Hyeok Gi-rin! Hyeok Gi-rin! Hyeok Gi-rin! -1
"Let's return to Sichuan."
"Mm. Do you intend to remain longer in Sichuan?"
Hyeok Gi-rin's purpose in coming to Sichuan could already be considered fulfilled. Whether it was the dignity of a great disciple of the Nine Great Sects or the dignity of an imperial princess of this empire, she had firmly sealed the bandits' mouths.
"Yes. That is so. Separate from Junior Sister's affairs, I have witnessed countless common folk suffering. How could I leave Sichuan merely for the comfort of my own body? I must help as far as my strength reaches."
I nodded without a word. From the way she had fretted over the victims at the inn, I had somehow expected as much, but it seemed she meant to lend a hand in resolving the bandit affair.
"In the end, we achieved nothing beyond making them keep quiet."
Where had the spirit gone that had single-handedly overwhelmed more than five hundred bandits? Hyeok Gi-rin's small shoulders slumped.
Perhaps concerned for her, Heukmyo opened her mouth.
"Mmm. Cheer up, Young Hero. Since Young Hero Hyeok declared in her own name that she would punish anyone who harms people, would the bandits dare harm a soul? That alone is more than enough reason for you to hold your head high!"
"Indeed."
I agreed with Heukmyo's opinion.
"Take heart. The bandit problem was never something a single person could solve alone, was it?"
"...With the two of you consoling me like this, I feel my spirits rising."
A small smile appeared on Hyeok Gi-rin's face. Yeah—seeing such a small kid completely deflated with slumped shoulders made even me feel bad.
"That's right! Let's stop by the inn and eat something spicy to cheer up."
Heukmyo sidled up beside Hyeok Gi-rin.
"When I tried it yesterday, the cook seemed pretty good with spicy flavors. The spicy stir-fried pork was first-rate."
"Huhu. Is that so? If we stop at the inn, I must try the spicy stir-fried pork."
I smiled slightly and put some distance between us so the two could chatter freely. I didn't know why Heukmyo was suddenly paying attention to Hyeok Gi-rin, but this was the first time she had approached anyone other than me.
Had Hyeok Gi-rin's special circumstances stimulated Heukmyo?
In any case, it was a good thing for both Heukmyo and Hyeok Gi-rin.
I took the lead, listening to the sound of the horse's hooves and the two of them chattering away.
"I shall excuse myself to the privy for a moment."
The instant we arrived at yesterday's inn, Hyeok Gi-rin vanished.
She must feel the weight of it, of course.
People who had been stripped of every possession by the bandits would be desperate enough to clutch at any straw. They might well be waiting for Hyeok Gi-rin with the hope that the Jade Dragon Hero would resolve everything in a single stroke. And once they learned there had been no particular results, that hope would turn to disappointment.
It might even turn into resentment rather than mere disappointment.
So delivering the news to the people at the inn required a certain resolve of heart.
Heukmyo stared in the direction Hyeok Gi-rin had disappeared and muttered.
"Mmm. Will Young Hero Hyeok Gi-rin be all right?"
"By the way, you've gotten pretty close to Great Hero Hyeok all of a sudden. What wind blew you that way?"
"It's because of a certain clueless senior."
Heukmyo shook her head with a little sigh. At first she had simply found the sight of the two of them stuck so close together unpleasant and had butted in, but once she was there she had no real pretext for prying them apart.
While searching for a pretext, the thought that had come to her was: She's a woman in men's clothes anyway, so the core is female—why not stick close for as long as I can?
Just as Heukmyo's Taiyin qi naturally enchanted men, it conversely stirred wariness and rejection in women. That was why Heukmyo had only spoken to Hyeok Gi-rin right up to the brink of discomfort, intending to block her approach to Ho Cheon-an.
Yet surprisingly, Hyeok Gi-rin had shown no rejection toward Heukmyo at all and had calmly joined the conversation.
Maybe she has some rare treasure that strengthens or resists bewitching effects.
It could have been because Hyeok Gi-rin's realm was high, or because of a rare treasure she possessed. Whatever the cause, the important point was that she had been able to enjoy a pleasant conversation with Hyeok Gi-rin.
Heukmyo found Ho Cheon-an—who was smirking as if he knew everything—irritating, but she could not deny that the words he had spoken that day, "Someday you'll have to be with people," had floated back into her mind.
She had felt joy in her conversation with Hyeok Gi-rin, after all.
In one corner of her heart she had thought, Is this why Senior said we have to be with people? and had come to acknowledge that claim to some degree...
"Spending time with other people isn't so bad, is it?"
Still, seeing Ho Cheon-an smirking right in front of her made her blood rise of its own accord. Any desire to honestly admit that this idiot senior was right vanished completely.
"Hmph! I only butted in because watching Senior was so frustrating!"
"Is that so."
"Well, after talking with her... I suppose you could say we get along somewhat. She likes cats, after all."
Listening to Heukmyo's muttering with a smile, I turned my head. Hyeok Gi-rin had returned, looking as though she had finished preparing her heart.
The moment Hyeok Gi-rin set foot in the inn, someone shouted.
"Great Hero Hyeok Gi-rin has arrived!"
"Great Hero! What became of the bandits!"
In an instant people swarmed around Hyeok Gi-rin.
"Have the bandits withdrawn?"
"What of the goods the bandits seized? What do they say they will do with them?"
Hyeok Gi-rin opened her mouth heavily.
"The bandits do not seem likely to withdraw easily."
"Ahh...!"
"The goods! What of the goods? The wealth the bandits plundered!"
"The whereabouts of the goods as well..."
Those staying at this inn fell into one of two groups: travelers who had been heading toward Sichuan and had their feet bound by news that a bandit stronghold had risen, or those who had been stripped of every possession by the bandits and remained at the inn stamping their feet in frustration.
Neither side could hear Hyeok Gi-rin's words as positive.
A heavy silence settled over the inn. As if by prior agreement, everyone either gazed at the sky and lamented or looked at the floor and sighed.
I watched the scene and thought.
She's truly pure-hearted.
Driving out the bandits single-handedly. Discovering the whereabouts of the goods. These were not things Hyeok Gi-rin could accomplish.
I glanced sideways at Heukmyo. Arms crossed, she looked thoroughly displeased.
"She didn't even commit a crime, so why is she hanging her head...!"
At Heukmyo's muttering I let out a short laugh. Yeah, that was right.
What Hyeok Gi-rin had done today was more than enough to be praised as the work of a chivalrous hero.
Suppose some ordinary chivalrous hero of the Central Plains had done the same as Hyeok Gi-rin. That someone would have rushed first to the inn and declared something like, "This chivalrous hero of the public good has sworn in my own name that I will not forgive the bandit rabble if they harm people! I swear here and now that I will never stand idle should the bandits harm anyone!"
So that the people at the inn would be moved and spread word of that someone's chivalrous spirit and mettle far and wide.
"Heukmyo. Is the Jade Dragon Hero Hyeok Gi-rin a chivalrous hero?"
"Of course she is! What are you even saying right now, Senior?! Are you planning to criticize Hyeok Gi-rin?!"
Watching Heukmyo jump up and down, I shook my head.
"The opposite."
If someone like Hyeok Gi-rin who had staked her name to stop the bandits from harming people rushed to the inn to announce that news, would it be hypocrisy? Some would call it hypocrisy—nothing more than a pretense of good deeds to raise one's own fame. Others would call it good—because she had staked her name for the sake of people.
What does that even matter?
What defines a person's essence is neither the yardstick of others who look at them nor the evaluations they spout at will.
What mattered was the action.
Today Hyeok Gi-rin had staked her name before the bandits and warned them not to harm people. Staking one's name was no light matter.
It was a declaration that if the bandits ever took a life, she would take "responsibility" no matter what happened.
The warning Hyeok Gi-rin had delivered to the bandits today was never something that could be given lightly.
What martial artist in the world would hang their head after staking their name to restrain bandits?
In my eyes, Hyeok Gi-rin was a chivalrous hero who deserved praise and acclaim.
So I'll make sure she gets that praise.
"I am the Sichuan Wandering Warrior who uses the mysterious powers of the Ghost of the Vast Hell!"
Into an atmosphere that could grow no heavier, I barged in. Heukmyo's eyes went wide, Hyeok Gi-rin looked flustered, and the people of the inn began to murmur.
"Wh-who is that?"
"How should I know...!"
"Kuhahaha! A bunch of fellows with empty news, I see! Have you never heard that a wandering warrior displayed the power of sorcery for all the world to see before the Golden Family?!"
The people of the inn murmured. They only stared at the sudden intruder with bewildered faces or hostile eyes.
"Keh-heh. Watch closely!"
Before the hostile ones could explode in anger, I immediately performed a magic trick. A copper coin transformed in an instant into a silver coin!
"Wha—how is it silver?!"
"Sorcery! It's sorcery!"
"Th-that reminds me, I've heard the rumor! Of a wandering warrior in Sichuan who gathers people and performs bizarre sorcery that changes money...!"
"Kuhahaha! So there are a few with open ears after all!"
I rolled up my sleeves and began a full magic performance in earnest. I had no gambling cards, but I had several flying daggers that could be hidden in a palm—more than enough for sleight of hand.
"Behold! The sight of flying daggers multiplying!"
"What?! There were clearly only two daggers—how are there five already?!"
"Sorcery! It's sorcery!"
"Kuhah. Now you have all clearly witnessed the power of the Ghost!"
In an instant the people of the inn, their minds seized by the magic performance, nodded. Watching them, I climbed onto a table and shouted.
"I stake the divine power of the Ghost of the Vast Hell and declare that every word I speak from this moment is the truth! Should it be otherwise, the Ghost will strip me of all my divine power!"
As I poured out my fervor, the people of the inn swallowed dryly in tension without even knowing why. What was he about to say that he would stake even that miraculous power?
"This body accompanied Great Hero Hyeok Gi-rin today and visited the bandit stronghold!"
The people of the inn held their breath at a single sentence from me. The story the people of this inn most wanted to hear in all the world would be the tale of the bandits who had settled on Mount Jeongnam.
"The bandits numbered no fewer than five hundred! You have all heard of the cruelty of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds! Fiends who harm people on lonely mountain paths and snatch blood-soaked goods!"
More than half the people at the inn had already met the bandits once and suffered bitterly. An atmosphere of terror formed in an instant.
Hyeok Gi-rin, wondering what on earth this was, tried to stop me, but Heukmyo blocked her.
"Young Lady, this is...!"
"Shhh! Just listen."
"Standing among more than five hundred seasoned murderers, even I—who use the divine power of the Ghost of the Vast Hell—felt my guts freeze! Hundreds of killing auras lacerating my body! The situation grew worse and worse! The four chiefs of the murderers appeared, scattering killing intent!"
"Ohh...!"
"How dreadful...!"
"Four demon heads appearing all at once! Even I could not endure it—my knees trembled! In a situation where borrowing the Ghost's power was barely enough to hold on... right then! The Jade Dragon Hero Hyeok Gi-rin stepped forward!"
"Indeed!"
Hyeok Gi-rin's eyes wandered the empty air, unable to find their bearings. She tried to say something, but Heukmyo gripped her shoulder, and at the same moment I opened my mouth.
Without any prior discussion the two of us showed perfect coordination, sealing Hyeok Gi-rin's words and gathering every eye in the inn.
"Even while receiving the gazes of demon heads who seemed to have risen from hell and all their underlings, Great Hero Hyeok calmly gazed upon them! With her eyes alone she crushed their momentum in a single stroke and declared, 'The suffering of the people startles the heavens and shakes the earth—cease your evil deeds at once!'"
"It was a voice like frost, a spirit as if heaven and earth themselves were enraged, so the demon heads were seized with terror at once and said this! 'I-if you harm us, our Green Forest brothers will cut people down without mercy—if you so much as touch a hair on our heads, the blood of the innocent will form rivers!'"
"Th-those! Vicious demon heads!"
"Bandits would do that and more!"
People whose resentment already pierced the heavens after having their goods stolen by the bandits grew excited and denounced them.
I clenched the fist I had spread wide and once more pulled the people's focus tight.
"Great Hero Hyeok Gi-rin grew so angry it seemed she would punish every last bandit on the spot! Alas, how tragic! If she cut down the bandits then and there, a bloodbath would inevitably erupt across the land! For the peace of the world she had no choice but to step back and seek a plan!"
In an instant every gaze gathered on Hyeok Gi-rin. I pressed without missing the moment.
"Yet even then Great Hero Hyeok Gi-rin did not forget her heart for the people! You fiends! If so much as a single drop of human blood flows on this Mount Jeongnam! I, the Jade Dragon Hero of the Jeomchang Sect, Hyeok Gi-rin, stake my name that I will pursue you to the ends of hell and collect that blood debt!"
"Ohh...!"
"The Jade Dragon Hero did such a thing...!"
"The bandits trembled in fear at that edge and nodded, so those fiends will not harm people from now on—and this is the achievement Great Hero Hyeok Gi-rin has wrought! I stake the divine power of the Ghost that there is not a single falsehood in the words I have just spoken! Now behold! Has my divine power vanished or not!"
I raised a single copper coin high toward the sky and tossed it up. And when that coin reached my chest, I clapped both hands together and snatched it.
"If there was even a hair's breadth of falsehood in my words, my divine power would have vanished and the coin would remain! If my words are true, the divine power will have made the coin disappear!"
The people swallowed dryly and fixed their eyes on my palms as they opened ever so slowly. Had the divine power truly vanished or not? Had Hyeok Gi-rin truly shown such chivalrous spirit against the bandits? Or not?
The truth of all of it! It lay between my palms!
"Ah—no!"
"How can this be! I clearly saw the coin caught between the hands with my own eyes!"
"How could a coin vanish from between the palms!"
I raised both hands high amid the astonished crowd.
"Thus it is proven that my words are fact without a single falsehood!"
The Sichuan Wandering Warrior who used the divine power of the Ghost of the Vast Hell! The gazes of the people, beginning to awaken from the lingering wonder of that astonishing divine power, gathered upon Hyeok Gi-rin.
Among those who had been robbed by the bandits, some hung their heads. They had even resented Hyeok Gi-rin for returning without particular results.
"Great Hero Hyeok! Thank you. And I am sorry!"
"Ah—no. What are you saying."
Hyeok Gi-rin's head spun at the rapidly changing situation. Her mind was still hazy from being suddenly swept into a magic performance.
"I am ashamed of myself for resenting Great Hero Hyeok even for a moment because I thought she had failed to recover my goods. To harbor resentment instead of gratitude toward the one who stepped forward first to calm the bandit disturbance...!"
"No, not at all. Your concerns are only natural. Who would not burn with anxiety if precious goods fell into bandit hands? I am only sorry that I could not be of more help to you all."
"Ah...! Great Hero!"
The people of the inn were moved by Hyeok Gi-rin's consideration. How had the people of the inn treated Hyeok Gi-rin before the Sichuan Wandering Warrior stepped forward?
Had they not sent silent resentment because she had failed to resolve this crisis?
And yet after receiving such treatment she still understood and offered comfort!
This person was truly a good person and a chivalrous hero!
"The Jade Dragon Hero is a true Great Hero!"
"Well said!"
"Jade Dragon Hero! Jade Dragon Hero! Jade Dragon Hero!"
"Hyeok Gi-rin! Hyeok Gi-rin!"
What on earth was happening? Hyeok Gi-rin blankly looked around at the people of the inn chanting her title and name with moved faces... then turned her gaze to the person who could be called the ringleader of this entire situation.
"Hyeok Gi-rin! Hyeok Gi-rin!"
Ho Cheon-an passionately chanting her name. At the sight of him expressing satisfaction with his entire body, Hyeok Gi-rin let out a helpless laugh.
At a certain inn between Mount Jeongnam and Sichuan, the sound of people continuously chanting Hyeok Gi-rin's name and title rang out without end.