Manyaja
Once Guksun had made up her mind, there was no wasted motion in the way she moved.
We encountered the group still chasing the Rippling Wave Sword several times along the way, but Guksun never once stopped to deal with them individually.
She only released a whisper of her aura.
And every time, the ones who met it went white as sheets and fled for their lives.
If someone could stand before that kind of presence and still charge in, then they weren’t human—they were a moth, all instinct and no thought.
Thanks to that, Guksun and I reached Kaifeng in just two days without any trouble at all.
Even after we arrived, Guksun’s fire didn’t cool one bit.
She marched straight into the Murim Alliance and grabbed the first person she saw, barking, “I heard that Manyaja has come to Kaifeng! Tell me exactly where he is!”
But not everyone in the Murim Alliance knew every scrap of information.
The unfortunate man who’d been seized on the spot did recognize Guksun, so he stammered and fumbled that he didn’t know.
“Not knowing is nothing to brag about! Then bring someone who does know before this one’s eyes!”
So that was it. That was Guksun’s true nature.
When she was with me, she’d merely seemed a little prickly.
She was even rather kind to me, too.
But watching her now, I understood at last.
She was absolutely not the sort of person one should associate with lightly. That much was clear.
Soon enough, one of the Alliance members hurried off to fetch someone who knew where Manyaja was.
The moment Guksun heard the answer, she immediately turned and left the Alliance. Not even a thank-you.
So I was left with no choice but to bow my head apologetically, wearing an awkward expression, and the man from the Alliance looked at me and broke into a bashful grin.
“Don’t go smiling at just anyone or bowing your head so easily. What are you, a courtesan?”
Once we were outside the Alliance, Guksun threw that line at me.
Normally I would have let it pass, but this time I was a little taken aback, so I answered back.
“I wasn’t exactly smiling at anyone. And I don’t think expressing gratitude is something to be ashamed of.”
“Hmph. You still don’t understand, do you? A child like you mustn’t smile so freely. Do you think I’m scolding strangers for no reason?”
…No, really? That wasn’t just her personality? She was doing it on purpose?
“I won’t say more, because this is something you must learn by living. But one day, you’ll understand what I mean.”
With that, as if she had no intention of discussing it any further, Guksun quickened her pace.
I still didn’t fully understand her, but I had grasped the gist of what she meant, so I stopped asking questions and followed after her.
The place Guksun led me to was a blacksmith’s forge beside the river.
Thump, thump, thump—probably the sound of iron being hammered. Hearing it like this, though, felt strangely comforting.
Maybe it was because the rhythm was steady and multiple hammers were striking in concert? It sounded almost like music.
When we stepped inside, a man who had been pushing a cart spotted Guksun, jumped in alarm, and hurried over so fast he nearly tripped over himself. He bowed so deeply his back almost folded in half.
“Lady Guksun, what brings you to a place like this…?”
“I heard that Manyaja is here.”
“Yes, yes. He said he would use the forge, so he’s been working in there.”
“Tell him I’ve arrived.”
“Well… if I may be so bold, you can’t see the old master right now. He said not to let anyone in while he’s handling the metal….”
“You’re worrying about useless things. Stop talking nonsense and go tell him.”
“B-but….”
The man looked flustered, but Guksun only stared at him with cold, sharp eyes.
“Understood….”
In the end, he slunk back inside like a chastened puppy.
Honestly… this was the very definition of acting as if the world revolved around her. Was it really all right for me to keep traveling with someone like this?
A moment later, the man came back out with a miserable expression and said, “He says you may come in.”
“There, you see? What did I tell you?”
And with a smug air, Guksun followed him inside.
Good grief. Why did she think bullying her way through everything was the natural order of things?
No, wait. Was that just how things worked in Murim? Did being polite actually make you look like a sucker?
When we entered the workshop, where the heat was already pouring out in waves, I saw an old man.
He stood before a roaring furnace, hammer in hand, staring at us with narrowed eyes.
Then the old man saw Guksun and shouted at the top of his lungs, “You damned girl! Why the hell do you never listen to a single word I say, huh?! Do you think this world bends just because you yell at it?!”
Wow. That felt amazing.
That force. That content.
Good heavens—was this old man some kind of peerless master? He could actually shout that way at Guksun?
“Why do you start yelling the moment you see my face? You’re being noisy. I came here because I had business with you, didn’t I? And didn’t we get here just fine?”
What surprised me even more was Guksun’s reaction.
She wasn’t arguing? She wasn’t getting angry? Seriously?
And on top of that, she was somehow being polite about it?
“I clearly told them not to let anyone in, and yet you barged in while throwing a tantrum. That must mean you had a good reason. Fine! Let’s hear it, then!”
“Please make a sword for this child.”
“Hah?”
The old man’s eyes then turned toward me.
He looked like a man who had never trained in martial arts a day in his life.
And yet his gaze was as piercing as any peerless expert’s.
Just being looked at made it feel as if every last detail about me was being laid bare and dissected.
“An Ice Palace girl, are you? Even if that’s true, this still doesn’t seem like something you’d go this far for.”
Then Guksun smiled, a deep, knowing smile.
Why was she smiling like that? It somehow felt like the smile of victory.
“Master Manyaja. Of all the swords you possess, which is the heaviest?”
“Why are you asking something like that all of a sudden?”
“Would you lend it to me? I’d like to show you something good.”
Manyaja frowned as if he’d just heard something absurd and looked at Guksun.
But soon enough, he set down the hammer with a clang, shaking his head as he walked toward the door behind him.
For all his grumbling, he didn’t seem to dismiss Guksun’s words as nonsense.
Watching them, I could tell they were rough with each other, but there was an odd sort of trust between them.
Before long, Manyaja came back carrying a greatsword.
It was smaller than Paeng Jeon-ho’s Jungcheolbungdo, but it was still a greatsword—about as tall as I was.
“There. I brought it. So?”
“Child, take it and show him how you use a sword. The one you showed last time will do. The Splintering Light Sword Art, was it?”
Even now, Manyaja still wore that bizarre expression at Guksun’s words.
When I stepped forward, he looked at the greatsword once, then at me again and asked, “You’re saying you can wield this?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What nonsense is this… Hah. Fine, take it.”
Manyaja lifted the greatsword and held it out to me.
The moment he hefted it, the cords of muscle in his thick arms stood out slightly, which told me it was by no means a light weapon.
I took it, and honestly, I was surprised.
“It’s smaller than Jungcheolbungdo, but it feels heavier…?”
Manyaja blinked at me, looking dumbfounded.
“You know Jungcheolbungdo? The Paeng Clan’s Jungcheolbungdo?”
“Yes. I’ve heard of it through a connection.”
“You’ve heard of it? You mean those Paeng brutes actually let you swing it around?”
“Pardon? Well… yes.”
“Ha ha! No, no, never mind that! Even if I accept that—how in the world are you able to lift this thing!?”
“Well… because I can lift it?”
“You can lift it!? That Mangjung Sword!?”
“Why stop at lifting? Come outside and watch the child swing it around!”
Guksun wore a triumphant expression, while Manyaja stared at me as though he could not possibly make sense of what he was seeing.
We went outside the forge to a fairly open yard, and I took my stance with the Mangjung Sword in hand.
The grip was snug in my palm. The blade was heavy.
It felt nothing like the crudely handled greatswords those bandits who’d been chasing the Rippling Wave Sword carried.
It was less like holding a greatsword and more like hefting a steel pillar.
That only made me curious what it would feel like to swing it.
Last time I’d swung Jungcheolbungdo, my martial arts hadn’t been applied properly, so I’d just been flailing around with brute force.
“Go on, then.”
“Yes, senior sister.”
Then I gripped the sword in one hand, fixed my gaze on the empty air, and started to swing.
I began with the Lingering Waves Unfettered Sword Art.
Normally this wasn’t a sword technique meant to be unleashed with a greatsword, so my posture felt a little unstable, but my raw strength supported it well enough that it didn’t matter.
And so I carried the Mangjung Sword through the entire form from start to finish.
When the Lingering Waves Unfettered Sword Art ended, I moved straight into the Splintering Light Sword Art.
Unlike the slow but forceful sword stance from before, this one made a dreadful whooshing sound every time I swung it.
Of course it did. The Splintering Light Sword Art was, at its core, a swift sword technique.
But when you tried to unleash a fast sword style with a weapon this absurdly blunt and heavy, it was only natural that the result sounded horrifying.
I let out a breath.
When I finished the form and looked at the two of them, Guksun wore a satisfied expression as she watched me.
And Manyaja… his jaw was hanging open so far it looked as if his eyes might pop out.
“How, how is that even possible?! Do you know why this is called the Mangjung Sword? It’s called that because they made it needlessly heavy and ruined it!”
“At this point… it feels manageable.”
Manyaja still stared at me in utter disbelief.
Then Guksun, looking entirely self-satisfied, said to him, “Master Manyaja. Surely you understand now why I said what I did? So please make me a sword. Nothing as huge as this one is necessary. A normal-sized sword will do. But… you do have some black iron, don’t you?”
At the mention of black iron, Manyaja whipped his head toward Guksun.
“You girl! That’s something you can’t even melt down properly! What are you planning to do with that?!”
“I’ll help you this time.”
“What did you say?! You—”
“Hah. Please stop with the ‘girl, girl, girl’ business. Are you really going to keep doing this in front of the child?”
Guksun wore a look of total victory from beginning to end.
Most likely, making my sword wasn’t her only purpose here.
In other words, it felt like she was using me as a convenient excuse while she took the chance to get one over on Manyaja.
Manyaja listened to her, stroked his beard, and fell into serious thought.
But to me, the answer already seemed obvious, and I could guess what he was going to say.
“Fine! All right! We’ll do it! We’ll make it! What’s so hard about that that I couldn’t?”
At that answer, Guksun’s smile deepened even further.
And yet she’d told me not to smile carelessly. She sure smiled plenty herself. Really, what a strange woman.