A past life.
It was around an age not much different from now, if judged roughly by years.
If there was a difference, I was probably a year or two older.
Under normal circumstances, leaving the clan estate, let alone joining the Martial Alliance, would have been out of the question. Yet for some reason, my father, the clan head, had sent me into the Martial Alliance.
It had been a rather strange thing.
Even when he barely let me leave the family grounds, he had gone out of his way to throw me all the way to Henan.
Even now, I could not really understand it...
But at the time, I did not particularly care.
If anything, I had been glad.
I thought I might be able to escape that damnable house and rest, even if only for a little while.
And.
The child who occasionally came to mind was there.
That probably had not been the entirety of the reason, but perhaps I had thought that was enough.
However, if I could make a different choice now... I probably would not make the same one.
What I experienced in the Alliance had been far more numerous and troublesome than I had expected.
And the events of that time had surely been what caused my faith in the orthodox faction to sink to rock bottom.
Whether it was entering the Flying Dragon Corps and suffering every kind of contempt and disregard.
Whether it was moving from one unit to another several times during the blood calamity caused by the Heavenly Demon.
Whether it was losing people one after another, until I had to throw away even myself.
I had become the person I was now by experiencing things I never needed to go through.
They could hardly have been good experiences.
Perhaps that was why.
“Hmm.”
The farther I walked into the Martial Alliance, the more memories from that time came back to me.
A considerable amount of time had passed since then, and by now those events should have become things that had never happened.
Yet for some reason, everything I felt was unbelievably vivid.
‘Did that tree always look like that?’
A single tree stood in the open garden visible to the side.
As I recalled, it was an ancient tree that had existed since the Martial Alliance was first established. It had stood there for a very long time, and the Alliance had regarded it as something of a symbol, tending to it with considerable care.
Of course.
‘The Heavenly Demon appeared and burned it down.’
When she had first appeared, she had annihilated several corps commanders and experts, burning the tree down along with them.
They called it a symbol, but it was not a tree I had seen particularly often.
‘To see that tree in the first place... you needed a fairly high position.’
The place where I was walking was quite deep within the Martial Alliance.
In my past life, I had been nothing more than a low-ranking member of the Alliance. It was not a tree I could casually choose to see or not see.
Ah, though when someone told me to deliver something, I would sometimes pass by it.
Back then, I had merely thought, What a pointlessly huge tree.
‘Now that I look at it again, it feels strange.’
The ancient tree I was seeing again gave off an odd air.
An ancient tree, in the truest sense of the word.
A tree that had taken root in the earth long ago and endured the passing of time.
It had been called one of the Martial Alliance’s symbols and treated almost as something sacred.
Now that I looked at it, I understood why.
‘There’s energy imbued in it.’
An unusually dense energy could be glimpsed within the ancient tree.
I had heard that energy sometimes seeped into old objects or living creatures.
That tree seemed to be precisely such a case.
‘Interesting.’
I could not see this energy in my previous life. Feeling it now, I stared at the tree with interest.
It did not seem likely that all that energy was simply there for no reason...
There seemed to be something more.
‘Should I use the Mind’s Eye?’
Would I be able to see more deeply if I used it?
I was thinking that as I began to focus my eyes when—
“The Azure Dragon Corps Commander and the Sage King are entering.”
At the voice from ahead, I had to stop, clicking my tongue.
It seemed we had unfortunately arrived at our destination.
Creak—
A huge gate opened, and I stepped inside.
There was one of the largest rooms in the Martial Alliance beyond it. More than a dozen tables and chairs had been arranged, and several people already occupied their seats.
Whoosh—
‘Ugh.’
The moment I entered the room, its distinctive air brushed against the tip of my nose.
‘...It’s awfully stuffy.’
A heavy, unpleasant sensation.
The air was saturated with internal energy.
The room itself was not narrow, but the energy radiating from the people inside was the cause.
‘This is something else.’
I turned my eyes around and counted the people.
There were four.
With me and the One-Clear Sword added, there were six.
Six people in total.
‘And five of them have surpassed the Hwagyeong realm.’
More than half of them had reached the Hwagyeong realm.
Given the circumstances, was it not only natural for the air to become like this?
I was clicking my tongue repeatedly at the rather uncomfortable sensation when—
“You have arrived.”
The person seated in the center spoke.
He was the only person present who was not in the Hwagyeong realm.
He was not even a martial artist.
“Yes, Elder. We meet again.”
I smiled as I spoke to the man, Mukyeon, the Martial Alliance’s strategist.
Mukyeon also responded with a faint smile.
“I am not late, am I? I believe I am not, but since everyone is gathered, I wondered if perhaps I had arrived late.”
“You are not late. You arrived precisely on time.”
“That is a relief.”
As I spoke, I examined the people one by one.
Mukyeon, the strategist.
The others were...
‘Including the Bright Palace, the Twin-Patterned Phantom Sword, and the Silver Wolf Sword?’
The Vermilion Dragon Corps Commander, the Golden Dragon Corps Commander, and the Iron Dragon Corps Commander.
That meant that, including the One-Clear Sword, four corps commanders were present.
After looking around for a moment, I pointed to a chair.
“May I sit anywhere?”
“Please, make yourself comfortable.”
Grunt.
I found a chair and sat down, and the One-Clear Sword took his seat as well.
Naturally, he sat a little distance away from me.
Seeing that, Mukyeon gave me his characteristic look and spoke.
“I heard there was some trouble before you came. Was everything all right?”
It seemed he had already heard that something had happened between the One-Clear Sword and me.
It did not matter. It was only natural that Mukyeon would know already.
“Oh, it wasn’t exactly trouble... just a minor difference of opinion.”
I waved my hand as though it were nothing important, then added while looking at the One-Clear Sword,
“Isn’t that right, Senior One-Clear Sword?”
“...”
As I singled him out, a slight crease appeared between the One-Clear Sword’s brows.
For a moment, I wondered if he had failed to control his expression. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
“It was nothing worth worrying about. My subordinate made a serious mistake, but the Sage King was kind enough to let it pass.”
‘Wow.’
His words came pouring out so smoothly that I almost let out a hollow laugh.
Just a moment ago, the One-Clear Sword had been blazing as though he might explode. It seemed he had organized his thoughts in the meantime.
Otherwise, he could not have spoken so smoothly.
Mukyeon gave a slight nod after hearing him.
“I see. Understood.”
Was that his way of ending the matter there?
Well, dragging it out any further would have been pointless.
There was something more important to discuss now.
“Then... it seems everyone is here. We shall begin the discussion.”
We were finally getting to the main subject.
The atmosphere shifted slightly at those words.
Tap, tap.
Mukyeon had already taken out a letter and placed it on the table. He picked up a small brush and opened his mouth.
“The Flying Dragon Corps Commander has been assigned a specific mission just prior to this gathering and is therefore absent. The Guardian Corps Commander has an appointment with the Alliance Lord. Furthermore—”
Swish.
Even as he spoke, his brush lightly touched down upon the letter.
“The Divine Dragon Corps Commander is accompanying him on that appointment and is likewise absent.”
The Divine Dragon Corps Commander.
At those words, my ears perked up.
‘Does that mean he isn’t here?’
I had come half-expecting to see him if he showed up, but it seemed he was away at the moment.
Then—
Grunt.
A strange sound came from not far away.
It had come from none other than the One-Clear Sword’s direction.
I looked over, wondering what the sound was, but there was nothing visibly different about him.
“Therefore, we shall begin today’s corps commanders’ conference with those currently present.”
I nodded at Mukyeon’s words.
This was the reason I had come to the Martial Alliance today.
‘A corps commanders’ conference...’
As the name suggested, it was a meeting where the corps commanders gathered to discuss matters. Naturally, the reason I was attending was because—
“The reason for holding today’s conference is that, before the Sage King begins serving as a corps commander, there are matters he must convey to the other corps commanders.”
Starting today, I was to become one of the Martial Alliance’s corps commanders.
There would be no formal introductions. The atmosphere was not relaxed enough for that, and I preferred getting to the point quickly anyway. Honestly, this was better.
As I recall, the name was probably the Azure Dragon Corps.
‘Ah... I already feel like throwing up.’
My title was bad enough, but the corps name was awful too. On top of that—
‘And everyone’s reactions are a complete mess.’
The corps commanders listening to him were not exactly pleased.
The One-Clear Sword maintained an expressionless face, but judging from what I had seen earlier, he could not possibly be happy.
The other corps commanders were no different.
The Vermilion Dragon Corps Commander showed no particular emotion, but the others were plainly uncomfortable.
I wondered why they were reacting that way, though I more or less knew the reason.
‘Some kid who knows nothing suddenly became a corps commander. Of course they’d all react like this.’
The corps commanders of the Martial Alliance were like pillars responsible for the Alliance itself.
For that reason, the position of corps commander was ordinarily given to those who had spent many years serving the Alliance, demonstrated strength, and proven their loyalty to it.
At least ten years.
Perhaps even longer.
It was a position one might or might not obtain only after enduring years of difficult service.
Yet someone like me, a mere youngster, had suddenly taken that position. From the corps commanders’ perspective, it was only natural that they would be uncomfortable.
However.
‘It also meant they were desperate enough to push ahead despite knowing that.’
The Martial Alliance must have anticipated the corps commanders’ resistance.
Even so, they had decided to install me as a corps commander.
In other words—
‘I was more important than the corps commanders’ opposition.’
That was how it could look from their perspective.
No, that had clearly been the case. Otherwise, they would not have shown their discomfort so openly.
“First, the corps assigned to the Sage King has been named the Azure Dragon Corps.”
I had already heard that, so I showed no reaction.
It was more important to observe the corps commanders’ responses than to listen to Mukyeon’s words.
“Furthermore, as previously conveyed, the Azure Dragon Corps will be a corps specializing in the unorthodox faction, and will carry out missions focused primarily on combat.”
I had heard that just yesterday.
The unit I would command would play a major role in suppressing the unorthodox faction mentioned earlier.
‘A unit assigned to the unorthodox faction.’
Not one responsible for both monsters and humans.
A unit established solely to handle the unorthodox faction.
As the Alliance Lord had said, it had also been prepared as a show of force before the coming war with the unorthodox faction.
“And...”
Swish. Scratch.
Mukyeon continued to examine the letter even as he spoke.
He seemed to be writing something, but I did not look closely.
Were all clever people like that?
Madam Mi and Murong Huia sometimes did things like that too.
It felt as if they were always carrying out another task at the same time.
Perhaps they thought it was efficient.
I did not particularly understand it, but it was not as though I needed to.
In any case.
Everything was fine up to this point.
None of it mattered much to me.
“The members of the corps have, until now, been selected from within the Alliance. However...”
The important part was—
“The members of the Azure Dragon Corps will be selected from outside the Alliance through a separate examination within five days.”
From the very beginning of the conference, the corps commanders’ discontent was about to explode.