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Chapter 8: The Unexpected Mission

After the chaos caused by the Red Demon Beast, the news had not yet spread in the Central Plains.

The Demon Beast had emerged in the territory managed by the Martial Alliance. While it seemed that the Beggar Clan was keeping things quiet in Hanam, only a few individuals within the Martial Alliance were aware of what was happening.

“Don’t slack off! Breathe properly!”

Within the Blue Dragon Clan, training was intensifying with every passing moment.

Dozens of personnel, consisting solely of new recruits with less than five years of experience as Sword Team Members, were doing laps.

Since they were running without utilizing bets, their breaths were bound to get a bit ragged after a while. They had already been running for over an hour at that pace.

‘I’m bored to death.’

From my perspective, it wasn’t the most productive training. I wasn’t the kind to tire out from such minimal exertion, nor was my body in a state that was being pushed to its limits.

Even without using any bets, the body was already soaked in them, meaning that it wouldn’t matter if I ran for half a day or a whole day.

However…

“Haah… Hah…”

“Ugh…”

It seemed everyone else was on the verge of collapsing, wearing expressions of utter exhaustion.

After all, they were merely at the peak level at best. For them, running this much was quite the achievement.

While I jogged slowly, observing them, I felt a gaze linger on me.

‘Hmm.’

I turned my head to find the source of the staring, just to see Do-yun standing a step behind me.

He was looking at me, and our eyes met.

As soon as our gazes locked, Do-yun widened his eyes and shot me a faint smile.

“Hahaha…”

I quickly turned my head away from him, as his eyes seemed to have a lot to say.

I paid him no mind.

‘If he wants to talk, he’ll come over himself.’

I understood what this was about.

‘It must be because of yesterday’s conversation.’

The incident with the Red Demon Beast. It was likely the words I had flung at Do-yun during the chaotic moment that were bothering him.

Do-yun was hiding his strength.

His light-hearted demeanor and chatter made him seem weak at first glance, but—

‘He’s strong.’

Do-yun was indeed quite robust. To what extent, you ask?

“Hey! No chit-chat!”

From up ahead, So-i from the So Sword Peak shot a glare at us.

In fact, it wouldn’t be misjudged to say that he was stronger than her.

“Ah, yes! My apologies!”

Do-yun hurriedly offered an apology.

“Sorry…”

I added a quiet word of my own. Right now, that woman is far more than just the Sword Demoness for me…

‘To me, she’s simply the Sword Demoness.’

It felt like an oddity that the Sword Demoness was angered, so my apology came out lightly. After speaking, I glanced at So-i.

“……”

“……”

Our eyes met once again, and while I was staring at her absentmindedly—

“Tsk…”

“……?”

She clicked her tongue as if displeased and turned her head away.

‘What’s up with that?’

Why’s she acting like this?

So-i’s reaction was puzzlingly off-putting.

It was evident that she didn’t like me.

What exactly did I do wrong?

‘Thinking about it…’

From the very start, she hadn’t taken a liking to me.

‘But why?’

I had no clue. It seemed we got along quite well in my previous life, but something about young So-i just didn’t vibe with me.

‘…Not that I care too much.’

Being disliked felt familiar, so her reaction didn’t bother me overly much, but the fact that there was no reason for it was a bit concerning.

Of course,

‘But I won’t ask about it.’

I had no intention of bringing it up.

*

“Haah… Haah…”

After training, everyone seemed drained, collapsing onto the ground.

They were drenched in sweat and merely gasping for breath.

I observed them, noticing some were constantly drinking water, probably due to how parched they felt.

Amidst that crowd, I found myself staring blankly at the sky.

Naturally, I wasn’t sweating and simply sat down with everyone else, looking up at the sky.

‘…How long do I have to stay here?’

How much longer will I be stuck here? I was pondering this when it had been a few days.

Had it been around six days since I arrived?

‘I need to leave.’

Whether it’s Mankye or the original Central Plains.

I needed to find a way back. I didn’t have the luxury of dawdling around here.

‘What should I do?’

‘I need to resolve this as quickly as possible.’

Something this world expected of me.

Specifically, something my mother planned for me to have. I had to obtain that swiftly and make my exit.

‘Staying like this feels overwhelming.’

The conversation I had with the Pejon yesterday. That moment marked the beginning of this headache.

‘To think I’d mention regression.’

The words about coming back through time. Upon hearing that, the Pejon ultimately did not believe me. Even when I catered my words to his liking at the end, he still found reason to doubt.

‘Or maybe not.’

It wasn’t that he completely disbelieved; he seemed to hold a modicum of faith.

‘Nevertheless, the mistrust was still present.’

In the end, he didn’t buy it. What had he said?

‘Something about considering it.’

He said he would give it some thought.

‘Hmm.’

Honestly, I wouldn’t have believed it either. No matter how much martial arts I learned or how right the circumstances seemed, it would be hard to accept it blindly.

‘What matters now is… what happens next.’

The Sword Sovereign’s skepticism.

Alongside that, the Pejon had mentioned he would validate my identity, but—

‘Depending on how the Pejon responds…’

It was possible that a conflict could arise within the Martial Alliance, or even in the place where the Sword Sovereign held leadership.

‘…So before that happens.’

I needed to clear things up quickly and leave. With a determination to act fast, I shifted my gaze towards a more significant location among the many residences in the Blue Dragon Clan.

Its name was the Deputy Lord’s residence.

‘…’

The place where Father was located.

I let out a deep sigh while staring at that place.

“Haaah…”

If I looked at the reason why I ended up here, it must be connected to Father.

Coming at this timing, despite the circumstances, I had to obtain something from him.

‘But what do I actually need?’

What was I supposed to gain from my father?

I didn’t know yet, but I did feel certain about it.

There was nothing else.

While pondering this question and staring at the residence,

“What are you looking at?”

A voice broke through. It was So-i.

“Yes?”

“Where are you looking so intently?”

“Nothing much. I was just staring at whatever was in sight.”

“……”

“Is there something you need?”

The fact that she came over to speak indicated that there was a matter at hand.

So-i merely glared at me, saying nothing else.

What was her deal?

“Hey.”

Just as I was about to ask what was going on—

“About yesterday.”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t you do it properly?”

“……Yes?”

Yesterday? That was quite the sudden remark.

If we’re talking about yesterday…

‘It must be about the Demon Beast incident.’

She seemed to be referring to when I confronted the Red Demon Beast.

“What do you mean I didn’t do it properly?”

I asked in confusion, and So-i frowned at me.

“You definitely have more power than that. Why were you just watching?”

“…….”

Upon hearing her words, I narrowed my eyes.

Look at that!

‘Did she sense it?’

It seemed So-i had picked up on the fact that I hadn’t fully engaged against the Demon Beast.

How did she notice?

‘Is her intuition sharper than I anticipated?’

That was possible. After all, the woman in front of me was destined to become a legendary heroine and the Sword Demoness one day.

‘Hmm.’

How should I tackle this?

Something felt off.

‘Maybe that’s why she’s been glaring at me more fiercely today.’

It turned out that there was a clear reason behind her displeasure.

“I didn’t not do anything, you know.”

I tried to say that I had attempted to help. I just hadn’t intervened directly.

“No, you didn’t do anything right.”

“……Why do you believe that?”

“Because I know you’re strong. Stronger than that.”

“……Not particularly.”

“Are you saying the Sword Dragon you faced was weak?”

“…….”

Ah, right.

I had forgotten about the Sword Dragon, Nangong Jin. I had taken him down.

“Ahem… Well, that guy was weaker than his title, wasn’t he?”

“The Martial Alliance doesn’t give the title of Dragon to the weak.”

So-i stated firmly. Hearing that made me nod my head slightly.

‘What’s with this?’

There was a strong belief in the Martial Alliance.

‘For sure.’

This was certainly different from what I knew. The Sword Demoness I had known in the Righteous Faction hadn’t seemed to have such strong beliefs regarding the Martial Alliance.

“Surely, he must possess exceptional strength. So why didn’t you step up?”

By now, I was half-tempted to give up trying to reason with her.

“Even without stepping in, everything worked out just fine. What’s the problem?”

When the results were positive, what was there to complain about? I didn’t understand.

“It could have led to someone dying.”

So you’re saying that someone might have died because I stood idle?

I couldn’t help but chuckle at those words.

“That’s the fault of the Demon Beast, not mine.”

“You…”

“Moreover, I won’t take blame for things that didn’t happen.”

I was aware that the backlash from the Red Demon Beast was my fault, but—

‘This feels like a needless argument.’

Annoyance began bubbling up.

I held back a sigh and looked at So-i once more.

I sensed a subtle hint of grievance in her beautiful eyes.

Just as I was about to add my own remark,

“So-i. New Recruit Baek.”

A voice interrupted us, drawing So-i’s attention instantly.

“Yes, Senior!”

It seemed to be one of the martial artists from the Blue Dragon Clan.

The unexpected arrival addressed us.

“A task has been assigned. Prepare accordingly.”

“Eh…?”

“Wait, what?”

The sudden declaration made both So-i and me shift our expressions in confusion.

A task…?

 

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