I let out a sigh.
The face of the Patriarch I saw in the North Sea came to mind.
“If the heir doesn’t learn it, Snow Wind Palace’s martial arts will vanish forever.”
He’d even shed tears.
So petty.
Damn it. I guess I have no choice.
If I don’t do it, the true arts of the Snow Wind Palace really will disappear.
I really am too soft-hearted.
I examined the traces left on the rock. They were footprints from when I walked across the water using the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique.
Strictly speaking, they were No-Trace Step footprints. But because of the water and the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique, they had slight differences.
I should walk across the rock using the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique.
The moment my foot touched the final footprint.
“…!”
In an instant, my vision flipped and I found myself in a completely different place.
This time, I wasn’t surprised.
It was a cavern I knew all too well.
“To think I’d come back here again.”
“Kui! Kui!”
I looked down at the sound of a familiar cry. Geumryeong was tapping my foot with its paw.
“You came too?”
Now that I thought about it, Geumryeong had entered the water with me.
Thanks to that, I learned something new.
Geumryeong could move and breathe freely underwater.
But why do you keep tapping my foot?
“Do you have something to say?”
“Kui!”
“What is it?”
Geumryeong scampered off, then turned to look at me.
Its eyes seemed to say, Why aren’t you following?
I’m coming. Go on.
Following Geumryeong, I arrived at the spot where I had once found the True Snow Twelve Form Sword manual in the North Sea.
This time, different manuals were placed there.
Ice Sea Assimilation Method and Ice Sea Water Severance Technique.
Two manuals.
“I guess I can’t leave unless I learn these too, huh?”
At my question, Geumryeong nodded.
I gave a wry smile, sat down in the middle of the cavern, and opened the manuals.
.
.
.
When I opened my eyes again, the scene around me had changed.
“Huh?”
I was standing on a vast sheet of ice.
In other words, atop an iceberg.
“Welcome.”
I turned around. The Patriarch was standing behind me before I even noticed.
I cupped my fists and bowed.
“I pay my respects to the Patriarch.”
He nodded at my salute and spoke.
“You’ve come back quite early.”
“Isn’t it thanks to your arrangements, Patriarch?”
“Well, that’s not wrong. If not for my excellent judgment, I couldn’t have made such detailed arrangements.”
I was a bit thrown by the shameless self-praise.
Seeing my reaction, the Patriarch asked curiously.
“Why are you flustered? Is it because I praised myself?”
“Uh… usually people let others say things like that.”
“I already know I’m exceptional. Why should I need someone else to say it for me?”
“…Right.”
A question came to mind.
“I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“When I learned the True Snow Twelve Form Sword, I could only enter here by performing its forms.”
“That’s right.”
“And this time, I entered by using the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique, so I could learn water arts.”
I continued.
“But that’s all the martial arts I know. What about the other techniques you left behind, Patriarch?”
At my question, he smiled kindly.
“You think I didn’t prepare for that as well?”
“Then… could you tell me how many more arrangements are left?”
“I’d like to. But I can’t.”
“Huh?”
The Patriarch clicked his tongue.
“I created the arrangements, but that stubborn man insisted we had to set certain ‘constraints’ to avoid offending the heavens.”
So he couldn’t tell me because of some heavenly restriction.
“Anyway, you don’t have any more questions, right? There’s no time. If you don’t master the techniques in time, it’ll be troublesome.”
“Sorry?”
“The iceberg you’re standing on is collapsing.”
Damn it.
Nothing ever comes easy.
Lake Dongting.
Palgap sat on a stump, gazing out at the water.
Because his Young Master, Eun Seo-ho, was in the lake right now.
‘Truly, the hardships the Young Master puts himself through…’
It wasn’t winter yet, but the air was already far too cold to enter the water.
He’d said he couldn’t sleep unless he checked something in the icy lake, so here they were.
Come to think of it, Eun Seo-ho had always been like that since he was young.
Once something got in his head, he had to see it through before he could rest easy.
Even after collapsing from exhaustion, he’d leap off the bed shouting, “No! Training! I have to train!”
Palgap had long suspected Eun Seo-ho was hiding some kind of secret.
It began on his fifteenth birthday, when they received a strange message.
He took a wrong road he’d walked countless times without issue, then looked at Palgap with strangely mature, almost sorrowful eyes.
Then suddenly, he entered a snow-covered mountain to retrieve an elixir.
‘Now that I think about it, that was truly terrifying.’
Palgap probably had more strange experiences than any other attendant.
Even so, he was still alive today because Eun Seo-ho always considered him, even in the midst of everything.
He’d even lent him the necklace bestowed by the Emperor.
‘But still… what is he hiding…’
He was likely keeping it a secret because revealing it would be a burden to others.
Palgap just wished that, whatever the secret was, the Young Master would one day share it and feel at ease.
He believed he could shoulder it, no matter what it was.
He tried to guess the secret again, then gave up.
He wasn’t good at thinking too hard.
He was better at reading the mood and responding accordingly.
And he trusted Eun Seo-ho. Even if the secret was never revealed, it didn’t matter.
From the moment they met, Eun Seo-ho had been his master.
“Palgap is family of our Eunhae Merchant Group too. Don’t bully him.”
He’d never forget the sight of that small child, no older than five, boldly shouting at the older boys who were bullying him.
And calling him family.
That day, by some twist of fate, the retired former Merchant Lord suggested Palgap become Eun Seo-ho’s attendant.
He accepted without hesitation and never once regretted it.
Even his father had said, “Then it must be your fate,” and supported his choice.
He turned to glance at Escort Guard Seo Wu.
The man had been standing straight, keeping watch all this time.
“Don’t your legs hurt?”
With a solemn expression, Escort Guard Seo Wu replied.
“Our lord is facing trials within. How could a mere guard take it easy?”
“I’m sitting down. If I get too tired and can’t serve the Young Master, now that would be ridiculous.”
“I suppose… you’re right.”
Seo Wu glanced quietly at Palgap.
“How’s your training going?”
“Good.”
When they visited Luoyang, Eun Seo-ho had given Palgap a manual.
It began with the words: For one who walks the road of the King of Assassins (殺王之路).
With Escort Guard Jin Yu’s help, Palgap began to learn it. He kept thinking to himself, What is this?
Because the martial art fit him perfectly.
The parts Jin Yu said were incomprehensible made complete sense to Palgap.
Jin Yu and the others said it was an assassination technique. But to Palgap, it felt different.
If anything, it should be called: A Manual to Become the Perfect Attendant.
He truly enjoyed the art he was learning.
“…!”
Then he sensed something.
Ever since learning that martial art, he could faintly sense Eun Seo-ho’s emotions from afar.
And right now…
He felt irritated.
That meant Eun Seo-ho was returning from the lake.
Palgap grabbed a towel and hurried to the shore. Seeing this, Seo Wu tilted his head in confusion, then flinched.
He nodded, as if understanding something.
A moment later.
Eun Seo-ho appeared. As he walked out of the water, not a single drop clung to his body.
He made no splash, no sound.
With his appearance, it was as if a lake spirit had emerged. A mystical feeling filled the air.
Seo Wu and Palgap stood frozen in awe.
Until Eun Seo-ho finally opened his mouth.
“Damn it. That damned Patriarch. Dropping me into the sea, really…”
I grumbled as I stepped out of Lake Dongting.
After I finished mastering the Ice Sea Assimilation Method and the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique, the Patriarch had smirked and said,
“Then this iceberg is no longer needed.”
“What do you mean, all of a sudden?”
Then he stomped his foot, and the iceberg shattered beneath me.
Before I could react, I plunged straight into the sea.
Even as I sank, I heard his voice.
“You can return only when your feet touch the very bottom.”
You couldn’t have told me that before kicking me off?
Grumbling inwardly, I activated both techniques.
And when my feet finally touched the deep sea floor, I returned to Lake Dongting.
Then I quickly got out of the water.
“Young Master, you’re out?”
“Yeah.”
“But why is our Young Master so grumpy?”
“Because of a certain old man.”
Thanks to him, I did learn the full power of the Ice Sea Assimilation Method and Ice Sea Water Severance Technique… but still.
It’s absolutely not because, after all that effort, he didn’t give me any kind of reward…
“Kui!”
Geumryeong wagged its tail furiously and began explaining something.
I flinched.
“There’s a gift in there?”
“Kui kui!”
Geumryeong scolded me for running off in such a hurry.
I turned and said,
“I’ll go back in for a moment.”
“Ah… yes.”
I dove in again and swam toward the rock.
Now that I had perfected the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique, I reached it much faster.
I was so fast that watching Geumryeong struggling to keep up was kind of adorable.
Come to think of it, the rock really resembled the iceberg from before.
So that’s why the Patriarch shattered it.
I stood atop the rock and stomped, just like the Patriarch had done earlier.
There was no sound, no vibration, but the rock shattered.
And inside, I found a small red box, just big enough to fit in my palm.
Nothing else?
I looked at Geumryeong, and it shook its head.
So this was it.
I nodded and came back out of the water.
.
.
.
A short while later.
Back at the inn, I placed the red box on the table and opened it.
Inside were several gold leaves and a letter. I opened the letter first.
[I figured you’d feel slighted if I didn’t give you anything, so I prepared this. I thought you’d call me a damned old man who makes you suffer and gives you nothing. You worked hard mastering the Ice Sea Assimilation Method and the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique.]
I let out an awkward laugh.
That old man… hiding the reward under a rock?
I almost misunderstood him.
Looking at the gold, I chuckled.
Money really is nice.
Does this mean he’ll leave me a reward next time too? I like the sound of that.
Gasp.
I shuddered at the thought that slipped out.
To make me think this way… the Patriarch is a frightening man.
Could this be… bait?
.
.
.
I received a message from the County Magistrate and headed to the County Office.
“You’re here.”
“Yes. What’s the matter?”
“Here’s the investigation report.”
Huh? It’s already finished? He didn’t just do it halfheartedly, did he?
Half skeptical, I took the report and began reviewing it.
Oh…
In just two days, he had investigated and compiled it this thoroughly and clearly.
There wasn’t a single sign of bias. Only objective facts. I was genuinely impressed.
“You must have some very capable subordinates.”
“No. I did it myself.”
“Pardon?”
“This is a report that will be submitted to His Majesty the Emperor. I couldn’t risk any negligence. So I conducted the investigation and wrote it myself.”
“Is that so?”
It was clear at a glance. The County Magistrate in front of me was a true talent.
Tempting.
But if I could recognize it, there’s no way the Emperor hadn’t already.
The more talent His Majesty has at his side, the easier my own life becomes.
With a bright smile, I said,
“Thank you for your hard work. I’ll make sure this is delivered to His Majesty the Emperor.”
–TL Notes–
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