Brother Jin-ho slammed the spear shaft into the ground and said,
“Then, draw your sword.”
“I was going to anyway.”
I stepped in front of Brother Jin-ho and drew my sword.
The Silver Mist Sword’s pure white blade glinted with a biting chill.
I took my starting stance, a tense standoff stretching between Brother Jin-ho and me. Then, all at once, without either of us taking the lead, we both lunged at each other.
“Haah!”
“Hap!”
A duel between sword and spear.
Because of the difference in reach, a spear has the advantage past a certain distance.
But its weakness is that once you slip inside the spear’s radius, it’s hard for the wielder to respond properly.
People who use spears know that weakness very well.
That’s why they learn kicking forms as a backup.
They use those to shove away an opponent who gets too close, open up distance, and go back to using the spear.
That’s textbook spear fighting.
But I didn’t bother to rush in at all. There was no need to take that risk.
Clang–!
Kaaang–!
Brother Jin-ho’s Blue Dragon Spear and my Silver Mist Sword crashed together with a sharp ring.
As I traded blows while keeping my distance instead of closing in, Brother Jin-ho asked, as if he could already see his victory,
“Is this really all you’ve got?”
No way.
Like Palgap said, I don’t bet on fights I’m going to lose.
Everything up until now was just a warm–up.
I came here right after finishing circulating my Qi. That little exchange was more than enough to get my body loose.
“You’re not saying that’s all you’ve got either, right, Brother?”
“Of course not!”
“Good.”
Tap–!
I shot Brother Jin-ho a crooked grin and, at the same time, charged straight at him.
“Urgh!”
His spear shaft blocked the Silver Mist Sword.
Kaaang–!
I had been holding back a bit, but that old Yeom Family veteran… his skill really is no joke.
He managed to block the Silver Mist Sword not with the spearhead, but with the shaft.
I went along with him for about a quarter of an hour, holding back.
Brother Jin-ho was going all out against me, but I was just casually matching him.
But this isn’t me deceiving him.
I’ve got a plan.
Brother Jin-ho is talented and far stronger than most people his age, but he has one chronic flaw.
His problem is strategy – the mind game part of fighting.
He doesn’t fight with his head. Maybe it’s because of that hot temper.
He doesn’t ration his strength according to the situation or try to draw his opponent into a position that favors him.
He just pours everything into his first charge and tries to crush the opponent.
In ordinary fights, that gap in raw power is enough to secure him the advantage, but there are plenty of people in this world who love using dirty tricks.
They wait for you to burn out your strength or lure you into a trap.
In those cases, you can only get beaten without being able to do a thing.
In my previous life I realized that far too late and tried to change him, but I never managed to fix it completely.
That ended up being Brother Jin-ho’s downfall.
He’s getting stronger faster than he did in my last life, so if he changes his style now and starts fighting with his head, the chances of him dying will drop a lot.
He still doesn’t have that many real fights against true experts, so his way of fighting isn’t set in stone yet. It’s not too late to change him now.
And I’ve finally gotten strong enough to force that realization into him.
“Huff, huff…”
About half an hour later, I could clearly see exhaustion written all over Brother Jin-ho’s face.
He was even gasping for breath.
If I were his enemy, I’d be thinking this was the perfect time to cut his throat.
“Haa, huff, what are you?”
“What about me?”
“Why… why aren’t you getting tired?”
“Because I’m moving and using my internal Qi efficiently, obviously. If you just go all out without thinking like you do, of course you’re going to burn out fast.”
I said that and slid the Silver Mist Sword back into its sheath.
Brother Jin-ho tilted his head and asked,
“We’re stopping?”
“As if.”
Kaaang–!
I swung the sheathed sword straight at him.
“Ugh!”
He blocked it on instinct, but still staggered back several steps.
He looked completely flustered.
But I didn’t stop there and kept swinging the sheathed sword.
Clang–!
Kaaang–!
Clang!
He couldn’t even manage a proper counterattack, barely blocking as he was driven back again and again.
Still not enough.
Whish–! Thud!
I whipped the sheathed blade into Brother Jin-ho’s chest.
“Gah!”
He went tumbling to the ground.
Maybe he hadn’t expected me to go this far, because he suddenly yelled,
“Hey! Isn’t this a bit much for a light spar?! I’m your older brother! Your brother!”
“So what?”
I answered flatly.
“You were going all out against me too, weren’t you? Then of course I have to put my whole heart into the spar as well.”
I swung the sheath at him again.
Thud! Whack!
“Ugh! Urgh! Aagh!”
Brother Jin-ho’s screams echoed through the forest. But I had already sealed the area with a sound–blocking Qi barrier, so nothing leaked outside.
“Brother, if this were a real blade, you would’ve died more than ten times already.”
Thud–!
“Keuk!”
“Make that eleven.”
“You hate me, don’t you?”
“Now that’s hurtful. I’m using the sheath because I like you, you know?”
Thud!
“Don’t smack me while you’re talking!”
In the end, Brother Jin-ho threw both hands up and shouted,
“I surrender! I surrender! I lose!”
“Brother, we’re not done yet.”
“Huh?”
“Fights between warriors only end when someone dies, remember?”
“Huh?”
I drew the Silver Mist Sword from its sheath again and glared at him.
The Silver Mist Sword radiated a fierce chill.
Facing my killing intent head–on, Brother Jin-ho spoke in a trembling voice.
“H–hey, Seo-ho? You’re joking, right?”
“Block it. Otherwise, you really will die.”
Chuck–!
I raised my sword and aimed it at Brother Jin-ho.
Tap–!
After that warning, I immediately shot toward him.
But he was already worn out and drained of strength; there was no way he could properly respond to my attack.
“…”
Right before my blade reached his neck, I pulled back my Qi.
“Uh…”
Flop.
Realizing he was still alive, Brother Jin-ho just collapsed on the spot.
Sring.
Sheathing my sword, I asked,
“So, how does it feel to die once?”
“…Filthy.”
Figures.
Losing your life after being defeated by someone else never feels good.
“Then you admit you lost to me?”
“Yeah, I told you earlier. I surrendered.”
“Alright, then let’s review the fight.”
“Huh?”
“What, Brother? What’s with that face? Do you not ever review your fights after they’re over?”
“If I win, great, and if not, I just fight again next time, don’t I?”
Good grief, you hopeless idiot.
I’m only letting that slide because you’re my brother. If you weren’t, I’d have beaten you senseless.
Well… I did just beat him, didn’t I.
“Brother. Remember the terms I set earlier? You said you’d grant me one request.”
“Yeah.”
“Starting today, I want you to review every single fight and hand me a written report. So first, let’s go over today’s fight.”
I continued,
“What do you think caused your loss today?”
“Well…”
Watching him mumble without giving a straight answer, I sighed and said,
“I told you earlier. If you go in hard from the very start, of course you’re going to wear yourself out fast.”
“But they say attacking first wins the fight.”
At his protest, I calmly began to explain.
“Brother, imagine the Sixth Squad of the Eunpoong Division and our family standing behind you, all people you have to protect. To protect them, you have to defeat the enemy in front of you. If the enemy is only right there in front of you, then going all out from the start is fine. If it’s truly a one–on–one fight between you and your opponent, then ‘strike first, win first’ might be right too. But here’s the thing, Brother.”
I lifted my sheath and pointed it at Brother Jin-ho’s neck.
“The world is dirty and cheap. What are you going to do if there are enemies hiding? If you’ve already burned through all your strength, can you handle them? When you die like that, the people you wanted to protect will die with you.”
“…”
“You said earlier that dying felt filthy. Then how do you think it feels to watch the people you were protecting die? And how does it feel to die knowing you couldn’t protect them?”
I paused for a moment, then went on.
“Do you really think ‘filthy’ is enough to describe that?”
No.
I can say that because I’ve experienced it myself in my previous life.
It goes way beyond just feeling filthy… It’s endless despair and regret, self–loathing and sorrow, rage and every other negative emotion you can think of all mashed together into a single mess.
Brother Jin-ho probably felt that too.
The fact that, after being captured, he begged them to spare at least me means he’d already lost his men before that.
“I don’t even want to imagine that.”
“Same here.”
I refuse to accept that kind of future. That’s why I’m grinding my teeth and living to change it.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Obviously, you change how you fight so you use your head. Sometimes like a snake, sometimes like a jackal. They say a tiger that lives a long time is that much craftier, right?”
“You think that’s as easy as it sounds?”
As he snapped back at me, I said,
“I know it’s not easy. And from what I’ve seen, you’re better at learning with your body.”
I grinned.
“That’s why, starting tomorrow, we’re going to try something fun.”
“W–what is it?”
He must have sensed what I was about to say on instinct, because he shuddered.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be teaming up with the Escort Guards, and you’ll be with the Sixth Squad of the Eunpoong Division for group spars. Obviously, I’ll target you first. If you can’t block my attacks, the squads are going to take a beating from me.”
“Damn it!”
He bit his lip.
Since they’d be getting hit because of him, the guilt would be crushing.
I know it’s a cruel method.
But if this is what it takes to change how he fights, I’m satisfied.
Even if he ends up resenting me for it, that’s fine.
Just being able to keep seeing him alive is more than enough for me.
“But you’re way stronger than me. How am I supposed to beat you?”
“I’ll factor that in. If you so much as cut my sleeve, you win.”
“And if I refuse?”
This isn’t something I can force as a bet condition. If he refuses, it’s all over.
But he can’t say no to this.
“When we get to the North Sea, I’ll just have to tell your mother–in–law. ‘I’m sorry, but my brother is a man who can’t properly protect your daughter. So please train him yoursel—'”
“Gyahhh! I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I said I’ll do it!”
He should’ve just said that from the start instead of putting on airs.
“Oh, and Brother.”
“What?”
“The fight review reports. Don’t forget.”
.
.
.
When Brother Jin-ho and I got back to where we’d camped out for the night, Palgap asked me,
“Why is Young Master Jin-ho covered head to toe in dirt?”
“We did a little sparring.”
“Ah…”
Palgap nodded, and I tilted my head.
“I thought you were going to nag me. What’s this?”
“About what, Young Master?”
“I figured you’d say I was being disrespectful to my older brother.”
“I know very well how polite and proper you are, Young Master. If you did that, I’m sure you had your reasons.”
For some reason, that made me oddly grateful.
“Please, have your meal.”
“Yeah.”
After breakfast, we set off toward the North Sea again.
Clop, clop.
Rattle, rattle.
The sound of horse hooves and wagon wheels rolling along echoed through the forest path.
Riding on horseback, Eun Jin-ho reached up to rub his neck.
‘Phew…’
During the spar with Eun Seo-ho earlier, he’d honestly thought he was going to die. The killing intent Seo-ho had unleashed had been real.
On top of that, a real sword had touched his neck.
It hadn’t actually cut him, but that alone had been enough to make his legs give out and drop him to the ground.
He honestly thought it was impressive he hadn’t wet his pants.
‘That punk… just how strong did he get?’
He couldn’t help but grumble to himself.
Eun Seo-ho was far stronger than he’d ever imagined.
Advice from a younger brother like that was bound to be right. Besides, Seo-ho had always been smart.
He’d told him to stop fighting like a brute and start using his head.
‘Seo-ho’s never really been wrong about anything… but it’s not like I can just change overnight…’
Just then, the Deputy riding alongside him asked,
“Why do you look like that, Captain?”
“Hmm?”
“I heard you sparred with the third Deputy Merchant Lord this morning. Are you upset because you lost?”
“No… Seo-ho just said something weird.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me to change how I fight. Said I should use my head, not rush in with full force from the start.”
“That’s good advice.”
“Huh?”
“Honestly, until now you’ve managed to scrape by somehow, but it’s always been a bit too close for comfort.”
“You thought so too, Deputy?”
“Yes. I even thought about saying something, but I worried it might just sound like pointless nagging, so I kept quiet. So please, change now, while you can.”
“Phew, I see. But, Deputy.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Starting tomorrow, Seo-ho says he wants to spar with me every single day.”
“He’s amazing. Sparring every day! That just shows how much the third Deputy Merchant Lord cares about you, Captain. He’s personally stepping in so you can change your way of fighting.”
The Deputy spoke with a grin.
“Don’t worry. We’ll do our best to cover your absence, Captain.”
“Uh… I think you’re getting something wrong here.”
“Sir? What do you mean?”
“He said the Sixth Squad is supposed to take part in those spars too.”
“…What?”
“If I lose to Seo-ho, he’s going to beat the squad members.”
“…Captain. Should we run away?”
“It’s already too late.”
–TL Notes–
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