Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Forging the Edge
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What's the point of enduring the present?
Chui Gyeong stared at the back of the Sima Clan's acting head.
The previous head, Sima Gon, had vanished without a word. Sima Ak had been forced to take up the mantle in his place.
He could see the struggles. But despite that, the Sima Clan's prestige was falling day by day.
Everything has its limits.
No matter how much people praised Sima Ak's cleverness, he was still just an unripe sprout in the end.
And yet, Chui Gyeong watched. Rather than taking risky action, he chose to continue as he always had.
Silently guarding that back.
But...
The anxiety harbored in his heart was painted over reality.
The family was crumbling bit by bit. Even seeing the efforts from behind, nothing really changed.
His master was going in circles. He tried to protect what he had, but in truth, he hadn't safeguarded anything.
"...Head. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Chui Gyeong."
...No.
Nothing was fine at all.
Chui Gyeong flinched at the words spat out inwardly. Come to think of it, hadn't he been thinking that way more often lately?
What if I were in that position---
It started small. Waiting until Sima Ak fell asleep to secretly peek at the Sima Clan's manuals.
He couldn't understand them even after looking, so in the end, he stole them wholesale later on. He carved out his own time to learn them one by one.
But the Sima Clan's swordsmanship was no easy feat. Even he, who had devoted his life to the sword, struggled to comprehend it.
Rumors came that the trading company had failed another venture. Chui Gyeong realized he was clicking his tongue in front of Sima Ak more than he knew, without meaning to.
He even compared inwardly. If the previous head, Sima Gon, were here, would the Sima Clan have come to this---
The head's dignity seemed utterly lacking.
The thought that he himself wouldn't have done that way kept circling in his mind.
When he came to, Chui Gyeong was venting his dissatisfaction to a few warriors who followed him. He even scowled, saying that at this rate, the Sima Clan he cherished might collapse.
Then his subordinates spoke up.
"...Indeed. We can't truly see that young master, who can't even properly hold a sword, as the real head."
"The moment the previous head stepped away, wasn't it basically an empty seat?"
"We're not some righteous Jegal Clan... This is inside the Divine Cult. In the end, without power, won't we just get swept away?"
They shared drinks.
Passed the time together.
Those filled with discontent spoke in unison.
"Maybe the reason the Sima Clan has fallen like this is because the head lacks ferocity."
"We need to change, even if it's late, brother."
"I think someone stronger, who can withstand external pressure, should take the Sima Clan's seat."
It was just venting over a cup of liquor.
But with that, Chui Gyeong hardened his resolve.
Sima Gon was gone. Without that strong master...
---What's there I can't do myself?
The Sima Clan needs to change. Someone has to take the head's seat in his place.
Don't I cherish the Sima Clan too?
He was the one who had served the previous head with his whole body thrown in. This was the Sima Clan that man had built with his life on the line.
He couldn't just let it crumble like this.
Only someone qualified like me...
Can raise the Sima Clan back up!
"Warrior."
A whisper came at that moment.
"Don't you need help?"
Means and methods.
Amid them, Chui Gyeong smiled.
Because he could finally claim the position he craved.
...
They clash. They fall.
The Bi Pavilion warriors swing their swords but can't hold out even ten seconds before collapsing.
"Kuhk!"
"What ferocious power...!"
"Kuhahaha! Sima Ak! Look! Do you not know what this is?!"
The sword flashed coldly. A domineering yet flexible trajectory.
Sima Ak, tracking the sword qi with his eyes, was horrified.
"Sima First Sword?! You mad bastard!"
"That's right! The Sima First Sword! This sword proves I have the rightful claim to headship!"
"Grandfather would never have taught you that! Don't tell me you...! You stole the manuals...?!"
"Too late to quibble right and wrong! I learned it, you didn't! In the Divine Cult, everything is divided by strength alone!"
Chui Gyeong curled his lips.
"What's the point of a Sima Clan head who can't even wield a sword?!"
Words wouldn't get through. He was already laughing maniacally.
"Regroup the men! Form a sword formation! Now!"
The Bi Pavilion members move. The twelve remaining swordsmen hesitate as they form ranks.
But their blade tips are blunt. They tremble too.
The Bi Pavilion was the Sima Clan's organ for gathering intelligence from the start.
It was natural their martial prowess wasn't high. Most here hovered near first-rate at best.
"You think that pathetic defense can withstand my sword qi?"
Chui Gyeong's swung sword brimmed with ferocity. The sword of one who had learned it, far superior to his own Sima First Sword.
One spits blood on the extended blade. A sword bent in half rolls on the floor.
With morale broken, the formation doesn't hold.
Choosing evasion over confrontation, even the shape they barely had crumbles entirely.
The Pavilion Master shouted.
"You must escape! Head!"
"You think I came unprepared for that? My followers are blocking the Bi Pavilion's back exit."
"You mad bastard! Chui Gyeong! What the hell are you really thinking?!"
"To protect the Sima Clan's name! Pavilion Master! If you have a brain, shouldn't you think?! What has changed with Sima Ak as head?! What the hell has changed?!"
Chui Gyeong spun his sword and gripped it properly. He aimed it obliquely at Sima Ak.
"It's different from when the previous head was here! We... we're continually falling! I watched in hope! You think I don't have eyes?! Nothing changed despite watching, so I rose up like this!"
"......."
"Someone... someone has to do it! Damn it! I don't want to do this either! But the Sima Clan is precious to me too. It's the only link the previous head left me!"
Sword qi rippled from the obliquely drooping blade tip.
"Pavilion Master. I'll give you one last chance. Come to me. Then I'll guarantee your position. Everything stays the same. Only one thing changes."
"...For the Sima Clan?"
"Yes. For the Sima Clan."
The Pavilion Master's eyes cooled coldly.
"You're muttering nonsense on your own. Chui Gyeong. If that were true, at least hide those eyes gleaming with greed. You're just... lusting after the Sima Clan head's seat."
"You have eyes but refuse to see. The Pavilion Master seat doesn't suit you after all."
"Then?"
"The grave. The grave suits everyone here! I'll plant tombstones on top! I'll make them myself! A ferocious Sima Clan that even the previous head would praise! With my hands! Not your incompetent hands, mine!"
Sima Ak ground his teeth amid the manic gaze.
The Pavilion Master whispered.
"Head. There's a secret passage. Hide there."
"......."
"If you escape, you can plan for the future. The Sima Clan's legitimacy lies with you. So preserve your life. Uncover all this..."
"---Shut up."
Flee?
Flee?
He'd already been through that once. Just recently, even.
Fleeing from the Soul-Escaping Sword. Now fleeing from Chui Gyeong?
He looks around. Whether lying or standing, he remembers all their names.
No strangers here. Everyone was someone he'd spoken with at least once.
Bi Pavilion members.
Serious and humorless, but they followed the mood well and volleyed back at his jokes.
What of the Pavilion Master? Closer than anyone here. Hadn't he learned how to handle information from him?
"...I'm not leaving this place."
"The name Sima Clan is heavy, Ak-ah."
He dredges up old memories.
Bloodless Sword.
He grips it tightly.
Chui Gyeong sneers.
"Pearls on a pig's neck! Even if you hold it, can you use it?! Hand it over! The Bloodless Sword and everything!"
Pearls on a pig's neck.
That wasn't wrong. He'd known since learning the sword from his grandfather that he lacked talent.
The Sima Clan was a martial house. Who would follow a head without sword talent?
Even while working, he'd thought that way.
"...Mad bastard."
...But.
More people than he thought were guarding his back.
"Responsibility isn't in the sword hilt. It's at the tip."
"...I don't quite get it."
"Ak-ah. Simple principle. The hilt is status. The part you hold to not crumble. Anyone could hold it if they wanted. Anyone could grip it."
Gazes gather.
People assemble.
All together, adding their wills for a slightly better tomorrow.
"The important thing is the blade. A sword without a blade isn't a sword."
"Then how do you make the tip, the blade?"
"---When you truly grip the sword."
Sima Clan's head.
That name was indeed heavy. Sometimes suffocating.
From managing the clan to everything else, there was so much to do. Some nights, the burden kept him awake.
He lacked the strength to bear it all. Too many shortcomings to be an ideal head.
...But.
Even so, it was the same.
The feelings from childhood still lingered. The boy talking with his grandfather still stood here.
The back he'd always seen.
The desire to emulate it.
"The sword will be born from what you've seen."
"What... sword...?"
He grips the sword.
Grips the Bloodless Sword.
No one can avoid gripping a sword. Someone must take responsibility.
Admiration turns to aspiration.
Aspiration eventually makes you grip a bladeless sword.
Creating the tip starts now.
"Jeong Han-su. Song Ha-cheon. Gal Jung-ri."
He calls names.
To know what he's holding.
"Go Myeong. Chui Yang-geon. Song Hwang-yeong."
He strives to form the sword tip.
Wishing for metal to run along, he opens his mouth.
"Pung Jeong-mun. Chang Maeng. Jang Gong-un."
If the Sima Clan falls under the Heavenly Evil Sect, that would defy his grandfather's will. The name Sima Clan would surely change to Heavenly Evil Sect.
"Bi Pavilion Master Jin San-wol."
Fleeing offers little chance of future plans. It might even completely ruin the Sima Clan's name as traitors.
More than that...
He'd be abandoning those who staked their lives for him.
He must help. Or they'll die to the Soul-Escaping Sword. He's a renowned expert even in the cult.
It crumbles. It will surely crumble.
So he must reclaim it before then. Somehow.
Clarifying enmities is the Sima Clan's policy.
This is the decisive gamble.
With the sword in his grip.
Somehow.
---Fleeing was never an option!
"From now on..."
His voice trembles. Fearing the result, he closes his eyes.
Yet he speaks.
He swore to take responsibility, no thought of breaking it.
A path.
Open a path. Sima Ak. Open the way. With your own two hands.
Even if the result differs from hopes, seeing it through is the leader's role.
"I'll open the path."
He looks around.
Engraves the faces of those he called once more with his eyes.
"---Stake your lives with me. Sima Clan."
He whispered.
Believing answers would come.
"...Pfft."
Chui Gyeong laughed. He wheezed hysterically, clutching his stomach.
His frivolous laughter held certainty. No one here would give their life for such an inadequate head.
"You mad bastard! No matter what you say, nothing changes! You don't have the previous head's influence...!"
But it did.
"...Jeong Han-su. I obey your command."
One sword fragment attaches.
"What the... now?!"
"Song Ha-cheon. I obey your command."
"Gal Jung-ri. I obey your command."
"You mad bastards...!"
Voices overlap. They don't end with one but burst forth in succession.
"Pung Jeong-mun! I obey your command!"
"Chang Maeng here! Until death, I'll be the head's sword!"
"Jang Gong-un here! If this life has use, I'll throw it away however I can!"
His conduct so far.
The sight he'd shown.
The efforts made.
All mingle in one place, unstable but forging a sword.
The crumbled morale revives.
The hesitant gazes move again.
"The Sima Clan you built will become your sword."
Voices gather.
They shout as if calling the soul in the sword.
"This Go Myeong! I will surely rescue the head from that villain!"
"This Chui Yang-geon. I will execute the traitor."
"Gal Jung-ri. I obey your command, Head."
The blade Chui Gyeong lacks.
He gathers it, embeds it in the hilt. Sharpens and polishes it into sword form.
The properly gripped sword for the first time was heavy.
To not drop it, Sima Ak steadied his breath.
The Pavilion Master's gaze settled heavily.
"Is there a way?"
"There's always a way through. I've never stepped forward without thought. Pavilion Master. Didn't you teach me that?"
"...Even if the body is a deer's, the soul is a tiger's."
The Pavilion Master smiled faintly.
"Who would doubt the head's seat now."
Faint sword qi flowed from the Pavilion Master's blade tip.
"Bi Pavilion Master Jin San-wol. I obey your command. The Bi Pavilion, which should have fallen long ago, was prolonged thanks to you, Head."
"This... this...!"
"---Shut your trap. Former guard warrior."
Sima Ak aimed the Bloodless Sword's tip at Chui Gyeong.
Chui Gyeong screamed like a beast.
"You worm who can't even learn martial arts!!! No matter how you struggle, nothing changes! Even if you throw away your lives, nothing changes! You lot... even with this, you gain nothing!!! The Sima Clan is mine! It's for the talented!!!"
"Yes. I couldn't learn martial arts. As a martial house head, you can say I lack talent."
It was felt from the Bloodless Sword's tip.
"But you? What about you?"
"You dog bas...!"
"The Sima Clan isn't just called a martial house. It's also called a house of the clever. Then... aren't you unqualified too? You have a head but don't think with it..."
A single stroke usable only once.
"You've lived headless all your life, Chui Gyeong. Now I'll sever it. My final mercy."
"You dog bastardaaaaaaa!!!!!"