The Lord/Lady of Podalap Palace, Rano Sara, recalled memories from her childhood.
Now at an age where middle-aged no longer felt awkward, those memories were truly just fleeting moments, yet they remained beautiful and shining memories that she could never forget.
And now.
The main character of those memories had come to Podalap Palace.
Sara carefully examined Ho Cheon-an. The long white beard flowing down from under his black rib and the absolute aura surrounding him were different from her memories, but the black rib upon his head was exactly the same as that memory.
“Welcome. Magician Ho Cheon-an.”
“….Magician, huh?”
A forced smile appeared on Ho Cheon-an’s face. The title that reminded him of the memories in Rasa made his heart ache.
Sara gazed at the deep emotions surfacing on Ho Cheon-an’s face, unable to be expressed in mere words, and felt a pang of sadness.
The duel between the Brain Knife Outcast and Jeong Cheol was a well-known incident, far from the Central Plains, that anyone wanting to know could easily learn about.
She thought of the white-haired black cat who had hugged and played with her, ignoring the white hair dyed from the incident, but for a moment buried that memory deep in her heart.
She was no longer a child.
Having experienced numerous farewells, she had grown as much as the number of goodbyes she had faced and the years she had lived.
Thus, Sara skillfully changed the subject.
A small child, hiding behind Ho Cheon-an and trying to conceal his face.
Ho Cheon-an spoke as he gently stroked Nab-in’s head.
“This child is named Nab-in.”
“Ah, hello… I’m Nab-in.”
Sara, smiling at the hesitant Nab-in as if finding him cute, noticed something strange. This aura…?
“Is this child…?”
Ho Cheon-an nodded.
“Have you already sensed it? Yes, this child also suffers from the same ailment.”
Just as expected. Sara somehow felt she understood Ho Cheon-an’s purpose for visiting.
“I believe I have a good understanding of medicine, but I think general healing methods differ from those used for children. Therefore, I hope to seek knowledge or advice.”
“If that’s the case, you came to the right place. We have materials on this ailment for those suffering from it. I can provide as much as you need.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Thus began the life of Ho Cheon-an and Nab-in at Podalap Palace.
*
“Hyah!”
Shwoosh!
The sound of a fierce ki and the clashing of wooden swords echoed. It was Nab-in’s voice and the sound of the wooden sword as he started training in the Six Harmony Sword technique.
He had convinced Nab-in to come all the way to this far Western region, encouraging him to pursue martial arts.
However, even upon arriving at their destination, Ho Cheon-an felt embarrassed to keep asking Nab-in to wait, so he had started teaching swordsmanship.
The swings were awkward, lacking any foundation, but Ho Cheon-an watched Nab-in’s swordplay without pointing out the flaws.
Normally, when building foundational skills, imperfections are not tolerated, and martial arts should be drilled into the body rigorously, but Ho Cheon-an thought differently.
There is no shortcut to martial arts.
This saying applies from the very beginning of martial arts.
While rote education may seem to produce results more quickly in the short term, martial arts built without comprehension will lead to much greater difficulty when one seeks to understand the mysteries of the craft later on.
For those who may or may not reach the peak level, quick rote learning may seem ideal, but for Nab-in, who would need to learn to manage his own energy as he gains understanding, it was best to slowly and steadily build his skills.
Ho Cheon-an reflected on Nab-in, energetically swinging the little wooden sword.
He recalled the treatment records Sara had shared with him.
‘Well, I didn’t expect to grasp it all immediately upon seeing it…’
Sara’s treatment records were overwhelmingly voluminous, enough to catch even Ho Cheon-an off guard, who had readied himself for the task.
Understanding all the records and extracting information suitable for Nab-in would not be a matter of days.
‘Looks like I’ll be staying at Podalap Palace for a while.’
“Nab-in!”
Just as the saying goes, if you call a tiger, it appears.
Two women approached. The current Lord/Lady Rano Sara and her daughter, Rano Rammo.
This year, Rano Rammo, barely out of her youth, ran straight to Nab-in and hugged him.
“Did you have a good day? Even with my eyes closed, our pretty Nab-in has been dancing in my mind, making it hard for me~!”
Nab-in could only offer an awkward smile in response. It had only been a day since they’d seen each other, so did it really need to be such a fuss?
Especially the compliment of being pretty felt particularly out of place.
Ho Cheon-an chuckled as he watched Nab-in’s troubled expression.
Nab-in, who didn’t realize how much he had changed since embarking on his journey, apparently found the praise jarringly unfamiliar.
“Great Hero. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Welcome. Lord/Lady.”
“Were there any results?”
“I think it will take a while to observe.”
“Please feel free to stay as long as desired.”
Sara said this, gazing at Ho Cheon-an and Mi-ho, who were circling around Nab-in, almost fused together.
“However, I’m a bit worried about the entities. It might be a cramped space for them.”
“To be honest, this is my first time living close to humans, but I will take special care to avoid any accidents.”
“Yes. I will inform the monastics not to provoke the entities.”
The two discussed various matters to make life at Podalap Palace comfortable. Most of the issues revolved around the entities rather than their living arrangements.
Ho Cheon-an’s concerns regarding the entities lingered. Since he had never lived so closely with humans before, he had no idea how the entities would react.
‘If worst comes to worst, I might have to move out of Podalap Palace and take up residence on the outskirts of Rasa.’
While Ho Cheon-an considered even that worst-case scenario, the entities’ life at Podalap Palace began to unfold differently than he had anticipated.
*
Nuru Buchi, enjoying a leisurely cup of tea in his office, stretched his feet comfortably.
“Oh dear~ Long live the magician!”
Nuru Buchi expressed gratitude toward Ho Cheon-an.
Though Ho Cheon-an himself may not notice, ever since he entered Podalap Palace, managing Rasa’s security had become tremendously easier.
The nomads traversing the highlands were incredibly tough. Meditating and maintaining order amidst the disputes among such nomads was anything but ordinary.
However, these rugged nomads profoundly feared extraordinary powers when facing people.
This was a natural response.
In the pitch-black night, in a field with nothing to rely on, the howling winds tearing through the dark with malevolent sounds, unfamiliar lights, shadows whose size could not be gauged, along with eyes that radiated ferocity and malice—one would inevitably harbor a primal fear of the formless.
To such nomads, the enormous entities entering Podalap Palace were nothing short of manifestations of that very terror.
Witnessing these manifestations of power orderly entering Podalap Palace led the nomads to believe that the monks must be under divine protection.
As for the monks of Podalap Palace, who were a group of practitioners following Buddhist principles, they had to deal with the nomads, making their jobs significantly easier overnight.
And it didn’t stop there.
With the news of Thunder Name Zhonja joining Podalap Palace, the nearby bandit groups began to behave more cautiously, which also lightened their workload.
Thanks to all this, Nuru Buchi found time to enjoy a leisurely break.
“It’s about that time.”
Nuru Buchi stood up from his seat.
Podalap Palace was a historic sanctuary for practitioners. Although now under some influence of Buddhism, there used to be a myriad of faiths when the palace was first established.
You could still see remnants of that diversity today.
Among them was a large stone tower, which resembled a much older ceremonial tower whose sect is lost to history.
Many monks had already gathered around it.
“You’ve come again today, Thunder Name Zhonja.”
“Makunga, you too.”
As he chatted with the gathered monks, Thunder Name Zhonja looked up at the sky as a large shadow passed overhead.
Shweeek.
The shadow was none other than the leisurely soaring Cheon-eung. Circling above the stone tower, Cheon-eung elegantly landed atop the perch.
“Wow.”
Thunder Name Zhonja praised the sight. No matter how many times one witnessed it, it was a creature that stirred the hearts of men, an embodiment of the sky’s royalty.
With its fierce, calm eyes and strikingly sculpted beak, it was a robust creature, utterly different from ordinary birds.
The monks gathered around the perch all came to admire Cheon-eung’s impressive appearance.
Having grown accustomed to people gathering at the perch, Cheon-eung sat beautifully on the perfect spot, grooming its feathers with its beak as it relaxed.
Noticing a feather that had fallen, Cheon-eung picked it up with its beak.
In that moment, all eyes of the gathered monks were on it.
These were monks so captivated by Cheon-eung that they’d set aside time just to watch it. Naturally, Cheon-eung’s feathers were a coveted prize.
Cheon-eung observed these humans.
Flying high over Podalap Palace for a long time, Cheon-eung understood that its feathers held value for those gathered at the perch.
Though Cheon-eung could not grasp why a human, with no nest, would need a large bird’s feathers, it knew that the interest was there.
In any case, Cheon-eung held the feather in its beak and looked at the humans. Free from the control of blood afflictions, Cheon-eung, traveling with the kinship of Ho Cheon-an, took to the exploration of humans at its leisure and could distinguish them quite well now.
It fixed its gaze on Thunder Name Zhonja, an old man appearing quite frequently.
Was he here to collect feathers?
Cheon-eung, finding amusement in the elder fervently hunting for his feathers, dropped one before Thunder Name Zhonja.
“Oooh…!”
Thunder Name Zhonja was overwhelmed with joy at the feather settled in front of him. Having received a feather from an entity directly! The moment mirrored that of a wild cat rubbing its head against him after regularly feeding it.
“Th-thank you…! Cheon-eung!”
Live on, aged human.
Cheon-eung thought this as it finished its rest and took flight.
Unbeknownst to Thunder Name Zhonja, who could not discern whether he’d received the feather out of sympathy, the monks’ gazes were devoid of envy if they had realized the thoughts of the two.
And so unfolded an event at the stone tower, where each party misunderstood the other’s thoughts, yet a positive outcome emerged.
