Childhood Friend of the Zenith
chapter-234

“What the hell is up with this guy…?”

Putting aside the fact that this was the first time I had seen him, and yet this fucker faints as soon as he sees my face?

“Oy, what's with this guy?”

Gu Jeolyub responded cautiously to my question.

“…This is the martial artist I mentioned earlier, the one who was left alone in the plains.”

I furrowed my brow in disbelief.

Another one? This was the third one just from this month alone.

Gu Jeolyub, that brat, had brought three whole martial artists from the Murim Alliance while going out on reconnaissance.

I was simply left speechless at his actions.

“If you're going to keep picking stuff up, why don't you pick up some money instead of people?”

“…”

“The brat became even weirder ever since that title was given to him.”

What was it? The Sword of Heroic Flame? The Sword of Flaming Hero? Ah who cares, all that matters was that he was given a title.

The title meant that he was some kind of hero that shot flames from his sword or whatever. What kind of title was that? Just hearing it gave me the creeps.

But then, he even likes it. What the fuck is wrong with him?

Considering the smile on his face, Gu Jeolyub seemed to be satisfied with that title?

It seemed like he didn't grasp the weight of my words, seeing that Gu Jeolyub talked back to me.

“…But I can't just leave someone who's in danger.”

“Yes, that's why I told you to think first before bringing them.”

“I wasn't in a situation where I-”

“If you weren't in a situation to think, then you shouldn't have brought him at all.”

“…”

Gu Jeolyub frowned, clearly not pleased with my response.

It was understandable; saving someone in danger was a good thing to do.

Sure, from other peoples' perspective, it definitely may seem like Gu Jeolyub did a good thing.

“Fucking hell, hey. Have you already forgotten about the time when you accidentally brought a spy from the Murim Alliance last time?”

Yet, from my perspective it wasn't so simple.

“…”

“Hey.”

“…Yessir.”

“I told you, it's good that you want to help others, but if you can't take responsibility for your actions, then just stay in your lane.”

Gu Jeolyub was a person with a kind heart.

He had said himself that he dreamed of one day becoming a hero that helped others.

However, there were only so many instances one could excuse.

“You're actually hella weak. Haven't I told you already? If a problem pops up here, you will die without being able to do anything, you know?”

“…Ugh.”

My words seem to have struck a nerve, seeing as how Gu Jeolyub faltered for an instant.

“If you met him in the plains, you could've just saved him and left. Why did you even bring him all the way here?”

“He… had injuries, so…”

“If you brought him because of injuries, did you expect us to heal him? Someone might actually think that we have an apothecary here.”

“That's…”

“Aren't you the same guy who let his guard down during a hunt and ended up bedridden for weeks after getting bitten by a Blue-Grade Snake Demon? So who's worrying about whom right now? Huh?”

“…Ugh…”

It was good and all that he dreamed of helping others and I understood his aspiration to become a hero, but the problem remained; he couldn't clean up after himself.

Watching Gu Jeolyub falter, I checked on the guy who was ever so comfortably lying on the ground.

Is he a low-ranking swordsman from the Murim Alliance?

Judging by his outfit and appearance, that seemed to be the case.

“Hmm…?”

As I examined his face, a flicker of recognition crossed my mind.

For some reason, it felt like I had seen him before.

“Who was he again?”

It was difficult to say it was someone I knew, though; I couldn't quite recall anything about him, my mind practically a blur.

This meant that even if I met him before, he wasn't all that important.

“Who did you say this bastard was?”

“Bi… Bi… It was Bi something, I think?”

“Hey, Sword of Heroic Flame. You're telling me you can't even remember information about him?”

“Ah…!”

“What a great job you are doing. Do you seriously want to die?”

I stretched my body as it felt tight due to the fact that I just finished dealing with all these Demons.

Gu Jeolyub flinched at my words, taking a step back.

“…Young Master, why are you stretching all of a sudden?”

“Well, judging by your expression, you already know the reason, don't you?”

“No, I do not.”

Although he said that, I noticed the subtle signs of Qi gathering in Gu Jeolyub's legs.

Hehhh? Look at this fucker now?

“You little?”

Was he thinking about running away?

Ah, you've grown up so much. My little Jeolyub.

Swoosh.

Before he could make his move, I wrapped my body in a layer of heat and took a step towards him.

Noticing Gu Jeolyub was about to make a move, I tried to match my speed with him.

Grip.

But before I could do so, a cold hand gripped onto my wrist.

I turned around to see Moyong Hi-ah, her sky-blue eyes fixed on me.

“…The food will get cold, Young Master.”

I thought about shaking off her grip, but the chill seeping into my skin made me reconsider. With a click of my tongue, I turned around.

“I'll be there once I've cleaned up this mess. So, you go ahead.”

“How long will it take?”

“It won't take long.”

Moyong Hi-ah nodded and walked back to where she had come. Gu Jeolyub, who had seemingly managed to read the room, trailed behind her.

“Hey.”

“Yes…?”

“You forgot to take that with you.”

Gu Jeolyub looked back in surprise, as if he had truly forgotten, picked up the man of Murim Alliance, and followed behind Moyong Hi-ah.

That idiot seemed to be improving in terms of martial arts, but he seemed to be getting dumber at the same time.

“Did he get hurt in the head or something…?”

Hmm…

“…”

Wait, did I hit him on the head too much?

I couldn't exactly deny it as I recalled how I spent the past year with Gu Jeolyub.

“…Let's just finish this already and go eat.”

After sending away Moyong Hi-ah, Gu Jeolyub, and that guy I didn't know the name of, I took a look at the pile of Demon corpses that was behind me.

If I left it like this, then Demons hiding from far away or Demons that tore through dimensions could come after sniffing the smell of blood, so I had to clean this up.

Crack.

Cracking my knuckles, I prepared myself.

As I did so, the once-clear sky instantly darkened.

The surrounding air grew heavy with darkness, obscuring the Toxic Qi mixed in the air.

Flinch-!

Activating my Demonic Absorption Arts, I felt the Qi inside my Dantian stir.

It's all too clear movement felt as if they were stretching.

The world around me seemed to be enveloped in darkness.

It wasn't actually the sky that had become dark.

It was my perception of the world that had changed.

Staring at the towering mound of Demon corpses, I whispered softly.

“It's food. Eat it.”

And, as if in response, a low growl echoed through the air.

[Grrrr…]

It signaled the hunger of a beast.

****************

After finishing the cleanup and returning to my tent, I saw that several people had already gathered here.

Muyeon who had gone out earlier to stand guard, Gu Jeolyub, who was responsible for bringing in the man, the current Vice Captain of the Fifth Army and a few others were seated around the table.

“I thought we were supposed to eat first. Why are you all gathered here?”

Upon my arrival, everyone stood up and greeted me with respect.

I quickly gestured for them to sit back down.

I couldn't help but wonder why they went through the trouble of doing such a thing.

The Vice Captain stood up and responded to my question.

“We thought that it'd be right for us to first deal with work.”

“That?”

I pointed towards the guy that was lying down in the corner after listening to what the Vice Captain had to say.

“Why? Is there something wrong again?”

“…We checked up on him thus far, but thankfully, it doesn't seem like it's the same as last time.”

Once again, I heard those words. The same as last time'.

Hearing that, Gu Jeolyub, who was crouching down, flinched and let out a few fake coughs.

I couldn't blame him; the memories must have been uncomfortable.

“Where is Sister?”

“It seems like the Captain had gone out to check on the gate.”

I nodded in response to the Vice Captain.

Seems like another one opened.

It felt like the number of Gate of Demons opening had increased recently.

I could tell for certain that the numbers were noticeably higher than before.

“What should we do about him?”

I gave a slight nod to the Vice Captain's question.

The Captain, Gu Huibi, wasn't present right now, so the right to command was given to me.

How ironic.

“Why are you bothering to ask every little thing? I told you to do whatever you want.”

“How could I possibly do that? This is an order that was given, not by the Captain, but the Lord of the clan… so I couldn't dare to do such a thing.”

“Tsk…”

This was all because I stepped forward to deal with the problem that the Fifth Army faced half a year ago.

I only did so because it looked like they would all be killed if I left them like that, but thanks to that, I climbed all the way up to this hassle of a position.

“…Give the usual signal to the Murim Alliance. Check how things are outside and if there isn't anything wrong, just toss him outside of the forest. They'll probably take care of it from there”

“If they say that they won't be sending people to the entrance of the plains like last time, then what should we do?”

“They should take care of it amongst themselves. That isn't an extent we need to concern ourselves with.”

“Understood.”

“And ask that guy about the rest.”

“Pardon?”

When I pointed towards that Bi something with my chin, the Vice Captain looked at me strangely.

Was he wondering how he could ask questions to a sleeping man?

If that was his concern, there was no need.

“He already woke up a while ago.”

True to my words, I saw the bastard, who was pretending to be asleep, flinch after hearing my words.

“…Ah… Ahhh what a good sleep that was…”

Was it because he knew that all eyes were on him? The way he got up seemed rather laughable.

I could tell at first glance that he's a bit lacking in the head.

How did Jeolyub pick up a bastard just like himself?

Just watching him made my head ache.

“Ha… Haha…! Nice to meet you all.”

After seeing him greet us awkwardly, I let out a deep sigh and stood up.

“You got anything more to tell me?”

“Ah… About the Captain…”

“I was already planning on seeing her, so you don't need to tell me that.”

“Understood. Have a good rest.”

He seemed to be asking me to go meet Gu Huibi after she returned from her trip.

I wondered if there really was a need for me to go pick her up, but it wasn't like I didn't plan on doing so anyway.

I'm not necessarily going to go see Gu Huibi.

But it was something similar to it, so I guess you could call it that.

After telling them to deal with the rest, I left the tent and started making my way elsewhere.

I started to see steam from far away as I walked further.

“Young Master.”

When I arrived, Hongwa came to me with quick strides and welcomed me.

“Why did you make so much?”

“…Uh, Lady Moyong… told me that the Young Master worked a lot.”

Did Moyong Hi-ah tell her to do this?

Even so, why did she make her prepare so much food at lunchtime?

“It must've been hard on everyone to make this much.”

“N-Not at all. Most of this was prepared from the Moyong Clan's side.”

“Again?”

I scoffed upon hearing Hongwa's words.

They should just focus on feeding themselves. It really made me wonder why they kept making food for us as well.

Right as I started to question that, Moyong Hi-ah came from behind Hongwa and spoke.

“We might as well prepare your clans as well while we prepare ours. Please accept it kindly.”

“The problem lies in the fact that it's not just once or twice that you did this.”

“You worked hard today.”

It's not just today that I work hard though.

I thought about speaking further, but I just let this pass since I did feel thankful that they prepared food for us as well.

Not only did this help Gu Clan's Swordsmen, but it also loosened work for the servants.

One thing bothered me a little though.

There is no way that she did this without good reasoning.

Knowing Moyong Hi-ah's personality, she wasn't the type of person to proceed with this kind of act without any compensation.

Moreover, she pretended to be warm and spoke softly to people, and she even showed herself working hard despite being a blood relative of a noble clan. Because of all of this, I started to hear good things about Moyong Hi-ah especially from those of lower positions.

…It does seem rather intentional.

In my eyes, it seemed like she had a lot of reasons for her to do all this, but it ultimately seemed like she was doing good, so I tried my best to let it be.

“Oh, right, we also prepared dumplings.”

“…Where?”

It seemed like my excitement was too obvious because Moyong Hi-ah giggled after checking my reaction.

Over the past year, Moyong Hi-ah had started to smile a little more.

It wasn't as if she didn't smile before, but instead of the fake mask that she used to put on, there were lots of times where she smiled naturally.

And honestly, it wasn't all that bad to see.

I stared at Moyong Hi-ah's smiling face.

“Young Master Gu.”

“Yeah.”

“If it's not too much trouble… Do you have some time after the meal?”

But Moyong Hi-ah asked me with a somewhat creepy tone, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

What… was with that sticky voice of hers?

Regardless, since she asked a question, I answered after eating a dumpling.

“I have to go meet someone later.”

“Huh?”

“It seems like my sister is on duty today.”

Did she not like my response? Moyong Hi-ah's expression became colder compared to before.

“…Young Master Gu.”

Her voice, too, sounded as chilly as the first time we met.

“Hmm?”

“Are you going out to meet the Sword Phoenix. Or are you going out to pick up the Sword Dancer?”

“Why ask such an obvious question?”

It was such an obvious question that it felt ridiculous to answer.

“What reason do I have to go greet the representative maniac of my household? It's obvious—Hey, where are you going?”

“He seriously can't read the room. That idiot.”

“Hey! At least leave the dumplings!”

“Go and get them yourself!”

Moyong Hi-ah disappeared angrily, taking the dish full of dumplings with her.

…I hadn't finished eating them yet...

With a desolate expression, I watched the dumplings vanish, gulping down the last one in my hand.

Because that was the last bite, I was so very disappointed.