A back alley where the sunset had just begun to spill in. Not far from the academy.
Worse, it was a place with the escape route cut off. I swallowed a groan as I looked at the person waiting for me there with her arms folded.
Ah, damn it.
I’d forgotten. I’d forgotten the one thing I absolutely should not have forgotten. Right. If I came back to Liaoning—
that meant I’d be seeing her.
It meant I’d run into that woman again. Mo Yong Yeongsun. And for a moment, I’d actually forgotten that. You lunatic. There are things you can forget and things you can’t.
I swallowed hard.
My throat was bone-dry.
The air was cold. I didn’t think it was because it was spring. In that chilly stillness, I asked:
“...Why... are you here?”
“Hah?”
At my question, Mo Yong Yeongsun let out a laugh of pure disbelief.
“Why am I here?”
Had I asked something wrong? Her eyes sharpened.
“Because a certain someone ran off without managing a damned thing, so I’ve been managing it in his place, that’s why. You miserable bastard.”
“...”
Ah. Right.
She’s the one managing the academy...
Originally, that was supposed to be me. But with my schedule—and more importantly, with no money—it had been a problem I had no clue how to solve. Then the Mo Yong Family itself had started supporting the academy. The reason was obvious. It had to be Mo Yong Yeongsun’s influence.
“I had a feeling.”
Mo Yong Yeongsun started walking toward me. I took a step back.
“I heard you were back. So I thought, where would you go first? You hate your own house more than anyone, so there was no way you’d stay holed up in there. That left only one place.”
“...”
“And sure enough, I was right. Our little raccoon came here first, didn’t he?”
She smiled brightly.
The killing intent behind it was thick enough to taste.
“Instead of coming to me first.”
“...Well, that—”
Shrring—!
The instant that sharp sound cut through the air, my body moved.
Thunk—!
“Hhk!”
A sword stabbed into the spot where I’d just been standing.
It was Mo Yong Yeongsun’s sword.
“...Why the hell did you bring a sword?!”
Did she leave her guards somewhere and bring a sword herself? I stared at her in horror.
“What do you mean, why did I bring one? I’m a martial artist too. And.”
Thunk—!
She yanked the sword free and immediately thrust it at me.
“If I’m going to carve you up, I need to be carrying it.”
“Why are you saying something that terrifying so casually?”
I dodged frantically. The arcs of her blade were no joke. It wasn’t fast. I could evade it. Even in this cramped little space.
The problem was—
She means it.
Mo Yong Yeongsun was completely serious. She was using the space perfectly. The alley was narrow and there was barely any room to run, and she was exploiting that to drive me in.
“W-Wait a second.”
“What are you, a rat? Why do you keep scurrying off?”
“If I don’t run, I die, so of course I’m running...!”
Screeech—!
Her blade came flying in again.
This was insane.
“Calm down already. Why are you this angry?”
“Why am I angry...?”
She stopped dead at my question.
It wasn’t because she’d calmed down.
One look at her eyes made my stomach drop. I had definitely touched something I should not have touched.
“...Eight.”
“Hm...?”
Eight what?
Just as I was wondering—
“The number of letters I sent you. Eight. And then some.”
“Ah.”
“How many of them do you think you didn’t read?”
“...Who knows?”
“Don’t give me that. All of them. Every last one.”
“N-No, it’s just—”
That was a little unfair.
“I don’t read any of them!”
“Nice to see you’re proud of it.”
I didn’t read letters from anyone. Why would she be any different? I hadn’t even read the ones the kids at the academy had sent.
“And what exactly is it supposed to mean that you said you were coming back and still didn’t even give me a word?”
“...I didn’t tell anyone.”
“...You think that makes it better?”
Mo Yong Yeongsun twisted her face.
Seeing that reaction, I clicked my tongue inwardly. Ah. This was bad.
I’d thought maybe she just wanted an excuse to vent a little, but apparently not.
“You really are—”
“There was no particular need for me to send a reply... or give advance notice to Mo Yong Yeongsun.”
I deliberately changed my tone.
“...”
At that, her eyes froze.
I had to draw the line. And the line I drew—hard and clear enough to split us apart—stopped even her approaching footsteps.
“...You’re really cruel. You came all the way here just to leave me with nothing to say.”
A bitter look crossed her face, and then she turned away. Her sword slid back into its scabbard.
“...I’ll come by tomorrow. That’ll be for work, so show your face then. I already got the young patriarch’s permission.”
“...Understood.”
Mo Yong Yeongsun left those words behind and walked away.
Only after she was gone did Bow Ghost, who had been watching from the side, finally speak.
“So that is someone from the Mo Yong Family. Young, yet her edge is well-honed.”
It was an evaluation. Rare praise from one of the beings beyond heaven.
I let out a quiet snort.
“You think highly of her.”
“Her realm does not seem especially high, yet the level at which she wields it is remarkable. If she had possessed greater talent... she would have climbed very high indeed.”
“That’s probably true.”
She was right. Mo Yong Yeongsun was clever, but her martial talent had never been exceptional.
Still better than mine, though.
That was a judgment I heard about her often enough.
“By the way, is it really fine to let her go like that?”
“What, should I have danced a sword dance with her too?”
“That is not what I meant.”
Bow Ghost clicked her tongue and looked at me like I was pathetic.
“No. No, I suppose it isn’t.”
She started to add something, then closed her mouth.
“I was mistaken.”
“About what?”
“There is no way you wouldn’t know.”
“...”
That line brushed right past my heart.
“So you’re pretending not to know.”
I’d felt it before, but—
she really did have a sense for these things that was annoyingly sharp.
“Why are you doing this? She seems like the kind of talent anyone would covet.”
There was a lot packed into that one word. Mo Yong Yeongsun. Bow Ghost wasn’t wrong.
She was beautiful, capable, bright.
And she might have shone even more brightly still.
“Boy, do you think you’re too good for her?”
“No.”
Me?
What a joke.
All I’ve got are these eyes and this damned karma.
Ah, and a handsome face, I guess. That mattered too. But even setting that aside, there was no reason to appraise Mo Yong Yeongsun any differently.
It was simply—
“Greed.”
Her too.
Me too.
Nothing but greed.
Just not the same kind.
“...Hm.”
After hearing my answer, Bow Ghost made a strange face.
“In this respect too, you resemble him.”
“...Who?”
“Someone. A complete bastard.”
“...”
That one made me flinch for a second. I hadn’t expected language like that to come out of such a pretty mouth.
“Handle it however you like. I’m simply curious. When you reach the end, will what remains be regret or relief? I very much want to see it. If possible, I hope it’s regret.”
“...Why? That’s sick.”
She wanted to watch someone else’s unhappiness? Was this person really a hero? I stared at her, dumbfounded.
“I cannot help being curious. I should have seen that ending once, yet I did not. So go through it yourself and show me.”
“...What are you talking about?”
She said she hoped I’d regret it, and yet she wanted to see it?
Bow Ghost threw those words out, wiped all expression from her face, and started walking ahead.
“Let us eat. I am hungry.”
“...”
Watching that small back stride forward so confidently, I spoke.
“Listen to you acting all bold when you don’t even pay. Shameless freeloader.”
“...”
Bow Ghost didn’t answer that one, but judging by how red her ears had turned, she was embarrassed.
*****
The next day came.
As soon as morning broke, I went outside. I’d wanted to leave at dawn if possible, but there were too many ears around for that, so I slipped out as quietly as I could.
Looks like she isn’t following me today.
Bow Ghost was nowhere in sight.
On the way back yesterday, I’d warned her over and over not to follow me this time. I’d told her she was annoying and getting in my way.
If she followed me again—
I’d do something worse.
Something worse than throwing baleful force at her. That was the warning I’d given.
I didn’t know whether it would work.
Thankfully, she wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
If she had followed me again this time—
I really would’ve done something.
I hated having work pile up, and I was seriously considering doing something nasty to Bow Ghost. There were things worse than baleful force that I could send into someone. Dangerous things.
Still, maybe she’d realized I meant the warning, because she stayed away.
Honestly, that was a little disappointing.
If she had followed me...
It would’ve given me a perfectly good excuse to teach the great Bow Ghost a lesson.
Hm.
And yet, even as I thought that—
When you reach the end, will what remains be regret or relief? I very much want to see it. If possible, I hope it’s regret.
—those words from yesterday kept coming back to me.
Want to see it...
For all she said she wanted to see, I already knew the answer.
I simply chose not to put it into words.
With the rising sun overhead, I turned into the alley.
“Go in.”
Just like yesterday, I went to the Hao Clan.
Unlike last time, the gatekeeper took one look at me and opened the door without a fuss.
Creeeak.
Inside, it was pitch-black, completely unlike the outside.
Someone was sitting in there with one leg crossed over the other.
It was Hoyeon.
“You’re here early. Busy morning?”
“You knew I’d come around this time anyway.”
I walked forward and sat down.
The moment I did, Hoyeon handed me several papers. There was no small talk. We had already finished all the pointless back-and-forth yesterday.
“This is the information you asked for. Information on the Sama Sect and the string of incidents that have happened lately. I organized it.”
Rustle.
Instead of answering, I checked the papers.
The Sama Sect.
An unorthodox group active near Liaoning. More precisely, active outside the area surrounding Liaoning. If you had to classify them, they were mountain-bandit stock from the Green Forest side.
The Green Forest...
I’d heard of them. Like the Beggars’ Union, they were an unorthodox faction with a presence all across the land. And among those—
they were probably once the biggest.
Past tense now, but right up until the Orthodox-Demonic War broke out, that was true. Just like there are always plenty of beggars in the world, there are always plenty of bandits too.
Measured by sheer size, they might have been the largest of the unorthodox factions.
But—
their numbers dropped after the Orthodox-Demonic War.
The Green Forest had sided with the Demonic Cult. When the Orthodox-Demonic War ended in victory for the orthodox faction, their numbers were drastically reduced.
Because of that, the Green Lord—once called one of the unorthodox faction’s supreme masters—died.
And from then on, the Green Forest had slowly gone into decline.
By now, I’d heard they were basically reduced to raiding caravans and mountain routes.
And now unorthodox bastards from the Green Forest branch are moving again.
Human trafficking and kidnapping too.
Rustle.
Their overall strength isn’t high. The leader-class figure of the Sama Sect is... Oh Yeonchu...
Somewhere between first-rate and peak realm. Strong, by Green Forest standards.
The sect had been formed around five years ago. They called themselves unorthodox, but there was very little information on actual activity.
And the other incidents...
I narrowed my eyes as I read through the reports of recent events.
Over the last few days—stretching back across a couple of months—there had been disappearances and cases where women’s corpses had been found.
The unorthodox groups around here are all small fry... and there’s no proof any of them were involved in this.
So the Sama Sect was acting alone?
And daring to do it in Liaoning, where the Mo Yong Family was right here?
They had more guts than brains.
And according to this information...
White King already knew and was preparing a purge operation.
The Hao Clan even knew that.
“Do you like it? I worked pretty hard on this one.”
“...It’s not bad—”
I was just about to say good.
Then I saw the last page and stopped cold.
“You’re going to like this batch.”
There, written on it, was this:
—Confirmation that the Green Lord, publicly believed dead, is alive.
—The Green Forest has joined hands with the Sky-Crushing Palace.
—Judging from the purpose of their movements—
“For our prince...”
—They appear to be aiming for the downfall of the Mo Yong Family.
“I prepared something quite substantial.”
The page held information so absurd it made no sense at all.
