Cheeks covered in freckles.
He was on the shorter side, shorter than me, and around thirty.
To look at him, he was nothing more than an ordinary attendant, but I knew.
‘It’s the Dark King.’
That man was the Dark King.
I had felt uncertain about it before hearing his voice, but after hearing his sound transmission, I was certain.
Moreover.
‘He’s brimming with incongruity.’
Once I realized who he was, I could sense a peculiar sense of foreignness about him.
So too was the vibration I felt in my arm.
‘…Why the hell is this thing acting up again?’
Did the scaled spot have a heart of its own? It pounded like mad.
Why was it doing this?
I forced myself to ignore the trembling and looked at the Dark King.
The Dark King broke into a cold sweat, as though flustered by my gaze.
No, he was pretending to be.
‘Why are these guys so good at acting?’
Both Paejon and the Dark King. Their acting was beyond my understanding.
As I looked at the Dark King, my gaze naturally turned to Paejon.
As if asking what on earth was going on.
For a moment, I wondered if Paejon didn’t know either, but…
‘This old man….’
Seeing the expression on Paejon’s face as he looked at me and smirked, I knew at once.
This bastard definitely knew too.
‘So the Dark King and Paejon have some connection.’
I didn’t know what kind, but it didn’t seem like a wholesome one.
Not to mention, I had no idea why the Dark King was mixed in there.
Deliberately avoiding the Dark King’s gaze, I asked Paejon,
“What is this…?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m asking why that man is over there.”
“Do not trouble yourself. He is merely one of the attendants.”
“What do you mean by… Are you out of your mind?”
He was asking me to ignore the fact that he was the Dark King and think of him as a servant.
What kind of insane nonsense was this?
When I asked with an incredulous look, Paejon merely replied with an unbothered expression.
“It simply so happens that I have a favor to ask of him, which is why.”
“A favor…?”
My mind began to spin seriously at Paejon’s words.
A favor from the Dark King?
“Who on earth are you trying to kill?”
That was the only thought that came to mind immediately.
Honestly, I could only think of one thing to ask of the Dark King.
Hearing my words, Paejon’s face scrunched up slightly for a moment before he looked at me.
“How could you think of… Hmm….”
He spat out the words as if to say how could I say something so absurd, but then he tilted his head briefly.
Why was he doing that?
“…Is it roughly similar, perhaps?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Hmm, I suppose it is somewhat similar. Just think of it like that.”
What on earth did that mean?
So, in any case, did that mean the Dark King was going to kill someone?
It felt rather strange that Paejon would make such a request to the Dark King, but…
I didn’t pry any further.
Everyone had their own circumstances. I only needed to learn martial arts from Paejon, so that was enough.
Paejon merely wished for me to master his martial arts, so that was the extent of our relationship.
You could say it was ambiguous enough that calling each other master and disciple felt off.
At least, that was how I saw our relationship.
A master-disciple relationship born of necessity.
A truly ambiguous relationship the likes of which I’d never heard of anywhere.
So the fact that the Dark King was mixed in with the Bi family and traveling together with them on the journey to Sichuan was a somewhat bothersome matter for me.
If it had nothing to do with me, it was fine.
It’s just.
‘But will it really have nothing to do with me?’
That was the only thought I had.
‘The Dark King’s birth family was the Yeon clan.’
Among other things, I knew that the Dark King was a descendant of Yeon Ilcheon, and as it happened, Sichuan was a place where traces of the Yeon clan remained.
Hearing that the Dark King was heading there together with us, I couldn’t help but feel it was significant in many ways.
‘But… is this right?’
Thinking about them one by one, I couldn’t help but feel that the state of the group leaving for Sichuan was becoming a bit strange.
Including the Poison King, the family head of the Tang Clan who was called the Conqueror of Sichuan, and the Dark King, the King of Assassins.
And even Paejon, one of the Three Venerables said to stand at the very pinnacle of the Central Plains martial artists.
Since every single person departing for Sichuan was someone who’d raise a hell of a stink wherever they went, looking at it.
‘At least we won’t get ambushed.’
Our safety was practically guaranteed.
For the situation to go bad from here, there wouldn’t be much else besides the Dark King suddenly trying to kill everyone.
Besides that, what kind of lunatic would attack a Tang Clan transport carriage?
Even if they did, I didn’t think there was much to worry about.
It seemed the Poison King had brought considerable forces to transport the criminal all the way to Sichuan.
Had he known that Paejon and the Dark King were in this group, would he have brought such forces?
Probably not.
Thinking so, I began to put some distance between myself and the Dark King.
Just then, someone approached me and wrapped their arms around my neck.
“…?”
Rather than embracing, choking seemed like a more accurate description.
Wondering what this was about, the moment I tried to force my way out, I had to stop at the familiar scent wafting from behind.
“Brother, are you really going?”
It was the scent of Gu Huibi.
“…What are you doing, Sister?”
“Are you really going to such a distant place? You’re not going home with your sister?”
“I have to go.”
“Home?”
“No, Sichuan.”
At my answer, the arms Gu Huibi had wrapped around me tightened fiercely.
“What in the world… What do you think you’re doing?”
“Always wandering outside the house. Your puberty has gone completely sideways. You used to be cute in the past.”
Gu Huibi’s words were absurd.
“What do you mean, gone sideways?”
It wasn’t like he was at an age to go through puberty.
Besides, if anything had been strange, it had been back then; the notion that he had been cuter in the past was utterly incomprehensible.
I roughly loosened Gu Huibi’s arms and looked at her.
She was scrunching up her face as though something displeased her.
Seeing Gu Huibi like that, she looked like she was trying to act cute, and it turned my stomach.
Had that woman forgotten her age?
Why was a fully grown maiden acting like that?
“I really don’t like this….”
“Sister.”
“Hm?”
“Aren’t you going to get married? Aren’t you well past the age?”
“…”
It was a thoughtless question, something that had crossed my mind while thinking about Gu Huibi’s age.
But upon hearing it, Gu Huibi’s expression changed in an instant.
She looked just like a vengeful ghost.
After confirming that expression, I stepped back slightly and said,
“…No, I was just… wondering….”
“Brother, did you want all your hair burned off? You should have said so; your sister is quite good at that sort of thing.”
“Sorry.”
She seemed quite furious; her gaze was anything but ordinary.
I had really just asked out of curiosity. She seemed to be in a terrible mood.
‘Well, it’s not her age; who would take a woman with that insane personality?’
Her marriageable age had long since come and passed, overflowing even.
Gu Huibi hadn’t exactly… No, she was unable to become engaged or married.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t married in her previous life either; perhaps she intended to grow old as a spinster.
They say such figures are common among martial artists, so it didn’t really matter.
But seeing her react like that, it seemed she did care to some extent.
“If you say you’re going home, I’ll let you off.”
“That’s impossible.”
“How firm. Annoyingly so.”
At my answer, Gu Huibi clicked her tongue and turned her head sharply.
Perhaps having nothing more to say to me, she walked straight toward where the Gu family members were.
“Do whatever you want, come or not.”
Her voice, suddenly snapping at me as she walked away, remained the same as ever.
When on earth would that woman ever soften her personality?
Probably never.
‘It’s probably impossible.’
If she was born with that blood, it seemed impossible after all.
Right after Gu Huibi left.
This time, the one who appeared as if he had been waiting was the First Elder.
Why did they keep coming one by one? It would be easier if they came all at once.
Seeing the First Elder approaching me, I had to scrunch up my face. The First Elder, seeing that, also furrowed his brows.
“…To make such a rotten expression the moment you see this old man, what sort of manners are these?”
“What are you trying to give me this time? I’m not accepting anything.”
“Hah, did you think I would give you a gift because you’re pretty or something?”
“Putting aside that you’re giving me something, the problem is it’s never a gift.”
Thinking back on every item I had received when meeting the First Elder, I could recall that each and every one had brought trouble and incidents.
It was obvious that this time would be no different, so I was determined not to accept anything this time.
With that resolve, I glared at the First Elder. Sure enough, he subtly pulled something from his breast.
Seeing that, I immediately shouted at him.
“Ah, I’m not taking it! Hey, hey. What are you trying to give me now!”
“You brat! Do you think I want to do this!?”
“Then don’t give it to me!”
I began to scuffle with the First Elder like a pair of mad dogs.
I put my full heart into not accepting that object, no matter what it was.
Why did this man keep trying to dump trouble on me?
Just as I was trying to somehow refuse and run away this time, the First Elder added,
“This isn’t from me; it’s something your father asked me to pass on.”
“…What?”
“Like father, like son, both rotten to the core. Making an old man run errands for them.”
Although the First Elder spat out his words in grumbles, my mind was focused on the object in his hand.
‘Father?’
Of all people, why would Father go out of his way to give me something?
Thinking that, I looked toward my father. My eyes happened to meet his, as he was looking this way.
The moment our eyes met, Father was the first to avert his gaze.
Seeing that, the First Elder’s words seemed to be true.
‘What could this be?’
Having confirmed that much, I accepted the object. If it wasn’t from the First Elder, it didn’t matter.
…It looked like an ordinary metal plaque.
“What is this?”
“How should I know? The Patriarch merely asked me to deliver it.”
“Then you could have just given it to me directly. Why…”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. If you’re so curious, go ask him yourself.”
“No, that’s a bit….”
“Hehe… Like father, like son, both unbearable.”
The First Elder shook his head as if exhausted.
Things had improved compared to before, but it was still terribly awkward to ask my father such things.
‘…There must be a use for it, so he must have given it to me for a reason.’
Thinking so, I roughly tucked the plaque into my breast.
Thinking that he wouldn’t have given me anything too strange, at least.
“What will you do when you return, First Elder?”
“What else would I do? I’ll sprawl out and sleep, I suppose.”
“…Ah, yes.”
For all he said, if you were to pick the busiest person in the Gu family, the first would be my father.
And the second would be the First Elder.
Despite being an old man in his twilight years, the First Elder was so active that he kept going outside the family estate.
Glancing at such a First Elder, I pointed at someone with the tip of my finger. This was a personal question.
“Then… are you really taking him with you?”
The First Elder’s gaze followed my hand.
In the direction I pointed stood none other than Gu Jeolyeop, wearing a somewhat dark expression.
Seeing that, the First Elder’s expression twitched slightly.
The reason I had specifically asked about Gu Jeolyeop was simple.
Because Gu Jeolyeop had said he would not be participating in this journey to Sichuan.