Do I Have to Write My Name on the Application?(1)
“Fish for today!”
“Inland fish dishes must have been quite the ordeal to transport.”
Everyone nodded at Ha-jin’s words. Fish dishes in Hubei in this era.
How on earth had they brought it here? I stared at the steamed fish coated in a slightly sweet-and-spicy sauce and marveled. I didn’t know the name of the dish, but the sight alone made my mouth water.
To think we could eat something like this at such a low price—were the Wuxia Alliance Headquarters really just filled with great heroes?
I really ought to submit my application to join the Wuxia Alliance Headquarters as soon as possible—
“Uncle?”
“What?”
“Is it good?”
“Well, yeah. I was just moved by the fact that we can eat food like this at this price.”
“You really love eating, don’t you, Uncle?”
“Spend a month on a battlefield and you’ll end up just like me.”
Going a whole week without food while fighting nonstop, surviving on slop that was indistinguishable from garbage, even boiling grass roots to mimic soup… Ugh, just thinking about the old days was enough to kill my appetite.
I needed to eat quickly and work up an appetite again.
“Sir Wei, shall I order more?”
“That would be great.”
One portion was nowhere near enough. I glanced sideways to confirm Ha-jin was ordering more food, then picked up a fist-sized dumpling with my chopsticks and popped it into my mouth.
The slightly chewy dumpling skin, the juices that burst out from the torn wrapper, and the firm yet mild texture of the finely minced meat rolled across my tongue.
Yeah, this is what a dumpling should be.
“Uncle, try this too.”
“No need to move it for me.”
Hye-ryeong kept transferring various dishes onto my plate one by one while staring at me. Why was she looking at me with that “just watching you eat makes me happy” kind of motherly smile?
“…If anyone saw us, they’d think we’d already made a marriage vow…”
“Ha-gyeong. Be quiet.”
What was I supposed to do if she gave me her share too? I sighed as I looked at the mountain of food piled on my plate. I could finish it all, but I had no intention of eating someone else’s portion.
“You should eat too.”
“I’ve already eaten my fill.”
In that case…
I steadily worked through the dishes on my plate. There was quite a bit of oil, so my stomach felt a little heavy, but a cup of tea would be enough to settle it.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t handle greasy food the way I had before the possession.
“Uncle, where are you going after we eat?”
“I need to submit my application for the martial tournament and do some training. I barely trained at all while traveling.”
“As a martial artist, tempering both body and mind is certainly important. Hye-ryeong, why don’t you focus on training while you’re at it? You’re right on the verge of first-class, aren’t you?”
“Hehe, I guess I should train a bit too.”
First-class, huh.
Thinking back, even that had once seemed impossibly distant.
I had grown unusually fast compared to my peers, but even I had taken nearly a year and a half to reach the level of a craftsman.
…Was this already considered extremely fast, so comparing myself to others was pointless?
“I also intend to devote myself to swordsmanship until the martial tournament.”
“Mu-gwang. I’ll give you some more guidance in my spare time.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“I’d like to join the training too, but… I’ll probably be busy with sect matters for a while.”
Well, as the next sect leader, he’d have plenty to do. He’d need to build connections and attend meetings with Elder Baek. It was nice being an outsider who didn’t have to get involved in those things, but I still needed to stay informed about what was going on. Even the smallest piece of information could sometimes become the key to turning the tide of war.
“If anything comes up, let me know. I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
“…”
Everyone had things to do. It might not be easy to gather like this even for meals anymore. Our schedules might not align, and some might end up eating outside. I could probably be eating alone for a while.
…Though even if I tried to eat alone, Hye-ryeong would probably just latch onto me anyway.
“I’m getting excited just thinking about swinging a sword again after so long!”
A sword, huh. I should take the chance to correct my stance in the open space in the lodging. More than anything, I needed to train controlling my increased Aura. I should also practice handling the mana road more precisely.
While mechanically bringing food to my mouth as I planned out various training regimens in my head, my chopsticks eventually clinked against the now-empty plate.
It didn’t feel like I’d eaten much, but I’d already finished everything.
I set down my chopsticks and stood up.
“That was delicious. I’ll see you all this evening.”
“Take care, Sir Wei.”
“Uncle, let’s go together!”
The sound of a chair scraping and Hye-ryeong’s voice reached my ears.
…So it’s just the two of us after all.
I kept walking out of the dining hall.
Fortunately, the lunch rush was winding down, so the hall was quiet and the exit wasn’t crowded. As we stepped outside, the bright sunlight hit my face without mercy.
Ah, my bamboo hat.
“Uncle, you need to bring your bamboo hat!”
“Thanks.”
“Hehe. No problem.”
Could she stop twisting her body like that? Everyone was staring. I stepped closer to her, blocking the gazes of the men watching Hye-ryeong.
“Uncle?”
“You know where the martial tournament registration is, right? Let’s get it over with quickly.”
“Yeees~”
We headed toward the registration desk for the martial tournament.
“…Benefactor. Did you sleep well?”
“You got in all right?”
“Yes.”
We exchanged awkward fist salutes and looked at each other. An awkward atmosphere hung between us, different from the night before.
That was only natural. We were people who had held swords to each other’s throats and threatened one another’s lives.
Running into each other like this was bound to feel awkward.
“Are you also participating in the martial tournament, Benefactor?”
“Yeah. You too?”
I already knew he was participating, but I asked anyway to keep the conversation going. Mok-gyeong nodded readily at my question.
“That’s right. The prize for the martial tournament is something any martial artist would covet.”
“That’s right! I heard it’s an incredibly powerful elixir!”
It really was incredible.
If you could absorb it properly, you might gain a full sixty years of internal energy. Or maybe even more?
Anyway, it was an item no one who had stepped onto the path of martial arts could ignore, so countless martial artists had no choice but to line up to participate in the tournament.
I was one of them.
Of course, most of the people waiting in that endless line wouldn’t even make it past the preliminaries.
There was an age limit, and even among martial artists, first-class experts were rare. Peak experts were even rarer, and super-peak experts rarer still. Naturally, only a handful would qualify.
As far as I knew, including myself, there wouldn’t be more than five peak experts in this tournament.
The winner would most likely be chosen from among those five.
It wasn’t impossible for someone of lower realm to defeat someone higher, but the side with near-certainty still held the advantage over slim possibility.
…Come to think of it, the person standing in front of me was the owner of that slim possibility.
He had managed to win by exploiting an opening against a peak expert who had just entered the realm. Based on that experience, he had eventually reached the peak realm himself. The more I thought about it, the more absurd his talent seemed.
…Not that I had any right to say that.
Still, I had survived in situations where every moment was life-or-death, so maybe that counted as some kind of extenuating circumstance.
“Uncle, hurry up and get in line! The line already looks like it’s ten li long!”
Hye-ryeong grabbed my hand and pulled me along, urging me forward. If I kept dawdling like this, we probably wouldn’t finish registering until well past lunchtime, so I followed her to the end of the line.
Mok-gyeong came along too.
“Uncle, how does the line look from up there?”
“The line?”
Was she actually curious about that?
I stood on my tiptoes and looked ahead. The path to the registration desk was packed with people, so anyone of average height wouldn’t be able to see the desk at all. But I was different.
At least, there was almost no one here taller than me.
“It’s just endless. The registration desk looks like a dot from here.”
“You can see the registration desk from here?”
“Well… I don’t see anyone taller than me around here.”
“I want to see too…”
“Just bear with it.”
I couldn’t exactly give an adult woman a piggyback ride here. That would be going too far.
“It was a joke! Just a joke! But still, just once, being carried like that…”
What was she even thinking?
“Hye-ryeong. Get a hold of yourself. Look how many people are here.”
“…Hehe.”
Hye-ryeong stuck out her tongue sheepishly and looked away.
How much more shameless was she planning to get?
“Ah, Uncle! Now that I think about it, you have to write your name to register. How are you going to write your name, Uncle?”
“…Ah.”
Right.
I recalled a fact I had long since forgotten.
My name—what was I supposed to write?