Absolute Return Episode 347
Episode 347 Tell us your story.
“Should we just leave those two alone?”
On the way back to the Apostolic Alliance headquarters, Ilrang asked. Bisain had sent Geommu-geuk to Pyogi-gwang as an escort and had not given any other orders.
“The young leader will take care of it.”
It was not a statement of indifference, but of faith. The belief that if Geommugeuk couldn’t figure it out, no one would.
Ilrang had been watching silently until now, but she said what she had been holding back.
“I know that the leader of the Demonic Cult is a great person, but don’t trust him too much. No matter what he says or does, he is just a demon in the end.”
Illang had a deep-rooted distrust of Mine. Furthermore, the relationship between Bisain and Geommugeuk could be said to be abnormal.
“I will do that.”
Since he knew well what Illang was worried about, Visain accepted his worries without hesitation. The prejudices that he had held for a long time could not change in an instant.
“What?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What is the most memorable moment in your life?”
Ilrang was taken aback by the sudden question.
“I don’t think you’ve ever thought about the question you asked.”
“Think about it now.”
Illang was lost in thought for a moment. He recalled a moment when a drop of water splashed up while swimming against the current of time and shone dazzlingly in the sunlight.
“I think it was when I first became a member of the thirteenth Apostolic Corps.”
I remember how happy I was at that time. There were many things that happened after that. I achieved great things and made a lot of money. But I don’t think I was as happy as I was at that time.
“I started out as the youngest of 13, but soon I became the best.”
“How long has it been since you became a member of the thirteenth Apostolic Order?”
“It’s been twenty-nine years.”
“We should have a 30th anniversary celebration next year.”
Ilrang’s face brightened slightly.
“But why did you ask that?”
“I think that time is now. Even thirty years from now, when I look back and think about the most memorable moment in my life, I think it will be now.”
Right now, when I was riding in a carriage with the leader of the Demonic Cult and the successor of the orthodox faction, and now, when I was uncovering a conspiracy with the leader of the Demonic Cult, will there ever be something this exciting and trembling again?
“But don’t worry too much. I’m not the type of person who truly believes in someone or falls deeply in love with them.”
Il-lang is old enough to know that people’s hearts do not always go as planned.
But I didn’t say that. I thought that the problems that would arise from not having a moment where you feel like you’re shining would be just as serious as the negative things that would happen because of the leader of the Demonic Cult.
Visain walked ahead with brisk strides, looking more radiant than ever.
“Let’s go, we have a lot of work to do.”
* * *
The signposter glanced at the young man following him.
When our eyes met, the young man smiled. Of course, he was a swordsman.
‘Poor guy, he doesn’t even know what his situation is.’
His young and handsome face was too precious to die.
“What is your name?”
“It’s black smoke. It’s written in the character for smoke. It’s called black smoke because it’ll disappear like smoke when the meeting is over.”
The young man’s personality could be seen in the way he explained things that were not necessarily asked.
‘How naive.’
Was it because I almost got killed by an assassin? The saying that Pyo Gi-kwang disappears like smoke struck me deeply today.
“Do you know why you must protect me?”
“I have a rough idea.”
“Aren’t you afraid that the assassin from earlier might come to kill me again?”
As if he had confidence in his own skills, Geommugeuk lightly tapped his sword.
It was a sword wrapped tightly in bloody bandages. Of course, Pyogi-kwang did not know what kind of sword it was or what kind of bandages it was wrapped in, so he thought it was childish confidence.
“How long has it been since you met the Little Leader?”
“It’s been a few days.”
It wasn’t a lie. It’s been like this since I wore the clothes of the thirteen apostles.
The signboard maker frowned.
‘I wanted to die alone and with dignity, but it looks like I’ll end up dying with a newbie’s horns.’
The house of the signer was located on the outskirts, not far from the main building. There was a mountain behind the house, and a stream flowed.
Although it was located in a beautiful place, his house did not feel warm. Not only the food, but even the bedding that had not been washed for a long time was from the summer. I could see what his life was like.
“It’s a place where I come sometimes to just sleep and leave, so there’s nothing there.”
He rolled over in bed.
“You don’t need to protect me.”
The signpost was certain that this young man could not defend himself alone. He was an assassin who had been pursued by several unmanned forces before but had not been caught.
‘If the little lord was truly worried about me, he would have left more soldiers behind.’
After clashing once, he must have realized that the assassin’s skills were formidable. He thought that even if he left several of his subordinates behind, they would all die, so he left only this young man behind.
Thinking about it that way, I felt sorry for the young guy who was about to die.
“Go to sleep.”
After a brief greeting, Geommugeuk went out.
The lightbulb tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
A variety of emotions that I hadn’t felt before because I was so out of it rushed in. No matter how prepared I was for death, I felt fear as I felt death approaching me.
-I need you for the blind.
I remember the look on his face when he entrusted me with a task.
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At first I refused.
-I’m already a ruined person. Find someone else.
-That’s why I chose Janelle. No one will find out about this operation.
Honestly, I felt bad. The fact that I chose it because it was broken. But I eventually accepted it. I said I accepted it out of loyalty, but in reality, it was for my own good. I wanted to show those who had ignored me that I was doing something more valuable than them. It was a secret operation, so I couldn’t say anything, but I wanted to scream it out in my mind.
‘Ignore me all you want! I have a hundred times more important things to do than you.’
Maybe that person had anticipated this state of mind.
After that, I lived diligently as he told me to.
But now that the secret has been revealed, they’re trying to kill me so easily.
If he had come to me in person and said, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it,” and tried to kill me, I wouldn’t have felt this sad.
He would have died smiling. But he sent an assassin to kill me without even giving me a chance to say a word? It wasn’t the fact that he was trying to kill me that made him angry, but the fact that he was treated so insignificantly in the process.
‘It wasn’t because of you. It was because of my loyalty to Maeng.’
In the end, I was so upset that I had to console myself like this.
* * *
The writer had a dream in which he was being chased by assassins.
The person in the dream was neither steadfast nor bold. He ran up the mountain to survive, dug holes in the ground to hide, and even hid in smelly sewage.
Then I woke up at dawn.
A thick cotton blanket was covering her, and it seemed like the young man who was guarding her had found her and covered her with it.
The lightbulb got up from bed and walked to the window.
Geommugeuk stood alone in the yard, looking up at the night sky. He felt sorry for the figure that was protecting him without even sleeping.
Sensing his presence, Geommugeuk turned towards him.
“Are you awake?”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“it’s okay.”
The midwinter dawn wind was very cold, so I said it was okay.
“What were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking of people.”
“who?”
“People who would think of me at least once.”
From those who would be shocked to hear the name Notation Mania to those who are currently enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime vacation.
The signer asked, leaning against the window.
“What about your family?”
“I have a father and an older brother.”
“What about your mother?”
“He passed away when I was young.”
“Your father must have had a hard time raising you. How are you now? Are you happy that you joined the Apostolic Alliance?”
When he hears that I’m at the Apostolic Alliance after leaving home, he’ll be laughing his head off in that peculiar way.
“You won’t like it.”
“why?”
“I hate the Apostolic Alliance.”
The same was true for him, so Pyo Ki-kwang smiled faintly. His parents were really reluctant to let him join the Sadomaeng. They really wanted him to join the Murim Alliance. They didn’t know how bad his son was.
“The morning wind is cold. Come inside. If you can protect me there, you can protect me here. Come in.”
The sword dance came in pretending not to be able to win.
“I’ll just warm up for a bit and then go out.”
“There’s nothing better than this for melting your body.”
He came looking for alcohol. In a house where there was nothing to eat, there was alcohol.
“Do you like alcohol?”
“I like it.”
He could have said that he doesn’t drink alcohol while working. Is it because he’s a young man these days? I could feel that he was a person who was honest about his feelings.
The light-hearted man poured Geommugeuk a drink and filled his own glass as well.
I might die before I see the morning sun. It wouldn’t be strange at all if a dark spirit were to fly into that window at any moment. If not today, then tomorrow, or maybe in a few days. If this continues, I will die with this young man.
Pyo Ki-gwang emptied his glass first, and Geommu-geuk followed suit.
“I don’t want to say this because it sounds like nagging, but you shouldn’t drink alcohol that someone else gives you like this. What if it’s poisoned?”
“I will be more careful from now on.”
He felt good when he was told to be careful. He missed that natural reaction. No one had treated him properly for the past ten years. Of course, it was his own fault.
“After I got hurt, everything changed. My life and everything around me changed. Things I never dared look at started glaring at me. Things that were like trash.”
“It probably wasn’t all trash. You couldn’t see what you needed to see because the trash was blocking your eyes and nose.”
The sign writer looked at Geommugeuk with a look that said, “What do you know?”
“I’m sorry. I’m being presumptuous. I remember someone cursing and yelling at me more than I did complimenting them.”
The slogan writer couldn’t completely deny that. There were certainly people who had genuinely cared for him at the time. But they had all disappeared while he was hating and getting angry at those who ignored him.
“Be honest. What order did the leader give you? To find out the name of a person from me?”
“yes.”
The swordsman answered obediently. I thought he would deny it, but his reaction was unexpected. This young man was somehow going against my expectations.
“You’ll never hear from me, so give up.”
“The reason the Lord hides it is probably because of his loyalty to the Maeng. I am the same. We each show our loyalty in our own way.”
The word loyalty felt strange to me today. Perhaps it was because I kept thinking about it.
‘You and I were both abandoned.’
People were abandoned, and only loyalty remained, so he felt like he was floating like a ghost. Pyo Ki-gwang emptied his glass again, using the ghost as a side dish.
“If I were you, I would run away.”
Pyogi-kwang wanted to die alone. He wanted to board the ship to the afterlife alone and calmly. He didn’t want to apologize to the young guy who got on there first.
“He must have made up some excuse to run away.”
Then Geommugeuk suddenly asked him.
“I heard that you were the leader of the Black Dragon Group.”
“That’s right.”
“How were you then?”
“What was it like back then?”
“I heard that in the past, the Black Dragon Group fought against the Murim Alliance at Xinye Plains and won a great victory despite being outnumbered.”
“How did you know that?”
“Isn’t that a famous story?”
The signer’s eyes trembled slightly.
“Yeah, I was there too. I was a rookie like you.”
“I’m curious. About the fight that day.”
The story that was being boasted about at the banquet hall earlier was the fight at Shinya-pyeong. Then, he was insulted by his former subordinate.
In that situation, it felt strange to see the guy asking about that story with sparkling eyes.
“You don’t know because you’ve never fought in a real battle, but when you really face the enemy, your heart beats like it’s going to burst.”
“Were you afraid that day too?”
“I was scared. If my classmates and seniors weren’t with me, I would have turned around and run away. That day was especially scary. At the end of the plains, the Murim Alliance guys were swarming in like a swarm of ants… … .”
He told me about the fight that day. As he spoke, he couldn’t help but think of the subordinate who had been pushing him around at the banquet hall earlier. Wouldn’t this guy sitting in front of him be bored inside? Wouldn’t he think of the old man’s bragging?
It was a wish and an old man’s concern. Geommu-geuk listened to his story better than anyone else. He didn’t just let it go. He listened carefully, asked questions, and even played the janggu.
Listening to the glorified action, the sword dance drama could tell that this moment was the most memorable and shining moment in his life.
Long story short, Geommugeuk was with the fight from beginning to end.
“Thank you. For listening.”
“No, I appreciate you telling me. You were so cool.”
The moment he heard those words, Pyogi-kwang felt an inexplicable emotion welling up within him.
It was a story I had repeated many times since I got hurt and stepped down from my position as a soloist. But I had never felt such overwhelming emotions.
Soon he could see that no one had ever listened to his story so seriously and so excitedly. They were all bored and only listened out of courtesy.
And today I realized that what I had been wishing for for a very long time was to see someone truly listen to my story like this.
Because after getting hurt, that was all he could do.
* * *
When Pyogi opened his eyes, he was asleep in bed.
‘When did I fall asleep?’
This time, seeing that he was covered with a blanket, it seems that the child outside was taking care of him.
The sunlight was shining brightly through the window. I guess I’m still alive.
I got up from bed and looked out the window and saw Geommu-geuk standing in the yard. He must have been standing there all night.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m hungry.”
Pyo Ki-kwang came out with a bashful face after receiving an honest answer.
“Let’s go eat.”
The two men left the house and walked toward the author.
The sign language writer suddenly said.
“We are like fish caught in a fishing net. We don’t know when a fisherman will come and pull us out. You have to get out. There is still a chance.”
That fishing net, an ordinary fishing net, won’t do. Maybe if the Majeongsa Cheonrajimang is spread out in three layers.
“You know, if I want to ask my fisherman not to lift his net, I have to tell him his name.”
The sign writer shook his head without saying a word.
As if he had expected this, Geommugeuk was not disappointed at all. Instead, he spoke with a bright face.
“Then please tell me another story. I want to hear more of your story, senior.”
