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Jin Cheon turned to look at the seaside beside him.
They say even mountains and rivers change in ten years, but the sea, at least, hasn't changed. This was surely the same coastline where he'd played as a child—
"Isn't this Sea Pine?"
"Sea Pine? That's one of our districts."
What was a district?
Even if fields could turn to seas, this was too much.
W е̂b̊ n ӧ v̊ ė l̇ Е̌ n ùm.а̌
That backwater seaside village now had a castle this grand standing on it, martial artists flocking in, and the first person he met was a Peak-level Expert.
Jin Cheon blinked.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He'd prided himself on having seen every strange sight the North had to offer, yet he never expected to see a change this drastic.
"I can tell at a glance—you're a Newcomer to the Martial World."
The man looked Jin Cheon up and down.
Pale, soft skin.
Е̇ n̄û m̄ ӓ
Large, innocent-looking eyes and a slender frame.
By any measure, he looked like a scholar who'd studied hard at his books.
Unless, of course, he was an absolute expert who had gone beyond Bone-Cleansing, Marrow-Rebirth and Return to Simplicity, but looking at Jin Cheon's young face, the man was certain that couldn't be the case.
"Well, that's true enough."
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They both practiced martial arts, but a soldier of the Northern Army and a martial artist of the world were entirely different things.
Strictly speaking, Jin Cheon really was a newcomer to the martial world, so he nodded.
W̃ ėb̈ ṅ ǒv̈е́ l̃ Е̌ňǔ m̀ а̊
At the word newcomer, the middle-aged martial artist's tone softened further.
"Looking at your face, you seem like someone who'll be given a hard time in all sorts of ways inside the castle. If you ever run into trouble, come find me at the South Gate. This is fate too, so I'll see to it you're looked after somehow."
Considerable goodwill.
He'd heard that every last one of these so-called martial artists was a bastard, yet this one seemed decent.
In some ways, his bearing was closer to that of a military officer than a man of the martial world.
"Just ask for Ma Jin-pyo of the South Gate Patrol."
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"I understand."
Pat—
Ma Jin-pyo of the South Gate grinned.
He gave Jin Cheon's shoulder an encouraging pat and went inside. It was, precisely, the same spot that Commander of the Imperial Guard Baekli Mubaek had once patted.
.
.
Еňüm а̄. і d
.
Heavenly Sword Castle, which had swallowed up Sea Pine.
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Jin Cheon stepped inside for now.
Ma Jin-pyo had said there was a "Sea Pine District" to the south, so it had to be connected to the "Sea Pine" he'd once called home.
And Number One Under Heaven or not, how big could Heavenly Sword Castle really be? So he figured he'd wander south and look for Sea Pine at his own pace—
"Where's my Sea Pine?"
W е̌ b̆nо̇v̀е̊ l̇ Е nu m̀а
Waaaah—!
Children ran through the streets waving sticks and shouting.
Bustle, bustle!
The southern streets were so packed with people there wasn't room to set a foot down.
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And not just ordinary people.
"Where's my village?"
Еṅ u mä.і̃d́
At a glance, the crowd was full of people who clearly threw their weight around in the martial world, along with plenty of old men, women, and children rumored to be dangerous in their own right.
It looked as if the entire martial world had been scooped up and packed together with both hands, and Jin Cheon was left speechless.
The scale of this place was on a different level.
Everything had changed so much that his childhood memories were of little use in finding his way.
Thud!
The roads and the water were unfamiliar, but surely, whatever else changed, the sea itself hadn't.
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He thought of his hometown near the shore and headed east.
The crowds gradually thinned.
Narrow alleys stretched on, one after another.
Bump!
"Hey, watch where you're going!"
A small beggar darted out of an alley.
Ě ṅü m̌ ă
The kid slammed into Jin Cheon, then bounced off, yelling loudly.
"Good catch."
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He'd been wandering lost, and this was perfect timing.
Jin Cheon's mouth curled into a grin.
Crowded, bustling places like the one he'd just left felt awkward to him, but the shady dealings of back alleys like this were exactly his specialty.
"And you're slow, too."
Ën̊u m a. іd̄.
"Slow how?"
Jin Cheon raised his left hand.
In it was a small coin pouch, crookedly embroidered with a flower pattern.
The young beggar, who'd been about to bolt, froze in shock at the sight and patted herself down frantically.
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It was gone.
"H-how!?"
W е b̌ǹö v̆ еl̀. Е̊.n̄ um̀а̄
She'd distinctly felt her own hand lift Jin Cheon's pouch just now during the collision, and yet somehow her own had been taken instead.
She had no idea how her pouch had ended up in Jin Cheon's hand.
"......"
Instead of answering, Jin Cheon looked the child over for a moment.
She was caked in grime, but up close, the sulky eyes had a stubborn look to them.
—Your hand's got real skill, so you'd best open an inn one day. Then I'll bring my kids by the cartload to eat you out of house and home.
─If your kids ever cross the Great Wall, the Empire will be in an uproar.
─That's half the fun of it.
─This barbarian.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
It was the exact same look in the eyes of the man who'd pushed him to open an inn.
For a moment he wondered if she might be his daughter, but that couldn't be.
That man had been a great warrior respected even in the North, and this child was a beggar of the Central Plains.
More than anything, Jin Cheon remembered how that man's life had ended.
No matter how bizarre the world could get, the impossible remained impossible.
And yet, looking again, the eyes really did resemble his.
Еn ū m а.id
"This is fate too, so let's make a deal."
Jin Cheon crouched down to meet the child's eyes.
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He knew it didn't really matter, but he couldn't help the warmth that rose in him at the thought of him.
"Help me out and I'll give it back."
Besides, now that he'd left the battlefield behind, something like this didn't seem so bad.
"I've come back after far too long, you see. I'm looking for the people who used to live in Sea Pine—do you happen to know anything?"
W̃ èb̊ñ_о̇ v е̄l̈ En û m̈a
"Sea Pine?"
"Not the Sea Pine District—the real Sea Pine that used to be here."
In the little beggar's eyes, Jin Cheon was clearly a martial expert.
Having seen plenty of unpleasant types draw a blade or snap an arm on the spot, the frightened child blinked for a moment.
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Then she reached a hand toward the pouch in Jin Cheon's grip.
"Give it here, and I'll tell you for sure."
Ĕn̈ um̈ а .і̊ ď
"Sounds like you're confident."
The child nodded.
She sensed instinctively that Jin Cheon was, rare among martial artists, a genuinely decent person.
Trusting that instinct completely, she answered coolly.
"There's supposed to be a doctor's clinic that was here even before Heavenly Sword Castle existed. You'll probably recognize it the moment you see it."
"Then I'll give it back once I see it."
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...Tch!
Having a rough idea of who it might be, Jin Cheon tucked the pouch into his sleeve.
Who in the world paid upfront?
In the North, the moment you gave something back, you got stabbed in the back for it.
The Central Plains was no different, so naturally, payment came after.
The child pouted, then moved quickly through the web of tangled alleys.
Wĕbñ оv ѐ l Ё ṅ ů m̂а̃
"It's close by anyway."
Emerging from the alley, what came into view was a marketplace with a fair number of people about.
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It was clearly different from the area around Heavenly Sword Castle's North Gate.
The buildings were shorter, and the people walking about weren't imposing martial artists but ordinary folk simply living their lives here.
"Beggar."
"You're calling me, right?"
Е́ n̆ úm̌а̊ . і̄ d
"Well, is there another beggar here besides you?"
"That's true, but...being called beggar still stings a little."
"Then how about pickpocket? Thief?"
The child looked up at Jin Cheon and blinked.
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She could tell he was joking.
But he said it in such a dead-serious tone that she couldn't tell whether she was supposed to play along or not.
Enu m а̌ ._і̄d̀
"Beggar's better after all, isn't it?"
"Just call me whatever you want. It's not like you'll listen to me anyway."
"You catch on fast."
Jin Cheon reached out and patted the child's head.
It clearly hadn't been washed in a good month—greasy to the touch and reeking.
The child, startled that he'd touch her head like that, tried to jerk away.
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But—
Snag—
"Slow, just like I said."
There was no escaping Jin Cheon's hand.
No matter how she twisted her body to slip free, his hand stayed right there on her head.
Her face went bright red, and she muttered with her head bowed low.
Е n̆ úṁ a. i d̄
"It's dirty."
"Your head? Yeah, it's been quite a while since it was washed."
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"It doesn't suit a clean-looking expert like you, mister."
"I used to be dirty too."
The child lifted her head to look up at Jin Cheon.
However she looked at it, his face was spotless.
Eṅ û m̌ a
She only guessed he was an expert because he'd lifted her pouch—by looks alone, he seemed more like some scholar who did nothing but read books.
At the same time, with skin as pale and smooth as porcelain and thick hair falling in neat, clean lines, Jin Cheon gave off more the impression of a beauty than a handsome man.
"You've got the eyes of someone who doesn't believe me."
"Would you believe it, in my place?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I would. If people knew where I've been, they'd all nod along right away."
The child pursed her lips, wondering what on earth he was talking about.
Е̌ ǹum а
Jin Cheon found even that rather endearing and patted her head again.
In the North, washing up was a luxury.
He'd wanted to wash and live like a human being.
But step into a stream to wash and you'd freeze to death; light a fire and the smoke would give away your position and get you killed.
Even Jin Cheon hadn't started washing properly in the North until around the time he reached the Flame Realm.
Problem is, once you cleanse your bones and remake your body, you barely need to wash at all.
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Becoming a true expert meant he no longer sweated, and heat and cold no longer had any hold on him.
So washing was really only for when he was literally covered in filth—otherwise his body simply didn't get dirty.
Losing the refreshing feeling of a good wash was a small regret, but in exchange he'd made it through the war with all his limbs intact, which was about the best trade he could ask for.
Realizing he could even have thoughts like this, Jin Cheon reflected that it truly was a new era, and followed after the child.
She strode briskly through the market and stopped in front of a worn wooden building.
[Sea Pine Clinic]
Ѐ n ûm̄а.í d̄
Then she pointed her thumb at the clinic's weathered signboard.
"This is the place, right?"
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"Can you read?"
"How would a beggar know how to read? I just figured it out from hearing other people talk."
"I like that."
It was the kind of remark that would've made a soldier of the Northern Army shudder, but this was the warm land of the Central Plains.
Е́_n̄ůṁа .іd̂
Naturally, no one here reacted that way.
Toss—
Jin Cheon tossed the pouch back to her.
"What's your name?"
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"You said I was a beggar."
"Then I'll just call you Beggar."
Ӗ nu mа̂
"...Among ourselves, I'm just called Eyeballs."
Much like how Jin Cheon had always drawn trouble for his gentle-looking eyes, it seemed Eyeballs, too, had paid dearly for the look in hers.
There had to be over a hundred people in the Northern Army who'd been called something similar.
It was a place where people went by nicknames far more than actual names.
And among them, hers were eyes that would easily have taken the lead.
Of course, it didn't seem to suit a little girl, but Jin Cheon put on his best face and said it anyway.
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"It suits you well, Eyeballs."
"Seriously, the more I look at you, the stranger you seem."
The child waved her hand dismissively over her head and disappeared into the alley.
Jin Cheon watched her retreating figure in silence for a moment.
The way she vanished into a place full of gray brick and black shadow looked, somehow, as if she were being swallowed whole.
"Somehow, whenever it feels like this, I end up seeing them again."
Еn um̂ а̂
Jin Cheon let out a short laugh and pushed open the clinic's door.
There was only one person who'd keep running a clinic here for years under the village's old name.
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I'm home.
With a faint smile, Jin Cheon climbed the stairs of Sea Pine Clinic, thick with the smell of medicine.
Creak—
The door opened.
Еn̊u m̂ a
Beyond it stood a man he could see was now an old man with graying white hair.
"Village Chief."
"I'm not sure who'd call me that, but I'm just an ordinary doctor..."
The village chief, Doctor Gu Yeong.
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He turned at the unfamiliar voice.
At first his eyes held only the wariness of not recognizing Jin Cheon's face, but because he remembered Jin Cheon's parents—
Еñum̊ à
"It's Jin Cheon!"
He broke into a bright smile at the sight of Jin Cheon, home at last after a full thirteen years.
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