Becoming an Adult Means This (4)
Namgung Dan stared blankly at Dang So-so as she approached with light, almost dainty steps, his mind gone completely empty.
This is... what exactly is going on?
So that meant... that Dang So-so was going to take him on?
With the sword in her hand?
Namgung Dan turned around in bewilderment. The other Namgung Clan swordsmen didn’t seem much different from him.
Right, so I’m not the one losing my mind here, am I?
The absurdity had gone so far beyond reason that he was beginning to wonder if he’d somehow misunderstood everything.
Namgung Dan looked at Cheong Myeong and spoke.
"...Um, Daoist."
"Yeah?"
Hearing that casual reply made something flare hot in his chest, but Namgung Dan forced the boiling feeling back down.
"You want me to spar with Dang So-so nu-nim right now?"
"What, you think it’s some grand, formal sparring match? It’s just practice."
Cheong Myeong snorted. Namgung Dan bit his lip hard enough to hurt.
The reason he was reacting like this was simple. The opponent was Dang So-so.
Is he looking down on me?
Dang So-so was born of the Sichuan Tang Clan. The Namgung Clan and the Sichuan Tang Clan had long exchanged blows and politeness alike as two of the Five Great Families competing for the lead among them. In other words, they had known each other since childhood.
Naturally, Namgung Dan knew very well how Dang So-so had lived.
The Sichuan Tang Clan did not pass down its secret techniques to women. So Dang So-so hadn’t received any proper martial training until she entered Mount Hua.
Of course, she would have learned some basic internal cultivation and a few simple techniques, but compared with Namgung Dan, who had endured the Namgung Clan’s brutal training since he was little, she was hardly someone one could even call a martial artist.
And yet... to pit me against someone like that...
Even if Dang So-so had entered Mount Hua and started learning swordsmanship in earnest, how many years had she really had?
At the Namgung Clan, someone who had only trained that long wouldn’t even be given a true sword. If you only counted the years she’d spent on the sword, she had barely crawled out of the beginner stage. How could they possibly put someone like that up against him?
This was, by any common sense, nonsense.
"Daoist. Please think about this again. This is..."
"Ah, you’re awfully talkative."
Cheong Myeong said it while picking at his ear.
"What’s there to think over like it’s some huge deal? If you’ve got something to say, then win first and say it after. Simple, right?"
Namgung Dan’s face hardened. He glared at Cheong Myeong with eyes full of complicated emotion, then said in a cool voice, "Please don’t regret this."
"Yeah, yeah."
At Cheong Myeong’s halfhearted answer, Namgung Dan looked at Dang So-so. For some reason, she looked delighted, smiling from ear to ear.
As if this situation didn’t burden her in the slightest.
"Haa."
He sighed at her calm expression. Just as he lifted a foot to step forward, a voice from behind caught at his ankle and held him back.
"Big brother!"
"Big brother, this is..."
"I’ll go instead. This isn’t a fight you need to take on."
"No matter how you look at it, big brother should not be the one to..."
"Enough."
Namgung Dan cut them off firmly.
"Sometimes one action is worth more than a hundred words. I’ll handle it myself, so you lot just watch."
"...But..."
"I said enough, didn’t I?"
The Namgung Clan swordsmen nodded. Even so, they couldn’t completely erase the dissatisfaction from their faces.
They knew perfectly well who Dang So-so was, too. So from the very beginning, the fact that they were trying to determine the outcome by having Namgung Dan fight Dang So-so felt like an open slight against the Namgung Clan.
Namgung Dan felt the pressure squeezing his chest.
And why wouldn’t he be angry? But if he let his dissatisfaction spill out now, it would only put Namgung Dowi in an even more difficult position. So for the moment, he could only prove himself with his sword.
Namgung Dan walked forward and stood before Dang So-so. Straightening himself, he met her eyes and said, "It’s been a while, nu-nim."
"Mm. It has been a while, Dan."
They’d already crossed paths a few times since coming here, but they hadn’t had a chance to properly greet each other like this. After offering the belated greeting, Namgung Dan let out a breath and said, "You must have had a hard time too, nu-nim."
"Hard time? If I started talking about it, I could go ten days straight without stopping."
"...That sounds about right."
The practical martial clothes, the plain hair that fit the word “simple,” and even that bare face without makeup. She was so different from the Dang So-so he remembered.
His eyes slid briefly to the sword at her waist. Not only had her appearance changed, she was now wearing a sword as well, and somehow Dang So-so looked terribly awkward.
"Nu-nim."
"What?"
"Would you mind saying something first?"
"Huh?"
Namgung Dan shook his head.
"Don’t misunderstand me, nu-nim. I’m not saying this to look down on you, absolutely not."
Namgung Dan wasn’t stupid.
In terms of raw physical ability, they had already been crushed by Dang So-so. That alone made it impossible not to understand how hard she’d been training since entering Mount Hua.
Far from looking down on her, he felt admiration—honestly, even respect.
Besides...
Namgung Dan’s gaze drifted toward Dang So-so’s hands.
The countless small scars etched across them weren’t marks made by the Tang Clan’s hidden weapons; they were clearly sword cuts. Had Namgung Dan ever trained so hard that his hands ended up like that?
"Anyone with two eyes can tell you’ve worked hard, nu-nim. But... swordsmanship isn’t something built up over time?"
"... "
"Maybe later, not now. For your dignity, this ridiculous sparring match..."
"Dignity?"
"Yes."
Namgung Dan didn’t dislike Dang So-so. There was no reason to. Because of that, he didn’t want to defeat her in front of everyone either.
After all, this was practically a contest with the result already decided. As a proud Namgung Clan swordsman, how could he be happy winning something like that?
"There are a lot of people watching, aren’t there?"
"Hmm."
Dang So-so nodded as if that made sense.
"Of course..."
Namgung Dan started to say, then glanced back over his shoulder.
"It won’t be easy to convince that one, but if you say it, nu-nim..."
"You."
Dang So-so cut him off mid-sentence, and Namgung Dan jerked his eyes back to her.
Her large eyes had narrowed to slits.
"I thought you used to be a little sharper than this."
"Pardon?"
"Looks like you’ve really gone downhill."
"...What..."
She asked with a flat face, "Are you still saying things like dignity and all that out of your own mouth?"
"...N-nu-nim."
Namgung Dan could only stare at her in bewilderment, unable to close his mouth. The dignity he had spoken of wasn’t Namgung’s dignity, but Dang So-so’s. And she was twisting it like this...
"As your older sister, I’ll tell you one thing."
"Pardon?"
"A swordsman’s dignity isn’t upheld with the mouth..."
Tap.
Dang So-so lightly tapped the sword at her waist.
"It’s upheld with the sword."
Namgung Dan’s face stiffened. Dang So-so smiled brightly and looked at him like that.
"Don’t you think so?"
"... "
Schiiing.
Without another word, Namgung Dan drew his sword.
"...If you insist, then I’ll gladly learn a few things."
"No, wait a minute."
"Yes?"
Dang So-so waved a hand lightly.
"Let’s use wooden swords instead of real ones."
"... "
"I was going to use real swords if possible, but looking at you, I think wood is better."
Namgung Dan was genuinely at a loss. She had been scared of sparring with real swords, and yet what on earth had possessed her to say such full-of-herself things?
"How’s that?"
"...Anything is fine with me."
"Good. Saje! Throw me two wooden swords here!"
But the truly absurd part started there.
At Dang So-so’s gaze, Yoon Jong said with a face full of open reluctance, "Uh... So-so."
He was actually sweating as he tried to stop her.
"Do you really need wooden swords too..."
"Why not?"
"N-no... I mean, do you really need to go that far? It seems like you could just use real swords and..."
"I said hurry up and give them to me."
"... "
Yoon Jong looked back and forth between Dang So-so and Namgung Dan, thoroughly flustered. Then, as if he couldn’t decide what to do, he abruptly turned to Baek Cheon.
Baek Cheon nodded.
"Give them to her."
"S-sasuk."
"It’s fine, just give them."
"... "
With even Baek Cheon being this firm, Yoon Jong could only let out a long sigh and pick up the two wooden swords lying nearby, tossing them to Dang So-so.
"...Go easy, So-so."
"Mm-hmm."
Dang So-so caught the wooden swords Yoon Jong had thrown her with both hands. Then she tossed one to Namgung Dan.
Pak.
Namgung Dan caught the wooden sword in a daze and looked at Dang So-so with a sour expression. What exactly was this supposed to be?
"...May I begin now?"
Clutching the wooden sword in his hand, Namgung Dan took a middle guard stance.
"I’ll learn a few things."
Normally there would have been a formal introduction of status and affiliation, but he didn’t bother. He didn’t want to acknowledge this ridiculous match as a proper spar in the first place.
Let’s end this quickly.
Whatever Dang So-so could do was obvious.
She would no doubt rely on the Tang Clan’s quick footwork and pick at him from a distance. The Tang Clan’s martial arts had similarities to Mount Hua’s swordsmanship anyway.
As long as he didn’t get dazzled by flashy sword techniques, there was no way Namgung Dan would be in danger.
Of course, Dang So-so might use those flashy sword forms to draw things out into a war of attrition and wear him down with her superior stamina.
But that only works if she can survive my sword first!
He held no grudge against Dang So-so, but right now he was carrying the pride of the Namgung Clan on his shoulders. If he wanted to change the mood of this situation, in which the Namgung Clan was being looked down on, he needed an overwhelming victory.
Crack.
Namgung Dan tightened his grip on the sword and dug strength into the tips of his feet.
I’ll overwhelm her in one breath and finish this!
He leveled a forceful glare at Dang So-so. The muscles in his whole body, filled with inner energy, tensed like taut cords.
Here I go!
His foot slammed into the ground.
"Taa... agh!"
But the battle cry that had been bursting from Namgung Dan’s stomach was abruptly jammed in his throat. The instant his foot hit the ground, Dang So-so had literally appeared right in front of him.
W-what!
Dang So-so’s sword came crashing down toward his head with ferocious speed. Gasping, Namgung Dan hurriedly raised his own sword.
Kuuung!
The two wooden swords collided violently just above his head.
Th-that was close...
Namgung Dan clenched his teeth. Even knowing the other girl’s footwork was exceptional, he had nearly been caught.
But this is over now.
If the ambush hadn’t worked, then all that remained was skill. And Dang So-so had made a mistake. Once the distance was this close, there would be no room for her flashy sword techniques.
I’ll end this in one stroke!
Namgung Dan shoved back against the sword pressing down on him and swung his own blade. No—he tried to swing it.
Crack!
Huh?
At that moment, his gaze involuntarily shot upward.
The sword Dang So-so should have been forced away was still pressing down on his own.
What...
He poured more inner energy into it and tried once more to knock Dang So-so’s sword aside.
Crack!
But in that instant his wrist twisted. Dang So-so’s sword was pinning him down, sword and all.
"Ugh..."
His arm started trembling violently.
W-what is this?
Cold sweat prickled all the way down Namgung Dan’s spine.
It felt as though a mountain of iron and stone had been placed atop his sword. No matter how hard he strained, all he could do was get crushed; he couldn’t shake it off.
Panicked, Namgung Dan stared at Dang So-so with bulging eyes.
Dang So-so, still smiling brightly, looked back at him and grinned even wider.
"First," she said.
"... "
"Take one hit."
"Wh—?"
Then a terrifying force came crashing down on Namgung Dan’s sword.
As if time itself had slowed, everything in Namgung Dan’s eyes became crystal clear: the way his wrist bent, and the way the wooden sword in his hand dropped savagely toward his forehead.
Huh? Wait, this can’t be—
Huh?
KUUUUUUUUUNG!
The tremendous roar created by a human head and a hard wooden sword exploded across the entire estate with painful clarity.