“What conversation did you have with him to look so bewildered?”

“Pardon? Oh, no…”

“Moyong Dan said he found out Master’s whereabouts through Hyeon-ah. He must have finally realized just how loose a mindset he’s been living with.”

“Sa-yeong, I tell you repeatedly: nothing good comes from speaking so harshly to your brother.”

Having quietly admonished Sa-yeong, who had retorted sharply on her brother’s behalf, Cho Yoon gazed steadily at Sa-hyeon, who wore a guilty expression. He had thought about this long ago, but a master’s privacy in a martial arts novel was practically nonexistent from the moment they descended the mountain, so it was fine. On top of that, Cho Yoon had done more than one or two things, and this time he had roamed the Central Plains for tens of days, so it was understandable that word had leaked.

How should he comfort this child who felt so sorry, even though it wasn’t solely his fault? And how should he calm Sa-yeong, who was acting as if she would eat her brother alive just for exposing their teacher’s destination a little?

After a short deliberation, Cho Yoon opened his mouth. He only hoped that his tongue would follow his will, at least for this once.

“A nature that does not easily suspect others or guard against those who approach might certainly be frustrating to someone clever like you. However, to speak without falsehood… I feel relieved every time I confirm that Sa-hyeon has grown up like this.”

“…Why is that?”

“Because it shows that he has rarely been betrayed or hurt by people. It makes me think I wasn’t entirely wrong, that I allowed you all to enjoy at least that much safety.”

“…”

Sa-yeong, shocked by her master’s unexpectedly tender words, only moved her lips wordlessly. Sa-hyeon, jerking his head up, stared blankly at Cho Yoon, while Cheon-oh frowned slightly.

Cho Yoon emptied his teacup nonchalantly under their pouring gazes. Speaking it aloud made his heart feel a little lighter.

“It’s impossible to reach mastery at barely over the capping age. Human relationships remain difficult even past fifty. However, since nothing good comes from trusting people blindly either, take your time to learn from now on. Isn’t there someone right beside you who can teach you properly?”

“…Yes, Master.”

“If you understood, that is enough.”

Cho Yoon, giving a firm answer to the mumbling Sa-hyeon, waved his hand, telling them to return. Since it had become late into the night due to unexpected events, the children seemed tired as well.

As Sa-yeong dragged out Sa-hyeon, who was hesitating and shrinking back even while bowing, the room became quiet in an instant. Cheon-oh, rising from his seat, began to tidy up as if it were natural, and only then did Cho Yoon lean back comfortably and rest his forehead on one hand. Amidst the clattering noise of clearing the tea set, Cheon-oh’s voice drifted over.

“Do you have some worries?”

Cho Yoon, pressing his stiff eyelids for no reason, answered simply.

“Yes.”

“Is it because of the brothers you just met?”

Moyong Seo, the divine artifact, and the words Moyong Dan had just left behind. Combining this and that made his head ache. What will I hear when I meet Moyong Dan tomorrow? Cho Yoon, weighing the desire to see the siblings he hadn’t met in a long time against the urge to escape this spot, answered gloomily. It was obvious which was greater.

“Correct.”

“Is there nothing I can do?”

Something you can do?

Lowering his hand and lifting his gaze, Cho Yoon saw Cheon-oh staring at him with empty teacups and the tea set on a small tray. He didn’t want to share this chaos, which seemed entirely his fault from beginning to end, with Cheon-oh too. Cho Yoon shook his head weakly.

“No, there is not.”

“Moyong Dan wished for me to duel his brother. It seemed Moyong Seo made a similar request as well.”

Cheon-oh, who didn’t miss a single thing Cho Yoon let slip in passing, mentioned it calmly. Cho Yoon, recalling the sudden request for a duel before the divine artifact issue, frowned faintly. However, the answer that followed from Cheon-oh brought Cho Yoon even greater conflict.

“In the past… when we met the one called Moyong Seo, you said this, Master: ‘Do not get hurt, do not think lightly of bleeding, and do not resolve to win for your sake.’”

“…I did.”

“If I do not get hurt and do not bleed, will you allow me to exert effort for you?”

What does this mean?

Surprised, Cho Yoon straightened his posture. Cheon-oh, standing still holding the wooden tray, met his master’s gaze calmly with his flowing black hair hanging down. With a sense of surely not, Cho Yoon asked back.

“Are you saying you will engage in that abrupt duel?”

“I cannot fathom why you are agonizing, Master, but if it helps to break through this, there is nothing I cannot do. If it is necessary, I will accept whatever is needed.”

“Even though there isn’t a single thing in it for you?”

“If I can lessen your worries, that alone is sufficient. I will be careful not to get hurt.”

Isn’t he taking the protagonist too lightly? Of course, he had won easily four years ago too, and it didn’t look that difficult now either, but…

Normally, he would have been appalled and immediately said there was no need, but somehow the answer didn’t come easily. More than anything else, the problem was that he had arranged to meet Moyong Dan separately tomorrow.

Moyong Dan was currently the person holding more information about the divine artifact than anyone else. If he made excuses like “I don’t need to get involved in the original work anymore” or “I plan to find a way back,” there would be no end to it, but he couldn’t feign ignorance now. Cho Yoon had caused countless changes, and if he ignored this too, it was obvious he would be swept up in even bigger fallout.

So ultimately, I have to listen to Moyong Dan, but… will he really give me answers easily?

What if he demands, in exchange for telling me, that I let Cheon-oh meet Moyong Seo, or let the two fight?

If he doesn’t listen even when I threaten him with ‘Cho Yoon’s’ tone, what do I really do? I can’t just beat him up for not giving the information I want, nor can I feed him poison…

No matter how much he agonized, no amicable method came to mind. He wondered if something about Moyong Dan would come to mind if he dug through his memories of the original work, but there was no way a mass-produced martial arts harem novel, written for readers to empathize with the protagonist and feel pleasure, would have highlighted a supporting male character. Trying to fault Moyong Seo for secretly scraping together manuals and elixirs was impossible since he snatched them before the original owners appeared, so it wasn’t technically a crime. And perhaps because the Moyong Clan was the protagonist’s origin, they didn’t have shady corners like the Mount Hua Sect or Wudang Sect either.

With the future all changed, he couldn’t act as if he knew all future events, and if he did that and an even bigger incident occurred, there would be no answer…

This, that, everything; he was going crazy. Cho Yoon, tilting his head again and pressing his temples firmly, soon shook his head from side to side and spoke as if to himself.

“No, it cannot be.”

“Pardon?”

“If it is not you burning with a desire for victory but doing it solely for me, I can tolerate it even less. Perhaps for another, but I cannot do that to you.”

“I am truly fine. In whichever direction is convenient for you…”

“I taught you martial arts to protect yourself, not because I wanted to be comfortable raising you. It is admirable that you care, but do not bring up such words in the future.”

Cho Yoon was firm, to the point it was almost sorrowful he hadn’t said this immediately. His head was just complicated; he never had any intention of sending Cheon-oh out to the dueling grounds from the start, and if possible, he didn’t want him to encounter those brothers again either.

For now, he had to meet Moyong Dan, listen to his story, and think it over step by step. Since he couldn’t go around spreading information about the regression anywhere, no one could help Cho Yoon this time, but he was nominally a master of the Profound Realm. Surely he had at least one card to play. If push came to shove, he really might have to close his eyes and resort to intimidation. It seemed possible with “Cho Yoon’s” venomous tongue.

Cheon-oh, silent for a moment, answered that he understood and went outside carrying the tray. Only after being left alone did Cho Yoon sigh a deeper sigh, as if vomiting up his insides.

If I had good insight and smarts like Sa-yeong or Hui, would something have been different?

Cho Yoon, who had taken some pride in his modern common sense and standards and thought there would be few who could raise these children as well as him, felt a slight regret for the first time. But the situation, where he couldn’t even know exactly what had gone wrong, remained the same.

Ink-colored curtains veiled the moon, and the gloomy night deepened. Cho Yoon sat by the window, continuing his bleak contemplation, unaware of who, at that very moment, was riding in the carriage crossing the Hao Sect’s threshold.

***

Sa-hyeon, who had been about to sleep in a room prepared in a corner of the Sea Fog Hall but was dragged out of the main gate by his sister’s hand, was so dispirited he couldn’t even properly express his dissatisfaction.

Even Sa-yeong, who had left behind the opportunity to spend the night under the same roof as her master for the first time in a while just to say one more word to her brother, was walking on eggshells around him.

The way back, devoid of nagging, rebukes, or sarcasm, was awkward with a heavy silence.

Just as Sa-yeong, glancing sideways repeatedly, couldn’t hold back anymore and was about to poke Sa-hyeon’s side with her elbow, Sa-hyeon’s disheartened voice came first.

“Noona.”

“Uh, huh?”

“How should I… treat Seo-ha now?”

How should you treat him? Sa-yeong, looking up in puzzlement, opened her mouth soundlessly. Ah, come to think of it, they said they would apologize, but we never got to ask the intention of the person receiving the apology.