Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 590

Before my fingers could reach Ubeom’s throat,
in that fleeting moment, countless possibilities flashed through my mind.

Should I rip out his windpipe first?

To stop him from making any more noise, perhaps I should start by tearing that out.
Or maybe break his right hand—he was clearly right-handed—
to ensure he couldn’t draw his sword.

No, does it even matter?

He’s going to die anyway.

If he was destined to crumble into ash,
then how I went about it didn’t really matter.

With those thoughts swirling, I reached for Ubeom’s neck.

“Stop—.”

I froze.

A voice cut through the tension, halting my hand mid-motion.

“Leave it at that.”

It was Madam Mi’s voice.

I turned to look at her and asked,

“Leave it at that?”

Why should I stop?
Was there any need to?

I even had justification on my side.

This bastard had humiliated us with his vile words
and had dared to draw his sword first despite being a guest.

Even though we weren’t directly affiliated with the Martial Alliance,
it was clear from Madam Mi’s earlier remarks that we were acting under their entrusted authority.

In other words—

Messing with us is equivalent to defying the entire Martial Alliance.

Viewed on a broader scale, it could even be seen as an act that might spark conflict between nations.

And yet—

Letting this escort’s life go would be seen as a gesture of leniency.

Every action carried such meaning.
Killing this despicable man wouldn’t have caused any problems.

Madam Mi surely understood this better than I did.
So why…?

“Why should I?”

I asked her for a reason.

If Madam Mi was telling me to stop,
I assumed she must have a logical explanation.

She was that kind of person.
I expected her to offer a rational argument—
perhaps that killing the escort in front of the young lady would create unnecessary complications,
or that harming an outsider from the martial world could lead to larger issues.

But instead—

“The flower you gave me still carries its fragrance.”

Madam Mi’s response was something else entirely.

“…What?”

“I have no desire to let this situation turn into an unpleasant spectacle.”

Her words were unexpected, and I couldn’t understand them.

What did the flower’s fragrance have to do with this?

Though her reasoning made no sense to me,

“...”

I withdrew my hand from Ubeom’s neck.

Regardless of her explanation,
once Madam Mi had spoken, there was no going further.

I lowered my hand and signaled Tang So-yeol with my eyes.

Ssss.

She immediately understood and withdrew her dagger, stepping away from Ubeom.

Watching this, I let out a small chuckle internally.

She’s quick.

Not that Tang So-yeol had acted faster than me.

Originally, I hadn’t hesitated to rip out Ubeom’s windpipe.
But I had stopped because I sensed her movement.

Could it be…?

Had she acted first, fearing I might kill him?
For some reason, that thought crossed my mind.

It seemed unlikely, but who could say for sure?

“Haa… haa…”

Ragged breathing filled the room.
It came from Ubeom, who was still recovering from the shock.

He must have realized just how close he’d come to death.

What surprised me was—

His eyes still haven’t lost their defiance.

Despite everything, Ubeom’s gaze remained sharp and alive.

“You… barbarian scum…!”

Even his mouth was still running.

“How dare you look down on the Northern Sea—!”

Thud!

My fist slammed into his face.

The force sent him reeling,
and his large frame collapsed with a loud thud.

Drip.

Blood trickled from his nose and mouth,
staining his hand as he instinctively reached up to touch it.

His expression shifted to disbelief as he stared at the blood.

Watching this, I spoke calmly.

“Keep your mouth shut for a bit. We’re having a conversation here.”

“You… this…!”

“Or would you prefer I rip your tongue out to help you stay quiet?”

Crunch.

I heard the sound of his teeth grinding, but that was as far as he went.
He averted his gaze, signaling his decision to back down.

What a shame.
If he had said one more word, I wouldn’t have killed him,
but I might have actually followed through and ripped his tongue out.

I had held back my strength,
though breaking his jaw completely would have made things simpler.

But I felt that would have been going too far.

“Wow…”

As I dusted off my hands, a voice of admiration came from Yuri.

“I didn’t expect Ubeom to end up like this. How fascinating…”

Her reaction—watching her escort bleed while expressing mild curiosity—made me frown.

Irritating.

Something about her grated on me.

At first, it was simply the fact that she was from the unfamiliar Northern Sea.
Then it was her uncanny resemblance to Moyong Hee-ah.

And now—

Something about her… just bothers me.

Her very presence felt foreign and vexing.

Yuri looked at me, her pale blue eyes eerily similar to Moyong Hee-ah’s.

“You’re amazing. Are you part of the trading company too?”

“Something like that.”

“Wow! That’s incredible!”

What exactly was so incredible?

Letting out a low sigh, I decided to ask her directly.

“What was that about earlier?”

“Hmm?”

“The part about marriage.”

Why had she brought up something so out of the blue?
It didn’t make any sense to me.

“Oh, that.”

At my question, Yuri laughed lightly.

“Well, isn’t that just how it’s supposed to go?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

What kind of reasoning was this?
Did the Northern Sea have some bizarre tradition of proposing marriage to people who hit you?

Could such an insane custom even exist?

As I began to have less-than-flattering thoughts about the Northern Sea Palace,

“I read it in a book.”

Yuri’s words broke my train of thought.

A book…?

What kind of book?

Before I could even form a proper question, Yuri continued.

“The woman who struck me first… you shall be the one I marry.”

“…?”

“It was in the book. A Zhongyuan person said it to someone who hit them.”

“What kind of nonsense…”

What kind of ridiculous book was she reading?

I couldn’t help but grimace, and Yuri looked surprised at my reaction.

“Huh? Don’t you know? It’s a really famous masterpiece!”

“So you’re telling me you decided to repeat some random line from a book? That’s all this was?”

“I didn’t expect such a lukewarm reaction, though.”

What kind of reaction was she expecting?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out.

Should I have hit her again?
Yeah, that would have been the right response.
I should have hit her, but the fact that I didn’t… made me feel like the real idiot here.

"Even someone as pretty as me is saying this. How could you react like that?"

No, I should just hit her now.
That thought crossed my mind as I prepared to move,

“Cough… cough… ahem…”

when a dry cough sounded from behind me.
It was Moyong Hee-ah.

I glanced at her and saw that she had her head lowered,
trying to hide her flushed ears.

I wondered what was going on, but the reason quickly became apparent.

Someone who looked exactly like her was spouting nonsense,

Suppressing a sigh, I turned to Madam Mi.

"Madam Mi."

"Speak."

"So, what do you want me to do?"

I was tired of it all.
I wanted to flip the table and leave, but I hadn’t even gotten to the main point yet.

"So… what am I supposed to do?"

What connection could I possibly have with this insufferable fool?
I voiced my frustration with a question.

“Hmm? What else do I have to do with you?”

Yuri tilted her head as she asked.
Good question—I was curious about that myself.

Why is she so cheerful?

Her escort was still sitting behind her, bloodied and slumped,
and yet she acted like nothing was wrong.

At this point, it was starting to creep me out.

“Oh, right! Madam Mi!”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“So, when exactly will the Crimson Feather arrive?”

“…Ah.”

“We can’t discuss anything until they’re here, right?”

The Crimson Feather.
That strange title had come up earlier as well.

It clearly wasn’t a name. It sounded more like an alias,
though it was a bizarre one at that.

Who else is supposed to come?

It seemed like everyone was already here.

“Is someone else expected to join us?”

I directed the question to Madam Mi,
the person most likely to know about the attendees.

“This Crimson Feather person—do you know who they are?”

“Well… hmm.”

Her reaction to my question was odd.

Why was she making that face?

"How could a Zhongyuan native not know the Crimson Feather?"

Yuri suddenly burst out indignantly.
What was her problem now?

"…Should I?"

"Of course! I heard everyone here knows who they are!"

What even is a Crimson Feather?
A chicken? A monster with red feathers?

Was there a red-ranked monster like that?

As I cycled through possibilities, Yuri continued.

"They’re said to command flames that touch the heavens."
Flames? Right, there are monsters that breathe fire.

"They value justice and cannot stand to witness injustice."

...So it’s not a monster?
Judging by her words, it sounded like a person.

A person with such an embarrassing alias? Clearly a lunatic.
And if they used flames and valued justice…

Was there anyone like that in Hanam?

I can’t think of anyone.

Martial artists who used fire techniques weren’t common,
and though there was the Flame King among the Ten Great Masters,
he hadn’t shown up even during the Blood Demon incident.

For all I knew, he might already be dead.

So who could this Crimson Feather be?

"They’re also said to be incredibly handsome,
setting countless women’s hearts ablaze."

"Crimson Feather?"

"Yes! I came all the way here just to meet them!"

Her confident declaration left me speechless.
I genuinely wanted to leave at that moment.

I needed to get out of here.
As I thought about running away,

"The Crimson Feather of Zhongyuan… Gu Yangcheon!"

“…What?”

"I can’t wait to see them."

“…?”

Yuri’s words made me whip my head around.

Our eyes met.

Yuri tilted her head, confused.

“What? Have you fallen for me now? If so, it’s too late—”

“What did you just say?”

"Huh?"

What did she just call me?

"…Who? Who did you say?"

“Oh!”

Seeing my reaction, Yuri clapped her hands together in excitement.

"See? You know them too, don’t you? The Crimson Feather, Gu Yangcheon!"

"..."

"Why is everyone acting so quiet?"

The room fell into silence.
I thought I might have misheard her,
but it became clear that wasn’t the case.

…How was I supposed to react to this?

For a moment, I considered.

Was there another Gu Yangcheon somewhere out there?
Probably.

There were other branches of the Gu family,
so there could very well be another Gu Yangcheon among them.

But…

Could there be another Gu Yangcheon who used fire techniques?
That was far less likely.

No matter how I looked at it,
it seemed she was talking about me.

The others seemed to realize this too.

The heavy silence in the room was likely because of that.

"Huh? What’s with everyone?"

Yuri frowned, noticing the shift in atmosphere.

The others were glancing at me with strange, unreadable expressions.

Yuri’s gaze also changed as she looked back at me.
She wasn’t as clueless as she initially seemed.

"No way."

Yuri’s forced smile wavered.

"It’s not true, right?"

Her voice was laced with desperation as she laughed nervously.

"Please tell me it’s not true."

No one answered.

"…Why isn’t anyone saying anything? It’s not true, right?"

Her eyes began to tremble.
Those alluring, narrow eyes widened in disbelief.

"No… this can’t be…."

Her expression, once filled with hope, now brimmed with despair.

"Don’t tell me… it’s you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You’re the Crimson Feather!?"

"…What even is that?"

"No, no, no… This can’t be happening!"

Was this so shocking for her?
Her pale complexion turned an alarming shade of blue.

"There’s no way someone like you could be them!"

Excuse me?

Did I just get insulted out of nowhere?

I hadn’t even done anything, yet she was attacking me now.

"What’s your problem?"

"And you don’t even look virtuous or honorable!"

She rambled on, clearly losing her composure.

"And you’re not handsome! You even look scary! The White Fox said they’d be amazing, but—"

"Hey, calm down a little."

"But how could you be the Crimson Feather? This doesn’t make any sense—!"

Thwack!

"Eeek!"

Yuri’s head bobbed forward as I smacked the top of it with my fist.

She let out a small scream, clutching her head.

"You’re being way too noisy."

"Ow… ow…"

"Shut up already."

"But… but it hurts…"

"Stop whining. You’re giving me a headache."

I had held back my strength, of course.
Unlike Ubeom, whose cultivation could handle the impact,
if I’d hit Yuri any harder, her small head might have burst.

Still, maybe I overdid it.

"Ugh… ugh…"

Tears welled up in Yuri’s eyes,
and before long,

"Waahhh… it hurts so much…."

She started crying like a child.

She looked like the type of person who wouldn’t shed a tear even if stabbed,
yet now tears streamed down her face.

Would Moyong Hee-ah look like this if she cried?
The thought amused me for a brief moment.

I debated what to do.

What a mess. I didn’t expect her to cry over something like this.

Seeing her sob so miserably made things awkward.

With a sigh, I decided on the quickest solution.

Thud!

"Guh—!"

Yuri collapsed with a faint gasp.

Like the first time we met, I struck the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.

Her escorts behind her widened their eyes in shock,
but I simply looked down at the fallen Yuri and spoke indifferently.

"Why make such a fuss crying like that? What a pain."

Crying was a waste of time.

This might have been a bit rough, but it was the fastest way to deal with her.

It had nothing to do with her calling me ugly
or saying I didn’t seem honorable.

Honestly.