“It’s finished.”

In the cold air, a voice rang out. At Iron River Master’s words, I looked at what lay before me.

The enormous saber. Full Moon, the blade Yoo Cheongil had used.

“The edge was only rusted, so I ground it. The cold iron itself wasn’t in bad shape, so I added a few more refinements in the restored state.”

I listened to the explanation and looked it over from different angles.

More precisely, I pretended to.

‘...Like I’d know what I’m seeing.’

When he’d said it was only a temporary restoration last time, it had looked fine, so I’d assumed it was completely fixed.

Even now, I couldn’t feel that big a difference.

[Good. His skill isn’t bad at all.]

Yoo Cheongil, inspecting the blade himself, gave a faint laugh.

“Looks well done.”

I echoed his words.

[The color of the edge and its condition are good.]

“The edge looks to be in great condition.”

[He must have controlled it well when he hammered the cold iron; the durability and hardness are just right.]

“...Its durability and hardness look excellent.”

Once I adjusted his later words a little before saying them, I could see Iron River Master’s expression subtly change.

“You have a decent eye.”

From the way his lips curled, my words had hit the spot.

“Take it up.”

“Ah, yes.”

At his instruction, I cautiously wrapped my hand around the grip.

I tried to lift it one-handed—

ZING.

“Ugh.”

Pain shot through my right arm immediately, and I obediently grabbed it with both hands.

This crazy sword.

‘How the hell did he hold this one-handed?’

And that was when he’d been at a lower realm than I am now.

Yoo Cheongil had definitely lifted this with my body, with one hand, and fought like that.

‘...That’s impossible.’

Even now that I’d reached the pinnacle, it was impossible. Sure, my right arm wasn’t fully healed yet, so that made it worse—but even so, it felt way too wrong.

“Mm.”

I raised the saber and examined it this way and that.

[Rouse your hardened qi.]

At Yoo Cheongil’s words, I sent my energy into it.

FWOOOOOOSH—!!

“...!”

Hardened qi seeped into Full Moon, and Iron River Master’s eyes widened at the sight.

“...Oh...”

I was the same. The way Full Moon swallowed my energy—more than just radiant, it was outright dazzling.

‘So this is why they tell you to use a good blade?’

Both the Divine Sword and Full Moon.

The way they swallowed qi was on a completely different level. They say a true master doesn’t blame his tools?

‘That’s all bullshit.’

When it’s this good, who the hell wouldn’t care about the tool?

I gave Full Moon a light once-over and set it back down.

“...It’s good... Really good.”

That came from the heart.

“...Heh-heh-heh.”

Iron River Master let out a chuckle at that.

“I’m glad it suits you. Ah, and this.”

As he spoke, he pulled something from his chest and held it out to me.

What’s this?

When I took it, a cold sensation filled my hand.

‘...Some kind of guard?’

To the eye, it looked roughly like a wrist guard.

“Master. This is...?”

I glanced at it, puzzled, and Iron River Master spoke as if it was nothing.

“It’s nothing special, just something I roughly made from the remaining cold iron.”

“Ahh. I see, nothing special... Cold iron, you said?”

Did I mishear that? I could’ve sworn he said he made it out of cold iron.

“Made from what was left over.”

“...Even if it’s leftover...”

Cold iron was precious enough you could sell it off as powder, and he’d put enough into a guard to make one of these? How much had he used?

“Why give this to me...?”

“Half as a sign of welcome, half as a sign of gratitude.”

“...Sorry?”

“The welcome is for Mister Yoo. The gratitude is for you. No need to think too hard—just take it.”

“I’m not really sure what you’d be grateful to me for...”

Iron River Master gave a faint laugh at my confusion.

“You let me see something good, didn’t you.”

As he said that, he pointed with his hand at my waist. The Divine Sword Tang Yeran had made hung there.

“Feels like I managed to spit up a bit of the bile I’d been choking on. So take it.”

“......”

I didn’t say anything to that.

‘So that’s what this is.’

In the end, that gratitude meant: thanks for letting Tang Yeran make a sword.

“There’s something I’d like to ask.”

“Speak.”

“Why is no one in this family capable of being straightforward?”

“......”

His eyes widened at that. Then he burst into loud laughter.

“Hahahaha! True enough. Most of us are like that.”

“...I wasn’t saying it to make you laugh.”

“Shameful as it is, you’re right.”

“......”

Chuckling under his breath, Iron River Master soon let the laugh die.

“Precisely because of that, we may feel more grateful to you. Whether it’s me or the Clan Head.”

“...Sorry?”

I frowned at that.

“I can’t imagine Clan Head Tang would ever feel that way about me.”

“We’ll see.”

At my almost certain tone, Iron River Master laughed again.

“You never know.”

I left Iron River with Full Moon in hand. Carrying the case outside, I caught a glimpse of the sky glowing faintly with color.

‘I got Full Moon back and...’

With Poison King’s permission, I’d received Full Moon from Iron River Master. That meant all the important business I had in Tang Clan was finished.

‘Then I really can leave tomorrow.’

I’d already passed the word to Do Hyeong and Cheon Eujin, so it really was just a matter of getting ready to depart.

‘So we’re finally going back.’

I could finally return to Henan.

‘...Didn’t even stay that many days, but it feels like home.’

This place was every bit as uncomfortable as anywhere else, but strangely, it still felt like I was going home.

With that in mind, I glanced to my side and spoke.

“Hey. You got all your stuff together?”

“......”

At my question, the bastard next to me—Tang Cheonil—flinched.

“...Preparations are... all finished.”

“Yeah? Nice work. Guess that genius title means something—you’re fast, I’ll give you that.”

“......”

His face twisted. I swallowed a laugh at the sight.

For some reason, just looking at him made me want to laugh.

‘Overall, the harvest was solid.’

I’d gotten a lot out of Tang Clan.

Honestly, I couldn’t call any of it a loss. It was all gains.

‘...A lot of gains.’

Starting with the Supreme Great Rejuvenation Pill, then the Divine Sword and other top-tier weapons, plus having Tang Clan as my backing for a while.

On top of that, my realm had reached the pinnacle.

‘...I’m pretty sure I was still first-rate when I set out.’

What kind of lunatic goes from third-rate to pinnacle master in under a year?

Even I could barely believe it.

It still felt surreal that I was at the pinnacle.

‘Now what’s left is...’

I had to figure out how to use the Supreme Great Rejuvenation Pills I’d taken from Tang Clan.

‘And I have to organize what I’m going to report when I get back to Blue Moon Sect.’

That part I could do on the road.

There’d been a lot going on. I had to report it properly, without any mistakes.

Or more accurately, I had to make sure I reported it in a way that didn’t put any blame on me.

“How’s it feel? We’re heading for Henan. Don’t you feel all excited?”

“......”

“Answer.”

“...I’m excited.”

“Excited, my ass. One look at your face and I can see you really don’t want to go. You need acting lessons.”

I gave his shoulder a couple of light pats.

His expression twisted even further.

He really was terrible at lying.

‘Look at him strangling his own temper.’

With the way he was, he should’ve exploded long ago, and yet here he was, holding it in. It was almost impressive.

“Hey.”

“...Yes.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“...Go ahead.”

“You.”

I spoke while looking at Tang Cheonil, who wasn’t looking at me.

“Why are you going this far for Miss Tang?”

“...!”

His eyes snapped to me at those words.

“What...!”

“It’s you, right?”

I ignored his startled reaction and kept going.

“You’re the reason she’s been allowed to stay at Iron River. You’re the one blocking whatever the family says.”

“......”

“All of that. That’s your doing, isn’t it?”

Tang Cheonil was at a loss for words. His face was full of shock and dismay.

I held back another laugh. Like I said earlier, this guy really couldn’t lie.

“...How... How could you...”

“What do you mean, how.”

You only had to look at what had happened to figure it out.

‘I was curious why he kept reacting like that, so I thought it through.’

At first, I’d assumed it was just disgust.

But the more time passed, the stranger it got.

What Tang Cheonil showed Tang Yeran wasn’t disgust or contempt.

It was anger—and a faint, blurry worry.

‘Especially...’

That last part.

After he’d lost our match, the way he’d spoken to Tang Yeran and acted toward her.

And—

“I was kind of curious, you know. How Miss Tang managed to stay at Iron River for so long.”

Tang Yeran, who’d stayed at Iron River for nearly ten years and yet hadn’t produced a single blade.

She’d remained there with no results.

‘Even for blood relatives. No, because she’s a blood relative.’

I couldn’t see that as possible.

The direct bloodline of Tang Clan, the one symbolically tied to Iron River, sitting there with no achievements.

And they still left her there without pulling her out.

On top of that—

‘It’s not like they were using her for some other political purpose either.’

If you’re the child of a great family, your political value is usually clear.

If anything, you’d use an engagement to extend your influence. But Tang Yeran had said she’d never been engaged.

‘...Although that nearly got me dragged in.’

I’d dodged that one, so fine, whatever.

“But Clan Head Tang isn’t the type to just let something like that slide...”

From what I’d seen, Poison King was absolutely not the kind of man who’d shrug and let it go as “my daughter’s stubbornness.”

Which meant—

“There had to be something to make him let it slide.”

And what was that something?

“I thought maybe you had done something to make it so.”

“...Just from that?”

“Just? That’s a lot.”

The best clues had been Poison Sovereign’s reactions, of course—but there was no need to bring that up.

‘Next after that were Tang Cheonil’s attitude and the way Tang Yeran treated him.’

“Mutual resentment” was exactly the phrase for it.

Even when Tang Cheonil crossed the line and spat harsh words at her—

She only shrank back a little and never truly got angry.

I had been surprised when she’d suddenly beat him like a dog, though.

‘Tang Yeran is stronger than Tang Cheonil.’

When Yoo Cheongil’s words were proven true in reality—

‘So why does he act like such a pathetic coward?’

The question sprouted.

As I gathered the earlier scenes and pieced them together—

‘I ended up at: Tang Yeran has a reason she almost never lets herself get angry at Tang Cheonil.’

So what was that reason?

You could see it in Tang Cheonil’s last words.

‘Back then, what he said...’

It had been close to resentment.

“He said he hated that she was holding back for his sake.”

What was she holding back? I didn’t know. I didn’t care enough to dig that deeply.

But—

‘From the feel of it...’

I guessed that the reason Tang Yeran had truly stopped training in martial arts was tangled up with Tang Cheonil.

And that Tang Cheonil knew it too.

‘And that’s why he’s acting like this.’

The two siblings had quite a story going between them.

‘When I said Tang Clan people can’t be straightforward, this is exactly what I meant.’

They were all like that.

It was honestly impressive in its own way.

Not that—

‘That doesn’t excuse his bullshit.’

Whatever his circumstances, it didn’t change the fact that Tang Cheonil’s personality was absolute crap.

“......”

He didn’t say anything back to me.

He just wore a look that said I’d hit the bullseye.

“So I figured this was also why you ended up bowing your head to me like this. That’s what I think. How about it?”

I gave him a sidelong look. He avoided my eyes.

“...Do I have to answer?”

“No, you don’t.”

I wasn’t that curious anyway.

Me?

‘I’m satisfied as long as I can tease him and use him.’

I just wanted to see how much he’d listen to what I said. That was all.

Their relationship? The tangled brother-sister resentment?

I honestly didn’t care.

Only—

‘Tang Cheonil values Tang Yeran more than I expected.’

Even enough to swallow his pride to some extent.

‘That’s plenty.’

For a person, something more important than their pride becomes their leash.

For Tang Cheonil, Tang Yeran was that leash.

That one fact was enough for me.

[...Look at that face. That’s the face of someone who just found a fun new toy.]

I wiped the smile off my face at Yoo Cheongil’s remark.

‘Toy? Come on.’

I’d gained an important friend.

I meant that sincerely.

*****

A day passed.

From early morning, things were noisy as hell, people busily moving around.

Everyone in Tang Clan was hauling luggage onto the carriage. Watching from a distance, I tilted my head.

‘...Mm...’

They were loading Blue Moon Sect’s baggage for the trip back to Henan.

Only watching that made it start to feel real.

‘We’re really going now.’

We really were finally going back.

It hadn’t been that long, strictly speaking, but somehow this trip to Sichuan had felt absurdly long.

‘Thank god.’

I was honestly relieved.

‘I really didn’t want to be stuck here any longer.’

I’d half expected them to hold me for a few more days. Poison King had been attacked, and I’d been under de facto supervision because of it.

I’d thought they’d only let me go once things were more or less resolved.

‘...Thanks to Myriad-Flowers Rain, this went smoothly.’

It was because I’d said I would teach Myriad-Flowers Rain to Poison Dragon that I could return to Henan so easily.

Poison King had shown me a kind of consideration that wasn’t exactly consideration.

“Mm.”

Among the people carrying baggage in the distance, I spotted one particularly fierce-looking guy.

Tang Cheonil was mixed in among the servants, carrying luggage with them.

His face was full of displeasure, but he still did the work without a word. The servants, if anything, were watching him nervously.

Naturally, that was something I’d ordered.

“...What on earth is happening there...?”

Cheon Eujin was also baffled that the great Poison Dragon was hauling luggage like a servant.

“Pay it no mind. He’s doing it because he wants to.”

“...Sorry?”

“Things like that exist.”

I waved it off.

“Ah, you heard he’s coming with us, right?”

“...Yes, I did hear, but...”

“That’s how it worked out.”

The fact that Tang Cheonil would be coming to Henan with us clearly didn’t sit well with him.

Couldn’t blame him, given the guy’s behavior so far.

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll make sure his leash is tight.”

“His... leash?”

“Yeah. Leash.”

I planned to tie it very tight.

So he wouldn’t dare bark anywhere.

‘Is Senior still talking with Poison King?’

Do Hyeong seemed to be finishing up a final conversation with Poison King, and most of the luggage was already loaded.

While I was checking on that—

“Young Master...!”

In the distance, I saw Tang Cheonil’s leash.

No—Tang Yeran came running toward me.

Tang Cheonil froze up out there when he saw her.

“Ah. Miss Tang.”

“...I... I heard you were leaving.”

“Yes. The schedule suddenly turned out that way.”

“...Isn’t it too sudden?”

“I have stayed quite a while.”

If it were up to me, I would’ve left ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) much earlier, but couldn’t.

“Thank you so much for the sword. I’ll use it well for the rest of my life.”

“...Ah...”

“Mm?”

She must have run here in a hurry; her hair wasn’t even properly tidied. I reached out a hand.

I smoothed down the flyaway strands a little.

Tang Yeran flinched and quickly fixed her hair herself.

“Did you just wake up?”

“...Ah, yes... Yes...”

“It is pretty early.”

The sun hadn’t even properly risen yet.

“It felt too early an hour to come say goodbye, so I was just going to leave. I’m glad I got to see you like this.”

“......”

“I enjoyed my time here. Miss Tang.”

“...You really are leaving.” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“That’s right.”

She pressed her lips together at my words, like she was trying to say something.

“This isn’t my home, after all.”

“......”

So I stopped her.

She flinched a little at that, then forced her lips still.

What had she been about to say?

I was briefly curious, then erased it.

Nothing good would come from hearing it. Whatever it was.

“Miss Tang.”

“Yes...”

“Are you not going to be active as a martial artist?”

“...Sorry?”

Tang Yeran blinked at the sudden question.

“...Do you want me to be?”

“No. It’s not that, I just...”

“......”

“I just felt it would be a shame if you didn’t. You don’t have to dwell on it.”

She had enough talent to casually crush a Seven Prodigies-level genius like Tang Cheonil.

To pour that all into smithing and never bloom as a martial artist felt like a waste.

That was all it was. I knew she had her reasons, so I’d just asked lightly.

“...I’ll think about it.”

Her face creased with some complicated thought.

“...We’ll see each other again, won’t we?”

“Mm...”

Again.

Who knew.

Would we really have cause to meet again?

“If I ever come to Sichuan again, we will.”

Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t.

I answered honestly.

“...I see.”

She nodded, a little crestfallen.

‘Seen like this...’

She looked like her brother.

That same face that couldn’t lie.

Her emotions showed so plainly you couldn’t miss them.

‘Can’t.’

I had to pretend not to see it.

It was a luxury to respond deeply to feelings I couldn’t return.

“...Next time, we will see each other again. I’ll come find you.”

“Yes. That’d be nice.”

I took it as: let’s grab a meal sometime. Something about that level.

A direct bloodline of Tang Clan, a woman who likely wouldn’t even walk the martial path, had no real pretext to come looking for me.

—Everything is ready!

A shout rang out. At that, I spoke to Tang Yeran.

“Sounds like they’re done.”

The carriage was ready. It was finally time to depart.

As I said so, she fidgeted with her hands.

“...Please travel safely.”

“Yes. I hope you stay well too, Miss Tang.”

I meant it.

For someone from a great clan, she was a rare example of a normal person.

I genuinely hoped she did well.

So I turned my back without hesitation and walked toward the carriage.

I ignored the gaze I felt on me.

By the time I reached the front of the carriage, Do Hyeong was already there.

“Senior. You’re here?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded and handed me a letter.

“Clan Head Tang asked me to give you this. He also said to tell you he’s sorry he couldn’t see you off—he’s busy with work.”

“Ah.”

So he wouldn’t be seeing me off.

‘Something came up?’

Given Myriad-Flowers Rain, I’d thought he’d make time to see me one more time.

Whatever it was, it must have been pretty urgent.

‘Whatever.’

Whatever he was dealing with, it was none of my concern.

I took the letter and climbed straight into the carriage.

I sat as far from the window as possible, because I could feel Tang Yeran watching from outside.

‘...First, let me breathe a little.’

I closed my eyes, tired.

My head was exhausted; I didn’t have the energy to think any further. I just wanted a little rest.

With that in mind, I focused on my breathing until the carriage started moving.

‘...That really wasn’t easy.’

It had been a hell of a trip.

I’d probably be able to rest a bit on the way back.

And—

‘...Maybe I’ll finally get out from under these eyes.’

All the nonsense about “Little Sword Saint” and everything else that had spread around Sichuan had worn me out mentally.

Once I got away from here, maybe it would ease up.

Maybe I’d be able to live quietly again for a while.

That was what I hoped for.

But I didn’t know.

I didn’t know that what I’d done was far more intense and shocking than I’d thought.

And I didn’t know just how exponentially deep and wide a rumor could spread in the Central Plains once it started to flow.

At that time—

I had no idea.