Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The Sword Suits You More Than the Saber (2)
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‘That little punk So-cheon has been hanging around Blue Bamboo Hall every day, so I thought he was teaching saber arts to Yong-un. Then what the hell has he been doing all this time?’
How long had Peng Jae-hyeok been lost in such thoughts?
“Now the kids from Yunmae Hall and Yunguk Hall are stepping up.”
The flags hanging from the tents on either side of the training ground had changed from blue bamboo and black orchids to red plum blossoms and yellow chrysanthemums.
“The rosters from both Yunmae Hall and Yunguk Hall have just been submitted. With that, we’ll begin the final preliminary match of the sparring event!”
The representative cadets from both dorms had completed submitting their rosters with the order of fighters to the Administrative Director, who was overseeing the tournament.
Peng Jae-hyeok set aside his musings for the moment and turned his gaze to the training ground.
Taking Eon Yong-un into the Peng family was important, and so was sending a messenger pigeon to Peng Mu-hyeok, which worried him.
But before all that, Peng Jae-hyeok was the supervisor of Yunmae Hall.
He had a duty and responsibility to watch how Yunmae Hall performed.
‘Win or lose, I hope they take something away from this.’
And so the spring inter-dormitory sparring match between Yunmae Hall and Yunguk Hall began.
Unlike the match between Blue Bamboo and Fragrant Orchid Halls, which had gone to the third bout before a winner was decided, the Yunmae-Yunguk match ended in just two bouts.
The vanguard from Yunmae was Cheon Jang-ho, and from Yunguk, Jeon Gal-seol-ji. At first, it seemed like they were matching each other blow for blow.
But as Jeon Gal-seol-ji’s momentum grew fiercer, her sword strikes began subtly incorporating wounding techniques—not lethal, but enough to injure—without drawing attention.
“Je-Jeon Gal, miss? We’re not strangers! Why are you doing this? Have you forgotten the time we worked on that group assignment together…?”
Cheon Jang-ho, whose nature wasn’t suited for direct combat, soon surrendered.
“…you have! You’ve forgotten! Ugh! I’m dying! Save me!! I lost! I surrender! Surrendeeeeer!!”
Watching Cheon Jang-ho, No Sam clicked his tongue.
“…That damned fool. If he was gonna beg for his life, he should’ve used his own name or Yunmae’s. But no, he had to yell ‘save the beggar’ right there and smear mud on the beggar’s face. What a smear.”
One of the professors, Nangong Jeong-ho—who was partial to Fragrant Orchid Hall—chuckled dryly at No Sam.
“Is that the right metaphor? Don’t beggars already have a bit of mud on their faces by default?”
“Let me be clear: this isn’t mud.”
“Then what is it?”
“Shit.”
Meanwhile.
The mid vanguard representatives were Eon Yong-myeong from Yunmae Hall and Peng So-jin from Yunguk Hall.
“Eon Yong-myeong. Come to think of it, your name’s awfully similar to Cheongjuk’s Eon Yong-un.”
“I hear he’s his blood brother? You’re just finding out now? And you even bet money on Yunmae?”
“The bet was on faith in Yunmae. Anyway, Eon Yong-un’s little brother? I’m excited to see what skills he’ll show!”
As the crowd anticipated, Eon Yong-myeong and Peng So-jin’s clash turned into a fierce exchange of blows.
Boom! Bang!
The two made full use of the entire training ground, pitting their fists and sabers against each other.
Kwaaaang!!
To the untrained eye, it looked like flashes of light darting east and west.
But between the two, there was a clear superiority and inferiority.
“Sister’s saber is as flawless now as it ever was. To land a punch on you, I’d have to offer up one arm, so I’ll acknowledge my shortcomings here.”
Eon Yong-myeong realized it and immediately withdrew.
He cupped his fists once toward Peng So-jin, then once toward Yunmae Hall.
“Yunmae’s Eon Yong-myeong has acknowledged his deficiency, so I declare victory for Yunguk! Victory for Yunguk’s Peng So-jin! Therefore, Yunguk Hall advances to the finals of the sparring event!”
With Peng So-jin’s victory, Yunguk Hall secured the win, ending the sparring.
Blue Bamboo: 18 points
Yunguk: 12 points
Yunmae: 6 points
Fragrant Orchid: 6 points
Along with Fragrant Orchid Hall, Yunmae Hall had posted its worst performance since opening.
But Peng Jae-hyeok’s mood wasn’t all that bad.
‘Hmph. They’ve been on a winning streak for too long anyway.’
Tasting defeat like this could be good medicine at times.
‘At any rate, we’ve put Fragrant Orchid in their place.’
The scores on the blackboard didn’t yet reflect attitude points, so ties were broken by the order of Mae-Nan-Guk-Juk.
‘But that’s probably set in stone.’
Yunmae Hall’s attitude score couldn’t be worse than Fragrant Orchid’s, who had ignored Eon Yong-un’s salute and left.
Finishing his thoughts, Peng Jae-hyeok excused himself to Gyeong Hye-sa-tae and stood.
“I’ll go console my kids for a bit.”
“Ah. Yes. Please do.”
Peng Jae-hyeok headed to where the Yunmae Hall cadets were seated.
“I’m sorry, Professor. I set the order, but it seems Yunguk had us dancing in their palms. Our rear vanguard was So-cheon, but he didn’t even get to step up, and we got eliminated from sparring. It’s my failing.”
Yunmae Hall’s student council president, Ho Yeon-chan, bowed deeply to the arriving Peng Jae-hyeok.
Peng Jae-hyeok shook his head.
“Enough. Have we ever caught Yunguk off-guard with our order? Even when they read it, winning anyway—that’s been Yunmae until now.”
“I’m sorry. Uncle… No, Professor.”
“No need for Cadet Eon Yong-myeong to bow either. That wasn’t meant to blame you. Doing your best, realizing your shortcomings, and admitting defeat—that’s the courage Yunmae Hall should aspire to. Isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir!!!”
“Right. The president, council officers, and all cadets unite for the fall tournament and make a different result. Don’t lose heart, but let this teach you that the name Yunmae doesn’t guarantee victory.”
“Yes, Professor!!”
“However! Cheon Jang-ho! Starting tomorrow, after classes, come to my research hall!”
“Pardon? Ah…. Yes, sir.”
“And you, So-cheon—come see me right now.”
The Yunmae Hall cadets rallied.
Now, Peng Jae-hyeok’s remaining issue was Eon Yong-un.
To resolve it, he took Peng So-cheon and went to find Peng So-jin.
“Uncle and the pig? Ever since I picked Yunguk, you’ve been treating me like yesterday’s chicken, so I thought you were sulking. What brings you here?”
“Sister. I’m not a pig. Like this. Huh?! Like this! Have you ever seen a pig this ripped with muscle?”
“Yeah. I have. Wild boar.”
“…Oh.”
“‘Oh’ what! And So-jin! When did I ever treat you like yesterday’s chicken?! You know full well how much I cherished you, So-cheon, and even the Eon brothers. How can you say that? It hurts.”
“You ignored me and never even sent word or visited—that’s a fact, right?”
“That’s because I’m your uncle, sure, but also Yunmae’s supervisor and saber professor. I didn’t want people talking behind my back about me playing favorites.”
“So what brings you here?”
At Peng So-jin’s question, Peng Jae-hyeok pulled out the messenger pigeon letter from Peng Mu-hyeok without another word.
Peng So-jin brushed her bobbed hair behind her ear and read it.
“My brother Jae-hyeok, behold… Hmm. Father wants to take Yong-un into the Peng family? He’s meddling again. Why not just let him live his life? He seems to be eating well and thriving on his own.”
“I partly agree with you.”
“Then just don’t do it at the uncle level?”
“But in martial arts, one absolutely needs a good master. Take the saber manuals’ heart formulas—they often say ‘settle the mind like lead, store inner power like mercury.’ Lead sinks because it’s heavy, mercury floats—so sink the mind and let inner power rise and flow. Who’d figure that out from the manual alone without guidance? That’s why master-disciple bonds and blood ties in clans have endured strictly in murim since ancient times…”
Peng Jae-hyeok was known among cadets and grad students as straightforward, and soft-hearted with his nieces and nephews.
But he was undeniably a professor.
When it came to educational philosophy, out came the lecture.
Peng So-jin half-surrendered to his tirade.
“Got it. I get it. So what do you want me to do?”
“Tell Yong-un that it’s not too late to pick up the saber.”
“So you’re saying this because you want me to suppress him with martial prowess in the finals?”
“As expected of the first Yunguk cadet from our clan. You get it right away.”
That punk So-cheon apparently spent the last month just showing off how cool sabers are.
“How could I? I don’t control the matchups. Even if I did, Cheongjuk would twist theirs accordingly?”
“If you match up, do it then. The finals would be ideal, but if not, visit him after.”
But to Peng So-jin, that wasn’t the end of the problem.
“Even if we do match, it’s a problem. Me suppress Yong-un? Uncle, you saw the Cheongjuk match earlier and the martial arts theory lecture. I can’t brush aside Mount Mosan Sword like Yong-un did in one strike.”
“Don’t worry about that. You remember when Yong-un sold Eon family manuals, right?”
“How could I forget?”
“The Pearl Eon Family let him near those because of his naturally open upper dantian constitution. It’s probably related. To me, it wasn’t just swordsmanship.”
In truth, Eon Yong-un’s true prowess had never been officially revealed.
So Peng Jae-hyeok could only speculate broadly.
“He has talent, no doubt, but considering the time he wasted, he won’t match you—the one who barely beat diligent Yong-myeong, right?”
“…It was barely.”
Thus, revisiting Eon Yong-un’s past once more, Peng Jae-hyeok said.
“Put in some effort so he feels his limits and gives up.”
When the words to make him feel his limits and give up came out.
Peng Jae-hyeok didn’t see the expression on Peng So-jin’s face.
“Already the final match. I hope both dorms’ cadets fight without regrets.”
The sparring finals began with Gyeong Hye-sa-tae’s opening remarks.
Unlike the original, Yunmae without Jeong Hyeon—could they pierce Jeon Gal-seol-ji’s schemes and reach the finals like in the story? Sure enough, they faced Yunguk.
‘Good thing I did actions that’d rack up attitude points.’
Of course, I couldn’t rely solely on uncertain attitude scores.
‘Best to win sparring cleanly and sweep all events.’
To that end, during the pre-match formalities between dorm reps, I sent a transmission to Jeon Gal-seol-ji.
[Jeon Gal miss.]
[…What is it?]
She’d passed prelims flawlessly with sword drawn, so I thought she hadn’t fallen to heart demons from the go match, but up close, even the great Jeon Gal-seol-ji flinched.
‘Not completely unscathed, huh?’
Anyway.
I got straight to the point with Jeon Gal-seol-ji.
[I’m putting Jeong Hyeon as vanguard.]
Then I turned away.
It looked just like what Nangong Yun did to me, and Master at my waist sent confusion.
- Why tell her? Following Nangong kid’s mistake?
‘Nah, totally different quality from that guy.’
Different circumstances.
Nangong Yun’s arrogant reveal of being vanguard was idiotic hubris, but here, there was a prior promise.
‘Jeon Gal-seol-ji agreed to skip from Jeong Hyeon if she won.’
The go bet wasn’t just her granting a wish.
My condition was that if she won, she’d skip Jeong Hyeon—reaffirming our earlier agreement.
‘Even staking her revered grandfather’s name.’
No matter how clever Jeon Gal-seol-ji was, she had to take the bait.
A scheme you know but can’t avoid.
“Now, calling the vanguards from both rosters! Yunguk’s vanguard is Jeon Gal-seol-ji of the Jeon Gal clan!”
As expected, Jeon Gal-seol-ji stepped up as vanguard.
Thus, fidgeting with hands and lips as she advanced, Jeon Gal-seol-ji still couldn’t surpass Jeong Hyeon this time.
“…Haha. Hngh.”
“Stop! Stop! Jeong Hyeon cadet, withdraw! Jeon Gal-seol-ji cadet, drop your sword! Isn’t she in no state to continue?! Yunguk council officers, take her out, give her water, and send to the pharmacy! She’ll fall to qi deviation like that!”
With Cheongjuk securing first win, I stepped up as mid vanguard.
“Cheongjuk’s mid vanguard! Eon Yong-un!”
“Waaaaah!!”
“Top cadet! Top cadet!”
“Eon Yong-un! Eon Yong-un!”
Yunguk’s remaining reps: Man Baek from Chang’eup Mang Family.
Peng So-jin from Hebei Peng Family.
Of the two candidates, Yunguk’s mid vanguard was none other than Peng So-jin.
“Yunguk’s mid vanguard! Peng So-jin of the Peng family!”
She walked out steadily, addressing me with calm eyes.
“Long time no see.”
For me, it was our first meeting, but as Eon Yong-un, she was the big sister who played with him as a kid.
Having experienced this via Peng So-cheon, I opened naturally.
“Yeah. Sister.”
Besides, Peng So-jin was a solid main character generation figure, so I knew her well.
‘Peng direct lineage who abandoned saber for sword.’
As I recalled the original Peng So-jin, the one before me continued.
“Our father—who’s like an uncle to you—is worried. Uncle Jae-hyeok too.”
“Hm. Not sure what you mean?”
“Seeing Seol-ji fume, you’re no ordinary smartass—you’re playing dumb? Fine, straight talk. You’ve decided on sword for good? The elders want you on saber.”
“A wastrel doesn’t listen to elders—that’s what makes him a wastrel.”
“Haha. Sounds convenient.”
“Then you do it too, sister?”
In that moment.
As if caught.
The composure on Peng So-jin’s face shattered.
“Hit the nail on the head, huh?”