Omen of the Prologue (1)

A few days had passed since my trip to Yangwi Fortress, but life hadn't gotten any easier for me. Work, after all, had to be done every single day—and so did training.

Honestly, I'd assumed what Chae Jin declared back then was just a joke, but the training had genuinely gotten harder. She seemed to have made up her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mind completely—so much so that she looked positively desperate to devour me whole. Then again, perhaps thanks to that, my stamina had improved quite a bit.

Even if my body was exhausted.

"Aigoo..."

"Are you all right?" Sa Yun, out on patrol today, gazed at me struggling and offered her consolation, her eyes full of sympathy.

I turned my gaze toward Chae Jin, who sat in the backyard grinning from ear to ear, but she merely raised a finger as if to say, One more?

"Well, at least it looks like Young Lady Chae is teaching you properly. Ahaha."

A dry laugh. Fidgeting, Sa Yun glanced around; the other martial sisters who had come along on the patrol seemed to be getting ready to move on.

"I'll be off, then."

"All right. See you in a bit."

Once Sa Yun had drifted out of sight, Chae Jin sidled casually closer. Fiddling with a nearby chair, then a broom, she remarked, ever so offhandedly:

"You're rather close with the Hongseong disciples, Innkeeper."

"Well. I suppose I am."

"Then..."

"If you're about to ask me to arrange a duel with the Sun-Falling Sword, don't bother. She's been quite busy lately."

"Oh? That wasn't what I was going to ask."

Huh? It wasn't? And here I'd thought the single most important thing in Chae Jin's life was crossing blades with Hong Ryeon. I looked at her, and she met my eyes with a gaze that didn't waver an inch.

"I hear the Sun-Falling Sword is studying under the Sword Saint these days. If you want to duel her, shouldn't you be heading back to the Moon Lotus Pavilion soon to learn properly from the Blade Emperor yourself?"

"I can train just fine here, you know."

She really didn't look like she wanted to leave. Had I smeared honey all over the inn or something? I studied her for a moment, then shrugged.

If she didn't want to go, so be it. Honestly, from where I stood, having Chae Jin stay was something to be grateful for. She was here as my bodyguard, after all. When the day came to fight the Iron Blood Dan, she could at least keep this one body of mine alive—and if things went truly sideways, she could step in herself.

"Well, then. Do as you please."

"Oh, I intend to. Which means I'd better get some training in myself. If Hong Ryeon's working that hard, after all." Speaking leisurely, she drew her blade with an easy motion, lifted it above her head, and simply stood there.

I had no idea what she was playing at, but interrupting someone mid-training felt wrong. I headed straight for my room. Work, after all, wouldn't do itself.

Back in my room, I set to work: the harvest and storage of the barley and other crops, the payments owed to our tenant farmers, taxes, and a whole ledger's worth of other figures. Then there were the officials I might meet through Cheon In-hwa's introduction, and my plans for talking them into buying our goods.

I was still mulling one thing after another when a sound came from the window.

"Ah. Welcome."

"Three today."

What the ever-faithful Courier Gate messenger held out was two letters and a single box. One of them was... Oh! A letter from Sa Yun! Fresh energy surged into my work-weary brain. I'd tuck that one away safely for later...

The other letter was from the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild. A new product had been released, they wrote; try it out, verify its effects, and send back a report. The supply was plentiful, the note assured me, so I wasn't to worry about running short. Having read it through, I folded the letter neatly, set it aside, and picked up the box.

It was from Jin-gwon Hall. I'd been planning to visit before long to collect my reward—had they simply been unable to wait and sent it themselves? I opened the box and blinked at the unexpected contents.

"This is..."

Inside sat a stone the size of my fist: a Moon Essence Stone. One of the materials from Part Two—used properly, it could be crafted into a talisman called the Moonlight Talisman.

"Now, what were the Moonlight Talisman's effects again..." Tapping the stone, I put my mind to work. Beyond a basic boost to one's physical abilities, it drew in moonlight on nights when the moon was up and accumulated qi—faintly, but it worked. And the fuller the moon, the stronger the effect became.

I lifted out the small slip of paper inside the box. A letter from Oh Chil—so this really was Jin-gwon Hall's thanks for the other day. They had tried to find a talisman-crafter to send along with it, the note explained, but that person was away at the moment. The Cheonghoe Merchant Guild had mentioned that a certain Master Yu was deeply learned and might know the method, and so they had sent the single most important ingredient: the Moon Essence Stone itself.

I knew the recipe, of course—but knowing it and being able to make it were two very different matters...

"Hm... Maybe I should just sell it." Or find someone who could craft talismans, have one made, and send it to Sa Yun. I tapped the Moon Essence Stone a few more times, then shook my head. Sa Yun's letter first.

Her handwriting was as round and lovely as ever, and the contents were more than enough to warm my heart. A name for her sword, though... Even in Cheonsang Myeongwol, that sword had never borne one. The more it was wielded, the more proficiency it accumulated, and in step with that it would give off a glow—and because that glow was rather pretty, some players had taken to calling it the "Pretty Sword." Beyond that it was simply a good, unremarkable blade, and no one had ever come up with a name that truly fit. I turned the matter over for a while, then simply set down my brush. I'd think on it a little longer before writing back.

Either way, Sa Yun's letter had breathed fresh life into my tired head. Time to see to the rest of the work, too. I sorted what needed sorting and handled what needed handling, and by the time I'd walked out to the paddies and fields to check on the barley and returned, the sun was sinking low.

Bathed in the crimson of the setting sun, I came back to the inn and made for the backyard—where Chae Jin still stood, right where she had been. In almost exactly the same stance as before. There was only one difference: the blade that had hovered above her head when I first laid eyes on her now rested at about the height of her chest.

She had started at lunchtime—and in all those hours, the blade had moved... that far?

The Blunt Sword—no, the Blunt Sabre.

As I'd seen before, Chae Jin pursued extreme speed and nothing else. At speeds too fast for the eye to follow—swift as moonlight settling to earth—she cut her enemies down. And that was why, one day, she would fall to her younger sister, Chae Ryeon. Over the course of the main story, Chae Ryeon would attain enlightenment not only in speed but in slowness as well, and in the Part Four main story she would defeat Chae Jin, who had chased nothing but extreme speed. It would be a beautiful sight—her sister stepping beyond the very wall that had held her back. From where Chae Jin stood, though, losing to her own little sister would sting like nothing else.

And yet here she was—the woman who had held speed alone to be the one and only truth—training in slowness. Well, well. Chae Ryeon was going to have a rough time of it later.

Anyway, she looked deeply focused. Which meant... could I maybe skip my own training today?

"It's time."

Of course it was. The instant my training hour arrived, Chae Jin slid her blade back into its sheath.

"Now then. Shall we begin?"

Watching her wink one eye and flash a honeyed smile, I could think only one thing: So this is obsession...!

True to her word, the training was a cut above—ruthless enough to make my body scream—and by the time it ended, the Hongseong disciples were returning from their patrol. Sa Yun took one look at me gasping for breath, smiled brightly, and stepped closer.

"Training's rough on you, isn't it?"

"It's no walk in the park."

"Hehe. Then, if you're up for it, shall I knead those shoulders for you?"

What?! A reward like that?! Sa Yun really is an angel... I had no thought whatsoever of declining. There are things a man refuses and things he doesn't—how was anyone supposed to resist this? I stretched out on the long chair in the backyard then and there, and Sa Yun began pressing firmly into my shoulders.

"Ahh..."

To be honest, I'd expected nothing more than a light patting and hadn't hoped for much. The mere fact that Sa Yun was giving me a massage was already a gift—but this felt far better than I'd imagined. What was this?

"Have you heard of Chugyeong-gwahyeol? Master does it for me and the other senior sisters now and then. I'm only imitating what I've seen her do, but since it works along the acupoints, I thought it might do some good... How does it feel?"

"This is... really something." And I meant it. The knots lodged in my shoulders, neck, and back were loosening, little by little.

"The Hongseong Divine Art may be the martial art of the Ominous Star, but it is also an art for caring for and protecting others. So it lends itself to healing as much as to destruction."

"That's a beautiful thing."

"I only learned that recently, studying the later portions."

"I see. Ah—could you keep working that spot a little longer?"

"Here?" When her thumb bore down into the wing of my shoulder blade, a groan slipped out of me before I could stop it. When she had finished with my back, Sa Yun stepped away, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Phew. I think that should just about do it. Why don't you get up and move around a little?" I rose and twisted this way and that. My body had loosened up beyond all doubt.

"I'll learn more from Master and do this again sometime. Hehe."

I could have cried. While I sat there, moved beyond words, Yu Hui, who had come on patrol with her, called Sa Yun over. Time for them to head back, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed.

"Then I'll see you again soon. Ah, that's right—from tomorrow we won't be able to come down. Master is putting us through intensive training."

"Yes. Senior Sister Hong Ryeon has finished her own training, so she'll be handling the patrols for the time being..."

Was that so? Well, nothing to be done about it.

"All right. I'll speak to the local office separately. And you went to the trouble of massaging these old shoulders—why don't you take something back with you?" I hurried into the shop. I'd considered wrapping up some Dang-gwa sweets, but she'd surely have some left from last time, so I grabbed something else instead.

"I made some rice cakes yesterday. Take them and share them among yourselves."

"Oh, no, I... it feels as though all I ever do is receive..."

"Thanks to that massage, I'll be able to work all the better from now on. Seen in that light, it's a perfectly fair trade. If anything, I'd say these fall short."

"F-fall short?! They're more than enough! Right, Senior Sister Yu Hui?!"

"Yep, totally. Next ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time I'll give you one myself. Actually, whenever I go home to visit, I'm the one who massages my father and my uncle. They all say it feels wonderful, so I'm sure you'll love it too, Innkeeper."

"Well, that's something to look forward to. In any case—take them." They tried to decline several times over, but they were no match for my insistence. At last the two accepted the rice cakes and departed, and I watched them go with a fond smile.

"Fond of the girls, are you? You seem to get along with them better than I expected."

The voice drifted over from the stairs. She ambled down at her leisure and settled into the seat near the backyard that had all but become her assigned spot. I opened my mouth for a half-hearted reply—and stopped.

Huh? Hold on. Don't tell me this is a sales angle.

"What, do you dislike them, Young Lady Chae?"

"It's not a matter of liking or disliking—I've simply almost never had occasion to get involved with the girls."

"Then why not take this chance to get to know them?" I said it with a smile. Chae Jin pondered for a moment, then shook her head.

"That won't be easy."

"Strange words, from someone who never flinches from a new challenge."

"Who? Me?"

"Aren't you training the Blunt Sabre right now—reaching to claim slowness on top of your extreme speed? They say extremes clash, yet extremes also complete each other and flow as one, but either way it's no easy road. Watching you throw yourself at it to grow stronger, I'd say you're hardly the type to shy away from something new." I asked, calling to mind her training from earlier. For a moment she seemed struck dumb, lips pressed shut—only after tipping back a cup of liquor did she find her voice.

"That's... well, teaching you brought a few things to mind, that's all. I'm merely trying them out."

"Then try this, too. I'll see about arranging the opportunity one of these days. Setting aside all that talk of shared sects and worthy rivals, times like these are exactly when it pays to build good relationships, I think. Besides, the Hongseong disciples are all good kids. And Sa Yun—not that I'm biased, but that child is genuinely kind at heart..."

"Haah. Fine, fine, I get it. Leave you to it and you'll talk until the end of time. But our Moon Lotus Pavilion girls are all good too, you know? Ryeon-ie has a temper on her, granted, but she's good at heart. So when you meet them someday, no complaints." Chae Jin took another sip of her drink as she answered.

Nice. Did my sales pitch just land? I'd call that a closed deal, wouldn't you? Good. Back to work, then.

I had just returned to my room, lit the lamp, and begun poring over the paperwork when a knock sounded at the window. Second time today. The ever-present Courier Gate messenger stood there, letter in hand.

"...Jin-gwon Hall?" An express seal was stamped into it. What could be urgent enough to send express? I unfolded the letter and clicked my tongue.

The handwriting was a scrawled mess—he must have written it in a tearing hurry. But it was precisely that which told me how much of Oh Chil's heart was in every stroke.

"Gohwa Dan and Jugyeong Dae..." Both were groups in the Iron Blood Dan's pocket—the sell-swords who would move in from outside when Hongseong Gate came under attack. They were also the very groups that would one day be absorbed into the Iron Blood Dan.

In other words, the fact that they were on the move meant the prologue was about to begin. I'd heard they'd joined some war between other sects, and I'd been planning to hire someone to keep watch on them once it wrapped up... Who knew I'd learn of it this way instead? That saved me a good sum of money.

Regardless, the omen of the prologue's beginning had appeared—and I wasn't the least bit afraid. No, if anything, I might have been waiting for this very moment. Even before now I had been turning it over in my mind, and the memories came flooding back: the countless debates among the veteran players who had long made their home in Cheonsang Myeongwol, trading IF scenarios about how Hongseong Gate might hold out through the prologue.

Now, at last, was the hour to call upon the power of collective wisdom. Without a moment's hesitation, I set my brush moving.