Creeeeak.
The sound of the heavy door opening split the morning air.
Having stayed up all night with my eyes open, my eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand catties.
But I sat up on reflex.
My survival instinct was faster than my fatigue.
Along with the sunlight streaming through the gap in the door, a single shadow stretched long into the room.
A pale complexion.
A folding fan in his hand.
The strategist of the Hebei Peng Clan, Peng Sa-ryang.
“I trust you slept comfortably.”
It was a dry voice.
It wasn't a sarcastic tone.
“Thanks to you. Sleeping on a tiger skin gave me so much tiger energy I couldn't fall asleep.”
When I joked around, Peng Sa-ryang's eyes narrowed.
He swept his eyes over the room once.
He must have seen Namgung Seol, too, getting up groggily in the corner of the bed, but his gaze went straight to me.
“The Clan Head does not have much time. Have you thought of a way to catch the culprit?”
It was blunt.
I didn't hesitate.
If I dithered here, my head would fly off on the spot.
“I've pinned down one suspect.”
Peng Sa-ryang's eyebrow moved faintly.
“But to judge more certainly, I think I need to look at the evidence again first. That poison box and the threatening letter.”
“Those items have already been examined by the Punishment Hall. What would change if you looked at them?”
“So did those gentlemen of the Punishment Hall manage to read the guy's ‘intent’ too?”
The air in the room sank cold in an instant.
Peng Sa-ryang stared at me for a moment, then took out the letter and the silk box we'd seen yesterday from his robes and set them on the table.
I picked up the letter first.
Maybe because of the poison qi, the edges of the paper had yellowed and decayed.
“Miss. Please come over here and take a look.”
Namgung Seol staggered over.
The moment she saw the letter, she caught her breath softly.
The scrap of paper that had nearly ruined her life.
It wasn't only Namgung Seol's own life—it was something that had nearly turned the Peng Clan and the Namgung Clan into a sea of blood.
“Look closely. Is this your handwriting, Miss?”
Namgung Seol took the letter and stared at it intently.
After studying it for a long while, her brows drew closer and closer together.
“......It is similar.”
Namgung Seol's voice trembled thinly.
“No, it is nearly identical. It is my handwriting. The habits in how the strokes are drawn, even the angle of the sweeping strokes......”
Despair spread across her face.
Peng Sa-ryang said coldly.
“She has admitted it herself. Then there is nothing more to look at.”
“No, there is.”
I cut in immediately.
I took the letter as if snatching it and spread it out on the table.
“The trap is that the handwriting is identical. Isn't it too identical?”
“What do you mean?”
“A person's handwriting changes subtly depending on that day's mood, the thickness of the ink, the texture of the paper. And on top of that, isn't this a letter written to break off the engagement because she hated the political marriage? It should be a letter full of rage.”
I pointed to the first line of the letter.
“But look. She wrote this neatly without a single stroke shaking? As if copying from a model book?”
Peng Sa-ryang's eyes changed.
I didn't let up on the momentum.
“This isn't writing Miss Namgung poured her feelings into. It's a forgery made by someone who perfectly imitated the Miss's handwriting.”
“......Hoh.”
Peng Sa-ryang let out a low breath.
I turned to Namgung Seol.
“Miss. Is there anything you usually wrote left at the Namgung Clan? A diary, or copies of martial arts manuals, things like that?”
“Well...... there is. Plenty of it piled up in my study.”
“That's it.”
I slapped the table.
Now it was time to make my winning move.
“Sir. We could stare at this scrap of paper here for a hundred days and never get an answer. To examine handwriting, you need an original to compare it against. Only by comparing it with something the Miss wrote herself can we tell whether it's a forgery or not.”
“And so?”
“We have to go.”
I said clearly.
“To the Namgung Clan.”
Silence passed.
Peng Sa-ryang tapped the corner of his mouth with the tip of his fan.
“Merely to check the handwriting? The grounds are thin.”
“It's not just the handwriting.”
I immediately drove in the wedge.
“The antidote.”
Peng Sa-ryang's finger stopped.
“You said we need the antidote to save the Clan Head, right? The guy who made the poison would have the antidote too. But the box holding that poison came from the Namgung Clan.”
I pointed at the silk box.
“In other words, the guy who made the poison, the guy who ordered it, and the antidote. There's a high chance they're all inside the Namgung Clan.”
“......”
“If we dawdle around here trying to catch the culprit and the Clan Head passes away, it's over.”
Peng Sa-ryang's eyes narrowed.
He was silent for a while.
But I saw it.
Countless moves passing back and forth in his eyes, and in the end, leaning toward the conclusion that my words were the only way out.
“......That is not wrong.”
Tak.
Peng Sa-ryang snapped his fan shut.
The sound was like a judge's gavel coming down.
“But the risk is great. What if you two run away?”
“No way.”
I put on the most aggrieved face I could.
“Unless I've lost my mind, would I dare pull a scam on the Peng Clan? Besides......”
I grinned.
“There's no way you'd just send us off, sir. You'll assign us a very terrifying watcher, won't you?”
The corner of Peng Sa-ryang's mouth twisted upward. He slowly nodded.
“Yes. Your head is certainly useful.”
He turned toward the door.
“Get ready. I will report to the Clan Head, and we depart at once.”
“With whom?”
At my question, Peng Sa-ryang stopped.
The eyes he turned back on me gleamed coldly.
“You brought this on yourself. The watcher will be the most reliable man in the Peng Clan.”
An ominous feeling ran down my spine.
The most reliable watcher?
Surely not.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
From afar came the sound of footsteps shaking the ground.
A familiar and terrifying tremor.
Without meaning to, I let out a groan.
“......Ah, damn it.”
He was coming.
The Hegemon Bear, Peng Mu-gwang.
***
Peng Mu-gwang led a horse over from far off.
He tossed a single rein in front of me.
“Get on.”
At the end of the rein that fell at my feet was a black horse as big as a house.
Maybe because it was a horse raised by the Hebei Peng Clan, the horse resembled the clan too.
Muscular and foul-tempered.
From its eyes alone, it looked ready to bite people.
I looked up at that intimidating beast, then carefully raised my hand.
“Um, Young Master.”
“What.”
“I've spent ten years as a waiter, so I have a knack for spinning plates, but no knack for riding horses.”
“......What?”
“I'm saying I can't ride a horse. If I get on, I think I'll fall right off and take the road to the underworld.”
Peng Mu-gwang's brows crumpled.
He clicked his tongue, then grabbed me by the scruff of my neck like he was picking up a piece of luggage.
In that instant, the world spun.
“Whoa, whoa?”
The next moment, I was slammed down somewhere with a hard jolt.
It wasn't a saddle.
It was behind Peng Mu-gwang, who was already mounted in the saddle.
To be precise, right on top of the horse's rump.
“If you fall off, I leave you behind. Hold on to my waist or something and hang on.”
“W-wait! Two men riding pressed together like this is a bit......!”
“We set out!”
He spurred the horse.
The horse let out a shriek and broke into a gallop.
My upper body snapped backward.
Nearly tumbling right off, I instinctively wrapped my arms around Peng Mu-gwang's waist.
Hell began.
From Hebei to Anhui. martial world folk often call such a road ‘a stone's throw.’
That's talking about experts flying around with movement arts.
For an ordinary person who had to ride a horse swallowing dust, it was an ordeal of well over a thousand li.
By day the sun burned the crown of my head, and by night the cold wind beat my bones.
We rode without rest.
This crazy man Peng Mu-gwang didn't stop except to change horses and relieve himself.
“Ugh......”
My stomach had already stopped working.
Peng Mu-gwang's sweat.
The stink of horse.
The smell of dust all lumped together and stung my nose.
Above all, the most painful part was my butt.
Every time I bounced on the horse's rump, it felt like my tailbone was being crushed.
“When on earth...... will we arrive......”
“We are here! That is Anhui!”
After riding for four days and nights, the scenery changed.
Instead of the barren plains of Hebei, green foliage and waterways came into view.
And at last.
Beyond the mist rising off an enormous lake, Chao Lake, a magnificent estate came into view.
The Namgung Clan.
A prestigious house of the sword, called the foremost clan under heaven.
If the Hebei Peng Clan was like a fortress built on a rugged rocky mountain, the Namgung Clan was like a finely painted ink-wash painting.
The towering walls were as white as white jade, and the blue roof tiles held the color of the sky.
On the signboard above the main gate, four characters shone in gold.
Anhui Namgung.
“We have arrived.”
Peng Mu-gwang yanked on the reins.
The horse neighed and reared up on its forelegs.
The recoil sent me tumbling to the ground.
“Keok!”
How could the ground be so welcome?
My legs had gone limp, and I couldn't get up.
I looked like an absolute beggar.
My hair was disheveled, and layer upon layer of dust had piled up on my clothes.
I looked to the side and saw that Namgung Seol was pale too.
She'd ridden her own horse, but she was clearly worn out from the forced march.
Still, being a martial artist and all, she wasn't crawling around on all fours like me.
Creeeak—.
The heavy main gate opened.
The gate guards withdrew their spears, and splendidly dressed figures came pouring out from inside.
At the head of them was a middle-aged man.
Tall with a slender build.
A handsome man who had turned even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes into a dignified charm.
Wearing a splendid blue robe, he exuded nobility at a single glance.
The Clan Head of the Namgung Clan.
It was Namgung Hyeon.
He wasn't flustered in the slightest, even at the sight of a fierce-faced Peng Mu-gwang and me covered in dirt.
Rather, he smiled brightly like a spring breeze and opened his arms.
“Well, who do we have here! Is that not Mister Peng? You must have had a hard time coming such a long way!”
His voice overflowed with dignity.
He was the very model of a father-in-law welcoming his in-law's son.
Peng Mu-gwang fumed and gripped the hilt of his great blade, but Namgung Hyeon approached as if he didn't feel that killing intent.
“Did our Seol come too? Why has your face shrunk to half its size?”
He patted his daughter's shoulder, then looked at Peng Mu-gwang again, his eyes curving like half-moons.
“By the way, Mister Peng.”
Namgung Hyeon asked very naturally.
As if asking about the weather.
“The gift I sent the other day arrived safely, I trust? I wonder whether my in-law liked it. It was an incense I chose with quite a bit of care, you see.”
In that instant, the air around us cut off.
Bright blue killing intent erupted like a storm from behind Peng Mu-gwang's back.
“Namgung Clan Head.”
His voice was low.
“Did you just say gift?”
Namgung Hyeon blinked.
“I did, but......”
“And you said it was incense?”
“Indeed. The finest agarwood. It is said to be good for calming the body and mind, so....”
“That horrific poison that kills people, you just called it a gift!”
I held my breath.
The veins on the back of Peng Mu-gwang's hand, gripping his blade, rose up like earthworms.
I looked into Namgung Hyeon's eyes.
There wasn't a shred of malice, mockery, or vileness in them.
There was only the pure curiosity of a man wondering whether his gift had been well received.
“P... poison?”
Namgung Hyeon's pupils wavered.
It wasn't a mask.
At least the reaction I was seeing right now was real.
“Do not play dumb!”
Peng Mu-gwang raised his great blade and growled.
The guards around us all put their hands on their sword hilts at once.
On one side, a great blade.
On the other, swords.
The tension grew taut.
It was a bloodcurdling standoff that looked like it would whip up a storm of blood at any moment.
“That damned box you sent! My father inhaled the smoke that came out of it, and now he is vomiting blood and dying! It was an extreme poison that melts bone and flesh!”
“......!”
The blood drained completely from Namgung Hyeon's face.
The gentle smile he'd kept up until a moment ago shattered like a piece of glass.
He staggered and took a step back.
“Th-that cannot be. Seol, is what Mister Peng says the truth?”
Instead of answering, Namgung Seol hung her head low.
Namgung Hyeon's brows drew together.
“I swear I know nothing of this!”
Desperation seeped into Namgung Hyeon's voice.
“Unless our Namgung Clan has gone mad, what reason would we have to poison the head of the Peng Clan, our in-laws?!”
He was clearly utterly bewildered.
I lightly tugged on Peng Mu-gwang's sleeve.
“Sir, please calm down.”
“You are telling me to calm down even after seeing this?”
“Look. That isn't the face of a man who's lying.”
Peng Mu-gwang fumed and glared at Namgung Hyeon.
But he too must have felt it with a martial artist's intuition.
That there was no killing intent coming from Namgung Hyeon.
“......Very well.”
Peng Mu-gwang roughly put away his blade.
“I have come to reveal the identity of the culprit who harmed my father and to obtain the antidote. Until that is resolved, I will absolutely not leave this place.”
“Of course.”
Namgung Hyeon wiped away his cold sweat and nodded.
“I swear on my honor. Whoever it was that harmed Clan Head Peng, our Namgung Clan will cooperate fully with the investigation.”
Once the situation had barely settled, I went straight to the main point.
“Clan Head. There's no time to waste. Please take us to the Miss's quarters right away.”
“Seol's quarters? Why......”
“We have to check the handwriting. We need to compare the letter the culprit left with what the Miss usually writes.”
Namgung Hyeon seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon nodded.
“Very well. Follow me.”
The inside of the Namgung Clan was far more splendid than it looked from outside.
Strange and wondrous rocks were placed naturally in the garden, and stone bridges lay over the pond like a painting.
But I had no time to admire that beautiful scenery.
We crossed the garden and arrived at Namgung Seol's quarters, the Pure Heart Pavilion.
“This is it.”
Namgung Seol carefully opened the door.
A faint scent of orchids brushed the tip of my nose.
The room was plainer than I'd expected.
Instead of extravagant decorations, the bookshelves were packed with books, and on the desk by the window, the four treasures of the study were neatly laid out.
It was closer to a scholar's study than a martial artist's room.
“Here you go.”
Namgung Seol took out an old box from a corner of the bookshelf.
It was a box covered in a thick layer of dust.
“These are the diaries I have kept since I was little. I have never shown them to anyone because they are embarrassing......”
Her face turned as red as a ripe peach.
Embarrassment, at a time when lives were on the line.
Young ladies raised so delicately really were different.
I opened the box.
A dozen or so well-thumbed diaries came spilling out.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
With Peng Mu-gwang and Namgung Hyeon watching, I opened the oldest diary first.
[Today I learned the beginner technique of the Azure Sky Sword from Elder Sister. My arm hurts. But Elder Sister patted my head and said I did well. Hehe. I feel good. Can I become strong like Elder Sister too?]
Wobbly, crooked handwriting.
It was obvious a child had pressed down hard while writing.
As I read the contents, the corners of my mouth rose without me realizing it.
So Namgung Seol had a time like this too.
I turned to the next page.
[Father bought me new clothes today. He praised me and said I was pretty. I looked in the mirror for a long time. Am I pretty? Even when I look at my face reflected in the lake, I do not really know. It is just two eyes, one nose, and one mouth. I think I might look kind of like a crucian carp.]
“Pfft.”
I nearly burst out laughing.
The corners of Peng Mu-gwang's mouth, who'd been peeking from beside me, twitched too.
“Ahem.”
Namgung Seol hung her head, not knowing what to do with herself.
She was bright red to the tips of her ears.
Holding back my laughter, I kept turning the pages of the diaries.
As the years passed, the handwriting became more and more refined.
The wobbly strokes became neat, and the round character shapes changed to become as sharp and dignified as the Namgung Clan's swordsmanship.
But there was something that didn't change.
Habit.
The traces a person unconsciously leaves behind while writing.
“Found it.”
I pointed with my finger at the end of a sentence.
“Look here. Miss Namgung has a habit of flicking the stroke slightly upward when she writes the character for ‘one.’ It's so subtle you'd miss it at a glance, but it's the same in everything from her diaries at ten years old to the recent ones.”
I took the forged letter the culprit had sent out of my robes and laid it side by side.
“But look at this letter.”
The three of them looked at the letter at the same time.
“The handwriting is perfectly identical. A skill that would put a calligrapher to shame. But......”
I pointed to the last sentence of the letter.
“Look at the character for ‘one’ here. Its end comes down calmly. They tried hard to imitate it, but they couldn't copy every part of the Miss's handwriting.”
“That means......!”
Namgung Hyeon's eyes widened.
“So Seol did not write it after all!”
“A reasonably trustworthy piece of evidence has come out.”
Peng Mu-gwang nodded too.
The killing intent lifted a little from his expression.
“Then now we need to narrow down the culprit.”
I said as I closed the diary.
“Someone who could imitate Miss Namgung's handwriting this perfectly. And someone well versed in the inner affairs of the Namgung Clan. We find that guy.”
Now that Namgung Seol's innocence had been established to some extent, it was time to go after the suspect.
I took a short breath.
“The suspect I have in mind is......”
Then I said it clearly.
“Namgung Wi.”