Master, what kind of bullshit is that?

The words came up to my throat and then went back down. Ice burning? I've never heard such novel bullshit in my life. What kind of nonsense is this?

Perhaps he didn't expect me to understand in the first place. The Heavenly Demon continued to speak in a nonchalant tone.

[It's not an easy martial art. It's a martial art that can only be accepted by a Yin-Yang Body.]

"Yin-Yang Body? What's that?"

The Heavenly Demon explained.

[It refers to a body in which the energies of Yin and Yang coexist and are in balance, allowing one to learn both Ice Art and Fire Art.]

"Oh. Is that a good thing?"

[It's a good thing.]

I thought for a moment, then asked.

"Then how can I learn it? I'm not a Yin-Yang whatever."

[Yin-Yang Body.]

"Right. Yin-Yang Body."

The Heavenly Demon looked at me silently.

"What are you looking at?"

The Heavenly Demon let out a short sigh.

[Your body is a Yin-Yang Body.]

"Huh? Me?"

[You didn't know?]

"No."

The Heavenly Demon said calmly.

[That's why you were able to use the moonlight. The Night Sky Star Moon Art, if you will, is a martial art that corresponds to Yin.]

I rubbed my arm and muttered.

"No wonder it felt a bit chilly."

[....]

The Heavenly Demon looked at me with a pathetic expression.

[Your body is a Yin-Yang Body, but to be precise, it can't be seen as just a Yin-Yang Body.]

"Huh? Then what is it?"

[It's a Heavenly Martial Body.]

I picked my ear and muttered.

"Heavenly Martial Body? What's that now?"

[...You can take it to mean that you have all the energies of extreme yin, extreme yang, the three calamities, the five elements, and the great ultimate, so you can learn martial arts harmoniously.]

"Hmm. Is it a good thing?"

[It's not bad.]

I don't know for sure, but it seems to be a good thing. No, to think that I had such a great talent that I didn't even know about.

"Master. If I had been born in your world, would I have been a martial talent who would have ruled the world?"

The Heavenly Demon snorted.

[No, you would have been a no-talent. You would have been stabbed and died as soon as you entered the martial world. Because your talent is so insignificant.]

"...."

[It's a talent that is rarely seen, it's so poor. If you were to line up talents in order, you would be at the very back. It's so incomprehensible how such a beggar-like guy can exist.]

"Stop."

That means I wasn't born with a Heavenly Martial Body.

"Master."

[What is it.]

"When did I become a Heavenly Martial Body?"

[When you fell from the cliff, your body was reconstructed when I fell into your head.]

"Aha."

As expected. Come to think of it, it seems to have been from then. The sword path and the fighting path were clearly visible, and my body moved freely as I thought. The Heavenly Demon's talent was, in a sense, the Heavenly Martial Body.

"No wonder. It hurt like hell."

I suddenly felt good and danced around like a madman, holding the moonlight sword.

The Heavenly Demon, who was watching my sword dance blankly, asked.

[...Aren't you going to listen to the explanation of the martial art?]

"Ah."

I knelt down politely again and asked.

"So, what is the martial art you will teach this worthless disciple?"

The Heavenly Demon smiled gently and said.

[The name of the martial art I will impart to you is the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art.]

***

The carriage ran like water flowing on the road and arrived at the village before the sun set. The checkpoint was passed without any problems, of course, and the two mercenaries, who were worth hiring, immediately led us to an inn.

Daryl dropped us off at the door and went to the stable attached to the inn to park the carriage, and Neyman guided us into the inn.

"Meal? Bath? Rest?"

"Let's get a room first and then do them in order."

"Reasonable. How about the rooms?"

"Just get two. One for you guys. One for us."

We had all stayed together when I was injured and lying in the hospital room, so it would be more awkward and troublesome to get separate rooms now. And I wouldn't be spending the night at the inn anyway.

At my words, Neyman looked at me and the two girls with a strange expression, then slowly nodded.

"Hmm... I see."

I could clearly guess what he was thinking, so I shouted.

"You bastard! What kind of impure thoughts are you having? These girls are my younger sisters."

Neyman looked at me and Shushruta blankly, then pointed at Linda.

"And this one?"

Shushruta and I have the same hair color, but Linda's was a striking, bright green.

I dealt with it appropriately with improvisation.

"Ah, we picked that one up."

"I see."

Neyman, who had been roughly convinced, got a room and then asked.

"And the meal?"

"Order whatever you want."

Seeing that he had gone straight to this inn without hesitation, I could guess that he had stayed here before and that the experience was not bad. Therefore, I thought he would know best what food was delicious, so I left the meal to him.

Neyman nodded and then called a waiter and ordered a meal.

And so, after waiting, when the food started to come out one by one, Daryl, who had parked the carriage, joined us, and we all started to eat together.

"...Hmm."

"How is it?"

I nodded and said.

"It's good."

"Right?"

Neyman smiled with satisfaction.

"The owner of this place is a good cook."

Fortunately, Shushruta and Linda, who had only eaten beef jerky and dried fruit all day, also ate well. Although Linda would occasionally add something of a strange color to her food and eat it.

As I was eating, I suddenly looked at Daryl, who was eating quietly opposite me. He had been quiet since I had beaten him up. Was he always such a quiet man? Still, I was quite pleased that he wasn't an idiot who couldn't guess the gap between him and his opponent even after being beaten up.

"Daryl."

Daryl, who was eating his soup, looked at me.

I pointed at Linda and said.

"Can you teach this one how to drive a carriage?"

Daryl looked at Linda, who was happily eating her soup. Her soup, unlike his, had an ominous purple hue.

"...Now?"

"No. After we eat."

Daryl looked back and forth between me and Linda, then asked.

"Are you going to entrust the carriage to this one?"

"That's right. You guys aren't going all the way to Maia with us."

Of course, I also know how to drive a carriage and take care of horses. But I am a busy man. I'm already busy with my energy circulation, so when am I supposed to feed the horses and drive the carriage? Furthermore, if I learn a new martial art this time, it's highly likely that I'll be engrossed in it and everything else will take a backseat.

In that case, it's better to entrust it to someone else. Of course, Shushruta would be better at it, but I'm worried about leaving Linda alone, so I think I need to give her something to do so she doesn't cause trouble.

"Hmm."

Daryl, who had been thinking for a moment, said.

"Then I'll just teach her how to put on and take off the harness now. I'll teach her how to drive the carriage on the way tomorrow. And the other general things, we'll do them as we go. How about that?"

"Good. Proceed."

I looked at Linda, who was chewing on something with her mouth full.

"Linda."

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to entrust you with a very, very important role."

"Delicious!"

"...Swallow and then speak."

Linda swallowed the food in her mouth and then answered.

"Entrust me!"

"From now on, you're in charge of the horses and the carriage. So learn well from Daryl."

Linda asked with a bewildered face.

"Who's Daryl?"

"The big guy sitting next to you."

"Aha! The Devil's friend?"

"Yes. You can't kill him."

"Yeah, I get it!"

Daryl looked at me and Linda with a dumbfounded face, but it wasn't important, so I ignored him.

With this, there shouldn't be any problems for a while. She tries to do what she's told.

"But may I ask why you're going to Maia?"

Neyman said, tearing at a piece of chicken.

"I've seen people come here from Maia, but I've never seen anyone try to go to Maia from here."

I answered nonchalantly.

"Is there a reason to go back to one's hometown?"

"Ah, hometown."

Neyman nodded as if he understood.

"Where are you coming from?"

"I just came from Blake."

"...Blake?"

Daryl, who had been concentrating on his meal, also looked at me.

"There's a rumor that the ninth famed sword of Ophosis has been released to the world in Blake. Is it true?"

A word without feet travels a thousand miles. It seems that news has already reached here.

I nodded.

Neyman exclaimed.

"Hoo... then it will be the Nine Sword Masters, not the Eight Sword Masters."

I tested them slightly.

"Have you heard who the master of the demon sword is?"

"I don't know for sure. I just heard that it's a red-eyed swordsman."

At Neyman's words, Daryl stared at me.

"...Could it be?"

I waved my hand.

"There are more than one or two red eyes."

Neyman also looked at me with a suspicious gaze.

"There aren't that many either."

I let out a small laugh and dispelled their suspicions.

"The master of the demon sword has already become the king's knight. The king's knight wouldn't be in a place like this."

"...That's true."

The two mercenaries withdrew their suspicious gazes and concentrated on their meal.

Since Shushruta was staring at me, I picked a fight.

"Little sister. What are you looking at? Have you never seen a handsome older brother before?"

Shushruta snorted and then resumed her meal.

***

After that, we talked about this and that, and the dinner came to an end. Daryl went to the stable with Linda, and I ordered a bath and went to the bathroom to wash up. Shushruta and Neyman... did they go to rest? I don't know. Well... they're probably spending their time well on their own.

I was planning on leaving the village in the middle of the night and learning martial arts from the Heavenly Demon in the ki-filled forest, so I approached the bath with a reverent mindset.

I washed my body carefully, as if washing my mind. The feeling of my body and mind becoming clean. It was definitely washing my body, but it felt like my mind was being washed along with it. Is this why priests wash their bodies before important rituals? I felt like I could finally understand the feeling of a priest preparing for a prayer.

"This is what it means to purify oneself."

The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue.

[You're being ridiculous.]

"Master. Can this kind of purification also be considered a part of training?"

[Can it? It's a waste of time, so stop talking nonsense and just wash up quickly.]

"Roger."

I gave up on the purification and was washing up quickly when the Heavenly Demon suddenly asked.

[Is it alright to send Linda off like that?]

Splash!

I poured the bathwater over my head and answered.

"What's the big deal? She's going with Daryl."

The competent mercenary I had hired, Daryl, is quite large. He also looks quite rough, as befits a mercenary, so the chances of him getting into a fight are low. Of course, I don't think that will happen, but if by any chance Daryl attacks Linda, there's no way Mad Linda would be defeated by a mere silver-rank mercenary.

[Hmm...]

Nevertheless, the Heavenly Demon made a displeased sound, as if something was bothering him.

"She's just going to the stable right next door, what could happen?"

After reassuring the constantly humming Heavenly Demon, I hurriedly washed up and came out of the bathroom.

I had just thrown on some clothes and was drying my hair with a towel... when I heard the sound of a door bursting open from above, followed by Shushruta's urgent voice.

"Ashuban!"

The bathroom is in a corner on the first floor, connected to the dining room, and the guest rooms are on the second floor.

I looked up and answered.

"What?"

At that, Shushruta immediately dropped from the second-floor railing like a leaf, then looked at me and said.

"I hear screaming from outside!"

"What's new? She probably ran into a pervert."

Shushruta said with a serious face.

"It's not just one or two."

"...."

"And it's closer to a roar than a scream."

I asked in a sunken voice.

"Where's Linda?"

"She hasn't come back yet."

"Lead the way."

Tat!

I kicked open the door with a towel in my hand and went out.

"Follow me."

I ran through the night streets, following Shushruta. After running for a while, I also began to hear the strange screams that Shushruta had mentioned. It sounded like the cries of prisoners swimming in hellfire. What was more unsettling was the fact that the closer I got, the quieter it became, one by one.

"It's over there!"

I didn't need to be told. Because a sinister green smoke was billowing all over the alley.

At the entrance of the alley, Daryl was staring inside with a dazed face.

"Get back!"

I covered my nose and mouth with a towel and immediately ran into the alley. The alley was filled with a thick green poison mist. At my feet, the ones who had been screaming were lying on the ground, clutching their throats. Without any movement.

"Damn it..."

I shouted at the inside of the alley.

"Linda!"

A glint of light shone through the thick poison mist.

"Devil!"

Linda ran towards me through the thick poison mist.

Her expression was as innocent as a child's.

(End of Chapter)