Chapter 528

Creak.

It didn’t take long to recognize the uninvited guest.

The moment I saw the familiar face come through the door, I spoke without hesitation.

“Hey, Hyuk Mujin. Who told you to let a beggar in?”

“Have you been—listen to this damn bastard.”

Gung Gibang, who had been grinning brightly despite his grimy face, scowled.

“I go out of my way to make time for you, and that’s how you greet me?”

“I called a beggar a beggar. What’s the problem?”

“Do you ever think about how it feels to be the beggar hearing it?”

“No. Not for a single second.”

“…You’re worse than a scorpion. One day, a hundred thousand Beggars’ Sect disciples will surround you and beat the hell out of you.”

I shrugged.

“Not likely. I’m a pretty valuable asset to the Murim Alliance.”

“I swear on my begging bowl, when the time comes, you’ll be the first one I beat senseless.”

“That’s fine too. It’ll mean the war is over.”

“You mean that?”

“Yeah. Promise.”

Gung Gibang glared at me in silence. Then his gaze softened, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Damn it. The war’s barely begun, and already I want it to be over.”

“What, so you can beat me up?”

Gung Gibang gave a quiet laugh and shook his head.

“I may be destined to beg for the rest of my life, but I’m not stupid enough to think that way. No matter what, war must never happen.”

“You could distinguish yourself in battle and become a hero.”

“What would a beggar like me do with being a hero?”

“Oh.”

A wise answer to a stupid question.

I’d asked because I wanted to know what he really thought. I gave him a sincere round of applause.

Clap, clap, clap.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing. Just thinking how our Gibang’s all grown up, having thoughts like that.”

“…What exactly do you think of me? And you’re younger than I am. How can you be so shameless?”

“If getting older made everyone mature, the world would be a much nicer place. Time passes without anyone having to work at it.”

In that sense, Gung Gibang’s thinking really was remarkably sound for someone his age in Murim.

This wasn’t the twenty-first-century modern world. This was Murim, where the primal law of the strong devouring the weak held sway.

It would be naive to think every martial artist now filling Henan had joined the Murim Alliance out of chivalry alone.

Especially the younger ones.

They were at an age when their blood ran hot.

Then again, middle-aged martial artists nearing forty weren’t much different. To them, the Great Faction War was little more than a trace of a past that had ended before they were born.

Plenty of people in the generations that had never known war were driven less by chivalry than by dreams of winning glory and becoming heroes.

That went for wandering martial artists who acted as if there were no tomorrow, and for disciples of the great sects and families too.

I get it. It’s the times we live in, and it’s how Murim works…

But however generously I tried to look at them, they still looked like fucking idiots to me.

Thank heavens more people had joined the Murim Alliance out of chivalry than for reasons like theirs.

Come to think of it, the people around me are pretty normal by comparison. Hmm.

Just then, Cheongpung slid forward like a snake and appeared right in front of Gung Gibang.

Ssss—

“Agh! What the fuck?”

“Hehe. This is the new footwork technique I made, Mimi Step. It really looks like Mimi, doesn’t it?”

“Like Mimi, my ass. It looks like a dog! Like a damn beggar!”

At Gung Gibang’s shriek, Hyuk Mujin spoke with the happiest expression in the world.

“Young Hero Cheongpung, could you do that one more time later?”

“Wow! Of course I can!”

“No, you can’t! Absolutely not! Don’t do it!”

“……”

Normal, my ass.

Put them together and it was hard to find a bigger bunch of fucking idiots.

Ah, my head hurts.

I rubbed my throbbing temple and asked the question I’d put off.

“Anyway, what are you here for?”

Gung Gibang shot Cheongpung a wary glance before answering.

“There are a few people who want to meet you and Cheongpung. I thought I’d stop by and ask, just in case.”

“Of course there are plenty of people who want to meet me.”

“…You’re obnoxious, but I can’t argue with that.”

“So who are they?”

Gung Gibang sighed.

“The Ten Dragons and Phoenixes.”

“The Ten Dragons and Phoenixes?”

“The ones you know. Not all of them—about half.”

Well, obviously it was the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes I knew. Were there others?

The moment I heard the name, I’d made up my mind.

“No. What would I meet them for?”

“To get acquainted. It can’t hurt for young prodigies to be on good terms.”

“Can’t see how it would help, either. And young prodigies, my ass. Don’t put me in the same league as you lot.”

Gung Gibang stared at me in disbelief.

“…How can you say something that offensive with a straight face?”

“Because everyone knows it’s true.”

“Well, yes, but… Damn it. Fine. What about Cheongpung?”

Realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere with me, Gung Gibang quickly changed targets.

Sssssss—

Cheongpung had been closely observing Mimi, the Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake, who had somehow turned into a giant snake while drawing everyone’s attention. Without even turning around, he answered.

“Hmm. I don’t want to go.”

“Even though they’ve laid out a lavish feast for you?”

“I ate dumplings earlier, so I’m full. I don’t think I’d go even if I were hungry.”

“You could take the food with you. Eat it when you get hungry.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.”

“Wh-what?”

Gung Gibang stared at him as if he’d been stabbed.

Hyuk Mujin and I were just as shocked.

What the hell? Is he really insane?

Captain, did I hear that wrong?

No. You heard him right. He said he has no appetite.

That bastard isn’t Cheongpung. He’s definitely a Dark Heaven spy.

That’s… convincing!

Hyuk Mujin and I carried on a silent conversation with our eyes.

That was how shocking Cheongpung’s announcement was.

Cheongpung, of all people, has no appetite?

It was news as astonishing as the founding of the New Murim Alliance. Yet Cheongpung didn’t so much as flinch beneath the astonished stares of everyone around him.

“Anyway, I’m fine. You go ahead, Benefactor.”

“Huh? Uh, no. I’m not going either.”

“Really? Hehe. Then I’ll get back to what I was doing. I think Mimi Step needs a few improvements.”

I had no idea why he was acting like this, but one thing seemed certain.

As time passed and the circumstances around him changed, some kind of change had begun in Cheongpung as well.

That guy…

I stared at Cheongpung in silence, then turned toward Gung Gibang.

“Anyway, you’d better get going.”

“Mm. I suppose so. We talked so long I’m late for our meeting.”

Still sneaking stunned glances at Cheongpung, Gung Gibang turned away and muttered, “They’ll be disappointed. Young Lady Ju seemed especially excited.”

“Disappointed? I’ve already met some of the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes at the Star-Array Grand Banquet. I’m bound to run into the others again sooner or later—”

I broke off. The last thing Gung Gibang had said had taken over my thoughts.

“Wait. Who?”

“Huh? Who do you mean?”

“You said someone was especially excited.”

“Oh. Young Lady Ju?”

So I hadn’t misheard.

“By Young Lady Ju, do you mean…?”

“Of course I mean the Young Lady Ju you know. Young Lady Ju Hwaran of the Yongbong Escort Bureau—the Young Bureau Head, the Dagger Hidden Flower.”

“…!”

A memory came back to me.

In Murim, it had been only two or three months ago, yet somehow it felt impossibly distant.

Ironically, it was also one of the clearest memories left behind by all that time.

“The moon is so bright tonight.”

Yes. The moon had been unusually bright that night.

Or perhaps the moon hadn’t been the brightest thing there. Perhaps it had been someone’s face.

I hadn’t been looking at the moon then.

“Great Hero Jin.”

“Yes, Young Lady Ju.”

“Do you think I can do it?”

I could almost hear her voice again, damp and desolate, drifting through the flower-filled garden.

What had I told her?

I thought for a moment before muttering blankly,

“……It’s all right even if you can’t.”

“What? What’s all right?”

I came back to myself.

The soft moonlight, the scent of flowers, the voice—all of it vanished. Even the face that had hovered before my eyes faded away.

I looked up to find Gung Gibang right in front of me, wearing a puzzled expression.

A small sigh escaped me.

“Gibang.”

“Mm?”

“Why are you so ugly?”

“…?”

“I’m sorry, but I mean it. Actually, I don’t think I’m all that sorry. Things were going so well.”

Gung Gibang’s ugly face contorted.

“You little bastard, you’ve been doing this since—”

“Enough.”

I shook my head, cutting him off.

“Let’s go.”

“What?”

“Stop asking and let’s go meet the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes or whoever they are. Hearing about that feast made me hungry.”

“Uh, uh-huh?”

Gung Gibang forgot to be angry. He blinked at me, then nodded hurriedly.

“Uh, sure. They’ll all be glad to see you.”

I didn’t much care who would be glad.

It was just… well, how should I put it?

I just felt like seeing her after all this time.

Yes. That was all. Besides, I owed her thanks for something concerning Jeok Cheongang. I had every reason to go.

It’s only right. Anyone decent would go.

Muttering that to myself, I started walking. Gung Gibang’s shout that he was coming with me rang noisily from behind.

The three-story inn was large and lavish. Between its size and its prices, anyone without money to spare would have trouble setting foot inside—and, in practice, they didn’t.

The three men and one woman seated by a window on its top floor were hardly ordinary people themselves.

“Young Lady Ju, may I pour you a drink?”

“Now, now. The young lady doesn’t care much for alcohol. Isn’t that right, Young Lady Ju?”

The handsome men in gleaming silk martial uniforms and hero headbands¹ had no idea what the woman before them was thinking.

When is he coming?

She no longer heard a word they were saying.

At some point, she had stopped leaning back in her chair and begun tilting toward the window instead. Her eyes kept darting between the half-open window and the stairs.

Gung Gibang made such a bold promise. Should I go out and see for myself?

And just as all those worries and thoughts began chasing one another in endless circles—

Jingle.

The bell rang as the inn door opened, and Ju Hwaran sprang to her feet.