Is this the first time in decades that I’ve had sesame noodles?
When I returned home, I stood in front of the bronze mirror.
When I was young, I looked so fresh and vibrant. I could have just stared at myself in the mirror all day.
After enjoying my youthful appearance for a while, I suddenly remembered the fire weapon.
What is he doing now?
Are you undergoing hellish training somewhere to become stronger?
If only we could find and kill him before he gets stronger, it would be an easy solution. The problem is that finding Hwamugi is not easy. He appeared in the martial arts world as if he had fallen from the sky, and after forming the Three Peaks, he left the martial arts world and went into hiding, so there is absolutely no information about Hwamugi. Even so, sending people to the entire Central Plains to find someone called Hwamugi is a dangerous attempt that could provoke Hwamugi’s impulsive actions.
In the end, it’s best for me to become stronger than the fire weapon.
Fortunately, the heavens have given me enough time to prepare. I will use time to my advantage and become stronger.
Was it because I was reminded of the fire weapon? The internal energy in my danjeon stirred and reacted.
The poison disappeared as if it had never been poisoned in the first place. Since there were no traces of poisoning after the battle, Gu Pyeong-ho had properly obtained the poison.
Well, that’s why he would dare to think of taking the mountain poison from Cheonma’s blood relative.
After being lost in thought for a moment, I called out the name of the person I was most grateful to in my life.
“Ian.”
A welcoming voice answers my call from outside the door.
“Yes, your highness.”
“come in.”
Then the door opened and a young woman came in. She was a woman who looked like she was about to burst, and she was not just fat, but obese.
Personal guard, Ian.
At the time, I didn’t know that she was this big because of the martial arts she had learned. No, it was because of me.
Whole body petrification exercise.
It was a secret technique that was only known to her and was secretly passed down to her, a martial art that temporarily made her flesh as hard as stone. The body becoming larger was a fatal side effect of this martial art.
I looked at her through the mirror and asked.
“How do I look?”
She answered coolly in the mirror.
“You are the most handsome man in the world.”
Ian’s voice is so good.
If you were to enter a contest to find the person with the best voice in the Central Plains, I can guarantee you that you would definitely win.
“Not funny.”
“The question of the person who pays the salary always has a set answer.”
Not only do you have a nice voice, but you also have such a cheerful personality.
Ian asked me as our eyes met through the mirror.
“Why do you look at me like that?”
It was thanks to Ian that I survived that day.
She threw her body to block the sword energy that the fire weapon aimed at killing me.
The sword energy of the fire weapon pierced through her entire body, but changed direction slightly in the process. That’s why it narrowly missed my heart.
The fire weapon did not confirm my death. It would not have thought that its attack had missed. Ian’s sacrifice and his pride saved me.
‘Thank you, Ian.’
She was ready to give her life for me, but at that time, I just thought of her as a guard. I took her existence for granted. Just like how we live without knowing how precious air is.
“You did a great job today. You were really awesome.”
I turned to her, walking slowly towards the real her, not the one in the mirror.
There was a difference between the girl in my memories and the real her.
‘It’s bigger than I thought.’
I stared at her quietly and thought back to how she looked when she was a child.
With her sad eyes, high nose, and doll-like appearance that was so pretty when she smiled, everyone said that if she grew up like that, she would become the most beautiful person in the world.
One day, the pretty girl showed up, fat. She had gained so much weight that I didn’t realize how much she had cried and how swollen her eyes were.
The little girl spoke to me then and now with the same look in her eyes.
I will protect you, my lord.
What on earth was that girl thinking?
Her only sin was being born into the Demonic Cult and growing up as a bodyguard. The price she had to pay was too great.
I gave up my appearance to become the most beautiful in the world, but did I care for her heart? Maybe I treated her coldly after I got fat? I don’t remember my memories with her very well.
On the other hand, she kept her promise. She threw her large body to block the sword, and thanks to that, I survived.
I think this return is worth it just to save Ian.
‘Ian, I also have one promise to make. I will definitely eliminate the side effects of the full-body petrification technique.’
I blurted out to her.
“We shouldn’t be friends.”
She asked with a puzzled look.
“Yes? Why?”
“Building affection for an escort drone, let alone another drone, is like earning points to have them die in your stead. It’s a mean thing to do.”
“What are you talking about? It is only natural for me to protect you, my lord.”
“Where is the natural sacrifice? Always put yourself first, then your family, then your protection. I want a reasonable person like that to protect me.”
Ian didn’t hesitate a bit.
“That can’t be. I am the master once, and this time, too. And I don’t have a family.”
I dare not measure the extent of the loyalty this stubborn woman holds toward me.
“You’re acting strange today.”
“Shall I show you something weirder? Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
I said as I walked out with brisk strides.
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“To overturn the table.”
So I went straight to the kitchen.
Then he called all the kitchen staff, including the head cook, Lim Sook-soo.
Among those lined up, the person I called out was an assistant housekeeper who had been working here for three years.
“Why did you do that?”
“Yes? What are you talking about?”
“Why did you put acid in my food?”
Everyone was shocked by those words.
“No, I’m not!”
The good thing about returning is that you don’t have to look inside people’s minds. I already know why this guy got into a mountain sling. He was addicted to gambling and got into big debt. He squandered his parents’ money and his friends’ money, and he even committed the audacity of getting into a mountain sling while eating the food of his blood relatives. Gambling is this scary.
“You went gambling again with the three thousand nyang you received?”
For a moment, the guy flinched and then fell flat on his face.
“Please save me. I was wrong. I was blinded by money and committed a great sin.”
“Did Gu Pyeong-ho come to you in person and give you the money?”
“yes.”
The moment he admitted it, I cut off his head with one stroke of my sword.
Crunch!
It was my first murder after returning, but I didn’t feel anything special about it. I had lived a life of mercilessly killing those I considered evil. The last mercy I showed him was that I killed him without any pain.
Even in his life before his return, he died today. He was stabbed to death in a gambling house on the night of the non-competition. It was probably the assassin’s knife sent by Gu Pyeong-ho for the purpose of killing people and destroying their mouths.
In any case, putting poison in food was something that should never be forgiven, because one forgiveness would lead to another attempt.
“It’s not just anyone else, but a guy named Suk-su who is poisoning the rice!”
Im Sook-soo, who had a miserable expression on his face at my words, knelt down.
“I’m sorry, your highness.”
“Why are you like this? Even your knees aren’t feeling well?”
“It’s all my fault.”
“Why is this Im Sook-soo’s fault? It’s the fault of the poisonous guy.”
“Whatever happens in the kitchen is my responsibility.”
I raised him up.
“Im Sook-soo. If something injustice happens at our school, is it my father’s fault?”
“Yes? No, absolutely not.”
“But why did Im Sook-soo say it was her responsibility? Stop talking nonsense and order chicken silk noodles for dinner! I want to eat it after a long time.”
How many decades has it been since you last ate it?
“You ate it the day before yesterday?”
“Im Sook-soo, I’m still holding the knife. Blood is dripping.”
“I will make it delicious and upload it.”
As I left the kitchen, Ian, who was waiting outside, asked urgently.
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault as the person in charge of escort.”
“Why are you all so impatient and unable to take responsibility? Do you have a sense of responsibility?”
“I will make sure that something like this never happens again.”
“Okay. Let’s spread the rumor around the school about this incident. Gu Pyeong-ho instigated it, and I killed the bastard who poisoned the house.”
“The Bloodthirsty One will deny it.”
“It’s no use. There are many eyes and ears here who see and hear.”
The whole kitchen crew saw it, so there’s no point in denying it.
“If you did something dirty, there should be a bad rumor. Spread the word! Make the dogs in the school bark ‘Sangong, sanggong’!”
“All right.”
“let’s go.”
Ian, who was following behind, spoke cautiously.
“Ah… … It really seems like something has changed today.”
Since she was the one who supported me the most, she was the first to notice my changes.
“You even make jokes that you don’t usually make. Your actions and words seem different.”
“I decided to live a different life starting today.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yeah, all of a sudden. I don’t think people change little by little every day. When there’s a certain trigger, they change drastically. Isn’t that why people say people don’t change, because it’s difficult and doesn’t happen often? Let’s go.”
I didn’t even give her a chance to ask what had happened before I started walking away again.
* * *
“Do you need all this?”
Ian was amazed at the things I had prepared for the hunt with my father.
I nodded as I packed the items I had prepared into a large leather bag.
“I need.”
“I didn’t know you were so knowledgeable about camping.”
Ian, no one on campus has been camping as much as I have.
“I have to prepare a lot since I’m with my father.”
“I hope you have a good time.”
“Will that work?”
It wasn’t an empty joke. I was confident about other things, but I wasn’t confident about my relationship with my father. Even though I’ve lived longer than my father… … I’m even less confident.
“You have to make it happen. It will happen.”
Ian greeted me with a smile.
“Have nice dreams tonight.”
But I didn’t sleep well that day.
I had a proper nightmare. In my dream, I was still searching for the materials for the Return Method. It was a dream where I was wandering around everywhere because the materials were not in the original place.
Ian’s voice is heard then.
“Your Majesty, are you okay?”
Perhaps he screamed while dreaming.
“It’s not okay. It was a dirty dream.”
“What did you dream about?”
“In your case, it would be like starting over again from the lowest level of unmanned?”
“Ah! Please just kill me.”
I sat on the bed and looked at the mirror hanging on the wall. As if dreams were just dreams, I saw myself in my younger days.
I felt good again seeing my youthful appearance.
Yes, if I could wake up to the mornings of my youth like this again, I wouldn’t mind having nightmares every day.
“You seem nervous.”
“You’re traveling with someone scarier than a tiger.”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to even breathe properly.”
“I’m going to wash up. Get me some new uniforms.”
“yes.”
Whenever I felt tired in my past life, I would imagine what I would do if I went back. Just imagining it made me feel good and helped me overcome the pain.
But nowhere in all my imagination was there a hunt with my father the day after my return. I would find out if my instinctive choice was right the moment the hunt was over.
After finishing all the preparations, I put on my large backpack and slowly walked towards the Cheonma Hall where my father was waiting.
