Right after I finished talking with the Small Moon Unit Leader, I came outside.

I didn’t push the conversation any deeper with him.

I already dragged the situation where I wanted it anyway.

Whether that became his new perception of me,

whether it was the talk about Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn,

or whether both landed—

none of that mattered.

What mattered was—

the Small Moon Unit Leader wavered.

That stiff, stubborn-looking man wavered even a little at what I said.

That was all I needed.

Not bad.

The result wasn’t bad. Thinking that, I moved on to the next step.

One or two more times should do it.

Once you shook someone like that, pulling them over to your side by messing with their psychology wasn’t hard.

It was a method I’d used plenty in my past life, too.

Then I got burned hard, so I don’t really want to do it....

Still, if you could use it, you should.

No—whether I wanted to or not, I had to use it right now.

This wasn’t the time to be picky.

With that thought firm in my head, I kept walking when—

[The Sword Saint is a mountain you have to climb over.]

“......”

Some bullshit drifted down from above.

[The Sword Saint’s name isn’t heavy to me.]

“...Excuse me?”

[It’s a mountain you have to climb over anyway, so what’s heavy about it... heh heh heh heh.]

“...Old man?”

When I looked up at the nonsense he was spitting, he was grinning wide and mocking me.

[That was an amaaaaaaazing line, no matter how you slice it.]

“...You bastard.”

I pinched my brow. Looking at that old man’s rotten personality, he was going to tease me with this for days.

[Kid, I never would’ve dreamed you’d be thinking like that.]

“As if I was.”

Thinking, my ass.

The Sword Saint’s name is light? What the hell is light about it.

It was heavy enough to kill me. If it had real weight, I’d have been crushed to death ages ago.

No—maybe I already am.

It wouldn’t be strange if I was already panting under the weight, pressed down and barely breathing.

The Sword Saint’s name is light? Not a chance.

How could it be light.

The strongest under heaven. The greatest in all ages.

It meant climbing to the peak over a mountain range of martial artists—how could I call that easy?

Yeah, I said it with my own mouth, but it was still insane.

Just one mountain along the road?

Even saying it, I’d been dumbfounded.

I’m the crazy one.

The fact I said it without shaking made me feel impressively nuts.

At least it got me out alive.

I forced myself to act bold and spit out words that didn’t fit my mouth, and I held on.

I made it back alive while crushing down the fear that ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ he might draw his sword any second.

So I wanted to think it was the right answer, but—

...Who knows.

Honestly, it was hard to say.

Tsk.

Swallowing a quiet groan, I kept walking.

And as I did, something I needed to ask Yoo Cheongil came back to me.

I need to ask about last night.

About what happened in the spar, and the dream I had—I needed to question Yoo Cheongil first.

I opened my mouth.

“Hey, old—”

[Quiet. Someone’s coming.]

“......”

At Yoo Cheongil’s words, I shut my mouth immediately.

Someone was coming?

I stopped and looked straight ahead. Just like he said, someone was walking toward me.

A light, swaying gait, hair fluttering in the wind.

A woman with strikingly pale skin that matched her features.

Murong Yeongsun.

“You were here.”

She found me and smiled faintly.

...Oh, right.

I’d totally blanked on it, but she was here too.

I recognized again that Murong Yeongsun had come to the Blue Moon Sect with us.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“...Me?”

“Yes. Of course. Who else would I be looking for here besides you?”

“...Ah. Right.” 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The way she talked was really something.

I let out a sigh, then asked while looking at her.

“Miss Murong.”

“Yes.”

“...Why are you here?”

“Why? Am I not allowed to be here?”

“Normally? No.”

This was the Blue Moon Sect. Not just any place. It wasn’t somewhere an outsider could hang around for no reason.

But Murong Yeongsun hadn’t just slipped into the Blue Moon Sect with me—she’d been staying for days.

Normally, that wasn’t possible.

When I asked with that in mind, she lifted the corner of her mouth.

“Don’t worry. I’m not an idiot. I wouldn’t be here by force. The Sect Master wouldn’t allow that in the first place.”

“...Then?”

“If you’re misunderstanding and thinking I’m here because of you—don’t. That’s not it.”

Huh? It wasn’t?

I’d assumed it was.

When I frowned and tilted my head, Yoo Cheongil snorted and spoke to me.

[Kid. You’ve got a quiet case of Axe Disease. I respect your confidence, but the way you look being arrogant is rather ugly.]

“....”

I tried my best to ignore the old man scraping at me.

No—I tried, but this time it got under my skin.

“...Then what are you here for?”

If it wasn’t me, what reason did Murong Yeongsun have to be in the Blue Moon Sect?

When I asked with suspicion, she made a strange expression and spoke.

“Do I have any reason to tell you that?”

“...Well... I guess not?”

If she came for personal business, she had no reason to tell me.

That made sense, so I nodded and tried to let it go.

“Are you curious?”

Murong Yeongsun asked.

“Not really.”

Honestly, I didn’t care much.

So I was about to say she didn’t need to tell me—

“If I tell you, you have to do me one favor.”

Murong Yeongsun started talking like she couldn’t hear me.

“No, I said I’m not curious. You don’t have to tell me. And if you have a favor, even more so—”

“I came to the Blue Moon Sect as the Clan Head’s proxy. The Murong Clan had something to request.”

“Hey.”

Was she not hearing me? I blurted out, flustered.

Was she insane?

Clan Head’s proxy?

If Murong Yeongsun came as the Clan Head’s proxy, that meant this was big.

A direct-bloodline member coming under the Clan Head’s name, for clan business?

That meant—

It’s a situation where the Clan Head should’ve come in person, but couldn’t.

Which also meant the Murong Clan Head—the Silk King—wasn’t in a position to move freely.

Putting it together—

The Murong Clan had a major request to make of the Blue Moon Sect.

And on top of that—

something happened to the Clan Head, or there’s a problem, and he can’t move.

So Murong Yeongsun had come herself to ask the Blue Moon Sect—

Which, in plain terms, meant—

I’m not supposed to hear this. It’s classified.

There was nothing good that came from me hearing it.

When I understood that far and frowned, Murong Yeongsun smiled.

“Got it?”

“......”

You fox.

I could tell from her expression. She’d said that knowing I’d infer all of this from just those words.

“What are you doing...?”

“Well, I didn’t come looking for you because something happened today. I originally came before I went to Sichuan to make the request.”

“...What?”

“When I stopped by to look for you last time, I also came and made the request.”

FLUTTER.

As she spoke, Murong Yeongsun flicked a letter in her hand and showed it to me.

“......”

On the letter, there was a seal stamped in blue lines.

The Sect Master’s direct seal.

“Thankfully, they handled my request well. I’m on my way back from seeing him.”

“......”

“Oh. So I have to return to the clan tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

That was the best thing I’d heard all day.

When I reacted like I was genuinely happy, her pretty brow twisted.

“What’s with that reaction?”

“Oops. That was an honest gasp without thinking—”

“...You’re unbelievable.”

Tsk—! Murong Yeongsun clicked her tongue. Then—

“Anyway, since that’s the situation, do my favor.”

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

“What is?”

“...Why are we suddenly over there? Why do I have to do you a favor?”

“You said if I satisfied your curiosity, you’d do me a favor.”

“...I told you I’m not curious, and you’re the one who talked anyway.”

“Why are you being so petty...?”

“...Are you crazy.”

How was she this shameless?

Her brazen confidence made a dry laugh leak out.

“Anyway. I have somewhere to go, so come with me. It’s a favor. Do it. I’m returning tomorrow—surely you can do that much.”

“No... I mean, that’s—”

“If you don’t, I’ll go back and tell the Clan Head. I’ll say you heard everything.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

If she said that, my situation would get weird. The Murong Clan Head—given his personality—he probably wouldn’t go out of his way to come after me.

But—

There’s a risk it becomes a hassle.

A massive hassle.

“If you say that, you’ll be in trouble too.”

If it got out that she’d been exposed, it was her problem too.

I pointed that out—

“I’ll just get scolded a little. You know that.”

“......”

I had nothing to say to that shameless, confident answer.

And it pissed me off even more because she was right.

That man would never get angry at her even if he died.

He doted on his only daughter to an absurd degree. Him getting mad at Murong Yeongsun was hard to imagine.

If anything, he’d take whatever anger he could’ve directed at her and aim it at me.

Fuck.

A sigh tried to crawl up. Why was she pulling this now? I was already busy. With the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and all that disaster, it felt like my feet were on fire.

And on top of that, the weather’s nice and she’s doing this for no reason—I didn’t get—

...Me? Wait.

A thought rose up, and I narrowed my eyes.

Come to think of it, today was...?

“...Ah.”

I remembered what I’d forgotten.

“Can’t you just come with me? It’ll only take a moment—”

“Let’s go.”

“I’m not going to say it twice—huh?”

Murong Yeongsun blanked at my answer.

“Really...?”

“Why. I said let’s go. Let’s go.”

“Even though you don’t know where?”

“...If it’s somewhere weird, I’m running.”

“Now? We go now?”

“Yes.”

Because I suddenly allowed it, Murong Yeongsun beamed.

I’d felt it for a long time, but for a face that looked cold, she had a surprisingly bright smile.

“Wait there. I’ll get ready.”

“Ready for what. We can just go right—”

“Wait. If you run, I’ll rip your kneecaps out next time.”

“...I’ll be right here.”

Leaving behind that murderous threat, Murong Yeongsun ran off.

When she vanished, Yoo Cheongil—floating up in the sky and watching—asked me.

[Unexpected.]

“What is?”

[I thought you’d rather die than get tangled up with that girl. Yet you’re playing along with her forcing it.]

“......”

He wasn’t wrong.

I hadn’t planned to play along.

But—

“...Something I’d forgotten came back to me.”

[Something you forgot?]

“Yes. She isn’t the type to push this hard, in the first place.”

Normally, she’d threaten a bit and give up.

But she was acting strange today, and I’d been wondering why.

It was because it’s today.

The problem was the “today.”

Today was—

Lady Jin’s death anniversary.

Murong Yeongsun’s mother. The Silk King’s wife.

The day Lady Jin died.

And—

It’s also Murong Yeongsun’s birthday.

The same day was Murong Yeongsun’s birthday.