“You’re Showing an Opening! Child of Calione!”
I whipped around, thrusting both hands out at the swordmaster’s shout from behind me.
“It’s over! Done! Finished!”
“What? Over?”
Choi Seonho’s fist halted abruptly right in front of me.
“Even if Gwak Chunsik had a bit too much to drink, there’s no way he’d lose to you kids. What the hell──Huh? Chunsik’s granddaughter?”
“Hello, Swordmaster Grandpa!”
Gwak Yeona, who had somehow ended up clinging to Gwak Chunsik’s back, waved cheerfully at Choi Seonho with a bright smile.
He let out a sigh, lowering his head to gaze at Gwak Chunsik.
“You were so excited, and in the end, you threw the fight in front of your granddaughter?”
“……My granddaughter said I reek of booze, so don’t talk to me.”
And a moment later.
“Now I can finally breathe easy.”
Having purged all the alcohol from his system with aura, he pulled Gwak Yeona into a tight hug and grinned.
“No smell now, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Good, good. Aigoo, aren’t you just precious.”
The first thing he did after escaping his granddaughter’s mental assault was to circulate his aura and burn off every last trace of intoxication. Even the lingering odor went up in smoke. Watching that, it wasn’t my imagination that his talent was being wasted.
Choi Seonho seemed to think the same, shaking his head with a tsk.
“Tch tch, wasting good booze for your granddaughter. What a shame.”
At that moment, Choi Yeon suddenly called out to Choi Seonho.
“Grandpa.”
“Hm? What is it, Yeon-a?”
“You smell like booze.”
Sizzle──
“No smell now?”
“No.”
I’d teasingly told Choi Yeon, ‘You try telling the swordmaster he smells like booze too.’ But the swordmaster, apparently oblivious to what he’d just said to his elder, immediately purged his intoxication.
……Are all the grandpas in this world like this?
“Oppa~.”
A soft pat on my leg drew my gaze downward to Ji-yoon, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
“I’m sleeeepy……”
“Yeah? Then let’s go take a nap. Hop on my back first.”
“Yeees…… Heehee……”
Maybe it was only natural, come to think of it.
After the chaotic game of hide-and-seek at the Blue House finally wrapped up, there was quite the uproar for a while.
It stemmed from the elders getting thoroughly worked up, leaving the gardens pockmarked with craters and trees toppled everywhere—a heartbreaking sight.
Fortunately, the swordmaster elder promised to cover the damages, so things settled down. But the kids, exhausted from all the activity, couldn’t fight off their sleepiness and were now tucked away in the guest rooms inside the Blue House.
I’m sleepy too. Wanna join them?
I had no idea why Choi Yeon had gone off to nap with the kids, but whatever.
That left me, the swordmaster elder, and Gwak Chunsik elder at the table.
Seizing the moment, I decided to ask the question that had been on my mind.
“Swordmaster elder. May I ask what that promised gift was?”
“Eh? Gift? Oh right, I did say that……”
His reaction suggested he barely remembered the offer he’d made while buzzed. He suddenly reached into his pocket.
“Ah, found it. Here’s your gift.”
What he handed me was a business card smaller than his palm.
“……This is.”
“Swordmaster’s Swordsmanship Training Week Package. The Changcheon Sword Clan will take a look at your skills for a week. How’s that? A steal, right?”
He smirked as he said it, prompting Gwak Chunsik to shoot up from his seat.
“Seonho-hyung, Yujin’s my disciple. You trying to poach him like this?”
“Hey, you punk. Who said anything about taking him as a disciple? I’m just offering a week-long trial.”
“It’s the same damn thing! And with you personally training him? What do you think everyone outside will say?”
He had a point. Training under him would shift how the world viewed me.
“Yujin. You don’t have to go to the Changcheon Sword Clan if you don’t want. I’ve got the dojo—a great spot. Want to borrow a room?”
“Whoa, overreacting much? Anyway, call this number whenever you’re free, and I’ll check my schedule and get back to you.”
“Thank you.”
I slipped the card into my inner pocket, and Gwak Chunsik’s face fell completely.
But what could he do? A business card with the swordmaster’s personal number. Just having it would give me a huge leg up with anyone from the Changcheon Sword Clan.
But.
“So, what’s the actual reward?”
“Huh?”
“A business card can’t be the reward.”
This wasn’t enough. I could’ve gotten the number from Choi Yeon anyway.
“Kuhahaha! Right, right! As if the great swordmaster would give a business card as a reward! Kuhahat!”
Gwak Chunsik perked up at that. The swordmaster, who’d been listening quietly, groaned and fixed me with a resolute stare.
“I’ve got some old gear stashed in the warehouse. I’ll open it up for you.”
The swordmaster’s warehouse?
“Now that’s generous.”
Yeah, this was more like it.
Alright, next up……
“What are you planning to give me, Gwak Chunsik elder?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“The swordmaster gave me a reward, so shouldn’t you too?”
“Huh?”
“Kuhahaha! Like master, like disciple! Of course! When a disciple wins a bet, what master just sits there? Chunsik, your disciple’s asking for a gift!”
The swordmaster roared with laughter, clearly enjoying the show. Gwak Chunsik furrowed his brow, pondering, then looked at me as if he’d decided.
“The dojo free pass is──.”
“I’m good on that.”
I knew he’d open the doors anytime anyway.
“Actually, I have a question. Mind if I ask?”
“A question? Sure. I’ll tell you anything I know.”
“Instructor Yoon Sung-ho once showed me your fight with Kuruus.”
He tilted his head back as he listened.
“Kuruus? Oh yeah, that happened. But why bring it up?”
“As you elders know, his magic reconstructs or reenacts events based on surrounding experiences, right? And I saw some wild stuff back then.”
Finally, the reason I’d sought him out. Time for the main point.
“First off, elder. Did you ever use a sword in the past?”
“A sword? Sure, a few times. But I can’t even remember the last time I held one, these past few years.”
“I see.”
The illusion hadn’t been wrong after all. Gwak Chunsik wielding a sword—what a fresh combo.
“Mind if I ask why you stopped?”
“……It’s not some grand reason. Swords are tough to control your power with. And these days, I prefer barehanded aura over a blade. You know you can just make one with aura anyway.”
“Gal!!”
The swordmaster, who’d been listening quietly, bolted up.
“The sword is the world’s mightiest weapon! How dare unarmed martial artists diss it?!”
“That’s not what I meant, Seonho-hyung!”
True to form, the swordmaster fired back at any sword slander. My elder and I quickly calmed him down, restoring the peace.
I pressed on with my unanswered question.
“Anyway…… In that lesson, I saw you use a technique I didn’t recognize.”
“Huh? Unknown technique?”
Moonlit Breeze Clear (월백풍청). A four-character idiom meaning “the moon is bright and the breeze refreshing.” Pure Gwak Chunsik naming sense—and the highest-level technique I’d ever seen from him.
“Moonlit Breeze Clear? That punk Park Yunho showed you that?”
“Yes. Was it some secret technique?”
“Nah, nothing like that. Hmm…… He must’ve known since he saw the fight. That technique was what ultimately took Kuruus’s head, after all.”
Right. Records only noted that Gwak Chunsik had landed the fatal blow on Kuruus. Turns out even back then, Kuruus fell to Moonlit Breeze Clear.
“But why ask about it?”
“Could you teach it to me?”
“What?”
His eyes widened, as if doubting what he’d heard.
“Teach you that? To you?”
“Yeah. There aren’t many techniques that warp the world, right?”
And this was my chance to craft my own.
But his response was.
“Kuhahahaha!”
A hearty laugh.
“I’d love to teach it if I could, but you’re not ready yet, kid. When the time comes, I’ll teach you everything. Got it?”
As expected. It must be part of his curriculum.
“Still, hearing that gives me an idea what to teach. Next week, we’ll start with what it means to warp the world.”
“Thank you.”
Elders like him never held back, did they? Having talent itself might be what endeared me to them. Folks like this usually went nuts over promising youngsters.
Just then, the door to the reception room opened, and in walked Choi Yeon, rubbing her eyes.
“……Grandpa. Still talking?”
“Aigoo, my granddaughter’s up! Nah, we’re done! Tired? Let’s head out.”
She nodded at the swordmaster’s machine-gun questions.
“Alright, let’s go. Chunsik, today was fun. Tell the president thanks for the good booze.”
As the swordmaster rose, the kids trailed behind Choi Yeon, yawning.
“Grandpaaa……”
“Opaaa……”
“Looks like we’re all heading out together.”
My little sister was wiped out—what choice did I have?
Time for us to head home too.
After handing Ji-yoon off to Alesia, I headed to my father’s study to report on the day’s events.
“Father. It’s Eugene.”
─Come in.
I used to enter his study tense as hell, but lately, with all the family business, I’d been in and out so much that I no longer froze up completely or stiffened my face.
Just…… Don’t let your guard down.
“Had a good time?”
“Yes. Thanks to your arrangements, Father. The Blue House, no less.”
“Hahaha! Couldn’t exactly send the Calione security detail there. The other elders all safe too?”
“Yes. I even got the swordmaster elder’s card and an invite to train at the Changcheon Sword Clan later.”
“Oh?”
My father’s eyes lit up at the swordmaster’s name.
“From the swordmaster himself?”
“Yeah. I won a bet this time.”
I recounted the day’s antics, and he looked delighted.
“The elders had a blast, huh? Good to hear. That all for today?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Alright then.”
The smile faded from his face. The air shifted as his expression turned deadly serious—the Don had returned.
He opened a drawer, plunking a thick stack of documents on the desk, and fixed me with his gaze.
“Heard last night they found a Villain Union hideout in Australia. As you know, Calione’s at war with the Villain Union right now.”
Snip─ He cut his cigar and eyed me.
“Why don’t you take the lead on this one?”
The big event had arrived.