It was a small meeting room.
A low ceiling,
a low table,
and a single lamp hanging on the wall.
Four people were already inside.
Rangnan, Muryeong, Aslo,
and Maho.
As Bido opened the door, he looked at Aslo first.
Aslo wore the same untroubled expression as always.
And yet today, that face seemed a little different from yesterday.
Bido lifted his foot, then stopped for a moment.
‘Arcel Lobelin.’
And.
‘Yurna.’
He had just heard those two names linked within a single sentence,
but Aslo was still simply Aslo.
Not knowing how to take that difference,
Bido lowered his head once, then quietly stepped inside.
Miryeong, Raen, and Yun followed after him.
As Bido sat down,
the chair gave a low creak.
Miryeong spoke first.
“Right.”
“Why did you call us?”
“Aren’t we supposed to be resting today?”
Maho glared at Miryeong.
His gaze narrowed like a blade.
“Should I let you rest for the rest of your life right now?”
Miryeong lifted the corner of her mouth,
and growled, “Haaah?”
Raen hurriedly cut in.
“Ah, Maho, come on!”
Maho and Miryeong glared at each other,
neither backing down for even a moment.
Then Rangnan spoke briefly.
“Enough.”
His voice was not loud,
but the room immediately sank into silence.
Rangnan spoke to Bido.
“First, you did well.”
Bido swallowed his breath.
Rangnan’s gaze grew a little firmer.
“Bido.”
“You clearly did what you had to do.”
At those words, Bido’s shoulders lowered ever so slightly.
But Rangnan did not blur the ending.
“It’s just…”
“Roan exceeded the scope of our expectations.”
Bido’s body stiffened again.
A brief silence settled over the room.
Bido felt the inside of his mouth go dry.
The lamp swayed, its golden light scraping across the wall.
The sound of someone swallowing, the sound of someone rubbing their fingers together.
As if by instinct, Bido’s gaze dropped to the crescent moon at his throat,
then rose again to Aslo’s face.
The name ‘Arcel’ came to mind first.
Bido pressed his lips together as though swallowing that name.
The syllables left on the tip of his tongue rolled bitterly.
He lowered his head a little more to avoid their gazes,
but the necklace struck his chest once again.
The brief metallic sound rang out like the sensation of being discovered.
Miryeong leaned back in her chair, yet only her eyes flashed,
and Muryeong, without a word,
fixed that gaze on him as if confirming something.
Bido hunched his shoulders and let his hair fall lower.
And in that silence,
Bido felt it.
Their gazes.
Maho, Aslo, and Muryeong were looking at Bido’s ears.
What he had hidden beneath his disheveled hair.
What had now been exposed.
Maho wore an expression that seemed to say, What is that?
but he did not bother to speak.
Muryeong did not withdraw his gaze.
Aslo quietly looked at Bido,
then lowered his eyes.
As if trying to pretend he had not seen.
Rangnan’s gaze dropped to the crescent moon hanging from Bido’s neck.
“Yun.”
Rangnan asked quietly.
“Did you tell Bido?”
Yun nodded.
“Yes.”
“It was time for Lord Bido to know.”
Rangnan thought for a moment,
then opened his mouth.
“Bido.”
“Your mother, Yurna.”
The room grew quiet once more.
“Yurna…”
“was a survivor of the Moon Clan.”
Their reactions were divided.
Someone raised their brows,
someone remained unaffected,
and someone lowered their gaze as though they had already known.
And Bido—
was among those who were shocked.
‘The Moon Clan.’
It was a phrase he had heard for the first time today, when he received the necklace.
Without realizing it,
Bido brushed the necklace once with his fingers.
Cold metal touched his fingertips.
Rangnan continued.
“It must be unfamiliar to you.”
“The world called them by another name.”
Rangnan’s voice lowered.
“The Bloodline of the Curse.”
“It was the Empire that spread that name for the Moon Clan.”
“The ‘Demon of the Moon’ is an extension of that as well.”
Bido knew that name.
Long ago,
he had heard of it as a story from before he was even born.
His lips dried on their own.
“…Curse.”
Rangnan nodded.
“Yes.”
“They create a justification, then eliminate.”
“That is the Empire’s way.”
The air grew heavy.
Miryeong lightly ground her teeth.
Raen’s eyes went round,
and Maho let out a breath as if scoffing.
Aslo said nothing.
But Bido felt it.
Aslo’s gaze had lingered,
if only for a very brief moment,
on his necklace.
Rangnan did not dwell any longer on the past.
As if now was not the time for that,
he moved straight to the heart of the matter.
“The Moon Clan…”
“possesses a power handed down through blood.”
Rangnan’s gaze fixed on Bido.
“The one who received the power of Lord Igra’s blood.”
“Yurha.”
It was an unfamiliar name.
Rangnan added briefly.
“It is the power that Yurha used.”
Bido’s fingertips tightened further around the necklace.
Rangnan said,
“The clan that inherited that power through blood.”
“That is the Moon Clan…”
Rangnan paused for a beat.
“…and that exists within you as well.”
At those words, Bido’s mind went blank.
The Moon Clan?
Power?
Me?
It was far too sudden.
Bido opened his mouth, but could not say a word.
Looking at him,
Rangnan clearly emphasized the final word.
“Wolhyeol.”
Bido’s eyes fixed on Rangnan.
“It means the blood of the moon.”
Still gripping the necklace, Bido drew in a breath.
The crescent moon beneath his chest trembled ever so slightly.
And without realizing it, Bido repeated that name in his mind.
‘Wolhyeol….’
Maho spoke first.
“But Rangnan.”
“How does that power manifest?”
Maho frowned, as if searching through his memories for a moment.
“Roan… started using it all of a sudden at some point too.”
“It didn’t seem like he’d known about it from the start.”
Bido’s face stiffened.
“Roan…”
Feeling strength enter the hand gripping his necklace, Bido asked,
“…the Demon of the Moon.”
“Is that person also of the Moon Clan?”
Rangnan quietly nodded.
“Yes.”
Bido swallowed his breath.
Rangnan slowly continued.
“That power…”
“is not something you forcibly ‘awaken.’”
“It appears naturally.”
“The thinner the blood grows… there were some in whom it never manifested to the very end.”
Maho clicked his tongue.
“What the hell.”
“Then that brat might not be able to use it?”
At those words, the gazes in the room stopped for a brief moment.
Instead of answering, Rangnan looked at Bido.
Bido felt that gaze.
Rangnan’s gaze until now
had been different from Maho’s gaze, which seemed to pierce through the soul.
It was
a sensation like something brushing over his skin.
And now,
it was even more blatant.
Bido felt the nape of his neck grow a little cold.
Rangnan said in a low voice,
“No.”
“It is already awakening.”
At that matter-of-fact statement, Bido’s fingertips froze.
“For now, all you have to do is wait.”
“The more you rush, the more it will break you.”
Maho let out a long sigh.
“Right.”
“And in the meantime, Roan will ruin the world.”
“Isn’t that right?”
Raen glared at Maho.
“……”
Maho turned his head as if it had nothing to do with him.
Bido quietly opened his mouth.
“This power…”
“What exactly is it?”
Bido steadied his breath,
then asked once more.
“Why is it necessary?”
Rangnan did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked for a moment at Bido’s necklace, then raised his gaze.
“It is different from the moon’s spiritual power that Roan is cultivating.”
Rangnan’s voice was low and composed.
“That is closer to the power left behind by a god.”
“But Wolhyeol…”
Rangnan continued, as if choosing his words.
“is the power to connect with the moon.”
“The power to stand one step ahead of the rules, and to ‘borrow’ those rules.”
Bido did not understand right away.
The phrase ‘borrow the rules’ did not make sense to him.
Maho cut in with an irritated breath.
“Listen well, brat.”
“If you have that power, you can draw up the ‘power of the moon.’”
Maho tapped a finger against the air.
“Over your life force.”
“You overlay it with the energy of the moon.”
As if organizing Maho’s rough explanation, Rangnan added,
“It is the act of widening the vessel of the soul.”
“Only then will the rules of the moon not overwhelm you.”
Miryeong nodded with an “Aha.”
Rangnan continued.
“Once you come to understand it fully…”
“There is one technique you can use.”
“The Spirit Sword…”
Bido immediately asked,
“What is that?”
Yun slowly explained in his stead.
“The Spirit Sword…”
“is said to begin by ‘projecting’ the rules of the moon onto one’s own mind.”
“And for a very brief moment…”
“you can add a new rule to yourself.”
Rangnan nodded.
“It is a technique created by your ancestors.”
Rangnan’s gaze met Bido’s eyes head-on.
“It cuts only what you wish to cut.”
“What you decide not to cut… it passes through.”
Raen nodded with an “Aha.”
It was the face of someone who had finally understood what Miryeong’s earlier ‘pretending to pass through’ had been.
The room was quiet for a moment.
Those words sounded strangely clear to Bido.
Rangnan looked straight at Bido.
“Roan is now…”
“not an opponent who can be stopped by ordinary means.”
The air in the room grew heavy once again.
Rangnan continued as if declaring it.
“So you…”
“must learn a sword that cannot be stopped.”
Bido swallowed his breath.
Rangnan continued.
“There is only one reason the Spirit Sword is necessary.”
“So that only the ‘target’ the power of the key must reach…”
“can be pierced with precision.”
“Not by breaking through.”
“By changing the rules, and making it reach.”