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A day has passed.

It was time to head back to the Blue Dragon Clan again. This time, I was supposed to receive accommodations, so I had to leave the inn I was staying at early in the morning.

Just three days had gone by. I was escaping from the inn I had been staying in with the money I earned by slaying demons. There wasn’t much excitement about it. It was simply a place to sleep, after all.

I could just leave without a second thought, but I figured I should at least grab breakfast, so I ordered some noodles. As I was about to enjoy a light meal…

Huh.

I sensed a presence nearby. Curiously, I glanced over to see a familiar figure looking at me with widened eyes.

Upon closer inspection, it was the same person I had seen before.

“Was it Tang Seon?”

A member of the Tang family. A woman who was currently referred to as the Poison Phoenix. She was the one who had come to me last time, saying she had a crush on me.

Tang Seon, looking strikingly similar to Tang Soyeol, stiffened at the sight of me.

Caught off guard, I responded first.

“Have you been well?”

“Huh!? Ah, yes… Um, of course.”

“Well then, that’s a relief.”

I nodded awkwardly. There was no need to continue the conversation. Tang Seon kept gazing at me quietly, giving a slight bow of her head.

I mirrored her bow and took a moment to look at her outfit.

“Looks like she’s not affiliated with anyone.”

She was dressed in the martial attire of the Tang family. This meant she wasn’t part of the Myeong’s Sword Team. Staying at this inn already implied she had no affiliation.

“Well then… Excuse me…”

“Yes.”

As I broke the connection, that thought crossed my mind.

After all, she wouldn’t be someone I’d be associated with further. Just as I thought that, someone approached Tang Seon.

It was a familiar young man once again. Of course.

“The Poison King… no, the Poison Dragon.”

Nangong Cheon-gi.

A figure destined to become the clan leader of the Tang family in the future, set to inherit the title of the Poison King.

He appeared, wearing the familiar martial attire, and approached Tang Seon.

“Right, I did hear that she’s the sister of the Poison Dragon.”

I had never heard of the Poison King having a sister. But well, it was odd that I would even know such information.

“In addition, she’s someone I don’t recognize.”

The current Poison Phoenix would undoubtedly be someone I wouldn’t know in the future.

Tang Seon was indeed a name I was unfamiliar with. If she had been a well-known figure, I would have remembered or at least known, but it seemed not.

“She must be dead.”

Either she had passed away due to some incident, or she was someone who should remain unknown even while alive.

“By the way…”

The more I looked at her, the more I noticed the resemblance.

Tang Seon truly had a face that reminded me of Tang Soyeol.

“…Hmm.”

The only difference was her chest was a bit different, but that wasn’t particularly important.

While I continued gazing at her with shallow nostalgia and indifference, she suddenly spoke.

“What are you looking at?”

The Poison Dragon, who stood next to her, frowned and spoke to me.

“Excuse me?”

“Is there something you want with us, or with my sister?”

“…Cheon-gi? It’s not like that…”

“Seon is my sister. I clearly reserved accommodations for you. Why are you in a place like this? It took me quite a while to find you.”

“…Hahaha.”

At Cheon-gi’s words, Tang Seon smiled awkwardly. From what I gathered, there seemed to be something going on between them.

But…

“If you had gone to the place I reserved, you wouldn’t have run into someone like me.”

“Someone like me?”

I never expected Cheon-gi to say that to my face. How ridiculous.

“Cheon-gi.”

Upon hearing those words, Tang Seon’s expression twisted.

“How rude! Apologize immediately.”

Her tone was firm and sharp. At her words, Cheon-gi flinched, opening his eyes wide.

“…Sister.”

“Now.”

At her somewhat irritated words, Cheon-gi bit his lip. Then, furrowing his brows, he said,

“Fine. I’ll go fetch a martial artist from the clan, so just stay put.”

“Cheon-gi!”

Ignoring her words, Cheon-gi turned around and walked outside the inn.

As I remained silent and said nothing,

“Sigh…”

Tang Seon let out a quiet sigh. She then turned to me, wearing a apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry. My younger brother really lacks sense… I’ll apologize on his behalf.”

“Oh, it’s alright.”

I forced a smile.

“It seems your brother likes you a lot.”

I had already experienced such matters before.

The incident with Nangong Cheon-jun had made me somewhat resilient, and in terms of attitude, what Cheon-gi displayed was quite tolerable for me.

“How fascinating.”

He was, at least among the four great clans, someone I could regard as having human-like qualities. Learning that his youthful demeanor was like this surprised me.

Of course.

“Still better than the Sword King.”

The Sword King. Considering that guy, the Poison King certainly seemed like a saint by comparison.

“I don’t mind it, so please don’t worry about it.”

I told Tang Seon, getting up from my seat.

I didn’t want to get entangled any further. I had already encountered too many unnecessary entanglements in just a few days.

Thinking that, I passed by Tang Seon.

“Oh.”

As I walked past, she seemed to want to say something and reached out to grab me.

But I didn’t wait around, and in the end, she couldn’t stop me.

Leaving Tang Seon behind, I nodded as I stepped out of the inn.

“Speaking of which…”

I didn’t know about Tang Seon, but the martial attire Cheon-gi was wearing…

That was.

“Was it the Iron Dragon attire?”

The martial attire of the Iron Dragon Clan, different from that of the Blue Dragon Clan.

That attire suddenly lodged itself in my memory.

Why was that?

“I shouldn’t be getting involved with the Iron Dragon Clan.”

Why on earth did it stick with me so?

And why did I have this ominous feeling surfacing again?

In no time, I came to realize the answer to that.

Just like always, my bad premonitions had never been wrong.

*

“Today, I will be in charge of the joint training led by the Deputy Lord of the Iron Dragon Clan, Jo Ya-hyeok.”

“……”

As soon as I entered the Blue Dragon Clan, I was led somewhere. I had come early in anticipation of the morning training.

But upon arrival, there was talk of a joint training session, and they took us somewhere.

So I followed, and other martial artists were gathered on a mountain.

“Today, as informed, there will be a joint training session between the Blue Dragon Clan and the Iron Dragon Clan.”

Jo Ya-hyeok, the Deputy Lord of the Iron Dragon Clan, spoke, and while the members of the Iron Dragon Clan nodded, the expressions of the Blue Dragon Clan were different.

‘…These guys.’

They looked as if they had no idea at all. That’s how it seemed to me.

“Could it be that the Sword Master forgot?”

The Cheongyeol Sword Master.

I couldn’t help but think he would be the type to forget something like this.

From somewhere – Ah! Hahaha! That kind of laughter seemed to echo.

To prove my point, those who were also participating, including So-i from the Sword Team and senior members of Myeong, were grimacing repeatedly.

“Great! The Sword Team is in good shape. What chaos this is.”

“And they call it joint training?”

To start the day with joint training? It was unheard of. According to what I heard, they were gathering those with three years of experience or less to participate in this training.

“And why is it with the Blue Dragon Clan and Iron Dragon Clan specifically?”

As I turned, I felt gazes on me. I spotted someone from the Iron Dragon Clan staring at me. More specifically, it was the Poison Dragon, Cheon-gi.

“Oh no.”

He seemed to remember the day’s encounter.

“Why are these guys acting like this?”

Sword Dragon, Poison Dragon.

All of them seemed strange. Why were these soon-to-be clan leaders acting like that?

Holding back a sigh, I turned my head.

“Father isn’t here.”

It seemed the Deputy Lord, my father, was absent. I had heard he was also in his third year at this point.

Aside from that.

“The Dragon Sword isn’t here either.”

The Dragon Sword, who had taken a beating from me, wasn’t participating, likely still on break. That was somewhat fortunate.

“Oof, this is nerve-wracking. Hey, Baek Chin-u, you feel it too, right?”

Next to me, Do-yun, who had been there the whole time, shook slightly and smiled at me, speaking.

“Hmm.”

I nodded at Do-yun as I looked at him.

“A little?”

“Hahaha! No way! You don’t look nervous at all!”

That was true. I wasn’t particularly nervous.

After all, what was a joint training session?

“It’s just like hunting demon beasts.”

This was about new recruits teaming up to hunt down demons. It felt more like a social gathering to build camaraderie within the team.

“Plus, it was just green and blue.”

Even red wasn’t worthy, let alone green and blue? It seemed even less significant.

For me, the joint training wasn’t what occupied my mind.

Moreover.

“That guy is a concern too.”

The one who kept acting friendly beside me, Do-yun.

There was something off about him that I couldn’t shake off.

So I stared at Do-yun.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. We’re about to start training, so focus.”

“Oh, right.”

Just as Do-yun spoke, Jo Ya-hyeok barked.

“Then, let’s start the training. Everyone, take out your magic tools.”

At Jo Ya-hyeok’s words, everyone promptly drew out their tools from their belongings.

“The training, as mentioned earlier, is simple. We’ll be hunting demon beasts, and we’ll be scoring based on various occurrences during the process.”

Several individuals, aside from the Deputy Lord Jo Ya-hyeok, stepped forward. They seemed to be skilled martial artists with a bit more experience.

“Huh.”

I pondered as I looked at the fluttering magic tools.

“How far should I go?”

Just how far should I push myself? Or should I just feign effort and slip away for a little while?

That thought crossed my mind the moment.

*

While everyone was preparing for the training, there was a sudden crack appearing behind the mountain where the training was taking place, at the center of the mountain range.

Crack—!

Crack—!!

Breaking the silence, the cracks appeared.

Usually, the emergence of a demon beast wouldn’t be surprising, but.

Crack—!!!

Emerging through the silence was not the usual green and blue colors—

It was a deep red!

And inside echoed a crying sound that couldn’t even be compared to the standard green and blue demon beasts.

It was an abnormality.

 

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