Na Rin hurriedly pushed through the crowd and headed towards the tent where the contestants were waiting.

However, the story she heard there was shocking.

“Elder sister voluntarily withdrew from the competition?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The archery competition was announced among the Blue Dragon members a month ago.

Because the prizes offered by Gong Son Wu were so popular, most of the Blue Dragon members prepared for the competition, even practicing their archery skills.

Except for Hwa Ryeon.

“She said that as a Blue Dragon member who can’t even fulfill her duties, she can’t afford to be distracted by the archery competition. Instead, she would use that time to train more.”

“How can this be…”

Na Rin sighed in frustration, holding her forehead.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t that Na Rin didn’t know about Hwa Ryeon’s stubborn personality. It was Na Rin’s complacency to expect her to participate unconditionally just because a competition was being held.

“I apologize for saying this, but…”

“……?”

“These days, when I look at Hwa Ryeon, I feel she’s in a precarious state. Have you thought about transferring her to another division?”

Seeing the Blue Dragon member’s expression that seemed to genuinely care for Hwa Ryeon, Na Rin sighed heavily with a serious look. Na Rin also knew that Hwa Ryeon was having a hard time adapting to the Blue Dragon Squad.

“I was already thinking about it.”

“Is that so? Pardon my rudeness.”

The Blue Dragon member had a noticeably relieved look on his face.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know Hwa Ryeon’s enthusiasm, nor that Hwa Ryeon lacked qualifications. It was because he knew that the Blue Dragon Squad was not a place for ordinary people.

“But please have her participate in today’s competition.”

“I will try to persuade her. But whether Hwa Ryeon will listen to me is……”

Well, she probably won’t listen.

Hwa Ryeon’s stubbornness can’t be broken by ordinary means.

But in this world, there are many extraordinary ways.

“Let’s do this.”

Na Rin whispered a brilliant plan to the Blue Dragon member.

The Blue Dragon member’s expression fluctuated greatly as he quietly listened to Na Rin’s words, and he asked,

“Are you serious?”

“I have to invest that much. She’s the one I personally recruited.”

The Blue Dragon member made a somewhat subtle expression and then quickly made up his mind and respectfully cupped his hands.

“As expected of the Grand Disciple! This makes me envious of Hwa Ryeon!”

Other people think of the nickname ‘Blood Flower Girl’ first.

Perhaps because he belonged to the East Heaven Palace, the title of ‘Grand Disciple’ seemed to carry more weight.

“Then I’ll leave it to you. Oh, what’s your name?”

“It’s Oh Ryong.”

The Blue Dragon member Oh Ryong showed a manly, handsome face with an affable smile. Despite his bold appearance, he seemed to have a delicate personality that takes good care of others.

‘I’ve got my eye on you for now.’

Without getting Gong Son Wu’s consent at all, Na Rin licked her lips and picked out a member she liked, then leisurely left the tent.

It was because Na Rin also had to do her part to get Hwa Ryeon to participate in the competition.

“I think it was around here earlier.”

Na Rin looked around among the crowd of people and spotted someone. A gambler hanging a wooden board around his waist, gathering people while wearing a headband.

‘Found him.’

Na Rin quickly ran up to him and said,

“Excuse me, mister.”

“Huh? Hey, what is it! Go away, kids! Go away!”

He had the attitude of someone who didn’t want to be spoken to if you weren’t going to bet money.

Na Rin’s mood was completely ruined by his gesture of roughly pushing her chest as if she was being a nuisance.

‘How dare he treat the Blood Plum Blossom Ju Na Rin… no, the Blood Flower Girl Dokgo Na Rin like this?’

Either way, it was clear that he had messed with someone he shouldn’t have.

“Mister!”

“What, this little one is still being a pest? Do you want to get in trouble!”

The one getting in trouble is you.

Na Rin said with a straight face,

“Do you think I’m being a pest because I like it? I’m here on an errand!”

“An errand?”

“I’m here to bet money. All of this!”

A pouch full of silver taels fell with a ‘clank!’ onto the gambler’s board. It was a pouch containing an entire month’s salary Na Rin had received from the Sun Moon Fairy.

“K-kid. Who in the world sent you on this errand…?”

“Do I have to reveal everything while gambling?”

“No. No, you don’t.”

The gambler opened the pouch in disbelief and counted the silver taels. Lining them up in stacks of ten, there were eleven lines in total.

“110 taels…”

It was an amount equivalent to half a year’s income for an ordinary person.

“Ah, give me back ten taels. I need money to get home.”

Na Rin swiftly took a stack of silver taels from the board and pocketed them.

“Then where do you want to bet the hundred silver taels?”

The gambler naturally started using polite speech after verifying the money with his own eyes.

Na Rin smiled brightly and shouted loudly for everyone around to hear,

“On the new Blue Dragon member Hwa Ryeon, all of it!”

“I already expressed my intention not to participate.”

Standing upright with no change in her expression, Hwa Ryeon looked much more haggard than when she first joined. Of course, the training must be difficult, but it seemed she wasn’t getting proper sleep either.

Just looking at her face made one feel sorry for her, but Oh Ryong hardened his resolve and said,

“Are you always this uncooperative with group activities?”

“The competition was voluntary, and I agreed to help pick up arrows on the day of the event.”

Oh Ryong let out a groan at Hwa Ryeon’s attitude, as if asking what was so uncooperative about it. The nerve to say the right thing when a superior is pressuring and questioning you.

‘It will be difficult to force her to participate in the event.’

Then there was no choice but to use the method the Grand Disciple had instructed.

Oh Ryong said,

“Someone bet money under your name. A hundred silver taels at that.”

“……? But my name shouldn’t be on the list of contestants.”

“It must be someone you know separately. Any guesses?”

Hwa Ryeon shook her head with a puzzled look.

Among the people she knew, the only wealthy person was Na Rin at most, but she didn’t seem like someone who would throw a hundred taels into gambling.

“Can’t you back out now?”

“No, we can’t.”

“Why is that?”

“The stakes have already gotten too high.”

This archery competition was hosted by the East Heaven Palace. That meant the peddlers and gamblers entering the venue were all official cooperating businesses that received permission from the East Heaven Palace and paid a kind of commission fee.

“Many people have bet money, tempted by the high stakes. It’s not a problem whether you win or lose, but if you don’t participate, there may be rumors that the East Heaven Palace arbitrarily manipulated the outcome.”

“……”

Hwa Ryeon asked,

“Is it enough if I just participate?”

Got it!

Oh Ryong was overjoyed but pretended to be calm and nodded.

“First, let me ask, do you have any experience handling a bow?”

“No, I don’t.”

Somehow, he expected that.

Oh Ryong got up from his seat, rummaged through the luggage piled up in the tent, took out his own bow, and handed it to Hwa Ryeon.

“Try pulling it.”

“……”

Hwa Ryeon hooked her fingers on the bowstring and lightly pulled and released it.

The feeling of it returning with a ‘twang!’ wasn’t bad at all.

“No, that’s not how you hold it.”

Oh Ryong stood behind Hwa Ryeon and adjusted her posture.

“Lower your chin and keep your shoulders flat.”

“Is this how it’s done?”

As Hwa Ryeon turned her head to ask, Oh Ryong’s face was unexpectedly close. Oh Ryong was more startled than Hwa Ryeon and took half a step back.

“Uh, yeah. That’s right.”

“How do I nock the arrow?”

“Oh, wait a moment.”

Oh Ryong rummaged through more luggage, took out an arrow from the practice arrow quiver, and fitted it to Hwa Ryeon’s bow. Then he placed an apple on the opposite side to serve as a target.

“With the feeling of aiming for the center……”

Thwack!

The arrow passed by Oh Ryong’s face, causing a gust of wind.

Oh Ryong turned around in surprise and saw the arrow stuck in the lower part of the apple.

“Y-you hit it?”

Regardless of whether Oh Ryong was surprised or not, Hwa Ryeon was savoring the sensation felt at her fingertips.

‘I felt it drop slightly downward.’

Creak.

Hwa Ryeon immediately nocked a second arrow.

“This time I will hit the center.”

“Huh?”

The arrow she confidently shot naturally penetrated the dead center of the apple, just as she said.

“Whoa!”

Oh Ryong couldn’t close his mouth.

Just a moment ago, she was clearly someone who held a bow for the first time.

‘How can this be possible, even if it’s a close distance?’

Hwa Ryeon said,

“I roughly understand now. Thank you for the lesson.”

“Uh? Uh-huh.”

“Then I’ll be going to prepare for the competition.”

Oh Ryong watched the back of Hwa Ryeon as she gave a salute and left the tent, muttering to himself.

“…..The Grand Disciple truly knows Hwa Ryeon well.”

When Hwa Ryeon joined the Blue Dragon Squad through her connection with Na Rin, the members inwardly thought she was unqualified.

They believed a young girl of only fifteen or sixteen could never endure the grueling training of the Blue Dragon Squad.

‘Thinking it would be better to have her quit soon, they even deliberately assigned her tedious tasks.’

However, Hwa Ryeon always completed the daily training course, no matter how slow, and took on all the tedious tasks without complaint.

Who could continue to harass someone after seeing that? The members wholeheartedly cheered for Hwa Ryeon, who was working hard with all her might, but her skills never seemed to improve, making everyone feel sorry for her.

“Who would have thought she had talent in archery.”

And not just ordinary talent, but enough to be called a genius.

They say a competent superior recognizes the potential abilities of their subordinates.

‘The Grand Disciple is….’

Oh Ryong muttered,

“Should I consider transferring divisions too?”

Hwa Ryeon was lightly testing a standard-issue bow and arrows before the competition.

“Elder sister!”

Na Rin appeared.

“Lady Blood Flower.”

Na Rin waved her hand unsteadily at Hwa Ryeon and showed her Blue Dragon badge to the staff to enter the waiting room.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to cheer for you, of course!”

Na Rin smiled brightly.

Behind that childlike innocent smile, she hid the face of a gambler who had thrown a hundred silver taels into a bet.

Hwa Ryeon said,

“I am honored, but I held a bow for the first time today. It would be best not to have high expectations.”

And she asked, just in case,

“You didn’t happen to bet any money, did you?”

Heh.

Na Rin pondered for a moment and decided to be honest.

“Hehe. Actually, I did.”

“Lady Blood Flower!”

“But I didn’t bet a lot. Just a tiny amount. For fun!”

Hwa Ryeon finally showed a relieved expression at the words ‘tiny amount’.

Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. It was true that it was a tiny amount by Na Rin’s standards.

Just then,

“Group 6, Number 17! Hwa Ryeon!”

A voice called out Hwa Ryeon’s name.

“I should get going.”

“Yes, you should. Do your best, elder sister! I’ll be rooting for you!”

“I told you not to have high expectations…”

With a slightly troubled expression, Hwa Ryeon bid farewell to Na Rin and headed to the competition grounds. She had ended up participating somehow, but honestly, she didn’t feel up for it.

‘I didn’t know Lady Blood Flower would come to watch.’

Flap!

Five people came out from behind the curtain and stood in a line.

Facing the faintly visible targets at the end of the long straight sandy path.

‘She said she would be rooting for me.’

An arrow was hooked on Hwa Ryeon’s fingers.

‘She even bet money.’

Her posture of tightly gripping the bowstring and pulling it back was as perfect as if it were drawn in a painting.

‘In that case…’

“Ten shots! Begin!”

Thwack!

The arrow that left Hwa Ryeon’s released hand flew swiftly like a water snake and naturally stuck into the exact center of the target.

The others had yet to take proper aim.

“I can’t disappoint her.”

It was the first outstanding performance of the woman who would later be known as the Divine Archer.