Chapter 19: Poison Forest-1
Chapter 19: Poison Forest-1
"Huk!"
Na broke out in a cold sweat and bolted upright from her spot.
It was because she'd had a nightmare.
She looked around — it was still dark night.
Beside me, Bi Sa-yeong and Bae Jong-gwan were still sound asleep, and Squad Leader Seol Pung was nowhere to be seen — off training again, most likely.
Only after confirming she hadn't lost anything yet could Na finally let out a sigh of relief.
Her nightmare had been memories of her past life.
Memories of the past life where everyone around her had disappeared.
And of things that might well repeat themselves going forward.
Na prided herself that, at least up to now, she'd been doing her very best.
She had saved her friend Bae Jong-gwan, whom she'd lost in that past life, and she was training with all her might to reclaim the martial prowess of her past life, and further, to reach the peak realm — which she considered the bare minimum condition to be able to act independently.
In any case, before she regained even that level of martial prowess, there was little she could do anyway.
But was that truly the case?
Was this really enough?
The danger level of the frontline would only keep rising as time passed.
Soon, the Iron Ghost would appear, and as more time passed, the Venomous Snake Ghost would show up.
In her past life, they had somehow endured by losing their comrades one by one, but in the end, enduring meant nothing at all.
Because all demonic beings were, in the end, nothing more than steps in the process of creating the final product — the Blood Demon beings.
Five years from then, the Blood Demon beings would appear.
Peak-level masters who possessed the bodies of demonic beings.
And two years after they appeared, the frontline had completely collapsed.
The Blood Cult had gradually released its hoarded strength, pushing past Yunnan Province and steadily expanding its domain into Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, and Guangxi Province.
As if mocking the non-aggression pact with the Murim Alliance....
I had died in that process.
So I didn't know what happened after that.
Whether the entire martial world had gathered its strength and managed to stop the Blood Cult, or whether a world under the Blood Cult had truly come to pass.
Of course, despite all those futures, the only thing I could do right now was grow myself stronger.
That was why I was focusing solely on training, with the thought of advancing step by step.
But sometimes, when I was plagued by nightmares like this, I couldn't help but ask myself once again.
Was this truly enough?
.......
There was no way it could be.
***
With the duel between Jeomchang Sword Dandy Ju Tae-gyeong and Seonwoo Jin just two days away, today was the day the Seventh Squad was assigned evening patrol.
Since training was rested on days with patrol duty, they were skipping the evening sparring session and heading out on patrol.
Vice Squad Leader Na Seo-yu felt a slight twinge of regret at that fact.
Because the evening sparring session was her favorite time of day.
Lately, she felt as though she'd broken through her previous stagnation and could finally see a path forward, and also because the time she could duel him one-on-one every day was the happiest part of her day.
Na Seo-yu, who had been feeling regretful at that thought, suddenly found herself ridiculous for thinking such things on the frontline and let out a small laugh.
When she'd first been assigned to the frontline, she'd thought she would die the moment she arrived.
'I can't very well send your younger brother, who will carry on the family line, now can I? For the sake of our Na Clan, you'll have to sacrifice yourself a little.'
The voice of her stepmother saying that had been so cold, and not the least bit apologetic.
When Na Seo-yu was seven years old, after her mother passed away, her stepmother had seized de facto control of the Na Clan.
She had openly discriminated between her own son — Na Seo-yu's younger brother by three years — and Na Seo-yu, but had thoroughly hidden that fact from their father.
It was hard and agonizing, but Na Seo-yu had thought she must endure.
Because she believed her sacrifice was the way to serve her father and the Na Clan.
So Na Seo-yu, who had always lived a life of nothing but sacrifice, had answered her stepmother's latest demand for sacrifice like this:
'Yes, Mother. I understand.'
She knew full well that if she went, she would die, but Na Seo-yu didn't know how to refuse, how to rebel.
She had lived that way for far too long.
'And in fact, I nearly did die on my very first patrol.'
While tracking the death-ghost that absorbed human essence to grow, she had been ambushed and kidnapped by a demonic cult minion lying in wait.
Her acupoints sealed and completely immobilized, the monster's hideous face leering over her entire body with greedy eyes still surfaced in her mind from time to time.
She might never have been able to overcome that memory.
No — she probably wouldn't have survived at all in the first place.
If he hadn't saved her, that is.
She could never forget that astonishing martial prowess — streaking in like a meteor and kicking the minion away, then chasing down the blood-spraying minion hurtling through the air at even greater speed and pummeling him, and then returning to her, asking if she was okay with an innocent, country-boy earnestness, not knowing what to do with himself, his expression utterly foolish.
At that moment, Na Seo-yu had forgotten her fear and burst out laughing.
Later, when he was selected as the newly formed Seventh Squad's leader and Na Seo-yu followed him to the Seventh Squad, there had been many hardships, but still, Na Seo-yu could say with confidence:
This was the happiest time of her life.
Even if she were to die tomorrow.
After gazing at his back as he walked at the head of the group for a moment, Na Seo-yu turned to look at the squad members.
If defeating the enemy and protecting the squad members was his job, then looking after the squad members was hers.
The kind of work she was best at, and that could fill in where he fell short.
"Bi Gongja, I think your body has gotten even more impressive lately. You were manly before, but it's even more striking these days."
"Hmph! The vice squad leader's praise is so abundant that I find it hard to trust."
"Oh my, I mean it."
She had said this to Bi Sa-yeong, who was grumbling to Bae Jong-gwan that his external training had bulked him up too much, reducing his agility.
Watching him twitch his lips and drop his complaints even as he claimed not to trust her praise, Na Seo-yu smiled.
Then she spoke to Bae Jong-gwan via telepathic transmission.
- Bae Gongja, women don't really like it when you show your feelings too openly. They actually feel more drawn when you look after them in a way that's just subtle enough. You know what I mean, right?
When she'd offered that advice to Bae Jong-gwan, who again today couldn't tear his gaze away from Cheon Ju-eun, Bae Jong-gwan looked at Na Seo-yu with grateful eyes and began guarding the perimeter with forced gallantry.
Lately, Cheon Ju-eun had been growing slightly uncomfortable under Bae Jong-gwan's excessively lingering gaze.
For now, she was still grateful that he was a good person who took an interest in her, but if the discomfort persisted, it could end badly for them both.
Because they were in an environment where you never knew when you might die, the frontline was a place where romance was freer than anywhere else in the martial world — but because of that, awkward feelings between men and women could sometimes disrupt squad unity, and in severe cases, one party would have to transfer to another squad altogether.
Na Seo-yu wanted to prevent that sort of thing at all costs.
And if possible, she hoped that good people would develop good feelings for each other.
At least for this moment, while they were still alive.
After smoothing over what she could handle immediately, Na Seo-yu now shifted her gaze to the person she wasn't sure how to deal with.
The person Na Seo-yu didn't know how to deal with, Cheongyeon, was gazing at one person with an unknowable look in her eyes.
'Seonu Gongja.'
Seonwoo Jin Gongja, who had appeared like a comet and completely changed the atmosphere of the Seventh Squad, had been in a somewhat darkened state lately.
He didn't show it when dealing with others, but when he was lost deep in thought like that by himself, the difference became starkly apparent.
Everyone assumed it was because of his upcoming duel with Ju Tae-gyeong, so they'd been pretending not to notice, but it was true that with him like that, the other squad members had also lost a bit of their energy.
Because at some point, Seonwoo Jin Gongja had become someone who could sway the entire mood of the Seventh Squad.
And Cheongyeon.
She, whose face they had confirmed not long ago and whose excessive beauty had made them think covering her face was indeed the right call, had dropped a bombshell declaration in front of Na Seo-yu and Cheon Ju-eun a while back.
It was when they'd heard that Seonwoo Jin was harboring feelings for Dang Yeoeun.
As usual, the three women of the Seventh Squad were doing afternoon training together, and the thought of that time had suddenly come to mind, so Na Seo-yu had brought it up.
'You know, actually, when Seonwoo Jin Gongja and Yeon first arrived, I thought the two of them were lovers, can you believe it? Or at least secretly in love. And seeing Yeon follow Seonwoo Jin Gongja to the Seventh Squad, I figured Yeon was the one pining for him.'
At that, Cheon Ju-eun, who'd been listening nearby, burst out laughing in agreement.
'Puhuhu! Unni thought so too? Me too. Then later, after I saw Yeon unni's face, I felt a bit sorry about it, you know?'
'Ah, really? Kikik. I did too.'
As the two people in the Thirteen Squads who were uniquely aware of Cheongyeon's true appearance said this and burst into laughter, Cheongyeon, who had been listening quietly, spoke up with an expressionless face.
'That's correct, actually.'
'Hm? What's correct?'
'Me liking Seonu Gongja — it's correct.'
'...Huh?'
At Cheongyeon's calm reply, delivered with an expression that seemed to ask why they were stating such an obvious thing, Na Seo-yu and Cheon Ju-eun were flustered.
'O-of course you'd like Seonu Gongja. I like him too. He's a precious squad member and a reliable person.'
'That's right. Seonu Gongja is truly a good person. And after he lost weight, he became shockingly handsome too. But unni, that's not what we meant by...'
But Cheongyeon cut Cheon Ju-eun off and spoke again. In a rare, resolute tone.
'I know what you meant. And yes, that is what I meant as well. I am in love with Seonu Gongja. As a man.'
'...Eh?'
'...Really?'
The two fell into confusion.
No, just why in the world was Cheongyeon in love with Seonu Gongja?
And what kind of tone was that for confessing love, anyway?
Just from the tone alone, it sounded less like a confession of love and more like a confession that she wanted revenge.
Na Seo-yu barely collected her wits and asked Cheongyeon.
'But Yeon, why in the world would you? No, that's not the point. And if that's true, you heard that Seonu Gongja is in love with Lady Dang — so why are you so calm about it?'
Cheongyeon answered as if it were obvious.
'Because it's probably not true. It does seem like he's interested, but I don't think it's interest in her as a woman. Rather, he is...'
Having said that much, Cheongyeon paused to glance at Na Seo-yu for a moment, then changed the subject.
'And I came to like him back when he was fat. I've always liked round things, you see. But what drew me in was his round appearance, yet even after he lost weight, my feelings didn't disappear. I'm hypothesizing that it's probably because I started seeing what was inside his appearance.'
At her confession, delivered as calmly as if she were objectively describing a nature observation, Na Seo-yu and Cheon Ju-eun were utterly speechless.
It was a little while later before Cheon Ju-eun managed to think of another question.
'Th-then why aren't you doing anything about it?'
'What should I be doing?'
'I mean, getting closer to him than you are now, or — oh! Showing him your real face, for example!'
At that, Cheongyeon had smiled — a rare sight — and asked.
'Why must I do something? I'm perfectly happy just watching him from the side right now.'
Na Seo-yu and Cheon Ju-eun could only once again be reminded that Cheongyeon was an incomprehensible existence.
After that incident, Na Seo-yu couldn't easily meddle in the affairs of those two.
So in the end, they had set out on patrol without a word to either of them.
And it was when they had covered about half the patrol route.
Around the time the western sky was stained red, Seol Pung, who was at the head of the group, held out his palm toward the squad members.
It was the signal to halt — meaning something had appeared.
As the squad members stopped in perfect unison and began securing the perimeter, Seol Pung became a streak of light and leaped into the thicket in the blink of an eye.
Syaaak!
And immediately, a scream rang out.
"Aigoo! Please spare me!"
At the utterly unexpected reaction, the Seventh Squad members could only widen their eyes.
Spare me?
They were hearing a scream like a commoner's?
Here on the frontline?
The person Seol Pung had barely managed to halt his killing blow and subdue was a sharp-featured young man of the Miao tribe with dark skin.
What's more, the Miao tribesman groveled frantically before the squad members, rubbing his palms together and pleading in slightly awkward Han language.
"Me not become monster person at all. Me just Miao person living inside forest."
The squad members were flustered.
Every Miao tribesperson they had encountered while serving on the frontline had been someone already turned into a demon by the Blood Cult.
They were meeting a Miao tribesman with his sanity intact for the first time, and on top of that, this Miao youth was desperately pleading with them.
"Please. Help us. Tokno, our benefactor, vomiting blood and gravely ill."