Chapter 77 - If Someone Tries to Take That Place

Today, I had brought all my people with me: the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, who had suggested this approach, the Single Flower Sword Supreme, Yi An, Seo Daeryong, and even Demon Army commander Jang Ho.

I had not told the others why we were visiting the Wind Heaven Cult Leader. I didn't want them deliberately trying to do anything. Today, there was no need to persuade anyone or move their heart. They simply needed to show themselves as they were.

"You've brought distinguished guests with you. Welcome, all of you!"

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader spread both arms wide to welcome us. He seemed in better spirits than I had ever seen him.

He had said something terribly offensive to the shackled man. Had they already made up?

"The mood suddenly struck me, so I came to pay my respects with the companions who were with me. Please forgive the intrusion."

"Not at all. Isn't this a chance to mingle with the great figures of the Divine Cult?"

"Your generosity is as boundless as the sea."

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon was the first of my companions to greet him.

"Good to see you."

"Welcome."

Naturally, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader was already well acquainted with the Demon Supremes.

"I hear you've grown close to the Second Young Master lately."

"You heard wrong. We haven't merely grown close. I'm the Second Young Master's left wing."

We had joked freely among ourselves about being my wings, but I hadn't expected the Blood Heaven Saber Demon to say it to someone else.

He was probably trying to show the shackled man just how much he trusted Geom Mugeuk. Even I hadn't anticipated this display. How surprised must the Single Flower Sword Supreme have been?

I knew she wouldn't be keen on attending, but I had asked her to come so she and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon could see each other at least once more. I also intended to make her one of my people.

After staring at him in surprise for a moment, she told the Wind Heaven Cult Leader,

"That doesn't mean I'm his right wing."

She was determined not to be linked to the Blood Heaven Saber Demon in any way, but the Wind Heaven Cult Leader took it as a witty joke and expressed his gratitude.

"I hear you were a great help in making Cheong Seon a Demon Supreme."

"I did it because I trusted the Second Young Master."

She gave me the credit. Then she added something else.

"And it was the Saber Demon who provided the greatest help. I secured an abstention, but Senior Saber Demon secured an actual vote."

She mentioned no specific names, but made it clear that we had gained a vote thanks to the Saber Demon. Much as she disliked him, taking credit for someone else's work made her too uncomfortable to remain silent. That was the kind of person she was.

This was news to me, too. I had simply assumed the Single Flower Sword Supreme had secured a vote and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had secured an abstention.

But he had won us a vote? The cantankerous old man had done that, then come to see me without once making a point of it.

I sent him a sound transmission.

—Didn't you say they were ostracizing you?

—Perhaps someone felt sorry for me and helped.

—Get ostracized twice, and you'll have all the Demon Supremes on their knees.

—I'm never going around asking for favors again.

—Thank you.

—Enough.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader cupped his fist to the Blood Heaven Saber Demon in thanks.

"You're better than my friend."

"Isn't it strange to look for friends in the martial world to begin with? We meet and part as our needs dictate. Living that way keeps life tidy in all sorts of ways."

"A valuable lesson. I won't forget it."

With the two Demon Supremes' greetings concluded, Jang Ho introduced himself next.

"I am Jang Ho, Demon Army commander. It is an honor to meet you."

"The honor is mine, meeting such a valiant Demon Army commander."

"I pestered the Second Young Master to let me meet the supreme ruler of the frontiers."

"An empty reputation, nothing more. I only hope you won't be disappointed."

Jang Ho had come along at my request without even asking why. His reliability—the sense that he would quietly accomplish any task I entrusted to him—was something uniquely his.

Seo Daeryong greeted him next.

"I'm not sure I belong in such company, but I am Seo Daeryong, an investigator of Yellow Springs Pavilion."

"I know all about you. You're our Second Young Master's right-hand man, aren't you?"

Seo Daeryong turned to me, his eyes round. His expression asked whether I had really told him that, too. I smiled.

"If he knows without my telling him, everyone must really think so."

Yi An was the last to introduce herself.

"My name is Yi An. I serve the Second Young Master. It's an honor to meet you."

"It's been a long time since I've seen eyes so alive with spirit."

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me."

Absorbed in her training, Yi An had lately possessed the sharp presence of a blade—one that seemed capable of cutting down anyone.

Learning to temper that edge would be her next task.

"If Investigator Seo over there is my right arm, Yi An here is like my heart."

Yi An was flustered to hear me say that in front of everyone. Her face reddened, but I spoke proudly, as though making a proclamation.

"I want all of you to know. Yi An is my heart."

Saying something in private and saying it in front of others are as different as heaven and earth. If you can say it when you're alone together, you should be able to say it before everyone, too. That is a genuine relationship.

But such relationships are usually hard to find. Truly hard.

In that sense, meeting Yi An had been a tremendous stroke of luck. It wasn't merely because I owed her my life from before my regression. As I had told Father, she was a fine person.

Someone who could sacrifice her own life for another, despite claiming to have nine tails hidden away.

She had revealed that only because we had grown close. Otherwise, she would have hidden her foxlike cunning all her life and fulfilled her duties with the steadfastness of a bear.

"That doesn't mean you need to throw yourself into danger for me. Just because someone values you highly doesn't mean you have to sacrifice yourself for them. Don't forget: those are two entirely separate things."

That was my view of the relationship between a superior and a subordinate.

I was speaking to Yi An, but at the same time, I was speaking to the shackled man.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader marveled,

"I envy you having someone you can praise like that."

I could see the shackled man over his shoulder. What was he thinking?

"With the Second Young Master boasting of his subordinates like this, I can't sit idle. Let me introduce someone as well. That man in shackles over there is my right-hand man."

I was inwardly surprised. The Wind Heaven Cult Leader had never introduced the shackled man before, yet today he had done so—and even called him his right-hand man. Something must have changed between them after his offensive remark.

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon asked outright,

"Why have you put your right-hand man in shackles?"

"He would ascend to heaven if I looked away for even a moment, so I've forcibly kept him here."

"Shouldn't someone destined to ascend be allowed to do so?"

"That isn't as easy as it sounds."

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon nodded as though he understood perfectly.

"Indeed. These damned would-be dragons are so headstrong that ordinary humans like us can't easily handle them."

He looked at me as he spoke. He was telling the Cult Leader to free the man who ought to be released, while also complimenting me as a dragon destined to ascend.

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon really was quick-witted and good at reading the room.

If only he were ten—no, twenty—years younger, I might have made him my strategist. Of course, he would throw a fit and insist he would never do it.

Meanwhile, the wine and food were laid out.

We sat together and poured drinks for one another.

I don't believe fate controls every aspect of human life. Fate merely offers us opportunities. Judging those opportunities and seizing them is up to us.

I had done extensive research and preparation for my regression, but the shackled man hadn't figured into any of it—even though he might play a truly important role in my life after returning.

But that was all right.

It was precisely because I hadn't known about him and prepared in advance that this gathering had come about. A gathering where I could show who I was, and ultimately be made to reflect on myself.

Yi An fired the opening shot that day.

After several rounds of drinks, she ventured cautiously,

"Would it be all right if I offered that gentleman a drink?"

She meant the shackled man. I hadn't told her to do this. The last time I had offered him wine, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader had made a terrible slip of the tongue.

Unaware of that, Yi An was making the same suggestion.

Unlike his earlier reaction to me, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader smiled.

"I'm sure he'd like that, too."

He had definitely changed. What on earth had happened?

Yi An took a wine bottle and cup over to the man, poured him a drink, and asked politely,

"Sir, are you guarding this bell?"

I thought he wouldn't answer, but unexpectedly, he spoke.

"At first, I was... but now the bell guards me."

Whether or not she understood how precious an answer that was, Yi An continued the conversation.

"You're rather like me."

The shackled man lifted his head slightly to look at her.

"At first, I protected the Young Master. Now he protects me."

I saw a faint smile form at the corners of the shackled man's mouth. That must have been what allowed Yi An to keep speaking so naturally.

"That bell doesn't tell you to leave, does it? My Young Master keeps telling me to go. He says he wants me to live my own life. Is that really why? Or is he trying to send me away because he dislikes me?"

Once again, the shackled man answered her question.

"He wouldn't call you his heart in front of everyone if he wanted to send you away because he disliked you."

This was a new side of the shackled man. He had already answered Yi An twice.

It occurred to me that, just as Yi An's questions might have been directed at me all along, his answer might also have been intended for me rather than her.

"Ah, I suppose you're right!"

Yi An looked my way. I could sense her unfurling another of her tails. Her intuition must have told her that my reason for bringing them here had something to do with this man. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been having this conversation with him.

I tapped my heart twice, then pointed at her.

Yi An beamed.

"He does that so much that it feels like he's joking."

Then Seo Daeryong rose from his seat, took his cup, and went over to join them. He moved so naturally that there was no question of stopping him.

Sitting beside Yi An, he said,

"I think it's because he worries so much about you."

"About me?"

"Yes. From what I've observed of the Pavilion Master, he very much wants his subordinates to stay alive. It's like a parent's wish for their children to leave this perilous forest of blades and live well. I think that same concern is why he had me learn martial arts from my Master."

"Oh! Perhaps that really is it."

Yi An looked at me again. Having been taught the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art herself, she would naturally find his words convincing.

I told her,

"You've got it wrong. I'm teaching you so I can work you properly in the future. Be that naive, and people will use you for the rest of your life!"

Seo Daeryong answered on her behalf.

"Sometimes, when you're working, it's easier to serve someone who works you properly. It's harder under a leader who's inept and indecisive."

Yi An held out her cup in agreement, and Seo Daeryong clinked his against it.

"Investigator Seo, why do you like my Young Master so much?"

"Does it look as though I like him?"

"If you didn't, you wouldn't have come over here, would you?"

Yi An had seen straight through Seo Daeryong's personality.

She was right. He disliked standing out and hated danger. Voluntarily moving to the seat beside her had taken courage in its own way.

"Because I'm his right-hand man."

He said it like a joke, but those few words held a great deal of what he felt.

It happened just then. The shackled man raised his head and asked quietly,

"What will you do if someone tries to take that place as his right-hand man?"

This wasn't an answer to a question. He had initiated the exchange himself, and his opening words were extraordinarily provocative.

Caught off guard by the question, Seo Daeryong started. The shackled man's eyes burned intensely through his long, hanging hair.

Conflicting feelings crossed Seo Daeryong's face as he considered how to reply. Then he answered calmly.

"I'm timid and easily frightened, so I don't think I could fight them for it. Tell them they can have it. I'm working up a sweat training to become someone else's right-hand man, in preparation for that day. Fortunately, everyone has a right arm."

At his answer, the challenge in the shackled man's eyes subsided into calm.

Meanwhile, knowing that he was the person this glib remark referred to, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon looked incredulous. I looked at him and said,

"Raise him well."

"I refuse."

Then Demon Army commander Jang Ho looked their way and said something entirely unexpected.

"I'm next in line for the position of right-hand man. Investigator Seo may be kind enough to give it up, but I won't surrender it to just anyone."

At that moment, Jang Ho revealed a new side of himself.