Echoes of the Sword Genius
“Hmm……”
Danmok Seong flipped the sword manual back and forth, deep in thought. After a long while, something seemed to click, and she sprang to her feet.
“Ah! I got it! It's to escape the opponent's attack range!”
“And at the same time, to create distance for your own counterattack. A sword needs some space to swing freely like this……”
Seong absorbed Ryeon's gentle addition, repeatedly flipping the manual forward and back.
Oh.
With the quick-witted and talented Seong fully immersed, her progress was surging ahead. Lost for a moment in her own breakthrough, Seong finally composed herself and flipped the manual a bit further forward.
“Th-this is what I wanted to ask. The third form. How do you move the sword so smoothly?”
“Ah! That form seems designed to counter a spear. You sidestep one pace from the thrusting path and use that momentum to smash down on their weapon. Like this……”
Ryeon demonstrated simply with a pair of chopsticks meant for snacks. Seong's eyes sparkled at first, but soon dimmed.
“Then it's useless for this spar. That Geum Gajang kid uses a sword……”
Ryeon shook her head quickly. She could tell just watching that Seong was blossoming in her sword training. And beyond talent, how much joy it brought her.
“You'll probably find a use for it someday if you just remember it now.”
Ryeon whispered softly. Seong almost smiled unconsciously—it sounded like a promise she'd keep wielding the sword forever—but she caught herself and hurriedly urged Ryeon to ask her next question.
Ryeon glimpsed Aunt Danmok Hyeon-yo in Seong's eyes and gave a wry smile.
Auntie……
No one in this family could escape the shadow of Danmok Hyeon-seong. Seong's name was drawn from his. Once the most reliable man alive, he'd grown frail over time—that's when they named her. Danmok Hyeon-yo hoped her daughter would reach the pinnacle with the sword, just like her brother. She believed she could.
Ryeon felt a sudden gloom and quietly set down her snack.
Seong, buried in the manual and racking her brains, didn't notice Ryeon's mood at all. Impatient for questions, Seong started firing them off first, and Ryeon answered each one earnestly. Thanks to that, Haengun rose by another '1,' but Ryeon couldn't smile as comfortably as before.
* * *
Ryeon finished writing her reply to Danmok Bi's short letter and carefully set down the brush.
“Phew. It's tough writing back using only the characters Bi knows……”
“Did he bully you?”
Hwaryun, who had been idly petting the cat's white fur while watching her write, spoke up suddenly.
Ryeon blinked wide-eyed in surprise.
“What? Bi?”
“No, I mean…… Danmok Seong.”
“W-why my cousin all of a sudden? What did she say to you?”
“Not to me—to you, right? Why'd you come back from playing with her in a bad mood?”
“No…… No, me? In a bad mood?”
Ryeon kept repeating in bewilderment, but Hwaryun just stared as if she were stating the obvious. If she didn't intervene, Hwaryun might really charge off after Seong, so Ryeon grabbed his hand.
“No! Ryun, it's not like that.”
“Then what?”
“For one, I'm not in a bad mood.”
Hwaryun fixed her with a don't lie look. Ryeon let out a short sigh.
“Fine. Not bad, just…… a bit off.”
“Because of her?”
“No, it's not Seong's fault……”
“Then Danmok Hyeon……”
Ryeon quickly clapped a hand over Hwaryun's mouth. This kid had no filter, no sense of hierarchy. At least only around her.
“Shh. Seong's name takes the last character from my dad's.”
“So?”
“Dad's already gone, but Seong……”
Ryeon fiddled with a loose strand of hair as she continued.
“It must feel like a burden to her. Suddenly thinking of my absent father…… worrying about Seong…… it just got me down a bit.”
“Hm. I don't even know who my parents are.”
Hwaryun's casual bombshell left Ryeon speechless. The silence after a thunderclap wouldn't be this profound. Even Hwaryun, the source, looked flustered.
“I mean…… seeing someone like me, I just wanted you to feel better.”
“You have none, I have Mom…… telling me to cheer up would make me feel worse……”
This kid's no ordinary rascal.
Ryeon muttered in flustered panic, and Hwaryun coughed out a laugh.
“What kind of talk is that?”
“That's my line. What kind of talk is that?”
“True. Having one doesn't make it better, none doesn't make it worse.”
“You're no baby.”
“Y-yeah?”
Hwaryun whipped his head around.
“To me, you're…… too smart for a seven-year-old. Seriously. Whatever you do, you'll achieve greatness.”
“Ah, seriously! What now…… I already decided to learn martial arts.”
Ryeon narrowed her eyes and grinned broadly.
“How about the pipa?”
“I'll learn pipa too. Happy?”
“Then the seven-stringed zither……”
“One or the other, don't you think?”
Ryeon pondered seriously before saying,
“Pipa.”
“Why pipa?”
“The zither's too big to carry around. We'll travel the jianghu together someday—you couldn't bring it.”
“Ah.”
Ryeon and Hwaryun bickered pleasantly over the non-topic until the ink in Ryeon's inkstone ran low.
“Pipa aside, do you really need to learn swordplay too?”
Hwaryun said, picking up a few manuals. Ryeon was sorting sword manuals now to find tips applicable to Heukpung Dancheon Sword.
Not something sword-focused people bothered with.
Ryeon patted her aching arms and shook her head.
“Still, it might come in handy someday.”
Baekryeon, dozing grumpily on Hwaryun's lap, snapped her eyes open and leaped into Ryeon's arms. The inkstone nearly tipped, but Hwaryun deftly steadied it.
“Baekryeon…… you've grown a lot?”
When first found, she was a tiny white kitten the size of an adult fist. Now her paws were plump, tail fluffy—starting to feel oddly ominous.
No way……
Ryeon briefly recalled the phoenix, then shook it off. Such miracles couldn't happen willy-nilly.
“Hey, Ryun, don't you think……”
She was about to ask if this fluffy pretty cat looked like it might become a white tiger.
Repaid a portion of the favor received.
Gain more Haengun through gratitude.
What? She was just glaring at me intensely…… and now she got enlightenment on her own?
Ryeon felt indebted to Danmok Han-so and wanted to repay it if possible. But this sudden breakthrough?
What did she take from my words?
Since Haengun rose from being around her, it happened then—but where the inspiration struck was a mystery. Not that she minded.
“Nui?”
“Ah…… no. Um, the cat. Should we adjust her diet?”
Ryeon tugged lightly at the white cat's belly, and Hwaryun's face hardened.
“That's not fat.”
“No, I mean……”
“She eats so little—why deprive her?”
“Ryun, listen.”
Hwaryun snatched Baekryeon from Ryeon's arms. The white cat dangled limply in the air, looking puzzled between them.
Hwaryun shot Ryeon an aggrieved glare and stormed out. Ryeon reached out, burst into laughter, and chased after.
“Ryun!”
“You want to starve this tiny thing too?”
“No, no. Of course not. But cats get knee pain if they get fat……”
“She's still growing. Eat plenty now to grow big and strong.”
“Right, right. My bad.”
Ryeon cooed soothingly, and Hwaryun flicked his brows up at her, looking a touch sulky. He felt tricked. Ryeon ruffled his hair wildly.
Hwaryun sighed deeply, scooped up the cat, who mewed softly in continued confusion.
“Her meow just now sounded weird, right? Kinda growly?”
“Now criticizing her voice? Can't even meow freely?”
“No, that's not……”