“I get it now. Rushing the main force out like that would strain your eyes. He must’ve done that to escape. Not only was he impersonating, but he also took an odd interest in you. And you just had to run into him!”

I stared blankly at Yuseong Sahback. Confusion had just been replaced by bafflement on my complicated emotions.

‘…Well, aside from the misunderstanding, isn’t everything he said correct?’

Caught in momentary disarray, I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, not knowing what to say. That’s when Yubaek Sahback, who had been silent till now, chimed in.

“Right, just like Yuseong said. So that’s what happened. Got it. Let the adults handle the rest. You should really go rest. Priest, you go ahead. I’ll take Ha Hyun with me.”

“Understood.”

Wait, hold on.

I was the only one startled by the sudden resolution. Yuseong Sahback replied as if it was completely natural, patted my back a few times, and left first. Yubaek Sahback then helped me stand up as if I were a patient who couldn’t see.

Standing up somewhat involuntarily, I fumbled my words.

“Sahback, I’m fine…”

“Your eyes are delicate. Don’t open them, just keep them closed. Your master might come to harass me every day if anything goes wrong.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

In the end, I returned to the lodging with my eyes closed, alongside Sahback.

I felt it was unnecessary to go to such lengths, but giving voice to that feeling would likely have resulted in hearing something like, ‘I’m the council member here, not you.’ So I gave up. Once we arrived at the lodging, Sahback left again for further questioning, as he had said he would.

Left alone, I finally regained the composure to go over the recent events.

‘Sahback misunderstood that I was disheartened because I let that sorcerer get away… He speculated on the situation, and he wasn’t wrong…’

So, in essence, I had said all there was to say without even lying.

“Haah.”

I felt a bit hollow. I let out a small sigh and sat down, curling up.

‘It’s a good thing in a way.’

To reveal that the sorcerer was after me, I’d have to explain why. That would entail mentioning the event from five years ago. But the lord had previously cautioned against expanding the circle of those in the know.

And that wasn’t the only problem.

‘If I break that rule and explain, the next question would be how he knew I was here in the first place.’

That’s the biggest issue. The ‘how’ he knew.
“Talking about a spy in Volcano even by mistake should not be done here.”

As soon as I realized it, I wondered who in the Volcano could be a spy. The Four Hundred would be no exception. They had been living in Volcano longer than I had, so they were bound to react even more seriously.

In front of a problem that couldn’t be confirmed immediately, if a particular person becomes a suspect, reality turns into hell from that moment on.

“Neither should speak for now.”

Upon rethinking, this was the best course of action for the present.

Before I could say anything, the Four Hundred had quickly assessed the situation, beginning with a slight misunderstanding, as if it was almost a lie that things turned out well for now.

But I still wasn’t in a good mood.

The two factors that I had kept my mouth shut about without correcting the Four Hundred’s misunderstanding were both connected to my security. In a way, I couldn’t completely deny the fact that I kept my mouth shut for my own protection.

And amidst all this, I couldn’t let go of the thought that innocent people might have been harmed because of me….

“You hardly ever speak.”

“Yes, I don’t know what to do. The only thing confirmed is that they belong to the Black Celestial Circle…”

Late at night, Yoo Sung and Dan Joo, who had temporarily moved to the room next to where the prisoner was confined, sat side by side in chairs with faces full of trouble.

The interrogation had been going on for already two days. Neither the commoners who had been merchants for generations nor the Taoist sages who had lived in the high mountains studying the Way could get a proper answer from the prisoner.

Baek Yeo Heun had told them that the identity of the ‘shaman’ was a problem, so they couldn’t even bring in an official. Ultimately, they had to dig out information just by themselves, and since it was everyone’s first time dealing with such a thing, progress was extremely slow.

Yoo Sung sighed lightly.