This happened back when I was active in the Black Alliance under the alias Blood Wolf.
The Iron Blood Faction Leader, who was my direct superior at the time, was the worst in many ways, but still, he occasionally said things that proved helpful.
One of those was that a person spends their entire life learning something as they live.
How to walk, how to speak, how to make friends, how to wield a sword, how to work, how to maintain relationships, how to care for one's family, how to find principles in the words of the ancients, and so on.
There are many things in the world one must learn. Even a lifetime of learning would surely not be enough to master them all. Naturally, some people learn what others do not, and even when learning the same thing, some are slower and some are faster in their achievement.
But despite that, a person must not give up and must keep learning something. Even more so if one is dissatisfied with one's current situation.
'Only then can you become a better person.'
The Iron Blood Faction Leader's voice was filled with regret as he said this.
What could a master who had reached the Harmony Realm possibly have been so dissatisfied with? It was something I couldn't understand back then, when I was nothing but a lowly-born swordsman who had learned nothing.
I do remember that his words—urging me not to make the same mistakes he had—stirred something in my heart.
And so, for the first time, I learned to read and write. Thanks to that, I was able to read secret manuals and master more martial arts.
The next thing I learned was how to count. After getting swindled a few times, I no longer had to chase down the swindlers and cut them down.
Beyond that, I learned to drink while dueling with others, learned how the Black Alliance operated, and occasionally learned martial arts as well.
My Sword Art was tempered in Real Combat, my Mental Cultivation Method was established by reflecting on my own life, but the Light-Body Technique was something I learned from the Iron Blood Faction Leader.
Yes. Our ending was certainly the worst, but not every moment along the way had been.
From her, I learned not how to wield a sword, but how to live in this world. She would deny it vehemently, but the Iron Blood Faction Leader was something like a parent or a teacher to me.
…However, I never learned what one is supposed to do when out on the Market Street with one's Betrothed.
The Iron Blood Faction Leader had lived and died a lifelong bachelor, so even if I'd asked her to teach me, she wouldn't have been able to.
At any rate, I looked at Tang So-wol with a helpless expression for that very reason.
"Do you have a place in mind where you want to go?"
"No? But I just came out to play in front of the house, so why make it complicated? Let's eat first, then wander around and look at things."
"That makes sense too."
I nodded and walked alongside Tang So-wol. Once we passed through the Tang Clan's main gate, a bustling scene unfolded before us in no time.
A little further on, the crowd thinned and we came upon a quiet, spacious boulevard.
It wasn't because the street was a bad one. On the contrary, it was because it looked far too good.
The people strolling along the street were all dressed in expensive-looking clothes, the carriages passing by were ornate, and the buildings lining both sides stood tall and grand.
"…It does look expensive."
"It's fine. I never planned on asking you to pay anyway, young hero Cheon. Besides, the place we're headed to is run by the Tang Clan, so if you come with me, it's free."
"I wasn't planning to buy you anything either. I already spent my entire fortune on your dumplings, Tang So-wol."
"Oh my. Surely you're not still sulking about that? But my opinion hasn't changed. A grain-avoidance pill isn't food."
"If it fills your stomach, it's food."
"That's quite hard to believe, coming from someone who devoured the food made by the Tang Clan's Head Chef so eagerly."
"…I ate because I was hungry. Because I was hungry."
"Because you're in your growing years, was it? Hehe. That's right. The young hero Cheon still has more growing to do."
Tang So-wol grinned as she placed her hand on the top of my head, pretending to measure my height.
It was true that I was a little—just a tiny bit—shorter than her, but this was only a temporary disadvantage. In fact, before my regression, I had been a full handspan taller.
No, wait. This time around, I had learned proper martial arts from an even younger age and never skipped a meal, so I would grow even taller.
"Just wait five years."
"You mean to say we'll still be going out together like this five years from now? I'll be looking forward to that day."
"…Honestly, I almost think it was better when I was treated like a monster."
"Aw, there wouldn't have been much of a difference either way, would there? I have plenty of reasons besides your age for being this familiar with you, young hero Cheon."
Saying that, Tang So-wol clasped her hands behind her back as if putting on airs. She scurried across in front of me, then spun around to face me and began walking backward.
"First of all, I've learned that you're not as scary as your first impression suggests, young hero Cheon."
"That's something I'd like to tell the men who died at my hands."
"Even if you exude killing intent toward everyone else, I'm the exception, aren't I? That's enough."
"Heh…"
Tang So-wol answered without a moment's hesitation and continued in a composed tone.
"Second, is it because you, young hero Cheon, are completely smitten with me?"
"Not to that extent."
"Not many people would risk their lives for something less than that. Even fewer would, at a meeting to discuss rewards, set aside everything else and say they want me. I almost thought I was the heroine of some story."
"…If you looked hard enough, you'd probably find a few. Men are far simpler creatures than you, Tang So-wol, think."
"Perhaps there is someone, as you say, young hero. After all, I am this pretty, and I am a daughter of the Tang Clan. But what matters is that you were the first."
"I won't bother asking if you're embarrassed to call yourself pretty with your own mouth. You clearly don't look embarrassed at all."
"Tch."
Tang So-wol clicked her tongue lightly, turned her body back around, and spoke while looking ahead, not at my eyes.
"Lastly… no, never mind. I'd better not say it after all."
"Don't you know that starting to speak and then stopping makes people even more curious?"
"But when I thought about it before speaking, I realized it might come across as rude to young hero Cheon."
"Tang So-wol, how rude could you possibly be? Have you forgotten? That I'm from Zhejiang Province."
At that, Tang So-wol tilted her head and asked.
"I'm not implying anything, I'm just curious—what exactly is Zhejiang Province that you'd say that?"
"The stronghold of the Unorthodox Sects. Though saying that probably doesn't make it feel real to you. How should I put it…"
After thinking for a moment, I recalled a fitting anecdote and opened my mouth.
"First of all, I'm an orphan."
"Ah… I see…"
"You don't have to be so nervous. Both of them passed away when I was too young to remember anything."
"Do you realize that makes it even harder to respond to?"
"What's the matter. It's only going to get harder from here."
I chuckled as I said that, and Tang So-wol slowed her pace to walk beside me again, as if to listen carefully to what I was about to say.
"It's nothing all that remarkable. It's common in Zhejiang Province for ordinary citizens living peaceful lives to be destroyed at the hands of Unorthodox Sect martial artists who've risen to power."
Her husband, who had gone out to work, lost his life to a black-hearted bandit who drew his blade over a trivial reason. His wife, unable to bear letting her child starve, gritted her teeth and worked as a cheap prostitute under the very men who had killed her husband—but she was beaten to death by a drunk customer, through sheer bad luck.
The child left alone in the world begged when young, and once a little older, sought ways to survive—until, in the end, just like his mother, he crawled under the very men who were his enemies.
"What do you think I heard under those bastards?"
"…"
Tang So-wol's face went pale, her lips pressed tightly shut. I patted her shoulder gently to soothe her.
"Come now. We came out to have fun, and here I am telling such gloomy stories. Don't worry. In the end, I cut them all down with my own hands."
"Was it… revenge?"
"No. It was to survive. As I said before, I don't even remember my parents' faces."
Had I stayed there, I would have been used up until I fell ill and died, or been thrown out as a shield in dangerous work and died a dog's death.
There had actually been a few times before the regression when I came close to real danger.
My rapid growth back then was partly talent, but it must also have been due to this environment.
If I didn't want to die, I had no choice but to grow stronger.
"That's why I said it was fine. At the very least, you wouldn't say something to me out of ill will, Tang So-wol."
"…"
After chewing her lip once, Tang So-wol opened her moistened eyes wide.
"Young hero Cheon. May I continue what I was about to say earlier?"
"Of course."
"Actually, I thought that I might be able to teach you things that you don't know, young hero Cheon."
"Hm?"
"The ways of the Orthodox Sects, not the Unorthodox. No, that's too grand a way to put it. I simply wanted to show you the way ordinary people live."
"What would a martial artist do with ordinariness? It would only dull the blade."
"A sword need not always be sharp. The young hero I see before me treats me as the exception, but otherwise you are always on edge… You feel like a sword without a sheath."
"I won't deny it. But is that something that can be learned? I've lived this way my whole life, and I don't think it's wrong."
"Of course, I'm not saying I'm absolutely right, nor am I trying to change you. That would be far too presumptuous of me. I only wish to show you."
"Show me?"
"Yes. If the young hero has lived his entire life on his own path and simply doesn't know any other way, then I only wish to show him that other paths exist, and that this one isn't so bad either. And if possible, I'd like to be the one to show him—no one else."
Suddenly, I recalled the words of the Iron Blood Faction Leader, who had once taught me even the most trivial things one by one.
'He said that someday, I should live a life for myself, not a life lived merely to survive.'
I only understood what those words meant when I was on the brink of death.
And now. Tang So-wol was saying something similar to what the Iron Blood Faction Leader had said.
"…"
I stared blankly at Tang So-wol's profile. Her face was slightly redder than usual. Her breathing, too, was uneven—unbecoming of a martial artist. It seemed she was anxious about what she had just said.
Somehow, a laugh slipped out of me.
"Hahaha!"
"W-what is it?! Here I was, having a serious conversation, and you laugh like that?"
"Nothing. I was just surprised—that was a more ticklish remark than I expected. Did you prepare that line beforehand?"
"…Not exactly?"
Tang So-wol averted her gaze. This was unexpected.
I felt a little amused picturing her muttering to herself, practicing what to say.
"Is that so. So you didn't prepare it."
"Heh…! That look on your face. Do you know how annoying it is? Anyway, let's just go inside! We're going to eat here."
Tang So-wol stopped before a large tavern bearing a signboard that read "Myeongwollu."
"It's still daytime, so I plan to order only food, without alcohol. Is that all right?"
"It doesn't matter. But this place looks quite expensive no matter how I look at it. Could it be that what Tang So-wol meant to show me wasn't an ordinary life, but the life of the wealthy?"
"You seem to be trying to make a mischievous joke, but from the moment young hero Cheon became my betrothed, you'll never have to worry about money for the rest of your life. At least as much as I can spend, young hero Cheon will be able to spend as well."
"…Is that so?"
"Perhaps? It might be that the money that comes to me has to be spent together with young hero Cheon, but even so, there will be no shortage, so rest assured."
Having seen the Tang Clan directly, I realized that the wealth of the Five Great Families was beyond imagination. Since they didn't scrape together money desperately like the Unorthodox Sects, I had wondered if they might lack funds.
Now I saw—they simply had no need to scrape it together in the first place.
If a large sum of money were given to me, I could use it to buy martial arts, a good sword, spiritual medicine… but thinking about it, all of those were things I could get support for from the Tang Clan anyway.
"…After thinking about it for a moment, it seems that even if I had money, there's nowhere to spend it."
"Then shall we look into that matter together as well? Let's start with a meal, shall we?"
"Hmm."
Tang So-wol pulled my arm and led me to the main street.
With her warm touch, I decided to forget about martial arts and the Heavenly Demon for today at least.
And so, we shared a meal of somewhat spicy Sichuan cuisine while chatting, and after finishing our meal, we wandered around Market Street, buying snacks and watching the acrobatic troupe's performances.
Beyond that, we continued to roam around Chengdu, simply enjoying ourselves.
How much time had passed like that?
Before I knew it, the sun had set and darkness had fallen, and the shops were beginning to hang lanterns one by one.
Neither of us had said anything first, but we began retracing our steps back toward the Tang Clan, thinking it was about time to return. The distance between us was a little closer than before.
And so we arrived at the Tang Clan. An unexpected piece of news was waiting for us.
"Little brother. We found out who was behind the people who tried to harm you."
"What?"
"What do you mean…?"
There was someone behind it?
Something had begun to unfold differently than before the regression.