– Cheon Mu-myeong
In a fit of rage over my fallen comrade, I sliced another trash like it was nothing.
“Hah!”
My heart was pounding, my pupils dilated, and their movements appeared so slow.
For the first time in my life, I felt this sensation that made my lips stretch into a grin.
“Aaaah!!”
Still oblivious to the situation, another piece of trash lunged at me, ready to hit the ground.
It moved sluggishly, as if trying to cut me in half with its large, clumsy motion.
“Pathetic!”
I sidestepped with ease and drew my wooden sword, slicing through.
But this one was surprisingly tough, or maybe it was just my failure, as it reached for my ankles while lying on the ground.
That’s right, you should do that.
For some reason, my heart raced faster, and a smile bloomed on my face.
I stomped down fiercely, crushing its hand.
Creeeak—
“Aaahhh!!”
There was the sound of something breaking.
Was my comrade’s mangled hand stimulating them? The trash rushed at me with bloodshot eyes.
I simply gripped my wooden sword tighter and recalled my Master’s words.
“Perfect muscle control.”
I tensed my muscles throughout my body, leaned back, and swung my sword horizontally.
Crack—
An unpleasant sound of bones breaking filled the air, but it only brought me delight.
As I felt the satisfying crunch against the ribs, I scanned my surroundings.
“One down from the trash that jumped in, so there should be one left.”
No one was in my line of sight.
“Then.”
I continued my swing, following through, turning my body large, and whipped my wooden sword wildly.
“Gah, ugh…”
It didn’t feel as satisfying this time.
I lowered my head.
Approaching the trembling trash gripping its side, I raised my wooden sword.
I wanted to feel that sensation one more time.
With an almost obsessive urge, just as I was about to stab it in the face—
“Stop it.”
My Master grabbed my arm.
“Ah…”
My heart froze.
My Master frowned and shot me a cold glare I’d never seen before.
“Nameless, why are you so delightedly laughing?”
I had no answer, I could barely respond.
But I was certain my Master was disappointed in me, so I just hung my head.
“I’m sorry….”
I felt shame.
My Master let out a light sigh and patted my back.
“Let’s go in for now.”
“Yes….”
– Cheon Ha-rang
I frowned instinctively at the more devastating sight than expected.
Men lying on the ground, crying buckets while gasping for air.
One man was sobbing while holding onto a hand that had become nothing but pulp.
“Was it really necessary to go that far?”
The way their bones and muscles twisted made recovery nearly impossible.
I wasn’t sure about the medical standards here, but it seemed they would never live a normal life again.
Letting out a deep sigh, I wiped my face.
What on earth made Nameless angry enough to do this to people?
No matter how I thought about it, it was far beyond reasonable.
But I couldn’t really blame Nameless, I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
This was also my shortcoming.
Instead of targeting people, I should have let them experience real combat in another way.
I should have assessed Nameless’s temperament, but I failed.
But to offer a slight justification, Nameless never showed this kind of behavior during our sparring sessions.
Plus, having lived secluded in the mountains, how could I expect any real combat experience?
A sigh escaped me.
Could it be that after being hit by me during training, they unconsciously unleashed their anger here…?
Well, if that was the reason, it might hold some truth.
As I tilted my head, I paused my thoughts.
After all, there was no solution coming to mind. Thinking would only waste my mental energy.
I gently patted Nameless’s shoulder.
“Let’s go in for now.”
We’ll think about it later.
“Yes….”
Nameless nodded slightly, and I fled from the problem.
Unlike before, it was easy to push open the tavern door without anything blocking the way.
Having already caused a disturbance, there was no need for decorum, so I kicked the door open.
“Umm.”
Upon entering the tavern, people looked at Nameless and me with eyes filled with fear, but this time, seeing no one rushing at us suggested that the combatants here were likely the same five as before.
Or maybe someone with skills high enough to hide from my presence.
But there was no way that kind of person would be here.
As I nodded along to myself, an awkward silence enveloped the place.
Feeling the awkwardness, I subtly turned my head, and Nameless flinched, presumably lost in thought.
Yeah…
It couldn’t feel good to be looked at with such fearful eyes.
It must be distressing.
Since it seemed Nameless wouldn’t speak for a while, I opened my mouth.
“Um, who is the owner of this place?”
“…”
Despite my attempts to engage, there was no reply.
I felt somewhat ignored and pouted my lips.
“Well, then I have a method.”
Letting out a deep sigh, I shook my head and pointed to someone familiar among the group.
“You with the messy red hair, come here.”
It was the guy who had previously shared his bread with someone else.
He must have a good heart, so he should respond well to my questions.
“…Me? Really?”
“Yes, you, not another redhead…”
…There are so many.
Fighting the awkwardness, I covered my mouth and cleared my throat lightly.
“Ahem, anyway, you over there, come here.”
“Yes….”
The young man with red hair approached slowly, his face pale.
Umm, I had no intention of causing trouble…
I smiled widely to put him at ease.
“Do you know where the owner of this place is?”
The young man stared blankly for a moment, then pointed to the second floor with his finger.
“Thanks.”
As a token of gratitude, I took a piece of bread from my bag and handed it to him, leading Nameless up the stairs.
The tavern, seemingly also serving as an inn, had more rooms than expected, and I thought it would be hard to find the owner’s room. But there was one particular room exuding a distinctly unpleasant smell.
It was different from smoke, but every time that scent wafted into my body, it raised my unease.
I circulated my energy to ward it off and informed Nameless as well.
Upon opening the door with the foul smell, it was no surprise.
A scruffy-looking guy was lounging there in a haughty manner.
“Aha, so you’re the owner of this place?”
With a muscular body and tattoos on his scalp, he looked like he could hold his own in a fight.
I stiffened for a moment but felt his energy was lackluster and relaxed my shoulders.
I truly believe I can be strong against anyone weaker than me.
As I tilted my chin up, looking down for a while, the bald man finally spoke.
“Ha… Did another organization send you?”
Sent by another organization…
There weren’t just one or two places like this.
As I maintained my silence while thinking, the bald man spoke again.
“How much did they pay you? No, wait, I’ll give you double what they offered, so how about siding with us?”
“Hmm, we didn’t come here at someone else’s orders, we just came to see what’s going on in this tavern.”
Upon hearing my answer, the bald guy frowned, then burst out laughing.
“Ha!”
Hmm, what’s so funny about this situation?
As I tilted my head, confused, he slowly approached me, grinding his teeth and twitching his eyebrows.
“You mean to say you half-killed our guys over such a trivial reason?”
Nameless flinched.
I gently rubbed Nameless’s back, lowered my chin, and bowed my head.
“Ah, I apologize for that; my disciple was just filled with youthful vigor.”
“Master?”
“What the hell….”
Nameless was clearly shocked, never expecting that I would bow my head. The silence was shattered as their eyes widened in disbelief.
The bald man, despite my apology, was livid, veins popping on his forehead as his whole face began to twitch.
“I can’t believe that was your reason for Mark and John—!”
Slammed the table, he screamed and charged at me with his fist clenched.
Hmm, I just came for a chat; how did it end up like this?
With a sigh, I glanced at Nameless, who was sweating profusely, realizing they knew they had done wrong.
“Ha… I guess I have no choice.”
I didn’t even need to pull out my wooden sword.
Moving behind the raging bald guy, I struck his neck.
“Sorry, but I’m going to have you take a nap.”
The bald man collapsed to the ground, fast asleep.
While he was snoozing, I found myself deep in thought.
How do I resolve this situation…?
Hmm, would a strawberry do the trick to forgive me?
