Chapter 351
Chapter 351
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 351
Chapter Title: The Murim Lord's Apology
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Namgung Hwayoung recalled the last time she had met Soo-hyuk long ago.
Back then, Soo-hyuk had still been a fledgling to her. He could be called a remarkable newcomer, or in Murim terms, a promising junior.
Still, he had been woefully inadequate compared to those at the pinnacle of the tower.
But what about him now?
As she turned to face him, the aura emanating from Soo-hyuk made Namgung Hwayoung feel as if she had been thrust into the heart of a thunderstorm.
A natural question arose in her mind.
Was this really the same Lee Soo-hyuk she had seen back then?
She wasn't sure. It had to be that way because he wasn't wearing his mask now.
It was the first time seeing his face, and the aura she felt was so intense it bore no resemblance to before.
Even his height seemed a bit taller.
"Long time no see."
Fortunately, Soo-hyuk greeted her first.
His height had grown a little, but his voice was the same. Only then did Namgung Hwayoung recognize the Lee Soo-hyuk from the past as the same person standing before her now.
"This is the first time I've seen your face."
Namgung Hwayoung didn't stand on excessive ceremony with those outside Murim. In that regard, she differed from Murim's rigid martial artists.
"It wasn't a face I showed to just anyone."
"So now it's fine to show it to anyone?"
"I don't feel the need to hide it anymore."
There was an air of composure about him somewhere. His words about not needing to hide his face sounded like a declaration of confidence against anyone.
"Kindre, long time no see."
Soo-hyuk also greeted Kindre, who stood behind Namgung Hwayoung. She responded with a slight nod instead of words.
Namgung Hwayoung was startled by the name Kindre.
"Kindre? That Kindre I know?"
Kindre, the demon sword craftsman.
Her name was widely known even in Murim. Though called a demon sword maker, there was nothing she couldn't craft.
The sword used by Namgung Hwayoung herself, the Murim Alliance Lord, was one of Kindre's creations.
"Let's not talk here. Please come inside first. You've both come from far away."
Soo-hyuk guided Namgung Hwayoung into the estate. Namgung Hwayoung, already surprised from the entrance, alternated glances between Kindre and Soo-hyuk's backs before following him.
The estate was spacious. It couldn't compare to the massive fortress-like Murim Alliance headquarters, but it had a garden, a pond, and a pavilion.
Passing the garden with its ancient trees, they arrived at the main building. On the veranda, Jinun was playing baduk alone.
"You're back?"
He welcomed Unhyang, who had gone to fetch Kindre. For some reason, he cherished Unhyang more than anyone else in the guild.
"Yes. I'm back, Uncle."
"You said you were fetching one person, but you brought back two mouths to feed."
The uninvited guest was Namgung Hwayoung. She stepped forward and offered a fist salute to Jinun.
"I'm Namgung Hwayoung. May I ask for your esteemed name, senior?"
"Jinun. So you're the young Alliance Lord I've only heard about in words."
Namgung Hwayoung was startled. It was because of Jinun's name.
He was a senior from the previous generation of Murim, like Jindo-ha. Though he had been in seclusion for a long time, she couldn't not know Jinun, once Murim's greatest formation master.
"I pay respects to a Murim senior."
"There's no need for the Alliance Lord to show such excessive courtesy. So, what brings you here?"
"I've come to meet Player Lee Soo-hyuk."
At the mention of his name, Soo-hyuk, who had been talking with Unhyang from afar, turned his head.
Soo-hyuk wasn't surprised. He had intuited her purpose the moment she arrived at this place.
"I have a request."
As if having made up her mind, flames seemed to ignite in Namgung Hwayoung's eyes.
The guest Namgung Hwayoung was served tea by Jinun. Even as the Murim Alliance Lord, officially the leader of Murim, she couldn't be left standing.
Soo-hyuk asked Unhyang and Jinun to guide Kindre.
A small table was set on the veranda. Sitting across from Soo-hyuk, Namgung Hwayoung recounted her meeting with Jindo-ha before coming here.
And her subsequent intuition.
"The elder will try to take back the Murim Alliance."
Soo-hyuk listened silently without any particular reaction.
"We don't have the power to stop him. Shamefully, there are far too many in the Murim Alliance who follow the elder. No, even without them, just the elder alone might be impossible to oppose."
Soo-hyuk, who had been quietly sipping his tea, finally spoke.
"Why did you come to me?"
"Because of the tragedy tying you and Murim together."
More precisely, because she now knew that tragedy was true. Until now, Namgung Hwayoung had turned a blind eye, assuming it was a distorted rumor.
"I realized it for sure this time. The elder's anxiety stems from you all. It must be because he bears guilt toward you."
"Then shouldn't you avoid coming to see me even more?"
Namgung Hwayoung's eyes trembled at his response.
It was real.
The young man with the youthful face before her was truly Lee Soo-hyuk.
She didn't know what circumstances led him to start streaming or regress to a beginner player. But now, none of that mattered.
What mattered was the present. Namgung Hwayoung took in only the current Soo-hyuk before her eyes.
A mask seemed to overlay Soo-hyuk's face in her vision, bringing back memories of their first meeting.
"I might have to fight you all."
Back then, she thought those words were about the relationship between Shinryeongseong and Unhyang. Shortly after, Player Lee Soo-hyuk had turned Shinryeongseong upside down.
But that was merely the tip of the iceberg.
One possible future flashed in Namgung Hwayoung's mind.
It was Soo-hyuk standing atop the burning halls of the Murim Alliance, trampling over the corpses of countless martial artists.
That future might become reality for them. They were currently on the path leading there.
"Before sitting as Alliance Lord, I heard strange rumors. On that glorious day they conquered the Guardian, something unsavory happened."
The rumor hadn't faded even after she became Alliance Lord.
"I heard it but pretended not to know. Because it was unverified. Such low-level conspiracy theories always follow big events. Because Murim... we wouldn't do that."
Meeting Soo-hyuk's gaze across the small table, Namgung Hwayoung knelt on her knees.
Soo-hyuk's eyes, who had been sitting calmly throughout, wavered slightly.
To think the Murim Alliance Lord would kneel.
"...It might be too late. It could seem like a shallow apology seeking help. But I must say this."
Still kneeling, Namgung Hwayoung bowed her head.
"I'm sorry."
She hoped that future wouldn't come. She hoped Soo-hyuk wouldn't be consumed by vengeance and turn Murim into a sea of fire and blood.
No, even if it did, who could point fingers at Soo-hyuk?
"I know a mere apology like this won't soothe your heart. If it did, there'd be no word like 'enmity' in Murim. No words can mourn your fallen comrades. Even so..."
What she could do.
What she must do was one thing.
"As Alliance Lord, on behalf of Murim, I apologize."
Namgung Hwayoung bowed her head again. No response came to her apology, and a brief silence fell.
'As expected, it's not accepted.'
Lee Soo-hyuk had emerged into the world after over twenty years. She couldn't even fathom how darkly that long-held grudge had festered.
A few words wouldn't erase their fury.
That's what she thought.
"That's enough now."
Namgung Hwayoung, kneeling with her head bowed, slowly lifted her head.
When she looked up again, Soo-hyuk was smiling.
Not a sneer or mockery, but a purely bright smile.
"I can't say you don't need to apologize. You're the Alliance Lord, representing Murim, after all."
Soo-hyuk wasn't angry.
There was no reason to be angry from the start. The person before him had never been the target of his anger.
"You've apologized as Alliance Lord, and I've said it's fine. So that's that. The one who should truly be sorry is someone else, and the one who must pay is someone else too, right?"
"Tha...nk you. Thank you."
Namgung Hwayoung's voice trembled.
"No need."
With this conversation, the relationship between the two took a completely different path. Even if he said it was fine, whether this apology happened or not made all the difference.
So.
"Shall we continue the talk from earlier?"
Even returning to the same topic, the outcome would never be the same.
"What is Jindo-ha going to do?"
Kindre was squatting with Unhyang by the pond in the courtyard.
The two were silent. Sitting side by side, they rolled their eyes tracking the movements of the koi in the pond.
"So this is where you were."
Then Soo-hyuk returned.
"I wondered where you'd gone. You weren't in the building."
"What about the Alliance Lord?"
"I walked her to the guest room after finishing our talk. She'll leave soon."
The Murim Alliance Lord was an important guest, but Kindre was Soo-hyuk's invited guest. It wouldn't do to invite her and then neglect her because another guest arrived.
"Sorry. An unexpected guest delayed my greetings."
"It's fine."
A response that didn't lead to further conversation.
Soo-hyuk looked at Unhyang, who was squatting alongside her. In response to his gaze questioning why she wasn't inside and what she was doing here, Unhyang answered.
"She said inside felt stuffy."
"Didn't you come from an even stuffier place?"
"She says that one actually lets her breathe."
Truly, the world of artisans was incomprehensible. Preferring this pleasant estate over her narrow, hot, stuffy workshop.
Kindre still didn't stand or turn her head. She kept watching the pond.
Soo-hyuk watched her back for a moment before approaching and squatting beside the two, just like them.
For a very brief instant, he felt Kindre flinch. Following her gaze to the pond, Soo-hyuk spoke.
"That one's the smallest."
It was the one Kindre had been watching while sitting here.
"The others are stealing its food. That's why it's the smallest?"
The small koi that had its food snatched swam helplessly around the pond with nowhere to escape.
Soo-hyuk tossed some feed piled by the pond toward the small koi. Seeing the school swarm again toward the scattered feed, he asked.
"Even in this tiny pond, it doesn't look easy to get along, does it?"
"It doesn't."
She seemed to be watching the pond absentmindedly, but Kindre was seeing people in there.
Watching the koi lose its food again, Kindre asked.
"Wouldn't it be better to be alone? Rather than having it all taken like that."
The question carried many implications. It was also the first time she asked something unrelated to forging.
Soo-hyuk answered without attaching much meaning to the question.
"Seeing them snatch and fight like that might make you think so, but actually, koi can't live alone. That's why they school in the pond."
"Me too..."
It was Kindre who attached the meaning instead.
"...Am I like that?"