“Ughhh~! Finally, freedom~!”
As soon as the last exam of the final exams ended, Namgoong Ruby raised her arms and shouted that.
“Keep it down; it’s embarrassing.”
Dokgorin, already used to Ruby’s antics, casually remarked before tuning it out.
But perhaps it was because Namgoong Ruby was equally accustomed to Dokgorin’s indifferent attitude, she didn’t seem to care much.
“Now that the first semester is almost over, what are you two going to do during summer break?”
Caught off guard by Namgoong Ruby’s sudden question, I pondered for a moment.
To be honest, this summer vacation seemed like it would be incredibly busy for me.
However, I couldn’t just say that outright, so I gave a vague answer.
“Maybe I’ll just go back to Sicheon? I don’t really have anywhere to go during the break.”
At that, Namgoong Ruby’s eyes lit up as if she’d just heard the most interesting story.
“Can I come too?!”
“What?”
“To visit a friend’s house! It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages!”
“Aren’t you going back home?”
“Well, sure, I’ll go home, but I can spend a few days visiting, right?”
Namgoong Ruby looked at me eagerly with a desperate expression.
“No, I mean, if you ask me…”
The owner of the house is someone else, after all.
When I said that and glanced at Tang Sosu, she pointed to herself with a puzzled expression, “Huh? Me?”
“Sosu! Please!”
Then, Namgoong Ruby switched gears and clung to her instead of me.
“Huh? Huh-huh?”
Weak to Ruby’s request, Sosu looked at Dokgorin and me with a “what should I do?” expression, but it was ultimately odd to leave the choice to guests like us.
After all, she’s the direct descendant of the Tang family.
“Well… Sicheon and Anhui are quite far apart, so if I suddenly take a friend without saying anything, Grandpa might feel uncomfortable…”
“…So, it’s a no?”
“Aw, come on, just let it happen once.”
Basically, Tang Sosu, who was weak to Namgoong Ruby’s charm, just dug her own grave.
“Yay!”
Once she got permission to visit Sicheon, Namgoong Ruby jumped for joy.
Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
Somehow, I had a feeling this journey home wouldn’t go smoothly at all.
*
After confessing the sins of himself and Weijichun, Jeongalgyun, once the head of Cheonmu Academy, stepped down from his position.
His confession led to a wave of reform within the Murim Association, sending ripples throughout Cheonmu Academy as well.
Many students affiliated with influential families or sects involved in this affair either dropped out to return home or teachers known to be connected with Weijichun resigned from their positions.
In the midst of this chaos, even Jeongalgeondam, Jeongalgyun’s grandson and the student council president, disgracefully stepped down, indicating a state of confusion both inside and outside the orthodox Murim.
However, among the students, no one openly expressed their struggles due to the situation, likely because, given the circumstances, they felt they needed to keep their wits about them to avoid causing trouble for their families or sects.
Thus ended the first semester with a rather heavy atmosphere at the closing ceremony.
During the two-month vacation, I packed my things from the dorm room to return to Sicheon and thought.
‘What could have happened to Baek Yujin and Cheonma, who returned to Shibam Dae Mountain?’
They had clearly said when they left that they would be back to Jang-an within a month, but a month had gone by long ago.
In the end, judging by the fact that they hadn’t shown up by the last day of leaving Jang-an, it seemed like something had gone wrong after all.
I packed a few outfits to change during my travel, along with my Qingzhen sand and the handcuffs and money given to me by my master, Tang Hochang, and lastly, I draped the lead cloth given to me by Dokgorin over my body.
It didn’t match the sweltering weather like it was now, but this lead cloth, made from solid pieces of metal, had saved my life several times, so I couldn’t easily take it off.
‘I’m a bit worried about radiation exposure too.’
Of course, with Dokgorin’s Yeo-wook Simgyeol almost at extreme levels by now, I wouldn’t have to worry about radiation as much as before, but still, it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
Once I finished packing and stepped out of the dorm, I happened to run into Hyecheong, who appeared to be outside at the same time.
“Oh, Chilbok, you’re going back to your hometown too?”
“Well, yeah. How about you, Hyecheong?”
When I asked, Hyecheong shyly rubbed the back of his neck and nodded.
“Yes. It’s been a while since I met my master, and I feel like I need some solitary training to refine my new insights for a while.”
“I hope it brings you good results.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
After saying that, Hyecheong bowed his head and gracefully departed from the dorm.
I watched his figure until it completely disappeared before heading to the front of the Nokjon Hall, where my group was waiting.
*
“Chilbok! Over here!”
Four people in travel clothes were waiting in front of the Nokjon Hall.
‘…Four people?’
I noticed Samajak mingling among them and questioned, “Why are you here?”
Samajak replied confidently, “I figured you’d come by if I waited here.”
Well, that’s not wrong.
Since wherever Dokgorin is, it’s much like where I am.
“Are you also going to Shicheon?”
Samajak shook her head.
“I’m not bold enough to tag along without being invited. Since I probably won’t see you during the summer break, I was just waiting to say my farewells.”
As she said that, she looked at the three companions beside her, cleared her throat faintly, then walked up to stand in front of me.
“Then see you in two months, Chilbok.”
“Yeah. Have a good trip back home.”
Just as I was nodding in agreement, I suddenly felt a soft sensation on my cheek.
“Huh?”
“Hey!”
“Rin! Hold on!”
“Ahhhh!”
Seeing the whole scene unfold, Dokgorin drew her sword with a furious expression, but was desperately held back by Namgoong Ruby and Tang Sosu.
Whatever it was, after stepping back a few paces, Samajak, with a smug smile, said, “See you in the second semester,” and then waved her hand and dashed away.
As Samajak completely disappeared from view, Namgoong Ruby and Tang Sosu finally released Dokgorin, who narrowed her eyes at me with a serious expression.
“Chil. Bok. Ah?”
“This was out of my control.”
Honestly, how could I have predicted that Samajak would sneak in a surprise kiss at this moment?
As I expressed my grievance, Dokgorin took a few deep breaths to calm down before exhaling a long sigh.
“Fine. I’ll let it slide this time. That guy has done this more than once.”
Ever since Samajak declared herself a rival, she had continued to provoke us in various ways, and it seemed Dokgorin had developed some level of patience by now.
Once upon a time, she would have wanted to rip her apart, but now it felt like she had experienced some personal growth.
Anyway, I was relieved that the issue didn’t escalate.
As I felt that relief, Namgoong Ruby spoke up in a lively voice to change the atmosphere.
“Now that Chilbok is here, we can leave right away, right? I’m so excited about the trip with my friends that I couldn’t sleep at all last night!”
“…It’s going to take at least a week to get to Sicheon even by boat.”
In all honesty, if we went to Sicheon and then back to Anhuixing where Namgoong’s family is, Ruby would lose an entire month just being on the road.
But since she didn’t seem to think much of it, it didn’t matter what I said; it wouldn’t register.
Just as we were about to set off for home in earnest, two familiar faces appeared in front of Nokjon Hall.
“Fortunately, we’re not late.”
I was surprised and raised my voice when I recognized Baek Yujin, dressed in black martial robes, who lifted her hat just above her head slightly.
“Long time no see, Ahya.”
It was the immortal Bulsamahu Baek Yujin and Cheonma Nguyen Tai Khan, who had returned to Shibam Dae Mountain about a month and a half ago.
*
So, we set off for Sicheon with two additional latecomers.
“Why did you take so long to get here?”
I asked out of curiosity, to which Baek Yujin shrugged her shoulders.
“I had more to handle than I expected. I left right after I caught up on my backlog of work, but the distance between Shibam Dae Mountain and Jang-an is just enormous, so there was nothing I could do.”
…To be fair, the distance between Shibam Dae Mountain and Jang-an is indeed quite significant.
It would be stranger to complain about why someone who sits still for so long didn’t arrive sooner.
Nodding in understanding, I watched as Namgoong Ruby looked at us with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes, evidently restless.
I felt like I needed to introduce the two to her.
“Oh, speaking of which…”
“You can introduce us later, just do it yourself.”
Cutting in, Baek Yujin said with a smiling face, “I’m Baek Yujin from Shingang.”
Then, Cheonma, standing beside her, spoke with a calm expression.
“I’m Nguyen from that family.”
