Chapter 340

Every bit of swordsmanship Choi Hyun-woo had learned started with the wooden sword Nam Hyun-hwa had placed in his hand as a child.

Nam Hyun-hwa's teaching, Nam Hyun-hwa's footwork, Nam Hyun-hwa's breathing, Nam Hyun-hwa's fingers….

Every part of her was, in a sense, his swordsmanship — his very life.

Why had he picked up a sword in the first place.

Yes — it had to have been then, when he'd first taken up the sword and gotten into stance.

And when he'd swung it, clumsy as it was — it was because of that very face, lit up with pride and joy.

…No, to be honest, it wasn't only that.

Han Su-yeong, right there beside him, had felt mana, and watching Nam Hyun-hwa's attention shift entirely to her, he'd been gripped by the fear that he might, once again, be left behind.

And what had started out of nothing more than a child's stubbornness and quiet desperation gradually took on a clear purpose: to protect the people I care about, and beyond that, even others I don't know.

The people who had heard that from him and not laughed — who had taken it seriously — numbered only two.

Nam Hyun-hwa.

And Han Su-yeong.

That number grew to three when he met Yu Ji-hyeok, and slowly it kept growing after that.

…He knew it well himself.

To protect the people I care about, and beyond that, even others I don't know.

He knew perfectly well how childish that thought was, how vague to the point of being untethered — how it was, to put it bluntly, nothing more than an idealist's nonsense.

He'd been sneered at plenty of times, told to grow up already at his age, and left standing there with nothing to say back.

But believing Nam Hyun-hwa's words — that going numb to what wasn't right wasn't necessarily proof someone had grown up — and leaning on Han Su-yeong's — that a person didn't need a reason to save another person, and that she'd be cheering him on — he had kept driving that resolve through, all the way to now.

So — right now…?

At the end of all that, who was left standing beside him?

"What difference do you think any of this is going to make!"

Choi Hyun-woo turned her furious rebuke aside as easily as he'd been turning aside the sword strikes that had been raining down on him only a moment before.

"Quite a lot, actually."

At that, Nam Hyun-hwa could only grit her teeth.

"If Su-yeong, or that boy Ji-hyeok, saw you doing this right now, what do you think they'd feel? Hyun-woo, it isn't too late. Even now…!"

"Master."

Choi Hyun-woo called her softly.

"You don't have to worry."

"…What?"

"It isn't the kind of thing you're worried about."

Choi Hyun-woo said it and gave his sword a single flick through the air.

At the sight of him — not a drop of cold sweat on him — Nam Hyun-hwa's grip tightened before she could stop it.

How on earth….

Choi Hyun-woo's ability, his talent, the diligent streak in his character — no one knew all of that better than she did.

Which was why he was her pride, as a son and as a disciple.

But what he was showing her now, separate from any of that, was clearly past the point she could accept.

She had never doubted, in fact, that he would one day surpass her — but not today, at the very least.

"Master."

Choi Hyun-woo let out a small laugh.

"Did you think I'd say I was going to rage at the world, get revenge for those two, that kind of thing?"

"……"

Nam Hyun-hwa said nothing.

Choi Hyun-woo smiled at her in a slightly sheepish way.

"Why would I do something like that. Above all, what happened to those two… it was just an accident."

There had been times, honestly, when he'd wished there had been a clear mastermind.

If there had been, it would've all been over with one clean cut to that one person.

"Yes, it was an accident. An accident, no one's fault, just a stroke of bad luck."

"Then why — Hyun-woo, why on earth would you do a thing like this?"

At Nam Hyun-hwa's question, he answered as if there was nothing to hide.

"Because those two wanted it."

"What…?"

"Ji-hyeok said he was going to take down the Seven Calamities. And in less than half a year, he's already killed four of them. And Su-yeong said she wanted to help him do it."

Choi Hyun-woo slowly slid his sword back into its sheath.

"Is it really so wrong, wanting to see through the wishes of family and a friend who are already dead — is it, master?"

"…Yes."

She said.

"It's wrong. Terribly wrong. At least when it's done this way — a way those children would never, ever have chosen!"

At Nam Hyun-hwa's answer, Choi Hyun-woo looked down at her.

Watching her — a wreck compared to him, her beloved sword snapped clean in two — he smiled.

"I knew you'd say something like that, master."

With those words, he bowed his head deeply.

"…Thank you, for everything up to now."

"Wait, Hyun-woo — ngh!"

Nam Hyun-hwa, trying to force herself up somehow, let out a pained groan and collapsed forward.

At the sight, Choi Hyun-woo, who had been turning to leave, paused for a moment, then —

"I'm sorry."

With that last word he left.

Inside his head, what kept surfacing was only the technique Nam Hyun-hwa had shown him for the first time just now, and the wound it had left on his forearm.

Along with the thought that he needed to repeat it a little more.

"You know Hyun-woo's a wanted man, right?"

While we were moving with Belluna's help, Ivan brought it up without any warning.

At his words, Lee Yu-na let out a startled huh and looked at Han Su-yeong.

"…How did this happen?"

She asked back in a listless voice.

"He only stole one thing. Actually, stole isn't quite the right word — took by force fits better."

Sure enough, his wanted poster had listed it as 'unauthorized entry into a state-critical facility, and theft of military assets with intent to incite insurrection and disturb the national order.'

"It's a national-treasure-tier item, apparently. I heard it's something to do with time — but not the kind of thing that lets you control time or move to a different era, from what I was told."

"So why the hell would Hyun-woo go and steal something like that?"

"I don't know either. But there are a few things I do know for sure…."

He said it as if trying to reassure Su-yeong.

"For starters, Hyun-woo hasn't committed any crime beyond taking that thing. Nothing like hurting anyone, or —"

"He'd never do something like that!"

Ivan gestured, telling her to calm down at her sharp cry.

"I know that too. Actually, we all know that. But I thought it'd be better to get it stated plainly and out of the way."

Ivan's cool response seemed to settle Su-yeong — she quickly ducked her head and apologized.

"…Sorry. I got too on edge."

"It's fine. I get it."

Ivan said it and let out a small cough.

"Also, this next part is still confidential, so I don't think anyone among you knows…."

What he said next was quite the shock.

"What? He beat one of the Ten Powerhouses?!"

"Yeah, and not with an ambush or anything — in a straight, fair fight. Hyun-woo apparently won by a mile."

He nodded at Lee Yu-na's shock and knit his brow.

"On top of that, it was Osei Evans he fought. Both swordsmen, and the other guy's the owner of four demonic swords, so you can't chalk it up to a favorable matchup or a weapons gap. He just flat-out overwhelmed him on pure skill."

"…I can see why they'd hide it from the public."

"Yeah. A criminal strong enough to beat one of the Ten Powerhouses would cause a huge uproar. The bounty on Hyun-woo is that big partly because what he stole is a national treasure, but also because he pushed one of the Ten Powerhouses down in a straight fight."

At Ivan's words, Yu-na shook her head.

"I still don't get it, though. How could Hyun-woo have pulled off taking something like that on his own?"

"The Association's in an uproar internally right now."

He went on to say that every member of the Six Stars, aside from Yoon Seul-hye, was either dead or missing, and on top of that, every bit of past corruption and every crime the group had been involved in was now completely out in the open.

Yoon Seul-hye had quit the Six Stars outright and gone into effective retirement, and the Association was catching heat from a furious public and the press practically every other day.

"They say the military and the Association guard it together, but the Association was basically handling almost all of it — and where would they even find the bandwidth to worry about something like that right now? They actually went as far as publicly begging the Ten Powerhouses for help."

"…And even that Ten Powerhouses member got beaten."

At Su-yeong's words, a brief silence fell.

I carefully patted her on the shoulder.

"Let's find Hyun-woo first. I don't know if this counts as good news, but if he's strong enough to beat a Ten Powerhouses member on his own, at least he won't have been arrested by someone else."

"…And then?"

Su-yeong asked, leaning against me a little.

Unlike her usual self, I could tell she was genuinely low.

"After that, Su-yeong — you'll be the one to scold him. Like you always do."

At that, she let out a small laugh and asked what the hell that was supposed to mean.

Relieved to see she'd rallied a little, I patted her shoulder a few more times and looked around.

"For now, let's go see Ye-seul. And there are some people I need to meet before we start looking for Hyun-woo."

"Who? The Ten Powerhouses, like Mr. Lee Myung-jun?"

"No. People who'll be a bigger help than them."

Ji-na's companions, including the half-ogre Reto.

They were surely still waiting for me, even now, inside Ji-na's tomb.

Just the fact that they'd been companions of Shadow Walker was enough to say they'd be a huge help….

"There were people like that still around?"

Yu-na tilted her head, puzzled, and Ivan looked the same — like he couldn't quite place it either.

Then, in her usual bright, chirpy voice, Belluna called out:

"We're here, everyone!"

"…Guess we'll save the details for later."

At Su-yeong's words, the four of us climbed out of the car we'd borrowed from Shin Woo-seok.

A flying car — I would've been enjoying this if it weren't for the circumstances.

I was thinking that when my eyes met the person waiting for us.

That person was none other than Jin Ye-jeong.

"…Mr. Yu Ji-hyeok."

Finding Yu Ji-hyeok whole and well in front of her, Jin Ye-jeong blinked in surprise.

She turned her head slightly toward Ivan, as if she couldn't quite believe it.

"It was true, then. You really were alive."

With everyone's eyes suddenly on him, Ivan's darted around quickly.

"…Ah, I told her. Ms. Jin Ye-jeong and I have been in touch pretty often, over my arm and my medication."

He waved a hand as he said it, as if to say don't get the wrong idea.

Yu Ji-hyeok caught Belluna's eyes flashing quietly with interest, but he pretended not to notice and turned back to Jin Ye-jeong.

"How's Ye-seul? Is Ye-seul all right?"

"……"

Instead of answering, Jin Ye-jeong gave a small shake of her head.

Looking at him, she murmured almost pleadingly:

"I don't think I'm the one who can answer that. Mr. Yu Ji-hyeok, if it's all right with you, would you go see Ye-seul?"

"That's what I came here for."

"Thank you. Truly…."

She bowed her head deeply.

She was actually an adult, but her looks at the moment were somewhere between middle- and high-schooler, and her manner threw Yu Ji-hyeok badly off-balance.

"Then — this way."

Jin Ye-jeong moved with quick strides, almost at a jog, as if telling him to follow her.

Following her, they went into a building that looked ordinary from the outside but was under tight, layered security within.

"…Ye-seul tried to run once."

She explained in a low voice to the group, who were glancing around at their surroundings.

"Thankfully she isn't trying anymore, but just in case, we're keeping things this way."

Jin Ye-jeong said it and came to a stop in front of a firmly shut door.

"Everyone except Mr. Yu Ji-hyeok should come with me somewhere else. Ye-seul is very on edge right now."

She looked at Yu Ji-hyeok, dipped her head slightly, and added:

"Also, be careful when you open the door."

"Pardon?"

"She throws daggers."

She tapped her own throat with two fingers.

There was a fine cut there.

"Six homunculi have been scrapped because of it, thanks to her. And I nearly had my head taken off myself."

"……"

"I'm counting on you, Mr. Yu Ji-hyeok. I don't know if you've heard, but originally that child took a liking to you and — "

"Excuse me, what's your name? Hm?"

Just then, Belluna burst in from the side, took hold of Jin Ye-jeong's arm, and beamed.

Jin Ye-jeong looked slightly caught off guard but bowed her head all the same in polite deference.

"I'm called Jin Ye-jeong, high spirit of the wind."

"Oh, don't be so stiff, come on. I'm Belluna. Jin Ye-jeong, right? I'm bored — let's go somewhere and have a chat. And it'd be even better if there were some snacks or drinks."

She tugged at Jin Ye-jeong's arm one more time as she said it.

"None of us are needed here except Yu Ji-hyeok, right? So I think the sooner we clear out, the better."

"…Yes, of course."

Jin Ye-jeong nodded quietly at Belluna's words in agreement.

Before leaving, she said she had one last thing to say and walked over to Yu Ji-hyeok, asking to borrow his ear.

"Excuse me a moment."

Jin Ye-jeong offered the group a brief apology and whispered into Yu Ji-hyeok's ear.

As he listened quietly to what she was saying, his expression gradually twisted into something odd, while her own expression stayed perfectly calm.

"…Wait a minute — you really want me to say that?"

"Yes."

Jin Ye-jeong nodded.

"The reason Lady Lee Ye-eun and I were able to hold Ye-seul back was that we said something along the same lines. It will absolutely work."

"Well… I'll keep it in mind, at least."

Yu Ji-hyeok said it, still looking baffled.

Jin Ye-jeong bowed her head deeply to him one more time and then, with Belluna chattering nonstop at her side, left the spot.

The rest of the group also gave Yu Ji-hyeok looks meant to cheer him on and cleared out.

"Whew."

He drew in a deep breath, then took hold of the doorknob.

Contrary to what he'd braced himself for, the door opened easily, and no daggers came flying out at him from inside.

"……"

At the far end of the room was a bed, and on it, someone lay turned away from him.

He slowly stepped into the dark room.

The door swung shut behind him with a loud thud, but Jin Ye-seul only kept lying there.

"…I'm telling you nicely. Get out."

She spoke from where she lay, still turned away, in a badly hoarse voice.

"Before I rip your eyes out."

Even at her threat, Yu Ji-hyeok didn't hesitate — he kept walking toward her.

Feeling her breathing turn dangerous, he moved to speak first, before she could shout anything.

"Ye-seul."

At his call, Jin Ye-seul's body flinched hard.

Then she turned her head, and her eyes met his.

"…Ji-hyeok?"

With those words, tears began streaming down her cheeks.