Chapter 43: Shadow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Corps-4

The man who was Miss Cheongyeon's father now introduced himself before all of us gathered comrades.

"I am Hae Un-baek, Cheongyeon's father."

Hearing him, I was finally able to resolve a long-standing curiosity.

"Ah, then Miss Cheongyeon's family name must be 'Hae' as well. Hae Cheongyeon."

At that, she smiled faintly and nodded.

"Yes, that's right."

'I knew it! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I definitely thought she had a different surname than just 'Cheong'.'

While I was rejoicing over my finally answered curiosity, Bi Sa-yeong, who was beside me, asked with a vacant face.

"I don't think that's what's important right now. You hear that name and nothing comes to mind?"

Bi Sa-yeong had just returned from single-handedly dealing with over twenty gangwi.

Truly, it was a remarkable growth that suited the saying 'striking admiration'.

Then, Squad Leader Seol Pung, his face stiff, swallowed dryly and asked.

"By any chance... are you the Heavenly Robe Sword Saint, Great Hero Hae Un-baek?"

Squad Leader Seol Pung had slain all nine attackers, including two peak-level masters, by himself.

According to Miss Na, far from needing help, there hadn't even been an opening to assist him.

At the squad leader's words, Miss Cheongyeon's father stroked his beard and nodded.

"I am sometimes called that."

In that moment, all of us froze.

The Heavenly Robe Sword Saint...

We were so stunned that no voice came out.

The Heavenly Robe Sword Saint was one of the absolute beings of this era, belonging to the Three Sages among the One Emperor, Two Kings, Three Sages, Four Demons, and Five Monsters.

Which meant he was a figure of the same rank as the Lust Demon Son Eun-sang we had seen with our own eyes, the Blood Demon, and even the Murim Alliance Leader.

Moreover, as the title 'Heavenly Robe' attached before Sword Saint implied, he was also famed as the greatest hero under heaven.

An existence no different from the idol of all heroes in the martial world ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— that was the Heavenly Robe Sword Saint Hae Un-baek.

And yet, Miss Cheongyeon was the daughter of that Sword Saint.

The comrades, who had been frozen stiff for a long while, awkwardly began to speak one by one.

"Ch-Cheongyeon was the Sword Saint's daughter?"

"Uh, unnie, let's stay close from now on."

"Ah, that, Miss Cheong, no, Lady Hae. If I have wronged you in the meantime, even now..."

I looked at those comrades with a dumbfounded gaze and let out a sigh.

I had always thought that a person's worth was decided by the person themselves.

Whose disciple they were, whose child they were, what clan they came from — none of that mattered at all.

So even if Miss Cheongyeon was the Sword Saint's daughter, there was absolutely no reason my conduct should change.

Was there?

Whether the other party was the Sword Saint or whatever, was there any reason I should curry favor with him or feel inferior?

I spoke to him with my usual bold, confident stance.

"Sword Saint Elder! I am Seonwoo Jin, the one who once rescued Miss Cheongyeon! My life was in a bit of danger, but it was no great deed!"

"Hm? Hahahaha! Yes, I heard the story. Cheongyeon said she owes you a great debt of gratitude."

"You are too kind! I will continue to do my best!"

I decided to simply ignore the horrified gazes of my comrades looking at me.

After roughly exchanging greetings, we now focused our attention on the leader of the attackers.

He, who had been bitten by venomous insects while fighting me and could not even open his eyes, had meanwhile calmed the venomous energy somewhat through energy circulation and meditation.

The Sword Saint spoke to him.

"Can you recognize me?"

Then, he knelt and answered, shedding tears.

"How could I possibly ever forget Sword Saint Elder?"

It turned out the reason the Sword Saint had not let me kill him was because he was someone the Sword Saint knew.

There seemed to be a connection, where the Sword Saint, who had highly valued the talent of this once-nameless warrior, had introduced him so he could take the Murim Alliance's entrance examination.

"Back then, I saw you and thought you were a talent who, if polished, would become a brilliant jewel. But why on earth are you doing this?"

At the Sword Saint's regretful question, he could not bring himself to answer and only hung his head low, letting tears fall.

At that, Miss Cheongyeon interjected.

"He's probably not doing this because he wants to. Even just considering the tactics when they attacked us, he didn't seem to want to kill those uninvolved. If he were someone who enjoyed killing, they would have joined forces to kill Squad Leader Seol Pung first."

Then she directly asked him.

"What happens if you don't do this?"

After hesitating a moment, he finally answered.

"Warriors without backgrounds, who are not disciples of prestigious sects, must perform missions in the Shadow Unit for ten years before they gain the qualification to enter the formal Strike Force. And all warriors of the Shadow Unit have signed an oath stating that if they disobey orders, they will not resent being executed on the spot. So..."

The Sword Saint, hearing his words, let out a low groan.

"What on earth... How could the Murim Alliance..."

But Miss Cheongyeon nodded and spoke.

"It was a method to keep secrets while simultaneously cultivating warriors stripped of their value judgments, who could be loyal only to them. Furthermore, it would have the effect of weeding out potential troublemakers in advance. For them, it must have been a way to kill three birds with one stone."

Then she spoke again to the Sword Saint.

"Father, you share responsibility for how this man ended up this way."

At that, the Sword Saint asked with a surprised face.

"Hm? My responsibility?"

"If you had stayed as this man's backer, Uncle Jegal couldn't have bear to send him to that place called the Shadow Unit, could he? In Uncle Jegal's eyes, he must have been a truly tantalizing talent. A talent whose ability was vouched for by the Sword Saint himself, yet had absolutely no backing."

"That... So you're saying it was because I recommended him to the Alliance that he ended up this way?"

"Yes, because Uncle Jegal would have known better than anyone that you, Father, would deliberately cut off interest."

It seemed true.

The fact that the Sword Saint was fair and impartial was known to all the world, and even within the Murim Alliance, the Sword Saint, lest his name become a source of unjust backing, would deliberately cease to pay attention to the warriors he recommended.

But it seemed that very thing had, instead, resulted in those warriors being exploited.

"And this man, seeing how he hasn't been able to look you in the face properly since earlier, he probably came into the Murim Alliance out of admiration for you, Father. Isn't that right?"

He could not answer Miss Cheongyeon's question, and instead hung his head even lower.

But anyone could tell that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was an affirmation.

While the Sword Saint was looking at him with a regretful face, Miss Cheongyeon spoke firmly to the Sword Saint.

"So, from now on, you must take responsibility for this man, Father."

At those words, not only the Sword Saint, but all of us were shocked. The man named Sak Mu-heun also lifted his head with surprised eyes.

The Sword Saint asked with a puzzled face.

"Take responsibility? What do you mean, take responsibility?"

"You must. Because you neglected a man who entered the Murim Alliance just from seeing your face, letting him come to this. Take responsibility somehow, whether you use him as an attendant or raise him as a disciple."

At her words, Sak Mu-heun hung his head low again and murmured.

"A d-disciple. How could I dare..."

But a trace of vitality was flickering across his face as he spoke those words.

The Sword Saint silently looked at him for a while.

He seemed to be troubled.

Even in my eyes, Miss Cheongyeon's words were unreasonable.

Regardless of the situation, all choices had been made by the man himself, and the things he had done until now wouldn't simply disappear.

But the fact that Miss Cheongyeon, who couldn't possibly not know that, had said such a thing seemed to have some intent.

I asked her.

"Do you have some other thought, Miss?"

At that, she smiled brightly and nodded.

"Yes, originally, the matter could have become quite complicated, but if only this man cooperates with us, it seems it can be resolved very simply."

The Sword Saint, sensing something from her words, told Sak Mu-heun that he would first take him as an unnamed disciple and observe him.

Naturally, Sak Mu-heun shed tears of emotion.

Miss Cheongyeon now made Sak Mu-heun, who had become an ally, send a report to Jegal Ji-gang stating that he had succeeded in killing her.

Then, together with the Sword Saint, she went to Vice-Leader Heon Yeong-bo and had him likewise report that she had been abducted by Blood Cultists.

Of course, Heon Yeong-bo, having learned she was the Sword Saint's daughter, could not possibly refuse those words.

Thus, she officially became a dead person.

"With this, we can cover their eyes for a while. In the meantime, Father, please quietly gather some information. This matter has been pushed forward for at least ten years, since the establishment of the frontline. So you absolutely must not move recklessly either, Father."

At those words, the Sword Saint let out a low hum and asked.

"Hmm, you mean Jegal Ji-gang is not the only one involved in this?"

"Of course not. In fact, the probability that you alone were unaware, Father, is higher. At the very least, almost everyone involved at the founding of the frontline is likely implicated."

So, Miss Cheongyeon stressed again and again, we must pretend not to know and slowly gather evidence first.

The Sword Saint looked displeased, but decided to follow his daughter's judgment.

He seemed to trust her extraordinariness deeply.

With this, we were able to bring the Miss Cheongyeon attack incident to a temporary close.

But until that moment, I hadn't realized.

That by dealing with an event that hadn't existed in my past life, I had been unable to pay attention to the events that had existed in my past life.

***

Ma Yu-gyeom briefly agonized over the note from Mae Yeo-kyeong that called him to a secluded place.

He had been pretending not to notice, but he knew that she had been practically becoming a wreck these days.

Her inability to accept the breakup frustrated him, but when he suddenly thought that he, himself, who couldn't forget Dang Yeoeun, was the same, he couldn't bring himself to ignore her as coldly as before.

'No, it's not even the same. How dare I, the Blood Demon's grandson, ignore anyone.'

Perhaps it was because his confidence in himself had recently vanished.

So, as he brooded with a bitter smile about what to do, he suddenly recalled the secret manual the Blood Demon had left.

Specifically, the Suggestion Technique written in it.

A thought suddenly came to mind.

'If only I could implant a suggestion in her, a will that she can live well even without me? Wouldn't that be good for her too?'

It was a plausible idea.

Moreover, it was said to work well on people whose hearts were wide open or broken, so she could not be a more appropriate subject.

'Even if it is a technique of the Blood Cult, if it can only be used for a good purpose, it wouldn't necessarily be bad. Good and evil are decided by who uses a sword and how they use it.'

Having thought that far, Ma Yu-gyeom reopened the secret manual and began memorizing and practicing the Suggestion Technique.

But soon realized there was no need for that.

Somehow, he already had all the contents memorized. Not just the Suggestion Technique, but the other contents as well.

He let out another bitter smile at the thought that his head might actually be this good.

But he failed to consider that this very fact might have been a suggestion from the Blood Demon.

The place Mae Yeo-kyeong called him to was behind a small rocky mountain in the jungle, a secret spot where they had occasionally enjoyed secret meetings before.

There was a hidden space there that, if the sunken outside was covered with brush, was completely invisible from the outside.

Mae Yeo-kyeong was waiting for Ma Yu-gyeom there with an anxious face.

When Ma Yu-gyeom entered the spot, Mae Yeo-kyeong cried out with a thrilled expression, as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

"Squad Leader, you came!"

At her intense reaction, Ma Yu-gyeom sighed inwardly.

Because her response, like a puppy blindly greeting its master, was so burdensome and suffocating.

But he decided to hide those feelings for now.

To cast the suggestion, he first had to either subdue and incapacitate the target, or make them completely defenseless with their mind fully relaxed.

He forced a smile and spoke to her.

"You don't look well, Yeo-kyeong. Are you eating properly?"

At that worried tone, Mae Yeo-kyeong finally burst into tears.

"Euh-heu-heuk, Squad Leader."

Ma Yu-gyeom slowly approached and embraced her while she was crying.

Then, she went completely limp and fell into his arms.

It was as if there was no wall around her heart at all.

Ma Yu-gyeom thought that this much was enough.

Now he just had to look into her eyes and cast the suggestion.

Just as Ma Yu-gyeom was thinking this and concentrating his mind, Mae Yeo-kyeong, nestled in his arms, suddenly murmured through her tears.

"Squad Leader, I love you. Even if the Squad Leader is the Blood Demon's grandson, I don't care at all. I will only stay by your side."

In that instant, Ma Yu-gyeom's whole body trembled as if struck by lightning.

It felt as if his heart would stop.

With a face drained pale, he asked Mae Yeo-kyeong.

"Wh-What did you just say?"

Then, Mae Yeo-kyeong, her face smiling brightly even while tears streamed down, answered.

"I don't care at all, Squad Leader. Because I am only your woman, Squad Leader."

Only in that moment did Ma Yu-gyeom recall that she had a key to his room.

And that on the day he first saw his mother's letter, he had left it defenselessly upon his bed and rushed out of the room.

His vision was turning white.

As if to reassure him, Mae Yeo-kyeong spoke again.

"Don't worry, Squad Leader. As long as Squad Leader doesn't abandon me, I will never betray you."

She knew.

She had known his secret.

That he was the Blood Demon's grandson...

Ma Yu-gyeom felt as if his head had exploded in that single moment.

He couldn't see anything.

He couldn't think anything.

He was simply afraid.

That his true identity would be revealed to everyone...

***

It was several days after the Miss Cheongyeon incident was resolved that Mae Yeo-kyeong was discovered shriveled and withered as if her blood had been drained by a liver demon.