Chapter 1101: Scorched World.

Hiiing.

Rattle-! Thump-!

Along with the echoing sounds of horses, the cramped, cramped space rattles. Inside, the only sounds spreading were the rumble of wheels and quiet breaths.

Those were the only sounds heard within the quiet carriage.

‘……I think I’m gonna puke, seriously.’

I don’t get carsick. I passed that point long ago, so I’m not uncomfortable with that, but.

‘To think I have to be crammed in here with a bunch of guys.’

The feeling of shoulders brushing against me every time the carriage moved. That was the issue. With three guys crammed into the narrow carriage, we kept bumping into each other with every slight jolt.

Several days had already passed like this.

Jolt-!

The carriage jolted again, sending my body careening sideways into the guy on my left. He scowled and said to me,

“Don’t touch me. It feels gross, so stop touching me.”

At that, I furrowed my brow.

“Do you think I want to be touching you? If you hate it so much, then move away.”

“What was that?”

Geomryong, the guy on my left. He reacted as if angered by my words.

“How am I supposed to move away any further than this?”

“That’s what I’m saying. How am I supposed to avoid touching you in here? Can’t you see?”

I had already dropped formalities with Geomryong. Conscientiously, knowing Namgung Jin, the Geomwang (Sword King), I had wanted to maintain propriety if possible. But his younger self looked exactly like Namgung Cheonjun, no matter how I looked at it, so I couldn’t.

“You punk…!”

“What? Annoyed? If you’re annoyed, bump into me again.”

He was irritating me, so I considered giving him another beating. ‘Why does he keep acting up?’ I’m already pissed off, so this time I should definitely put him in his place.

Grinding my teeth with a ‘ppadeuk’, I was about to reach out when-

“Now, now… please calm yourselves. If the carriage breaks down or something here, we don’t know how Miss Mi will react.”

“……”

“……”

The moment Mi Hyoran’s name came up, uttered by Do-yun as if to mediate, Geomryong and I froze like statues.

Just yesterday. Geomryong kept annoying me, so I had tried to lightly subdue him. Perhaps because my strength was too much then, the carriage was slightly damaged in an accident.

That time.

‘That was truly terrifying.’

Mi Hyoran had been so furious when she saw the carriage. I never knew an angry face could be so terrifying.

‘…So Madam Mi was like that in her youth.’

She was always a composed and dignified woman, but I realized for the first time that Mi Hyoran was someone who could make her fly off the handle like that. Facing that fury, Geomryong and I could only bow our heads, speechless.

Frankly, I’d wondered why Mi Hyoran was involved in the Blue Dragon Brigade’s mission in the first place.

‘Since it’s the support carriage, I guess there was no choice.’

The reason given was that the Baekhwa Merchant Group was solely responsible for sponsoring the Blue Dragon Brigade. In exchange for providing support with carriages and food for this trip, Mi Hyoran came along as the person in charge, or so I heard.

Given that reason, I really had nothing to argue. More importantly, if Geomju, the person in charge, had permitted it, what room was there for complaint?

‘Ahem.’

Thanks to that, I ended up in this situation.

Mi Hyoran and So-i. And Father was riding in the large carriage ahead. The three of us guys were crammed into the compartment attached to the cargo carriage.

‘…How pathetic. Truly pathetic.’

What kind of blatant discrimination is this? I only experienced discrimination in my past life; at least, I hadn’t experienced it in this one.

‘It’s a feeling I haven’t had in ages.’

I endured it, and boy, did I miss this feeling. Damn it.

I held back a sigh.

Should I just run or fly instead? That would be several times faster, but…

‘I need to stick close.’

Given the circumstances, I chose not to. It was because I’d decided to stick close to Do-yun, if possible. My father too, and considering the current situation, sticking together seemed like the right choice.

‘Sip.’

Even if it’s stuffy, what choice do I have? If I’m going to gain something, I have to endure this much.

‘This guy is the problem.’

Geomryong, next to me. This damn guy was the problem. He kept getting on my nerves, and honestly, I wanted to put him in his place, but…

‘Damn it.’

A certain woman came to mind, so I had to tolerate him as much as possible. If something were to happen to this guy, that side could also face trouble later.

‘If only he hadn’t come with us.’

I never intended to stick close to Namgung Jin in the first place. But the mission turned out this way, so there was no choice. This mission required Namgung Jin. The reason being…

‘The mission’s destination…’

Was the Namgung Family.

---

On the fourth day of the journey.

As night began to fall, the carriage stopped. As the sun had set and the moon was just beginning to rise, we decided to make a temporary camp by a nearby stream.

Chiiik.

I stretched out my limbs while watching the food grilling over the fire. The air was quiet. Despite sitting down for the meal, the atmosphere remained remarkably quiet. The past few days had all been like this.

We barely spoke to each other. Father didn’t say a word. Only occasionally would So-i or Mi Hyoran speak to Father. Amidst all this, I could feel Namgung Jin stealing glances at Mi Hyoran.

‘He really seems to be.’

That fellow. He really seemed to like Madam Mi. If he’s showing it this obviously, it must be the real deal.

And.

‘With him showing it so obviously, how could Madam Mi not know?’

Madam Mi, who possessed incredibly sharp intuition, didn’t seem like she wouldn’t notice Namgung Jin’s feelings when he displayed them so openly. From my perspective, I suspected she was intentionally ignoring it.

‘So, the Geomwang liked Madam Mi…’

I wonder, was this something unique to this world? Or was it the same in the world I came from? It was hard to react, as I didn’t really know.

‘Hmm.’

I just occasionally watched Madam Mi and Father sitting together. It was a familiar, yet distant sight. Madam Mi was constantly by Father’s side, busy taking care of him, even tending to things that didn’t really need attention. Like warning him something might stain his clothes. Or that he had enough food. She’d ask questions and act accordingly.

No matter how I look at it, that’s…

‘It’s obvious.’

Just as Namgung Jin has feelings for Madam Mi. Madam Mi must have feelings for Father. She was showing it so plainly, Namgung Jin’s expression grew increasingly sour.

‘Hmph.’

It felt awkward to watch. This situation wasn’t pleasant at all. So, after watching for a bit, I stood up.

“I’ll take my leave first.”

“Are you done eating?”

As I stood up, So-i asked, looking at me.

“Yes. I’ll go get ready for the first watch.”

At my words, Father looked at me. Then he said,

“Don’t wander off.”

He uttered words that were, in a way, a warning. Knowing that he was keeping an eye on me due to the incident with Geomjon, I nodded briefly and replied.

“……Understood.”

With that, I rose from my seat.

---

The place I headed after leaving the meal wasn’t far. The carriage that held the provisions I had originally been riding in. I headed towards that section.

‘How many more days until the Namgung Family…’ Since we’re traveling to Anhui, there should be several more days left.

And besides,

‘Why are we even going?’

All I know is… That the destination was the Namgung Family. For what purpose were the Blue Dragon Brigade. And why we had to go there, I couldn’t figure out.

‘Judging by the circumstances, it doesn’t seem like a particularly dangerous mission.’ Seeing as Madam Mi is involved. It couldn’t be a dangerous mission. They wouldn’t undertake a dangerous mission with the sponsor’s representative tagging along.

‘Then what is it?’

I can’t think of anything. I rolled my eyes around, trying to think, but it was no use. I knew nothing. No one had told me anything.

‘…Well, if anything major were to happen…’ I hadn’t expected us to set out immediately after arriving in Hanam. Especially the Namgung Family.

‘A place I’ve visited twice.’ Twice, across both my past and present lives. I went for my engagement ceremony with Namgung Bi-ah, and the other time was from my past life.

‘Hmm…’ Recalling the engagement ceremony, I scratched my cheek awkwardly. Namgung Bi-ah had suddenly crossed my mind. I wonder if she’s doing well. Maybe because it’s been a while since I last saw her, she’d pop into my head now and then. Perhaps it was because Namgung Jin was here with us. And because we were heading to the Namgung Family with that guy. Maybe that’s why I was thinking of her.

‘…….’

I shook my head. There was no point dwelling on it, so I pushed the thought away. Then, before I knew it, I found myself arriving at the carriage I’d been heading for.

‘The carriage with the provisions, right.’ The place I had been riding in for days. Seeing it suddenly reminded me of something.

When was that?

‘Probably when I was heading to the Tang Family.’ The Tang Byeongjeonhoe. Was it when I was leaving to attend it? There was that time Wi Seol-ah hid and came along in a carriage just like this. It was a carriage like this back then, too.

As if feeling nostalgic, I took a closer look at the carriage. A carriage that wasn’t exactly cramped, but wasn’t spacious either. How on earth did she think of hiding in a place like this? What’s more,

‘Wasn’t she eating something?’ Maybe because it was filled with provisions, Wi Seol-ah was hiding inside while stuffing her face. I remember being startled by some noise back then, too.

Chomp. Munch.

‘Yeah, noises like this…’

Huh?

I scrunched up my face at the sound coming from the carriage. There’s a sound coming from inside?

‘…What is that?’

What kind of sound is that? I expanded my senses, but I couldn’t feel any sign of life within the carriage.

Jlep.

Jlep jlep.

……Then what is this?

I quickly approached and lifted the cloth covering the carriage. And there,

“Mmmph… Eugh… Huh?”

“……”

I made eye contact with the person inside, who was heartily eating.

“Aah!”

The woman exclaimed in surprise,

“I’ve been caught? Oh no…?”

“……”

Looking at her, my jaw dropped.

‘Mother…?’

It was a familiar face.