Cheon Myeong was standing on the roof of the hall.
And Baekjo, which was flying in the sky, as if it were waiting for something.
Looking closely, a small stick was held in Cheon Myeong's right hand.
Swish-
Cheon Myeong threw the small stick he was holding in his hand upwards.
At that moment, a figure that quickly followed the stick.
As soon as Cheon Myeong threw the stick, Baekjo followed it as if it had been waiting.
"Peep-peep-!"
Baekjo's appearance as it followed the stick seemed quite desperate.
Why on earth was Baekjo so desperate for a mere wooden stick, not even meat?
Of course, it was not of its own will.
The person who was standing peacefully on the roof and had just thrown the stick.
Because of Cheon Myeong, Baekjo had no choice but to bring back the stick that had been thrown like a dog.
Swish-
Baekjo opened its beak towards the stick in front of its eyes.
And Baekjo, which was desperately sticking its beak forward.
As the stick reached within range, Baekjo closed its open beak without mercy.
However.
Click-
Nothing was held in Baekjo's beak.
Only a futile sound spread in all directions.
The stick it had been aiming for was already falling far below.
"...!"
Baekjo, which was looking at the falling stick with a futile expression.
As it missed the stick right in front of its eyes, that futility felt several times greater.
"What, you missed?"
At that moment, Cheon Myeong said that from behind Baekjo.
A tone that seemed somewhat teasing.
Although in reality, his tone was not that different from usual, at least to Baekjo, it seemed to sound that way.
"You haven't caught a single one yet."
"..."
"At that rate, when on earth are you going to reach the target?"
The number of sticks that Baekjo had to catch now was a total of ten.
A number that exactly matched the number of plates that Baekjo had emptied at the banquet yesterday.
Until it filled that number, Cheon Myeong had no intention of ending this act.
"Peep..."
Baekjo had been doing this for half a quarter of an hour already.
Although it had become skilled enough to get quite close to the stick compared to the beginning, it did not mean that this act was not difficult now.
Since it also required instantaneous reflexes, it was a stamina that was consumed much more than just flying.
Since a while ago, Baekjo had been feeling a pull in its wing joints.
"Peep-peep!"
In the end, Baekjo protested strongly.
Wasn't it Cheon Myeong himself who had told it to eat as it pleased yesterday?
But now, to make it do this like a dog, Baekjo could not stand it anymore.
"Yes, I did say that."
"..."
"But who told you to eat to your heart's content like that?"
"...Peep?"
"I told you to eat as you pleased, believing that you could now control your gluttony with your own will. But... you gave me a sense of betrayal."
For a moment, Cheon Myeong said that with a face that was exuding a cold air.
Seeing that face, Baekjo, which could not say anything anymore.
Since it had instinctively realized that Cheon Myeong was quite angry, it had no choice but to just stay still.
"I told you a long time ago, right? The actions that a person has done will surely come back in some way later."
But I'm a bird, not a person...
For a moment, that word came up to Baekjo's throat, but it forcibly pushed it back in.
"Then you should have judged well on your own. Did you really think that I would just stay still even after you ate like that?"
"..."
"Next, I'm going."
Saying that, Cheon Myeong threw the stick in the opposite direction.
In the end, Baekjo, which was flying again, chasing the stick.
It had chosen this side in the end, rather than continuing to rebel against Cheon Myeong, taking a risk.
"..."
Cheon Myeong, who was continuing to throw the stick with an expressionless face. That movement could be said to be really mechanical.
Of course, although the main purpose of doing this now was to make Baekjo exercise, at the same time, Cheon Myeong was organizing his thoughts in his mind.
Because there were also cases where thoughts were organized better when simple movements were combined.
On top of that, Baekjo's exercise, it was killing two birds with one stone.
'...Pacheongyo.'
At the banquet yesterday, Howonjae had really not brought up the topic of that anymore.
It would be more correct to say that he had not even spoken to him personally before that.
In any case, after finishing the banquet in that uncomfortable state, Cheon Myeong had spent a night in the lodging that the Martial Alliance had prepared.
'Pacheongyo, the reason why the Martial Alliance created a place like this seems to be related to that...'
Of course, it was just a simple feeling.
But sometimes, such a simple intuition was quite common in the martial world to be the correct answer.
Especially in the case of someone with an excellent ki sense like Cheon Myeong.
Since he knew that fact, Cheon Myeong's mind had been full of thoughts about this since last night.
"..."
As expected, even after thinking about it alone, no clue about Pacheongyo came to mind.
It would probably be in this state until Howonjae brought up the topic of that again himself.
Then when would Howonjae bring up that topic again?
Since the meaningless banquet had ended yesterday, he had a feeling that he might do it today... no, in a few days.
"Young Master Cheon Myeong."
It was then.
Heo Cham's voice from below the roof.
As Cheon Myeong walked to the eaves and stuck his head out, Heo Cham opened his mouth again.
"A guest has arrived."
"A guest?"
"It's that person from the Beast Palace."
"..."
Although he had not specifically mentioned the name, Cheon Myeong seemed to be able to know who Heo Cham was talking about.
Because among the people of the Beast Palace, the only person whose face Heo Cham would remember would be that woman.
Min Yeongyeong, Cheon Myeong thought that she had come here.
"..."
Cheon Myeong was currently staying in the hall that the Martial Alliance had provided.
Since this entire hall was a space that the Martial Alliance had provided for the Demonic Cult, the fact that Min Yeongyeong had come here would mean that she had business with him.
After a brief silence, Cheon Myeong said to Heo Cham.
"Let her in."
"Understood."
As Heo Cham answered and bowed his head, he moved away from that spot.
'What on earth does that side have business with me?'
Especially since there had been that much of an incident at the banquet hall yesterday, Cheon Myeong was even more curious.
Don't tell me she came to get revenge for yesterday's incident?
No, if it were Min Yeongyeong's personality, it seemed that she could very well do so.
"..."
His mind was already complicated because of what Howonjae had said, but now Min Yeongyeong was even getting involved.
Although he wouldn't know if it were another time, since he wanted to focus his thoughts entirely on Pacheongyo now, if it were not a big deal, Cheon Myeong was trying to send Min Yeongyeong back quickly.
Swish-
Cheon Myeong threw the stick carelessly and jumped down from the roof.
Baekjo, which was chasing the stick late, having been caught off guard.
Apart from the fact that Min Yeongyeong had come to see him, Cheon Myeong had no intention of stopping Baekjo's exercise.
Thump- thump-
After a while, Min Yeongyeong was seen walking.
Of course, Cheongha, which was walking together behind her.
Until she arrived in front of him, Cheon Myeong just watched her without a word.
"Hello?"
As soon as she got close, Min Yeongyeong asked Cheon Myeong.
Although from her tone, it did not seem that she had come here for revenge for yesterday's incident, Cheon Myeong said rather carelessly.
"What's the matter?"
"...Are you perhaps unhappy that I came?"
"That's not it."
Cheon Myeong said that and threw the stick he was holding in his hand upwards.
"Peep-!"
And Baekjo flew, chasing the stick that Cheon Myeong had thrown.
Discovering that, Min Yeongyeong asked Cheon Myeong, as if she were rather dumbfounded.
"Uh... what are you doing now?"
"I'm making it exercise."
"Exercise... you mean that bird?"
"Yes."
"..."
Min Yeongyeong had encountered numerous animals until now.
Even to Min Yeongyeong, that training method of Cheon Myeong now could be said to be rather absurd.
Min Yeongyeong had never seen a person who treated a bird of prey like a dog like that.
"...Is that bird also a child you are raising, Young Leader?"
"You could say so."
"That's really strange. I never thought that the Young Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would like animals so much."
Min Yeongyeong said, as if she were quite happy.
Of course, in Cheon Myeong's case, rather than liking them, he had been pushed into raising Baekjo and the ice tiger.
Since there was no need to tell the whole story, and since it would take a long time to tell the whole story, Cheon Myeong did not bother to say that much.
"But what's your business here?"
A question that could be said to be rather sudden.
However, since he had a feeling that the story would get long, Cheon Myeong had said that, cutting him off.
"As you can see, I'm a little busy. I would appreciate it if you could just state your business briefly."
"Ah..."
At Cheon Myeong's words, Min Yeongyeong maintained her silence for a moment.
And after a while, as Min Yeongyeong opened her mouth, Cheon Myeong's face changed rapidly.
"I've fallen for you."
"...Pardon?"
"I said I've fallen for you."
"..."
For a moment, his mind, which had turned white.
Although he had thought that he had lived for quite a long time, it could be said that this was the first time in his life that Cheon Myeong had heard such words.
'...Is this a woman of the Southern Barbarians?'
He seemed to have heard a rumor that in the Southern Barbarians, women were more active in that aspect than men.
But even so, he had never imagined that Min Yeongyeong would say such a thing to him.
'What on earth did she fall for?'
Although it was a common theory that a woman's heart was complicated, he could not understand this at all.
Where on earth was the part that Min Yeongyeong had fallen for him until now?
Although he would have tried to understand as much as possible if he had given even a little room for that, no matter how much he thought about it, Cheon Myeong could not think of such a part.
"What on earth do you mean by that..."
"It seems I fell for you at the banquet yesterday."
"...At the banquet?"
Why on earth?
Although he had accurately recalled the memory of that time, there was nothing that he could guess.
Rather, because of that incident, would she have come to dislike him, but could she have fallen for him?
Since it was a situation that he could not understand at all, Cheon Myeong asked Min Yeongyeong with a puzzled face.
"There is some misunderstanding..."
It was then.
Baekjo, which was suddenly approaching Cheon Myeong.
Because of that, Cheon Myeong cut off his words in the middle and his gaze went to Baekjo, which had flown to him.
"Who told you to come down?"
Cheon Myeong said that to Baekjo.
Because of Min Yeongyeong's sudden remark, he had stopped the act of throwing the stick without realizing it.
Although he had thought that Baekjo was now trying to be lazy because of that, at that moment, Baekjo began to say something to Cheon Myeong urgently.
"Peep-peep-peep-!"
"...What?"
Cheon Myeong's two eyes, which had heard Baekjo's words, widened.
Although he would have thought that whatever it said, it was an excuse that Baekjo was making because it wanted to rest, there was one word that Cheon Myeong could not overlook.
That word could be said to be what Cheon Myeong had been eagerly waiting for until now.
To Cheon Myeong, who had a surprised face, Baekjo said again.
"Peep-peep-peep-!"
It was feeling something.
And when Baekjo said that, it was only in one case.
Soon, Cheon Myeong's two eyes were silently directed at Min Yeongyeong.
"..."
It was feeling the energy of the Three Sacred Treasures from Min Yeongyeong now.
Baekjo was now saying that to Cheon Myeong.
(End of Chapter)