To the Northern Ice Palace (6):
The words slipped out before I could stop them. “So… let’s play again tomorrow… sleep well… Arin…”
She’s out already?
I stared at the little bundle of blankets, now snoring softly. My last clear thought before oblivion was a soft chuckle. Even in her deep sleep, Arin looked like a tiny polar bear who’d eaten too many seals.
“Seol… are you all right for a moment?”
The Palace Lord had appeared without a sound.
“If you’re not resting, there’s something I’d like to discuss in private.”
“Kyaa… (Yeah…)”
I slipped out of the blankets with the utmost caution and made my way to the door.
“You came… Move quietly.”
He met me with a face so serious it could have frozen the entire sea.
I didn’t walk. I glided. Ice-slicked floors turned every step into smooth, silent Tobogganing, and soon we reached the training grounds.
“Phew… This is much quieter now.”
His shoulders finally relaxed a fraction.
“I didn’t bring you here just for a talk, Seol, though that’s the real reason. The truth is… I’ve never told you my name.”
“Kyaa… (Name?)”
Looking back, I’d only ever called him “that guy” or “the Palace Lord.” I really had no idea.
“Then… allow me to introduce myself properly.”
“I am the Palace Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace—Seol Mujin.”
Hmm… Mujin, huh…
I’d been under his roof for five years and only now learned his real name. How utterly ordinary.
“Kyaa… (Got it… So what’s the real story?)”
He smiled at my silent acknowledgment.
“Then… shall we get to the heart of it?”
The smile vanished. His face turned grave once more.
“Remember the conversation we had at dinner?”
Dinner… Ah, right. You were going to teach me martial arts.
I nodded.
“I didn’t speak clearly earlier, but I never learned the Ice Soul Divine Art.”
“Kyaa… (Huh?)”
His words hit like a sudden gale.
The Palace Lord… didn’t even master the palace’s supreme technique?
I was about to ask when he continued calmly.
“Such a surprised expression. Of course it is. Who wouldn’t be shocked when the Palace Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace fails to master even the sect’s highest art?”
“Kyaa… (Then how did you become Lord?)”
I asked carefully.
He gazed at the night sky for a long moment.
“The Ice Soul Divine Art cannot be learned by just anyone. One needs a twisted vein, a special constitution, and an innate yin-cold aura that has reached a certain threshold before even entry is possible.”
He held out his palm. A faint wisp of ice rose, then vanished like mist.
“Yet from the moment I was born, my meridians were slightly twisted. I could cultivate ordinary ice techniques, but the moment I tried to circulate the Ice Soul Divine Art, my meridians simply refused to obey.”
“Kyaa… (Still… you’re that strong?)”
He chuckled softly.
“Because I could not master the Ice Soul Divine Art, I took another path. I studied the dozens of ice arts passed down through the palace, combined their strengths, and forged a new inner manual.”
There was no pride in his voice, only regret for years gone by.
“Thanks to that, I reached my current level… but the orthodox path remains forever closed to me…”
Silence fell. The night wind swept across the training grounds.
“There are still people in the palace who look upon me with displeasure.”
Those who say a person without the sect’s supreme art can’t possibly be Lord… there are quite a few.
He gave a bitter smile.
“I can make them obey through power, but respect cannot be forced.”
He looked at me slowly.
“So I have a request to make of you, Seol.”
“Kyaa… (Request?)”
After a moment of thought, he spoke.
“You remember how, at dinner, I said I would teach you martial arts?”
I nodded quietly.
“Kyaa.”
“The real reason I said that is because of Arin.”
“?”
“She doesn’t focus on anything for long. One day she’s a snowman, the next a doll…”
“If she’s really into it, she switches to something new every few hours…”
Is she… ADHD?
“But today, when she saw you, her eyes were brighter than I’ve ever seen before…”
“That’s why… I thought maybe having you around would help her focus on training. That’s why I asked.”
Ah… so that’s the situation.
I took a moment to consider.
Learning from Mujin would be helpful…
He was the one who’d pieced together other arts because he couldn’t learn the supreme one. His talent must be exceptional.
But can I actually handle Arin now that she’s learned martial arts?
Right now she chases me and tries to catch me. If she adds martial skills on top of that… I might not even be able to run.
No… still… if she just enjoys the training, she won’t bother me as much, right?
The thought flashed through my mind.
“Kyaa… (Yeah… all right.)”
I eventually gave my consent.
“Then… that settles it. I’ll wake you tomorrow morning.”
Without another word, Mujin led me to Arin’s room.
“Kyaa… kyaa? (Wait… Kiyoshi?)”
It was Arin’s room.
“Her room isn’t ready yet, so just stay here tonight.”
Whip.
He tossed me straight into Arin’s bed like a sack of potatoes.
YAHHHHHH!!!
Of course, inside I was screaming in absolute despair.
***
The next morning.
“Frost… are you awake?”
“Kyaa… (Didn’t sleep… damn it…)”
I hadn’t rested at all. Arin had woken too.
And then—
“Seol, is Arin awake?”
Mujin’s voice came softly from outside the door.
“Seol, Arin. Are you up?”
“Yes! Daddy!”
Arin shot upright, still half-buried in blankets.
As for me…
“Kyaa… (Didn’t sleep…)”
I lay completely limp on the bed, unmoving.
“Seol?”
Arin crawled over and peered at my face.
“You still sleepy?”
Not sleepy… I barely slept at all.
Arin didn’t sleep either… she kept switching between hugging my arm, then my leg, then sneaking back over.
So I spent the whole night escaping and getting caught.
At this rate, I could catch a person without martial arts.
The door opened. Mujin stepped in and took one look at my state. He stayed silent for a moment.
“… I won’t ask what happened.”
“Kyaa… (Don’t ask, just make my room.)”
He cleared his throat softly.
“I’ll have your room ready today.”
The moment I heard those words, I let out the longest sigh of relief in my life.
I made it…!
But Arin tilted her head.
“Why? We can sleep together!”
“Kyaa!!! (I don’t like it!!!)”
My voice came out louder than I intended.
The room fell silent. Arin puffed out her cheeks.
“I was fine with it…”
Mujin’s lips curved upward just a little.
“… So that’s how it was.”
Yes… it was a matter of life and death.
***
A short while later.
We finished a simple breakfast and headed to the training grounds.
The early morning North Sea was biting cold. White breath rose naturally from our mouths, and thin frost still lay on the training ground floor from last night’s snow.
Mujin looked at us and spoke.
“From today, we begin serious training.”
Question marks filled Arin’s eyes.
“Training? But Daddy, I can’t play with Seol?”
He shook his head firmly.
“This training will help both you and Arin. And it’s with Seol.”
“Che… fine.”
She pouted, but stayed put and listened quietly.
“I won’t teach you the supreme art right away. First, we must master the breathing method.”
“Breathing?”
“Correct.”
Mujin took a slow, deep breath and let it out long and steady.
“Internal energy flows with the breath, and the breath follows the heart. If the breath is unsteady, the internal energy scatters.”
Arin followed along with great seriousness.
“Huuu…”
But—
“Ah!”
A small bird had landed on the wall.
“Dad! A bird!”
Whip.
Arin’s eyes locked onto the bird instantly.
Mujin closed his eyes for a moment.
“…”
That’s how it is…
His concentration was strangely fascinating from where I stood.
He waited a beat, then called her.
“Arin.”
“Hm?”
“Shall we begin again?”
“Yes!”
This time Arin squeezed her eyes shut tightly, determined.
“Huuu…”
One second… two… three… four… five…
“Seol!”
“Kyaa? (Huh?)”
“When it’s over, let’s make a snowman together!”
“Kyaa… (Focus a little…)”
In the end, Mujin burst out laughing.
“You really can’t hold it for long.”
He turned to me.
“Seol.”
“Kyaa?”
“Try it yourself.”
I began to follow his breathing quietly.
Slow inhale… slow exhale.
Again… slow exhale.
As I reached the third breath…
Srrrk.
The cold air slipped in without resistance, as if it had been waiting for exactly that spot all along.
Oh…
I continued without thinking.
***
As I kept breathing, the frost on the ground began to tremble faintly.
Sarrk.
The surrounding cold energy gathered toward me.
Mujin’s pupils shook for an instant.
Even without the supreme art… even on my own… you’re a genius. Unconscious resonance, huh…
He swallowed hard.
That kind of talent… there was none even among my ancestors.
At that very moment, Arin’s eyes widened.
“Wow! Real frost is coming out of Seol’s body!”
Like a child who’d just discovered the best toy ever, she scrambled toward me.
“I want to do it too! I want to do it too!”
She forgot about the snowman and the bird completely. She copied my breathing with even greater focus than before.
Mujin watched the two of us and allowed himself the faintest smile.
Yes… this choice was not wrong.