Chapter 610: Biwoegun.

“How is your condition?”

“…”

To the words spoken, Namgung Bi-ah offered no reply.

She merely watched the young man quietly.

“I’m mentioning this in case you’re bothered, but…”

The young man pointed to Namgung Bi-ah’s waist with his hand.

“I didn’t treat you. I had another woman treat you, so you don’t need to worry…”

“I’m not bothered.”

“…I see.”

At Namgung Bi-ah’s firm reply, the young man chuckled awkwardly.

“I’ll ask again, how is your condition?”

“…”

To the young man’s question, Namgung Bi-ah did not answer this time either.

She merely showed the young man the shackles bound to her hand.

Cheol-geok.

A sound came from the chains bound to her hand.

As the young man looked at it, Namgung Bi-ah spoke to him.

“Take it off.”

“Haha.”

Hearing her words, he had to laugh incredulously.

To think she’d say it so boldly.

“If I could, I would have taken it off long ago.”

“Then take it off now.”

“Sword Dancer, I’m saying this because I cannot.”

“…Why?”

“…”

Why?

For a moment, words failed him.

What should I answer to this?

Seeing the woman ask with a face that seemed genuinely clueless, the young man had to smile bitterly.

“If I am not to kill you, this is the only way.”

The words offered as an answer, instead, circled back and tore the young man’s heart to shreds.

It was truly a pathetic excuse of a statement.

“Do not even think about escaping. Those are not shackles that can be easily removed.”

“…”

Hearing this, Namgung Bi-ah’s expression changed subtly.

It was because she had already been subtly trying to exert force on the shackles.

And then she could tell.

‘My energy.’

Perhaps due to the shackles, her energy wasn’t moving properly. Perhaps sensing Namgung Bi-ah’s actions.

“Your internal injuries probably haven’t healed completely either, so just rest for now.”

The young man said so in a calm tone.

“…”

Hearing this, Namgung Bi-ah had to secretly release the force she was applying.

Afterwards, Namgung Bi-ah turned her gaze, looking around the place.

Ung-ung-!

The constant vibrating sensation felt bothersome, but seeing her surroundings was the priority now.

Although it was too dark to see clearly, it didn’t feel like simple jade.

Sensing a faint scent, Namgung Bi-ah spoke to the young man.

“A formation?”

“That’s right.”

A formation had been set up in the space.

She could tell that much, but she couldn’t properly grasp the situation.

Had it distorted space?

It was harder to know because her energy was blocked by the shackles.

In other words, there was currently no particular way.

“Hmm…”

Having grasped that much, Namgung Bi-ah suddenly shifted her position, lying down slightly.

“Huh?”

Seeing that, the young man let out a gasp.

It was because he found it absurd.

Namgung Bi-ah lay down.

As if intending to just rest in this situation, she took the most comfortable posture imaginable.

“…What are you doing?”

Seeing that, the young man asked, and Namgung Bi-ah turned her head slightly to speak to him.

“…I’m going to sleep.”

“In this situation…?”

“…You… said you wouldn’t take it off.”

“Well, yes, but…”

How could she be so brazen?

It was a completely unexpected sight. To think she would lie down without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing that, it actually hurt his insides even more.

So he had no choice but to ask.

“Why… aren’t you asking?”

Why aren’t you asking? He had no choice but to ask that.

Hearing such a question, Namgung Bi-ah looked at the young man quietly.

A somewhat uncomfortable silence flowed between them.

She knew what the young man was asking.

Why did it have to be like this?

How could you have created this situation?

It was likely a question asking why he wasn’t asking that.

“I… already asked.”

She had already asked during their meeting before she lost consciousness.

She remembered his answer from back then, too.

“‘There is something I must protect.'”

“…”

There is something to protect.

Just like you.

It is something I had to do, just as I did.

They had had such a conversation.

“Besides that… is there anything else…?”

“…No.”

The words he managed to utter, to the extent he could.

Though that was the young man’s best effort.

To the one who heard it, it was merely a frustrating statement.

Even though she clearly knew that, Namgung Bi-ah didn’t ask any further questions.

The young man simply couldn’t understand why.

“Don’t you resent me?”

It was the young man who targeted Namgung Bi-ah as she fled.

He amassed troops and blocked her escape route.

He sent a Great General, who was at the Hwagyeong level or higher, along with dozens of soldiers to inflict external and internal wounds upon Namgung Bi-ah.

Was that also something that had to be done?

The young man couldn’t offer any certainty about it.

Saying it had to be done would be an excuse.

Knowing it shouldn’t have been done but doing it anyway would be a lame excuse.

Although he was the one who ultimately saved Namgung Bi-ah, this too was merely self-satisfaction born from an inability to bear his guilt.

Upon hearing the question regarding this, Namgung Bi-ah replied.

“…Not really…?”

Meaning she didn’t particularly think about it.

How could she not resent him?

Just as doubt began to surface upon hearing the answer.

“You chose it that way.”

Namgung Bi-ah uttered the words in a calm voice.

“‘I believe there must have been… some reason…'”

“…”

These were words filled with firm belief.

At those words, the young man had to erase his bitter smile.

He couldn’t even manage a smile anymore.

“Because you are that person’s friend.”

The words became a sword, piercing Woo-hyeok’s heart.

No, he had decided not to call himself Woo-hyeok anymore.

He had to put the memories from that time far away.

Only then could he live in the present.

“Haha… Is that the only reason you trust me?”

“Do you need more?”

“Normally, you’d need much more.”

Yes, it’s something that should require many reasons.

But.

It means that for you, that much is enough. That must be the meaning.

The young man erased the face of his friend that surfaced with the words.

“Sword Dancer.”

“Yes.”

“Do you still think… that friend sees me as a friend?”

“I don’t know.”

How could she possibly know that?

Such emotion was contained within the reply.

Of course, the young man thought inwardly that it wasn’t so.

When that friend found out about this.

What kind of expression would that friend look at him with?

It was a thought he really didn’t want to recall.

Hwi-iing.

A chill wind blew between them.

“…Then… what about you?”

Namgung Bi-ah posed the question to the young man.

“What do you think?”

“…”

What about himself?

Did he still consider him a friend?

‘I don’t know.’

The young man couldn’t answer.

If he considered him a friend, could he have done something like this?

He wasn’t sure.

Thinking about that now, too.

And looking back on the path he had taken.

It was far too late.

Deu-reureuk.

The young man stood up from the chair he was sitting on.

He didn’t offer an answer to the question.

“I shall take my leave first.”

“…”

Namgung Bi-ah didn’t seem to expect an answer either.

The young man turned and headed for the door.

Namgung Bi-ah, watching his retreating back, suddenly spoke.

“…Still.”

At that voice.

“If you happen to meet that person… apologize.”

Meomchit.

At Namgung Bi-ah’s words, the young man’s body stiffened.

Her tone was filled with firm, cold emotion.

She had been indifferent to her own situation or pain, but this was different.

“He will be very hurt.”

“…Hurt? That friend?”

“He’s a gentle person.”

Gentle, huh.

It was the most unfitting word for that friend.

In the young man’s eyes, that friend was someone who wouldn’t collapse even if the whole world fell apart.

“If he cries, I won’t forgive you.”

“…”

Wouldn’t that be something usually said in a different context?

Such a thought crossed his mind, but the young man didn’t bother to question it.

He didn’t even have the right to do so.

“…Yes, if I ever meet him, I will surely apologize.”

He would probably be in the Central Plains by now.

If later he heard news, and if by chance that friend came to the Northern Sea around that time.

‘I will already be gone.’

He wouldn’t be on this land anymore.

It was a moment like that.

It was something that had to be.

‘I hope he accepts the apology for that.’

If he apologized with his life, wouldn’t that at least help a little?

Such a trivial thought occurred to him.

Kki-ik.

The young man grabbed the doorknob, opened it, and stepped outside.

As he stepped out of the room, he erased the thoughts in his head.

There was only one thing filling the young man’s mind right now.

[Cheong-a! Cheong-a!]

A very distant past.

The time when the young man was called by a different name, not Woo-hyeok.

It was a memory from the happiest time.

The image of a white-haired girl, innocently running up to play, surfaced in the young man’s mind.

[Let’s play!]

As if the boy’s circumstances didn’t matter at all.

The girl smiled and looked for the boy.

It was just such a memory.

Days that were nothing special, perhaps ordinary daily life for someone.

Something to be cherished alone.

That kind of memory.

The day he left the Northern Sea and headed for the Central Plains.

The boy remembered the words he said to the girl.

[‘If, by some chance, I can see you again alive.’]

Even as arrows were lodged in his back, blood pouring out, the boy spoke while looking at the crying girl.

[‘Back then–.’]

The memories surfacing stopped right there and scattered like mist.

Because the young man desperately shook his head to erase them.

There was no need to recall them anymore.

Even this was an excuse.

An excuse that no one would understand.

The young man moved his feet again.

Ttu-beok.

The sound of his footsteps echoed throughout the corridor.

Not a single lamp was lit in the dark corridor.

---

A full moon hung in the dark sky.

As if clearly indicating it was night, the surroundings were dark.

Snow was falling relentlessly.

“Are you seriously crazy?”

Muttering curses as I pushed through the blizzard.

Why doesn’t this crazy weather show any signs of calming down?

The more I see it, the less appealing it gets.

What kind of land is this?

It was truly absurd.

I heard the Northern Sea gets snow all four seasons.

Back when the Blood Demon caused the Blood Calamity.

They say something happened in the Northern Sea itself, causing the environment to change like this.

When I only heard about it, I just thought, ‘Oh, okay.’

But actually coming here made it even shittier.

“How on earth can people live here?”

The cold is endless and snow falls constantly, so of course, farming is impossible.

Then the food obtainable in this environment… wouldn’t it ultimately be only hunting?

It seems the only option is to catch something and eat it.

My question is, how many beasts could possibly exist in this cold?

Seeing that they survive even in these conditions, there must be some way.

Whatever the method, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a shitty land.

Swa-aaaah-!

Due to the blizzard, the distance was still invisible beyond a foot.

I wondered how one could find the way in such an environment, but in reality, it didn’t matter where I looked.

U-ung–!

All I had to do was follow the vibration felt from my core.

Adjusting my footing as I moved.

‘North from here.’

I shifted my path.

Towards the direction where the energy could be felt.

Of course, even after moving with effort, all that was visible was the blizzard.

Looking at that, I said.

“This is truly a shitty land.”

Do people really live on this land? It was infuriating.

As I ground my teeth and spat out curses like that.

“Ahem…”

An uncomfortable cough came from behind me.

“Well, even so… cursing like that in front of someone who lives here…”

“What, you got a problem?”

“…No, miss.”

As I was about to retort further, the woman shut her mouth with a sullen voice.

Right, she wouldn’t have anything to say.

Because if she said the wrong thing here, I would abandon her.

After hearing the woman’s reply, I looked straight ahead again.

“I really have the worst luck.”

The situation was already unpleasant.

“With the weather being this crappy, I have to carry this heavy burden too.”

“H-heavy, you say!”

Perhaps slightly stung by the words, the woman’s voice grew louder.

“Then, what else are you but a heavy burden?”

“…I am not heavy.”

Still, she didn’t seem to deny being called a burden.

“Not heavy? Have you no conscience? Well, if you did, you wouldn’t have followed me like this.”

“No…!”

“Ah, be quiet. Say one more word and I’ll abandon you.”

“…”

After the warning, she finally quieted down.

Haa.

Letting out a sigh, I started walking again.

The road ahead still seemed long, and upon that road.

I.

Was moving together with the Second Princess of the Northern Sea, Yuri.

And what’s more, carrying her on my back.