The next day.

SWISH! SWISH!

Yeon Hojeong, sweeping the courtyard with a huge broom, turned his head at the sudden feeling of someone nearby.

“Hey.”

Mookbi, bundled in a fur coat, waved at him.

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“What are you doing out here this early? It’s cold, so go back inside and get some more rest.”

“You sneaky man.”

“What was that?”

Mookbi grumbled.

“No wonder you knew so much about me.”

Yeon Hojeong snorted a laugh.

“So you believe me?”

“What else am I supposed to do if I don’t? You said that’s what it was, so I have to believe you.”

It really was a remarkably simple conclusion.

Of course, that did not mean Mookbi’s trust in Yeon Hojeong ran deeper than Yeon Wi’s. The difference between the two was simply one of temperament.

“What was I like?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean me back then.”

Yeon Hojeong gave a short snort.

“A hardheaded brute who couldn’t do anything but shoot a bow. You used to get dead drunk, act half your age, and dance around in front of all the kids.”

“Ghk!”

Mookbi’s face turned bright red.

“That’s a lie!”

“Heh.”

“...It wasn’t true, right?”

“And what if it was? What if it wasn’t? What matters is who you are now, isn’t it?”

“Answer properly. Did I do it or not?”

“I don’t know. Feels like you probably did.”

“So it was a lie after all!”

Yeon Hojeong chuckled and kept sweeping.

“In the Black Emperor’s Citadel, the greatest coalition in the Dark Path, there was a position called the Five Divine Generals.”

“The Five Divine Generals...?”

“They were the strongest masters serving directly under the Dark Emperor, the Lord of the Black Emperor’s Citadel. Each of them was grandmaster-class, and every one of them was good enough to be named the best in the world in his or her field.”

Yeon Hojeong looked at Mookbi.

“And the one who led the Five Divine Generals, the one called their strongest battle commander, was you.”

“...!”

“With peerless archery that no one could question as the best under heaven, and enough combat power to fight the other Divine Generals to a standstill even without a bow in your hands. When it came to martial arts alone, you were called the second-in-command of the Black Emperor’s Citadel. That was Divine Bow Mookbi. You.”

Mookbi felt her heart begin to pound for no reason.

Divine Bow? What a magnificent epithet. The thought that, in the era Yeon Hojeong had lived through, she herself had been a master worthy of being spoken of as the best under heaven was enough to raise gooseflesh.

“And Gangryang too.”

“...?!”

“The one called the Foremost Sword of the Dark Path, the invincible master of the sword who made his name throughout the martial world of the Central Plains as the Ironblood Sword King, was Gangryang. He was one of the Five Divine Generals too.”

Mookbi let out a hollow laugh.

“Gangryang too...?”

“At the time, the man praised by the world as the greatest swordsman under heaven was Mo Yonggun. But there were also people who said this: ‘In martial arts, Mo Yonggun stands higher. But when it comes to the sword alone, Gangryang stands higher.’”

“That’s incredible praise.”

“He may look like he’s missing a few screws, but when it came to talent and passion, no one could match him. There was a reason he became one of the Five Divine Generals at the youngest age among us.”

“Had the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate already been wiped out back then too?”

“Yes. That’s why it surprised me. It made me wonder whether history, even if its course changes, still ends up arriving at the same result in the end.”

Mookbi stared at Yeon Hojeong for a moment, then went and picked up a broom from the corner.

“I’ll help.”

“Then I’d be grateful.”

The two of them stood side by side and swept the snow.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Maybe it was because both of them were naturally deft, but with each sweep of the broom, great clumps of snow were pushed away at once.

Looking down at the broom, Yeon Hojeong asked,

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

“What? That you didn’t tell me until now?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“You could think I approached you on purpose.”

Mookbi smiled.

“Well, I guess I could think that.”

“You really don’t seem bothered.”

“If it hadn’t been you, Young Master Yeon, my life would’ve sunk even deeper into the gutter. When I think about that, I don’t dare say I’m upset.”

“Well, look at that. So you do know.”

Mookbi only smiled.

So that was it.

Behind that bright smile, she recalled the words Yeon Hojeong had once said to her.

You never showed your feelings easily. But that didn’t mean you had none. If anything, you were a warrior with a hotter heart than anyone else.

I liked you. At least the you from back then knew how to choose your own life for yourself. That path was painful, but you never once complained.

I didn’t know your past. I never imagined this. But trying to learn more than this would just be me overstepping.

The past is only the past. I only wanted to change a past that would become a horrific future. And to do that, I needed to become ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ someone different from the me I had been.

Back when the Battle of Yesin had ended and she had been with Gungcheon, Yeon Hojeong—whom she had never even seen face-to-face before then—had said those things.

She had been engulfed in terrible grief and confusion, and yet those words had kept circling in her head. Yeon Hojeong had treated her as if he had known her for a very long time.

That’s why you came looking for me.

Mookbi’s gaze on Yeon Hojeong turned distant.

And even so, you never tried to manipulate me.

If he had truly meant to use her, he could have drawn her along one way or another.

But Yeon Hojeong had not done that. He had given her a choice, and if she had said she would not go with him, he really would have let her go without regret.

That was Yeon Hojeong.

Even with someone he had once shared deep ties with, he never forced anything. He only made an offer, then respected the other person’s choice.

How could anyone hate a man like that? How could she possibly say she felt slighted?

I’m the one who owes him.

Yeon Hojeong had given her a family.

That alone was more than enough to make her regard him as a benefactor for life. She was a thousand, ten thousand times more grateful that he had treated her like family than that he had saved her life.

“Whew. My back’s starting to ache.”

“You’re whining over this when you swing around a hundred-pound axe like it’s nothing?”

“I’m not using Inner Qi.”

“...Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“It’s training. If you hold your posture properly, it’s good for your back and abdomen.”

“...”

“Hey, and who uses Inner Qi just to sweep snow? What a waste.”

Come to think of it, Yeon Hojeong’s posture really was restrained.

It would not have been wrong to call it training rather than labor. It just looked so natural that no one would notice unless they watched closely.

Mookbi clicked her tongue.

“You even train at times like this?”

“You improve faster if you absorb moments like this into your training too.”

“Yeah, no. That’s a bit much.”

Yeon Hojeong smirked.

“You’re right. This alone isn’t nearly enough. But I believe in it. If all these little moments pile up, then someday I’ll be at least one step higher.”

“Hm.”

“Well, even if my skill doesn’t improve, that’s fine too. Just keeping the tension alive is enough.”

Mookbi stared at him, then shrugged.

“Even so, I’m not living like that.”

“Lazy.”

“You haven’t forgotten that I’m older than you, right?”

“I was the Lord of the Citadel, and you were my subordinate.”

“That’s a past I don’t know anyway.”

“Isn’t that true now too?”

“We’re in private.”

“My body may be young, but I’m a man who lived almost fifty years.”

“Must be nice being older. Though shouldn’t that count as imaginary years?”

“...”

“Live in the present. Stop burying yourself in the past.”

“You really won’t get conned anywhere you go. Amazing. Someone who used to be that steady and gentle now has daggers hanging off her tongue.”

“I don’t think you’re one to say that, Young Master Yeon.”

Yeon Hojeong burst into loud laughter.

Laughing with him, Mookbi asked lightly,

“When are you going to tell Jipyeong?”

“Jipyeong?”

“Yes. You told me too, so shouldn’t you tell Jipyeong as well?”

“Who knows?”

Yeon Hojeong shrugged.

“Now that it’s come to this, I don’t particularly want to keep lying to him. But it’d be weird to sit him down and make it formal too, wouldn’t it?”

“Would it?”

“Yeah.”

He looked up at the sky.

The pre-dawn sky was pitch-black, but the snowfall pouring down had noticeably weakened before they knew it.

“I realized it yesterday. Things like this are best when they come out naturally.”

“Hmm.”

“Of course, until yesterday I didn’t know that. To me, it was a really big problem.”

Yeon Hojeong shrugged.

“But not anymore. Whether I confess my past or not, the people who believe in me are going to keep believing in me to the end. So I can take it easy now.”

Mookbi smiled.

“That sounds nice.”

“Oh, and now I’m tired of it. Yesterday I spilled out at least five days’ worth of words all at once. For a while, I want to lock my vocal cords shut.”

“You’re awfully talkative for someone saying that.”

“...”

“Well, well.”

“...”

“My, my.”

“...”

“If you’re going to keep your mouth shut like that, can I hit you once? It doesn’t seem necessary anymore.”

“No.”

The two of them burst out laughing at the same time.

“I’m just going to let it happen naturally. That’s better.”

“Okay. Then let’s do that.”

And so another hour passed.

The sky was still as dark as night. But it felt as though the eastern horizon was slowly beginning to brighten.

“Ah, moving around since dawn made me hungry. Want to eat?”

“Sounds good.”

*****

“Whew.”

Je Gal Munho had not slept a wink.

“The Three Fanatic Creeds...?”

His eyes, fixed on the rattling window, were clouded with confusion.

How did we fail to realize that an organization like that existed until now?

Then again, it was not the Central Plains. It was beyond the frontier. If a force beyond the frontier had truly set its mind to hiding its strength, then no matter how formidable the intelligence network of the Alliance of the Martial World was, it would have been difficult to detect.

That was what made it even more frightening.

Whether it was a person or an organization, once power had been acquired, the natural instinct was to show it to the world. That touched on human nature itself.

And yet they had possessed that immense power and capital, and still hidden themselves thoroughly.

A group with overwhelming might and patience beyond imagination. And for patience of that scale to be maintained, certainty toward the future was essential, which meant they would likely have many highly capable strategists as well.

It doesn’t feel real. But...

Je Gal Munho sighed.

Commander Yeon is not the kind of man who would lie about something like this. And besides.

He pulled several neatly folded sheets of paper from his robes.

They were the top-secret intelligence documents stolen from Ink Dragon Manor. Those documents recorded the flow of funds entering Ink Dragon Manor from beyond the frontier.

And among the streams of money was the Corridor Band that the combined Demon-Sweeping and Evil-Smiting force had destroyed.

There’s clear evidence too. In the end, that means I can be certain the Three Fanatic Creeds really do exist.

As if suffocating, Je Gal Munho leaned back in his chair.

“If the Perverse Lust Cult has enough power to support Ink Dragon Manor, then its strength must rival the Alliance of the Martial World at the very least. And there isn’t just one such organization, but three?”

His vision darkened.

He was the sort of man who could usually produce countermeasures against an enemy almost immediately, but even that had limits.

And there was one more problem.

“Mo Yonggun.”

Anger rose on Je Gal Munho’s face.

“There are limits even to being mad for power. How can he join hands with Yangcheon? That man has truly crossed the line!”

To be honest, the threat posed by the Three Fanatic Creeds was too abstract.

Mo Yonggun, however, was not. Je Gal Munho had thought that even if he was blinded by power, he was still a man with his own sense of justice. But looking at him now, he was nothing but a damned calamity.

After fuming for a long while, Je Gal Munho turned toward the door.

“Is someone there?”

“Yes, Military Advisor.”

“Send word to Clan Lord Yeon. Tell him the military advisor wishes to see him for a moment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Je Gal Munho turned his gaze back toward the window.

RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE.

The window shook wildly under the murderous east wind.