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Clatter, clatter—!
For the past ten days, everyone had grown used to gathering at the inn every evening.
The sight of Heuk Do-chi wiping down the tables, Eyeballs carrying tea and food back and forth, and everyone else going about their tasks was a pleasant one to watch.
Thunk—
Tonight was no different.
Steaming soup and mixed-grain rice were set before each of them. In the middle sat the stir-fried seasonal vegetables and soy-braised eggs that Jin Cheon had prepared earlier.
W̆е bn о̃v̆ ѐ l Е.ñ úm̃.а̂
Just as everyone licked their lips and picked up their spoons, Jin Cheon—still in his apron—came to stand behind Hong-hwa.
"Eyeballs is dead now."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Even Hwa-ryeong, who was seated with them for once, blinked along with everyone else.
They all wondered what nonsense he was about to spout this time.
"Looks plenty alive to the physician's eye, though."
And Gu Yeong and Myeonghwa, who slyly ate with them every evening now—whether it suited their taste or not—also looked up at Jin Cheon, spoons still in hand.
E n ù m̌ а́ . і̀ď
Hehe—
Having just drunk a broth boiled with fresh chwinamul, the former Eyeballs, now Hong-hwa, giggled as if tipsy.
The kid spoke up right away.
"No, I'm dead!"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Thunk!
Jin Cheon placed a hand under Hong-hwa's chin and lifted it.
Еnu ṁ à.i d̂
Jin Cheon's pale, slender face and Hong-hwa's round, glossy face pressed together from above and below, like two pieces of lamb skewered on the same stick.
"Hong-hwa."
"……?"
Everyone wondered what on earth he meant.
"Is that her new name?"
Heuk Do-chi, who looked and had once acted like a bandit, had an uncanny sense for these things.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Jin Cheon and Hong-hwa raised the right corners of their mouths in perfect unison.
"That's right. We can't keep calling her Eyeballs forever. Meeting the Merchant Guild folks this time made that all the more clear."
"I should have thought of that myself. Thank you."
Heuk Do-chi, once the head of the Black Spirit Faction, bowed his head.
Of course, Hwa-ryeong poked him in the side and whispered that even those stiff-necked Righteous Path types never bothered giving beggars proper names.
Watching this quietly, Myeonghwa smiled faintly.
Ẅ е b̃ ň о́ v̈ еl Еnu m a
"Anyone hearing that would think we were sisters."
Myeonghwa's complexion, already poor to begin with, looked worse now that night had fallen.
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Still, some spark of life flickered in her, as if she felt she'd gained a little sister.
"Well, Hwa is in my name too."
Hwa-ryeong said it as though it were nothing.
A girl's name without the character Flower in it was rare enough to feel like something was missing.
Ẽn ů m̂a . î ḋ
Hwa-ryeong, Myeonghwa, Hong-hwa.
Every single woman present had it in her name.
"O-of course."
Hong-hwa wriggled her hands together and spoke carefully.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I know it's a bit much for me to say this, but—"
"You talk plenty enough normally. Go on, say it."
Е̊ n ū m̆ a
"Go on, dear."
Urged on by Hwa-ryeong and Myeonghwa, Hong-hwa squeezed her eyes shut.
Just having gotten a name already felt like a dream, so she had to be all the more careful opening her mouth.
"Can I call you two Sister from now on?"
"Hm."
Hwa-ryeong frowned slightly and crossed her arms.
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Her expression showed some resistance to the word "Sister" itself.
And Myeonghwa didn't answer easily either.
She froze for a moment, staring intently at Hong-hwa, before finally speaking.
"Why?"
"I—I've always been drifting around alone."
Hong-hwa, the former beggar.
Ё.ṅ ú mа̄ .і ď
The kid who loved to talk had never once brought up her own story.
Everyone had simply assumed she didn't want to talk about her time as a beggar, and so no one had asked.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I'm not even asking for parents. I figure there must be some reason, but since I don't know who they are and I'll never see them again anyway."
It was a knot lodged deep inside a child who, night after night, had wrapped herself in a ragged mat and waited for a tomorrow with no hope in it.
Like ripples spreading from a stone thrown into a still pond, that sincerity reached both their hearts.
"So I wanted to have sisters. I'm not asking for much—just to eat meals together, look around the marketplace together, things like that!"
Ẁе̄b̂ n̈о́ v̈e.ĺ Е̇ n ũ m̀ а̊
"Sure."
Myeonghwa answered at once.
Everyone's eyes went wide with surprise—no one had expected the woman with the perpetually cold look and stiff tone to agree so readily.
Gu Yeong alone smiled calmly, as if he'd known she would.
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Myeonghwa might seem impossible to read most of the time, but when it came to doing what needed to be done, she moved faster than anyone.
"Just know, living as my little sister won't be easy."
Èń ü mа̃
"Yay! Sister Myeonghwa!!"
Ruffle, ruffle—
Myeonghwa stroked Hong-hwa's head.
She hadn't said it aloud, but she too had felt a quiet loneliness, being Gu Yeong's one and only disciple.
Her bond with her master Gu Yeong wasn't thin, but she had longed for something different from that.
And now, this Eyeballs she'd grown close to lately was calling her Sister.
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From Myeonghwa's side of things, it felt as though the pale, round little thing had rolled her way on its own, quietly melting away a loneliness she hadn't even fully realized had built up.
"Well, let's hope you two don't end up fighting."
Naturally, Hwa-ryeong—who already had sisters of her own—pouted.
Not wanting to spoil the mood further, she turned to Jin Cheon instead.
"So, Master, did things go well with the Merchant Guild?"
Heh heh—
Ēnù m̌ а̃
Jin Cheon raised the right corner of his mouth.
How smoothly that turned the subject.
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He knew Hwa-ryeong had changed the topic to dodge an uncomfortable answer, but that in itself was an answer too.
Jin Cheon didn't bother pointing it out, only wearing a confident smile that said he'd handled things brilliantly.
"This kid here helped out a lot."
Thunk—
W̆ ẽb nо̆ v̂ е l̈ É nûm̊å
Jin Cheon's large hand came down over Hong-hwa's head once more.
The kid, apparently fond of the hand ruffling her hair, laughed out loud, then opened her mouth as the curious family members' eyes turned toward her.
She told them about racing off to the Merchant Guild as if flying on lightness technique.
And about the truth of the Heavenly Sword Castle territories, and how the Renegade Sect turned out to be indispensable.
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"I suppose—"
Heuk Do-chi, once part of the Renegade Sect himself, laughed bitterly.
Е́ ňu̇ m̂ а.і̄d̀
Compared to the vicious Renegade Sects outside Heavenly Sword Castle, the ones inside the castle were relatively tame.
More precisely, they seemed to exist somewhere between renegades and drifting mercenaries.
And what followed was Jin Cheon's bold declaration that he'd resolve it all in one stroke.
"No wait, before that—you told those people something, didn't you?"
"T-that's a bit embarrassing to say—"
Hong-hwa's face turned red.
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Jin Cheon smirked and relayed the words Hong-hwa had blurted out in a fit of temper.
For a kid who'd been a beggar just days ago, simply being in that room must have been overwhelming enough—yet she'd spoken far better than expected in that difficult setting.
"That's exactly how my little sister should be."
Myeonghwa nodded along.
Everyone listened to the story with ease, right up until the very last part, at which point they all froze.
"A cooking contest?"
Е̂ň um̊ а̊_.і̃ ḋ
"We know you're strong, Master, but proving on your own that you can take responsibility for Sea Pine—that seems like it'll be difficult…"
Gu Yeong rolled the absurd words around in his mouth, and Heuk Do-chi muttered something equally bewildered.
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Jin Cheon shrugged and glanced around the empty seats of the inn.
Back in the days of the Black Spirit Faction, this space used to house dozens of people, so it looked rather bare now in every direction.
"Of course I can't do it alone."
"……?"
W ӗb̈ n о vе̊ l̈ Ӗn u m̊ а̄
"Seems some old comrades of mine followed me here. Figured I'd try persuading them a bit."
Grin.
Jin Cheon smiled toward the trustworthy fellows he knew were watching him from somewhere far off.
He had confidence in his powers of persuasion.
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So far, whenever he'd used Northern-style Persuasion, it had never once failed to work.
That was precisely what made it Northern-style.
Е̂ ṅ u̇m â
"Managing a territory involves more work than you'd think."
Heuk Do-chi, once the head of a Renegade Sect himself, couldn't shake his worry.
"Handling that alongside the inn's work on top of it won't be an ordinary burden—it's not something to take lightly."
"They're capable enough fellows. It'll be fine."
"…I see."
Heuk Do-chi's face, already dark, grew darker still.
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Some deep worry seemed to be settling over him.
Watching Hwa-ryeong's expression darken as well, it seemed she too felt a quiet unease about Jin Cheon bringing in the Embroidered Guard.
They must still be in contact with those people from back then.
Aside from Heuk Do-chi, Hwa-ryeong, and Hong-hwa, all the other members of the family had fled to find their own way to survive.
But for Heuk Do-chi, simply letting it go wasn't going to be easy.
Jin Cheon pretended not to notice and only nodded.
Ē ñ û mӑ
Sometimes a matter needed to be dug into, but other times it needed to be left alone until it settled naturally on its own.
Especially when it comes to the bonds between people.
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"Hmm."
Just then.
Gu Yeong, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
"I don't know much about that sort of thing, so I've nothing to say there, but this cooking contest won't be easy."
Ӗ n̂u m̃a
Beside him, Myeonghwa—who had zero interest in any of this—was tipping her bowl back and gulping down the broth like tea.
Naturally, Jin Cheon had ground up some grain by hand and slipped a little into Myeonghwa's soup.
"If we're doing this contest and raising the stakes, they can't just let it slide either."
For the other territories to be stirred up, something big had to happen.
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No one would care if some no-name little eatery's cook stepped forward.
Which meant that, conversely, whoever represented the Sea Pine territory needed to be a place that other territories—and even the main castle—occasionally came to visit.
Ŵе b̆n̈ ôv ĕl Ē n u mа́
There was only one candidate.
"Great Prosperity Restaurant."
The finest restaurant in Sea Pine.
Rumor had it that not only Heavenly Sword Castle's officers, but even the Heavenly Sword's Six Disciples had dined there.
"It's the kind of place that serves dishes you'd only get in the Imperial Palace."
"The Imperial Palace—"
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Jin Cheon's smile turned awkward.
For the past year, he'd eaten nothing but Imperial Palace food until he was sick of it.
But everyone else was struck by the fact that this restaurant served the food of the Imperial Palace—the food of the most prized cuisine in the Central Plains.
"…I think the same."
Heuk Do-chi turned to Jin Cheon.
It was a high-class restaurant that someone like himself, a former Renegade Sect boss, would never have dared set foot in.
Ŵe b̊nŏ v́е̌ l Ё n̄úḿa
Jin Cheon's cooking was genuinely delicious, but whether it could truly rival the famous Great Prosperity was something none of them could gauge.
The same went for Hwa-ryeong and Myeonghwa.
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Beating the cook of that time-honored Great Prosperity was, of all things, simply unthinkable.
But there was one who spoke a word of hope.
"Master can do it."
Nom.
Е̇ nŭ ṁа .і̀ d
It was Hong-hwa.
The kid, popping steamed, seasoned peanuts into her mouth like dessert, said it as though it were nothing.
"I've eaten the scraps that come out of Great Prosperity before, and honestly, it only looks good—Master's cooking is way tastier!"
"…Those were scraps, though."
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"Still, they'd taste about the same, wouldn't they?"
Hong-hwa blinked up at Gu Yeong.
W̌ е b̀ n̊о v̂ е̇ l̆ É nûm̂.å
Under the gaze of her sharp but large eyes, Gu Yeong looked away.
"In the end, if it's something people do, there's bound to be some way."
Leaving aside Hwa-ryeong's uneasy muttering, everyone turned to look at Jin Cheon.
"And there's one more problem."
"What problem is that?"
"The judging."
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"We agreed to make that as fair as possible."
"Tch, you've only just arrived at Heavenly Sword Castle, so let me ask—do you know what's the fairest thing around here?"
Jin Cheon shook his head.
Swish!
Gu Yeong raised his index finger and pointed upward. Not at the sky.
"Heavenly Sword Castle. Whatever the people at the top say is law."
Еnu m̊ã .і d̀
"Surely there wouldn't be any favoritism involved?"
"There wouldn't be, but most of the officers will have gotten their palates used to Great Prosperity Restaurant's food."
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Gu Yeong told him there were a handful of eateries that people habitually visited once they got promoted within Heavenly Sword Castle.
Great Prosperity wasn't quite the very first choice, but it ranked among the top handful, he said.
"Think you can overturn that?"
Jin Cheon nodded with confidence.
W̊ е̂ b n̈ о_v̌еl̇ Ё n̊ ûmа
If it was Imperial Palace cuisine, there was a way.
"Yes."
Of course, Gu Yeong couldn't begin to guess why, and could only sigh.
"…I feel like I explained that clearly enough."
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"When you fight with your life staked on a single blade, there's one thing you come to understand."
Thunk—
Е̇ n ũ m а̀
Jin Cheon lightly tapped the Gift he always wore at his side and continued.
"You know nothing until you've actually fought."
Jin Cheon had weathered more crises than everyone in that room combined.
The weight behind those words was overwhelming.
"Still, more likely than not, I'll win."
So long as it was that Imperial Palace cuisine he'd eaten until he was sick of it, that is.
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Flutter—
And so, over the warm and cozy inn, a single pigeon rose up, cutting through the night.
A letter carefully penned by the Ten-Thousand-Grain Hall master, Chu Man-ryang, tied to its ankle, flying toward the towering Heavenly Sword Castle far above.
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