How to Stack Inner Power as Easily as Eating Dang-gwa - 3
I honestly couldn't decide whether to call it "just as expected," or simply "a matter of course."
I had already learned from the last incident that Hong Ryeon was a fellow member of my Sayun Faction. And an arm bends inward first, as the old saying goes. Which meant my duty here was obvious: stand on Hong Ryeon's side.
"So the reason you came looking for me is that business?"
A nod. The instant the hesitating Hong Ryeon bobbed her head, Chae Jin's sharp gaze came lancing into me.
"What could this man possibly have? Don't tell me Hongseong Sect has finally decided to lure itself in a husband. Surely it's not something like that?"
"Hmmmmmm..."
Hong Ryeon couldn't get the words out. Then, a faint flush creeping up her face, she began to fidget.
"It's... a little awkward to say it here..."
And she kept stealing glances at Chae Jin.
Hmm. I can more or less guess why. I beckoned Hong Ryeon over, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, pitched low enough that Chae Jin couldn't catch a single word.
"Don't tell me you came to ask for credit?"
"Ugh."
She jerked—and the shoulders that always stood so proudly square gave a tremble. Haha. Figures.
The upkeep of Hongseong Sect was covered through Hong Ryeon's labors alone. Which meant that if she had to go hunting elixirs through some hidden realm, someone would need to fill the gap she left behind.
But if no commissions had come down to the other disciples just now? With more mouths than coin to feed them, it was only natural—perfectly natural—that a hard-pressed Hong Ryeon would turn to the nearest hand she knew. Mine.
By Hongseong Sect's own principles, after all, its disciples would never go reaching into their families' purses or holding out their hands to another sect.
"...This is really embarrassing to say out loud."
Her face gone scarlet, Hong Ryeon ducked her head, and I gave her shoulder a consoling pat.
"We're hardly strangers, you and I. I can manage at least that much."
"Wha—?!"
We are the Sayun Faction!
People running toward one single goal!
Then what measly line of credit in the world could we possibly fail to extend?!
Truth be told, I would rather have simply given it to her outright—but that would trample not only Hongseong Sect's principles, but Hong Ryeon's pride along with them.
So credit it was. That much was for the best.
We're not strangers, after all!
"As I told you before—you, too, are a child to me."
"...Er. Um."
"Now and then, there's no harm in leaning on one's elders. All the more so when the one you lean on is someone you yourself have acknowledged."
"Did I... acknowledge you?"
Did she forget?
I gave a shrug to the plainly bewildered woman.
"You were the one who called me a good person."
Jolt. Hong Ryeon's eyes—eyes she trusted as she trusted nothing else in the world—locked onto me.
As I am forever saying, I am a man who lives without a single blot of shame beneath the heavens. Even if she saw straight through me, nothing would change.
"...I did, didn't I. You were a good person. One I acknowledged."
Then silence fell again, and what finally burst out of it was a long, deep sigh.
"In that case... might I lean on you, just a bit?"
"Of course. But this is credit, mind you—it will be repaid in full."
"What! What! What is it?! What are you two whispering about?! Are you two actually dating?!"
Good grief, that local broadcast of hers is deafening. Ignoring Chae Jin, who was shrieking beside us with her eyes all but bulging out of her head, I met the gaze of Hong Ryeon, who was looking up at me with wide, round eyes.
"...You're really sure about this?"
"Of course!"
If the hole you're about to punch is all for the sake of making Sayun stronger, then what on earth couldn't I do for you!
At my firmness, Hong Ryeon at last let out a breath of relief.
And then, her expression considerably easier than before—not stiff as it had been—she looked up at me and gave a little wink with one eye.
"Mm... I won't forget this kindness. And needless to say, I'll settle every account down to the last coin. Though if it's ever a personal favor you want—I could hear one out..."
"Worry yourself not. I've no thought of ever putting Hongseong Sect, the Sword Saint, or your sisters to use."
If such a person ever existed, I intended to drive them off first, before anyone else could.
"My eye really didn't fail me. You're a good person."
Well, obviously.
There isn't a single bad apple in the Sayun Faction.
I smiled at Hong Ryeon, and she smiled back at me.
"Ah. And, um—that meal I mentioned before. Could we do it tomorrow? I was thinking of filling the kids' bellies before we head out, so..."
"Not a problem in the least."
"Aaargh! Why do you both keep ignoring me!!"
Because there's no need to listen to a naughty child, that's why!!
And so Hong Ryeon, her business concluded, departed without a second's hesitation, while the abandoned Chae Jin stamped her feet in place before finally making as if to leave.
But there was, at present, exactly one inn in all of Seomhwachon.
Step out that door and she would be sleeping under the open sky. So in the end, grumbling all the while, she trudged back inside.
"One room."
"Three nyang of silver, please."
Without a word of protest, she laid the silver atop my palm. Then, halfway up the stairs, her footsteps stopped.
"You. What exactly are you to Hongseong Sect?"
What am I to them, indeed...
A difficult question, that.
In my heart of hearts I cherished Hongseong Sect and meant to keep it alive and well—but how they regarded me in return was anyone's guess.
So I gave her no answer, and after glaring at me with a sulking scowl, she stormed roughly upstairs.
"Will you be all right, sir?"
Chae Jin was, after all, a master famed throughout the murim. Perhaps because I now seemed to be on poor terms with such a personage, a few of the waitresses drifted over with anxious faces—but there was really nothing worth fretting over.
Even if she blew her top, what could she possibly do beyond killing me?
Besides, she belonged to the orthodox path; over a trifle like this, she would hardly lash out unprovoked.
When I returned to my room, a courier of the Courier Gate was waiting. He dipped into the same neat little bow as ever and held out a single sealed letter.
Oh... she's written again, has she?
Smiling, I unfolded the letter.
I think I understand at last, if only a little, what it means to grow day by day.
At Hongseong Sect, every morning begins with basic conditioning, and then we run up Mount Hongseong. And on that run, for the very first time, I bettered my own record. Of course, that still leaves me dead last, exactly as before.
Come to think of it, they say a person's growth is like bamboo after the rain—more often than not, it shoots up all at once, without warning.
Uncle—ah, that is right. The letter you sent reached me safely. You are the one who told me to call you "Uncle," and so I have decided to do just that.
Senior Sister Yu Hui, upon reading your letter, said, "If he's a man, surely 'Elder Brother' would suit him better?" But I found I could not turn my back on the name you chose for yourself.
In any case. Ever since I treated the senior sisters to Dang-gwa with the silver you sent, I believe I have come to understand one thing.
The divine art of our sect, the Hongseong Divine Art, means the Ominous Star. In other words, the red star.
A star as vast, as mighty, and as savage as any that hangs in the sky.
And yet the Ominous Star carries, too, the meaning of sacrifice—burning itself away so that others may live on in safety.
And so, to empty oneself of what one has, and share it with another—that, I have learned, is itself a kind of enlightenment.
Perhaps thanks to that enlightenment? Eldest Senior Sister taught me—a disciple still so terribly lacking—a single technique.
Though she did say it was because I must be able to protect this body of mine with my own two hands.
At the same time, training for the other senior sisters grew stricter as well.
Maybe that is why? Even now, as I write this very letter, my hands are trembling like leaves. Of course, the same is true of every one of the senior sisters.
For the sake of those struggling sisters, I tried to buy Dang-gwa once more with the silver you sent.
But Eldest Senior Sister Hong Ryeon told me to set that money aside instead.
She said the reason I struggle so when learning a new technique is the shallowness of my inner power, and that to deepen my inner power I must obtain elixirs—and that elixirs are not things to be had for a nyang or two of silver.
Still, I find myself wondering: am I truly permitted to spend the kindness you have shown me on myself alone?
But I suppose I must.
I suppose I must become a little stronger.
I hear the world outside has grown terribly restless of late. May the red star's protection watch over you always, Uncle.
Thinking of you beneath the light of the moon,
— From Sa Yun, disciple of Hongseong Sect
I pray with all my heart that someone appears for her as well. Someone she can bare her heart to, the way I bare mine to you.
Someone like you, Uncle—the one who reached out a hand to me, who was nothing at all!!
So that was why the round, endearing little handwriting wavered here and there. Well, granted, even the easiest technique of the Hongseong Divine Art's latter half was all but drilled into her whether she was ready or not—strain was only to be expected.
All the more so with her inner power running as shallow as it did.
As I thought—what Sayun needed, right this very moment, was inner power.
I sat tapping the letter against my knee, turning it all over in my head, then nodded once, took up my brush, and set my reply down in quick, sure strokes.
It was around the time I was setting up for the midday service the next day.
Ordinarily this was when the laborers would wander in to fill their bellies before noon, demanding liquor and somen noodles—but today's first customer was a different creature altogether.
The one who stepped through my door was a lovely young woman in a Hongseong Sect training uniform, worn with age but scrubbed spotless.
"Um... h-hello..."
As she hovered there sheepishly, a waitress came forward to meet her.
"You're with Hongseong Sect, I see. Right this way, please. Your reserved table has been prepared."
I had briefed the staff after hearing Hong Ryeon out the day before. Perhaps that was why? The hesitation drained out of the woman's face, just a little.
"But... is this truly all right?"
"It's fine."
"Oh! Then you must be the master of the inn?"
With an awkward smile, the woman clasped her fist in a formal salute.
"I am Ryu Hyeon, a disciple of Hongseong Sect. I have brought the juniors in Eldest Senior Sister Hong Ryeon's place."
"Hm? And Nak-ilgeom?"
"Eldest Senior Sister says she has business today and cannot come.... Um... and also..."
She let out a small sigh. Behind her, the disciples came trickling in. Shooting a glance at her cheerful junior sisters, who understood nothing, she murmured in a voice so small and so mortified it was barely more than a mumble:
"On credit..."
"Ah, have no worry on that count."
"Thank you so very much! I hardly know how I could ever repay such kindness..."
"That matter was settled between Nak-ilgeom and myself. You need not trouble your head over it, Miss Ryu."
At my flat, decisive answer, she bowed her thanks once more, embarrassment and gratitude warring on her face.
Meanwhile, girls lovely as spring blossoms filed into the reserved room. Only after the last of them had gone inside did Ryu Hyeon follow, and I hollered toward the kitchen.
"Bring out the dishes we prepared!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
A ferocious bellow answered from within, and moments later the waitresses began carrying platters into the reserved room. First a simple porridge to settle the stomach; then Jisamseon—a stir-fry of eggplant and vegetables which, back in Cheonsang Myeongwol, had been a dish that raised one's stamina.
And with every dish that crossed that threshold after it, cheers and cries of wonder came spilling back out.
Just knowing one of those plates was for Sayun sets a whole corner of my heart glowing with pride!
And so the meal rolled on—noisy and raucous, drowning in laughter brimming over with happiness—until at last it had more or less run its course.
With a long creak, the door slid open, and the disciples of Hongseong Sect emerged looking thoroughly satisfied with life.
And among them, I found Sayun—her eyes curved in a smile so soft and happy she seemed to be melting—holding hands tight with the girl I'd seen before, the one called Yu Hui.
She looked happy.
Without a whisper of worry, without a trace of shadow—simply shining, bright as light itself.
Then her eyes met mine. Recognizing me, she blinked those eyes wide and tilted her head.
But my gaze never wavered, and so she softened again into a warm, gentle eye-smile and dipped her head in a small bow.
Ahh.
It's sweet...
Dizzyingly sweet...
Yes. This—this is what I, what we, wanted to see...
Now I can pass on in peace, content at last....
.........
...Come to think of it, it's not enough.
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