Chapter: 410
Right after the White Lotus Sword suddenly appeared and served me a prank.
Somehow I’ll fix this…
No, I wasn’t able to manage, but I decided to chase away those who were looking at me strangely and have a bit of time with the White Lotus Sword.
Trying to talk right there was impossible, as the White Lotus Sword was howling so loudly that I couldn’t say a word.
‘I’m going to lose it.’
Who would have expected a woman who was definitely middle-aged would suddenly start screaming and howling like that?
Just thinking about it again makes my head spin.
I pray that strange rumors don’t spread, but considering Woohyuk’s mouth is about as reliable as a rag, it probably won’t be long before bizarre rumors start circulating.
That damn guy.
In my past life, strange rumors about Seolbong and me caused quite a commotion for days on end.
Thanks to that, Seolbong was so furious that he almost captured the sleeping dragon and froze it solid, only to be saved by Sogeomseong.
Anyway, if that kid sees this, I should have blocked his mouth before it was too late.
Now, that’s entirely impossible.
It can’t be helped…
“Ha…”
Looking at the scene before me, I can’t help but let out a sigh.
In the moment of indecision about what to do next,
I decided to just say something.
But what should I say?
“Umm….”
Flinch.
As soon as I attempt to speak, I see someone flinch in front of me.
I had to let out another sigh upon seeing that.
Hah-
The person who heard my sigh misunderstood something and, with a pitiful expression, asked me,
“…Should I raise my hands higher?”
Despite her cold and indifferent appearance, the woman had a rather pitiful voice and was kneeling with her hands raised.
That look was akin to being punished.
The problem is…
“…No, please lower them.”
The issue isn’t that I ordered her to do so, but rather that she’s doing it by her own volition.
Let alone her being a woman who has lived more than twice my life.
Not to mention that she’s a seasoned master in the Central Plains, far more renowned than I am at present. Seeing her in such a state before me leaves me utterly at a loss.
How on earth should I interpret this?
In this absurd situation, I turned to the woman, the White Lotus Sword, Mo Yong-bi-yeon, and asked,
“Why are you… doing that?”
“Isn’t it better to raise my hands higher…?”
“Please, Senior…! Lower your arms!”
As I plead, the White Lotus Sword cautiously lowers her arms.
Just watching that sends a wave of dizziness through me.
Why is she doing this to me?
Even thinking about it gives me a headache.
Suppressing my mounting irritation, I wondered.
“What is your intention behind this?”
“Huh…?”
“Why are you doing this?”
No matter how I think about it, I can’t make sense of it.
She suddenly came over and grabbed my trouser leg.
And now, out of nowhere, she’s kneeling and raising her hands?
Watching this, I couldn’t wrap my mind around who the White Lotus Sword truly was.
This was a character I was seeing for the first time, which made everything even more bewildering.
What in the world is this person?
As I pondered in confusion, the White Lotus Sword smiled awkwardly and said,
“It’s true that I messed up. I should apologize.”
Hearing that made me cast aside my rising emotions and regard her with a mix of curiosity and disbelief.
It’s definitely true, but for some reason, it sounded oddly refreshing to hear.
In a world where the strong’s words carry weight,
If it was the White Lotus Sword, most would overlook even if she acted a bit brazenly, but seeing a person like her utter such words felt strangely new.
However, that doesn’t mean…
“…What if you suddenly kneel before me?”
Kneeling in front of a junior who is at least several decades younger?
This completely shatters my understanding of common decency!
Considering it ironically makes it hard to get angry, maybe it’s not such a bad approach after all?
I have no clue.
I was already wrapped up in the atmosphere of the White Lotus Sword and my thoughts were muddled.
As I gazed at her, somewhat dazed, she continued to speak.
“Will you forgive me?”
“….”
That caught me completely off guard.
Why on earth are you doing this, asking for forgiveness?
Suppressing the urge to laugh, I said to the White Lotus Sword with the calmest voice I could muster.
“Senior. If you’re going to apologize, shouldn’t you be giving it to someone else, not me?”
Truth be told, the White Lotus Sword hadn’t wronged me in any way.
It wasn’t even a formal fight, and my arm was only a bit sore due to my intervention, so it wouldn’t be right to place the blame on her.
Thus, if she needed to apologize, it should be the ones who were fighting, not me.
Considering that line of thought, I said it, and much to my surprise, the White Lotus Sword beamed at me, as if she was relieved.
“I already apologized to the kids.”
“You did that?”
“Of course!”
No way…
“…Wait, did you do it like you just did?”
Wait, did she kneel and raise her hands like that in front of those kids too?
Suddenly, a chill gripped me, and I hastily asked, while the White Lotus Sword waved her hands dismissively.
“Oh no, it wasn’t like that.”
That was a relief, I suppose.
Even if the White Lotus Sword is weird, surely she wouldn’t use that approach with everyone, right?
“I didn’t kneel; I just begged with my hands raised!”
“….”
“And they said it was okay!”
With the White Lotus Sword begging with her hands before my eyes, who would dare say it wasn’t okay?
Eventually, I couldn’t help but clutch my forehead in disbelief.
…Should I really consider that a relief?
At this point, I’m utterly confused.
“Ah, the lord of the Tang Clan said to be careful if you make a fuss again, or he’ll toss you out. He really will get angry.”
Did she have a talk with the Poison King? I couldn’t help but chuckle at that thought.
‘If he makes a fuss, he’ll toss you out…’
The choice of words was downright alarming.
Even if the Poison King was angry, I doubt he would’ve expressed it quite like that; the meaning is still clear.
If a warrior of the White Lotus Sword’s level behaves like that, it’s bound to cause issues during transport.
He must’ve meant to stay out of trouble if she won’t help but will just cause a ruckus.
In the midst of this, I found myself in awe of the Poison King’s patience.
‘If it were me, I’d have tossed her out without a second thought.’
No matter how skilled the White Lotus Sword is, or how she actually aids the transportation, one would have already gotten rid of her after causing trouble.
Especially since the Poison King’s own daughter, Dang So-yeol, was embroiled in the earlier sword match.
To merely let this slide as a warning…
While internally adjusting my perspective on the Poison King, I decided to ask the White Lotus Sword.
“Really, what is happening here?”
This was the very first thing I wanted to know.
The White Lotus Sword chuckled awkwardly after hearing my question, saying,
“As I mentioned earlier, I was wrong…”
“But this doesn’t seem like a necessary approach.”
I didn’t plan to let this slide over something so trivial.
“Do you have a specific wish that involves me?”
“…”
If she doesn’t have some sort of expectation, it’s strange for her to take such action.
So I asked her what her true intentions were, but I could see her expression turn odd.
She must have some desire after all.
‘What could it be?’
What in the world does she want from me?
I pondered, but I had no idea.
There was nothing in my relationship with the White Lotus Sword that could indicate such.
This made me even more restless.
“If you have something you wish for, it’d be better to say it rather than act this way…”
“You said to stop the escorting duties.”
“…Huh?”
I cocked my head in confusion at the White Lotus Sword’s casual comment.
Escort?
‘Wait, what about escorting…?’
I recalled our earlier conversation.
This was about how she wouldn’t listen to me when I said to stop the escort, which leads me to think…
‘Wait, are you doing this because I told you to quit being an escort?’
It was a remark thrown out to ease our relationship somewhat, yet she seems to have taken it literally and came pleading to me.
‘Why the heck?’
I can’t comprehend this.
The White Lotus Sword mentioned she was here to escort at the behest of the Lady Mi.
Wouldn’t a master of her caliber find it galling to abandon her duty simply because I didn’t want it?
Yet, she came here pleading to not stop escorting…
‘What on earth?’
Does she have some other motive regarding my escort?
While calculating various possibilities in my mind, I fixed my eyes curiously on the White Lotus Sword.
She cautiously spoke to me.
“I’m sorry. Would you please let me continue the escort?”
“…”
“I promise not to make trouble again. I usually can handle that kind of stuff, but I got too excited since it had been a while since a proper match.”
“White Lotus Sword.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you so fixated on being my escort?”
“Well… because Lady Mi asked me to…”
She avoided my question as if dismissing it, making it apparent she had no intention of revealing her reasoning.
‘So I’m expected to keep the escort despite your hidden intentions?’
Then what should I do? Just let her keep going?
That feels somewhat uneasy.
After all, this implies I’d be keeping someone with ulterior motives by my side.
While pondering that, suddenly a thought popped into my head.
“Alright, you can continue.”
At my response, the White Lotus Sword’s face lit up immediately.
Is this really a worthy cause? I merely said she could stay as my escort.
However…
“But, there’s a condition.”
I had my own terms.
Maybe it’s because I was about to lay down a condition that the White Lotus Sword’s expression shifted slightly.
Could it be that she never expected me to include conditions? The atmosphere around her grew a bit tense.
That was a concern, yet it was something I had anticipated.
“Conditions?”
“Yes.”
The conditions were straightforward.
The first one was…
“Please don’t act on your own without my consent.”
“….”
I wanted to ensure that incidents like the previous one don’t repeat, and I also had a hope that the White Lotus Sword would heed my words.
The meaning of these words is as obvious as it gets—a demand not to jump into action without my approval.
Given that she’s supposed to be my escort, it shouldn’t be a problem.
However, my sentiments grew somewhat uneasy realizing she’s a generation above me in skill levels.
And it didn’t stop there.
There was one more condition.
“Moreover, I have a favor to ask.”
“…A favor?”
“Yes.”
Not only was I asking her not to act without my permission, but I also wanted her to fulfill a favor, making the White Lotus Sword’s eyes narrow.
Which wasn’t surprising.
If I were in her shoes, I’d be furious if someone talked to me like this, so her reaction was completely justified.
And that’s precisely what I was hoping for.
After going this far, turning it down would certainly bruise her pride.
No matter how cool-headed the White Lotus Sword might be, you’d expect her to get offended or angry at such treatment.
“Would that suffice?”
“…Huh?”
“Then it’s settled. That means I’ll continue to escort you!”
Stunned by how happily she gleamed at me, I momentarily lost my words.
“Wait… Did you understand the conditions correctly?”
“Of course, I did. You asked before making a request, remember?”
“But why…?”
Is she genuinely happy about this? That was unexpected.
‘What on earth makes her so happy?’
Noticing my bewildered expression, the White Lotus Sword tilted her head in confusion.
“You don’t believe me?”
“….”
I subtly nodded at her question.
Honestly, considering it would be difficult for me to easily trust this situation. Accepting all of this is unfathomable to me.
As I mulled over my doubts, the White Lotus Sword rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, as if something struck her.
“If you don’t believe me, should I put a binding vow?”
That was an utterly ridiculous proposition.
“…What did you just say?”
It’s not like she’s some random jerk-off; how can a martial artist so casually discuss binding vows?
The moment I looked at her, astounded, she suggested,
“Then you’ll believe me, right? So, where should I place it? My stomach? My chest? I can take it off right now!”
“No, there’s no need for a vow… Aaaah! Don’t take it off! What are you doing?!”
In sheer desperation, I stopped the White Lotus Sword from revealing her belly.
This was unequivocally my fault.
I should have recognized it from the moment we first met.
The White Lotus Sword was far crazier than I had anticipated.
Before I knew it, it had been a little over a month since we commenced our journey to Sacheon.
With delays caused by tricky navigation, our arrival was being pushed back.
But that’s hardly a concern. After all, this delay emerged from unforeseen incidents.
I thought it wouldn’t be a big problem since I used that time for training.
Of course, with training, it was undeniably a hellish experience, as I was enduring torment.
Traveling in a carriage meant my body was being worn to the bone, and at night, I was facing death at the hands of the Poison King while facing physical training by day with the Venerable Pae, so things weren’t particularly pleasant.
So much so that Wi Seol-ah looked worried and tried to force me to take a break.
The irony was that seeing Wi Seol-ah made me want to push myself even harder.
Was it the previous spar with the White Lotus Sword that triggered this?
Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bi-ah often spent time sparring together. Recently, I had realized they were training as hard as I was, which made it impossible for me to relax, even when they suggested I should.
How bizarre.
‘They’re the ones who want to rest, yet they’re scrambling around like mad.’
Although I was trying to avoid the same struggles as in my past life, here I was, rolling around with renewed vigor.
My tenacity seemed to spur those around me to share my difficulties.
What’s going on here…?
Am I somehow affecting them negatively?
If warriors are buckling down to train, isn’t that an inherently good thing?
Anyway, something unusually strange was happening.
That day, while I was laboring through my training with great effort,
As we were subtly slipping into the territory of Sacheon,
The Venerable Pae approached me when I was battered and attempting to catch a breather.
“Aha!”
“Huff…huff… Yes?”
As I gasped for air, soaked in sweat, the Venerable Pae spoke as if he’d just heard something intriguing.
“The bats are saying there’s some weird guys around.”
The ‘bats’ here referred to the Poison King.
Goodness… calling the king of assassins a bat?
That old man clearly has a few screws loose. When the Venerable Pae saw my reaction, he raised an eyebrow.
“From the looks of your face, it seems you’re badmouthing me in your mind again.”
“…No, not at all.”
He was unreasonably perceptive.
The Venerable Pae didn’t quite believe me, although he didn’t pursue it any further.
It seemed that the main point was what came next.
“Anyway, it seems he mentioned there are some strange characters around.”
“Strange characters?”
“Yeah. Apparently, they look like bandits. In this day and age, bandits…. tch tch.”*
“…!”
At that moment, my eyes flashed at the Venerable Pae’s words.
Bandits?
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.