Chapter 410: The Last Bandit.

Right after the White Lotus Sword, who suddenly appeared, screwed me over.

Somehow, I need to clean this up….

No, I couldn’t really clean it up, so after chasing away the guys giving me weird looks, I decided to have a private talk with the White Lotus Sword.

Trying to talk right then and there was impossible because the White Lotus Sword wailed at the top of her lungs.

‘I’m going crazy.’

Who could have predicted that a woman, who looked to be at least middle-aged, would suddenly start screaming and wailing right there?

Just thinking about it again made my head spin.

I truly prayed that no weird rumors would spread, but…

Considering how that brat Woo-hyeok’s mouth is like a leaky faucet, weird rumors will probably start spreading before long.

That damn bastard.

Even in my past life, he had a history of causing trouble for days by twisting rumors about Snow Phoenix and me.

Because of that, Snow Phoenix, who was furious, almost froze the Sleeping Dragon whole, but the Sword Sage managed to save him.

Anyway, if that bastard saw anything, I should have gone and shut his mouth before it was too late.

But that wasn’t possible right now.

There was no other way….

“Haa….”

Looking at the scene before me, a sigh escaped my lips.

Just as I was repeatedly pondering what to do.

First, I decided to try saying something.

…But what should I say?

“Um….”

Jerk.

As I tried to utter a word, I saw her flinch.

Seeing that, I had to sigh once more.

Haa-

The person who heard my sigh seemed to have mistaken something, as she asked me with a rather pitiful expression.

“…Sh-should I hold my hands up higher?”

Contrary to her cold and composed appearance, the woman had a rather shaky voice and was even kneeling with both hands held up high.

She looked like she was being punished.

The problem was.

“…No, please put them down.”

The problem was that she was doing it on her own, not because I told her to.

Especially since she was a woman who had lived more than twice as long as me.

Not just in age, but a master from a previous generation with a career active in the Central Plains, whose reputation was incomparable to mine now, was showing such a pathetic sight before me.

I had no idea how to interpret this.

In such an absurd situation, I asked the woman standing punishment, the White Lotus Sword, Moyong Biyeon, a question.

“Why are you acting like this….”

“I guess holding them higher….”

“Please, Senior-nim~! Put your arms down.”

As I pleaded with her, the White Lotus Sword finally lowered her arms cautiously.

Just seeing it made me feel dizzy.

Why on earth is this person acting like this towards me?

Just trying to recall it gave me a headache.

Suppressing the rising irritation, I asked the White Lotus Sword, who was cautiously getting up.

“What is your intention in acting like this towards me?”

“Hm…?”

“I asked why you’re acting like this.”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.

The fact that she suddenly showed up and grabbed my pant leg.

And now, out of the blue, she started kneeling and holding her hands up high.

Seeing this, I couldn’t figure out the character of the White Lotus Sword.

It was a personality type I had never encountered before. That made it even harder.

What is this person?

As I was contemplating this.

Hearing my question, the White Lotus Sword smiled sheepishly and said.

“Because I did wrong. I have to beg.”

Hearing that, I put aside my rising emotions and looked at the White Lotus Sword strangely.

It was certainly true, but for some reason, it sounded peculiar.

In a world where the words of the strong become the law.

Someone like the White Lotus Sword would usually get away with being a bit shameless, so it was quite refreshing to hear such words from her.

However, even so….

“…But you can’t just suddenly kneel down like that.”

To kneel before a junior who is easily decades younger than you.

This was something that couldn’t happen according to my common sense.

Thinking about how it made it awkward to get angry, should I consider it a not-so-bad method?

I don’t know.

I was already caught up in the White Lotus Sword’s atmosphere and couldn’t think straight.

As I stared at her, dumbfounded, the White Lotus Sword soon continued.

“Will you forgive me?”

“…”

Hearing that, I was speechless.

Forgiveness or whatever, why is she really acting like this towards me?

Trying hard to suppress it, I spoke to the White Lotus Sword in the calmest voice possible.

“Senior-nim. If it’s an apology, shouldn’t you be giving it to others, not me?”

Honestly, as I said, the White Lotus Sword hadn’t really done anything wrong to me.

She hadn’t sparred with me, and the fact that my arm hurt slightly from its effects was because I stepped in to block it myself, so it wasn’t right to call it her fault either.

So if she had to apologize, the recipients should be the kids who were sparring, not me.

As I spoke with that thought in mind, the White Lotus Sword smiled brightly as if telling me not to worry about that, and said.

“I already apologized to the kids.”

“You did?”

“Of course!”

Could it be…

“…Did you perhaps do it like you just did to me?”

Did she kneel and hold both hands up high to them just like she did to me?

With a slightly chilling thought, I quickly asked, but the White Lotus Sword waved her hand and said.

“Eh, it wasn’t like that.”

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 clasped my hands together and begged!”

“…”

“And they said it was okay.”

Who wouldn’t say it was okay when the White Lotus Sword was earnestly begging with clasped hands right in front of them?

In the end, I couldn’t help but cover my forehead.

…Should I consider that a relief too?

I really didn’t understand anything anymore.

“Ah, the Tang Family Head said to be careful, that he’d pull out if I acted up again. He said he’d be really angry.”

Did she talk to the Poison King too? I had to let out a wry laugh inwardly at those words.

‘Act up and he’ll pull out….’

The word choice was terrifyingly inappropriate.

No matter how angry the Poison King was, he wouldn’t have said it in such a cheap-sounding way, but I could roughly grasp the meaning.

If a martial artist of the White Lotus Sword’s caliber acted like this, it would inevitably cause problems for the transport itself.

It probably meant that if she was just going to cause trouble instead of helping, she should back out.

Meanwhile, I had to admire the Poison King’s patience.

‘If it were me, I wouldn’t have given a warning, I’d have pulled out already.’

No matter how strong a martial artist the White Lotus Sword was and how helpful she was to the transport, if she was uncontrollable and caused trouble, I would have pulled her out after yesterday’s incident.

Moreover, the Poison King’s own daughter, Tang Soyeol, was caught up in the sparring.

To let this slide with just a warning…

Internally adjusting my perception of the Poison King a bit more, I asked the White Lotus Sword.

“Seriously, why are you acting like this?”

It was the question I wanted to ask most from the beginning.

Hearing my question, the White Lotus Sword smiled sheepishly as before and said, but…

“Like I said before, I did wrong…”

“It doesn’t seem like something you needed to go this far for.”

I had no intention of letting it slide for just that.

“Is there something specific you want from me?”

“…”

It’s strange for someone to act like this unless they want something from me.

When I asked what her objective was, the White Lotus Sword’s expression turned strange.

It seemed she did want something after all.

‘What is it?’

What could she possibly want from me?

I thought about it, but I couldn’t figure it out.

Our relationship wasn’t significant enough to even consider something like that.

That’s probably why it felt so frustrating.

“If you want something from me, please just say it instead of acting like this….”

“The escort duty…. You said to stop.”

“…Hm?”

I had to tilt my head at the White Lotus Sword’s words, which came out mid-sentence.

Escort duty?

‘If it’s about the escort duty….’

As I thought about her words for a moment, I recalled our earlier conversation.

I remembered telling her she could quit if she was going to act like this, ignoring my words instead of escorting me.

So, those words…

‘Could she possibly be acting like this because I told her to quit the escort duty?’

I said that to make things easier for both of us. Does she mean she came to beg me because she was bothered by those words?

‘Why on earth?’

I can’t understand.

The White Lotus Sword said she came to be an escort after hearing Madam Mi’s request.

Shouldn’t she be happy if I told Madam Mi that she wasn’t needed and spoke on her behalf, considering a martial artist of her caliber came despite the inconvenience?

But instead, she came to beg me after I told her to quit the escort duty…

‘What is it.’

Does she have some other desire regarding my escort duty?

As I calculated various possibilities in my head, looking at the White Lotus Sword with a strange expression, she cautiously spoke to me.

“I’m sorry. Can’t you let me continue as your escort?”

“…”

“I won’t cause trouble anymore and will endure well. I’m usually good at enduring things, but I guess I got too excited because it had been a while since the sparring?”

“White Lotus Sword.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you so fixated on being my escort?”

“Well…. Because I was asked by Miss Mi….”

Seeing how she skirted around the question, it seemed she had no intention of revealing the reason.

‘Does she intend to continue as my escort while hiding her intentions?’

So what should I do? Should I just let her?

But I felt somewhat uneasy about that.

After all, it meant having someone with ulterior motives by my side.

As I pondered this, a sudden thought occurred to me.

“Alright. Continue then.”

At my words, the White Lotus Sword’s face lit up instantly.

Is this really something to be happy about? It’s just me saying she can continue as my escort.

However.

“But, there are conditions.”

I had my own conditions.

Perhaps it was because I mentioned conditions, but the White Lotus Sword’s gaze changed slightly.

Maybe she hadn’t imagined I’d set conditions. The White Lotus Sword’s demeanor seemed to turn a bit cold.

I was bothered by that, but…

That was also something I had hoped for, in a way.

“Conditions?”

“Yes.”

The conditions were simple.

The first is.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t act on your own without my opinion.”

“…”

Three parts of this was to ensure something like this wouldn’t happen again, and the other seven parts were my hope that the White Lotus Sword would back down after hearing my words.

The meaning of the words was literal: don’t cause trouble without my permission.

As her escort, there shouldn’t be an issue with me saying this, but…

Considering the recipient was a martial artist from a much higher generation, it was something that could easily offend her.

That wasn’t all.

There was one more condition.

“Additionally, I’d like you to grant me one favor.”

“…A favor?”

“Yes.”

Not only was I telling her not to act without permission, but also to grant a favor, causing the White Lotus Sword’s eyes to furrow deeply.

It was understandable.

If I heard something like this, I would have been offended and quit, so her reaction was natural.

And that was exactly what I was hoping for right now.

After going this far, accepting it would be a huge blow to her pride.

No matter how straightforward the White Lotus Sword’s personality was, after all this, it wouldn’t be strange if she refused, let alone got angry…

“Is that all?”

“…Huh?”

“Let’s do that. Then, I’ll continue being your escort, okay?”

I was momentarily speechless at the White Lotus Sword’s delighted, beaming smile.

“No…. Senior-nim. Did you properly hear all the conditions just now?”

“Of course, I heard everything. You said to ask before acting and to grant a favor.”

“But then why…”

She agreed even after all that? This was unexpected.

…Why on earth is she happy?

Noticing my bewildered expression, the White Lotus Sword tilted her head and asked.

“You don’t believe me?”

“…”

I nodded slightly at the White Lotus Sword’s words.

Honestly, it was hard to believe. Accepting all of this was simply incomprehensible to me.

Sensing my doubt, the White Lotus Sword rolled her eyes slightly, then clapped her hands as if she’d had an idea, and said.

“If you don’t believe me, should I put a restriction spell on?”

An even more absurd statement came out.

“…What?”

A restriction spell isn’t some random dog’s name, and you’re just casually deciding whether to cast one or not?

The moment I looked at the White Lotus Sword, dumbfounded by her words.

“Then you’ll believe me, right? Where should I cast it? Stomach? Chest? I’ll take it off now!”

“No, I don’t need a restriction spell…. Aaargh! Don’t take it off! What are you doing!”

As I hastily stopped the White Lotus Sword, who was about to bare her stomach, I thought.

This was clearly my mistake.

I should have realized it from the moment I first met her.

That the White Lotus Sword was far crazier than I expected.

---

Time passed, and it was about a month since we started our journey to Sichuan.

We were taking a slightly more difficult route, which caused us to spend more time, delaying our estimated arrival date.

It didn’t matter much.

It was time that had become vacant due to the incident 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, it was quite unfavorable, so I was going through hell.

Not only was my body exhausted from traveling by carriage…

At night, I was dying under the Dark King, and during the day, besides physical training, I was repeatedly summoned by the Fist Lord and put through the wringer, so it wasn’t exactly a good situation.

To the point where Wi Seol-ah, perhaps worried about me, even tried to forcibly hold me back and tell me to rest.

The funny thing was, seeing Wi Seol-ah made me unable to rest even more.

Was it the sparring with the White Lotus Sword last time?

Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bi-ah were often spending their time sparring.

Since I knew that recently, those around me were also training as intensely as I was, I couldn’t rest even if told to.

It’s strange.

‘They’re running themselves ragged trying to make me rest….’

I’m pushing myself to the limit, hoping they won’t suffer like in my past life.

Because I’m moving relentlessly, those around me have started suffering too.

What is this…?

Am I having a negative influence?

If a martial artist is accelerating their training, isn’t that a positive influence?

Anyway, something was flowing strangely.

Regardless, it was a day where I was spending each day training strenuously.

Around the time we were slowly entering the territory of Sichuan.

As I was resting after getting thoroughly beaten, the Fist Lord spoke to me.

“A-h-yeah.”

“Hooook… Hooook…. Yes?”

I was gasping for breath, drenched in sweat, but the Fist Lord relayed something to me as if he had heard something interesting.

“It’s something the Bat bastard told me.”

The Bat bastard the Fist Lord mentioned refers to the Dark King.

Good grief… calling the King of Assassins a bat.

That old man was clearly not entirely sane either. Seeing my face, the Fist Lord frowned and said.

“Looking at your eyes, it seems you’re cursing me in your head again.”

“…No, I’m not. How could I?”

He was annoyingly perceptive.

The Fist Lord gave me a look of disbelief, but he didn’t bother questioning me further.

The main point seemed important.

“Anyway, he said there seem to be some strange guys around.”

“Strange guys?”

“Yeah. He said they seemed like mountain bandits. Mountain bandits in this day and age… tsk tsk.”

“…!”

At the Fist Lord’s words, my eyes lit up.

Mountain bandits?