Right after the White Lotus Sword abruptly appeared and caused me trouble.
Somehow managing the aftermath…. No, rather than managing it, after chasing away the bastards looking at me with strange eyes, I decided to sit down with the White Lotus Sword for a moment.
The moment I tried to talk right there on the spot, I could do nothing because she was wailing at the top of her lungs.
‘I’m going crazy.’
Who could have expected a woman who had reached at least middle age to suddenly scream and wail right there?
Just recalling it again made my head spin.
I prayed that at least no strange rumors would spread.
Thinking of how that bastard Uhyeok has a mouth like a rag in this regard, strange rumors would probably start circulating before long.
That damn bastard.
In my previous life too, there had been an incident where he strangely spread rumors about Seolbong and me, making things noisy for several days.
Because of that, Seolbong, furious to the tips of his hair, had nearly caught the Sleeping Dragon and frozen him whole, and the Little Sword Saint had saved him.
Anyway, if that bastard saw it, I should have gone to shut his trap before it was too late.
But right now, it was a situation where that wasn't possible.
It couldn't be helped….
“Hah….”
Looking at the scene laid out before me, a sigh escaped automatically.
In the moment of repeatedly worrying about what to do.
I decided to try spitting out words first.
…But what should I say?
“Well….”
A flinch.
Just as I was about to say something, I saw her flinch before me.
Seeing that, I had to let out another sigh.
Haah-
The person who heard my sigh, perhaps misunderstanding something, asked me with a rather pitiful expression.
“…Sh-Should I raise my hands higher?”
Contrary to her cold and composed appearance, the woman’s voice was quite trembling and shriveled, and she was even kneeling with both hands raised high.
That appearance was exactly like someone receiving punishment.
The problem was.
“…No, please lower them.”
The problem was that I hadn’t ordered this; she was doing it of her own accord.
And it was a woman who had lived more than twice as long as I had.
Not just in age, but a senior expert of the previous generation with experience active in the Central Plains and fame incomparable to my current self, showing such a sight before me.
I didn’t know at all how to process this.
In that absurd situation, I questioned the woman standing punishment. The White Lotus Sword, Murong Biyeon.
“Why on earth are you doing this….”
“I knew it, raising them higher is….”
“Please, Senior…! Lower your arms.”
When I spoke as if begging, only then did the White Lotus Sword carefully lower both arms.
Just watching that made me feel dizzy.
Why on earth is this person doing this to me?
Just trying to think about it gave me a headache.
Suppressing my rising irritation, I asked the White Lotus Sword, who was carefully rising.
“What is your intention in doing this to me?”
“Hmm…?”
“I’m asking why you’re doing this.”
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
Her suddenly coming to find me and grabbing my pant leg.
And now, out of nowhere, kneeling and starting to raise her hands high.
Watching this, I couldn’t grasp the character that was the White Lotus Sword.
It was a character type I’d never seen before. So it was even harder.
What is this person?
While I was worrying like that.
The White Lotus Sword, hearing my question, smiled awkwardly and spoke.
“I was indeed in the wrong. So I have to beg for forgiveness.”
Hearing those words, I pushed back my rising emotions and looked at the White Lotus Sword strangely.
It was definitely the right thing to say, yet for some reason, it sounded strange.
In a world where the words of the strong become law.
For someone like the White Lotus Sword, even if she acted somewhat shamelessly, most would let it pass; yet such a person was uttering those words, so it was nothing short of fresh.
However, even so….
“…Even so, how can you suddenly go so far as to kneel?”
Kneeling before a junior who is decades younger.
This was something impossible by my common sense.
Thinking that it became awkward to get even angrier thanks to that, should I consider it a rather decent method in its own right?
I didn’t really know.
Already caught up in the White Lotus Sword’s atmosphere, my thoughts weren’t turning properly.
As I looked at her dumbfounded, the White Lotus Sword soon continued.
“Will you forgive me?”
“…”
Hearing that, I lost my words.
Forgiveness or whatever, why is she really doing this to me?
Suppressing that with effort, I spat out words to the White Lotus Sword in as calm a voice as possible.
“Senior. If it’s an apology, shouldn’t you be offering it to others, not me?”
As the saying goes, honestly, the White Lotus Sword hadn’t really done much wrong to me.
She hadn’t dueled with me, and my arm hurting slightly from the aftermath was because I had personally stepped in to stop it, so it wasn’t right to call that her fault either.
So if she had to apologize, the recipients should be the kids who had been dueling, not me.
Thinking so, when I spoke, the White Lotus Sword smiled brightly as if telling me not to worry about that and said to me.
“I already apologized to the children.”
“You did?”
“Of course!”
Could it be.
“…Surely, you didn’t do it like just now?”
Did she kneel and raise both hands high to those kids too, as she had done to me?
With a rather horrifying thought, when I asked urgently, the White Lotus Sword waved her hands and spoke.
“Hey, that’s not it.”
That was a relief, at least.
Right, no matter how strange the White Lotus Sword was, she wouldn’t use this method on everyone.
“I didn’t kneel, but I begged earnestly with both hands!”
“…”
“And they said it was okay.”
If the White Lotus Sword clasped her hands and begged earnestly before your eyes, what human would say it wasn’t okay?
I couldn’t endure it and ended up holding my forehead.
…Should I consider that a relief too?
Now I really didn’t know anything at all.
“Ah, the family head told me to be careful because if I act out again, he’ll kick me out. He said he’ll really get angry.”
So she had talked with the Poison King too. At those words, I had to laugh hollowly inside.
‘Act out and get kicked out, he says….’
The word choice was incredibly dizzying.
No matter how angry the Poison King was, he wouldn’t have spoken in such a cheap manner, but I could roughly guess the meaning.
If a martial artist of the White Lotus Sword’s level acted out like this, problems would inevitably arise with the transport itself.
It must have meant that if she only caused accidents without helping, she should step aside.
In the midst of this, I had to admire the Poison King’s patience.
‘If it were me, I wouldn’t have given a warning but kicked her out.’
No matter how strong a martial artist the White Lotus Sword was and how helpful she was to the transport, if she was an uncontrollable person who caused accidents, I would have already kicked her out over yesterday’s matter.
Moreover, the Poison King’s own daughter, Dang Soyeol, had even been caught up in the duel.
To think he let this pass with just a warning….
While revising my perception of the Poison King slightly inwardly, I asked the White Lotus Sword.
“Why are you really doing this?”
It was what I had wanted to ask most from the beginning.
The White Lotus Sword, hearing my question, smiled awkwardly and let out words as before.
“As I said before, I was in the wrong…”
“I don’t think it’s something to go this far for.”
I didn’t intend to let it pass with just that.
“Do you have something else you want from me?”
“…”
It would be strange to go this far unless she wanted something from me.
When I asked what her purpose was, the White Lotus Sword’s expression grew strange.
It seemed she indeed wanted something after all.
‘What is it?’
What on earth could she want from me?
I thought about it, but I couldn’t know.
There wasn’t anything in my relationship with the White Lotus Sword worth recalling in that regard.
That must be why it felt even more frustrating.
“If you have something you want from me, rather than this, just speak….”
“You said… to stop being your bodyguard.”
“…Hmm?”
I had to tilt my head at the White Lotus Sword’s words spat out in the middle.
Bodyguard?
‘If it’s bodyguard….’
Thinking about it for a moment, I recalled the conversation from earlier.
The words telling her that if she wouldn’t even listen to me like this, she should quit being my bodyguard.
Then those words meant.
‘Surely, is she saying she’s acting like this because I told her to quit being my bodyguard?’
Words I had shouted so we could be comfortable with each other. Yet she got hung up on them and came to beg me?
‘Why on earth?’
I couldn’t understand.
The White Lotus Sword had said she came to be a bodyguard at Lady Mi’s request.
For a martial artist of her level to come as a bodyguard despite the trouble, if I were to tell Lady Mi that I didn’t like it and didn’t need it, shouldn’t she be pleased too?
But instead, when told to quit being a bodyguard, she even came to beg like this….
‘What is it.’
Does she have some other desire regarding being my bodyguard?
As I was calculating this and that in my head while looking at the White Lotus Sword with a profound expression, she cautiously spoke to me.
“I’m sorry. Can’t you let me continue being your bodyguard?”
“…”
“I won’t cause accidents anymore and will endure well. I’m originally good at enduring such things, but I guess I got too excited because it was a duel after a long time, right?”
“White Lotus Sword.”
“Hmm?”
“What is the reason you are so obsessed with being my bodyguard?”
“Well…. Because I was requested by Young Lady Mi….”
Seeing her gloss over the question, it seemed she had no intention of telling me the reason.
‘While hiding her intention, does she have to continue being my bodyguard?’
Then what should I do? Should I just let her?
That felt somewhat uncomfortable.
After all, it meant keeping someone with ulterior motives by my side.
Thinking about this quietly, one thought suddenly came to mind.
“Very well. Continue.”
At my words, the White Lotus Sword’s face brightened instantly.
Is this something to be so happy about? It was just permission to continue as a bodyguard.
However.
“There is a condition.”
I had my own conditions.
Perhaps because I said I would set conditions, the White Lotus Sword’s gaze changed slightly.
Perhaps because she hadn’t imagined I’d set conditions. The White Lotus Sword’s atmosphere seemed to grow a bit chilly.
That bothered me, but.
That was also what I had wished for.
“Conditions?”
“Yes.”
The conditions were simple.
First.
“I would like you not to act on your own as long as you don’t have my opinion.”
“…”
Three-tenths was the determination to make sure something like this incident didn’t happen again, and the other seven-tenths was the hope that the White Lotus Sword would back down upon hearing my words.
The meaning of the words was literal: don’t cause incidents without my permission.
Since she was a bodyguard, there should be no problem with my saying this.
But seeing that the one accepting it was a martial artist of a much older generation, it was something that could make one feel unpleasant.
And that wasn’t the end.
There was one more condition.
“Furthermore, I would like you to grant me one request.”
“…A request?”
“Yes.”
Not satisfied with telling her not to move without permission, now asking for a request too, the White Lotus Sword’s eyes furrowed deeply.
It couldn’t be helped.
If it were me hearing this, I would have felt bad and quit, so her reaction was natural.
And that was exactly what I was hoping for now.
If she accepted even after I went this far, her pride would be more than hurt.
No matter how refreshing a personality the White Lotus Sword had, if I went this far, it wouldn’t be strange for her to refuse or even get angry….
“Is that all?”
“…Huh?”
“Let’s do that. Then I’ll continue being your bodyguard?”
At the White Lotus Sword’s brightly smiling, delighted face, I momentarily lost my words.
“No… Senior. Did you properly hear all the conditions just now?”
“Of course, I heard them all. You said to ask before doing something and to grant a request.”
“But why….”
Saying it’s fine even after I went that far? This was unexpected.
…Why on earth is she so happy?
The White Lotus Sword, observing my flustered expression, tilted her head and asked.
“You don’t believe me?”
“…”
At the White Lotus Sword’s words, I nodded slightly.
Honestly, it was hard to believe easily. Accepting all of this was itself something I couldn’t understand.
Regarding the doubt, the White Lotus Sword rolled her eyes slightly, then clapped as if something had come to mind and spoke to me.
“If you don’t believe me, shall I place a prohibitory seal on myself?”
An even more absurd remark popped out.
“…What?”
A prohibitory seal isn’t some dog’s name; does a martial artist decide to place one or not so easily?
The moment I looked at the White Lotus Sword incredulously at those words.
“Then you’ll believe me. Where should I place it? Belly? Chest? I’ll take them off now!”
“No, there’s no need to go as far as a prohibitory seal… Uwak! Don’t take them off! What are you doing?!”
Blocking the White Lotus Sword who was really trying to expose her belly, I thought.
This was clearly my mistake.
I should have realized from the first moment we met.
That the White Lotus Sword was a much crazier woman than I had expected.
******************
Before I knew it, days had passed, and it was around a month since we had started the journey to Sichuan.
Because we were moving in a somewhat difficult direction, consuming more time, the expected arrival date was being delayed somewhat.
It didn’t matter much. It was time that had become empty because an accident had occurred in the first place.
Since I was using that time for training, I didn’t think it was a big problem.
Of course, regarding training, the conditions were somehow adverse, so I was going through hell.
Moving by carriage, my body was being crushed by fatigue, of course.
At night I was dying at the hands of the Dark King, and during the day I was called by Paejon and made to roll around desperately along with physical training, so it wasn’t a very good situation.
So much so that Wiseola, worried about me, even tried to forcibly stop me to make me rest.
The funny thing was that seeing Wiseola like that made me unable to rest even more.
Was the problem the previous duel with the White Lotus Sword?
Wiseola and Namgung Bia were spending time dueling often. Recently I had come to know that those around me were as devoted to training as I was, so even if told to rest, I couldn’t.
It was strange.
‘I’m running myself to death because I want to make them not suffer….’
I was running around desperately so they wouldn’t suffer like in my previous life.
Because I was moving so desperately, those around me started suffering together.
What is this…?
Am I exerting a bad influence?
If a martial artist is spurring on training, isn’t that not a bad influence?
Anyway, things were flowing strangely somehow.
In any case, it was a day I was spending training arduously day by day.
Around the time we were slowly creeping into the territory of Sichuan.
To me, resting after being thoroughly beaten, Paejon spoke up.
“Ahyah.”
“Huff… huff… Yes?”
While I was drenched in sweat and catching my rough breath, Paejon conveyed something as if he had heard something quite interesting.
“It’s something the bat bastard told me.”
By ‘bat bastard,’ Paejon meant the Dark King.
Goodness… calling the King of Assassins a bat.
That old man clearly wasn’t in his right mind either. Paejon, checking my face, frowned and spoke.
“Looking at your eyes, you must be cursing me inwardly again.”
“…No. I wouldn’t.”
His perceptiveness was damn sharp.
Paejon took on an expression of eyes that clearly didn’t believe my answer, but he didn’t bother to pry further.
The main point seemed important.
“Anyway, the bastard said there seem to be some strange fellows nearby.”
“Strange fellows?”
“Yes. He said they seem to be bandits. Bandits in this day and age… tsk tsk.”
“…!”
At Paejon’s words, my eyes flashed.
Bandits?