A Feeble Excuse
I had no choice but to follow her out. Whatever the rush, she strode along at quite a clip.
“Hey! How far are we going?”
“...”
Zhao Yun walked on without answering, no matter how I called. After a long walk we reached a deserted field, and only then did she turn to face me.
“What’s with that attitude of yours? When Lady Yu Bi greets you, you should at least return the greeting.”
“You’re wrong. That woman can give me no answer.”
“You didn’t even try talking properly, did you? Wasn’t there a spark the moment you saw her?”
“Why do you think there should be something like that for me? Why did you try to bring me to that woman in the first place?”
“...”
Hard to explain. You two are Yu Bi and Zhao Yun—an inseparable bond that can’t be cut, right?
They first met under Gongsun Zan and felt an irresistible pull toward each other. Yet unable to abandon their sense of duty, they followed their current masters, and when Yu Bi had lost everything and was idling away in Ye, wasn’t it Zhao Yun who came running first?
So why do the two of them feel nothing? Is it because I interfered?
Did a variable named me insert itself into a meeting that should have happened naturally, and reverse their fate?
“Let’s go back. You don’t have anywhere else to go anyway, so you can stay in Yawang for a while, right?”
“There’s no reason to. I’ve kept every promise I made with you, so now you keep yours.”
“What are you talking about...”
Srrrk...
But Zhao Yun simply raised her spear and pointed it at me. She wasn’t seriously going to stab me with that spear, was she?
“You’re going to kill me? I thought we’d gotten pretty close.”
“We have. But a promise must be kept.”
“Hey! Don’t you have any flexibility at all? Yu Chu only said that because she was afraid of losing her father!”
“I’ve already lost everything. If I can’t even keep a promise, there’s no reason to live.”
“Wow, this is really pissing me off. So because of words some guy left while dying a violent death—words from a man who’s already dirt—you’re going to kill me even in this state? Sure, I made that promise. But am I really only worth that much to you?”
“No. That’s why I’m confused too.”
“...?”
Something glittered on her face, locked in darkness. A faint light catching the starlight trailed down both cheeks.
This kid is crying?
“Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know either. The tears just come.”
“You’re asking because you don’t know? You don’t want to kill me. You said you were confused earlier, right? Then just take your time sorting out your thoughts. So put that spear down and come with me...”
Thud!
But that wasn’t the end. Zhao Yun unfastened the sword at her waist and tossed it in front of me.
“What’s this?”
“I’ll give you a chance to defend yourself.”
“Does that make sense? You think you can kill me if you put a weapon in my hands?”
I could kill her and then some. The me she knows is a swordsman with Martial Power 100, but right now I’ve invested in other abilities, so my neck will be severed before I even graze her.
I looked up at the sky anxiously. The moon wasn’t visible, but it wasn’t a complete new moon yet.
By my calculations I needed to wait at least another thirty minutes. But could a Martial Power 1 guy hold out against Zhao Yun for thirty minutes?
Having discarded all my survival skills, could I escape her ghostly spear technique?
“Then I’ll die. If I fail the mission, I no longer have to keep the promise.”
“...”
Zhao Yun’s voice trembled in the winter wind that blew. At the same time I realized what she was thinking.
Zhao Yun has no intention of killing me. But she also doesn’t want to disappoint the dead Yu Chu by breaking the promise.
So this is the conclusion she reached. Hand me a sword and make me take her life with my own hands.
Because that’s the only way to pay the price for killing Son Yeona.
And then, meeting Yu Chu in the afterlife, she’ll say: I tried to keep the promise, but in the end my skill fell short and I failed.
Such a feeble excuse.
The problem is this does nothing for my survival. Zhao Yun knows I’ll go easy on her, so she’ll attack from the start with every killing technique she has.
But with Martial Power 1, I won’t survive even one of those and will die. So what now? What am I supposed to do?
“Wh-what are the two of you doing!?”
“...?”
Just then, Yu Bi’s voice rang out. Had she felt an uneasy premonition seeing me follow Zhao Yun? Before I knew it she had tailed us and arrived where we were.
“I must kill that one.”
Zhao Yun spoke calmly without even glancing toward Yu Bi. Startled, Yu Bi rushed over to me.
“You must not! For what reason do you say you will kill Lord Do Yeop?”
“That one promised. If I did what was wanted, he would offer up his own life.”
“That cannot be! Lord Do Yeop! Please say it is not true!”
“Uh... it is true, actually. How this happened is...”
Whoosh!
Then Yu Bi suddenly threw her arms around me. Pressing so close we were almost one body, she squeezed her eyes shut and spoke to Zhao Yun.
“I absolutely cannot allow that. If you must cut, cut me! Otherwise you will not leave a single sword mark on Lord Do Yeop’s body!”
“...”
Truly an absurd strategy worthy of Yu Bi. But it wasn’t bad—because with Yu Bi clinging to me like this, even Zhao Yun would find it hard to hold back.
She was essentially attempting suicide out of guilt for killing Son Yeona. There was no way she would cut Yu Bi here.
“Step aside. Or I will have to cut you too.”
Zhao Yun warned Yu Bi in a low voice. But I knew that was a lie.
“Don’t act tough. You can’t even lay a hand on Lady Yu Bi, can you?”
“If you get in the way, I will kill you.”
“You absolutely won’t. Going to commit another sin here?”
“That won’t happen. You would never leave Yu Bi to die.”
“...”
Oh. Zhao Yun had seen one move further ahead.
She really intended to attack Yu Bi. Because she knew I would protect her, so from the start there was no chance of her getting hurt.
So what now? Stall for time until the new moon rises and switch to a Martial Power build?
But would that change anything? The fact that Zhao Yun wants to die doesn’t change.
She’ll unleash merciless killing techniques on Yu Bi, trusting my skill. And when she’s focused all her power on Yu Bi, she’ll hope I stab her vital point at the right moment to stop her.
That’s not why I brought you. The reason I brought you isn’t so you die by my hand here.
I went all that way to find your true master...
“Zilong! Haven’t you ever wondered? Why did I go looking for you of all people?”
Just then, the only way to break this situation flashed through my mind. Zhao Yun answered my question nonchalantly.
“Because you saw me killing the farmers in a dream, no?”
“As if. No matter how soft-hearted I am, how am I supposed to live worrying about farmers I don’t even know dying? If that were the case, I’d have fought you in their place right there, wouldn’t I?”
“...”
Zhao Yun seemed to find that a bit odd too, and her words cut off. I opened my mouth again to persuade her.
“I saw a fortune about you long ago. That’s why I went to fetch you. To bring you right here, to Lady Yu Bi.”
“What fortune?”
“Your father said it, didn’t he? That you were born to protect Yu Chu? Unfortunately, your father was wrong. Of course he hoped it would be so, but that doesn’t hint at your true destiny.”
“That can’t be. There’s no way I have some other destiny to replace His Highness.”
“I’m a fortune-teller, aren’t I? I knew you would kill the farmers, and that your spear would break—I knew it all, right? So trust me. The person you must protect for your entire life is right here: Yu Bi Xuande.”
“...”
Persuasion with all my soul. Yu Bi clung to me, trembling without a word, and Zhao Yun mulled over those words for a moment.
Srrrng...
But her stance only grew firmer. She spoke with clear eyes free of all distracting thoughts.
“It’s a lie. You’re trying to deceive me.”
“You’ve seen the power of my fortunes, haven’t you? And yet you can’t accept this?”
“If that were so, you would have said it from the beginning. You just made it up after hearing me talk about His Highness.”
“...”
It doesn’t work. Of course it wouldn’t.
What I just said was an obvious lie, and the vast difference in Intelligence between her and me won’t tolerate such deception.
But there’s one thing you’re wrong about, Zhao Yun. From the start I had no intention of persuading you with a lie.
Whoosh!
I immediately shoved Yu Bi away. Whether she fell or not, I just stretched my arm with all my strength toward the spot Zhao Yun’s spear was aiming.
“Kyaaa!!”
Yu Bi screamed and tumbled that way. If I’d been even a little late, her belly would have been pierced by Zhao Yun’s spear.
Whoosh!
But Zhao Yun was a master beyond that. She immediately withdrew and recovered her spear.
At the same time—whoosh!—she caught the falling Yu Bi with one arm and supported her. I didn’t miss that opening, snatched up the sword, and charged.
Uwaaah!!!
Then I thrust the sword down from above with all my might. Not at Zhao Yun, but at Yu Bi.
Why do something this crazy? Because I know.
She who can kill neither me nor Yu Bi will throw her own body in the way.
Whoosh!
Zhao Yun spun at astonishing speed and blocked the trajectory of the blade aiming for Yu Bi. Then—thud!—the blade, unable to overcome the acceleration, sank into her shoulder.
“Zh-Zhao Yun!”
Yu Bi confirmed the sword stuck in Zhao Yun’s shoulder and cried out her name in shock.
“...”
Zhao Yun stood stock-still in the posture of protecting Yu Bi. I pulled the sword free again, and soon—trickle...—blood flowed from the wound.
It was only a brief silence, but time seemed to stop as no one opened their mouth. Caw! A crow cried out from its night’s sleep, and at last Zhao Yun slowly turned her head and spoke.
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why... do I feel no pain at all?”
What Zhao Yun wondered wasn’t why I had attacked Yu Bi.
She had gotten the perfect ending she wanted—being struck by my sword. The blood dripping from the tip of the blade was inescapable proof.
But it didn’t hurt even a little. Far from fearing the flowing blood, she felt a power welling up that she’d never had before.
Of course. Just now you threw yourself to protect Yu Bi.
In that moment, an amazing talent you yourself didn’t know about—one only I know—was activated.
Single Rider to Save the Lord. The most loyal act of facing a great army alone to protect one’s lord.
You are invincible right now. So give up on dying by my hand.
“I told you, didn’t I? You were born to protect Yu Xuande.”
“...”
The only way to persuade you without lying is to make it the truth.
Because it was decided that way from the beginning.
Thud...
Zhao Yun dropped her spear without realizing it. She turned back to Yu Bi and spoke.
“I... have killed so many innocent people. If it is Lady Yu Bi, can you wash away that sin?”
“Th-that may be difficult, may it not? Once a sin is committed, no one can wash it away. Only one person—the Son of Heaven—can pardon that sin. But I...”
“Then if I make Lady Yu Bi the Son of Heaven, can I be forgiven then?”
“Pardon?”
Truly an answer so very like Zhao Yun. Yu Bi had offered her the only possibility, and she intended to turn it into a single conclusion.
Thud...
Zhao Yun knelt before Yu Bi. Raising a trembling hand to take hers, she lifted her head and spoke.
“This subject, Zhao Yun of Changshan, wishes to serve Lady Yu Bi as my master and wash away my sins for the rest of my life.”
The trace of Yu Chu remaining at the edge of her heart will never be erased. She has merely projected him onto Yu Bi; the human named Zhao Yun who clings to orders and promises may not change even a little.
“I grant it. Then I wish to give Lady Zhao Yun her first command.”
“Speak anything. Whatever it is, I will surely keep it.”
Srrrk...
Yu Bi’s slender hand stroked the wound on Zhao Yun’s shoulder. As blood soaked her hand, Yu Bi spoke with tears of pity.
“I will treat the wound. Please follow me.”
“...?”
But this is probably the first master like this for you too, right? Yu Chu ordered you to protect her father, but Yu Bi asks you to protect yourself first.
Zhao Yun was stunned by Yu Bi’s answer she had never imagined. And then—plop...—a single tear took the place of that feeling.
Finally letting the past of Yu Chu flow away with that single tear, she faced the true master she would serve at last.
Of course, this is nothing more than my extreme personal opinion that has never even entered your head. But I believe you really felt that way.
Because right now, you’re smiling for the first time?