The Solar and Lunar Priestess cut the lokum into bite-sized pieces for Na Rin and passed them with chopsticks.

Na Rin only needed to open her mouth like a baby bird.

“May I eat it?”

“Of course.”

Na Rin opened her mouth with a pounding heart.

Oh, my goodness.

The moment it entered her mouth, her eyes flew open at the intensely sweet taste, like poison.

It felt firm yet chewy against her teeth, melting on her tongue like taffy, with an extremely sweet flavor.

Wow! Really, wow!

“Delicious, isn’t it?”

“Mmm!! Mmm!”

Na Rin nodded repeatedly, her eyes wide open, unable to even open her mouth.

Even eating pure sugar couldn’t be this sweet.

“In the Central Plains, only kings and nobles could taste this. Even in the Sect, it’s a precious confection not easily obtained. Think of it as studying and eat plenty.”

“What about you, Priestess?”

The Solar and Lunar Priestess spoke proudly, as if she had been waiting for that question.

“The Solar and Lunar Gate is the Sect’s front door, isn’t it? If I don’t open the gate, the caravan can’t do business, so they always bring gifts like this.”

It was bribery, in other words.

‘So every time a caravan comes, we can get these for free.’

And not just caravans.

Anyone with business in the Demon Sect would have to go through the Solar and Lunar Priestess to even start a conversation.

Na Rin’s estimation of the Solar and Lunar Gate rose anew.

If you call it table scraps, it sounds simple, but with scraps like these, it’s worth staying put.

“I’ll leave the lokum here, so come eat whenever you want. It’s a confection that doesn’t spoil easily, so you can enjoy it slowly.”

Clack.

“Ah.”

She wanted to eat more.

Reading that wistful look in her eyes, the Solar and Lunar Priestess smiled confidently.

‘This way, she’ll have no choice but to come every day.’

This was why the Solar and Lunar Priestess hadn’t urged Na Rin even once, despite her not visiting for a month.

She had an ace up her sleeve.

“Did you bring your homework?”

“Yes. For now.”

Na Rin’s eyes rolled to the side.

It meant studying was already on the back burner, and she was interested in something else.

The Solar and Lunar Priestess spoke flexibly, as if she had expected this.

“If it’s not urgent, how about looking around the caravan? It’s also good social studies. I’ll give you some pocket money, so practice haggling too.”

“Yay!”

Na Rin’s eyes sparkled brightly.

The Solar and Lunar Priestess gave Na Rin 3 nyang: 2 nyang for today’s wage plus 1 nyang as pocket money, and sent her out.

She calculated that with such a good memory planted, Na Rin would seek out the Solar and Lunar Gate even if told not to come.

‘I’m so excited!’

Na Rin looked around the caravan, excited like a child.

Perhaps to lighten their load on the journey, there were many small but expensive items rather than bulky ones, making it not the most entertaining category for a child to browse.

But Na Rin’s inner self was already an adult, and fortunately, so was her wallet.

“How much is this, ma’am?”

“Kids, go away.”

“I asked how much it is.”

“Stop being annoying and get lo– Let me show you the item, young miss.”

When Na Rin waved 3 nyang of demon currency between her fingers in front of him, the merchant’s attitude changed.

Indeed, money rules the world.

Na Rin picked up a hair ornament made of colored glass pieces joined together in a flower shape from among the displayed accessories.

‘Should I buy it for Yu Ri?’

She could vividly imagine how happy Yu Ri would be, saying it was made from a jewel with the same name as her.

“How much is this, ma’am?”

“It’s 3 nyang, young miss.”

“…”

She wanted to ask, ‘You’re saying that because I have 3 nyang in my hand, right?’ but that’s something only a novice at haggling would do.

As Na Rin silently tried to put down the hair ornament, the merchant quickly grabbed her hand.

“But!”

Then, with a grin, he continued.

“Seeing the cute young miss’s face, I’ll take just 2 nyang and 5 pun.”

“It’s okay. I’m not buying it for myself.”

Na Rin spread her grabbed hand wide open, dropping the hair ornament.

The merchant’s expression quickly hardened, then even more quickly smiled.

“Young miss has a pretty heart too. Who wouldn’t be happy to receive this precious hair ornament made of rare Pasha glass as a gift? But you see.”

Then he placed the recently dropped ornament along with a smaller butterfly-shaped hair ornament in Na Rin’s hand and said:

“You should get one for yourself too. I’ll give you both for 3 nyang.”

“Hmm.”

Two Pasha glass hair ornaments for 3 nyang of demon currency.

‘Not bad, but…’

“That butterfly ornament seems to be part of a pair. Surely you’re not trying to sell just half?”

Suddenly, someone intervened in the haggling.

Snap! With the sound of a folding fan, as that person revealed their face, everyone around held their breath.

Gong Son Wu, the Dharma Protector of the Earth Quadrant.

That man had appeared at the caravan.

“It’s been a while. Little one.”

“Hello.”

When that man, whose identity everyone except Na Rin knew, appeared, the atmosphere of the marketplace changed completely.

Some people cleared their throats and changed their words, fearing they might be caught overcharging.

Others raised their voices to attract Gong Son Wu’s attention.

And then there was the person who brought out the hidden other half of the butterfly ornament.

“O-Of course I was going to give the full pair!”

“I thought so. What do you think, little one? This seems like not a bad deal.”

“It’s good.”

Na Rin spent all the money she received from the Solar and Lunar Priestess to buy three hair ornaments and put them away.

‘It doesn’t seem like I have few sources of income, but somehow I keep ending up penniless.’

Just as she was thinking that her spending habits must be bad, Gong Son Wu spoke.

“What brings you to the Solar and Lunar Gate? I heard you entered a school.”

‘Why does everyone know about me entering school?’

Na Rin found it strange, but since it wasn’t particularly a secret, she just answered the question.

“I agreed to help with work at the Solar and Lunar Gate.”

“Is that so? That’s good. It would often be difficult for a new sect member to live as a lay believer, but having demon currency isn’t bad. Come stand here for a moment.”

Gong Son Wu naturally examined some silk, then held it up to Na Rin’s body and nodded.

“Wrap this up.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Are you buying it for me?”

“Whether I buy it is my business, whether I give it to you depends on how you do.”

Gong Son Wu added a playful eye smile to his natural beauty.

‘He’s acting very familiar.’

Na Rin’s view of Gong Son Wu was that he was a ‘bully who only picks on the weak’, so she didn’t look at him very kindly.

Now it had slightly changed to ‘rich bully who only picks on the weak’, but still.

Na Rin turned her head away primly and said.

“Then I don’t want to accept it. It’s burdensome.”

“That can’t be. It’s not even one-hundredth the price of the fan you snatched away.”

Na Rin wanted to say ‘I received that fan fairly as payment for an errand!’, but if that fan really was a hundred times the price of the silk, it was clearly an unfair trade no matter how you looked at it.

Not wanting to give back the fan by getting caught on a technicality, Na Rin kept her mouth shut, and Gong Son Wu spoke first.

“I’m not saying I’ll give it for free. Hmm, a pair of shoes would be good too. Would 5 chon (15cm) fit your foot?”

“Roughly. Why are you buying these for me?”

“Because you’ll need them. Because of me.”

“…?”

The Earth Quadrant Protector efficiently gathered the ordered silk and said.

“I’m done now. If you have more to see, go ahead.”

“I’m done too.”

Even if she wanted to look around more, she was penniless anyway.

Returning to the Solar and Lunar Gate with Gong Son Wu, the Solar and Lunar Priestess welcomed the two without showing any surprise.

Judging by her attitude, it seemed that meeting Gong Son Wu wasn’t a coincidence, but rather the Solar and Lunar Priestess had arranged for them to meet from the beginning.

“How long will it take your seamstress to make the clothes?”

“Since it’s children’s clothes, it won’t take too long. Perhaps two shichen?”

“That’s suitable.”

Na Rin was working her brain hard while watching Gong Son Wu and the Solar and Lunar Priestess talk.

‘What’s this? The Solar and Lunar Priestess is talking as if she has a lower status.’

Could it be that this playboy was actually a ‘rich, high-ranking bully who only picks on the weak’?

Na Rin really thought the world was unfair.

“You must have many questions, but you’re not asking anything?”

“Can I ask?”

“Now you’re suddenly acting coy. Go ahead and ask.”

Gong Son Wu sat at the tea table, drinking the tea brought by the Solar and Lunar Priestess’s maid, and spoke as if it were natural.

“You must be curious about who I am, and why new clothes are necessary.”

“Yes.”

“I’d like to have you guess, but let’s go easy this time. You’ll need to use your head a lot.”

Gong Son Wu looked straight into Na Rin’s eyes and spoke emphatically, as if stamping each word:

“I am Gong Son Wu, the Dharma Protector of the Earth Quadrant in the East, and today you will dress up prettily in new clothes to meet the Blood Demon.”

“…”

Na Rin’s time stopped for a moment, then flowed again. No, wait, you are?

“Dh…?”

“Yes.”

“Dharma Protector?!”

“That’s right.”

“Right below the Sect Leader?! With your own army too?!”

“Yes. Right below the Sect Leader. And if you mean an army, there’s the Blue Dragon Legion.”

Na Rin sat down with a thud, too shocked.

Dharma Protector? Dharma Protector!

‘You were the Dharma Protector I didn’t know about?!’

The Dharma Protectors Na Rin knew were first, Jeok Gun Ak of the North Quadrant, her archenemy from her Blood Plum Blossom days.

Second was Grandpa Sa Ma Jil of the West Quadrant.

And Gye Bok Chi of the South Quadrant, whom she had only heard rumors about but never met directly. That made three.

Considering the meaning of Dharma Protectors guarding the four directions, she had guessed there might be one more, but since they had never shown themselves, she thought the position might be vacant.

“Speak slowly. If a young child is too shocked, they might have a fit.”

“Ah, is that so? Little one, are you alright?”

Na Rin nodded.

She was surprised, but she was fine.

‘They said it was the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. Why is it so small?’

How long had it been since she joined the sect? She had already met one of the Twelve Elders, a Dharma Protector, and now she was about to meet one of the Seven Great Demon Ancestors, the Blood Demon.

“But why do I have to meet the Blood Demon?”

Perhaps because Na Rin’s question hit the nail on the head, Gong Son Wu let out an “Umm” for a moment before speaking.

“Do you remember the top disciple of the Clear Sound Sect?”

Na Rin almost reflexively asked, “The weak one?” but stopped herself.

From her Blood Plum Blossom days’ perspective, the Clear Sound Sect’s top disciple was naturally a weak youngster, but she realized it was something she shouldn’t say with her current appearance.

“Yes.”

“We conducted a thorough investigation on that person, but no one found out more than you. So what can we do? We have to grasp at straws.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am serious, but…”

Na Rin looked at Gong Son Wu suspiciously.

For a grown adult, and a Dharma Protector at that, to need help from a four-year-old child, it didn’t make sense.

Gong Son Wu seemed embarrassed and avoided her gaze, clearing his throat with an “Ahem.”

It seems even he thinks it’s strange.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but a hundred years ago, the Demon Sect cut off exchanges with the Central Plains. To be precise, we were cut off… Anyway, as things stand now, it’s no exaggeration to say that our information about the Central Plains is limited to what the guides overhear when bringing in new sect members.”

This was another unexpected fact. Na Rin’s eyes sparkled.

‘Maybe there was a helper after all.’

As far as Na Rin remembered, there was no impression that the Demon Sect lacked information during the Great Demon Sect War.

Moreover, even though Demon Sect members would throw away their lives like straw at the Sect Leader’s command, they weren’t foolish enough to wage war against an opponent without any information.

‘There must be something I’m missing.’

Na Rin decided to keep in mind the discrepancy between her past life memories and the current situation, and said to Gong Son Wu:

“But I don’t know anything more. What I said then was everything.”

“Haha! Even so, I don’t expect that much. I just want to know how you, a young child, found out the Clear Sound Sect disciple’s identity, and if we can apply your method to other issues. However…”

Gong Son Wu grinned mischievously.

“I won’t disappoint you if you add a word or two.”