Episode 254: Baekhwajumihyoran. (3)
Chirp, chirp.
The sound of birds reached my ears.
The noise itself didn’t bother me much, but the shafts of light seeping through the window stung my eyes, leaving me no choice but to finally rise.
“…Ah.”
I stopped rubbing my eyes and let out a short exclamation.
It wasn’t the familiar frontline command tent I was used to seeing.
Because it was my own room, which I hadn’t seen in a long time.
“…I ended up flustered without even realizing it.”
More than anything, it was a room I should have been most accustomed to.
Had I grown so used to sleeping outside?
A comfortable bed felt truly strange.
‘How long did I sleep?’
I had fallen into a deep sleep with the intention of dispelling all my fatigue.
Judging by how refreshed I felt, it seemed I had slept quite well.
I forced myself to sit up.
Perhaps because my movement made a sound in the room, I immediately sensed someone approaching from beyond the door.
The presence reached the door and cautiously spoke.
“Young Master, did you cough?”
“Yeah. I just woke up.”
“I shall prepare your washing. Shall I prepare a meal as well?”
“Just something light, please. I’ll eat after training.”
“As you wish.”
Judging by the voice, it seemed to be Honghwa after all.
She had suffered on the frontlines with an ordinary person’s body, and had probably worked herself to near-exhaustion unpacking luggage immediately upon arrival.
It was impressive that she was already awake and working since morning.
‘Should I at least give her a raise?’
Since this was a burden on the family, not me personally, I wasn’t entirely sure.
Even if I didn’t go out of my way to mention it, they would probably raise it soon.
If they didn’t, I could speak up then.
After lightly washing my face, I immediately headed to the training grounds.
Since I’d have to wash again after training anyway, I really just washed up in a hurry.
Having rested fully for a day, it was time to move again.
“…Tch.”
As I walked, I clicked my tongue at a presence caught by my senses.
If there was one thing that bothered me—
‘That fellow is incredibly persistent.’
A martial artist who seemed to be one of Lady Mi’s people.
Though I couldn’t accurately gauge his age since he wore a mask from afar, he felt like a middle-aged man around the age of forty.
‘He doesn’t seem to be someone who specializes in ambush.’
There was something somewhat clumsy about him compared to his level.
He didn’t seem to be an assassin or from that line of work.
The cold sensation was similar, but rather than an assassin, he was closer to a well-trained swordsman.
I couldn’t properly gauge him, but he was likely at a considerably high realm.
‘Still, if he’s going to do it, he should do it properly.’
It’s pointlessly getting on my nerves.
Yesterday, he had stood out so much that I told him off to do it moderately, but even after hearing that, the man didn’t seem to care and intended to keep tailing me.
‘I don’t sense any malice, so I’ll leave him be for now.’
But I couldn’t help being bothered.
Arriving at the training grounds while trying my best to ignore him, for some reason the grounds were already filled with heat.
Since it was a training ground reserved for the bloodline, it was naturally one of the Gu family’s descendants.
‘…Isn’t this too much?’
The heat was too intense.
Among the bloodline members who flitted through my mind, there was no one who could emit this level of heat.
If forced to choose, perhaps Gu Huibi might be capable, but even so, this level was excessive.
Wondering who it was, I opened the door.
“Oh.”
“Huh?”
“I was wondering where you’d gone. Looks like you just woke up.”
It was Guryun, who had now become the First Elder, expanding muscles that looked ready to burst on his massive frame.
At the absurd situation, I put on a thoroughly dumbfounded expression and asked.
“…Why are you here?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m training.”
“No, I mean why are you doing it *here*?”
While it wasn’t that the First Elder couldn’t use the bloodline-exclusive grounds, now that he held the position of an elder, there should be a place for his exclusive use.
My question was why he insisted on doing it here.
At my question, the First Elder gave an awkward smile.
“I came to find you, and before I knew it… Hehe. I’m still young at heart. Seeing this makes me want to move my body so badly I could die.”
“If you came to find me, why not come to my quarters? Why here…?”
“You rascal? At my age, should I be the one moving to see you?”
“But you just said you’re still young… Have you already forgotten—”
The moment I added that, the First Elder’s fist flew at me.
Swish!
I hurriedly moved my head to dodge, but contrary to its heavy appearance, the First Elder’s arm quickly changed direction and struck the top of my head.
Bang!
“Kgh…!”
Crazy.
It was still a blow that couldn’t be called a light flick.
From the dizzying pain, I felt a momentary vertigo.
“It seems your way of speaking hasn’t changed despite your age.”
“Argh, seriously…!”
While I clutched my head and groaned, the First Elder dusted off his hand and smirked.
He seemed to have thought of something amusing.
That smile was so bright it was rather terrifying.
“…Why are you smiling like that?”
“This is a connection too.”
“What is? What connection?”
Why use such scary words?
“Why don’t we have a spar with this old man for the first time in a while?”
“…‘For the first time in a while’? I’ve never sparred with you before.”
“Didn’t we do it often when you were young?”
“What kind of spar was that! It was one-sided torment.”
Under the pretext of teaching me a lesson through sparring because I wouldn’t listen, I remember the First Elder playing ball with me back then.
Thanks to those memories, I’d been terrified and ran away from training sessions the First Elder attended.
“We can make memories. It would be nice after so long.”
“I didn’t say I’d do it…!”
“Then one-sided torment will suffice, won’t it?”
Oh my heavens.
At this point, doesn’t that just mean he wants to beat me up legally?
“…Elder, you know this is abuse, right?”
“Abuse? What frightening words. This is clearly a caress filled with affection.”
He seemed to be serious.
Wondering if there was an escape route, I glanced behind me.
‘…Can I break out?’
The First Elder’s gaze, saying he would absolutely not let me go, was quite burdensome.
‘I can only see one escape route.’
There was nothing but the door behind me. I was screwed.
Should I break through the wall?
Yes, I just needed to break the wall.
Just as I was about to raise my energy to make a hole in the wall, the First Elder let out a voice that seemed deeply lamenting.
“…Yangcheon, you are truly something.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Others would strive desperately to receive even a single lesson, yet you are immediately scheming to run away.”
‘Busted.’
Haha, damn it.
When did he notice?
My acting and eye-rolling were perfect.
“With your face showing everything so plainly, how could I not know?”
What? Did I perhaps speak my inner thoughts aloud?
“…Elder, do you happen to know mind-reading as well?”
Could a new ability have awakened with age?
I actually thought that.
“Never mind. I wanted to see how much my grandson has grown after so long. Anyway, tch.”
“As you can see, I’ve grown up well on my own.”
“For that, you’re still quite small…?”
“Don’t you think you’re just abnormally large…?”
This was the biggest question I had about the Gu family in my mind.
From the Gu family bloodline where relatively small builds were the majority, how did bodies like my father or the First Elder come about?
I was truly curious about that.
‘Even compared to the Hwangbo guys… I don’t think they’d lose at all.’
Not just a match—they looked even bigger.
Especially considering the First Elder’s age, maintaining that physique made no sense.
Even recalling how badly injured he was last time, his skills should have declined.
Hmph! The First Elder snorted loudly, put on the clothes he’d taken off nearby, and walked away with heavy, thudding steps.
Seeing that, it seemed he really had come just to see my face.
“Ah, right.”
“Yes?”
Just as I thought I’d survived and was about to let out a sigh, the First Elder turned his steps back toward me.
“There was something I was meaning to give you.”
“…Why?”
Now, whenever the First Elder said he’d give me something, my expression naturally soured.
What was he trying to give me now?
Because every time I received something from him, complicated matters would arise.
With a reluctant expression, I looked at the object the First Elder was handing over.
“…?”
What the First Elder handed me was none other than a letter.
“Take it.”
“What is this?”
“These are letters that came for you.”
“…Through the First Elder?”
“Yes. I should have given them to you yesterday, but I was a little late.”
Ah, was this what he had tried to tell me yesterday?
Letters coming to me through the First Elder rather than the family directly.
Though I didn’t know what it was about, I took the letter from the First Elder and put it in my bosom for now.
Seeing me like that, the First Elder’s eyes changed in a peculiar way.
That bothered me subtly.
“Also. I heard you met Lady Mi.”
“…Well, yeah.”
Since I’d returned to the family, meeting her was only a natural course of events.
“How was it?”
“What do you mean?”
The First Elder asked me how it was.
However, I couldn’t properly understand what the First Elder meant by that.
What did he mean by how was it?
“I’m asking how Lady Mi was, meeting her after so long.”
“What is there to say about it? I just met her.”
If I were to speak my impressions, discomfort and pressure came first.
But I couldn’t tell the First Elder that honestly.
In my previous life.
And surely around this time as well.
I must have hated her.
I hated her for leaving the family as if she’d been waiting for my mother to disappear.
And I resented her for returning the moment I took the position of young family head.
Though it was childishness of a young age, I had simply been afraid of my situation and protected myself with anger.
Looking back now, it was nothing but a shameful memory.
There had been no need to go that far.
I realized that far too late.
“…Is that so. I see. You’ve had it hard.”
Hearing my answer, the First Elder roughly patted my shoulder and walked away, disappearing.
He seemed to have more he wanted to say, but he had probably forced his mouth shut.
‘What was it?’
The First Elder’s gaze was clearly one of pity.
It was the gaze the First Elder had sent me throughout my previous life, so I couldn’t mistake it.
And such a gaze was also the most painful eyes to me.
Everyone who died for me had worn such a gaze.
It still remained in my memory, occasionally tormenting me.
And it was also the reason I was struggling desperately not to walk the same path in this life.
After the First Elder left, I lightly finished my training.
Having experienced real combat every day grappling with demonic beasts, for the first time in a while I’d trained like I was actually training, so I felt quite refreshed.
I roughly wiped my sweat with the clothes I was wearing.
I asked Honghwa to prepare water for washing once more.
I came out, washed, and wolfed down a meal.
After stuffing my face just to fill my stomach, a sudden question arose.
‘Where did they go?’
I was worried about the kids who hadn’t shown up by this hour.
Namgung Bia, who would appear out of nowhere and stick by my side, was nowhere to be seen today for some reason.
Not only was Moyong Hui-a, who would subtly appear pretending not to be seen, not visible either, perhaps because she was busy.
Gu Huibi, who would barge in around this time and drag me off to train, was also quiet.
‘What is it?’
It wasn’t some bullshit about feeling lonely because of an empty seat.
I was genuinely, simply uneasy because they hadn’t appeared.
“What the hell, seriously, this is unsettling.”
With the faces I always saw not being visible, I found myself unknowingly anxious, wondering if they’d gotten into an accident somewhere.
Ah…
I let out a sigh without realizing it.
This meant that I had grown accustomed to being with other people.
While it seemed like a good thing on a human level, on the other hand, it was somewhat of a dilemma.
If it was to get along with others, it might be the right direction.
But if I had decided to shoulder the burden alone, this situation wasn’t entirely welcome.
Having more people to protect meant that much more hardship for me.
Of course, even as I thought this, I found myself smiling wryly without realizing it.
‘Me, of all people.’
What was a delinquent like me trying to play at being a hero?
Thinking as if I amounted to something was quite laughable.
We’d just missed a meal together.
What was there to be anxious about?
‘If I’m anxious because they didn’t come, I should just go check on them.’
It was a simple matter.
If they didn’t come, I just had to go see them.
Since I’d thought of it, I immediately set off.
As for what lay ahead, I just needed to find my father and hear the future schedule anyway.
There was still talk regarding the Haomun, but that was something to bring up after hearing the schedule and reading the situation.
My steps quickened slightly.
The direction was none other than where Moyong Hui-a was staying.
I’d originally planned to find Namgung Bia, but Moyong Hui-a’s place was closer in terms of distance.
Besides, I had to meet her around tomorrow anyway with the pretext of reducing her heat, so it felt like I’d just stop by.
After roughly checking Moyong Hui-a’s face, I could go straight to Namgung Bia next time.
‘What?’
While walking, I suddenly realized that the presence that had been following me since earlier had disappeared.
‘Did he give up and go back?’
I wondered if he’d concealed his presence more deeply and thought about searching, but decided against it.
If I couldn’t feel him, that was better since he wouldn’t be a bother.
So I approached the quarters where the Moyong family people were staying.
“Hmm?
Ah.”
A familiar figure came into view.
He wasn’t a member of the Moyong family. He wasn’t actually someone I knew by face.
But he was someone I knew by presence.
“…Ah.”
The man also seemed to notice, averting his eyes slightly, but we both would have known the other had noticed long ago.
“Why are you here?”
As an awkward silence hung between us, I was the first to speak.
The man was the middle-aged man who had been tailing and observing me.
The middle-aged man would also know that I recognized him, so there was no excuse.
‘Not that I would listen to excuses anyway.’
As we faced each other with sour expressions, in the end the man slightly bowed his head toward me.
“…I have been greatly rude.”
“Yes.”
It was quite rude to follow someone around.
Setting that aside—
‘Why is this person standing at the entrance?’
That was my question.
Why was a man of Lady Mi’s guarding the entrance here?
At my question, the man was silent for a moment.
By the feel of it, he seemed to be sending a message of some kind.
‘Look at this.’
Was something happening inside?
Surely Moyong Hui-a would be inside the quarters.
I hadn’t thought Lady Mi would do something, but you never know.
Was it because that thought crossed my mind?
I loosened my body slightly and raised my energy to my dantian.
Just as I was reaching toward the man along with my expanded physique—
“…Inside.”
I stopped my movement at the man’s voice.
“I shall escort you in, Young Master.”
“…Suddenly?”
“It is a message from the Danju to escort you inside.”
“Dan… What?”
When the man uttered the word Danju, a figure flashed through my mind.
There was only one person here who could be called the Danju.
The problem was why she was in the Moyong family quarters.
I moved my steps following the man’s guidance.
It was strange. In the place where the Moyong family members stayed, to be going to a room guided by someone else entirely.
Creak.
The door to the room where Moyong Hui-a would likely be opened.
Upon confirming the figures inside, I had to swallow a hollow breath inwardly.
Because the guess that had flashed through my mind was correct.
Inside the room—
for some reason, Moyong Hui-a, who seemed more rigid than usual, and—
Slurp.
Lady Mi, drinking tea with a serene expression, were sitting there.
Soon, the unique cold gaze that Lady Mi possessed turned this way.
“Welcome.”
At Lady Mi’s appearance, speaking to me calmly—
..!
Without realizing it, I ended up making a blank expression.