Chapter 666: Why is that person there?

There was a time when I didn’t stand out as much as I do now.

-Hey.

A time when she was known as Snow Phoenix, rather than by her name.

A time that no one remembers now.

A time when we were at each other’s throats and tried not to run into each other.

Even though we were the kind of people who wouldn’t say anything nice if we met, she was the one who sought me out.

Seeing Snow Phoenix, who had found me, I scowled deeply.

She was no different, but Snow Phoenix shot me a brusque remark.

-Eat.

-I’m not eating.

Showing up out of the blue to talk about food? It was absurd, yet also somewhat familiar.

After all, the only reasons Snow Phoenix sought me out were to talk about food or to curse me out.

-Eat. Everyone else has started eating too.

-Is that even food?

It wasn’t proper sustenance.

We just somehow cooked the monster meat we caught to fill our bellies.

Especially since we didn’t even have that, everyone was enduring hunger.

Hearing my words, Moyong Hi-ah gave me a look brimming with pity and said,

-Are you going to be picky even after coming all this way? Just eat what you’re given.

-I told you I’m not eating. Are your ears clogged? Why do you keep making me say the same thing?

-Then what, are you going to starve to death?

-I might as well die than live here.

Bbaak-!

-Kkuhk!

My head snapped back from the pain.

It was because Snow Phoenix, who had approached me, smacked the back of my head.

It hurt so much I almost passed out.

-You crazy bitch…!

As the rising anger burst out, I tried to yell at Snow Phoenix.

-Stop talking bullshit when everyone else is struggling to survive.

Looking into Snow Phoenix’s eyes, I froze for a moment.

-I know you’re an idiot. I know you’re someone who could die at any moment without it being strange.

-Then get lost instead of bothering me like this. Why do you care? You hate me, don’t you?

-That’s right. I hate you. I really hate people like you who don’t value their lives and live recklessly.

-But why…

-Still, I can’t let you die like this.

-Huh…?

You hate me, but you can’t let me die? What kind of crap logic is that?

Just as I was about to unleash a torrent of curses out of sheer annoyance,

-We won’t run out of food just because you eat one more portion. So stop worrying and come eat.

-…!

Snow Phoenix’s words shut my mouth right up.

-You think I don’t know? Everyone else knows why you’re acting like this. So stop being an idiot and come eat. You’re too weak to stop monsters from coming even if you stand guard.

-…Fuck. What are you talking about? Why would I stand guard? I’m out here because I can’t stand the sight of you guys.

I tried to explain it away, but Snow Phoenix showed no sign of belief.

-I don’t know your intentions for doing this. I don’t care either. So I won’t thank you.

-Why are you telling me that? I’m just trying to die, so please get lost!

Finally, after I yelled, Snow Phoenix stopped talking and disappeared.

Thinking back now, I think I understand why Snow Phoenix was so fixated on life.

It must have been the illness she had.

Snow Phoenix was the one struggling the hardest to live among us.

In her eyes, I must have seemed like a real piece of shit.

After all, I didn’t care when I died and had no desire for life whatsoever.

Even if I saw myself back then now, I’d want to rip that guy to shreds.

No, I definitely would have ripped him to shreds.

That’s how much of an idiot I was.

And because of that.

There was something I found even harder to understand.

Shortly after our argument,

Snow Phoenix reappeared before me.

-I told you to get lost, so why are you back…

I frowned upon Snow Phoenix’s reappearance.

It was because she was holding quite a lot of something.

-Eat.

It was monster meat.

It was the provisions I had obtained to eat.

-Wow, are you really a crazy bitch?

-Yes, I am. So eat.

I’m going insane. Why did she bring this?

Why am I sitting here like I’m running away?

There’s even a lot of it.

There must surely be some guys who couldn’t eat that much.

-What do you want me to do with it brought like this?

-If you don’t eat it, I’ll bring more. If you still don’t eat it then, I’ll just throw it all on the ground so no one can eat it.

-Huh…?

No matter what I said, Snow Phoenix genuinely intended to do it.

Her eyes were serious.

She really intended to throw it all away if I didn’t eat it.

Why, the hell?

Why on earth is she doing this to me? I couldn’t understand it at all, so I looked at Snow Phoenix.

-So, eat.

Snow Phoenix repeated the same words to me.

-And live. Unless it’s an unavoidable situation. If you can live, then live.

-…You.

It was an abnormal obsession with life. She seemed like a woman without any flaws, yet she appeared somewhat broken.

Why was she obsessed to that extent?

Back then, I couldn’t know the reason.

It’s because I was too young and lacking to realize anything.

However, the one thing I could grasp from it was.

That the woman named Snow Phoenix was somehow twisted, just like me.

And that I felt a faint sense of kinship from it.

That must have been it.

-…Tsk.

The reason I accepted the food while maintaining my pride, despite everything.

And the reason I agreed to make sacrifices without complaint when Snow Phoenix later asked for them.

It was all likely because of this brief memory.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

At my gaze, Moyong Hi-ah tilted her head.

Right, it’s Moyong Hi-ah, not Snow Phoenix.

“I just suddenly remembered something from the past.”

“Something from the past? When? Was it when we first met?”

“Around that time, roughly.”

“Come to think of it, several years have passed already. I was prettier back then because I was younger, you know.”

Moyong Hi-ah said it with a hint of regret.

That was quite amusing.

How much time has even passed?

“You’re laughing again. What’s so funny? Or is it really because I was prettier back then?”

“Well…”

After thinking for a moment, I blurted it out.

“I didn’t know back then. But now, I think you’re pretty.”

“…What?”

A time when I didn’t even have the energy to look at Moyong Hi-ah’s face.

Unlike back then when I didn’t even try to look into her eyes, our relationship has changed significantly.

‘You don’t scowl at me anymore.’

Ah, sometimes you do, but the emotions reflected in your eyes make me feel alright.

That’s why I try to look at your face these days.

As I look more, you’re actually quite pretty.

“W-what? Why are you suddenly saying that?”

Hearing my words, Moyong Hi-ah’s face flushed red.

And her skin was so fair, the blush was very noticeable.

“Did the skewer go bad…? No… that’s weird…”

“How can you look at a person like that?”

“Are you feeling very ill, Gongja-nim? The Divine Doctor didn’t mention anything…?”

“Ill? Who said I was ill… wait a second.”

Something Moyong Hi-ah said caught my attention.

“What is the Divine Doctor doing here?”

“Ah.”

At my pointing it out, Moyong Hi-ah made a ‘slip-up’ expression.

“No way…. Are you… getting updates on my physical condition from the Divine Doctor?”

“No. That’s impossible.”

“…”

She stared suspiciously, but.

The Divine Doctor wasn’t the type to carelessly talk about his patient’s condition.

I firmly believed it wasn’t the case.

“Ah, it’s hot. It’s very hot, isn’t it, Gongja-nim? Let’s go get something cool to drink.”

Moyong Hi-ah started walking ahead, as if trying to change the subject.

I chuckled watching her back.

“Seriously.”

Perhaps because Moyong Hi-ah usually never makes mistakes, when she does slip up once, she gets quite flustered.

That side of her was a little cute….

‘…Hm?’

I stopped mid-thought.

Cute? Did I just think Moyong Hi-ah was cute?

‘I must be really tired.’

I must not be in my right mind.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible.

I shook my head and followed Moyong Hi-ah, who was walking ahead, but

“Wait up. We have to go together.”

Moyong Hi-ah, her ears flushed red, didn’t stop even when I called out to her.

---

After that, we visited a couple more inns.

The fortunate thing was that, unlike the merchant guild or inns we saw earlier, there were no particular oddities.

The time passed noon and reached the afternoon.

“With this, the merchant guild tasks are finished.”

Moyong Hi-ah said, holding a stack of letters, unlike before.

Hearing that, I had to scowl deeply.

“What do you mean, ‘merchant guild tasks’?”

“Yes?”

“Does that mean there are more tasks?”

As I asked in surprise, Moyong Hi-ah smiled and said,

“Don’t worry. The remaining tasks won’t take that long.”

So, there are more tasks.

“…Do you usually do this much work?”

“No. It’s also the settlement day, which happens once every two months. It’s easier to change the water when we conduct surprise raids like this.”

Change the water… Of course, it wouldn’t be literal water, but people, I presumed.

“Why did I have to get dragged out on a day like this?”

“It’s not ‘why did you have to’. I deliberately dragged you out on a day like this.”

“What…?”

“It’s easier to use as an excuse to keep you around longer, isn’t it?”

Moyong Hi-ah continued walking, letting out her characteristic sweet voice.

Meanwhile, she never let go of my arm, determined to drag me along.

Unlike our previous wandering around town, we were now walking on a forest path.

“Where are we going now?”

No matter how I looked, it didn’t seem like a place where a merchant guild would be.

It was summer, so there were particularly many insects, and it was clearly hot and humid.

As Moyong Hi-ah extremely detested insects, I spread out a protective barrier around her so they wouldn’t touch her.

“There’s something the Guild Leader-nim has been working on recently.”

“A task?”

“Yes. They’re buying land in a part of the forest and building a structure.”

I’ve heard of it.

That was also the reason Beomdong visited me before.

‘It was because Ddol-ddol landed on the land purchased by the Baekhwa Merchant Guild.’

Thinking about that,

“…Here.”

“That’s right. That’s the place. The land where Gongja-nim arrived.”

It was the exact spot where I arrived riding Ddol-ddol.

“That’s also why we’re trying to tighten our grip on the affiliated merchant guilds and inns.”

“What exactly are they trying to build?”

“A 鏢局 (Byeonguk – Escort Agency).”

“…Huh?”

As soon as I heard that, I tilted my head.

An Escort Agency?

“The Baekhwa Merchant Guild is establishing an Escort Agency?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t make sense.

A merchant guild establishing an escort agency.

That wasn’t particularly strange.

Especially during times like these, with monsters appearing, there were cases where guilds operated their own escort agencies.

Since they couldn’t keep hiring martial artists for protection indefinitely, they sometimes established their own escort agencies.

Given that.

“The Baekhwa Merchant Guild already has one.”

The Baekhwa Merchant Guild had indeed been operating an escort agency for a long time.

Was it the Baekhwa Escort Agency? I heard they operated it together with the Baekhwa Merchant Guild’s main headquarters, so in that situation…

‘They’re establishing another escort agency in Hannam?’

Of all places, Hannam.

It was a location where, due to the presence of the Murim Alliance and Shaolin, no one considered establishing an escort agency.

Furthermore.

“…Did the Alliance permit this?”

To establish an escort agency here, one must officially receive permission from the Alliance.

However, I had never heard of the Alliance granting permission for an escort agency to be established in Hannam before.

“That part hasn’t been approved yet…. But the Guild Leader said she has a way.”

A way, huh.

If Madam Mi says so, there must definitely be something going on.

“So, they’re buying the land first and building the structure?”

“Yes. Since they started preparations today, we’re on our way to see it.”

Not long after hearing that, sounds came from within the forest.

Kkung-! Kkung-!

-Hey! Watch out for the trees!

-Mr. Jang-!! The frame doesn’t fit here-!!

It sounded like master carpenters were building the structure.

Should I head that way?

As I tried to follow the sounds,

“Not that way, Gongja-nim.”

“Hm?”

Moyong Hi-ah started pulling my arm and leading me in a different direction.

“Where are we going? The construction is happening over there?”

“We can see the building later. Since they just started raising it today, there’s no need to see it right now.”

“Hm?”

“What we… no, more accurately, what Gongja-nim needs to look at isn’t the building, but the people.”

“Hm?”

Look at people?

I was taken aback by the unexpected words.

As we walked, being led like that, a clearing appeared not far away.

It didn’t seem like a naturally formed place.

It looked like a place that had been artificially tidied up.

And I could feel dense energies emanating from there.

‘What is this.’

People were gathered in the clearing, and it was the energy emanating from them.

And it was quite dense at that.

By a rough estimate, there were over dozens of people…

‘All of them are at least first-rate.’

The level of each and every one of them was extraordinary.

“Who are these people?”

Wondering what the situation was, I asked Moyong Hi-ah.

“They are all prospective Byeosa (escorts).”

“…?”

All those people are Byeosa?

Prospective Byeosa, even?

‘But why are their levels like this?’

Byeosa at the first-rate level should be at the level of Byeotou (head escort), but they’re not even Byeosa, they’re prospective Byeosa?

As I was about to express my confusion,

“It seems the Guild Leader intends to create a rather special Escort Agency.”

Moyong Hi-ah, perhaps sensing my confusion, added an explanation.

“So that’s why they gathered this many people?”

First-rate is the minimum, and there are even those above that level.

It means the majority of them are far too outstanding to be mere Byeosa.

“Anyway, that’s why I hope Gongja-nim can help with some work.”

“…What work do you want me to help with?”

“We need to select exactly seven people from over there…. I think it would be great if Gongja-nim could pick out the suitable ones.”

“…”

She was asking me to be a judge.

Specifically, judging candidates for Byeosa.

Finding the situation rather absurd, I chuckled and looked over the people.

The dozens of people all had unpleasant expressions.

Well, it’s understandable they wouldn’t be pleased, being gathered under this blazing sun for a judging.

Especially at the first-rate level, they’re likely in their arrogant prime.

After hearing her, I scanned the surroundings.

‘Fifteen at the first-rate level, nine at the peak… and there are even accomplished peaks?’

How did people of that caliber come to be Byeosa? It was astonishing just to have gathered them.

As I casually glanced at each person,

“…Huh?”

My moving gaze fixed on one spot.

At the very back of the countless people.

While everyone else clearly showed signs of irritation, I saw one particularly expressionless individual.

My gaze remained fixed there.

‘…What is this…?’

The moment I saw the person, my eyes widened.

Not only was it a familiar face, but it was also a face that shouldn’t be here.

Our eyes met.

The other party must have already spotted me, because after our eyes met, they casually waved at me.

It seemed like a friendly gesture, but I couldn’t react.

Why, the hell.

‘…Is that thing here?’

Could the Heavenly Demon (Cheonma) be here?

I couldn’t comprehend it at all.