Time passed.

Not that much—exactly four days.

With so little time, I didn’t do all that much.

Mostly training, and running around gathering bits of information.

Even that, honestly, was more than enough to fill the time.

And what passed for training, most of it was basic conditioning.

Yoo Cheongil said: before wasting time swinging a blade, build the strength to hold a sword.

So from morning on I had to climb mountains, try to hoist boulders, and do every sort of grunt work.

Why use such a brainless method, I asked. Wasn’t there something more efficient.

‘You can’t even stand yet and you’re thinking about running? Get a hold of yourself.’

For once he actually scolded me.

Stop showing off and do what you’re told, properly.

He was too right for me to talk back.

All the more so because the mouth saying it belonged to the Greatest Under Heaven of his age.

So I shut up and did exactly as ordered.

“Khh... huff... gah....”

After a long run I finally brought my legs to a halt. I’d hit my limit.

I stopped there and looked up at the sky.

My breath was ragged like I might throw up right there, but seeing what was spread in the distance, I felt a little better.

Dawn.

I watched the light that brightened to announce morning’s approach.

“Whew... was it today?”

If memory served, yes.

Today was the day—

I would head to Sichuan to have Full Moon repaired.

****

After personal training, I returned to my quarters.

This was the biggest change of the last few days.

I was no longer staying in the guest quarters I’d been using, but in the lodgings of the Small Moon Unit.

Creak. I slid the door open and stepped in; Do Hyeong was already inside.

“You’re up.”

“......”

He answered with a nod.

The unit’s lodgings had several rooms, most of them doubles.

Naturally, until I came in, Do Hyeong had been the youngest.

When I joined, I ended up sharing a room with him.

After a few days of that, I’d learned a few things about him.

First:

‘He talks ridiculously little.’

He might say one sentence in a day, or not.

On days I didn’t speak first, he sometimes got through the whole day without a word.

Not that he disliked me and kept quiet on purpose, from what I could tell.

‘It’s just his nature.’

He seemed like someone of few words by default.

Second:

‘...He’s ridiculously exact.’

Never mind the silence—he was square, down to the corners.

Even the way he folded his bedding was squared to crisp angles.

He didn’t do anything halfway.

That temperament bled into training, too....

‘He gets up far earlier than me.’

I don’t know when, but he always rose before I did.

When I rubbed my eyes at dawn, his bed was always empty.

He’d go out and train, then train some more.

Barring eating and sleeping, it seemed like he trained every other minute.

Or did he—

‘Does he even sleep?’

He even went to bed later than me.

A truly formidable human.

This time as well, while I finished washing and changed, he had long since gotten ready and sat straight-backed.

There was only one reason for that.

“...You can go on ahead and wait outside.”

“No.”

He was waiting for me to be ready.

Normally he would have gone out first.

Today wasn’t normal.

We had to leave for Sichuan immediately, and before that, we had to meet Moonlit Sword.

For that, he waited for me—since, in the end, I was the principal.

Which was a burden.

That he waited without a word.

‘And that gaze, too.’

The guardian spirit’s glow peering at me from behind him.

I ignored it and finished dressing.

“Let’s go....”

At my words, he finally stood.

****

The moment we stepped outside, eyes gathered from all around.

Small Moon Unit warriors waiting nearby.

Though they were “seniors,” it was still awkward to call them that.

‘They’re all busy avoiding me.’

When I looked, they looked away; when I tried to speak, they found a reason to step aside.

At this point it was hard to miss.

‘I guess I’m an outcast.’

It seemed I was properly disliked.

Not that I couldn’t understand.

‘...Given how I acted.’

When Yoo Cheongil took my body and smashed Seom Seonggyeong—

My words and bearing then must have been the issue.

Even to me, I’d been insufferable. They probably saw me as a punk strutting around as the Sword Saint’s heir.

The proof was in the faintly disgruntled looks I felt on my skin.

Still, since I beat Seom Seonggyeong, they knew I had the skill to match my mouth, so they weren’t picking at me.

‘Mm.’

I scratched the back of my neck.

At this point, I wasn’t bothered by their looks...

‘They’re something else, though.’

I couldn’t quite get the unit’s attitude.

‘If it were me, I’d be fawning to get close.’

If anything, you’d line up on this side, not push away. Choosing to act like that—

‘Anyway.’

Is it a “warrior” thing? I simply couldn’t understand.

Then—

Swipe.

Walking beside me, Do Hyeong suddenly patted my back.

What’s with this guy?

I turned, wondering why he was being creepy.

His eyes held a sympathy I couldn’t quite read.

Only then did I get it.

‘...He feels sorry for me?’

You’d have to be a fool not to notice I was being avoided.

From that position, he seemed to be offering comfort.

‘Heh.’

It was absurd, but having him look out for me wasn’t a bad thing.

“...I’m... fine, Senior.”

“......”

I put on the most pitiful face I could and forced a brave smile; his patting got a little faster.

[...Tsk, tsk, tsk....]

Feeling sorry for him, Yoo Cheongil clicked his tongue over and over—but, as usual, I ignored it.

Ignoring the stares, we headed for Blue Moon Hall.

By the time we arrived, several people were already gathered.

From the look of them, third disciples were hustling about.

A carriage stood in the square.

They were stacking food supplies neatly onto its bed.

A glance told me all I needed.

‘That’s our carriage.’

The one that would carry us to Sichuan.

As I threw it a look, someone came toward me.

“Young Master Bang.”

“Ah.”

Cheon Eujin.

“Che—”

I moved to greet him happily, then paused.

‘What’s this?’

Something was off about his face.

At a glance it looked normal, but I felt the dissonance.

‘Dark.’

His expression was shadowed, as if something weighed on him.

“Senior, have you been well?”

At his greeting, Do Hyeong dipped his head.

“It’s an honor to be going to Sichuan with you, Senior.”

At “honor,” Do Hyeong coughed lightly—embarrassed, it seemed.

Watching, I asked,

“Young Master Cheon, are you unwell?”

“...Pardon?”

He stopped at my words.

“Your face looked off. I wondered.”

“Ah....”

He gave an awkward smile.

Even that smile felt dried-out.

“...I must have slept badly from nerves. Thank you for your concern. It’s nothing.”

“Mhm.”

It didn’t seem like that.

I knew he was lying, but I didn’t intend to dig.

“I see.”

I nodded lightly. Hard to press when a man says he’s fine.

“Then, let’s go in.”

With the two of them, I went straight into Blue Moon Hall where Moonlit Sword waited.

****

“We greet the Sect Master.”

As always, a man with an icy air greeted us inside.

Moonlit Sword, Sect Master of Blue Moon Sect.

With his characteristically sharp eyes, he looked us over.

“Are your minds set?”

“Yes.”

Do Hyeong answered for us.

Moonlit Sword nodded slightly at that.

“This matter is of great importance to the sect.”

His voice carried considerable weight.

“Particularly because it must be carried out under strict secrecy, you must be exceedingly careful with your tongues.”

“We will bear it in mind.”

That we had recovered the Sword Saint’s beloved blade.

That we were going to the Tang Clan to repair it.

Even within Blue Moon, this was top secret.

Moving as a small, elite group was for that reason as well.

Rustle.

Moonlit Sword placed a neatly folded letter on the table and a wooden case wrapped in cloth.

“This is a letter bearing the Blue Moon seal. When you see the Tang Clan Head, you must deliver it. Until then, it is not to be opened.”

“Understood.”

“And this—”

Lifting the case, he looked at me.

I reached out instinctively.

Thud.

‘Whoa, hell.’

I almost dropped it the moment I grabbed it. Even with both hands, it was heavy.

Did this man really lift it one-handed like it was nothing...?

“This as well—deliver it with the letter. And depending on the Tang Clan’s decision, you are to be the one to hand it over.”

“...Understood.”

I kept my face straight and hefted the case.

He didn’t need to say what it was.

‘Full Moon.’

The old man’s beloved saber had to be inside. As I gathered the items—

“Then, be on your way.”

‘Huh?’

I widened my eyes a fraction.

What? That’s it?

I thought he’d say more.

I waited just in case, but Moonlit Sword no longer looked our way.

‘What...? That’s really it?’

The instructions end here?

No extra cautions, nothing?

‘You’re not even worried?’

Even if the roster had been set by a wager, with a mission this critical, you’d expect some concern.

I’d asked for it, but honestly, I hadn’t expected him to accept. And on top of that—

‘...We’re really going as just three?’

I didn’t think he’d send only me, Cheon Eujin, and Do Hyeong—just the three of us.

‘I thought he’d add someone....’

My expectations missed.

Even if I chose the two, for stability I thought he’d attach one or two more.

‘To think he’d simply let us go like this.’

Hard to read his intent.

‘...Hm.’

I narrowed my eyes at him. Could it be....

‘Is it because this touches the old man’s death?’

As I’d told the old man, I suspected Moonlit Sword as one of the candidates who might have had a hand in killing the Sword Saint.

Not certainty, but high probability.

‘What...?’

Even so, he didn’t look like someone who’d do something by such means.

Then was it simply that he judged the mission not that dangerous?

Given the Small Moon Unit’s reputation, that was possible....

‘Even so.’

It felt a bit much. As that thought passed—

“Do you have further business?”

Moonlit Sword addressed me.

He asked, but really he meant: get moving.

“...No. We’ll return safely.”

“Good.”

With that, he withdrew his gaze.

I kept the sour look off my face and stepped out.

Even then, something about it nagged at me.

****

Outside, preparations looked nearly done.

Foodstuffs packed onto the cart, a large carriage and two horses ready.

Comfortable for three.

The fine finish said they had, at least, put thought into it.

The problem—

“Who’s supposed to drive that?”

Who would handle the reins? With Sichuan that far, it wasn’t a day or two—we’d be on them a long while.

With only three of us, I was wondering whether we should take turns when—

“Pardon me.”

A small, wiry old man at the front of the carriage bowed to us.

“My name is Chu Dong, assigned as your coachman for this journey... It is an honor to serve such esteemed gentlemen....”

‘Oh.’

So they had given us a driver.

A relief. At least we wouldn’t suffer on that front.

I was about to greet the old man when—

[Hm?]

Seeing the one who called himself Chu Dong, the old man said,

[That guy’s the Sword Emperor, isn’t he?]

I froze in place.

...Come again?