Chapter: 653
Just after noon.
After leaving the palace, I walked to a particularly quiet area within the palace.
A serene atmosphere lingered here, maintained by a few stationed sentries.
It was also a gathering place for the few members of the current North Sea.
Passing through that place, I arrived at another location, opened the door, and stepped inside.
Creek…
As I unlocked the old doorknob, a familiar face came into view.
Was she eating or just putting something in her mouth? It was Namgung Bi-ah.
She looked at me and said,
“… Ah… Hello….”
“Finish eating first, then talk.”
Her slurred pronunciation was somewhat amusing.
As Namgung Bi-ah munched away while listening to me,
“Right, you need to swallow whatever’s in your mouth before speaking. It’s something you’d naturally learn in Sega, don’t you think?”
A middle-aged man casually interjected from the side.
I frowned and looked at him.
“What’s with burping while talking?”
Isn’t that completely against etiquette?
“Heh heh. My bad. Is your digestion off?”
I sighed as I watched the sly middle-aged man trying to shrug it off.
His perfect face still felt distant due to his poor attitude.
The white-haired, blue-eyed man who looked like Namgung Bi-ah had all the traits of that family name.
The one-armed ghost, Namgung Hyung.
There he was, laughing it up.
I looked at him and asked,
“Are you feeling any better?”
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
“From what I see, you’re not fine at all.”
He had lost an arm and had once been on the brink of death from a penetrating injury.
Surviving was merely due to his high skill level; if he were an ordinary person, he would have long since perished.
‘It’s astonishing that he’s even conscious right now.’
According to the physician at the Ice Palace, they said he’d likely be bedridden for another month, unable to come to his senses.
Yet, just two days ago, he had woken with a spark in his eyes.
Such remarkable resilience.
Glance…
I shifted my gaze and peered at his missing arm.
As a swordsman, losing an arm undoubtedly created problems with his technique as well.
“Seems tasty today. Want to try some too?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Then I’ll just eat it…”
…Nom.
“… Nephew, what are you doing?”
“I said… I’m not eating.”
Namgung Hyung seemed unfazed by that, keeping up his usual strange demeanor.
‘I can’t tell if he’s genuinely okay or just pretending.’
Since it wasn’t my concern, I quickly averted my eyes. I turned to Namgung Bi-ah and asked,
“How’s your health?”
“I’m okay.”
“…”
Her nonchalant answer prompted me to poke her stomach with my finger.
Then came her reaction.
“Ugh…!!”
Namgung Bi-ah rarely made a face as she winced in pain.
Seeing that, I let out a deep sigh.
“What’s ‘okay’? You planning to lie some more?”
“…”
Feeling the pinch seem to hurt, Namgung Bi-ah shot me a resentful glance.
I wasn’t the type to simply accept that.
“Why aren’t you opening your lovely eyes wide? What’s the occasion for those peepers?”
As I frowned and spoke, Namgung Bi-ah sullenly averted her gaze.
She wasn’t unattractive, which made it hard to chide her, but by now, I had developed a certain tolerance and could manage it.
“After I told you not to go and you did anyway, look at the mess you’re in now.”
“…”
“What’s so great about coming here that you end up hurt? If you’d just stayed in the Central Plains, this wouldn’t have happened. Do you need to freeze to learn sword skills? That’s not true.”
“That’s…”
“Don’t talk back.”
“… Okay…”
This time, Namgung Bi-ah seemed to grasp her mistake and just listened quietly.
I already had a heap of things to say.
“And since we’re on that topic—”
“Oh, Your Excellency!”
Just as I was about to continue, someone barged in, interrupting me.
It was Dang So-yeol, with the White Lotus Sword right behind her.
“You’re here?”
“Yep.”
Dang So-yeol approached with her usual bright smile.
Then, she casually sat beside me.
“Have you eaten?”
“I had a bit.”
That was a straight-up lie. I hadn’t touched food in two days.
I was too busy figuring out my newfound abilities and increased levels.
“Hmm.”
After hearing my answer, Dang So-yeol stared at me silently.
Her gaze felt so burdensome that I subtly tried to dodge it.
“You didn’t eat, did you?”
“…”
Immediately caught.
She was sharp, to say the least.
“… Just not that hungry.”
“Hmm…”
She appeared rather displeased. After a moment of staring, Dang So-yeol tilted her head.
“Your Excellency.”
“Yeah?”
“What’s going on?”
An unexpectedly curious question came.
At her words, my eyes widened slightly, and I looked at Dang So-yeol. Then, I managed a faint, resigned smile.
‘I was caught.’
How did she notice?
I had been in a less-than-stellar mood after my encounter with Woohyuk, and it seemed she picked up on that right away.
Not just her, either.
‘… Tsk.’
I could sense Namgung Bi-ah’s gaze was also fixated on me, knowingly or not.
She seemed to have caught on long before.
“Nothing much happened…”
Once again, I tried to brush it off like usual, but I could see the expressions of both people subtly shift.
Seeing that, I hesitated for a moment, then changed my stance.
“… Something came up, but it’s okay. I took care of it.”
“…”
“…”
Stating that it was nothing seemed to have calmed them, as the tension in their eyes lessened a bit.
Seeing this bolstered my sense of relief.
“Really, don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal.”
Dang So-yeol nodded in response to my next statement.
“But you still need to eat.”
“… I will.”
I responded curtly.
Snap-!
“…?”
I grabbed Namgung Bi-ah’s wrist, who sat beside me.
She looked at me as if to say, “What are you doing?”
Ignoring her, I focused my energy.
Swish-!
“Huh?”
Namgung Bi-ah flinched as the energy suddenly surged into her.
Despite her reaction, I continued to channel my energy.
The heat penetrated her body, circulating around.
As I retrieved it, it came back alongside a fair bit of turbidity.
I extracted only the turbidity from the energy I brought back and sent it to my hand.
Then.
Whoosh-!!
I ignited a fire at my fingertips, incinerating the turbidity.
A faint stench wafted about, but thankfully, it seemed to have been extracted well.
I brushed my hands off and glanced at Namgung Bi-ah.
“The energy seems fine overall. I cleared out the remaining turbidity, so moving around tomorrow shouldn’t be too much trouble… Why the long face?”
While I was trying to explain, everyone in the room was staring at me.
What is this? What’s with those looks?
A strange silence passed through the air.
“Just now… what did you do?”
Baekryeongeom asked me, eyes wide in astonishment.
“What do you mean, what did I do?”
“What you just did. What did you do?”
“Eh? I just pulled out the turbidity and burned it.”
Seeing her discomfort, I checked and, guess what, Namgung Bi-ah still had some turbidity within her.
I simply extracted and burned it since it seemed to arise from the energy aiding her recovery.
This wasn’t some magic sword or anything fancy.
‘I just separated it using heat. Why the strange reactions?’
It shouldn’t be that complex; their responses were odd.
“… You separated the turbidity? And burned it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Eh?”
I furrowed my brows at Baekryeongeom’s persistent questioning.
“Like I said, you just separate it!”
“Turbidity permeates the energy.”
“Right.”
The energy flowing through the body contains this microscopic turbidity.
It would eventually dissipate on its own, but leaving it be would be more than a minor inconvenience, so extracting and eliminating it was preferable.
Yet, the reactions of Baekryeongeom and Namgung Hyung to my actions were anything but ordinary.
What’s going on? Did I do something strange?
“You didn’t even extract the turbidity yourself; you just sent energy into someone else’s body and pulled out only the turbidity?”
“Yes.”
“How could you do something like that…?”
“No, if you keep asking how….”
Isn’t it just sending energy and extracting the turbidity from its flow?
Now, sure, the energy doesn’t just stop flowing like a stream of water; extracting turbidity that way isn’t the easiest task either.
“That’s not that difficult, is it?”
“…What? You mean it’s not difficult?”
“Yes?”
Baekryeongeom’s eyes widened, shocked at my answer.
Seeing her expression made me even more baffled, so I blurted out:
“Isn’t that tough for you, Senior?”
“…”
“Why’s that so difficult…. It’s really not that hard, is it?”
I just couldn’t figure out what was with their reactions.
“Uh… uh… ah.”
After my reply, Baekryeongeom creaked as if something was amiss.
Behind her, Namgung Hyung looked at me with a dazed expression, his attractive facade completely gone.
Seriously, why were they all acting like this?
Feeling a bit suffocated, I quickly rose to my feet.
Dang So-yeol shot me a regretful glance, but she wouldn’t be able to move since she had to take care of Namgung Bi-ah.
“First, I’m heading out. Please rest up, and as I mentioned earlier, I plan to return to the Central Plains tomorrow.”
As I spoke, I looked at Baekryeongeom and Namgung Hyung.
“Are you coming with me?”
Of course, I didn’t ask for their approval.
I just had to bring along Namgung Bi-ah and Dang So-yeol, alongside any backup swordsman or erratic traitor.
Since Baekryeongeom and Goeseon probably had their own business here, I figured it didn’t matter if they chose not to come.
“We should go together. Staying here in this state seems pointless anyway….”
Goeseon cast a glance at Baekryeongeom and continued,
“That goes for you too, sister.”
“…”
At Goeseon’s words, Baekryeongeom wore a somewhat bittersweet expression.
It seemed something was afoot, but that too was none of my business, and I had little interest in it.
“Then, if you’re returning, make sure to come by tomorrow by noon.”
“Noon? That’ll be cutting it close—wouldn’t it be better to leave early in the morning?”
“Dawn? Ah.”
I found myself puzzled for a moment, but then it hit me. Baekryeongeom and Namgung Hyung likely didn’t know what I had traveled here on.
“It’s fine. I’ll be flying anyway.”
“I see. Flying… huh? Flying?”
“Well, then, see you tomorrow.”
Without further explanation, I simply turned and walked away.
After all, they’d figure it all out when we met again tomorrow.
‘It does depend on the headcount, but I think it’ll be fine.’
In the past, the number five would have been a tight squeeze, but with the size of Ttol-Ttol or my current energy levels, it didn’t seem like a significant issue.
Creek. Boom!
I shut the door behind me and continued on my way.
I took a moment to gaze up at the sky.
The cold wave had cleared, leaving only a slight chill, but the sky was bright.
Nodding at the drifting clouds, I thought,
‘Can we return soon?’
There was much work waiting for me.
For that reason alone, it was time to rush back to the Central Plains.
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