Seol Ri-hyang's father is human scum.
I understand that his mind collapsed after his wife's death… but even so, falling into gambling and squandering what little family fortune remained, and ultimately selling Seol Ri-hyang to a brothel to fund his gambling debts.
No matter the reason, none of it can be justified.
Of course, Seol Ri-hyang knows this all too well. But until now, she had simply lived without paying it much mind.
And that made sense—before the regression, there was no trace of him to be found, and in this life, even after Seol Ri-hyang became famous, he never came looking.
Both I and Seol Ri-hyang had assumed her father had quietly passed away in some unknown corner… but.
"So he's alive, then?"
"Yeah, that's what Haomun says."
"And now that he's about to die, he wants to see the daughter he sold off."
"So that's how it is."
"And you, Seol Ri-hyang—you're going to go see him?"
"Yeah."
"…"
I let out a long sigh and looked up at the ceiling. Being indoors, all I could see was the stifling ceiling above.
Right. Seol Ri-hyang had changed little by little since joining the Tang Clan.
The poison energy had drained away, leaving her considerably softer and rounder.
A dozen thoughts stormed through my mind at once. Still, if Seol Ri-hyang herself wanted to go, shouldn't I let her? But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't see this ending well. And of all times, the message had to arrive right as she was heading toward the Demonic Cult. Wasn't there a chance this was a trap set by the Heavenly Demon? And so on.
While my head churned with a cacophony of thoughts, my mouth stayed firmly shut, unable to decide what to say.
Noticing my state, Seol Ri-hyang let out a soft chuckle.
"What's this? Do you trust me that little?"
"…It's not that I don't trust you. It's that the situation isn't good."
"I know. The Haomun aren't exactly trustworthy people either, and I've long since figured out that the story about you being a friend of my father was a lie."
"Then why? Why do you insist on going?"
"Because I'm curious."
"About what?"
"About my roots."
"…"
"More precisely, about this constitution called Pure Yin Constitution. About my surname. About why the more I learn the martial arts of the North Sea Ice Palace, the more comfortable I feel, as if I've finally found where I belong. About why my mother had no choice but to die young. …And I'll admit, there's a small part of me that wants to see her face before I die."
"Hah."
She spoke as if it were nothing, but from the way the answers flowed out of Seol Ri-hyang without hesitation, he could tell.
Her mind was already made up.
"Then it's settled. You'll come with me."
"No. Cheon Hwi, you've been so busy lately you don't even have time to train. You've been running around checking things and making preparations."
"You're more important than all of that."
"…Wow."
Seol Ri-hyang stared at him blankly for a moment, then let out a small laugh.
"That was actually pretty good."
"To be honest, I said it on purpose."
"I know. But I liked it anyway."
Seol Ri-hyang shrugged her shoulders once as she said this and continued.
"Of course, I never planned to go alone. I was thinking of bringing Bing Yerin and a few martial artists from the North Sea Ice Palace along as well."
"Hmm…"
"Don't let my appearance fool you—among Transcendent Peak martial artists, there's hardly anyone who can match me. At most, it'd be Tang unni, or that sly young hero Geomryong who learned sword arts directly from you, Cheon Hwi."
That made sense. The Glacier True Energy that Seol Ri-hyang had mastered was a martial art closer to a Force Qi Skill that moved vast amounts of internal energy, and she herself possessed talent in internal energy manipulation.
And internal energy was something that could be stored in greater quantities the higher one's realm rose.
In other words, the martial art Seol Ri-hyang had mastered grew stronger the more internal energy she had.
That was also the reason why Seol Ri-hyang, who had only recently reached Transcendent Peak, could grow stronger far faster than other Transcendent Peak martial artists.
Still, even knowing that Seol Ri-hyang had long since passed the level where she'd go around getting beaten up, I couldn't help but worry.
So this time too, as I was mulling over what to say, Seol Ri-hyang spoke up first.
"Got it?"
"Got what?"
"That with me this strong, I can protect someone like Cheon Hwi while we go!"
"Huh…?"
Seol Ri-hyang wore a confident expression. But soon, seeing my dumbfounded reaction, her face flushed red.
"Ugh! I'm saying you can come along if you want to! Why won't you play along with me."
"I understand what you're saying."
"Then what was so absurd about it?"
"It's just… someone who's only just reached Transcendent Peak and is still strutting around saying that to me, someone who could aim for the title of number one under heaven if I took down a single opponent. It's… refreshing, I suppose."
"Is that what matters?!"
"What's more important to a martial artist than strength?"
"Hmm."
Seol Ri-hyang narrowed her eyes and let out a small laugh, then suddenly struck an odd pose.
She clasped her hands behind her back, thrust her chest out, and leaned her upper body forward. Then she closed the distance slightly and looked up at me from below.
With that, she continued speaking, her eyes seemingly expecting something from me.
"Me. Or something?"
I understood that she was subtly showing off the lines of her body, making me look down at her from above. I understood it in my head, but…
Since she had apparently never tried this pose before, every single movement was stiff and clumsy, so I didn't feel much of anything.
How should I put it? It was like a child clumsily imitating an adult. No, wait. In this case, it felt more like she was awkwardly trying to mimic her pre-regression self.
If her movements became even a little more natural, it would probably become the exact pose Seol Ri-hyang used to strike sometimes when she was trying to seduce me before the regression.
…So that meant the pre-regression Seol Ri-hyang had practiced this alone, then pretended to be all confident and casual in front of me.
I let out a hollow laugh at this belated realization and shook my head.
"It doesn't suit you at all."
"Why?! I thought you liked this kind of thing?"
"Well. It's just that the difference from what I had in mind is too great."
This wasn't simply about her awkward movements.
Unlike her days as the Ghost Sound Witch, when she had grown up malnourished and limped on one leg.
The Seol Ri-hyang of now ate well and slept well, and had even drawn out the potential of her Pure Yin Constitution through proper martial arts.
In other words, to put it simply… she now possessed a body overflowing with Yin Energy.
Her features and fundamental personality were the same as when she was the Ghost Sound Witch… but much else about the current Seol Ri-hyang had changed.
After quietly looking down at her for a moment, I nodded.
"Alright, I understand. I'll go with you."
"Then…!"
"However, as you said, Seol Ri-hyang, time is short, so we'll make the trip as quickly as possible."
"Huh? Ah, you mean switching out the carriage horses and riding through the night?"
"Did you say Bing Yerin and the other martial artists of the North Sea Ice Palace would come along too? Keep only Bing Yerin, and have the rest stand down."
"Why all of a sudden…! Ah! S-Surely not?"
Seol Ri-hyang's eyes went wide as she clamped a hand over her mouth. I answered that reaction—which was quite a sight to behold—by curling my lips into a grin.
"If I carry you and run myself, we'll be much faster. I won't even need to stop and rest along the way."
"But I need to rest…? I feel like I'm about to get motion sickness and dizzy and all that…?"
"Don't worry."
I flashed the most reassuring smile I could manage at Seol Ri-hyang, who was trembling all over.
"If I sling you over my shoulder facing backward and run, even if you throw up, we'll be going fast enough that it won't land on my clothes."
"If we're going that fast, then it'll land on my face!"
"Listen carefully, Seol Ri-hyang."
"W-What is it…"
I grabbed her shoulder and lowered my voice seriously, and Seol Ri-hyang swallowed hard.
"Anyway, it's not like I'm the one getting dirty."
"…"
"And besides, I'll be clean again after I wash my face."
"…Die!"
Seol Ri-hyang thrust a fist shimmering with cold energy straight at my solar plexus.
Thud!
Of course, it was blocked by the Protective Qi I had instinctively wrapped around myself.
"Your internal energy is far denser than before, and the sharp, piercing force unique to cold energy has improved as well. You're still far from mastering Fist and Leg Art… but well, that probably isn't of much importance to you, Seol Ri-hyang."
"Hey! Stop analyzing me!"
"You're doing well. Keep training a bit more."
"Don't cheer me on either!"
"But reaching the Harmony Realm is another matter entirely. It's not about how skilled you are in martial arts—you must complete yourself and connect that to your martial arts. Training is good, but it might also be wise to set aside time to purely reflect on yourself."
"Don't give me advice either… no, actually, I'm grateful for this one. Lately I've been worried because the period where my skills just skyrocket from mere training seems to have passed."
"…You only realized that after reaching Transcendent Peak?"
I had felt it the moment I reached the Peak Realm. Of course, my case and Seol Ri-hyang's were different.
I had essentially trained the sword on my own until reaching the Peak Realm, whereas Seol Ri-hyang had learned systematic martial arts from the start and even occasionally consumed Spiritual Medicine.
And when she stopped by the North Sea Ice Palace, she was able to freely absorb all the martial arts manuals and Spiritual Medicine in the library.
"Talent is infuriating."
"No, coming from you of all people, Cheon Hwi, that's a bit unfair."
"My Sword Talent is certainly outstanding, but it's not to the level of an unreachable genius. At best, I'm an ordinary genius."
"Either way, a genius is a genius…"
This part was sincere.
Looking purely at Sword Talent alone, my ability fell slightly short of Namgung Jong's.
My ability to handle killing intent, one of my specialties, was also nothing compared to a true Heavenly Killing Star.
"In other words, you're saying I freely wielded Sword Talent slightly below the Sword King's, and killing intent a bit weaker than the Heavenly Killing Star's."
"Oh."
When he put it that way, it did sound somewhat impressive.
Well, add to that the regression, refining all that killing intent into pure Intent, and swinging my sword ceaselessly in a world of endlessly repeating tricks.
It was through many Fortuitous Encounters and moments of Enlightenment that I had reached where I was today.
If one considered pure talent alone, there had likely been only a handful of people at my level in the history of the martial world.
"Well, whatever. In the end, I'm the strongest now, so it doesn't matter."
"Ugh… what rotten luck."
"That is, unless you're the Heavenly Demon."
"It's a bit ridiculous that only the Heavenly Demon can make you humble."
Seol Ri-hyang shook her head. I lightly wrapped my arm around her waist and continued.
"So don't go anywhere—stay within reach of my sword."
"…Huh?"
"Whatever happens, I'll find a way to handle it."
"O-oh… Okay. Th-thanks?"
She nodded with a dazed expression for a moment, then, once she grasped the situation, broke into a satisfied grin and leaned her weight against him.
But Seol Ri-hyang, who had been rubbing her face, suddenly widened her eyes as if something had occurred to her.
"Wait."
"What now?"
"I get that you're carrying me. But what about Bing Yerin?"
"Hm?"
"Surely not… you're not going to carry us both at once, are you? With me clinging on like this?"
"…"
After a moment of thought at the unexpected question, I opened my mouth.
"How about I tie you to an A-frame carrier and take you along that way?"
"So you'd carry the A-frame on your back and lift me up in front? Not bad."
Still, she was someone who treated me well, thinking of me as the prospective Young Palace Mistress—was this really the right way to treat her?
Who on earth had taught him this…?
.
.
.
.
.
For some reason, the Illusion Witch suddenly came to mind.
But I erased her from my memory just as quickly.