Lee Sungmin helped Wijihoyeon up so she could stand. As she stood up staggeringly, she almost fell back down because her legs felt so weak. Lee Sungmin quickly reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“…ahahaha!”
Lee Sungmin, who was fixing his hair, glanced at Wijihoyeon, who burst into laughter. She smiled then shook her head.
“The world is a place I didn’t really expect it to be.”
Wijihoyeon said that while trying to give strength to her legs. However, her legs were shaking like a wilting tree on it’s last breath because they could not support her weight.
“When I promised you about today’s meeting ten years ago… I never imagined I would meet you like this. I didn’t expect myself to come here in such a shameful state.”
“I think you’re misunderstanding something, there’s nothing to be ashamed about.”, answered Lee Sungmin.
Wijihoyeon tried once again to stand on, but she gave up because her legs just seem to not function properly. After a short sigh, she looked at Lee Sungmin’s face.
“Really? I’m glad to hear that. Then I’ll have to ask for another shameful favor. It’s hard for me to stand on my own, so can you give me a piggyback?”
Lee Sungmin did not answer. Instead, he inserted the spear into an inter-dimensional pocket and carried Wijihoyeon on his empty back. Wijihoyeon was incredibly light. As she got comfortable, she leaned her chest against his back and he could feel her heartbeat.
Yoo Ho-jeong, who collapsed, didn’t get up. He only saw Lee Sungmin carrying Wijihoyeon with bloodshot eyes and bit his lower lip.
[…Leave Rubes.]
Lee Sungmin’s head heard Yoo Ho-jeong’s voice.
[I’ve already sent a telegram to the Faction saying the Minor Heavenly Demon is weak. I’m pretty sure they know you are not that far from here to Crohn and they’re already organizing a squad.]
[Why are you telling me this?]
[Because you didn’t kill me.]
Yoo Ho-jeong’s face was stained with a terrible light when he answered.
[That’s all I owe you. If there’s a whole bunch of martial artists coming… Remember that I’m going to be acting with them from now on, and now that you’ve defeated me, your risk of getting chased is going to increase even more. If you don’t give up the Minor Heavenly Demon, you’ll be spending your future days in fear.]
[I’m fully aware of that.] Lee Sungmin answered curtly.
But, he was also grateful for Yoo Ho-jeong’s advice. He then turned around.
[Wait…]
It was the moment when Heoju was about to say something but Lee Sungmin stopped walking. Heoju didn’t finish his words as Lee Sungmin kept thinking. He turned his back to face the opposite side of the gate. Yoo Ho-jeong’s eyes were wide open as Lee Sungmin sat down.
“…aren’t you leaving?”
“I think here is safer for now.”
Yoo Ho-jeong’s advice to leave the city was also right. But, there were still martial artists of the Murim factions running around. There were not just one, but two Heavenly Demons in the city. Without the Crazy Heavenly Demon, even if they took the southward route, they would come across a tribe that uses a special kind of gravitational magic.
That wasn’t the only reason Lee Sungmin wanted to stay in Rubes.
“There’s the Samaryunju in Rubes.”
Yoo Ho-jeong’s expression hardened to the point of steel.
If there was the Murim Faction, Conservative faction, and the prestigious tax families in the Political sect, there was also the Samaryunju, The Non-Human Alliance, The Wizards Towers and The Three Demons Family. That’s why the city was so well developed and the public security was stable. This was all because the multiple forces kept each other in check, creating a sense of stability.
The Samarion were hostile to the Murim Faction as it was an organization of the Sama Order. Not everyone who practiced Unorthodox techniques were bloodthirsty murderers, and if one wanted to live in this cruel world of Eria, one needed to know that not all of the Samaryunju were evil. On the contrary, the Samaryunju’s side also eradicated monsters and criminals.
( E/N: When referred to as the Murim Faction it’s the Ortodox practitioners that are a part of this group. I’m assuming the name “Sama Order” or “Samaryunju” are the Unorthodox/Heretical factions that use techniques like the Heavenly Demons and are naturally against one another because each side believes their methods are correct. This is the case in most Korean Martial Artist novels)
In the case of the Minor Heavenly Demon Wijihoyeon, she was practically a celebrity. It was common knowledge that the Sama Order didn’t like to cooperate with the Murim Faction. With a celebrity like Wijihoyeon, it would be possible to seek refuge from the Murim Faction’s practitioners by going to the Order. It was a rather difficult and maybe even foolish decision, but it was better than going on a wild goose chase with the Murim Faction.
[It’s not foolish.] Heoju grumbled.
Heoju also tried to Stop Lee Sungmin, who was about to step out of the gate, and told him to stay in the city.
“You thought I was stupid, didn’t you?”
Lee Sungmin passed by Yoo Ho-jeong after making such a fuss. The crowd of onlookers staggered back as Lee Sungmin approached them while piggybacking Wijihoyeon on his back. Wijihoyeon, who had her arms stretched weakly over Lee Sungmin’s shoulders, poked him and laughed.
“It’s surprising… No, I knew it all along.”
“What?”
“Your back…is wide and… comfortable. I’ve never been on someone’s back like this. Maybe you carried me on your back in the days of when I first came here. I’m not sure though, I think this is the first time for me, haha…”
Wijihoyeon put her head forward. She leaned her chin on Lee Sungmin’s shoulder. Then, she tilted her head slightly and leaned her head on Lee Sungmin’s collarbone.
“…I’m feeling good. I feel safe. Hew hew! It’s kinda weird. Come to think of it, you’ve made me experience a lot of new things. Having friends, teaching martial arts, making a promise which was kept…and this…being carried on someone else’s back.”
Wijihoyeon’s voice was meek and her exhaling breath was shallow and warm. Her breath touched Lee Sungmin’s ears and tickled his eardrums. His heart was pounding, and he was a little worried that Wijihoyeon might hear.
“Meeting you… was one of the best things that happened to me.”
She moved her weak arms little by little to wrap around Lee Sungmin’s neck and she hugged it.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I never thought I’d break my promise… Hoo-hoo! The stroll I had was slower than I initially thought it seems but, that might sound like an excuse. Please don’t blame me too much, as it was hard to get here…”
“What happened to you? Why have you… become this utterly weak?”
“I’ll tell you…”
Wijihoyeon answered in a weak voice.
“…later.”
At the end of the sentence, Wijihoyeon said no more. Lee Sungmin was frightened and turned to see Wijihoyeon. Her face was right under Lee Sungmin’s nose.
Through her weak breathing, Lee Sungmin eased up a little. Upon closer look, Wijihoyeon was simply asleep. Lee Sungmin sighed as he gave strength to his shaky legs.
“What a surprise…”
After looking at the face of Wijihoyeon, who fell asleep quietly, he hastened his steps. The onlookers didn’t try to pursue them. He could see Yoo Ho-jeong raising himself in the distance.
‘Where are the Samaryunju located?’ , he thought to himself.
‘Neville.’
[Yes.]
He could hear Neville’s voice just by mentioning him in his thoughts. Whenever this happened, Lee Sungmin questioned the identity of Erebrisa. The convenience of having the agents on call wherever and whenever he needed was certainly great, but the ambiguity about their personal information as a broker of the guild was unsettling, to say the least.
‘I need the current location of Crazy Heavenly Demon and Rubia. And also the geographical information of Rubes.’
Rather than asking for the location of the Samaryunju, Lee Sungmin wanted the geographical information of the entire city. Acquiring geographic information without asking for specific locations of things would be engraved into his memory better than asking for the overall location.
Before long, Neville appeared in Lee Sungmin’s shadow. He handed over the crystal ball used to convey information to Lee Sungmin.
The Samarion was located in the central area of Rubes. It was quite far from the Murim branch, and was also coincidentally near the Mercenary Guild. Rubia and Crazy Heavenly Demon were on the outskirts of the central district riding on one of the several railway trains.
‘ Please tell them to come meet me at the branch of the Samaryunju.’
[Okay.]
After requesting the things he needed from Neville, Lee Sungmin began to move again. He couldn’t get on the train because he disregarded the guards’ words earlier. But, he didn’t have the leisure at the time.
Lee Sungmin started running along the railroad as he did before. The whistle and the cry of the guards were heard once more, but he did not stop. He thought it would be better to first see what the stance the Samarion were taking on this.
[This bitch…she has a curse inside her.]
Heoju murmured while he was running along the railway. Lee Sungmin’s body flinched at the remark.
‘A curse?’
[Yes. It’s a very strange form of curse. It’s not magic either it seems. It’s…resembling a curse used by southern sorcerers. It’s a very cruel one.]
Heoju clicked his tongue.
[It’s twisting the blood vessels and obstructing the blood flow. That’s not the only thing. It’s also shaking the body from the ground up. No matter how good a master she is, she can’t move properly now that she has such a curse in her body. The internal energy can’t properly be collected and the twisted blood vessels continue to cause pain, so she won’t be able to use her physical strength properly.]
He thought back to when Wijihoyeon was sitting down earlier, she had weak limbs and a hoarse voice. He bit his lower lip as he realized it now.
‘How do we remove the curse?’
[A curse is different from magic. Certain magic can be overpowered with higher tiered magic, but sorcery is different. If it’s a curse of this kind, it’s impossible to cure it unless you kill the one who cursed her.]
Seeing Wijihoyeon cursed and incredibly weak, agitated Lee Sungmin. He had met all kinds of eccentric people up until this point, and met several strong warriors and wizards whom he would never have had the chance to be associated with in his previous life.
With the exception of century-old monsters like Geniella andJuwon, Wijihoyeon was the strongest ‘human’ Lee Sungmin had ever met. It was reasonable that he was confused as to who did this and felt agitated.
He slowed down his pace to jump over the railing and quickly picked it back up again. Before long, he arrived at a place that he had been looking for from the information given to him by Neville.
The building of the Samaryunju was a huge mansion. In front of the entrance, stood two ferocious-looking giants as guards. Lee Sungmin approached them, while listening to the soft breath of Wijihoyeon, who fell asleep on his back.
“Ghost Gun?”
Lee Sungmin’s eyebrows flinched at the remark.
“Is the one on your back the Minor Heavenly demon?”
The guard, who was looking at Lee Sungmin’s face, murmured while glancing at the sleeping Wijihoyeon. Then he turned away without waiting for a response from Lee Sungmin.
“Come in, the branch manager is waiting.”
The two guards opened the door for him and Lee Sungmin was surprised to know they were already waiting for him.
[Maybe it’s a trap.]
Warned Heoju.
“It’s not a trap.”, the guard spoke first as if he had understood his thoughts.
Lee Sungmin hesitated for a moment before entering the door. At the entrance, stood a graceful middle-aged woman. She bowed deeply to Lee Sungmin.
“My name is Bo-hye, and I’m the head maid of this branch. Please come this way. The branch manager is in the garden towards the back. On a fine day like this, I hope you’ll be alright with being outside.”, she said with a smile.
Behind the mansion was a fairly large artificial pond, and above it was an octagonal pavilion connected with a bridge.
“The branch manager is over there.”
Bo-hye stopped walking and Lee Sungmin slowly approached the pond. He could see a man sitting in the octagonal pavilion. He smiled at Lee Sungmin, who stopped in front of the bridge.
“Ah, please come this way.”, said the man.
The man looked about the same age as Bo-hye and Lee Sungmin realized his strength immediately. He wasn’t quite at the pinnacle of the Transcendence Realm, but he looked very strong as a master. Lee Sungmin slowly crossed his arms.
“Did you know I was coming here?”
“There was a stir within the political factions of Rubes. I’ve just heard rumors that the Ghost Gun had rescued the Minor Heavenly Demon from Ironclad and entered the deep part of the city for some reason instead of leaving the city.”
“Is that considered as an answer to the question of knowing I was coming here?”
“I only expected it to be so. By overpowering the Ironclad and saving the Minor Heavenly Demon, it implies that Ghost Gun will be fighting the Murim Faction. As for not leaving the city… Perhaps he would be trying to ask for help from the Samaryunju. It’s not much of a deduction to be made.”, the man laughed while saying so.
“Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Guan Hu, and I am the head of the Rubes branch of the Samarion.”
Guan Hu raised himself to take the stage.