As if to prove that the sun rises even if you twist a chicken’s neck, the daylight was breaking in the eastern sky.
As always, the day at the inn passes quickly.
But today had to go by even faster. After all, today was the day for Seomhwa Village’s preliminary registration for the martial arts competition.
The sounds of chatter could be heard from outside.
There were no restrictions on the number of participants for the preliminaries, so it was natural for people to feel a bit rushed.
Even now, they were already setting up outside.
Were they planning to grab a meal after registering?
I peeked through the window.
Martial artists were gathered in the spacious open area. At least, thankfully, they were just looking at each other suspiciously and no one had drawn their weapons.
Speaking of which, today was supposed to be the day for those who went to the Beautiful Sunlight’s secret place to return… I hope nothing goes wrong.
Just then, as I finished washing up and began to prepare for breakfast, someone from the Murim Alliance announced that the preliminary registration was starting. Upon hearing this, Gi Noya smirked.
“Should I participate… or not…?”
“Haha. Why not give it a try?”
“Hehe. If I happen to win outright, it would be like throwing dust on someone else’s festive occasion.”
Gi Noya said confidently while glancing over at a group of women preparing breakfast, one of whom was Joo Yeryeong.
“Since the little princess of Cheonhwa Palace is participating, it seems like quite a few other sects are joining in too.”
I wasn’t aware, but it seemed that Joo Yeryeong had ruffled quite a few feathers in her time at Cheonhwa Palace.
Thinking back to the martial artists growling at her when she was around the inn, it was definitely true.
As I watched, she smiled while cutting through the Seomhwa Pork.
Her confidence was absolutely remarkable.
“I wonder how embarrassing it would be if she actually loses.”
“Well, that’s a burden she’ll just have to bear.”
This time, the participants from Cheonhwa Palace were Joo Yeryeong and Seon Soo Yeon, the youngest disciple of the palace.
I hadn’t heard much about Seon Soo Yeon from Cheonsang Myeongwol, but based on what I saw when she used her whip last time, she was quite skilled.
Considering she hadn’t shown her true prowess yet, she might put up a good fight against Sayoon.
“Well then, excuse me.”
Joo Yeryeong and Seon Soo Yeon stood up from the table and headed outside.
With their appearance, the commotion outside started to swell. People were chattering about the emergence of strong contenders and whatnot.
And then it happened.
“Haha! How could this Dokanryong be missing from such a tournament!!”
It was a rough shout. With that overflowing confidence, Joo Yeryeong groaned, and Myojae, who had swaggered over, glanced at Joo Yeryeong before filling out her preliminary registration form.
Myojae, the black-scaled dragon, glanced at Joo Yeryeong and then filled out her preliminary tournament application form.
“Well then, I’m off!”
Was it because she vanished like the wind just as she had arrived? Others quickly began to submit their applications too.
Those who finished their submissions headed straight to my inn to start their meals. Thanks to that, the morning business went exceptionally well.
Of course, there was a bit of a fierce atmosphere, but isn’t it enough to just not fight?
“Well, I’ll be going now.”
As Hyunhwi entered, having swapped places with Ryuhyun, Ryuhyun cast a quick look at the registration desk. There were still a lot of people, though not as much as at dawn.
“Isn’t Liu Soje participating?”
“No. As disappointing as it is, I’m going to pass this time.”
“Then it will be just Hongryeon and Sayoon participating.”
“That seems to be the case. After all, it’s a festival for our village, and I wouldn’t want just anyone to win.”
Sayoon participates for experience, while Hongryeon is in it for victory, huh?
Originally, Hongryeon was not going to participate, but things were escalating because of Joo Yeryeong and Myojae from the Murim Alliance.
There were quite a few who wanted to crush Joo Yeryeong’s ego before thinking about the championship.
And Myojae probably wanted to beat Hongryeon and Chaejin…
Even though it wouldn’t be easy to win given the renowned masters participating, is it somewhat fortunate that so many are signing up for the preliminaries?
“You really don’t need to attach so much meaning to it.”
But it seemed Ryuhyun didn’t think so.
“I see this martial arts tournament as a prelude to the dueling conference. My goal is to win here and elevate Hongseong’s and the innkeeper’s name.”
“And what would I do with that elevated name?”
“Well, wouldn’t it be nice if your fame increased? Even the Master said so… Anyway, I’m off now.”
Ryuhyun bowed and left. Just then, I noticed the commotion outside dwindling.
What’s that? Did someone else arrive?
I stepped outside the inn and saw a carriage moving at the end of the street. Accompanying them were the Moonjeong warriors of the Wolgwang group.
I chuckled as I noticed a black-haired girl and a gray-haired girl sitting on the roof of the carriage, swinging their legs.
Looks like they didn’t get hurt!
“Innkeeper!”
The gray-haired girl jumped off the roof and ran toward me. Her Sinbeop was impressively quick and natural, perhaps something she learned from the Hwahwa Mysteries.
Hearing a few martial artists whispering about it, I turned to the girl who had arrived before me, Sayoon, who greeted me with a beaming smile.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No! Have you been doing well in my absence?”
“Just a little thing…”
The martial artists did have a small fight near the inn, but that’s nothing to worry about.
“Right. I didn’t have anything special happen either.”
“Hehe. That’s a relief.”
“By the way, it seems like I got something from the secret area of Hwa-gwang…”
“Oh! Yes! Can I tell you the details in the evening?”
“Of course.”
What’s important is not what’s happened over there, but that she’s grown.
I placed my hand on Sayoon’s head. She smiled brightly, but shivered a little at my touch and smiled even wider.
In the meantime, the carriage stopped right in front of my inn.
“Whew. I’m not late. This is right on schedule, right?”
Chaeran jumped down from the carriage with a fox-like grin and asked. Schedule, huh? The registration date for the qualifiers is still a way off.
When I nodded, Chaeran sighed.
“Ugh. My sister, Yoon, and Hongryeon have been pushing me so hard.”
“Haha. They could have taken it easy.”
Pouting, Chaeran glared at the carriage, and as soon as the door opened, she ducked behind me.
At the same moment, Chaejin stepped down from the carriage, her eyes glaring as she growled at Chaeran.
“If you hadn’t gone to weird places…”
“Weird places?”
Did something happen while exploring the secret area? When I looked at her, Chaeran stuck out her tongue and giggled.
“I had a lot I wanted to investigate inside the secret area.”
“Hahaha…”
Well, Chaeran does enjoy investigating such things.
Looks like she got caught up in exploring the secret itself rather than just breaking through it.
“Don’t be too harsh. It was thanks to Junior Sister Chaeran that we could break through the secret area so easily, right?”
“Right! Right!”
As Chaeran waved her hands in excitement behind me, Chaejin clenched her fists. Meanwhile, Hongryeon got down holding a box.
“Is that the reward?”
“Yes. Should I show you?”
There are too many eyes on us. I shook my head, and Hongryeon quietly told Hyunhwi behind her.
“Hyunhwi, you worked hard while I was gone. I’ll be here today, so it’s okay for you to go back.”
“You worked hard too, Senior Sister…”
“This is nothing. Plus, I rested on the way. Oh, and Sayoon, please check in and you can return too.”
“Yes! Ryena, what about you?”
“I won’t participate this time.”
As the two chatted amicably, they checked in for the martial arts competition qualifiers. After Chaejin and Hongryeon finished checking in, Gi Noya chuckled.
“Then I guess I can start drinking from today.”
“Thank you for your hard work during this time. I’ll take care of things, so drink as much as you want.”
“Hehe. Shall we have some fun then?”
Seeing Gi Noya head inside, I looked at Hongryeon, Chaejin, and then Sayoon and Chaeran.
Jin looked over at Sayoon and Chaeran.
“First, let’s go upstairs and have a cup of tea.”
He brought all four of them into the office. As Yohwan served the snacks and tea he made, everyone settled down comfortably.
“By the way, did you check the box inside?”
“Ah, yes.”
As Hongryeon nodded in response, I opened the box. Inside were a talisman, two daggers, a metal bracelet, and finally, a map.
Of course, the map showed part of the location of the next secret place, but since I already knew where it was, I just set it aside.
As I held the talisman, which had an impressive ornate design, a red aura flickered around it.
The Hwasin Talisman. The most important item obtained from the secret realm of Hwagwang.
“What about the daggers?”
“The daggers themselves aren’t that important; it’s the material of these daggers that matters.”
I placed the two daggers glowing with red aura on the desk.
“I’m sure Chaeran knows this one.”
“Yes, it has Hwasunsteel mixed in.”
Hwasunsteel is a material that can be added when crafting weapons, granting fire properties to them.
“And the bracelet?”
“The bracelet is the same. I’ll keep it for now and give it to you later when I create something decent.”
“Sure, why not?”
Hongryeon, Chaejin, Chaeran, and Sayoon all seemed to lack interest.
The most important thing from the Hwagwang secret realm is the Hwasin Talisman and the blessings obtained from breakthroughs.
After wrapping up the findings, as soon as Sayoon and Chaeran returned to the Hongseong Clan, Hongryeon turned serious.
What is she about to say?
“Sayoon and Chaeran may not know this, but… something strange happened on the way back.”
“Strange?”
“Yes. I saw it too…”
It happened while I was meditating and keeping watch during our return trip.
A group of Evil Monsters was being led by a person holding a staff.
“It was definitely a person. And it seemed like the monsters he was leading noticed us… but they just moved on.”
Evil Monsters generally harbor hatred for humans. They typically attack regardless of disadvantages or advantages, so the fact that those monsters spotted a person and just left was indeed odd, and I nodded in agreement.
“Do you happen to know what that staff looked like?”
Hongryeon and Chaejin nodded, and when I saw the drawing they made of the staff, I sighed.
I recognized it.
It was equipment used by the subordinates of Iron Blood Clan’s Hwasin, which I had seen after catching the Iron Blood Demon in Heavenly Bright Moon.
The movements of the Iron Blood Clan were beginning to show themselves.
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