# Chapter 3
I needed a plan.
When I heard Jiman’s story, and then witnessed my body crumbling so hopelessly during training just now, I realized my limitations. While I wasn’t certain whether I could return to my world if I closed my eyes here, it seemed clear that I didn’t have much time left in this place.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that Kadilen hadn’t yet plotted treason at this point. I could either find and eliminate the cause that would drive him to rebellion, persuade him, or sabotage his ongoing plans. Whichever method I chose, I felt I needed to know everything about this temple first.
Kadilen’s temple was everything to him. Everyone knew that he had learned martial arts while wandering as a poor, young vagrant before achieving great merit in war. But one of the main reasons Kadilen became famous was because he refused the king’s offer and built this temple with his own hands in a remote mountain area far from the kingdom. Soldiers voluntarily flocked to him, believing in Kadilen’s reputation and integrity, and together they expanded the temple bit by bit. As a result, it became the prestigious Kadilen Temple of today, where everyone respected Kadilen like a parent, and under Kadilen, no discrimination existed.
What I needed to discover was what secrets were hidden in every corner of Kadilen’s temple. And who Kadilen’s people were. What they were capable of. Only then could I guess their plans and ultimately interfere with them.
I had an advantage in that I was well-versed in the novel’s plot, but in reality, the novel was missing crucial parts related to Kadilen. The book didn’t cover in detail how Kadilen persuaded his people, or what strategies helped his rebellion. All of that was something I needed to figure out myself.
But despite my determination, becoming friendly with the temple wasn’t easy. The cold gazes of the soldiers I encountered on my way to the dining hall weren’t my imagination. At first, I was too busy adjusting to this situation to notice much, but gradually I began to feel Ludin’s position in this temple. As I shifted my gaze slightly away from Kadilen, I had to face the stares of numerous soldiers who disliked me. They tried to harass me behind Kadilen, Wimu, and Jiman’s backs.
In truth, I couldn’t say their behavior was wrong. While the work didn’t fully detail what mischief Ludin had caused at the temple, even from passing descriptions, it was clear why anyone would dislike him. Disabling weapons, overturning all the furniture in a room, drinking in the middle of the training yard during practice.
Of course, knowing Ludin’s circumstances as I did, I understood that his pattern of behaving properly and then causing trouble occasionally was meant to disappoint King Zendal, who might still hold hope for him as a successor. And since I too had no desire for King Zendal to make me his heir again, I planned to cause trouble occasionally. But understanding everything intellectually was different from experiencing it physically. Especially with Ludin’s frail body.
“As a noble young master, you should eat plenty of fine food.”
Though the words sounded respectful, they came from the mouth of a soldier who had just spilled hot porridge on me. One side of my shoulder burned fiercely where the porridge had splashed. I gritted my teeth but had nothing to say, so I didn’t stop him as he walked away snickering. I guess Ludin must have picked a fight with him too. He probably broke that innocent soldier’s sword.
These incidents happened more often as the time I spent at the temple increased. Soldiers running up with stories I knew nothing about, full of anger and intent on harming me. Dealing with these inexplicable acts of revenge was somewhat overwhelming, but I thought there was nothing I could do about it. I only hoped they would choose easier forms of revenge than burns, to avoid the troublesome aftermath.
As my shoulder grew increasingly painful, my appetite vanished completely. I wanted to skip the meal and just rest in my room, but it was a day for group training. Since that personal lesson with Kadilen, I had been learning stances from Wimu or participating in group training. Of course, group training was terrible. Swinging swords in unison with dozens of strong men was physically draining. Personal training was at least adjustable to my pace, but in those sessions, it was also difficult to hide my labored breathing. I could only guess that was partly why Wimu’s gaze on me had recently grown longer.
After hastily cooling my throbbing shoulder with cold water and wrapping it with a bandage I managed to find, I went out to the yard for training. Cold stares followed me the whole way. Soon Kadilen and Wimu began instructing the soldiers for training, and I ignored my aching shoulder and focused on training with the stance that had become somewhat familiar now. But today was clearly an unlucky day, a filthily unlucky day. The next training was sparring. When we were told to find sparring partners, I, already at my limit, tried to slip away quietly and planned to return to my room. But someone suddenly blocked my path.
Broad shoulders and bulging muscles. A massive sword gleaming in the sunlight, almost blinding. It was the man who had spilled porridge on me earlier. He was smiling.
“Wi-Wimu!”
In my alarm, I quickly tried to change partners by calling Wimu, but when Wimu turned at my call, I lost the courage to speak. How would I explain? That this guy held a grudge against me? That was only natural. Even if Wimu assigned a different partner, it would be the same. People who didn’t hold grudges against Ludin were extremely rare in this temple.
I waved my hands at Wimu, indicating it was nothing, then swallowed hard. The man before me had taken his stance with gleaming eyes. Recalling the personal training I had received from Wimu a few times, I too took a stance. But not even a minute into the sparring, I was forced to kneel and feel his great sword lightly piercing the nape of my neck. The stance I had taken for defense made my shoulder throb madly, but he showed no sign of withdrawing his sword.
In the end, I remained kneeling on the dirt until the next round of sparring began. When the next round finally started, I had no chance to dodge the incoming sword. Though I reflexively thought of what moves to make, my body wouldn’t cooperate. Ludin’s body was too frail to move nimbly and use strength. This time, he slightly cut my right sleeve. I saw the fabric fluttering away in the wind. I raised both hands and declared surrender.
“Whoa, whoa. Alright. You win.”
“A disciple of Kadilen does not surrender.”
“I’m surrendering. I said you win, didn’t I?”
As I waved my hand dismissively while catching my breath, he flared up but couldn’t quite bring himself to attack me. I could feel Wimu watching us observantly. I forced myself to look up and tried to appease my fuming opponent. He was indignant but had no choice but to tend to his sword for a moment. Wimu, who had been watching us, finally walked over.
“Are you injured?”
His face looked quite concerned, which almost brought tears to my eyes. Yes, you’re the only one who understands how difficult this is for me, Wimu! But before I could whine, the man with the enormous sword was still firmly standing before me, narrowing his eyes.
“You think I’d get hurt from something like this?”
“You surrendered.”
The soldier made a clicking sound with his tongue and looked at me contemptuously. Feeling wronged, I looked at Wimu, only to find his gaze quickly turning contemptuous as well. You disloyal bastard!
The sparring soon ended, but I was too exhausted both physically and mentally to continue with the next training session. As I sat there resting, the burn on my shoulder that I’d forgotten about began to throb again. Grimacing, I got up from my spot and quietly retreated to my room to avoid being noticed. It was fortunate that Wimu thought poorly of me now. At least afterward, he was too busy watching the other soldiers to notice me escaping.
When I entered my room, fatigue washed over me like a flood. When I unwrapped the bandage to change it, I found the wound was a mess with discharge. I managed to find bandages in the drawer, but it was overwhelming to tend to it with one hand. I thought I would fall asleep as soon as my head touched the floor, and sure enough, my body collapsed like it was melting, and after just closing my eyes for a moment, I fell asleep.
I woke to the sound of someone knocking on my door. Barely opening my eyes through the heavy fatigue, I heard a voice from outside.
“I’m coming in.”
It was Kadilen.
I quickly assessed the situation. My clothes were loosened, exposing my wounds, and dirty bandages were scattered carelessly on the floor. If I faced Kadilen in this state, it would be difficult to avoid awkward questions.
“Don’t come in!”
I sensed a momentary hesitation. But Kadilen soon disregarded my plea and gently opened the door. He slowly surveyed the room with bandages scattered in a mess, and my reddened, swollen shoulder. Not a trace of the urgency one might expect from someone confronted with an injured person was visible in him.
“Who was it?”
He calmly asked.
“Wh-what?”
“There is no place in the temple where you could burn yourself.”
I racked my brain trying to find something to say. There was nothing appropriate to say. I couldn’t explain everything in detail, and if I did and that soldier received punishment, the harassment would only worsen.
“I failed while trying to set fire.”
This was the best excuse I could come up with. I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth, but Kadilen’s expression didn’t change. Perhaps he was thinking, “Well, that figures.” Feeling self-conscious, I started cleaning up the floor littered with dirty bandages when he strode toward me.
“Remove your clothes to let the heat escape.”
Perhaps thinking it would be difficult for me to undress alone with my uncomfortable shoulder, he delicately helped me. Taking off my outer garment brought a cooling sensation that reduced the pain from before, but I felt embarrassed showing my bare body in front of someone with such a perfect face.
“Ahem, I’ll have Jiman treat it, so you can go now.”
Kadilen withdrew his quiet, helping hands and seemed to be thinking about something for a moment. As I waited tensely for his next words, he stared at me with a persistent gaze and asked in a low voice.
“Why did you come to the temple?”
I just stared at him blankly after hearing the question. The reason for coming to the temple? Ludin never came to the temple voluntarily. At least, that’s what everyone thought. And that’s how it should appear. If I looked like I had some ulterior motive now, Kadilen would either distance himself from me or try to figure out why, and I might miss the opportunity to save Kadilen. I carefully managed my expression and answered.
“You think I came because I wanted to? I was exiled here.”
He sighed softly and picked up a clean bandage. With slow movements, he cut the bandage to a suitable length and gathered up the dirty bandages strewn across the floor. I observed his behavior with some anxiety, not knowing what was in his mind. After finishing tidying the room, he neatly folded the new bandage he had cut and placed it on the table, then said in a tired voice.
“Sometimes I wonder if you want to be hated.”
After speaking, Kadilen called a soldier outside the door and ordered him to bring Jiman. He also instructed to cool the burn before applying medicine and wrapping it with a clean bandage. The lingering gaze he had given me and the sigh he had breathed out as if tired kept circling in my mind. Kadilen was trying to understand Ludin, but at the same time, he was disappointed.
And I had no choice but to disappoint him.
