That handsome bastard waving his hand.

Even while he was personally drawing everyone’s eyes from all directions, he acted like he was used to it and didn’t care. Just looking at him made my blood boil.

“Son!”

“.......”

With him sitting in the inn all proud and waving his hand, I had nothing to say.

“...Why again.”

Why the hell was that man here? Fine. Sure. Whatever.

“Let’s say he came to see his son.”

Let’s just say he came to see his son for once. Not that I had even a speck of faith in the man as a father.

Still. Let’s try to think nice thoughts.

But.

“...And who the hell are those people.”

A bunch of people I hadn’t expected were gathered here.

Next to my father sat the Silk King. The Murong Clan Head—one of the Five Kings Under Heaven—was sitting there like it was no big deal.

“...And what is Yeongsun doing here.”

Beside them, Murong Yeongsun was sitting there too, wearing a face that looked like she hated the whole world.

Her gaze was fixed on the woman sitting right next to my father.

A woman in bright martial garb, her face covered with a veil.

“...Sword Phoenix.”

Sword Phoenix Yuyeon.

The top of the junior generation, the woman countless people called a monster.

“...So what the hell is this lineup?”

It was a gathering made up of people who had no business being in the same place.

I started walking over slowly while watching them. I didn’t want to go, but it wasn’t like I could just not go.

“Why are you all... gathered here?”

What the hell did this combination even mean? I asked.

“Hm? What else. Socializing.”

My father said it like I was asking something obvious.

“...Socializing.”

Why are you people socializing here, with each other?

The second that question formed—

Slide.

My father casually put his hand on the Silk King’s shoulder.

“And I’m getting closer with our Hyeok too—”

Thwack.

“...?”

The Silk King knocked my father’s hand away the instant it landed. Then, expressionless, he went back to eating the food in front of him.

“.......”

“.......”

The air got a little sharp. My father tried again, like he was being casual about it.

Thwack.

Same result. The Silk King rejected my father’s familiar touch.

“You said you were friends.”

For a man who’d called himself my father’s friend, he didn’t look friendly at all.

“Ahem. Anyway. Hyeok’s here, and our precious daughter-in-law is here too....”

“Stop saying daughter-in-law.”

He was about to spout more bullshit while looking at Yeongsun, so I cut him off.

I ignored him and dropped into an empty seat with a thud.

Then I looked straight at Yuyeon and asked,

“...Why are you here?”

She didn’t fit this gathering in the first place, and she fit it even less than anyone else.

Why the hell was Mount Hua’s Yuyeon mixed into this?

“.......”

Yuyeon made a frustrated gesture like she’d been wronged, but I couldn’t tell what she meant. She just kept pointing at the thin noodles over and over.

“What.”

What about the noodles? I didn’t get it, so I asked again, and my father answered for her.

“Ah. She was eating alone in loneliness, so I told her to join us.”

“...What?”

“A pretty young lady shouldn’t eat all alone.”

“.......”

Yuyeon shook her head at me. That wasn’t it.

What the hell am I supposed to do with this lunatic.

Did he just sit down without permission? Then—

“...Murong Clan Head, what about you?”

“He told me to sit.”

“...Ah. Yes.”

He sat because he was told to sit. That was the whole story.

Was this “gathering” really okay?

Hell, I didn’t even know if I could call it a gathering.

With a sigh, I tugged at Yuyeon.

“Get up. You’re going to be uncomfortable.”

I was going to move her somewhere else. There were plenty of seats, so I figured I’d just have her sit somewhere—

“Hm?”

Something grabbed my sleeve. Yuyeon was holding my wrist.

“What are you doing. Why?”

Why was she acting like this? I looked at her with a question in my eyes.

Yuyeon gave a small shake of her head. Meaning...

“You’re saying you don’t have to move?”

Yuyeon nodded. What? She was staying?

I was tilting my head, confused, when—

“If she says she’s staying, then we should be the ones who move.”

From a little farther away, Murong Yeongsun spoke with an openly uncomfortable expression.

“Since you were already sitting alone. We’ll be the ones to relocate. Father. Clan Head. You’re fine with that, right?”

“Uh... but....”

“Let’s go.”

My father looked reluctant, but the Silk King rose like he was going to follow his daughter’s words.

“I apologize, Sword Phoenix.”

Murong Yeongsun even showed proper courtesy to Yuyeon.

Watching that, I said,

“You don’t know who she is?”

“...What did you say?”

“I’m asking if you don’t know who she is.”

“What are you talking about. She’s Sword Phoenix. No, but—”

Murong Yeongsun narrowed her eyes at me.

“Are you two close? Why are you speaking casually?”

She muttered something quiet behind it—You don’t talk to me like that—but I ignored it.

“As far as I know, you’ve never met...”

“I have.”

“When?”

“When we were kids.”

“What the—”

“Don’t you remember? You must’ve seen her too.”

Murong Yeongsun looked like she still wasn’t connecting it, so this time I looked at Yuyeon.

“Can I say it?”

“.......”

Yuyeon looked at me for a moment, then nodded.

“Her. She’s the kid who used to live at my house when we were little.”

“What? Who the— huh?”

Mid-sentence, Yeongsun’s eyes widened. She was smart. If I jogged it even a little, she’d remember.

“...No....”

Yeongsun’s eyes trembled.

“You mean that person?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“...But he was a boy.”

“...That’s what I thought too. Turns out he wasn’t.”

“That’s impossible...!”

Murong Yeongsun spat it out like she couldn’t believe it.

So she remembered after all. Of course she did. It wasn’t like she hadn’t come and gone from the Bang Clan for a whole year without seeing her once.

We’d definitely eaten together too.

I looked at that, then turned to my father.

“Don’t you remember?”

“Who are you talking about.”

“The kid who lived at our house for about a year.”

“...A man lived in our house?”

“.......”

What the hell am I supposed to do with this man. My head started hurting out of nowhere. I forced the pain down and changed how I said it.

“Then... the pretty lady. The kid who came with that pretty lady.”

“Aaah!!”

My father reacted instantly.

“Right! That happened.”

“.......”

God, I hate him.

“Hahaha. So it was that child. Hahahaha. A girl... and to think she grew up so beautifully...”

“...You can’t even see her face because of the veil.”

“You can tell at a glance. I’m a professional.”

I hate him so much.

“So, is your mother doing—”

“Father. Eat your food. And shut your mouth.”

I cut him off. Then I forcibly stuffed food into his mouth.

“Ghk....”

My father chewed frantically at the sudden mouthful, and after he barely swallowed, he looked at Yuyeon and said,

“Anyway... since we all know each other, there’s no need to move seats to eat.”

“...Tch....”

At my father’s words, Yeongsun clicked her tongue. Concise as hell.

Honestly, I didn’t think breaking up the table was a bad idea.

“The stares are heavy.”

With this kind of table, the eyes inside the inn were relentless.

“It’s probably because of the Silk King and Yeongsun.”

Even just one of the Five Kings Under Heaven showing up would drag attention. And then Murong Yeongsun was sitting right beside him.

And on top of that—

“My father’s here too.”

My father had a face famous across the world, and he was sitting right in the middle of it.

It was more than enough for people to stare and wonder what kind of lunatics these were.

I let out a breath and picked up my chopsticks.

Still, I had to eat. So I was about to start when—

“By the way.”

My father spoke from beside me.

“You did well.”

“...Me?”

“Yeah. My son fought really well. You were practically Liaoning’s pride, you know?”

“.......”

Hearing that from Liaoning’s representative butcher made it feel weird as hell.

“Were you watching...?”

“Of course. What kind of father doesn’t watch his son’s match?”

When the hell did he even watch?

I didn’t know he’d come. I stared at him, surprised.

“You did well.”

The Silk King tossed the words out.

I answered awkwardly.

“...Ah. Yes. Thank you.”

“Yeah.”

“.......”

“.......”

That ended the conversation. The Silk King was always like this, so it wasn’t even surprising.

“Maybe you’ll even win it all. Hahahaha! At last, the Bang Clan will rise. For how famous we are, we’ve been crawling on the floor too long. Now the Central Plains will finally recognize us.”

“...You’re the one who shoved us onto the floor.”

The shamelessness was unreal. Famous?

“We don’t have any fame.”

Whatever fame we once had had been scraped down to nothing a long time ago.

And winning it all...

“The walls in front of me are huge.”

The people sitting around were the problem.

Black-Grand Saber too, sure.

“And her.”

Sword Phoenix, quietly eating thin noodles beside me, was a problem too. With a veil on, and she still ate like that. How.

And even beyond that—

“And that bastard.”

Baek Cheonin, identity still unclear.

His intent and his very existence were a thorn in my side.

“Can I really do this?”

Winning it all, when this tournament was stuffed with freaks?

I honestly didn’t know.

I was settling my breathing when—

Thud.

Something landed on my bowl.

I looked, and it was a side dish I’d ordered.

Some kind of meat dish with a name I didn’t know. The one who placed it there was none other than Yuyeon.

“What.”

“.......”

“You want me to eat it?”

“.......”

Maybe she noticed I wasn’t eating much, because she kept placing things in front of me.

“Uh. Yeah, thanks—”

“That’s not it. This one tastes better.”

Right as I was about to eat nicely, another set of chopsticks cut in.

Murong Yeongsun had shoved my father aside at some point and sat right next to me.

And with her chopsticks, she pushed food into me.

“You like this.”

“...Huh? Yeah. I do.”

“Eat this.”

I was about to pick up my chopsticks again when—

Tap.

Yuyeon blocked my chopsticks.

“What now.”

“.......”

“...You want me to eat yours?”

What the hell was I supposed to do here? I was starting to get annoyed, so I was just going to eat whatever was in front of me when—

“What are you doing?”

Murong Yeongsun snapped at Yuyeon with a twisted expression.

“Sword [N O V E L I G H T] Phoenix. Bang Sungyeon has foods he likes. He doesn’t like that one.”

“...No, I do. I like that.”

“Be quiet.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“.......”

At that, Yuyeon stared straight at Murong Yeongsun. She couldn’t answer, so that was probably all she could do.

“What is that look?”

I couldn’t see a damn thing through the veil, but somehow Yeongsun’s eyes sharpened even more.

What look?

“I can’t see it.”

What the hell did she think she saw?

“I don’t care who you are. But showing up out of nowhere and doing this—”

Yeongsun started to pile on like she was about to chew her out, but—

“Excuse me.”

Someone showed up right on cue.

A familiar face.

“The commander.”

It was the Martial Alliance commander who always came to the inn to find me.

A man with crushing presence stepped in—

“...!”

He froze when he saw the Silk King. He’d recognized him.

His eyes screamed, Why is that man here? But maybe because he was a commander, he got himself under control fast and looked at me.

Of course, I was his target.

Which meant—

“Again...”

Was it going to be that old man again?

“The strategist is asking for you.”

“.......”

Just like I expected. That old man—my maternal grandfather—was calling me again.

“Ah, what now.”

I was already exhausted. The match ended and he immediately called for me—what kind of bullshit timing was that?

I was about to let my irritation spike, when—

“He also told me to pass along a message.”

“...What message?”

“Bring your grandson. He said if I pass that along, you’ll understand.”

“.......”

At that, I narrowed my eyes.

Grandson.

That word felt wrong enough to make my blood run cold.

“...Shit.”

It looked like something had gotten tangled up.