When I opened my eyes again, stars were shining in the night sky.
A beautiful full moon.
And an Arin's face even more beautiful than that.
"Are you okay?"
"Gah!"
Ah—damn, that scared me!
Thud!
Without realizing it, I sprang upright, bumped heads with Arin, and fell back again.
"Ugh…."
Arin rubbed her forehead and spoke.
"Sorry for startling you. You wouldn't wake up, so I gave you Chuyeongcho the way I was taught and kept watch."
"No, it's fine. That happens."
I almost had a heart attack.
Seriously, having that face looking down at you up close is bad for your heart.
I steadied myself and checked the moon's position.
Quite a bit of time seemed to have passed.
"How long was I lying down?"
"It's been a while since the sun set. They're probably looking for us by now…."
"Yeah. The supervisor died too."
The problem was that this downhill slope couldn't be seen well from above.
It would probably take quite some time before people found Arin and me.
Besides, my muscles were completely relaxed and I'd exhausted all the remaining qi in my body, so there was no way to climb that steep slope anyway.
So until the rescue team arrived, why not clear up some things I'd been wondering about?
Leaning back against the hillside, I asked,
"Do you know about the Eunwoldan?"
Now I could ask outright.
Since it was certain Arin wasn't part of the Eunwoldan.
"No. I was actually going to ask. What is the Eunwoldan?"
"Well. You could say they're a kind of anti-state organization."
"Rebels?"
"Closer to revolutionaries."
The goal of the Eunwoldan wasn't the collapse of power or the nation.
Their goal was closer to revolution.
Changing the structure of society.
In the end, it was a failure.
After all, the Rakshasa killed them all.
This time, Arin asked a question.
"Then why are those people targeting you?"
"I stole and ate their Ten-Thousand-Year Hasuo."
"Ah…."
Arin nodded, as if she understood.
No—why are you understanding this?
Just because I stole a miraculous medicine worth about the price of one major city….
Yeah, I guess that's worth killing over.
Anyway, that wasn't what mattered right now.
Since the mood was good, I kept the conversation going.
"About the room assignment. Why did you choose the room next to mine?"
Arin blinked and said,
"You took number one, so I took number two… wasn't it just choosing in order?"
"...."
For a moment, I was speechless.
I'd agonized over that so much, and the reason was this simple.
"Then why don't you make friends?"
"That's because my dad told me not to."
"…What?"
"He said there's no point wasting time with kids who aren't helpful. Because of that, there was no one I could get close to."
"So you ignored them on purpose? Even when they talked to you?"
"Yeah. I'm not very good at talking anyway…."
Well, if she'd been like that since childhood, it was understandable she lacked social skills.
More than that, Yu Arin's father was extremely strict.
Just from that, I could tell how harsh the training she'd gone through since childhood must have been.
At least because of that, she'd been able to control her yin energy.
"…But I want to be friends with you."
"Huh?"
"You fight better than me, you know more than me, and you handle internal energy better than me."
Arin glanced at me, then looked away as she finished speaking.
"So I want to be friends with you from now on. Is that okay?"
"I wasn't planning on it."
"What?"
Arin looked at me, flustered.
Ah… I only teased her once, and now I felt guilty.
I corrected myself quickly.
"What do you mean, 'from now on'? We're already friends. What do you think we've been doing for the past three months?"
"Oh. Yeah, that's true."
Arin fidgeted with her fingers, looking embarrassed.
I wanted to tease her one more time, but if I did, I felt like I wouldn't be able to sleep from guilt, so I held back.
"What are you planning to do about the yin energy from now on? From what I saw this time, it looked really close."
"I'll figure something out."
"So there's still no clear solution yet?"
"Yeah…."
Arin's mind had been teetering right on the brink of collapse.
If I hadn't been there, or if her condition had worsened even a little more, she wouldn't have been sitting here so calmly.
Either the dead Baekdu Sword Demon or I, still alive, would've been butchered by Arin's hands.
So this wasn't a situation where we could remain calm.
Now that I knew how bad Arin's condition was, I had to resolve this issue somehow before leaving.
Otherwise, a horrific massacre might unfold in the near future, not three months from now.
"Then want to try something like this? I have a method."
"A method?"
"This time, you got better because I absorbed the yin energy, right? Then wouldn't it have the same effect even when you lose consciousness?"
"Like the Absorbing Star Art?"
It was a martial art that appeared in legends.
A technique that absorbed another person's qi and turned them into a dried husk.
But that only existed in legends.
"Something similar, but there's a condition. I told you I circulate my internal energy using a martial art called the Shinro Mind Method, right?"
"Yeah."
The Shinro Mind Method illuminated the inside, creating a schematic of the human body and allowing full use of all its functions.
This could be applied to others in the same way.
"If I can fully understand your body, wouldn't I be able to absorb qi freely?"
"…My body?"
She would naturally feel some resistance.
Showing someone all of your blood vessels and qi channels was as difficult as exposing yourself naked.
"Even if you lose your reason, I'll be able to absorb the yin energy and restore balance."
"I see."
"You don't have to decide right away. Take plenty of time—"
"Let's do it."
Surprisingly, Arin made her decision quickly.
To be honest, I expected that.
She knew she'd almost killed me due to yin energy overload.
"How do we do it?"
"Just keep doing what you do every day. But I'll be continuously scanning your qi channels. About a thousand times?"
"That many?"
"If we do it a hundred times a day, it'll be done in ten days."
There were still three months left until the scheduled outbreak, so there was plenty of time.
"Okay. Let's do that."
At least now we had insurance.
Even if Arin turned into the Silver-Blood Heavenly Demon again, I'd prepared a way to bring her back to her senses somehow.
If everything went according to plan, we could prevent the massacre as well.
After resolving my questions and making plans for the future,
A small worry surfaced.
'What's going to happen to my evaluation score this time?'
I said I ate all the Chuyeongcho, so there was no proof I'd completed the mission.
No, wait. I did capture a criminal with a bounty on him, so wouldn't that count?
Speaking of Chuyeongcho, another question came to mind.
"By the way, how did you remove the poison from the Chuyeongcho? You're supposed to rinse it with water once before eating it."
"Oh, that's…."
Arin hesitated for a moment.
Only then did I look around and realize why she was reacting like that.
There was no water nearby, and the poison in the Chuyeongcho had to be removed.
In a situation like this, there was only one possible method.
"Don't tell me…."
Rinsing it in the mouth.
You put it in your mouth, chew it thoroughly, then spit out the poison with your saliva.
Which meant….
"Your mouth…."
"Luckily, there was a stream down there."
"...."
"Huh? Mouth?"
"…No, I was just wondering if you cleaned the leaves properly."
"Yeah. I cleaned them well. Three times."
"I see. Good job."
That was close.
I almost created another dark memory.
I'd escaped that crisis thanks to quick thinking.
Just as I was praising myself for it—
"Found them! They're here!"
Someone shouted from above.
Led by Kang Museong, senior warriors came down the steep slope.
The rescue team arrived at just the right time.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"
"Of course we're not okay. How could we be?"
"What? Did you break something?"
"Not that badly, but…."
"Then you're fine, you brat!"
Kang Museong smacked me on the head and looked around.
"More importantly, you survived somehow. Did you see the attacker's appearance?"
"It was the Baekdu Sword Demon."
"The Baekdu Sword Demon? The wanted one?"
"Yes."
I pointed toward the space swallowed by darkness.
Everyone's gaze turned, and one senior warrior raised a torch to illuminate the area.
What was revealed were two chunks of corpses that had once held warmth.
They were now cold, crawling with insects.
"It's the Baekdu Sword Demon!"
Seeing the bald head with a large scar, a senior warrior shouted in shock.
At the same time, Kang Museong looked at me with a stunned expression.
"…Did you take him down?"
In response to Kang Museong's question, I shrugged.
"Well, something like that."
"You killed the Baekdu Sword Demon?"
Honestly, I wouldn't believe it either.
A mere cadet defeating a wanted criminal.
But I became even more brazen.
"Why? Is there a problem?"
If I explained the situation, I'd have to mention the rampage.
So there was no need to reveal that Arin had helped.
After all, I was the one who delivered the finishing blow.
For now, getting through this situation was the priority.
I could make up a suitable excuse later.
"No."
Kang Museong stared at the Baekdu Sword Demon's corpse with a doubtful expression, but didn't press further.
"Well done. And I'm glad you're safe. We'll talk about the details tomorrow."
Kang Museong gestured to the senior warriors.
"Take the kids first. You two handle the bodies."
"Yes, sir."
I watched two senior warriors carry away one upper body and one lower body.
With that unexpected achievement, the first practical exam came to an end.
The next day.
Last night, Sanghyeok made such a fuss asking what had happened that I had a hard time brushing him off.
Arin and I skipped class and were talking with Kang Museong about what happened yesterday.
"…That's how it was."
I glossed over things, adding just enough detail.
That the Baekdu Sword Demon attacked the two of us, and Arin and I worked together to defeat him.
"You're saying the two of you killed the Baekdu Sword Demon? And cut his waist and weapon clean off?"
"We were lucky."
"You do realize that 'luck' doesn't explain this, right?"
"I have nothing to say."
Kang Museong turned his gaze to Arin, sitting beside me.
Arin, too, showed no particular change in expression, as if it were true.
We'd agreed beforehand to hide the rampage.
If Kang Museong learned about the yin energy outbreak, he'd expel Arin for the sake of the other cadets' safety.
'That can never happen.'
I had to keep Arin within my sight.
At least until I was certain she could control her yin energy.
When Arin also said nothing, Kang Museong finally nodded as if accepting it.
"Fine. Since some of what you say makes sense, I'll let the details slide."
The investigation was probably already finished.
They would have checked the traces left nearby, confirming that the only ones there were me, Arin, and the Baekdu Sword Demon.
Since there was no third-party involvement, Kang Museong had no choice but to accept that Arin and I killed the Baekdu Sword Demon together.
"Who was the supervisor who died?"
"He was a senior warrior. He'd just gotten married, too. It's unfortunate."
"I see…."
I didn't know his name or face, but that made it feel even worse.
He was someone who should've lived longer.
'This time, too….'
Before my regression, there was a time when I felt guilty over deaths caused by me, whether the fault was big or small.
But repeating that process over and over wore down my mind, so I emptied my heart as much as possible.
Telling myself it couldn't be helped.
I thought yesterday's incident wasn't much different.
After all, even I hadn't expected the Baekdu Sword Demon to appear.
But the irritation welling up in my chest was hard to shake.
It happened entirely because of me.
Because I got involved with the Eunwoldan at the auction house.
Because I entered the Seongmu Academy to change the future.
Because of me, he met a death that wasn't meant to happen.
'This really sucks.'
Perhaps sensing my emotions,
Kang Museong offered firm advice.
"Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. Once you become a warrior, you protect your own body. And he went down while supposed to be protecting cadets. Tsk."
Though he said that, he too sighed, looking displeased.
"Anyway, given the nature of the incident, we informed your guardians as well. They'll be arriving soon."
That was something Kang Museong naturally had to do.
All the cadets here were children of families that owned at least one village.
So was my father coming?
Just as I thought that—
"Seoha!"
As expected, my father entered the counseling room.
His face was pale.
He must've already heard that I was safe, but he couldn't help worrying.
"Father—!"
"Kwahahaha! You little brat, Seoha!"
But just as my father entered, he flew to the side, and my grandfather strode in and lifted me up.
Being lifted into the air at fifteen years old.
My armpits hurt.
"Well done! Not even of age yet, and you captured a wanted criminal with all your limbs intact! Well done! The pride of Cheongsin! Hahaha!"
It seemed that catching the Baekdu Sword Demon was more important to my grandfather than the fact that I'd been attacked.
No, still—your grandson was attacked.
"Greetings. I am Kang Museong, the White-Robed Immortal. I am currently in charge of the new cadets. This incident was entirely my responsibility—"
"Hahaha! As expected of the Seongmu Academy."
My grandfather set me down and grabbed Kang Museong's hand.
Expecting to be scolded, Kang Museong looked up at my grandfather with a dumbfounded expression.
"Pardon?"
"Where else but the Seongmu Academy could one experience such extreme situations at this age? Hahaha! Since the outcome was good, I'll let this incident slide. It must've been a very valuable experience for my grandson. Hahaha!"
"Ah… yes."
That old man, seriously….
"Seoha, if you need anything, just say the word. This grandfather will buy whatever you want to commemorate your safe return."
"Oh…."
…Is he the real adult here?
"Then should we raid the auction house this time?"
"Take everything."
There's a saying that as you grow older, you should keep your mouth shut and open your wallet.
In that sense, my grandfather truly was a great elder.