Eunchong was returning from his meeting with his main suitor, Lord Yun Su. He was a good, literate and generous man, but he is much older than the girl. Moreover, this bird dreaming of the world, wanting more of a scruffy raft than a big, beautiful wedding. His brother, Lord Chungseong, saw things entirely differently to him. For him, a lady had to find a good husband who would spare her from all external danger and pamper her without fail. And her sweet and virtuous sister deserved this treatment, and more.
"I won't marry that man," objected Eunchong.
This hardly surprised Chungseong, the youngest had taken on the stubborn and rebellious temperament of her parent, their late mother. They both had the same desire for emancipation, but Chungseong had already had to bear the consequences of this freedom once, a second was unacceptable.
– Very well, said her brother calmly, anyway I saw you more in the rank of lady consort rather than a wealthy merchant's wife. But, until the Emperor has made up his mind, please don't suggest such a thing, little sister. You risk offending your suitor, and what do you blame him for? He gives you a lot of attention, and nice presents.
– Yes, retorted the girl, I should feel honored to receive the favors of the lord especially in the middle of his ten other wives. Well, until he takes a twelfth, which he will no doubt have chosen from his mother's womb.
– Eunchong...
– Chungseong, I dream of a life other than this, please. I don't want to become a shadow of myself by attaching myself to a man, moreover will only feel attraction for me.
They looked at each other, her eyes were wet with tears. Yes, in those big eyes Chungseong could see his mother who had disappeared years ago. As beautiful as rebellious. Eunchong was like that, she loved reading, laughing, writing... Living fully, putting aside her ladylike grace. She never spoke of marriage or home. All she thought about was this world beyond the oceans and the mist, she wanted to sail on the great sea to travel the world and discover new lands. Her brother strongly opposed it, for him, it was out of the question to leave her at the mercy of this evil world. She was not made to face the danger of the world, the men were there for that. It was for this reason that Chungseong rushed into her wedding preparations, even though the fear that she might run away sometimes crossed her mind.
Running away was Cea's priority now. The brigands began to surround him and shoot at his tunic, trying to reach his katana, especially So Ho and his accomplices. Cea went back to conspiring on a solution.
"A blitz wouldn't work, there are too many of them. If I decide to attack and he feels he's in danger, innocent people might get through so I just need a distraction to get out."
"Give us the katana," So Ho ordered, "and maybe we'll leave you alive.
All right, might as well give them what they asked for to get away with it.
"If only they knew I was doing this to protect them, they have no idea the devastating power locked away in this box."
Cea took a deep breath, then made a chasing leap to get some distance from her opponents. She ended up on a table, away from them. Cea closed her eyes, and crossed her palms. A violent wind rushed through the room, lifting his tunic and his hair. It was at the moment that everyone felt an overpowering noudo emanating from the samurai, the power of his noudo was finally revealed.
– I appeal to the Heavenly God, so that with his hand, I restore justice through the essences of earth, water, wind and flame. I become an artifact of good to defeat evil, of all walking, flying and crawling beings. Come to me, Cea said, putting her hand on the hilt of her katana, Kaze!
But, while everyone was holding their breath because they were afraid of what would happen once the incantation was over, absolutely nothing happened. So Ho was the first to regain courage, more or less, he burst out laughing and then his subordinates followed him.
– So that's it! The great samurai everyone is talking about, he can't even use his gangsinsul. Poor little guy, we overestimated you, go catch me that clown!
So Ho's guards hesitated for a moment, as they weren't sure it was safe as the katana was still in its holster, but their leader yelled a second time persuading them to attack him. They jumped on Cea, but suddenly a blinding white light erupted from the case accompanied by a shrill, but at the same time deaf, and metallic noise. The noise obliging everyone to cover their ears at the risk of causing the rupture of their eardrum, moreover all took refuge to avoid the rays. The light came out of the establishment, along with the gangsinsul who were fed by it.
"But where does this come from?"
Frantically, Chungseong turned his head. He couldn't explain what he was feeling, but in an instant, he sensed great danger near him. A beastly, dangerous gangsinsul. He asked the guards to get away as soon as possible, his sister saw his anxiety.
– Is there a problem big brother, did you feel something?
– No, reassured Chungseong with a smile, just that I'm starting to get tired. We are still a long way from home, and I don't like the big towns.
– Yes I understand !
Eunchong smiled at him, but for once, that wasn't enough to take away that worry about that gangsinsul he had sensed earlier. In a short instant, a colossal noudo had manifested and then evaporated as it had appeared.
When the light finally disappeared, the crowd was petrified and there was no trace of Cea. The samurai had obtained this effect of surprise which she had sought so much to be able to flee on board her escape, guided by Kaze. The wind god was able to see what the wind saw, he could be everywhere and here at the same time thanks to his elemental noudo. Only the gods could possess this category of noudo, so he didn't have to fear any other enemy. But even being a god, Kaze had a flaw, which is what differentiated them all from the Celestial god. Kaze was terribly proud and plaintive, no human gangsul or noudo deserved enough the intervention of his. He hadn't stopped complaining since his summoning, but Cea was learning to put up with it.
"Frankly," he said, "invoking me for a band of lousy brigands without gangsinsul, and a poor noudo. It's an insult I can never forgive you for, an insult!
– OK very good. Hold me all your immortality if you like, but please tell me where they are, these tiles are hot!
"Don't give me orders, miserable insects! They are... A few meters away, you're not far.
Indeed, Cea paced all the streets of the city to catch up with this caravan passing by the roofs with the hot tiles of the sun, these flip-flops would soon no longer make the weight, the sun would fall on his head. He was hitting her head so hard that Cea began to lose her bearings, so much so that she slipped on a canvas. Immediately, Céa had the reflex to send Kaze back where he came from in order to avoid a catastrophe.
– Ah Kaze, back to Sanctuary!
Because yes, a very precise distance had to be maintained between the katana and the invoked god. Cea had already had the experience of driving a god away from the weapon and that had had terrible consequences; every village had been decimated. This case was like a catalyst for the noudo destroying the gods, Cea should not unconsciously move them away from it more than a thousand meters at least, unless you want a region razed from the map as was somewhat the case for this village of murderers. However, it remained the thing to avoid at all costs, especially now that they were soon reaching their goal.
"What a bum," Kaze breathed desperately. A real broken arm.
Cea unleashed his katana and tried to break his fall with it, just as Kaze disappeared in a starry rain, he had just returned to the Sanctuary. Cea could hear the caravan arriving, when she arrived at her height she withdrew the katana from the inking and let herself fall. A fall of ten meters from a barrack that would not leave her back indifferent, but be it, as long as she remained alive. Despite the catastrophic landing, the plan had still worked, Cea is delighted. With perfect timing, Cea landed in a cart, luckily it was filled with hay.
No one had heard the noise behind her, and she had fallen so fast that they had no time to see her, those guards were too busy trying to catch up with the convoy. They knew the master, they knew that if he noticed their backwardness, he wouldn't appreciate it, so moving forward was their main concern now.