“It was a joke.”
With everyone’s eyes focused on her, Chairan said with a smile.
Their first mission surely would not be to attend a wedding as guests and kill someone.
And it made no sense for them to be sent there as actual wedding guests, either.
She assumed that “wedding guests” was some kind of code used by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I was not joking.”
After staring at Geom Mugeuk for a moment, Chairan asked, unable to believe it.
“You really mean for us to go as wedding guests?”
“That is correct.”
“And then?”
“You simply congratulate them and return.”
At that, Ian asked with a surprised expression,
“Could it be that Pavilion Master Seo is getting married?”
When Geom Mugeuk nodded, Ian’s face brightened. He knew well that Seo Daeryong had been nurturing his love for Dan A. Still, he had not expected them to marry so soon.
Geom Mugeuk said to Chairan,
“When I called it a mission, I was joking. There is a young lady who came to our cult after living as a wandering martial artist. She is getting married this time, but she has no friends here, so I wanted you all to attend as her wedding guests.”
If she had not already experienced the kind of person Geom Mugeuk was, Chairan would never have taken those words at face value. She would have assumed there was some hidden meaning behind them.
But now she knew. The Young Cult Master was the kind of person who even looked after the guests at his subordinate’s wedding.
Chairan smiled and said,
“You have never attended a wedding as a guest of the bride, have you?”
Geom Mugeuk nodded. There had been several weddings in his previous life, but he had never paid attention to the ceremonies. He had either gone there to meet someone or simply considered his attendance meaningful in itself.
“The bride should be the star of her wedding.”
As she said this, she turned around.
“What do you think? Do you think our girls can make the bride the star of the day?”
Only then did Geom Mugeuk understand what Chairan meant.
“I was shortsighted.”
He truly had not thought that far. He had only thought that it would be enough for these women to attend as friends.
Geom Mugeuk walked over to Dan Yeon, who was standing with the second squad of the Ghost Shadow Unit.
“Youngest Miss.”
When Geom Mugeuk singled her out, everyone’s eyes turned toward her.
“Yes, Young Cult Master.”
They had once exchanged jokes freely and spoken casually, but with everyone watching now, she could not do that.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you for taking care of my elder sister’s wedding, Young Cult Master.”
She understood. In the past, she had once mentioned the matter of wedding guests to Seo Daeryong, who would become her brother-in-law. He must have told Geom Mugeuk about it.
“Of course I should take care of it. The cult received great help thanks to Miss Dan.”
Geom Mugeuk made it clear that this matter did not stem from a personal relationship.
He was showing consideration because Dan A had rendered great service to the cult! It was a kindness meant for the Dan sisters as they made their way within the organization.
At that moment, Squad Leader Seo Jin stepped forward and asked Dan Yeon,
“Youngest, why didn’t you tell us?”
“It was decided yesterday.”
Seo Jin said to Geom Mugeuk,
“Are you worried that she might not have any wedding guests? She has us.”
Then came her astonishing declaration.
“If the youngest’s family, then they are our family.”
She had meant it sincerely. At least as far as she was concerned, she regarded the Ghost Shadow Unit—especially the martial artists of the second squad she led—as family. When she became a squad leader, she had devoted her life to this work.
Dan Yeon, on the other hand, was not there yet. Though everyone doted on her as the youngest, she had only recently joined the organization. For her, family still meant only her two elder sisters.
That was why Seo Jin’s words were both surprising and touching. Of course, she wondered if the woman had said it only because the Young Cult Master was present.
“Thank you, Squad Leader.”
Seo Jin looked at Geom Mugeuk and said,
“Don’t worry.”
Geom Mugeuk suddenly remembered Seo Jin from before his regression. During the darkest and most difficult period of his life, Seo Jin had always said those words.
Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.
Yes, thanks to you, everything did turn out all right. Thank you, my friend.
“With Squad Leader Seo here…”
Geom Mugeuk added with a smile,
“this was never something I needed to worry about in the first place.”
* * *
“I don’t know whether this was the right choice.”
A bouquet of flowers lay on the table in front of Dan A. Seo Daeryong had come a little while ago, given her the flowers, and formally proposed marriage. When he had blurted it out yesterday while they were eating, she had been so flustered that she had been unable to answer properly. Today, she had agreed.
“Congratulations, Sister.”
“What’s there to congratulate me for?”
Dan A glanced at her younger sisters. She felt needlessly sorry for marrying before them and leaving them behind. Something that should have been perfectly natural felt like a source of guilt to her.
She had never intended to marry in the first place, and even if she did, she had planned to marry only after both of her younger sisters had married. She had even told them so before.
But now that she had found a good man, she was suddenly saying she would marry first, and she could hardly bring herself to face her sisters.
“I’m sorry to you two.”
Then Dan Bi, the second sister with the blunt personality, said,
“We’re grateful that you’re leaving us.”
“What?”
“That you’re alone…”
The youngest, Dan Yeon, cut her off and jumped in.
“If you don’t get married, we’d be happy.”
The second sister had obviously been about to say that their elder sister being alone would leave them with a burden.
“Still, we have to see you get married before we can learn. How the wedding is held, how to spend the newlywed period, and how to give birth to and raise children. You have to experience it and teach us.”
Dan A smiled at those words. When had that little girl grown up enough to say something so thoughtful?
“There won’t be many guests on our side.”
At her practical concern, Dan Yeon reassured her.
“Some of my colleagues from the Ghost Shadow Unit will come.”
It looked as though more people would come than she had just said, but she did not guarantee anything. They might end up disappointed later for no reason.
Dan Bi, meanwhile, could not even confidently count on a single guest.
“The Yellow Springs Pavilion people are all guests of Pavilion Master Seo.”
Dan A forced a smile.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
She said that, but she was secretly concerned. She truly did not care for her own sake. She was not the sort to worry about others’ opinions, nor did she wish to make a good impression on anyone.
She had never regretted or felt ashamed of the life she had lived as a wandering martial artist. Through that work, she had saved many people, and it was how she and her two younger sisters had survived until now.
The only thing that troubled her was Seo Daeryong.
She had no parents, and if she did not even have any wedding guests, it would certainly stand out. Why would he marry a woman like that? She did not want Seo Daeryong to hear people say such things.
“I’m worried I’ll be a burden to Pavilion Master Seo.”
“What are you talking about? You’re too good for him even if he’s the Young Cult Master, not merely the Pavilion Master. Only the Cult Master might be good enough for you.”
Dan A clapped a hand over her sister’s mouth at the outrageous statement. Then again, when they had first met at the inn, Dan A had chosen the Demon Cult Master as the best of the lot.
At that moment, Dan Bi took out an envelope she had prepared.
“Take this.”
Dan A accepted it and opened it to find a bank draft for a considerable sum.
“You’ll have a lot to spend money on, so use this. The youngest and I contributed an equal amount.”
“It’s fine! I have plenty of money!”
The money they had earned through their commissions had always been divided equally among the three.
But the two younger sisters knew that, no matter how evenly the money was divided and how they collected and spent their shared expenses, their elder sister had always spent far more.
They were old enough now to understand how large those unnoticed expenses could become once they accumulated.
“I have lots of money. So take it back. Save it well and use it when you two get married.”
Of course, the two younger sisters did not take it back.
“We still have a long way to go. And when we get married, you’ll help us too, won’t you?”
Dan Yeon picked up where Dan Bi left off.
“You have to show us that you’ve married well and are living happily before we’ll feel like getting married ourselves, don’t you?”
The younger sisters she had devoted everything to caring for were saying such things to her now.
“Sister, don’t feel intimidated. Use this money to prepare!”
* * *
“I told you that you don’t have to come anymore.”
When Geom Mugeuk returned to Hyeolcheon Doma’s quarters, Seo Daeryong had only just begun preparing for his training.
“I have to devise a strategy with Daeryong once his training is over.”
While Seo Daeryong trained, Geom Mugeuk pointlessly moved back and forth, sat down and stood up, and went into the room to take books off the shelf before putting them back.
Perhaps finding the sight distracting, Hyeolcheon Doma took a practice great saber from the corner and threw it at Geom Mugeuk.
“Don’t just fool around. Swing this, at least.”
“Why is this so heavy?”
Geom Mugeuk caught the great saber and complained that his arm was about to fall off, then said,
“But if I’m going to train, shouldn’t I be practicing swordsmanship?”
“You think you can train with that light sword that would break if you merely tapped it in our Namdo Sect? Not a chance.”
“My father uses a sword, too.”
“The Cult Master’s sword is heavy.”
Geom Mugeuk looked down at the great saber. He could guess why Hyeolcheon Doma had deliberately put a saber in his hand.
To make him distance himself. To make him distance himself from mastering the Guhwa Demon Art.
Geom Mugeuk swung the saber from the corner until Seo Daeryong’s training ended. He spent most of the time merely staring at the weapon, and only swung it a few times.
When the training was over, Hyeolcheon Doma asked Geom Mugeuk,
“Well?”
“It’s heavy. I was thinking about why it’s so heavy.”
The moment he heard Geom Mugeuk’s answer, a peculiar smile appeared at the corners of Hyeolcheon Doma’s mouth.
Seo Daeryong knew what that smile meant.
He remembered what Hyeolcheon Doma had said on the first day of his own training, when he had complained that the saber was heavy.
―Understanding that heaviness is the beginning and the end of the saber technique I intend to teach you.
Geom Mugeuk had understood the essence of the saber technique in an instant.
As Seo Daeryong looked at him with eyes that seemed to say, Of course!, Geom Mugeuk revealed something even more astonishing.
“You met Miss Dan before coming here, didn’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“You brought her flowers, too, didn’t you?”
Seo Daeryong’s eyes widened in shock.
“How did you know that as well?”
“I’m the Young Cult Master. Your Young Cult Master!”
At that moment, Hyeolcheon Doma picked up the flower petals scattered across the floor. They had fallen from Seo Daeryong’s clothes before training began. There had been more than one or two.
“Did you get into a fight with a flower?”
Only then did Seo Daeryong understand how Geom Mugeuk had figured it out.
Naturally, Geom Mugeuk immediately protested.
“No! How can you reveal the secret of my mystery and prestige?”
When Hyeolcheon Doma pretended not to hear and tried to go inside, Geom Mugeuk hurriedly grabbed him.
“Come now, Elder, sit here for a moment. You ought to know exactly what your disciple has been up to.”
The three of them sat side by side in the training yard.
“Before coming here to train today, I picked a bouquet of flowers. I formally asked Miss Dan to marry me.”
“And then?”
“She accepted my proposal.”
Seo Daeryong’s face was filled with emotion.
“Congratulations. Of the three of us, you’re the first to marry.”
At the words “the three of us,” Hyeolcheon Doma made an incredulous face, then gave a faint smile. Yes, there had once been a time when he had thought about marriage too. He had not known then that he would end up living alone until this age.
“I’m sorry for being the first to leave!”
“Don’t apologize. I should be the one apologizing.”
“What?”
“You said your right arm was going to open the gates of hell, and I didn’t stop you, did I?”
No matter how one looked at it, for Seo Daeryong this was the gate to happiness.
“As long as I’m with Miss Dan, even that hell doesn’t frighten me.”
“Don’t blame me later by saying, ‘Why didn’t you stop me back then?’ And don’t say, ‘Young Cult Master, you knew exactly how this would turn out! You know everything in the world!’ Don’t do that!”
“I absolutely won’t.”
Seo Daeryong asked cautiously,
“But even after I marry, I’m still your right arm, aren’t I? Nothing will change between us, right?”
Geom Mugeuk stared at him, then said,
“Something will change. You’ll have to step down as my right arm.”
“Oh, come on. You’re trying to joke again.”
“You know very well how dangerous being my right arm is.”
What Seo Daeryong knew was that the right arm was protected from danger better than anyone else. The right arm was supposed to protect the torso, but he was always the one being protected.
“You can’t have both happiness and being my right arm. Choose one.”
Seo Daeryong pulled a long face and stood up.
“I’ll go tell her. I’ll tell her that our love should be fulfilled in our next life.”
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you going?”
“I’m going. I really am.”
As Seo Daeryong shuffled away hesitantly, Geom Mugeuk said to Hyeolcheon Doma,
“His footwork is as heavy as the great saber. He’s still right where he started.”
“He went two steps.”
“Then he took one step backward.”
At that, Seo Daeryong, who had walked some distance away, came back.
“No! That’s too much! I can’t give up either of them!”
At the sight, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon shook his head and said with a look of disdain,
“What’s so great about being the right arm? Anyone would think it came with a monthly salary.”
Geom Mugeuk casually remarked,
“Come to think of it, there was someone who once agonized over whether to be the right wing or the left wing.”
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon pretended not to hear and gazed at the distant sky.
The position of right arm was more important to Seo Daeryong than any other position.
“I-I’ll work even harder. So even after I get married, please let me remain your right arm.”
He was not joking. The position held a special meaning for him.
As the master of the Yellow Springs Pavilion, he could not travel throughout the Central Plains alongside Geom Mugeuk. Even if he were not, he still lacked the ability to serve Geom Mugeuk properly.
He feared that if he lost even this position—where he insisted on calling himself Geom Mugeuk’s right arm despite being unable to fulfill the role—his relationship with Geom Mugeuk might be severed entirely.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon merely gazed up at the sky in silence, his expression showing that he understood exactly what was in his disciple’s heart.
The playfulness vanished from Geom Mugeuk’s face. He spoke to Seo Daeryong with a calm gaze.
“When you have a wife and children, you’ll have to devote your strength to them. I won’t accept a right arm that can’t even look after his own family. Take care of your family first, then take care of me. Can you do that?”
Seo Daeryong stared at Geom Mugeuk in silence for a moment before letting out a sigh.
“Isn’t that a rather selfish right arm?”
“You only say that because you don’t know.”
“What?”
“An arm that bears responsibility for a family is far stronger than one that stands alone. You’re going to become truly strong now. The blade you wield will carry another kind of strength as well. From now on, that blade will never break.”
“!”
“If the torso refused to cut off such a right arm even after knowing that, wouldn’t the torso be the selfish one?”
Seo Daeryong gazed silently at Geom Mugeuk and spoke in a low voice.
“That’s good, then. A selfish torso and a selfish right arm. I’ll stay attached until the very end.”
Even if I’m cut off, I’ll be cut off after properly fulfilling my role as your right arm.
“Once a right arm, forever a right arm.”
Someday, he would seat his grandchildren on his knees and tell them stories about this man. He had far too many stories to tell.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon, who had been listening to the two of them, suddenly spoke.
“I’ll officiate the wedding.”
Startled, Seo Daeryong sprang to his feet and stood before the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. He then offered a polite bow and expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you so much, Master!”
Given his master’s personality, he was not the sort of person who would officiate someone else’s wedding. Seo Daeryong knew very well how great a decision this must have been for him.
“Have you chosen a date?”
“Not yet. Please choose an auspicious day for us, Master.”
“I don’t know much about that sort of thing. The Chief Military Advisor or the Wind Heaven Cult Leader might know better.”
Just then, Geom Mugeuk extended a hand, and the book the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had been reading rose into the air from the desk by the window.
The title of the book was revealed to everyone.
Asking Heaven’s Will
There was a subtitle beneath it.
How to Choose an Auspicious Day
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk with an expression that said he was beyond speechless. He must have sneaked a look at it earlier, when he had been coming and going before training.
“It was a coincidence.”
As if that could possibly be true. Seo Daeryong was deeply moved.
“I really hope you’ll choose the date for us, Master. We’ll live happily together for that reason alone. Please, I’m begging you.”
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon rose from his seat and walked toward the building as he spoke.
“I’ll choose a day that’s convenient for me.”