Yugwang and Gyoseok looked at each other, then turned their eyes forward again.
A beautiful woman they would long to see even in their dreams was sitting before them, asking a question.
“I asked if there was anything you wanted to eat.”
Yugwang answered in a trembling voice.
“I eat anything!”
Just how flustered did he have to be to speak so politely?
“You said I was your junior, didn’t you?”
When Ian asked teasingly, Yugwang quickly shook his head.
“We’re in the same White Dragon Class, so we’re all peers.”
“Right? Since we’re peers, let’s speak comfortably.”
Yugwang nodded. He did not know it. The fact that he had just become peers with the captain of the Ghost Shadow Unit of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Then I’ll order what I like?”
Though she said that, Ian ordered the dishes Geom Mugeuk liked.
Yugwang was bewildered. The beautiful women he knew—no, the beautiful women he had imagined—were mysterious beings.
They spoke wordlessly with their eyes, so noble that one would not dare even step on the hem of their clothing.
But the beauty before his eyes had linked arms with them and come all the way here like a friend. She truly treated them without the slightest reserve. Where in the world could there be such a bright-natured peerless beauty?
If he were to confess honestly, he too had fallen for Ian. When Gyoseok asked him to play the villain, he had readily agreed for his friend’s sake, but inwardly, he had felt regretful.
‘I should have spoken first.’
But no. Judging by appearance, anyone could see that he was far more suited to being the villain.
Even now, the touch of her hand lingered on his arm.
Would there ever again be a moment in his life when such a beauty linked arms with him? There would not.
While Yugwang, who had taken on the villain’s role today, was lost in such thoughts, Gyoseok, who had tried to become the chivalrous hero of justice, looked at Geom Mugeuk and Seojin sitting side by side a little distance from Ian.
‘What is their relationship? Why did they come all the way here with her?’
They had naturally followed them to this inn and sat down at the same table.
As if she had read his question, Ian introduced the two of them to Gyoseok.
“They’re friends I made after coming here. As you know, that’s Geomyeon, who took the entrance exam with me, and I happened to meet Seojin at an inn.”
Geom Mugeuk waved at them and said,
“You two had a truly wonderful friendship. It made me think of the friends I left behind.”
It was not an empty remark; he meant it sincerely. All the more so because he had left the cult in a hurry this time and had not been able to see many people.
Gyoseok felt jealousy toward Geom Mugeuk. He felt it even more because he thought the other man was pretending to be at ease.
‘Who are you to be mingling with these women?’
Was being handsome everything? As if he had read that very thought, Geom Mugeuk said to him,
“I decided to become that young lady’s sword and shield.”
The faces of the two hot-blooded youths underwent the same change in expression.
At first, their expressions became, “What is this bastard saying?” and then soon turned into, “Yes, I would have done the same.”
Yugwang and Gyoseok understood Geom Mugeuk. If it was a woman like this, they too felt they might have said they would become her sword and shield. That was why they felt regretful.
‘Ah! I should have entered the academy at this time. If I had, I’d be in that spot.’
Ian smiled happily. The more she heard those words about becoming her sword and shield, the better they made her feel. Especially the part about becoming a shield lingered in her heart. After all, she had lived her whole life as the Young Cult Leader’s shield.
—I am your shield, Young Cult Leader.
Geom Mugeuk answered Ian’s voice transmission.
—Then who protects my shield?
—A shield is…
Ian’s mischievous gaze turned toward Yugwang and Gyoseok.
“We’re still recruiting shields!”
Yugwang’s face flushed red again. He thought that if it was for this woman, he would not mind living his whole life as a bodyguard warrior. Gyoseok, who had actually tried to play the chivalrous hero, was not quite to that extent.
“Now, have a drink from me.”
When Ian poured him wine, Yugwang’s hand holding the cup trembled violently.
“Can you even hold a sword with that hand?”
Gyoseok’s hands did not tremble, but he could not take his eyes off Ian.
Geom Mugeuk watched the sight with a pleased heart.
‘Enjoy yourself to your heart’s content, Ian.’
To Geom Mugeuk, this moment was more valuable and precious than the moment of killing an enemy.
He hoped Ian would grow while taking the lead in handling this martial academy matter. That she would learn much and feel much.
But there was something he wished for more than anything else.
‘Enjoy yourself, Ian.’
He hoped she would enjoy her youth in this place full of young people. He hoped she would receive to her heart’s content the praise for her beauty that she had never received in her life.
At that moment, Seojin sent Geom Mugeuk a voice transmission and asked,
—There’s something I want to ask you.
—Anything.
—Did you know too, Young Cult Leader? That they had planned it and acted it out?
—I knew.
—How?
From where they had been standing earlier, it had been difficult to see the two men’s expressions clearly. She could not believe he had figured it out simply by hearing their voices.
But what Geom Mugeuk had paid attention to was not them.
—From the reactions of the students who were watching.
—Ah!
Even while conversing with her, Geom Mugeuk had been observing the expressions of the other students around them.
—If he were the sort of fellow who stepped forward like that, he would surely have bullied his classmates on a regular basis, but no one frowned. On the contrary, they looked intrigued.
Seojin let out a soft sigh. Once she heard it, it was a simple answer, but at the time, it had not occurred to her at all.
—I missed both sides, then.
Ian had figured it out from those two, while Geom Mugeuk had figured it out through the people around them.
Geom Mugeuk filled the disappointed woman’s cup.
If he wished for Ian to enjoy herself, what he wished for Seojin was different.
Until now, she had been raised preciously as a blood relative of the Ghost Gate. Now it was time for her to truly step outside the greenhouse.
Seojin, now you will take your first step toward that splendid self you once became. No, in this life, I hope you become someone far more splendid than that.
—If you’re a martial artist, you have to look out of habit. Wherever you go, thoroughly observing the space and the people in it should become second nature. If it’s a place that makes you feel at ease or a place with people who look easy to deal with, you need to be even more alert. That is when martial artists die.
Seojin acknowledged her carelessness. She had unconsciously thought of this as a place full of greenhorns from the White Dragon Class. In truth, the greenhorn had been herself.
—I’ll keep it in mind, Young Cult Leader.
Even as they did so, the drinking continued.
It was mainly Ian who dealt with Yugwang and Gyoseok.
Even as the two drank, it felt like a dream. Such a beautiful woman was calling their names and treating them like friends.
Moreover, even though they had tried to deceive her, she treated them so comfortably, and they were deeply moved by it. With a few cups of wine added on top, various stories flowed out easily.
“My dream is to open a martial school in my hometown and live there.”
Yugwang’s dream had always frustrated Gyoseok.
“It sounds nice to call it a martial school, but do you know how much money it takes to open even one?”
“I can open a small one.”
“Then no students will gather. You tried so hard to enter the Yellow Dragon Martial Academy yourself, didn’t you?”
That did not mean Gyoseok’s dream was realistic.
“My dream is to make a lot of money. Once I leave this place, I’m going to become a bodyguard warrior for rich people. If I stay beside rich people, I’ll be able to learn how to make money. I’ll make a lot of money and open the martial school for you.”
At those words, Ian smiled faintly. He did not know because he had yet to experience it. How difficult a job being a bodyguard warrior was. How realistically difficult it was to learn how to make money from the rich while guarding them. And how difficult it was to spend a large sum for someone else once one had actually earned that money.
Even so, Ian liked it. At least for now, she could feel that their hearts were sincere.
“Hey, I really like you two. Playing the villain for a friend, earning money for a friend and opening him a martial school—those aren’t things just anyone can do. Come, a toast to friendship.”
Only the three of them raised their cups and drank.
It was the first time Geom Mugeuk had seen Ian talk so much since meeting her.
So when Ian became the main character, she talked this much.
That was why it was a precious day.
Of course, Ian had not made this gathering merely to play with them.
When their hearts had loosened enough, Ian asked casually,
“By the way, I heard there was an instructor who passed away not long ago?”
In that instant, the two flinched. That reaction alone told her that the two knew about Im Hyeon.
“How did you know Instructor Im died?”
At Gyoseok’s question, Ian answered as though it were no big deal.
“I heard.”
“From whom? A gag order was issued about that matter.”
It seemed they had ordered the students who knew of the incident never to speak of it.
“It seemed like everyone knew.”
She guessed that if these two knew, the others would know as well. Sure enough, they could not refute it.
“We’re friends now, aren’t we? Can’t you at least tell me that much?”
As Yugwang seriously agonized over it, Gyoseok said,
“Don’t. If it’s found out that we violated the gag order, we could be expelled from the academy. Let’s go.”
Gyoseok grabbed the wavering Yugwang and pulled him to his feet.
He hurried outside with Yugwang.
Yugwang, who had gone as far as the entrance of the inn, strode back again. Gyoseok could no longer stop him and followed behind with a sigh.
“Instructor Im died in an accident while sparring with Bang So.”
“Who is Bang So?”
“He’s in our White Dragon Class. He’s a classmate who entered shortly before Instructor Im died.”
Ian was surprised, and so was Seojin, who had been listening. It was surprising enough that Im Hyeon had died in a sparring match as they said, but she had never imagined the opponent would be a student of the White Dragon Class.
“Was Bang So at the training ground earlier?”
At Ian’s question, Yugwang shook his head.
“No. Ever since that incident, he’s been skipping classes.”
Yugwang added one more impression.
“After that happened, something changed.”
Gyoseok frowned and shook his head.
“You’re spouting nonsense again.”
“Don’t you feel it? That feeling like something has sunk down, that unpleasant feeling for no reason—don’t you feel it?”
Because Gyoseok did not believe in such feelings of his, Yugwang had really wanted to tell someone about this mood.
“Something definitely changed.”
Ian looked at him differently. Sensing a shift in the current that no one else could feel was truly an incredible talent. Though he was now trembling while receiving a cup of wine, she thought he might one day become a great master.
Ian expressed her gratitude to him.
“Thank you for telling me.”
The reason Yugwang had spoken honestly was not simply because she was beautiful. It was because he had been moved when Ian had said earlier that he was the kinder person.
People seeing them for the first time all thought Gyoseok was kinder based on appearance alone. There had also been many who regarded him as a ruffian based solely on first impressions.
But Ian had recognized him accurately.
“I was grateful too. See you tomorrow.”
At least for his final farewell, he did not tremble and left with confidence.
Gyoseok said,
“You absolutely must not say you heard it from him.”
“I promise.”
After the two left the inn, only the three of them remained there.
“Could this Bang So be those people’s underling?”
At Ian’s question, Geom Mugeuk answered,
“We’ll have to find that out. But this much is certain. Since he died in a sparring match with a White Dragon Class student, anyone would think this matter was a simple accident.”
They would think a greenhorn had mishandled his sword and killed an instructor.
Geom Mugeuk added something unexpected.
“If this Bang So is their hired blade, he’ll start attending classes tomorrow.”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
At Ian’s question, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward Seojin.
“Because someone else has appeared whom they need to kill.”
* * *
Come now, that was absurd! Of course, she thought Geom Mugeuk had been joking.
But astonishingly, the next day, Bang So came to class.
Bang So had drooping shoulders and a gloomy expression. Since he kept his head lowered without meeting anyone’s eyes, it was hard to tell what he looked like.
When he appeared after so long, the attention of the White Dragon Class students focused on him. Everyone pitied him. What if they themselves had caused an instructor’s death? It was something they did not even want to imagine.
Yugwang and Gyoseok exchanged glances. The two were greatly surprised. He had appeared right after Yugwang had told her about him yesterday.
When they looked at Ian, she had already seen through Bang So’s true nature.
—He’s hiding his skill.
—Good eye.
Not only Seojin, but no one else noticed that hidden ability. He was a master far beyond the instructors’ level.
—Surely not? Could he really have appeared to kill Squad Leader Seo, just as you said, Young Master?
—If not? Is there any reason to have that man come back here?
—That’s idiotic, isn’t it? If a man who has killed once commits murder again, attention will be drawn to him.
—I actually think it’s a clever choice.
—What do you mean?
Geom Mugeuk pointed out the part she had not considered.
—Seojin, a blood relative of the Ghost Gate, entered the Yellow Dragon Martial Academy to investigate Im Hyeon’s death.
—That’s right.
—The person who killed Im Hyeon is Bang So. Now imagine she is killed by that Bang So.
—!
Only then did Ian understand what Geom Mugeuk meant.
Seojin, who had come to investigate the death of an elder brother from her hometown, and Bang So, who had accidentally killed an instructor. Bang So, feeling pressured by her investigation, commits murder? If afterward they dealt with Bang So as having committed suicide as well, or had him disappear, everything would be neatly resolved.
—Since they have a grudge between them, no one will try to look for another force behind it.
Pyo San was speaking with Bang So. He seemed to be checking whether he was all right.
After a long conversation, Pyo San said to the students,
“Today, we will have prearranged sparring for the first time in a while.”
The students thought he was deliberately having them practice sparring to help Bang So overcome the shock of the previous bout.
Ian’s expression turned cold.
‘These insane bastards!’
Geom Mugeuk said nothing more and left it to Ian.
‘Now, Ian. How will you deal with this?’