Chapter 53: The Stolen Blade

As the blood-point technique’s effects faded, I collapsed in my room and slept. Everyone knows sleep is the best medicine. It was just overexertion, so rest would fix it.

Sure enough, the moment my head hit the bed, I was out. Exhausted as hell, I had no choice.

I woke up to a pitch-black room.

Sitting on the bed, I fumbled around, but no one came in. It seemed everyone had gone to sleep.

After the duels, I’d come straight here and passed out, still in dusty clothes with disheveled hair.

Growl. My stomach rumbled.

“…What, they don’t even tell me when it’s time to eat?”

I was starving. Sleeping through the evening after the duels meant missing dinner, naturally.

Did they skip my meal on purpose as some kind of petty revenge?

“Is that really it? Cheap bastards. Just beat me up instead. How do you starve someone? Are you even human?”

As a former beggar—king of beggars, no less—I can endure anything but going hungry.

I grumbled, sitting on the bed.

“Come on, at least make sure I eat…”

Muttering, I noticed a wooden tray someone had left.

It was heavy. Opening it revealed rice balls and rice cakes.

“Well, well, this has to be from one of my officers.”

The rice wasn’t cold, so it wasn’t too old.

No hot soup was a shame, but this was a treat at night. Unlike the palace, demanding food at midnight here would be tough.

Sitting on the bed, I stuffed the rice balls and cakes into my mouth.

After devouring everything, I wondered if I’d eaten too much for the night.

It was a bad time, but to aid digestion and see more of Wolhanseong, I decided to take a walk.

I realized I quite liked nighttime strolls.

Throwing on a cloak, I stepped out. Unlike the day, Wolhanseong’s eerie silence felt unfamiliar.

The castle wasn’t known for stunning scenery, so there wasn’t much to see. I looked up at the sky.

“Nice night for stars.”

No moon, but the stars shone brightly.

“Where’s the moon?”

The moon was hard to spot, but the bright stars made up for it. Stars help with direction—without them, a traveler’s in trouble. For someone like me, stars outshining the moon might be better.

“As long as something’s bright, that’s enough.”

I walked with my hands behind my back, humming a random tune. Those songs are best for times like this.

“Who are you?”

I hadn’t walked far, maybe cycling through the few songs I know, when a voice came from behind without warning. Who’s wandering the castle at this hour? It felt unnatural.

Turning, I saw a kid.

“What’s with you?”

The question slipped out. A goblin? A ghost? No way a kid would roam Wolhanseong, where magical beasts appear, alone at night. I was more convinced it was a ghost. Ghosts do exist, after all.

Like Taejo, Taejo, Taejo…

“Ghost?”

Pointing at it, the kid’s face scrunched up.

“Who’s calling me a ghost?”

The voice was childlike, maybe ten years old. Not a ghost? On closer look, it seemed kind of pretty.

I asked kindly, “Human?”

The kid snapped back, “What else, a beast?”

“Whoa.”

Tiny but feisty.

The kid pressed the attack.

“Are your eyes decorations? You’ve got something that doesn’t even look like one and use it as one.”

“Whoa, hold up.”

His sharp tongue threw me off. More importantly, I’m handsome, so that jab didn’t land.

“Hey, a face like mine is rare. Calling it a decoration’s a bit much, no?”

“Are good-looking guys that scarce? The world’s beauties must be dead. Sad day.”

“Who’s dead? Look, here’s this fine face.”

I spoke the truth, but the kid’s expression soured. Honestly, I hadn’t seen a better face than mine. Maybe my grandfather in his youth could compete.

Anyway, this reaction was absurd.

The kid had a scar, about two finger joints long, on his face. Must be tough at that age. I didn’t say it aloud, but I figured the scar made him insecure, so he was tearing down others’ looks.

What a guy, looking out for a kid’s feelings. Damn, I’m cool.

Still, I couldn’t leave a kid out here. I decided to be kind.

“Where do you live, kid? I’ll be nice and walk you home. Which way?”

The kid frowned.

“I don’t need your kindness.”

Kids should listen to adults, but this one was stubborn as hell, ignoring me completely.

“What’s that?”

He pointed at my waist, where the only notable thing was my late mother’s sword.

“This?”

He nodded.

“Yeah.”

“It’s a sword. You live in Wolhanseong, right? You must see them all the time.”

He nodded again.

Definitely a kid.

“See a lot of swords?”

“Yeah.”

He seemed to like weapons. A blacksmith’s son?

“Anyway, I’ll take you home. Which way?”

“Show it to me.”

Ignoring my offer, he fixated on the sword. We’d be here till dawn at this rate, so I drew it.

“Don’t touch, you’ll get hurt.”

“I won’t.”

He stood with hands behind his back, staring at the sword. Total kid behavior.

“Eunryun.”

He read the characters on the blade.

“Eunryun, yeah.”

I nodded.

“You can read. Smart kid. Study hard.”

Maybe a useless thing to say to a blacksmith’s son.

I sheathed the sword, and he looked disappointed.

“What, want to see more?”

“Yeah, I do.”

I was about to say no, but he was quicker.

“Show me the whole thing, sheath and all.”

Something felt off. But it was just a kid—short, young, scrawny, probably weak.

After hesitating, with no sleep and nothing to do, I decided to let him look.

“Here.”

I handed over the sword, and he took it excitedly.

“Blacksmith’s son, right? Doesn’t your dad make these?”

He ignored me. I was about to get annoyed, but remembered he was just a kid. What could I do to a pipsqueak?

“Look over there.”

He pointed in a random direction. I turned, seeing nothing but the castle wall under dim starlight and tree shadows.

No sights to see.

“What are you talking about?”

As I turned back, the kid was gone.

Along with my sword, my late mother’s heirloom.

Not a single footprint left.

“That’s what happened.”

Recalling last night, I explained seriously to Yu Geung.

“A ghost, Your Highness?”

Yu Geung asked clumsily.

A ghost. I didn’t think ghosts didn’t exist—I’d seen them. But that kid? It didn’t feel eerie enough for a ghost.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

Yu Geung thought hard.

“Maybe… my apologies, but…”

“Gonna clam up if you’re sorry?”

“My apologies, but if I may…”

“Go on.”

“Could it have been a dream while you were sleeping?”

A dream? Was it?

I thought more.

No, it wasn’t a dream.

“Nope, not a dream. It was real.”

If not a dream, it was reality.

A kid, in the time it took to turn my head, stole a sword as long as himself and vanished without me noticing?

Ridiculous.

“Ugh, weird.”

Pondering wouldn’t change anything, but I kept at it.

I was waiting for the Lord of Wolhanseong with nothing else to do.

Soon, she arrived.

“You don’t look well. Is something troubling you?”

Her first words upon seeing me. Trouble? Losing my late mother’s heirloom was a big deal.

I told her about last night, hoping she might know about ghosts in Wolhanseong.

“I went for a walk last night…”

Her expression shifted strangely as she listened.

“Was it a child whose gender was hard to tell?”

It was. I nodded.

“Yeah.”

She pointed to her waist.

“About this tall?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded again.

Her expression darkened slightly.

“Was there a scar on their face, about two finger joints long?”

“Oh, exactly.”

I nodded quickly.

“You know this kid, then.”

So it wasn’t my imagination when they vanished? Or did I see something only in that moment?

The lord sighed and said, “The sword… you said you lost it.”

“Yeah.”

She swallowed a breath.

“I’ll find it for you.”

“You do know that kid. Someone you’re fond of?”

I brightened.

“No.”

The lord added hesitantly, “In fact… it’s not even a child.”