Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Two People's Hearts
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I parted ways with Hwa-ryeon and wandered aimlessly through the grounds of the Namgung Clan manor.
My mind was still replaying what she had said last night, leaving me in a state of utter confusion.
“Haa…”
I let out a deep sigh—who knew how many times this was now?—and kept walking until I heard shouts of exertion coming from somewhere nearby.
-Hup! Hah!
“…Hm?”
Snapping out of my daze, I looked up to find that the surroundings felt quite familiar.
And well they should—this was right in front of the training ground where I had sparred with Namgung Hyun just yesterday.
The shouts were coming straight from the training ground.
Wondering who could be training so diligently this early in the morning, I pushed open the gate and stepped inside.
When I saw who was practicing there, my eyes went wide.
“…Young Master?”
It was him.
None other than Namgung Hyun, swinging his sword in the training ground.
Miss Seol, who was always glued to his side, must have been left behind somewhere, because he was practicing alone with great focus.
“Hup! Hah!”
He must have been at it for quite a while—his entire body and his worn training robes were soaked through with sweat.
He was probably ramping up his training in preparation for the martial tournament.
Seeing him like that made me feel pathetic for being so preoccupied with Hwa-ryeon’s words.
With the martial tournament that would decide the fate of the entire Namgung Clan right around the corner, I had completely forgotten about the urgent matter at hand while lost in thoughts of her.
Get it together, me.
-Clap clap!
I shook my head and slapped my cheeks to steel myself.
The sound must have been louder than I thought, because Namgung Hyun suddenly noticed I had entered the training ground and stopped his practice.
He roughly wiped the sweat from his forehead with his robe sleeve, then waved at me happily.
“Young Master Goon, good morning.”
“Yes, you’re at it bright and early.”
“Ahaha… I just can’t seem to calm my mind. I’m feeling… a bit anxious.”
Namgung Hyun gave an awkward smile.
I could certainly understand how he felt.
In just a few days, the martial tournament that would determine his clan’s future would begin.
And he was set to represent the clan there.
In other words, the fate of the Namgung Clan rested squarely on his shoulders.
The pressure must have been immense.
“So that’s why you’ve been swinging your sword since morning?”
“Yes. Whenever my head gets cluttered, swinging the sword like this clears away the stray thoughts.”
Namgung Hyun gazed down at the sword in his hand with subdued eyes.
Seeing him quietly steeling his resolve only made me feel more ashamed for being so distracted by last night’s events.
“Ahem.”
To shake off the embarrassment, I cleared my throat briefly, but Namgung Hyun posed a question.
“But what brings you here so early in the morning?”
“Uh… before that, could I ask you one thing?”
“Hm? Oh, sure. Go ahead.”
I cut straight to the point as he tilted his head.
“You sparred with it yourself yesterday—the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship. What did you think? I heard the clan lord’s assessment, but I haven’t heard yours yet, Young Master.”
At my question, Namgung Hyun closed his eyes for a moment, as if recalling yesterday’s spar.
A beat later, he opened them and spoke.
“It was truly an astonishing sword art. The speed was unbelievable. For a moment, I thought the sword had multiplied into several blades. And that downward strike that made me drop my sword—it was strangely heavy. It felt like I’d been bewitched or something.”
A gleam of admiration shone in his eyes.
Fortunately, the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship had left quite a favorable impression on him.
Thinking this might resolve things more smoothly than expected, I made my proposal to Namgung Hyun right away.
“Then, how about learning it? The Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship.”
“…Pardon?”
Namgung Hyun looked as if he hadn’t quite grasped my offer at first.
Even after a moment, when understanding dawned, his face showed disbelief.
“You’re saying you’ll teach me a technique you created yourself, with no strings attached?”
No strings?
Making the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship the Namgung Clan’s signature technique—that was my true aim! …But I couldn’t exactly say that.
Fortunately, I already had a plausible excuse prepared.
“The truth is, the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship is still incomplete.”
“Incomplete…?”
“Yes. I originally planned for eight forms, but I’ve only finished the first four.”
This wasn’t just an excuse.
The Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship really was unfinished.
Only the first four forms were truly complete enough to call proper techniques.
For the latter four, I only had vague images in my mind—no concrete shapes yet.
“I’d like your help completing those latter four forms, Young Master.”
“Well… I’m not sure what help I could possibly offer…”
Namgung Hyun reacted skeptically to my words.
So I explained exactly what kind of help I needed.
“Specifically, I want to reference the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique for completing the latter four forms.”
“…!”
Namgung Hyun’s eyes flew wide open in surprise.
And who could blame him? I was asking him to share one of his clan’s signature sword arts.
He realized now that my offer to teach him the technique for free came with a price.
A flicker of conflict crossed his face.
He was weighing my proposal inwardly.
I felt no anxiety that he might refuse.
I had seen the intense light in his eyes when I first asked if he wanted to learn it.
And as I predicted, after some deliberation, Namgung Hyun nodded.
“…Very well. I accept your proposal. I’ll speak to my father about it.”
Hearing his answer, I beamed like the world had lit up.
It felt like the Namgung Clan was acknowledging the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship I had created, and I could envision a future where it became their representative technique. Joy welled up inside me.
Just like that, I completely forgot about Hwa-ryeon and dove into teaching and developing the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship with Namgung Hyun.
*
While Goon Ja-seong was resolving to teach Namgung Hyun the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship, Hwa-ryeon was back in her room at the guest quarters, inwardly groaning.
‘I must be crazy, Hwa-ryeon. I’ve lost my mind.’
She recalled the words she had blurted out last night in a surge of emotion, without thinking.
-There’s also the part where I don’t want to part with you, Young Master… That’s why I asked to come along…
‘What was I even thinking saying that…!’
Those words made it sound like she— like she toward Young Master Goon…
‘Aaaah-!’
A silent scream echoed in Hwa-ryeon’s mouth.
Her usual calm and composed demeanor was nowhere to be found; right now, she had completely lost her reason.
And the cause was obvious.
In Hwa-ryeon’s mind, the scene from last night kept replaying, over and over without end.
-Ten years is more than enough time to grow attached, no matter how we started.
“…Stop.”
-If I hadn’t followed you, and we had parted ways like that, only for me to hear later that you had died… I probably would have been furious.
“Stop…!”
-I would have blamed myself for what I was doing while you were dying.
“Stop!”
“Kyaa!?”
Unable to bear the voice of Goon Ja-seong lingering in her ears any longer, she shouted aloud—only for a shriek to come from beside her.
Hwa-ryeon snapped to her senses and turned to see Seol staring at her with round eyes.
“……”
Only then did Hwa-ryeon realize the spectacle she had made. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip.
She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a mouse hole from the embarrassment.
“M-Miss? Are you alright?”
“…Yes. I’m fine. Just… a bit tired, that’s all.”
“Doesn’t seem like it…”
Seol tilted her head at Hwa-ryeon’s lame excuse but didn’t press further.
No—she couldn’t.
In all the years she had served Hwa-ryeon, she had never seen her like this.
In other words, Seol was just as flustered as Hwa-ryeon.
‘What in the world happened last night…?’
Seol shared a room with Hwa-ryeon as usual.
That was why she knew Hwa-ryeon had started acting strangely after returning from somewhere last night.
‘…She seems to have met Young Master Goon.’
Had the two of them fought? They had seemed a bit distant when they met earlier.
Raised between a master obsessed only with martial arts and a nominal disciple with no interest in such things, Seol was far more ignorant about matters between men and women than her peers.
Unable to reach any firm conclusion, Seol began inwardly groaning alongside Hwa-ryeon.
Of course, no answers would magically appear from thin air.
In the end, the two women’s separate torments continued for several days.
*
Over the next few days, I taught the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship to Namgung Hyun.
Of course, before the swordsmanship itself, there were some prerequisites I had to teach first.
One of them was the concept of projecting internal energy outside the body.
I explained how to emit internal energy through the meridians and demonstrated it myself.
Namgung Hyun was greatly astonished to learn the secret behind movements that transcended human limits.
“To think internal energy could be used like this…!”
…Is it really that surprising?
From my perspective, I wanted to ask why no one had ever thought to use internal energy this way.
I gave a wry smile inwardly and cautioned him.
“But this will limit your use of protective energy, so be careful about that.”
“Ah, right.”
Namgung Hyun nodded seriously.
It took two days for him to fully grasp and internalize the concept of emitting internal energy.
Thanks to my experience teaching my companions, I had gotten the knack of it.
Starting from the morning of the third day, we began the proper transmission of the Soaring Palace Unhindered Swordsmanship.
Since he had picked up energy projection quickly, I expected the sword art to proceed smoothly.
But my expectations went awry from the very start.
The problem arose with the first form: Soaring Palace Single Flash.
No—perhaps because it was Soaring Palace Single Flash.
“…What? Air resistance?”
“Yeah, so…”
Namgung Hyun, a true native of this era, had no concept of air resistance at all.
No matter how thoroughly I explained, his face only grew more perplexed, leaving me at a loss.
Then, it hit me—a vague recollection of the cryptic manuals from wuxia novels.
They were always full of abstract, flowery language.
Maybe that style of explanation would be easier for him to grasp?
Nothing to lose, I decided to try it.
“…In simple terms, you envelop your body in the wind of your energy aura and charge forward like a loosed arrow.”
“Envelop the body in wind…!”
Incredibly, his movements improved right away after that one explanation.
He couldn’t understand air resistance, but this abstract phrasing clicked?
…Is it because people from the old days think differently, more intuitively?
It was a bit disorienting.