To Rise One Step Higher - 1
When morning came the next day, we left the Murim Alliance behind us. We had already gotten everything we needed out of the Alliance, and Sa Yun, for her part, seemed quite satisfied as well.
"We didn't leave anything behind, did we?" Chae Jin asked as she climbed aboard the wagon, and everyone nodded.
"Leaving so soon?"
An unexpected send-off party had appeared—Namgung Hwa, and Myo Jae with her. As the two women came up beside the wagon, I answered with a smile.
"Our original destination was Cheongho, after all. One-Eyed Dragon—I leave the rest in your hands."
"Ahahaha! Leave the investigation of Mount Cheonhoe to us! We'll show you exactly what the justice of the Murim Alliance looks like!"
Her confidence made me feel a twinge of guilt. Still, the Guardian Division would earn its own credit for disrupting the Demonic Cult's operation, so I decided to simply think of it as the two of us helping each other out.
"So. When does the Guardian Division plan to depart?"
"We're scheduled to leave this very afternoon. The Inspection Department and the Senior Combat Department will be going with us." Myo Jae said it as if it were nothing, then gave me a silent bow.
"Thank you."
"No, there's nothing to thank me for. If anything, I should be the one thanking you."
"Hehe. Is that so? Well then—have a pleasant journey."
When Myo Jae's farewell ended, Namgung Hwa waved toward Sa Yun. Sa Yun beamed and waved back, and Namgung Hwa called out breezily:
"Come visit the Namgung Clan sometime~!"
"Yes, Sister Hwa!!"
And with that, the farewells were done, and it was truly time to go. I climbed up onto the driver's bench.
"We depart now. If nothing out of the ordinary happens... we should reach Cheongho within three days."
"Look forward to it once we get there." Chae Jin said, as though she had been waiting all along for the chance, and Chae Ryeon nodded along.
"We're planning quite the grand welcome for you."
Just how grand were they planning to make this welcome?
The journey from Mugakseong to Cheongho passed without any real trouble. The weather, thankfully, held fine, and while a few Seekers did bar our path along the way, they were all opponents Sa Yun or Chae Ryeon could handle on their own.
Then came the third day of travel. I moved to take the reins, but Hyeon Hwi pushed me bodily into the wagon, telling me to rest for once. The evening before last, Hong Ryeon had driven from dusk onward; yesterday afternoon, Chae Jin had taken her turn. I insisted I was fine and refused again and again, but in the end I was shoved aside, and the wagon under Hyeon Hwi's hands rolled on from dawn until the sun stood at its height. That was when we arrived before a colossal castle.
"Wow..."
Sa Yun's gasp of awe drifted over from beside me. Certainly, Cheongho looked beautiful enough to earn it.
"Hehe. It's magnificent, isn't it?"
"Yes..."
Sa Yun's voice was trembling. And small wonder—before us lay a lake so vast and so blue-green that winter's chill had frozen it solid, turning the whole of it into one enormous mirror. It was a breathtaking sight.
"Winter at Cheongho has no end of things to see. When the lake freezes over like this, you can walk right out onto the ice—and the water is so clear and clean you can see all the way down to the lakebed."
"Really?"
"Yes. Hehe. Shall we go try it sometime?"
"Yes!"
Eyes sparkling, Sa Yun nodded vigorously. Chae Ryeon flashed her a grin.
"Of course, there is one condition—you have to keep up with your training at Moon Lotus Pavilion. Slack off, and you'll find it hard to get out at all. Father is very strict about that sort of thing."
Chae Ryeon had a point. After all, we hadn't come here on holiday. At those words, Sa Yun nodded deeply once more.
"I can't wait!"
"Hehe. Neither can I."
Chae Jin watched her younger sister chattering away with Sa Yun as though the sight were some rare curiosity. Catching her stare, I asked, puzzled.
"What is it?"
"It's just... strange, seeing Ryeon get that worked up."
"Is it?"
"Mm. Even with people her own age, she always dealt with them so calculatingly... Hehe. To think I'd get to see yet another new side of her. Come on, let's go. Lunch today is at Moon Lotus Pavilion."
At the sound of Chae Jin's lively voice, the wagon creaked and rolled forward. Was it because of winter? Cheongho's atmosphere felt all the more different from my last visit.
"Oh! What's that?"
"Ah, they're preparing for the Lantern Festival. In winter, monsters called Donggwi—Winter Ghosts—come out all the time, and heat is their great weakness. So they set out lanterns like that, to keep the Winter Ghosts from slipping inside."
It was a sight you would never see in Seomhwachon. Cheongho, too, was a place where spiritual energy gathered, but it had no power to drive the monsters off. That was why the people here made their own preparations against the beasts—like this.
Watching the lanterns hung from every building along the road, Sa Yun's eyes went round as plates. At the sight of her, Hong Ryeon chuckled.
"If this is enough to astonish you, what will you do when you set out on your martial pilgrimage?"
The continent was vast, and there was no end of things to see. Strange customs lurked in every corner as well. Hong Ryeon gazed at Sa Yun as though she were something adorable, then turned her eyes to Hyeon Hwi.
"You'll have your hands full when Sa Yun goes on her pilgrimage someday."
"Well, she is cute."
She certainly was—cheeks flushed red, giddy with excitement, gawking at everything in sight.
"Oh! Who are those people?"
Sa Yun cried out, startled, pointing off to one side. Chae Jin glanced over and gave a wry smile.
People trudging about with hollow, glazed expressions. They were the ones who had lost everything at the Cheongho carriage race.
"Ahaha... wouldn't those be the ones who burned through all they had?"
"...?"
Seeing that Sa Yun didn't follow, Hong Ryeon drew her closer. Yes. Better you don't look at things like that.
"Moon Lotus Pavilion isn't far now."
Chae Ryeon's voice rang out, and just as she said, a vast estate was revealing itself in the distance. There, I spotted the middle-aged man I'd met before, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
Doje. A master mighty enough to stand toe-to-toe with the Sword Saint. The lord of Moon Lotus Pavilion stood waiting there to welcome us.
"He timed it perfectly to our arrival, didn't he?"
"One of the Pavilion disciples posted at the castle gate probably ran ahead to tell him." Chae Ryeon said it offhandedly, and Hong Ryeon looked visibly surprised by the efficiency of that reporting chain.
Be that as it may, the wagon rolled on until it drew up before Moon Lotus Pavilion.
"Come in, all of you."
A stern, dignified, utterly grave voice. As Doje, standing at the head of the line, spoke those plain words, I climbed down from the wagon.
"It has been far too long."
"Mm. It has indeed. Have you been well? I hear no small amount has happened over in Seomhwachon."
"Thanks to your concern. And thanks to Moon Lotus Pavilion's aid, we were able to weather the crisis. I offer my gratitude for the support you sent that day."
It was true that the Moonlight Squad had come to our aid in the battle against the New Four Black Lotus Alliance. That had been Chae Ryeon's judgment, of course, but even after the fact, offering words of thanks was simply proper. As I saluted with a cupped fist and bowed my head, he studied me for a moment before speaking.
"I hear you'll be staying at Moon Lotus Pavilion for a while. Let us talk again later."
"Yes."
After all, I was carrying something the Sword Saint had given me. I stepped back, and Hong Ryeon came forward to greet him on everyone's behalf.
"Hong Ryeon, First Disciple of the Hongseong Sect, greets the Blade Emperor."
"It's been a while. You seem stronger than before."
"Yes. Good people have stood beside me."
"I see. And you there—Hyeon Hwi, was it? I remember your fist arts."
"Thank you."
"And..."
Doje's gaze settled squarely on Sa Yun. Then he chuckled and turned to Chae Ryeon.
"She'll make you a worthy rival."
"And a good friend, too."
"Right."
With that, Doje turned to Chae Jin. He held her calm, unbothered gaze for a moment, then let out a dismissive snort.
"Still far short of the mark. Since you're here, learn properly before you go."
And that was the end of it. Doje turned and strode inside, while the remaining disciples smiled and ushered us in after him.
"But why would the Blade Emperor ask to see you separately, Innkeeper?" Hong Ryeon wondered as we entered Moon Lotus Pavilion.
Indeed. What could he possibly want to talk to me about?
I had no answer for that either. I glanced at Chae Jin and Chae Ryeon, but the two of them only tilted their heads.
We were given the grand treatment the moment we arrived. What kind of lunch called for a spread this extravagant? We ate dishes delicious enough to rival Yohwan's cooking, and were resting in our assigned rooms when—
As I sat gazing at the setting sun, mulling over what needed doing, footsteps sounded from the garden.
"Oh? Blade Emperor, is that you?"
"Mm."
Doje stood in the garden near my room, his face as stony as ever. But I distinctly remembered hearing that everyone else had gone straight off to train?
"I can hardly begin instructing them the moment they arrive. The real training starts tomorrow. They've had no chance to practice properly on the road, so I've given them today to train on their own."
On matters of martial arts, Doje knew best. If he said so, then so it was. I nodded, and he broke into a grin.
"If you're free, care to share a drink?"
"Gladly. Let's do that."
I followed Doje into the inner quarters of Moon Lotus Pavilion. The room we entered, braving the chill evening air, was a cozy-looking chamber deep within the estate. Before long, maids slipped in and began setting out a drinking table, and soon it stood fully arranged in the room.
Once the maids had withdrawn, Doje eyed the wine jars as though something about them displeased him, then said:
"A valued guest has come all this way—liquor like this won't do. I'll fetch what I've been keeping for myself."
When he returned from saying so, an enormous wine jar was cradled in both his arms.
Whoa. We're in for some serious drinking tonight.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Not at all. Actually, I..."
I drew the letter the Sword Saint had entrusted to me from inside my coat. At the sight of it, Doje's puzzlement deepened.
"If you have a favor to ask, you need only say so. I owe you debts here and there, and my daughter is living under your care out there besides."
"It's nothing like that. And rather than say Lady Chae Jin is the one under obligation, I'd say I'm the one indebted to her. As for this... the Sword Saint asked me to deliver it."
Tilting his head, Doje accepted the letter I held out. He unfolded it, read it through—and burst into a chuckle.
"Do you know what's written here?"
"Not a clue."
Doje passed the letter to me, and the words written there were more than enough to set me laughing as well.
— A Letter from the Sword Saint —
Innkeeper Yu Wol is one of ours. Do not lay a hand on him carelessly.
Haha. One of ours, is it?
I found myself thinking of the Sword Saint, practically preening at me before I departed. Being claimed like that... it felt pretty good.