“You said you were going to play yourself to death from now on, so what are you doing here?”
Still keeping his eyes on his book, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk was seated across from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, diligently writing something on a sheet of paper.
“I’m organizing the things I need to do from here on.”
“What could there be so much of?”
The paper was packed with tasks. They were things he had put off, telling himself he would do them once they caught Hwa Mugi.
First, there were a great many people he had to meet.
He wanted to meet Jin Hagun and Bi Sain and drink a celebratory cup with them. Though the final finishing blow had been delivered by their cult, those two had been part of that long process as well. If not for his ties with them, there would have been no reason for the Murim Alliance Leader and the Sado Alliance Leader to come help them. Ah, he also wanted to see Jin Haryeong and Han Seol of the Ice Palace.
He wanted to have a drink with Seo Daeryong and Jang Ho after so long, and he intended to drink with the Sword King and Cha Iran too.
He had to meet the Demon Venerables as well. First, he wanted to speak separately with the Extreme Evil Young Demon, and when the Drunken Demon arrived at the main headquarters, he wanted to drink with him.
He also had to look after the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable, who had fought splendidly as the youngest, and he wanted to visit the Poison King and talk about this battle. Since he had done nothing, he might actually have the most to say.
“Who else do I need to see?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been reading, glanced sidelong at what was written on the paper.
“What’s that there? The Four Handsome Men’s Expedition to the Central Plains?”
It was the most eye-catching line among everything written there.
“Ah, the representative handsome men of our cult are going out to play in the Central Plains together. This is a plan I made a long time ago.”
“And who are those four?”
Curiosity flickered across the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s face.
“Naturally, I’m the first. Next is the Young Demon, then the Poison King, and finally the Drunken Demon. The four of us. In truth, there was a time when I lost to Father in popularity, but that was only because Daeryong’s sister-in-law has unique tastes.”
What the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was curious about was this.
“Is that masked fellow really that good-looking?”
“It’s no joke.”
The emotion contained in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s slightly displeased expression was exactly this:
The masked fellow, the drunkard, and the poison freak are included among the four, but I’m left out?
In the end, unable to hold back, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked indirectly.
“What about me?”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Blade Demon and smiled.
“If we go by your firm, taut skin right now, then of course you would come right after me, Elder. But if we set out as five, would Sword Venerable be all right with that?”
Of course she would not be. As the Blood Heaven Blade Demon turned his gaze back to his book, Geom Mugeuk asked with a smile.
“How was the trip?”
“Not bad.”
That was what he said, but it had been the most enjoyable trip of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s life. He had seen many places he wondered if he would ever be able to visit again. Most of all, he had loved the fact that he was with Ilhwa Sword Venerable.
So much so that there had been many moments when he could not quite get used to her treating him with warmth.
The only regret was the thought of how wonderful it would have been if they had come when they were a little younger.
“Travel diligently while you’re young.”
At those words, Geom Mugeuk began writing something again.
A trip with Cult Leader Pungcheon and Gowol, a trip alone with my brother, a trip with Ian. And traveling with Father.
“Why are you taking such care of the men? Go have fun with Ian.”
If he asked her to go away together, Ian would be truly delighted. She was a woman who had followed him like a shadow all her life, silently guarding his side.
If she met another man, she would surely put all nine of her tails to use and show a far more alluring side of herself, yet before him, the Young Cult Leader, she was always busy hiding those tails.
“Elder, have you never thought about getting married?”
At the sudden question, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s hand paused for a moment as he turned a page.
“What marriage at my age?”
“What does age matter?”
“People would point fingers.”
“I’ll cut off every one of those fingers.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon lifted his head and looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“And what about you?”
“Me? Marriage at my age? It’s still too early. My brother hasn’t married either.”
“Do you have any intention of doing so?”
Geom Mugeuk turned his head and looked out the window. Tonight, the moon was especially full and bright.
“I don’t know if I can make someone happy.”
“What do you mean, make someone happy? Marriage isn’t keeping the other person from getting rained on. It’s being willing to stand in the rain together.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s gaze returned to his book.
Looking at him, Geom Mugeuk said,
“Perhaps Sword Venerable is waiting to stand in the rain with you too, Elder.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon laughed self-mockingly.
“We’re… just pitiful.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon for a moment, then began writing again.
Under Marry off my brother and Marry off Ak Gunhak, he wrote in very small letters: Elder too, without fail.
And were those the only things he had to do?
He still had to bring the Nine Flames Demonic Art, which had surpassed the tenth level and reached the eleventh during this battle, to Great Completion at the twelfth level. This was something he had to accomplish in the shortest possible time through the Heaven-Defying Secret Art.
And he wanted to laze around alone all day inside the Space-Time Transposition Art. One day on an island beneath a blazing sun, another in a hot spring amid snowy scenery.
As he watched Geom Mugeuk write diligently, a faint smile formed on the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s lips.
Whatever else might be said, he was grateful that Geom Mugeuk had come to him first. Even when the boy was wondering what to do, he had come here to do it. There was a certain pride in being the Young Cult Leader’s first.
While writing down what he needed to do, Geom Mugeuk walked over to the window. Standing there for a moment, looking up at the brilliantly bright moon, he calmly called to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Elder.”
“What?”
“This is something I truly want to bury deep and take out only much later, but I feel that when it comes to this, you would know best.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon raised his head and looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“Do you think Father will really try to unify murim? He knows I’m dead set against it, and he’s become closer than before with the two Alliance Leaders. Do you think he’ll still do it?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon sank into thought for a moment, then at last opened his mouth in a calm tone.
“The unification of murim…”
After a brief pause, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon added in a firm voice.
“He will push ahead with it.”
There was not the slightest hint of jest in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s expression. It meant he truly saw it that way.
“He will persuade you somehow and carry it out.”
I knew it! Geom Mugeuk’s shoulders drooped as he let out a sigh.
“Ah! If they were going to unify murim, they should have done it ages ago. Why did it have to come down to Father’s generation and make things difficult for me?”
“Do you know why our cult has never been able to unify murim until now?”
“Why not?”
“Because killing the Murim Alliance Leader and the martial artists belonging to the Murim Alliance does not end it. Their numbers are only a very small portion of the whole, and throughout the rivers and lakes, there are as many martial artists as grains of sand on a beach. Among them, orthodox martial artists are overwhelmingly numerous. If a Great Demon-Orthodox War breaks out, countless hidden orthodox masters will come pouring out. Do you think the orthodox sects are called strong in times of crisis for nothing?”
And was that all? Even if they won the war and took control of the Central Plains, endless resistance would follow. Ambushes targeting demonic practitioners would continue, and many of them would lose their lives.
It was a different situation from before his regression, when an overwhelming existence named Hwa Mugi had appeared and forced the demonic, orthodox, and unorthodox worlds to shut their gates. Between the three paths, resentment and anger toward one another had accumulated over a long time.
“Moreover, the unorthodox factions will never side with our cult. There is no way they would not know that after the orthodox factions, their turn would be next. In the end, it would become a war against an alliance of the orthodox and unorthodox paths.”
“Please say exactly that to Father.”
“Do you think the Cult Leader doesn’t know?”
Yes, he was right. His father would know better than anyone.
“I thought he would give it up because of me.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon lifted his head and stared at Geom Mugeuk. The words that came from his mouth were the exact opposite.
“He cannot give it up because of you.”
“Pardon?”
“I said he will push even harder because of you.”
At the unexpected words, Geom Mugeuk looked startled.
“What do you mean? Because of me? Why?”
“Stop thinking only from your own perspective and change the way you look at it. Think from the Cult Leader’s standpoint.”
Think from Father’s standpoint?
“If he persuades only you, he can wage the Great Demon-Orthodox War with you at his side. If you help, that war will become many times easier. Wouldn’t that war be tempting precisely because of you?”
Geom Mugeuk could not answer. He had never once thought about it from that perspective. Yet when he considered his own martial arts as they were now, it was not wrong.
“It isn’t merely because you are strong. If you are there, he will achieve victory while reducing the number of sacrifices by far. That is something you would desperately want. With that clever mind of yours, would you not conduct the war while minimizing the damage?”
He had never thought about that aspect either.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon understood his father perfectly.
“If I had a son like you, even I would want to try it once. Because with you, it would feel as though there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish.”
“!”
Geom Mugeuk stared wordlessly at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, then chose to escape reality.
“I’m going to pretend I never heard what you said today. Father has abandoned his dream of unifying murim!”
“If that eases your heart.”
“I shouldn’t have asked. This is exactly why I was going to bring this up only after I’d had my fill of playing.”
Geom Mugeuk tucked the paper on the desk into his robe and weakly bade farewell.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Where are you going at this hour? To the masked fellow?”
“No. At least for today, I want to see someone who has absolutely nothing to do with our cult or the unification of murim.”
“And who is that?”
Opening the door and stepping out, Geom Mugeuk said,
“There is someone. A person who dreams of becoming the tavern owner who fights best in the world.”
* * *
The Sword King was sitting on a rock in the courtyard of his residence, looking up at the moon.
Geom Mugeuk entered that place.
“What are you doing alone so forlornly? You could at least have a drink.”
“I don’t like alcohol that much.”
Geom Mugeuk sat down beside him.
“A man who doesn’t even like alcohol wants to run a tavern?”
Earlier, when he had heard Cult Leader Pungcheon speak, he had realized that the Sword King wanted to open a tavern.
“If someone who likes alcohol opens a tavern, it’ll go under. Either the business will fail, or his health will.”
“All right, I’ll admit that. But what about a tavern owner being good at fighting? The better he is, the less suited it seems, doesn’t it?”
As he listened, the Sword King suddenly said,
“Speak comfortably with me from now on.”
“Pardon?”
“You said we were friends.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Sword King in surprise. The Sword King was trying to change their relationship.
“May I really do that?”
The Sword King nodded. Geom Mugeuk had killed even the Heavenly Killing Star and had given him a completely new life. Even if Geom Mugeuk told him to treat him as his elder brother, he was of a mind to say, Yes, I will.
“Brother Ak, I’ll speak casually from now on. It feels like we’ve really become friends now.”
If the other person had not been Geom Mugeuk, he would not have told him to drop formalities, and if the other person had not been the Sword King, Geom Mugeuk would not have done so.
“But are you really going to open a tavern? It doesn’t sound like something you just said in passing.”
“I want to try living a different life.”
“Why a tavern, of all things?”
“Because I don’t think it would be boring. I could hear what’s happening in the world through the mouths of the customers.”
Geom Mugeuk imagined the tavern the Sword King would open. Ak Gunhak with his ponytail and bare feet—at first thought, it did seem as if it would suit him better than anyone.
“A retired absolute master opening a tavern and living normally? It is stylish.”
“But?”
“Won’t you get tired of that ordinary life right away? I think I’d get sick of smelling food after just a month. And you’d have to deal with all sorts of awful customers. With that temper of yours, could you endure it?”
The Sword King could not answer no. Right now, it was not that he absolutely had to do it; he merely felt, Shall I try it?
“If I try it and it’s not fun, I can quit.”
Geom Mugeuk stared quietly at the Sword King, then offered unexpected advice.
“Instead of that, why not do it properly from the start?”
“Properly? How?”
“Build it on the scale of the largest inn in the Central Plains. You’ve earned that much money, haven’t you?”
To a man who said he would try it and quit if it did not suit him, he was telling him to build the largest inn in the Central Plains?
“Build it as a top-class establishment and charge high prices. Sell fine cuisine, and make the guest rooms the best-equipped. Train the waiters to be courteous and set them apart from other places. Make it the kind of inn people say is the best in the Central Plains, the kind they want to visit at least once if they make money. And the most important thing is this.”
It was a rule that had never been seen in an inn before.
“When people enter this inn, they must leave all their weapons at the entrance. And set a rule that no fighting is permitted inside. All martial artists of the demonic, orthodox, and unorthodox paths may enter, but they must never fight. But if they break that rule? Brother Ak, you have something you’re good at, don’t you?”
Geom Mugeuk drew the edge of his hand across his neck.
“You would be establishing the safest inn in all of murim.”
The Sword King’s expression turned slightly interested.
“If word spreads, all sorts of bastards will swarm in.”
“That’s the fun of it. Wouldn’t every day be interesting?”
There was a reason Geom Mugeuk was saying this to him.
“Brother Ak, with those martial arts, it’s hard to live ordinarily. Since you only live once anyway, live in a way that’s magnificent and fun. Brother Ak, you’re someone who wants to leave suddenly for somewhere far away, aren’t you? I think the more someone is like that, the more they need to live loudly like this.”
In any case, his was not a life where he could simply leave for some place where no one knew him. He had promised the Demon Cult Leader that he would protect Geom Mugeuk. No matter where he lived or what he did, if Geom Mugeuk needed help, he would come running to assist him.
“And don’t think of doing it alone. Do it together with Squad Leader Cha. Brother Ak, you have a surprisingly soft side, so if you do it alone, you’ll only end up taking losses all the time.”
At the mention of Cha Iran, the Sword King flinched.
“You don’t dislike Squad Leader Cha either, do you? If rumors spread that even a peerless beauty like Squad Leader Cha is at the inn, you’ll probably make a fortune. You’ll become a great tycoon through an inn.”
The Sword King burst out laughing. It was truly advice befitting Geom Mugeuk. The problem was that this absurd advice was tempting. Even in this battle, there had been moments when he had prepared himself for death. With a life like that, what could he not do?
Just then, Cult Leader Pungcheon walked in and said,
“The name of the inn has been decided. How about Hero Inn?”
Originally, he had prepared a different name, but while coming over and hearing Geom Mugeuk’s words, he had changed his mind.
“I like it. An inn run by the greatest swordsman under heaven and the greatest beauty assassin under heaven is called Hero Inn.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly and added,
“If you’re a martial artist, could you possibly resist?”