I know someone with that habit all too well.
Ilmun.
The man who used to be my Escort Guard.
There was no doubt about it.
Had I only crossed swords with him once or twice?
Even in my previous life I often sparred with my Escort Guards and fought alongside them, so there was no way I wouldn’t recognize that habit.
And yet you’re telling me he was the second son of the Hunan Province Commissioner of Land Affairs?
Of course I hadn’t recognized him at first glance.
For starters, his name was different.
My Escort Guard’s name had been Ilmun, but the second son currently sparring with me was named Yeon Ju-hyeok.
And when he became my Escort Guard, his face had been burned and twisted until it was almost unrecognizable.
So he always wore a mask.
His vocal cords had been damaged, so his voice was anything but pleasant to hear.
Even so, his skills were outstanding, and his will was unshakable, so he became my Escort Guard.
On the day I died, he died as well.
For now, let me dig up what I remember about him…
Come to think of it, Palgap had told me back then that the Commissioner of Land Affairs’ household in Hunan Province had suffered a massive fire.
Because of that fire, the second son’s family and the fourth son, who happened to be at home, had all died.
Then…
Back then, the second son hadn’t died and had barely escaped with his life, only to become my Escort Guard later?
I couldn’t help but look at him with complicated eyes.
In the courtyard of the guest reception hall, the Hunan Province Commissioner of Land Affairs’ second son, Yeon Ju-hyeok, was still sparring with Eun Seo-ho.
Sword clashed against sword.
Yeon Ju-hyeok’s realm was first-rate.
In truth, for someone in his early thirties to already be a first-rate martial artist was a decent accomplishment.
Especially considering that even many elders of ordinary sects only managed to reach the Peak realm.
Eun Seo-ho was fighting him at a level that looked evenly matched.
The Hunan Province Commissioner of Land Affairs watched this and thought to himself.
‘I’m certain… that man’s realm should be Peak, yet is he holding back to match Ju-hyeok?’
Then something strange caught his eye.
“…!”
It was Eun Seo-ho’s footprints.
Because the back garden was close by, the ground here was bare earth, and Yeon Ju-hyeok’s footprints were scattered all over it in a mess.
‘So why are there no footprints from that man?’
Soon he realized something no one else had noticed.
‘Gasp! Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, that man hasn’t taken even a single step since earlier!’
From what he knew, for that to be possible against a first-rate martial artist, the Peak realm alone wasn’t enough.
Which meant that Eun Seo-ho’s realm far surpassed Peak.
‘Has he been hiding his realm all this time?’
His eyes gleamed.
‘This works out nicely.’
Before long, the spar was coming to an end.
“I think this is a good place to stop.”
At Eun Seo-ho’s words, Yeon Ju-hyeok answered between ragged breaths.
“I was able to, huff, greatly broaden my horizons. Thank you for indulging my selfish request.”
“Think nothing of it.”
“My father told me to bring back your reply.”
At Young Master Hang-su’s words, the Hunan Province Commissioner of Land Affairs said that if they waited, he would write the letter.
But it didn’t look like he’d hand it over that quickly; there was clearly a lot he needed to think through.
Back at the detached quarters, Young Master Hang-su asked me a question.
“You were able to use martial arts as well?”
I answered with a light laugh.
“Of course, how do you think I managed to bring snow all the way from the North Sea?”
“That’s true.”
He just nodded and went straight into his room.
Cold, isn’t he.
I mean, we traveled together and even ended up sparring because of him; couldn’t he at least say a single word about the trouble I went through?
He talked quite smoothly in front of the Commissioner of Land Affairs earlier, but the moment it’s just me, he turns into this aloof, indifferent person.
Well, whatever. Once this matter is resolved, we won’t have any reason to see each other again anyway.
I looked up at the sky; before I knew it, the sun had completely set.
No one else is going to come looking for me now, right?
Tonight, I plan to sneak into the fourth young master’s residence; no matter how I look at it, he’s far too suspicious.
When I went back to my room, I spoke to Palgap.
“Palgap, if anyone comes looking for me, tell them I’m asleep.”
“Where are you going?”
“Mm, I’ve got something I need to check on.”
I changed into light clothes that would be easy to move in while I waited for the night to grow late.
Honestly, a black night outfit would stand out the least, but if I happened to get spotted in that, I’d look way too suspicious.
And it’d be a hassle having to change again if someone called for me in the meantime…
So I settled for light clothes in the darkest colors I had.
That was when it happened.
“My lord, an attendant is here to see you from outside.”
“…?”
I tilted my head and stepped out of the room.
It was an attendant I was seeing for the first time since arriving here.
“Excuse me, are you the Handsome Young Hero?”
I nodded.
“The young master has asked me to escort you.”
“Which young master?”
“The second young master, Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok.”
What could this be about?
To be honest, I wanted to refuse, but I changed my mind and agreed.
Being summoned by him meant I could openly enter the inner quarters.
A short while later.
I followed the attendant into the inner quarters.
“By the way, is it really all right for an outsider like me to enter the inner quarters this late at night?”
Normally, outsiders weren’t allowed into the inner quarters at such a late hour.
The attendant kindly answered my question.
“You needn’t worry. As long as someone who resides in the inner quarters invites you, there’s no problem.”
“I see.”
Before long, the place I arrived at was… a training ground?
This looks like a training ground, doesn’t it?
It was wide enough to give me that impression, and on top of that, the ground was paved with blue stone.
You could practically see the mountain of money they’d poured into the place.
And there, Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok was standing.
“You’ve come, great hero.”
“Calling me a great hero is embarrassing; just call me Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“That’s…”
“Please.”
At my request, he reluctantly nodded.
“If you insist, then all right.”
He continued.
“The reason I invited you here, Deputy Merchant Lord, is because I have a favor to ask. I sincerely hope you’ll agree to it.”
The way he looked at me clearly said he wanted me to ask what that favor was.
“…”
No helping it, I guess.
“What is this favor?”
“Please spar with me.”
“If I remember correctly, we already sparred earlier, and now you want another match?”
At my question, he nodded.
“Yes. Earlier, I could tell you were going easy on me in front of my family to save my face.”
“…”
In truth, the reason I hadn’t shown my full strength earlier was because of that suspicious fourth son.
But Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok had misunderstood and thought I’d done it to preserve his dignity.
Well, he’s free to misunderstand.
“This time, I hope you won’t hold back. I want to know my true level right now.”
His gaze was earnest.
It overlapped with the look in Ilmun the Escort Guard’s eyes, the man who had given his life for me in my previous life.
“Hoo…”
I let out a sigh and agreed.
“I guess I can’t say no. All right.”
“Thank you!”
“But let’s use wooden swords instead of real blades.”
He looked flustered at my suggestion.
“Wooden swords? But I want a match with real blades.”
I shook my head.
“Whether it’s a real sword or a wooden one, it’s dangerous either way, so why insist on real steel?”
“Well, you have to use real blades to get used to real combat, don’t you?”
“They say a true calligrapher never blames the brush.”
“…”
“If you won’t accept my terms, then let’s just pretend this spar was never brought up.”
Honestly, the reason I insisted on wooden swords was so neither of us would end up in an awkward situation.
For one thing, I’d only recently stepped into the Profound realm.
If I slipped up while using a real blade, things could get troublesome fast.
Earlier, I’d been deliberately gentle, so it was fine, but now that he meant to go all out, who knew how things would turn out.
And no matter how fine the people involved might be with it, using real blades in a spar was something others could easily misunderstand.
But with wooden swords, most people would just see it as a simple instructional match.
At my words, he finally nodded.
“Understood.”
“Then let me borrow a wooden sword.”
He gave the attendant an order, and the attendant brought us two wooden swords.
I lifted one of the wooden swords.
It felt heavy and solid, probably because there was an iron core inside, and the balance was excellent.
“That’s a fine wooden sword.”
“It’s made from Heavensteel wood.”
“Ah, I thought so.”
Nodding, I spoke again.
“Take up your sword. You said you didn’t want me to hold back, right? I won’t be giving you three free moves or anything like that.”
“I understand.”
We both took our starting stances.
Before we knew it, silence had fallen over the area around us; even our breathing grew cautious.
Tension hung in the air like a drawn bowstring.
Clack–!
Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok made the first move.
It was certainly very fast, but to my eyes, it looked slow.
So this is the difference between the Profound realm and first-rate.
Back when I was at Peak, I hadn’t been able to feel this much of a gap.
I raised my wooden sword and knocked aside Yeon Ju-hyeok’s blade as it came down from above in a high cut.
“Ugh!”
He didn’t drop his sword; instead, he gripped it again and brought it down with renewed force.
Just as I’d felt earlier, Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok’s current skill was quite decent.
Even for a first-rate martial artist, not letting go of the sword after my strike and immediately launching another attack wasn’t easy.
I met his wooden sword once more.
But this time, unlike before, I infused it with the subtlety of a mid-weight form from the True Snow Twelve Form Sword.
It was one of the True Snow Twelve Form Sword’s techniques, a heavy, forceful form.
“…!”
He looked startled; blocked by the force contained in my wooden sword, his blade couldn’t move any farther.
And then,
— Swish
I let my sword flow like water and naturally brought the wooden blade to rest against his neck.
“I’ve lost.”
At his admission, I lowered my wooden sword.
In truth, our exchange had only lasted about as long as it would take to count to five.
Perhaps because it had ended so quickly, he looked almost desperate as he bowed his head.
“Please, just one more match.”
But I knew he wouldn’t stop at just one more.
The Ilmun I remembered had been a stubborn man who didn’t know how to give up.
So I needed to set clear limits here.
“Five more. No more than that.”
His face lit up.
“Thank you.”
We sparred again, and in each of the next four matches, Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok took the initiative, and I came out on top.
Granted, each exchange only lasted a few seconds.
“This will be the last one.”
“…”
“A promise is a promise.”
“I understand.”
I spoke to him as he looked reluctant to stop.
“This time, I’ll make the first move.”
He nodded with a tense expression and gripped his wooden sword tightly.
I rushed toward him.
Whoosh!
“…!”
This time, unlike before, I put real killing intent into my attack.
At the same moment, sensing my killing intent, a shadow shot out from the side.
Just as I thought.
He was another reason I’d chosen wooden swords; judging from how he’d been hiding so quietly, he looked like Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok’s bodyguard.
Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok was probably aware of his presence; that would explain why he’d had the guts to ask me for a real-blade spar.
The man dashed toward me in a panic and reached for his sword.
But.
Tap.
Before he could draw it, my wooden sword lightly tapped Young Master Yeon Ju-hyeok on the head.
“Uh…”
He stared at me blankly, and I gave a faint, crooked smile as I spoke.
“If this were real combat, you’d be dead.”
“Uh…”
He still looked completely dazed, and his bodyguard had barely even drawn his sword, wearing an equally shocked expression.
“What was going through your mind just now?”
“Uh…”
He finally gulped hard and managed to answer.
“Nothing at all.”
“When you face the killing intent of a true expert like that, it’s normal for your mind to go blank. In that kind of situation, what do you think could possibly save your life?”
“…”
I continued right away.
I hadn’t asked because I actually wanted an answer.
“Be honest. When you practice swordsmanship, you don’t put that much emphasis on basic training, do you?”
“…How did you know?”
“Because you couldn’t move properly against my attack. If you’d been diligent with your basics, you would’ve been able to block that strike. It wasn’t even that fast.”
He stared down at his hands.
“I heard you’re a secular disciple of Mount Heng Sect. From what I know, not just Mount Heng Sect but other sects as well start each day by having their disciples work on basic training.”
“That’s right. Mount Heng Sect did the same.”
“Honestly, repeating the nine basic sword paths hundreds of times is grueling and boring. But it’s not meant to torment the disciples. It’s so that, when something happens, your body can swing the sword on instinct.”
I went on.
“So before you go looking for strong opponents and risking your neck in dangerous spars, focus on your basics. If you never neglect basic training day after day, even when you face someone stronger than yourself, you’ll at least be able to block their strike once or twice.”
I turned my head and looked at the bodyguard beside him as I continued.
“Then your bodyguard won’t be too late to save you.”
In my previous life, he’d told me this.
That he regretted neglecting his basics.
If he hadn’t made that mistake, he said, he might have been able to protect the people precious to him.
That he wouldn’t have ended up living a life full of hatred…
‘I was just an arrogant fool who believed only in my own talent.’
Remembering the expression he’d worn when he said that, I let out a faint, bitter smile.
In this life, I wanted to keep him from feeling that same regret, so I’d chosen a slightly extreme method.
“Well then, as promised, we’ve finished our five spars, so I’ll be heading back now.”
I said that as I handed the wooden sword to the attendant beside me, then turned to leave, and that was when it happened.
“Master!”
“Mm?”
When I looked back, he was on his knees on the ground, bowing to me. Then he shouted.
“Please accept me as your disciple, Master!”
Um, why are you doing this? You’re even older than I am…
This is really throwing me off.
–TL Notes–
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