While Geom Mugeuk went to fetch the wine, Cult Leader Pungcheon and the Sword King sat side by side, looking up at the moon.
After the fight at Pungryu Tavern, they had grown rather close, so being alone together did not feel awkward at all.
“Hero Inn… what a magnificent name.”
At the Sword King’s words, Cult Leader Pungcheon wore a proud expression. In truth, it was a name that had come to him the moment he heard Geom Mugeuk speak upon entering the place.
“I gave it much thought for your sake.”
“Thank you. But I’m not sure whether I can live such a life.”
Geom Mugeuk’s proposal was not something one could accept without an ordinary amount of resolve.
“I’ve lived only for myself. Could I live while looking after others?”
If he ran an inn on a large scale, the number of workers alone would reach several dozen. There were the people who would work at the inn, of course, but would he really be able to maintain a good relationship with Cha Iran as well?
No, before that, would Cha Iran even want to live such a life with him?
Even so, the fact that he was agonizing over it meant that some part of him did want to try running an inn like that. All the more so because he had lived his life thinking only of leaving for somewhere else.
“If a man sets his mind to it, what in this world can he not do? The hard part is that damned setting of the mind.”
The Sword King knew why Cult Leader Pungcheon said such a thing. After all, as far as he knew, the person who had made the greatest decision and changed his life the most was none other than Cult Leader Pungcheon.
If it had been him, could he have thrown away the position of cult leader and come away? Even opening a single inn had him hesitating this much.
“Cult Leader, do you not regret the decision you made?”
Many emotions crossed Cult Leader Pungcheon’s face. It was something he could have simply laughed off without answering, but he revealed his honest feelings.
“Why would I not?”
Especially difficult had been the period when he wandered the Central Plains with Gowol, establishing Silver Moon’s branches and sub-branches. Watching over Gowol, who was utterly immersed in the work, had meaning, but creating Silver Moon had not been something he himself had wanted.
“It is shameful to say, but there were nights when I fell asleep thinking of the days when I lived as Cult Leader Pungcheon. I missed that wretched sandstorm.”
The Sword King nodded with an expression that said he understood what he meant.
Cult Leader Pungcheon was honest with the Sword King.
Even without the added merit of thinking that a man Geom Mugeuk liked this much must surely be a decent person, the Sword King he had come to know during this time possessed a certain charm.
He was the sort of man who inspired trust that, at the very least, he would not use an openhearted confession as a weakness.
“And now? Do you still regret it?”
“Now… I do from time to time.”
At those words, the Sword King laughed, and Cult Leader Pungcheon laughed along with him.
“This is all because of the Young Cult Leader. So you should be careful too. Whenever you lie down to sleep at that inn, you may long for this moment. There is no law saying you cannot become ‘that horsetail-haired fellow from back then.’ Ah! I must have been bewitched then. Why was I bewitched by that Young Cult Leader who has not even once come to visit the inn?”
Then a voice came from behind them.
“As expected! Only now do you sound like our cult leader.”
Geom Mugeuk, who had gone to get the wine, had just arrived.
“Are you not the sort of man who hides and waits until I curse you before appearing?”
“I can see why you would misunderstand!”
Geom Mugeuk laughed and sat between the two of them.
“On a day like this, we should have a drink. It is a meaningful day when our Brother Ak and I have begun speaking comfortably, and also the day we gained the splendid name Hero Inn.”
“I have not decided yet.”
The Sword King took a step back, but in Geom Mugeuk’s mind, the inn had already opened its doors.
“What are you so worried about? Later, if things become troublesome and the situation gets complicated, write this in big letters and put it up at the entrance: The Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult is my friend. Ju Inbaek.”
The Sword King laughed and shook his head.
“Then that troublesome situation would become ten times bigger.”
“And it would be ten times more entertaining for us watching.”
Geom Mugeuk had even brought cups with meticulous care.
“Now, please accept a cup from me.”
He poured wine for Cult Leader Pungcheon first, then poured for the Sword King as well.
“Take a cup from me.”
The Sword King poured wine for Geom Mugeuk.
They raised their cups in a toast and drank. Sitting on the broad rock in the courtyard, drinking with moonlight as their side dish—
“This is good.”
“It is.”
The words came naturally from all of their mouths.
As he set down his cup, Geom Mugeuk let out the words that had been deep in his heart.
“I am glad everyone is safe.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon and the Sword King looked at Geom Mugeuk. They knew well how hard he had struggled to save them all.
Cult Leader Pungcheon said to Geom Mugeuk,
“You saved them all.”
A smile formed at Geom Mugeuk’s lips. He was always the one who said what others wanted to hear, but how could he himself not want to hear such words?
He had truly wanted to hear them.
Well done. You saved them all.
He had worked through those long years to hear that single sentence.
Geom Mugeuk looked at Cult Leader Pungcheon with gentle eyes.
“And you saved me, Cult Leader. Thanks to you, I am sitting here drinking wine.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon liked taking credit, but at least when it came to that final battle, he did not.
“I merely thought it was an opportunity and stepped forward first to claim the credit. Who among those there wanted you to die? Even if not killing him meant everyone would die… as long as you were inside that man’s body, your father would not have killed him. I am certain of it.”
Geom Mugeuk suddenly remembered what the old man had said. The people you made splendid will lead you to become even more splendid.
“I heard you stood in front of me and said to my father, ‘Have you gone mad?’”
Cult Leader Pungcheon waved his hands.
“I was the one who had gone mad then.”
At those words, they all laughed together.
The three of them drank in good spirits.
After they had emptied all the wine and were rising to leave, Geom Mugeuk promised a next time.
“When Ian and Squad Leader Cha return, the four of you should have a drink.”
“All right.”
At the mention of Cha Iran, the Sword King shrank back slightly. Geom Mugeuk did not miss the change in his expression.
“That is why Brother Ak absolutely needs Squad Leader Cha!”
Geom Mugeuk and Cult Leader Pungcheon left the Sword King’s residence.
As they walked together through the inner grounds, Cult Leader Pungcheon briefly stopped.
“Young Cult Leader.”
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
“May I ask you something?”
“Please do.”
An unexpected worry flowed from his mouth.
“Is my being beside Gowol a burden to him?”
“A burden?”
“I mean it as I said. Because he brought me here, might he not feel that he has to take responsibility for me until the end?”
“You freely curse the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, yet you still mind Strategist Go’s feelings.”
As Cult Leader Pungcheon smiled awkwardly, Geom Mugeuk gave him strength.
“You persuaded him like that back then and brought him here, so how could he find you burdensome? If he does, just leave at once. People only realize someone is precious after they are gone.”
“He is so busy that he might not even notice I disappeared.”
Once one began worrying over someone, needless imaginings could sometimes devour the entire relationship. At times like this, the best thing was—
“Since we are on the subject, shall we go see Strategist Go? He probably has not gone to sleep yet, has he?”
“He will be working.”
“Let us go. We can at least see his face before we leave.”
Geom Mugeuk turned his steps toward Silver Moon with Cult Leader Pungcheon. When they arrived, he asked the martial artist guarding the entrance to call Gowol.
As they waited, Geom Mugeuk suddenly spoke. It was his answer to the question Cult Leader Pungcheon had asked earlier.
“I think the opposite.”
“What do you mean?”
“Strategist Go is probably worrying like this: What if the Cult Leader finds me burdensome? What if he is needlessly tied down by me and missing the chance to roam freely across the Central Plains? What if, at this rate, the Cult Leader loses interest in someone like me? Even if he does not show it, he must be terribly concerned.”
“Do you really think so?”
“If it were me, I would be.”
Geom Mugeuk’s firm answer improved Cult Leader Pungcheon’s mood. Even though he knew the words were meant to comfort him, they gave him strength.
Just then, Gowol ran out of the building with a delighted face.
“Young Cult Leader, congratulations on repelling the great enemy.”
Gowol respectfully cupped his fist and offered a formal greeting.
“It was thanks to you guarding the rear.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon needlessly acted peevish.
“And me! I fought with my life on the line too.”
Gowol looked at Cult Leader Pungcheon.
“You worked hard as well, Cult Leader.”
His words were courteous, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes.
If not for the Young Cult Leader, his eyes seemed to say, Cult Leader! You worked even harder! Seeing that gaze, Cult Leader Pungcheon thought that he had worried for nothing. Gowol was busy with work, yet he remained unchanged like this.
Gowol asked Geom Mugeuk,
“How do you feel?”
“Refreshed, yet empty.”
Not even a day had passed since he had killed Hwa Mugi.
Gowol was reading Geom Mugeuk’s heart precisely.
“Are you more worried about what lies ahead?”
“You also think Father intends to unify the murim.”
As expected, Gowol was of the same mind as the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Yes. The Cult Leader will certainly try to achieve the unification of the murim.”
If even Gowol saw it that way, then at the very least, that meant it was reality.
“If you were to offer advice as my strategist?”
Even if the Demon Venerables did not want it, they were people who had to obey if it was his father’s command. The Wicked Smiling Demon or the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable might follow him, but the remaining Demon Venerables would all follow his father.
But Gowol was not yet the strategist of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. He was Geom Mugeuk’s strategist.
“There is one surest way to stop the unification of the murim. However, it is a method you will not want, Young Cult Leader.”
“Tell me.”
It was a method he had not thought of, and just as Gowol said, it was also one he did not want.
“You must become the Cult Leader before the promised five years are up.”
“!”
But at the same time, it was also the surest method. After all, only the Cult Leader could start a war.
The problem was that with his father still hale and strong, he had no desire whatsoever to ascend to the position of cult leader.
“Is there a way to become Cult Leader?”
Gowol did not answer. His expression said he knew, but could never speak it aloud.
From that reaction, Geom Mugeuk could guess the method.
To spar with his father and win.
If his son became stronger than him, his father would yield the position of Cult Leader to him.
Geom Mugeuk spoke calmly.
“As you know, I once served as temporary Cult Leader. I was stuck in the Heavenly Demon Hall all day, working. It was truly stifling and difficult. But I also came to realize that because Father endures that hardship, countless people of our cult are able to live.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze, which had been on Gowol, turned toward the moon.
“The day Father steps down, I will make it the most honorable day in this world. I will make it a day worthy of the effort and devotion he has given throughout his life, protecting the Heavenly Demon Hall.”
Gowol bowed his head respectfully. Since Gowol was intelligent, he would understand well what Geom Mugeuk was saying. He must have clearly understood Geom Mugeuk’s will that he would never defeat his father to ascend to the position of cult leader.
Cult Leader Pungcheon, who had been listening quietly, found another method.
“Listen, Young Cult Leader. I have thought of a way to stop the unification of the murim.”
With Geom Mugeuk and Gowol’s gazes focused on him, an unexpected method emerged.
“Get married and give him a grandson.”
Thinking it was a joke, Geom Mugeuk laughed. But Cult Leader Pungcheon was serious.
“I am not saying this in jest. If he holds in his arms a cute, handsome grandson who resembles you, his desire to wage war will vanish completely. No, wait, since he raised only sons, give him a granddaughter. Trust me! Even that fearsome Heavenly Demon Soul will smile before a granddaughter!”
Unlike Geom Mugeuk, who laughed it off as nonsense, Gowol was nodding seriously.
* * *
“You have not gone to sleep yet?”
When Geom Mugeuk went to see him, Geom Ujin was standing in the inner courtyard of his residence, hands clasped behind his back, looking up at the night sky.
“Did you not come because you thought that would be the case?”
“Yes, that is right.”
His father always went to sleep early, but somehow, Geom Mugeuk had felt that he would still be awake tonight. So he had used his internal energy to dispel the few cups of wine he had drunk and came with a clear mind.
Geom Mugeuk approached his father’s side. It was the same moon he had seen from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s room, the same moon he had seen with Cult Leader Pungcheon and the Sword King, and the same moon he had seen with Gowol. Now he looked up at that moon together with his father.
Before, he had looked at it without much thought, but as he looked up at the moon with his father, his heart swelled. Because he was standing with the person he had wanted most to save among all those he wished to save.
“How do you feel?”
“Good. So good that I do not think I will be able to sleep tonight. Ah, and please look at this.”
Geom Mugeuk took a piece of paper from his robe. It was the schedule he had written earlier in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s room.
“There are this many things I have to do now. Not there—look here. Do not think of squeezing into the Four Handsome Men and making the Demon Venerables uncomfortable.”
The corners of Geom Ujin’s mouth rose. It was the first welcome sneer from his father that he had seen since Hwa Mugi’s death.
“Here it is. Travel with Father! I want to go on another journey with you, Father!”
He had naturally expected his father to say he was busy.
“Prepare the fishing rods then too.”
His father was waiting for a rematch of their fishing contest.
And tonight, he had been waiting for his son.
“Use the Space-Time Transposition Art.”
Geom Mugeuk did as he was told and used the Space-Time Transposition Art.
“That as well.”
Geom Mugeuk obediently used the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven as well, then made it so that the outside scenery could be seen.
Though he had experienced the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven once before, Geom Ujin was still amazed when he saw it again. Time was flowing so slowly it seemed to have stopped. He could see with his eyes the minute fluttering of an insect’s wings as it flew toward the lantern hanging on the wall.
‘I may not know about anything else, but I will not teach you the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven. I am sorry, Father.’
But his father had not told him to open this place in order to ask him to teach him the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven.
“Your Gu Hwa Demonic Art rose by one level.”
“Yes. This battle helped.”
His Gu Hwa Demonic Art had now reached the eleventh star. There was now only one step left until the perfected twelfth star. Of course, if fortune was poor, that one step could be one he failed to take even after an entire lifetime.
Geom Ujin drew the Heavenly Demon Sword and said,
“You will not leave until you achieve the perfected twelfth star.”
Geom Mugeuk was startled. The reason his father had made him use the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven was to train him. The reason he wore his sword even late at night was also because he had kept in mind that his son would come.
His father surely knew that if his son became even stronger than he was now, it would become more difficult for him to achieve his own dream.
And yet instead of asking to be taught the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven, his father was trying to help his son achieve the perfected twelfth star. Because he was this kind of father.
This is why this fight is the hardest for me.
Geom Mugeuk smiled and said to his father,
“As you saw, I have many things to do…”
Geom Mugeuk drew the Black Demon Sword and said powerfully,
“I will leave before morning comes.”