Mistaken for a Fairy
ch20

[It was a good thing that I stepped forward]

Seo-yeon created a female master in her imagination.

This female master always wore a bamboo hat and veil, making it impossible to guess her age. Moreover, she didn't carry any weapons, making it difficult to even figure out what kind of martial arts she had mastered.

Her only distinguishing feature was that she traveled with Spiritual Creatures, but no matter how much Seo-yeon thought about it, if there was a female master in the Central Plains Martial World who traveled with Spiritual Creatures, rumors would have spread long ago.

So, how to resolve this contradiction?

Seo-yeon thought that she could set this female master as a member of a Mystic sect that was passed down through a single line.

Since she would have lived a life detached from the secular world, it was understandable that her fame was not known. Perhaps she was famous in the distant past, but she could also be an old master who had washed her hands of the Martial World.

Her youthful appearance could be attributed to Rejuvenation.

This female master basically had a good nature, but she tried to avoid getting involved in the secular world as much as possible. If she had to be classified, she could be said to be a warrior belonging to Baekdo.

Thinking this way, the setting of an old master who had washed her hands of the Martial World seemed better. This was because the reason for not wanting to get involved in the secular world was clear.

Now that she had decided on a certain background, she had to decide on the martial arts and weapons she would use. Originally, the more detailed it was, the better.

In terms of basic aspects such as strength and skeletal structure, men were often superior to women. This difference was even more pronounced when dealing with powerful external martial arts or heavy weapons, so female masters often used weapons that could take advantage of skill, speed, and precision rather than strength. The mysterious female master in her imagination would also be like that.

Thin sword, soft sword, Flying dagger, Hidden weapon, whip, flail, twin swords, fan...

Seo-yeon ruled out whips and flails. Because they looked frivolous. She was a little drawn to twin swords, but Seo-yeon herself was not confident in carrying swords of that length, so she also ruled them out. She ruled out swords and soft swords for the same reason, so in the end, only Flying daggers, Hidden weapons, and fans remained.

She was somewhat confident in handling Flying daggers and Hidden weapons. This was because they were similar in length to carving knives. However, if a female master handled Flying daggers and Hidden weapons, she would not only look unrefined, but could also be seen as a member of the Heretical path or the Demonic path.

Then, in the end, only the fan remained.

The fan had many advantages. Even if she carried it around normally, it would not attract attention, and just covering half of her face and fanning herself would make her look like a master. Even if she only swung a sword once, her incompetence would be clearly revealed, but this was relatively less likely with a fan. This was because there were not many martial artists who used fans as weapons.

Even if she only gathered Inner Energy at her fingertips as if she were fanning herself and cut down one or two thick trees, there would be no need to pretend to be a master.

'Then wouldn't she be a real master?'

Seo-yeon narrowed her brows at the sudden thought, but soon stopped.

Was the Martial World a place where it ended just by being able to cut down one or two trees? Once you get involved with the Martial World, you are bound to be involved in all sorts of incidents, and these incidents mean that if you can't solve them, you will be crippled or die.

And if you succeed, is it good? Not at all. Rather, it often becomes the starting point for getting involved in even bigger incidents. Therefore, the Martial World is like a Hellscape that you can never escape from once you set foot in it until you die or become crippled.

After thinking that far, Seo-yeon slowly lifted her eyelids. As she was having silly thoughts, the trembling of her body subsided and her tension was relieved. As she regained peace of mind and looked down at the martial artists, she felt as if she herself had become the female master in her imagination.

Of course, that didn't mean she had any intention of actually deceiving them with lies. Lies are bound to be discovered someday, so if you're not confident in deceiving them to the end, it's right not to start at all. However, Seo-yeon had no intention of stopping them from misunderstanding as they pleased.

As it happened, she had a fan in her arms. It was a Bamboo fan made by cutting bamboo herself. Seo-yeon prided herself on having an excellent talent for making things, if nothing else. She had never actually seen a female master, but this fan seemed good enough for a female master to carry around.

As the dawn rain had stopped, Seo-yeon took out the fan from her arms and lightly held it. Then, she waved the fan towards the thick pine tree right next to her, and the pine trees were cut down like tofu. This was Seo-yeon's own way of suppressing the atmosphere.

"......"

The faces of the Martial Alliance members became even paler.

Seo-yeon finished cutting down the pine trees and then dropped the large logs around the bonfire in a way that made them look like chairs.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The logs were so heavy that they dug deep into the ground as soon as they were placed on the ground.

Since she had waited this long and still hadn't heard anything, Seo-yeon spoke first.

"I think it would be better to sit down and talk, what do you think?"

Only then did Baek-ho withdraw his energy.

Whoosh!

The Martial Alliance members, freed from the oppressive pressure, glared at Seo-yeon while exhaling. Even in the midst of this, they were preparing to fight rather than being seized by fear, which was truly worthy of being called the elite of the Martial Alliance.

"Shall we talk standing up?"

The Martial Alliance members looked at Jangsan. They were asking what to do. Jangsan looked at Seo-yeon up and down and came to this conclusion.

'It's absurd.'

What kind of woman was she to emit that much energy without stopping? If nothing else, her Inner Energy alone seemed comparable to the Martial Alliance Leader.

The cross-section of the trees was also as clean as paper. To make that with a fan, not a sword, how profound would her Inner Energy have to be? He couldn't even grasp it.

Fortunately, he didn't feel any overbearing or evil energy from the emitted energy. Her tone was also polite, so it seemed unlikely that she was from the Demonic path or Heukdo.

The first thing that came to mind was the Sword Empress of Mount Hua. But he had never heard that the Sword Empress used a fan. In the first place, her voice was different. Several other masters flashed through Jangsan's mind, but he couldn't find a suitable answer.

'A female master not recorded in the Book of the Dead.'

It seemed most likely that she was an old master who had been around since before Jangsan was born.

'Rejuvenation, or perhaps a mixed-blood of a different species.'

The latter seemed more plausible than the former. If she was a master who had undergone Rejuvenation, she wouldn't use honorifics to her far younger juniors.

'Or would she?'

Soon, Jangsan made up his mind, sighed, and sheathed his sword. It was already too late to regret not stopping by the Shaolin Temple first. He had foolishly developed an occupational disease and walked into a tiger's den, no, a dragon's nest, with his own feet.

"......I will sit."

Above all, if he continued to stand like this, it felt like some part of him would be cut off. Just because she was a master of Baekdo, would she be merciful? Rather, Baekdo was like a knife in this regard.

Soon, the members sat in a circle in front of the extinguished bonfire. Jangsan opened his mouth politely.

"Senior, I am Jangsan, the leader of the Seventh Squad of the Martial Alliance."

"Martial Alliance......?"

"Yes, Senior. Here is a symbol representing that I am a member of the Martial Alliance and an order from the Martial Alliance Leader."

"Then, what brings you to this deep mountain valley?"

He felt like her voice had become smaller for some reason, but Jangsan tried not to show it and continued speaking.

"The Shaolin Temple asked the Martial Alliance for help. The Abbot has entered Seclusion, and most of the Arhats are also performing missions outside of Henan, so they asked us to help until then, so we came here."

"Then, what about capturing and interrogating the Ilwol Merchant Group?"

"We mistakenly thought they were involved with the Heretical path, so we made a big mistake."

"......"

Seo-yeon looked at the members with a troubled expression. She thought it was strange from the beginning that they didn't use violence, but she never thought it would be the Martial Alliance.

As Seo-yeon was silent, Jangsan, who was watching her, carefully opened his mouth.

"If it's not rude, may I ask for your name?"

The situation was more serious than expected, and Seo-yeon was dizzy and couldn't answer. Unfortunately, Jangsan didn't know that deep inside story. He mistook that the female master was angry because she had closed her mouth, so he apologized first.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it was rude to ask for the name of a Senior who had washed her hands of the world."

Seo-yeon only blinked her eyes. By this point, she also realized the seriousness of the situation. Senior? Somehow, she had ended up deceiving the Martial Alliance. She was worried that she would be branded as a fraud and end up in jail.

Seo-yeon sighed deeply inside and then sat down on a log like the others. Then, she spoke in a much more polite tone than before.

"My name is Seo-yeon."

Seo-yeon looked at the members one by one and said quietly.

"I don't know what the Martial Alliance members think of me, but I am just a woman living alone in the mountains. I have never learned martial arts, so I am not qualified to be called Senior by you. I followed the merchants because I was worried that you would harm me, so please forgive me."

Even though she explained that, the members' expressions were still strange. Thinking that her explanation was insufficient, Seo-yeon added.

"......If you have any questions, I will answer them as much as possible."

The woman on the far left raised her hand.

"Senior, my name is Jegal-hye."

"I'm not a Senior."

"I'm sorry. Then, Seo-yeon, how did you cut the trees?"

"It's just a trivial trick. I tried to deceive you by making myself look like a master, but now that the situation has become like this, I don't know what to do. I'm sorry."

"A trick......?"

"Yes."

"Could you perhaps show us one more time?"

Seo-yeon nodded and stood up and approached the pine tree. She had no intention of deceiving them, so this time she was empty-handed without a fan. She also had the thought that the members would be excellent warriors and would be able to distinguish it well.

Seo-yeon hit the pine tree with her palm and then waited for a while. In Seo-yeon's opinion, that was closer to a messy, useless act than a proper attack.

There was no Intent, and the Form was disorganized. The huge tree was easily cut down, so it might look plausible on the surface, but how could such a movement be called martial arts? Even a third-rate martial art sold in the marketplace would have a deeper meaning than this.

Therefore, this was just a trick.

Regardless of Seo-yeon's self-deprecation, the pine tree broke weakly.

"......"

The members fell silent. Seo-yeon didn't care and said.

"You can continue asking questions."

This time, another man raised his hand.

"......Then, is that tiger raised by you, Senior?"

"It's not a tiger I raised. We just happened to have a connection and started traveling together. And I hope you stop calling me Senior."

"......I'm sorry."

Just then, Baek-ho came over and rubbed his huge head all over Seo-yeon's face. Seo-yeon had to concentrate on the conversation, so she stroked Baek-ho appropriately and pushed him away, but the faces of the members who saw that became even paler. Quite a few of them had turned completely blue.

Jangsan raised his hand.

"Then, Seo-yeon, do you live in Mount Taesil?"

"Yes. I live with one disciple, one Tiger, and one owl."

"Excuse me, but have you spoken with the Shaolin Temple?"

Seo-yeon hesitated for a moment and then answered.

"I don't know the Shaolin Temple well, but I did talk to Cheong-heo of the Shaolin Temple."

"......"

Soon, Jangsan also closed his mouth. Seo-yeon waited for a while longer and then opened her mouth.

"If you don't have any more questions, may I ask you a few questions?"

"Please ask."

Jangsan's attitude seemed even more polite than before for some reason.

"I heard that you were dispatched to Henan, is the situation that serious? I heard that more than thirty children have disappeared in the lower villages."

Jangsan hesitated for a moment and then answered with a stiff face.

"We will make sure there is no problem."

"Pardon?"

"We will do our best. So please rest assured."

Surprisingly, Jangsan was sweating on his forehead.

Seo-yeon was impressed. It wasn't that she was surprised to see Jangsan sweating in this chilly weather. It was because she thought that the Martial Alliance of this world was a truly proper group.

Seeing how her subordinates were acting, there was no need to meet the Martial Alliance Leader to know what kind of person he was.

He must be a chivalrous person who would be second to none in the Central Plains.

"That's really fortunate."

"......We are grateful that you think so."

"May I say one last thing?"

"Please speak."

"I hope you wake up the members of the Ilwol Merchant Group and send them back safely, and apologize to them separately. I'm not saying that your actions were wrong, but I think it's human decency to apologize if their innocence has been revealed."

"......Yes."

"Seeing you, I think the future of the Martial Alliance is really bright."

"Thank you."

Seeing Jangsan and the members nodding enthusiastically, Seo-yeon thought that she had done a good job in mustering up the courage to come forward like this.