“Um, excuse me.”

Paeng Un Il looked at me and Nam Gung Seo Han alternately in bewilderment.

Seeing him even slightly tensing his body, it seemed he was determined to intervene somehow if a fight broke out, though he didn’t know why we suddenly started arguing and retaliating.

However, the situation ended unexpectedly anticlimactically.

“…That can’t be. It became an opportunity to greatly broaden my perspective.”

Nam Gung Seo Han, who had been silent for a while, took a step back first.

If he was going to back down so easily, I don’t know why he started it in the first place. But since his attitude indicated he wouldn’t pick any more fights, I was relieved too. I didn’t feel like responding anymore anyway. Nam Gung Seo Han let out a light sigh and continued.

“It seems my nerves are on edge from the many duels today, so I should be going now. I hope you all have a pleasant evening.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he really got up from his seat.

The other Namgung Family martial artists who had come together looked puzzled as the young master suddenly stood up and left the tavern after sitting for only a short while, but they followed him out.

Though they occasionally glanced at this table where the young master had been sitting, no one tried to explain the situation, so before long, all the Namgung Family people had disappeared from the tavern.

Some time after that, Tang Ling Hwa suddenly started clapping.

“The sect leader won. That was impressive.”

“…Not at all.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, and Tang Ling Hwa burst out laughing in amusement. Lowering her hands from clapping, she tilted her head and continued.

“But it’s a bit unexpected.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, I don’t mean that the sect leader is strange…”

Tang Ling Hwa pointed at the tavern door.

“It’s just that young master wasn’t originally the type to pick fights anywhere. Though he was a bit arrogant like young masters tend to be. I don’t know why he’s acting like this. Did his personality become more petty while I wasn’t looking?”

“Elder sister Ling Hwa.”

“I’m not saying anything wrong.”

Looking at Paeng Un Il trying to dissuade her and Tang Ling Hwa raising an eyebrow, I recalled meeting Nam Gung Seo Han a few days ago. Certainly, until he picked up my dropped item and handed it to me, he had an ordinarily indifferent and arrogant look.

I had thought his competitiveness had strangely warped, but I didn’t bother explaining.

‘…He’ll manage his own reputation.’

Meanwhile, the Cheongang Sect Leader, who truly seemed not to have understood the underlying conversation, awkwardly asked Paeng Un Il and Tang Ling Hwa what they were talking about.

As I blankly watched the flustered Paeng Un Il try to smooth things over with an awkward smile, Ha Hyeon spoke to me telepathically.

[Elder. Are you alright?] [There’s nothing to not be alright about.] [You did well. I was worried you might be concerned.]

When I turned to look, his expression had already become much calmer.

I was about to tell him he didn’t need to get involved in situations like this, and to manage his expressions better to avoid making unnecessary enemies, but soon stopped. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be of much use to say it. In the end, I just gave a neutral response.

[Don’t worry yourself.]

On the other side, the two sect members were still making excuses to the one Taoist master. Unlike me and Ha Hyeon, they seemed to really regard Cheongang as an innocent Taoist who grew up sheltered in the mountains and knew nothing of worldly matters, so they were trying their best to explain things in a good light.

As I half-watched this like a spectator, a sudden thought occurred to me.

‘In the seven years since I entered the sect, I’ve only been picked on twice…’

Yet in the few days since arriving at Murim Alliance, I’ve been picked on the same number of times as in those seven years.

Moreover, three out of the total four times happened outside Hwasan.

‘It was peaceful inside the sect.’

Even that one time I was picked on was resolved amicably, unlike the other three.

A kind of safe zone, you could say. It wasn’t a surprising realization.

[This is the timeline separator]

Late evening, or early night.

Nam Gung Seo Han recalled what had happened just two hours ago.

“Hah…”

He couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. He knew that no one present could deny that he was the one who had picked the fight first.

Of course, that “everyone” included Nam Gung Seo Han himself.

That’s why he left his seat rather than become more unsightly after the provocation was returned.

In truth, he hadn’t intended to pick a fight like that from the start. Though no one would acknowledge it now that the situation had already unfolded, as Nam Gung Seo Han thought about it alone, he really hadn’t gone there with that purpose.

‘I did want to meet that sect leader once more though.’

He meant Haheun of Hwasan.

Suddenly feeling stifled, Nam Gung Seo Han opened the window and pulled a chair to sit in front of it. Feeling the breeze seeping into the room, he recalled when he first encountered Haheun a few days ago.

At first, he thought she was a martial sister to the companions with her.

She had dropped something but seemed too preoccupied looking after her juniors to notice, so he picked it up for her out of a bit of goodwill, but… as he approached, he happened to overhear her being called “sect leader” rather than “elder sister”.

He found it unexpected, and when he later realized she was from Hwasan Sect through the plum blossom embroidery on her sleeve, the pieces quickly fell into place in his mind.

He had found it a bit amusing how she looked back at him with surprised eyes at his casually thrown question.

The Plum Blossom Sword King of Hwasan had never not been famous from the time he was young until now. It was unexpected that the disciple such a figure had taken in and taught for several years would be a woman who didn’t particularly look like a martial artist.

But it wasn’t dismissive.

He believed she must be outstanding, being that Sword King’s disciple. So he thought that if he saw her on the dueling stage, he wanted to face her properly and win. Defeating a worthy opponent would make the Namgung name shine brighter, so he felt it necessary to have a competitive spirit.

That thought remained unchanged until he saw Haheun on the dueling stage today.

‘…Was I really not looking down on her at all?’

Nam Gung Seo Han questioned himself.

Perhaps because the sect leader looked a few years younger than him, or because she didn’t look like a martial artist, he had unconsciously taken her lightly.

He had to retrace his thoughts like that. Because Haheun was a true genius.

He wasn’t saying she was amazing just for creating sword energy, or for toying with her opponent for a few exchanges before breaking their sword. He himself could also manipulate inner energy enough to manifest sword energy.

Moreover, even at the same level, victory is determined by how experienced one is and how finely one can control their energy. Without facing her directly, there was no way to know who was superior.

‘But…’

Nam Gung Seo Han had good eyes.

Even his grandfather, the Sword Emperor, acknowledged this quality.

From the path a sword should take, to where to place one’s feet, where to extend one’s arm correctly. Nam Gung Seo Han had been very good at seeing such things since he was young.

With such good eyes, talent superior to his peers, and coming from ‘that’ Namgung Family, there was no way they would spare spirit medicines or pills for the eldest son and young master. So Nam Gung Seo Han reached higher realms much faster than martial artists his age. It could be called smooth growth.

However, at some point, his body could no longer keep up properly with those excellent eyes.

Talent slightly above his peers was not enough.

Usually, he lived as the outstanding and flawless young master of the Namgung Family, but on the rare occasions he had the chance to observe the swordsmanship displayed by his grandfather, the Sword Emperor, he would suddenly lose confidence. Watching the trajectory of the sword, Nam Gung Seo Han glimpsed an unwanted future where he could never reach that level.

But to think he would feel that way again watching Haheun today… even he truly hadn’t expected it.

The technique of deflecting swords, the movements of flowing power, the exact necessary stride.

Just today, at the end of the first day of the main tournament at Yongbong Branch, regardless of family or sect, the person who garnered the most attention was that sect leader.

He wasn’t sure if there were others who had looked into it as closely as Nam Gung Seo Han had, but in any case, even those without such good eyes must have all confirmed the brilliance of that talent.

It was too clean and perfect to be said to be facing an amateur’s sword. There was nothing excessive or lacking. Of course, compared to his grandfather called the Sword Emperor it was still insufficient, but that didn’t diminish the light he had glimpsed.

‘All that sect leader needs is time.’

She would reach it someday.

Unlike Nam Gung Seo Han himself.

He wanted to stop thinking, but it was hardly possible. Quite some time had passed since he opened the window and the air in the room had become quite cold, but rather than being relieved, his stifled insides seemed to be boiling over.

In the end, he had to acknowledge one fact he didn’t want to admit.

The fact that he might not be able to defeat an opponent he thought he hadn’t taken lightly but actually had, and moreover, the true nature of the emotion that had made him join a gathering to see that opponent and even act like an unwelcome guest before he could settle it.

What was making his insides boil over was an undeniable sense of defeat.

‘…Even though the other party never even competed with me.’

Looking down at his hands, Nam Gung Seo Han let out an empty laugh.

He knew his own shortcomings, but everyone around him was lacking in some way except his grandfather. Among them, he was the most outstanding, so he could be confident.

But whether he could continue to be so in the future, Nam Gung Seo Han dared not know.