Childhood Friend of the Zenith

_Pitter… patter. _

It started raining outside.

The sky that was clear and bright just a few days ago was now filled with dark clouds that blocked the sun, and the cold air was now humid.

It didn’t feel like winter.

Pitter– patter–

I stared at the rain.

It wasn’t a downpour and it was closer to a shower, but could it really be called a shower if it rained for a few days?

I smirked at that thought.

“What’s with the rain during winter?”

I could see my breath as I spoke.

For it to rain in such weather, just what was happening?

Slide– tap.

After watching the rain for a while, I shut the window.

I was already feeling gloomy, and staring at this damned weather didn’t really help.

I stretched after closing the window and took a deep breath.

“Sigh…”

I wasn’t feeling especially tired like this just because of training.

Since I didn’t have that much space to begin with, I couldn’t even train that vigorously and all I’d been doing these days was Qi training so that I could reach the Fusion realm.

Despite that, I was feeling exhausted because of one thing.

Because the siblings from Bi Clan were residing in the same inn as me.

…Tsk.

And I especially got a headache when I thought about the older brother of the two.

Just beat me up already.

Just thinking about him gave me a headache.

When I met the Dishonored Venerable Bijuu, Bi Eejin the previous day, he said the following while greeting me.

-I heard a lot about you from my master.

…God damn it.

Bi Eejin was indirectly telling me that he was the student of the Dishonored Venerable.

The problem was that the Dishonored Venerable wasn’t Bi Eejin’s mentor, he was the Dishonorable Venerable.

He was unable to reveal that though, which is why he phrased it like that.

I am the Dishonored Venerable

Were you the bastard pretending to be my disciple?

He couldn’t say that, so instead, he chose to pretend.

Whichever it was, it wasn’t the most welcoming situation for me.

In the end, the fact that I met the Dishonored Venerable didn’t change.

There was one thing that I couldn’t understand though.

What does he want from me?

It seemed like the Dishonored Venerable wanted something from me.

I wasn’t sure though.

I didn’t really speak with him, and he almost killed me in my past life, so it’d be weird if I knew a lot about him in the first place.

“Hmm…”

At least up till this point, he was simply observing me.

It didn’t seem like he was going to make a move anytime soon.

Moreover…

Little sister huh.

A person proclaiming to be his younger sister was accompanying the Dishonored Venerable.

Her name was Bibi, was it?

She seemed to be the youngest blood relative of the Bi Clan, but considering how the Dishonored Venerable became younger after attaining Eternal Youth, there was zero possibility that they were siblings unless the girl named Bibi also attained the same thing.

However, it felt like the girl named Bibi truly believed that the Dishonored Venerable was her older brother, even though she was young enough to be his granddaughter or great-granddaughter.

If she wasn’t putting on an act, it meant that the Dishonored Venerable was masquerading as him.

Is that also how he is able to proclaim himself to be the son of Bi Clan’s Lord?

Since he was from that clan to begin with, it wasn’t strange for Bijuu to be associated with Bi Clan, but for it to be possible, it meant that the Lord of the clan knew the Dishonored Venerable’s true identity.

After all, it was the most suitable place for him to hide his weakened body and regain his strength while being assured of his safety.

But for him to pretend to be a Young Prodigy.

What is a fully grown man doing in a playground filled with children?

Did he have no shame? If it was me, I would’ve killed myself by biting my tong…

“…”

I massaged my forehead in the middle of my thought.

I realized that I was in no position to judge someone else.

“For fucks sake.”

I didn’t know what he wanted from me or what he planned to do, but if he ever tried to do anything to me, I only had one thing to say to the Dishonored Venerable.

…I’ll just sell out the First Elder.

Well, I doubt it would be considered selling him out since all this happened because of that man.

And if that didn’t work, I’d simply run away.

There was no way that he’d chase me all the way back to my clan, right?

If he did…

I was sure it would all work out… somehow.

“Sigh.”

I let out a sigh and looked beside me.

I felt silky smooth hair between my fingers as I moved my hand. Her white hair felt similar to silk.

It was well past noon, yet this sleepyhead was still swimming in her dreams.

“Shouldn’t you leave now?”

My voice was fairly loud, but Namgung Bi-ah, who was fast asleep, didn’t even budge.

And just for the record, this was my room.

Namgung Bi-ah’s room was adjacent to mine., and when I woke later than usual, I saw her sleeping next to me.

I stared at Namgung Bi-ah speechlessly, and woke up after brushing her hair briefly.

During all the time I spent with her, I learned that it was near impossible to wake her up, no matter how many times I called her, and it was best to let her sleep in a situation like this.

I left behind Namgung Bi-ah and left my room.

“Ah, Young Master!”

And as soon as I left my room, I ran into Tang Soyeol.

Seeing that her hair was wet, it seemed like she had just finished washing.

Tang Soyeol tidied her hair with a smile on noticing my gaze.

“I just finished training…!”

Her excuse was somewhat unexpected.

“You trained in the rain?”

“Huh? Ah… that’s right. I have to work hard after all.”

For some reason, her light smile made her look like a proper adult.

That’s unexpected.

It was obvious that Tang Soyeol would be training as she was a martial artist, but I didn’t expect her to work that hard.

Furthermore, judging by how irregular her breath and Qi were, it seemed like she trained really hard.

Now that I look at it, Tang Soyeol is almost there as well.

The end of First-rate.

That was Tang Soyeol’s current level.

The Sword Dragon and Namgung Bi-ah were monsters who reached Peak realm at a young age.

Tang Soyeol was talented enough to be called a genius.

After all, there were a lot of people who reached First-rate at age thirty.

Tang Soyeol likely knew that it wouldn’t be long before she overcame that wall, which was why she was working so hard.

Seeing her, I felt pretty proud for bringing Gu Jeolyub from the middle of First-rate to the peak.

It looks like I’ll need to work him harder.

Now that I had more excuses to beat up– I mean, to make Gu Jeolyub work harder, I felt a bit happier.

“Oh, right, Young Master.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know where sis Bi-ah is ?”

“…”

I had to control my expression after hearing Tang Soyeol.

“Why are you looking for her…?”

“Oh, I thought about training with her… but I couldn’t find her anywhere. I thought that maybe the Young Master knew…”

“…”

Namgung Bi-ah was currently asleep in my room. Those were words that could never leave my mouth easily.

Anyone would misinterpret those words.

In the end, I had to lie.

“Perhaps she’s sleeping somewhere?”

She was sleeping.

In my room.

“Right? Jeez, she sleeps too much…”

“…Uh, indeed.”

“Oh right, Young Master, Young Lady Bi and Young Master Bi asked me to see if you would like to have a meal with them later, so– “

“Sorry, I don’t think I’ll be hungry by then.”

“Huh? I didn’t tell you what time though…?”

“I don’t feel too good.”

“Ah, I see…”

I was a bit concerned on seeing Tang Soyeol look disappointed on hearing my response, but I had no other choice.

I would just throw up if I ate with them.

They already tried inviting me a few times in the past few days, but I did my best to avoid it.

Tang Soyeol was sulking with a disappointed expression, but that wasn’t going to change my answer.

She knew that as well, so she didn’t say anything further.

“Okie dokie…”

“What happened to your pronunciation?”

“Nothing… Also, Young Master, one last thing.”

“There is more?”

Why did she have so much to say?

“It’s nothing special… Um, Young Lady Gu has been training really hard.”

“Hmm?”

I made a strange face after hearing an unexpected name.

Why did she suddenly bring up Gu Yeonseo?

“My sister?”

Did Tang Soyeol speak to Gu Yeonseo?

Why was she talking about her out of the blue?

Pushing aside my question, Tang Soyeol continued speaking.

“Yes, she was in the middle of training by the time I arrived at the training ground, and she was still training even after I finished.”

“Hmm…”

I guess I didn’t know about it since I didn’t really pay attention.

Was it because I didn’t train all that much?

I frowned a little after seeing Tang Soyeol because I found it a bit suspicious on hearing her bring this up.

But for some reason, Tang Soyeol’s eyes were filled with sympathy.

“I’m sorry for being too intrusive.”

Tang Soyeol apologized while lowering her head.

It meant that what she just told me confirmed my suspicions.

If even Tang Soyeol noticed it, it meant that something was really off with Gu Yeonseo.

I felt uneasy and frowned on hearing her because it seemed like she told me as she couldn’t tell anyone else.

I asked Tang Soyeol.

“…No need for an apology. Where is it again?”

It felt like I needed to get there as soon as possible.

******************There was a big field just behind the inn.

Judging by how artificial it looked, it seemed like the field was made after all the surrounding trees were cut and nothing else was done after that. I guess it was pretty nice to use for training.

Of course, we weren’t the only people here so it would be difficult to train any Poisonous Arts.

Furthermore, it wasn’t the best time to train at the moment due to the rain.

I walked through the rain while making my way to the training ground, and after walking for a while, I could see someone training in the distance.

As I got closer, I could definitely feel that the heat belonged to the Gu Clan.

Feeling that, I narrowed my eyes and sharpened my senses to check if anyone other than her was present.

Thankfully, I didn’t sense anyone else.

Swoosh!

As I let out a sigh of relief, I felt the heat pass by my nose.

Gu Yeonseo was training her movement while emanating heat.

Swish–!

Her sword cut through the rain and a sword trace was left in the air.

Flap.

Gu Yeonseo’s outfit fluttered roughly and she stomped her foot onto the puddle with a loud sound.

She continued her movement and swung her sword once more.

I stopped seeing her and continued to observe Gu Yeonseo from a distance.

Hm.

I had only observed for a moment, but I felt like I understood why Tang Soyeol brought her up.

After all, Gu Yeonseo’s flaws could be seen by others.

It’s shaky.

The tip of her sword wasn’t stable and her arms that held her sword had no belief.

Her heat failed to ride the flow of her Qi and it seemed like she was even struggling to use her strength to the fullest.

Inner Demons.

Gu Yeonseo was currently afflicted with Inner Demons.

It wasn’t that serious for a Second-rate martial artist to experience Inner Demons, but because she was only a Second-rate, there was no solution for her once she fell into that swamp.

Her movement was filled with anxiety.

That seemed to be the cause of her Inner Demons.

I frowned after seeing that.

When did it start?

I wonder when exactly Gu Yeonseo started experiencing this.

In the future, Gu Yeonseo should earn herself fame and honor along with the title of Flaming Sword.

Did she go through the same experience in my past life?

I didn’t think so.

So then, how did she end up in that state?

Was it because of me?

There was only one answer.

If there was a cause, it would have been me.

Tsk.

It was because I didn’t pay her much attention with the excuse of me being busy.

While it was also true that I didn’t have time for her due to all the problems that kept popping up successively, I also left her alone because I didn’t want to think about it.

After all, it was easier to just not think about it rather than thinking and fixing conflicted emotions.

Because of that, Gu Yeonseo was now trapped in a swamp and she was struggling to escape.

How annoying.

It was always annoying to see a problem arising because of me.

Moreover, I wasn’t able to help Gu Yeonseo in the swamp she was trapped in.

It was only possible to make Gu Jeolyub roll around and work hard because it was him.

Rather than talent, our relationship and the nature of our relationship they had with me was different.

If I treated Gu Yeonseo in the same manner as Gu Jeolyub and forced to work hard, she would reach higher levels and become stronger than before,

But I can’t afford to do that.

If I pulled her out of the swamp, she may escape her Inner Demons for a moment, but it was obvious that it would leave a scar behind and it would definitely worsen in the future.

Then what could I do?

Gu Yeonseo continued to swing her sword in the pouring rain and all I could do was watch from a distance, far enough so that she wouldn’t become aware of my presence.

…

Tang Soyeol seemed to believe that I was the one who would be able to solve this, but I couldn’t.

Especially not this case.

However, I decided that I would take responsibility for this.

If it was anyone else, I would’ve ignored them right away, but I felt a sense of guilt towards Gu Yeonseo.

Was it because I slapped her during the Nine Dragons Day?

No, that was fair.

I had no regrets regarding that matter.

It was her fault for annoying me.

In fact, it was completely justifiable for me to beat her up.

Though it would’ve been nice if I held back, but… what could I do about something I had already done?

Even so, I was still concerned about her.

-I despise you.

It was because of the memory of the Flaming Sword, Gu Yeonseo, holding the cold body of Gu Huibi in her arms and pointing her sword at me.

“Tsk.”

I turned around and left the field.

Gu Yeonseo’s Inner Demons were dense and I couldn’t help her, but thankfully, there was someone close by who could help her.

I picked up the pace and headed to an inn which wasn’t the one I was residing at.

“Huh…? Brother Gu?”

Finding his presence, I entered the inn and saw Yung Pung and others who were having a meal, stare at me with shocked expressions.

“Brother Yung Pung.”

“What brings you here…? Oh! Perhaps you want to train with m– “

Yung Pung spoke cheerfully, but that wasn’t my goal.

“Where is the Sword Queen?”

Yung Pung’s face was instantly filled with disappointment as I cut him off and spoke.