The place I headed right after speaking with Moonlit Sword was where the Blue Moon Sect’s martial artists gathered.

“Hup!”

“Haa—p!”

Rough shouts cracked against my ears. This was the training ground where all the Second Disciples assembled.

“...Huh?”

“That person is...”

Eyes swung to me the moment I appeared. Everyone looked, each with their own measure of regard.

They always stared, but today felt different.

Just the day before yesterday, even yesterday, I could feel a sour, shapeless resentment hanging in the air.

“...They say he entered the Small Moon Unit...”

“I heard he toyed with Senior Seom.”

Now, more of the looks held surprise than anything else.

Not reverence—unfortunately—but the looks that dismissed me or distrusted me were gone.

Feeling that, I walked a little more squarely. I’d already made too many waves to start shuffling my feet now.

Flutter—

The Small Moon Unit uniform snapped with my stride, and when that drew every gaze to me—

“Ah.”

I spotted the one I’d been looking for and walked that way.

Sure enough, he’d noticed me too.

“Young Master Cheon.”

At my call, the handsome, sweat-soaked youth—Cheon Eujin—looked into my eyes.

“...Young Master Bang?”

He wiped the sweat trailing down his jaw. Whatever he’d been doing, he was worn out enough that fatigue clung to his face.

“Have you been well?”

“...Ah, yes. Hoo... hoo...”

Catching his breath as he answered, he looked plainly uncomfortable.

He barely steadied his breathing, then straightened and spoke to me with proper form.

“What brings you here, Young Master Bang?”

“Ah, nothing complicated. I had something to tell you—do you have a moment?”

At my question, Cheon Eujin tilted his head.

****

I led Cheon Eujin out of the training ground to a small space behind it.

“Sorry to drag you off mid-training.”

“It’s fine. It happened to be our break.”

He smiled as if it were no trouble.

As it should. I’d timed it on purpose for the break.

“Thank you for understanding.”

No need to advertise that, so I took his words lightly.

“Then... what brings you?”

“I had business with Young Master Cheon. And while at it, it felt like it’s been a while since we saw each other.”

Strictly speaking, it had only been a few days, but details like that can be stepped over.

“Business...?”

“Yes.”

“What sort...?”

“I’ve just entered the Small Moon Unit. Did you hear?”

At that, Cheon Eujin paused.

Something brief flickered through his eyes.

Only for a moment, though.

“I heard. Congratulations.”

As if it had truly been just a blink, he smiled as he said it.

Of course, I didn’t miss that blink.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s exactly something to congratulate...”

It’s not like I got in on my own power anyway.

That’s what I thought as I spoke, but—

“How could it not be...!”

He sounded genuinely incredulous.

“At your age, no one in history has ever entered the Small Moon Unit—and I also heard you even won the trial.”

“...Right. That... happened.”

“Youngest in history.” A title about as comfortable to me as a millstone.

Maybe because he knew that, a faint light brightened in Cheon Eujin’s eyes.

“When I heard, I was shocked. I’ve thought this for a while, but the more I see you, the more extraordinary you are, Young Master Bang...”

His brightened eyes dimmed a shade.

“Unlike me.”

The tail end crawled out of him, but not so soft I couldn’t hear.

“This guy keeps getting stranger.”

A groundless sense of inferiority. A self-regard too low for his station.

What is that?

By all accounts, Cheon Eujin was not someone who should have low self-esteem.

Unlike me, he had a striking face and a tall frame.

And in the late-stage prodigy bracket, his skill was notably high.

He might fall short of the Seven, but a man like Cheon Eujin wouldn’t be called untalented anywhere else.

“So what’s got him so deflated?”

I’d noticed it in Anhui, but here in the Blue Moon Sect it felt even stronger.

He wasn’t just deflated; he was crushed flat.

“Mm...”

I scratched my cheek, awkward. Saying I wasn’t much and playing humble here felt... off.

“...Anyway, that part’s enough.”

So I let it slide.

“Since I’ve joined the Small Moon Unit, I’ve been assigned a mission.”

“Eh? Y-yes.”

Here was the point.

“As part of it, I’ll be going to Sichuan.”

“Sichuan?”

His eyes went wide.

“Sichuan all of a sudden... That far...”

“Would you like to come with me?”

“Pardon?”

Wide eyes went wider. So they could get that big.

I found myself staring, idly fascinated.

“...To Sichuan?”

“Yes. Sichuan.”

He only faltered a moment at the sudden mention of Sichuan.

“You’re going for a mission. Why would I...?”

He asked the basic question, and I already had the answer prepared.

“Because I think it would be good if we went together.”

“With me?”

“Yes. To be frank, there aren’t many I can trust besides Young Master Cheon.”

“...”

A flicker of feeling crossed his face.

“...B-but... since it’s a Small Moon Unit mission, I’d need permission—”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I grinned.

“I’ve already gotten the Sect Master’s leave.”

“The Sect Master gave permission?”

He sounded disbelieving. Was it that hard to believe?

“He didn’t give an immediate yes, but he’ll approve anyway.”

“What does that even...”

“So just think about one thing, Young Master Cheon. Are you going, or not?”

“...”

His eyes wavered at the question.

A moment passed.

“...If you’ll allow me, Young Master Bang... I want to go.”

“Then I’ll take that as a yes.”

I nodded.

I could feel his hesitation, but I could also see he wanted to go.

That was enough.

“I’ll let you know as soon as we’re set.”

The business done, I turned to leave.

He started to tack on something as he watched me go, but—

“Oh, and.”

He lost his words at mine.

“One more person will be coming.”

Obviously, it wouldn’t just be the two of us.

“My life matters to me, so I’m bringing a talisman.”

“A talisman...?”

A talisman, out of nowhere? He sounded puzzled, but I didn’t bother explaining.

“I’ll see you later. Train hard.”

“Ah, w-wait—!”

I ignored it lightly.

The Cheon Eujin side was settled.

“All that’s left is that person.”

The one who would be my talisman. I just had to rope that one in.

Thinking so, I headed the other way.

****

The sky was turning red.

By the time I finished my errands and stepped back out, the sun was already sinking.

“Mm.”

I thumped my shoulder against the fatigue. Thankfully, the second person also agreed.

It was honestly a little hard to win over, but it worked out, so fine.

“Is that all, then?”

Preparations seemed complete. All that remained was...

“Confirmation...”

Whether what I was doing was right.

Before I could even be properly rattled, I’d been scurrying around making arrangements.

But in the end, I didn’t know if this was right or not.

To find out...

“Show yourself already.”

I needed the vile spirit that always stuck to me, and yet even at dusk like this, the old man didn’t show.

“Tch.”

Where the hell had he gone that I couldn’t even see a nose hair?

You’d think he’d be hounding me noisily, dogging my steps.

Even with something that looked important brewing, Yoo Cheongil didn’t appear.

Did something actually happen?

“What do I do if it did?”

It would be nice if he simply stayed gone, but that would bring other problems.

“I’ve got training starting tomorrow.”

Until now I’d been half a guest, but after entering the Small Moon Unit, my standing had clearly changed.

Today I could bow out because it doubled as a first meeting and Moonlit Sword had called me.

From tomorrow, I wouldn’t be able to.

Having joined the Small Moon Unit, I was now fully a Blue Moon Sect man.

I had to attend training and ceremonies held within the sect.

“Sss—”

This was nothing if not troublesome.

I was still uneasy when I lay down on the floor back at my quarters.

“What is it, really.”

At first I thought he was just pulling his usual stunt—staying away to mess with me—but by this point, it felt truly strange.

“I’ve got enough to think about as it is.”

Why was the old man being a pain too.

“...Hoo...”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

If Yoo Cheongil had really vanished out of the blue like this—

“What then?”

What would I do after that?

The thing that grabbed my life by the throat and did as it pleased would be gone, and it’s not like I hadn’t gained anything—so I could just keep living like this.

“But it leaves a bad taste.”

For some reason, it felt like I shouldn’t.

“Then what do you want from me?”

I didn’t know, and I didn’t see a way to know.

“Haa.”

I sighed and closed my eyes.

There’d been too much to mind all day; I was tired in a way that felt strange.

Same as last night.

Close my eyes and I’d drop right off.

“...No, that won’t do.”

It was still too early to sleep.

Thinking that, I pushed myself up at once—

“...Ah, hell.”

—and had to wince the instant I rose.

Because the sight before me was familiar.

A world turned blank white. The same place as the last dream.

Which meant—

“Again?”

I’d entered a spirit-dream again.

****

When had I nodded off?

I really had meant to just shut my eyes for a moment, but it seems I fell asleep.

“Damn it all.”

I raked my hair back. The feel under my fingertips was still vivid.

Unpleasantly so.

“...Tch.”

What was this situation supposed to be?

“The old man didn’t seem to be around.”

He’d been absent so long I wondered what he was even up to.

I narrowed my eyes and scanned around.

“If I’m dreaming like this again...”

It meant the old man was somewhere nearby.

“What are you doing.”

I realized as much and called out at once.

I raised my voice so he’d hear—

Silence pressed in from all sides. As if no one was there.

No echo. Just that off-kilter, skin-crawling quiet.

Feeling it, I pinched my brow hard.

“This isn’t funny. I’ve got plenty to do. Why are you playing games like this.”

Sichuan matters. Tang Clan matters.

Not to mention the dozen other things that needed discussion.

Why keep pulling stunts like this.

I could not understand.

“I know you’re listening.”

No answer didn’t mean no one.

If I’d been drawn into a spirit-dream, someone had led me here.

And I was sure that someone was Yoo ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Cheongil.

So—

“Cut the nonsense and come—”

I started to say “out,” to tell him to stop fooling around—

“...”

—and shut my mouth at what I saw.

At the center of the white world.

Roughly twenty paces from me, someone stood.

A heartbeat ago, the space had been empty.

And that wasn’t all.

The one who had suddenly appeared was, to my surprise, someone I knew.

A youth with hair gone wild, gripping a great saber with the edge blunted away.

His blue eyes turned to me.

“What are you.”

It was the one I’d met last time.