High School Student Kim Rae-won.
There were a few Martial Artists who did not know that name.
At least, not among the generation of Jin Hagyeong, the Manor Lord of a branch of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect.
Some twenty years ago, a lone boy, whose origins were unknown, appeared in the Jianghu and practiced Righteousness.
Without a Murim Sect or a master, he acted alone.
He was no one's disciple and belonged nowhere.
He became one of the Three Monsters.
For nearly a decade, the boy wandered the Jianghu, resolving matters great and small.
He cut down evil, saved the weak, and sought no reward.
He used Martial Arts taught by no sect in the world, and no one could uncover the origin of his skills.
Then one day, he vanished without a trace.
There were rumors that he had died, and rumors that he had gone into seclusion.
There was even a rather strange rumor that he had returned to wherever he came from.
Time passed, and the Jianghu had half-forgotten his name.
Many had asked why he practiced Righteousness.
None had received an answer.
However, among the elders of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, his name still came up from time to time.
Martial Arts of unknown origin, a Martial Artist of no affiliation.
To the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, which valued the principles of the Orthodox Murim, 'a powerhouse of unknown origin' was an object of caution.
'...Could it be?'
Jin Hagyeong looked at the man before him again.
The age didn't match.
If that Kim Rae-won had appeared in the Jianghu as a boy, he should be entering his forties by now.
The man before him looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties at most.
Was it someone with the same name?
He tried to think so.
But.
No affiliation.
Martial arts of unknown origin.
A master from an unknown place.
The texture of the aura he had just felt was different from the Vast Heaven Qi, from Evil Qi, and from any other martial art Jin Hagyeong had ever encountered in his life.
'That Kim Rae-won's' martial arts were known to be exactly like that.
"...Kim Rae-won?"
The name escaped his lips on its own.
"High School Student Kim Rae-won.... Are you that Kim Rae-won?"
The man looked at Jin Hagyeong for a moment.
His expression did not change.
He was not surprised, nor did he deny or confirm it.
There was only a breath of silence.
"I have no memory."
He was calm.
"I do not know myself whether I am that person or not."
Jin Hagyeong narrowed his eyes.
No memory?
A rumor from early this year about an unidentified master appearing in the southern walled city of the River Capital and taking control of the entire area's factions.
He thought he had also vaguely heard that the master called himself 'Kim Rae-won.'
At the time, he had dismissed it as insignificant.
The Jianghu was full of scoundrels who falsely used others' names.
But now, feeling this aura directly.
'It's not an impersonation.'
An impersonator can steal a name, but they cannot borrow a presence, can they?
The age mismatch was still a concern.
But was there any point in applying conventional standards to 'one who uses martial arts of unknown origin'?
Besides, in this Jianghu, there were skills and realms that made one younger or appear younger, such as age-reversal or Bone and Body Metamorphosis.
Of course, those who achieved such things were extremely rare.
Whether he was someone with the same name, the man himself, or his disciple.
It did not matter which.
At this moment, that was not what was important.
What was important was whether such a man would accept two hundred people.
"You said there were injured?"
Kim Rae-won said.
His tone made it impossible to tell if he had ignored the previous question or considered it finished.
"Bring them in. Whether it's two hundred or two thousand."
For a moment, Jin Hagyeong doubted his ears.
"...Are there conditions?"
"Come with your swords sheathed. That is all."
Jin Hagyeong looked up at the man.
Was he serious?
Knowing about the war between the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect and the Dark Rakshasa Way, he would accept two hundred defeated soldiers without any conditions?
He could risk drawing the pursuit of the Dark Rakshasa Way, couldn't he?
"Sect Leader. Accepting us could bring you misfortune. The Dark Rakshasa Way might be in pursuit."
It was a sort of final act of conscience.
To not hide the fact that the help he sought could become a disaster.
That was the duty of one who wielded a sword.
Kim Rae-won tilted his head slightly.
"I know."
Two words.
The weight contained in those two words was strange.
It did not take long to realize that 'I know' meant the same as 'It doesn't matter.'
Why?
Why did it not matter?
For the sect leader of a newly established sect?
'...No.'
If this man was truly 'that Kim Rae-won.'
If he were the man who, some twenty years ago, wandered the Jianghu alone without a sect or master, practicing Righteousness.
A decision of this magnitude was not so strange.
That man had always been like that.
At least, the 'Kim Rae-won' of the rumors was that kind of person.
Just then, there was movement from the direction of the Training Ground.
A young woman came running.
She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen.
The heat of sparring still lingered on her fists.
"Mister, are they guests?"
Kim Rae-won lightly ruffled the girl's hair.
"Yes. They say many of them are injured. Prepare some water."
"Yep!"
The girl turned and shouted towards the Training Ground.
"Everyone, stop! We have guests, and they're injured. Bring water and make space."
The members of the sect moved in unison.
There was no chaos.
At the girl's single command, they went to fetch water and began to lay out mats inside the mountain fortress.
Their skills still seemed lacking, but there was something different about these people.
There was no hesitation in their movements.
'...They are not flustered. They are not fast, but they do not hesitate.'
To Jin Hagyeong, who had seen only the ugly side of humanity for the past few days, that scene was strangely striking.
'Is that his sect?'
The Kim Rae-won of the rumors was always alone.
He wandered without a sect or companions.
Now, it was different.
He had sect members.
If Kim Rae-won had returned, and not alone, but by creating such things.
Perhaps what the twenty years had created was not a legend, but new roots....
And.
From behind the Training Ground, two more people appeared.
A rarely seen beauty and a man with the air of a scholar.
The woman walked with a sword at her waist, while the man followed slowly with a folded fan in his hand.
Jin Hagyeong's breath caught.
'...Peak Realm. No, perhaps higher?'
Both of them were like that.
Two more unidentified masters had been added to the count.
And they did not feel like ordinary masters.
The aura emanating from the sword-wielding woman was close to raw killing intent, while the fan-wielding man exuded a depth of qi that seemed to have settled to the very bottom.
A sect leader who was a master beyond measure.
Below him, two others who were at the level of a Supreme Master, or perhaps higher, who seemed like and yet not like martial artists.
'...This cannot be a new sect.'
The man with the fan, who had been quietly observing Jin Hagyeong as he sized things up, spoke first.
"Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect..."
His voice was contemplative.
It was the tone of one weighing information, not confirming it.
The woman with the sword glanced at Jin Hagyeong and immediately retorted.
"My, has Vast Heaven been pushed back this far already?"
It was direct.
Not surprise at hearing the name Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, but a reaction that immediately grasped the state of the war.
Beyond the mindset of a martial artist seasoned on the battlefield, she was utterly unfazed by the prestigious name of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect and the fact that it had been mercilessly crushed.
That in itself was enough to startle Jin Hagyeong.
Because if the two newcomers were not in a position to react that way, or were not masters of such a level, their response could not have been so.
"...That is so."
"It's understandable that you'd be out of your wits."
Jin Hagyeong did not deny it.
Because he was indeed out of his mind.
The man with the fan looked at Kim Rae-won.
The folded fan folded once more.
"Sect Leader."
After the short title.
"Won't accepting them complicate things?"
"Do you know? The difference between a hero and an ordinary man."
"..."
"The difference between the two is not talent. It's whether or not you take one more step forward in a moment of fear. That is the only small difference."
"A curious thing to say."
The folded fan swayed once.
Then the scholarly man smiled faintly.
"But there is a point to it. In that case, it is as if a hero has come to the Hero's Sect."
"That's right. Since a hero has come to the Hero's Sect, shouldn't we at least give him a meal?"
He said it lightly.
A man who concluded the decision to take in two hundred defeated soldiers with the single word 'meal.'
At that moment, Jin Hagyeong felt his knees buckle.
It was not just from exhaustion.
It was as if everything he had lost in the past few days came crashing down at once.
The things he had endured, gritting his teeth as the Manor Lord of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, the things he had tried not to look back on, the faces of those he had been forced to leave behind.
The moment he knelt, all of it flooded in like a broken dam.
Only the knee is permitted to the defeated soldier.
But if the manor lord's knee buckles first, the legs of the two hundred behind him will break as well.
That alone could not happen.
But he did not kneel.
He gritted his teeth and held on.
If the manor lord falls, the two hundred behind him will fall.
Not yet.
Jin Hagyeong gripped his broken sword upside down again and plunged it into the ground.
Using it as a staff to support his body, he bowed his head.
This time, unlike before, it was with sincerity.
"...Jin Hagyeong, Manor Lord of the Heaven Reflecting Sword Manor. I entrust the lives of the two hundred disciples of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect to you."
Before he had even finished speaking, Kim Rae-won turned around.
"Hoae."
"Yes!"
"There are people on the mountain path. Bring them here."
"Yep!"
The girl took three or four sect members and ran towards the mountain path.
A large man silently stuck by the girl's side and ran with her.
He had the build of a beast.
The woman with the sword looked up at the mountain path and muttered softly, but loud enough for Kim Rae-won to hear.
"Judging by their state, they might have a bunch of things trailing behind them."
Jin Hagyeong sighed at those words.
He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't.
He let out another deep sigh and looked up at Kim Rae-won again.
He had a mountain of questions to ask.
If he was truly 'that Kim Rae-won.'
What he meant by having no memory.
What had happened during the decade-long gap?
But the words that ultimately came out of his mouth were not of that nature.
"...I would like to ask one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Sect Leader... are you not afraid? Did I not say that the wrath of the Dark Rakshasa Way might befall you if you accept us?"
Kim Rae-won looked at Jin Hagyeong for a moment.
And smiled.
It was the same smile as before.
A slight upturn of the corners of his mouth, hardly even a smile.
But this time, the smile was slightly different.
Cold, yet warm.
No, cold pretending to be warm.
It was a smile whose true nature he could not fathom.
"Manor Lord Jin."
"..."
"What kind of host frightens his guests?"
Kim Rae-won approached Jin Hagyeong.
"Rest easy."
Then he suddenly vanished from the spot as if extinguished, leaving only a trail of his voice.
"And don't worry about the uninvited guests."
The woman with the sword looked in the direction Kim Rae-won had disappeared.
Then her hand went to the sword at her waist.
"Haa... right, right. In the end, he did it, he really did it."
The man with the fan called out softly from her side.
"Trigram Master Yan."
"I know, I know."
The two of them looked up the mountain path at the same time.
But after just one shake of their heads, they kicked off the ground.
Now, all that remained in that spot was.
"...Uninvited guests?"
Only Jin Hagyeong, standing there with his mouth agape, was completely dumbfounded.