll be blunt. I like you.”
It was an attitude on the border between bravery and rudeness, but to the present Ian, it was simply cute. Moreover, the voice of the fellow trying hard to put on bravado was trembling slightly.
“Is that so.”
“What?”
“I said I understand how you feel.”
Perhaps because it wasn’t the reaction he had expected, Yu Gwang was flustered.
Maybe because everyone’s attention was focused? He didn’t back down just like that.
“Let’s have a drink to welcome you.”
“All together?”
“No, just the two of us.”
“I don’t feel like drinking from the first day. Let’s do it next time.”
She had refused nicely, so it could have ended with “next time,” but Yu Gwang acted like a man with a plan.
“A junior who refuses a senior’s request from the first day. You have quite some nerve?”
They were of the same White Dragon Class, but he was trying to act like a senior just because he joined sooner.
Ian glanced at Geom Mugeuk. He was looking this way with an expression that said he was enjoying the interesting spectacle with Seo Jin.
“I like women with guts.”
It was precisely then.
“Enough.”
The one who stepped forward again was Gyo Seok. He was a hall member with a smaller frame than Yu Gwang who had come out earlier. But even so, he was brave.
“Why force someone who said no?”
Yu Gwang’s expression hardened at once. The anger of being rejected turned toward Gyo Seok.
“Anyway, this bastard always picks fights in my affairs?”
Seeing him curse right off the bat, they didn’t seem to get along normally either.
“It’s not picking a fight, it’s telling you not to harass people.”
“What do you mean harass, you crazy bastard? I just asked her to drink.”
“That is harassment.”
It seemed Gyo Seok had also fallen for Ian at first sight like Yu Gwang. He hadn’t seemed like the type to step forward like this.
“You might get in trouble for acting up relying on your family background.”
From those words, one could tell that Gyo Seok, who had stepped up later, was the child of a considerably famous prestigious family.
“That again!”
“What is there to see in you besides your family background? You moron! If you’re upset, come at me!”
Geom Mugeuk and Seo Jin were enjoying this situation from a short distance away.
“It’s a mess.”
“Isn’t that a face that causes brawls? If the youths’ blood didn’t boil seeing Ian, that would be strange.”
Seo Jin agreed as well. Because she possessed looks that even another woman couldn’t help but acknowledge.
“Squad Leader Seo likes pretty women too, right?”
“How did you know?”
How did he know? Because she had told him.
The Seo Jin from before the regression had truly liked pretty women. She had said that seeing pretty things made her feel good. She liked not only beautiful women but also flowers and pretty clothes.
Seo Jin felt a strange sensation from the deep gaze directed at her.
The Young Leader’s gaze was not one of frenzy and boiling blood. Yet, looking into it, she felt an inexplicable resonance.
Seo Jin looked at Ian and asked.
“You must have known this chaos would happen. Why didn’t you have her disguise herself to look ugly?”
Then Geom Mugeuk gave an unexpected answer.
“She was born pretty, so she should live enjoying that pretty face.”
Because she had spent a long time suffering the side effects of the Complete Body Petrification Art, he wished for Ian to enjoy such things too.
“She spent her life protecting me, so she’s never experienced things like that. Men dueling and lining up because they like her. It’s a memory worth bragging about to your children later, isn’t it?”
Geom Mugeuk wished for her to continue living with her own face going forward. Instead of time spent on disguises, he would train in martial arts, guiding her to live a life where living with that face wasn’t bothersome or difficult.
Seo Jin looked at Geom Mugeuk with a momentarily incomprehensible feeling.
‘Does he really care for his subordinate down to such things?’
She still didn’t know Geom Mugeuk well.
Then, a woman among the White Dragon Class martial artists walked toward Geom Mugeuk.
“There, she’s coming to see me. See, women too—aren’t they also boiling-blooded youths?”
The woman approached right in front of the two.
“You said Geom Yeon, right?”
“It’s Geom Yeon, the yeon meaning smoke. They say I disappear like smoke, so Geom Yeon. Want to have a drink together? I don’t mind even on the first day. Oh, what’s your name? What do you like?”
He poured out words without being asked, and a slight disappointment flashed across the woman’s face. He was handsome and had a good atmosphere, but to be such a chatterbox from the first word!
The woman quietly stepped back.
“I have something today.”
When she retreated, Seo Jin teased Geom Mugeuk.
“She really disappeared like smoke.”
Geom Mugeuk made a disappointed expression.
Of course, Seo Jin knew. That Geom Mugeuk had deliberately driven the woman away.
“You pathetic bastard! Get lost!”
“You back off from the new recruit!”
Yu Gwang and Gyo Seok, who had been quarreling, seemed about to come to blows at any moment, but Geom Mugeuk simply watched with a grin as if it were none of his business.
In the end, Seo Jin stepped in. She was, after all, a squad leader—she couldn’t just sit still for the Great Leader.
“If you assault someone over a private matter, you’ll be expelled immediately.”
At Seojin’s words, Yugwang and Gyoseok looked at her.
“That’s what it said on the admission documents. I read those kinds of things very carefully.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled faintly. She had been the same even when they lived as wandering warriors. While most wanderers entered contracts carelessly, Seojin would read them meticulously and fix any strange clauses. Her personality hadn’t changed at all.
Even at the mention of expulsion, the two did not back down.
“If a senior can’t protect a newcomer, then he deserves to be expelled!”
Just then, Ian spoke in a bright tone.
“In honor of your passionate friendship, we should have a drink.”
At the word friendship, Yugwang and Gyoseok flinched.
“Friendship?”
When Yugwang asked as if protesting, Ian gave an unexpected answer.
“You two are close, aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
Ian stepped up in front of Yugwang.
“You’re actually not very good at cursing, are you?”
Yugwang twitched. When Ian brought her face close, the man who had been barking insults couldn’t even meet her eyes.
“I grew up hearing a lot of curses. I’m good at telling real curses from fake ones.”
She moved her face toward wherever Yugwang turned his gaze.
“You’re actually the nicer one, aren’t you? That’s how it looks to me.”
Yugwang averted his eyes again. Ian faced him once more, and in the end, Yugwang squeezed his eyes shut.
Gyoseok, who had been listening, confessed.
“Sorry. I asked my friend to do it. Because I liked you.”
The plan had been for Yugwang to pick a fight, and then for Gyoseok to step in like a righteous hero and save her. In truth, the two were best friends.
“How did you know?”
At Gyoseok’s question, Ian smiled.
“Your eyes were innocent, and your acting was awkward.”
Yugwang looked apologetically at Gyoseok.
“Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. I ruined it for no reason.”
Ian slipped between them and linked arms with both.
“You two are so cute.”
The two were startled, and their faces turned bright red.
“Yes, this is what a martial academy should be like. It has to be this pure to be a martial academy. Come on, let’s go have a drink. I have some things to ask you too.”
With her arms linked through theirs, the two were dragged away by Ian.
Everyone watching was surprised by Ian’s unexpected side. The beauty who seemed too difficult to even speak to was talking in such a friendly way.
Seojin was surprised as well. She had already known Ian had such a bright personality, but what surprised her was that Ian had realized they had planned it. Seojin had not noticed. Of course, she had been farther away than Ian, but she didn’t think she would have noticed even if she had been close.
“I still have a long way to go compared to the Captain.”
If the Captain had known, would the Young Cult Leader have known too? Seojin wondered about that.
Ian, who had been walking ahead, turned her head toward Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk smiled broadly at her and mouthed silently,
You can descend the mountain now, Ian.