“Hm?”

The Heavenly Demon let out a brief reaction.

The moment I heard it, my brows tightened.

What?

What kind of reaction was that supposed to be?

This was directly about him, and he was acting like he had no idea.

“A promise with the Heavenly Demon?”

The words that came out of Divine Spear’s mouth.

My reaction to them wasn’t much different.

“...You’re saying you made a promise with the Sky of the Demonic Cult?”

The original source of the disaster.

The great demon who had tried to plunge the Central Plains into blood by starting a war.

And he had accepted negotiations with the Demonic Cult because of a promise with that man?

What kind of nonsense is that?

Those weren’t words that should be coming out of someone from the beings beyond heaven who had saved the world.

And on top of that—

“I have no idea what you mean.”

The man in question was saying he didn’t know.

That made it even more absurd.

He doesn’t know about it?

The Heavenly Demon, the one who supposedly made the promise, was reacting like he knew nothing.

Then what exactly was Divine Spear talking about?

“That is correct.”

Divine Spear confirmed my words.

“...How could that even be possible?”

I asked, still wary, and with a long creak, Divine Spear rose from his chair.

The instant that enormous eight-foot frame stood up, it nearly blocked out the whole window.

“...”

“...”

What was he about to say with that look in his eyes?

Just as I swallowed back the sound in my throat—

“I cannot tell you.”

“...What?”

The words that came out were unexpectedly deflating.

He couldn’t tell me?

“That is the nature of the promise.”

“...No.”

He’d built up the whole atmosphere just to say he couldn’t talk about it?

What kind of joke was that?

Don’t tell me.

Had Divine Spear gotten caught up in the influence of that energy too?

I sharpened my gaze and looked at him, but I couldn’t see any trace of it.

Whether he noticed my stare or not, Divine Spear simply looked down into my eyes and said what he had to say.

“The negotiations will take place seven days from now, at noon, inside the Alliance. The people of the Demonic Cult will likely arrive here in five days.”

“...”

“Be prepared.”

“...Mm.”

Five days.

The Demonic Cult.

The Young Cult Leader.

I rolled those words over in my mind and clicked my tongue inwardly.

“I understand.”

There was nothing more to discuss with someone who had already decided he wouldn’t speak.

I gave Divine Spear the proper respect and turned away.

*****

Back in the quarters the Alliance had assigned to me, I sat and thought it over carefully.

What is this?

What kind of promise would force things this far?

No—to begin with, did such a promise even exist?

And if it really did—

“Why don’t you know about it?”

I asked, setting the Divine Sword in front of me.

“Well.”

The Heavenly Demon answered.

“It is not something I remember.”

“Do you mean you don’t remember it, or that it never happened?”

Depending on the answer, those were two completely different situations.

“Well.”

“...No, why do you have to answer like that every damn time?”

He could have just said yes or no. What was well supposed to mean?

Exasperated, I pressed him, and the Heavenly Demon replied,

“Because I do not know.”

“What?”

“At the very least, it is not in my memory. But it is hard to say for certain that it never happened either, because my memories are not whole.”

“Your memories aren’t whole?”

“At least not the final moments. It may have happened then.”

If he meant the final moments—

“You mean when you were dying?”

“Yes.”

“...Wouldn’t it be strange if you made a promise then?”

That was the moment of his death.

I didn’t even know whether Divine Spear had been there.

And if he had supposedly made some promise to Divine Spear at that exact moment, that made even less sense.

If anything, it would have made more sense if it had been Yoo Cheongil.

The fact that it was Divine Spear was the problem.

So wouldn’t it make more sense to assume there never was any such promise?

That was what I was thinking when—

“If it were me, I may have.”

“...Hm?”

“That is why I cannot give you a definite answer.”

“...That’s an unbelievably vague thing to say.”

I rubbed at my stiff neck.

I couldn’t trust that man’s words.

I couldn’t even trust Yoo Cheongil, so why would I trust the Heavenly Demon?

...Looking at it plainly, though.

From what I had just heard, the negotiations with the Demonic Cult would be seven days from now. The Demonic Cult would arrive in five.

And this promise was supposedly something the Heavenly Demon and Divine Spear agreed to in secret.

Because of that, Divine Spear couldn’t speak of it.

He had even forced it through in spite of the obvious opposition it would draw from the Alliance elders and the higher-ranking officials.

Even while stepping down from his own position.

I pressed at the bridge of my nose.

How was I supposed to read this?

“Hss.”

First, I stood up.

There was someone I needed to go see.

The cause of it was the letter lying on the table in front of me.

And while I’m at it, there’s something I want to ask.

There was someone in this place perfectly suited for that question.

*****

“It’s been a while.”

“...Hello.”

When I arrived at the place written in the letter, someone greeted me.

A woman with refined features.

She looked about my age, but the years inside her were nothing like that.

“It’s an honor to see you, Sword Queen.”

Her identity was the Sword Queen, one of the beings beyond heaven, currently in a rejuvenated state after returning to youth.

“I’m sorry to have called for you so suddenly.”

She spoke with a smile.

“It’s all right. There was actually something I wanted to ask you too, Sword Queen.”

“Oh my, is that so? Then that works out nicely.”

The Sword Queen poured tea in front of me.

It was a gesture for me to sit.

“Come to think of it, that child has been asking after you quite a lot, Young Master Bang.”

“...What?”

That was a horrifying thing to hear.

If the Sword Queen was calling someone “that child”—

...Doesn’t she mean my sister?

It had to be Bang Seojin.

That lunatic had been looking for me?

“Why...?”

“...That’s quite a guarded expression.”

“...I just can’t imagine she’s looking for me for any normal reason.”

“Fortunately, the reason was very normal. She was wondering whether you’d been eating properly.”

“...That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

I asked in outright disgust at the impossible claim.

“...Ha ha... You siblings really do get along.”

The Sword Queen answered, disbelief laced into her laughter.

“It’s not a lie that Seojin has been looking for you a lot.”

“So the part about her worrying whether I’ve been eating was the lie?”

“Which brings us to the point.”

“...Why are you dodging the question...?”

I almost said it, but held back.

I already knew it had been a lie anyway.

Why would that madwoman ever worry about whether someone had eaten?

“The reason I called for you today is because I have one favor to ask.”

“...A favor?”

“Yes.”

A favor from one of the beings beyond heaven.

Before the Sword Queen could say more, I asked first,

“Let me ask one thing before that.”

“Yes?”

“...Am I allowed to refuse?”

Every favor from people like these turned out to be insane.

So the first thing I needed to know was whether refusal was actually an option.

“Of course. You can refuse comfortably if you like.”

“Ah. That’s a relief.”

“Yes. It really isn’t anything major.”

“Then I’ll hear you out.”

If I could refuse, then I should refuse.

That was what I was thinking when—

“Would it be possible for me to get back an item your master took?”

“Ah, goddammit.”

“Yes?”

“...Ah. Sorry. That just slipped out.”

The curse had really come out on its own.

You damned old bastard.

By now, I was almost used to this.

Every last one of them kept asking me to bring back something Yoo Cheongil had taken.

What did he steal this time?

From the Demonic Cult, he stole a sword and a tree.

From the Tyrant, he stole the bracer.

From Mount Hua, he even traded for that robe for no damn reason.

At this point, isn’t he just a thief?

What kind of world-saving hero was he?

He was just the son of a thief.

Crunch.

My teeth ground together.

“...That doesn’t sound like the kind of favor I can refuse.”

I wasn’t accusing the Sword Queen, but I asked in confusion all the same.

“No. As I said, it’s perfectly fine if you refuse.”

“But when you say an item...”

“It isn’t anything that important. I only thought you might know something about it.”

“...What kind of thing?”

“Just an ornament.”

“An ornament?”

I tilted my head.

An ornament?

“Yes. It was something he took. Do you happen to know it?”

“...Uh, no. I don’t.”

There hadn’t been anything I would call an ornament among the things I’d seen in the vault.

At least not that I remembered.

“...I see.”

The Sword Queen looked disappointed at my answer.

That reaction felt slightly strange.

It was different from the others.

“If it isn’t there, then that’s fine. You can forget it. Then what was it you wanted to ask me, Young Master Bang?”

Her smile returned.

Even after returning to youth, maybe there was no helping the fact that age still showed through her expressions and gestures.

“Ah, I just... wanted to ask something.”

I wet my lips slightly and asked her,

“Do you happen to have anything you could tell me about Bow Ghost?”

Crack!

“...Hm?”

The sound came the instant the question left my mouth.

Where had that come from?

When I turned my eyes, the source of it was none other than the Sword Queen’s hand.

The teacup she had been holding had shattered.

Completely.

“Sword Queen?”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. I suppose this cup must have been very fragile.”

Smiling brightly, she pulled out a cloth and began wiping away the water and broken fragments.

Was it my imagination?

Her expression just now...

...It’s terrifying as hell.

No.

It definitely wasn’t my imagination.

Her eyes were smiling, but her mouth wasn’t.

It was completely different from the face that had seemed so gentle only moments ago.

“...Sword Queen... are you all right?”

“There’s nothing to worry about. Cups made these days must simply be much weaker than they used to be.”

“...”

No they weren’t.

That cup shouldn’t have been that fragile at all...

“So, what was it you wanted to ask about that bitch—I mean, Bow Ghost?”

“...I just wanted to ask what kind of person she is.”

“What kind of person she is...”

At my words, all expression vanished from the Sword Queen’s face.

Even the smile in her eyes disappeared.

“And why are you curious about that?”

Her voice turned cold too.

Damn, that was freezing.

It felt like the air itself had gone cold.

“It’s nothing much... I just need to look into her a little, and there wasn’t really anyone I could ask.”

“You need to look into Bow Ghost? In that case...”

The Sword Queen’s eyes narrowed as she glanced somewhere else.

“There should be one person near you that you can ask.”

“...”

Did she mean the Sword Emperor?

Well, they had been companions, so of course she’d know he was with me.

“I already tried that.”

I really had.

While training with the Sword Emperor, I’d casually tried to ask about it.

You’re speaking a filthy name. Shut # Nоvеlight # your mouth if you don’t want your tongue cut out.

Yes, sir.

I’d been shut down immediately by what might have been the harshest warning I’d ever gotten from him.

...That was the first time I’d ever seen the Sword Emperor hate someone that much.

He was cold by nature, sure.

But I had never seen that level of disgust from him before.

“...Hm.”

At that, the Sword Queen gave a small nod.

“A description... There really isn’t much to say. But if I had to put it one way...”

She looked at me as she spoke.

“She’s someone you should never get involved with.”

“Someone I should never get involved with...”

“That is both a description and a piece of advice I can give you.”

“Advice?”

“Yes. Advice. Don’t get involved with her. If you do, and it goes wrong...”

The Sword Queen spoke with a grave expression.

“The end of it will be ruin.”

“...”

“I hope you’ll keep my words firmly in mind.”

It was the kind of warning that made my heart tighten.

But what was I supposed to do?

...Because no matter how I look at it...

When things got this far, it usually meant I was going to get involved anyway.

My cursed bad luck was already telling me that.

In the most fucked-up way possible.