Send Me Back - 1
I felt a throbbing headache as I barely managed to open my eyes. I'm alive. I let out a sigh of relief at the simple fact that I could see. I'd been worried that Koke Temur might have changed his mind and lopped off my head, or that the reckless use of Silence Hell had completely wrecked my insides.
Such thoughts ran through my mind as I tried to sit up, but the moment I twitched, excruciating pain surged through me, forcing me to give up. I'm an idiot. This time, my sigh carried a different meaning.
Silence Hell—or more precisely, the Righteous Heart Technique—was no martial art to be used lightly. I couldn't say what might happen if my attainment grew higher, but at my current level, every use brought headaches, throbbing limbs, and agony in my meridians. Even when I'd captured Mun Gyeong in Sichuan, I'd suffered that nauseating pain for a good while.
But this time, I'd unleashed the Righteous Heart Technique twice in a row. And both times, it had failed or been broken by the opponent's superior inner energy. ...I'm lucky to be alive.
I touched the area near my dantian and gave a wry smile. Yeah, truly lucky. I'd clashed inner energies twice with a Hwa-gyeong high master and gotten utterly pummeled. This was the kind of insane stunt where even dying would be seen as natural causes.
But what could I do? If sealing Koke Temur there meant the Jiayu Commandant could seize that split-second chance to sever his head, there was no greater fortune. Trading one first-rate martial artist turned cripple for the Mongols' top swordsman? No reason to hesitate.
I had no lingering attachment to martial arts anyway. Even if I could never use them again, as long as I could move my limbs, it was a worthwhile fight. If I can't use them, that might even be for the best.
Then I'd be a war hero who lost his inner energy capturing the Mongols' greatest swordsman. They wouldn't send me touring the provinces anymore—they'd keep me in the capital, right? Thinking that way, it felt a bit regrettable. I'd missed a heaven-sent opportunity.
- Shiiik?
"Hm?"
Lost in idle thoughts and staring blankly at the ceiling, I heard a familiar cry from beside me.
- Shiik! Shiiiiiik!
- Siiiiiek!
- Shiuuuuk!
Samshik, coiled on the bedside table, shook its entire body passionately and wailed.
"You were here too?"
- Shiiiiiik!
Soon, Samshik slithered down from the table and approached me on the bed. Its eyes glistened oddly, as if it had worried while I was out. So it does see me as its master, after all.
"Samshik."
I smiled at its loyal display and quietly opened my mouth.
- Shiik? Shiik!
"Go out and fetch anyone."
Sorry for sending you on an errand right away, you rotten master. But my throat was parched beyond endurance.
Samshik darted out of the room in an instant and soon returned with Yangyang Wang, Weiguk Duke, the Jiayu Commandant, and Jo Wi-cheo in tow. No, I didn't need this many.
I'd meant just grab a nearby soldier or servant.
"Left Vice Inspector General! Are you alright!?"
Anyway, Yangyang Wang burst through the door with a deeply furrowed expression, inquiring after my well-being. I flinched for a moment. His face looked less like worry and more like someone here to deliver the finishing blow.
"My body aches a bit, but fortunately, my mind is sound."
I forced a smile in response, and his expression softened.
"That's no 'bit' of an ache. You really take after His Highness Giwang."
Weiguk Duke, following behind, chuckled at my words. He was right. It wasn't just a bit—it hurt like hell. I'd toned it down since I couldn't whine about dying in front of a king and a duke.
If I say the wrong thing, it'll reach Ak Wang's ears.
Of course, I couldn't hide that I'd collapsed, but I had to conceal how crippled my body was now. Whatever Ak Wang heard would naturally reach Ak I-yeon. The mere thought terrified me.
"No, you've been out for ten days, so the pain must have subsided in that time?"
...?
"Pardon?"
Weiguk Duke's words drew an involuntary question from me. Ten days? Who? Me?
"You. It took ten days after collapsing for you to finally open your eyes. Do you know how anxious we've been?"
As I stared in a daze, Weiguk Duke shook his head with a sigh. But his lament didn't reach my ears. The fact that I'd been unconscious for ten days began to gnaw at my mind.
I'm screwed.
If I'd been down for ten days, the letters to Ak I-yeon... How backed up were they? She'd notice something was off if my regular missives suddenly stopped.
"Don't fret too much, Left Vice Inspector General."
As I squeezed my eyes shut in despair, Yangyang Wang spoke encouragingly.
"This lady did her utmost to stabilize your meridians for those ten days. Now that your eyes are open, a few more days of rest, and you'll recover smoothly."
Grateful words, but they didn't ease my mind. What worried me wasn't my well-being, but something else.
"Thank you... Your Highness."
Still, I couldn't scowl at the one who'd tended my meridians while I was out. Suppressing my complicated feelings, I expressed my gratitude, and Yangyang Wang nodded before continuing.
"When you rise, thank the spirit beast as well—not this lady."
Natural enough, so I nodded. Just before blacking out atop the walls, I'd seen Kki-ing-i and Kki-ong-i rushing to my aid after sensing my peril—
"Without that spirit beast's antler, you might not have awakened yet. Its help was immense."
"Pardon?"
An unexpected word slipped out.
Confirming the Left Vice Inspector General's condition immediately put my mind at ease. Thankfully, he could hold a normal conversation, and the wildly rampaging energy and screaming meridians had calmed somewhat. Not fully settled, but it would be fine with time.
Thus, after instructing preparations of porridge and water for him, I exited the room with Weiguk Duke. A king and duke hovering would only discomfort him.
"I thought we were fucked."
The moment we stepped out, Weiguk Duke muttered dizzily. Words unfit for a duke's dignity—reminiscent of our founding war days—but I silently nodded, sharing the sentiment.
While we were away from Jiayu Pass, Koke Temur had appeared. And the Left Vice Inspector General collapsed facing him. No matter that no one could foresee such a calamity—we commanders nearby bore unavoidable responsibility.
Local skirmish by imperial order? No excuse. Failing to detect the enemy's scheme was a commander's blunder.
"Damn those bastards."
A held-back sigh finally burst out. We'd been utterly humiliated. An expedition to strike the Mongols had devolved into a total fiasco, and the royal grandson had teetered on death's door before barely returning to the living. Had he not awakened, Giwang and Ak Wang would have gone berserk. A nightmare I didn't even want to imagine.
- Kkiiiiiing...
As I sighed again to calm myself, the spirit beast accompanying the Left Vice Inspector General approached with a pitiful cry.
"Worry not. Your master is awake."
I gently stroked its head, and it stared at me with its blue eyes. A fine creature. Wise and kind, as befits a spirit beast. Hadn't it blocked a Hwa-gyeong high master to protect its master?
And it even severed its own antler to save him.
The majestic left antler contrasted with the grotesquely broken right one. I recalled it slamming its antler into the wall to break it off, then bringing the fallen piece to us in its mouth, and gave a wry smile. Without that sacrifice, the Left Vice Inspector General would still be in peril. Not quite an inner core, but the antler was an immense spiritual medicine.
"You saved your master. Be proud."
The spirit beast, gazing at me, bowed its head slightly and walked toward its mate—as if thanking me.
"Heaven must value the Left Vice Inspector General greatly."
Weiguk Duke remarked at the sight.
"How greatly? He provokes a Hwa-gyeong master and lives, with four spirit beasts around him."
"True enough."
Irrefutable, so I agreed. The two deer before us now, the three-headed snake that dragged its small body to find us, and even Maek, who clung to the Left Vice Inspector General's arm with its trunk, refusing to let go when he fell.
"Speaking of, where's Maek?"
"It wailed itself to sleep. Barely eating, they say."
I glanced back at the Left Vice Inspector General's room. If a biography were written someday, what would it say?
Before I could grasp Yangyang Wang's mention of the antler, the Jiayu Commandant bowed deeply.
"My apologies, Left Vice Inspector General. As Jiayu Pass's commander, I failed to ensure your safety."
I barely shook my head at his guilt-laden bow. The Jiayu Commandant had done his utmost. Even as all troops were crushed by Koke Temur, he alone guarded my front. Yet I'd self-destructed with back-to-back Silence Hell.
"Raise your head, Commandant. Koke Temur's appearance was an unforeseeable calamity. How is it your fault to be caught in a storm?"
"If we evade karma with 'unavoidable,' how can we call ourselves responsible? I failed the Emperor's trust in safeguarding Jiayu Pass unharmed—this is a grave sin warranting death."
Despite my persuasion, he bowed deeper. Irrefutable logic, leaving me forlorn.
"Commandant. The Left Vice Inspector General has just awakened. Rather than apologies, shouldn't you explain what happened after he fainted?"
"Ah, yes. I forgot the obvious."
Thankfully, Jo Wi-cheo noticed my discomfort and intervened, prompting the Jiayu Commandant to straighten. Thanks, Jo Wi-cheo. My best partner, as always...