episode_0044

“Haa…, I’m exhausted.”

Escaping the small sailboat, I was finally able to set foot on land.

Unlike being on the sea, on the boat, this sensation of being firmly supported is incredibly reassuring. Indeed, people should live on land.

But somehow the atmosphere is a bit strange.

It feels like the whole city is in a festive mood.

I was worried that the sea might have become rough while I was fighting that guy, and that hail or something might have occurred…, but fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any damage…

“Excuse me, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Everyone seems excited, what’s going on?”

“Ah, that? They say the Yan Kingdom army has wiped out the pirates who were always harassing the boatmen of Dandung. So everyone is happy and planning to hold a festival.”

Ah…, the pirates were wiped out…

That’s what I did.

These bastards, I did it, but the Yan Kingdom army is trying to take all the credit? Are they crazy and want to die?

Leaving the festival in the village behind, I headed straight to where the Dandung military headquarters was located.

“You son of a bitch with no commercial ethics…”

“Gasp!…, You’ve come!!! You’re alive~!!!”

“…?”

I was about to start with a refreshing curse, but when I arrived at the military headquarters, the soldiers who saw me were startled and quickly began to spread the news inside. What’s this? As I was panicking, the door of the military headquarters opened and familiar faces came out to welcome me.

“Young Master!!”

Baekryun, who had changed into her original neat clothes, ran up to me and hugged me.

And besides her, Jongwi, Yeogi Buk, and several soldiers ran out to greet me.

“You’re alive!”

“Great Hero Cheonwu!! I believed you would come back!!!”

“Oh?…, Oh. Right. Of course, I’m alive. Of course, I’m alive.”

It’s awkward because they’re welcoming me too much.

…No, wait a minute. Now that I think about it, my mask and wig were all taken off, so how do they know it’s me?

Looking at Baekryun with doubt, Baekryun smiled and said.

“I told them.”

“Why would you say that without permission? Now I can’t use the Jaryong badge anymore.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“?”

As I frowned in confusion at Baekryun’s words, Yeogi Buk, who was standing next to her, continued with an additional explanation.

“I’ve heard the whole story from Lady Baekryun. That Great Hero Cheonwu was originally a person from the Western Regions. However, the Jaryong badge that Great Hero gave us is definitely genuine. And the Jaryong badge is never given to anyone other than Jaryong members under any circumstances. In other words, even though Great Hero Cheonwu is a person from the Western Regions, he is definitely an appointed Jaryong member. So you don’t have to worry too much.”

Is that so? Then that’s a relief.

Then that means I can finally get rid of this stuffy and annoying mask and wig? That’s great.

At first, it was fun and I could hide my identity, but as time went on, there were more things to worry about, and the mask and wig were more stuffy than I thought, so I didn’t have time to keep up the act.

When I think about it, the reason I started wearing the mask and wig was because it was strange for a foreigner to participate in the Yongbong Contest as a soldier of the Yan Kingdom army, so there’s no reason to use it now, long after the Yongbong Contest is over.

But it seems like one person is missing?

“The entire Dandung is buzzing with Great Hero Cheonwu’s achievements! They say they’re holding a festival to commemorate the complete annihilation of the pirates, so if you could come and grace the occasion…”

“Wait a minute. Baekryun, where’s Dang Seollin?”

That’s right, I thought someone was missing, but Seollin wasn’t there.

It’s awkward because the girl who usually shows up with such vigor is missing.

But…, something was strange.

“Baekryun?”

“That’s…, Young Lady Seollin…”

“What is it? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“She’s locked herself in her room and won’t come out.”

What the hell are you talking about?

* * *

The place Baekryun and I came to was the temporary poison workshop where we had stayed for a while to prepare for the pirate suppression.

Why is she stuck in a place like this?

“Seollin is here?”

“That’s right.”

“….Why?”

“Perhaps…, Young Lady Seollin was the direct target of that person. So it seems like she has some aftereffects.”

….I see.

Well, I understand.

The power of Bokhae Daeseong was incredibly overwhelming. And, in proportion to his power, the murderous intent he exuded was so thick and heavy that it rendered everyone, including me, helpless.

Knowing that a guy who exuded a presence that made enemies helpless with just his murderous intent, just like when I activated 【Sword King’s Majesty】, was trying to target her directly…, it would be difficult to endure with ordinary mental strength.

“So that’s why she’s holed up like this?”

“That’s right. At first, I was able to appease her somehow, but…, as the Young Master’s return was delayed, she became more and more anxious, and eventually she became like that.”

“….How long did it take for me to come back?”

“Hmm…, I think it’s been about 12 hours since we returned.”

It takes about 4 and a half hours to get from that island to Dandung. It seems like we fought for longer than I thought.

No, did it take that long because we were traveling in a small sailboat?

‘….Come to think of it, what the hell is the Divine Beast Hyunmu?’

I still don’t know why the god Hyunmu came to me and asked me to take care of someone.

‘….Could it be that “take care of her” means this?’

If he read this situation and asked me to take care of that child…

I want to think about it more slowly, but I don’t think I have the time to think about it deeply right now.

She came on her own and got a mental shock on her own and locked herself up, but she’s still one of the group, for better or worse, so I should give her some mental care.

“Then I’ll go in. Baekryun, you…”

“Okay. I understand. I’ll be waiting outside, so call me if you need anything.”

Squeak

I opened the heavy door of the poison workshop and went inside.

The inside was very dark, even though it was still daytime. Of course, it wasn’t so dark that I couldn’t see an inch ahead, but if I kept hiding in a place like this, my already dark mentality would become even darker.

“Hey, Dang Seollin. Where are you~”

Of course, there was no answer. I didn’t expect an answer anyway.

Looking around carefully, there were various devices and materials for making poison scattered around. If I accidentally touch something strange while trying to light a fire, something terrible could happen, so I tried not to touch the surrounding objects as much as possible while looking inside.

It was strangely wider than it looked from the outside, but there were only a few rooms, so I saw Seollin squatting in what appeared to be a break room.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“….Ah, Cheonwu?….Cheonwu…right?”

I sat down next to Seollin, who was uncharacteristically covered in a blanket. Maybe it was because it was the first time she had seen me without my mask and wig, Seollin trembled as if she was surprised, but she must have recognized me by my voice, because she jumped up.

“Yo, you’re back?!…. Th, that guy! Did you kill him? You killed him, right?”

“No, I couldn’t kill him.”

“!”

The moment she heard that I couldn’t kill Bokhae Daeseong, her body trembled.

I noticed that, but there’s nothing I can do right now.

What’s needed in times like this is shock therapy.

“Bokhae Daeseong, that guy, is targeting you, the one who inherited the blood of the Imoogi.”

“….Why?”

Seollin’s body trembled even more.

Seollin’s trembling became so severe that it was obvious, but she seemed like she would run away somewhere at any moment due to her anxiety, but she mustered up the courage and spoke. Why does she want to know the reason why they’re being targeted so much?

“He says he’s going to use the blood of the Imoogi to make a poison called Sadok. He’s probably going to use it as a means for the Beast Alliance to deal with the Yan Kingdom.”

“…!”

At that moment, Seollin and I made eye contact.

Fear, anxiety, dread. With all sorts of negative emotions, Seollin’s green eyes, which had always shone brightly, darkened.

“Are you scared?”

“….”

At my words, Seollin’s eyebrows twitched and she gritted her teeth.

Then she shouted, as if spewing out her fear.

“Yes! That’s right!! I’m scared!!! Of course, I am!! That monster is targeting me…, us!!!!”

In Seollin’s eyes as she said that, there was a faint glint of tears.

As if Seollin’s negative emotions were falling away in the form of tears, the tears that had been slowly welling up began to fall, drop by drop.

“Until now! I’ve met many martial artists!…, I’ve also occasionally encountered monsters roaming the lands of the Yan Kingdom! But! I’ve never felt this feeling before! There were martial artists and monsters stronger than me, but… I’ve never felt this sense of helplessness that crawls all over my body and constricts my breath!! The feeling that death, which I can never avoid, is coming…”

She was always confident.

No matter what kind of strong person she faced, Seollin had lived without any shame as the successor of the Dang Clan.

If she met a strong person, she was more likely to burn with a competitive spirit than to be afraid, and she was bold enough to have the mindset that she would definitely win someday.

‘By the way…, I smell an Imoogi around here. Turns out there’s an Imoogi kid?’

‘Come to think of it…, they said they needed some Imoogi blood…, I guess I can take her with me.’

But that was different.

That was a disaster.

It was the kind of thing that couldn’t be dealt with by human power.

That’s why Seollin despaired.

That’s why Seollin looked at Jang Cheonwu, who was fighting against such a disaster…

“Ughh!!!…”

Seollin, whose thoughts had gone that far, closed her mouth.

Even if she tried to stop it, tears kept welling up. As if all of her moisture was being turned into tears.

Then, with a blurry vision, she somehow looked at Jang Cheonwu.

“It’s okay.”

“What?…., What do you mean it’s okay?….”

“It’s okay to be relieved. You’re not going to die.”

“But…, you couldn’t kill him….”

That’s right. I couldn’t kill him…

Ah, seriously, no matter how much I think about it, it’s a waste. I really could have won if I could have hit him just one more time.

“I’ll win next time.”

I don’t know why, but thanks to Hyunmu’s help, I’ve recovered all my stamina and magic power.

In addition, since a means of recovering magic power has been prepared, the course of events will be very different from this battle if we fight again next time.

Unless he has more hidden power and does some kind of 3-phase bullcrap, I will definitely win.

“So, if you want to live, stay by my side.”

“!”

“I’m a human too. I can’t protect you outside of my sight. But if you’re within my sight, if you’re where my sword can reach, you’ll never die. I’ll definitely protect you.”

After saying that, I stroked Seollin’s head, who was sobbing.

I deliberately ruffled it a bit to try to ease Seollin’s depressed mood.

“….Cheonwu.”

“What.”

“….Hug me.”

“?”

Suddenly?

Just as I was about to hug Seollin, Seollin blushed and shouted.

“N, not like that!!….”

“….?”

“….I, I saw it. Baekryun and you…., doing that….”

“Ah.”

When did she see it?….

No, but what’s with suddenly asking for a hug?

“Baekryun, who was hugged by you…, looked very happy…. I too…, hug me…, hug me and…. ease this feeling….”