Chapter 18
"Pae Maseong and Ya Socheong are trainees of Nether Shadow Valley. Since the trainees of Nether Shadow Valley belong to Heavenly Forest, both of them must also obey the Lord's orders."
So that's how they're going to play it...
Yeon Cheongha glared at them as if he were thinking that.
"He said he would treat all three of you as special-grade assassins. He also told me to tell you that although there was an unfortunate incident this time, it was not the Lord's will."
"I don't think it's a bad idea. We need training, and that place might be more suitable."
I said that, thinking that the reason Yeon Cheongha couldn't make a decision easily was because he was worried about us. At that, he looked at Pae Maseong.
Pae Maseong nodded as if he had no objections.
And so, we returned to Heavenly Forest.
We saw the Lord there and had a conversation in his office.
It probably wasn't an easy thing for a trainee of Nether Shadow Valley to sit face to face with the Lord of Heavenly Forest and have a conversation, and for a moment, I even thought that I had made it.
Considering that when we were in Nether Shadow Valley, Son Eun had become the real power of Nether Shadow Valley because he was a grandmaster recognized by the Lord in Heavenly Forest.
The Lord looked at us with an amused face.
It was understandable that he was interested in Pae Maseong, but a considerable amount of attention was also given to me.
'Ah, is it because he knows that I was the one who talked about Mohwa Mountain Manor?'
If so, it was understandable.
"I heard Pae Maseong's performance was great."
Yeon Cheongha did not answer that question actively.
It seemed he was doing so because he didn't know what to say here to help Pae Maseong.
He had to think about whether it would be beneficial or harmful for Pae Maseong for his martial prowess to be known.
However, the Lord did not wait for his answer and said.
"The high-ranking members of the family are interested in Pae Maseong. It will be a good opportunity. If you care for the child, you will know what is more beneficial for him."
Yeon Cheongha couldn't speak and bowed his head.
Then, in a weak voice, he told him that Pae Maseong had eaten the inner core of a spiritual beast.
Along with the words that if he was going to increase his internal energy, he should avoid that.
He must have said it because the same kind of elixir would not have the same effect as the first time when taken repeatedly.
"You've wasted your money. I'll tell them."
It seemed that Pae Maseong's fate was being decided on the spot.
Would I feel this way if I saw a child I had grown up with since childhood being adopted into a rich family?
Yeon Cheongha seemed to have made up his mind to let Pae Maseong go.
There was no room for the person concerned's opinion in the adults' decision, but I thought it was a good thing for Pae Maseong too.
But Pae Maseong fidgeted and said to the Lord.
"If I go, I will go with Socheong. I have been training with Socheong all this time, and my skills improve quickly only when I spar and duel with Socheong."
Uh, I'm not grateful for this.
I have no desire to go to the Cho family.
It's a shame for Pae Maseong, but I was going to send him off and live quietly with Yeon Cheongha, so why is he doing this?
I thought it wouldn't be good if the decision was made while I was hesitating, so I said quickly.
"It's not something you can decide, so go there and learn a lot, Pae Maseong. They can also teach you martial arts manuals and pass on many precious things."
So don't try to drag me in and go alone.
But Pae Maseong was making a fuss, saying that I had to go with him.
"I'm not going, Pae Maseong. What you're doing is not helpful to me at all, and I don't want it, so just go alone."
Pae Maseong seemed greatly disappointed by my words, but I couldn't help it even if he was disappointed.
The Lord looked at us with interest and said to Pae Maseong.
"Even if you want it, you can't have everything your way. You'll have to understand that it can't be helped, even if it's a shame."
So this is how I part with Pae Maseong. I wasn't very sad.
If there is a time to meet, isn't there also a time to part?
It was true that I had become very reliant on Pae Maseong after he had even eaten the elixir and become truly reliable, but I had no intention of following him to the Cho family just to benefit from him.
Even if I parted with Pae Maseong, I wouldn't be left alone, and I still had Yeon Cheongha, so I wasn't very worried.
The Lord called someone in the middle and sent Pae Maseong out.
Pae Maseong looked at us with a pleading expression, and we comforted him, saying that it would be better to go there.
And we also left the Lord's office a little later.
Yeon Cheongha seemed very sad, but he also seemed convinced that it was a good thing for Pae Maseong.
"Where should we go now, master?"
"That's right. What do you want to do, Socheong?"
"Are you going to continue with the assassination missions?"
"I don't know if I'm alone, but it seems difficult to continue with the assassination missions with you here."
It seemed that being ambushed while he was with us was still on his mind.
He seemed to think that as long as he continued with the assassination missions and remained in the assassin organization, such things would continue to happen.
"The Lord told me separately. He said that if I wanted, he would let me cut ties with Heavenly Forest and take you to live quietly far away."
From what I heard, it was the price for buying the elixir for Pae Maseong.
He said he had also received enough money to set up a new home.
It's a bit much to say this, but Yeon Cheongha had changed his fortune by getting one good disciple.
"Master, aren't you sad?"
As I asked, I thought that I had said something unnecessary.
Why wouldn't he be sad?
It would have been natural for him to want to raise such a talented kid with his own hands until the end.
Was Pae Maseong an ordinary kid?
He was a child who would become the Heavenly Demon in the future, so there was no way Yeon Cheongha wouldn't have recognized such potential in him.
"I'm fine. I haven't lost all my disciples, and you're still here."
He said with a smile, but the atmosphere was somehow strange.
What is this? This face like a parent who has excessive expectations for their child to achieve the dream they couldn't achieve?
* * *
Life is really...
Not many things go as planned.
If I had my way, I would just live a rough life, but I was training incredibly hard again.
Heavenly Forest had let us go, but Mohwa Mountain Manor had not.
The Lord was indignant, saying that he had not leaked the information, but there was no way to know if that was true.
Yeon Cheongha also found it strange, saying that he didn't know how the news was leaking out.
Even if we moved without telling anyone, as soon as we settled down, the monsters of Mohwa Mountain Manor would appear without fail.
When Pae Maseong was here, I could just trust the two of them, but now I had to do my part.
Mohwa Mountain Manor, as if they had made up their minds to kill us, sent more and more people as time went on.
Moreover, the number of guys who came to find us at once increased day by day.
They must have sent them thinking that this would be enough, but when they were annihilated every time, it seemed they had no choice.
When we were first attacked, Yeon Cheongha probably thought that the two of us would die together.
I thought so too.
Yeon Cheongha was skilled, but he was not as trustworthy as Pae Maseong.
Come to think of it, it was a really amazing thing.
Pae Maseong, who was the same age as me, had already surpassed Yeon Cheongha.
It wasn't like that at first, but I couldn't tell when it had happened.
Yeon Cheongha tried his best to create an escape route for me and fought with only that as his goal.
He told me to run away while he held them off, and if it were the original me, I would have felt sorry for Yeon Cheongha but would have followed his words.
This was a novel, and these were just characters in a novel, not people with real lives. I sometimes thought that.
But seeing Yeon Cheongha trying to die for me, my feet wouldn't move.
That didn't mean I was thinking of dying with Yeon Cheongha; I was thinking of running away together if possible.
I swung my sword frantically and hastily blocked the weapons that were pouring towards me.
I endured and endured with only the thought of deflecting them, and later, the corpses of the guys were piled up around us.
As soon as we realized that we had finished it with just the two of us, we ran out of the building without anyone having to say anything.
It was because we knew that there was poison in the guys' bodies and that they would spontaneously burst into flames.
Yeon Cheongha seemed to think that I was quite something.
I also didn't know when I had become like that and was amazed.
Since Yeon Cheongha and Pae Maseong were such amazing monsters, it seemed that imitating them had accumulated as my skill.
And it seemed that watching them fight from the side had also helped me.
When I faced enemies, if I recalled the movements that Yeon Cheongha and Pae Maseong had made, it strangely felt as if my sword was moving on its own.
It must have been the result of training without rest.
"Now I can trust you, Socheong."
When I heard those words from Yeon Cheongha, I also felt proud.
At first, we were busy fending off the surprise attacks of the guys from Mohwa Mountain Manor, but later, we also came up with countermeasures.
"I don't think we can just keep running away like this, master."
"I don't want to run away either, but I'm worried because I don't know how."
Yeon Cheongha seemed to be expecting the method to come from me.
He seemed to have expectations because I was the one who had found out about Mohwa Mountain Manor and the Blood Flesh Herb when no one else knew.
If there was a way to wipe out the guys from Mohwa Mountain Manor at once, I also wanted to do it as soon as possible.
But since there was no way, I was feeling regretful one day when the pawnshop of the Mohwa Mountain Manor informants suddenly came to mind.
'That's right. There was a scene where people met there. It was disguised as a pawnshop, but it was actually a place where informants stayed and exchanged information. Where was that?'
If I had known this would happen, I should have read the novel more carefully. A wave of regret washed over me.
But it was a relief that the things that seemed to have completely sunk to the bottom of my memory were coming back as time went on.
'If I go near there, I might remember more details.'
It would be perfect if Pae Maseong were here at a time like this, but it was a shame.
I kept my mouth shut, thinking that it wouldn't be good if I told Yeon Cheongha about it and he showed enthusiasm and suggested that we go and find out by ourselves.
I don't know if Pae Maseong is here, but it would be a very dangerous thing for just the two of us to go.
As I was thinking that and spending my days training, a group of people came to the place where we were staying.
It had been a long time since someone had come in a normal way, not by wearing a mask and launching a surprise attack.
(End of Chapter)