Chapter 4
“That person often wears a mask. And she knows martial arts.”
Cheon Ha-seong had tried not to reveal too many details, thinking Seo Hyo-eun might have wanted to keep it a secret, but now he spoke with the feeling of clutching at straws.
However, the people only shook their heads more firmly. They looked certain, saying there was absolutely no such person.
“Who is this woman that you're looking for, Sir Warrior? Did she perhaps steal money and run away?”
When someone asked, Cheon Ha-seong shook his head.
“If she had asked for money, I would have given it to her. She is a friend. The only... friend I ever made.”
Disappointed by the people at the Martial Arts Academy, he had built a wall around himself and thoroughly blocked others from approaching, but talking with Seo Hyo-eun hadn't seemed difficult. Now that he was explaining it to others, he realized it was really true.
The only friend he had ever made.
Only after losing that friend did Cheon Ha-seong realize what Seo Hyo-eun had been to him.
“So you didn't know where your friend lived. Seeing as she gave you a fake address, it seems she didn't think of you as a friend, Sir Warrior. It might be for the best that you parted ways with such a person early on.”
Someone said, as if trying to console Cheon Ha-seong.
“She didn't lie to me. Because she wasn't the one who gave the address to me.”
Not wanting to hear others speak ill of Seo Hyo-eun, Cheon Ha-seong spoke as if making an excuse.
In the end, having come up empty-handed, he returned to the Martial Arts Academy with listless steps.
He couldn't spend all day just looking for Seo Hyo-eun. If there had been places to search, he would have spent more time looking, but he had no idea where to go.
And he had people at the Martial Arts Academy that he needed to protect.
Those who saw him at the Martial Arts Academy realized for the first time that Cheon Ha-seong could look so listless. Almost no one knew it was because Seo Hyo-eun had disappeared. Most of them didn't even know that a Head Instructor named Seo Hyo-eun had existed at the Martial Arts Academy. This wasn't just true for the new candidates; even the Head Instructors who had spent all that time with her were the same.
Cheon Ha-seong finally realized just how well Seo Hyo-eun had lived while erasing all traces of herself.
* * *
It was three days later that he heard news of Seo Hyo-eun again. The person who came to Cheon Ha-seong to talk about her was, unexpectedly, Cheok Gyo-woon.
Until he arrived, Cheon Ha-seong hadn't thought Cheok Gyo-woon had any business with him. So he paid no attention, but a hesitant Cheok Gyo-woon approached and called out to him.
“Head Instructor Cheon, I have something to tell you about Head Instructor Seo.”
“About Head Instructor Seo? Are you talking about Head Instructor Seo Hyo-eun?”
An unusual light appeared in Cheon Ha-seong's eyes.
“Have you seen Head Instructor Seo?”
As a startled Cheon Ha-seong moved right up close to Cheok Gyo-woon, a flustered Cheok Gyo-woon hesitated and backed away.
“I didn't see her…. It's because I think I know who she is.”
“You know who she is?”
“Yes. When I heard the name, I did think, ‘no way,’ but...”
The name Seo Hyo-eun was on the common side.
There were many people with the surname Seo in the Divine Cult at present. The Cult Leader was also a Seo. The name Hyo-eun wasn't particularly unique either, and Cheon Ha-seong alone had met over ten people named Hyo-eun.
There had even been two people with the full name Seo Hyo-eun.
While thinking this, Cheon Ha-seong looked at Cheok Gyo-woon with an expression that said, ‘No way...’
“Seo Hyo... eun? Surely you're not talking about the Young Supreme One, the Cult Leader's only direct heir?”
“That's right. As you know, Head Instructor, my adoptive mother is a Demonic Marquis. The Young Supreme One has never visited the Marquis's residence, but I have seen her a few times at important family events.”
“That Young Supreme One… is Head Instructor Seo?”
“I have barely seen Head Instructor Seo since coming here, but one of my subordinates has. That subordinate mentioned it yesterday, and thinking back, I remembered seeing her when I first exchanged greetings with the Head Instructors. At the time, I just thought a female Head Instructor wearing a mask was peculiar, and my attention was almost entirely focused on you, Head Instructor, so I didn't get a good look at her. But in the brief moment I saw her, I thought she looked very similar to someone.”
Cheon Ha-seong was at a complete loss for words.
Cheok Gyo-woon, seeing his expression, became certain that he was interested in his words and continued.
“At first, I couldn't remember who it was, but after hearing my subordinate's words, I realized it was her.”
“…”
Suddenly, that conversation flashed through Cheon Ha-seong's mind.
—Hey, Head Instructor Cheon! You! Do you know who my father is?
Cheon Ha-seong could only let out a hollow laugh before he started hitting his own head repeatedly with his fists.
Then, as if deciding that wasn't the right thing to do, he looked at Cheok Gyo-woon.
“Cheok Gyo-woon, can you see the Young Supreme One?”
“No. I am an adopted son of a Marquis, but not an adopted son of the Cult Leader. The Cult Leader permitted the Marquises of the Marquis Halls to take in adopted sons, but he made it clear from the beginning that he would not make us his own adopted sons. Even for us, we cannot meet the Young Supreme One directly.”
“Are there no important family events? The kind the Young Supreme One might attend.”
“None. She might appear at an important Divine Cult event, but there's no telling when that might be.”
Cheon Ha-seong's mind was a complete blank, and nothing felt real.
“But there is a strange rumor going around.”
Cheok Gyo-woon brought it up quietly. Judging by his demeanor, it seemed he had come to talk about this from the very beginning.
“This is something I heard from my mother... You must never tell anyone else. I am only telling you, Head Instructor, because I believe you are not someone who would spread words carelessly. They say the Cult Leader has been strictly educating the Young Supreme One, his only legitimate heir, and that when the Young Supreme One was just born, he placed the Palace-Guarding Sand on her arm.”
“The Palace-Guarding... Sand!”
Cheon Ha-seong's mind snapped into focus.
If the Palace-Guarding Sand is placed on a girl's arm, it will not disappear, but if she loses her chastity, the red dot vanishes.
If that was the case, then the Palace-Guarding Sand must no longer remain on the arm of Seo Hyo-eun, who had spent the night with him.
He had a feeling he knew what Cheok Gyo-woon was going to say.
“The Cult Leader truly cherished the Young Supreme One. They say it was perhaps to a suffocating degree. The Cult Leader had said he would even choose her future husband himself, but now that the Palace-Guarding Sand has disappeared…”
Cheon Ha-seong, unable to say anything, waited for Cheok Gyo-woon to continue the story.
“Perhaps because his excessive affection could turn into a disaster, they say the Cult Leader became terrifyingly angry with the Young Supreme One. He demanded that she immediately say who the bastard was, but I hear the Young Supreme One is holding out.”
Cheon Ha-seong couldn't close his agape mouth.
Cheok Gyo-woon was a sharp one. Even if he weren't, it wouldn't be difficult to guess what had happened to Seo Hyo-eun if one thought about it slowly.
Why would the Young Supreme One come to a place like the Martial Arts Academy and act as a Head Instructor? It seemed that at first, she was probably just looking for some breathing room because she felt so suffocated. Then, she must have coincidentally met Cheon Ha-seong and taken a liking to him.
Cheok Gyo-woon looked at Cheon Ha-seong, thinking that things could get interesting.
It seemed he could gain a lot just by telling the Cult Leader that Cheon Ha-seong was the one who had been intimate with the Young Supreme One.
The Cult Leader was currently hell-bent on finding that man. However, the Cult Leader didn't even know that Seo Hyo-eun had been acting as a Head Instructor at the Martial Arts Academy all this time. So he had no idea where to even begin.
However, Cheok Gyo-woon felt it was a waste to use this incredible card in his hand like that. If he did so and got Cheon Ha-seong killed, he would surely receive a reward from the Cult Leader and be able to pass through the Martial Arts Academy without trouble. But killing Cheon Ha-seong like that was too much of a waste.
While Cheok Gyo-woon created a silence, Cheon Ha-seong was having the exact same thought.
This guy must think he has me by my weakness right now and is fiercely wracking his brain to get something out of it.
However, there was something Cheok Gyo-woon hadn't considered. Cheon Ha-seong didn't think his own life was that important. To be precise, he didn't think it would be difficult to protect his own life.
What was important to Cheon Ha-seong was Seo Hyo-eun's well-being. They had only shared one night together, yet he couldn't even imagine what kind of hardship she must be suffering for not revealing his name.
“The Young Supreme One is…” After saying that, Cheon Ha-seong thought how truly strange it felt to refer to Seo Hyo-eun that way. Then he continued.
“What condition is the Young Supreme One in right now? Do you think the Cult Leader will be harsh with her?”
“That's what I was told. They say he not only locked her up and gave her no food or water, but even flogged her harshly. He had always cherished the Young Supreme One so preciously that he had never even spoken a harsh word to her, but it seems he is thoroughly enraged this time.”
Cheon Ha-seong felt like he was choking.
“Furthermore, it seems he used martial arts in his harsh treatment, as they say the hall where the Young Supreme One was staying was half-destroyed.”
Cheon Ha-seong could no longer just stand there listening.
“If I go to the Cult Leader's Hall, can I see the Cult Leader? And where do they say the Young Supreme One is now?”
At that, Cheok Gyo-woon looked at Cheon Ha-seong with amusement. Who would have imagined he would ever get to see this man looking so anxious? But right now, he had the face of someone driven into a corner, at a complete loss.
“There's no way I could tell you that, is there? The Cult Leader wouldn't stand idly by if he knew I had told you.”
Cheon Ha-seong grabbed Cheok Gyo-woon's arm.
“Cheok Gyo-woon, I'm asking you.”
“Then what will you give me?”
Cheon Ha-seong couldn't speak right away. He couldn't abandon his lifelong beliefs, but he also couldn't just let Seo Hyo-eun die.
However, his deliberation was not long.
“Cheok Gyo-woon, I could kill you right here on this spot. But I will not. Therefore, consider this a life debt you owe me.”
“…”
Cheok Gyo-woon was momentarily dazed. He wondered how this guy could say such a thing unless he thought he was a fool.
Then, as if deciding that proof was necessary, Cheon Ha-seong looked at him.
The next moment, Cheok Gyo-woon saw a giant, dark figure appear behind Cheon Ha-seong, growing larger and larger before rushing to overwhelm him.
The instantaneous fear and shock were so great that it felt as if his heart would stop right then and there.
He tried to run, but his feet wouldn't move, as if they were glued to the floor. A cold sweat broke out over his entire body, and his legs gave out.
All he could do was clutch his own chest with both hands to endure the sharp pain he felt so vividly in his heart.
The illusion disappeared just as quickly.
It was something that had happened in a mere instant, but Cheok Gyo-woon felt a sense of exhaustion as if he had fought with all his might for seven days and nights.
For a long while, he couldn't close his mouth or catch his breath.
This was not even at the level of Formless Energy. If someone had previously told him that one could take a life just by intimidating an opponent, Cheok Gyo-woon would never have believed it. But now, he did.