"How dare you! Stealing from the Great Gold Flower Merchant Guild!"
"O-oh, you misunderstand! This one has done no such thing…!"
Though the inn was no small establishment, the voice rang out thunderously, and I reflexively turned my gaze.
There, I saw a familiar back.
…I hadn't expected to meet them this soon.
Still, I hadn't seen their face yet, so I couldn't be certain.
"I'll go take a look at the situation for a moment."
"Young hero?"
"Cheon Hwi? Surely not?"
"I'm just going to check the situation. If there's something to mediate, I'll mediate; if not, I'll come right back. Go ahead and start eating when the food arrives…"
"You're scheming to save a pretty young lady and get friendly with her, aren't you?! You can't do that in front of Sister Tang and me!"
Even as she said that, the corners of her mouth were curling into a sly grin—it was clear Seol Ri-hyang was half-teasing.
At that, Tang So-wol blinked blankly.
"Lady Seol? I can understand it for myself, since I'm his betrothed, but why on earth are you…?"
"…You can't do that in front of Sister Dang!"
Seol Ri-hyang quickly corrected herself. Unable to hold back at her shameless expression, I gave her a light flick on the forehead.
Thwack!
"Ouch!"
I chuckled at the sight of Seol Ri-hyang trembling as she clutched her reddened forehead.
"Don't read too much into it and just wait. If you want, you can come along too."
"It hurts so much I can't get up…!"
"Hmm. For now, let's leave it to the young hero. If it seems necessary, I'll step in."
Seol Ri-hyang glared at me with tears welling in her eyes, while Tang So-wol giggled and waved her hand at her.
Leaving Tang So-wol gently stroking Seol Ri-hyang's forehead, I headed toward the source of the commotion.
"How dare you spout such brazen lies! This won't do. No matter what it takes, I will get back the gold frog you stole from me today!"
"This one has no intention of fighting… Let us speak calmly once more…"
"In the martial world, we speak with our swords!"
Shing!
A massive man drew his sword with a face full of indignation. The process was extremely slow, and the fat clinging here and there jiggled, making him look somewhat comical.
Shing.
The subordinates who silently drew their swords in his wake were quite threatening, though.
Bodyguards… no, since they called it a merchant caravan, they must be escort guards.
One had reached the tail end of first-rate, two were barely scraping by at first-rate. Five were around second-rate. There were no third-rate ones.
For hired hands from a merchant caravan rather than a martial family or sect, this was a considerable level of manpower. They could be called elite in their own right.
Knowing this well, they must have stepped forward with confidence.
But they had picked the wrong opponent.
As the distance closed and I saw her from the side rather than from behind, I could tell.
Her features were youthful, closer to a girl than a woman. And even accounting for that appearance, her frame was small and her figure slender.
Her long hair, reaching down to her hips, was as white as if it had always been that way, and her skin was flawless and soft like a baby's.
Even from this distance, I could tell. If I drew closer, she would surely smell wonderful.
This was one of those side effects, if you could call it that, of Rejuvenation.
I had thought I wouldn't see her until the Dragon Phoenix Gathering began. If I was unlucky, I figured I'd only find her right before the main tournament started.
We were getting close now, sure, but I truly hadn't expected to run into her before we even arrived at Muhan City.
I forced down the corners of my mouth, which kept trying to curl up in delight, and put on a stern expression.
Then, as if blocking Seomun Hwa-rin's path, I stepped forward while she was still trying to figure out how to subdue me while pretending to be scared.
"Would you wait a moment? A sword is a fine means of conversation for a black-clad martial artist, but it's not something you should draw at just any time."
"…Who the hell are you, daring to interfere with the Golden Merchant Guild's event!"
"I am called Cheon Hwi of the Tang Clan. Overhearing your conversation from afar, I could sense the grievance on both sides, and thought I might lend an ear. Would that be acceptable?"
"The Tang Clan! You mean the Sichuan Tang Clan? But young hero, you—"
The stout man's tone turned courteous in an instant, but before long, he began to scrutinize me with a subtle expression.
"The reason my surname differs is that I was not born into the Tang Clan, but entered it as a live-in son-in-law."
When I pointed to the table where my companions sat, the man nodded, his gaze settling on Tang So-wol among them.
"I see. Judging by your hair and eyes, you are certainly one who has reached a high level in the poison art. My apologies. I did not mean to doubt you, but I have been a bit on edge, and I suppose I grew sharper than I intended."
"It is fine. Those who dare to falsely claim the name of the Sichuan Tang Clan soon find themselves unable to do so any longer, but the Central Plains are vast, so deceiving the person right before one's eyes is possible enough. It was a reasonable suspicion; do not trouble yourself over it."
"Thank you."
He spoke kindly, but his eyes kept betraying a look of pity.
At first, I did not understand it, but half a beat later, I grasped his true meaning.
Hair and pupils tinged with green were changes that only appeared after mastering the poison art to a high level and reaching the Peak Realm or above.
And the Peak Realm was a level one could reach by around thirty at the earliest. Reaching it any sooner would earn one the title of genius.
In other words, the benevolent man before me must have taken me for a young man who, obsessed with martial arts, had been sold off to an old woman who had remained single well into her years.
After all, the reason for marrying a woman more than ten years his senior was one and the same.
It was all a misunderstanding, but since he had not voiced it aloud, and frankly, I found it rather amusing, I decided not to correct him.
To think that Tang So-wol, who would tease me whenever she was bored—though less so these days—claiming she had mistaken me for an old monster, would end up receiving the same treatment in return.
Of course, there was a real old monster present in this very spot.
I glanced at Seomun Hwa-rin. She let out a sigh and smoothed down her flat chest, looking as though she was genuinely relieved to have avoided a fight.
But to me, who knew her true martial level, it looked a little different.
She was simply relieved at the thought that she wouldn't need to exert excessive force.
There was no way Seomun Hwa-rin, an absolute master of the Harmony Realm, would fail to subdue the escort guards, but to those who didn't know she had undergone Rejuvenation, it would appear that a Murim Debut, looking to be around first-rate at best, had single-handedly neutralized a squad of elite escorts.
It was only natural that people, already buzzing with interest in the topic of who was stronger than whom because of the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, would suddenly take notice.
For her, who wanted to achieve a decent result, be eliminated at a reasonable point, and obtain a suitable status to begin a new life as a member of the Orthodox Sects, this was unwelcome attention.
For now, I should build a connection through this incident, and then think about how to help her afterward.
As I nodded inwardly, the stout man offered a fist-and-palm salute and introduced himself.
"Forgive my late introduction. I am Chu Jeong-san, eldest son of the Geumhwa Merchant Guild's head."
He was plump, but his greeting was courteous and dignified. You never know with people, but in my experience, someone like this rarely turns out to be a swindler.
I returned the salute, and only then did Seomun Hwa-rin hurry to cup her small fist in her other hand.
"Th-… no, this one is called Seo-rin. Thank you for stepping forward."
"…"
Really, Seomun Hwa-rin — did she even intend to hide anything?
Hiding her habitual self-reference of "this lady" was a good call. But what was with calling herself "this one" instead, and that aged way of speaking, and the carelessly changed name?
Was I the only one who thought so? Every time Seomun Hwa-rin spoke, Choo Jeong-san's gaze grew sharper.
It wasn't suspicion without cause. Even I would have doubted her in his place.
But I knew. Seomun Hwa-rin might take something by force, but she was not the sort to steal another's belongings.
"I heard from afar that you've lost something precious, and that you suspect this young… this one here. Did I hear correctly?"
Knowing Seomun Hwa-rin's true age, she had stumbled a little over the word "young." Still, Choo Jeong-san seemed to understand well enough, nodding vigorously.
"Indeed! If you're of the Tang Clan, you must be well-versed in poison creatures! Please, I beg you to help with this matter. I promise a proper reward!"
"Th-this one is truly innocent! I trust that the Tang Clan will recognize this innocence! However… I lack the means, so I cannot promise much of a reward…"
Seomun Hwa-rin protested with vigor at first, but her voice trailed off into a mumble by the end.
He had said that while the Seomun Clan's martial arts had been recovered, their wealth had not.
They had succeeded in exterminating the Black Heaven Sword Gate, but when the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate was pushed into a corner, his sect members had all fled with the clan's wealth.
That was truly the shallow loyalty one would expect from an unorthodox sect.
Unless one was family or a direct disciple, that was simply how things went.
Thanks to that, the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate's son had managed to escape, and crying out for revenge, he had perished together with Seomun Hwa-rin.
…But this time, that would not happen.
I let out a deep sigh and opened my mouth.
"Rather than just saying that, I'd appreciate it if you explained what the matter is first."
"Oh dear! I've been so absent-minded it's inexcusable. Allow me to explain things in proper order."
After clearing his throat once, Chu Jeongsan continued his explanation in a composed manner.
To summarize the gist of it: upon hearing that the North Sea Ice Palace was buying up anything that carried a large amount of Yin Energy, he had set out on a trading expedition to sell a golden toad he had recently captured.
The golden toad was a type of Spirit Beast—a toad that shone gold like the sun.
The golden toad itself possessed dense Yang Energy, but because it couldn't withstand that energy on its own, it lived as a creature that constantly emitted poison imbued with extreme Yin Energy from its entire body.
What's more, since it was alive, it would keep spewing out that Yin-tainted poison without end.
"It's a creature worth a hefty price, so I was proceeding with the utmost caution on this trading trip."
"But a problem arose."
"That's right. In just one night, the golden frog vanished without a trace. And no matter how I think about it, that young lady is the culprit."
"What makes you think so?"
"I rented out the entire third floor of the inn. I told the innkeeper not to allow any other guests up, and I even had the escort guards stand watch through the night. But somehow, when I woke up in the morning, there was an unfamiliar face wandering around the third floor."
"That would be the young lady Seo here."
"Correct. I don't know how she managed to slip past the guards' watch, but the fact that she's the most suspicious one is undeniable."
"That makes sense. So, young lady Seo, do you have any excuse to offer?"
"I did not steal anything… I was merely curious as to why I was being blocked from going up, so I went to take a look. I had no intention of stealing, and I did not steal anything!"
"…"
Perhaps Seomun Hwa-rin's words were actually true.
After all, this was the first time she had looked around the world at leisure since finishing her long revenge. It was only natural that she would be curious about all sorts of things.
But even if she confessed honestly, no one would believe her.
After all, who would sneak into a place that was deliberately blocked off just because they were curious? And even if they did, where would they have gotten the ability to do so?
To others, who saw Seomun Hwa-rin not as an absolute master of the Harmony Realm but as a somewhat clumsy female martial artist of the first-rate level, this was simply unbelievable.
Even if I wanted to side with Seomun Hwa-rin, it was hard to do so when things came out like this.
Perhaps, before the regression, I had no choice but to subdue all the people of the Geumhwa Merchant Guild and flee to Muhan City like a fugitive.
A sigh escaped me on its own, but fortunately, the golden frog was a poison creature, albeit a peculiar one. And here, there was an expert in poison.
I waved toward Tang So-wol, who was watching me from behind with keen interest.
"Would you give me a hand?"
"Oh my? With just your bare words?"
Tang So-wol curved her eyes like crescent moons and licked her lips.
That look was truly reassuring… or was it?