A Master's Rebuke
The Chief Investigator's single remark drew every gaze in the courtyard. The two who had turned their backs on each other, along with the rest who were just rising, all looked toward him. Arms folded, he added casually, "Someone has to make a judgment. Since Master Yu stopped the match, she might as well decide the winner."
The eyes turned to me. Though we had only just met today, I already found the Chief Investigator thoroughly disagreeable. He had not acted out of hatred toward me, yet he kept placing me in awkward positions. Clearly, we were not meant to get along. Of course, if one traced the root of the problem, it lay with me for making my disciple and sworn sister glare at each other in the first place. Still, if he had not suggested a spar, they would have merely glowered until sleepiness sent them off to bed.
Suppressing the urge to flee, I could only let out a low sigh. Cho Yak spoke first.
"Enough. I have no desire to hear any verdict from the likes of him."
"Speak plainly. You mean you cannot accept one, not that you do not wish to hear it."
Yu Baek shot back at once. My head began to throb. Only two months ago, no disciple had been more gentle or courteous than he. How he had become like this was beyond me.
Cho Yak narrowed her eyes. "Do you truly intend to claim you could have won?"
"One cannot know the length of a thing without measuring it."
"There are many things in this world one need not measure to understand."
"If that is what you believe, then let us settle it again."
Cho Yak started to reply, then stopped. Her expression smoothed, and only the corner of her mouth curved upward.
"I wondered what gave you such arrogance. Now I see it makes sense. If you win, it is by your own skill; if you lose, you can simply hide behind your master. What is there to fear?"
"Are you envious because you have no master to hide behind?"
"That is enough, Baek-ah."
I could no longer hold my tongue. "What wrong has Cho Mae done you? You are close in age; if you dislike being called 'senior,' then say so honestly and call her Cho Seonbae. Is it reasonable to mock and provoke her instead?"
Yu Baek gave no answer. I continued.
"You said you disliked my interference, so I tried not to meddle. But today's matter has gone too far. Whether you like it or not, you are my disciple. If you behave so lawlessly, the fault falls on me who raised you. How can I simply stand by and watch? If you truly cannot bear my involvement, then at least mind your conduct more carefully."
After my scolding, the courtyard fell silent for a long moment. I was beginning to worry he might retort with defiance when, at last, Yu Baek answered.
"I am sorry."
The reply came more readily than I expected. When he lifted his head, his eyes looked strangely drained of strength. It seemed my words had struck deeper than anticipated. Perhaps he did not truly dislike me after all, and only resented being lectured like a child. That would have been a relief, though another possibility remained: he might simply fear that I, still stronger than him, would continue to interfere with his plans.
"Is your apology only for me? Apologize to Cho Mae as well."
"Yes. I am sorry, Cho Seonbae."
After hearing that, I turned to Cho Yak. She was staring at me with clear dissatisfaction. I braced for another quarrel, yet she merely nodded and accepted the apology.
"I, too, was not acting my age."
"Thank you for accepting it. Then I shall take my leave."
With that, Yu Baek stepped over the rope barrier and headed toward the main building. I looked back at Cho Yak.
"Cho Mae, about today—"
"There is no need for you to apologize, Nunim. Strictly speaking, nothing he said was entirely wrong."
Her expression remained sullen. While I searched for words to soothe her, she spoke again.
"It seems you still care for your disciple a great deal."
"Of course. He is like a son to me. I hope you will not be too harsh with him for my sake."
"I wonder. I keep feeling the urge to be harsh. What should I do?"
Her sudden remark left me speechless. Cho Yak waited quietly, meeting my eyes. I forced myself to speak.
"Is there truly no other way? Baek-ah is not a bad child at heart, you know..."
"It was a joke."
Cho Yak let out a short sigh and turned away. Glancing back, she added one more line.
"Still, you were wrong to speak of responsibility. You could neither properly discipline a troublemaking disciple nor stop your sworn sister from harboring ill intentions toward him."
She stepped over the rope and walked off—not toward the main building, nor toward the annex where we had taken rooms. I called after her carefully.
"Cho Mae, our rooms are not that way..."
"I know. From now on it will be my waking hours, so I intend to take a walk to clear my head. You may retire first."
Her words implied her temper was still high enough to need cooling, so I did not press her further. Once she had gone, only Ju Tong-susa, the Heavenly Demon, Gyeon Yo, and the two people Yu Baek had brought remained.
After removing the rope barrier, Ju Tong-susa spoke first.
"I shall retire now. Things will grow busy starting tomorrow, so you would all do well to get proper rest."
"It is also time for me to sleep. I shall go in."
Gyeon Yo followed him inside, leaving four of us behind. The Heavenly Demon, who had approached unnoticed, tapped my shoulder.
"Hey, Master Yu."
"...Cheon Seonsaeng."
"You were quite popular today. I am jealous! The way those two were glaring at each other was adorable. If it were me—"
"Enough nonsense. What exactly did you teach my disciple?"
"Eh?" The Heavenly Demon blinked. After a moment's thought, he answered with a question of his own. "Yeokcheon Cho-ui Ji Sin?"
"Not martial arts. Until a month ago he was still polite. The only person who has been beside him since then is you, so I cannot help but suspect."
The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"Now you are blaming an innocent man. Listen, Master Yu, I have only spent a month with him at most. How many years did you spend raising him? If your disciple has turned into a scoundrel, at best one percent of the blame is mine. The remaining ninety-nine belong to you."
"They say virtue takes a lifetime to build but can collapse in an instant."
"Then he was the sort whose manners would crumble after only a few days in the outside world. In any case, it is not my fault."
Everything he said was correct. Yet even if Yu Baek's twisted mood was entirely my fault or simply inevitable, the Heavenly Demon's usual manner of speech and behavior suggested he had contributed at least a little during that month. It was only natural that my gaze toward Cheon Seonsaeng remained cold.
"Well, I understand wanting to complain. I nearly had a heart attack when Cho Yak got angry, too."
"That is your own doing, is it not?"
The retort slipped out before I could stop it. The Heavenly Demon turned to me.
"Who says it is not? But the same goes for you, Master Yu."
"..."
"Either teach him so strictly that he cannot look elsewhere, or raise him gently by only showing him good things. Whichever method you used, the result is your doing. Why blame others?"
"Just go inside and sleep."
Watching him grin made heat rise to my face. When it came to irritating others, he truly was an Absolute Master. After finally driving the Heavenly Demon away, only the two young ladies remained, whispering to each other. Though I had wanted to speak with them longer, the atmosphere and the late hour forced only an awkward farewell.
I was not sleepy as usual, yet sitting alone in the empty rear garden felt pointless, so I entered my room intending to at least pretend to sleep. By then it was already the hour of the Ox.
* * *
Lying awake in the dark room, I stared at the ceiling and let my thoughts wander. Why had Baek-ah become so twisted that he picked a fight with Cho Yak? I still could not grasp it. The original issue had been whether or not to call her "senior," but if that alone had been the problem, would he have circled around it with provocation? Looking back at the words he had thrown while arguing, he had been criticizing Cho Yak for being useless while staying with me. Even if my optimistic guess—that he merely disliked interference and still held some affection for me—was true, what reason would he have to resent that I gained nothing from the one who came to capture me?
Considering when he had stopped speaking, it seemed the real issue might have been that I had taken Cho Yak as a disciple. Introducing someone older than himself into the sect without notice would naturally cause resentment. That possibility seemed the most plausible. Of course Cho Yak was a member of the Demonic Cult, not truly part of my sect, merely an acquaintance of senior standing, yet it was still enough to bother him. If that truly was the reason, then the fault lay with me for rashly forming sworn sisterhood with someone close to his own age. But it was too late now to ask Cho Yak to become my adopted daughter instead, so what could be done?
The more I thought, the more stifled I felt. Yet amid the frustration, one thing brought genuine joy. The new techniques Yu Baek had displayed during the spar had been entertaining to watch, but the triple-strike he used afterward was clearly the sword principle he had been practicing before running away. He had barely managed to imitate it once before; now he had adapted it into three strikes suited to his own body. Far from growing lazy amid worldly splendor, he had improved even faster than when he lived at home.
And that final move—disregarding both his own life and his opponent's during the match deserved scolding, yet if not for the time and place, I would have dearly wanted to see it. I could not read Yu Baek's mind, so I could not be certain, but if my guess was correct, that strike proved both that his skill had advanced by leaps and bounds and that he did not truly hate me.
While turning this over, I shifted my arm pillow. With a thunderous roar, one entire wall of the room exploded outward in all directions.