Chapter 46: Chapter 46

* * *

The late afternoon weather was chilly.

Looking up at the sky, Jang Geon felt that today was cool, fitting for winter weather, and slightly adjusted his collar. Puffing up white breath, he slowly lowered his head. Two tombstones were erected side by side before him. The tombstones of Jin Won-sang and Yang Soso. Looking at those tombstones, Jin Gyeon beside him opened his mouth.

“Even if it is a body that returns to dust, since they are together now, both can cast aside lingering regret and proceed to the Pure Land. Namo Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.”

Without any particular answer, Jang Geon quietly examined his appearance. Jin Gyeon wore bandages wrapped round and round both arms, with loose monastic robes draped over them. The injuries were quite deep, so even light movements would cause him great pain, yet he closed his eyes and murmured Buddhist scriptures with hands folded in prayer as if he didn’t know that at all. Of course, in Jang Geon’s eyes, his body trembling finely from enduring the pain was visible.

Turning his head a bit more, he saw Young Lady Seol and her bodyguard Jin-ha standing behind. And before them stood a girl with an expressionless face. The girl with a slightly pale face had the name Jin Seo-ha.

Perhaps she suddenly felt Jang Geon’s gaze, for she took her eyes off the tombstones and faced him. The girl’s two eyes facing him like that were of a strange dark blue color. Looking at that cold face and eyes for a moment, Jang Geon soon turned his head back toward the tombstones. Neatly shaped tombstones filled his vision again. Jang Geon let out a light sigh.

It had already been three days since returning to Salt Lake City with Jin Won-sang’s body, yet he still hadn’t properly exchanged greetings with that girl. That was partly because he didn’t know what story to start with, but at the same time, it was also due to the problem that Jin Seo-ha hadn’t said a single word since opening her eyes.

Having such thoughts for a moment, Jang Geon abruptly asked Jin Gyeon beside him.

“Will it be fine?”

“…Amitabha, what do you mean?”

“I haven’t heard of Shaolin taking female disciples.”

Jin Gyeon smiled lightly.

“One who ascends Shaolin does not unconditionally have to shave her head, become a monk, and become a disciple of Shaolin. Our temple merely takes charge of that child’s guardianship. We will help until that child becomes an adult and until she can fend for herself. Usually, this is called a secular disciple.”

Jang Geon nodded his head. Seeing that, Jin Gyeon smiled broadly again and continued.

“And there is also the compensation money received from the Sword Dragon Sect, so the child won’t go hungry in the future.”

He was probably referring to the merchant guild draft brought back a few days ago after visiting the Sword Dragon Sect in place of Jin Seo-ha’s property. Thanks to the surviving martial artists, the Sword Dragon Sect, terrified of Jang Geon, had handed over about three times the price of ordinary salt kilns. That was certainly a lot of money. Thinking that the explanation was somewhat finished, Jin Gyeon closed his eyes again and chanted prayers. That prayer did not end for a long time and continued quietly.

On the way back to the inn after the humble funeral, Young Lady Seol quietly attached herself to Jang Geon.

“Excuse me, Warrior Jang?”

“I’m listening.”

Having cautiously initiated conversation, she smiled softly upon seeing that Jang Geon answered, even if bluntly.

“Um, it’s a bit sudden to ask this… but I’ve been thinking about it constantly for a long time since last time.”

Jang Geon glanced at her face.

“Ask.”

“Um, that. Have you really not heard of any names?”

“Names?”

Checking again, the smile on her face was a slightly troubled and anxious smile.

“…Like Baek Sa-gyeong or Gam Gun-sang… or the Nameless Hero…”

“Those names like Heavenly Dragon or Gale?”

“…Yes, those.”

Jang Geon chuckled.

“Right now, the nickname of the Martial Alliance Leader is Righteous Dragon Sword Master. It’s a nickname attached because the sword bestowed by the Emperor is named the Righteous Dragon Sword. But they say that Heavenly Dragon Swordsman is the Martial Alliance Leader’s disciple? If he were in his right mind, for the sake of his master, he wouldn’t call his own nickname Heavenly Dragon. If he were really called that, he would have personally found those calling him that and stopped them.”

At that answer, her expression turned gloomy. Staying at the inn for the past few days and hearing directly from the innkeeper about the reality of New Continent Martial World seemed to have made her a bit depressed. Seeing that expression, Jang Geon smiled faintly and continued.

“However, they did say there is a name called Baek Sa-gyeong among the Martial Alliance Leader’s disciples. Perhaps his story was slightly exaggerated and transmitted to the Central Plains.”

Gloomy as she was, her face brightened right up at the words that followed as if comforting.

“As I thought, right? Yes, that must be right. How could a martial artist of the Martial Alliance use the word Heavenly Dragon recklessly? What status Heavenly Dragon Sword actually holds… Ah, as I thought, I did well to come look for stories directly. Had I stayed only in the Central Plains, I wouldn’t have known the stories of these true martial artists…”

Listening to her story, Jang Geon merely looked at her grinning face blankly.

“…Yes! Gale Blade Gam Gun-sang or Nameless Hero will definitely exist too! Of course the nicknames might be a little different, but still, there were actual incidents they experienced, so web novels could come out even in the Central Plains. Ah! If only I could know the true identity, the real face of the Nameless Hero! I’m curious about Gale Blade and Baek Sa-gyeong too, but more than anyone, I’m most curious about the true face of the Nameless Hero. Even in the Central Plains, his web novel is the most…”

Chattering excitedly by herself, she suddenly noticed Jang Geon’s gaze staring at her blankly and quietly shut her mouth. And she smiled sheepishly.

“…Was my voice a bit loud? You see, when I get excited, I don’t really pay attention to others’ eyes…”

Listening to that awkward excuse, Jang Geon asked.

“What is your name?”

“Pardon?”

“You. All this time, you only let me know your surname Seol and haven’t given your name. Although I keep calling you Young Lady Seol or Miss Seol, I should at least know your name.”

“…Ah, my name? My name?”

Jang Geon merely nodded without a word. Licking her lips, she hesitated for a moment and answered.

“Ah, that’s, that, Seol, Myo-geum… so… Myo-geum… it is…”

“Myo-geum? Seol Myo-geum?”

“Yes, y-yes…”

Listening to that stuttered answer, Jang Geon nodded. It was quite a cute name.

Having given her name like that, Seol Myo-geum let out a light sigh as if relieved, then puffed up her chest and said.

“So from now on, please call me by my name, Seol Myo-geum. Ah, or Myo-geum is fine too. Or you can call me author.”

“Let’s stick to Young Lady Seol.”

At Jang Geon’s blunt answer, Seol Myo-geum pouted her lips.

Returning to the inn after that, they gathered in one room to discuss future plans.

The first to speak was Jin Gyeon.

“Since the matter with Jin Jo has ended like this, I must escort Seo-ha to Shaolin. We will take a ship from the City of Amity to cross over to the Central Plains.”

Hearing his words, Seol Myo-geum chimed in right away.

“Then let’s travel together until Sinsacheon! We were planning to head to Sinsacheon anyway, and from Salt Lake City to Sinsacheon, it’s the same direction whether going to the City of Amity or Sinsacheon.”

Jin Gyeon nodded at her suggestion.

“That would be good. Having more people will be reassuring.”

Sitting beside them, Jang Geon also nodded. He had intended to head toward Sinsacheon as well, so there was no reason to refuse traveling together.

“Then we will depart tomorrow morning. I have already arranged a carriage.”

Originally, they intended to use the regular stagecoach line departing regularly from Salt Lake City. However, upon learning that it was the Sword Dragon Sect managing and supervising that line, Seol Myo-geum had abruptly gone and hired a carriage herself.

Having roughly organized the itinerary like that, the adults nodded, then subtly began reading someone’s reaction. And the person whose reaction they were reading was Jin Seo-ha, the youngest among them.

Did she feel that subtle atmosphere? Looking at the teacup placed before her, Jin Seo-ha suddenly raised her head and looked at the adults. Dark blue eyes sparkled. At that, everyone felt an unknown sense of expectation and focused on the girl.

However, a moment later, the girl lowered her eyes back to the teacup without uttering a single word. Jin Gyeon let out a small sigh without realizing it, flinched in surprise himself, and quickly spoke.

“Ahem, then let us all go up and rest. It will be tiring once we take to the road tomorrow.”

Saying so, he stood up. Seol Myo-geum and Jin-ha also stood up, and Jin Seo-ha, guided softly by the hands of the two women, also stood up and began going upstairs. Going up the stairs like that, the girl subtly turned her head and looked at Jang Geon, who was still sitting without standing up alone.

Sitting alone and tapping the table with his finger, Jang Geon felt that gaze and raised his head. And he felt as if the girl’s gaze meeting his was somehow asking why he wasn’t going up alone yet.

So he looked blankly into her eyes, then suddenly opened his eyes wide and stuck out his tongue with a ‘bleh’. Seeing that, Jin Seo-ha’s eyes widened, and her tightly shut mouth subtly parted.

After that, the child instinctively turned back to look at Seol Myo-geum and Jin-ha who were going up together. When they looked at her as if asking what was wrong, the child gave her gaze back to Jang Geon as if to say they should look too.

However, he had already regained his usual calm expression and was tapping his finger tap-tap, looking down at the empty table as if lost in deep thought.

“Why is it, Seo-ha?”

At Seol Myo-geum’s bewildered question, Jin Seo-ha looked back and forth between Jang Geon and her in confusion. Then, with a flustered face, she went up the stairs ahead tap-tap-tap.

“Ah! Se-Seo-ha!”

Seol Myo-geum and Jin-ha quickly followed up behind her. And seeing that scene from the 1st floor, Jang Geon chuckled by himself and pulled out leaf tobacco from his breast pocket.

In slow movements, he slowly rolled the leaf tobacco and put it in his mouth. And naturally lighting it with his index finger, he rested his elbow on the table and quietly immersed himself in his own thoughts. The red-burning tip of the leaf tobacco and the smoke flowing from his mouth wobbled as they rose upward. In the shadow of that wobbling leaf tobacco smoke, Jang Geon pictured the friend he had known for barely half a day, yet whose eyes he had taken a liking to.

However, a moment later, putting the leaf tobacco between his fingers, taking it from his mouth, and blowing out smoke with a ‘whew’, that shadow futilely scattered. Jang Geon smoked a single leaf tobacco like that by himself for a long time.

The next day, they left Salt Lake City in the prepared carriage. Jin Seo-ha did not look back at Salt Lake City even once while leaving.

* * *

A few days after Jang Geon and Jin Seo-ha’s party left, two people wearing black bamboo hats and cloaks entered Salt Lake City. As if the subtly desolate atmosphere of the city was not perplexing, they immediately rummaged through various places. What they were looking for was a terminally ill girl with the surname Jin, whom even a physician from Cheonhu City could neither cure nor diagnose.

They eventually reached the inn where that girl had last stayed.

“Those folks? It’s been a few days since they left?”

The innkeeper, who liked talking to people, readily spilled what he remembered when those two bought him a bottle of expensive liquor. Of course, even the innkeeper did not know the details. But he roughly knew the shape of how the incident had gone.

Having heard the story from him, the two black bamboo hats turned around and whispered among themselves.

“I do not know what happened. Did he cure Nine Yin Evil Blood?”

“That is not something that can be cured overnight. Even if there were a spirit medicine, a top master with superior internal energy must guide that energy and slowly melt the blocked meridians over several weeks. It seems they merely took emergency measures here and took her away intending to treat her properly.”

“Who could have saved a sick person who lost her parents? Don’t tell me, in the Imperial Army…”

The talking black-bamboo-hatted person raised a hand to stop the other’s words and subtly peeked back at the innkeeper behind. Standing with arms crossed, the innkeeper smiled subtly and said.

“What is it? Why are you looking for those friends? Let me know too. Hearing other people’s stories is the joy of my life.”

At those words, the bamboo-hatted person who appeared to be a subordinate flinched as if trying to pull something out from under his cloak. But it was immediately blocked by the other bamboo-hatted person’s hand. Pulling out a silver coin from his breast pocket, he set it down before the innkeeper and said.

“We heard the story well.”

“Oh! The payment is generous! Should I be a storyteller instead of running an inn?”

Without giving any answer, the bamboo-hatted ones smoothly left the inn. Looking at the hazy shadows receding beyond the paper window of the inn, the innkeeper pocketed the silver coin before him. And he immediately went out to the back of the inn and pulled out a birdcage given by another outsider who had visited just the day before.

“Let’s see, what did that fellow tell me to do? Ah.”

Pulling out a small piece of paper inside the birdcage, an ink container as small as that paper, and a needle, he began writing something.

, Abnormal activity detected. Someone is pursuing the surveillance target.

“Wait. It seems they’re not pursuing that fellow, but pursuing that little young lady… Ah, whatever.”

The innkeeper roughly wrapped up the note and inserted it into the carrier pigeon’s ankle container. And he opened the birdcage to release the carrier pigeon. Gaining freedom, the carrier pigeon began flapping its wings, flying toward the house where it had been trained.

Looking at the pigeon flying like that, the innkeeper recalled the man who had visited the day before yesterday and offered a carrier pigeon, a birdcage, and ten silver coins. Was his name Yang Goeng? He was a person who asked for simple information in this way in the future as well. Saying he would visit often, he had even added five more silver coins at the end.

The innkeeper did not think that he had become a sort of informant. He was merely happy because he earned a lot of money.

Flap, flap, the carrier pigeon flew hard in the sky.