Chapter 26
#26. Martial Arts (3)
“Hmph~”
“...”
Having finally finished off two bags of chocolate, Cheon Yeo-hwa returned to the lakeside, humming happily.
I followed meekly behind her.
“Why did you come back here?”
“Isn't it obvious? I had luggage I hadn't managed to retrieve.”
Leaving Cheon Yeo-hwa to collect the luggage she had hidden in a corner, I sat down in a suitable spot.
Actually, I could have simply given her the chocolate and gone our separate ways, but since Cheon Yeo-hwa was my matching partner, I needed to improve our relationship to secure the settlement reward.
‘Even setting aside the settlement reward, who knows what this crazy app might do if I left my matching partner, Cheon Yeo-hwa, behind?’
I couldn't blindly believe that the app would only reward me for my actions.
Depending on the circumstances, it might hand out penalties as well.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
For one thing, Cheon Yeo-hwa was beautiful. She was beautiful enough to rival Iris.
It would be a lie to say I didn't harbor ulterior motives as a man.
‘She'd be fine if it weren't for her somewhat... unusual personality.’
Of course, if that woman refused to travel with me, I would just be counting my chickens before they hatched.
Honestly, even if I had saved her from bandits in this bleak world of Central Plains martial arts, would any woman really continue traveling with a strange man she'd just met?
‘I don't even know why the Second Princess of the Heavenly Demon Cult is here in the first place.’
I had a feeling that, just like with Iris, some complicated circumstances were involved.
The problem was that, unlike with Iris, I couldn't find out what had happened through the dating-consultation curriculum.
‘And she doesn't seem like she'd answer even if I asked.’
It was fucking strange enough that I knew she was the Second Princess of the Heavenly Demon Cult when we'd only just met.
‘Should I just tell her I'm from another world?’
I had told Iris without giving it much thought, but the more I considered it, the less wise that choice seemed.
This was a one-sided matching.
I had matched to meet women or become stronger, but what about the other side?
Iris, for example, had no idea she had been matched with anyone.
That meant this was a matching made without obtaining the other person's consent, at least not beforehand.
But where could I get any guarantee that the other person would be normal every time?
This app?
Even if I had a vague suspicion that it was related to my awakened ability, the app was the bastard I trusted least.
Even if I chalked Iris's case up to good luck, from now on I needed to hide the fact that I was from another world.
I had no idea what the other person might think after hearing that.
The fact that the survey included hobbies such as human anatomy and being a corpse artist showed that this app had no prejudices whatsoever about its users' hobbies.
“Are you done collecting everything?”
“Stop rushing me. For a lecher, you certainly know how to say only the things that make you unpopular with women.”
“...”
Should I just abandon her, farm elixirs here, and look for another matching partner?
I seriously considered it.
***
“Travel together?”
“Yeah, to the nearest city. What do you think? I'm lost right now.”
I racked my brain, but I couldn't come up with any excuse to keep traveling with Cheon Yeo-hwa.
So I decided to buy time by traveling to the nearest city while looking for another solution.
“Hmm...”
Cheon Yeo-hwa seemed to be lost in thought.
If she rejected even this, stalking her was all I had left, so I couldn't help feeling nervous.
“Fine. It's an obvious ploy, but I'll fall for it this once.”
“Wha...”
“Isn't it obvious? Since you can't do anything to me right now, you're planning to travel with me while waiting for an opportunity, aren't you?”
“...You really want me to pounce on you?”
“Heh heh, don't even think about it.”
The sword hanging from Cheon Yeo-hwa's waist flashed ominously.
When had she drawn it from its scabbard?
“I don't want to see blood in broad daylight.”
“...You were charging at me to kill me a moment ago.”
In any case, after agreeing to a few conditions, I was able to travel with Cheon Yeo-hwa to the nearest city.
First, I would lead the way.
“Isn't that obvious? I know nothing about you. To prepare for any unexpected situation, naturally I should stay behind you. All you need to do is tell me which way to go.”
Second, I had to answer her questions as honestly as possible.
“What exactly was that thing you used against the bandits earlier? A martial art that shoots lightning? I've never heard of such a thing. There can't be any sorcery like that, either... Is it an immortal art?”
“Magic.”
“Magic...? What is that?”
“If you're curious, why don't you let me touch your breasts once?”
“You're behaving just like a lecher.”
“You called me a lecher, so I have to play along.”
I had already had enough of deferring to her just because she was the Second Princess of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Third, I had to provide chocolate.
“You already ate all of it.”
“You're lying.”
“...Eat in moderation. You'll get fat.”
“That can't happen. I've learned several Fairy Arts. Thanks to them, I don't gain weight even if I eat more than I need to.”
What the hell was that?
That was a martial art that reeked of money.
If I sold it to rich women, they would probably come running with armfuls of cash.
“Ah, of course, if a man learns it, it has the side effect of weakening his sexual function. What do you think? I believe it's a martial art you truly need.”
“Looking at my face? It doesn't seem like I need it much.”
“...You have quite a strong sense of self-love.”
As the two of us walked through the forest, exchanging idle remarks, Cheon Yeo-hwa stared at Kang Hyeon-woo, who was walking ahead, with an eerie gaze.
The figure from earlier, who had been unable to conceal his killing intent like a third-rate assassin, was nowhere to be seen.
His perfectly refined killing intent was so quiet that even Kang Hyeon-woo, who was right nearby, couldn't sense it.
‘What kind of man is he?’
From the moment she met Kang Hyeon-woo until now, Cheon Yeo-hwa had not let down her guard for even an instant.
Not even when she was pinned beneath the iron net.
Nor when she was defenselessly collecting her luggage by the lakeside.
If he tried to take her life, she was ready to pull out the throwing knife hidden in her bosom and stab him in the neck in a single motion.
But fortunately—or perhaps she should call it that—Kang Hyeon-woo had not displayed a trace of killing intent even once since meeting her.
If there had been any, it was only when he dealt with the bandits.
That made it all the more impossible to determine his identity.
If he had been an assassin under the First Young Master, he would not have come alone like this. She had considered the possibility that he was buying time to call his companions, but he had shown no sign of that so far.
Moreover, the food he had given her, called chocolate, had not been laced with poison or an aphrodisiac. It was a perfectly ordinary confection... no, an unbelievably delicious one.
Of course, she could not rule out the possibility that his earlier actions had been a ploy to lower her guard, so she could not immediately cast aside her suspicions of him.
But as more time passed, she began to wonder whether he really was an assassin sent by the First Young Master to assassinate her.
The Divine Cult had been drenched in blood as the succession struggle continued.
Of the five successors, she and the First Young Master had been the most likely candidates.
But that was a thing of the past now. After losing most of her forces to the First Young Master's schemes, she was no longer a candidate to succeed the great Divine Cult. She was merely a loser.
Her martial prowess, which had once reached the Transcendent realm, was now barely at the first-rate level after she was poisoned.
The Moon Spirit Demon Art allowed her to resist the poison, but even that was gradually reaching its limit.
The deadly poison that had invaded her dantian was slowly eating away at her life.
She had lost her position as successor, the subordinates who followed her, and the martial arts she had practiced all her life. Now she had merely left the Divine Cult and wandered the unfamiliar Central Plains, fleeing from assassins whose arrival could not be predicted.
Kang Hyeon-woo's appearance in such circumstances made Cheon Yeo-hwa's mind exceedingly complicated.
He seemed to have dropped straight from the sky.
Even though her current cultivation was barely at the first-rate level, she could confidently say that, even while bathing, she could sense the presence of someone at the pinnacle of the Transcendent realm.
And yet, at some point, he had been standing in front of her.
As if he had been there from the very beginning.
It was an astonishing concealment technique for an assassin, but if he had been an assassin, why had he not targeted her neck and simply stood there blankly?
Moreover, there was the problem of that mysterious ability he called magic, which she could not tell whether it was sorcery or an immortal art.
If he had been an assassin, he would never have foolishly revealed his true capabilities to his target.
That only made her more confused.
She had lived too long unable to trust others to start trusting him now.
It was more comfortable to doubt others endlessly than to trust them. Rather than believe that someone trusted and followed her, she felt more at ease assuming that they were waiting for an opportunity to plunge a knife into her neck.
The reason she had allowed him to accompany her was also because, if he was an assassin, it was better to keep him nearby and observe him.
‘I don't know exactly what this magic is, but it can't be perfect. If I see even the slightest suspicious sign...’
Cheon Yeo-hwa quietly stroked the sword at her waist.
“So, what city are we going to?”
“...Xi'an.”
***
To be honest, I wasn't knowledgeable enough about wuxia to have every place name memorized.
Even though she had kindly told me it was Xi'an, to me it was no different from a foreigner saying, “Let's go to Pocheon!”
A foreigner might know famous cities like Seoul or Busan, but wouldn't it be stranger if they had every other city in the provinces memorized as well?
“Where is Xi'an?”
“...Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
What? Why? People could fail to know things. It was a little much for her to look at me with an expression that said, ‘What kind of person is this?’
I wanted to confiscate her chocolate.
“Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi Province and one of the largest cities in the Central Plains.”
“Shaanxi? The place with the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect?”
“That's right.”
The Nine Sects and One Gang was an organization made up of nine sects and one gang that appeared in most wuxia stories, all of which claimed, “We're fucking strong and influential, but we're good people, too.”
The Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect were Daoist sects belonging to that group.
‘So Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi Province?’
But something felt strange.
So had those bandits from earlier been planning to rob people near the provincial capital?
Weren't they afraid of the government troops?
I voiced my question to Cheon Yeo-hwa exactly as it was.
“It takes two days to reach Xi'an. And government troops? It seems the government troops in your homeland were quite diligent if they patrolled outside the capital.”
Apparently, it was a distance that took about two days to cover on foot, and the government troops were only interested in maintaining order inside the city. They had no interest in security outside it.
“Of course, if bandits became so rampant that even the major merchant caravans began complaining, the authorities would step in. That is why bandits do not attack caravans that are too large. Besides, caravans of that size usually have powerful escort agencies protecting them.”
“Thanks for the explanation.”
When I tossed her a piece of chocolate as thanks, I was already quite used to watching her happily unwrap and eat it.
She was kind of like a cat.
“But why are you going to Xi'an?”
What I had wanted was to travel with her to the nearest city. I had never asked her to take me to Xi'an.
No matter how close Xi'an was, there was no reason for her to go all the way to a place that was not her destination.
Especially if it took two whole days to get there.
“Why are you curious about that?”
The question was met with a voice that had turned cold, the exact opposite of how she sounded while eating chocolate, and I was startled.
“No particular reason.”
“Do not forget. We are merely traveling together for a short while, and only as far as Xi'an.”
Her decisive tone reminded me of the girls from my school days.
‘Was I being too clingy...?’
Other than Iris, I had never had a proper conversation with a girl my age, so I had no idea how to respond in situations like this. All I could do was walk while quietly putting a little more distance between us.
‘Oh, right. Iris was five hundred years old, wasn't she?’
But aside from her age, she seemed younger than me in every way, so it was difficult to think of her as five hundred.
Her face, her voice, and her figure.
‘I suddenly miss Iris.’
It felt like being a newlywed couple that had been abruptly separated after spending only their first night together.
No, we hadn't even properly spent our first night together.
There had been the sudden temple, the World Tree's appearance, and the dungeon exploration.
Honestly, with my stamina as it was now, I felt like I could go five times in a row, but I had only managed it once. Thinking about that made me so indignant that I wanted to pour cow dung on the World Tree as fertilizer.
Of course, I couldn't actually do that, because Iris would probably foam at the mouth and collapse.
In any case, Cheon Yeo-hwa and I continued walking through the forest without much conversation after that.
Considering her cold reaction earlier, it felt awkward for me to speak first.
As we repeated the process of walking while receiving only basic directions, the sun gradually began to set.
They say night comes early in the forest. I guess it was true.
‘Wasn't that a mountain?’
That wasn't important right now.
“The sun will set soon. What are we going to do?”
Even without asking, we would obviously have to sleep outdoors. If we didn't find a place and light a fire soon, we would wake up covered in the morning dew.
“This way.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa, who had told me to lead the way, suddenly tossed out those words and quickly headed off in another direction.
Her speed was unusual.
‘Is that martial arts?’
Her actual speed looked ordinary, but she moved through trees, grass, and untended paths as though she were walking along a well-paved trail.
Only now did I understand how Cheon Yeo-hwa had kept up with my speed during the day.
No matter how fast I was, there were stretches where I slowed down while avoiding trees and moving through brush.
But Cheon Yeo-hwa had no such stretches.
Honestly, if I could learn it, I wanted to. Earth did have martial arts, but wanting to learn them did not mean I could easily do so.
‘I heard there are chocolates supplied to the royal family. Should I try to tempt her with those?’
Even if nothing else worked, she seemed like the type who would teach me martial arts in exchange for expensive desserts.
I followed Cheon Yeo-hwa and arrived beneath a large tree.
“We'll spend the night here.”
It certainly looked as though it would keep us dry even if it rained, and there was enough space to light a fire in the forest.
“Have you camped outdoors before? Judging by the clothes you're wearing, you look like a rich young lady.”
“You ask the obvious.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa began clearing the area, apparently preparing the sleeping arrangements with practiced ease.
“Go and gather some dry firewood. No matter how warm the weather has become, it will be cold by dawn.”
“Do I really have to?”
I took a small brazier and some stones out of my inventory.
“...Is that magic, too?”
Seeing Cheon Yeo-hwa surprised as she watched me pull things out of thin air put me in a good mood.
“Something like that.”
After setting up the brazier in a suitable spot, I took a small stone out of my inventory.
This was a special stone from volcanoes called a firestone. Its effect varied depending on its size, but one this size would keep burning for up to twelve hours after being lit. I had bought several at home to give to Iris the next time I met her.
I tossed a small Fireball into the brazier containing the firestone, and a fairly large flame roared to life.
“How about it?”
When I looked at Cheon Yeo-hwa with a broad grin, she immediately looked away, as if she disliked something about it.
“...When people pursue convenience, they become lazy.”
“It's better than wasting effort on pointless things.”
While Cheon Yeo-hwa was still arranging the sleeping area, I approached her, opened my inventory, and took out a tent.
It was a one-person tent from Mountain Spot, considered the most expensive brand in camping equipment.
Its temperature and humidity were managed automatically, and it was made from a material that could not be torn apart by the claws of a wild bear.
It also had pest-control and self-cleaning functions, as well as a mattress as soft as a hotel bed.
“Wh-what is that?”
“A tent.”
The moment Cheon Yeo-hwa saw what I called a tent, she was unable to take her eyes off it, as if spellbound.
The sight of Kang Hyeon-woo starting a fire in an instant was certainly surprising.
Not having to laboriously gather dry firewood and rub sticks together until they caught fire was practically revolutionary, but she disliked his triumphant expression and deliberately ignored him.
But the tent was different.
It had already been half a year since she had fallen behind in the succession struggle and come to the unfamiliar Central Plains, and she had not slept comfortably for even a moment.
Anxious that assassins could come at any time, she had always slept lightly, both outdoors and in inns.
The outdoors had been the worst.
Having been raised and treated like a princess of the imperial family, her life sleeping rough was too miserable to put into words.
She still could not forget the day she had first been forced to sleep outdoors. All she had to lie on were a few large leaves she had hurriedly gathered. Even those had been difficult to find without any moisture on them, but the moment Cheon Yeo-hwa lay down on them, she realized something.
Even if she layered the leaves beneath her, her back still hurt just as much.
And that wasn't all. The insects that constantly crawled over and prodded her made her already uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and the light sleep she needed to guard against assassins even more horrifying.
On top of that, whenever she woke after sleeping on the dirt, her back always hurt so badly that she had to rise with a groan.
But this tent was different.
Whatever sorcery had been used, the inside was warm and comfortable. Moreover, the soft, smooth fabric spread across the floor had something about it that made her chest tighten with emotion.
Above all else.
‘Someone capable of using sorcery like this could not possibly be an assassin under the First Young Master.’
Of course, there was still not a single clear fact about his identity, but there was absolutely no way the First Young Master had someone like this under his command.
If rumors of someone with such abilities had spread, the Cult Leader himself would have made every effort to recruit him.
‘He had several chances to target my neck. Even so, he did not show the slightest sign of doing so. That means he isn't after my life for now.’
Under normal circumstances, she would have scolded herself for thinking so carelessly.
But right now, she had no choice.
After a month of sleeping rough, along with the poison gradually eating away at her dantian, Cheon Yeo-hwa was having difficulty making sound judgments.
For her, the existence of this tent and her speculation about Kang Hyeon-woo's identity offered an opportunity to enjoy a comfortable and sweet sleep for at least one night, without having to worry about assassins or sleeping outdoors.
However, one problem stood in the way of her desire, which was beginning to boil over.
“...But about this thing called a tent. Is there only one?”
“There is only one.”
At that moment, silence fell between the two of them.
“Give it to me.”
“Why should I?”
“...”
Cheon Yeo-hwa put her brain into overdrive.