Just Call It a Whim (4)
"Will you just stand still for a second?"
"Seriously, what kind of leech is this!"
Chung Myung ran off in exasperation.
Behind him, Dang Soso was giving chase with terrifying momentum.
It was bizarre.
Utterly bizarre.
Of course, Dang Soso was the daughter of the Tang Family’s lord. Even if she hadn’t been taught their secret arts, there was no reason her foundation in martial arts would be weak. So there was nothing strange about her using a fast movement technique.
That wasn’t the strange part.
How is someone in a skirt running that fast?
With that ornate dress that looked hard enough to even move in, and all those hair ornaments stuck in place, running at that speed was something even Chung Myung couldn’t begin to imagine.
Whether he could do it or not wasn’t the issue. He didn’t even want to try!
"Will you just stand still for a second?"
"……"
"You think you can run away and that’ll be the end of it? I’m going to come to Mount Hua and camp out there!"
"Grrrrr."
At last, Chung Myung let out a long sigh and stopped where he was. Then he spun around and faced Dang Soso.
"Finally."
Dang Soso came to a stop in front of Chung Myung, drew in a deep breath, and pulled something out of a small bundle tied around her waist.
"Huh?"
A water bottle?
She took out a bottle and a cup, poured tea into the cup, and held it out to Chung Myung.
"Here."
"……What is this?"
"Cold tea. You’ve probably got a dry throat from running away, so have a nice refreshing cup."
Chung Myung blinked.
Did people normally prepare things like this while chasing someone?
……This girl was really something else, wasn’t she?
"Come on, hurry up."
"Ah."
Chung Myung took the tea Dang Soso offered and gulped it down in one go.
"Ahh!"
It was cool enough, at least.
Seeing that, Dang Soso smiled brightly.
"Refreshing, right?"
"Mm."
"All right. Then let’s talk honestly! What exactly do you hate about me that makes you run away like this?"
"……"
Chung Myung frowned slightly.
You’re not scary. Marriage is scary!
Normally, when the subject of an arranged marriage came up, it was the woman who burst into tears and said she didn’t want it. So why was she being this aggressive about it?
She was making this hard on him!
"Am I ugly?"
"Uh…… No, not really."
"Do I seem like I have a bad personality?"
"You don’t seem like it."
"Then why do you keep running away? You don’t get marriage prospects like this every day, you know! Pretty face! Nice personality! Strong family!"
That was true enough. Overly strong, in fact.
Too strong.
Of course, if it were someone else, it’d be awkward, but if he had to take a wife from there, there wasn’t a better place than the Tang Family…….
Ack! Damn it! Wife’s family, my ass!
"Hey."
"Yes."
"I really have no intention of getting married."
"Everybody says that. And then they change their minds."
"I’m a Taoist."
"I heard Mount Hua allows marriage."
"It does, but I’m saying I don’t want it."
Chung Myung said firmly,
"We barely even know each other. Stop wasting your time on me and go find a better match. I have absolutely no intention of trying to make things work with you."
Then Dang Soso looked at him with a strange expression.
"That’s not it, is it?"
"Huh?"
"You’ve got feelings for that Yu Sago, don’t you?"
"……Huh?"
Dang Soso pointed at Chung Myung with a finger.
"That’s why you’re pushing me away, right?"
Wow.
How far exactly did this girl plan to run off on her own?
"Obviously! That woman’s pretty! No man would turn down a beauty!"
Chung Myung let out a heavy sigh.
How old do you think I am, you little brat?
A beauty?
Sure, beauty was nice.
But if he got married now, his granddaughter would be about the age of her grandmother, you know?
No matter what he did, she’d just look like a granddaughter putting on a cute little show.
What?
Beauty?
Chung Myung laughed in utter disbelief.
Honestly, what was the point of explaining? Who in the world would understand his situation?
Since Chung Myung didn’t answer, Dang Soso lifted her chin as if to say see?
"I knew it."
"……Forget it."
Chung Myung let out another long sigh.
"Anyway, I have zero interest in marriage or anything else, so stop pestering me and go look somewhere else."
"And you think I’ll give up just because you said that?"
"……Huh?"
"I’m determined too! I’ll make sure you see how charming I am!"
"……You little shrimp."
"I’m older than you, you know?"
Dang Soso glared.
Looking at her, Chung Myung sighed again.
And I can’t even just beat her up.
No matter how annoying she was, he couldn’t just hit someone for the crime of being bothersome.
Actually, maybe that does count as a crime……
- You damned fool of the world!
"Ah! I’m not hitting you! I’m not hitting you!"
"Pardon?"
"……No, nothing."
Chung Myung waved his hand and leaned back.
"Anyway, I……"
"Don’t run away. Come here. Today, let’s sit down and talk properly. We can go to a nice teahouse in Chengdu, drink some tea, and if we watch the sunset together, feelings that weren’t there before might just bloom."
No, I said I don’t want to!
I don’t need feelings!
Just then—
"……Senior Sister."
"Hm?"
Dang Soso whipped her head around. Dang Jan approached them with a slightly awkward expression.
"The Family Lord is looking for Brother Chung Myung."
"Now of all times?"
Dang Soso frowned slightly. It was her way of saying that if it wasn’t urgent, he should come later. But Dang Jan, his face tightening, spoke with unmistakable seriousness.
"It seems to be an important matter."
"Mm."
Dang Soso clicked her tongue, looking disappointed as she glanced at Chung Myung.
"It’s really that urgent?"
"He said it was a matter of moments."
"Haa, can’t be helped. Jan."
"Yes, Senior Sister."
"Take Brother Chung Myung to Father, and make sure he doesn’t run off. Bring him to my quarters afterward."
"……"
"Got it?"
"Yep."
Dang Soso nodded and stepped aside to clear Chung Myung’s path. She did not forget to add a warning, either.
"Don’t you dare wander off somewhere else. You have to come back for sure!"
"……"
Looking completely drained, Chung Myung followed Dang Jan away. Dang Jan stole a glance at him with a sympathetic expression.
"Rough day?"
"……Yeah."
"Pardon?"
"……The Tang Family people are all crazy."
"……"
Dang Jan felt strangely sad that he couldn’t even argue with that.
Watching the backs of the two men as they receded into the distance, Dang Soso bit her lip.
I don’t have time.
Chung Myung would be leaving the Tang Family soon. If she could push him this hard and still get no reaction, then the moment he left, any chance at all would vanish completely.
"I have to do something……."
"That won’t work."
"Gah!"
Startled by the voice from behind her, Dang Soso spun around in a flash and grabbed the ornament in her hair.
But when she quickly realized the speaker was someone she knew, she let out a sigh and lowered her hand.
"……What is it?"
"A talk."
"Pardon?"
Yu I-seol looked at Dang Soso and said firmly,
"We need to talk."
"……"
Uh…… this one seemed a little strange too?
A stone dropped into a pond, sending ripples spreading outward.
Dang Soso watched the widening waves for a moment before speaking.
"I know. It’s kind of pathetic, right?"
"……"
"But it’s not like I’m clinging to him because I enjoy it. I know it looks like I’m pestering that man, and honestly, I do feel a little bad about it."
"Half-sister."
"Pardon?"
"It’s half-sister."
Dang Soso turned slightly and looked at Yu I-seol.
Her expression was unreadable, but even so, it was obvious she was beautiful enough to make another woman stare in admiration.
"So there’s really no relationship at all?"
"Yes."
"And he doesn’t show any interest, even with a woman as beautiful as you right there?"
"I’m interested in whether my martial arts improve."
"……My goodness."
No matter how much of a Taoist he was, was that really possible?
"Haa. I’m doomed."
If Yu I-seol was telling the truth, then Chung Myung was simply the kind of man who had no interest in women to begin with. There was no way to trick someone like that into marriage.
"That’s my fate, I guess."
Dang Soso sighed heavily. Then Yu I-seol stared at her for a moment before speaking.
"You’re the same."
"……"
"Aren’t you?"
Dang Soso gave a small nod.
"But don’t misunderstand me. I wasn’t trying to use him. If I’m going to marry, I was really planning to give it my all."
"You look like it."
"It’s all gone now, though."
Yu I-seol quietly looked at Dang Soso and said,
"Why are you so fixated on marriage?"
"Pardon?"
"It seems like enough. There’s no need to bind yourself to marriage."
Dang Soso let out a snort.
That was probably how it looked to outsiders, yes.
"Do you know what kind of place the Tang Family is?"
"……"
"The Tang Family’s laws are harsh beyond words. There’s only one path available to me here. To marry into the place the Tang Family wants. What I’m doing now is just the bare minimum of resistance. If I’m going to be forced into marriage anyway, then I might as well choose the match myself. Somewhere even the family would approve of."
"There’s another way……."
"There isn’t. This is the Sichuan Tang Family. Women of the Tang Family can’t learn the secret arts, and they can’t live as martial artists of the family either. We’re nothing but half-people. Especially if you’re the daughter of the Family Lord."
Dang Soso shrugged.
"It’s not like I’ve gone through life carrying some huge grievance. I’ve lived comfortably enough up to now because I was the Family Lord’s daughter. If this is the price, then I can bear it a little more easily. It’s just that……"
Dang Soso lifted her gaze from the pond and looked up at the distant sky.
"It’s just……"
Her words trailed off, and a low sigh slipped out.
Watching Dang Soso’s face, dyed red by the sunset, Yu I-seol spoke in a quiet voice.
"There is a path."
"……Pardon?"
"There’s always a path. You just can’t bring yourself to think of it."
Dang Soso bit her lip slightly.
"Could you stop talking as if you know everything? I’m not looking for some half-hearted comfort right now, you know."
"I’ll open it. That path."
Dang Soso’s eyes widened a little as she looked at Yu I-seol.
Open the path?
Yu I-seol?
"……"
Leaving aside whether it was even possible, a much bigger question arose.
"Why are you trying to help me?"
"Because I was the same."
There was no road to see.
No matter how much she tried. No matter how hard she struggled.
And yet her path had suddenly, one day, rolled into Mount Hua under its own power.
The most impossible, most peculiar path in the world.
At the very least, she no longer wandered in search of one.
So……
"It’s no different."
Yu I-seol looked at Dang Soso with a firm expression.
"At least, you’ll be able to choose something different."
Dang Soso stared at her for a long moment, then reached out. Yu I-seol took her hand and pulled her up.
"You don’t seem all that trustworthy."
"You’ve got nothing to lose."
"True enough."
Dang Soso smiled faintly.
"But can I ask you one thing?"
"Ask."
"You really have no relationship with him?"
"……"
"Really? Seriously?"
Yu I-seol let out a low sigh and turned toward her quarters.
Really not? Seriously not?
It seemed that clinging stubbornly to people was simply Dang Soso’s nature, regardless of who it was.
* * *
Thud!
After closing the door, Chung Myung stared at Tang Gun-ak.
"……You look busy."
"Thanks to someone."
"……I will never apologize."
"Ughhh."
Chung Myung let out a long sigh and sat down across from Tang Gun-ak.
"What did you call me here for?"
Tang Gun-ak considered his words for a moment and let out a low sigh. Then he spoke in a heavy voice.
"I think I need to ask you a favor."
"Huh? A favor?"
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes.
"Wow, so you got one request for helping with a trade run? You really have to squeeze one thing out of me, huh?"
"It isn’t that."
Tang Gun-ak raised a hand and pressed at the center of his forehead.
"Since the subject has come up, let’s handle that first. The route has been secured. The Peace Merchant Guild in Chengdu is preparing a trade run to Yunnan. I’ve already told them to let me travel with them."
"When?"
"They seem to be leaving in about two days."
"That’s faster than I expected. Thank you."
Tang Gun-ak sighed.
"And…… about my favor."
"Yes."
"It concerns what happened with the elders’ council……"
Tang Gun-ak began explaining everything that had happened to Chung Myung. He left out some details and added others, but once he started laying out the situation, he couldn’t avoid mentioning the subtle tension between himself and the council.
It should be fine.
Chung Myung had said he wanted to become friends with the Tang Family.
True friends ought to be able to accept even each other’s uglier sides with calm hearts.
"……So that’s how it is."
Tang Gun-ak watched Chung Myung’s face cautiously.
If Chung Myung reacted the way he usually did, he’d probably go on another rampage demanding to know what he was supposed to do about it…….
Hm?
Tang Gun-ak flinched slightly.
There was an expression on Chung Myung’s face he had never seen before.
"……So,"
From Chung Myung’s mouth came a voice without any rise or fall to it.
"You’re saying the former great elders of the council are hanging onto the Family Lord’s ankles and dragging him down."
"That would be one way to put it."
"Dragging at the ankles, huh."
Chung Myung’s lips twisted slightly.
If I hadn’t kept second-guessing everything the clan bastards said and had just trusted and supported them instead, maybe the family would’ve grown stronger. Then…… then maybe even one more person could have lived…….
— Once the war is over, I’m thinking of helping that Family Lord bastard a little this time around. I may only have the title of a great elder, and only the mouth of an adult, but I’ve never once properly taken care of those bastards.
……Of course, it’s not because you brought me here.
The dead were dead. The dead had no will left behind them.
And yet Chung Myung couldn’t ignore the will of Dang Bo that still remained in his memory.
"You asked me for a favor, right?"
"That’s right."
"Then I’m refusing that favor."
Tang Gun-ak nodded, looking a little disappointed.
He couldn’t force something like this…….
"Instead!"
"……Hm?"
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed blue.
"I’ll give you a present."
"A present?"
"Yes."
Chung Myung nodded slowly.
Though this wasn’t really a gift from Chung Myung himself. He was merely passing it along.
This would be a present that crossed a long stretch of time, a gift from Dang Bo, the Dark Saint and former great elder of the Tang Family, to Tang Gun-ak.
"Please let the duel go on as planned. And no matter what I do that day, do not step in."
"……What are you planning to do?"
"Well, it’s simple."
Chung Myung grinned.
"What I do best."