Chapter 105

Inside, I let out a sigh of relief.
If he dispersed his Aura Qi, that meant his intent to attack had vanished.
It meant he’d scrapped the plan to kill me before reinforcements arrived.

In that moment, Du Jung-baek closed his eyes.
His tightly shut eyelids trembled faintly.

‘Regret? Confusion?’

I couldn’t tell exactly what it was.
All I could infer was that my words had affected his emotions somehow.
A moment later, Du Jung-baek opened his eyes.
He stared at me with a strange look and said.

“Seventh Young Lord has more talent for rhetoric than martial arts. You’d suit the Demon Eye Pavilion better than being a Little Demon. There’s no work like scheming for someone who can so easily move other people’s hearts.”
“If you see my martial arts, you’ll think differently.”
“Will you cross hands with me right now? Then I’ll understand.”
“……Not now. Later.”

“Court Master!”

That was when it happened.
A martial artist who ran in quickly delivered an urgent report.

“T-the Ghost-Face Unit and martial artists from the Illusory Hwang Clan have gathered on the Guardian Court’s perimeter! It looks to be around two hundred!”
“Huk.”
“So the flare wasn’t a bluff?”

Unease spread through the Guardian Court’s martial artists.
Unlike them, Du Jung-baek showed no reaction.
He just kept his gaze on me as before.
I looked at him and asked.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to decide soon?”
“How are you so calm? Do you think I would fear them?”
“Probably not. But I believe in the Guardian Court’s essence.”
“Essence?”
“The Guardian Court is a place that protects this cult’s order. Not a place that destroys it.”
“……!”

Seeing Du Jung-baek’s expression like he’d been struck on the back of the head, I knew.
He hadn’t forgotten the Guardian Court’s essence.
If he harmed me, it would lead to a full-scale battle with the reinforcements. If he had any sense, he would never create such a situation.
Sure enough, just as I suspected, Du Jung-baek sighed and said.

“Hah. The Seventh Young Lord truly isn’t easy. You’re right. The Guardian Court was originally a place that protected. Go. I’ll let you go today.”
“C-Court Master!”

The Right Protector stepped forward.
It looked like the other martial artists felt the same.
A moment ago they’d been uneasy, yet now they were all bristling with murderous momentum.
But Du Jung-baek didn’t budge.

“Are you trying to make me a petty man who retracts what he says? You may go, Seventh Young Lord.”
“It’s welcome to hear, but I can’t do that. Did you forget why I came?”

If it was only about preserving my own body, I wouldn’t have come to the Guardian Court in the first place.

“You’ll throw away the chance to leave safely because of a woman?”
“She’s not a woman. She’s my guard.”
“Hmph. A guard is a worthless existence. A living shield that takes blades for you, a disposable tool you can replace whenever it doesn’t suit you.”

A thoroughly cynical gaze.
Du Jung-baek seemed deeply skeptical about guards.
The Guardian Court handled escorts for Little Demons and high-ranking figures within the cult.
He must’ve seen every kind of ugly scene.
For Im Yeon and the others’ sake, I decided to show them there were people different from those bastards.

“You think very differently from me.”
“How is it different?”
“To me, my guard is a companion who has crossed life-and-death crises with me again and again.”

Snorts of derision sounded from all around.
They thought it was empty talk.
I continued without caring.

“She’s also a diligent martial artist who trains, even saving sleep, to be faithful to her duties.”

Some of the martial artists nodded.
As if they hadn’t had those times as well.
To become better guards, to protect their charges more safely, they must have relentlessly driven themselves too.

“She’s overly fixated on escort rules, but she’s also a disciple who’s learning flexibility little by little.”

I swept my eyes over the martial artists.

“She’s someone who protects me, and also someone I must protect.”
“Anyone can say words easily.”
“Would someone who only talks come here on their own feet, to a place where they might lose their limbs? I came to save my guards.”
“…….”

The mood among the martial artists changed.
As if they sensed the sincerity in my words, their hostile, ferocious glares softened.
But what mattered was Du Jung-baek’s will.
I looked at him and said.

“Course Master, think carefully. Honestly, you crossed the line, but I can let it go once. But if you keep moving according to Geuk Mu-hyeok’s will, I won’t let it slide.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“About half. The other half is advice.”

I deliberately provoked his pride.
I wanted him to decide as the Guardian Court Master, not as Geuk Mu-hyeok’s limbs.
Did it work?
Du Jung-baek, who had been gazing into the distance with that faraway look, gave a slight nod.

“……I’ll permit a visit, at least.”
“Be a bit more generous.”
“Excessive greed invites caprice. Do you wish to remain in this Court?”
“Then wouldn’t that make you a petty man who retracts what he said, Court Master?”
“There’s a saying in the Central Plains. A gentleman and a fake-gentleman are separated by a single hair.”

In other words, don’t ask for more.

‘For now, I’ll have to be satisfied with this.’

If you forcibly pull a taut string, it’s bound to snap.
Just seeing their faces would let me confirm Im Yeon and the guards’ condition, and I might even learn Ak Mu-jin or Hwang Seung-jong’s whereabouts, so I had to stop here.

“Have those surrounding this Court driven off.”
“If I get out safely, they’ll all go back.”
“I’ll assign someone to you. Right Protector.”
“Yes, Court Master.”
“Guide him personally.”
“Yes, understood.”

The Right Protector bowed politely.
His attitude was quite different from earlier.

“I’ll see you again soon. Next time, I hope I can receive my guards back properly. For the sake of the Guardian Court Master and the Guardian Court as well.”

Leaving behind Du Jung-baek’s subtly wavering gaze, I headed to the Repentance Prison with the Right Protector.

A pitch-dark prison with not a single window.
Im Yeon sat leaning against the wall, hugging her knees.
How much time had passed since she’d been confined here?
A few days must have passed, but she couldn’t grasp exactly how many.

‘Is Young Lord safe?’

There were two things she did in this prison.
Worry about the Seventh Young Lord’s safety, and share futile hope with her team members.
If she hadn’t been imprisoned in the same place as them, she would have had to tremble with anxiety every moment.

‘Did he find the hidden message I left him?’

When she realized the Guardian Court was trying to lure the Seventh Young Lord by using her and her team as bait.
Im Yeon risked everything to leave a hidden message.
If it was discovered, it would clearly become a major problem, but she didn’t consider her own situation even a little.
Because that was what a guard was.
A true guard only wishes for the charge’s safety.
She didn’t know when the Seventh Young Lord, who had left for the Central Plains, would return, but she wished desperately.
That he would find the five characters she left.
So he wouldn’t fall for their plot.

Kkiik-
She heard the sound of the iron door opening.
It must be mealtime. Aside from that, the door never opened.
But what came to her wasn’t a guard or food.

“……Huh?”

Im Yeon doubted her own eyes.
Because she saw a face that shouldn’t be here.

‘Is it a hallucination?’

Im Yeon rubbed her eyes hard.
The hallucination opened its mouth.

“At that rate your eyeballs will pop out. Rub harder.”
“……!”

That familiar voice, that familiar way of speaking.

“……Young Lord?”
“Y-Young Lord!”
“Young Lord!”

Her team members cried out one after another.
Only then did Im Yeon become certain that what she saw wasn’t a hallucination.
Because a hallucination wouldn’t be visible to other people too.

Im Yeon sprang up.
Because she’d been bent over for so long, she wobbled for a moment, but she supported herself by gripping the bars.

“Young Lord! How did you come all the way to a place like this……! Did you not find the hidden message I left?”
“I found it.”
“T-then why……!”
“I came to save my guards. Because it looked like you were in trouble.”
“T-to this dangerous place?”
“I couldn’t just sit still.”
“Y-Young Lord……!”

Im Yeon’s voice trembled.

“Because of us…… because we’re incompetent, you……!”

At the start, it was an unwanted mission.
To become the Seventh Young Lord’s guard, to watch him, and report everything about him.
Im Yeon tried to be faithful to that mission.
She had never provided meaningful information, but she had still submitted reports several times.
But at some point, she truly fell for the person called the Seventh Young Lord. Not only her, but her team members as well.
As large as her guilt was, she wanted to protect the Seventh Young Lord sincerely, and that was why she had risked death with him again and again.
But now she had become a burden again.
When she was the one who had to protect the Seventh Young Lord.
She had to.

“……I shouldn’t have made it so you had to come protect us!”

Im Yeon lowered her head.
Tears dripped onto the prison floor.

I looked at her in silence.
I knew what kind of feelings Im Yeon carried.
Debt, guilt, devotion, trust.
It couldn’t be defined by just one thing, but she had truly tried to protect me.
So I reached a hand through the bars and rested it on her shoulder.

“Guard Im.”
“……Yes.”
“There definitely was a time when you were a spy. But you’re not incompetent. If you hadn’t been there, I would’ve had a hard time too.”
“But…….”
“There is no ‘but.’”

I said firmly.

“Just as Guard Im and all of you protect me, I’ll protect all of you too. Because that’s what companions are.”
“Companions…… how can we deserve words like that…….”

Im Yeon lifted her head.
Her face was a mess of tears.

“Being locked up must have weakened your heart. You’re even showing tears.”
“This will be the last time I show weakness. With new resolve, I will become a guard who stands proudly before you!”

Im Yeon wiped her tears and steadied her voice.
I smiled at her.

“That’s a good attitude.”

Now Im Yeon would become a better guard.
After waiting a moment for her to calm down, I asked her.

“Do you happen to know where Unit Leader Ak and Hwang Seung-jong are?”
“I don’t know Young Lord Hwang’s whereabouts. But it seemed something happened to Unit Leader Ak.”
“A problem?”
“Yes. About two days before I was summoned to the Guardian Court, Unit Leader Ak left Hidden Cloud Pavilion with the members of the Longevity Ten. I asked what was going on, and he said, ‘If I find a way, I’ll return.’”

My brow furrowed.
If he found a way, he’d return?
About what?

“You don’t know where he went?”
“I vaguely heard it was a deserted place outside the main base, but as for the exact location……”

Where could that be?
A few places came to mind right away, but I couldn’t tell which one.
Either way, this was a decent lead.
The reason the Ghost Face Unit moved for me was the possibility that the Guardian Court might be detaining Ak Mu-jin.
If it was them, they would search for Ak Mu-jin and the others in my place.
As for Hwang Seung-jong, I figured he’d show up on his own when the time came. He was the type to live however he pleased.

“Besides that, there’s something else I want to ask Guard Im.”
“Ask anything.”

As I looked at Im Yeon, I recalled what Jang Seong-chan had said.
He called her ‘Lady Im,’ and asked if I didn’t know her identity.

‘……I’ll ask later.’

I was curious, but I felt it would be better not to ask until she revealed it herself.
It would feel like I was digging into something she didn’t want exposed.
If it was something I needed to know, she would tell me herself.

“It’s nothing.”

Shaking my head, I spoke to Im Yeon and the guards.
That my talk with the Guardian Court Master wasn’t fully resolved, so I couldn’t take them out today, but they shouldn’t worry about anything.
And just as they hadn’t abandoned me, I wouldn’t abandon them either.
Leaving behind Im Yeon and the others with trembling tears, I left the Guardian Court.

Outside the Guardian Court, many martial artists had gathered because of the flare.
I expressed sincere thanks to them.
I planned to visit the Illusory Hwang Clan and the others again, so we would meet again soon.

‘I need to make a plan.’

Ak Mu-jin and Hwang Seung-jong’s whereabouts.
The question about Im Yeon’s status.
Those two things had to be pushed back.
Because there was a problem right in front of me.

‘Geuk Mu-hyeok…….’

The face of the bastard I hated beyond hatred came to mind.
The Heavenly Demon’s great disciple, the young patriarch of the most powerful of the Demonic Path’s Seven Houses, the Demon Bell Geuk Clan, and a genius who would reach the Extreme Demon Realm in his mid-twenties.
A man with a meticulous, insidious personality, who used the Elder Council Lord and the Guardian Court Master like limbs, and had already extended his reach throughout the Demon Cult.
That kind of bastard was genuinely trying to bring me down.
I had no interest whatsoever in the successor position, but I couldn’t keep taking this.
To save the Heavenly Demon, and to treat the True Blood Severed Meridians, I had to eliminate Geuk Mu-hyeok no matter what.
If I left him alone, he’d keep tripping me forever.

‘There’s no need to be impatient.’

Fortunately, unlike my past life, Geuk Mu-hyeok still hadn’t shown himself.
If I cut off his limbs one by one before he shows his face, he would become manageable.
For example, the Guardian Court.

Du Jung-baek was already riding on Geuk Mu-hyeok’s back.
It wouldn’t be easy to jump off the back of a bastard running around like he was crazy.
So Du Jung-baek and I would have no choice but to clash again.

‘It feels like there should be an easier way.’

“Hyah!”

I left the Guardian Court behind and spurred my horse onward.