The Spy's Confession
"You said you had something to tell me?" I asked, looking at him calmly.
I had a rough idea what it was. It was probably about his relationship with the Head of the Elders' Council.
But I didn't let that show. I waited for Sagong Cheon to say it himself.
"Yes."
"Go on, then."
"Young Lord. I..."
Wearing a pained expression, Sagong Cheon seemed to make up his mind at last. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
"...I am, in truth, a spy sent by the Head of the Elders' Council."
"I knew."
"Pardon?"
I smiled at the bewildered Sagong Cheon.
"I knew that much from the moment you first came. Isn't it obvious? The Head of the Elders' Council is desperate to devour both me and the Lord. There was no way he'd place just anyone at my side."
"...!"
"Naturally, he would've chosen one of his own people. So that my every move could be reported back to him. Am I wrong?"
"N-no. That's exactly right."
Sagong Cheon answered in a startled voice, as if he'd never imagined I would guess even that much.
"But I don't understand why you're telling me this now. Why take the risk of being branded a traitor?"
"That's because..."
Letting out a sigh, Sagong Cheon spoke.
"Because I didn't want to keep deceiving you any longer."
"Deceiving me?"
"Yes. From the very first day, you treated me warmly, Young Lord. And everything I've seen of you since then has shown me that you lack nothing as a lord worth serving."
Then, slowly, he began to explain.
He spoke of the way I handled matters in general. Of the chivalry I had shown when I spared Nam Cheon out of concern for his life. Of how I treated those beneath me well, and how I had distributed food and wealth to the villagers this time.
"You are the very image of a righteous hero, Young Lord. I didn't want to keep deceiving someone like that."
"Hearing it put that way is embarrassing. I'm no righteous hero. I simply did what I believed was right while taking what profit I could from it."
"Even so, the world is full of people who can't do even that. People like... me, for example. I agreed to the Head of the Elders' Council's plan to have you killed."
"So the Red Wolf Gang's attack really was his doing?"
"Yes. I don't know the details, but it was his work. And following his orders, I left you alone so that you would fall into danger."
So my suspicion had been correct.
Sagong Cheon hadn't failed to follow me. He had deliberately left me on my own.
Looking at me, he spoke in a gloomy voice.
"And yet you never blamed me. Even though I failed in my duty as your escort, you forgave me with a smile. After hearing that, I was so sorry I could hardly endure it."
"So that's why you're confessing now?"
"Yes."
Sagong Cheon bowed his head again.
"I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit. You may execute me, cast me out from my post as your escort, or hand me over to the Law Enforcement Hall. I am truly sorry, Young Lord..."
"Lift your head. If that's what you want, then I'll punish you."
I spoke in a gentle voice.
With a bleak expression, Sagong Cheon slowly raised his head.
I flicked my fingers and struck him on the forehead.
Smack!
"Ugh!"
"That is the punishment I give you. You've received your penalty, so from now on, devote yourself to your duties as my escort and protect me with greater diligence."
"Y-yes?!"
Sagong Cheon blinked in confusion and asked again, as though he couldn't understand.
He was shocked that I had forgiven his crime so lightly.
"Why are you so flustered?"
I smiled softly at him.
"You confessed your wrongdoing to me. That alone told me you had no intention of harming me. And in practical terms, you haven't actually caused me any damage."
"But..."
"Reporting my whereabouts to the Head of the Elders' Council? Anyone could've done that. Even if you hadn't become my escort and someone else had taken your place, it would've been the same. Leaving me alone on the battlefield? Did I so much as suffer a scratch because of it?"
No.
"In the end, you never directly harmed me out of malice. That's why your sin can only be a light one."
"Y-Young Lord...!"
Sagong Cheon's eyes trembled.
He looked deeply moved.
I patted him on the shoulder and continued. This was the important part.
"Still, there is one thing I'm curious about. Why did you choose to follow the Head of the Elders' Council in the first place?"
"That was..."
Sagong Cheon squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.
"...because of my daughter."
"Your daughter?"
"Yes. My child has been frail since birth. She would be healthy one moment, then be struck by bouts of fever and convulsions. Sometimes the fever grew so severe that she hovered at death's door. It's because her body contains too much Yang energy."
"Was she born with the Sun Constitution?"
"Probably something weaker than that. If Rin-ah truly had the Sun Constitution, she likely wouldn't have survived this long. But there's no doubt she has a similar constitution."
Sagong Cheon let out a very deep sigh.
"So I needed money. To save Rin-ah, I needed medicine that could dispel and at least partially neutralize that Yang energy. But such medicine was far too expensive. My monthly pay could never have covered it."
"So you put yourself under the Head of the Elders' Council."
"Yes. Once he learned of my circumstances, he offered to take me in if I became his hunting dog. From then on, I lived by handling filthy work for him, the kind of things I could never speak of to others. But..."
"That's enough. I understand the gist of it."
From my perspective, I was only confirming a story I already knew.
Now.
I realized the time had come to bring out the plan I'd formed from the moment I first met Sagong Cheon.
"Escort Sagong. If there were a way to cure your daughter's constitution, what would you do?"
"...!"
Sagong Cheon's eyes flew wide open, and he asked in a trembling voice,
"Is that true?"
"I can't promise for certain. But there is a possibility."
"P-please, tell me!"
With his daughter's life at stake, it was only natural that he had lost his composure.
Meeting his eyes, I spoke calmly.
"There is a spiritual medicine called the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb. A Yin-filled herb so potent that consuming it grants ten years' worth of internal energy."
"A spiritual medicine filled with Yin energy...!"
"If we had that, it could suppress the Yang energy in your daughter's body. Barring anything unexpected, she likely would never suffer from those fever attacks again."
"B-but how could I ever obtain something so precious..."
"This is a secret, but I happen to know where it grows."
"...!"
Sagong Cheon's face turned to shock.
He looked as though he couldn't believe I knew such a secret.
But it was true.
I remembered the bloodbath that had once broken out over the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb in my first life.
It was a notorious incident for quite a while.
Was it two or three years from now?
That should've been about the time I had just ascended to the position of Lord.
On a nameless mountain not far from the Northern Heavenly Sword Sect, an unlucky herb gatherer discovered the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb.
Carelessly, he bragged about it to a fellow gatherer...
And that very night, he was murdered and robbed of the herb.
The killer was the very man he'd confided in.
That man had grown bold enough to bargain with martial artists, trying to sell it at a high price as if it were an auction.
If he'd possessed the strength or backing to protect himself, he might well have made a fortune...
But an ordinary herb gatherer would never have such things.
Naturally, he too was murdered and stripped of the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb, and after that, all hell broke loose.
It didn't matter whether they were orthodox or unorthodox. They all joined the struggle to seize it.
In the end, the Sect Master of a heterodox sect called the Blood Blade Sect claimed it.
In any case.
That was now nothing more than a vanished past, a future that would never happen.
Because the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb would now be used to heal Sagong Cheon's daughter, Sagong Rin.
"I was planning to secure it soon anyway, so this works out well. Come with me. Once we obtain the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb, I'll give it to you."
"You truly... mean that?"
He looked dazed.
He simply couldn't believe it.
In truth, that was the normal reaction.
What martial artist in the world would hand over such a precious spiritual medicine to someone else so easily?
But I had already decided it would be better to give the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb to Sagong Cheon than to keep it for myself.
And it wasn't only because he was a martial artist destined to reach the Harmony Realm.
Even in my first life, Sagong Cheon helped me a great deal.
Back then, when I had been hated by everyone in the clan and left utterly isolated, the goodwill shown by him and a few others had been like shafts of light in the dark.
I might not be able to repay the debts I owed the people from that time...
But I could more than repay the people before me now.
That was why I was willing to yield the spiritual medicine like this.
I patted Sagong Cheon on the shoulder and said,
"Then let's set out at once."
Tonight, the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb would fall into our hands.
I immediately suggested to the Gale Squad, who had intended to return straight to the clan, that they rest for a while before heading back.
I used the excuse that some surviving bandits might return and harm the villagers.
Fortunately, the members of the Gale Squad seemed to want at least a day's rest themselves, so they readily accepted the suggestion to remain in the village.
Using the excuse that we were going out for a brief walk at night, we slipped out of the village.
"Fortunately, the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb's habitat isn't far from here."
If we used our lightness skills, we could reach it in less than two hours.
Sagong Cheon and I moved at full speed beneath the light of the full moon.
He looked at me with surprise in his eyes.
I must've been moving faster than he'd expected while using my lightness skill.
"Young Lord... have you been hiding your true abilities?"
"Who knows. Think whatever you like."
I refused to answer, wearing a meaningful smile.
Not long after, we arrived at our destination, the nameless mountain.
"This is the place. More precisely, it's hidden inside a cave halfway up the mountain."
"The Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb is here..."
"I don't know the exact location perfectly either, so let's move quickly. We need to be back before sunrise."
"Yes."
We hurried up the mountain.
Fortunately, the slope was gentle enough that even in the dead of night, the climb wasn't difficult.
Relying on the information in my memory, I found a cave halfway up the mountain.
A cave with a colder, eerier feel than the others... there's a good chance it's that one.
Just as I was about to step inside the cave...
Hiss!
A snake suddenly dropped from the ceiling, jaws wide open.
Apparently, this place was its home.
Shing!
I immediately drew my sword and slashed at the lunging snake.
The snake's severed body tumbled across the ground.
"Y-your reflexes are incredible."
Seeing that, Sagong Cheon spoke in slight disbelief.
Judging by his expression, he was now nearly certain that I had indeed been hiding my true strength.
Well, anyone could misunderstand.
I gave a small shrug and stepped deeper inside.
And before long, I found the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb in a place where faint moonlight filtered down from the ceiling.
However...
"Hm?"
I couldn't help tilting my head at a situation that differed from what I remembered.
The reason was simple.
There was not one stalk of the Under-the-Moon Four Yin Herb there, but two.