Something Like Brotherly Love
Minor Thunderbolt Sword Moyong Hwi.
Back in the Moyong Clan days, he had been the one who constantly ignored and tormented Moyong Cheongjin — a walking trauma button for the original owner of this body, in other words.
And they wanted me to go save a guy like that? Against Blood Sect bastards, no less — risking my own neck in the process?
"Yeah, no. That's a bit much…"
I shook my head left and right, making it clear I wasn't up for it.
If they'd asked me to rescue some total stranger I'd never met, I might actually have gone.
Moyong Cheonghye seized my hands again at that reaction, gripping them tight.
"We have to race back to the main stronghold. Right now, you're the only one I can entrust him to."
Urgency poured through our joined hands. The same way she'd once asked me to help the Righteous Aid Corps, she was asking me to dig up a little chivalry one more time.
"That guy called me a petty thief who stole your honor, you know."
"…"
But the karmic stack Moyong Hwi had piled up was way too high for any chivalrous impulse to kick in.
Whether it was during Moyong Cheongjin's time or when I stood in front of him as Dan Mujin, the guy had been nothing but pure malice. The old men of the Righteous Aid Corps had at least stood up against injustice. That one? Total zero. Tsk, tsk.
"Fine… Young hero. Then I'll make this an official vagabond commission."
When my response stayed lukewarm, she switched tacks, as if the problem were simply payment, and brought up a formal request.
"Vagabond commissions have to go through a broker. Their livelihood depends on it."
An indirect refusal, waving the Vagabond Association in front of her. This wasn't about money. It was about accumulated feelings.
When I turned her down again, Moyong Cheonghye fell silent for a moment, thinking — then pulled out something else entirely.
"Last time, you said something, didn't you…? That someday you wanted to open your own office and try your hand as a troubleshooter."
"…"
She was dredging up a throwaway remark I'd mumbled in passing. Just some idle words I'd let slip on the road while heading to join Leader Jeok Unyeop — and she still remembered them.
"You said you wanted to take every commission the Murim Alliance and the Vagabond Association turned down, and become the greatest troubleshooter in the Central Plains."
I never expected any woman to listen that carefully to the ambitions of some low-rank vagabond. Embarrassment seeped into my chest, and I scratched at my cheek.
"So please. Troubleshooter Dan Mujin. Save my little brother Moyong Hwi."
Desperation threaded through her voice.
"Ugh."
I'd always been weak to this kind of thing. That feeling of someone needing me desperately.
For a kid abandoned by his parents and the world, the thought that he might still be useful to someone had always made a corner of his chest ache. Maybe that was why I'd walked the path of a troubleshooter in the first place.
"Haa… Get to the main stronghold already."
It felt like the Moyong Cheongjin inside me was folding. I sighed and waved her off, and her face lit up as she asked,
"Young hero, then…?"
"Yeah. I'll go save that Moyong Hwi guy. So hurry up and go."
I used to hear some religion preach "love your enemies" and think, what kind of bullshit is that?
"Thank you! I'll repay this debt without fail!"
Apparently I was channeling that universal-love spirit right now. Whether it was a favor or a grudge, this Dan Mujin always paid it back double.
Live long enough and you really do see everything.
The Heavenly Killing Star etched a red curse into the empty air, clearly displeased with my decision. I'd been wondering whether this choice was right — and that little display settled it. When that thing got pissed, I was usually headed in the right direction.
"Let's go."
Moyong Cheonghye unfurled her lightfoot technique and shot toward the main stronghold. Feeling the Seongun Simbeop blaze hot in my chest, I flung myself in the opposite direction.
Taat.
Moyong Hwi lay on a physician's cot, staring blankly up at a ceiling with no pattern at all.
How did it come to this?
It had started when the Moyong Clan's eldest son — his first brother — announced he had no interest in the martial path and, against the family's wishes, took up an official post in the bureaucracy. With the firstborn of a martial house abandoning the sword, their father's attention had naturally fixed on the legitimate second son. Moyong Hwi had worked himself to the bone trying to live up to those expectations.
But after losing again and again to the Blue Cloud Sword of the Namgung Clan — the Moyongs' eternal rivals — that gaze had slowly filled with disappointment. To make matters worse, the third son had been born with a volatile constitution that could explode at any moment. When their older sister took pity on the boy and threw herself into protecting him while leaving Moyong Hwi to fend for himself, that was when his personality had started to twist.
I really… worked so hard.
This time, at least, Blue Cloud Sword Namgung Jin hadn't entered the ring. He'd thought he could finally answer those expectations — and once again he'd been forced to watch that disappointed stare. The moment he started getting driven back by a staff, Clan Lord Moyong Cheon had shaken his head and walked out of the arena. Moyong Hwi's world had collapsed right there.
"I'm truly pathetic…"
In a corner of the physician's tent, a young man sank into endless despair and muttered to himself.
And then the tent canvas ripped open with a shriek, and a blade came flying in on a wave of killing intent.
"Then die!"
Even mid-collapse, a martial artist's instincts moved him. Moyong Hwi snatched up a small surgical blade the physicians had left behind.
Chaaeng!
The blade was tiny, but with sword qi layered onto it, he just barely held the attack. His opponent was a Peak Realm martial artist as well, though — red sword qi bloomed as the man kept pressing in.
Kagagak!
"Kh—!"
The force bearing down from above shoved the blade right up to the tip of his nose. One more inch and the edge would punch through his face and end him.
"Damn it…!"
Where the qi-coated steel kissed his cheek, a thin line of blood welled up. So this was how he died. A lifetime of disappointing everyone, finished off by some random ambush he never saw coming — was that really his fate?
As Moyong Hwi silently cursed the cruelty of destiny—
"Know what you call a world with nobody looking out for their big brother?"
A completely nonsensical voice cut in out of nowhere.
Thud!
A long staff shot up and smashed the attacker's skull with vicious force. The man made a choked sound and went tumbling end over end.
"The answer is: a pathetic world."
In the middle of a life-or-death crisis, some guy was dropping the world's least funny punchline.
"Y-you — why are you here…?"
And that guy was none other than the vagabond who had once beaten Moyong Hwi half to death like a dog — Dan Mujin.
"I came to save you."
At those words, Moyong Hwi's face twisted into something bewildered, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Why would you…?"
"Your sister was worried sick. Long story — just get up."
There might still be more enemies nearby. I reached out and hauled his dazed self to his feet.
"Is that so… Cheonghye asked you to save me…"
Moyong Hwi stood in front of me, muttering something under his breath.
"Can you move?"
"I can move, yes."
"Your martial arts?"
"Thanks to the thorough thrashing you gave me… not at the moment."
He recovered the sword that had nearly killed him from the Blood Sect corpse as he answered. In other words: dead weight.
"I've got to go find Jo Harang and Dang Yeohye now, so follow or don't — your call."
I'd kept my promise to Moyong Cheonghye. I'd pulled him out of the Blood Sect's hands. Now it was time to handle my own business.
I'd already searched the area around the other arenas for any trace of the girls, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't sense their presence. Had they gotten tangled up in something on their way to their matches?
"You're Minor Thunderbolt Sword Moyong Hwi, right? Hello, I'm Ilhong."
Never one to miss a chance to network with the upper crust of the Five Great Clans, Ilhong stepped forward with a greeting.
"R-right."
Confronted by a strikingly beautiful youth speaking so warmly, Moyong Hwi nodded with a flustered look.
"We've been wandering all over, and I still can't feel Jo Harang's energy."
The Purple Micro Star — natural counter to the Heavenly Killing Star. Normally, when I opened the Heavenly Killing Eye, I could at least faintly sense her presence within a reasonable range. This time it was as if some far greater energy was blanketing everything, drowning her out. Instead, some completely random star's power kept snagging on my senses.
"Boss, why are you fussing with the area around your dantian?"
"No reason. Just feels weird."
Maybe it was the sheer volume of merit piling up in my body — more good deeds than I'd ever racked up before. Convert all that into internal energy and how many years' worth would it be? The Heavenly Killing Star, already weakened by successive acts of virtue, was looking terrified already.
"Where are we going?"
Moyong Hwi's low question.
"Wherever my people are likely to be."
"Those bastards said they were targeting the orthodox leadership and the Moyong family, didn't they? Then we should head to the main stronghold. Cheonghye and Father could be in danger."
"Pass."
"…"
My answer came out sharp as a blade, and Moyong Hwi's brow crumpled. I'd gotten dragged into someone else's grudges. Normally you'd try to put distance between yourself and a war zone, right? My plan was to find Dang Yeohye and Jo Harang first, then bail.
"I'm… asking you."
In all of Moyong Cheongjin's not-inconsiderable memories, this was the first time Moyong Hwi had ever come at him this low.
"That's how you ask a favor? From the guy who just saved your life? Tsk, tsk."
A vagabond younger than him in both age and birth status clicking his tongue was enough to make Moyong Hwi grind his teeth and swallow his temper.
"I've heard from Father. Those people wield bizarre evil arts that no ordinary logic can keep up with. Even a powerful martial artist can fall into crisis the moment he slips."
"Like I said — finding my people comes first. After that, I'll think about whether to go back them up or not."
With that, I started combing through the sprawling grounds of the Murim Alliance Headquarters. Most of the fighting seemed to have concentrated elsewhere; only scattered remnants were left. But as we walked a little farther, a very familiar voice drove into my ears.
"Search harder, you bloody brats!"
The sharp, ringing shout of a woman in her twenties with a complex about her short height. A burst of dark-green poison powder went off with a bang, and Blood Sect fighters screamed as they were swept away.
"Young miss! I nearly got caught in that too!"
"We've been doing this for years — dodge it yourself!"
A man and a woman bickering like always.
"It's Master Neungsam and Heroine Dang Yeohye."
Ilhong shrugged beside me, as if recognizing them on the spot was the most natural thing in the world.
"Hey! Where the hell have you been, showing up now?!"
The second she saw my face, Dang Yeohye came flying at me, her martial robes whipping behind her. Under the angry edge of her voice, I could just make out a thread of relief.
"We wiped out the ones who jumped us and went looking for you, but all we found were Blood Sect corpses — I nearly had a heart attack! We split up and searched everywhere and you were nowhere! Where the hell did you go?!"
"Well, I was out looking for the two of you too, you know."
Our paths must have crossed while I was off saving Moyong Hwi. I explained as much, and it settled her temper; she took a long breath.
"So why are you dragging this punk around?"
Dang Yeohye jabbed a finger at Moyong Hwi trailing beside me and hiked one eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.
"Ahem. Young lady, calling someone a 'punk'…"
"You little shit. I told you to call me 'Heroine.' You're two years younger than me — who the hell are you calling 'young lady'? Wanna die?"
"R-right, I understand. Let's just leave it."
She was endlessly rough with anyone who hadn't earned her goodwill yet. Moyong Hwi knew it well enough; he put several paces of distance between them with a look of pure distaste.
"Young Master Dan Mujin — I'm glad you're unharmed."
"Oh, Master Neungsam. You're somehow still alive."
I greeted Neungsam as he approached, gulping down an antidote just in case.
"Yes, somehow. When the young miss couldn't find you, the way she went berserk… I nearly got swept up in it and met an untimely end myself."
"Sounds like you've had a rough time."
I could almost see the weary silhouette of a middle-aged office worker ground down by a high-strung boss.
"Don't even get me started. She was racing every which way screaming your name — first time I've ever seen her like that."
"Wh-what nonsense… I was just looking around, okay?"
Neungsam's vivid testimony left Dang Yeohye stammering, flustered.
"Like a woman fretting over what had become of her future husband—"
"Kh—!"
A dull impact cracked against his side.
"You wanna die, you bastard?! Spouting more garbage!"
Thud-thud-whack-whack. Dang Yeohye's tiny fists pounded her attendant with rhythmic enthusiasm. Anyway, judging by that, both of them were fine.
So now I just needed to find Jo Harang?
"…You."
"What."
I answered Moyong Hwi's poke at my back with maximum indifference.
"I've been wondering for a while… What exactly is your relationship with that woman?"
He pointed at Dang Yeohye, who was thrashing around like a rabid dog.
"Nothing special. Just close — big-sis, little-bro kind of thing?"
"With the Poison Dog…? A close big-sis, little-bro relationship is possible…?"
His eyes said he was looking at a genuine freak of nature. Just how bad was this girl's reputation among her peers?
"Young miss! That hurts!"
"You need to hurt more, you little shit!"
Watching a scene like that, though… I was starting to get a pretty clear picture.