It was a spring day like any other, with cherry blossoms in full bloom and the scent of flowers filling the mountains. The market was preparing to sell spring clothes on market day, and the usual bustling commotion was about to begin. He heard that a feast was already being held at a noble house in the lower village. Thinking that it was always like this around this time of year, he made his way back to the family estate.

It was a family of no particular distinction. They weren't excessively impoverished, but they didn't have enough wealth to spend without care either. The Master studied martial arts and had better stamina and strength than most young men. The Master's daughter was physically frail, but her beauty was legendary; no man in the village could help but look at her face.

That day was one of those days. In the cool evening, a scholar from a wealthy family, having heard the rumors, came to the estate asking to stay for the night. The Master wanted to refuse because the man's energy was unusually unsettling, but because the daughter was kind-hearted, the man was allowed to stay. The only mistake was that, following the family policy of showing hospitality to guests, he had briefly gone to the market.

Unfortunately, the food at the market that day was of poor quality. After going all the way to the lower village market to buy better ingredients, the scene he returned to was absolute chaos. Even before reaching the estate, the alley was crowded with people and filled with screams. Pushing through them to enter the house, he saw something that should never be there sticking out of the Master's stomach. Blood—the thick, red liquid he had seen on his way in. Dropping the luggage he carried on his shoulders, he rushed to the Master.

That scholar who came earlier had fallen for the daughter at first sight and demanded marriage. However, when the Master said he couldn't marry off his precious daughter to a stranger instantly, the man suddenly screamed, trashed the house, and started swinging a sword. A tragedy occurred while trying to protect the daughter, and the man fled with her—that was the Master's explanation. After those words, the hand he was holding was no longer warm.

How could this be possible? How could someone wearing a human mask do such a thing? To stab someone upon their first meeting and kidnap his daughter like a thug—he felt he could no longer endure this.

He would do his absolute best to save her, even if only the Master's daughter could be protected. Afterward, he would kill the monster himself. He made that vow under the falling moonlight.