Only after our swords collided did he seem to notice I existed.
“What the hell? Who’s this pretty-boy bastard?”
For a moment, that almost got under my skin, but I kept my expression calm.
It would take more than that to rattle me.
“I am the Young Palace Lord of Snow Wind Palace, guardian of the North Sea Ice Palace. And you are?”
“Who the hell are you to dare ask about me?”
“As I just said, I am the Young Palace Lord of Snow Wind Palace, guardian of the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“So what? Are you Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin’s husband or something?”
“…”
I looked at Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin, and she sighed before saying,
“He’s Zhurong Palace’s Young Palace Lord.”
“Ah…”
I felt like I understood why Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin had cursed Zhurong Palace’s Young Palace Lord before.
I would’ve cursed him too.
I hadn’t realized he was this much of a lunatic.
Whack–!
Just then, something flew through the air and struck Zhurong Palace’s Young Palace Lord right in the head.
“Guh!”
Huh? Is that… a shoe?
I looked toward the place it had come from.
Ah… the Zhurong Palace Lord threw it.
“You little bastard! In whose presence do you think you are, acting this insolently? Have you lost your mind?”
“F-Father…”
“Apologize at once!”
“…”
But when he only frowned, the other shoe came flying and struck him in the head as well.
Thwack!
“Kek!”
Oof. That had to hurt.
He rubbed the spot where the shoe had hit him, then bit his lip.
Then, grudgingly, he apologized to us.
“I, Maeng Hyeon, Young Palace Lord of Zhurong Palace, apologize for my rudeness toward you all.”
“I accept your apology. I hope there won’t be another insult like this.”
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin’s gaze remained ice-cold.
She looked as though she had never expected anything from him in the first place.
Probably because she knew the apology wasn’t sincere, and that he would almost certainly do this again later.
I sheathed my sword as well and accepted his apology.
“Get out. Now!”
“…”
At the Zhurong Palace Lord’s order to leave, Young Palace Lord Maeng Hyeon glared at me, then left the room.
The Palace Lord sighed and apologized to us.
“I’m sorry. This is my fault for spoiling my son too much.”
“He seems worse than he was five years ago.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. Back then, at least he still knew where to draw the line.
“After he returned from the North Sea Ice Palace five years ago, he suddenly threw himself into training. I wondered why… but now I see there was a reason.”
The Palace Lord gave a bitter smile and continued.
“If I were younger, I would’ve fallen for you too.”
“I appreciate the compliment, but I am the North Sea Ice Palace’s Young Palace Lord. Marriage is out of the question.”
At her firm words, the Zhurong Palace Lord shook his head and said,
“I know. That’s precisely why I warned my son. Whether that warning will stop him, I can’t say.”
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
There was one thing I needed him to state clearly, here and now.
“There is something I would like to ask you, Palace Lord.”
“What is it?”
“As the Young Palace Lord of Snow Wind Palace, guardian of the North Sea Ice Palace, I have a duty to protect Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin.”
“I’m aware.”
“If Zhurong Palace’s Young Palace Lord commits another insult, I would like to know whether I must endure it quietly simply because I am here as a guest.”
“You do not.”
“I am concerned that if I respond somewhat harshly and he happens to be injured in the process, it might affect this conference.”
“You needn’t worry about that. I won’t let personal feelings interfere in such a matter.”
“Then there will be no punishment either?”
“So long as my son is the one who commits the insult first.”
“I understand. Surely a man known as the Ruler of Fire would never go back on his word.”
“Of course not.”
Good.
With this, if that Maeng Hyeon fellow tried to insult us again, I could deal with him properly.
“You must be tired after coming such a long way. Go and rest for now.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
.
.
.
Our party was guided to our lodgings.
“You may use this place.”
The lodging we were given was a large detached annex, and it seemed the entire building was being used as a guest residence.
The disciple who guided us here then explained the place to us.
“If you need anything, please pull the bell cord.”
“Thank you for taking such careful care of us.”
“Not at all. Thanks to you, I finally have something to do.”
“?”
At our puzzled looks, he answered.
“I’m in charge of the guest residence, but Zhurong Palace almost never has guests.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Then I hope you have a comfortable night.”
The disciple in charge of the guest residence bowed politely and left the annex.
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin dropped into a chair with a sigh.
I sat down across from her and said,
“I think I understand why you spoke that way when you explained the Ice-Fire Conference.”
“I’m grateful you understand. By the way, that clear answer you drew out of the Zhurong Palace Lord. Was that for my sake?”
“That’s right.”
At my answer, she let out a small laugh.
“Then if he insults you again, you don’t have to hold back.”
“I’ll make sure I don’t.”
We rose from the reception room at the center of the annex and went to our respective rooms.
I was to share a room with Palgap, while Lady Seohyang was to share a room with Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin.
The others were far too careful around Lady Seohyang, and that made her uncomfortable.
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin seemed to be the least burdensome option.
“Are you turning in now, sir?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll check the bed for you, sir.”
And so, I lay down on the bed rather early.
I had been moving around all day, and after what happened earlier, I was tired.
Deep in the night, when the darkness was thick enough to hide everything around.
A figure stealthily approached the guest residence where the people from the North Sea Ice Palace were staying.
It was Maeng Hyeon.
Zhurong Palace Lord’s eldest son and Young Palace Lord.
Since marriage was unrestricted in Zhurong Palace, the seat of Palace Lord had been passed down through blood for generations.
‘Hoo…’
He calmly took a deep breath.
Because he knew full well that what he was doing right now was nothing to be proud of.
Even so, there was a reason he was heading toward the guest residence.
He wanted revenge on Eun Seo-ho, the man who had humiliated him in front of Bing Hae-rin today.
As someone from Zhurong Palace, Maeng Hyeon was rather tenacious when it came to revenge.
Someone following him whispered,
“Hey, are we seriously doing this? This is a cowardly stunt! If the Palace Lord finds out, we’re actually dead!”
“We’ll be beaten to within an inch of our lives. But I can’t back down like this. Not after being humiliated in front of her, of all people!”
At that, the one following him sighed.
His name was Hae Hong.
He was the eldest son of the Hae Family, Zhurong Palace’s guardian family for generations.
As he looked at Maeng Hyeon, his friend and the man who would become the next Palace Lord, he grumbled inwardly.
‘Hey, you bastard. Don’t you realize this is even more embarrassing?’
He sighed and recalled what had happened five years ago.
At the time, Maeng Hyeon had visited the North Sea Ice Palace for the Ice-Fire Conference and fallen for Bing Hae-rin the moment he saw her.
Bing Hae-rin’s beauty, matured over those five years, had shaken his heart.
Even in Hae Hong’s eyes, she was truly beautiful, and impressive as well.
So Maeng Hyeon had challenged Bing Hae-rin to a marriage duel, but she had rejected him coldly.
“I am the North Sea Ice Palace’s Young Palace Lord. Marriage is out of the question.”
After persistently clinging to the matter, he had finally managed to force a marriage duel.
But the result was a crushing defeat.
A complete and utter defeat with no room for excuses.
Even so, Maeng Hyeon refused to give up. He returned to Zhurong Palace and spent the years honing his martial arts, looking forward only to this day.
Which was why he had stormed into his father’s office today.
After hearing about what Maeng Hyeon had done today through a servant from his family, Hae Hong had quietly sighed.
‘I know he’s the kind of guy who rushes in without thinking…’
But now that he had come all the way here with him, there was no turning back.
If Hae Hong backed out now, Maeng Hyeon would definitely sulk.
‘And when this bastard sulks, it becomes a real pain. Still, how did Young Palace Lord Eun end up on a lunatic like this guy’s bad side…?’
He felt sorry for Eun Seo-ho, but there was nothing he could do about it.
“So what exactly are you planning to do? You’re not actually going to hurt him, are you?”
“I’m not going that far.”
Maeng Hyeon spoke as if telling him not to worry.
“I’m going to stick this throwing dagger into Young Palace Lord Eun Seo-ho’s pillow. When he wakes up in the morning and sees it, it’ll scare the life out of him.”
“So you’re warning him not to get in your way?”
“That’s right. If I did what I really wanted, I’d beat him half to death, but he’s still a guest who came here for the conference.”
In his own mind, he was only doing as much as he could without causing a real problem.
‘That alone sounds like more than enough to cause a problem…’
Hae Hong sighed inwardly again and asked,
“So do you even know which room Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho is staying in?”
“Of course I do.”
He knew the guest residence where Eun Seo-ho was staying was crawling with North Sea Ice Palace martial artists, and that there was a guard posted in front of his door.
That was why they had chosen to sneak in through the window.
Because Zhurong Palace’s climate made its windows quite large.
They set up a ladder, climbed it, and drew back the curtain.
Instead of shutters, the windows had thin, loosely woven curtains so air could pass through freely.
That was when it happened.
“…!”
“…!”
In an instant, their bodies went rigid.
Because the moment they drew back the window curtain, killing intent shot straight toward them.
It was a kind of killing intent they had never felt in their lives.
Then a frigid chill seeped into their bodies.
They trembled in terror, as if their blood vessels and organs were freezing solid.
It felt as though an ice-cold blade was carving through their insides.
“U-U-Uh…”
Creeeak.
The ladder tipped backward just like that.
Thud!
After crashing to the ground, the two of them had no choice but to scramble away in a panic.
Oof. Their asses must hurt.
I clicked my tongue as I watched Maeng Hyeon and his companion flee.
Then I called Geumryeong, who had been sitting on the window frame.
“Geumryeong. Come here.”
“Kui?”
“You chased away those annoying bugs for me, so I’ll give you one Silver Tael.”
At my words, Geumryeong wagged its tail and quickly ran over to me. Then it hugged the Silver Tael I gave it and rolled around on the bed.
A little while ago, I had woken up after sensing killing intent.
It was a little too weak to truly be called killing intent, but the hostility directed at me had been clear enough.
So I focused internal power into my ears and listened to the sounds outside, only to end up sighing.
It was one of those situations where making a move felt both awkward and annoying.
Perhaps noticing my situation, Geumryeong crawled out of my sleeve and cried, “Kui.”
It was saying it would chase them off for me.
So I told it to do as it pleased, and it drove them away that easily.
“I don’t understand what’s so scary about Geumryeong, sir.”
Palgap, who had already woken up, said that.
“Same here.”
I laughed it off, but I knew.
To its owner and its owner’s people, it was an adorable little thing, but this creature could crush even Demonic Spirit Beasts beneath its Qi.
Those two would be lucky if they got through tonight without wetting themselves.
“Let’s go back to sleep.”
“Yes, sir.”
I pulled the blanket over myself again, and Geumryeong hugged the Silver Tael on my stomach while rolling around.
Did it really like money that much?
Well, seeing Geumryeong so happy put me in a good mood too.
.
.
.
Morning came.
After getting out of bed, I did some simple training.
Once I had washed and changed clothes as well, the Zhurong Palace disciple in charge of the guest residence came to see us.
“I’ll have breakfast prepared for you.”
“Thank you.”
After eating breakfast and drinking tea, we went over the details of the conference once again.
The conference was the day after tomorrow.
Until then, our time was relatively free.
At the same time, that was also all the time we had to determine whether Zhurong Palace was the culprit behind Snow Wind Palace’s disaster.
I spoke to the disciple in charge of the guest residence.
“I have long heard of Zhurong Palace’s great reputation. Opportunities to come here are exceedingly rare, so I would like to use this chance to see some of its historic buildings.”
“That is not within my authority. I will go and speak to the Palace Lord.”
While the disciple went to ask for permission, Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin spoke to me.
“I owe you an apology for last night.”
“Hm?”
“I saw it through the window.”
Ah… so she meant that.
I laughed softly.
“It’s all right. Though I do wonder if he can walk properly today. His backside must hurt quite a bit.”
At my words, she also let out a small laugh.
Meanwhile, Lady Seohyang was wearing a relaxed smile, so she had probably foreseen that incident as well.
Before long, the disciple returned.
“Permission has been granted. However, only the two of you are allowed, and you must follow the disciple who will come to guide you.”
“Understood.”
I nodded, but inwardly, I found it strange.
Only Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin and me?
Was there something they didn’t want the others to see?
Or did they simply not trust the others?
Not that I trusted this place yet either.
A little later.
The disciple who was to guide us arrived.
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin and I followed that disciple as he began showing us around Zhurong Palace.
Zhurong Palace was different from the North Sea Ice Palace, and it looked nothing like the other sects or noble clans of the Central Plains either.
Overall, the roofs were long and stretched out, and the windows were large.
“The roofs are shaped that way because it rains heavily here. The windows are large as well so air can pass through easily.”
“I see.”
It seemed the first floors were usually used for other purposes, while people mainly lived on the second floors.
“Because there are many pests and snakes here, our houses came to be built in this structure.”
“I doubt people from Zhurong Palace would be afraid of such things.”
“Of course not. But that doesn’t make them any less annoying.”
“Mm, I see.”
That was when it happened.
Grrr?
Something large moved beside one of the buildings. Startled by the sight, I blinked.
A t-tiger?
Why was there a tiger here?
Unlike me, who was bewildered, the disciple calmly bowed toward it.
“We greet the Divine Beast.”
Then he spoke to us in a small voice.
“Please bow quickly. That is the guardian Divine Beast that protects our Zhurong Palace.”
Seeing Bing Hae-rin bow, I knew it wasn’t a lie.
I quickly bowed before it as well.
But then the tiger circled around me several times, studying me.
And then…
Flop.
It rolled over in front of me and bared its belly.
What… what is this?
–TL Notes–
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