“What do you mean by that?”

Thousand-Mile True Sight spoke with a face gone stiff. It was the look of someone who genuinely couldn’t understand what he’d just heard.

“The Sword Saint’s intent? Are you saying he’s alive?”

“No, sir. My master left this world a long time ago.”

He should’ve been dead and gone, turned to dirt, and still not dead enough.

And yet, even though it had already been more than ten years since Yoo Cheongil met his end...

I suddenly brought up “the Sword Saint’s intent.”

Of course Thousand-Mile True Sight wouldn’t understand.

But—

“Still. This is the Sword Saint’s intent.”

“Explain. I asked what you mean.”

“The meaning’s simple.”

I swallowed a sip of the tea set in front of me, like my throat was parched.

“My master’s death is connected to the Heavenly Demon Cult.”

“......!”

At my words, Thousand-Mile True Sight’s eyes widened.

“......That’s.......”

I watched his reaction closely, turning it over in my head.

As expected.

What did that reaction mean? Just shock? Distrust?

I needed to read him down to the smallest twitch.

Because—

You never know.

Who’s to say Thousand-Mile True Sight wasn’t involved in Yoo Cheongil’s death?

I’d run into too many situations that kept dragging my thoughts back to that same point.

One thing is certain here.

No matter what else—

Heaven-Breaking Palace is involved.

That bastard I met in Sichuan. He’d said the Heaven-Breaking Palace Master and the Sword Saint’s death were connected.

And now the Heavenly Demon Cult is showing up too—

Wouldn’t that mean something was getting tangled together?

With that in mind, I spoke to Thousand-Mile True Sight.

Because he might’ve already known.

The possibility that Thousand-Mile True Sight had a handle on the situation.

Or—

The possibility he was tied to the death itself.

Thousand-Mile True Sight was the person who’d been closest to the Sword Saint.

Even if he was involved in Yoo Cheongil’s death, it wouldn’t be that strange.

A “close friend”? That’s not a reason to stop suspecting someone.

Nothing dodges suspicion more easily than personal affection.

And from how humiliatingly much I’d lived through...

I knew better than anyone how meaningless that kind of thing was.

[Ha.]

Yoo Cheongil let out a dry little breath.

[So now you’re just using me outright. There’s a limit to how much you can disrespect the dead, you little bastard.]

Obviously, I didn’t even listen with half an ear. Who told me to “use” him?

If I don’t do this, what the hell am I supposed to do?

It’s not like he was some random nobody. He was a man people called the greatest of all time.

If I was going to dig into the death of someone like that, I had to use every trick I had.

And while I used Yoo Cheongil to gauge Thousand-Mile True Sight’s reaction—

“......What are you saying right now? That the Heavenly Demon Cult is connected to the Sword Saint’s death?”

BANG!

Thousand-Mile True Sight slammed his hand down on the desk and leaned in close.

“Yes.”

I didn’t panic. I just ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) nodded.

“My master left words behind. In them, he wrote about the Heavenly Demon Cult—and his anxiety about its revival.”

Of course, there’s nothing like that.

[You lunatic.]

Hearing me lie so smoothly, Yoo Cheongil’s voice sounded like praise.

“‘The Heavenly Demon Cult will revive someday. Because I failed to end it. So in my place, since I am already going to die, stop the Heavenly Demon Cult.’ That was what my master entrusted to me.”

“......Ridiculous. Leaving something like that behind in Liaoning? That’s impossible. That crazy bastard would never say something like that.”

[Crazy bastard? That twig-looking piece of shit’s got quite a mouth, huh? What are you doing, kid? Hurry up and say something.]

“I think so too.”

[You rotten bastard?]

“But what can I do? That’s what the truth is.”

“There’s no proof.”

“Yes. There’s no proof. He told me to burn every letter, so I burned them all without leaving a single one.”

I was reusing what I’d said to Moon-Thread Sword.

“So I’ve been investigating on my own ever since. From the moment I left Liaoning for Anhui.”

“There was a report that you showed no particular movement during that time.”

Of course. So Thousand-Mile True Sight had been digging into me, too.

Well. If it were me, I would’ve done it.

So I didn’t bother pointing it out.

“If that’s how it looked, then I’m glad I did it right.”

I tossed it back at him: It was intentional.

“......Even so.......”

Thousand-Mile True Sight tried to keep drilling into the strange parts of the story, but—

“Strategist. That isn’t what matters.”

I cut him off. Dragging this out only hurt me.

Right now I had to use what I had and steer things somewhere profitable.

“What matters is that you already had doubts too, didn’t you?”

“.......”

Thousand-Mile True Sight shut his mouth.

Right. He had to have felt something off about Yoo Cheongil’s death.

If he wasn’t involved in the incident himself.

I was sure of it. And the reason was simple.

“Why can’t you say it isn’t true? You’re the one who watched over my master’s final moments.”

“......!”

When Yoo Cheongil died, the one who cleaned it up and handled everything was Strategist Thousand-Mile True Sight.

He was the man who’d witnessed the Sword Saint’s end closer than anyone.

And what he’d put out to the world about the Sword Saint’s death was...

That it was an ordinary death from a long-term illness.

But now, when I said what I said, he didn’t shoot it down.

Instead—

He asks what I mean?

There was only one reason he’d talk like that.

“Strategist, you know something too.”

“.......”

Thousand-Mile True Sight knew Yoo Cheongil’s death wasn’t just “a long-term illness.”

The only question is whether it was the Heavenly Demon Cult... the Heaven-Breaking Palace... or something else entirely.

Either way, I could tell he’d been holding doubts.

Then I just have to shake that.

Mix lies into a base of truth and rattle the situation.

That was always the most important part, whenever you moved a job.

Now it was time to watch Thousand-Mile True Sight’s reaction.

Will it work?

What would he do?

From where I was standing—

It works.

Right as that certainty settled in—

“......So what do you mean the Baek Clan is in danger?”

Got you.

Thousand-Mile True Sight gave me the response I wanted.

He didn’t deny it.

Not denying the situation.

That was exactly what I needed.

“Based on what was investigated, yes.”

“Investigated? You investigated that the Baek Clan is in danger yourself?”

“No. Not by myself. The amount was too much. I couldn’t do it alone.”

“Then... someone else is involved?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Aha ha.......”

I laughed at that.

Laughed for a moment—then wiped it clean and stared straight at him.

“How could I possibly tell you that?”

“.......”

“Among my suspicions... you’re included too, Strategist.”

“Ha.”

This time, Thousand-Mile True Sight let out a dry breath.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

I could feel it—How dare you put me on the suspect list.

But—

“Come on. You’re the same, aren’t you?”

“.......” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

He wasn’t any different.

And I knew it.

“.......”

“.......”

Silence stretched between us.

Then the one who spoke was Thousand-Mile True Sight.

“I cannot easily believe what you say.”

I’d expected that too.

“And I can’t understand your intent either—sending a letter through the Beggars’ Union and flaunting the Heavenly Demon Cult in my face.”

“.......”

The intent behind sending it without any identifying mark.

Looks like he’d noticed it was deliberate.

“Normally, the correct move would be to imprison you under the Alliance and interrogate you. But I’ll ask first. What is it you want?”

A pretty decent way of handling it.

But as always—

Nothing’s more exhausting than playing mind games with smart people.

A fistfight just wrecks your body.

This kind of thing wrecks your head until you feel exhausted all day long.

“There’s only one thing I want to say.”

The teacup was already empty.

I wanted to show him my throat was dry—but it really was dry.

“I don’t care about imprisonment or interrogation. But let’s talk again after the investigation you’re already running is finished.”

“.......”

“The investigation into the Baek Clan—you already sent it out, didn’t you?”

After I said the Baek Clan was in danger, Thousand-Mile True Sight would’ve moved immediately.

He would’ve sent people to the Baek Clan.

Confirming that would come first.

“Just let it slide until then. I still have matches left.”

Yeah, I should be rotting in a cell until the investigation ended.

But I had to push this point no matter what.

“Besides... I’m still your grandson, aren’t I? Just this once. Let it slide.”

I tried to say it with some warmth.

The moment Yoo Cheongil heard it, his face twisted.

[No way. Don’t tell me you just tried to act cute.]

‘.......’

It’s not like I can start going “Awwww” and shit.

This was my best.

“......Ha.......”

Thousand-Mile True Sight screwed up his face.

Ah. That was a little too much?

It was a gamble, sure, but—I tried it just in case.

‘......Then I’ll use the next one—’

Right as I was about to run the next part of my plan—

“......Like I said earlier.”

Thousand-Mile True Sight spoke.

“You’re a disgrace to your surname.”

Looks like it worked.

*****

“Whew.”

I stepped out of the quarters and started walking.

My legs were trembling.

Holy shit, I was terrified.

My heart still felt like it was pounding in my chest. Facing Thousand-Mile True Sight did that to me.

Thank god it worked out.

Things went smoothly.

At least until the investigation into the Baek Clan was done, Thousand-Mile True Sight agreed not to take me down.

But—

He put eyes on me.

Just in case, he attached a watcher to tail me.

“What’s your schedule from here?”

The man asked. He was the “leader” who kept coming to deliver Thousand-Mile True Sight’s messages.

“Schedule? Not much. I’ll probably rest until tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

“......Can I ask— you’re following me to the inn, right?”

“.......”

“Ah. Sorry. Obviously.”

He was an awkward one to deal with. It felt like he answered with his eyes instead of his mouth.

Quiet and expressionless like Do Hyeong, but heavier. Denser.

And—

He’s strong, isn’t he?

He wasn’t just anyone. He was called one of the Martial Alliance’s leaders.

If I remember right, there are...

Four in total.

Different roles, but each one was a monster with both power and prestige.

So this old guy is one of them?

And now a monster like that had been attached to me.

I can’t do anything casually with him around.

Attaching a leader as a watcher...

Damn.

Just as I felt the trouble settling in—

[No matter how you look at it, calling it “watching” is wrong. This is more like an escort.]

Yoo Cheongil said it with a weird expression.

What the hell did he mean by that?

[Even so, assigning someone at that level just to “watch” you is a waste of manpower. Escort isn’t much different, but if you insist on splitting hairs, that’s the better fit. Tsk, tsk. That bastard must be getting old—doing strange things.]

An escort?

I shook my head at Yoo Cheongil’s words.

Why would Thousand-Mile True Sight assign me an escort? It’s not like he genuinely saw me as a grandson.

It’s surveillance.

Because of what’s at stake, he just stuck an important person on me as a watcher.

That’s all.

I kept walking with that thought when—

“Hey! Hey! Look who it is!”

Someone called out to me in an absurdly bright voice.

The moment I heard it, my body stopped dead.

“Sungyeon! Ahaha. Running into you here too?”

“.......”

I turned my head.

Baek Cheonin was waving at me with a grin.

“.......”

I stared at him without a word.

Then—

“I watched your match. That was insane. Seriously. You really do deserve to be called the Little Sword Saint.”

Baek Cheonin kept smiling as he talked.

“Oh—have you eaten? If you haven’t, how about we eat together?”

His invitation to a meal.

Hearing it, I let the corner of my mouth loosen a little.

“Sure. What are we eating.”

I had business with him too.