Choice
“...We’re lovers?”
I muttered it so softly it was barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz.
“Pardon? I couldn’t hear that—it was too quiet. Could you say it again?”
“......”
Her cheeks flushed red as a sunset.
What did I say that was so embarrassing?
The two women locked eyes and glared at each other for a long while.
“If you’ve got nothing to say, get out of the way already. Don’t waste time. What a strange woman. Just standing there stammering like an idiot...”
“......”
Guyang Jihee snapped at her in a sour voice, clearly annoyed that she was blocking the road.
Even dressed in rags and reeking of filth, her haughty manner hadn’t changed a bit.
She’d always been treated like a queen, and even in this miserable state she still held her chin high and looked down on everyone around her.
In a way, that was talent too.
But—
“Well, at least you’ve got some pride? Can’t even speak properly, and you’re still acting ridiculous... They say birds of a feather flock together, and you really do make a perfect pair—”
Guyang Jihee had no idea.
“I can’t even open my mouth properly with how much this beggar stinks.”
Namgung Hye had quite the temper herself.
“W-What did you say? Beggar? That’s enough, isn’t it? Your manners are absolutely awful...”
“Nope. There’s still more. Every time I look at you, all I can think of is pig shit. It’s all soggy and stinks...”
“P-Pig shit?!”
Guyang Jihee’s eyes flew wide open at the foul language she had never heard in her life, and her whole body trembled.
Well, who would ever say something like that?
Guyang Jihee tried to hold it in, but—
“Ugh, disgusting. You stink. Gross.”
Namgung Hye pinched her nose and took two or three steps back.
Of course, it was all to get under her skin.
And sure enough, the taunting finally made her explode.
“How dare you insult me like that...!”
“Hah? How dare I insolt you like that~. ...You really are dumb. Who do you think gets scared when you get angry? You’re hopelessly stupid!”
Namgung Hye’s mocking voice rang out.
“The, the family head is angry.”
“Shut up. You’ll get caught in the crossfire.”
“That woman... Now that I look closer, she looks like Guyang Jihee...? Doesn’t she?”
“Huh? Now that you mention it, I couldn’t tell because of all the filth, but her hair really is pink.”
At this rate, she’s going to cry.
Go easy on her.
“You insolent bitch! Do you even know who you’re talking to? I am—”
Before Guyang Jihee could finish, Namgung Hye cut in.
“Ah! I know! You’re the lady who was begging in front of the Martial Arts Hall with a basket, right? I gave you plenty last time, didn’t I...”
“What? When did I—!”
She covered her mouth with one hand and let out a snort of laughter.
“I’ll have to give you even more next time. You’re still wearing rags, so I feel sorry for you... Here, take this first.”
Then she pulled a silver coin from her chest and flicked it toward her.
“You crazy bitch, I swear!”
There was no way she’d actually take it, of course, but the insult had landed perfectly.
Guyang Jihee trembled all over, shaking with rage.
The killing intent in her eyes sharpened.
That’s enough.
“Enough. That’s far enough for both of you.”
If I let them go on, I had no idea what they’d do to each other.
And it was about time we left, too.
When I raised a hand to stop them—
“Hmph!”
Namgung Hye snorted at her and turned away.
“...I guess I was being too accommodating to someone beneath my standards. My, I still have so much to learn.”
It was already too late, but perhaps because she was conscious of the people watching, Guyang Jihee also backed off obediently.
Still, they’d only stopped their direct attack because of my words.
The two of them were still staring each other down with ferocious intensity.
“......”
“......”
Neither side had the slightest intention of backing down.
Absolute stalemate.
Only when the members of Jongchundae came staggering over, helping support a man between them, did the two finally stop glaring at each other.
“So you’ve awakened, miss. I’m glad you don’t seem to be seriously injured.”
Zong Jinwon looked pale, as if he’d exhausted a great deal of inner power.
“......”
Everyone who might have been combat-ready in an emergency was in bad shape.
We need to get out of here now.
Running into the Blood Sea Sect here would be a pain in the ass.
The man coughing blood like he was about to die was Wei Shiyun, the son of the Martial Alliance Leader.
“Cough... cough...”
To put it kindly, he was a wreck.
“Young hero, do be careful. Your dantian has been damaged as well, so you’ll need at least a hundred days of rest.”
“Khh... It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
Maybe the son of the Martial Alliance Leader was only alive because he was the son of the Martial Alliance Leader.
Wei Shiyun, looking half dead, and Zong Jinwon, pale as paper, stood before us.
“I can’t believe it. I never thought Young Hero Wei would end up like that...”
As soon as he saw my deathly face, he waved his hand awkwardly.
“Do you two know each other? Young Hero Wei is famous, so I suppose you couldn’t not know him... Ah! Then does that go for Young Hero Cheon as well?”
The bastard’s mouth fell open as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Y-You?! So you were Young Hero Cheon after all!”
“We’re somewhat acquainted.”
“Who would ever believe someone like you—”
But Wei Shiyun must have noticed the people around him, because he changed tack and bowed with obvious reluctance, offering his thanks.
“...Young Hero Cheon, I owe you a great debt. I’d like to thank you by name.”
What kind of man thanks someone while grinding his teeth?
I wasn’t interested in his fake politeness either.
“I’m just glad you’re still alive.”
“Kugh! What a humiliation. What happened was this...”
The son of the Martial Alliance Leader, Wei Shiyun, drew himself up and began recounting his story—
He’d apparently knocked down one or two Blood Sea Sect bastards, gotten cocky, rushed in, and been surrounded and captured. In the meantime, his men had either been used as sacrifices or wiped out completely.
—or at least, that was how it was about to go.
But now wasn’t the time to stand around listening to his sob story.
I was in a hurry.
“...You useless fool!”
“Am I wrong?”
His face instantly flushed scarlet and twisted with offense, but then—
“...Young Hero Cheon, you’re right.”
the moment he realized everyone was looking at him, he changed his attitude and agreed.
Putting on a mask like that couldn’t be easy.
Impressive, in a miserable sort of way.
“What a pity. In any case, Young Hero Zong, have you recovered all the goods?”
“There isn’t much left.”
“Then get ready. We still need to locate the Martial Alliance strike team. We don’t know when the Blood Sea Sect might appear.”
We’d secured the elixir, and I’d also obtained information about the Blood Cult, so I ought to receive a reward worth the trouble.
We would leave before anything else happened.
These guys were basically a time bomb waiting to go off.
“Aah!!!”
At the scream, I turned around and saw Guyang Jihee collapsed on the ground.
Right, that could happen.
She wasn’t in normal condition right now.
Her movement would be impaired.
“Ah!”
“T-The casket?”
...But the problem was that when she fell, she struck the red casket, and it sprang open.
“......”
I’d thought this might end more easily than expected...
Just my luck.
Even when I fell backward, I still split my nose.
“Y-Young Hero Cheon! W-What do we do?”
“No! The casket’s opened! This can’t happen...!”
I moved immediately.
Clang—
“What’s in there that everyone’s making such a fuss over? No, that monster is...?! ”
“I-It’s horrible!”
Inside was the demonic beast the Blood Cult were so proud of.
“Keeeeeeek!!!!”
It was a horrifying thing, like flesh stitched together from corpses, with a wolf’s head and tentacles sprouting all over its body.
Slash!
Before the beast had even fully awakened, my sword, carrying the energy of the sun and moon, tore its head apart.
Because the energy of sun and moon was the natural enemy of all things demonic, the effect was enormous.
“Ooh!”
“He took it down in one strike?”
Cheers rose from all around, but—
Hah... It’s incredibly tough.
That one strike had told me enough.
Unless someone was at least at the level of Zong Jinwon or Namgung Hye, it would be hard to land any meaningful damage on that monster.
And even then, this thing was still alive.
Its regeneration is absurd too.
“You filthy bitch! What the hell have you done? If not for Young Hero Cheon, we’d have been in huge trouble!”
“I-I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Miss Namgung! We don’t have time to argue about blame. We have to get out of here now!!”
“What? What do you mean...?”
“Get out! Hurry!”
Now we really were out of time.
Rattle—
Rattle—
“W-Why are the caskets moving?”
“Th-This looks like—!”
The dozens of caskets hidden inside the hideout began to move.
“Grrrrr...”
The reason there had been no proper trap inside the hideout.
“Kieeeek!!”
“Krrrraaaah!!!”
“F-Family head, what do we do now?”
It was because they planned to unleash the monsters in an emergency.
The red caskets looked for all the world as if they were stuffed with valuable offerings, so if anyone ignorant touched them, the monsters would devour the intruder.
Just like this.
“Let’s deal with them before the monsters wake up! Everyone, prepare for battle!”
They must have thought it was worth trying after seeing me defeat one monster.
That was a huge misunderstanding.
“No! There’s no time for that! Get out now!”
“Y-Young Hero Cheon? But—!”
“Hyecheondae, follow me!”
While Zong Jinwon hesitated, Namgung Hye led her people and shot up the stairs like an arrow.
“Khh! We’re pulling out too!”
“Understood!”
The situation was spiraling out of control, but not all the monsters had emerged yet, and the ones that had burst from their caskets were still half asleep and dazed.
If we escaped quickly enough, there’d be no problem.
All we had to do now was get out!
“S-Sojin... Wait... I, I need...”
At that moment, a weak voice drifted into my ear.
When I turned around, Guyang Jihee was sitting on the floor with a miserable look on her face.
What the hell is she doing now?
“What are you doing? Get up already!”
But Guyang Jihee, sitting there with her legs folded awkwardly beneath her, couldn’t get up.
She could only look up at me with tears welling in her eyes.
“I-I hurt my leg, so I can’t stand up...”
“......!”
I clenched my eyes shut.
Of all times, this one...
Everyone was too busy panicking to think about her, it seemed.
“Kieeeek!!”
One by one, the caskets were opening, and monsters were pouring out.
“S-Sojin... Hic, I, I need you... You weren’t planning to leave me behind, were you...?”