Tang So-wol closed the door and even locked it carefully, her eyes sparkling.
"So, what should we play? What should we play?"
"…"
The injuries from the sparring match had already been treated, and the Vice-Captain of the Poison Blood Squad was resting in the next room.
That meant there was no reason to leave, and no one would come in either.
In other words, in this room, it was just me and Tang So-wol.
The moment I realized that, I started getting nervous for no reason. Tang So-wol herself, however, seemed to have no such thoughts, pulling out the Golpae I had glimpsed this morning from her bosom.
Well, that made sense. Golpae was an old tool, and since people used it to divine the future, it wouldn't be strange to find one lying around somewhere in the Zhongnan Sect.
They wrote talismans and held ancestral rites to pray for the blessings of visitors, so a bit of Golpae fortune-telling was hardly surprising.
Still, the fact that Golpae was commonly used for gambling did weigh on my mind.
I shouldn't get hooked on things like this so early…
"Do you know how to use it? The rules must be quite complicated."
"Of course I do. I learned from the Vice-Captain of the Poison Blood Squad yesterday."
"…"
Was it really alright to teach something like that to the young lady she served?
I was a bit taken aback, but listening to her explanation, it was closer to giving me a preventive lesson so I wouldn't get swindled somewhere.
"She said that if you bet money, it becomes gambling, and no matter how high your martial arts realm, gambling is designed so that the gambler always wins."
"That's true."
People often think of gamblers as having flashy hand tricks, but in reality, they more often exchange information through signals that are hard to detect, subtly steer their opponent's thoughts, or tamper with the gambling tools themselves.
As the Vice-Captain of the Poison Blood Squad said, no matter how outstanding one's martial arts realm, when it's your turn to be taken, you'll be taken.
So the best policy is to not even touch it, but… isn't it human nature to want to do something more when told not to?
If I had never known about it, it would be one thing, but now that I've confirmed its existence and even grown interested, it would be better to let me know that I can enjoy it without betting money.
As I nodded, thinking the Vice-Captain of the Poison Blood Squad had really thought things through, Tang So-wol thrust her face forward, her eyes sparkling.
"So how about a bet with no money on the line?!"
"…?"
Wondering what she meant, I stared intently at Tang So-wol's face.
Perhaps it was because the purple poison-nurturing herb had strengthened the poison energy in her body. Her hair and pupils were black with a faint greenish tint.
Even back before the regression, when I'd only seen half her face, I'd thought she was beautiful. Now that both sides were revealed, she possessed a beauty I could gaze at all day without ever growing tired.
Still, setting aside her looks, her overall impression was quite different from the one in my memory.
Unlike her past life, where her emotional expressions were clear but faint in range, the current Tang So-wol showed vivid reactions like a sprouting seedling.
Her eyes curved into crescent-shaped smiles. Her breath came slightly rough with anticipation, and the corners of her mouth twitched as if ready to break into a smile at any moment.
What would happen if she pressed her face close to mine like that? Her body naturally leaned toward me, carrying a pleasant scent, and my gaze kept drifting to her chest, which even her loose clothing couldn't fully conceal.
I turned my head without meaning to and asked.
"…Aren't you a bit too close?"
Even granting that Tang So-wol had been acting familiar with me ever since our misunderstanding was cleared up, this was one of the few times she'd gotten this near.
But what came back was Tang So-wol's composed reaction, as if asking what the problem was.
"Hmm? We're betrothed now, so isn't this much all right?"
"Betrothal and marriage are different things."
Specifically, the difference lay in whether crossing the line would force me into a sparring match with Tang Jincheon or not.
Of course, none of that seemed to matter to Tang So-wol in the slightest.
Softly.
Tang So-wol gently cupped my cheeks and pulled me toward her. The touch of her slender fingers and the warmth that wasn't mine sent heat rushing straight to my head.
My gaze naturally fixed on her. From the now-closer distance, she asked with a deliberately stern tone.
"So? Are you going to do it, or are you going to drink it?"
"…"
Her eyes seemed certain that I couldn't refuse, even though her words suggested otherwise.
And truly, once caught like this, I had no choice left in the matter—I could only admit that she knew me all too well.
"Fine. So what are we wagering?"
"Hmm, that's true. I suppose having one wish granted would be best, wouldn't it?"
"A wish?"
"Yes. Of course, within reason—nothing against the martial code, and nothing too demanding."
"Not bad."
With that said, this time I reached out toward Tang So-wol's cheek.
It hardly seemed fair that only I should suffer. I had to return the favor to even the score.
In the past, her right cheek had always been covered, melted away by poison energy. But now, I simply stroked the soft skin and spoke.
"I should start thinking about what to have you do for me from now on, Tang So-wol."
"…Ugh!"
Caught completely off guard by the counterattack, Tang So-wol's face flushed red in an instant.
Startled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she quickly put some distance between us and nodded with an urgent voice.
"Th-then let's start right now! Three rounds, first to two wins—how about that?"
"I don't mind."
Tang So-wol spilled the Golpae tiles she had pulled from her bosom onto the floor with a clatter.
"Wh-what?!"
Tang So-wol shot up from her seat with a cry of despair. Her face was as pale as if she had seen a ghost. But no matter how she protested, nothing would change.
"Why did I get so thoroughly cleaned out, young hero Cheon! Surely not…?!"
"Surely not, my foot. You just learned the rules a moment ago—where on earth did that confidence that you could beat me come from?"
"I never imagined you'd be this good, young hero! No, wait—you're barely of age, so why are you so skilled?!"
"You should have realized that the moment you asked me if I was sure I wanted to play, instead of asking about the rules."
"Never mind that, just answer me! Surely you didn't cheat…?! Just what kind of enormous task are you planning to make me do, to go that far?!"
"I never pulled any tricks. It's purely a difference in skill. Ah, and as a bonus, you just weren't very lucky, Tang So-wol."
"Wait, so what exactly happened?!"
"I was going to tell you even without the prodding. It's nothing all that impressive… I simply spent part of my childhood running errands at gambling dens and scraping by on whatever I could get."
"I see…!"
Well, half of that was true. When I was too young to be trusted with anything real, I'd worked at a gambling den run by the Jeoksa Faction.
But that wasn't the only reason. After I joined the Black Alliance, I'd gotten my hands on some money and, with a bold heart, started buying up every martial art I could find.
Then I heard a rumor that a gambler from the Haomun had put his Rising Sword Method on the line in a bet, and I went looking for him.
The terms were simple: if I won the gamble, he'd hand over the martial art for free; if I lost, I owed him ten Gold Coins.
Back then, I couldn't learn any decent martial arts from the Black Alliance's secret vault because of the Lord of the Black Alliance's petty meddling.
Thanks to that, I had never once gotten to learn the Rising Sword Method, and since martial arts of that caliber rarely even showed up on the market, I'd clung to it with considerable desperation.
Of course, I hadn't expected to lose twenty times in a row.
At first, the guy had been gleefully fleecing me of my Gold Coins, but after the tenth loss he started going quiet, and once I hit twenty, he just handed over the Martial Arts Manual with a plea.
He said I could have it for free, as long as we pretended none of it had ever happened.
I figured he was afraid I'd hold a grudge and come after him. Of course, I was a bit angry and frustrated back then, but I'd had no intention of seeking revenge, so I accepted right away.
Once we'd gotten reasonably friendly, I could even hear the gambler's stories.
He said that one or two rounds might be a fluke, but a greenhorn like me was bound to get cleaned out by a professional gambler like himself.
He might have stripped me bare from the front, but he never stabbed me in the back — all things considered, he was a decent sort.
…The next time, we wagered Spiritual Medicine on the same kind of gambling table, and I got my neck sliced open by a hot-tempered master from the Unorthodox Sects.
In the end, that master was hunted down by Haomun and had his neck sliced open the same way, but even so, the dead don't come back. After that, I stopped setting foot in gambling dens altogether.
Anyway, that's why my current skill at Golpae is a trace of my flailing to obtain the Rising Sword Method. For Tang So-wol, who had only just learned the rules, winning was a distant prospect even if she tried with all her might.
Tang So-wol, who had lost two rounds in a row at Sampan Iseonseung, slumped down with a hollow expression like a squirrel robbed of its acorn.
I chuckled and spoke to her.
"Let's see. I won, so the wish token is in my hands. What should I have you do…?"
"Hmph! In any case, the young hero only has martial arts on his mind, doesn't he?!"
Biting her lip, Tang So-wol flopped onto the bed and declared in a resolute tone.
"Leave someone as clingy and annoying as me alone and go talk about martial arts with your other seniors!"
"No, what are you talking about?"
I let out a deep sigh of disbelief and continued.
"Didn't I already promise to spend this evening with you, Tang So-wol? And while it's true that I love martial arts, there's something right in front of me that I love just as much—so where would I possibly go?"
"…!"
Tang So-wol caught my meaning half a beat late. She wore a strange expression, shy yet beaming, and then, as if something had just occurred to her, she looked down at her own body.
Only then did she realize how completely defenseless she was, exposing herself before me, and she hastily pulled the blanket up and wrapped it around herself.
Tang So-wol, transformed from a squirrel into a silkworm, poked only her face out and asked.
"Th-then, what kind of task did you have in mind for me?"
"It's nothing much. I just wanted to know what it is you want from me, even if you had to go about it this way."
"Ah."
Tang So-wol flinched as if struck in a sore spot. She tucked her neck in for a moment, then straightened it again shortly after and asked.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Not entirely. It's just that instead of plainly stating what you want, you went out of your way to bring out a wish token—that was a little awkward."
"…Young hero, you seem like you don't pay much attention to me, and yet you know me quite well."
"Who knows. Perhaps it's that I watch you when you're not watching me."
"Wow. That gave me goosebumps just now."
"…"
"I'm joking, so rest easy."
Tang So-wol was still keeping both arms tucked under the blanket, laughing as she tapped my thigh with her head.
When I casually stretched my legs out, she lay down using my thigh as a pillow and looked up at me.
"Young hero Cheon is right. Actually, there's something I've been curious about, but I couldn't find the right way to bring it up."
"Then let's do it this way. My wish is for you, Tang So-wol, to tell me the worry you're holding right now."
"Whenever this happens, I always think—I really did pick a good Betrothed."
Tang So-wol, who had been giggling to herself, cleared her throat once and continued.
"Ahem. First of all, let me say this—I'm not suspicious of anyone, nor am I jealous. Please keep that in mind."
"I'm already getting nervous, but understood. I'll do that."
As I nodded, Tang So-wol, after a brief pause, parted her lips.
"Young hero. You said before that when you look at me, you think of someone else, didn't you?"
"You also said that person is no longer in this world."
"…Then, when you look at Lady Seol, do you think of that person as well?"
"…"
An unexpected question. Still, I knew exactly what she was getting at.
Tang So-wol must have realized that when I looked at Seol Ri-hyang, I was thinking of the Seol Ri-hyang from my previous life.
After mulling it over for a long while, I finally put into words what I had managed to pick out.
"I…"