Determined to Say No
Fortunately, it seemed Wijiak's guess and the conclusion I had reached were correct. Whew, now that the tension was finally releasing, my legs felt like jelly. I had actually imagined her throwing the food like some master potter smashing a flawed vase, shouting, "This isn't what I wanted!"
"There was a reason your reputation reached all the way to the remote Bota Sect, Chef Yoon."
"You flatter me, Supreme Elder."
"There is no need for false modesty. You are more than worthy of such praise, Chef Yoon."
I wanted to ask what had happened to her parents, or to the person who had first made this dish for her, but I refrained. If they had parted on good terms, there would have been no need for me to step in. I could only assume they had met with some unfortunate, sudden accident.
"It would have been incredibly difficult without the help of Instructor Wijiak and your disciple, the Sword Queen."
"How is Jiyak doing? She has always been a mischievous child, so she must not have been easy to handle."
"Actually, I threw her a toy to keep her occupied."
"A toy?"
"There is a sturdy fellow from the Donhwa Sect named Man Hanseok. He is the son of the great hero, the Cold Soul Spear."
"You left that young boy with Jiyak?"
"What do you mean? The guy is taller than me."
Hahaha, hohoho. The deeply emotional atmosphere melted away, replaced by laughter and lighthearted banter. Once the mood had settled into a comfortable warmth, the Supreme Elder spoke up again.
"Since you have solved a mystery that no one else could uncover for decades, you must be rewarded accordingly."
"I didn't do it expecting a reward, but if you're offering, I won't refuse."
Normally, etiquette dictated that I refuse at least three times, but accepting it outright had its own charm. The Supreme Elder smiled warmly at my response.
"It is refreshing to see such honesty. Tell me, are you betrothed to anyone?"
"Uh... No, not yet..."
Uh, wait. Is this conversation heading in a weird direction?
"You are nearly thirty, yet you still do not have a partner? Is there no one who has captured your heart?"
"Well, um..."
There was indeed one person, but I couldn't exactly declare it proudly. As I hesitated, the Supreme Elder shook her head and spoke with firm conviction.
"This will not do. A man can only truly be called a man once he marries and establishes a household. Why the delay?"
"I can barely take care of myself, so how could I take responsibility for a wife?"
"There is a saying: 'Marriage first, career second.' Once you marry, everything else naturally falls into place."
The Supreme Elder delivered this completely made-up four-character idiom with an incredibly solemn, dignified, and serious expression.
"The girls of our Bota Sect are gentle and well-mannered. There shouldn't be much of an age gap between you and my grand-disciple. I think it would be wonderful for the two of you to meet."
A grand-disciple meant her disciple's disciple... Wait!
"Do you mean Lady Yang, by any chance?"
"Aside from her voice being a bit loud, she is a resilient and wonderful girl."
"You want me to get betrothed to someone who isn't even an adult yet?"
Are there no decent men around the Bota Sect? Why do they keep bringing me up? I thought I had made my refusal clear, but the Supreme Elder pondered for a moment before gesturing with her eyes toward On Ban-hui, who was standing beside her.
"Hmm. Then what about my disciple?"
"M-Master! What on earth are you saying?!"
Seriously, she was pulling out the wild card now? At those terrifying words, sweat began to pour down my back like a torrential downpour. If this went any further, I might actually end up burying my bones in the Bota Sect. I had to refuse, firmly.
"Th-That... they are far too good for someone like me. Besides, they deserve to meet much better men. Please, reconsider."
"Then what is it that you desire?"
"Well, I happen to possess some Black Iron. Would it be possible to introduce me to a blacksmith who can forge a kitchen knife out of it?"
I had originally planned to ask for something else, but I blurted this out because I felt like if I didn't say something immediately, I would be kidnapped and forced into a shotgun wedding by the Bota Sect.
Supreme Elder Chaehwa looked visibly disappointed, while On Ban-hui wore a complex, subtle expression. What's with that look? It's unfamiliar.
"The blacksmiths contracted with the Sword Pavilion are incredibly proud. If you ask them to forge a kitchen knife instead of a sword from Black Iron, they will undoubtedly give you a piece of their mind."
"The blacksmiths near the academy said the exact same thing. I was hoping someone associated with the Sword Pavilion might be different."
To those blacksmiths, using Black Iron to make a kitchen knife instead of a legendary sword probably felt like buying a top-of-the-line gaming computer just to play Minesweeper. But what would I even do with a Black Iron sword? It was enough material to forge a single blade, but it felt wrong to just sell off a reward I had received.
"I shall look into it. But are you truly not interested in either my grand-disciple or my disciple?"
The relentless matchmaking was making my head spin. I had to get out of here. This persistent badgering made me wonder if she was from a marriage agency rather than the Bota Sect.
"Aigoo, who am I to deserve them? They are destined for greatness, while I am merely a humble chef."
"A 'mere chef' would not be an absolute master who has reached the Peak Realm. Especially not a young chef who has yet to even reach thirty."
"Sword Queen, why are you joining in on this too, seriously?"
With On Ban-hui joining in, the pressure of 'Why are you trying so hard to avoid forming a connection with the Bota Sect?' was driving me insane. I was about to drown in my own sweat, so I stammered out a hasty excuse, bowed, and bolted.
The female martial artists waiting outside the Four Seas Hall tilted their heads in confusion as they watched me run. I quickly told them to go inside and fled straight back to the kitchen.
"If anyone looks for me, tell them I'm not here."
"To whom, sir?"
"Anyone from the Bota Sect, and the Sword Queen."
"Ah, yes, sir."
After instructing the servant, I locked myself inside the Inner Dining Hall Master's Office and held my breath. *Knock, knock.*
"Eek!"
"It's me. Are you busy?"
I let out a massive sigh of relief at the sound of Seonwoo Seol's voice. Stepping into the room, she looked at me with a worried expression.
"You look like you've just seen a ghost... Didn't you say you were serving a meal to the former Sword Queen?"
"I was pressured to marry into the Bota Sect."
"What? To whom?"
"Lady Yang and the Sword Queen."
"They must be crazy! One is still a child, and the other is... well... anyway, that's absolutely out of the question!"
Even Seonwoo Seol found it utterly absurd. Well, of course she did. It made absolutely no sense.
"That's why I'm hiding. I've already told the other servants to say I'm not here."
"Aren't they going a bit too far? Trying to drag you into their sect by any means necessary... and forcing a marriage when you don't even want it?"
I nodded along to Seonwoo Seol's words, but then I suddenly recalled On Ban-hui's expression when the Supreme Elder had asked about her disciple.
"Ah."
A gasp escaped my lips. Yes, that expression. It wasn't simply a look of disgust or annoyance. She had been genuinely, seriously considering it. No, wait... how should I even process this? My mind was in complete disarray.
Seeing me completely dazed, Seonwoo Seol looked at me with pity.
"Oh dear. Were you really that shocked?"
"My lady, let's go out tonight."
"Where to?"
"Let's go get a drink."
Ugh, I really want to get drunk tonight. I wanted to induce temporary alcohol-induced amnesia to completely erase today's events from my brain. Sob. Give me back my innocent, untainted mind.
An unnamed mountain near Shanxi.
"Hegh... wheeze..."
A boy whose entire body had turned a deep shade of purple was stumbling barefoot out of the forest path. Every time his bare feet touched the ground, they left pitch-black footprints behind. The grass he stepped on withered and turned yellow instantly, and the tree roots he trod upon crumbled as if completely rotten.
Even as he gasped heavily for air, he fled swiftly without looking back. But then—
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
An ear-splitting bell echoed across the usually quiet mountainside, and people began pouring out from all directions in utter chaos.
"Find him! He couldn't have gone far!"
"Ten gold taels to whoever finds him!"
"We must capture him alive! If he dies, his value will be ruined!"
Woof! Bark! Bark!
At the sound of barking dogs and the fierce shouts of men, the boy gritted his teeth and forced his body forward.
Mother...
Although his parents had sold him to a nameless stranger, he could not forget the people who had given him life and raised him. Shedding a single tear of purple poison from his eyes, the Poison Human could only run forward, desperate to reach a place where no one could follow.
Flutter.
Gyeongsa's Cheondan District. Next to the massive tree, find the house of Blacksmith Im.
"Blacksmith Im, huh?"
What was I doing right now? I was rolling around on my room floor, holding the slip of paper containing the name of the blacksmith who would forge a kitchen knife out of Black Iron. It was a note the Supreme Elder had handed to me with strict instructions the morning after I had drunk so much that I couldn't tell if I was the alcohol or the alcohol was me.
'Are you truly not interested in meeting my grand-disciple?'
'Yes, I am truly not interested.'
'Indeed, a man must show such firm resolve. My grand-disciple will surely like that about you.'
'I really don't think that's how it works, Supreme Elder.'
'They always start by calling you "older brother" before eventually calling you "husband."'
'Lady Yang has never once called me "brother" to begin with.'
'Then that is even better! You can skip straight to "husband."'
Ugh. Whispering to a stone Buddha would have yielded better results. Supreme Elder Chaehwa, who had been spinning her delusional matchmaking fantasies without any input from the parties involved, had already left the academy for Gyeongsa. Apparently, she hadn't originally planned to visit the academy; she had merely stopped by on her way to Gyeongsa to find someone. I heard it was some highly important matter, but since it had nothing to do with me, I had let it go in one ear and out the other.
Gyeongsa was relatively close to here, so I figured I would only need to take about two days off. Should I ask the blacksmith to engrave my name beautifully on the Black Iron kitchen knife? After lounging on the floor a bit longer, I finally dragged myself up and headed to the Inner Dining Hall Master's Office. Ah, time to get back to work.
When I flung the door open, I found someone sitting quietly in the guest chair across from my desk.
"...Hanseok?"
"How could you sell me out like that, hyungnim?!"
Man Hanseok, looking significantly more hollow-eyed than usual, lunged at me. Had he spent the last two days with Wijiak studying how to act terrifying? Naturally, I couldn't just let him grab me, so I immediately drove my fist straight into his solar plexus.
Thud!
Of course, I hadn't put any real power behind it, so it didn't actually hurt him, but the sheer momentum was enough to send him stumbling back.
"Look at you, lunging at me now. Didn't you enjoy your fantastic two days with a beautiful young lady?"
"It was a disastrous two days!"
It seemed he had been dragged around by Wijiak to do all sorts of bizarre things. For instance, gathering experimental materials from a graveyard under a full moon, or sneaking into a funeral hearse storage warehouse to pluck the decorative paper flowers to test if they possessed spiritual energy. They sounded exactly like the kind of clickbait challenges you'd see on some cash-grab YouTube channel.
I shrugged at Man Hanseok, who was still whining about being sold out.
"But Instructor Wijiak is beautiful, isn't she? I thought you liked pretty women."
"M-My heart belongs solely to Lady Dang!"
This guy definitely hesitated for a second there. I'm a man too, but seriously, men are so predictable. Put a pretty woman next to them, and their brains just short-circuit.
"When is Lady Dang coming back anyway?"
"She said she'll be back in a few days."
"So I won't be seeing much of you for a while, then? Yeongji is going to be bored without you."
"Well, to gain something, one must make sacrifices. I'll make sure to buy my junior a souvenir on my way back."
"Don't buy anything weird. Ask Lady Dang before you buy it."
"Yes, hyungnim."
"But did you come all this way just to brag about Lady Dang?"
Man Hanseok blinked blankly for a moment, then scowled as if he had only just remembered his original purpose.
"I came to ask why you sold me out to Instructor Wijiak!"
"Should I have sent Yeongji to her instead? The poor kid practically faints whenever she sees her."
"W-Well, no, that wouldn't be right."
"And surely you didn't expect me to send Lady Seonwoo, did you? As for me, I have to cook, so I don't have time to hang out with Instructor Wijiak."
"So in the end, it had to be me?"
"A sacrificial lamb is always necessary."
Man Hanseok grimaced, but he couldn't find any words to argue back.
"But did you really have to sell me out just to get things done?"
"It was one of two choices."
"What choices?"
"Either I had to cook a meal for her, or I had to offer you up as a sacrifice."
"Wow. Is cooking a single meal really that much of a hassle? Enough to sell me out?"
"Yes."
"You are truly a cruel man, Chef Yoon."
"What else am I supposed to use you for if not moments like this?"
As Man Hanseok and I continued our bickering, a servant knocked on the door of the Inner Dining Hall Master's Office.
"Chief Chef, an escort agency is looking for you."
"An escort agency?"
An escort agency in the martial world was essentially a heavily armed courier service that delivered goods or people across dangerous territories. But did I have any packages to receive? I had no living relatives, so there shouldn't be anyone sending me anything.
"The escort leader insisted on meeting both of you together."
"Both of us? Who else is there besides me?"
"Did you not know? The other is Assistant Instructor Socheonma."
Seonwoo Seol? Why her? Filled with questions, I followed the servant out. Near the Seocheong-jogwan, I saw Seonwoo Seol waiting alongside a fierce-looking man and several martial artists.
"Chef Yoon!"
Seonwoo Seol waved at me, and I waved back as I approached the fierce-looking man.
"I heard you were looking for me."
"Are you the Inner and Outer Hall Master?"
"That is correct."
"I am Nam Ilhae, escort leader of the Yijeong Express. The client who requested this delivery strictly specified that both of you must personally verify and sign for the package, which is why I had to request your presence."
Well, look at that. Despite his intimidating appearance, he was incredibly polite. I didn't know much about the Yijeong Express, but they seemed highly reliable. I scribbled my signature—the Zhongyuan equivalent of a sign-off—on the paper, and the escort leader handed a wooden box to Seonwoo Seol.
"Please verify that the contents are intact."
"Ah, yes. By the way, do you happen to know what this package contains?"
"I only know that it is an exceptionally rare and precious item."
Why would someone send such a precious item to the two of us?
"I'll open it."
Seonwoo Seol pulled out a small dagger from somewhere, sliced through the sealing paper on the box, and lifted the lid. And then—
"What is this?"
"What's wrong?"
A bewildered Seonwoo Seol turned the box toward me to show me the contents. The first thing I saw was a layer of white greaseproof paper. Peeling it back revealed a heap of dark, oval-shaped objects about the size of a finger joint.
"......Cocoa beans?"
Why on earth are these in Zhongyuan?