The Way Forward - 2

After finishing dinner with Hyeonryeong, I sat alone in the back yard. I'd even brought my pipe out with me, and I let my thoughts keep moving with the tobacco smoldering away.

In the first scenario we had drawn up, the greatest danger was still Seomhwachon being dragged into a war among the unorthodox sects.

Wang Hwi, the current Alliance Leader of the Four Black Alliance, was no pushover in the martial arts, but he was a moderate — a man who chose stability over fighting. Which meant that, from where we stood, the best possible outcome was to help him win the coming struggle for control of the coalition. The trouble was that the odds were far too slim to justify the effort. After all, from the moment the new Alliance Leader had shown his face, the coalition's core factions would already have begun defecting to his side.

The unorthodox sects had been far too quiet all this while. Moderate Wang Hwi had wanted growth rather than war, and had chased stability — and as their power swelled, that pursuit must have grated on the hot-blooded sects, on those whose greed had been festering for years.

Ugh. These bastards. What I'd give to stuff the whole lot of them into the army. If they've got that much strength and nowhere to spend it, let them go fight demon beasts...

"Hoo..."

A pale haze of smoke veiled the night sky. I stared up at it and kept thinking.

It wasn't as if I lacked options. If, as Hyeonryeong had said, the Military Inspectorate already regarded this as a threat and was watching, then the army had its eyes on the war brewing among ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the unorthodox sects as well. Which meant — what if I reported whichever sects and factions were likely to spawn that danger, had them rounded up to the last man, and shipped off to the front lines? The war's scale would shrink, and somewhere in the process the forces capable of striking Seomhwachon would dwindle until only the likes of the Iron Blood Dan remained — or they would cut their losses and start hunting for a different opportunity.

This one... hm. I'd have to seek Ha-O Gate's cooperation and push it through. War was the last thing they wanted, either.

Even with the letter to Ha-no drafted, the night's work was nowhere near done. Draw a plausible outcome from each scenario, settle on a response to it, then calculate the other possibilities. Wherever reality diverged from the scenario, analyze the gap, pinpoint where the error lay, and test whether the correction could be folded back in. Intelligence from Ha-O Gate, the reports the Blue Gathering Merchant Group had sent a while back — everything went into the pile.

I pressed at my weary eyes, returned to my room, and relit my dead pipe. The rich scent of tobacco seeped through the pitch-dark room, where only a few candle stubs gave light, and in that haze I kept working through the documents.

The moon had long since climbed past its zenith.

And yet, for me, it was still far too early to sleep.

Morning came. As always, I did my Five Animal Frolics, came in to open for the morning rush, and then practiced the Chae Family Tai Chi.

I was in the middle of my work when I heard the patrol party approaching. My eyes went straight to the window and—

Huh?

"Sa Yun?"

A cute girl in a worn robe, striking for her ash-grey hair — the kind that looked like it would be warm and soft to the touch if you ran your hand over it.

It was Sa Yun.

Out on patrol with Yu Hui, it seemed; the two of them came around into the inn's back yard, and I hurried downstairs.

"Isn't Hong Ryeon with you today?"

"Oh! Innkeeper! Hello!"

"Hello!"

I returned their greetings. When Yu Hui slipped inside the makeshift outbuilding in the back yard to sort out the patrol log, I turned to Sa Yun, who was beaming up at me.

"And the Sun-Falling Sword?"

"Ahaha. Well, about that— oh, right! Please take this first."

What Sa Yun handed me was a single letter.

...What is this?

When I stared at the one terse line, Sa Yun's face lit up in a smile.

"My master asked me to pass it along."

"Haha. Is this for yesterday's gift?"

"Hehe. Yes. Actually, it's also why Senior Sister couldn't come out today. She's making our robes right now, together with Ryu Hyeon and Hyeon Hwi, and the other sisters who know how to sew."

Ah. So that's why she couldn't come. Skilled with a needle as she was, even she couldn't sew robes for twenty disciples all by herself.

"Honestly, I'm quite fond of this robe too... it's sturdy."

Never mind the patch marks scattered all over it. When my eyes went to the sleeve I'd patched a couple of times, Sa Yun started and quietly tucked it behind her back.

Then she laughed a sheepish little hehe.

"A-anyway! The fabric you sent is just so lovely..."

"And sturdy, too. Should make fine robes, I'd say."

"Haha. You think so?"

Yet even as she smiled her reply, a faint shadow crossed Sa Yun's face.

Come to think of it, hadn't she written in her last letter that she had a lot on her mind? Was that it?

"You look a little gloomy. Did something happen?"

"Mm, no, nothing like that. Hmmm... it's just that I've had a lot on my mind lately, really."

"If you're all right with it, why not tell me? Who knows — I might even have an answer for you."

"Haha. You have plenty enough worries of your own, Innkeeper... you needn't take on mine as well... Mm. It's just... the future, I suppose. What to do about tomorrow, what to do about next month. And the year after. Whether I can keep up with my master's lessons. I'm learning the new forms from the latter half of the Hongseong Divine Art, and if I want to grasp them more easily, then..."

"That's quite a lot."

"...Pardon?"

"You can hold any number of thoughts at once, that much is true. But — as the Sword Saint will no doubt teach you in time — put your thoughts in order of priority. Try to carry them all together and they'll end up nothing but a tangled skein of thread."

"Mm... I see. It seems I still have a long way to go."

Sa Yun smiled wanly, and I shook my head.

"You're more than admirable already, just as you are. So don't sell yourself short. When I was your age..."

What was I like at Sa Yun's age, again? Hmm... Right — a good-for-nothing too busy playing around to do anything else. Compared to me, Sa Yun could fairly be called thoroughly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠accomplished. At the very least, she knew what she was supposed to be doing.

"I was far worse."

"Hehe. Really? I can't quite picture it."

"Haha. I'm a far more lacking man than you imagine. Anyway — don't overcomplicate things. Thinking deeply is a good thing, but I've seen plenty of people get seized by their own thoughts and sink all the deeper for it."

"I suppose that's true... Hehe. Thank you for the teaching."

"It was hardly worth calling a teaching."

"My master says one can receive teaching from all things under heaven. Which means your words, Uncle, count as a great teaching to me too."

Sa Yun blinked and smiled sweetly, and I smiled back.

While we chatted, Yu Hui apparently finished up inside, because out she came.

"Sa Yun! All done! Let's go!"

And Yu Hui thanked me once more as well.

The fabric really must have made her day.

"By the way, where are you off to?"

"Hm? Ah. Just stepped out for a bit of air."

"I see. Then we'll be getting back to our rounds."

"Right. Keep up the good work."

I saw the girls off. Watching them recede into the distance, I passed a hand down my face.

Well. Break's over. Back to work.

A few days had passed since my return from Cheongho.

Not that daily life had changed much for it.

And yet, the day that would change that daily life was drawing near. Tomorrow had arrived — the day Hong Ryeon, Sa Yun, and I would set out for Changungwan, just as we'd promised.

It would only be three or four days, but an absence was still an absence, so there was work to get through first. I was deep in preparations when someone knocked at the door.

"Come in."

I assumed it was a staff member or one of the maids, but no report followed. It felt awkward to tear my eyes from the paperwork, so I kept reading — until a soft clink sounded right beside me.

I looked up to find Chae Jin. What she had set down on the desk, buried under an avalanche of documents and paper, was an enormous glass filled to the brim with green liquid.

"Ah. Miss Chae, is it. And this would be...?"

"Yohwan told me to bring this to you. It's good for you, so you're to take it without fail, every last drop. Oh, and I have something to discuss, too."

"Ah — as it happens, so do I."

Deciding to start with the drink, I raised the glass straight to my lips—

What IS this taste?!

"Ahah! Good medicine is bitter to the tongue, you know! Drink it all. Every drop."

"Ugh..."

But what could I do? I drained the glass to its dregs, and Chae Jin beamed, thoroughly pleased with herself.

"By the way — haven't you been working awfully late these days? Your lights were still burning before dawn."

"Haha. You noticed?"

"Mm-hm. I was chatting with Yohwan about this and that, and ended up staying up later than I meant to..."

"I see. Now — what was it you wanted to discuss?"

"Ah, right. Chang Ju asked me a favor. She needs some materials and medicinal herbs, and wanted to know if I'd come along to help gather them. And since I'd be out that way anyway, Yohwan asked me to pick up ingredients for her medicinal dishes too..."

"Hm. How long would that take?"

"It's somewhere out past Yangwi Fortress, so... four days at the outside?"

Well, that works out nicely.

"By all means, go. Since you'll be near Yangwi Fortress — there's something I need delivered to the Blue Gathering Merchant Group. Take it along and hand it over while you're there."

"Oh. Yes, of course."

"And I'll be away on a little trip of my own while you're gone, so don't you worry about me."

"Huh? Wh-where are you going?"

"Three, four days perhaps — to Changungwan, to fetch a ritual implement. And if it's an escort you're worried about, don't be. Hongseong Sect's Sun-Falling Sword will be with me, and..."

"...With whom?"

"The Sun-Falling Sword. Hong Ryeon."

Chae Jin's expression shifted, ever so slightly.

Just as Hong Ryeon's had, once before. Then again, given the history between those two, it was hardly a puzzling reaction. The two of them were well-matched rivals, after all — and Hongseong Sect and Moon Lotus Pavilion had long counted each other as worthy opponents.

"Hongseong's youngest, Sa Yun, will be coming along as well. As it happens, I'd been meaning to ask a favor of you on this very matter — your timing is perfect."

"No, wait — hold on. A favor, you say?"

"Well. Once I bring the ritual implement back from Changungwan, it has to be installed. That's more than I can manage alone... but with the two of us, it should be just right. Breathing is everything when you set one of those in place and activate it. What we did at Cha Mo's inn — remember? Our breathing matched rather well, if I recall."

In truth, I had meant to leave the installation to Hongseong Sect. Even in Cheonsang Myeongwol, a ritual implement could only be installed by practitioners of the same martial art, their breathing joined as one. But when Chae Jin and I had unfolded the Chae Family Tai Chi together at Cha Mo's inn, I'd decided the two of us could manage. Hongseong had more than enough on its plate already; no sense wearing them out for nothing.

"Uh. Ah. Um. Er. Hehe. Hee. Hehehet! W-we do, don't we? Our breathing does match?! Ah! It felt wonderful that time, didn't it?!"

I couldn't say — I'd been too busy fighting to notice. If someone stronger than me enjoyed it, then I suppose it was enjoyable.

"...Hoo. But to Changungwan... you're not going there alone, just the two of you, are you?"

"I told you — Hongseong's youngest is coming too. You know her? Sa Yun."

"Yes, well, I've seen her around a few times, and we've talked when I ran into her on patrol. She's a genuinely sweet child, isn't she?"

"Mm. Apparently the girl has never once been to Changungwan. I mean to take her along while the chance is here."

"Oh my... has she? Hm... well, that tracks. She does look after the little ones of her sect so well..."

Chae Jin fell silent for a moment, thinking it over, then gave a small nod.

"Understood. Then that's exactly what we'll do."

She accepted my request without a word of protest.

I felt a twinge of guilt — I always seemed to be piling things on her.

"Thank you. As always."

Chae Jin, halfway out the door, stopped short. She studied me for a long beat — then burst into that trademark laugh of hers, brimming with confidence.

"O-ohohoho!! I— well, honestly, is that all it takes? You can ask for far more than that! No holding back — lean on me all you like!"

And with that, Chae Jin left the room looking thoroughly delighted, humming a tune under her breath as she went.

In any case, with Chae Jin on board... the installation was settled. All that remained was to make the trip and come back in one piece.

Dawn, the following day.

We'd have to leave early in the morning to reach Changungwan by evening, so I'd told Hong Ryeon and Sa Yun to be at the inn on time. And so, when I came downstairs with my preparations finished, I found Chae Jin already up and about in her comfortable clothes.

"What are you doing up? You could have slept in."

"Seeing you off is the least I can do."

As she said it with a soft smile, a stir of movement came from the inn's entrance.

A woman and a girl, arms full of luggage.

Hong Ryeon and Sa Yun.

"Mm. Welcome. We'll eat breakfast on the road — I've made a batch of Seomhwa steamed buns. Load your things onto the cart."

Hong Ryeon and Sa Yun loaded up. I settled Sa Yun onto the cart, then turned around—

—and found Hong Ryeon and Chae Jin facing each other, smiling, without a single word between them.

"Hello."

They had spoken in the same breath, neither yielding an inch of the gaze locked with the other's.

Was this what a clash of rivals looked like? The atmosphere was no joke. The one mercy was that neither had so much as brushed a hand toward her weapon. Then again, both fought just as well bare-handed — if I didn't step in, this would end badly.

"...Save the duel for later."

Only then did the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two of them tear their eyes apart, each stepping back a single pace.

And Chae Jin, the smile never leaving her lips, said evenly:

"Shall we set a date once I'm back? We'll have to work around your schedule too, Innkeeper."

"Fine by me."

Hong Ryeon returned it without missing a beat.

And with that, Chae Jin headed inside, while Hong Ryeon climbed aboard the cart.

Well, then... and what was I to do about this atmosphere?

I shook my head.

Do about it? Nothing, that's what. It was a crossing they'd have to make sooner or later anyway — all I could do was see that neither of them came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away seriously hurt.