Biyul and I hopped onto a carriage heading west, leaving the martial world behind. It honestly felt like ages since I’d stepped out like this.
“Master, what is the Western Region like?” Biyul asked me with eyes full of anticipation. I guess the thrill of traveling for the first time made her a little dreamy.
“Broadly speaking, it’s not much different from the martial world. After all, places where people gather tend to be similar in nature,” I replied.
But unfortunately, I was also the author who had written this fantasy world.
Back then, when I was less mature, I enjoyed creating dark and dreary settings.
I added a twist where Northern lands were crawling with monsters, and above that, a continent ruled by a demon lord, turning it into a dark fantasy.
“So it’s not different…?”
“It means that wherever we go, there will be many hands reaching out for our help, Biyul.”
With a deep sigh, I had no choice but to crush her excitement.
If I had known the fictional world would turn into reality like this, I would’ve made it a brighter and more hopeful story.
“Is that really true?”
Clunk, clunk! In the rattling carriage, Biyul stuck close to me, whispering softly in my ear.
“I’ve heard that in the Western Region, there are sorcerers with mystical arts and swordsmen who channel qi into their blades everywhere.”
Her small, warm breath tickled my ear, and as I flinched and moved away, she just beamed and followed closer.
Sometimes, the closeness felt a little scary. Is this how a master-disciple relationship should be?
“Qi can be replaced with ‘mana,’ and like the dantian where energy gathers, they have ‘mana cores’ in their hearts that allow them to bring their imaginations to life.”
I playfully squished Biyul’s cheeks with my palm. They felt soft and squishy, and she puffed up her cheeks, looking a bit miffed.
“Master, why are you avoiding me?”
“Because we’re too close. What if someone misinterprets this?”
Honestly, to me, Biyul feels like a daughter. She was born from the words I’ve written and is like a fragment of my soul.
“…I wouldn’t mind being misunderstood.”
“I would! I’m the head of a martial sect with a title; if rumors spread that I touched my disciple, what then?!”
I held Biyul’s cheeks and stretched them like a rubber band.
They felt as soft as glutinous rice cakes and resembled a hamster with sunflower seeds stuffed in its cheeks.
“Master, please let go of me!”
Seeing Biyul’s words slur together, I couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.
“Will you really not do it again?”
“Yes, so please refrain from being so rough.”
Biyul rubbed her now pincushion-like cheeks with both hands, pouting adorably. At that moment, she looked less like the Heavenly Demon Star with a fate that required killing and more like an ordinary girl.
‘If I can see this, maybe I can change the fate of Verdandi and Azazel.’
I gently smiled, brushing Biyul’s tangled hair aside.
A crazed hero obsessed with justice, slaughtering people left and right, and a saint who longs for love and ends up signing a contract with a foreign entity.
For a creator, the greatest glory is to see characters come alive, but…
‘I want to end their stories as happily as possible.’
Now that it was no longer fantasy but reality, I needed to do what I could. The best I could as an author, not as a reader, but as someone involved.
“By the way, Master, is that ‘junior disciple’ you’ve mentioned someone you’ve known for a while? Last time, I didn’t get a proper explanation…”
Biyul looked up at me, her posture resembling that of a little kitten looking up.
The way she wrapped her arms around mine and clung to me was like a puppy trying to mark its territory.
“She’s like my daughters. In fact, there are two of them in this world.”
“…Huh?”
At that moment, a chill radiated from Biyul. The horse pulling the carriage snorted loudly, startled.
“…Biyul, suppress your killing intent.”
“But… but…”
I gently ruffled her hair, speaking softly. I scattered a bit of energy around to help contain her aura that was about to spill over.
At this rate, not only the horses but my entire trip to the Western Region would be ruined.
“You shouldn’t reveal your emotions so simply, you know? A blade without purpose and a killing intent without direction only wound oneself.”
I didn’t intend to scold her for unleashing her killing intent.
For a girl as obsessed and reliant on me as Biyul, she might fear being abandoned with the arrival of a new junior disciple.
“The reason I said she’s like my daughters is that they are also children who’ve lived unhappy lives because of my errors. Biyul.”
“Why do you say it’s your fault, Master? You did nothing wrong.”
No, it’s all my fault.
“I had the power of martial arts (武) to save crying children, and the heart of a hero (俠) that felt pity for them.”
A bitter taste lingered in my mouth. As the creator of this world, I could have given them a happy ending.
“But my past self turned a blind eye to that justice. Simply because my life depended on survival, I made excuses to myself, saying they were just unlucky.”
But I didn’t. To me, the final boss, the villain, had to stand in the way of the protagonist’s goals.
“The Ice Dragon, who shattered the apostate group holding me captive, shouldn’t say things like that.”
Because he was a being that had to die for the protagonists.
“…I could have saved them faster. I could have saved more children. If my legs had been faster, if my qi perception had been sharper, I could have found you sooner.”
“It was an unavoidable situation. No one can blame you for it.”
Biyul uttered the words of it being unavoidable. Yeah, making excuses like that would make it easier on the mind.
After all, those were just villains in a fictional work. Before my possession, they were beings without a soul or body.
But,
“Words are so incredibly light and easy, Biyul. Do you know how many children would’ve turned to blood and flesh if I hadn’t saved you?”
Now the situation had changed. Everything in this world breathed and possessed its own life.
All because of a few lines I had foolishly penned.
“…….”
“Biyul, my disciple like the bright moon in the night sky. Don’t forget that your master is just a foolish human trying to face his past now.”
I couldn’t explain everything to Biyul, but I could convey the essence of it.
If I hadn’t suspended my serialization and had completed the story, things like this wouldn’t have happened.
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind…”
Biyul seemed to understand my words, holding my wrist tightly with both hands, rubbing her head against it even more.
The terrifying Heavenly Demon had vanished somewhere, leaving behind just a whiny little girl.
“The first junior disciple you’ll meet is an unfortunate child consumed by justice.”
“Justice…?”
“To put it another way, a strong person who seeks to kill anyone who violates the code of chivalry.”
I started explaining about Verdandi to her. She uses the Eye that Sees the Truth and Judgment of Justice to determine if someone she sees for the first time is a villain.
The problem was that her criteria for a villain were as light as a feather.
“…Are you suggesting it’s a pointless debate?”
A child who stole potatoes from a neighbor in times of famine, or a mother who disciplined her child with a switch.
“Exactly, to her, killing intent is as light as a feather.”
To Verdandi, those were all villains committing wrongdoings. That was the setting I had given her.
The final boss in a story was someone who had to be absolutely powerful and fundamentally evil.
In Biyul’s case, she had merely been fortunate enough to be saved.
“Little girl, I think I’m beginning to understand everything now.”
Biyul clenched her fists and nodded vigorously. Thankfully, she appeared to empathize with Verdandi’s story.
“Master is trying to show that same heavenly grace to that junior disciple!”
“……?”
Although Biyul’s words were slightly off, it seemed she didn’t completely misunderstand my intent.
“This foolish disciple thought you might have had an illegitimate child hidden away. Surely that can’t be the case! The person I follow and respect so much could never have had an affair….”
Biyul let out a heh heh laugh, her mouth curving into a full smile as she held her cheeks with her hands, radiating happiness.
“…Wait, Biyul. Do you hear that?”
That’s when I caught it.
Clatter, clatter. The sound scratching at my ears didn’t feel like the horses kicking up dust.
“I don’t think it’s good news.”
As I warned Biyul, she turned to scan the surroundings, picking up on the strange vibe. She got ready to jump down from the carriage.
“…It’s definitely the sound of chains. Biyul, can you tell how many are coming?”
I asked Biyul, who inherently had excellent qi perception, to scout the enemy’s numbers.
There’s a saying: Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Understanding the enemy’s strength is crucial.
“There are three burly men with iron maces, five stout men wielding clubs, two men who seem like guards with broadswords, and finally… a man who appears to be a leader with an axe.”
Biyul closed her eyes tightly and pinpointed the approaching bandit group around the carriage.
It seemed they were blocking the horses’ route with chains while aiming to rob us of our valuables and lives.
“Eleven in total. Good.”
As soon as I heard Biyul’s answer, I leapt out of the moving carriage before she could react.
Ice Crystal Divine Art, One Second Shift. Ice Shattering Fist!
I turned my body in a circle and slammed my fist into the ground, creating a THUNDEROUS sound as ice pillars erupted upwards.
Focusing all my qi into my hand, I condensed frost, bursting it through my fist, allowing me to either freeze those in my path or create stepping stones like this.
“Master?!”
Surprised by my sudden movement, Biyul followed closely behind, the magic of the Heavenly Demon Art enveloping her.
Having gained the advantageous position for a fight, we faced off against,
“This is the territory managed by the Green Forest 72 Brotherhood! If you want to pass, you must pay a toll!”
We were confronted by a bearded man who exuded the kind of intimidating presence that could shake mountains.
“I am Shan Pao, one of the heads of the Green Forest!”
The bandit brandished a massive axe, swinging it around and cutting through the air.
“Ha ha ha!! If you don’t want to be cut by our brother’s axe, leave your women and money here!!”
“Yeah! Our toll is very steep!”
Shan Pao and the bandits around him couldn’t suppress their laughter as they looked down on us.
But I wouldn’t be shaken by their laughter; I slowly raised the corners of my mouth instead.
“…It seems you haven’t heard of me, the Ice Dragon.”
As my cold voice sliced through the air, the bandits’ laughter came to an abrupt halt.
“Ice Dragon? The martial master who thrived in the Great War?”
“Wait, could it be…?”
I saw confusion and anxiety wash over their faces, and inwardly, I smiled.
Here they were, walking treasures coming to me just when I needed something for traveling to the Western Region.
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