She is a disciple of Yu Gang Sabaek, who is virtually confirmed as the next Martial Arts Pavilion Lord. Among the martial siblings, she particularly has a high understanding of Hwasan’s martial arts, so over time, she can be seen as the one who will actually succeed Yu Gang Sabaek and become the next generation’s Martial Arts Pavilion Lord.

As such, I also received a lot of help from the senior sister when learning the Jade Maiden Sword.

No matter how much the master calls it Hwasan’s number one sword, the Jade Maiden Sword is fundamentally a martial art passed down to female disciples, so there are inevitably some limitations when a master of a different gender teaches it.

It was the senior sister who filled in many of those lacking areas.

“What were you doing?”

The senior sister who came close asked in a casual tone.

Ha Hyun generally got along well enough with other senior brothers and sisters, but when I was next to her like now, she wouldn’t go out of her way to speak. It was the same this time, so I answered.

“I was reviewing the sparring we just did.”

“Oh? Did I interrupt at an important time?”

“No. It was all finished.”

“That’s good then.”

She smiled gently, looked back and forth between me and Ha Hyun, then continued speaking.

“The Sect Leader has called for you two. It seems you should go now?”

“The Sect Leader?”

“Yes, it seems he has something to say.”

I tilted my head. Unless something particularly big happened… for example, like that curse of the demonic cult I experienced last time… usually a regular second-generation disciple and the Sect Leader don’t often meet face to face.

I couldn’t think of any reason no matter how much I pondered.

“I understand.”

Well, we should go since he called.

Since we had just been swinging wooden swords until now, neither I nor Ha Hyun looked very presentable, so we dusted ourselves off and tidied our disheveled clothes before heading side by side to the Sect Leader’s quarters.

Although the sect grounds are large, it didn’t take long to reach the Sect Leader’s quarters. Upon reaching the door, Ha Hyun and I briefly looked at each other before announcing our arrival.

“Sect Leader, Ha Heun and Ha Hyun are here.”

“Come in.”

The reply came immediately. As soon as the door opened, a subtle tea fragrance wafted out.

Suddenly I was reminded of the past. It must be because it smelled like this when I came to the Sect Leader’s quarters a few years ago to talk about the demonic cult.

Ha Hyun, who entered first, turned back and held the door. As we entered side by side, the Sect Leader smiled and gestured.

“Greetings to the Sect Leader.”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting. No need for further greetings, both of you sit down first.”

As if he had really been waiting, he immediately poured a cup of tea for each of us and pushed them forward as soon as we sat down.

“Thank you.”

“Greetings are done. I didn’t call you here to reprimand you for anything, so let’s talk leisurely. I happened to get some good tea leaves. Doesn’t it smell nice?”

The Sect Leader, smiling gently, had the same ordinary and kindly grandfatherly face as always.

He’s someone who actually behaves according to that good impression to people within the sect.

Knowing this fact, I didn’t come with a particularly tense mind to begin with, but I felt like even the tension that wasn’t there was dissipating. As he said to talk leisurely, he brought up several trivial topics in succession.

How the tea aroma was, if there was anything not going well in training, if there had been any hardships lately…

As such conversations continued, the teacups became empty at some point.

After refilling the empty teacups, the Sect Leader fell silent for a moment, seeming to choose his words. During that time, I saw his eyes alternately gaze at me and Ha Hyun as if confirming something.

It seemed he was now about to bring up the real reason he called me and Ha Hyun, having exchanged enough light conversation.

“As I recall…”

He opened his mouth again.

“Ha Hyun has come of age this year. Ha Heun has also reached the age of majority. I clearly remember both of your faces when you were even younger children… how swiftly time flows.”

The Sect Leader’s gaze lingered on me a little longer as he said this. Somehow I felt I knew the reason.

Unlike Ha Hyun, who had already grown considerably since entering the sect though her build was somewhat set even then, I was smaller and thinner than average when I first entered.

It’s actually natural, since ‘Ha Heun’ was a child subtly rejected by the family despite being a direct descendant.

Because of that, before I grew tall like now, it seemed a bit strange for Ha Hyun to call me senior sister to the point where the Great Master would make a worried face whenever he saw me.

‘Like someone who made a failed investment…’

Now that I’ve grown taller than average, perhaps it can be said that the Great Master’s investment has succeeded after enduring.

Anyway, the Sect Leader, who had been looking at me with a somewhat moved expression, though not as much as the Great Master, soon smiled gently and spoke again.

“Although you’re both second-generation disciples, neither of you have been outside Hwayeom County since entering the sect. But your senior brothers and sisters quite often travel far to see the martial world, don’t they?”

At that question, my eyes widened. I couldn’t help it.

Wait a moment, if this is the main point…

“You’ve both reached an age where you can be treated as adults in society. Moreover, I hear you’ve both reached the pinnacle realm, so I think there’s no need to keep you tied to Hwasan any longer on the grounds of being young.”

Then he handed over a letter that seemed to have been placed beside him in advance.

“Read it.”

I reflexively took the letter that was pushed right in front of me.

‘…Are we going out?’

Outside of Hwasan?

I can’t help but hesitate. I opened my eyes in the 12-year-old body of ‘Ha Heun’ after entering Hwasan, and since then I’ve never been outside Hwayeom County.

In fact, I can count on both hands the number of times I’ve even gone down to Hwayeom County. Even those few outings, I never went out unless the master, Ha Hyun, or the senior sisters went together.

The place where ‘Ha Heun’ encountered the curse was on the streets of Hwayeom County, and I even saw that scene directly in the process of breaking the curse on this body, so I just couldn’t shake off the uneasiness.

‘And there’s still no proper information found about the demonic cult.’

In fact, right after I broke the curse 5 years ago, the Sect Leader, upon hearing explanations from the Great Master and the Scripture Pavilion Lord, sent another letter to the Martial Alliance in the name of Hwasan Sect requesting an investigation into the extermination of the Baek clan.

The Martial Alliance didn’t ignore that request and resumed the investigation that had been temporarily suspended.

However, it was said that there was a backlash from the Kunlun Sect, which is closest to Xinjiang. Although it’s been 100 years since the demonic cult disappeared, the problem was that their base still exists in Xinjiang.

It’s already their daily life to be wary because of the close distance, so it was a tearful protest asking please not to overly provoke the demonic cult…

‘To begin with, even I, the only survivor of the Baek clan, didn’t know if there were any elements that could link the family to the demonic cult.’

Moreover, the Sect Leader, despite being the one who requested the investigation, was worried that I, who had gone through hardships, might be more shocked, so he even refused the dispatch of Martial Alliance members who aimed to investigate me, the only survivor, to find clues.

‘Instead, the master did go…’

Even so, there was no way the investigation would be done properly.

For these various reasons, it was rather more comfortable not to go out. If I needed anything, I could ask Ha Hyun or the senior sisters when they went out, so there was nothing particularly inconvenient.

‘But it’s not like I can live without ever going out for the rest of my life…’

No, still.

At the very least, I wanted to keep living like that for this year.

‘My 8 months.’

It feels like encountering a big event in an unprepared state. Because of that, even though I was holding the letter in my hand, I didn’t feel like opening it.

After hesitating for a moment, I tried to give Ha Hyun the chance to read first. But before I could do that, Ha Hyun leaned towards me. Our shoulders brushed slightly, and he murmured in a casual tone.

“Let’s look together.”

I was at a loss for words. His eyes rolled slightly as if wondering why I didn’t open the letter right away.

Well, he was unexpectedly okay with closing the distance like this.

‘Despite not looking like it.’

In the end, I slowly unfolded the letter.

As expected of a letter to the Sect Leader, sentences full of courtesy followed one after another. Since it had come to this anyway, I put aside my reluctant feelings for now and calmly checked the contents of the letter without hurrying.

To summarize, it was this kind of story:

‘The name of the person who sent the letter is Seong Hong-min. The current head of Seongchang Trading Company. His children are falling ill one after another with a mysterious disease. He’s tried famous medicines and called for doctors, but there’s no improvement. The most recent doctor he visited had some connection to the martial world, and after examining them, suggested trying a different approach rather than just medical treatment…’

When the story reaches this point, ordinary common people usually think, ‘A different approach? Could it be the work of ghosts or monsters?’

‘It’s that kind of era.’

But the person who wrote this letter knew that most unexplained misfortunes actually stem from evil curses. He says he had been suspecting it little by little even before the doctor suggested it.

He even accurately grasped the fact that Hwasan’s Scripture Pavilion sometimes receives requests to deal with such matters. It’s not just vaguely asking to perform an exorcism because ghosts appeared.

The letter ended with a plea ‘to please not turn a blind eye and look into it, as he is asking Hwasan for help because he cannot overcome the wicked curse’.

After reading it all the way through, I looked back at the Sect Leader, and he began explaining in a calm tone as he retrieved the letter.

“The one who wrote that letter is the head of Seongchang Trading Company.”

“Seongchang Trading Company…”

Somehow it sounds familiar. As I tilted my head, the Sect Leader smiled gently.

“It’s the trading company that deals in medicinal herbs with Hwasan. Since your Great Master is the Medical Pavilion Lord, perhaps you’ve heard of it.”

Ah, so that’s why.