Not Yet Ready
Rippling Wave Sword must be something truly remarkable.
The number of martial artists we ran into kept rising.
Wow. If it was already this dangerous on the road to the Jegal Clan Manor, we really might have been in serious trouble.
Maybe it was lucky we’d taken a slightly different route? Come to think of it, that was probably heaven’s favor too.
There didn’t seem to be many ordinary wanderers.
Which meant they were all probably here because they had some real skill to begin with.
Well, of course. If you didn’t have the ability, you wouldn’t charge in like a pack of idiots unless you were just greedy and stupid.
And guys like that wouldn’t have lasted long enough to be standing here now.
Surviving this long meant they had enough skill to back it up.
This was the third group we’d met since running into Gangta Sword.
Three men. They wore black uniforms, but the bloodstains soaked through them and refused to hide.
I guess that’s why they wear black. If they’d been dressed in white, they’d already be at the point where they couldn’t walk around in public.
When he spotted them from a distance, Gukseon gave me a brief instruction.
He told me to go on alone. Said he would always be behind me, so I shouldn’t worry.
I wasn’t especially happy about that. It felt a little too much like a sting operation.
Of course, it would be normal not to harbor any wicked thoughts in the first place, but still.
That’s easier said than done.
I walked alone, and when the three men noticed me, they looked faintly startled. They exchanged quick glances, then came toward me at speed.
They spread out expertly, surrounding me from a distance.
They didn’t seem to care much about my hair color or the enormous greatsword in my hand.
Were they really that confident?
I didn’t bother opening my mouth either. The other side was already full of murderous intent, so what was the point?
Waste of time.
The greatsword I’d taken from the second group was about two-thirds the size of Paeng Jeon-ho’s Jungcheolbungdo.
It also felt like it weighed less than a quarter as much.
But still, this was a sword. Not a dao.
So I’d thrown away the dao I’d been using and switched to this instead.
After all, I had to use a sword, not a dao.
When I held a dao, my Yuyu Mugeuk Sword Technique didn’t improve.
That was the conclusion I’d reached after swinging it around for a while. Probably obvious, really.
It would’ve been shameless to expect sword proficiency to rise just because I was wielding a dao.
Anyway, with the greatsword in hand, I feigned caution, as if I were waiting to see who would lunge first, then immediately charged the man on my left.
First strike, first win. There were too many of them to just give them exactly what they wanted. That would’ve been stupid.
So I struck first.
The greatsword was held in both hands as I swung it, though the motion wasn’t especially fast compared with my charge.
Seeing that, the black-clad man’s face twisted into a sneer. Then he thrust his sword at me with a sharp, precise line.
Unfortunately for him, that was exactly the sword path I wanted.
I’d guided him into it. I’d deliberately shown an opening.
Yuyu Mugeuk Sword Technique is a heavy sword style, a medium sword style. And it’s also a blunt sword style.
Blunt sword. A subtlety misunderstood because of its reputation as a slow sword.
Blunt sword is difficult. It is a sword of absolute calculation, and just as absolute in its effect.
The blade shot toward my shoulder, and I twisted the greatsword in my hands to smash it down on the incoming strike.
It was a movement only possible because I’d already been prepared for it. The black-clad man was thoroughly startled by the response.
But it was already too late. With a tremendous bang, he lost his sword, and shock flashed across his face.
My greatsword swept through the air. But again, right at the last instant, I idiotically twisted the blade a little so that the flat struck him instead.
Thwack! The man managed to block it with his arm. I heard a sickening crack, so his right shoulder, arm, and ribs were probably not in good shape.
Then he was sent flying by the greatsword, collapsing in a pathetic heap.
As he hit the ground, the other two exchanged a look.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, they fled in opposite directions.
Seriously. They all did that. Was that the secret to surviving long enough to reach this age?
But before they’d even taken a few steps, one of the men had his head cleanly severed and dropped to the ground.
Gukseon appeared in that very spot, lifting one hand lightly. The dead man’s sword rose into the air, then shot forward like an arrow.
“Aaaah!”
The man who’d glanced back saw it happen and screamed before he could stop himself.
Right. It’s not easy to stay calm when you’ve already seen your own death. That was probably the normal reaction.
With a wet thunk, the sword drove into the fleeing man’s back, and he crumpled without ceremony.
Since it was Gukseon who’d done it, there wasn’t likely to be any mistake about it.
Dead. The sword had pierced his heart, so he’d probably died before he even hit the ground.
In the blink of an eye, Gukseon had cut down two men. She strode toward me with heavy steps, clicked her tongue, and said,
“Are you still hesitating?”
“I’m sorry. But….”
“Enough. If I scold you for not killing them, I’ll just look like some horrible woman. There’s a time for everything.”
Then Gukseon gave her sword a casual sweep, and the neck of the man who’d been pinned to the ground by my greatsword was severed as well.
A sword without the slightest hesitation. An act that made me stop and think about what mercy with the hand of a master even meant.
That was definitely a problem.
I still couldn’t keep cutting people down. Up until now I’d been able to restrain them, but at the decisive moment, I couldn’t bring myself to kill.
That wasn’t because I was especially good or anything like that.
I was just a modern person who wasn’t used to killing at all.
It felt like my body itself was rejecting it.
But… I knew enough to understand that this was a spoiled thought. A luxurious one.
So before I got thoroughly burned by it once, I needed to steel my heart. Clearly.
“Still, that was pretty good just now.”
I lowered my head slightly, and Gukseon looked at me for a moment before turning away and saying,
“Then let’s go. Those filthy things keep clinging to us, so if we hurry, we’ll be able to avoid the dawn dew somewhere with a roof over our heads.”
“Yes, senior sister.”
So Gukseon and I set off again. Without much conversation. Quietly.
Fortunately, we managed to enter a nearby city before sunset, and Gukseon naturally took the lead.
Ah. This isn’t an inn—it’s a guesthouse. A pretty big one, too.
As soon as we entered, the people there recognized Gukseon and greeted her respectfully.
Gukseon was of the same standing as the chief of an established sect or clan.
And considering her reputation, it was only natural that most people wouldn’t even be able to meet her eyes and would bow their heads.
Maybe that’s why the proprietor rushed out in a fluster, bowing and scraping as he personally offered to guide us to a room.
“You’ll need bathwater prepared. I’ve seen quite a lot of blood today, so I ought to wash it off.”
“Of course, of course. I’ll have it prepared immediately.”
The proprietor said that and quickly sent someone to get everything ready.
Gukseon seemed completely at ease with that kind of treatment, and she wore a satisfied expression. Then she turned to me and said,
“You should bathe with me as well. I don’t particularly like the smell of blood on my body.”
At that, I couldn’t help flinching.
Bathed together? Well, I guess it didn’t matter since we were both women. But… uh, hm.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t find a good reason to refuse. Should I say I’d bathe after she was done? But that would just feel like I was blatantly dodging it.
“Yes, senior sister.”
In the end, that was all I could say. Gukseon nodded with a faintly pleased look on her face.
A little later, when a maid came in to say the bathwater was ready, Gukseon got up at once.
“Come along.”
I wasn’t prepared at all, but I had no choice but to follow.
The bath had been set up in a rather tidy place.
Was this because it was for women? It wasn’t that large.
Still, I was surprised that the tub itself was made of stone. Did they really get enough use out of it? Ah, maybe it wasn’t just for women. If it was for VIP guests, that would make sense.
While I was thinking that, Gukseon casually stripped off her black uniform.
I startled and hurriedly turned my gaze away, but not before getting a full, unavoidable look at her body.
To someone who didn’t know her, she could have passed for a woman in her late twenties. Maybe even younger?
What was clear was that there wasn’t a single sagging or loosened part anywhere on her.
Long live internal energy. Or maybe Gukseon had learned something extra in that department?
In any case, once she was naked, she draped a length of cloth around herself, then walked over, dipped a hand into the bathwater, and smiled with satisfaction.
Then she stepped into the tub full of floating medicinal herbs, sank into the water, closed her eyes, and wore a leisurely, loosened expression before looking at me and saying,
“Did you come to serve me? The tub is wide. Come in already.”
“Yes….”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I turned away, fidgeted, and took off my uniform. Then, just as she had, I wrapped the cloth around my body.
Still, thank goodness. At least I didn’t have to go in completely naked.
If I had, I really wouldn’t have known where to put my eyes. That would’ve been mortifying.
So I climbed into the tub, dipped my feet in, and then lowered my whole body into the water.
Soaking in the hot water immediately made me feel better.
Human beings really are creatures that instinctively crave warmth.
But once I got in, the cloth wrapped around me didn’t seem especially meaningful.
Now that it was wet and clinging to my body… it somehow felt even sluttier than just being naked.
Especially on Gukseon’s side, where I couldn’t really look at all.
The real problem was that Gukseon was staring directly at me.
Without saying a word. Just those calm, unreadable eyes fixed on me.
“Senior sister…?”
“What is it.”
“Did I perhaps make a mistake?”
“Don’t mind it.”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t I tell you? Don’t mind it.”
But looking at Gukseon like that, something suddenly occurred to me.
This wasn’t the time to just let it slide. It was the kind of moment where I had to say something.
“Senior sister?”
“What is it.”
“May I ask you something?”
Having received permission, I carefully chose my words.
I needed to be careful not to sound even slightly abrasive. No matter how kindly she treated me, this woman was still Gukseon. An older Gukseon.
So I couldn’t so much as brush against that matter with a feather. I had to speak as gently as possible. Carefully.
“How can I… keep my youthful appearance like you have?”
After saying that, I held my breath and watched Gukseon’s reaction.
And I was certain I hadn’t gotten a perfect score, but I had at least asked a question worth seventy or eighty points.
Because Gukseon slowly smiled.