The Heavenly Demons Go to a Restaurant (1)
I shot her a cold glare. A person holding the position of Heavenly Demon really shouldn’t be saying something like that. Baek Hwaryeong flinched and hurriedly raised her voice.
“Nothing’s wrong with it. It’s just undignified and idiotic.”
What kind of thing was that for the Heavenly Demon to say upon arriving at another sect? I understood her craving for food, but still, one had to preserve some face.
I’d meant it as a rebuke, but Baek Hwaryeong only puffed out her chest and shouted back. If the fanatics of the Divine Cult had seen this, they would have… No. Those lunatics would probably cheer, calling it the Heavenly Demon’s unyielding dignity. If they were the sort to lose faith over something like this, they never would have joined the Divine Cult in the first place. The only ones embarrassed by such brazen behavior were normal people—like Han Seo-woo, who stood beside her.
“You have it rough.”
Baek Hwaryeong had always been quite the tomboy. If it had been me, I wouldn’t have acted like that. Even in a similar situation, I would never have abandoned the manners ingrained in my body… or so I thought. I couldn’t say for certain. Faced with delicacies I had never tasted in my entire life, would I truly have stayed calm? Me, who had wandered the Murim in search of fine food? If anything, I would probably have been worse than the current Baek Hwaryeong.
Once I put myself in her shoes, I understood and stopped scolding her. Instead, I asked,
“Baek Hwaryeong. Did you not say anything to the head chef?”
When I left last time, hadn’t I told her? That fellow had plenty of passion; he wouldn’t have refused new recipes. Besides, if the Heavenly Demon herself wanted to eat something, no mere chef could possibly turn her away.
“Yet you still caused this much of a scene by coming all the way here.”
Then couldn’t she have simply eaten what he prepared?
Baek Hwaryeong explained what had happened back at the Divine Cult. After our last meeting, she had realized how narrow her worldview was and told the head chef about the food culture outside. How much external cuisine had advanced. How the cooking methods here had fallen behind the times. Had an ordinary person said such things, the proud chef might have ignored them. But the words came from the Divine Cult’s own Heavenly Demon. As a member of the Cult, the chef naturally accepted her words. He went outside with Han Seo-woo, sampled the food, and admitted that he had been trapped in the past.
Baek Hwaryeong grumbled and continued. It was true the chef had acknowledged his shortcomings, but that didn’t mean he could change overnight. The recent development of Murim cuisine had mostly been driven by outsiders. To improve his skills as a cook, he needed to learn from them. Yet the Divine Cult was so insular that outsiders were almost impossible to find.
Even if they managed to receive instruction, countless problems remained. The biggest was securing ingredients. The difference between what was used in the Murim and what outsiders used was enormous. Reproducing those flavors required a steady supply of many different ingredients. That, however, was no easy task. Between the Murim and the region where the Divine Cult resided lay countless paths of hardship—vast mountain ranges and endless deserts. Only after crossing both could one barely reach the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. In such conditions, how could they steadily procure enough ingredients from the Murim for regular use?
Baek Hwaryeong. I roughly understood how desperate she was. Fine. What was so difficult about going out to eat? From the Divine Cult’s perspective, her solo actions might be troublesome, but that wasn’t my concern. I had already been planning to take my benefactor out into the streets anyway. Adding one more companion wouldn’t be any trouble.
“Wait a moment. There’s someone I need to bring.”
When I returned with my benefactor, Baek Hwaryeong’s eyes widened.
The two of them chatted happily, looking exactly like the benefactor and me from the old days. Watching them made me feel both glad and bitter. For some reason, I suddenly wanted to chew on my pipe. If I had been stronger back then, could things have turned out differently?
As I was lost in thought, Baru—who had been in human form—tugged insistently at my collar.
“What is it?”
Ah. Since she knew my circumstances, she must have guessed how I felt. Her thoughtfulness was endearing, so I stroked her head. My mood improved considerably.
“All right. Let’s get moving. I already have a decent place in mind.”
I couldn’t possibly guide my benefactor to some shabby establishment. I had asked around beforehand and found one excellent restaurant. It was a small place on the outskirts, so few people would recognize her. Moreover, the chef was an outsider and one of my fans. Even if she revealed herself openly, it probably wouldn’t cause too much commotion. And even if it did, we wouldn’t get kicked out.
Jang Chul, one of the people belonging to the Murim Alliance, downed a cup of strong liquor and let out a pleased laugh. If one word could summarize the recent state of the Murim Alliance, it would be chaos.
The Blood Cult’s schemes had caused Mount Hua to collapse. Then an outsider who called herself the new Mount Hua Sect Leader had rebuilt it. However, that outsider had refused to join the Murim Alliance, so the Orthodox faction had no choice but to apply some subtle pressure. What the Alliance’s upper echelons hadn’t expected was that this so-called Mount Hua Sect Leader was an absurdly reckless monster. The entire Murim Alliance’s warriors had been crushed by a single outsider wielding the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. It was a truly humiliating incident. As a result, waves of distrust poured in from the various sects within the Alliance.
Thanks to that, Jang Chul—one of the Alliance’s members—couldn’t even dream of sleep. He had to devote himself entirely to stabilizing the Murim Alliance. Fortunately, it had recently begun to regain some measure of calm. The Divine Cult was on the move. The Blood Cult was running rampant everywhere. And the Evil Faction, seeing the Alliance’s instability as an opportunity, had begun showing themselves one by one. At a time when any misstep could cause their own sects to flicker out like candles before a storm, who would dare leave the collective? Even those who would normally have fiercely denounced the Alliance now fell silent, acknowledging its necessity. The Murim Alliance had barely managed to reclaim peace.
Thanks to that, Jang Chul had finally earned a single day of leisure. Of course, starting tomorrow he would once again have to grind himself to the bone, but a single day of rest was still something to be grateful for. For the sake of this one day, he had even made a reservation at a restaurant that only those in the know frequented in the current Murim. Today, he intended to enjoy himself to the fullest.
Just as Jang Chul was about to take another sip of liquor while waiting for his food, the restaurant door opened. New customers? He glanced over instinctively—and the moment he saw those all-too-familiar, terrifying faces, he whipped his head back around.
What? What the hell?
Jang Chul, unable to believe what he had just seen, slowly turned his eyes again. It was real. His eyes were functioning perfectly. So was his brain. The only thing wrong was his common sense.
Why? Why were those monsters gathered in one place?!
First, the person in the center. The current Mount Hua Sect Leader and the warrior who had nearly destroyed the Murim Alliance single-handedly. An outsider who wielded the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, a monster with an undying body. A devil who could reduce the entire Murim to ashes if she so desired.
Min-ga.
And to her right, the one leisurely scanning the restaurant—the one who had once sought to destroy the Murim for revenge. The nightmare that had left the Divine Cult with a pathological fear and hostility even to this day.
The Heavenly Demon, Baek Hwaryeong.
Finally, the old man standing on the left was undoubtedly the legendary Fist Master from the old Murim—Dang Yunok.
Each one of them was a monster capable of overturning the current Murim. So why were they all together? Was this some kind of bond between users of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art? How horrifying. If those three joined forces, was there anyone in this world who could stop them? Only the Three Supremes working together might barely stand a chance.
Had Baek Hwaryeong noticed his gaze? She frowned and spoke in a sharp voice. Damn it. He had been careless. These people held a grudge against the Murim Alliance. If his identity was discovered, it wouldn’t be strange if they killed him on the spot!
Jang Chul desperately tried to suppress his trembling. Min-ga gave him a light glance, then spoke to Baek Hwaryeong as if it were nothing.
Did they not notice?
Jang Chul let out a silent sigh of relief. He racked his brain for a way to escape without being discovered, then suddenly had another thought. If he played his cards right, this could be an opportunity to eavesdrop on their conversation. It was extremely dangerous, but the potential value was just as high. Any information he could obtain would be a tremendous help to the Murim Alliance.
Having made up his mind, Jang Chul poured himself another cup of liquor and downed it in one go.
Yes. Let’s try it. At worst, he would only die.