I must have been nothing more than an ant.
I must have been nothing more than dust.
To that Simma with the power of a superhuman, I would have been nothing more than that.
That arrogance.
If I had been a Sword Saint, I wouldn’t have let my guard down.
“Ugh…!!”
The momentum that accurately pierced the opening did not easily change. In an instant, Simma was being pushed back by the Sword Saint’s relentless assault.
Trying to regain the momentum she had lost somehow, Simma attempted a strong attack, but the Sword Saint did not let that slip away.
Even if the opponent had the power of a Sword Saint, what stood before her was also a Sword Saint.
“Huff!!”
With a low battle cry, the Sword Saint’s sword glinted. At the same time, Simma’s sword was knocked up, and the Sword Saint’s long leg was plunged into her abdomen.
–Koo-woong!!
It wasn’t the kind of sound a person should make when kicked. The force erupted from Simma’s body. Chasing after the rebounding Simma, the Sword Saint swung her sword, and a powerful red aura burst from Simma’s body, wracked in pain.
Hongseong Divine Art, Defense Technique. Sword Barrier.
But the Sword Saint shattered that with a single blow of the Hongseong Divine Art’s Great Sword Technique, extended her fist, and dozens of strikes landed on Simma’s body in an instant.
“Yerin…”
It was a strained voice. The Sword Saint’s fist paused at that voice. By now, Simma, having transformed into the Sword Saint’s Senior Sister—the black-haired woman from before—spoke while bleeding.
“Are you thinking of killing me again…?”
It was an attack that shook the Sword Saint’s heart. An attack that made her hesitate.
I looked at the Sword Saint.
If I get pushed back here, I’d have no way out.
With her fist halted while staring at Simma, the Sword Saint said,
“…I’m sorry. Senior Sister.”
–Screech!!
Hongseong Divine Art, Sword Technique. Withering Gale.
The powerful strike that had been prepared to deal with the new midnight black lotus cut off Simma’s arm.
“Ahhhh!!”
A scream echoed. The Sword Saint, who watched that, walked slowly. Now, it seemed impossible for Simma to win against her any longer.
“…Are you really going to kill me? Again…?”
The Sword Saint sighed at the weeping woman. Then, she glanced at me.
“…What my Master wished for is coming true.”
Simma did not respond.
She simply continued to silently gaze at the Sword Saint.
“…That person is helping.”
“…So.”
“They’re a good person.”
Even knowing that the one before her was her own disciple, the Sword Saint smiled warmly, as if speaking to family, to her real elder sister.
“They’re the one who showed me my shortcomings.”
“I see.”
“And… they made me realize that if I stay like this, I might lose my precious people outside once again.”
“…They truly are a good person.”
“…Yes. And.”
As if she was about to say something, the Sword Saint’s lips merely twitched slightly, and she offered a faint smile toward Simma.
Seeing that smile, Simma closed her eyes, returning to the Sword Saint’s form rather than her Senior Sister visage, and the Sword Saint placed her great sword upon her chest.
–Thud!!
It was a single blow. Simma’s body, pierced through the chest, gradually turned gray and began to vanish.
The Sword Saint, who briefly gazed at that, approached me and sighed.
“Honestly. You’re always overdoing it… I told you it’s okay.”
“Seriously, every time you go overboard… I told you it’s fine.”
“Isn’t this… well, okay?”
I mean, my left arm is broken and my insides feel like they’ve been turned upside down. But for blocking a hit from an enemy with the power of a Sword Saint, it’s rather okay.
Sure, it feels like I’m about to lose my mind from the pain, but whining about it now won’t solve anything.
The Sword Saint let out a long sigh as if the ground would swallow her up and placed her hand on my chest.
“For now, I’ll keep your insides in check. It’ll hurt a bit, but just bear with me. And don’t ever pull a stunt like this again. I thought my heart was going to stop.”
A powerful force surged in like a tsunami, sweeping through my insides. Maybe it’s because other parts hurt, but I didn’t think it was that bad.
Yujeong might have been right about that thirty thousand times. With my body in pain, my mind was clear of random thoughts.
“Do you think you can get up?”
My left arm is a bit messed up, but I could still stand.
Grabbing the Sword Saint’s extended hand, I slowly looked at the crumbling Hongseong.
Taking down Simma seems to have been the way to pass through this unusual realm.
The Sword Saint watched the Hongseong, which was gradually turning white. In that light, people began to smile and vanish one by one.
Her master.
Her fellow student.
Her mentor.
Her junior.
And her disciples.
I could see them melting into the Sword Saint, not in death, but in life.
“Honestly, I had confidence.”
“Is that so?”
“…To be honest, the moment I entered this place and faced Simma, that confidence crumbled.”
I understood. It would have been the most dreadful trauma for the Sword Saint.
Especially when she had to fight someone of equal strength and already felt outmatched.
Even if she managed to psych herself up, if she tried to block like she did earlier, she might not be able to strike back even if she wanted to.
“But you did it, didn’t you?”
“…Haha.”
The Sword Saint looked up at the sky. As she gazed at the sky that was gradually collapsing, she shook her head.
“I sought help from the people inside me to stop my Simma. But it wasn’t easy. No, rather, Simma used that against me.”
The easiest way for the Sword Saint to defeat Simma was to gather everyone at Hongseong.
Sacrificing her master, fellow student, junior, and disciples to catch Simma, gathering strength until the end to take down Simma.
If she did that, there was no way she wouldn’t win since Simma had strength equal to the Sword Saint.
But would that even work?
In Heavenly Bright Moon, in Sayoon’s story prologue, she died to protect her disciples.
She had even deemed the only way to capture the Sword Saint in the Iron Blood Clan was to use the disciples from Hongseong, showing how much she wanted to protect her people.
Could she really sacrifice those she aimed to protect for her own sake?
No matter how illusionary they were, it would have been impossible for the Sword Saint.
As she said, Simma would have used the weaker ones as hostages to create openings for the Sword Saint.
“I know. How foolish it is. But still…”
“I have no intentions of blaming anyone.”
A smile appeared on the Sword Saint’s lips. Her gaze was fixed on my left arm.
Staring at it, the Sword Saint mumbled with a pout.
“You should have just given up on me. If you had, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt like this… It’s… not fun? Don’t make that face. Hah… I’ll need to learn some more jokes for the future.”
Silence continued.
The white light grew stronger. A door indicating the passage to a wondrous realm appeared behind us, and it was about time to leave.
“…Aren’t you curious why I trusted you?”
The white mass of light edged closer.
The Sword Saint, staring at it, slowly turned her head.
Her eyes, dark and deep, pierced through me.
“My Master, my fellow disciples, my juniors.”
“…..”
“The people I couldn’t protect.”
“I see.”
“My disciples. The ones I must protect.”
A faint smile danced on the lips of the Sword Saint.
“But you are different. While you are someone I must protect…”
Her slowly extending hand took hold of mine.
The hand that rose gently caressed my face.
“I want you to walk beside me.”
“…..”
“You are like my other half, the one who did for me what I could not.”
“Uh…”
“It feels like, together, we could achieve anything. And in the end, you made it happen.”
This atmosphere…
“That’s why you’re a trustworthy, reliable person.”
“Wait. Sword Saint, I’m not someone who came from you… Ugh.”
The Sword Saint’s hands firmly held my face as she leaned in closer.
Her lips touched mine.
Small, soft lips against mine.
As the tiptoes that had risen slowly lowered, the Sword Saint placed her hand on my chest.
“I hope you walk with me.”
“….”
“The person I care for the most. That’s why I trusted you.”
“…Oh.”
“Of course, I despise the idea of you getting hurt.”
“…..”
“…You said you could do it. But please, don’t do this next time. Seriously.”
The Sword Saint gently pushed me away and headed towards the exit. Watching her fade into the white surroundings, I couldn’t help but think.
Is kissing before confessing a signature move of Hongseong’s disciples?
When I regained my thoughts, I saw the Sword Saint peacefully asleep.
I tucked the Soul Piercing Mirror in my pocket and smiled at Yujeong, who was looking my way.
“So… what were you doing?”
“Nothing much. More importantly, the Sword Saint seems a lot more stable now…”
“I think so too.”
I flexed my left hand. Just as Doje said, the wounds from the Sword Saint’s psyche were nonexistent.
By the way…
I gazed down at the Sword Saint.
Seeing her sleep soundly without a clue, I found it amusing, but considering how exhausted she must be from battling Simma, that feeling quickly faded.
“Master!!”
The time I spent within the Sword Saint felt quite long, yet outside, it was just a fleeting moment. Perhaps that’s why? Unable to contain themselves upon hearing the Sword Saint’s gleeful laughter, Hongseong’s disciples began to enter.
“Innkeeper! Where’s the Master?!”
“She’s doing much better now. She might overcome Simma…”
I did help the Sword Saint take down Simma by taking a hit for her, but…
Should this count as assistance or not?
Guess I’ll find out once the Sword Saint wakes up.
It might take some time until she comes to.
Since it didn’t seem like anything special would go wrong, Chaejin and I decided to return to the inn.
“If the Sword Saint overcomes Simma, will she become even stronger?”
“Will the Sword Saint become even stronger if she overcomes Simma?”
“Well… I’m not sure about that. Probably, but who knows?”
“It’s fascinating to hear someone who seems to know everything say they don’t know.”
“I’m not an expert on everything, you know.”
Chaejin sipped her tea with a bitter smile.
“Your father would be surprised if he knew.”
“The Doje will become stronger too. Don’t worry too much.”
While we chatted, I headed back to the inn and made my way to my office.
There, while reading documents and burning some incense, I sighed.
Thoughts of priest rice bowls kept popping into my head.
By the way, I had no idea the Sword Saint actually liked me.
“Hmm…”
…Looks like I have no choice but to work even harder.
I picked up some paperwork, one of the ways to work hard.
Alright. Let’s get to work.
I started before midnight and worked until the early morning stars were high, but the workload didn’t decrease.
Still, after returning from Hongseong and finishing up the tasks I had meant to handle, I opened the window to light some incense.
In the backyard, I spotted a woman with navy hair wandering around.
When our eyes met, she jumped in surprise, hesitated, and then cautiously said,
“Um… Can we talk for a moment?”
I couldn’t tell if she had overcome Simma or not since she looked the same.
I went downstairs and asked the seemingly unchanged Sword Saint,
“What do you think?”
“Well… I seem to have a little more freedom with my energy, but… I still feel quite uncomfortable. Maybe it’ll get better with time…”
“Let’s keep an eye on it. If you’re finding it easier to manage your energy, it seems you’ve overcome Simma.”
“I hope so.”
Nodding at her expressionless face, I said, “Anyway, you did well. Shouldn’t you rest a bit more?”
“I actually snuck out without my disciples knowing. Hehe. A bad and useless master should do at least this much, right?”
With a gentle smile, the Sword Saint grasped the hem of her shabby dress.
Nervously, her black eyes darted around, and her body fidgeted.
“And… you can take your time with the answer whenever you’re ready. I’m good at waiting…”
“…Huh?”
What on earth is she talking about?
As I looked at her, the Sword Saint narrowed her eyes and said with a pouty face,
“But… since I took a maiden’s first… um, kiss. Isn’t that reaction a bit too much…? ”
With tears welling in her eyes, she was staring at me.
“No, wait. Rather than ‘took,’ it should be ‘forced,’ but that’s not it. About what happened in my mind. Do you really know that I’m the real deal?”
“The you inside me was from a different place, and the you back then was distinctly different from the you I know…”
“…..”
“Moreover, you’ve always done things in ways I never expected. So I thought you must’ve found some way to come in… or was it not?”
“…Aha.”
As I nodded, the Sword Saint smiled brightly, her face flush, and playfully poked my chest.
“And, I hope you remember that promise is still valid.”
With that, she swiftly turned away and disappeared as if fleeing.
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