Creak-

As I opened the closed door and stepped out, Jerry, with his usual expression, and Loxy, who for some reason looked a little confused, were waiting for me.

“…Took you longer than I thought, partner. Is your business finished?”

Shrug-

“As you can see.”

I shrugged in response to Jerry's question, and he nodded.

Then, his gaze shifted and scanned my body.

“…A severe laceration outside of combat takes about 30 minutes to heal, I see.”

It seemed he was checking how long it took for my wounds to recover.

No other expression showed on his face, but if my guess was right, he was already pointing all sorts of experimental equipment at me inside his head.

Things like checking the wound's resistance to poison, or calculating the difference in recovery speed based on the severity of a fracture.

“No.”

“…”

When I refused, telling him to fold the wings of his delusion, he twitched his brow as if disappointed and averted his gaze.

Ssk-

“…Thank you. I apologize again for attacking first.”

I hadn't spent the entire 30 minutes inside just talking with Namgung Soso.

The conversation to find out the source of the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art didn't take that long, but it took time to untangle Namgung Soso's mana circuit, which had gotten twisted from forcibly using the Heavenly Demon's Reigning Step.

Normally, I might have just let her suffer for being impudent enough to attack me first, but given the level of the technique, I was worried something might go wrong, so I took the trouble to look at her mana circuit.

…And as expected, it was hopelessly tangled to the point where natural recovery was out of the question, and even someone with considerable knowledge of mana circuits would have struggled to fix it.

She hadn't fallen into Qi Deviation yet, but if her body had been left like that for just one day, it wouldn't have been strange if something had burst due to the circuit malfunction.

That's why I spent most of my time resolving it right then and there.

Well, it was understandable.

It was only possible because her unconscious potential was unleashed in a moment of critical danger; it was a technique she couldn't normally use at her level.

I had warned her about that, which was why she was bowing her head so low, expressing her apologies and gratitude.

“It's fine. I got this, after all. It's give and take.”

As someone who had personally experienced the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art, it was certainly covetable, but.

Even after learning that I hadn't come on a Constellation's request, she didn't get greedy and try to take back the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art.

‘…She has potential.’

I didn't remember hearing the name 'Namgung Soso' in my past life, so I didn't know the extent of her potential, but she was a talent I felt was worth nurturing as part of my 'Sowing Seeds' plan.

If my thoughts on the meaning of 'Namgung' were correct, the fact that she had the potential to use the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art gave her even more bonus points.

…Well, for now.

“…As I said, the last time Blindman Shim appeared was when he came to me. I know the value of that secret manual, so I tried asking around, but I couldn't find the blind man. He stopped begging and never appeared before anyone again. All I know is that after he finished begging, he would always head for the vast eastern coast of Shandong…”

This comes first, though.

Pfft-

“That's more than enough.”

* * *

The fact that Namgung Soso had invested her own time and effort to find Blindman Shim yet couldn't even find a lead was completely understandable from my perspective.

Even though I had visited him myself in the first playthrough, if you asked me to draw a rough map of the path right now, I'd have no choice but to shake my head.

That's because he resided in the deepest, most secluded place in Shandong.

Moreover, it wasn't a place one could easily reach even if they knew the coordinates.

The only path leading there was a single underwater cave on this eastern coast, and that path was twisted like a maze.

Step, step-

“…Are you sure this is the place, partner?”

“Yeah.”

“…If the ‘Blindman Shim’ you’re looking for is the same blind man from the Demonic Cult I investigated, he never headed for a place like this back when I was looking into him.”

Pfft-

“Of course. That old man may be blind, but he's incredibly sharp. He probably knew someone was tailing him.”

“…”

“He wouldn't have even come near here. He probably slept outdoors in various places around Shandong on purpose.”

“…I see.”

Jerry nodded lightly, seeming to accept at least part of my added explanation.

Tuk-

Another fork in the cave appeared, and just like before, I pushed Loxy forward.

“Here.”

“…Hah. Just what…”

“Hurry up.”

“It's not like I'm some kind of sniffer dog…”

Since we had already gone through this several times, she could have just done it, but it seemed she really disliked it.

With a heartfelt sigh, she trudged forward and leaned her body.

Then, soon after.

“Urp-!”

Her face crumpled in disgust as she turned around, pointing her finger to the right.

“…Where in the world does a smell like this even exist?”

She grumbled, puffing up her cheeks and covering her mouth as if holding back vomit.

“Is this really something people eat?”

“Of course. The worse it tastes, the better it is for you.”

“…I really can't understand humans. Herbal medicine or whatever, do you really want to put something with this musty, foul smell in your mouth?”

The smell she was sniffing at the cave entrance was none other than the smell of herbal medicine.

Blindman Shim periodically brewed medicine in this hideout, and due to the sealed structure of the underwater cave, it would emit the distinct aroma of herbal medicine each time.

Of course, that didn't mean just anyone could follow this smell.

This underwater cave leading to Blindman Shim's hideout was considerably deep and wide, and the scent, which diluted on its way out, was so faint at the cave's entrance that it was nearly imperceptible.

Loxy had been tracking a scent so faint that even with her at maximum, she was uncertain.

A normal person would likely not have even noticed the smell's existence, let alone followed it.

‘…Still, though.’

Step, step-

I stepped into the right passage Loxy had pointed to, and as I picked up a suspicious-looking stone lying on the right, I could feel the foul smell of herbal medicine seeping out.

The characteristic musty and foul smell of herbal medicine, created by a mix of unidentifiable dried herbs and the rich, meaty scent of dried jerky.

“You can stop now.”

“…”

The foul smell was now much more clearly piercing my nose, and in the place we entered, instead of a fork in the path, there was a single shabby, thatched-roof house and…

“…Who are you.”

A blind old man was standing there.

“…It's been a while, old man.”

* * *

It's been a while?

Along with U-jin's incomprehensible greeting, Blindman Shim's mind began to race.

Was I followed? Or was this a coincidence?

Either way, the situation was not good.

He had lived in this hideout for a considerable time, but he had never experienced an outsider making it this far.

No, in the first place, this place was designed to prevent outsiders from entering.

It wasn't just made complicated with many cave openings and multiple paths; there were mana barriers placed in the passages of each fork, and if one didn't dispel them, no matter which path they took, they would be sent back to the entrance they came from.

Since he checked and maintained the barriers every time he went to and from the mainland, it was impossible that their power had simply run out naturally.

‘…!’

As Blindman Shim was pondering where things had gone wrong, his senses picked up something strange.

Tuk- Tuduk-

The small stones U-jin was playfully tossing and catching.

He could feel faint traces of mana from those stones.

“Those… surely not…”

“Ah. Someone had set up some pranks on the way here. I took care of them. They were blocked off quite tightly.”

“…”

Dispelling a barrier was no simple task.

Of course, with overwhelming power, one could destroy a barrier with sheer physical force, but that was only possible with, quite literally, overwhelming power.

Just as a siege requires far more power than a defense, destroying a barrier required power of a higher class.

To physically destroy a 1-star level barrier, one needed 2-star level power or greater.

Other than that, there was the method of reverse-engineering the barrier's mana pattern to dismantle it.

…This, too, was not something that could be done easily.

It wasn't something you could do just by knowing how to use a mana circuit; it required a fundamental understanding of the structure of mana circuits and the patterns they generate.

It required a separate level of study and understanding from simply learning skills and using a mana circuit.

The fact that even The Order kept specialized priests for barrier dispelling should explain the difficulty.

‘…’

He couldn't tell which method U-jin had used.

However.

A person who could exert 2-star level physical force or greater without any presence.

A person who could dispel multiple 1-star level barriers in a short period.

He could be certain of one thing without needing further explanation for either case: this was a 'dangerous person'.

His mind now even more complicated, Blindman Shim asked U-jin's group again in a warning tone.

“…Who are you. This is the second time I have asked.”

“Well, if you're asking for our identities, for now, we're a Hero candidate and two lackeys.”

“…Not a lackey, a partner.”

Shrug-

“So he says. Then a Hero candidate, a partner, and a lackey. I guess that's about it. Is that a sufficient answer?”

A Hero candidate who could exert 2-star or greater physical force without any presence?

A Hero candidate who could dispel several layered barriers in such a short time?

He'd never heard of such a thing, nor should it be possible.

If such a being existed, he should have at least heard rumors, no matter how secluded he was in this remote place.

Judging U-jin's answer to be a nonsensical lie, Blindman Shim rotated his mana circuit with a warning.

“…It seems you don't quite get it when I ask politely. I will ask one last time.”

Rumble- rumble- rumble-

“…What in the world are you.”

With that question, as if reacting to the old man's aura, the inside of the cave began to shake violently.

And U-jin's subsequent answer was still playful, but…

“…These days, no one seems to believe me even when I tell them the truth.”

Grin-

“It's true, though.”

“…”

The clash that erupted between the two immediately after was not so playful.