With Poison (3)
The series of events had unfolded so differently from what I expected that I simply stood there frozen, unable to react, for a good half-second. Had she just run away? I snapped out of it, turned my head toward Namgung Seha, and found her smiling awkwardly while shaking her head. She clearly hadn’t anticipated this either.
“What now?”
“I… don’t know?”
Her voice trembled faintly, something I hadn’t heard from her in a long time. I asked her carefully.
“Should we wait?”
“…I plan to, at least.”
I was phrasing it indirectly—if she wanted to leave, she could. There was no real reason for me to go anyway. It wasn’t as if I could train inside the Tang Clan, and simply having a way to pass the time was a welcome change.
“Then let’s wait together.”
Good relationships were always beneficial. They allowed you to become each other’s support. Bonds built on trust and faith rather than cold calculations of gain and loss. Most of the connections I had made until now had been that kind.
And as always, I trusted Namgung Seha’s judgment without question.
“Can you tell me about her while we wait?”
“I feel like I need to know what kind of person Dang Heea is.”
Unfortunately, my first impression on her didn’t seem particularly favorable. A stranger—or perhaps a ghost that merely looked human. I should have learned about her first and approached more carefully. She knew what kind of person Dang Heea was, while I knew nothing at all. What she liked, what she disliked. From the current situation alone there was something slightly untrustworthy about her, but hearing more would still be better.
“…The first time I met her, she must have been twelve or thirteen.”
She hesitated for a moment before slowly beginning her story.
“It was during the summer of the second half of the year. I accompanied the others to a meeting of the Five Great Clans, and the day before, we shared a meal with people from the Tang Clan. That was when we first connected.”
“As you saw today—and that day as well—she always carries a cat with her. His name is Ryang. It means ‘light.’”
“I don’t know about now, but back then she was quiet without being this shy around strangers.”
“Even in a situation where she might as well have been a duck out of water among her own Tang Clan blood relatives, she never lost the will to keep moving forward.”
“She isn’t particularly close with her family, but she seems closest to her half-brother, the Poison Dragon, and one of the elders, Dang Yeom.”
“Unlike me, who prefers sweet and salty flavors, she likes spicy or sour foods. Strangely enough, she dislikes sweets.”
“Oh, and sometimes she talks with Ryang. She says she can occasionally hear what animals are saying. Interesting, isn’t it?”
She let out a small chuckle, then added that sometimes it really seemed like she could hear them. After that, she suddenly turned to look at me.
“That’s about it. You can find out the rest yourself.”
She jerked her chin toward my right. It was a silent signal to look that way, so I followed her gesture and turned my head.
Small eyes peeking from beyond the door. And right in front of them, a cat crouched and meowing. It was unmistakably Dang Heea. I wasn’t sure if she thought she was hiding, but her shadow stretched out clearly, making her completely visible.
Not knowing what else to do, I simply raised my hand and waved. Dang Heea flinched once, then waved back in return.
“Cute.”
The word slipped out before I could stop it. She was the first childlike child I’d seen in a while, after Namgung Hye. It felt too much to call Namgung Jinhak or the Poison Dragon children, and Peng Dowei’s size made the term laughable. My heart felt lighter.
“…Hmph. I’ll overlook the ‘cute’ comment, but if you touch Heea, you die.”
Our Seha might look adorable, but she certainly had a talent for delivering terrifying lines. While I was smiling awkwardly at the deadly yet sincere warning, Namgung Seha slowly approached Dang Heea and greeted her.
“Um… hello?”
She carefully extended her hand, asking for a handshake. Dang Heea hesitated for a moment before taking it even more cautiously. Namgung Seha gave her the brightest smile in the world.
“Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Namgung Seha. I’ll be staying at the Tang Clan for the next five days starting today.”
“I-I’m Dang Heea. Nice to meet you.”
After introducing herself, Dang Heea paused briefly before turning to look at me.
What should I do? Wave like before? Greet her properly like Namgung Seha? Or something else entirely?
After countless internal debates, I settled for a simple, safe nod and spoke.
“I’m Jin Sowoon. I’ll be staying at the Tang Clan for five days along with Namgung Seha. It’s nice to meet you.”
Dang Heea hesitated for a moment, then smiled the same way I had and waved her right hand in greeting. After lowering her hand, the cat was already nestled in her arms.
She slowly looked back and forth between us before speaking cautiously.
“By the way… what brings the two of you to me…?”
I started to open my mouth, then closed it again. Namgung Seha had already begun explaining in detail.
“I occasionally exchange words with Young Master Poison Dragon since we’re acquainted, and on the way here to the Tang Clan this time, I happened to hear about his younger sister from him.”
“After that, I grew curious about what kind of person the younger sister he cherishes so much might be. If possible, I wanted to become friends, so I came to visit.”
When did that happen? I had been following behind the Namgung sisters’ carriage the entire way and never once saw Namgung Seha greet Dang Hoyeong. Moreover, in all the conversations I’d had with him, we had never once spoken about his younger sister.
It was a complete fabrication with only the part about being acquainted with the Poison Dragon holding any truth. Yet it was strangely specific, which made it oddly convincing. Wondering if she had wet her lips before lying, I glanced at her. They were already glossy. She worked fast, as expected.
“…Brother Hoyeong said that?”
At those words, Dang Heea’s face brightened with clear delight.
…. I would need to give Poison Dragon Dang Hoyeong a heads-up later. No—better yet, I should subtly brainwash him during our next conversation. Something like how his younger sister really did seem as kind and wonderful as he had described. A perfect plan. I refocused on Dang Heea.
“Huh?”
While I had been thinking, Namgung Seha had already sat down on the porch beside Dang Heea and begun chatting with her. Her affinity was incredible.
“…May I join you as well?”
I moved closer to the edge of the porch. Dang Heea nodded. With her permission, I sat in the empty spot across from Namgung Seha and shifted my body slightly closer to Dang Heea.
“So both of you are martial artists?”
Dang Heea asked, looking back and forth between us. Namgung Seha nodded.
“Yes. And despite how he looks, Sowoon over there is a Dragon just like Young Master Poison Dragon.”
“Despite how he looks…”
It was an unnecessary descriptor, but never mind. No need to dwell on it.
Dang Heea’s eyes widened as she stared at me. I gave a small nod in confirmation.
“Though I’m still lacking, the world calls me the Extreme Sword Dragon.”
She let out an admiring gasp.
“Wow… that’s amazing.”
After her exclamation, something seemed to occur to her. She lifted her head and fixed her gaze on me.
“Um, I once attended a celebration at the Namgung Clan. There was a child around my age who fought incredibly well back then.”
“Was that you? The Sword Madman?”
I nodded.
“That’s correct. Until recently I was called by that name. It was more than I deserved, even then.”
Dang Heea turned her head toward Namgung Seha. Her eyes traced the other girl’s snow-white hair.
“I’ve heard about it. They say people of the Namgung Clan have their hair turn white when they reach a certain realm… You must be just as impressive.”
She placed her hand on Ryang’s back and began stroking it silently. Then she spoke again.
“I’m a little envious.”
“When it comes to martial arts, I can’t even follow the proper formulas, so the elders of the family have already given up on me.”
“I study other things, but I’m not particularly outstanding at that either.”
The story was bleak. The mood had suddenly grown heavy, and I was still searching for the right response when she lifted her head once more.
“Still, I have friends, so I’m not sad. Even someone like me has friends who will always stay by my side.”
Friends.
“I’ll introduce you.”
Dang Heea carefully set Ryang down on the floor. She brought her hands together and called out toward the sky.
“Everyone!”
Her voice rang out. There was no internal energy behind it, yet it carried the faintest vibration.
“….. Huh?”
It felt strangely familiar. Not the tone or the voice itself, but that subtle vibrating quality of her speech.
“Hehe. These are my friends.”
At her call, countless friends answered. Sparrows, mice, cats, squirrels, chipmunks—nearly every animal that lived within the clan seemed to have appeared.
“I can sometimes communicate with animals, you see?”
Right. It looked similar to the scene I had witnessed before.
“…. Where have I seen this?”