Childhood Friend of the Zenith

༺ An Unsatisfactory Act (4) ༻

A week had passed since our departure from Hanam to return to Shanxi.

And as always, such long journeys tended to be monotonous.

Today was no exception.

During the day, I either slept using Wi Seol-Ah or Namgung Bi-ah’s knees as pillows, or I spent my time fooling around.

And that fooling around was mostly me bullying Gu Jeolyub.

That was one of the only fun things to do here.

And when it became evening, the horses needed to take a break, and I spent my time training in this part of the day.

Namgung Bi-ah also engaged in training, albeit alone, indicating her dedication to enlightenment.

Tang Soyeol also seemed like she was going to train, but it was more of her spectating from afar than training.

So in the end, I only had Muyeon to train with, and Gu Jeolyub to bully around.

‘Lame.’

[You always seek peace, but now you’re saying you’re bored.]

‘How could you call this peace? This is definitely more of a torture…’

The carriages continued endlessly toward Shanxi.

The forested terrain and obstructing mountains only added to the journey’s sluggish pace.

“Young Master! Ahhh!”

I opened my mouth after hearing Wi Seol-Ah.

Then, a yakgwa entered my mouth.

‘It’s sweet.’

Although I wished she would stop feeding me, I refrained from saying anything and chewed on the yakgwa.

After all, Wi Seol-Ah only put yakgwa in her mouth only after I did.

‘She’s been quite persistent about feeding me lately.’

Wi Seol-Ah might not be greedy for most things, but when it came to food, she exhibited a different side.

But for some reason, it felt like she was trying to get me to gain more weight.

‘Even though that’s what I’m trying to do.’

I was diligently working to help Wi Seol-Ah regain the cheek fat she had lost and she shouldn’t be losing any weight with the amount she ate every day.

But strangely, Wi Seol-Ah was still gradually losing weight.

While I, on the other hand, was steadily gaining due to her constant feeding.

“Why?”

“Hmm? What’s up?”

“…Nothing. Continue eating.”

Wi Seol-Ah grabbed one more yakgwa and ate it after hearing my response.

After observing her, I closed my eyes.

[What do you think?]

Then, Elder Shin suddenly asked.

‘About what?’

[I’m asking about why you have your senses enhanced despite you saying you’re bored all the time. What do you think about those guys?]

I sighed within my mind after hearing Elder Shin.

I’ve been bothered by them ever since.

‘I wonder how long they’ll chase me for.’

It had already been one week.

Some unknown guys began following our carriages from a distance.

‘I wonder who they are.’

The list of potential pursuers was extensive, posing a problem.

The possibility of people following me because I put up a good show in the tournament seemed the most likely, but I felt like that wasn’t really the case.

I was watching them for now, because they showed no signs of attacking.

However, after a week, my patience was wearing thin.

[You would’ve beaten them up right away if it were the usual you, but you held back for quite some time.]

‘It’s not just one or two troubles I caused recently, so I’ve been trying my best to hold back.’

And more than anything, it was because something felt strange.

It was weirdly a familiar feeling.

“It seems like they are going to start doing something, so today is the last day of me watching.”

“Hmm? What did you say, Young Master?”

“Nothing. Oh, are you going to give me that?”

“…Ah.”

I asked that question because she was holding a yakgwa, but Wi Seol-Ah flinched and distanced herself slightly.

Why was she acting like that now, even though she was fine giving it to me just earlier?

“T-This is the last one…”

Oh, it’s because that was the last yakgwa.

Wi Seol-Ah curled her body slightly, indicating that she didn’t want to give it, so I started to feel playful.

“And?”

“W-Well… It’s… “

“You don’t want to give it? To me?”

“No… it’s not that… “

“Then give it.”

Wi Seol-Ah began to sob when I responded coldly.

Seeing her slowly handing over the yakgwa with a tearful face, I felt satisfied.

[You’re satisfied with a yakgwa…? Did you bathe in bitter food or something?]

‘She’s cute.’

When I grabbed the yakgwa away from her, Wi Seol-Ah’s eyes widened in shock. It seemed like she didn’t think I would actually take it.

The way Wi Seol-Ah looked at the yakgwa, not being able to separate herself away from it, made her seem extremely dramatic.

Feeling that I had enough fun, I closed my eyes after returning the yakgwa to Wi Seol-Ah.

“P…Phew!”

Wi Seol-Ah let out a sigh of relief…

“Ah! Siiis!”

But then she screamed with a sad voice right after.

It was because Namgung Bi-ah, who was sleeping next to her, got up and secretly ate it.

“S-Sis that was the last one…!”

“Knee…”

“So cruel! I’m not going to let you use me as a pillow anymore…!”

Wi Seol-Ah complained, but she would likely let her use it again after some time.

After all, this exact thing had been happening for the past few days.

‘…How noisy.’

With that thought, I closed my eyes.

******************

The sky had turned dark.

After stopping near a valley, we prepared to set up camp.

It seemed like the Tang Clan’s side had finished setting up their camp because Tang Soyeol appeared.

I then glanced at Tang Soyeol, who had a sick expression.

I initially wondered why she made that face, but after traveling with her on this long trip, I realized that Tang Soyeol easily got motion sick.

“Are you okay?”

“…I’m fi… Ough.”

She didn’t look okay at all.

At that point, she could have used Qi to calm her body down, but Tang Soyeol insisted she wouldn’t do that.

She claimed that motion sickness was charming in some ways.

I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, but since she said that herself, I didn’t really push her any further.

“Oough…! Are you going to come back after training?”

“I think? Do you wanna come with?”

“No… I’ll be resting.”

I looked around, and it seemed like Namgung Bi-ah had gone somewhere with her sword, while Wi Seol-Ah and Hongwa were occupied with something else.

“Where is that fucker?”

“Who- Oh.”

When Tang Soyeol realized I was talking about Gu Jeolyub, she became unamused right away.

…Wasn’t that a bit cruel of her?

“Maybe he ran away…?”

“How dare he run away as a martial artist, at a time to train?”

“…I think even I would run away with the way you treat him.”

[Tsk tsk… he has no tenacity.]

It’s not like I treated him that harshly, kids these days really have no tenac-

‘Huh… that’s something Elder Shin always says.’

After being reminded that this was something Elder Shin often said, I stopped myself.

Having the same thought as this pent-up old man wasn’t something I could afford to let happen.

[Pent u-… What did you say, you little shit?]

Putting aside Gu Jeolyub, I couldn’t even find Muyeon. Did he leave for patrol?

‘I hope that he doesn’t go too far.’

I knew that Muyeon would always be on guard if I told him that some people were following us.

And I also knew how things would go after that if Muyeon ever came across them.

However, I thought it was right for me to tell him a little at this point.

“I’ll be back.”

“Have a safe trip!”

I was thinking of going to Muyeon rather than Gu Jeolyub, who had run away.

I enveloped my body in Qi and observed the forest.

Other escorts from the Gu Clan were positioned not too far away from me.

And Muyeon, out of these escorts…

‘Where is he?’

For some reason, he wasn’t around. I couldn’t find him even after sharpening my senses this much?

I found it strange, so I was about to investigate. But right as I was about to use more Qi…

“Young Master.”

Muyeon’s voice came from behind me.

When I turned my head toward the voice, Muyeon really was there.

“Young Master, how come you are here right now?”

“Hmm.”

Muyeon spoke to me in a curious tone, but I only observed his body and didn’t respond.

“Young Master?”

“I see.”

Muyeon started to come toward me with a worried expression…

But I launched my fist at him.

Pow!

“…Ugh!”

Qi exploded in the air, making an impactful sound.

Muyeon made a shocked expression after barely managing to dodge my surprise attack.

“Young Master! What are you…!”

“How fascinating. So you could use martial skills. The bastard I met last time didn’t seem like he could.”

“What are you saying…!”

After loosening up my body, I increased my speed, but I didn’t summon any flames.

It was because I didn’t want others to come.

Muyeon attempted to draw his sword amidst my continuous attacks, but his weapon was sent flying with my fist.

Crack.

And Muyeon collapsed to the floor as his legs broke from my kick.

“Agh… Ooup!”

I grabbed Muyeon’s mouth to stifle any screams.

He still continued to look at me, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening.

And his eyes displayed a mix of fear, betrayal, frustration, and more.

Yet, even so, my gaze remained indifferent.

Of course, it had to.

“I wondered why you guys were following me for the past few days, but I guess it was for you to do this. How pointless.”

“Ug… Ough…!”

The bastard that was still putting up an act really seemed like Muyeon from the outside, but my eyes discerned the red light lingering around his body.

It was the same energy that the bastard with Heeyoung’s appearance had.

And this could only mean one thing.

This wasn’t Muyeon.

You can rate/review this series here.