Yi Seol-mae
Seven years had passed in the blink of an eye. Yul-heo had already left the bamboo grove five years ago, when I turned fifteen. "I've taught you everything I can," were his last words. For the first year, the elder taught me the basics. The following year, he imparted the common sense needed to survive in the world. He said that with this much, it was almost miraculous—I could even apply to be a gatekeeper for a small or medium sect, let alone an escort. I was momentarily tempted by Yul-heo's words, but shook my head. I wasn't ready yet. I was still walking my path. When I explained my intentions, Yul-heo chuckled with a "Heh" as if he had no choice, and left. Another five years passed.
"Finally..." —Shuuuuk. I had reached the end of the road. The cliff I faced at the end seemed impossible to climb right away. "Time to descend, I suppose."
A-rang strapped the Geoya Sword to his waist and put on a bamboo hat. "It's a shame."
The bamboo grove had become like a home. There were times I worried about how to make a living, but when hungry, I dug up bamboo shoots, and when thirsty, I drank from the stream. It was a place where everything under heaven was provided. A-rang smiled and thought of the secular world. He knew he shouldn't, but Yi So-so came to mind. How much had she grown at the Hyeongsan Sect? What had become of the inn? Had any ruffians shown up? The more steps he took, the more stray thoughts swirled. Eventually, after walking for a long time and leaving the bamboo grove, he arrived at a marketplace that smelled of people.
"Oh my goodness!" "Tsk tsk, a grown man like that." People screamed as they looked at "me." Why? Was there a problem? Was it because of the Geoya Sword? Had martial artists become outcasts? "Hey! Stripping naked in broad daylight!" Ah... the problem was simple. I fiddled with clothes that were embarrassing to even call rags. Well... my body had grown a lot, and so much time had passed. While I was hesitating in this unexpected situation, two figures ran over from afar.
"Stop! You lecher!" A lecher? "It'd be better for you to come quietly." Who were they? Suddenly, Yul-heo's words came to mind. Under the principle that officials do not interfere with martial artists, the imperial court couldn't meddle in Murim. Therefore, public order was left to local powers, and if the situation called for it, the escort agencies in the area took charge of security. In other words, escorts affiliated with agencies, unable to take on escort missions during downtime, killed two birds with one stone by handling public sentiment and security this way. The escorts approaching me slowly, since I didn't resist, nodded to each other. One prepared a rope, while the other carefully confiscated the Geoya Sword without letting his guard down. Judging that I had no intention of resisting, the escorts didn't bind me tightly.
* * *
I hadn't set out with grand ambitions, but I never imagined I'd end up locked in a jail cell. I hadn't done anything wrong... After staring blankly at the damp ceiling for about half an hour, the escorts approached.
"Are you the one who committed such shameless acts in these times?" "....." I didn't know what "these times" referred to, but I couldn't deny the latter. "It was a mistake." "A mistake?"
Dong U-rim, a first-class escort of Geumho Express, looked puzzled upon hearing A-rang's words. 'Don't people usually deny it by saying it was a "misunderstanding"?' As if reading Dong U-rim's thoughts, A-rang continued. "I've lived away from the secular world for so long that when I came down to the streets, I didn't realize what state I was in. I'm sorry." The concise explanation and apology, which implied the full context, left Dong U-rim speechless. Even if he tried to deny it, there was no flaw to pick at. Besides, when asked why he was carrying a sword, the answer "I'm a martial artist" ended the matter. After further questioning, Dong U-rim felt that A-rang wasn't such a bad person.
"Ahem... Anyway, I'll give you some cloth to cover yourself, so don't cause trouble. Especially in these times." He kept mentioning "these times"—what was happening outside?
"Is there a festival or something?" "This friend really doesn't know anything!"
* * *
Having ordered a bowl of somyeon at a shabby inn, A-rang recalled what Dong U-rim had said. These times. That is, the Five Peaks Sword Sects gathered once every three years for a competition among their rising stars. Last time it was held at the Central Peak, Songshan Sect, and this time the competition was in Honam, where the Southern Peak, Mount Hyeong, was located.
"Your somyeon is here!" I handed over all five iron coins I had received as alms from Dong U-rim to the waiter. The waiter thanked me and ran to the kitchen, busy with something. Now that I'd ordered it, how was I supposed to eat it? I'd never used chopsticks in my life, so it was frustrating. After some thought, I concluded that drinking it like water from the bowl might work, and as I was about to lift the bowl, people wearing bamboo hats entered and sat at the empty seats. Judging by the footsteps, there were four of them. One large man, one tall and slender man, and two women of light build.
'How amusing.' I smiled faintly so the group wouldn't notice. 'The smallest woman among the four is the strongest.' There were limits to being outwardly soft but inwardly strong, but this was practically cheating. Could I win? —I shook my head. If it was a spar without internal energy, maybe, but in a real combat-style duel, I'd lose eight or nine times out of ten. That was because A-rang's meridians were too thin to accumulate internal energy. As I nodded, someone called from behind.
"Young hero, are you curious about me?" —Startled! My shoulders jerked, and I quickly turned around. Had I been so absorbed that I didn't notice someone approaching? I couldn't see their appearance, but the strongest woman had come up to me and asked. 'What should I say...?' I was gauging you because you seemed interesting. I was also wondering about the outcome if we fought. 'That probably won't do...'
"Ahem... The somyeon looked so delicious that I must have been shaking my head absentmindedly." "You haven't even touched the somyeon, though?" ".....I was intoxicated by the smell." "You were gauging us, weren't you?" Damn, she already knew. "Yes..." At my answer, the woman chuckled and replied. "Young hero, you have an amusing reaction."
The woman sat on a straight-backed chair and stared at me intently. "It seems you can't see." "...Yes." "Doesn't it feel stuffy?" "...Yes, I suppose." I answered briefly because I didn't want to get involved, but the woman kept asking questions one after another. Wasn't the weather hot today? Didn't I plan to cut my shaggy hair? Since I was carrying a sword, when had I started learning it? And so on, all sorts of miscellaneous questions... Then, the large man strode over and said to the woman, "Senior sister, the food is here, so let's go." "Already? What a shame." The woman stood up lightly and returned to where her group was. The man glanced at me and snorted. "Damn beggar." He said it in a voice low enough for only me to hear. I sighed and muttered quietly, so no one could hear. "Phew... The secular world is tough."
* * *
The strongest sword sect participating in this Five Peaks Sword Sects competition, and one of the Nine Great Sects, the Mount Hua Sect, had stopped at an inn to satisfy their hunger. The five-petaled plum blossom embroidery on their robes showed their status and how important this competition was. Among them, Yi Seol-mae, who proudly held the title of Phoenix among the Seven Dragons and Five Phoenixes, 'Nakhwabong' (Falling Flower Phoenix), felt her interest piqued as soon as she entered the inn.
'Hmm?' Was it goosebumps? It wasn't killing intent. No, it wasn't even Qi to begin with. 'A gaze?' If I had to say, it was a straightforward gaze. The problem was that the one sending that gaze had their back turned. Yi Seol-mae felt a slight curiosity but soon shook her head. She didn't want to cause trouble in Honam, which was under the jurisdiction of the Hyeongsan Sect, so she tried to stay still. But... 'Oh? Now you're even gauging me?' I didn't know how he was doing it, but that man was facing me in his imagination. With just a small trigger, it could turn into a bloody standoff with swords drawn. However, when the man shook his head, that image disappeared immediately.
—Tap, unable to contain her curiosity, Yi Seol-mae stood up from her seat. "Seol-mae, senior sister? What's wrong?" Yi Yeo-ran, another plum blossom swordsman sitting right next to her, looked up. Ignoring her junior sister's question, Yi Seol-mae slowly walked toward A-rang. And as soon as she saw him, she was startled. 'Blind...?' Because A-rang had his eyes closed. 'Even though he's blind, he sent such an intense gaze? No, how did he do it without even using internal energy?' Her curiosity grew, and she spoke first.
"Young hero, are you curious about me?" "....?" For a moment, Yi Seol-mae felt heat rush to her head at A-rang's expression. 'Have I gone crazy? What did I just say?' To a third party, it might look like she was flirting. And in broad daylight at an inn, no less. Fortunately, A-rang made a lame excuse, allowing her to regain her composure and continue the conversation... . . . Returning to her seat, Yi Seol-mae picked at her food while recalling the recent situation.
'He can't see, but his hands were clearly trained like a martial artist's...' Those calluses weren't built in a day. 'Did he get injured while holding a sword? Or did he pick up a sword after getting injured?' The former was possible, but if it was the latter, she could only say it was truly remarkable. And for some reason, Yi Seol-mae thought it was the latter. 'There was no scent of blood on that man...' No matter how much one tried to hide it, if you carried a sword, the scent of blood was inevitable. However, she felt no killing intent from that man, nor any scent of blood. In that assumption, Yi Seol-mae reached a conclusion. 'He reached the wall of Jeoljeong through training alone...?' How? It didn't make sense.
A Samryu could take one or two down in a mutual destruction. An Iryu could take one or two Samryu in mutual destruction. An Ilryu could take one or two Iryu in mutual destruction. And the realm beyond Ilryu, where one began to properly handle Qi, was called the realm of Jeoljeong. In that sense, it wasn't strange on the surface that A-rang, who couldn't handle Qi, had reached Ilryu. But what Yi Seol-mae found incongruous was that A-rang's body had never experienced real combat, let alone a spar. Having already witnessed Cho-jeoljeong, Yi Seol-mae felt even more strongly how bizarre this was. 'How many times did I spar to reach Ilryu...?' It must have been over a thousand. If measured by harshness, the period before reaching Jeoljeong was even harsher, so it was certain. No one died in the process, but the amount of blood shed was truly enormous. Yet the world only praised Yi Seol-mae as a genius and the blessing of the orthodox Murim.
—Grind. How was that possible? She was curious. Incredibly curious. "......." To shake off this inner demon, it seemed she needed to talk with him a bit more. Yi Seol-mae clenched her fist as if determined and slammed her chopsticks hard on the table before standing up abruptly. Then she looked at where A-rang had been.
"Huh... He's gone?" All that remained there was an empty bowl with only noodles left, the broth gone.