Chapter 64

“What on earth is that supposed to mean?”

I answered Hwang Seung-jong’s question simply.

“I made a mutually beneficial deal with your clan head.”

“Does it involve me? Something like, if you put an end to my wandering you get something in return?”

“Close enough. He said he would support me in every way. On top of that, he would assign me the Illusory Hwang Clan’s strongest sorcerer to stay by my side around the clock and help me break through the Frozen Plain, one of the Four Great Forbidden Regions.”

“The Frozen Plain? No, more importantly, you believed that?”

Hwang Seung-jong’s lips twisted.

“The Hwang Clan is declining by the day. There is no way we can still do things like that. If you had the slightest discernment, you would not have been fooled, but I suppose our little young master is not like that. Hehehe.”

“Your clan head said it was possible. That everything could be solved with just one thing.”

“And what is that?”

“You.”

Maybe it was an answer he had never even considered.

Hwang Seung-jong dumbly pointed at himself.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. You are in such a sorry state that we decided to refurbish you.”

“So I am supposed to look after you all day long and escort you safely to the very end of the Frozen Plain?”

“That is right.”

“Hahaha. That is a funny joke. Why would I do that? For years now I have not done a single thing that benefits anyone else.”

‘What a thing to brag about.’

I swallowed the words that wanted to come out and spoke calmly instead.

“Because it is a good path for you as well. Earlier you said you were afraid of Great Sahyung. That he is cunning and cruel.”

“…”

The moment Great Sahyung came up, Hwang Seung-jong clamped his mouth shut.

I went on.

“You saw him clearly. Great Sahyung will do anything to achieve his goals. When you fought him, your condition was not the same as usual, was it? I bet your spell arts would not come out smoothly either.”

“You are saying the First Young Lord pulled something on me?”

“Yes. Whether he put it in your food or your water, he would have fed you a weak poison steadily. By winning over someone close to you so you would not notice. You went into that fight already half beaten.”

“…It is meaningless talk. Even without that, I still would not have been able to beat the First Young Lord.”

This guy is surprisingly good at seeing himself clearly.

Because I thought exactly the same.

“Even so, you’d at least have twitched when he stepped on you.”

“…”

“What do you think a ‘demon’ is?”

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“My master said this. A demon is something you overcome. If you cannot overcome your fear, you will spend your whole life avoiding, turning away, and running. Even if your clan is ruined completely.”

“Even if those are the Cult Leader’s words… I cannot overcome things like that.”

Hwang Seung-jong shook his head helplessly.

The shadow of Great Sahyung really was enormous.

I smiled as I spoke.

“Who says you cannot. You are perfectly capable.”

“Me?”

“How many times did you use your spell arts during the years you have spent living like a wastrel?”

“Not once.”

“You just used them a moment ago. You have already started to overcome it.”

“…!”

His eyes went wide.

He seemed to grasp the meaning behind my words.

Now he needed two things.

Conviction and a trigger.

From here on, I would give him those one by one.

“You do not have to be so disappointed in yourself. That is how strong an opponent Great Sahyung is. And perhaps even Great Sahyung felt threatened by you.”

“Threatened by me?”

“Yes. He used dirty tricks. To put it bluntly, he would not bother doing that to the likes of Yuk Ja-heung.”

“Ah.”

Hwang Seung-jong accepted that immediately.

It really drove home Yuk Ja-heung’s position within the cult.

“Your clan head said this. That you have the talent of an Illusory Demon. You were born with such a rare gift, so how long are you going to live like this? He plans to stand against the Demon Bell Geuk Clan.”

“…”

“The choice is yours. You can keep rotting your talent away while drinking yourself stupid like this, or you can walk the path of saving your clan.”

I watched his expression for a moment, let the silence linger, then spoke again.

“If you choose the latter, come to Hidden Cloud Pavilion. And think about just this one last thing. Looking at the way you are now, who would be the most relieved.”

People are not beings who always make wise choices.

To bring someone back from going off the rails, you sometimes have to give them the right trigger.

Like now.

I turned my body toward the tavern’s exit.

Then Hwang Seung-jong, who had kept his mouth shut for some time, finally spoke.

“Seventh Young Lord, have you ever met the First Young Lord?”

“No.”

“For someone who has not, you know him far too well.”

“Great Sahyung and I… have some things in common.”

Leaving behind Hwang Seung-jong with a puzzled expression, I walked out of Gangmu Tavern.

Im Yeon, who had been waiting outside, came up to me.

“Do you think that man will come to Hidden Cloud Pavilion?”

“It will be one of two things. Either he comes or he does not.”

She gave me a look that said, why state the obvious.

The truth was, I was not sure how Hwang Seung-jong would act either. It felt like my persuasion had worked and had not at the same time.

‘He really needs to come though.’

Thinking that, I headed back to Hidden Cloud Pavilion.

And three days passed quickly.

Small things happened during those three days.

First, I received sponsorship funds from the Illusory Hwang Clan.

It was not a large sum, but it was enough to put food in our mouths for a while.

With our numbers having increased, it had been quite a burden, but thanks to that, I could finally breathe a little easier regarding living expenses.

They also sent temporary guards.

Two sorcerers would take turns guarding Hidden Cloud Pavilion in twelve-hour shifts.

Since formations were difficult to adjust or remove once set, we decided to install one after Hwang Seung-jong pulled himself together.

Apparently the compatibility between the designer and the sorcerer was important.

The problem was that there was no sign of this Hwang Seung-jong.

‘It is about time he came.’

Was he not coming today either?

It was when I lay down on my bed with a complicated heart.

“Young Lord, a guest has come to see you.”

My eyes flew open at the guard’s voice.

“Is it the Illusory Hwang Clan’s Third Young Lord by any chance?”

“Yes.”

I sat facing Hwang Seung-jong in the main hall.

Seeing him again after a few days, he looked somewhat relieved.

“Seventh Young Lord, are you really a Little Demon?”

“What kind of question are you asking the moment you arrive?”

“Your residence is way too shabby.”

“This is plenty. Enough pointless talk, get to the point. Have you made up your mind?”

“I have.”

Hwang Seung-jong gulped down the tea the servant had prepared.

“Three days ago, I could not leave the tavern right away. I was held there for half a day and only got out after signing a compensation note. They said if I did not sign, they would tell every tavern not to take me in.”

“Tsk tsk. That is why you should have drunk nicely.”

“We decided to split the cost of the broken things fairly. The three Blood Heaven bastards, me, and you, Seventh Young Lord.”

“Why am I included?”

“Because you helped break the furniture.”

“I did throw some things, but you are the one who broke everything.”

“Why is the most famous Seventh Young Lord in recent days being so stingy?”

“I have no money. Didn’t you also point out that my residence is shabby?”

“You said this was plenty.”

“…Just keep talking.”

Hwang Seung-jong continued.

“Anyway, on my way home after getting out, your words kept echoing in my head. That someone close to me had been bought off. So I went straight to my second brother.”

The Illusory Hwang Clan’s head had three children.

Hwang Seung-jong was the youngest of them.

“The moment I saw him, I asked straight out. Why did he do it?”

His story went on for a while.

He had been with his second brother on the day he picked a fight with Great Sahyung. They had been walking when they just happened to run into him, a fight broke out, and his second brother stepped up as witness.

-Seung-jong, you cannot lose ground. You are a proud Little Demon candidate too.

“Then he said I had to show the First Young Lord I was not someone to be taken lightly. I was confident too. Yet not only did I lose miserably, I ended up sniveling and begging for my life, sobbing and snotty, asking him to spare me. But when I recalled that day, I found things that felt off.”

The one who suggested they go out, the one who suggested going to where the First Young Lord was, the one who pushed for a duel, the one who handed him ‘good wine’ that morning.

All of it had been his second brother.

“I said all that to him. He denied it. He even got angry at me instead. That was what made me sure. He is someone who is usually good at keeping his composure. Maybe I just wanted to look away. Deep in my heart, the discomfort had always been there.”

Hearing this, my past life suddenly came to mind.

In my previous life, the Illusory Hwang Clan moved like Great Sahyung’s limbs.

I had forgotten because regressing did not mean I knew every clan’s inner affairs, but thinking back, the clan head had changed to the second son midway through.

From the circumstances, it seemed the second son had attached himself to the Demon Bell Geuk Clan long ago.

I asked Hwang Seung-jong.

“So what did you do?”

“I laughed in his face so loud it could have blown the roof off.”

“Eh?”

“He was mocked by his own younger brother. What greater humiliation is there for a man.”

I was momentarily taken aback.

What was this? His way of thinking was far too different from mine.

If it were me, I would have showered him with curses, tattled to the clan head, and then tied him to the Demon Bell Geuk Clan to finish him off completely.

“You are satisfied with just that? Aren’t you worried he’ll hit back if you poke him carelessly?”

“My second brother is a man who only knows how to do petty things. He cannot compare to me in skill. If I stay on guard, he cannot do anything.”

“Well, if you say so, then so be it. So, have you decided?”

“I do nothing unless my heart is moved.”

“So you plan to go on living like you do now?”

To my question, Hwang Seung-jong smiled.

“I still do not really know what kind of person you are, Seventh Young Lord. So I will cooperate only until we break through the Ice-Soul Demon Realm.”

“Oh. Good choice.”

“Do not get too happy. Nothing after that is decided. If I do not like you, our relationship ends there.”

“Fine by me.”

I answered without hesitation.

The future could wait. For now, I just needed him to come with me to the Frozen Plain.

That had been the goal from the start.

“By the way, why are you going to the Ice-Soul Demon Realm? That place is extremely-”

“Dangerous? I know. That is why I need you. You are confident you can break through the Frozen Plain, right?”

“At this point I cannot give you a definite answer. I have never visited that place either. But I can say this. If worst comes to worst, I am willing to die with you.”

“…I’ll pass on that.”

I suddenly felt a surge of unease.

Can I really trust this guy?

“You look completely unconvinced. Is a Little Demon’s life the only one that is precious? My life is precious too. You should be grateful if I am willing to die with you.”

“Your life is precious and my life is precious, so let us look for a way we both live.”

“Let us do that.”

“What preparations do we need to make?”

Hwang Seung-jong folded his arms.

“There is a lot to do. First we need countermeasures against the cold. It is unbelievably cold there. It would be nice if we had Flame-Heat Wine, but we cannot get that so leave it out. Having some Cold-Blocking Pills would be good. We also need Heart-Calming Pills so we can keep our composure inside the illusions. And then–”

He went on for quite a while, listing various items.

From how smoothly it came out, it seemed he had thought about it a lot before coming to Hidden Cloud Pavilion.

But as I listened, I realized medicines came up quite often.

To obtain these kinds of medicines smoothly, I needed to meet a certain person.

‘Looks like the first place I need to go has been decided.’