"What could be so urgent that you drive yourself so harshly?"
Seomun Hwa-rin spoke those words at the head of my bed, where I had collapsed from exhaustion after swinging my sword.
When I had first drawn my blade, it had clearly been bright daylight, but before I knew it, the sun had set and night had fallen—and even the night sky was hidden behind Seomun Hwa-rin's face.
Her white hair cascaded down. Her red eyes held both worry and sternness at once. That was the sky I looked up at.
A small sky, barely a span wide.
I don't remember what I answered Seomun Hwa-rin. It was so long ago, and trivial memories are easily pushed aside by other, more intense ones.
So I must have given some flippant reply. Something like… life is harsh by nature.
That was the kind of person I was back then. It wouldn't be accurate to say I was consumed by malice—twisted was the better word.
The confidence that a single sword could cut through every problem in the world, paired with the anxiety of not knowing what I was even supposed to swing it at.
And as those two concepts—confidence and anxiety, which should never have mixed—churned together, they turned into a colorless, odorless poison.
If I didn't swing my sword, it felt like I wasn't improving. If I didn't train like my life depended on it. If I slowed my pace even a little.
Then, at the bottom of my consciousness, a thought began to coil like a serpent: that I, too, could be cut down at any moment—just like all those who had fallen to my blade.
That must be why I could only fall asleep after swinging my sword in a way that was closer to abuse than training.
Of course, Seomun Hwa-rin seemed to see right through all of it.
"Hm, hm. Perhaps that is so. But not every life is like that."
"Would you follow me for a moment? The timing is right, so there is something I wish to show you."
"Enough! Stop your prattling and get up!"
Seomun Hwa-rin forced me to my feet, even pouring True Qi into me when I—exhausted from collapsing—didn't want to move so much as a finger.
She grabbed my wrist firmly and began dragging me somewhere.
A wall in the corner of the Iron Blood Faction's grounds. Unlike the living quarters, which were at least somewhat maintained, this place was completely neglected—a half-collapsed pile of stones.
Weeds crept up slowly, rainwater pooled when it rained, and all sorts of insects and wild animals lured by it poked around.
Every time I saw it, my complaints about the stingy Lord of the Black Alliance piled up one after another. …Until now, that is.
The outer wall I visited again at night had completely changed.
The wild grass growing between the rubble and the cracks was still there, but countless sources of light were now glittering atop it.
Small insects flickering somewhere between green and yellow, announcing their presence. Fireflies.
"What do you think? Isn't it beautiful? Creatures that were mere flying bugs by day can shine like this at night."
"I'm sure your life too will someday— Huh? Why are creatures you'd only see deep in the mountains out here in a place where people live?"
"That's not what matters right now. Anyway, to answer you, it's because this area isn't really fit for people to live in."
"Ahem. So? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the view soon."
Seomun Hwa-rin urged me to answer with a relaxed attitude, as if she already knew what I was going to say.
I probably answered reluctantly. No matter how magnificent a scenery you show someone who has no peace of mind, it's hard for them to genuinely admire it.
Seomun Hwa-rin was my direct superior, a Harmony Realm martial artist, and a person who took the time to teach me all sorts of things whenever she had a spare moment—how could I not be grateful to her?
Even if it didn't truly resonate in my chest, I knew with my head that it was a beautiful sight, so I nodded.
Well. Even now I'm like this, but back then I was even worse at lying, so it must have all shown on my face.
"Oh dear. It seems you don't really like it, but you're just saying that to be mindful of me."
Yet Seomun Hwa-rin looked at me and slowly smiled.
…From the time I lay in the training hall to this very conversation. This was precisely the reason I couldn't remember what I had answered.
Because before a powerful memory, trivial ones naturally fade away.
"But still, this one finds your consideration truly delightful."
"If I think of you, and you think of me, is there anything more beautiful than that in this world?"
Seomun Hwa-rin nodded with a proud expression, pleased with her own words.
Bathed in the dreamlike glow of the fireflies as she spoke, she—ridiculously—stepped deeper into the depths of my heart than any scenery ever had.
Yes. That was the kind of person Seomun Hwa-rin was.
The kind who made flowers bloom in the cold of winter, drew fireflies to abandoned places, and found it enough that two hearts had merely touched.
She possessed formidable martial arts, yet she could rejoice sincerely over the smallest of things.
The fireflies' light still stirred nothing in me. Nor did the grand words Seomun Hwa-rin had so ambitiously prepared.
But the warmth of the small hand that pulled me from the cold floor where I had been growing cold. The clear, bright smile. The memory of today. Seomun Hwa-rin.
I shall never forget it. And why should I, after all.
Because, as she said, I had seen something beautiful.
***
"Ah."
Was it because I had dreamed of old times for the first time in a long while? For a moment, my mind felt hazy, and I could not easily distinguish the past from the present.
Of course, no matter how long a dream might be, it never lasted long—just as everything is forgotten after waking and blinking a few times.
"Mmm…"
Seomun Hwa-rin, who was moving her lips as if imagining eating something.
Seomun Hwa-rin was sleeping soundly beside me. She wore the same thin clothes as yesterday, but they weren't quite so provocative this time.
Perhaps it was because dawn had broken and bright sunlight was streaming through the window, or because a thin trail of drool marked the corner of Seomun Hwa-rin's mouth as she had turned onto her side, or because her cheeks looked even softer than usual today.
Either way, she looked quite different from the Seomun Hwa-rin in the dream I had been having just moments ago.
As my mind cleared and I recalled what had happened last night, a bitter smile naturally formed at the corner of my mouth.
"I didn't think they'd still be there."
I glanced down at my arm. Red marks had bloomed here and there. At a glance, it looked as if I had some kind of illness, or had been badly bitten by insects.
I imagined my whole body was in a similar state, not just my arm.
Of course, it went without saying that I wasn't actually sick or bitten by bugs.
All of them were marks left by Seomun Hwa-rin pressing her lips to various parts of my body.
No, to be precise, they were marks left by her pressing her lips and sucking without mercy.
"Hoo."
I let out a deep sigh as I looked at Seomun Hwa-rin. I shouldn't have said that thing about leaving it to her discretion back then.
"Heh heh heh…"
Seomun Hwa-rin, who had woken from sleep only to mumble in her sleep with a lewd smile. Now that I looked at her, she seemed a bit different.
Was she not eating something in her dream, but rather in the middle of carving marks all over my body?
A chill ran down my spine. I hadn't gone any further, as promised with Tang So-wol, but… I wondered if this was really okay.
I shook my head to clear my complicated feelings, then poked Seomun Hwa-rin's cheeks and spoke.
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. Wake up."
"Ugh…"
"There's a lot to do. We need to spread the news of the White Peak Mountain King's subjugation, and we should also rejoin Seol Ri-hyang and the other martial artists who went down ahead of us. And I'm hungry, so we need to eat too."
After I poked her for a good while, Seomun Hwa-rin finally rose slowly. She yawned once, rubbed her eyes, and nodded.
"I'm awake…"
She still wore a drowsy expression, but when she saw my face—and the red marks left here and there on the parts of my body not covered by clothes—her eyes went wide.
"Huh?!"
Seomun Hwa-rin covered her mouth and held her breath. After rolling her eyes back and forth for a long while, she suddenly broke into a gentle smile.
"You said you had much to do?"
"Yes."
"Then it's important to set your priorities. Will you eat first? Or report to the government office first? Or perhaps continue yesterday's business today…"
"Let's eat first."
"…"
At my firm answer, Seomun Hwa-rin was momentarily stunned. Soon her lips jutted out in a pout. Even so, her head was diligently nodding.
After finishing our meal at the inn where we had stayed the night, we asked the innkeeper for directions and headed toward the nearest city.
The place we had stayed was a small village at the foot of the mountain, so while patrols of government troops occasionally passed through, there was no government office.
I had planned to use the certificate of appointment I had received from the White Peak Mountain King as proof to announce the death of the Green Forest Chief, and to borrow paper and a messenger to let the Tang Clan know we were safe.
"Cheon… Hwi?"
"Lucky."
On the way, we ran into Seol Ri-hyang and the others, looking like beggars.
They had probably headed for the big city with the same idea as us. Though not to announce the subjugation, but to ask for help.
"Cheon Hwi…!"
Seol Ri-hyang rushed at me, tears welling in her eyes. I handed the axe, too large and cumbersome, to Seomun Hwa-rin for a moment and spread my arms wide.
Squeeze.
Seol Ri-hyang hugged me so tightly that it felt less like an embrace and more like she was trying to strangle me to death on the spot.
Patting her on the back, I quickly scanned the rest of the group.
Fortunately, no one seemed to have died, but there were more injured people than I expected. It looked like something had happened on the way down the mountain.
Seol Ri-hyang, who had been trembling without being able to speak properly, finally calmed down enough for me to slowly release her from my arms.
"Feeling better now? Don't worry. As you can see, both Seomun Hwa-rin and I are perfectly fine."
"Fine, my foot! Your skin is covered in blotches like this, and you call that fine?!"
"…Ah."
Seol Ri-hyang mistook the traces Seomun Hwa-rin had left overnight for blotches. She had her reasons.
"I saw everything. Before you collapsed the mountain. Back then, Cheon Hwi, you couldn't see properly, right? The hidden weapon the Slaughter King hit you with was coated in poison! And if it was strong enough to affect you, it couldn't have been any ordinary poison!"
"W-well, that's true."
His vision had warped and his Concentration had snapped, leaving him unable to focus. It was also true that the Slaughter King's hidden weapon had been laced with poison.
It was just that the cause of these marks wasn't poison.
"Quickly… let's hurry to the Tang Clan. Okay? Once you get treated there, you'll recover in no time."
"There's no need."
"What? No, when would we find one and buy one. It'd be faster if I just carried you and ran. Okay. Come here, Cheon Hwi! Relax your body!"
Seol Ri-hyang, with limbs longer than Seomun Hwa-rin's but shorter than mine, tried to hoist me onto her back.
I let out a dry laugh at her flailing and shook my head.
"I'm telling you, there's really no need. The poison's been fully neutralized. This is… just a mosquito bite."
"…It's spring, not summer, you know? And it's still pretty cold—how could there be mosquitoes?"
"Right."
"A mosquito strong enough to pierce the skin of a Harmony Realm martial artist?"
"Must have been a Harmony Realm-grade mosquito."
I chuckled and glanced at Seomun Hwa-rin, who suddenly began staring off into the distant mountains as if she had nothing to do with any of this.
And Seol Ri-hyang, who had been watching me and Seomun Hwa-rin out of the corner of her eye, suddenly widened her eyes with a look of realization.
"Surely not… Cheon Hwi, you—!"
"Wait."
I pressed my palm over Seol Ri-hyang's gaping mouth and continued in a quiet voice.
"A lot happened, but in the end, we took down both the White Peak King and the Slaughter King. It's truly over now."
"Mmph!"
"More importantly, it seems you had some trouble on your end too, Seol Ri-hyang. Can you tell me what happened?"
"Pfft—!"
Only after I released my hand did Seol Ri-hyang finally draw in a breath. She looked at me and Seomun Hwa-rin in turn with a bewildered expression, then let out a deep sigh.
"…First of all, the remaining Green Forest members attacked us as we fled. They knew the mountain paths better than we did, so we couldn't shake them off."
"That makes sense. We've been going up and down the mountains a lot lately, but still, we can't know them better than bandits."
"Yeah. So we had no choice but to fight back, and then the assassins joined in partway through."
"…Huh?"
If the Slaughter King had come, it was possible the assassins of Assassin Valley had accompanied him. But if that were the case, the overall level would be similar while we'd be at a disadvantage in numbers.
What's more, assassins would have struck by surprise, so our side should have suffered considerable losses… Yet surprisingly, although many were injured, not a single person had died.
Someone had clearly been holding back.
As I was about to hurriedly check whether my body was unharmed, Seol Ri-hyang held out her palm to stop me.
Then, wiping away the remaining tears, she lifted her chin high.
"So I took them all down."
"?"
"I'm at Transcendent Peak now."
"…?"
Seol Ri-hyang puffed out her chest as she said that.
Even at a glance, her stance was more aggressive than Seomun Hwa-rin's.