Cold eyes poured down on me. The startled look from just a moment ago was gone. In its place were sharply raised eyes and a gaze to match them, cool and cutting.

“You... you’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“...”

Damn.

I’ve been caught.

A thin layer of cold sweat ran down me.

I had broken through the mechanism too naturally.

I didn’t have any other choice. It was urgent.

There had been no time to pretend otherwise.

That crazy old man.

What the hell had he done in here? What kind of bullshit was it for the walls to start closing in just because someone touched an object?

I opened the door first thing because it startled me.

I should have pretended not to know. But I had needed to open the door first.

Otherwise, I would have been crushed to death.

Me and Cheon Hyein both.

“...I don’t know what you mean.”

The instant I played dumb, Cheon Hyein’s eyes narrowed.

“Do you think that counts as an excuse right now?”

“It’s the truth. I was in a rush, so I just swung my sword around wildly, and it opened.”

“Do you take me for an idiot? Do you really think that’s going to work?”

Of course it wouldn’t. I knew better than anyone it wouldn’t work, but what else was I supposed to do?

...Damn it.

This had become troublesome. I had wanted to avoid getting found out if possible.

Why, though?

How had the mechanism activated in the first place? I had never heard there was a trap like that in here.

What was the principle behind it?

When I came in with the Tyrant, nothing like this had happened. If there was any difference between then and now—

...The object.

Only when Cheon Hyein touched one of the objects in the second room.

Was that the reason?

Did it even make sense for the walls to start moving on their own just because someone touched an object? Nothing had happened when I touched them. Ah, wait.

Does it react to energy?

The Azure Moon Heart Art altered by Yucheon Gil. I possessed that. That might be why the mechanism had not activated when I touched the object.

But Cheon Hyein’s inner cultivation art was not Yucheon Gil’s.

If that difference had caused the mechanism to activate, then it made rough sense.

Which meant—

The objects in this vault...

Other than me and Yucheon Gil, no one could touch them.

That old man called it a snack storeroom, for all that.

Looks like he had prepared it rather thoroughly. So he really did take good care of his own belongings.

...Can I even call them his belongings?

That part was questionable. From everything I’d heard, most of them had been stolen or taken by force.

Anyway.

“...Ha.”

Cheon Hyein let out a sigh. No matter what excuse I gave, she had the eyes of someone who would not believe a word of it.

No.

She’s already certain.

Her disbelief was certainty.

She must have already suspected me.

That was why she was looking at me like that.

“I thought something was strange. The idea that you didn’t know was what made no sense.”

“As I said, I don’t know anything about—”

“If that’s what you’re going to say, then go ahead.”

“...”

Neither of us believed the other anyway. If I was going to come at this with that kind of attitude, then she was telling me to do as I pleased.

“...I think I did something pointless. I was too rash.”

That was some abrupt self-reflection. Which also meant she was saying she had chosen the wrong option.

“Since when? Since when did you know?”

She asked with a frown. At her words, I scratched the back of my head. I was thinking for a moment about what I ought to say, and then—

“Who knows.”

After giving her a short pause, I answered.

“At the very least, before Lady Cheon did.”

“...”

“I don’t know whether it was before Elder Baek found out, though.”

Probably not. Baekyeon had most likely learned about the vault before I did. That was why, when we came here, Yucheon Gil had mentioned traces in the first room.

The problem was—

Then that means there isn’t a mechanism trap in the first room.

Meaning he had designed it so traps like that only activated starting from the second room.

Which meant—

This room too...

There was no difference in how dangerous it was.

I was about to warn Cheon Hyein about that, but—

“So we shouldn’t touch the objects.”

She already understood the problem with the situation. That touching the objects would trigger the trap.

“The mechanism’s method of activation... it’s an issue of energy rather than a specific action, isn’t it?”

She had already figured that much out? Fast. Really fast.

“I wouldn’t know that much.”

I naturally kept pretending ignorance, and Cheon Hyein’s brow twitched.

“Are you trying to play games with me?”

“No, I really don’t know.”

“...Ha.”

As expected, she did not believe me in the slightest. But what was I supposed to do? I said I didn’t know.

“...Forget it. Talking to you any longer will only give me a headache.”

That was the sequence I wanted. Cheon Hyein moved again.

“...So this is the third room.”

With that, she looked around the room. In the darkness, she seemed to be searching for something.

“What are you looking for?”

At my words, Cheon Hyein looked at me.

“Who knows. I’m not sure.”

“...”

She really had the nerve to use my own words against me. Look at this woman.

The vault itself is the goal, but... she must have something she actually wants.

I had wondered what exactly she had come here for. It looked like Cheon Hyein had a very clear purpose of her own.

Could it be—

The divine pill?

As Baekyeon had said, the Azure Moon Sect’s divine pill. More precisely, had she come here looking for the one only the Sect Leader could consume?

If it’s that...

There was no way it would be here. I had eaten it long ago.

Still—

I don’t think that’s what she’s after.

Judging by Cheon Hyein’s reaction, it did not look like she was here for the divine pill.

Then what was it?

“What are you looking for? If it comes to it, I’ll help you look.”

“...”

“As you said, Lady Cheon. It’s possible I might know.”

Cheon Hyein looked at me. It was a reasonable thing to say. I did not know what object she was after, but if anyone here might know, it was me.

At that, Cheon Hyein furrowed her brow slightly. She looked conflicted. As if wondering whether she could really tell me. She stayed silent for a moment, then—

“...I’m looking for a sword.”

“A sword?”

A sword, all of a sudden? That was unexpected enough to sound almost absurd. A sword? What did she mean?

“What kind of sword are you talking about...?”

And in Yucheon Gil’s vault, of all places? How could there even be a sword here?

I don’t think I saw one.

At least, I had never seen a sword.

“It’s a thin double-edged sword. Haven’t you seen it?”

“I really haven’t seen any sword.”

“When you say really, that means the rest was a lie?”

“...Don’t try to fish for answers even now.”

She was still trying to probe me in a moment like this. Unbelievable.

“A double-edged sword. Why do you think it’s here?”

“...If it was left by the Sword Saint, then who knows.”

“What is it? Is it an important sword?”

“It is.”

Cheon Hyein answered with eyes gone completely cold.

“It’s something my mother left behind.”

“...”

That was far heavier than I had expected. I scratched my cheek as I listened.

A keepsake.

I had no idea why the keepsake would be a sword, but at least right now, Cheon Hyein did not seem to be lying.

The double-edged sword...

I dredged through my memories. The countless objects I had seen in the vault. Among them, I had never seen a sword.

Oddly enough.

Come to think of it... there really weren’t any swords.

There had been bracers and things like that, but no sword.

“Haven’t you seen it?”

Cheon Hyein asked me. I nodded.

“No. I haven’t.”

“...I see.”

She bit her lip. Then, after hearing my answer, Cheon Hyein rose to her feet.

“...Is there another room beyond this one?”

“...”

She asked that awfully boldly. I scratched my head at the question.

“I think so.”

“That sounds uncertain.”

“I haven’t been to the next room either.”

“...”

Cheon Hyein stared at me with an odd look after hearing that.

“Why are you telling the truth?”

Well, look at that. Cheon Hyein knew I was telling the truth.

Interesting. Even if I had lied, there was no way it would have shown.

“Do you not like it?”

“It just feels strange.”

“Now that you already know, I should at least tell you. So you don’t get your hopes up for nothing.”

“...Hopes...”

“We still can’t go to the next room. I don’t know the method.”

I did know it. The completion of Great Moon. A sword form made of a total of seven sword paths had to be completed.

That would be the method for reaching the next room.

But the problem was that I could not do that now.

“I see...”

Cheon Hyein nodded as she walked around the room.

Then—

“Young Master Bang.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s make a deal.”

Cheon Hyein offered me a deal. A deal?

“What kind of deal?”

“I’ll keep today’s events secret.”

“...What?”

“The fact that you know about this vault. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

I let out a hollow laugh when I heard that.

“And what if you don’t? What changes?”

Cheon Hyein was not the only one besides me who knew about this place. Even if she went around talking, what exactly would change?

“Nothing would change. But at the very least, I can stop it from reaching Elder Baek’s ears.”

“Hah?”

She was saying she would even keep quiet from Baekyeon?

If she found out...

It would get a little annoying, at least. Baekyeon was already getting on my nerves as it was.

“But how am I supposed to believe that?”

Baekyeon was on Cheon Hyein’s side. In a situation like that, who knew whether she would tell her or not? If I was going to worry about that, then—

“It would be better to kill you here.”

“...”

For an instant, the air turned ice-cold. A threat? No. It was not something as simple as a threat.

If you look at it rationally, it’s true.

A sealed room. A place no one could ever find unless they knew the method. If I killed Cheon Hyein here, no one would ever know.

Not that I knew about the vault.

Not what had happened to Cheon Hyein either.

At those words, Cheon Hyein’s eyes sank slightly.

“That’s a terrifying thing to say.”

“It means that option exists too.”

“You’re right. It does. But.”

Click.

Cheon Hyein drew her sword. The Moon Eye she had kept active all this time caught the sword path.

The end of that path was—

“...!”

CLANG—!!

Sparks flew as the blade was knocked aside. I had thrust out and blocked Cheon Hyein’s sword.

She had drawn it not at me, but at her own throat.

“...Are you insane?”

“I’m a little desperate right now.”

She meant it. Just now, Cheon Hyein had tried to cut her own throat.

“If you won’t accept the deal, I’ll die here.”

“So you really are insane. You’re threatening me with your own life as collateral? What are you to me?”

“Nothing at all. But right now, this is the only thing I can use to prove it.”

“Prove?”

“Elder Baek, you, any of it. Right now, the deal matters more to me.”

“...What in ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the world are you trying to do?”

What did she want?

At my question, Cheon Hyein repeated what she had said before.

“Please find the sword.”

“...The one you said was your mother’s keepsake?”

“Yes.”

“Is it really that important to you?”

If it was a keepsake, then of course it mattered. But I still could not tell whether it mattered enough for this.

I asked because I genuinely did not understand.

“It is.”

Cheon Hyein answered, her expression stiffening.

“Because one day, it will be the thing I use to kill my father.”

“...?”

For a moment, my mind went blank.

It was an unbelievably brazen declaration of patricide.