KYDS 17

It was not long after my arm had healed from the previous match.

“Young Master Cheon. Would you like to step outside with me for a bit today?”

Out of nowhere, Tang Sowol showed up at the training ground where I was staying and blurted it out.

While seeing her face first thing in the morning wasn’t a bad feeling… it was still a terribly sudden visit, and an equally sudden proposal.

“Starting right now?”

“Of course not! You’ve barely just woken up, so your hair is messy, you only did a quick wash so you look untidy, and you’re wearing comfortable, ordinary martial arts clothes. Naturally, I meant going out to eat together waaay later, around lunchtime.”

“……?”

For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend what Tang Sowol was talking about, so I examined her carefully.

Her black hair was neatly pinned up with a hairpin. It wasn’t overly flashy, nor was it too plain—it radiated a subtle, elegant dignity.

Looking closer, her hair wasn’t just glossy; there wasn’t a single tangle in it.

Messy, my foot. She had clearly greased it with good oil and combed it with great care. A maid must have done it for her rather than herself, though.

Next was her face. While her skin was naturally flawless to begin with, the light makeup laid over it brought out her innate beauty.

It was by no means something one could describe as “untidy.” Though again, this too had likely been prepared by her maids.

Lastly, her clothes… a martial artist wears martial arts robes; what else could one possibly need?

Having finished sorting through my thoughts, I stared straight into Tang Sowol’s dark eyes and spoke up.

“You’re doing more than well enough as it is. Don’t be so strict with your maids.”

“Pardon? What does… wait a minute. Young Master Cheon, did you just think I was talking about myself?”

“Were you not?”

When I asked back, all I got in return was a scoff of utter disbelief.

“Ha! Oh, my goodness.”

“Just say it. Speak.”

“Listen here, Young Master Cheon. I was talking about you just now!”

“About me?”

As I asked back absentmindedly, Tang Sowol took large strides toward me. Since my body hadn’t fully grown yet, I had to look slightly upward at her.

……How humiliating.

Grumbling internally, I sheathed my sword. In the meantime, Tang Sowol reached her hand out toward my head.

She then began to smooth my hair down in every direction, starting from the crown.

“What is this, a crow’s nest?”

“Wouldn’t I just sweat anyway after early morning training? I was planning to take a refreshing wash right after and then head off for breakfast.”

“I know that. We eat together every day with your hair still wet lately.”

Having roughly finished smoothing down my hair, Tang Sowol began gently rubbing the corners of my eyes with her thumb this time.

“If you’re going to wash your face, do it thoroughly. How can you walk around carelessly with sleep in your eyes?”

“I was just swinging my sword lightly to wake myself up. When I go out in front of other people later, I wash properly, so it’s fine.”

“Haa…….”

Letting out a deep sigh, Tang Sowol took half a step back and spread both arms wide, as if showing herself off.

“Young Master Cheon. You have me. Every morning, there’s me, dressing up like this just to see you.”

“Umm.”

That was true. Tang Sowol, who originally used to finish her duties and visit only around evening, had recently been popping her head in briefly every morning.

“We are betrothed, after all. We haven’t held the official engagement ceremony yet, but it’s happening soon, and one day we’ll marry and spend our entire lives staring at each other’s faces through thick and thin.”

“Well, yeah. I suppose so.”

“But I don’t really know what betrothed people are supposed to do. So I decided to try doing what I think a betrothed should do first. That’s why I come visit every morning.”

“…….”

I never imagined that would be her reason. To be fair, while I hadn’t stuck to her this closely, I had spent a fairly long time with the pre-regression Tang Sowol.

During that time, we had seen the best and worst of each other, and because our respective lives were harsh, we had grown somewhat desolate as people.

On top of that, though I didn’t know where he was or what he was doing right now, I knew that a monster called the Heavenly Demon would burn the world.

Even if it wasn’t an immediate issue, it was inevitable that I felt impatient.

Yet Tang Sowol’s perspective was completely different.

A young age, barely reaching adulthood. The incidents she experienced on her first foray into the murim. An abrupt marriage proposal.

Without knowing every detail, it was certain that she held far more expectations and romantic illusions about the world than I did.

Looking back, wasn’t I also struggling to survive just to eat well and live happily with Tang Sowol, Heavenly Demon or whatever be damned?

Just as I was reflecting on whether I had been too indifferent, Tang Sowol—who had been radiating a hurt atmosphere until a moment ago—grinned playfully.

“No. Thinking about it now, it might be better for you to just keep staying like this, Young Master. After all, I happen to be five years older than you, am I not? Instead, if I fix your hair like this every morning and wipe sleep from your eyes, wouldn’t that be a betrothed-like thing in its own way?”

“……I’ll pay a bit more attention from now on.”

“Heheh. Wise choice. Even if you said you have no one else to meet anyway, isn’t there me coming to see you every morning? Me, who prepares neatly just to show you, even if I don’t dress up to the absolute nines.”

Saying so, Tang Sowol took half a step back and spread her arms wide once more. A dry laugh slipped out of me at the sight of her twirling around as if showing off.

Tang Sowol, growing even more confident, continued with an expression somewhere between shameless and bold.

“At any rate, since things turned out this way, Young Master Cheon must go out with me today.”

“It’s a decision now, not even a question. But are we actually allowed to go out?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that? Unlike a certain someone, I didn’t commit a crime like suddenly kidnapping and confining someone, you know.”

“Wasn’t it you who went missing on your very first outing from home and nearly died? I don’t think the Poison King will give permission so easily.”

Right now, they were investigating whether there were other accomplices or if there was a mastermind behind the scenes.

They said that once things were confirmed, they intended to make an example out of them so that such a thing would never happen again……

According to what I heard from the pre-regression Tang Sowol, while there were minor conspirators, there was no notable mastermind, so it was highly likely to conclude as it was.

At any rate, the main point was this: from the Tang family’s perspective, Tang Sowol’s affair was not yet completely resolved.

In the middle of all this, if she said she was going to roam outside again, even I would say no.

Upon hearing my words, Tang Sowol tilted her head in thought for a moment, then spoke with an expression of sudden realization.

“Ah! Of course, I didn’t mean going somewhere far away; I just meant taking a look around the marketplaces of Chengdu.”

“Chengdu isn’t exactly a small neighborhood, though.”

Even before the Tang family settled down, the largest city in Sichuan Province was Chengdu. No matter how much she was a member of the Five Great Families, the entire city of Chengdu wasn’t her front yard……

“Aha? If that’s what you’re worried about, it’s fine. There are Tang family members everywhere in Chengdu, so it’s virtually no different from our front yard. Guards will tag along, but Father gave his permission too.”

“……Are the Five Great Families usually that influential?”

“Uh, well. Actually, among the Five Great Families, the Tang family ranks slightly lower if we’re purely talking about influence. Due to the nature of our martial arts, we tend to be a bit secretive.”

“What.”

“Take the Namgung Clan, which has the largest scale among the Five Great Families—they practically reign like kings in Anhui Province, you know? They say they actually descend from feudal royalty, though I’m not sure if that’s true since it’s not about the current imperial dynasty.”

“…….”

In the past, I held a sword solely to make a living. I had no interest in fame, so there was no reason to clash with orthodox martial artists. That was why I only moved back and forth through Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong Provinces, avoiding orthodox territory.

Most of the orthodox martial artists I met later on were in a state of ruin after being defeated by the Demonic Cult. Although I had heard from them that the orthodox faction’s power was once grand, I didn’t know it was to this extent. It was surprising enough that a group like the Sacheokryeon was formed while unorthodox martial artists were busy fighting amongst themselves.

“If that’s the case, I understand. You mentioned lunchtime, but when exactly should we meet?”

“Umm…… I’ll come look for you again when I’m ready. Relax until then.”

“No. I’ll come to you this time.”

“Pardon? But since I have to prepare this and that, if the timing doesn’t align, you might have to wait a long time, you know?”

“I can just wait. Hasn’t it always been you coming to find me until now? So this time, I’ll go to you.”

“My goodness…….”

Tang Sowol smiled softly and nodded her head.

“Alright! Then I shall wait for your arrival with a happy heart.”

Having made the promise, Tang Sowol walked away with light steps. Only long after she had left the training ground did I begin swinging my sword again.

I went to find Tang Sowol at the promised time, but I was told she was currently getting ready and to wait outside for a moment.

Since I had been told beforehand that I might have to wait if my luck was bad, I waited patiently without thinking much of it.

Glancing down absentmindedly at my attire, my brow furrowed slightly.

“Uncomfortable.”

Green robes made of Chengdu silk—Chokgeum—which was said to be ridiculously expensive.

The texture against the skin and its outward appearance certainly matched its high price, but because it was long and trailing, it felt like it kept wrapping around my body, making it inconvenient to move.

When I asked my assigned maid if she could prepare a decent outfit since I was planning to go out to the marketplace with Tang Sowol for a bit, her eyes sparkled as she brought this out.

She didn’t even bring just one set. With the help of a fellow maid, she lined up over ten sets of clothes and told me to pick whichever I liked.

Since every single one was made with green as its base color, honestly, they all looked pretty much the same in my eyes.

Still, after barely picking one out, she brought out several pairs of shoes that matched the clothes this time.

Even after choosing the shoes, there were no signs of it ending, so I simply tied back my long hair tightly and fled the room like an escapee.

Good grief. Do all children of prestigious families endure this kind of ordeal from a young age? Just how on earth do they do it?

After reaching the Peak realm and joining the Sacheokryeon, I had handled a decent amount of money myself…… but most of the money I earned that way was spent on obtaining new martial arts techniques and spiritual elixirs.

Since there was a limit to the martial arts and elixirs money could buy, it still wasn’t enough even after all that spending.

Thinking about it now, those bastards really were petty. The Sacheokryeon also had a library, and they occasionally bestowed good martial arts as rewards.

Yet sending me back claiming there were no martial arts suitable for me—what was that all about?

It was true that the Chulhyeoldang (Iron Blood Hall) I belonged to back then was full of troublemakers who had skill but caused frequent accidents, so we didn’t receive very good treatment. And I understood that the leader of the Sacheokryeon, despite having reached the same Hwakyung realm, kept a check on the Iron Blood Hall Leader who drifted on the margins of unorthodox society.

Still, to turn me back empty-handed even after I accomplished achievements—wasn’t that far too narrow-minded for the supreme ruler of the unorthodox faction?

Now that I had regressed, it wasn’t a particularly important matter anymore, but the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. How many times had I grumbled internally?

Rattle—

Finally, the tightly closed door opened, and Tang Sowol revealed herself.

The fine details were not hugely different from when I saw her in the morning. However, her brighter makeup, her exquisite court gown (Gungjang), and the matching ornaments to go with it—

When all of these combined, her overall atmosphere had transformed considerably.

If the Tang Sowol I knew was a martial artist, the one in front of my eyes right now was the daughter of a prestigious family.

Even though she was clearly the same person, looking blankly at Tang Sowol, who felt unfamiliar, my gaze met hers—she was similarly staring back at me with her mouth agape.

“Ha!”

“Pfft!”

Without knowing who started first, laughter burst out at the exact same time. The awkward atmosphere dissolved in an instant.

While we giggled at each other for a good while, Tang Sowol—wiping away tears welling up from laughing too hard—tilted her chin up in a feigned arrogant manner.

“Shall we head out then, Young Master?”

“Who would dare defy your command?”

Nodding my head, I stood side by side next to Tang Sowol.

At that, the guard following from behind scowled fiercely, as if he had just witnessed an eyesore.

He must be single.