“Sniff.”
I pinched Cheongwol’s nose and said.
Leaning against me, Cheongwol flinched in surprise and pushed my hand away.
“C-Crazy? It’s d-dirty.”
I knew what I was doing. You like this kind of thing.
You say you hate it, but as a masochist, you’ll end up doing it anyway.
“Sniff. Blow. Your nose is stuffy from crying. You’ve been sniffling since earlier.”
“...!!”
Cheongwol tried to cover her nose in surprise, but my hand was already there.
“...It’s... d-dirty...!”
“It’s cold. How about we get it over with quick and head out?”
“...”
Cheongwol’s face, which had been sniffling, was now filled with shame.
Her eyes darted around anxiously, rolling this way and that, until she finally made up her mind and squeezed them shut.
She blew her nose very lightly.
Nothing came out.
Even so, I pinched her nose persistently, washing my hands thoroughly in the valley stream like I was handling a baby.
“Now, again.”
“...Sniff.”
Each time she blew, she seemed unsure how to handle the shame, but still squeezed her eyes shut and blew.
After repeating it a few times, Cheongwol burst into laughter, as if she found herself ridiculous.
“...Seriously. When I’m with you, Shopkeeper... I feel like I’m turning into an idiot too.”
“I’m not an idiot. Just you.”
“If you asked the whole world, they’d say you’re the idiot, Shopkeeper.”
“...”
...No way. How could I, who survived you, be an idiot?
Do you have any idea how much brainpower I’ve used just to stay alive?
“Anyway, sniff.”
“Sniff.”
After a few repetitions, Cheongwol eventually left everything to me.
She blew when I told her to, and left the wiping to me too.
As she entrusted her body to me like that, I felt a sense of trust.
For the first time, I vaguely felt that bond with Cheongwol.
****
After wiping our bodies and wringing out our wet clothes to drape over our shoulders, night had fallen by the time we started walking.
But my mind was still drifting blankly, even as the sun set.
Today had been packed with too much information to process.
...What is this?
Somehow, I’d ended up promising to be friends with Cheongwol.
I, who knew the rivers of blood in the martial world better than anyone and had sought only to avoid those currents and live on like a dead man.
Had now, of my own will, forged a connection with one of the Demonic Cult’s Seven Heavens.
Of course, it was true that we’d been inevitably entangled before, but being entangled and saying we’d be friends were entirely different matters.
I cautiously turned my head to look at Cheongwol following behind me.
Her martial robes still damp, she hunched her shoulders and bowed her head slightly to hide her revealing figure.
That feminine posture kept giving me a sense of dissonance.
...I don’t regret it.
If the situation repeated, I probably wouldn’t say anything different.
It just felt disorienting, like my foundation was shaking.
It had been ten years since I fell into the Central Plains.
During that time, I had lived like a ghost, solely to avoid the whirlpool of the coming Great War Between Righteousness and Evil.
But now, that shallow plan was starting to twist.
I had confirmed Cheongwol’s change with my own eyes.
What choice should I make in this situation?
Should I guide Cheongwol toward a more righteous path, leading her to stand in the Great War under the banner of the righteous sects?
Or, truly as a friend, should I take her hand and say we escape together?
Fundamentally, could I trust Cheongwol?
Could Cheongwol truly refrain from killing people from now on?
Anyone who’d read the novel would know how idiotic it is to trust Cheongwol.
They might even call me a dumb bastard.
And yet, here I was doing it.
“...Haa.”
...Yeah. It’s just a promise, that’s all.
As long as she doesn’t kill people, I won’t push her away.
If she kills, I’ll push her away then.
Simple as that.
No big deal.
“Shopkeeper, do you know about this?”
Just then, Cheongwol spoke up.
“The theory that human nature is inherently good.”
“...Why bring that up suddenly.”
That doesn’t sound like something you’d say.
Cheongwol continued in her characteristic calm tone.
“It says every human is born with feelings of compassion, shame, respect, and judgment of right and wrong... Conversely, someone lacking those isn’t human, but a beast. Like bandits.”
I mulled over Cheongwol’s words, suddenly grasping her intent.
“...So what. You didn’t kill a person, you killed a beast?”
“...I didn’t say that.”
She said that, but her expression said otherwise.
My head throbbed for a moment.
Ignoring it, I walked ahead, but Cheongwol quickened her pace to stick close, persistently continuing.
“The Emei Sect is known, like Shaolin Temple, to value no killing. But I don’t get it. Shaolin uses fists and staffs as main weapons, but Emei uses swords. No killing with a sword? Does that even make sense? It goes against the very purpose of a sword.”
Cheongwol slowly turned her head beside me to look at me.
“Maybe long ago, Emei started imitating Shaolin to follow the era’s flow? Compromised for patronage and lost their original teachings? Maybe true Emei way... was to bury beasts beyond saving in the earth?”
...Enough.
My thoughts were right after all.
She’s beyond redemption.
“T-That was just something I said.”
Reading my expression, Cheongwol grabbed my wrist and said.
“...Got it.”
“R-Really. I won’t kill people anymore. Just words.”
“I said I got it.”
The distance between her and me had definitely shortened.
But the invisible hierarchy remained.
Is this what it feels like for a second-year next to a first-year bully?
We get along, but I’m cautious, afraid she might snap...
Then, suddenly, I grew curious.
If Cheongwol doesn’t return to the Demonic Cult.
How would that affect things?
How would this world’s story unfold?
If her declaration is temporary, could I escape from her?
****
Cheongwol lay on the ground, gazing up at the stars.
It was a night when sleep wouldn’t come.
Han Seojin had long been fast asleep nearby, and she lay close too.
No killing.
For Cheongwol, it was a principle she’d never found a reason to uphold.
Everyone she’d killed so far had been from the evil factions.
Villains who plundered and tormented people.
Wouldn’t the world be better without them?
But now, she’d found a reason for no killing.
Han Seojin hated it.
Thinking back, it was what he’d said from the start.
Why would a commoner like him want to get involved with martial artists? It felt like facing a tiger, he hated it.
If that fear had pushed her away, it finally made sense.
Of course, she still couldn’t understand why he thought she’d harm him.
Wasn’t that seeing her as some heinous villain?
Her blade had always pointed only at the evil factions.
Cheongwol turned her head to look at Han Seojin.
They’d fought, but reconciled too, so seeing him brought a natural smile.
Through today’s conversation, their bond felt even tighter and closer, filling her heart more.
He’d really said it with his own mouth.
As long as she didn’t kill people, he wouldn’t push her away.
She recalled the moment in the valley when he wiped her body.
Was it comfort, or his way of apologizing... His rough hands meticulously cleaning her face.
For some unknowable reason, thinking of that moment made it hard to stay still.
An indescribable stimulating emotion welled up in her chest, without a name.
Cheongwol kept staring at Han Seojin’s face, then sat up.
She crawled toward him slowly, careful not to wake him.
She feared waking him.
If she did and he got angry, that would surely be terrifying.
Cheongwol now knew it herself.
She couldn’t move an inch against Han Seojin’s anger.
The moment he got mad was too scary to endure.
Even so, this emotion was too hard to suppress.
She looked at his face, then gently touched his hair.
...Did he cut it so neatly because of Dang Soran?
She hated that he’d find it annoying, but the bothersome feeling was unavoidable.
His hair tidied up made him look much more handsome.
What if other women approached him, saying he’d gotten handsome?
“...Annoying.”
I noticed first. I was close even before he changed.
If village girls suddenly flocked because he got handsome, pretending to be friendly, it’d be disgusting.
...I should just keep telling Han Seojin he’s ugly.
So he doesn’t get cocky confidence and poke around everywhere, doesn’t slack off.
What she’d told him in the valley was sincere.
Until her heart demon was resolved, she hoped he wouldn’t get a lover.
It’d definitely become a hassle.
Han Seojin needed to spend time with her, where would time for a lover come from?
That so-called lover would ignorantly interfere between her and Han Seojin.
Han Seojin was her friend.
...It’ll be fine.
Her senior brothers’ words reassured her.
Han Seojin was the least popular guy in the village.
Ugly, poor, timid. An orphan.
So it’d stay that way. No big change.
Cheongwol kept fiddling with his hair.
Ah.
Really, just looking at him made all worldly worries vanish—what was this feeling?
Whenever with him, emotions tangled in chaos.
Shame felt good, humiliation brought happiness...
This must be what friendship feels like.
She was only learning it now.
Then, something rolled out from her sleeve.
“...Ah.”
It was Thousand-Li Pursuit Fragrance.
Silence fell for a moment.
Cheongwol stared blankly at the tiny bottle, letting out a hollow laugh.
“Ha.”
Why had she carried this trash?
Seeing herself earlier, planning to use it on Han Seojin—it was laughable.
Ultimately, wasn’t it declaring distrust in him?
Calling him friend with words, while her heart brimmed with suspicion.
Of course, in the daytime, passion had overwhelmed her.
47 days.
At the end, Dang Soran’s energy dwelling in Han Seojin’s dantian.
All enough to numb reason.
But now was different.
Now, she was connected to Han Seojin by a deeper bond.
Making all worries fade.
Han Seojin had promised to craft a new gift himself.
To accept even her energy.
Said as long as she kept the promise, he wouldn’t push her away anymore.
Their walls had crumbled, bare faces shown, now connected enough without Thousand-Li Pursuit Fragrance.
This was unnecessary now. Right to discard it.
Cheongwol picked up the bottle again.
...Pop!
With a small sound, the cap opened.
The viscous liquid slowly trickled down the bottle’s neck.
“...Ah.”
Her hand had reflexively tilted the bottle, rubbing the fragrance on Han Seojin’s nape.
The moment she realized, she froze in surprise...
“...”
...But soon her eyes rippled with desire.
She knew it was wrong, yet didn’t stop.
Knowing it wrong, her hands instead applied it more meticulously to him.
Her inner energy’s blooming fragrance soaked into him heavily.
Amid the rising damp immorality, Cheongwol swallowed hard.
“...S-Sorry.”
Cheongwol whispered.
“...But...”
...You’re my only friend.
...Friends need to know where each other is.