Demon
It had been nine days since we left the Seonu Clan when we finally arrived at Gokjeong, the gateway into Yunnan Province.
By the time we arrived it was already evening, so we decided to spend the night at a local inn and part ways with the wanderers tomorrow.
Just two mountain passes from here lay the frontline.
The wanderers stood in front of the inn, gazing at the entrance with deeply moved expressions.
"Who would've thought it would take us nine whole days to get here."
"Even to stay in a proper inn took nine days."
"I'm touched. I think I might cry."
As the one responsible for all that delay, I felt too embarrassed to bear it, so I told them,
"C-come now. Let's go in. Tonight's our last day, so let's have a drink. It's on me."
"Oho! As expected of Seonu Gongja! I knew we could count on you!"
"The scion of a noble clan is truly generous!"
Seeing them brighten as if they'd been waiting for this, I couldn't help but wonder if I was being played.
Still, by now, near the end of our journey, we had grown quite close.
They were remarkably trustworthy men for wanderers, and since I wasn't one to cling to formalities, we had grown comfortable enough to share our hearts openly.
It was bitter to realize that I felt more affection for men I had spent just nine days with than for the Seonu Clan people I had lived with for twenty years.
We dropped our belongings in our rooms and gathered around a table on the first floor, waiting for food.
"So, Gong Musa, are you going back home for good after this job?"
At my question, Gong Musa—the simple fellow who had once joked about avoiding his wife's cooking by only going home at night—smiled and nodded.
"Yes. With a wife and children, I don't think I can live the blade's life anymore."
Then Yi Musa, the short-tempered one who always complained, snorted.
"Didn't I tell you wanderers shouldn't settle down and start families?!"
At that, cheerful Yang Musa teased him.
"Why do you look jealous, then?"
"Me? Hmph! Not at all! You're the one who looks jealous!"
"See? There you go again. Every time someone hits a nerve, you get all worked up and give yourself away."
"I said I'm not!"
As they bickered, quiet, gentle Jong Musa laughed softly, while their leader, Jang Musa, raised his voice to refocus the group.
"Come, come! Tonight's our last night with Seonu Gongja. Let's drink until we're staggering!"
"Good idea! Innkeeper! Bring us liquor first!"
These five had apparently roamed together for quite some time, led by Jang Musa of Jiangcheng.
But this would be their last trip together, since Gong Musa, with his family, was leaving their band.
It was a remote place, and we were the only ones on the first floor, so it felt as though we had rented out the entire inn.
That was when the door suddenly swung open and someone entered.
"Oh my! Welcome! Such a fair young lady!" the servant boy exclaimed.
We all turned instinctively toward the door—
—and froze in surprise.
"Huh?"
"That young lady… it's her?"
It was Cheongyeon, the young lady who had been at the Seonu Clan not long ago.
With her distinctive look—bangs hanging down to her nose—it was impossible not to recognize her.
Her gaze swept the inn until it settled on us.
An awkward silence lingered as our eyes met. Finally, Jang Musa nudged me and whispered,
"You know her? Invite her to join us."
"Eh? Ah—yes. Of course. Lady Cheongyeon! Fancy meeting you here!"
This was the first time in both my lives I'd ever run into a woman I knew at an inn, so the situation was terribly awkward.
But when I called out to her, she walked straight toward me without hesitation.
"Ha… please, won't you join—oh, you're already sitting, haha."
Even before, I'd noticed how bold she was in her actions.
Perhaps because of her hidden eyes, she seemed oblivious to the gaze of others.
The wanderers, trying to ease the awkwardness, spoke warmly to her.
"Welcome, Lady. What a surprise to meet you again here."
"We were about to drink—shall we order food for you first?"
Her answer, in her flat, emotionless tone, was anything but ordinary.
"I plan to volunteer at the frontline. I'll order food later."
…What?
We all blinked in disbelief and asked again.
"…What did you just say?"
"You're volunteering for the frontline?"
"Why on earth?"
It was shocking.
Even most martial artists only vaguely knew what the front was like, but everyone understood the death rate was staggering.
These days, even renowned heroes avoided the front, forcing the Martial Alliance to send compulsory conscription orders to sects in Guizhou.
And she wants to go voluntarily? Alone?
Knowing the brutal reality of the front as I did, I couldn't comprehend it. I worried it was reckless idealism she would come to regret.
Concerned, I asked,
"Lady… may I ask why you intend to go there?"
But instead of answering, she stared at me intently and asked,
"You've… lost a lot of weight."
"Eh? Ah! Haha! Well, yes—I had to slim down for life at the front. For you to notice…!"
"Yes. You've grown quite thin."
"Hahaha! You flatter me! Not that much, surely."
No matter how many times I heard it, being told I'd lost weight thrilled me.
Feeling so pleased, I let her lack of answer slide.
The wanderers, overhearing, chimed in with praise.
"Seonu Gongja has trained with unmatched perseverance! Truly inspiring—he's shown us nothing is impossible!"
"We hadn't noticed since we were always with him, but now he's slimmed down, he looks quite the handsome young man!"
"Wahaha! I've heard that when I lose weight I look decent, too!"
At that moment, Lady Cheongyeon rose quietly.
"I'll step outside for a bit."
She looked strangely listless, but I knew too little of women to guess why.
Then the liquor arrived, and thoughts of her slipped to the back of my mind.
Ha Cheongyeon stepped out of the noisy inn, leaving Seonu Jin and the wanderers behind.
The sky had already darkened, and the dense woods nearby loomed like black shadows.
She recalled the day she left the Seonu Clan.
When she had declared she would volunteer for the frontline, her friend Jegal Seoyul had cried out in shock.
"What?! That's insane! Are you out of your mind?! Not even I can follow you there! What will you do if Lord Hae finds out?!"
"Father will understand."
"Understand? More like give up on you!"
"Regardless."
Her tastes and behavior had always been eccentric, and once she fixated on something, she would stop at nothing. By now, both her father and her family had given up trying to restrain her.
But she knew this wasn't like her usual whims.
This was different.
If caught, she might truly be locked away at home this time.
Even so…
She exhaled slowly.
And thought back to the moment she first met Seonu Jin.
She had been utterly shocked.
How could a living person look so much like her handmade doll, Mandu?
That doll-like face, the casual technique he had displayed as if by coincidence, and the past she had uncovered while investigating him—everything about him stirred her curiosity.
And when he had declared he would run all the way to Yunnan and actually started running, Ha Cheongyeon had nearly lost her soul watching.
That clumsy, wobbling, irresistibly cute sight.
That unreal stamina—collapsing in less than half a quarter hour.
It was simply intolerable.
How could she possibly allow someone that adorable to be slaughtered by the demon race's Magi?!
She could never accept such a horrid thought.
So she had to protect him.
It was her duty, as the pioneer who had witnessed a hidden cuteness in the world.
That was why she had followed him this far…
But now, the Mandu doll she remembered was no longer here.
He was still a little cute, but only like any ordinary martial artist one might see anywhere.
Even the bandits—hadn't it been said he killed them himself?
She hadn't understood it then, but looking at him now, it didn't seem impossible.
And so, though she had been aflame with excitement at finding a new target for her passion, Ha Cheongyeon could only feel despair.
She let out a long sigh and muttered,
"Should I just go back?"
To return after coming all this way would be embarrassing, even for her, who cared little for others' opinions.
But to enter the frontlines without a reason seemed even more foolish.
She had to consider her worried family as well.
"Yes. I'll just head back tomorrow."
She had made up her mind.
But just as she turned to re-enter the inn—
A scream tore through the air.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Ahhh! Spare me—! Ughhh!"
What?
It was close.
The sound came from the house just beyond the thick brush she had seen when she entered earlier.
And the second scream—it had been cut off mid-sentence.
Someone—or something—was attacking people right now.
Ha Cheongyeon hurled herself toward the sound.
"Who dares?!"
She shouted to alert her foe as she leapt—
—and then, something burst out from the thicket straight toward her.
Fwoosh!
It was a sudden, silent ambush, but she did not panic.
"Haaap!"
Her sword flashed, lashing out like a spiderweb of light across the dark night.
Shuaak!
The opponent was human.
Bare-handed. Not even in a guard stance.
She thought one stroke would be enough to slice him into six pieces. But what she heard and felt next was nothing she had expected.
Clang! Clang! Ka-kang!
Her blade struck his flesh, yet rang as if against steel, bouncing off.
Unbelievably, the man had deflected her sword bare-handed—and was charging in.
"What?!"
Startled, she barely managed to bring her sword against his swinging arm.
KWAANG!
"Agh!"
Though it was human flesh against steel, the impact was like colliding with an iron club.
Her body was thrown helplessly backward.
Whiiiish!
She twisted mid-air, landing on her feet.
The man, too, dropped down from the recoil of slapping aside her sword.
Even in the gloom, she could now see his appearance more clearly—
—and for once, Ha Cheongyeon was stunned.
"A pervert?!"
The man was stark naked.
Grotesquely, shamelessly displaying his enormous thing—his appearance was enough to make any normal woman scream and cover her eyes in horror.
But Ha Cheongyeon was no ordinary woman, and this was no time for such thoughts.
The man lunged again.
"KyAAAAH!"
He howled like a beast, and his movements were beast-like as well.
"Haaap!"
She focused every ounce of her strength and unleashed her blade. A torrent of sword energy, honed at the highest level of a first-class master, streamed forth.
Shuaaaak!
Yet the result was no different than before.
Clang! Ka-kang! Kang-kang!
His bare flesh repelled both her sword energy and the blade itself.
"This can't be!"
She staggered back in shock.
Then, from the side, a shout rang out.
"Who goes there?! Haaaap!"
It was one of the wanderers who had been with Seonu Jin in the inn—the cheerful one with the friendly face.
He leapt at the monster, swinging his saber.
Startled, Ha Cheongyeon shouted,
"No! Don't! That thing—!"
But it was too late.
CLANG! Pwoosh!
"Gughk!"
The fiend blocked the saber with his forehead, then drove his hand straight through the man's chest.
Instant death.
Her blood ran cold.
For the usually composed Ha Cheongyeon, her vision narrowed to the creature's exposed neck.
Losing control, she slashed down with all her might.
"Haaap!"
KAAAANG!
The neck still did not part.
Only a numbing shock surged into her hands.
"Ughh!"
Then—
The creature reached back, seizing her sword in its grip.
It turned its head toward her.
Its eyes were tightly shut, but its mouth seemed to curve in a mocking smile.
"N-no! Damn it—!"
Terrified, Ha Cheongyeon tried to yank her blade free, but it would not budge.
Then the monster aimed the same hand that had pierced the wanderer's chest at her.
Despair flooded her eyes.
"Aaahhh…"
That dreadful hand, which had torn through a man's chest, now came for hers.
Shuaaaak!