The accommodation discount wasn’t really a burden. I had plenty of money, coming in from the inn and store. Plus, the income from renting out my fields and lands, including those in other cities, wasn’t too shabby either.
So, instead of accepting her suggestion, I boldly declined and we settled down in a corner of the inn together.
“What, what are you staring at?”
“Uh, nothing. Just a bit curious. Chae Soje, why are you here?”
In front of me was Chaejin, the older sister of the other main character, Chaeran, and the grand disciple of Moonjeong. She was a strong figure in the martial world, even known by the alias ‘Moonlight Sword.’
So why was such a powerhouse slumming it in this peaceful countryside inn?
Chaejin had been staying at my inn for quite a while now. Aside from occasionally stepping out for a bit, she spent most of her time holed up in her room doing nothing in particular.
Thinking about it, it didn’t seem she was here to explore hidden realms, search for elixirs, or hunt evil monsters.
As I watched her, Chaejin subtly averted her gaze.
“Well, if it’s something related to the sect or the Murim Alliance, you don’t have to tell me…”
“Oh, no. That’s not it. This is purely my personal reason.”
Chaejin’s personal reason? I pondered while taking a sip of my tea. Though Chaejin wasn’t a main character, she played a pretty significant part in the main story of another protagonist, Chaeran.
I was part of the Sayoon Corps, and I adored Sayoon, knowing all the stories related to her, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t played other characters.
I figured I should know them better to fully enjoy the game, and I had made sure to level up all of Heavenly Bright Moon’s characters to nearly their final specs.
That’s why I couldn’t help but be more protective of Sayoon.
I had gone through so much trouble leveling her up, while other characters seemed to grow so easily.
So naturally, I had to know about Chaejin too.
Chaejin was the wall Chaeran had to overcome in her main story.
Though they were half-sisters, they were both daughters of Doje Chae Seong-ho. Thus, Chaejin was also a rival in the competition to inherit the Doje’s Moonlight Sword Technique and Moonjeong.
And there was one more thing.
She had quite a deep connection with Hongseong as well.
“Are you here to compete against the Falling Sun Sword?”
Mentioning Hongryeon, the root of that deep connection, made Chaejin’s eyes twitch slightly.
“Uuuuuumm…”
Chaejin had considered the Falling Sun Sword, Hongryeon, as her lifelong rival.
They had always fought in the Murim Alliance as well.
Fated rivals.
That’s probably the simplest way to describe the relationship between Hongryeon and Chaejin.
But that’s why Chaejin always felt regret.
Her win rate in their duels had slightly favored Hongryeon.
And that win rate became an unbreakable record after a certain day.
With the fall of Hongseong and Hongryeon being caught up in it and killed.
Remembering the event where Chaejin drank while lamenting over Hongryeon and cried, I tapped the table and said,
“Fighting the Falling Sun Sword isn’t an easy task, is it?”
Right now, Hongryeon had the upper hand. Given that situation, would Hongryeon want to face Chaejin?
It’s like how the true victory is the last one standing; why would she bother accepting a duel when she was currently ahead?
Realizing this, Chaejin’s sharp yet lovely demeanor quickly clouded over.
“It’s not easy. She hardly takes the bait.”
Well, knowing Hongryeon’s personality, unless you crossed a certain line, she’d probably just smile it off.
“If you touch Hongseong, that would definitely be a provocation.”
For Hongryeon, the line she must never cross is Hongseong. If she were to do so, one could expect to see Hongryeon’s eyes turn wild.
Chaejin, fully aware of this, curiously observed Hongryeon staying within that boundary and smiled sweetly.
“Come on. How could we, being from the same righteous faction, do something like that? Besides, Moonjeong is a prestigious sect with a long history. Would I, the great disciple Chaejin from there, ever consider such a thing?”
Even though she thinks of Hongryeon as a rival, she doesn’t want to violate her duties as a member of the same sect.
Well, if she didn’t have pride as a member of a prestigious sect, she wouldn’t have even proposed teaching me martial arts in exchange for a discount on her lodging.
She would either attack me to extort money or just act all grumpy to get a free stay.
Chaejin puffed out her chest aggressively, proudly. Just like in Heavenly Bright Moon, her confident and graceful presence was indeed beautiful and impressive.
I took another sip of tea.
“If she were part of the Murim Alliance, we could provoke each other and fight for work-related reasons…”
But since Hongryeon isn’t joining the Murim Alliance and stays with Hongseong, she can’t do that?
I looked at her and chuckled a little.
It’s probably because of me.
After seeing the letter I sent to Sayoon, Hongryeon became wary, and in the process, she thought she’d better help Sayoon grow a bit more and set off to find elixirs.
So obviously, she couldn’t just lounge around in the Murim Alliance.
It’s only natural, but for me, it’s a very positive change.
Helping the Murim Alliance would only get me a few coins, and the Murim Alliance didn’t even move when Hongseong was in danger.
No, more accurately, they couldn’t move.
The Iron Blood Sect had attacked so abruptly…
“Anyway… I’m waiting for an opportunity to spar with her here, but it just doesn’t seem to happen. I even visited Hongseong, but I was turned away at the door….”
A deep sigh escaped me. Seeing her drooping shoulders was a bit pitiful.
“But even if we were to spar here, there’s no notarizer. Isn’t what you want, Miss Chaejin, an official result from the spar?”
Just a friendly match, or life-and-death duel? If it’s unofficial, it doesn’t matter, but a spar meant for records needed a notarizer.
Of course.
The results of victory and defeat must be proven.
In Heavenly Bright Moon, they incorporated this into the story using a system called ‘sparring registration.’
In other words, if Hongryeon doesn’t join the Murim Alliance, then Chaejin’s desired spar will not be established.
“I think Nakhil Sword will probably stay here for quite a while.”
“Ah… that won’t do.”
Chaejin, showing clear signs of panic, nervously bit her thumbnail as her anxiety surfaced.
After all, as the great disciple of a prestigious sect, she can’t possibly wait in some countryside for eternity.
“…Ah. Right. The notarizer could be the innkeeper, right?”
“Huh? Can I do it?”
“You wouldn’t be biased towards either Hongseong or Moonjeong. And you’re not even from the Murim.”
“But I’m still a person from Seomhwa Village…”
And also a member of Sayoon Corps. That means I’d inevitably be fairly biased towards Hongseong, right?
As I looked at her, Chaejin blinked one eye playfully and gave me a flirtatious smile.
She flashed a seductive smile.
“But you still learned the basics of Moonjeong, right? That means you’re somewhat involved with Moonjeong.”
“Is it really like that?”
“Of course~!”
Chaejin, thinking it was a brilliant idea, snapped her fingers and grinned widely.
To me, it looked like the worst handshake ever.
“Well, putting that aside for now, I can give you a discount. I’ll wave the fee for learning the basics of Moonjeong.”
“Oh my~. Thank you! Then I’ll do my best to teach you while I’m here. It’s a great opportunity that you can learn from the Moonlight Sword, Chaejin.”
“If I wanted to be a martial artist, that would be different.”
“Hmph. Do you think chances to receive special training from me are common? Consider it an honor.”
I snorted at her, and Chaejin licked her tongue and smiled sweetly.
“Anyway, even if I become a notary, you forgot the most important part.”
Right. The problem is Hongryeon. In this duel, if Hongryeon simply doesn’t want to, then that’s that.
But how do I pull her in?
When I asked, she smiled slyly.
“There’s always a way.”
What kind of way?
I felt a bad omen looking at Chaejin’s mischievous face and quickly made a preemptive strike.
“If you’re thinking of using me to provoke her, you’d better give it up. Right now, my relationship with Nakil is not as deep as you think.”
“…Huh? Really?”
I saw this coming.
“Nope.”
She seemed to have some strange thoughts from what she saw last time.
Hongryeon and I are not really like that. How could we get into such a relationship after meeting so few times?
As soon as I firmly denied it, Chaejin, who had seemed so smug just a moment ago, lost her confidence and began to fidget anxiously.
“Uh? If that’s the case, it’s going to be a complete disaster…?”
I smiled at her sulking expression.
Oh dear, what a pity.
Like the world was about to collapse, Chaejin returned to her room, and I went to mine. Whether she was sulking or not, my tasks didn’t change.
I returned to my room to work, and after concentrating and finishing my tasks, I couldn’t help but have other thoughts.
Of course, those other thoughts were about Sayoon.
The reason Sayoon is stuck right now is probably because she hasn’t gone through the enlightenment event.
I thought that teaching her in Hongseong might help her get through it, but it seems Hongryeon hasn’t led her to that.
Why not just teach her?
“Well… if she keeps stumbling around, I guess teaching her would be inevitable…”
But if she’s that lost, wouldn’t it be better to throw her some hints?
I recalled the topic from Sayoon’s enlightenment event.
Pointing at the Moon
Like how a raindrop wears away a stone with persistence.
If that’s the first topic, the second topic is that persistence must have a degree, and one must also know when to stop training.
Fueled by anger over the destruction of her sect and her loved ones being massacred, Sayoon focuses on learning martial arts to the point of bleeding.
Then she overexerts herself and collapses, and when a physician saves her, the topic he shares is “Do Not Look at the Finger When Pointing at the Moon.”
Look at the essence.
Is what you want revenge? Or is it to carry on the will of Hongseong?
In her rage over the sect’s destruction, she almost forgot Hongseong’s teachings, but that one line brought her to enlightenment, allowing her to properly wield the Meteor Sword afterwards.
Filled with rage over the demise of her clan, she almost completely forgot the teachings of the Hongseong Divine Art. Yet, with just those words, she gained enlightenment and was able to use the Meteor Strike properly thereafter.
“The problem is whether Sayoon can gain enlightenment from this…”
I could predict from the last letter that she would take my correspondence quite seriously.
But would sending this letter really lead her to enlightenment?
“What…”
If it doesn’t work out, the top instructors will take care of that part.
Let’s not cling too much to what I can’t immediately control.
Even if I twist a chicken’s neck, dawn will still come. Today, like any other day, the morning sun rose.
I woke up a bit earlier than usual and headed to the backyard.
It was to train Ogumhee.
“Yawn… Ah, Master. You’ve already started coughing.”
“Yeah.”
I gave a casual response to Jeomsoi, who greeted me, and slowly began to move my body as I learned from the sage and Sayoon yesterday.
The innkeeper, watching from the corner with a broom, muttered in amazement.
“But can you really build your internal energy just with that? Like flying through the skies like martial artists?”
“Well… it’s possible, I guess?”
But it won’t skyrocket like advanced techniques. It definitely won’t rise as steeply as demonic arts.
I’d just steadily train, piling up my efforts like stacking stones to build a tower.
By the time I finished with Ogumhee, my body was heating up.
I thought about doing Tai Chi just once more, but… breakfast was busy, so that’ll have to wait.
“…Why are you just playing house?”
“Huh?”
Is this déjà vu? Didn’t I just hear something similar yesterday?
I looked up and saw Chaejin not in her usual skin-tight attire but rather in a loose skirt that reached her knees and a thick outer garment.
According to the settings in Heavenly Bright Moon, she was weak in the morning, and she definitely seemed still half-asleep, gazing down at me with a pout instead of her usual provocative, sharp-eyed expression.
Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she leapt down.
“You. If you’ve started learning Moonjeong, shouldn’t you be practicing Tai Chi first? Why are you doing Ogumhee instead? No, more importantly, why are you only doing Ogumhee? When a person speaks to you, you should look them in the eye!”
Despite her sleepy face, she couldn’t contain her indignation.
She grabbed my cheek and shouted, and I tried to maintain my composure as I replied.
“Maybe it’s a good idea to be careful when jumping down in that skirt you’re wearing.”
“What’s that… Ah…”
She jumps down while wearing a skirt.
Of course, you can see everything inside.
She’s a top-tier martial artist, known for her ruthlessness and coldness in battle yet always maintaining her poise.
But this clumsy side of her that occasionally shows had garnered her quite a fan base, and now she’s showing that side here too!
“…Did you see?”
With her face flushed and her voice small, Chaejin asked, almost crawling into her own shell.
But honestly, the outfit she usually wears is way more revealing than this, so what’s the big deal…
Anyway.
“I’m a gentleman, so I closed my eyes.”
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, her embarrassment seemed to fade a bit.
Her flushed cheeks still had a long way to go to regain their original color, though.
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