Ssshhk—!

On a rainy day, flashes kept scoring lines through the air.

Blue light swept in cords across every direction, rough surges cleaving even the rain.

“Hah!”

The young man drew a deep breath and reset his grip. As he set his stance, two tiers of light flared.

Slash—! Slash—!

Two martial artists in front were cut down and fell.

It was a sword too fast to track. On any other day, it would have been shocking, but the young man was already lifting his toes and moving to the other side.

“D—damn—!”

The cursing martial artist lost his head.

“Bloody hell—! Stand and fight!”

The one trying to respond lost his life soon after.

They weren’t many. At most ten, give or take, but for two to face it was a bit much.

No—more precisely—

‘......He’s handling them alone.’

Cheon Eujin had to swallow as he watched Do Hyeong roam the field.

He had already handled a few himself, but that—was too different.

‘So this is the Small Moon Unit......’

The Small Moon Unit, called the Blue Moon Sect’s elite.

Among them, Do Hyeong, once the youngest, fought with a savagery that proved the reputation was no lie.

“Sp—spare me—!”

“This won’t—!”

The enemy trembled before Do Hyeong’s strength and fled.

Even so, Do Hyeong meant not to let them slip, and Cheon Eujin kept swinging his sword without pause.

****

Only after hunting down every last one to the end—

“......Haaah.”

Cheon Eujin let out a weary sigh. He truly was tired.

How many gaps had he survived through?

As he moved another corpse, Cheon Eujin spoke.

They were now carrying each of the village dead to the center, one by one.

They could not simply leave them.

“......Senior, what in the world happened here.”

He spoke even as he put things in order.

A battle the moment they arrived, out of nowhere.

It wasn’t that kind of mission at all.

Their assignment was plainly to deliver safely, and yet they’d been entangled in this bizarre affair—he would never have imagined it before departure.

And then—

“Their realms are too high to call them mere bandits.”

To call it a simple raid would be wrong; they were martial artists with inner energy.

Not high realm, perhaps, but martial artists all the same.

And they were an organized group of martial artists. Could that be called simple?

Cheon Eujin thought absolutely not.

And Do Hyeong was of a mind as well, his expression tightened.

Even after a hard fight, Do Hyeong’s breathing had not shifted by a hair.

Cheon Eujin was stealing a moment of admiration when—

“Where is Bang Sungyeon.”

Do Hyeong’s question widened his eyes.

Right.

He had forgotten for a moment while fighting.

‘Right...... Where did Young Master Bang go?’

Bang Sungyeon, the first to sense this situation—where had he gone.

How had he sensed it and sprinted here ahead of them?

No sooner had Cheon Eujin formed the question—

“There.”

Do Hyeong spotted something and sent his gaze.

Following the cue, Cheon Eujin turned—and in the distance, Bang Sungyeon was walking toward them.

“Young Master Bang.”

Cheon Eujin welcomed him. His eyes, suddenly, slid to Bang Sungyeon’s back.

He was carrying something. Looking closer—a child.

The problem was that the child had already passed.

“I couldn’t save him. I brought him so he could be buried with his parents.”

Bang Sungyeon said it with a face held taut.

Hearing it, Do Hyeong and Cheon Eujin both flinched.

At once they meant to check whether any survivors might remain elsewhere.

“......You don’t need to go.”

Bang Sungyeon looked at the two and said,

“There won’t be any survivors now.”

The tone was so dry and final, and carried a certainty that would not be wrong.

The certainty was so thick and heavy that, somehow, Do Hyeong and Cheon Eujin could not speak.

****

I headed for the carriage.

Do Hyeong and Cheon Eujin, though I’d said my piece, said they would search a bit more.

It would be strange to forbid it, so I didn’t bother to stop them.

“......Huuu.”

I let out a long breath.

In the end, I couldn’t save him. It left my insides heavy.

Was it guilt at failing to save the child? No.

It was simply that I had once again charged in headlong just on a ghost’s words, like in my prior life. That was what was souring my gut.

‘I said I wouldn’t do that anymore.’

If I meant to live differently than my prior life, this was something I absolutely had to change, and like an idiot I hadn’t.

I lifted a hand to wipe my slightly damp forehead.

Then—

Bzzrrr—

My hand was shaking.

“......”

I frowned at it. Why was this happening. I thought a moment and realized.

‘Ah.’

Right. I’d killed a man for the first time.

That was why my body was acting on its own.

I had truly forgotten.

‘I hadn’t killed anyone once in this life.’

A fact I’d forgotten.

“......”

I curled my fist. It was a fit that would fade soon enough.

I shook my head and moved my feet.

I barely made it to the destination.

Ahead, the carriage we’d ridden stood.

Seeing it, I managed my face and approached.

Then—

‘......What is this?’

I had to pause as I drew near the carriage.

‘Why are there so many spirit traces?’

Spirit traces had formed around the carriage. They hadn’t been there before.

If they had, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember.

“Ah. Young hero. You’ve come.”

As I approached with care, Coachman Chu greeted me. I meant to return the courtesy when—

“......!”

As I bowed my head, I noticed something.

His fingers.

‘......What is that.’

His fingers were caked with spirit traces.

What was that? What had happened now?

What would you do to stain just your index finger that dark with spirit traces.

Moreover—

‘It’s not one person’s spirit trace.’

It wasn’t clarity you could get from one or two.

No fewer than three, as many as four.

Souls of no small number were clinging.

Even the Sword Emperor’s hand hadn’t had that before, so it had to have formed while we were briefly at the village.

Which meant—

‘......The old man killed someone.’

That was the right read.

Not only that—

‘He killed them around here.’

The spirit traces in the dirt and that finger told me.

Which chilled me more.

‘He killed that many and left not a single trace.’

I could see it because of spirit traces; otherwise I would never have imagined it.

That meant the cleanup was that clean and perfect.

‘So it was real.’

The old man truly was the Sword Emperor.

The certainty flashed. Even if he weren’t, he was no ordinary old man.

Thank goodness.

‘Good thing my head was bowed.’

If I’d looked at him just now, my face would’ve given me away.

I lifted my head and changed my expression.

“I’m sorry I suddenly told you to stop the carriage. Something came up.”

“Oh now. Not at all. When men on important business speak, of course I should obey...... Ah, but.”

Coachman Chu’s eyes looked at me.

“Did something happen to you, by any chance.”

“......No. I’m just a bit worn out.”

I smiled slightly and stepped up to the carriage.

I could feel his gaze on me, but I ignored it and went inside.

Tock.

The moment the door shut, I closed my eyes.

It wasn’t a lie. I truly was exhausted.

Exhausted enough to want to die for a moment.

****

Time passed, and Cheon Eujin and Do Hyeong reached the carriage. Feeling it, I opened my eyes.

The faces of the two who arrived weren’t good either.

It was only natural—the sudden fight, and the reason for it, were nothing good.

“For now we’ve no carrier pigeon to report with, so we’ll have to stop by the county seat and contact the Alliance.”

Do Hyeong spoke.

It was the obvious course. The village was too remote; to tell the situation we would have to move a ways.

“Should we stop by the county for a bit?”

“If possible. It’s likely tied to the Black Path.”

With that, Cheon Eujin and Do Hyeong looked at me.

“......What.”

Why look at me?

What did they want.

As I stared back, puzzled, Do Hyeong asked me,

“Bang Sungyeon. What do you intend to do.”

“Sorry?”

I answered as if dumbfounded.

“......Didn’t you just decide.”

You said we should go to the county seat and report. If the one in charge, Do Hyeong, said so, then that’s what we do.

I put it that way, and Do Hyeong’s eyes widened a fraction.

“Ah.”

Why was he surprised......?

It was—like he’d only just realized he was the one in charge.

“Senior......?”

“We go.”

A command far too late.

“Then, shall we head for the nearest county first?”

Coachman Chu spoke, having heard us.

“Yes, please take us where there’s a Martial Alliance branch.”

“Oh my, understood. We’ll depart at once.”

Hearing Cheon Eujin’s answer, Coachman Chu began readying to move.

“......By the way, what on earth was this.”

Cheon Eujin took the moment to speak.

“It can’t have been the simple raid of mere bandits. I wonder where and for what reason they did it.”

Do Hyeong nodded.

Where, and for what reason.

That was what they wondered.

Listening quietly, I said,

“You two.”

I asked what I’d wanted to ask.

“By chance, do you know anything of the Heaven-Breaking Palace.”

Clunk—!

With the word, the carriage moved.

But unlike usual, I felt a rougher jolt.

“The Heaven-Breaking Palace...... you say?”

Cheon Eujin looked to Do Hyeong, as if to ask if he knew.

“I don’t.”

Do Hyeong shook his head, as if hearing it for the first time.

“I see.”

I nodded. They truly didn’t know, and I hadn’t expected them to.

If they knew, fine; if not, so be it.

Only to that extent.

‘They don’t seem like nobodies, though......’

My gut said so.

As Do Hyeong said, it was certainly tied to the Black Path, but there was something off about calling it simple thuggery.

And also—

‘What ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ is it.’

Without turning my head, I side-eyed the Sword Emperor.

The reaction just now.

The faint sign I felt the instant I mentioned the Heaven-Breaking Palace was strange.

‘Does he know it?’

Did he know something.

Which meant it was a group known—or dangerous—enough for the Sword Emperor to know.

‘......That’s not good.’

Why would a group like that wipe out a hole-in-the-wall village.

It grated hard.

‘Even if this is far, there’s a county seat nearby, and before long we’ll be near Sichuan.’

A position a bit awkward for causing an incident.

If they knew that and did this anyway—

‘They were confident they wouldn’t be found, or—’

Or else—

‘They had the power not to care if they were.’

It felt like one of the two.

‘The fact that Cheon Eujin and Do Hyeong took them apart means they weren’t that strong.’

Even counting Do Hyeong as Small Moon Unit and thus formidable—it was still so.

Then despite these issues—what were they after in that small village.

“......”

Thinking on it, I recalled.

As for a reason, I had a hazy guess.

Because I’d heard it from the source.

‘Hea...... Heaven...... -Breaking Palace......’

‘The...... Poison Sovereign’s secret archive......’

“......”

Two things the bastard who begged me to kill him spat.

The answer to my question—what are you.

And the answer to my question—what did you do this for.

‘......Ah, a hassle.’

Even at a glance, it was ominous. It felt like I’d heard what I shouldn’t. The Heaven-Breaking Palace was one thing, but......

The Poison Sovereign’s secret archive.

That snagged me.

Especially when we were headed for the Tang Clan.

‘I hope to God nothing happens and we don’t get dragged in.’

I wanted to do what we had to and run.

I wished it that earnestly, but—

“......”

The uneasy feeling kept hanging on.

For some reason, the quiet old man also needled at me.

‘Hoo.’

I sighed inwardly and covered my eyes with a hand.

Forget it. For now I needed a brief rest.

Thinking so, I closed my eyes.

Even then, my hand still trembled.

And even so, the carriage cut through the rain without rest.

****

As time passed and the season began to turn—

“We’ve arrived.”

We reached Sichuan, where the Tang Clan resides.