The Taoist Master
Two days had already slipped by since our arrival in Gaon.
And in those two days, one thing had become absolutely certain.
"Hey."
"What?"
Bored out of my mind, I'd wandered into Huey's room with Lucy and sprawled across the floor. Huey had been hard at work crafting talismans for a while now, and I decided to put the question to him — to confirm whether what I'd figured out was actually true.
"Are you someone really important?"
Lucy, who'd been staring blankly out the window, turned her gaze toward Huey with the same curiosity.
"No? Why would you think that?"
As if he had no idea where the question had come from, Huey laughed and carefully avoided my eyes. That was his tell — the exact face he made whenever he was lying or hiding something from us.
"Just look at how people treat you around here. The picture's pretty clear, you idiot."
"Master. Keeping secrets is no fun."
Maybe it was just the culture of this country, but people outside the castle walls treated Huey without any formality at all. Inside the castle, though, most of them looked thoroughly flustered every time they laid eyes on him.
"Especially the ones in the Taoist hall. They tiptoe around like dead mice, doing everything they can to avoid running into you."
"The servants also seem quite troubled over how they ought to address Master."
Having said our piece, Lucy and I quietly watched Huey scratch his head like we'd hit the bullseye.
"…Haa."
So our guess had been right after all. He stopped what he was doing, swiveled his chair around to face us, and let out a long sigh.
"I wasn't really planning on talking about this."
If we'd already figured it out, there was no point hiding it. He leaned back against the chair and stared up at the ceiling, as if sifting through old memories.
"I didn't lie. It's true that I don't hold any position right now."
Right now. Meaning he used to.
"But first, I should explain a bit about Taoists."
"Taoists?"
"People like Master, are they not?"
"…Well, sort of."
With a bitter little smile, Huey began.
"People who cultivate the Tao in pursuit of becoming immortals — beings who have transcended humanity. That's what we call Taoists here."
Those who refined their techniques through the accumulation of the Tao, drawing ever closer to nature itself. That, he said, was the essence of a Taoist.
"I've told Ren this before, but strictly speaking, what I use isn't actually Taoist Magic."
Come to think of it, he had mentioned that once. The power seeping from the seal on his heart — for reasons of his own — was something he controlled by shaping it into the form of Taoist Magic.
"Anyway, the first thing you need to begin studying Taoist Magic is this."
He held up one of the talismans he'd been working on and offered it toward us.
"From apprentice all the way through intermediate rank, a Taoist can only use Taoist Magic with the help of talismans."
A force different from mana — Taoist energy. Talismans existed to help control it.
"And the only ones who can make talismans without any restrictions are advanced Taoists."
To craft talismans by hand without specialized facilities, you needed perfect control over your Taoist energy. And the only people capable of that were advanced Taoists — the ones who no longer needed talismans at all.
"For reference, there are exactly two advanced Taoists in Gaon right now. My master, Taoist Master Hyeonjin. And Deputy Taoist Master Lee Cheonyu, who you met yesterday."
…Hold on.
"You've been making and using talismans this whole time, haven't you?"
"Oh? Now that you mention it…"
Huey just smiled quietly at our realization.
"That's right. I used to be an advanced Taoist myself."
These days, he added, he couldn't so much as muster a flicker of power without a talisman's help.
"And my master, the current Taoist Master, was also the Taoist Master two generations ago."
Which meant…
"The previous Taoist Master, Seo Chan-hui. Hard to believe, but that was me."
Just watching how people inside the castle treated Cheonyu was enough to get a rough idea of how high a position Taoist Master actually was. At the very least, it had to rank alongside a kingdom's knight-commander or court mage.
"…These days, I'd be lucky if they even counted me as intermediate rank."
He finished the story with a shrug, then turned his chair back around and went back to making talismans. He looked so visibly deflated that I felt a little sorry for him. Lucy and I exchanged a glance, then I opened my mouth.
"Well. Hang in there."
"It's quite all right. Even if Master grows weaker still, I shall not abandon him."
"…That is not comforting at all."
He said that, but the corner of his mouth was clearly twitching upward.
"You little punk. You're loving this."
"Ahem."
"Two beautiful young ladies are complimenting you, and that's your reaction?"
Lucy had started needling him with that wicked look of hers — and somehow she'd lumped me in as a girl again.
"Leave me out of it."
"Objectively speaking, Ren's beauty is an undeniable fact."
Hmm. For a successor to that foul-tempered Ella, you've got a decent eye!
I'd been needling Huey, and somehow I'd become the target instead.
"Shut up."
Dana, who'd been quiet this whole time only to pipe up the second my appearance came into it, got shoved into a corner of my mind. I tried hard to deny the fluttering feeling in my chest. There was no way I enjoyed being called pretty like some girl.
"Oh ho."
And Lucy, who'd clearly picked up on something from my reaction, was staring at me with a dangerously sparkling look that set off every alarm bell I had.
"…What."
"Heh heh. You're lovely no matter how many times I look."
"Ugh. Stop that. It's creepy."
"I'm simply calling a pretty thing pretty. Is there a problem?"
At this rate she was going to keep complimenting me until I surrendered, so I resorted to my last option.
"Heh heh…"
"Whew. Finally some peace and quiet."
I darted behind Lucy and wrapped her up in both wings like a cocoon. Only then did she go quiet, and I was just letting out a sigh of relief when —
"Taoist Seo Chan-hui! The Deputy Taoist Master has made preparations and requests that you come to the usual place!"
A slightly nervous male voice called from outside. I didn't catch all the details, but Huey was already getting to his feet and preparing to leave, so his master must have arrived.
"Master's here. Want to come along?"
"Sure. I'm bored anyway."
"If Master doesn't mind."
"Yeah, I'm fine with it."
So we followed Huey toward the pavilion in the small garden we'd visited yesterday — and along the way, Lucy and I both noticed something off.
"…There sure are a lot of people."
"Indeed."
Unlike yesterday, people we'd glimpsed around the castle a few times were lined up along the path, standing as if they were forming an escort for someone.
"It's too late to turn back now, you two."
And there was Huey at the end of it all, grinning with that mischievous face of someone who already knew exactly who was waiting.
"Bullshit."
Thud!
"Ack!"
I pushed lightly off the ground, twisted my hips midair, and drove a kick straight into Huey's shin.
"The only person who'd cause this much of a circus inside the castle is the king."
"…Most people do not refer to a king as 'the only person,' Ren."
"So what."
I grumbled once at Lucy, who was muttering beside me in disbelief, then turned back to Huey — who was clutching his shin and rolling around on the ground in the most pathetic display imaginable.
"My leg—!"
"How many times have I kicked your bones by now? It's not broken, so quit the theatrics and get up."
A few of the people nearby looked ready to burst out laughing, so I planted my foot against the back of Huey's neck, hauled him upright, and forced him to his feet.
"…That's just mean. Seriously."
"If you're going to mess with me, you should've been ready for at least that much."
"Pfft."
Still grumbling, Huey led us the rest of the way to the pavilion — where we found a man whose presence was so overwhelming that everyone around him might as well have vanished from sight.
"…That's the king?"
Luxurious, ornate red robes cut in a form that was still ruthlessly practical. A middle-aged man sat perched at the edge of the pavilion, a great longsword cradled against his shoulder, his back resting against a pillar.
"You're joking."
"Ren. Is something the matter?"
I didn't need to fight him to know. The man in front of us had long since surpassed the realm of a Transcendent.
I stood there blankly at the unexpected appearance of such a powerhouse — until Huey's voice, thick with barely contained laughter, shattered the silence.
"Your Majesty. That's enough of the dramatic posing. It does not suit you in the slightest."
"Honestly. Using the outside tongue because you're worried the retainers might overhear? You haven't changed a bit."
The man in the pavilion set his longsword roughly beside him and rose from his seat.
"Your Majesty looks well. That is a great relief."
"Indeed. It has been a long time. Have you been well?"
"Yes."
Huey seemed thoroughly familiar with the man — the king. He bowed his head lightly in greeting, then glanced our way.
"And them?"
"Companions I met outside."
He nodded toward us. Time for introductions, then. He already knew how I'd handle mine.
"Call me Ren."
"Luciella."
We kept it short and simple.
"Well now. The fellow who never so much as glanced at a woman goes outside and suddenly…"
He looked mildly surprised by my casual speech, but didn't seem to mind.
"…Your Majesty."
"Tsk. Can the king not even make a joke? In any case — welcome to Gaon, strangers."
He stepped lightly down from the pavilion and approached us.
"As companions of our proud dragon-slayer, you may well be considered family of Gaon itself. Make yourselves comfortable for the duration of your stay."
Huey pressed a hand to his forehead at the words "dragon-slayer," but the king paid him no mind, smiling warmly at us.
"Well then — before I ruin the mood any further, I shall take my leave."
He'd stepped away briefly with the Taoist Master, he explained, and had only dropped by upon hearing that Huey had arrived. He shot Huey one last lingering look, then led his retainers away.
Only after the king and the crowd that had filled the area had completely disappeared did we finally come face to face with the old man who had been quietly standing guard behind the king the entire time — Huey's master.
"…It has been a long time, Master."