Chapter 27 : Did You Sleep Well?

The moonlight poured over the silent streets.

“Hm-hm~”

I hummed a tune as I strolled along.

It was just a light midnight walk to chase away my sleeplessness, yet I’d stumbled upon some unexpected harvests.

I’d discovered that the applications of martial arts were endless.

First: I’d tried infusing a pebble with the Night Sky’s internal energy. It worked perfectly.

Now I could scatter Night Sky wherever I pleased—all I needed was a stone I could throw hard enough. I decided to call it the Night Sky Bomb.

Second: I realized that starlight didn’t have to cling only to my sword tip.

If I could infuse the essence of Star properly, it could manifest anywhere—fingertips, toes, elbows, even the crown of my head.

It wasn’t as strong as focusing all power into a single point at the blade’s tip, but it was still impressive.

When I wrapped starlight around my fist, I shattered a swinging sword.

That meant I could fight a blade barehanded.

Perhaps even stand against aura itself.

The truth was, I’d only punched instead of drawing my sword because I didn’t want to get blood all over myself after having just bathed. I hadn’t expected such a revelation to follow.

This was why one had to keep fighting to grow stronger.

No man ever grew by sitting idle.

But fighting alone wasn’t enough.

These discoveries came because my mastery of Night Sky Star Moon Art had deepened.

My understanding of it grew sharper, and I’d learned to separate the Night Sky and the Star, using them in different ways. That gave rise to all these possibilities.

I could wrap Night Sky around my fists or feet. Or perhaps infuse Star into a pebble and hurl it.

Balance was the key.

Cultivation and battle.

If I buried myself in meditation alone, my understanding of martial arts would deepen, but my instincts in real combat would dull.

The strongest man wasn’t necessarily the most powerful.

On the other hand, if all I did was fight day after day, my instincts might sharpen, but my inner strength and martial foundation would stagnate, reaching a dead end.

Just as I had, before I fell from that cliff.

Balancing the two was the most efficient path to strength.

“Good.”

I had set my training direction.

As for battles—those would come in excess, whether I wanted them or not.

The noble’s death and the Dagger of Ophosis had already drawn far too much attention.

What mattered now was finding slivers of time for cultivation between the fights.

To meditate, I had to sink deeply into my consciousness.

That wasn’t something I could safely do alone.

I’d need someone to stand guard.

My thoughts turned to the little sister I’d met for the first time yesterday.

Clumsy, a bit scatterbrained—not exactly reliable. Yet her hearing was unmatched.

She could hear far-off sounds and even distinguish friend from foe by sound alone.

Unbelievable, almost unnatural.

At first she’d felt like a burden. But now? She was nothing short of a treasure.

And the fact that she’d dug up secrets about the Dagger of Ophosis…

The Legacy of Ophosis. I wouldn’t feel the least regret giving her half of it.

If we ever found it, that is.

My plans to return to Maia had already gone awry. A treasure hunt didn’t sound so bad anymore.

Besides, I wasn’t the one searching.

While Shushruta sought the Legacy, I could simply grow stronger by crushing whatever fools came after me.

The road from the Kingdom of Blake back to Maia was long—at least two other kingdoms lay between. It would be good to gather some travel funds along the way.

Ah—back to the applications of martial arts.

There was a third discovery. One that had completely blindsided me.

Acupoint strikes could be used to heal.

That boy’s legs had been beaten until the muscle tore.

But, just as the Heavenly Demon once said, when I drove internal energy into several points, the qi seeped into the torn muscle, knitting it back together and restoring function.

Not perfect recovery, of course. But enough for him to move freely.

It astonished me.

I had only ever thought of acupoint strikes as ways to kill. Never once to heal.

Truly, experience revealed what theory could not.

[I told you already. You just didn’t listen.]

“Oh, really?”

Apparently so.

I needed to pay more attention in class.

Walking under the moonlight, my thoughts drifted back to Odd and his sister, Evelyn.

The moon was bright tonight. A good night to set out.

Had they left through the gates already?

Or had they ignored my advice and stayed in this city?

Either way, I hoped he wouldn’t lose the thing he wanted to protect.

I had lost mine.

“…Haa.”

I let out a sigh, releasing the lingering regret from my chest.

“Time for bed.”

Feeling drowsy, I turned back toward the inn.

Maybe because I had taken a trip down memory lane in those filthy alleys, I dreamed of being a frail child, beaten bloody by thugs.

Damn bastards. Even killing them in the dream hadn’t left me satisfied.

I woke unsettled, tied a black cloth over my eyes, and stepped out of the inn toward the eastern gate.

Tapping my sheathed sword like a cane, I walked along until Shushruta appeared, gliding from the shadows as if she had always been there.

She slipped naturally to my side, taking my arm without even looking at me.

“Brother. Did you sleep well?”

That oddly old-fashioned speech of hers was strangely comforting.

I smiled faintly.

“No. Had a dogshit dream. How about my little sister? Sleep well?”

“Not a wink.”

“Why not?”

“I was busy gathering information on the Dagger of Ophosis.”

“Oh my.”

I clicked my tongue in sympathy, but she suddenly shot me a sharp glare.

“I was already busy. And thanks to someone, I was even busier.”

“Someone?”

“….”

“…Me?”

Her eyes locked onto me like knives.

“I told you to avoid fights. Yet my reckless brother couldn’t restrain himself. I had to spend the night cleaning up after your mess.”

I blinked, bewildered.

“Huh? What are you talking about? I didn’t—”

Her glare bored deeper.

“You beat up four men at the ‘Snoring Fox’ inn.”

“Oh, that? That was just men’s banter. You wouldn’t understand, being a woman.”

“Their friends went running to call reinforcements. I had to intercept and silence them before they brought the whole gang. The guild and I worked hard, thanks to you.”

“…Ah.”

That explained the strange peace.

Normally, thrash a few lowlifes and they’d return in a mob for revenge—that was the unwritten rule.

I had wondered why it stayed so quiet. Turns out she had quietly erased the aftermath.

A little embarrassed, I scratched my head.

“You didn’t have to go that far.”

“…And then you slipped out in the middle of the night and killed seven men.”

That startled me.

“There wasn’t any tail.”

Shushruta gave a short, disdainful laugh.

“You’re oddly sharp. I ordered our men to stay well back and only observe.”

I frowned in mock seriousness.

“Yesterday was our first meeting, and you’re already this obsessed with me? Too much attention makes me uncomfortable.”

“Silence. Had you not stirred up trouble, there would’ve been no need for it.”

She brushed off my protest.

“While you were sleeping peacefully, our people spent the night disposing of bodies and scrubbing away traces.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

I blinked, surprised.

Truly, I hadn’t known.

Then a thought struck me.

“The kids?”

She glanced at me, her tone faintly petulant.

“…I left them alone. Some wanted to ‘take care of it,’ but I ignored them.”

I chuckled and patted her head.

“Well done, little sister.”

“Hands off.”

She slapped my hand away.

I watched her sudden frostiness, then turned forward with a careless tone.

“Bet Acorn Man had a rough night. Tell him I’m sorry.”

“…Acorn Man?”

She tilted her head.

“Who’s that?”

“The informant we met before entering Scarab. The one I gave my token to.”

Shushruta gave a small laugh.

The only one in all of Scarab who would dare call the branch master of the Thieves’ Guild “Acorn Man” was me, apparently.

“…What?”

I stopped in my tracks.

Acorn Man was the branch master of the Scarab Thieves’ Guild?

In a city as vast as Scarab, that was no small position.

Which meant… if the branch master of the guild had been bowing so politely to Shushruta…

I spoke in an overly formal tone.

“My dear sister, are you perhaps one of the guild elders? You must be older than you look.”

Shushruta tugged me along by the arm and answered flatly.

“Brother, stop spouting nonsense.”

“Then what? Why does Acorn Man treat you with such respect?”

“That’s a secret.”

“How old are you, really?”

“Secret.”

“You see that fat man over there?”

“Obese.”

“Achoo!”

“Droplets.”

“What do you call a mountain leaning to one side?”

She glared at me.

“Enough. Entertaining your foolishness has no end.”

“….”

Like estranged siblings, we walked in silence for a while.

Eventually the eastern gate came into view.

Those leaving the city weren’t inspected, so we passed through easily.

Even beyond the gates we kept up our act as brother and sister, strolling together.

After some distance, when there were no more prying eyes around, I finally loosened the blindfold from my eyes.

I slid my sword back onto my hip instead of using it as a walking stick.

“So? Did you gain anything last night?”

Shushruta released my arm and shook her head.

“I gathered every scrap of rumor on the Dagger of Ophosis, but found nothing useful. Most of it was empty nonsense or suspect stories. Plenty of information, but nothing reliable—like searching for a needle in the desert.”

“So what now?”

“Let me finish. While the dagger itself yielded nothing, I did identify someone who may know.”

She drew out a map and spread it.

“We head south.”

“South where?”

“To a place called Riolegro—wait.”

Her face darkened as she studied the parchment. Then she let out a small, “Ah,” and flipped the map upside down.

“I was mistaken. North. We’re going north.”

“….”

For a moment I truly wondered if I could trust this scatterbrain.

“Who’s there?”

“A descendant of Ophosis’ third disciple, Swordmaster Geonseo. He should have information about the dagger.”

“…Fine. Let’s go.”

There was no better lead anyway.

If enemies were bound to come after us regardless, we might as well have a destination in mind.

“Oh, one more thing.”

Rolling up the map, Shushruta fixed me with a grave stare.

“Ashuban.”

I met her gaze.

“Shushruta.”

“You should brace yourself.”

I scratched my cheek.

“For what?”

“The story has spread far and wide. At this rate, you’ll not even eat or sleep without being hounded.”

“…That bad?”

“Which is why the guild will begin an information operation.”

“What kind of operation?”

“We’ll flood the land with false reports of our whereabouts, so our enemies lose our trail.”

My eyes widened.

“…Wouldn’t that destroy the guild’s credibility?”

From what I knew, trust was life itself for an information guild.

Her answer was simple.

“That’s not your concern.”

“Well, true.”

“If we can secure Ophosis’ Legacy, it’s worth the risk. And the guild won’t openly tarnish itself—we’ll simply twist rumors and leaks from the shadows. At worst, only the keenest will notice.”

“…Fair enough.”

I nodded.

“But what does that have to do with bracing myself?”

“Even with false leads scattered, there will still be some who cut through the lies and reach us. And if they can, they won’t be the rabble you’ve faced so far.”

“Mhm.”

“Men the kingdom has failed to capture for decades. Infamous crime syndicates. Bounty hunters who stop at nothing. Sorcerers who walk the path of demons. Eccentrics who’ve lain hidden until now. And royal knights who may already be on their way.”

“….”

The list was dazzling in its menace.

“Ashuban.”

Her eyes shone with challenge.

“Are you ready to step into the heart of the storm?”

I met her gaze calmly.

“The moment I fell from that cliff, I was already walking through the storm.”

She blinked.

“…Meaning?”

“I’m ready.”

“Good. Then let us go—to seek Ophosis’ Legacy.”

With that bold declaration, Shushruta strode ahead.

I stared at her back for a moment, then bent down to pick up a pebble.

Smack!

“Ah!”

She spun around, clutching the back of her head.

“What was that?!”

“What?” I asked, my face the picture of innocence.

“You—threw this stone!”

She waved the pebble at me accusingly.

I dug a finger into my nose as I walked past.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb! You think I’m a fool?!” she shouted, scurrying after me.

“Gods, you’re noisy.”

Thus began the legendary journey that minstrels would one day immortalize.

Not with solemn grandeur, but with bickering and noise—

…Or perhaps not.

(End of Chapter)

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