Chapter 6 :

Episode 6. An Unexpected Visitor.

 

“Um, Team Leader. There’s something I’m really curious about.”

 

“What?”

 

“I can understand why you got suspended, but why did I have to get suspended with you?”

 

As though she found it unbearably unfair,

 

Yu Na-kyung forlornly asked while swirling her shot glass of soju.

 

Limon answered without a care.

 

“A superior’s mistakes are the subordinate’s responsibility.”

 

“Isn’t that usually the other way around?!”

 

“Which do you think happens more often? A superior covering for a subordinate’s mistake, or a superior dumping his own mistake on a subordinate?”

 

Yu Na-kyung rolled her eyes around.

 

Then she answered confidently.

 

“If that superior has a proper sense of morality, obviously the former.”

 

“Right, and those nice superiors lose their jobs while the bad ones get promoted, so the latter becomes more common.”

 

“What kind of hopeless, dream-crushing statement is that?!”

 

“You didn’t know? Reality never had dreams or hope to begin with.”

 

“Wow. That’s awful.”

 

Limon chuckled.

 

If it had involved an ordinary Player, that would have been one thing.

 

But this was an incident involving the assault of a Monarch’s relative.

 

Even if Limon did not know the details, Kang Jeong-su was probably running around sweating buckets trying to clean up the aftermath.

 

His scalp might end up even shinier.

 

Yu Na-kyung looked as shocked as a child who had just been told that Santa Claus did not exist.

 

Limon snickered at the sight.

 

Of course, he had only been joking.

 

If their superior, Kang Jeong-su, had genuinely tried to dump responsibility on them,

 

there was no way it would have ended with a mere suspension.

 

Yu Na-kyung obviously knew that as well and muttered absentmindedly.

 

‘Maybe I should buy him some good hair-growth medicine next time.’

 

If Kang Jeong-su had known what Limon was thinking, he would have begged him to forget the hair tonic and simply stop causing trouble.

 

But there was no chance of that wish ever coming true.

 

If such a thing were possible, Limon, who was technically a national salvation hero, would never have been demoted all the way down to Team Leader in the first place.

 

“It’s pretty ironic.”

 

“What is?”

 

“We’re the ones who got suspended, yet we’re relaxing and drinking, while the Director who handed down the punishment is probably working himself to death.”

 

“Well, what can you do? That’s what Directors are for.”

 

“Anyway, I’ll admit it felt really satisfying.”

 

“Did it?”

 

“Yes. That man was seriously obnoxious. He almost killed people, yet he ignored that until the very end and only talked about his money and compensation.”

 

“That bastard would’ve said the exact same thing even if he’d actually killed someone.”

 

“No way. He’s still human.”

 

“People drunk on power stop seeing other people as human.”

 

A cold smile appeared on Limon’s face.

 

People generally recognized the humanity of those they considered their equals.

 

That was why people searched for common ground in age, region, workplace, hobbies, and countless other things,

 

then associated with those they felt were on equal footing.

 

But someone intoxicated by power could not do that.

 

The essence of power was domination.

 

Rather than seeing another person as an equal,

 

it made even equals look like targets to be controlled.

 

Limon had watched countless once-pure people become corrupted by power.

 

He knew that truth very well.

 

And if the person in question was Seo Yong-chan, who apparently had a bull’s head to begin with,

 

it would hardly be surprising if he genuinely did not see other humans as people at all.

 

Yu Na-kyung tilted her head and asked.

 

It was the kind of question she could ask because she was drunk,

 

but it was also a sincere one.

 

At least as far as she knew, Limon was not someone who would hold himself back because of another person’s connections, even if the opponent were the Infinite Monarch himself rather than merely his brother-in-law.

 

Limon’s answer was simple.

 

“If a civil servant murders someone however he pleases, he gets fired.”

 

“…That’s it?”

 

“That’s not ‘just’ anything. If I get fired from here, where is a washed-up relic like me supposed to find another job?”

 

“That’s an incredibly realistic reason.”

 

Yu Na-kyung giggled and emptied her glass.

 

Limon smiled faintly and poured soju into the empty glass.

 

“…Hearing that makes me even more curious why you let Seo Yong-chan live.”

 

“Why? Was I not supposed to?”

 

“It’s not that you weren’t supposed to. It just feels strange. I honestly thought you were really going to kill him.”

 

“Well, I did want to kill him.”

 

“Then why didn’t you?”

 

***

 

They spent a long while drinking back and forth at the shabby street stall.

 

Only after empty bottles had piled up did Limon finally stand.

 

He dumped the completely drunk Yu Na-kyung off at her home and returned to the streets.

 

Then, looking up at the night sky, he suddenly muttered.

 

‘Well, none of that really matters.’

 

“The old days were better.”

 

Before Players appeared.

 

Back in the Heroes Age, Limon could have killed Seo Yong-chan, sold him into slavery, or done whatever else he pleased.

 

Sword Masters had been absolute beings back then.

 

They possessed greater unchecked authority than all Ten Monarchs combined did now.

 

Even if a Sword Master killed a perfectly ordinary person and claimed the victim had actually been a monster,

 

people would believe him and praise him rather than criticize him.

 

But that was merely a story of the past.

 

After Players appeared,

 

Sword Masters declined.

 

Just as battleships, once called fortresses of the sea, became little more than scrap metal after the development of aircraft carriers and anti-ship missiles, the rise of Skills and Players destroyed the standing of Sword Masters as well.

 

The Sword Tower, once overflowing with practitioners, could no longer endure its operating losses and eventually went bankrupt.

 

People who had once bragged at every opportunity about their friendship with Sword Masters cut ties with them.

 

Before long, even the title of Sword Master became a mocking insult.

 

A washed-up relic who knew nothing but swinging a sword while arrogantly clinging to past glory.

 

Limon did not feel particularly emotional about that fact itself.

 

His fall from power had nothing to do with why he had spared Seo Yong-chan.

 

There was only one reason he had kept Seo Yong-chan alive.

 

Because he had sensed something from Seo Yong-chan when the man’s head transformed into that of a bull.

 

‘There were definitely two things overlapping, weren’t there?’

 

He had not noticed it at first.

 

But after examining it more closely, Limon realized something.

 

The sense of wrongness emanating from the bull-headed Seo Yong-chan came from two different presences being mixed together.

 

And hidden cleverly among the human presence

 

was another disgusting presence,

 

one that felt like watching a half-rotten brain writhe.

 

‘I don’t know whether it’s possession, fusion, or parasitism…’

 

It was not some ordinary ghost.

 

Nor was it anything like a Chimera.

 

Even Limon, who had lived for a fairly long time, had never seen such an unusual form of overlapping existences before.

 

The only thing that was certain was that whatever had been layered over Seo Yong-chan was fundamentally different from a human being.

 

Perhaps it could not be helped.

 

No matter how hard he tried to keep up with the changing times, he was ultimately a man of the past.

 

An outdated relic left behind by the era.

 

‘It’s not something I should touch carelessly.’

 

What exactly was it?

 

And what relationship did it have with Seo Yong-chan?

 

Without knowing any of that, he could not simply kill Seo Yong-chan on the spot.

 

If he acted rashly, he might scare the snake by striking the grass.

 

And keeping Seo Yong-chan alive and observing him would likely reveal far more.

 

What if whatever it was caused trouble?

 

Then he could simply cut it down when the time came.

 

That would conveniently give him a legitimate reason to kill Seo Yong-chan as well.

 

“The waves behind the great river push forward the waves ahead.

 

The waves ahead perish upon the sandy shore.

 

How long can the waves behind enjoy their glory?

 

In the end, their fate will be the same.”

 

‘Though even thinking like this is probably outdated now.’

 

Limon chuckled.

 

Perhaps an unnecessary old memory had surfaced.

 

Or perhaps he had become intoxicated by the unusually clear moonlight tonight.

 

Muttering to himself despite having no one there to listen,

 

Limon wandered aimlessly through the dim nighttime streets.

 

He was suspended anyway.

 

With nothing to do tomorrow, he planned to enjoy a leisurely nighttime walk before going home.

 

But before he had even taken more than a few steps,

 

Limon suddenly stopped.

 

“The waves behind the great river push away the waves ahead.

 

The waves ahead fade upon the sandy shallows.

 

If the waves ahead do not perish and instead return to the sea, they may rise again without fading and become the waves behind once more.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

Limon was genuinely curious.

 

Whatever else anyone might say, he was a Sword Master.

 

His senses were so sharp that ordinary Trackers could not even be compared to him.

 

Of course, if he said something like that to a Tracker, they would probably get angry and ask how he dared compare them to some washed-up relic.

 

But facts were facts.

 

Very few people could deceive Limon’s senses and approach this closely.

 

Not even most Monarchs could manage it.

 

So who had accomplished such a difficult feat?

 

With genuine interest, Limon addressed the owner of the voice.

 

As the voice echoed through the quiet night,

 

Limon narrowed his eyes.

 

Not because someone had responded to his muttering.

 

Nor because of the clear and beautiful voice itself.

 

It was because he had noticed the other person’s approach only at the last moment.

 

“I apologize for approaching you so rudely.”

 

“Who are you?”

 

Smooth hair gathered to the side and secured with a jade hairpin.

 

An Eastern-style dress of silk embroidered with silver thread.

 

And skin that gleamed pale beneath the moonlight.

 

As though she were drawing aside the curtain of night itself, the visitor stepped out of the darkness.

 

She was too dignified to be called merely a girl,

 

yet still too youthful to be called a fully grown woman.

 

She politely addressed Limon.

 

“Forgive me for asking, but are you the Sword Duke?”

 

“Sword Duke… I was called that once.”

 

Limon made an odd expression.

 

Back when Sword Masters had been absolute beings, people had given him countless epithets, such as National Salvation Hero and Humanity’s Guardian Deity.

 

Sword Duke had been one of those titles.

 

But Limon had not heard that title in a very long time.

 

Most of his old epithets had been forgotten, and there had only ever been one particular group of people who called him Sword Duke.

 

The young woman trembled slightly.

 

As though she feared how Limon might react once he learned her identity.

 

But only for a moment.

 

As if steeling herself, she took a quiet breath and lifted her head.

 

Then she looked directly into Limon’s golden eyes and spoke in a trembling voice.

 

“Would you recognize the name Li Qingyu of the Black Dragon Clan?”

 

“How could I not?”

 

“And your answer to my question?”

 

Li Qingyu flinched.

 

Contrary to her fears, Limon neither became angry nor drew his sword.

 

He had already guessed her identity from the moment she emerged from the darkness.

 

That was only natural.

 

There was no way Limon, of all people, would fail to recognize a Psionics technique.

 

And no matter how vast the world was, there was only one Psionics user capable of deceiving Limon’s senses.

 

“So, what business does a princess of the Seven Dragons Association have with me?”

 

“I came because I have a favor to ask of you, Sword Duke.”

 

“A favor? You? From me?”

 

Why did common sense have to change so drastically with every era?

 

Complaining inwardly, Limon asked Li Qingyu.

 

“What exactly are you here to ask?”

 

Limon doubted his own ears.

 

It would have been easier for him to believe the moon had split in half.

 

According to everything he knew, it was simply impossible for a member of the Seven Dragons Association to ask him for a favor.

 

Especially a princess of the Black Dragon Clan.

 

“Yes.”

 

Limon mentally prepared himself.

 

If a princess of the Black Dragon Clan had deliberately sought him out to make a request, it could not possibly be anything ordinary.

 

So he resolved not to be surprised no matter what she said.

 

But the moment he heard her request,

 

Limon finally found himself completely dumbfounded.

 

She overturned his common sense with ridiculous ease.

 

After staring blankly at Li Qingyu for a while,

 

Limon looked up at the moon and thought.

 

“Please marry me.”