Ha Hyun still vividly remembered the complicated emotions he felt while looking at her composed face as she casually spoke of his misfortune. He even felt awkward for having been so calculating.

Now, Ha Hyun roughly guessed why Ha Hyun had acted that way when they first met.

Ha Hyun was simply shy, or flustered, or maybe both… That must have been it.

Otherwise, there was no reason to look out for him, who was falling behind throughout the entrance exam.

From their first meeting to all subsequent interactions, objectively speaking, there was no reason for Ha Hyun to be pleased with Ha Hyun. It would have been normal for her to feel uncomfortable. Yet, the 13-year-old, two years younger than him, persevered in looking out for herself.

While staring at Ha Hyun, who was trying to be cautious on his own, as if finding it strange.

“If there hadn’t been someone to help, I wouldn’t have been able to walk into the family grounds on my own two feet.”

Ha Hyun objectively evaluated himself. It was the truth.

It was the second time he had received such selfless kindness from another.

When he passed through the gate under the signboard of the family, with a sky colored in purple haze as the backdrop, when he saw Ha Hyun, who was embraced by the master, and the master smiling down at such a disciple, and when he saw Jang Moon In smiling happily beside them.

And when their gaze turned to Ha Hyun, to him…

At that moment, while looking at the entire scene before him, Ha Hyun had this thought.

“Now, I too can be a part of that landscape.”

Not in a shadow where not even moonlight enters, but in a place where the sun shines and the sunset glows.

And that was true.

He had cast aside his former name and had become Ha Hyun.

Thus, he could become a disciple of Hwasan’s Greatest Sword, a student under Ha Hyun, and a swordsman of Hwasan.

Due to the age difference with other disciples in the same generation, and the different pace in learning swordsmanship, naturally, Ha Hyun spent a lot of time with Ha Hyun.

It was only natural that they became familiar and got to know each other well as they practiced their swords in the same training ground, received guidance from the same master, and studied together.
Ha Hyun realized that Baek Yeo Heun’s personality couldn’t be entirely defined by just a single word.

She wasn’t merely cold, nor was she solely kind, doling out generosity to anyone without any strings attached.

Though she spoke like an adult beyond her years, she didn’t act mature in every aspect.

Even if they lived in a harsh rocky terrain lacking any other forms of entertainment, she had a dedication to practicing her swordsmanship. She had a talent that anyone could clap for, yet she showed a peculiar skepticism toward her own ability and enjoyed watching others display their sword skills.

Adding all these together, even after two years since they first met, she still managed to perplex him in various ways…

But that was his impression of her, nonetheless.

Whether her disposition or mood was one way or another, that fact was clearly one of the unchangeable constants.

And Baek Yeo Heun was the first person to extend a hand to Ha Hyun.

Even before their master Yu Un did.

Ha Hyun knew that his master didn’t originally bring him to the mountain with the intent of taking him as a disciple.

‘While he’s a Taoist and must have a compassionate side, he wouldn’t have neglected me completely.’

But that didn’t mean he had planned to take responsibility for him from the get-go.

He only accepted the directive to make him a disciple just before he took the entrance test, and he was well aware of this.

He had no complaints about that fact. It was only natural.

Just taking him to the mountain after a random plea on the street was a life-saving grace. Besides, his master had never been negligent since they established their master-disciple relationship. Ha Hyun greatly respected his master for that.

‘However.’

At the time of the test, starting from the foot of the mountain,

Before anyone else on the mountain, as the very first…

Baek Yeo Heun was the person who acknowledged that he would become a part of the mountain community, that he was already her disciple.

She had given him the confidence that a place would be made for him, not as a tool but as a complete individual. It was clearly Baek Yeo Heun.

‘So, therefore.’

Deep down, he might have thought of Baek Yeo Heun as the most significant person in the mountain community.

Otherwise, his heart wouldn’t have sunk to his feet at the sight of her coughing up blood.

Memories he didn’t want to recall filled his mind, causing Ha Hyun to slightly furrow his brows.