'Jeong-ung!'
Namgung Il's eyes flew open with a start.
The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the ceiling. Namgung Il realized he was currently lying down.
"Are you alright?"
Just then, a voice ca from his side.
Could Namgung Jeong-ung be beside him?
With that hope, Namgung Il turned his head to the side, but the person there was not Namgung Jeong-ung, but Seo Shin-won.
"...Where am I?"
"This is a private room in the Academy Infirmary."
"..."
Then where on earth was the place he had just been?
The mory of sitting across from Namgung Jeong-ung and sharing cups of alcohol was still so vivid that Namgung Il couldn't quite distinguish what was reality and what was a dream.
'...Yes, that must have been a dream.'
Namgung Il soon had no choice but to accept that fact.
To think he was talking and sharing drinks with soone already dead... That was nothing more than an illusion he had created.
It was the first ti he'd had such a vivid dream, so he was confused for a mont, but after a little thought, he could easily find the answer.
"..."
Realizing that, Namgung Il's expression darkened.
He had been genuinely happy to have t Namgung Jeong-ung after so long, but upon realizing it was an illusion, a sense of emptiness washed over him, as great as his joy had been.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Just then, Seo Shin-won asked.
At that, Namgung Il sat up, shook his head, and answered the question.
"No, it was a happy dream."
"Then why do you look so sad?"
"...Because it was a dream."
"..."
Seo Shin-won said nothing in response.
After a brief mont passed, Namgung Il composed himself to so extent and looked at Seo Shin-won.
"What happened to ?"
"..."
"Why am I lying in a place like this?"
"I brought you out after you collapsed in the Labyrinth of Sacrifice."
When the last day of the Clear Bright Festival dawned, it seed Ak Simin had sensed sothing was wrong and went to find Ho Jeong-won.
"Teacher! Three of the first-years are missing."
"What? What on earth are you talking about?"
"Namgung Il, Gwangcheon, Tang Wol-yeong. No one has seen these three since last night!"
"...Alright. I'll look into it, so you go back."
The disappearance of three students overnight was a serious matter.
Eventually, a report ca to the Headmaster, Seo Shin-won, and while searching for the three's whereabouts, they ended up checking the Labyrinth of Sacrifice.
"There were no witnesses who saw the three of them go outside."
"..."
"So, just in case, I went to the restricted area and saw traces of the devices there having been activated."
"...What about those two? What happened to them?"
Namgung Il belatedly rembered Gwangcheon and Tang Wol-yeong.
At that question, Seo Shin-won answered with a light smile, as if to reassure him.
"It's alright. Both of them are safe."
"Ah..."
Thank goodness.
If he had heard that even one of them had co to harm, he would surely have been tornted by imnse guilt.
Only after hearing that everyone was safe did a smile finally appear on Namgung Il's lips for the first ti.
"Namgung Il."
"...?"
"But how did you get into that place?"
Just then, Seo Shin-won asked in a voice tinged with seriousness.
His expression was a complete contrast to the smiling face he had just a mont ago.
Until now, he had treated Namgung Il as a teacher concerned for his student, but from now on, he was asking as the Headmaster.
"The Labyrinth of Sacrifice is a place whose existence is known only to and a few others."
"..."
"In the first place, you promised you would no longer enter the restricted area."
At those words, Namgung Il could say nothing.
It was a fact that he had broken his promise to Seo Shin-won.
Moreover, he had broken the promise not once, but twice, and entered that place, so there was no room for excuses in that regard.
"...I'm sorry."
"..."
Just then, Seo Shin-won took sothing out from his bosom.
In his outstretched hand was a blood-stained letter, and Seo Shin-won unfolded it and showed it to Namgung Il.
"You know what this is, don't you?"
"...Yes."
"I can guess how you got in there. But... I can't guess who gave you this letter."
The letter Seo Shin-won was holding out as he asked was the one Namgung Il had received from the child.
The one that stated the location of the Blood Spot Grass and warned that it would be stolen by the Blood Dragon Cult if he didn't go imdiately.
He had surely put it in his bosom, but it seed Seo Shin-won had taken it out while he was unconscious.
"..."
Seo Shin-won seed very curious about the origin of that letter.
Well, it was the sa for him.
A person who knew about the Blood Spot Grass and the Labyrinth of Sacrifice, and who had inford him, the one with the key... He didn't know who it was, but they would be deeply connected to the core of this incident.
However.
"I don't know either."
"What?"
"The person who gave that letter was a child. From what I heard, the child said soone had asked them to give it to ."
He was just as curious about the letter's origin.
Seo Shin-won stared at him silently, as if trying to judge whether he was lying.
'Unfortunately, this isn't a lie.'
Namgung Il did not avoid Seo Shin-won's gaze, as if to show him.
Thus, a staring contest between the two continued in silence.
In the end, the one who backed down first was Seo Shin-won.
"I see."
"Then is it alright for to ask a question now?"
"...Yes, what are you curious about?"
"Why was the Blood Spot Grass in a place like that?"
"..."
Namgung Il had been wondering about that all along.
To think they were storing such a dangerous item at the academy.
Namgung Il still couldn't understand that fact.
"You said it yourself, Headmaster. That the Blood Spot Grass would be thoroughly protected by the Martial Alliance."
"..."
"But why was it at the academy and not the Martial Alliance headquarters? Shouldn't sothing like that naturally be thoroughly protected at the Martial Alliance headquarters?"
"...That is the reason."
What?
When Namgung Il seed unable to understand the aning of the answer, Seo Shin-won continued to speak.
"Generally, one would think that sothing as precious as the Blood Spot Grass would be strictly stored at the Martial Alliance headquarters. Wasn't it the sa for you?"
"..."
"The Martial Alliance took advantage of that blind spot and hid the Blood Spot Grass at the academy."
Namgung Il could now understand the aning of that answer.
In a word, this was a clever plan by the Martial Alliance.
Hiding it in a truly unexpected place so that outsiders could never find the Blood Spot Grass.
Just as Namgung Il had not expected it at all, they had thought that no one would easily predict that the Blood Spot Grass would be hidden inside an academy where students attended.
'Well... there's also the saying, "If you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest."'
Sotis, hiding sothing in an unexpected place rather than where everyone expects it to be works well.
But it wasn't as if they could hide the Blood Spot Grass just anywhere.
A place that combined both unexpectedness and stability. The Martial Alliance had chosen the Flying Dragon Academy as that location.
"...What is the Labyrinth of Sacrifice? Was it made to hide the Blood Spot Grass?"
"That is not the case."
"..."
"It existed here even before the Flying Dragon Academy was built. Rumor has it that soone made it to hide an enormous treasure... but I don't know the exact details."
An enormous treasure... That was a very credible statent.
The Labyrinth of Sacrifice was that large in scale, and the level of its chanisms was no joke.
He didn't know who had made it, but it could be said to be a very suitable place to hide treasure.
"...Then, my last question."
"..."
"Why did you give the key to ?"
In fact, he had wanted to ask this question first.
If the Labyrinth of Sacrifice was a fortress to protect the Blood Spot Grass, wasn't the key the most important core?
Namgung Il couldn't understand why he had been given sothing so important when he knew nothing.
"It's in the sa context as hiding the Blood Spot Grass at the academy."
"...?"
"Even if soone discovers the existence of the Blood Spot Grass and enters the labyrinth, without the key, no one can take out the Blood Spot Grass."
Hearing those words, Namgung Il recalled what had happened when he inserted the key.
'When I inserted the key into the pillar, another pillar rose from the ground...'
As he said, it was realistically impossible to find the Blood Spot Grass hidden underground on one's own.
Even if one knew that the Blood Spot Grass was inside the Labyrinth of Sacrifice, it would be aningless if they couldn't find the pillar where the Blood Spot Grass was hidden.
In fact, when he had first gone there, Gok I-hyeon, who didn't have the key, could do nothing but stand there.
"Generally, one would think that the key would be with , the Headmaster."
"..."
"That's why I entrusted it to you. So that no one could predict it."
That was the reason Seo Shin-won had entrusted the key to Namgung Il.
Hearing that answer, Namgung Il remained silent for a mont, then asked in a calm voice.
"Why ?"
"..."
"If that was the purpose, it wouldn't have mattered if it was another student, not necessarily ."
He still couldn't understand that part.
It would be a different story if Seo Shin-won knew his true identity. But to Seo Shin-won, wasn't he just one of many first-year students?
Namgung Il couldn't accept the fact that he had entrusted sothing so important to a problem child who had even caused incidents.
"...Well."
"...?"
"I can't say for sure about that part. If I had to say... it would be that I trusted my intuition."
Sothing so important, based on re intuition?
Namgung Il still found it hard to accept those words, but it wasn't that he couldn't understand at all.
'I also sotis act according to my intuition.'
Regardless of martial arts, in other fields as well, when a person reaches a certain level of mastery, it is no longer a simple intuition.
A judgnt that arises after considering all one's experiences, though it cannot be explained well.
Perhaps Seo Shin-won had also instinctively felt sothing and entrusted the key to him.
Swoosh—.
Just then, Seo Shin-won suddenly bowed his head towards Namgung Il.
"I'm sorry."
"...?"
"This incident is all my responsibility. If I hadn't arbitrarily entrusted the key, you and the other students wouldn't have suffered such a fate."
Namgung Il could understand what Seo Shin-won was apologizing for.
Well, it would be right for him to be angry for being arbitrarily entrusted with such a dangerous thing without his consent.
In fact, Gok I-hyeon had tried to kill him, aiming for the key.
But.
"Then shall we call it even?"
"...?"
"I also broke my promise with the Headmaster and entered the restricted area. Don't we both have our faults?"
As Namgung Il said with a smile, Seo Shin-won raised his head.
He had surely spoken with the resolve to take any responsibility... but Namgung Il's answer was so light, as if it were a simple mistake.
As if too surprised by that reaction, Seo Shin-won couldn't answer for a while, with a blank look in his eyes.
'As expected... this child, Namgung Il, is...'
No, it's still too early to judge.
Seo Shin-won took a breath and then looked at Namgung Il and said.
"...Thank you."
"..."
"Is your body alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine..."
It was then.
In the middle of answering, Namgung Il sensed sothing was wrong and swallowed his words.
'...What is this?'
Co to think of it, why did his body feel so perfectly fine?
The sword Gok I-hyeon had stabbed him with had definitely pierced his abdon... He had confird that his abdon was fine earlier, but Namgung Il belatedly realized that he had been in a dream at that ti.
Hwak—.
As soon as he realized that, Namgung Il hurriedly lifted his clothes.
'This... what happened?'
This place was not a dream.
However, Namgung Il's abdon was clean without a single scar.
As if he couldn't understand the reason at all, Namgung Il stared at his stomach and couldn't say anything.
(End of Chapter)
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