Cho Igyeom said nothing for a moment.

He studied Seo Woojin, then spoke in a low voice.

"I have to ask this first. Why is the Alliance Lord looking for the Sword Saint's enemy?"

Seo Woojin didn't answer right away either.

He only met Cho Igyeom's eyes in silence and watched suspicion creep into them.

Before the suspicion could harden into certainty, he laughed softly.

"So even Clan Head Cho doesn't know. That the Sword Saint had an enemy."

Cho Igyeom frowned.

"...That's right. This is the first I've heard of it."

Seo Woojin nodded, as if he'd expected as much.

"I'd imagine not. Even inside the Murim Alliance, only a handful know the truth."

"The truth...?"

"Yes. The truth."

Cho Igyeom shook his head, bewildered.

"I don't follow you, Alliance Lord."

Still smiling, Seo Woojin shrugged.

"Don't overthink it. A handful of people in the Murim Alliance know why the Sword Saint suddenly disappeared. I stumbled onto it myself while gathering information there. That's all there is to it."

"Hm..."

"And the story itself is nothing special. It's a common enough one. They say the moment you set foot in the murim, you're bound to pick up grudges and debts, don't they? The Sword Saint was no different. He made an enemy without even knowing it, and his whole family died for it."

The story was new to Cho Igyeom. He could only groan under his breath.

He kept his eyes on Seo Woojin, trying to judge whether any of it was true.

"The Sword Saint went after his enemy. He found him. And he lost. He had to run, and hide, with his only surviving grandson."

"Then the Sword Saint's sword from before...?"

Seo Woojin nodded.

"The Murim Alliance knew where the Sword Saint was hiding. I got hold of that information, and, as I told you before, I went there and took the Sword Saint's sword."

Cho Igyeom breathed out and nodded slowly.

'So that's the answer to the question I could never crack.'

The sword Seo Woojin had produced back then had been the Sword Saint's,…