Regret, Decadence, Awakening (7)
Chirp~! Chirp chirp~! Chiiirp~!!
The sparrows announcing morning slowly drew my eyes open. I woke from a nightmare. I'd only gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night because I really had to pee. But then I met a rejuvenated beauty of a master, became her disciple, and she took away my precious partner Ta-gu-chan to fix my bad habits... What an absurd dream.
I let out a hollow laugh at the ridiculous content—even by my own standards—and forced my stiff body up from the floor, sore from sleeping there.
On the bed, the golden-haired little master slept soundly, breathing softly. And in her tiny white hand, gently gripped, was Ta-gu-chan.
...Come to think of it, she looked like a kid on the outside, and as my sect senior and official master, I couldn't make her sleep on the floor, so I'd given up the bed.
The sunlight-glinting golden hair and the clear breathing sounds from the bed revived my memories. It all came back.
It wasn't some midsummer night's dream. Last night, Wang Miyang had thoroughly beaten me, lectured that I couldn't grow if I got complacent with conveniences, and confiscated Ta-gu-chan.
Sima Mancheon sat on the first floor of the inn, staring down at his empty right hand and letting out a deep sigh.
As a kid, he'd been so bad without a staff that he lost his balance and could barely move. But after learning martial arts, the inner energy built up in his body made it possible even without one—not to the point of total immobility anymore.
Especially after learning the Immovable Heart Method and the esoteric external training from the Esoteric school, his leg had improved further. It was still inconvenient, but he could move pretty nimbly without a staff.
...But that was just physical. Mentally, it was a whole different story.
Like training wheels on a bike. You know you can ride forward without them, but taking them off is another matter entirely.
He'd started walking with a staff right from his first steps.
...No, to begin with, he was a cripple. His first steps had been with the staff.
To him, the staff wasn't just a wooden stick. It was his leg, his hand, the partner that supported him by his side.
It had been with him crossing high walls on winter nights to meet his revered master, risking his life to stop his cute disciple's rampage, steeling his resolve to protect his precious little sister, and creating the legend of one against fifty for the lofty sword fairy.
It had shared every important moment of his life, overcoming hardships together.
'Hey— Ta-gu-chan, you're expelled from the martial arts party starting today.'
The words he'd tossed out thoughtlessly last night stabbed at his chest. They echoed in his empty heart.
...Just having it by his side had been enough.
Comparing it to other secret arts, of all things.
"Boy... bring me a bottle of strong sorghum liquor, the potent stuff."
The errand boy hesitated at the sight of a loafer ordering booze before food in the morning, but there was no reason to refuse a paying customer, so he nodded readily.
"Right away~ What side dish would you like?"
I shook my head quietly at the boy's question.
"No need... I've already got my side dish..."
No need for tedious snacks. The sorrow of parting and precious memories were the only side dish that could soothe my gut.
The boy, looking at me with eyes full of pity for some poor soul, brought the sorghum liquor. I poured it silently into the white cup and downed it in one go.
I chewed over the memories.
I sighed in sorrow.
I drowned in sentiment.
I gazed down at my trembling, empty right hand.
I drank to forget.
But I couldn't forget.
A sigh welled up from deep inside.
A wistful ballad flowed out.
I downed another to fill the void.
I shook my head.
My singing voice exploded.
Manchen crooned, yearning for his partner.
'Baka mitai (So stupidly)'
'Dame da ne—! Dame yo—! Dame na no yo—!!'
(No good, no way, this won't do—!!)
'Anta ga suki de! Su—ki! Suki de—!!'
(Because I like you, like you so much—!!)
Float~ Float~ Happy memories swelled like balloons.
'Hehe~ Ta-gu-chan~ You're mine!' 'Ta—gu— Ta-gu! Ta-ta-gu!!'
—Memories of poaching Ta-gu-chan with a monster ball floated up.
'Doredake tsuyoi osake—te—mo.'
(No matter how much strong liquor I down)
'Yugamanai omoide ga.'
(The memories rise clear as day)
'Baka mitai...'
(So stupid...)
"...Young Master Sima, is something wrong?"
The calm, gentle voice from behind made Mancheon stop his solo mood-setting performance and turn around.
"I don't know what happened, but drinking only in the morning isn't good for your body."
There stood Namgung Soso, slightly sweaty from finishing her morning training, her face etched with concern.
I'd just gotten up early to kill time.
Looks like I'd worried her needlessly.
"...It's nothing. Thank you for your concern."
Logically, it was just a pricey wooden stick temporarily confiscated—really nothing at all.
But seeing the usually bright and bold man looking so fragile and lonely, Soso couldn't just brush it off.
For some reason—some reason—her chest tightened.
"No matter the problem, you need energy to overcome it."
And so, without thinking, Soso placed her hand on Mancheon's head and stroked it affectionately.
"I'll have some porridge prepared so you can eat comfortably. Let's have breakfast first."
Manchenon's eyes widened at the unexpected warm touch. His hunger-hollowed heart warmed, his mind growing hazy.
And so, tipsy from the booze and the cozy vibe, I threw myself into big-sis's arms and acted spoiled.
"Wahhh! I'm baby Mancheon! Nangong sis, feed me boobies!!"
"Wha... whaaat?! Y-Young Master Sima, please let go! I... I just trained, I'm all sweaty...!!"
Soso flushed, not wanting the object of her affection to smell her sweat, but Mancheon buried his face deeper into her chest.
Contrary to her worries, it only smelled sweetly pleasant.
He wanted to stay like this forever.
...But only for a moment. Having overdosed on the embrace and regressing to infancy, Mancheon suddenly deflated and uttered words he absolutely shouldn't have.
"Hiiing... Boobies too small... Where's Yeomhwa? Oppa hungwy—."
The warmth in Soso's pretty gray eyes sank in an instant.
The rest of his words didn't come.
"Guhk?!"
In that split second, an unexpected punch—even Soso herself hadn't realized it flew out unconsciously—cleanly clocked Mancheon's jaw, knocking him out.
It wasn't anger over the "small chest" comment that made her swing.
She didn't even know why her fist had moved, leaving her flustered.
Just... just one thing.
A dark shadow fell over Soso's face as she looked down at the limp Mancheon in her arms.
'Where's Yeomhwa?'
Another woman's name from Mancheon's lips felt disgustingly unpleasant—a disgustingly clear memory.
The private hot spring we rented at the inn. There, I was receiving martial arts instruction from Soso.
"Young Master Sima's bad habit... it's that your application of qi is clumsy."
After getting decked for my slip-up and passing out, Soso kindly carried me to my room, met Wang Miyang sleeping on my bed, heard the full story, and offered to help with my training.
"Teacher, I've never struggled with qi application while using forms. I don't get why you say it's clumsy."
Anyway, learning from someone better was a great experience, so I raised my hand like a model student and asked.
"That's because the staff technique you've been using is an exceptionally excellent martial art."
The answer was completely unexpected.
Soso's explanation went like this.
Circulating qi in the body from the dantian and projecting it outward were similar yet different.
I was excellent at rotating qi inside, but projecting it outside was inexplicably immature.
And ironically, the cause was the efficiency of the Dog-Beating Stick Technique I mainly used.
The Dog-Beating Stick