Chapter 167
Chapter 167: Companionship
Crackle, crackle.
A blazing campfire.
Dong Bong-soo was staring at the flames.
"What are you looking at so intently?"
"Fire."
"I have eyes too, so I know that much. But why are you examining the fire so closely?"
"I'm observing what the physical laws are like in this place."
"Physical laws? ……I have no idea what you're talking about."
Jeon Ra-hwa shook her head from side to side and crouched down beside him.
"You said you lost your memory, right?"
"Yes."
"How much do you remember?"
"Almost nothing at all."
"Almost? Then you remember a little bit?"
"Things like my name and combat skills."
"Ah. That kind of thing? But that's just instinct, isn't it?"
"I suppose only that instinct remains alive."
"Then you can't remember at allllll where you're from or what you used to do?"
"Right. For now, at least."
Jeon Ra-hwa tossed a few small twigs lying beside her into the fire and continued her questions.
"But how can you be so calm about it?"
"I suppose I don't want to remember."
"……That simply?"
'That simply.'
Dong Bong-soo thought for a moment. Whether there was a problem with this setting and the process of specifying it.
There was a certain convention for how ordinary people should act when they lost their memory. Like a prototype based on having consumed much content about what one must do in such situations.
They struggle to recover their memories.
From a general perspective, it was extremely natural, but from Dong Bong-soo's standpoint where all of this was an act, there was absolutely no reason to go to such trouble.
His life's goals were only survival and hunting, and strength and becoming stronger.
Thanks to Heavenly Demon, he had somehow ended up coming to this place, but there wasn't much need to specifically search for Heavenly Demon either. Not that he didn't want to meet them.
'If we do meet, we'll settle things then.'
That was all.
"Yes. That simply. If necessary, I'll remember on my own, won't I?"
"……."
A moment of silence.
Unable to bear the stillness, Jeon Ra-hwa finally spoke.
"What will you do now?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"That again? The signpost?"
"Yes."
After pondering for a while, Jeon Ra-hwa stirred the wood to revive the flames and continued speaking.
"Why me of all people?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why did I become your signpost? Yours."
"You came looking for me."
"……?"
"You were the first to come looking for me."
Freeze.
Jeon Ra-hwa stopped her hand and turned her head to look at Dong Bong-soo. A young man who seemed a bit gaunt but had the kindest impression of anyone.
"If it had been one of the other slaves who died earlier instead of me, would you have done the same?"
"Who knows. I can't say for sure. The important thing is—"
Dong Bong-soo looked back at Jeon Ra-hwa and smiled lightly. Perhaps today he had smiled more than he had in his entire life.
"—The fact that you are my first connection."
"……."
Jeon Ra-hwa turned her head away with a slight blush.
She busied herself even more with stirring the flames, and only after a long while did she speak.
"Then…… since I'm your first connection, I'll be a proper signpost for you. Not just to Gangdo, but until you regain your memories."
After a moment of silence, she added.
"But promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Even after you regain your memories, don't abandon me."
"……."
"I have nowhere else to go now."
Dong Bong-soo answered calmly.
"Neither do I."
As long as the helmsman was alive, the ship could be steered anywhere.
With just Kim Rae-won's fragmented memories, this place was a treasure island everywhere.
From Dong Bong-soo's perspective, that was how it was.
"Then I'll ask one thing too."
Jeon Ra-hwa looked at him with a questioning expression.
"Chivalry."
"……?"
"Don't hesitate in performing acts of chivalry."
Grin.
"Chivalrous acts are originally cruel, aren't they? Like here."
The surroundings.
That is, the area around Plum Blossom Stronghold was now overflowing with corpses.
It was just less visible because of the darkness. The scent of blood still flowed thickly and the stench of slowly decaying bodies was spreading intensely.
"……Do you remember that too?"
"Let's say I remember human nature."
"……."
Should she call that chivalrous, or should she call it cruel?
Jeon Ra-hwa was confused.
But the behavior he had shown so far, though his methods were harsh, never deviated from righteousness. Perhaps he had originally been a chivalrous warrior or an upright official of similar standing?
Enough to let her hear again the word 'chivalry' that she had forgotten.
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
"Good. That's enough. Since the day has grown late, let's sleep now and depart tomorrow."
The conversation ended there.
The two settled into any empty building in Plum Blossom Stronghold. The weather was still chilly, so Jeon Ra-hwa curled up tightly and tried to sleep.
Just then.
A leather blanket was suddenly placed over her body.
Dong Bong-soo had brought it from the Stronghold Leader's room.
Jeon Ra-hwa pretended not to notice, closed her eyes, and pulled the blanket tight.
For the first time in a very long while, she could fall asleep with a comfortable heart.
[Your trust with your first connection has deepened slightly.]
Even after she fell asleep, Dong Bong-soo did not sleep for a long time.
Though incomplete, he needed to ruminate on Kim Rae-won's memories about this world, and he also needed to properly familiarize himself with the 'What is Hero' system.
The night deepened.
And so did the pure evil Dong Bong-soo's understanding of heroes.
***
Gangdo.
A large city sprawling widely on the western side of Azure Dragon Lake.
In ancient times, it had been the capital of an ancient kingdom called the State of Jeon, but now it was one of Great Viet's frontier provincial cities.
Dong Bong-soo and Jeon Ra-hwa traveled diligently for three days and arrived near the gates of Gangdo. On the way, they encountered mountain bandits several times and met numerous water bandits as well, but there were no particular problems. That much seemed to be merely the difference between eating one more meal or not for Kim Rae-won—Dong Bong-soo.
Jeon Ra-hwa became increasingly convinced that Kim Rae-won—Dong Bong-soo—must have been no ordinary person. A sense of mission to definitely help him recover his memories was also growing steadily.
"Phew—. We finally arrived."
The massive walls visible from afar were different from those of ordinary cities. The black basalt walls, which appeared to be at least 60 meters high, had traces of battle deeply carved into them in various places.
"Befitting a border city, right?"
Arrow marks, catapult traces, and massive cracks that seemed to be from martial arts.
"How is it? Does seeing that bring back any memories?"
"No."
Jeon Ra-hwa continued adding explanations, thinking Dong Bong-soo might be from this area.
"If you go just a hundred miles north, you'll reach the border with Northern Yan. That's why those walls are said to be three times thicker than other cities."
The main road leading to the gate was already bustling with crowds despite the early morning.
Merchants' carts, donkeys loaded with cargo, armed escort warriors.
What was peculiar was that soldiers wearing government army armor and martial artists wearing various sect robes were conducting inspections in their respective areas without interfering with each other.
"The government army manages the east and west gates, while the martial sects manage the south and north gates."
Jeon Ra-hwa continued her explanation.
"On the surface, their territories are divided, but in reality……."
Before she could finish speaking, a merchant being inspected by the government army was dragged away by martial artists waiting behind.
The government soldiers deliberately turned their heads, pretending not to see.
"So that's how it works."
Dong Bong-soo spoke calmly and immediately looked at Jeon Ra-hwa and asked.
"Won't we end up like that too?"
"We have identification tags."
Jeon Ra-hwa briefly showed the 'temporary identification tags' she had collected from the bandits.
"That guy earlier had an identification tag too, didn't he?"
At Dong Bong-soo's objection, Jeon Ra-hwa turned the tag over. On the back, several folded bank notes were attached.
She winked lightly and smiled.
"In places like this, money is your identification tag and entry permit."
"You said it's a border city? I guess they're not afraid of spies coming and going?"
"I suppose spies or so are free to walk around as they please."
Dong Bong-soo didn't quite understand, but nodded as if accepting it.
For a place to prosper this much when mountain bandits, water bandits, and such were crawling everywhere just three days away meant some abnormal rules were tacitly in operation.
It was right not to judge such things until properly encountering them.
After a while, their turn came.
As Jeon Ra-hwa had predicted, the two passed through the gate without any particular inspection or identity verification.
Then the city called Gangdo finally revealed its true appearance completely.
A massive plaza spread out immediately upon entering. Three broad official roads extended from it as the center. Wide enough for three or four eight-horse carriages to pass simultaneously.
At the end of the central road stretching before them stood a multi-story wooden building that was clearly a government office. However, its prestige was shabby even at a glance. Because traces of being old and improperly maintained were evident.
In contrast, the east and west official roads, divided exactly in half as if deliberately split, were prosperous. Various shops and inns lined them, and red-light and blue-light districts were visible too. At the end of those roads, plaza-like spaces appeared again, and in their centers stood massive structures.
Separate from the outer walls bearing all sorts of scars, those two pavilions were themselves splendid and magnificent.
The eastern pavilion was entirely made of rosewood.
"What you see at the eastern end is the Seven Star Immortal Assembly headquarters. It's the place that effectively controls the eastern Gangdo martial world."
Jeon Ra-hwa shifted her gaze from the eastern official road to the end of the western official road.
When Dong Bong-soo looked that way, the western pavilion was entirely made of aloeswood.
"That place in the west is the Iron God Society."
"Do they control the west?"
"No. The Iron God Society hasn't completely suppressed the west as perfectly as the Seven Star Immortal Assembly. But they are the strongest power."
"How do you know so much about this place?"
"I lived here for a while."
"How long?"
"2 years and 167 days."
To remember it that precisely.
It seemed there was some story behind it. So Dong Bong-soo didn't pry further. 'First connections' were precious. They had to be handled as carefully as thousand-year-old porcelain. Kim Rae-won had suffered great losses for failing to do that.