Myriad-Flowers Rain.

A pretty phrase that says the sky runs full of falling flower-rain.

In truth it’s a cruel, savage name.

The reason being—

‘What fills the sky isn’t flowers; it’s nothing but concealed weapons.’

Myriad-Flowers Rain is a killer technique that spreads dozens of kinds of concealed weapons [N O V E L I G H T] across the sky and bombards from above.

It’s said that Poison Shadow Lord, a former Tang Clan Head, started a massacre with this technique during the Righteous–Demonic Decisive Battle back when the Tang Clan stood between the two sides.

And when the Tang Clan switched to the Righteous path, they abolished and erased Myriad-Flowers Rain—the technique that had killed the most Righteous clansmen.

The reason so many still feared the Tang Clan was also this:

Even if it was “long ago,” the clan had aided the Black Path, and, beyond that, in the war they had shown a power everyone still remembered with that single technique called Myriad-Flowers Rain.

So I already knew well what Myriad-Flowers Rain meant inside the Tang Clan.

Hence, from the moment I heard it from Yoo Cheongil, I didn’t find it strange.

‘The old man helped restore the Tang Clan’s Myriad-Flowers Rain.’

When I heard that line,

I did wonder why Yoo Cheongil had suddenly helped restore Myriad-Flowers Rain, but—

‘...Given the old man’s ability, I guess he could.’

Contrary to his crotchety, filthy temper,

Yoo Cheongil was judged the Greatest of the Age and the Greatest Under Heaven.

If we’re only counting martial scholarship, he was a gentleman no one could dismiss.

If they asked him to restore it, I could roughly understand.

‘...But what does it mean he made it?’

Made, not restored?

It made no sense.

“How would you make that, sir?”

It isn’t Blue Moon Sect martial arts; it’s a Tang Clan technique.

Just how did Yoo Cheongil make that? I asked, puzzled, and Yoo answered flatly.

[What do you mean how? I just made it.]

“...Was martial arts something you could ‘just’ make?”

[Well, isn’t Myriad-Flowers Rain basically lofting concealed weapons and smashing the ground below? I just put one together to fit that, and the Tang brat pestered me so hard for it I handed it over.]

“...Ahh, is that so...?”

I see.

So martial arts—even a signature technique of another house—could be slapped together roughly. Sure.

‘As if.’

At that nonsense I raked my face with a dry hand.

No matter how I tried to understand, there was no way.

If there was anything in there I could accept, it was this:

‘Even if Yoo Cheongil says it like that, the thing was complete enough that the Poison Sovereign begged for it.’

And—

‘He took that Myriad-Flowers Rain and erased it instead of passing it to his successors.’

And now the Poison King is looking for it.

Why would the Poison King be searching for Myriad-Flowers Rain?

That wasn’t hard to bring to mind.

‘Symbolism again...’

The power packed into the name Myriad-Flowers Rain.

On its own, it could firm up the Tang Clan’s standing and presence.

As of now the Tang Clan had of course risen to the Five Great Clans, and thanks to Iron River their position was solid, but—

‘Apart from that.’

Unlike the Tang Clan of the past, the Tang Clan of the present inevitably felt somewhat different.

‘Back then they were called masters of concealed weapons and monsters of poison.’

At present, because of Iron River, the impression was strongly “they manufacture weapons.”

Maybe—

‘Is that why?’

Could that be why the Poison King is chasing the traces of Myriad-Flowers Rain?

‘If so, it roughly explains it.’

But it felt a bit too crude to call it certainty.

“Mm.”

It bothered me.

Depending on what the Poison King’s aim was, there would be much more—or much less—to think through, so I couldn’t help minding it.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue short.

If the net result is: the Poison King is looking for Myriad-Flowers Rain.

And Yoo Cheongil made it. The Poison Sovereign received it and burned it.

If those are the confirmed truths—

‘From here.’

What can I get out of it?

For now I decided to think only about that.

*****

Time passed. By the Poison King’s word it should be afternoon.

I had just finished training with Cheon Eujin and Do Hyeong and was staying in my quarters.

Right then the Tang Clan’s people came. The method was the same as yesterday.

They blindfolded us so we couldn’t see and took us by the same route as before.

‘...Troublesome.’

It’s right around the corner—do we really have to do this?

Of course, they don’t know I know the location, so that’s why.

It just felt like a waste of time.

Anyway. After a bit more we reached the destination, and when my sight brightened again, I saw, alongside the faces from yesterday, the Poison King standing there.

“Welcome.”

“I greet the Clan Head of Tang.”

After offering light courtesy, I looked toward the open entrance.

‘Looks like the door didn’t shut.’

It could also be they opened it again. I had filed a report with the Tang Clan on the opening method.

And—

‘...That.’

The big case on the wall. I frowned at it.

“...Clan Head, that...”

“Yes. Full Moon.”

‘As expected.’

The familiar case held Full Moon, which the Iron River Chief had said he’d “shored up.”

To repeat: not repaired—shored up.

He’d said full repair would be difficult, and yet—

The fact they had gone out of their way to bring it...

“It had no use yesterday. Today it might, so we brought it again.”

“...I thought as much.”

“I apologize for moving an item without Young Master Bang’s leave. We will send a separate apology by sealed letter to the Blue Moon Sect.”

“...”

He knew it would be a problem and did it anyway.

Which meant—

‘They’re in a hurry.’

So urgent that they’d risk discourtesy to another house.

The Poison King—or the Tang Clan—was that pressed.

“Hrm...”

I stared quietly at the Poison King.

He kept the same blank face as ever, but if you focused you could tell a minute difference.

Impatience? No. Not that—neither anger nor fretfulness.

‘What is it.’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

I couldn’t tell yet, but something was different for sure.

Watching the Poison King, I then looked at the case holding Full Moon.

The Poison King was one thing, but—

‘...Do we really need to bring that?’

From the Poison Sovereign’s story it didn’t seem necessary.

Was there any need to carry Full Moon along?

While I was mulling that—

[Take it along.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke to me.

[You’ll need it.]

We’ll need it? That?

‘...Hrm.’

Different from the Poison Sovereign’s words? It raised a question, but I didn’t hesitate.

I strode to the case.

“I should be the one to carry it, right?”

The Poison King nodded. Ownership was clearly mine; if we were taking it, this was proper.

Scrape.

“Urk.”

The weight hit as soon as I tried to lift it.

Damn. Filthy heavy.

I barely slung it. How is a single sword this heavy?

I tried to hide how hard it was.

[Click, click. If you struggle at just that level, that won’t do. Full Moon was heavier than that originally.]

The old man must have noticed me straining—he never missed a chance to tease.

Damn codger.

‘Still.’

Maybe because I’d reached first-rate, it wasn’t simply crushing.

Right. First-rate.

‘I’m first-rate.’

Something warm rose inside. I rubbed my nose and squared my shoulders.

“...Young Master Bang. What’s the matter?”

“What about me?”

“No, you looked pleased about something.”

“Ah... Thinking that I’m carrying my master’s sword on my back makes me a little proud.”

[Bull.]

“Ahh. As expected...”

At my answer, Cheon Eujin nodded as if greatly impressed. That kid makes that face whenever I do anything.

Feeling a bit sheepish, I looked at Do Hyeong.

‘No issue with the guardian spirit...’

The guardian spirit circling Do Hyeong was the same as at first.

Which meant there would be no problem even if we went in now.

With that in mind I spoke to the Poison King.

“...Let’s go. I’m ready.”

At my words the Poison King turned his back.

We entered the Poison Sovereign’s archive again.

****

Because I knew the way, coming and going wasn’t hard.

Maybe because I’d been here once already, it felt familiar.

I was a little afraid of any mechanisms we might not know, but I had memorized things, so I could walk with some confidence.

‘I’m first-rate.’

Ah, I should restrain myself, but the corners of my mouth kept acting up.

I covered my face with a hand to force my expression flat.

‘Idiot.’

Of all places, losing my head in the archive.

If I touched the wrong thing, I could die. I needed to be razor-focused.

“Hoo.”

I deliberately let my breath out.

To settle myself.

‘...The road is long. I can’t be pleased already.’

Not yet. Not yet.

Only just first-rate.

Only barely first-rate.

That’s how I had to think. I had to.

‘I have no intention of being satisfied with barely first-rate.’

I had to look higher. So now wasn’t the time to be giddy; it was the time to prepare.

Thinking that, my insides gradually calmed.

“Hoooo...”

I repeated low breaths as I walked.

We went down the stairs and a gap came into view—the space we’d opened last time.

I went inside. Full Moon on my back was still heavy, but bearable.

Thump.

I moved on.

A wide, bright space appeared.

The heart of the archive, packed tight with night pearls.

The moment I came in, my eyes went to the archive Poison Sovereign and I had headed to just last night.

The one full of weapons, with the secret room inside.

Thankfully, it was shut.

Staring at that, I spoke to the Poison King.

“How do you want to conduct the search?”

I asked if he meant to do a general sweep like last time.

“Do you see anything, Young Hero Bang?”

“...Me?”

The Poison King asked me first, not the men he’d brought.

Do I see anything?

“...Weeell... not yet.”

I wanted to tell him something, but unfortunately, that was the case.

It couldn’t be helped.

‘The Poison Sovereign isn’t here.’

There was no Poison Sovereign to tell me about the archive.

“I think we should look around a bit first.”

“Very well.”

“Yes.”

“...”

“...”

“...Ah, you mean for me to look around?”

The Poison King nodded.

Would you look at that.

‘Now he’s just planning to use me outright?’

Absurd. He brought the mechanism engineer and the formation master and wants to entrust it to me?

Damn it.

‘This is why I shouldn’t have shown off.’

I should have pretended to know just enough, but since I handled everything, it got a bit annoying.

Besides—

‘...I do know the method.’

Ridiculous as it is, I knew how to open the archive.

Because I memorized the method last night.

It probably wouldn’t be much different this time either.

‘I can see the points.’

The locations of the points. And the pattern.

As long as I found those, opening the Poison Sovereign’s archive wouldn’t be all that hard.

Only—

‘Rather than opening it right away...’

Wouldn’t it be better to watch the situation a bit longer and then open it?

I wrestled with that, but—

‘...Hmmm.’

After a short think I spoke to Do Hyeong beside me.

“Senior.”

“...Mm?”

“Could you follow me for a moment?”

“...All right.”

At my words, Do Hyeong looked puzzled but followed without a word.

So I said to him,

“Do you see that wall over there?”

I pointed, and Do Hyeong nodded.

“Please go there.”

“Go there?”

“Yes. Just go. However you like.”

“...However I like?”

“Yes. Walk straight, or weave your way over—just go however you like.”

“...”

What is this? He frowned at my request, but again he didn’t show any complaint.

He stared at the wall, then walked straight toward it.

Slowly. One step at a time.

Watching him walk, I called out,

“Senior! If it looks even a little dangerous! If you feel you don’t want to go—just come back!”

No answer. Do Hyeong looked back only when he reached the wall.

Seeing that, I nodded.

“Mm. Good—seems there’s no problem.”

So there were no mechanisms or dangers there. I could relax.

While I was feeling satisfied watching Do Hyeong—

“...”

“...”

“...Um...”

People around me were giving me subtle looks.

What?

“Why?”

“N-no, it’s nothing... I’m sure Young Master Bang had his reasons...”

“Huh?”

Cheon Eujin forced himself to sound understanding. What? Why is he like that? As I stared, Yoo Cheongil answered in his stead.

[Well, because you’re a vicious bastard who used your comrade like a blunt tool to check for traps.]

‘Damn.’

I widened my eyes at the words.

Come to think of it, it could look that way. I hadn’t considered that.

‘No, I just meant to make use of the guardian spirit.’

From my side I was trying to make use of Do Hyeong’s guardian spirit.

A guardian spirit would care for Do Hyeong’s safety to an extreme, so I’d counted on it to react before anything happened.

‘...And that looked like this?’

So it looked like I was an evil bastard using a comrade to break through traps?

Could there be a worse misunderstanding—

[...How is that any different?]

‘Right...?’

Even if I knew he wouldn’t die, using Do Hyeong to check for traps wasn’t different.

“Ahem...”

I coughed, embarrassed, and walked to Do Hyeong.

I retraced exactly the steps he had taken a moment ago.

“...You’ve done a great service, Senior. Leave it to me now. I’ll handle the dangerous parts.”

“...”

His gaze turned a touch sharp. I carefully ignored it and felt out the mechanism.

I used the method I’d memorized last night.

Then—

Screeeech—!!!

Right on cue, the mechanism sounded and the door opened.

Thud—!!

“...Swift.”

At the sight, the Poison King murmured. Clear admiration colored his voice.

“Now, we’ll search again...”

The moment I spoke toward the open room—

“...Young Master Bang...?”

Someone called to me.

The title was Cheon Eujin’s, but the voice wasn’t Cheon Eujin’s.

And it wasn’t from behind, but in front.

In front... would be the room that had just opened, right?

Wondering what it was, I looked inside.

“...Huh?”

I saw someone I didn’t expect.

“...Why are you here...?”

A young woman staring at me with eyes wide.

‘What?’

Poison King’s daughter, Poison Blossom Tang Yeran.

‘Why is she here?’

She was in this place.