“...”

I had to stand there frozen for a beat at the Poison Sovereign’s words. They reached my ears, but they wouldn’t parse.

‘...I’m going to lose it.’

Maybe I’d misheard again? I ran that thought once more—but I knew there wasn’t a chance.

In that case—

‘...What did I just hear?’

What had the Poison Sovereign just said?

If it wasn’t a mistake, then he’d clearly...

‘Heavenly Demon Divine Sword?’

I mouthed Heavenly Demon Divine Sword.

Even I, who hardly cared about Central Plains affairs—and who hadn’t even known that Yoo Cheongil used a great saber called Full Moon—knew that name.

How could it be otherwise.

Because—

‘It was the Heavenly Demon’s sword.’

The wellspring of all evil who started the War of Righteous and Demonic.

The god of the Demonic Sect.

It was the sword the Heavenly Demon used.

And so it was called the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword.

‘How many martial artists did they say that sword killed?’

You couldn’t begin to count on your fingers; there were heaps of masters among the dead.

Not only the Head of Kunlun, once called the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Azure Sea True Sword,

but also the Green Emperor, who at one time was hailed as the pinnacle of the Unorthodox and emperor of the Green Forest—his head fell to that blade as well.

On top of that, countless renowned masters died to that sword.

The Heavenly Demon’s sword was hailed as a divine sword, and it was still infamous to this day.

And that sword—

‘...Is here?’

Why on earth would the blade that should have vanished with the Heavenly Demon be sitting in the Poison Sovereign’s secret archive?

Just as that question rose—fortunately I wasn’t the only one wondering—someone spoke to the Poison Sovereign.

[...What did you just say?]

Of course it was Yoo Cheongil. He spoke to the Poison Sovereign’s back.

And in a savage, rough voice.

[Poison Sovereign. Answer. What did you say you brought here?]

Whoooosh—!!

Wind moved inside the archive. In that instant—

Clack! The people behind us shifted stance.

“...What was that?”

“...Senior. Just now...”

Do Hyeong and Cheon Eujin spoke, faces tight. Both had a hand on their swords by now.

The Poison King was no different, scanning the surroundings with a scowl.

No doubt because of the wind.

‘...Wind, in a place sealed tight.’

Of course they’d be on guard.

While they set a defensive posture inside the room—

[You’re saying the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword is here?]

—Yoo Cheongil pressed the Poison Sovereign again, showing the same force as before.

[Is that true? Answer!]

Whooosh—! Yoo Cheongil bellowed and the wind blew fiercer.

Only then did the Poison Sovereign, who’d been peering about, turn a frown toward Yoo Cheongil.

“Yeah. It’s here. What’s the problem?”

[What?]

At the Poison Sovereign’s flat answer, Yoo Cheongil knit his brows.

[What’s the problem? Do you truly not know?]

“I don’t. The sword’s owner is already dead. He died by your hand, at that. What’s the problem if I brought his sword here?”

[You bastard...]

“It’s one blasted sword. What great difference does it make if I brought it?”

[One blasted sword?]

At the Poison Sovereign’s words, Yoo Cheongil let out a hollow laugh.

[You know better than anyone that sword isn’t just “one blasted sword.”]

“I don’t. And I don’t care to.”

[You damned—!]

“Don’t delude yourself, Yoo Cheongil.”

The Poison Sovereign cut him off.

In that moment, a chill ran up my back. The look in the Poison Sovereign’s eyes flashed too eerily.

“I still haven’t forgotten that day.”

[...You.]

“Why did I bring the divine sword here, you ask?”

The Poison Sovereign spoke and smiled faintly. I couldn’t help frowning at that smile.

Forget frightening—it was desiccated.

Dry and turbid. That was the smile he wore.

“My stubbornness. Stubbornness to finish what I couldn’t do.”

[Ha.]

At that answer, Yoo Cheongil let out a breathless scoff.

[So you brought the divine sword here for some stubbornness you can’t even name.]

“Yeah.”

[There’s no way that happens unless you’re mad.]

“Then you’re right. I went mad a long time ago. And if you ask when, it was probably that day.”

[Poison Sovereign.]

Yoo Cheongil ground his teeth and spoke the name.

And I caught him looking at me.

What now?

As Yoo Cheongil looked my way, the Poison Sovereign gave a short chuckle.

“Cluck, cluck... Don’t worry. I’ve no intent to mention it to the boy—however.”

He snapped his eyes wide and stared at Yoo Cheongil.

“So you keep that mouth shut as well. I won’t hinder you, so you do the same.”

[...]

At the savage tone, Yoo Cheongil grimaced, but he didn’t raise his voice at the Poison Sovereign any further.

He only said, with a shadowed look,

[...You’ll regret this, Poison Sovereign.]

“Regret?”

At that, the Poison Sovereign laughed again.

“If it’s that, I did it to the point of loathing before I died.”

With that, Yoo Cheongil said nothing more, leaned on the wall, and closed his eyes.

And the Poison Sovereign went back to searching among the items.

And—

‘...So what is it.’

Watching the two of them, I thought,

‘What exactly are you old men on about.’

So what was the point?

I wanted to ask that so badly. But there was no way to right now.

****

Time passed.

It didn’t slip away helplessly like before; roughly half an hour went by.

The search of this space was nearly done. The room wasn’t all that big to begin with,

and since all we could see were weapons, the search didn’t take long.

“...We didn’t find any special mechanisms inside the room.”

The reporting man’s voice lacked conviction. After searching that long, why sound like that?

‘Because of earlier, I guess.’

If I had to name a reason, it would be me.

They’d gone to the trouble of searching and said they saw nothing—only for me to find the way in a few seconds.

No wonder their confidence had sunk.

‘Then I do feel a little bad...’

I hadn’t meant it that way, but it was a bit my fault, so I felt just a little sorry.

‘Anyway, that aside.’

I stared openly at the Poison King. His face looked worse than before.

Apparently—

‘He isn’t finding it?’

Even here, he didn’t seem to be finding what he wanted.

‘What is it really.’

What had the Poison King come to the secret archive to find? Were the countless treasured blades we’d just uncovered not enough?

‘...They all look like treasure troves to me.’

Sell just one and how much would that fetch.

Even to my untrained eye, they were famed swords.

And still he reacted like that.

‘Honestly, this is why the rich are hopeless.’

They don’t know how important money is.

‘What is he looking for that’s so damned great.’

I couldn’t begin to understand; it only made me want to sigh.

And it wasn’t just the Poison King making me sigh—his father was doing his part as well.

‘...Not here? I’m sure I left it here. Strange...?’

For that half hour, the Poison Sovereign had ransacked the place too—

and just like the Poison King, he hadn’t found what he wanted.

The difference from the Poison King was that he at least knew what he was after.

‘He said Heavenly Demon Divine Sword, right?’

The sword the Heavenly Demon supposedly used.

The Poison Sovereign kept searching for it, but apparently he hadn’t found it.

‘...If it’s come to this. That means it’s deeper in, hmm...’

He cocked his head, as if there were some spot he suspected.

‘So there are more rooms, and it’s there?’

According to the Poison Sovereign, of the rooms in the archive, only three were actually in use.

If this was one of them, then it could be in one of the other two?

Just as I was raising that question—

“...Clan Head. It’s time for you to return for now.”

One of those who’d come down with us spoke to the Poison King. Only then did his expression change.

The emotion that had barely surfaced cooled, and his face went flat.

I couldn’t help a quiet whistle.

‘That’s some world-class face control.’

A Clan Head is a Clan Head. He was that good at hiding his feelings.

With his face reset, the Poison King nodded and said,

“...We should end today’s search here.”

At his words, a flicker of relief crossed Cheon Eujin’s and Do Hyeong’s faces.

I wondered why, then figured it was because they’d been keyed up.

‘There’s more than one mechanism. They were braced for the unexpected.’

In the Central Plains, a secret archive isn’t just a space to hide treasure. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

‘It’s a place packed with traps to guard those treasures.’

So when you enter one, you go in after serious preparation.

‘...And this is the Poison Sovereign’s secret archive...’

A secret archive made by the Poison Sovereign, of all people.

It would have been strange not to be tense coming to a place like this.

If anything, it was the lunatic who’d suggested going in with this tiny a team who looked strange.

‘Besides, time’s passed, so the idea is to head up and reset.’

The tension and fatigue had built up.

Time had gone by. As Clan Head, he couldn’t leave the clan unattended for long.

So he was saying we’d stop here today and resume next time.

The request didn’t say it had to be finished in one go anyway; no big deal.

‘...I was tired, too.’

I was getting worn down as it was.

Honestly, I was relieved.

“Understood.”

So I agreed on the spot.

The moment I did, the Poison King turned his back and strode off.

He didn’t even wait to hear from Do Hyeong or Cheon Eujin.

“Uh, hm.”

I debated whether to call that out—but let it slide.

The Poison King moved first.

I worried a bit that a mechanism might misfire on the way out, but thankfully nothing happened.

We used the same entrance we’d come through and stepped back out.

Outside, the Tang men were already waiting.

Only when they saw the Poison King and his party return safe did they let out a breath of relief.

“...We sincerely celebrate the Clan Head’s return.”

A man who looked like the chief steward bowed his head with full ceremony.

The Poison King nodded to him, then spoke to the ones who’d come in with us.

“Write up what you saw inside and deliver it to the chief steward.”

“Understood...”

“And...”

This time he turned his gaze to us.

“...I truly thank you for your efforts today. However, for safety’s sake, we’ll have to resume the search another time... Would that be acceptable?”

“Understood.”

“...Thank you for your forbearance.”

I was curious what would happen if we said no—but of course nothing good would come of saying it, so I held my tongue.

It looked like we’d be resuming the secret archive search another time.

With that, today’s schedule came to an end.

Guided by the Tang personnel, we made our way back to our quarters.

****

“...Huuuu...”

Only after I returned to the room did I let out a long breath.

I’d been under tension like everyone else.

When it eased, I felt my body go slack.

By the time we came out, the sun had long since set.

I lay down on the bedding that’d already been spread.

‘...I’m beat.’

Normally, I’d have gone to train at this hour, but I didn’t have it in me this time.

‘...Shouldn’t have agreed to this?’

If I’d known it would be this tiring and this much hassle, I might’ve just said no.

‘No—the problem is I took two requests.’

It felt worse because I was trying to handle not just the Poison King’s business but the Poison Sovereign’s as well.

‘Where did those old men go now.’

The Poison Sovereign who’d given me the request had vanished the moment we left the archive.

Yoo Cheongil, naturally, had slipped away too.

I had no idea where they’d gone after dumping the work on me.

‘...Tsk.’

I’m the idiot. I let the Supreme Great Rejuvenation Pill blind me and took the job.

‘Should I just quit even now?’

Maybe that’d be better. Pill or no pill, my body’s not going to hold up.

We’d opened the archive—honestly it felt like that should’ve been the end.

Maybe I should just drop the greed now and go easy.

Yeah. That’d be better. Keeping myself alive is hard enough—what do I think I’m doing.

I’ll bring it up next time I see the Poison Sovereign or the Poison King.

I closed my eyes, mulling that over.

Fatigue washed over me and I fell asleep at once.

I don’t know how long I slept when—

“Boy.”

A voice at my ear brought me half awake.

“Boy, get up.”

It was the Poison Sovereign’s voice. I didn’t open my eyes.

‘What now.’

I’d been sleeping nicely and he had to wake me with his voice.

I was still tired. I was going to just pretend to sleep and let it pass—

“...Hnh, won’t wake, will you. If you don’t get up now, we can’t go fetch the Supreme Great Rejuvenation—”

“...What is it?”

“...”

At his words I opened my eyes and sat up.

It took an instant.

The Poison Sovereign stared at me with a ridiculous look and said,

“...You really are a spitting image of your master in more ways than one.”

“...”

I was sincerely offended.