Even a Cracked Nut Deserves a Second Look
We traveled south for what felt like ages, only to arrive at...
"...Hey. Are you sure we're going the right way?"
"Huh. This shouldn't be happening..."
It was still the exact same rolling plains, dotted with gentle hills.
Didn't he distinctly promise we'd eat the moment we saw a river?
"So when is this river supposed to show up?"
Let me eat already.
"Did you do this on purpose just to starve me?"
"Well, no, not quite."
Gawol stared at the map for a long while before looking over at me with an utterly baffled expression. "Er... by any chance, can't you smell water or something?"
"If I could, would I be whining like this?"
"I suppose that was asking too much after all."
Hey, it's not like I can't do it!
"It's not that! Look around—there are puddles everywhere. The smell of moisture is reeking from all directions, so even if I catch a scent, I have no way of knowing if it's a river or just another muddy hole."
If this were a desert, that would be one thing.
"Ah..."
See? Get it now?
Gawol shot me a sidelong glance, then turned his gaze back forward.
"...So what you're saying, in the end, is that you're useless."
"Ugh—hey! Stop hitting where it hurts!"
That was uncalled for. Besides, it wasn't like I hadn't already begun to realize just how thoroughly useless I was being right now.
"As your employer, it's only right that I give an accurate assessment."
"Couldn't you show a little bias in my favor?"
"I'd rather not."
Tsk.
"Ah... Won't some bandits or something jump out at us?"
"Don't jinx us with that foul talk. Whether trouble brews or not, your pay remains the exact same."
Well, yeah. Seeing as I wasn't getting a single copper either way.
"Still... I'm dying of boredom here. Seriously, let me train you! I could make you strong enough to travel on your own without needing a bodyguard."
Right? That way I'd have some entertainment, and you'd actually become somewhat capable. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?
"No, thank you."
"Ugh... But I'm so bored."
"Hmm..."
Tap, tap. Gawol drummed his fingers against the wagon's grip.
"Well... I suppose I could hear you out. You are a 4-Sword, after all."
Oh? Guess he wasn't completely uninterested.
"Right? Reached it just recently, in fact."
Fresh off the press. Well... not like I had an official certificate or medal to show for it, though.
"You... wait, Miss Siun."
"Blegh, it feels weird when you suddenly call me by my name..."
"Pay no mind to that." Gawol continued with an unusually earnest look on his face. "Just out of curiosity, I have to ask."
"What is it? Swordsmanship? Hand-to-hand combat? Just say the word."
As long as it wasn't spear technique.
"Could I reach it too? The rank of 4-Sword."
Flap.
At such an absurd question, my ears twitched all on their own.
"......Pfft—"
"*Snort*, pffft, bwahaha—!"
"Would you stop laughing already? You've been carrying on like that for three whole minutes."
"No, but, snicker—"
"...What on earth is so funny?"
Ah. Judging by his expression, I should probably rein it in before he genuinely lost his temper. I looked up into Gawol's eyes.
"Hey. What rank do I look like to you?"
"Pardon? A 4-Sword, obviously."
"Right, a 4-Sword. But from 5-Geom onward, the gap between people within the same rank can be massive, you know?"
"So I've heard..."
How should I put this...?
"I'm, well... Ah." This phrasing ought to do it. "Among all 4-Swords, I'm the strongest."
"......Excuse me?"
Surprised, aren't you?
"So... is it my turn to laugh in your face now?"
Hey, you punk.
"You don't believe me?"
"To be frank, not in the slightest."
"Haa..."
This is why appearances matter so much.
"You're at 6-Geom, right?"
"Yes." Gawol drew a silver coin from his pouch.
Crack.
"I can channel qi into objects, at least."
"Mm, that makes explaining things a lot easier."
The average endpoint a civilian without proper training could ever hope to reach was 6-Geom: the level where one could project and circulate qi into external objects.
"Do you know what it takes to reach 5-Geom?"
"Isn't it... being able to deflect arrows or bullets with your entire body?"
Wait, he actually knew?
"Roughly speaking, yeah. Then what about 4-Sword?"
"You must be able to freely manipulate the alignment and flow of your internal energy at will."
Oh... He was almost spot-on.
"Correct. From 3-Sword onward, it becomes a matter of mental imagery. And... honestly, you can't even really call a 4-Sword a true superhuman."
Besides, every single person at 3-Sword or above was, without exception, an utter lunatic.
"Still, isn't a 4-Sword more than superhuman enough? At the very least, they hardly seem human." His gaze drifted over me. "Looking no further than right here, for instance..."
Hey, you're looking at me like I'm barely human! Knock it off.
"That's not the point! *Ahem.* Anyway, I can beat a 3-Sword who deliberately suppresses their mental imagery."
Even among the Rangin, I had possessed tremendous physical strength and an immense pool of innate qi since childhood, on top of having received top-tier training.
As my explanation dragged on, Gawol looked ready to shout in exasperation. "So what I'm asking is, what does any of that have to do with you laughing at me earlier?"
"Haa..."
Even after all those hints, he still didn't get it?
"What I'm saying is, even you could reach 4-Sword. I guarantee it."
"Are you... serious?"
Had he spent his entire life being scammed? Just trust me for once!
"Of course. In the first place, didn't you reach 6-Geom all on your own?"
"Well... I picked up bits and pieces here and there, but mostly, yes."
"Then that's more than enough. Besides, I see talent in you."
"Talent... in me?"
Yes, talent. Talent in swordsmanship, and talent in concept.
"Well... 3-Sword might be tough, but crazy bastards are always the best at fighting anyway."
Just like my elder brothers.
"Crazy bastards...? Wait, aren't you just insulting them?"
"Hehe..."
Caught red-handed.
Much later, we sat resting in a clearing before a cave, picking up our conversation where we had left off.
"Haah... Fine, whatever. So all I need to do is take that special training you mentioned?"
Mm-hmm, exactly.
I nodded vigorously.
"Yup. And for the record, tuition is three meals a day."
Just earlier, all he gave me was rice and jerky. It wasn't nearly enough!
"Well... that sounds reasonable enough. One extra meal a day in exchange for training."
"Huh?" What was he babbling about? "No, I mean three additional meals."
Did he take me for an idiot?
"Masters of my caliber don't just grow on trees, you know! Who do you think you're getting a free ride from?"
"......"
Gawol waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly. "Rejected. I'll just live out the rest of my days as a weakling."
"Seriously?"
Ugh. Playing hardball, are we?
"Th-Then two meals!"
"No thanks. Daeseong-ah~ Let's rest a bit and head out."
—Neighhh!
Hey, don't ignore me!
"Kuh..."
It was humiliating, but I had no choice.
"O-One meal."
How about that?
"Hmm... That's rather unappealing."
"Ah, why?! You said one meal was reasonable just a second ago!"
"A card laid is a card played... though I'm not sure if that proverb fits here. Regardless, that was then and this is now."
So cruel!
"Ugh... fine, then just—"
It was at that exact moment.
Rustle.
A sound cut through the quiet.
"...Hey. You heard that just now, right?"
"Yeah. Something's..."
Rustle.
Something was definitely approaching.
Snap!
The sharp sound of a branch snapping—and a fairly thick one at that. It came unmistakably from the exact direction of the rustling.
"Quiet."
Gawol gave a silent nod.
Good boy.
The moment I saw he understood, I ducked low and pricked my ears upright.
The noise definitely wasn't coming from up ahead. It carried a strange, heavy vibration—an echo resembling a deep, hollow hum rather than an open-air rustle.
Not in front, but an echoing reverberation...?
Don't tell me—
Swish!
I whipped around, peering deep into the cave behind us.
"...Ah."
Two points of light. High above the cave floor, two gleaming white orbs blinked in the darkness.
Springtime. A cave. Glowing eyes.
Beside me, Gawol's breathing thinned to a barely audible rasp.
"Hey. You... see that too, right?"
"...Yes."
"Slowly, get back to the wagon."
My belly was full, so I wouldn't kill it.
Thud.
I tossed a stone inside.
"Missed. What now...?"
Well, whether it hit or not didn't matter in the least. It wasn't like I was a devout Buddhist or anything. If our food supplies hadn't been sufficient, what I flung wouldn't have been a pebble, but my blade.
This wasn't twenty-first-century South Korea, and there were no environmental protection groups out here, so why would I care about wildlife conservation?
"Phew... Come out or don't. Suit yourself."
From here on out, it was purely a matter of luck.
The beast's luck, of course, not mine.
There were only two possibilities. It could turn right back around and forfeit its first post-hibernation meal, or it could make a profoundly stupid choice.
Let's see.
—Grrrrrr.
Ah. Its snout emerged from the shadows of the cave entrance.
You stepped into my territory first, got that?
Clack. Thud.
Against a wild animal, even wearing a scabbard strapped to my back felt like an unnecessary luxury, so I unslung it and tossed it aside.
"Come on out, I dare you. Hmm?"
Or crawl back into your hole while I'm still offering a final chance.
—Grrrk.
Its entire upper torso emerged into the light.
That meant it had zero intention of running away.
And then—
—ROOOAAAR!
A creature resembling a massive brown bear, easily longer than I was tall, lunged straight at me.
"Bring it."
What was a mere bear going to do?
Instinct told me to duck, so I dropped low.
WHAM!
Slipping fluidly to its side, I drove a devastating strike right into the underside of its pubic bone.
—Krrrgghhh...?! GRRR-AUGH—!
Thud.
A clean, direct hit.
Judging by the impact... yup, definitely a male.
"Phew... Weak. The nerve of this lightweight, picking a fight with me."
Picking up my blade, I gave Gawol a wave with my left hand.
"Hey~ Took care of it!"
"......"
"Hey."
Stepping down from the carriage, Gawol walked slowly toward us—not toward me, but straight toward the fallen bear.
Now was the perfect moment to market my skills.
"Well? Pretty strong, aren't I? Aren't you just burning with the desire to learn from me?"
Hmm?
Gawol opened his mouth slowly. "Er... You didn't kill it, did you?"
"Nope. We've got plenty of food."
Truth be told, bear meat tasted almost as awful as fox meat.
"...Urgh." Suddenly, Gawol grimaced, his entire lower body twitching reflexively.
"What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"
Gawol wore an expression of profound, unspoken sorrow. "No, I mean... Did you really have to kick it there?"
What was he on about?
"Huh? What did I even do to make you—"
Twitch.
A phantom jolt shot through my nonexistent groin.
Only then did the horrific carnage fully enter my field of vision.
"Wh-What have I done...?"
"No matter how beastly of a person you are, I thought you still possessed some shred of basic human decency. But this..."
It was a truly gruesome sight. So harrowing, in fact, that it almost made my two elder brothers' home cooking look appetizing by comparison.
"I'm sorry... I should have just ended its misery."
I'll put you out of your pain right now.
"Yes, honestly, it would have been better to... Wait. What?!"
Schiiing—
Click.
For the first time in a while, I drew my sword.
The cold, lethal steel flashed brilliantly under the sunlight filtering through the canopy.
Grip set: left hand high, right hand low.
"Wait—"
"In your next life, may you be born a female bear and turn into Ungnyeo..."
A tear nearly sprang to my eye.
"Wait a second—!"
"Huh?" Why the sudden interruption? "Hey, I understand your sympathy, but a castrated bear doesn't have much of a future in the wild!"
If you can't breed, you're done for. You have to face reality!
At my words, Gawol shook his head frantically.
"No, no, look closely! There's still one left!"
"Eh? Really?"
Let's see.
"......Aha."
Looking closer, right beside the dark red mashed mess, a dainty, brown-furred little survivor sat intact.
"Ah, what a relief..."
Gawol chimed in from the side. "Since... well, since it's come to this, let's leave something behind for him. The poor thing."
"Yeah. Let's do that."
For once, we were in complete agreement.
We raided a nearby squirrel's stash of nuts and harvested a dormant beehive, piling the tribute in front of the groaning bear before climbing back onto the wagon.
"Phew... Well, all's well that ends well, right?"
Mm, quite.
"I guess so...? You know, we're surprisingly in sync today."
"Ha, as if."
Even as he denied it, Gawol's face wore an awkward, half-pained smirk identical to my own.
May the bear make a speedy recovery.
BZZZZZZ—
"Daeseong, let's go!"
Deciding to thoroughly ignore the faint buzzing sound drifting into my ears from behind, I urged our mare forward, departing as fast as our wheels could roll.