Chapter 7: Demon-1
Chapter 7: Demon-1
Nine days after departing from the Seonwoo family, we were finally able to arrive at Gokjeong, the entrance to Yunnan Province.
Since it was already evening when we arrived, we decided to stay the night at the inn here and part ways with the ronin tomorrow.
That was because the front line lay just beyond two hills from here.
The ronin, who had been standing before the inn and gazing at the entrance, murmured with deeply moved expressions.
"I never imagined it would take nine days to get here."
"It took nine days just to be able to stay at a proper inn again."
"I'm genuinely moved right now. I feel like I might cry."
I, who could be considered the root cause of all those hardships, couldn't overcome my embarrassment and said to them,
"Now, now. Let's hurry inside. Since today is the last day, have a drink. It's on me."
"Ohh! As expected of Young Master Seonwoo! I believed in you!"
"The sons of prestigious families truly are generous!"
Seeing them brighten up and speak as if they had been waiting for it made me suspect that I'd been duped.
Having reached the final stretch of the journey, we had become quite close.
Part of it was because these ronin were unusually trustworthy and decent people, and since I wasn't the type to put on airs either, we had naturally opened our hearts to one another without reserve.
The fact that I had grown more attached to the people I'd spent only nine days with than to the family members I'd lived with for twenty years was truly a bitter realization.
We roughly unpacked our bags in our rooms and then all gathered around a table on the first floor, waiting for our food.
"Master Gong, so you'll be returning home for good once this job is finished?"
At my question, Master Gong, who had a gentle impression, smiled and answered. He was the one who'd mentioned before that he only went home at night because his wife was a poor cook.
"That's right. With a wife and children, I figured I can't keep living by the sword any longer."
Upon hearing this, Warrior Lee, who grumbled about everything and was easily provoked, chimed in.
"Tsk, that's why I kept telling you that a ronin shouldn't get a wife and kids!"
At those words, the jovial Warrior Yang beside him asked with a mischievous face,
"But why is your expression one of envy?"
"Me? Hah! As if! Aren't you the one seeing it that way because you're jealous?"
"See? You're snapping again. You get so angry when hit on a sore spot that you can't lie."
"Ah, I said I'm not!"
As the quiet and gentle-natured Warrior Jong was smiling at them, Warrior Jang, who acted as their leader, called for attention and declared,
"Alright, alright, today is our last day with Young Master Seonwoo, so let's drink until our noses are crooked!"
"Great! Innkeeper! Bring out the liquor first!"
Centered around Warrior Jang Gangseong, these five men had apparently been running together for quite a long time.
It seemed that with this job being the last, Master Gong, who had a family, would be leaving the group.
Since it was a remote place and we were the only ones on the first floor, it was as if we had rented the whole floor and were making a boisterous racket when suddenly, the inn door swung open and someone stepped inside.
"Aigoo! Welcome! A lovely young lady has arrived!"
At the waiter's fuss, we naturally turned our gazes that way.
And then, all of our eyes became filled with surprise.
"Huh?"
"That lady... isn't she the one from back then?"
She was the young lady named Cheongyeon who had been at the Seonwoo family until recently.
With her distinctive appearance, her bangs hanging down right to her nose, there was no way we could fail to recognize her.
Just then, as she looked around the inn, her gaze also fixed upon us.
A brief silence hung in the air as we looked at each other awkwardly, and then Warrior Jang subtly whispered to me.
"She's an acquaintance. Why don't you invite her to join us?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes. I'll do that. Miss Cheong-yeon! How unexpected to see you here!"
Bumping into a woman I knew at an inn... this situation was a first in both of my lives, so it was extremely awkward.
However, as soon as I spoke to her, she began walking toward me without any hesitation.
"Haha! If you don't mind, please come over here and join us... you've already sat down, hahaha."
Though I'd felt it before, she was a young lady with remarkably uninhibited behavior.
Perhaps because her eyes were covered, it even felt to some degree as if she paid no attention whatsoever to the gazes of others.
The ronin, as if trying to dispel the awkwardness, started talking to her in a friendly manner.
"Welcome, miss. What a thing to meet you again in a place like this."
"We're planning to have a drink, would you like to order some food first?"
In response to their questions, she answered in a flat, monotone voice.
But the content of her reply was anything but flat.
"I'm thinking of volunteering for the front line too. I'll order food a little later."
Huh? What did she say?
We blinked our eyes for a moment and then asked again.
"...What did you just say?"
"You said you're volunteering for the front line, miss?"
"No, why on earth?"
It was rather shocking.
Even ordinary martial artists didn't know the full truth about the front line, but they at least knew that the death rate was incredibly high.
Because of that, these days even highly renowned chivalrous warriors were reluctant to go to the front line. To the point that the Martial Alliance had even sent out forced conscription letters to the sects of Guizhou Province.
'And she's saying she'll volunteer to go there on her own? And as a woman, alone?'
For me, who knew the reality of that place all too well, it was something I simply couldn't understand.
I even became worried that she was about to do something she'd regret out of some clumsy sense of heroism.
Out of concern, I asked her,
"Excuse me, miss. Why would you volunteer for such a place?"
But instead of answering my question, she stared intently at me and asked,
"You've... lost a lot of weight, haven't you?"
"Pardon? Ah! Hahaha! I had to lose weight since I'll be living on the front line! You even recognized me at a glance."
"Yes, you've become very lean."
"Ahahaha! You flatter me! It's not to that degree."
Hearing that I'd lost weight was always exhilarating.
Feeling good, I naturally glossed over the fact that she hadn't answered the question I'd just asked.
Seeing this, the ronin listening nearby joined in and praised me as well.
"Young Master Seonwoo truly worked relentlessly! It was really incredible. It was a precious time that made us realize that nothing in this world is impossible!"
"I didn't realize it since we were always together, but now that you've lost weight, you're a decent-looking fellow! You've become quite the handsome man!"
"Wahahaha! I have been told before that I'd clean up nicely if I lost weight!"
Then, Miss Cheong-yeon, who had quietly risen from her seat, left a word and walked out.
"I'll step out for a while."
Though I got the feeling that her figure looked strangely dispirited, it was beyond me, knowing little about women, to guess what the matter was.
Soon after, the liquor arrived, and thoughts of her were pushed to the back of my mind.
***
Hae Cheong-yeon came out of the inn where Seonwoo Jin and the ronin were making a boisterous clamor.
The sky had already grown dark, and the dense forests visible around her looked like black shadows.
Suddenly, she recalled the moment she had left the Seonwoo family.
When she'd said she would volunteer for the front line, her friend Jegal Seoyul had been appalled and screamed at her.
'Whaaat?! That's insane! Have you lost your mind?! No matter how it's you, I can't follow you there! What do you plan to do if Senior Hae finds out?!'
'Father will understand.'
'He won't understand, he'll just give up!'
'Anyway.'
Because her tastes and actions were so unique and she had a personality that cared nothing for danger once fixated on something, the truth was that no matter what she did, her father as well as the rest of her family had simply given up on her until now.
But even she knew well that going to the front line was not such a simple matter.
Meaning, this time she could really end up confined at home.
But still,
She couldn't help it.
"Huuu."
Letting out a long sigh, she recalled the first time she saw Seonwoo Jin.
She had been truly, utterly surprised.
How could a living person resemble her handmade doll 'Mandu' so perfectly?
The doll-like (?) appearance, the one move he had shown that seemed coincidental, the past she had discovered by investigating him. All of it could not have stimulated her curiosity more.
And the moment he started running, declaring he would go all the way to Yunnan on foot, Hae Cheong-yeon, who had been observing him out of curiosity, had nearly lost her mind.
That waddling, adorable sight.
And on top of that, such unreal, pitiful stamina that he had collapsed before covering even half a watch.
She absolutely could not tolerate it.
How could she leave someone that cute to be slaughtered by the demonic men of the Blood Cult!
She simply could not accept such a horrible reality.
And so, she had to protect him.
This was her duty as a pioneer who had witnessed a hidden cuteness in this world.
That was why she had followed him all the way here...
But here, the 'Mandu' doll she had known no longer existed.
He was still a little cute, but now he was just a commonly seen martial artist.
Didn't it even seem like he had taken care of the bandits himself?
She hadn't quite understood it at the time, but looking at him now, it seemed possible.
And so, Hae Cheong-yeon, who had been burning with passion after discovering a target for the first time in ages, had no choice but to be disappointed.
She let out a deep sigh and muttered.
"Should I go back?"
Coming all this way only to just go back was, even for her who rarely cared about others' eyes, a bit embarrassing.
But heading into the front line after her reason had disappeared seemed even more wrong.
Didn't she also have to think about her family, who would worry?
"Right, I'll go back tomorrow."
She finally made up her mind.
And just as she was about to re-enter the inn.
Suddenly, a scream rang out.
"Kyaaak!"
"Aack! Save...! Uwaaak!"
What was that?
It was close by.
It seemed to be from the house just beyond the dense thicket she had seen when she arrived earlier.
Furthermore, hadn't the second scream been cut off mid-sentence?
It seemed that right now, people were being attacked by someone, or something.
Hae Cheong-yeon immediately threw her body in that direction.
"Who is it?!"
She was shouting and leaping forward to alert the opponent when it happened.
Through the thicket, that something burst out toward her.
Hwaaak!
It was a silent, sudden ambush, but Hae Cheong-yeon was not flustered.
"Haaap!"
The sword light she swung flashed, slicing the dark air like a spider's web.
Shuhak!
The opponent was not a beast but a person.
And barehanded at that, a man who hadn't even taken a defensive stance.
So just as she thought she could turn him into pieces of flesh with a single form, the sound and sensation that reached Hae Cheong-yeon were completely different from what she had expected.
Kagagakang! Kang! Kang!
She had definitely cut the opponent's body, but a metallic sound rang out and her sword bounced off.
Unbelievably, the opponent was deflecting her sword with his bare body as he charged at her.
"What?!"
Flustered, Hae Cheong-yeon barely managed to block by bringing her sword against the arm the opponent swung at her.
Kwaang!
"Augh!"
Though it was clearly a clash between a human arm and a sword, the shock that transmitted felt as if she had struck an iron club.
Hae Cheong-yeon's body was helplessly sent flying backward.
Hwiik!
She corrected her posture mid-air and landed.
The opponent had also landed on the ground from the recoil of batting away her sword. In the darkness, Hae Cheong-yeon was finally able to see his appearance in some detail.
And then, uncharacteristically for her, she was appalled.
"A pervert?!"
The man was stark naked.
A grotesque, perverted man who was dangling a massive thing obscenely. It was a horrifying sight that would make any ordinary woman scream and shut her eyes just from his appearance alone.
But Hae Cheong-yeon was no ordinary woman, and this was no time for that.
The bastard was already charging at her again.
"Kyaaaaa!"
A beast-like cry, and indeed, beast-like movements.
"Haaap!"
Hae Cheong-yeon began to swing her sword with all her focus. Sword qi that had reached the stage of first-rate upper level was radiating out in streaks.
Shuhaaaak!
But the result was no different from before.
Kagang! Kang! Kagagang! Kang!
The bastard's bare body was deflecting not only her sword qi but even her blade itself.
"This can't be!"
Appalled, she had no choice but to hurriedly retreat.
Just then, a martial shout rang out from beside her.
"What bastard is this?! Hap!"
It was the ronin who had been inside the inn with Seonwoo Jin.
The man who had seemed especially jovial.
He was charging at the monster and swinging his dao.
Startled, Hae Cheong-yeon cried out.
"No! That bastard is—!"
But it was already too late.
Kang! Puhuk!
"Guhuck!"
The monster simply blocked the dao with his head, and his hand pierced straight through the man's chest.
It was instant death.
It felt as if her blood was rushing backward.
In her field of vision—she who rarely ever lost her cool—only the monster's wide-open neck was visible.
Losing all reason, she poured her full strength into a strike aimed at the monster's neck.
"Haaap!"
Kaaaang!
But its neck remained uncut.
Only a strong vibration left her hands numb.
"Ugh!"
Then it happened.
The monster reached its hand behind its own head and snatched her blade.
Then it turned its head and stared at her.
For some reason, its eyes were shut tight, but its mouth alone seemed to be smiling.
"Ah, no! Ugh!"
The horrified Hae Cheong-yeon pulled at her sword with all her might, but it didn't budge at all.
As the monster aimed at her again with the hand it had just pulled out of the ronin's chest, a light of despair welled up in her eyes.
"Aaah..."
The monster's hand, which had pierced the ronin's chest, was now flying toward hers.
Shuhak!