Truly, it all comes down to how a person adorns himself.
It was the first thought that came to mind upon seeing the Baekcheon Sword Lord appear so suddenly.
When he went around in tattered clothes, he was merely a handsome middle-aged man with a certain atmosphere about him.
Yet simply by wearing neat clothes and carrying himself with a somewhat groomed bearing, a person could change so much.
It was simply astonishing.
‘No, this isn’t the time.’
Now was not the time to quibble over the opponent’s appearance.
What mattered was why he was here at this hour.
The Baekcheon Sword Lord, Moyong Tae, was looking at me while radiating a deadly aura.
Seeing that, I asked Moyong Tae,
“…Why is the Lord of the Moyong Clan here…?”
“I have come out for a night stroll.”
At Moyong Tae’s words, I made a dumbfounded expression.
While emitting such fighting spirit?
No matter who looked, his current appearance did not give the feeling of someone out for a stroll.
‘Could it be… is that man really thinking of killing me?’
That thought flashed through my mind, but I concluded it couldn’t be so.
There was no way the lord of a Four Great Clan would appear alone so brazenly and attempt an assassination.
If he handled matters in this manner in Hanam, he would be unable to handle the aftermath.
Moyong Tae would be well aware of that, even more so than I.
Having thought that far, I gave Moyong Tae a light salute.
“…I understand. It was an honor to meet you, Lord Moyong. Then, I wish you a pleasant stroll.”
For now, I should withdraw.
Having judged so, I tried to move my steps, but.
When I turned around.
Swish—!
A brief wind blew past my face.
Shhk—!
A savage sound rang out, and where the wind had swept past, trees were cut down and fell.
“Young hero.”
“...”
At Moyong Tae’s call, I turned my head.
He had already drawn his sword and was looking at me.
Faint sword aura and fighting spirit mixed together, swelling his presence.
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but swallow.
“I have yet to hear an answer.”
“…What… answer do you speak of?”
“The answer to the question of whether you can now tell me your name, young hero. You have not yet given it to me.”
An answer regarding my name?
‘He should already know everything.’
Moyong Tae should already know, yet he asks for an answer.
“...”
I wondered if it was some kind of jest, but Moyong Tae’s eyes were earnest.
Had the sword strike just now been earnest as well?
Whatever the case, the cold atmosphere showed no sign of changing.
‘No matter how I look at it, this isn’t a good situation.’
It felt extremely uncomfortable.
How should I deal with this situation?
‘Father?’
He would arrive before long.
Should that happen, this situation would be resolved, but.
The awkwardness would still remain.
While I was mired in such worries.
“If you will not answer, you need not.”
Moyong Tae slowly slid his sword back into the scabbard.
What. I thought he looked ready to kill me at any moment; did he intend to simply leave?
This easily?
Click.
Moyong Tae’s blade had completely hidden itself inside the scabbard.
Watching that, I suddenly asked.
“If I do not answer, what happens?”
Moyong Tae’s sharp eyes turned toward me at my question.
His sword aura was no trivial matter.
“I shall return as I came.”
A strange feeling flashed through me at Moyong Tae’s answer. Then was this not a good thing?
Just as that thought crossed my mind.
“Of course, I shall also take my daughter and return.”
“…!”
“The contract with the Gu Clan will be carried out as promised, so there will be no issue. The merchant guild established in Sanseo will not be withdrawn either, so you need not worry.”
“…Then, what of your daughter’s chronic illness?”
The reason the Moyong Clan had extended such considerable aid to the Gu Clan, and the reason Moyong Huia had stuck by my side until now.
It had been to treat Moyong Huia’s illness.
That treatment was still ongoing.
Yet, saying he would take Moyong Huia away like this meant he intended to stop that treatment.
To my worry that was none of my concern, Moyong Tae answered in a somewhat cold tone.
“That is a matter for our household to worry over. You need not concern yourself, young hero.”
“...”
It was a valid argument.
Literally, this was the Moyong Clan’s affair; it was not something an outsider like me should worry over.
Even so, a strange alien sensation pricking at my chest began to gnaw at my insides.
I felt thoroughly sullied.
“Thus, I shall ask one last time. Your name, young hero. Can you tell me?”
“…What happens if I tell you?”
“...”
That whether I spoke my name or not was all that lay across this choice.
It meant that introducing my name held great significance for Moyong Tae.
I wished to know that reason. Moyong Tae looked at me briefly, then placed his hand on the sword hilt.
And spoke.
“I do not like you, young hero.”
“...”
Instead of an answer, what came was a blunt declaration of dislike.
“I believe you know the reason.”
“…Yes.”
“Even so. If my daughter yearns for it so, and if you are the only way that child can survive, I thought I must endure it.”
“Then….”
“However.”
Srrk.
The sword that had just been sheathed was drawn once more.
In that instant, sword aura spread throughout the surroundings.
Facing that energy, my entire body rang with a sharp tingle.
The Baekcheon Sword Lord, Moyong Tae.
Although he was the lord of a renowned clan hailed as one of the Four Great Clans.
He was known as the one considered the most lacking in martial arts.
Yet it was no lie that the Baekcheon Sword Lord was the lord of a Four Great Clan.
‘I would be cut down by his aura alone.’
To think that just the sword aura flowing from him was this sharp.
I could understand why he was called a swordmaster who had once vied for the title of Sword King.
“I have no intention of entrusting her to one who cannot even speak his own name with confidence.”
“...”
“Even if that may be that child’s happiness. I am saying I cannot acknowledge it.”
His presence gradually grew. Having come this far, it was impossible not to understand.
If I uttered my name here, the Baekcheon Sword Lord would point his sword at me.
Whether it was a kind of test, or whether he truly wished to beat me severely, I could not tell.
Yet the words the Baekcheon Sword Lord had spoken weighed heavily on my mind.
—I cannot entrust her to one who cannot even speak his own name with confidence.
In the first place, I had no memory of taking responsibility for Moyong Huia, nor had I done anything to be held accountable for; even if I had, it was in a past life.
By now, they were all faded memories.
Matters that only I kept within myself.
Furthermore, I was confident I had done nothing to be hounded by the Baekcheon Sword Lord.
Why then did I have to feel so uncomfortable?
Was it because I didn’t want to send Moyong Huia away?
Why? Because Moyong Huia held me in favorable regard? Because we were gradually forming a somewhat better relationship than in my previous life?
If not that, was it because I needed her, who sought to aid me with her keen mind?
“...”
My chest burned.
I sought an answer, yet nothing came to me.
The reason was simple.
It was because I already knew the answer, yet was trying to find a different one.
“I shall ask one last time.”
Moyong Tae asked me, keeping his sword pointed at me.
I knew.
That answering with my name here would be a losing move.
The instant I uttered it, I would have to give a definitive answer regarding Moyong Huia.
Furthermore, I might have to cross martial skills with the Baekcheon Sword Lord.
No, that man would certainly fight.
I could already tell from his eyes.
To think I would have to fight a madman who pointed his sword at a junior who hadn’t even lived half as long as he had.
What kind of dog-shit affair was this?
I was in no state to want a needless fight.
I didn’t even know what condition my body was in.
Thus, reasons I should not do it overflowed. Reasons I didn’t need to do likewise abounded, but—
“What is your name, young hero?”
“...”
One nonsensical reason alone crushed all of that.
It was a truly selfish reason.
The selfish, narrow-minded reason that I did not want Moyong Huia to leave.
That paltry greed crushed all reason beneath it.
Therefore, if the Lord Moyong spoke thus.
From the very beginning, there was only one choice I could make.
I steadied my breathing and slowly spoke. My breathing loosened, and strength left my body.
Simultaneously, I raised my hand to perform a fist-and-palm salute.
“…A blood descendant of the Sanseo Gu Clan pays his respects to Lord Moyong.”
Moyong Tae’s eyes wavered at my words.
“I am called Gu Yangcheon. Undeservedly so….”
Watching the faintly trembling tip of his sword.
I drew up internal qi within my body.
Heat spread throughout my entire body.
As internal qi filled from the middle dantian to the upper dantian.
I could feel my head growing hot of its own accord.
“I am called… the Little Flame Lord.”
“...”
Moyong Tae’s eyes, having confirmed my state, widened like lit lanterns.
Having shown a presence heated to the upper dantian.
Moyong Tae realized what realm I had reached.
Looking at Moyong Tae thus, I opened my mouth.
“If Lord Moyong is willing.”
Heat leaked from my breath.
Without checking, I knew. That my eyes would be glowing crimson.
Feeling the surging heat.
“I request that you grant this junior a lesson.”
I requested a martial exchange from Moyong Tae.
Moyong Tae said nothing in response to my words.
He merely looked at me and straightened the tip of his pointed sword slightly.
And.
Kuuuuuu—!
Dense fighting spirit began to emanate from Moyong Tae’s body.
I took a stance. Hwareureuk—! Flames enveloped my body.
The number of rings of the Nine-Flame Fire Wheel Art had increased by one upon reaching the Transcendent Realm.
I expanded the rings.
The moment my body became fully wrapped in crimson flames.
I was the first to stamp the ground and charge at Moyong Tae.