[Hmmm.......]

Hearing me, Yoo Cheongil lifted one corner of his mouth.

The rigid look unwound back to his usual face.

Even so, I had to keep my own face stiff.

[Renown, you say?]

He asked.

As if he didn’t know what I meant. I let out a hollow laugh at that.

“The situation in the archive. You knew all of it.”

We had headed to the Poison Sovereign’s archive.

Along with the accidents we suffered there. Could Yoo Cheongil really have not known that process? No, I didn’t think so.

“You knew everything and didn’t tell me.”

He knew.

That they would come to the archive.

He knew and still didn’t tell me.

“Right?”

[......Hmmm.]

Yoo Cheongil’s eyes narrowed even more.

Neither denial nor affirmation. That stance annoyed me to no end.

I was about to twist my face and add something to him when—

[Why do you think so?]

Yoo Cheongil posed the question to me.

Why did I think so?

Well.

“Because the way you tried to stop me said so.”

At each moment right before something blew up, there was Yoo Cheongil, stopping my actions with words.

That’s not possible unless he knew.

Yoo Cheongil knew things were going to happen.

Which means, he knew and still held me back.

Why would he?

I didn’t focus on the fact that he took such actions.

The important thing was always the reason.

‘So why did Yoo Cheongil do it?’

Even knowing the reason, why go out of his way to act like this?

I tried to get a handle on it. And it didn’t take long to realize it.

Because Yoo Cheongil had already said the reason to me in the past.

‘He.’

He told me to become the Zenith Under the Heavens.

Then, does “become the Zenith Under the Heavens” simply mean he wants me to get strong?

‘No.’

It wouldn’t be that.

If he’d wanted something that simple, nothing about the process so far would make sense.

‘If that were it, he would have just made me train.’

Why make a mess of things?

It looked like there was something he wanted to do through me.

This, too, would be tied to that.

If so—

‘Among the related reasons, what’s the one closest to the right answer?’

He purposely let the raid happen though he knew.

He stayed still all the way until we were fighting.

Then at the end he possessed me to face the enemy.

Did there need to be such rigmarole?

‘No.’

If I had, in any way, tipped off the Poison King.

Or if he had known in advance, even if we couldn’t have stopped it, we could have reduced the damage.

Yoo Cheongil didn’t say a word.

Why?

I ran a few branches of possibilities about that reason, but in the end reached one conclusion.

“You tried to shove renown into my hands, didn’t you?”

[.......]

Renown.

Or name value.

That was likely Yoo Cheongil’s intent.

‘You must become the Blue Moon Sect’s Young Lord of Rumors.’

Before becoming the Zenith Under the Heavens, that was what Yoo Cheongil had demanded of me.

To become the Blue Moon Sect’s Young Lord of Rumors.

If that’s the objective for now, it’s an objective—but what matters here is—

‘I don’t have what it takes to be Young Lord of Rumors.’

I had too many deficits to just decide to take that seat.

Opening of the Moon Eyes?

Successor to the Sword Saint?

I had the qualifications, but that alone didn’t make it possible.

The most important thing here was—

‘A lacking presence.’

A presence and renown too thin to be called the Sword Saint’s successor.

Compared with the current candidates for Young Lord of Rumors, I was a late arrival, yes, but more than that I had the shallowest renown.

Beating the Little Azure Sword?

At best that’s a late-bloomer among the Post-Seven Stars.

It’s only roughly comparable to the Seven Stars; unless it’s the Seven Stars proper, it’s meaningless.

Beyond that—

‘I’m being publicized as the Sword Saint’s successor.’

I know the rumors are spreading on the back of Yoo Cheongil’s renown.

Even so, it’s still slow.

And even if it spreads to everyone, if I haven’t shown anything, that too is meaningless.

Therefore—

‘So you pulled this kind of stunt?’

Wasn’t that why Yoo Cheongil did what he did?

‘To get renown faster.’

Pal Duyeok, was it? One glance and he was no ordinary master.

If I take down a guy like that and the rumor spreads, of course the speed of gaining renown skyrockets.

If he really did it with that in mind—

“......What are you, exactly?”

I had to reconsider what the existence called Yoo Cheongil was.

“What exactly is your objective.”

I’ll grant that you did this for renown.

I don’t like it, but I can accept it.

But—

“Those people were tied to your death.”

Heaven-Breaking Palace directly mentioned Yoo Cheongil’s death.

He must have heard it plain as day.

“Why are you just sitting still.”

Why is Yoo Cheongil reacting like that?

As if it doesn’t concern him, calm and unhesitating.

It felt like the only thing that mattered to him was me.

How could he be like that?

“You clearly asked me to look into the truth of your death.”

The truth of his own death.

For those words to be made meaningless—

“Then why don’t you care?”

When it came to this point he was close to completely indifferent.

Even now.

Eyes like he was listening to someone else’s story.

Only looking at me, only interested in my words.

I hated that to the core.

“What exactly is your objective. You never cared about your own death in the first place. Isn’t that right?”

He doesn’t care about his own death.

Thinking of that, I asked.

[Heh-heh-heh.]

Yoo Cheongil suddenly let out a laugh.

At that, my eyes narrowed without my knowing.

[Boy.]

He laughed, but only the corners of his mouth rose; his eyes didn’t smile.

It was chilling. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

A thought I often had when looking at him.

[For a martial man, death is something that’s always close.]

A cold smell.

The scent of death.

Unlike what you feel from a ghost who’s already dead—

When you look at Yoo Cheongil, that sensation comes on its own.

He was always close to death.

Just like me.

[You die because you’re weak. My death is no different. If I died, it’s because I was weak.]

“......Ha.......”

He died because he was weak.

A hollow laugh slipped out at that simple, clear awareness.

“So then it’s true you never cared in the first place?”

[Why would I not care.]

Clicking his tongue shortly, Yoo Cheongil added:

[It’s just that its importance is pushed a little to the back.]

“......”

What’s more important than the truth of his own death.

“What on earth is that.”

What could it be that it makes him act like this.

Grinding my teeth, I asked.

[Boy.]

Yoo Cheongil looked at me and said,

[Haven’t I told you. You must become the moon.]

“......The moon?”

[Yes, the moon. As my sword, you must bring the moon into bloom.]

Words I couldn’t understand.

The Blue Moon Sword Dance, which is modeled on the moon of the night sky.

Is he telling me to master it and get strong?

I couldn’t tell.

Then—

[It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand.]

As if he already knew my mind, Yoo Cheongil kept talking.

[You know anyway, don’t you.]

Yoo Cheongil’s gaze was hot. Hot enough to burn.

[I have things to do using you. And you, taking comfort in the pretext that I hold your life, know you have things you want to obtain.]

“......”

Words that stab deep into a sore spot.

It was something we both recognized without saying.

[So, get what you can through me. I’ll do the same.]

“......Even if the same sort of thing happens again in the process?”

Cases where, as in the archive, against my will I’m put in direct danger.

When I asked if there would be more situations like that—

[Ha-ha.]

Yoo Cheongil laughed with all his heart. A real laugh, different from before.

[Are you afraid?]

Ferocity was in his voice.

As I was about to answer—

[You already knew, too. All of it.]

“......”

[It’s laughable you’re pretending to realize it only now.]

I had to shut my mouth at his words.

Because he was right.

I was already aware regarding this.

Even if I didn’t know someone that strong would storm the archive—

I knew Yoo Cheongil was scheming something there.

‘Even when he made a move on the Poison King.’

I knew something bigger was going to blow.

Even knowing, I purposely didn’t dig deep.

The reason?

To be honest—

‘Because it would help me somehow.’

Whatever he did, in the end it helped me.

The matter of the Supreme Great Rejuvenation Pill right away, and countless other things besides that.

This time was the same.

‘If he’s scheming something—’

I thought it would help me.

With that thought I largely chose to watch for a while.

In short—

‘I’m the same kind of bastard.’

No different from Yoo Cheongil. I knew that well.

So rather than ask why he pulled such stunts......

‘I asked what the objective was.’

Yoo Cheongil, who shows no interest in his own death.

I asked because that was strange.

[Boy.]

He called me.

[Don’t waste strength in useless places. You get what you want, and I will too. That’s all.]

“......So you’re saying don’t bother asking. Is that it?”

[Heh-heh-heh....... No. That’s not it.]

Yoo Cheongil came closer. Right up to my nose.

[It means not yet.]

It meant: I’ll tell you someday, so shut your mouth for now.

“Because you let me get what I could, you’re telling me to accept it?”

[Maybe it’s because you’ve got a clever head—at times like this I like how quickly you understand.]

TAP TAP!

Yoo Cheongil’s big hand patted my shoulder.

He was a ghost, so he didn’t actually touch me. He only mimed it.

[Even if you want to know, hold back. Anyway—]

“......”

[You’ll know before long.]

Saying that, Yoo Cheongil walked past me.

I just stood there saying nothing.

Then—

[Ah.]

Yoo Cheongil paused and spoke to me.

[Congratulations. For a first time, it wasn’t half bad.]

“......?”

At the sudden congratulations I looked his way with a strange expression.

But by then Yoo Cheongil had been gone from the spot for a good while.

“Young Master Bang?”

The only one there was Tang Yeran, looking at me with worry.

“......Are you all right?”

“......Ah.”

At her question I had to force my expression into shape to speak.

Of course—

“I’m fine.”

Even if I said I would manage it, I couldn’t fully straighten my face.

“Let’s go. The walk...... seems to be over, anyway.”

Hiding the foul taste in my mouth, I spoke to Tang Yeran.

She nodded, still looking worried for me.

‘What was he congratulating me for.’

What on earth did Yoo Cheongil say he ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ was congratulating me for.

I wondered about it as we walked.

I learned what he meant in less than a day.

****

By the time the sun set and evening came—

“......What?”

I spoke to Cheon Eujin, stopping mid-meal.

“What did you say I am?”

When I asked, dumbfounded, Cheon Eujin—thrilled for some reason—told me:

“Little Sword Saint. That’s what people are calling Young Master Bang right now.”

“......”

It wasn’t late at night.

Suddenly, I had an epithet.