Chapter 350
Chapter 350
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 350
Chapter Title: The Weight of a Name
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In the Murim Alliance's training grounds, Alliance Lord Namgung Hwa-young swung her sword.
She moved through her forms in a trance, sweat pouring from her body. The sword she'd picked up at dusk showed no sign of stopping even as night gave way to dawn.
As the tip of her blade began to waver, Namgung Hwa-young snapped back to reality. With her trance broken, she realized just how utterly exhausted her body was.
Clap, clap, clap.
"Impressive."
At the familiar voice, Namgung Hwa-young turned her head.
There stood Jin Do-ha, gazing at her with a pleased expression.
"Elder."
"Fine swordsmanship. You've improved even more since the last time I saw you."
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Since last night."
Come to think of it, the sun was rising. Namgung Hwa-young was startled.
It had felt like just a quick swing of the sword, but the night had passed. All that time, Jin Do-ha had been watching over her from the side.
"Weren't you waiting too long in the cold?"
"Cold? I was just standing still while you were swinging that sword. You must have had it far worse than me."
Normally, watching someone else's sword practice up close was considered taboo. But when the observer was Jin Do-ha, it was a different story.
From childhood, Namgung Hwa-young had received much guidance from him. In that process, he'd already seen her sword forms plenty of times, so she was the exception.
"Thank you."
Despite having business to discuss, he'd waited through the night without interrupting her trance.
"If you're grateful, how about a cup of tea? It's chilly out here."
Namgung Hwa-young led him to the reception room. Early in the morning, she summoned a servant to bring tea—the kind Jin Do-ha usually favored.
"Just one month left until the tournament."
"We're making every preparation."
Jin Do-ha hadn't participated in the last tournament due to severe injuries from his battle with the Heavenly Demon.
"I hear a new guild has registered."
Dozens of guilds formed and vanished every year. Among them was one that had caught Jin Do-ha's interest.
"Blue Eyes."
That was why Jin Do-ha had come to see Namgung Hwa-young.
"So you've come as the former Murim Alliance Lord today."
"And as the previous Alliance Lord."
The atmosphere grew tense in an instant.
Namgung Hwa-young knew it well. Most of the current Murim world's power was held by the man right before her eyes—Jin Do-ha.
"We can't let them win."
"Because of the name?"
"Never underestimate the power of a name. This tower is full of fools obsessed with it."
The weight carried by the name Blue Eyes was that heavy.
"It's still just a small guild with fewer than ten members."
"The problem is if those ten are worth a hundred—or a thousand—each."
Namgung Hwa-young immediately knew who Jin Do-ha was worried about.
"Because of the Archmage?"
She had already obtained basic information through the Murim Alliance's intelligence network.
A guild using the name Blue Eyes had an Archmage among its members. That news made her think of yet another person.
"Or is it Lee Soo-hyuk? Because of what you did, Elder?"
As she spoke, Namgung Hwa-young tested Jin Do-ha's reaction, even using the provocative phrase "what you did."
But even to such bait, Jin Do-ha remained unflappable.
"It might be."
He used to dismiss it outright as mere rumor. He'd even asked if people really believed the nonsense that they had betrayed Lee Soo-hyuk.
But now, he no longer denied it.
As if she would learn the truth soon enough anyway.
"What is it you want to say to me?"
"The Lee Soo-hyuk we killed has come back to life. Starting with this tournament, he'll begin his revenge against us."
"And?"
"We have to strike them first, before they strike us. That's the only way we survive. Fortunately, they have their weaknesses too."
At Jin Do-ha's words, which hinted at some plan, Namgung Hwa-young wore a bitter expression.
"You never tire, do you, Elder?"
"What do you mean?"
"Let me make one thing clear first."
As Jin Do-ha reacted sharply, Namgung Hwa-young took a breath and continued.
"It wasn't 'we' who killed Lee Soo-hyuk. The Murim of today is different from the Murim back then. So..."
She rose from her seat, fixing Jin Do-ha with a cold gaze.
"It was you who killed him."
"......"
Jin Do-ha met her eyes silently, then lifted his teacup. Instead of erupting in anger after draining it in one gulp, he smiled warmly.
"That was good tea, Alliance Lord."
His tone toward Namgung Hwa-young had changed. With that, the two reverted from former Alliance Lord and young child to equals who had known each other since her youth.
After emptying his cup, Jin Do-ha offered a fist salute to Namgung Hwa-young and left the reception room.
He spotted a man who had been waiting for him.
"It can't go on like this."
Looking into the man's eyes, Jin Do-ha reaffirmed the resolve he'd held for so long.
"I have to take back this Murim myself."
A visitor arrived at Kindre's forge.
It was a regular customer. There weren't many who came to this forge to begin with.
Unhyang strode through the quiet forge toward Kindre.
"Have you given it any thought?"
Kindre was finishing up a completed weapon. She was assembling a spear, joining the shaft to the blade.
Whether she hadn't heard Unhyang's voice or not, she didn't even turn her head, completely absorbed in her work.
"Still agonizing over it?"
One might expect her to pause at this point, but Kindre didn't.
Unhyang wondered if she was pretending not to hear, but that didn't seem to be it.
Of course. In the midst of work, she probably wouldn't notice if someone carried her away. That level of focus was why she was the top craftsman.
Unhyang crossed her arms and huffed.
What Kindre was making was the spear Si-woo would use going forward.
She had come upon hearing the item would be finished today, and as a bonus, Unhyang—not Si-woo—had come to recruit Kindre to the guild.
"Done!"
Kindre beamed as she inspected the completed spear.
Her satisfied face was marred by deep dark circles. She'd apparently pulled several all-nighters obsessing over the item.
"What? When did you get here?"
"I've been here a while."
"You should have said something."
"Didn't we have the exact same conversation last time?"
"Did we?"
At first, her personality had felt bewildering and awkward, but now Unhyang was fully accustomed to it. Kindre didn't ignore others; her world was just too solidly her own.
"Have you given it any thought?"
"The guild?"
"Yeah. You said you'd think about it."
Soo-hyuk had pegged this Kindre as the guild's newest member.
Running a guild required items. Running a guild also required capital. No one fit the bill like Kindre.
She was more passionate about item crafting than anyone—practically obsessed.
Perhaps from the first time they'd met Kindre through Unhyang, Soo-hyuk had already had her in mind.
Of course, Unhyang thought it would be tough.
'She'll never come.'
Kindre joining somewhere? Leaving her forge? Mingling with others? None of it was easy to picture.
Above all, Kindre was already the tower's most famous blacksmith. She'd surely received countless recruitment offers before.
Would she accept this one after turning down so many?
—Or so Unhyang thought, for a moment.
"I'll go."
"......Really?"
"Yeah. When? Right now?"
No middle ground at all. She'd agonized over it for so long, and now she was ready to go immediately.
Unhyang let out a deep sigh and nodded.
"Let's go right now."
Once she decided, Kindre was unstoppable—and Unhyang was no slouch either.
"Before we go, brace yourself for a surprise."
Unhyang returned to Jinun's estate with Kindre in tow.
At the formation leading to the estate, Unhyang—who had brought Kindre—spotted someone lingering nearby.
It was a woman in a deeply hooded bamboo hat. She seemed hesitant, unable to enter the formation.
No visitors had ever come here before.
Unhyang approached the hooded figure.
"Who are you?"
The woman lifted her deeply hooded bamboo hat. Seeing her face, Unhyang gasped in surprise.
"Alliance Lord?"
It was none other than Murim Alliance Lord Namgung Hwa-young.
"It's been a while. I think we met a few times when you were little, but you remember."
"How did you find this place?"
"I came to meet someone. You're one of them."
One of them.
Unhyang realized Namgung Hwa-young wanted to meet the guild members inside the formation.
"How did you know we were here?"
"There's no eternal secret in this world. Plenty of people are searching for you. Especially the mages of Runeterra—they're all tracking her to persuade the Archmage to return."
"And they all pretend not to know?"
"Something like that. They're not the kind to touch you easily, and neither is this place."
The world wasn't so forgiving. Blue Zone, Murim, Red Tower—they'd all been battered by Soo-hyuk so far, but they wielded the tower's power.
If they wanted, nothing was beyond their reach. Especially since Jinun's estate technically fell under Murim territory.
"Why aren't you pretending, Alliance Lord?"
"I have my reasons not to."
"What reasons?"
"Will you let me in first?"
She'd come a long way, but Unhyang couldn't welcome her warmly. Especially without a clear purpose stated.
Besides, Unhyang wasn't the estate's owner or the guild master. She had no authority to decide.
At that moment.
"Come in."
A voice came from within the formation surrounding the estate.
It was Soo-hyuk's voice.
With permission granted, Unhyang's hesitation lifted. She smiled brightly and guided Namgung Hwa-young.
"Follow me. You too—stick close."
Namgung Hwa-young and Kindre followed closely behind Unhyang. Curious about the unfamiliar face, Namgung didn't ask who Kindre was.
That wasn't important right now.
Entering the formation, a misty, winding path appeared. It branched repeatedly, but Unhyang navigated it effortlessly.
"What happens if you get lost?"
"I've never tried, but I hear you wander forever."
"For life?"
"Probably. Unless the one who made this place comes to save you."
"The formation's creator must be remarkable."
"A real nag, too."
"A nag?"
"Yeah. He'll probably nag you too, Alliance Lord. He didn't at first, but man, does he talk a lot now."
A smile tugged at Namgung Hwa-young's lips as she listened. It sounded like complaining, but she could sense the depth of their bond.
Amid their brief chat, the mist thinned, revealing the estate.
And before it stood someone's back.
"Soo-hyuk!"
Unhyang grinned brightly. But Namgung Hwa-young's eyes shook violently at the sight of him.
The eye of the storm, who had vanished from the world in an instant, now stood before her eyes.