About half an hour passed since the incident, and I stood rubbing my forehead, surveying the scene before me.

First, I checked the faces of the women seated in a row on my bed. Starting from the far left, I looked at the girl with brown hair streaked with gold—Wi Seol-ah.

I spoke to her first.

“What are you doing here?”

She flinched when I addressed her, her wide eyes reflecting her nervousness.

“Um, well…”

As she stammered, she glanced sideways at Namgung Bi-ah, who was sitting beside her, still groggy from sleep. Wi Seol-ah mumbled softly, “I followed her… when she came here.”

I looked at Namgung Bi-ah, who had finally noticed my gaze and mumbled, “…She didn’t come, so…”

“And why does that mean you have to come to my room?” I asked, utterly baffled.

Namgung Bi-ah gave me a look as if she didn’t see any problem with that.

Sure, she had a habit of sneaking into my bed now and then, but the fact that Wi Seol-ah had followed her still didn’t make any sense.

“Why did you follow her?” I asked Wi Seol-ah.

She averted her gaze and turned red at the ears. “I… just… wanted to.”

I sighed, shaking my head at her.

“Are you starting to act like her now? Why are you both trying to sleep in my bed?”

“Sorry…” Wi Seol-ah muttered.

I almost chided Namgung Bi-ah too but quickly decided against it. It wouldn’t do any good—she rarely listened anyway.

Instead, I simply raised my fist and tapped her on the forehead.

“Ow…!”

She clutched her forehead, her expression a mix of drowsiness and indignation as she looked up at me.

“Don’t give me that look. Did you steal my blanket again?” I asked.

Her eyes widened. She probably thought I hadn’t noticed.

She took the blanket so blatantly that it was hard to miss.

“Why do you keep swiping my bedding?”

“I… just needed more…” she murmured.

“And why didn’t you just ask if you needed more? You’re not exactly short on resources.”

Namgung Bi-ah narrowed her eyes at me, clearly displeased with my remark.

“It’s not… like that.”

“Then what is it?”

“…Forget it.”

She turned away, clearly sulking. I rolled my eyes and moved on to the last woman in the row—Tang So-yeol, who sat to the right, looking at me with a sulky expression.

“…You know,” I said, addressing Tang So-yeol.

She flinched, sensing that I was talking to her.

“Normally, you don’t just barge into someone’s room unannounced, right?”

Tang So-yeol had barged into my room without knocking, something she should have known better than to do. A normal person would knock, or at least ask if they could enter.

Upon hearing my remark, she pouted, her cheeks puffing out like a squirrel with acorns in its mouth. Her expression was so ridiculous I couldn’t help but question her.

“What’s with that face?”

“Well, I know it wasn’t right, but…” She clenched her eyes shut and said, “This is all your fault, Gongja-nim!”

I looked at her, taken aback. “What?”

Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bi-ah nodded in agreement, as if they had rehearsed this reaction together.

“What did I do wrong?”

I was genuinely bewildered. All I’d done today was run around handling errands, barely managing to sneak into my room to grab some clothes, and suddenly, it was all my fault?

I stared at Tang So-yeol, incredulous. Without a word, all three of them suddenly stood up, marching toward the door with a shared sense of indignation.

Just as they reached the door, I called out, “…Wait a minute.”

I grabbed Namgung Bi-ah’s arm. She turned to look at me with a hint of expectation in her eyes, but I knew my next words weren’t going to match whatever she was hoping to hear.

“…Can you ask your father when I can visit him?”

The frown on Namgung Bi-ah’s face deepened at my question. I knew it wasn’t the right time, but with training ahead, I needed to get this matter sorted out.

“I’d rather not let this drag on any longer.”

I thought it would be best to address things with Namgung Jin sooner rather than later.

“…He left,” Namgung Bi-ah replied, her frown unwavering.

“Left? Where to?” I asked, surprised.

“He went back to An-hui,” she replied.

 
   ******************
   

After finishing the conversation, I sent the others away and changed into fresh clothes with the help of an attendant before heading to the cave.

Once inside, I resumed my usual routine, activating Tu A Pa Cheon Gong and wrestling with the cave walls. Yet, my mind was preoccupied with sorting through recent events.

‘Namgung Jin has returned to Hunan,’ Namgung Bi-ah had said so herself.

My first thought was simply, Why? It’s not unusual for the head of the Namgung family to return home, but it was peculiar that he left without seeking any insights from me, especially considering how deeply he craved advancement in martial arts.

Not that I minded, as I had no new information to share with him at the moment. I’d shared insights from Shin Noya and the glimpses of knowledge I’d gleaned from the Dark Sword Empress, but now, I had nothing more to offer him.

Even so, it felt strange. Why had he left so abruptly? It wasn’t like him to leave without a reason. Was there trouble brewing in the Namgung family?

I paused, crashing through the cave wall, reflecting on the unease that Namgung Jin’s departure brought me. I couldn’t help but worry if I’d altered the course of events yet again.

‘Namgung Jin isn’t the only one.’ So many things have already changed—like the assault on Shin Ryong Gwan and the sudden shift in leadership within the Alliance. Wi Seol-ah was meant to become the next leader after Rakgeom stepped down, but that was supposed to happen in a decade, not now. The timeline had moved up drastically and not for good reasons.

‘So, who’s the next leader going to be?’

It was impossible to predict. Many from the Nine Sects and the Four Great Clans, as well as independent fighters from prominent families, were all likely candidates, but the situation had changed so much that it was impossible to tell.

‘It’s all a mess,’ I thought, throwing myself back into training. I was doing everything I could, yet there were so many areas where I still lacked.

And then, there was the matter of my family. Gu Seon Mun had undergone significant changes ever since I dealt with the First Elder, and Ilgeom, the current acting leader, was overseeing things back home. But I hadn’t seen him here in Hunan.

‘Maybe he’s off handling something else.’ The likelihood was high, but it wasn’t something I could confirm. Mu-yeon, my own protector, wasn’t with me either. It seemed the family was intent on developing him, probably training him to become a future leader for Gu Seon Mun. If he stayed with them, that might not be the worst outcome.

After my encounter with Cheonma, I realized just how necessary a reliable force was. I’d known it before, but that moment crystallized it.

If I were to truly take on the mantle of Shin Geom, I needed a force to back me up. Joining a pre-existing group like the Wulin Alliance might have been an option at one point, but in the end, ‘There’s nowhere I can trust.’

I couldn’t rely on anyone else. Every organization I could have joined seemed rotten at the core, so I resolved to build something from scratch.

That was the only way forward. I’d endure the distasteful reputation of being called So Yeom-ra, and I’d put up with the rumors circulating about me, because, ultimately, that notoriety could become the foundation of something greater.

I was even beginning to draw up a list of people to recruit.

The only potential downside? ‘If I gather the individuals I have in mind under one banner… there’s no chance we’d be considered righteous by anyone.’