Chapter 42 - Since I Faced Misfortune Well

On my way back to my quarters, I found someone utterly unexpected waiting for me.

The Single Flower Sword Supreme sat in the very spot where the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had waited.

Astonishingly, she had even laid out a table of wine and food.

“Second Young Master, you have worked hard today. Have a drink before you go.”

“Gladly, Senior.”

I sat down across from her. I smiled as casually as I did with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, but inwardly I was tense.

“Didn't you say you don't drink?”

“This wine isn't for me. It's for you, Second Young Master.”

“Thank you.”

She poured me some wine, and I drank it without hesitation.

“What if that wine were poisoned? Why drink it without checking?”

“I didn't check, but I took precautions.”

“How?”

I spat out the poison-warding pearl. Besides protecting against poisonous fumes, it could neutralize poison in the mouth if held there while drinking.

“When did you put that in?”

“I slipped it into my mouth while greeting you earlier.”

“How was there no sign of it in your mouth?”

“It's a highest-quality poison-warding pearl, so it's very small. I also practiced speaking clearly with it in my mouth.”

Admiration flickered across her face.

“Forgive my presumption, but I know you aren't well disposed toward me, Senior. Under those circumstances, I could hardly gulp down the wine you offered without a second thought, could I?”

Because I had admitted honestly that I was holding a poison-warding pearl in my mouth, she did not get angry. But she did insist on checking one thing.

“Did you hold a poison-warding pearl in your mouth when you drank the Saber Demon's wine, too?”

“No.”

Her expression immediately hardened.

“You trust the Saber Demon, but not me?”

“A great deal happened between the venerable Saber Demon and me before I took that first drink.”

“Things have happened between us, too, haven't they?”

“No, they haven't.”

She protested at my firm reply.

“I was the one who added a second recommendation for Jang Ho.”

“You recommended Jang Ho, but not for my sake. You did it to pressure me into not forming ties with the venerable Saber Demon. Was that choice really for my benefit?”

But I did not merely keep pressing her when she had no satisfactory answer.

“I want to share many experiences with you, Senior. And then drink the wine you offer without a poison-warding pearl.”

“Don't say things you don't mean.”

“Why wouldn't I mean it?”

“The Saber Demon already has a place in your heart, doesn't he?”

“If you were me, Senior, whom would you want to have a place in your heart?”

As though telling her that person was her, I drank the wine without the poison-warding pearl. Her expression softened at this demonstration of trust.

She was someone who refused even to be compared to the Saber Demon. She was also proud enough to believe that, given a choice between them, anyone would naturally choose her. And naturally, she wasn't someone who would poison a drink.

“Second Young Master.”

“Yes?”

“Tell me what you want.”

“Help me become the successor. But help me without making severing my ties with the venerable Saber Demon a condition. That is all I want.”

“Second Young Master, your parents are the only people in this world from whom you should expect unconditional help.”

Having made her refusal clear, she rose. She was about to leave when she asked a question as though it had just occurred to her.

“Is it true you gave the Saber Demon a birthday present?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes wavered. She had asked as though it were an afterthought, but in truth, she must have wanted to confirm it herself.

“May I ask what you gave him?”

I picked up the poison-warding pearl I had set on the table.

“One of these.”

“You gave him something precious.”

“Because I received something precious.”

For a moment, she seemed to consider what to say, but in the end she said nothing.

“I'll be having a drink at Merry Life Tavern later. Come by if you feel like it.”

She left without answering.

* * *

When I returned to my quarters to change, I had another visitor.

To my surprise, Father was waiting in the courtyard. First the two Demon Supremes, and now Father. If I had to give this day a title, it would be “Meetings with Important Figures.”

“What brings you to this humble place?”

“I came to see how you live.”

This was Father's first visit to my quarters. Our first hunt, our first meal together, his first visit. There were so many firsts with Father.

“Shall we go inside?”

“Why would I go into the stinking room of a man living alone?”

“Then I'll at least bring you a chair.”

“No need. I've sat enough today.”

“True. The Demon Physician once told me that sitting for long periods is the worst thing for your health. Apparently, the more time you spend sitting, the shorter your life. Don't spend too long in your grand armchair.”

I went over and stood beside him.

“Do you want to live a long life?”

“Of course. There are so many things I haven't done yet. I want to try them all before I die.”

As I spoke, I turned to Father.

“What about you? Is there nothing you want to do besides being the Heavenly Demon?”

“Nothing.”

His answer was so firm that, to me, it sounded more like, “There are too many things to give you an answer.”

“I'd like to go out into the Central Plains with you someday.”

Father glanced at me.

“Well, I'm not suggesting we go attack the Orthodox Martial Alliance.”

He must have found that particular joke amusing, because he chuckled.

“I just mean looking around the places where people live. What do you say? How about seeing the world with me sometime? I hear the snowy mountains are wonderfully cool in summer.”

Father gave no answer.

For a while, we watched the sun setting in the distance.

“I met the Single Flower Sword Supreme on my way here. She says she'll back me if I cut ties with the Saber Demon.”

I told Father exactly what had happened.

“Whom do you want to join hands with?”

“The Sword Supreme seems easier to handle. But the Saber Demon has his endearing side.”

“That is how you let your guard down and die.”

“The old man certainly has a knack for making people lower their guard.”

Father would know the Saber Demon better than I did.

“Why did you give him the Divine Pill Beyond Heaven?”

“I entrusted him with a task long ago.”

Father did not tell me what the task had been. It must have happened when both he and the Saber Demon were young.

“What do you intend to do?”

“I want them both. Saber on the left, sword on the right—as my Left and Right Emissaries.”

Father turned his head to look at me.

“This isn't idle greed. My instincts tell me that bringing those two bitter rivals along together will produce much better results. It'll be hard at first, but easier in the long run. That's what they keep whispering to me.”

“Where does that confidence come from?”

“Perhaps it's the confidence you passed down to me in my blood?”

The sunset was now at its most brilliant, coloring Father's face and mine red.

He spoke abruptly.

“The Sword Supreme carries many wounds.”

I looked at Father, but he said nothing more. Was he telling me to exploit that, or to go easy on her because of it?

“When I first met the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, he told me he'd lived with misfortune all his life, so it would be best not to see him often. But lately I've been seeing him almost as often as I see you.”

Once again, I made clear my determination to bring both of them with me.

“I've faced misfortune well enough. Now I'll try facing those wounds, too.”

* * *

That evening, I drank at Merry Life Tavern.

I had invited both the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Single Flower Sword Supreme. I didn't know who would come—or whether neither would.

“Please try this.”

The proprietor, Jo Chunbae, brought over a dish. He seemed to have made it especially for me.

“Thank you. Sit down and have a drink with me.”

“Oh, I wouldn't dare!”

“You must not want to drink with me.”

“Not at all!”

Jo Chunbae sat down.

I poured him some wine. He accepted it with repeated, flustered exclamations of “Oh, goodness!”

“There's no need to be so formal.”

“No, I must be. You've made life so much easier for us, Pavilion Master.”

“Have things gotten a little easier?”

“Absolutely. Ever since the Yellow Springs Pavilion branch opened on this street, there have been far fewer martial artists getting drunk and causing trouble. And that's not all. Far fewer of them leave tabs they never intend to pay, too.”

“I'm glad to hear it.”

“It's all thanks to you, Second Young Master.”

“Keep an eye on things, and if anything happens that you think I should know about, be sure to tell me.”

“I will.”

Jo Chunbae drained the wine I had given him with relish, then stood up.

Just then, someone else came over, bowed, and left.

“Thank you, Second Young Master.”

He didn't say what he was thanking me for. Apparently, he too had received help from Yellow Springs Pavilion.

He hurried back to his seat after that brief greeting, and someone walked toward me and said,

“You're popular.”

The man approaching with a great saber strapped to his back was the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. His arrival froze the room. The last time we had drunk together, it had been early and there had been no other customers. Tonight, the tavern was full.

How could they be at ease drinking in the same place as a Demon Supreme?

I rose and addressed everyone.

“The Demon Supreme is a man of the highest character. Please, enjoy your drinks without worry. Just don't come over here and make a drunken nuisance of yourselves.”

The added joke eased the tension.

When I sat down, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon spoke with a sulky expression.

“Why lie?”

“It's a kind lie. They paid to come here and drink. Surely they shouldn't have to spend the evening walking on eggshells?”

“If they don't like it, they can leave.”

“If you want to say that, give them money first. Tell them to take it and drink somewhere else. And pay the proprietor for his lost business, too.”

“Pretending to be good again.”

“I'm not pretending to be good. This is basic decency.”

“And you call yourself a demonic martial artist?”

“Aren't demonic martial artists people, too?”

“Listen, Second Young Master. At times like this, I can't tell whether you belong to the Cult or the Orthodox Martial Alliance.”

I didn't think of the Demonic Cult as the foundation of my identity either. It was inevitable. In my previous life, I had left the Cult while young and wandered the Central Plains for the rest of my life.

I met many people then. Both during my years as a wandering martial artist and while gathering the materials for the grand ritual, I encountered every sort of person. I was hurt, I felt anger, and I learned what genuine love for humanity was.

All my values had been formed during that time. In a sense, I belonged to neither the demonic, orthodox, nor unorthodox paths.

My desire to eliminate absolute evil and establish a new Demonic Path had also arisen from those experiences.

I raised my cup high and spoke cheerfully.

“Now, happy birthday! Midnight hasn't passed yet, so the congratulations still count.”

“Keep your voice down.”

He treated everything as though it were of little consequence, but a birthday celebration seemed to make him uncomfortable. Truly, I had never seen him so embarrassed since we met.

Then again, who would ever have celebrated his birthday like this? Of course, he must have received countless formal gifts, but they would have meant something quite different from tonight.

“Don't do anything so pointless again. What's so good about getting old that it deserves congratulations?”

“It's an excuse to drink and enjoy ourselves like this.”

“You like drinking more than one would think, Second Young Master.”

“That's right. I keep a few wine worms inside me, too. One pokes its head up when it rains, and others when I'm gloomy or troubled. Do you enjoy drinking, sir?”

“I used to... but I've cut back considerably these days.”

It happened just then.

A clear, ringing voice came from behind me.

“But you still haven't quit.”

I turned to find the Single Flower Sword Supreme standing a short distance away.