It wasn’t bad news, but a shocking one.
“…What?”
Dohyuk, who received the message, was shocked. He was in the opposite direction of where the Swordmaster had come since he was checking on the land to place his factory, but he couldn’t hold back from running to the place.
After a few minutes of running at full speed, he arrived at the temporary resting area for the farmers. It was wide, but it was not a complicated place so Dohyuk noticed three people inside it as soon as he got in. There was Yuri, standing up with her arms crossed, another woman tasting food and tea with an astonished look, and…
Kyuho looking up at the ceiling with his eyes closed looked funny. His limbs weren’t fully grown and his clothes were also missing as they had been cut down.
The woman turned to Dohyuk to meet his eyes. Instead of talking to her directly, Dohyuk turned to Yuri and spoke.
“She is…”
Then, Kyuho opened his eyes and rose up. He looked at the front dumbfoundedly for a few seconds and turned to Dohyuk.
“I…is he crazy?”
Kyuho’s face brightened and he was fully smiling. Yuri gasped in disbelief.
“Brother!”
Kyuho jumped at Dohyuk. He had been sitting down, but nobody could understand how fast he could jump up. Dohyuk backed away and Kyuho fell onto the ground.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Dohyuk, Yuri, and the Swordmaster all turned to Kyuho facing flat down on the ground. Yuri then carefully walked over and checked on him.
“He fainted.”
“Just by that?”
“Well, I guess he wasn’t fully recovered. He also jumped high you see… maybe he thought you would catch him.”
“…”
Dohyuk couldn’t respond and Yuri continued, “Should I take ‘this’ out?”
“…Yeah. Please.”
Yuri then picked up Kyuho and went out. The sound of her asking where Blass was could be heard. Dohyuk then coughed and walked up to the table where the Swordmaster was sitting down. She was calm, but Dohyuk realized she still had a sword on her back. They both checked their strength. There was not much common between them other than the fact that they both had been targeted with almost no information spared for them. So although they were born to be strong, they had to be cowards to survive.
“How did you meet him?” Dohyuk asked in a soft voice. The language was English. During the past few months, he had studied English by having Giwon as his teacher so that he could be prepared when he met people from other regions.
“He came after me. He saved my life.”
“Your life?”
“I was… fooled. It was fortunate. I tried to thank him, but he wanted me to thank you instead and pay you back. He said you were the reason he came to save me.”
If that was true, Kyuho really did help Dohyuk out in that case.
“So…”
“I’ve come to pay you back. He did save my life, so I owe it to you now.”
Dohyuk sat down on the chair, across from the Swordmaster. His voice softened.
“So, how are you going to repay me?”
She reached her hand to the back and tapped on her sword’s hilt.
“I’ll stay beside you. And when you face any danger, I’ll save you once.”
“And that will be the payment?”
“My life was saved. I need to pay it back in the same way.”
Dohyuk scratched his head and leaned back on the chair.
“What if I don’t want that type of payment?”
The Swordmaster seemed to become alarmed by that.
“…I don’t know what you want me to pay you with, but I won’t do any…”
“Then consider it paid.”
“…?!”
Her alarm changed into confusion.
“What…?”
“If that’s the only way you can pay back, then I don’t want to force you to pay it otherwise. You don’t need to think you owe me anything. And your name is?”
“…Feiyen.”
“Yes, so you can do whatever you want now. If you wish to go on your way, I can even provide you with supplies to help you… and if you wish to stay…”
“Are you insulting me?”
Her anger seemed to be very constrained, but it was anger. It was amazing that Dohyuk wasn’t alarmed by it.
“I’m not insulting you, nor do I underestimate your strength.”
Dohyuk took a bite out of a grain snack.
“The situations that I get into… usually don’t get resolved through pure might. If you join me, that will be a great help but… it still will be limited.”
Before Feiyen could speak, Dohyuk continued, “And secondly, even if it will help me, I don’t have the intention to keep a person who is hostile against me.”
“What… I have never…”
“Yes, I am not sure why.”
“What are you… Do you have proof? Have I even been hostile to you during our meeting?!”
“No, you haven’t. But… have you ever heard of this before?”
Dohyuk placed down his snack and spoke seriously. “You suck at hiding your feelings.”
“…!”
Feiyen placed her hands on her face. Her face had not gotten red as her face was red ever since she faced Dohyuk. She did perfectly hide her hostility. If her face was hidden, then it was not possible to see it.
“Yeah, it is weird. Think about it. You’re looking at me like I’m sworn enemy. I was wondering if it was my eyes were having problems, or you were sending me some sign of protest.”
“Ah.. uh…”
“It’s weird, isn’t it? You were hostile, but you tried not to show it. And now that it’s been revealed, you’d rather be shocked than try to attack? Hm…”
It meant that it was something emotional, where she had grudge against him that she could not reveal, even if she did not have any memories of Dohyuk.
“Like I said, I don’t intend to order you around. But if you have a problem that can be solved by talking…”
“Enough!” Feiyen shouted and Dohyuk raised his hands as a sign of surrender and stopped. Feiyen placed her hand on her sword and pulled out her entire sword, including the scabbard.
“C-come out.”
“Come out? …wait, are you trying to fight me? In my own city? Can I consider this a challenge? I am not your only enemy here.”
Feiyen was alarmed.
“N-no, I mean…”
She panicked. She couldn’t judge correctly and was making mistake after mistake.
“Then what? You asking me to a private duel or something?”
“T-that’s right!”
“And why should I accept it? Why do you want that?’
“Uh… you…”
“It’s disappointing if you are trying to clean up the mess by swinging your sword around… Have you thought about the conditions of the fight?”
Feiyen couldn’t speak, but she couldn’t just stand there like an idiot. She had to find the right reason and speak calmly.
“Let’s do this.”
But it was Dohyuk who spoke first again.
“One shot, until you surrender or you can’t fight. If I lose, I will apologize and pay you back for whatever problem you have with me. I will also supply you with whatever amount you want.”
“I don’t need…”
“You don’t have to take it if you don’t need to. Say whatever you need then. I’m trying to work things out here.”
“…”
Feiyen couldn’t believe why things were going this way.