The Young Sword Saint
"...I'm a what?"
I froze, spoon suspended halfway to my mouth.
A what-saint?
I frowned, thinking I had misheard.
Seeing my reaction, Cheon Ui-jin smiled.
"The Young Sword Saint. That is what people are calling you, Young Master Bang."
"..."
Cheon Ui-jin repeated it, confirming my ears hadn't deceived me.
I slowly lowered my spoon back to the table.
"...The Young Sword Saint."
"Yes, that's right."
"...Ah. I see."
Oblivious to my lukewarm reaction, Cheon Ui-jin chattered on with an excited expression.
"It's truly incredible. Of all things, the Young Sword Saint..."
"Well... Ah, yes."
I wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come.
A thousand thoughts rushed to the tip of my tongue, but none of them felt safe to utter.
Instead, I could only think:
A title... for me?
I was utterly dumbfounded. It was the first time in my life I had ever received a martial title.
For any ordinary martial artist, this would be a moment of supreme joy.
But is this really happening?
I couldn't process it. It just felt absurd.
The Young Sword Saint, of all things.
Obviously, slaying Palduyeok with my own hands played a part.
And on top of that...
It's because of my connection to the Sword Saint.
Word that I was the Sword Saint's successor had undoubtedly spread throughout the Dang Clan by now.
They must have pieced the two together to coin the moniker.
But still.
Can they really throw the name 'Sword Saint' around this easily?
Even with the prefix 'Young' attached, a Sword Saint was still a Sword Saint.
Considering the sheer weight that name carried in the Jianghu, it wasn't something to be tossed around lightly.
This is ridiculous.
I let out a dry laugh, still reeling from the sudden promotion.
"Young Master Bang? Are you alright?"
"...Ah, yes. I'm fine."
I forced myself to pick up the spoon again.
My stomach, completely ignoring my mental crisis, growled fiercely, forcing me to keep shoveling food down my throat.
As I forced the food down, Cheon Ui-jin spoke up again.
"Senior Brother said he wrote a report on the situation and sent a carrier pigeon to the main sect."
"I see."
The details about the Heaven-Destroying Palace and the attack on the Dang Clan.
Do-hyeong had compiled everything and sent it to Cheongwol Gate.
Well, it would be stranger if he didn't report it.
With an incident of this scale, it was the only logical step.
"So, has anything else happened within the Dang Clan since then?"
"The Clan Leader and a few others are rooting out spies, but..."
Cheon Ui-jin hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"They say the moment a lead is found, the suspects commit suicide. Even those captured alive refuse to speak."
"Hmm."
So they were catching them. And from the sound of it, the numbers were significant.
Is this going to be okay?
If the number of spies exceeded a certain threshold...
It means they might have penetrated much deeper than we thought.
The Dang Clan was one of the Great Five Families, wielding immense influence.
For spies to infiltrate such a place, and in large numbers at that...
If that's the case...
Our situation wasn't looking very bright either.
"Young Master Cheon."
"Ah, yes?"
"Has our return to Cheongwol Gate been delayed because of this?"
"...!"
Cheon Ui-jin's eyes widened. It seemed I had hit the nail on the head.
Damn it.
An internal crisis was underway, and they were in the middle of a spy hunt.
Under these circumstances, even if we were guests...
We're bound to be grounded.
To the Dang Clan, we were potential security risks.
They wouldn't let us leave easily until the dust settled.
Well, looking at the food, we're still being treated as guests for now...
The neatly arranged dishes on the table suggested they still held us in decent regard.
But...
There are too many guards around.
I had noticed a significant increase in the number of Dang Clan martial artists stationed around our guest quarters.
They were far more visible than before.
Their official excuse would be protection.
They would claim it was to guard against another attack.
But that's just a pretext. The real reason is surveillance.
A precaution against any unforeseen variables.
Since we were outsiders, this was the Dang Clan's way of keeping tabs on us.
Treating us like saviors on the surface, while keeping us under lock and key.
If we asked to return to Cheongwol Gate now, they would undoubtedly cite the ongoing crisis to keep us here.
"Tsk."
This was getting annoying. Just as that thought crossed my mind...
"For now, we've agreed to discuss it once the Clan Leader returns, but..."
Cheon Ui-jin spoke awkwardly. I frowned and finished his sentence.
"Which means he isn't here right now."
"...That is correct."
The Poison King was bound to be the busiest man in the clan right now.
Which meant we had no choice but to wait.
Well, my body is still recovering anyway. Maybe I should just take it easy.
It wasn't entirely a bad thing. I was in no condition to exert myself.
Honestly, even lifting a spoon was exhausting right now.
Let's just rest and see how things play out.
When you have no options, waiting patiently is the best course of action.
With that thought, I took a large bite of rice.
And as for the title...
Even if the Dang Clan was calling me the Young Sword Saint...
It was just a rumor circulating within their walls.
It might not even spread outside.
It would probably die down soon enough.
I tried to reassure myself, but...
At the time, I didn't realize.
A rumor originating from within one of the Great Five Families...
...carried far more weight than I could have ever imagined.
"It's the Young Sword Saint."
"...That young man is the Young Sword Saint?"
"The one who killed the Demonic Leather Spear and saved the Dang Clan?"
"From the rumors, I expected a giant... but he's not. He looks much younger than I thought."
"And he's handsome, too."
"..."
The whispers echoing from all directions made it hard to keep my head up.
I tried my best to ignore them as I walked, but it was no easy task.
...Damn it all.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
A few days had passed since the incident.
My body was still far from fully recovered, but I was at least mobile.
Which was why I was currently out in a local prefecture of Sichuan.
My destination was the local branch of the Martial Alliance.
"Are you really okay?"
As I walked, trying to ignore the staring eyes, the woman beside me spoke up.
It was Dang Ye-ran.
She had accompanied me under the guise of a guide, though in reality, she was my watchdog.
Naturally, she wasn't alone; a contingent of Dang Clan martial artists followed closely behind.
I glanced back. About ten Dang Clan warriors were trailing us.
What a luxurious escort.
When else would I ever get escorted by such powerful martial artists?
I knew it was surveillance disguised as protection, but the sentiment remained.
"I'm fine."
When Dang Ye-ran reached out to support me again, I raised a hand to politely decline.
Even then, the whispers persisted.
"They say the Young Sword Saint hasn't even reached his twentieth year... and indeed..."
"He defeated a Peak Realm master with that slender frame...?"
"I heard he manifested Sword Astral."
"What... Sword Astral?"
The voices buzzed around me.
The streets were packed, yet everyone seemed to know exactly who I was.
How did it come to this?
How on earth did the rumors spread so fast?
Just a few days ago, it had only been a minor stir within the Dang Clan. I had hoped it would blow over, but the moment I stepped into the town, those hopes were shattered.
I realized my optimism was entirely misplaced.
-The Young Sword Saint...
-Is he really the Sword Saint's...
-That young man...
-His robes belong to the Sowol Squadron...
Almost everyone in the town recognized me.
Escorted by Dang Clan warriors, and wearing the uniform of Cheongwol Gate's elite...
The uniform of the Sowol Squadron was probably a dead giveaway.
That certainly didn't help my attempts to blend in.
Sigh.
The rumors were spreading far faster and wider than I had anticipated.
Wait. Don't tell me...
The Beggar Alliance isn't going to get involved, are they?
They were one of the Nine Sects and One Gang, the premier information network in the Jianghu.
It was said that when the Beggar Alliance moved, the entire Jianghu shifted.
No way. Surely not.
Would the Beggar Alliance really pay attention to someone like me?
I desperately wanted to believe they wouldn't.
Shaking off the thought, I kept walking.
Just then...
Yoo Chun-gil, floating in the air, chided me.
And right next to him...
Dok-jon glared at me with a demonic expression.
"..."
Walking around was exhausting enough, but doing it with a pair of ghosts was a whole new level of misery.
It really wasn't easy.
I forced myself to ignore them and swallowed a sigh.
Seriously.
It wasn't like I wanted to come out here.
If it were up to me, I would have stayed tucked away in the Dang Clan estate.
But...
What choice do I have? Orders are orders.
A message had arrived from Cheongwol Gate.
Strangely, they hadn't sent it directly to the Dang Clan, but to the local Martial Alliance branch.
The message specified that I had to retrieve it in person, which was the only reason the Dang Clan had permitted me to leave their estate.
Still, it was puzzling.
Why me? Why not Do-hyeong or Cheon Ui-jin?
They were both members of Cheongwol Gate as well.
It was suspicious that they had singled me out.
Did something happen?
It had to be something directly related to me for them to act this way.
Hmm.
I prayed it wasn't anything serious.
As I walked, silently praying...
"Um, Young Master Bang."
Dang Ye-ran, walking beside me, spoke up.
"Yes?"
"Ah... It's nothing, but, by any chance..."
"Yes?"
"Well..."
"...?"
She trailed off, hesitating. I looked at her, wondering what was wrong, and noticed her cheeks were slightly flushed.
"Later... for dinner..."
"Dinner?"
"Yes. If you have time..."
Just as she was about to finish her sentence...
Neigh!
The sound of a horse whinnying cut her off. A carriage was hurtling toward us, and it was dangerously close.
Without thinking, I grabbed Dang Ye-ran's shoulder and pulled her back.
"Ah!?"
She gasped, flinching at the sudden contact.
The carriage was bearing down right where she had been standing, so I had pulled her out of harm's way.
"Ah, sorry about that."
I immediately let go of her.
"...Ah. No, it's..."
Dang Ye-ran stammered, her face flushed and dazed, but my attention was already fixed on the carriage that had just sped past.
"What the...?"
Who drives a carriage that recklessly? In the middle of a busy town, no less?
I glared at the carriage, wondering if the driver was insane.
"...Huh?"
But as I got a proper look at it, my body froze.
It was a massive, luxurious carriage.
A deep blue carriage that looked even grander than the one Cheongwol Gate had provided us.
A wealthy person owning a fancy carriage wasn't unusual. The world was full of rich people.
The problem was...
"...That... That is..."
The flag fluttering from the carriage.
And the crest emblazoned upon it.
"Why is that here...?"
I stared in disbelief.
I knew that crest all too well.
I had no choice but to.
It was the symbol of the most prominent family in Yoryeong, the town where I grew up.
"...No, it can't be."
My heart began to hammer against my ribs.
For some reason, the carriage came to a sudden halt.
The vehicle, which had been hurtling forward just a moment ago, stopped dead in its tracks.
Looking at the crest, a cold shiver ran down my spine.
"No... Surely not."
There was no way.
She couldn't possibly be here.
I stared, praying I was wrong.
Creeeak!
The door of the stationary carriage slowly swung open.
Tap.
A pale, elegant foot stepped out, followed by the rest of the passenger.
"...!"
The moment I saw her face, I turned to stone.
She was a woman with porcelain skin and raven-black hair.
The instant she appeared, she commanded the attention of everyone on the street.
A peerless beauty.
She was so breathtakingly beautiful that one couldn't help but gasp.
Stepping gracefully down from the carriage, she let out a soft hum.
"Hmm."
She looked in my direction and spoke in a sweet, melodic voice.
"Found you."
The instant those words left her lips...
"Damn it!"
"Young Master Bang!?"
I spun on my heel and bolted.
I didn't care if my body screamed in pain.
Right now...
Why is that psycho here?!
I had to get as far away from that crazy woman as humanly possible.