For a moment, the sight left me completely thrown.
What the…? Is it asking me to rub its belly?
I crouched down and slowly rubbed its stomach, and the tiger began purring as if it liked it.
“Wh-what in the…!”
The disciple who saw it went wide-eyed in shock.
Is this really something to be that surprised about?
I kept rubbing the tiger’s belly as I asked the disciple.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Am I not supposed to do this?”
“N-no, that’s not it. It’s just… the divine beast clearly hates ice Qi…”
“Is that so?”
– Kui…
Geumryeong seemed to sulk, so I chuckled and rose to my feet.
I should take care of my own Geumryeong before someone else’s divine beast.
When I stopped rubbing its belly, the tiger looked disappointed and tapped my leg with its tail.
Just then, Zhurong Palace Lord’s voice came from up ahead.
“Hwa-sik! What are you doing?”
“Grr…”
At Zhurong Palace Lord’s call, the divine beast looked at me for a moment, then finally padded over to him.
Ah, so that tiger spirit beast’s name is Hwa-sik.
“Hwa-sik seems to like you. That’s really strange. This one isn’t the type to act cute with someone it’s meeting for the first time.”
“I see. It’s quite a gentle divine beast.”
“Gentle?”
Zhurong Palace Lord gave a small laugh.
“You may be the only person in the world who’d look at this one and call it gentle.”
“…”
Well, it was a tiger spirit beast grandly called Zhurong Palace’s divine beast.
Even if it acted affectionate toward me, there was no way it would be gentle to everyone else.
Still, that thing should have seen me for the first time today, so why did it feel so friendly toward me?
Geumryeong, do you know?
– Kui?
That was Geumryeong’s way of saying, How would I know? This little thing was sulking.
“You said you were looking around the famous places in this palace?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I happen to have some time, so I’ll guide you myself.”
“Thank you.”
After telling the disciple who had been guiding us to leave, he personally took us around and showed us various places.
Thanks to that, it felt as if we got to see much more than when the disciple had been guiding us.
So I expressed my gratitude to the Palace Lord.
“Thanks to you guiding us personally, Palace Lord, we were able to see far more. Thank you.”
“Hm? What do you mean by that?”
“The disciple who was guiding us said there were places he couldn’t enter, so there were a few places we couldn’t see. But as expected, when moving with you, Palace Lord, I suppose there are no such places.”
“You’re saying there were places we passed so far that that disciple couldn’t enter? Ha! Do you think I would have assigned someone with restricted access to guide you?”
“…”
At those words, I realized what had happened.
That disciple had deliberately avoided guiding us to those places.
Was it petty hazing?
To be honest, I wasn’t angry or anything.
I was just dumbfounded.
“That disciple must have been very busy.”
“Tsk, tsk.”
Zhurong Palace Lord clicked his tongue and spoke.
“There’s no need to go out of your way to put it kindly. To think he would embarrass our Zhurong Palace like this…”
I felt a little uncomfortable.
But when I thought about it, leaving a disciple like that alone wouldn’t be good in the long run.
Who knew when he might stab us in the back again?
And if things continued like this, the other disciples would also look down on us.
“I’ll deal with that disciple myself.”
“Thank you.”
“What about the disciple in charge of the guest quarters? Did that disciple also perhaps…?”
“No! That person has been taking very attentive care of us.”
“That’s a relief.”
We continued looking around.
But we didn’t find anything suspicious anywhere.
After returning to my quarters, I called Geumryeong.
“Geumryeong, come out for a second.”
“…”
Looks like it was properly sulking. It didn’t even twitch.
I slipped my hand in and forcibly pulled Geumryeong out.
“What is it, Young Master?”
Palgap, who had been quietly watching, asked, and I explained what had happened today.
“…So I think it’s sulking because it didn’t like me petting that divine beast called Hwa-sik.”
“Isn’t this little thing awfully greedy?”
“Hm?”
“I mean, it’s trying to keep you all to itself, Young Master.”
“Is that really so?”
“You may be Geumryeong’s master, Young Master, but you are also my lord. And you are also the lord of the Escort Guards and the people of the Virtuous Wind Department.”
“That’s true.”
“So many people serve you, Young Master. Trying to monopolize you is unreasonable.”
At Palgap’s words, I chuckled.
Because he was right.
“That’s why I’m saying this little one is greedy.”
At that, Geumryeong protested.
“Kui! Kui kui!”
“Hm? That’s not it? You have no intention of monopolizing me? You just don’t like that thing pretending to be close to me?”
I asked back.
“Why?”
“Kui. Kuik! Kui!”
“You just don’t like that thing?”
Is there some kind of rivalry between spirit beasts?
But if that were the case, Geumryeong had only ever suppressed them with strength before. It had never acted like this.
I smiled gently and stroked Geumryeong’s back.
“All right. I won’t get friendly with that thing.”
“Kui.”
“Here, eat this and stop sulking.”
I held out a silver tael to Geumryeong, and Geumryeong snapped it up at once.
As expected, money is the best thing for Geumryeong.
“Kui. Kui… Kui…”
“You’re telling me not to misunderstand because you’re not doing this because money tastes good? Sure, I get it.”
Since you’re saying that while hugging the silver tael so tightly, it isn’t very convincing, but well…
“But Geumryeong.”
“Kui?”
“I would’ve thought you’d warn Hwa-sik not to come near me. Why didn’t you?”
Geumryeong answered with a dejected expression.
“Kui. Kui… Kui…”
“You’re weaker than it? You were bitten by it before?”
Come to think of it, the place where I met Geumryeong was Yunnan.
More precisely, Yunnan’s No-Exit Mountain.
“Then did you meet it before at No-Exit Mountain?”
At that, Geumryeong nodded.
“Kui. Kui.”
“Back then, Hwa-sik tried to kill that mad warrior and take the Silver Mist Sword, and you stopped it? And you fought in the process?”
“Kui.”
So something like that had happened.
In other words, Geumryeong didn’t like that I was getting along with someone who had once been its enemy.
Of course it could feel that way.
“Kui…”
“You wanted to warn that thing if you could, but you hid because it would hurt if you got bitten again?”
“Kui.”
“I understand how you feel.”
I stroked Geumryeong and sympathized with it.
But this little thing seemed to be misunderstanding something.
“Hey, Geumryeong.”
“Kui?”
“Back then, had you ever been fed money by anyone?”
“Ku… i?”
“I don’t know about before you came to Yunnan, but after that, you hadn’t eaten any money, right?”
“…”
“After you started serving me as your master, how much money do you think I’ve fed you?”
“…!”
At my question, Geumryeong’s ears perked up, and its tail shot straight up.
You’re only realizing that now?
“Whew, Geumryeong. You aren’t weak at all right now. You can win.”
.
.
.
That night.
As I lay in bed, I thought over what Geumryeong had told me.
The fact that the tiger divine beast called Hwa-sik had targeted the Silver Mist Sword that the madman had possessed.
That was bothering me.
I had already found it strange that the mad warrior had ended up in Yunnan of all places.
Could the father who had sent the letter that mad warrior carried have been someone from Zhurong Palace?
I’ll need to look into this more.
The places I had failed to visit today weighed on my mind.
The places the disciple hadn’t guided us to at first, I had managed to visit afterward, if a little late. But there was still one place even Zhurong Palace Lord hadn’t shown me.
It was a place where outsiders were forbidden from entering, with a boundary rope even set up around it, but I would only satisfy my curiosity once I checked that place too.
However, since I had come here as Snow Wind Palace’s Young Palace Lord for the conference, sneaking there and getting caught could cause a serious problem.
What should I do…
As I pondered for a moment, I sensed a familiar presence.
It was Zhurong Palace’s Young Palace Lord.
Whew, he still hasn’t given up?
At that moment, an excellent idea came to me.
I can use him.
Maeng Hyeon was walking through the night, rubbing his aching rear. Hae Hong was doing the same.
All of Zhurong Palace’s buildings had at least two floors.
The place being used as the guest quarters was on the second floor, so they had leaned a ladder against it and tried to sneak into Eun Seo-ho’s room. But then a sudden surge of killing intent shot toward them, and the ladder toppled over, making them land hard on their backsides.
If they had been ordinary people, they would have broken their hips or legs.
But since they were people of Zhurong Palace and had trained in martial arts, it hadn’t gone as far as broken bones.
Still, they hadn’t been able to avoid bruises.
“Ah, damn it! It hurts like hell.”
“That’s my line. But why did we come here again?”
“I, Maeng Hyeon, a real man, can’t give up just because I failed yesterday.”
“How impressive. You bastard.”
Hae Hong let out a sigh and muttered.
“So, you want to sneak into Young Palace Lord Eun’s room again?”
“This time, I’m going to warn him in a different way.”
Maeng Hyeon pulled out a pouch.
“It’s a Three-Step Fire Serpent.”
Three-Step Fire Serpent.
It was a venomous snake from Yunnan said to kill anyone it bit before they could take three steps.
Eun Seo-ho was said to be Snow Wind Palace’s Young Palace Lord, so there was no way he would fall to the venom of a Three-Step Fire Serpent.
A warning was one thing, but it couldn’t lead to lingering trouble afterward.
And even if they were caught, they could pretend the snake had crawled into his room on its own.
Maeng Hyeon opened the pouch and grabbed the snake inside.
And just as he was about to throw it into Eun Seo-ho’s room…
“What are you doing?”
“Hiiik!”
The person who appeared from the first-floor space.
It was Eun Seo-ho.
“Huaaak! Hiiik! Hiiiik!”
I sighed as I watched Maeng Hyeon make a huge fuss over a single red snake.
Why is he acting like that?
A moment later, he stomped on the snake’s head, killing it, then said to me.
“Ahem, ahem, a snake suddenly appeared out of nowhere…”
“I see.”
I knew perfectly well that he had been trying to throw that snake into my room, but I pretended not to.
“It seems you’ve had something to say to me since yesterday. Am I wrong?”
“Ahem, ahem. I did.”
You did?
This bastard is talking down to me.
“Then why are you speaking so casually to me? I’m not your subordinate.”
“Well, aren’t you the Young Palace Lord of North Sea Ice Palace’s guardian family? Naturally, that makes you beneath me.”
“Are you saying North Sea Ice Palace stands below Zhurong Palace?”
At my question, the young man standing behind him quickly stepped in.
“No! That isn’t what he meant, so please don’t read too much into it.”
He handled a sensitive question well.
“And who are you?”
“Ah! I am the young clan lord of Zhurong Palace’s guardian family. My name is Hae Hong.”
His surname is Hae? The Outer Chief Administrator who welcomed us was also surnamed Hae.
“What is your relationship with Outer Chief Administrator Hae Dal-man?”
“He is my father.”
“I see.”
“To explain, our guardian family is also a vassal to Zhurong Palace Lord. That is what the Young Palace Lord was referring to.”
“I see. In that case, it seems there has been some misunderstanding.”
I continued.
“Snow Wind Palace and North Sea Ice Palace are equals, not lord and vassal.”
“Equals?”
Maeng Hyeon asked back.
“Yes.”
Does this bastard ever think? I warned him, so why is he still speaking to me like that?
I’ll warn him just once more. And if he still doesn’t come to his senses…
“Even North Sea Ice Palace Lord treats me with courtesy. So unless Young Palace Lord Maeng stands above North Sea Ice Palace Lord, I believe it would be best for us to speak politely to each other.”
“…”
Still, his head didn’t seem completely empty. He corrected his tone and showed proper courtesy.
“I was rude.”
“It’s all right. Please be careful from now on.”
“However…”
He spoke to me.
“Did you come here merely as Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin’s guard?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because it has been bothering me quite a bit. As you know, in our Zhurong Palace, the strong are allowed to choose the partner they desire.”
“I know.”
“I have chosen Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin as my partner. But you keep getting in my way.”
“That is only natural.”
I continued.
“Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin is a person of North Sea Ice Palace. And the women of North Sea Ice Palace do not marry.”
At my words, he gave a small laugh.
“They simply don’t marry officially. Do you think I don’t know they roll around with other men when they happen to take a liking to them?”
I nearly snorted from sheer disbelief.
This was a blatant insult to North Sea Ice Palace.
Hae Hong, standing behind him, seemed to know that too, because he was visibly restless.
It seems this man needs some proper reeducation.
Since I already got Zhurong Palace Lord’s promise, there shouldn’t be a problem.
“I cannot allow anyone to do something Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin dislikes.”
“She might say she dislikes it, but perhaps she actually likes me.”
It feels like talking to a brick wall.
“As far as I know, Zhurong Palace is a place where the Rule of the Strong is strictly upheld.”
“That’s right.”
The custom of dueling for marriage that he mentioned earlier was part of that as well.
“Perfect. Since arguing like this only wears out our mouths, let’s settle it cleanly through martial arts.”
“That is exactly what I want.”
It was fine even if my opponent was a brick wall.
Because I could simply beat it until I smashed through.
“In that case, is there somewhere spacious where we can avoid other people’s eyes?”
As he pondered my words, I casually added a little more.
“While looking around this place today, I noticed there was somewhere over there with barely anyone around.”
“That place is…”
As he hesitated, I gave him another little push.
“We can’t have outsiders interfering in a true duel between men, can we?”
“That is true.”
As if making up his mind, he turned and said.
“Follow me.”
I clenched my fist inwardly and cried out in delight.
He took the bait.
–TL Notes–
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