Yeomryun-gong-2

Yeomjin’s death changed everything.

Soyou couldn’t immediately shout about avenging her Master.

The tidal wave of loss, caused by the death of the Master who had been like a parent to her, engulfed the flame of anger.

Perhaps, would it have been better if she had raged about seeking revenge?

Inho thought.

After hearing the news of Yeomjin’s death, Soyou collapsed.

Like an electronic device with its power turned off, she simply crumpled.

There was no warning in her movements.

Inho spent all the money he had to call a doctor.

The doctor checked her pulse and prescribed some herbal medicine.

However, there was no improvement, and Inho kept pressing the doctor, but the doctor said that the illness was caused by psychological reasons, so there was nothing he could do.

“……”

Inho soaked a towel in cold water, wrung it out, and placed it on Soyou’s forehead.

It felt like a ball of fire.

It had been three days, and her fever hadn’t gone down.

Inho felt heavy-hearted as he watched Soyou, who was sweating and mumbling.

“Yomryun Skill and all… she’s still just a kid.”

His Master was not yet an adult by Korean standards.

No matter how much hardship she had experienced, he understood that she was not old enough to properly understand loss.

Even he, who had lived for over 30 years in his original world, was not used to loss.

He wiped her sweat with another towel.

Despite his care, Soyou showed no sign of opening her eyes.

An indefinite wait.

Thinking that he had finished most of what he could do, Inho opened the door and came out.

He sat on the porch, staring blankly at the sky.

The faintly rising moon was subtly illuminating the world.

“I’m out of money too.”

He had spent almost all his money calling the doctor and securing a room for Soyou to lie down in.

If a few more days passed like this, his travel expenses would be exhausted.

He needed to work.

Inho was thinking of finding a job that wouldn’t take too long.

He had already decided what to do. He was planning to do deliveries at the market.

If he used his footwork, he could quickly and accurately handle a large number of deliveries.

Of course, some might criticize him, saying that it was not a job for someone who had learned Martial arts.

But he couldn’t afford to be picky.

“…If Grand Master was defeated, who could it be?”

Grand Master Yeomjin was not a weak martial artist who could be easily defeated by anyone.

The information given by the messenger from the Alliance was so scarce that Inho had many questions about Grand Master’s death.

The phrase “[Yeomjin. Deceased.]” and the information that he was killed by a heretical faction with whom he had a long-standing grudge.

The clues were too few.

“Come to think of it, I only heard it was a heretical faction, but I never heard what groups were in it.”

Inho slapped his knee as if he had just realized it.

He recalled the martial arts novels he had read for fun.

“……”

He stared intently at the unresponsive sky.

Not only did he look up, but he also lay down on the porch and closed his eyes for a moment.

He was tired.

Mentally and physically.

He hadn’t slept properly since nursing Soyou.

“Let’s just sleep for 30 minutes. I need to go to work tomorrow….”

He muttered, not resisting the approaching Sleep Demon.

Was it because it was a light sleep?

He had a dream.

As if the sky had cracked, a fissure appeared in the clear sky.

Five fissures like a windowpane about to break.

Something was coming out of those fissures.

“…Hey.”

“Hoya….”

“Inho….”

He heard someone calling his name from afar.

Very softly.

But Inho didn’t miss that small sound.

It was thanks to his senses, which had been sharpened by his camping life.

“…!”

He abruptly raised his upper body and looked around.

“Inho….”

Soyou’s voice came from inside the room, and Inho kicked the door open and went inside.

“Master!”

Inside the room, barely lit by the moonlight, he saw Soyou looking at him with her eyes open.

“Are you awake?”

Soyou had woken up for the first time in almost three days.

“How long….”

At the rough, cracked voice, Inho handed her the water that had been placed next to her.

Soyou gulped down the water Inho gave her, and said to him in a slightly clearer voice than before.

“How long has it been?”

She was probably asking how long she had been lying down.

“It’s been three days.”

“It hasn’t been that long… I thought I had been lying down for about a month.”

Soyou smiled weakly.

“Master, just a moment. Let me check your temperature.”

Inho placed his hand on her forehead.

Her body temperature had clearly gone down. It was the first time he had seen a fever go down so quickly.

“I’m fine. I just don’t have any strength because I haven’t eaten anything.”

Soyou moved her arms around, trying to show that she was okay.

“Anyway, thank you for taking care of me. You’re the only one I have.”

The words ‘You’re the only one I have’ seemed to carry a lot of meaning.

“You should rest for a few more days.”

Inho said, worried that her body might have been damaged.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll rest if you tell me to.”

Soyou readily agreed to Inho’s words.

“I’m glad, though.”

Perhaps because he was less worried, Inho stroked his chest and said.

“About what?”

“I have to go to work at the market tomorrow. I was worried about leaving Master here. Now that you’ve opened your eyes, I can rest assured….”

“Work? Market?”

Soyou tilted her head.

Inho didn’t feel any particular sense of incongruity in her monotonous question.

“Ah, I’m running out of travel expenses, so I need to earn some money. I ended up spending some money while staying here.”

“So?”

“So, while Master is recovering, I’m going to go to the market and do some delivery work….”

“So?”

“…Master?”

At her strange reaction, Inho looked at Soyou again.

Her eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, were lifeless.

“So, you’re going somewhere and leaving me behind?”

Soyou asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

“……”

Inho closed his mouth at her eerie appearance.

“Are you also trying to leave me?”

Just as Inho was about to answer Soyou’s question,

Thud.

The door closed on its own.

-Swish

Kicking off the blanket, Soyou, soaked in sweat, grabbed Inho’s shoulder and pushed him backward.

Inho lost his balance and fell to the floor, and Soyou, who had climbed on top of him, placed her face against his chest.

“Don’t go anywhere. You, at least… you, at least stay by my side.”

“Master, it’s just for a little while. If I work only in the morning….”

“No, never leave me. You just need to stay by my side. That’s all I need. You’re the only one I have left. I’ll never let you leave my side. Never. Never. Never. I won’t let you go. If you run away, I’ll cut off your legs. So, without saying another word, stay by my side. From the beginning of the day until the end of the day.”

“Master….”

For some reason, Inho felt that his Master’s Inner Force had become even stronger.