The Inner Courtyard of the Escort Bureau
I ignored Cheong-a’s words and looked down at the criminal, who had been left sprawled on the ground with his arms and legs bound tight.
The case was solved, but the real problem was what came after.
Should I just leave him here and go?
But that felt wrong somehow.
He was weak enough to go down in a single punch from me, and yet, paradoxically, he was also the man who had given Cheong-a such trouble.
No—maybe I had simply been stronger than I’d thought.
Amid this mess of events that had unfolded far too smoothly, I found the contradiction at the center of it all.
“Cheong-a, how strong are you, exactly?”
I asked only to confirm it, but even through the veil over her face, I could tell her expression had changed.
She looked thoroughly wounded.
“W-Well, Senior Song. I’m probably around the Peak early stage.”
“Probably?”
“It’s just that the power of a fallen angel can’t really be measured by the standards of the human world….”
“Ah, forget it. Sure.”
She was starting to launch into some complicated setting explanation, so I cut her off quickly.
Cheong-a, who had been about to perk up at the chance to explain her fallen-angel lore, went a little sulky.
“Besides, didn’t we agree you’d stop calling me ‘senior’?”
I answered a little sharply, and she flustered with a tiny “Y-yes, ah!” as if I’d jabbed her right in the side.
It looked like she was about to disappear back into her own world again, so I turned my gaze once more to the criminal.
Early Peak, huh.
In novels, Peak always felt like the threshold where a character finally became “one of the important ones.”
What about in reality?
Someone who had lived as an ordinary commoner like me had no way of knowing.
Then what level am I at now?
Was this bastard stronger than Cheong-a? Or was it just a matter of compatibility?
However I looked at it, though, he still felt like a mere thug.
If he really had been that strong, then did that mean I had already surpassed Peak myself?
Was that even possible?
While I was lost in thought, Cheong-a moved ahead of me with surprising decisiveness and tore off the criminal’s mask.
“This man is….”
“You know him?”
“Yes. As we expected, he’s the second son of the Gwangjung Merchant Guild. There were constant rumors that he was a wastrel, but to think he’d become this kind of villain.”
Cheong-a frowned in pity, though her hands were still winding the rope around him a second time to bind him even more securely.
“You… know the merchant guild leader’s children pretty well, huh?”
Did commoners or wandering martial artists usually know that much about them?
I certainly hadn’t.
And the fact that she’d been hiding her surname in the first place had already seemed suspicious.
Now my doubts had only deepened.
When I narrowed my eyes and glared at the back of her head, she hoisted the criminal onto her shoulder with a stiff, jerky motion.
“L-let’s hurry and turn this fellow over to the authorities.”
It was awkward beyond belief.
At this point, either she wasn’t trying to hide anything at all, or she was the world’s most hopeless liar.
“Rather than the magistrate’s office….”
“Who goes there!”
Just as I was about to offer another opinion, a noisy group appeared from the far end of the road, torches in hand.
They came to a cautious stop a few paces away, studying us carefully.
Given how loud the commotion had been just now, I had expected them to bark at us the moment they arrived, but strangely, they showed no such hostility.
The man who seemed to be their leader stepped forward and, rather than acting aggressively, spoke with clear caution.
“We heard a loud crash and rushed out, but at this late hour, what business could two young ladies have… huh?”
Just as his gaze was about to land on me, Cheong-a moved in front of him as if to block the view.
His eyes naturally fell instead on the criminal she was carrying, and the man’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Young Master!”
Clang.
At that cry, the martial artists behind him drew their swords in unison.
The situation turned into a standoff in an instant.
Seeing Cheong-a’s hand drift naturally to her sword, I shook my head and stepped between them.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? That man certainly looks like the young master of our guild.”
The escort captain’s voice was full of caution.
I asked calmly in return, “Are you aware of the kidnapping incidents happening around Yanghwajin lately?”
At my words, the captain replied brusquely, “Our young master spent the day studying inside the guild. He has nothing to do with such a vile affair.”
“Of course he does. Your young master isn’t a victim. He’s the culprit.”
“What did you say!”
The instant he heard that, the captain drew his sword without the slightest hesitation and pointed it at my neck.
Cheong-a’s blade flashed out like lightning and came to rest against his throat in return.
The people around us froze, clearly not expecting this at all.
Honestly, these sword-obsessed maniacs.
Why did it always have to be like this whenever I tried to talk things out?
I pointed toward the alley with a tilt of my chin.
“If you don’t believe me, go that way and take a look. The victims should be lying there.”
The captain hesitated for a moment, then motioned to one of his subordinates with a nod.
Watching the escort warrior run off, I let out a small sigh.
“It’s unfortunate that you’ve become involved in such an unsavory incident.”
The captain’s eyes narrowed.
What? What now? I was being sincere.
If anything, they should have been thanking me for catching the culprit, not giving me this sort of treatment.
Maybe, as Cheong-a had said, righteous heroes who didn’t stand in the spotlight really did live such sad lives.
As the standoff dragged on, his sword inched closer to my neck, almost touching it.
If he scratched my delicate skin, who was going to take responsibility?
One blemish-free face like mine being marred by a sword scar would be a national loss.
A moment later, the subordinate came running back in a panic and whispered something into the captain’s ear.
After hearing the report, the captain’s face went pale. He hurriedly sheathed his sword and bowed deeply.
“I apologize for the misunderstanding.”
“No need. It’s understandable.”
If I were him, I wouldn’t believe it either if the young master who’d seemed perfectly fine that very morning was suddenly the culprit in a string of lurid kidnapping rumors.
Still, that didn’t mean I’d have drawn a sword first.
“Could you call a physician for the victims?”
Was there even an open clinic at this hour?
At my request, the captain’s expression changed in a subtle way.
Why? The injured should be treated first.
He looked at me for a moment, then nodded and gave another order to his subordinate.
After that, he clasped his fists and introduced himself politely.
“Once again, I apologize for the misunderstanding. I am Gwak Cheol, chief escort officer of the Gwangjung Merchant Guild.”
“I’m Song Hyeon. This is Cheong-a.”
I nodded as I introduced myself, and Cheong-a merely gave a slight nod as well.
Was that the proper etiquette?
Thankfully, Gwak Cheol didn’t seem to care much.
“If you would not be willing to entrust the young master’s person to us, would you at least be willing to discuss the matter with us at the guild headquarters?”
“What?”
Cheong-a leaned forward at once, clearly displeased by his words, but I reached out and stopped her.
Quick on the draw, this one.
If we simply handed the criminal over to the magistrate’s office ourselves, or handled him on the spot, it would be a failure on the part of the escorts.
Likewise, if they wanted to hush up the fact that the second young master of the guild had caused this trouble, it would be more convenient to do it at their own base.
From the perspective of an escort captain, it was a very reasonable decision.
His attitude was fairly courteous, too.
“All right.”
“Unnie…!”
“I’ll invite you as honored guests. This way, please.”
With my answer, he began leading us along the road.
As his subordinates took the criminal from Cheong-a and untied him, she whispered to me in a dissatisfied voice.
“Unnie, what exactly are you trusting them on? They might try to silence us by force.”
“Don’t worry.”
When I said it so confidently, Cheong-a bit her lip but didn’t argue further.
She must trust me that much.
Honestly, I didn’t really have a basis for it.
Only this: I didn’t feel worried at all.
If I thought back on everything that had happened so far, that meant one thing.
If I wasn’t worried, I could handle it.
It was sort of like a beauty radar, I guess.
The pale moonlight softly illuminated the road.
Amusingly enough, the escort warriors kept glancing at Cheong-a and me as if to protect us, forming up around us in a loose guard formation.
Look at this.
There wasn’t a hint of hostility.
After all, the huge crash had come from us.
And in this martial world, two women fighting in the dead of night meant their skill was by no means insignificant.
Yet here they were, forming a protective formation around us—the very people who had brought down their young master.
When I smiled sweetly at them as they kept sneaking glances my way, they all jumped and turned their heads aside, only to glance back again a moment later.
It looked like the Gwangjung Merchant Guild needed to retrain its escort warriors from the ground up.
These guys were the type to hand over their liver and gallbladder the moment a beauty walked up to them.
By the time we’d walked a little farther, we had reached our destination.
The gates of a grand mansion swung open, and Gwak Cheol bowed at the waist.
“We’re here.”
Even though it was still dawn, the inside of the building was brightly lit, and I could see merchants moving busily about.
Working overtime until dawn, huh. That’s rough.
For some reason, I felt a little sorry for them and gazed at them with a wistful expression.
“There’s still time before sunrise. How about resting in a guest room for a while? As soon as day breaks, I’ll report formally to the guild master and make arrangements.”
“That sounds good.”
I had no particular reason to refuse.
Besides, I was tired too.
I glanced at Cheong-a and nodded.
She still looked dissatisfied, but after I agreed, she followed along without another word.
Sleep was medicine.
As someone who had spent years falling asleep as soon as the sun went down, staying awake until dawn had piled up a ridiculous amount of fatigue.
We followed the guild’s escorts to our room.
It really did seem they hadn’t been lying about inviting us, because the room was luxurious and cozy-looking.
I threw myself onto the bedding at once.
Thump.
So soft.
It even smelled nice, and just touching it made sleep start to creep over me.
“I’m going to sleep first.”
“...I’ll stand guard.”
Cheong-a still seemed to distrust the merchant guild, and she muttered it in a low voice.
She really does live such a tiring life.
Well, if she was going to keep watch, that was nothing but good for me.
We weren’t completely safe, after all.
And so, unable to resist the overwhelming tide of sleep, I drifted off.
**
The next day at noon.
We were sitting in the reception room, drinking tea while waiting for the guild master.
“The tea… seems fine.”
Cheong-a still hadn’t let her guard down and had been suspecting everything that passed her lips since morning.
Thanks to that, breakfast had taken forever.
Still, if it meant staying safe, I had no complaints.
It seemed she truly hadn’t slept a wink, because dark circles hung under her eyes, making her look hollowed out.
“Honestly. You don’t trust me?”
“No! I’m not saying I don’t trust you, unnie!”
At my teasing remark, she jumped in alarm, and the sight of it was pretty cute.
Yeah, teasing her definitely had its charms.
As I sipped my tea and watched her, the door finally opened and the guild master appeared.