By Zephyria 
Step.
Baek Ryeo-il looked around with sunken eyes.
At a glance, it seemed like an ordinary field with overgrown brush, but upon closer inspection, traces of a village that once stood here could be found.
This was the place where the battle in which his parents died had taken place.
Though many years had passed, Baek Ryeo-il imagined the flames that had soared here by looking at the scorch marks on pillars that barely left their roots behind. He could guess how fierce the battle of that day had been by the broken, decayed sword hilts buried in the soil.
“…….”
He let out a faint sigh.
Why did I come here?
He had told Gang Woong that he was looking for his mother’s sword, but that was merely an excuse. There was no way it would appear now when it hadn’t been found even back then, when hundreds of disciples had searched every inch of the area.
He felt no tenderness or longing for parents he couldn’t even remember. He had never felt such things in his entire life, yet suddenly, the thought that he had to come here had struck him. And now that he had arrived at the place where everything began, nothing changed. He felt nothing.
Baek Ryeo-il wandered the area wherever his feet led him.
What exactly did I want?
As he walked through the field where green weeds grew up to his shins, the Nansaeng Sword hanging at his waist swayed and bumped against his thigh.
Difficult birth.
He couldn’t understand why his father had given the sword such a name. A life of hardship. Didn’t it sound like a curse?
In the end, his father died in a strange land along with his mother, before his life could even fully bloom. Leaving behind the son he supposedly cherished so much, all alone.
It felt as if the curse that had swallowed its master had been passed down to him as well.
Nansaeng…….
How long would this kind of life continue?
When he made up his mind to give up even the one thing he had desperately wanted his entire life, he felt a momentary sense of peace.
By entrusting his free will to the Sect Gate, he threw everything to fate. By doing this, no matter what happened in the future, it would no longer be his fault.
Even if life didn’t go as planned, he would no longer need to blame himself or suffer from desires he could not achieve.
I’m tired now…….
He simply wanted to rest, stepping away from all the problems of the world.
Baek Ryeo-il exhaled softly and looked around at the scenery, which had shifted into a deep forest before he knew it.
“…….”
He felt a strange sensation. It felt as if something that had been slumbering underground for a long time had awakened at the sound of his footsteps and was creeping up his legs.
The brush that had sparkled in the sunlight was gone; in its place was a spot where dry moss and ivy created a desolate atmosphere.
Baek Ryeo-il moved his feet as his instinct guided him.
He pushed through the dry grass that stretched long like feet and went inside, deeper and deeper.
In terms of distance, it wasn’t far from the field, but because it was a rugged terrain where light rarely reached even during the day, the plants growing there were starkly different from the other side.
Even as he walked along a small stream trickling between large and small stones, Baek Ryeo-il could not erase his doubts.
There would be nothing inside. Despite a strong intuition that continuing further would only lead to similar scenery, he did not stop. No, he could not stop.
His heart beat violently, and a strong blood flow circulated through his entire body. His pores opened and his pupils dilated. Unaware of his own physical reactions, Baek Ryeo-il moved forward as if drawn.
And finally, he found it.
A black, sunken space between the withered brush and the rocks that added to the desolation.
In an instant, a scene flashed before his eyes. It was an old, faded memory.
He was standing in front of a cave that was barely visible, just like now. Holding someone’s hand.
〈Wait here for a moment.〉
As the voice of a young woman surfaced, Baek Ryeo-il’s entire body stiffened, leaving him unable to move.
Mother……. It’s Mother.
The moment his pupils trembled, Baek Ryeo-il was swept away by memories rushing in like a flood.
Baek Ryeo-il could not understand what was happening.
Until he fell asleep, it had been a perfectly satisfying day. Delicious food, the sound of his parents’ laughter, and after it grew dark, a pair of soft arms had embraced him after he had become drowsy from playing in hot water for a long time. He had fallen into a dream in an instant.
And when he opened his eyes, the world had changed. Someone was running while holding him in their arms. The surrounding scenery flashed by rapidly.
“Mommy…….”
As Baek Ryeo-il mumbled, he heard the sound of a sharp intake of breath from above. Then, a large, soft hand stroked his head and pressed him tightly into the embrace.
“Shh……. Just a moment.”
As his vision went black, Baek Ryeo-il briefly fell asleep again. And when he opened his eyes, he was in an unfamiliar place. There was no bed with soft blankets, nor a candlestick with flickering warm orange light.
He was in front of a dark cave in the middle of a forest at night. Feeling terrified of the pitch-black darkness that seemed ready to swallow him, Baek Ryeo-il clung to his mother.
“It’s okay…….”
His mother patted him as if to soothe him and entered the darkness. Everything around them was deep black. Baek Ryeo-il sniffled as if he were about to burst into tears. At that, his mother hurriedly calmed him down.
“Don’t cry. Be a good boy.”
But it had no effect at all. Even a young child of only three or four could feel the terror and fear embedded in her voice and breath with his entire body.
“Can you stay here alone for a little bit?”
“No…….”
Baek Ryeo-il shook his head violently. He didn’t burst into tears, but the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes fell in droplets.
“I’ll bring your father.”
Father? Come to think of it, his father wasn’t there. Baek Ryeo-il, who loved his father because he always played with him in fun ways, would often stop crying the moment he heard his name, even if he had been wailing as if the world were ending.
“So just wait here for a moment…….”
“N-no! Mommy!”
As his mother picked up her sword and stood up, Baek Ryeo-il jumped up as well. His mother, who was always warm, firmly pushed away the clinging Baek Ryeo-il, unlike her usual self.
“No.”
“…….”
Baek Ryeo-il gasped in surprise. While he hesitated, his mother left him behind. In an instant, the child’s large eyes filled with tears.
Baek Ryeo-il scanned the darkness surrounding him with eyes full of fear.
Sniffling, he hesitantly leaned against the wall and curled up on the cold floor.
‘Mommy said she’d bring Daddy.’
For an ordinary child, it was a situation where they would have run out long ago. However, Baek Ryeo-il, who was more mature than children his age, waited quietly.
Sitting with his knees pulled tight to his chest, he wiggled his toes.
Mommy, when are you coming?
But why didn’t she take me?
Another streak of tears flowed down his cheeks, where the salt had dried, moistening them again.
How much time had passed…….
Suddenly, at the sound of rustling from outside, Baek Ryeo-il snapped his head up.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
He ran frantically toward the entrance. The entrance was low and small, barely reaching an adult’s waist. Someone was bending over and peering inside.
“He really is here.”
It wasn’t his mother’s voice. Baek Ryeo-il scurried backward. His back soon hit the narrow cave wall.
The woman saw him and did not come any closer.
“You’re scared, aren’t you? Don’t be afraid. I’m a friend of your mother’s.”
“…….”
“Your mother asked me to check if you were doing okay, so I came.”
Liar.
He had a good memory, and this woman was someone he had never seen before.
“My goodness…… you really don’t believe me. Will you believe me if I show you this?”
The woman reached behind her waist and held out something familiar.
“This is your mother’s sword.”
Baek Ryeo-il’s eyes widened. It really was his mother’s sword. As he relaxed his stiff shoulders and cautiously approached, the woman snorted as if it were absurd.
“There, happy now? You’re not going to run away, right?”
The woman struggled as she crawled inside.
“Your mom told me that once you start running, you’re not easy to catch. But she said if I showed you her sword, you’d let your guard down, so she told me to bring it. I wondered if I really had to go this far, but you really are smart, aren’t you?”
The woman grinned. Even in the weak moonlight leaking through the entrance, her white skin glowed as if absorbing the little light available. His mother’s sword was in her hand, and a golden necklace around her neck sparkled.
Judging by the smile that was brighter than the moon, Baek Ryeo-il decided that the woman was not a bad person.
The woman crawled through the narrow cave, unable to even straighten her waist, inspecting every corner as if she were visiting a new home.
“It’s not a bad place to spend a night.”
“…….”
Because a stranger was poking around and moving about, Baek Ryeo-il hesitated, neither standing nor sitting, but the cave no longer felt scary.
“Huh?”
The woman let out a surprised exclamation. Baek Ryeo-il was so startled that he jumped in place. In doing so, he bumped his head against the cave ceiling, which was made of hard-packed earth. A stinging pain caused a few tears to leak out.
“I think the original owner of this cave was a brown bear.”
“……How do you know that?”
Curiosity overcame his shyness. Baek Ryeo-il asked cautiously.
“Look here. There are animal bones.”
The hair on Baek Ryeo-il’s neck stood up, just like when he saw a multi-legged insect. As he scurried back and clung to the opposite wall, the woman burst into laughter.
“I’m joking. What bones? There’s just some brown bear fur.”
“…….”
Strange person.