Seol Ri-hyang herself didn't seem to be aware of it, but whether you'd call it her faction(?) or simply her own circle of acquaintances.
Anyway, since being among them would only stiffen the atmosphere, I was about to deliver what I had to say and return to my room.
Then, from behind me, I heard something unexpected.
"Oh, by the way, do you know, Cheon Hwi? I heard a new alias is going to be attached to you."
"Hm?"
I had to hear this before leaving.
What is an alias? It's close to a title that briefly summarizes the deeds of a martial artist.
A bit of exaggeration is just the natural bravado of a martial artist.
The reason I earned the alias Blood Flower Sword Demon was because, at the time, I was obsessed with my pre-regression memories and murderous intent—and the one who witnessed it happened to be the Lord of the Black Alliance.
So what about this time?
Not just the Lord of the Black Alliance, but the clan head and young head of the Namgung Clan were watching too. Along with other martial artists of the Black Alliance.
On top of that, I defeated the Sword Demon, and in the end, I even sliced the hem of the Heavenly Demon's robe—a feat that three Harmony Realm martial artists charging together couldn't manage.
Thanks to that, the Heavenly Demon, though he had shown off his power, retreated as promised.
This was a completely different situation from when I fought the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate.
So this time, I was certain to earn a more impressive alias. After all, I had just stepped into the Harmony Realm as well.
With my heart pounding as I waited, Seol Ri-hyang, a sly grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, spoke up.
"White Sword Heavenly Demon."
"What?"
"Piercing a demon with a white sword—White Sword Heavenly Demon. Many people liked it because it sounded like an alias that defied the Heavenly Demon."
"…At least I wouldn't be one of them. Even if the meaning were different, having 'Heavenly Demon' in my alias is deeply unpleasant."
"Yeah. I figured you'd say that, so I told them you might come knocking in the middle of the night if they went with it, and they changed it right away. Though it was only possible because they were still in the middle of debating what would suit you best."
Seol Ri-hyang shrugged. So, thanks to her, I had managed to avoid being called the White Sword Heavenly Demon?
She was always pretty, but today she looked even more beautiful than usual.
In the end, I couldn't hold back and walked over to Seol Ri-hyang, ruffling her hair roughly.
"Hey! Stop it! Everyone's watching us…"
Even as she said that, Seol Ri-hyang began to droop. Before long, she was accepting my touch with the comfort of someone in her own living room.
It wasn't quite meridian cleansing, but… this too was possible because I knew Seol Ri-hyang's tastes well.
Unlike Seol Ri-hyang, who was grinning contentedly, her new friends started trembling as they looked at me, but that probably wasn't anything important.
I lightly smoothed down Seol Ri-hyang's disheveled hair and opened my mouth.
"So what alias did you end up getting in the end?"
"Hmm… White Moon Sword Lord."
"White Moon Sword Lord?"
That wasn't always the case, but Harmony Realm martial artists tended to have titles that included words like king or lord.
After all, a Harmony Realm martial artist who wrapped themselves in Protective Qi that couldn't be broken without Aura and ran rampant could single-handedly surpass a Martial Force Unit and display might rivaling an army.
However, since Sword King was already Namgung Dowi's alias, I'd wondered if they'd come up with something like some kind of Sword Emperor to avoid confusion… but I never expected "Lord" to be attached.
Of course, that wasn't a bad thing.
The alias Sword Lord itself was quite decent. At least it sounded far more Orthodox than Sword Demon, didn't it?
The reason I was called Sword Lord rather than Sword Emperor was probably due to my low standing, separate from my actual skill.
In fact, just like how Namgung Jong had reached the Harmony Realm before the regression yet his father Namgung Dowi was called Sword King, so he ended up with the alias Azure Heaven Sword Lord.
What pleased me even more, however, was the part before Sword Lord — White Moon.
They must have given me that alias after seeing the white sword I had forced into being through my new enlightenment.
After all, my Aura carried a light resembling the full moon I had gazed up at with Tang So-wol on the day I was poisoned with an incurable toxin.
Aura is the result of refining internal energy through Intent, and Intent springs from the mind's imagery.
So it was hardly strange that my Aura called to mind the same pale moonlight.
…And So-wol in Tang So-wol's name meant a white, bright moon.
I was a little pleased that my alias contained a word sharing the same meaning as Tang So-wol's name.
"The White Moon Sword Lord. An alias I find quite agreeable."
"Cheon Hwi. Was that just now some kind of joke where you keep saying words that end in 'Lord'?"
"…"
This is why I liked quick-witted people.
I pressed my fingers into Seol Ri-hyang's scalp, giving her a firm acupressure massage.
Then I waved a hand toward Seol Ri-hyang, who was trembling and clutching her head, and the Black Alliance's rising talents, who kept glancing back and forth between her and me, clearly at a loss for what to do.
"Anyway, have fun, and pack your things before it gets late. And you lot…"
I paused mid-sentence, and the rising talents tensed up. Surprisingly, I recognized nearly seven out of ten of their faces. Not that we were close enough to call each other friends.
That made sense, though—they were the ones attached to Seol Ri-hyang, an outsider. Surely they knew she would be leaving soon.
It was because they were people who weren't in a position to be picky, needing to get whatever they could during the short time Seol Ri-hyang stayed.
And those who were marginalized or in an awkward position within the Black Alliance were usually assigned to the Iron Blood Faction.
The reason I recognized their faces was because I'd happened to run into them from time to time while they were with the Iron Blood Faction.
As I said before, we weren't close enough to know much about them.
But I did know that they were often thrown into missions beyond their abilities, and that they didn't last long before losing their lives.
For the record, Seol Ri-hyang was quite popular with them back then too.
Looking at it now, what was happening was just the natural course of things.
After a moment of deliberation, I opened my mouth.
"Soon, a large-scale subjugation of the Green Forest will begin. If you have any thoughts on the matter, you may come find Seol Ri-hyang. As for the Lord of the Black Alliance… I'll put in a good word."
"…Ah."
Only then did the people realize what I had been trying to say, and they gaped blankly.
They hadn't expected to hear that if life in the Black Alliance got too hard, they could defect to the Orthodox Sects and formally enter under Seol Ri-hyang's command.
For the record, Seol Ri-hyang was tilting her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
She probably understood the basic workings of the martial world by now, but she hadn't yet reached the point of thinking that people might gather under her banner.
I let out a snort of laughter and stepped out of the room.
Well, if even half of them came looking for her, that would be more than I expected.
Those who came seeking her could be sent to join Seol Ri-hyang on the Green Forest subjugation. Work them hard, and a person's true nature will reveal itself.
If their temperament proved sound, I could use their record of active participation in the Green Forest subjugation to turn them over to our side.
If not, I could just hand them a decent reward and send them back on their way.
…This was from my memories, but we had once shared a pot of rice, so giving them this much of a chance shouldn't hurt.
***
When I returned to my room and packed my belongings, I found they took up more space than I'd expected.
On the way here, I'd traveled light—just a single sword, a change of clothes, a money pouch, and some simple snacks.
But having stayed at the Black Alliance for so long, I'd received all sorts of gifts, and this was the result.
Because in the Unorthodox Sects, it was common sense that if you wanted to curry favor with someone, you slipped them a bribe first.
Even back when I was the Sword Demon before my regression, I'd received plenty of gifts without really noticing, but this life, I'd managed to collect a hefty sum even though I wasn't even part of the Black Alliance.
They probably thought the Lord of the Black Alliance held me in special regard and wanted to get on my good side early.
And there were likely those who'd judged me highly after watching me take down the Sword Demon and slice the hem of the Heavenly Demon's robe.
But for me now, these bribes held little meaning.
In the past, I'd always been short on funds, scraping together every last coin to chase martial arts and seek Spiritual Medicine.
But now that the Tang Clan stood firmly behind me, why would I need to go that far?
Most of the bribes I'd gathered would go straight into the Tang Clan's coffers anyway.
For me, it was like moving money from my left pocket to my right, so it didn't matter much.
After finishing my packing, I was about to sit cross-legged and focus my mind to review my battle with the Heavenly Demon once more.
Knock, knock, knock.
A sound came from the door knocker. A familiar presence and voice followed naturally.
"You there. Do you have a moment?"
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin? Of course. Please come in."
The moment my permission was given, the door opened halfway. Seomun Hwa-rin poked her head through the gap, glanced around, then spotted me and broke into a gentle smile.
After fully opening the door and stepping inside, she carefully locked the door behind her and sat down across from me.
"We just parted ways moments ago, and you've already finished packing? I know for a fact that Senior Seomun Hwa-rin also received quite a few things on the sly."
"There were those who tried to offer me bribes, but I refused them all."
"Pardon?"
"Hm?"
We stared at each other, tilting our heads in confusion for a moment. Unable to make sense of it, I asked again.
"Why on earth would you do that?"
"Well… I've resolved to live as a member of the Orthodox Sects now. How could I possibly accept bribes? Especially ones offered by the martial artists of the Black Alliance."
"That wasn't given to gain some separate favor. If they'd wanted that, they would have prepared a much larger sum. They simply wanted to make a good impression on Senior Seomun Hwa-rin, so there's no need for you to worry about it."
"Wh-what…?"
"Just because they're Orthodox Sects doesn't mean they don't take bribes. They simply exchange complicated, intangible interests instead of the easy-to-spot money and goods that the Unorthodox Sects use."
"…"
Seomun Hwa-rin trembled with a sense of betrayal, like someone who had just realized that the meat she'd eaten today wasn't duck but chicken.
For the record, this actually happened before the regression. It was unavoidable since the Iron Blood Faction's budget was running low… but it was discovered the very next day.
In truth, the Orthodox Sects weren't all that clean either, and it was Seomun Hwa-rin—back when she was called the Iron Blood Faction Leader before the regression—who had taught him this logic, saying there was no need to take the Unorthodox Sects' bribes so seriously.
But it seemed the current Seomun Hwa-rin had no idea at all.
Well, of course. It was something that would happen more than ten years from now, so it made sense she wouldn't know yet.
The fact that he was teaching Seomun Hwa-rin what he had learned from Seomun Hwa-rin was amusing enough to make him chuckle to himself, but only for a moment.
Seomun Hwa-rin, her cheeks puffed up full, began to grumble.
"Hmph! I came bearing good news, yet you're too busy teasing me."
"Teasing you? I was merely admiring that the eldest among us is, in some sense, the purest."
"…I can't help it. In my youth, I was too busy swinging my fists alone, and now I'm too busy adapting to this changed world."
"Yes. So wouldn't it be fine to learn a little at a time from now on? I'll teach you whatever I can, just like now."
"W-Well, if that's the case, I suppose I'll forgive you."
She tried to put on a stern voice, but her expression had already softened completely.
I waited until she had a moment to compose herself before speaking.
"But what brings you here? You said you came bearing good news in such a short time."
"Hmm. It's not that it just came up now—it's more that I only just remembered it now."
Seomun Hwa-rin fidgeted with her white hair in an embarrassed tone, then met my eyes directly and continued.
"You there. Has the Seomun Clan's sword method I taught you been of use?"
"Of course. This was the first time I'd learned a proper advanced sword technique, so it let me revisit the gaps in my foundation."
It was a technique that compressed the already condensed Aura through Intent, over and over, until it became one with the sword—the Hundred Swords.
And a thrusting strike forged by combining the enlightenment I'd gained from crossing blades with the Sword Demon with the existing Mount Tai Sword.
These were enlightenments gained through fierce combat and extreme concentration, but they were all focused on fundamentals and the essence of things.
And this was likely possible because, recently, I'd had plenty to ponder while learning the Seomun Clan's sword methods from Seomun Hwa-rin, and I'd come up with my own answers to many of those questions.
Seomun Hwa-rin, who had been wearing a satisfied smile at my prompt answer, nodded.
"Then how about we start learning the secret art soon? In truth, I haven't mastered it myself, so I can only interpret the secret manual alongside you."
"Huh?"
After the advanced martial art that formed the foundation of the Seomun Clan, Seomun Hwa-rin was now trying to teach me the secret martial art that ordinarily only the clan head and the young head were permitted to learn.
"I'm grateful, of course, but is it really alright to go that far for me?"
"As I said before, I have no one else to pass it on to anyway."
"That's what you said."
"Above all, aren't we close? I won't bring up what I mentioned before about you becoming my adopted son. Instead, I'd like you to join me in the Seomun Clan's secret martial art…"
Seomun Hwa-rin paused there and began to chew her lips. Before long, she forced the words out, as if embarrassed.
"Would you help me restore the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art… together with me?"
"…"
Even before the regression, I had never heard such a thing. I didn't know what it meant, but it was clearly a proposal that held great significance for Seomun Hwa-rin.
Of course, my answer was already decided.
"You said you'd already packed your bags, didn't you?"
"Hm? That is so."
"Then I am as well. In other words, it means I may stay up all night researching today."
"…!"
Seomun Hwa-rin's face brightened as if a flower had bloomed.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It did not take long for Seomun Hwa-rin's expression to darken again.
"But didn't you say that if this is a sword method, it shouldn't be wielded that way?"
"H-However, the Seomun Clan's martial art is rooted in explosive force. That's not to say it carries thunder energy, but to stay true to its essence…"
"Hoo. It's hard to communicate with someone who doesn't use a sword."
"…"
Half a sijin.
That was how long it took for Seomun Hwa-rin to sulk.