* * *
“Disappointing.”
Geomugeuk and Ian set down their chopsticks at the same time.
“It doesn’t suit my taste either. And we aren’t the sort of people to leave food we paid for.”
They had not even eaten half the meal.
“Are you sure this is the place? There isn’t an inn with the same name in the next village, is there?”
“No, this is the place.”
Geomugeuk and Ian sat side by side, looking down at a booklet.
A Gourmet Tour of the Central Plains.
It was the booklet he had bought long ago at the bookstore the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had led him to with his father. He had bought it so he could take his father there later, but since they were passing by, he and Ian had come first to check it out.
“I think our expectations were too high.”
“I know not every place featured in a book can be delicious, but I thought it would at least have the basics down.”
“Still, that place last time was good.”
Geomugeuk drew a long line through the name of this inn.
“Good thing we came in advance. If I’d brought Father here, he might have used the cooks as sacrificial offerings and started the Demonic Orthodox War right here on the spot.”
Ian laughed at Geomugeuk’s joke.
The two of them, having left the cult, were enjoying themselves in the truest sense of the word. They sought out inns and restaurants famed for their food, and made sure to stop at every place known for its scenic beauty.
When they camped outdoors, they fell asleep beneath the stars, and they swam together in clear waters.
Geomugeuk showed off his skills by cooking for her, and in kindhearted villages, they spent the night and helped with farm work.
Geomugeuk did not hurry. He traveled leisurely with her. He did not worry ahead of time about what might be waiting at the end of it.
Ian could feel it. Geomugeuk was turning this journey into one meant for her. That made her happy, but at the same time, it left her uneasy. Because she had never once enjoyed herself so leisurely with Geomugeuk. Because she had never been this happy in her life.
Just then, a waiter came over and set down dishes and wine.
“We didn’t order this.”
You bastard! We said it wasn’t good, so why bring more? Just as he failed to bring himself to say it, the waiter glanced toward a seat in the corner and spoke.
“The guest over there sent this dish especially for the young lady.”
When they looked that way, a middle-aged man was staring at them.
Ian dipped her head slightly in thanks, then said to Geomugeuk as if showing off.
“See? How many times has this been now? Eight?”
“Six.”
Indeed, wherever Ian went, gazes gathered on her. It was not the first or second time someone had ordered food for her like this.
Ian said it was bothersome and that she would go around wearing a bamboo hat, but Geomugeuk simply had her go without one.
“Enjoy it. Enjoy it to your heart’s content.”
“Are you not the one enjoying it more, Young Master?”
“Was it obvious?”
In truth, Geomugeuk was enjoying it more. Gazes would go to the beautiful Ian, and then inevitably come to him next. Whenever that happened, Geomugeuk wore a proud expression. An expression that said, I’m the man traveling with a beauty like this.
“Oh, that man is coming this way.”
The man who had sent the food was walking toward them.
He was a rather handsome middle-aged man. At a glance, his clothes were expensive, and he wore accessories adorned with gold and jade.
Geomugeuk quietly observed him, then looked at Ian. His eyes seemed to ask, Do you know? Ian smiled and nodded.
“You can recognize them even from afar now. You’ve improved a lot.”
“You can tell at a glance.”
While they were saying this, the man came right up to them.
“Is this your first time in this town?”
Geomugeuk smiled brightly, raised the booklet he was holding, and said,
“As you can see, I am traveling with my junior martial sister.”
The man introduced himself.
“I am a man named Damho.”
“I am Geom Yeon. Yeon as in smoke, not yeon as in affinity.”
Ian introduced herself as well.
“I’m Ian.”
Because Geomugeuk’s name was known, he used the name Geom Yeon, but Ian simply used her own name. Her face and her name, both as they were.
“Seeing you two made me think of the old days, so I sent wine and food. Since meeting like this is also fate, let us share a table. After all, in the murim, is there anything more meaningful than making a new connection?”
Damho did not even wait for their permission and sat down across from them. Both his words and actions were full of confidence.
“Today’s wine and food will be on me.”
“I had a good dream last night, and it seems it was because such a happy event was going to occur.”
One might have expected him to dislike having their time alone interrupted, but for some reason, Geomugeuk accepted him without resistance.
Damho looked at Ian and exclaimed in admiration.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a beautiful young lady before.”
He did not hide his feelings.
“What is the relationship between you two?”
“She is my junior martial sister and my friend.”
At those words, Damho asked,
“Does it not make you uneasy, traveling with such a beautiful junior martial sister?”
“What would make me uneasy?”
“I mean, does no one come and pick a fight? All sorts of rabble are bound to swarm around a beauty.”
Though he was hardly one to say such a thing, he spoke with perfect confidence.
Geomugeuk said with a smile,
“My junior martial sister is good at fighting, so it’s all right. Now, now, let us drink to our hearts’ content! Ah, since you are buying anyway, could you perhaps buy it at the inn next door?”
* * *
A group of martial artists had formed ranks in front of the Chu Family Sword Sect.
They were martial artists of the Murim Alliance. They had surrounded the place on all sides and were standing guard so that no one could enter or leave.
One man arrived there leading a group of martial artists. The martial artists all bowed their heads toward them in unison. The one who had arrived leading the Demon Extermination Squad was none other than the Young Alliance Leader, Jin Hagun.
“What happened?”
At Jin Hagun’s question, a Murim Alliance martial artist replied.
“The second son of the Chu Family Sword Sect has been taken hostage by unidentified individuals.”
Since ordinary branch martial artists could not resolve the matter, they had urgently requested help from the Demon Extermination Squad. Fortunately, the Demon Extermination Squad had been carrying out an operation not far away.
“They staged a hostage situation in broad daylight? Who on earth?”
“We have yet to identify them.”
The fact that they had not planned a perfect crime meant—
“There is a high possibility this is a matter of personal grudge.”
The martial artists of the Demon Extermination Squad nodded as if they shared Jin Hagun’s thoughts. Otherwise, there was no reason they would be staging a hostage situation like this.
But there was one strange point.
“Was it the Chu Family Sword Sect that contacted the Alliance from the start?”
The Chu Family Sword Sect was a famous orthodox sect. They had many masters of their own, so they would not have asked them for help. Moreover, as far as he had heard, the sect master of the Chu Family Sword Sect was famous for his pride.
“It seems their rescue operation failed.”
“The Chu Family Sword Sect failed?”
“The retainers barely managed to stop the sect master from going in to rescue him personally.”
The Chu Family Sword Sect he knew had quite a few renowned masters. If they had failed despite that, it meant the opponent’s martial arts were considerable.
“It seems things are difficult because his son is being held hostage.”
At his subordinate’s report, Jin Hagun nodded and asked again.
“What are their demands?”
“They requested delicious wine and food.”
“Wine and food?”
Jin Hagun, as well as the martial artists of the Demon Extermination Squad, wore expressions of incomprehension. When hoodlums staged hostage situations, they often demanded wine and food.
But these were masters skilled enough that the Chu Family Sword Sect had failed to rescue the hostage, and they had demanded wine and food? Something did not quite add up.
“That over there is Sect Master Chu.”
The Chu Family Sword Sect Master, Chuyeom, walked over to Jin Hagun. The two exchanged courteous fist salutes.
“It has been a long time, Young Alliance Leader.”
“Sect Master.”
Given the situation, Chuyeom’s complexion was poor.
“I regret that we meet under such circumstances.”
“Right now, your son’s life and safety are more important than that.”
Jin Hagun cautiously asked Chuyeom,
“Are there perhaps any people who might hold a grudge against you?”
Chuyeom shook his head.
“My son, especially my second son, is truly clever and kind. He has never once caused trouble until now.”
In Jin Hagun’s experience, when a child caused trouble, he had almost never seen parents who properly knew what sort of person that child was. For that reason, parents’ testimony was often of little help.
“Where are they?”
“They have taken over the detached building in the rear garden.”
“We will take charge from here.”
“I leave it in your hands.”
Jin Hagun led the Demon Extermination Squad into the rear garden. As befitted the Murim Alliance’s finest elites, they moved without a sound.
After having the Demon Extermination Squad guard the rear garden like an iron wall, he led only a dozen or so members of the squad into the building.
Even as they entered, there was no reaction from inside.
Jin Hagun, who had completely erased his own presence, silently approached a window.
He peered inside through a narrow gap in the window.
Far away, he saw a young man kneeling. He had been beaten so badly that his face was swollen. It was undoubtedly the second son of the Chu Family Sword Sect.
‘Fortunately, he is not dead yet.’
Through the gap, he could also see martial artists lying collapsed. They were likely the Chu Family Sword Sect masters who had carried out the rescue operation. From the feel of it, they did not seem dead yet either. From here, he could not see the ones staging the hostage situation.
‘We must hurry.’
Jin Hagun gave instructions to his subordinates with hand signals.
—We all enter at once.
The martial artists of the Demon Extermination Squad, who had approached different windows, all nodded. One person slipped into the ceiling.
Jin Hagun did not hesitate over the operation. The moment his signal fell—
Craaaash.
Jin Hagun and the martial artists of the Demon Extermination Squad entered simultaneously through the door, windows, and ceiling.
Shiiiiing.
The martial artist who dropped from the ceiling wrapped his arms around the man kneeling on the floor and retreated, shouting,
“Hostage secured!”
Before those words even came out, they should already have launched their attack.
But Jin Hagun stood there blankly, staring ahead without any reaction. The other Demon Extermination Squad martial artists also stood dumbfounded, their swords halted in midair as they were about to attack.
The Demon Extermination Squad martial artist who had come down from the ceiling and saved the hostage belatedly looked ahead.
‘Gasp.’
He, too, froze like a stone statue. Before their eyes was a sight that left them all no choice but to stiffen.
Ahead of them, two people were looking this way. The young man holding a chicken leg in one hand and a wine cup in the other was someone he knew.
It was none other than Geomugeuk.
With oil glistening on his lips, Geomugeuk said to Jin Hagun,
“You’re here?”
This was the first time they had seen each other since Geomugeuk stopped the Heavenly Killer Star. Jin Hagun had been wondering why no word had come from him, though it seemed likely he would contact him at least once.
But staging a hostage situation, holding a chicken leg, and then saying what with those greasy lips? You’re here?
He was so shocked and dumbfounded that at first, he wondered if this was someone who merely looked like him. He could not have imagined that the person staging a hostage situation with the son of the Chu Family Sword Sect would be Geomugeuk.
But Ian was drinking wine in front of Geomugeuk. She, too, was firmly holding a chicken leg and tearing into it.
Ian quickly put down the chicken leg, took a handkerchief from her robe, and wiped her mouth.
Then she bowed politely to Jin Hagun.
After bowing to her in return, Jin Hagun turned around.
Chujung, the second son of the Chu Family Sword Sect, spoke with difficulty.
“...Please save me.”
Not only was his face swollen, several of his teeth were broken as well.
When Jin Hagun looked back at Geomugeuk,
“I didn’t do that. Ian did. She said she absolutely couldn’t endure it. She said she probably wouldn’t get the chance to hit him later.”
When Geomugeuk tattled on her, Ian wore a dumbfounded expression. Her face seemed to say, No, you’re telling on me for that? Even what I said? But she could not deny that she had hit him.
“Same for that one over there.”
A man was hanging on the wall behind them. He hung there as if he were clothing hung on a wall, and astonishingly, he was Damho, whom they had met at the inn. He, too, was battered from head to toe, his head hanging low.
Judging by this scene alone, they looked exactly like a wicked man-and-woman duo.
Just then, the door opened and Sect Master Chuyeom entered. Behind him came the Demon Extermination Squad martial artists who had been guarding the entrance. They, too, were all shocked by the situation inside.
Chuyeom ran to his son.
“Jung-ah. Are you all right?”
Seeing the state of his son’s face, Chuyeom’s gaze turned cold.
“What are you doing? Why have you not seized them at once?”
Jin Hagun asked quietly,
“What did you do?”
Chuyeom flinched in surprise.
Jin Hagun had not asked the ones staging the hostage situation. He had asked his son.
Chuyeom asked in a cold voice.
“Just what do you think you are doing, Great Lord?”
Earlier, when they had exchanged greetings, he had been called the Young Lord, but now the form of address had changed to Great Lord. That much indicated his displeasure with the current situation.
How could Jin Hagun not know? He knew exactly what kind of people Geom Mugeuk and Ian were. That they had struck him like this meant he had committed an act truly deserving of a beating. If Ian, in particular, had been unable to endure it and struck him, it meant he had done something truly wicked.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk's voice came from behind.
“It’s no use asking. That brat will never be able to speak. He committed something unspeakable.”
Chuyeom, who had been listening, burst out in anger.
“Silence! Just who are you to spew such words so recklessly?”
Ian took out another handkerchief from within his robes and handed it to Geom Mugeuk.
“Wipe your mouth first.”
“Thanks.”
Geom Mugeuk wiped the grease from his mouth.
Chuyeom was further enraged by this behavior. Who had ever dared to act in such a manner before him?
“The crime of daring to take my son hostage and kill the warriors of the Chu Family Sword Gate is to make an enemy of the entire Orthodox Murim!”
At that moment, Chuyeom's eyes met Geom Mugeuk's.
In that instant, Chuyeom's heart sank. The torrent of words that had been about to pour forth was swallowed back down.
Even without releasing any killing intent or pressure, Geom Mugeuk overwhelmed his opponent with nothing but a gaze.
“You are wrong on both counts.”
“What?”
“First, all of those people who entered earlier are alive.”
The Demon Extermination warriors nearby examined those who had fallen. Just as Geom Mugeuk had said, they were all alive.
“No one is injured. They have only had their mahyeol and ahyeol points suppressed.”
At the Demon Extermination warrior's report, Chuyeom's expression hardened. He knew full well that subduing them without injury was far more difficult than killing them.
‘How on earth?’
He could kill them by ambush, but suppress the mahyeol of those experts? And that too without injury? It was absolutely no easy task.
“Nor did we take your son hostage.”
Geom Mugeuk's gaze turned toward Jin Hagun.
“We were merely waiting for the Demon Extermination Great Lord to arrive.”
Jin Hagun asked calmly.
“Why were you waiting for me?”
As everyone watched, Geom Mugeuk answered with a serious expression.
“Because I wanted to see you?”
This madman! Was now the time for jokes? Jin Hagun conveyed precisely that sentiment in his eyes and expression. Unfortunately, the Demon Extermination warriors standing behind him did not see that expression—one they would never normally get to witness.
Soon, Geom Mugeuk revealed the true reason.
“There was an incident recently that caused a stir in the murim, was there not?”
In an instant, Jin Hagun's expression completely stiffened, and the name of an organization spilled from his lips.
“Tanmibang!”