It was a sudden visit from his younger brother.
In truth, Yeon Baegin had been worrying over his brother’s affairs until just moments ago. Could he really entrust his brother to the man who had come up from underground, or should he step in and resolve it himself somehow?
And then Yeon Baekjin had come to him first.
“It’s been a while since I was here.”
Yeon Baekjin looked around the office. After so long without visiting his elder brother, it felt awkward.
“Sit.”
The two of them sat facing each other at the reception table.
Yeon Baegin poured the cooled tea from the pot on the table into his own cup and his brother’s.
An awkward silence drifted between them for a moment. The first to speak was Yeon Baekjin.
“Someone told me this. That the only ways martial artists resolve conflict are through conversation and blades.”
Yeon Baegin toyed with his teacup as he asked,
“So which did you bring?”
“That depends on your answer, Brother.”
Yeon Baekjin stared at him. In truth, what he wanted to ask was this:
—This was all your doing, wasn’t it?
Instructor Im’s death, and Pyosan’s death too. He wanted to shout like this:
—Just what in the world are you plotting?
But Yeon Baekjin forced himself to ask calmly,
“Did you know that the White Serpent Corps had infiltrated the White Dragon Class?”
He had deliberately asked indirectly, but Yeon Baegin’s reaction was cold.
“Why are you suddenly taking an interest in the academy’s affairs? You never cared.”
Yeon Baekjin’s expression hardened.
‘Why do you think I never cared about the academy?’
Why he had not cared, why he had pretended not to care—others might not know, but his brother had no right to say that.
“Answer my question first.”
“And if I did know? Is the solution a blade?”
He had hoped for a denial. That he had misunderstood everything. But his brother did not deny it. That irritable reaction could only mean one thing.
“I told you, didn’t I? From now on, don’t interfere in the academy’s affairs at all.”
“How could I not get involved? This is our academy!”
“Our?”
At his brother’s incredulous reaction, Yeon Baekjin realized something in that instant. He had been gravely mistaken about one thing all this time.
Yeon Baekjin had thought his brother would feel sorry toward him. For the fact that he had not fought over power in the academy and had meekly stepped aside.
But judging by that reaction now, his brother seemed to have considered him nothing more than a good-for-nothing younger brother with no interest whatsoever in the academy.
Ah! Come to think of it, they had never once spoken about that. He had assumed his brother would understand.
“Leave the academy.”
“What?”
“I said go far away. I’ll give you enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life.”
After glaring at his brother for a moment, Yeon Baekjin asked,
“And if I don’t leave? Will you kill me?”
The obvious answer—what are you saying, of course not—did not come. Naturally, Yeon Baekjin’s voice rose.
“Don’t be mistaken. This academy isn’t yours, Brother. It holds Father’s lifetime of toil, and the dreams of countless students.”
As he listened to those words, Yeon Baegin came to realize one thing.
That the reason he had been worrying over his younger brother’s problem until just moments ago had not been because he feared his brother might die. Rather, he had been worried that the man from underground might resolve matters by keeping his brother alive.
Yes. He was the sort of person who could not forgive even his own brother if he touched what was his. He was a good person only when things could remain amicable.
In truth, he had known. That someday the day would come when he had to kill his younger brother.
That thought had been hidden deep within his heart, inside a chunk of ice that would not easily melt.
It did not melt easily, but the ice was transparent, so he could always see it. He had merely pretended not to.
“Brother, you’re making me burn right now. I would have gone cold forever otherwise. I will never stand by and watch you ruin the academy Father left behind.”
Yeon Baekjin did not know. The one who had truly grown heated was Yeon Baegin, and the ice that had concealed his murderous intent had all melted away.
Just as the two of them were silently staring each other down amid that taut tension, a new visitor arrived.
It was the Sword King, who had come after finishing his lesson.
The Sword King greeted Yeon Baekjin warmly when he saw him.
“Oh, if it isn’t Great Hero Yeon!”
Yeon Baekjin, on the other hand, was seeing his face for the first time today.
“I have taken on the role of temporary instructor for the White Dragon Class.”
Had there been an instructor like this in the academy? There were so many instructors, after all.
When Yeon Baekjin looked back at his brother, Yeon Baegin was silently staring down at his teacup.
Yeon Baekjin left the office without even a greeting. Then, at the doorway, he glanced back at the Sword King.
‘But what business would an instructor have coming to Brother’s office? A temporary instructor, at that?’
His brother usually dealt only with the Seven Masters. Matters concerning instructors were handled by the Seven Masters, especially Giseok, whom he used like his own limbs.
But now was not the time to question that, so he left the place as he was.
As he walked, he recalled Geom Mugeuk’s advice.
‘As if conversation would solve anything. Damn it!’
After he left, the Sword King sat down in the seat where Yeon Baekjin had been.
Pouring himself some cold tea from the pot, he drank and said casually,
“I will make sure your younger brother never appears before your eyes again.”
Taking it to mean that he would kill his brother, Yeon Baegin was startled.
At that, the Sword King smiled playfully.
“Be honest. Your heart fluttered a little just now, didn’t it?”
Realizing it was the Sword King’s joke, Yeon Baegin turned his displeased gaze out the window. In any case, the man was not someone he could get angry at, and this was the sort of joke the man made without the slightest hesitation.
With his gaze still turned away, Yeon Baegin changed the subject.
“Did the lesson go well?”
Yeon Baegin knew that this man had come up to find that so-called devil. Since he had said he would become an instructor for the White Dragon Class, that devil more frightening than a ghost must be in the White Dragon Class.
The Sword King said with a broad grin,
“The lesson was extremely enjoyable.”
Yeon Baegin could feel that this man was more excited than he had ever been since they met.
“Who is that devil?”
“It’s better that you don’t know. You already have enough worries as it is.”
In truth, Yeon Baegin’s worries were over. All that remained was how to convey it to him.
Yeon Baegin used these words to speak his mind.
“……It did flutter.”
He lowered his head and could not meet the Sword King’s eyes. The man would understand exactly what those words meant.
Then came the Sword King’s voice.
“You are trying to have both again. You want to be the elder brother who tries to kill his younger brother, but also the elder brother who still has some shred of conscience.”
Struck where it hurt, Yeon Baegin could not refute him. Because it was true. Because he wanted to appear not as someone killing out of greed, but as someone forced to kill because he had no other choice.
“Raise your head.”
Yeon Baegin raised his head and looked at the Sword King.
“That is worse than a shameless villain. Because it means you intend to become a villain while protecting even your own heart.”
After draining the tea he had been drinking in one sip, the Sword King rose from his seat.
“A villain is someone who walks a single path to the end while being cursed.”
* * *
When Giseok entered the office after being summoned, Yeon Baegin was standing with his back turned, looking out the window.
“You called for me?”
Even at his greeting, Yeon Baegin merely continued looking out the window in silence.
Giseok had served Yeon Baegin for a long time. In a situation like the present, he could guess what this silence meant.
Giseok asked carefully,
“Have you finally made your decision?”
Sure enough, Yeon Baegin slowly nodded.
It was the decision Giseok had been hoping for. The person who would become the greatest obstacle in this matter was none other than Yeon Baekjin. Because of him, Pyosan, who had been one of Giseok’s own limbs, had ultimately died as well.
Now Yeon Baegin offered no worries, no excuses, no explanations.
“Send word to the White Serpent Corps.”
Yes, if he had made up his mind to walk the path of a villain.
“Tell them to send their best, so they do not fail.”
* * *
When the Sword King left the office, he saw Geom Mugeuk in the academy’s training ground.
In the training ground, after all the students had left, he was practicing martial arts alone.
Geom Mugeuk was barefoot, holding a wooden sword.
The martial art Geom Mugeuk was performing was the Yellow Dragon Sword Art. It was different from what the Sword King had taught him earlier.
Based on the Sword King’s teaching, he was displaying a newly reinterpreted Yellow Dragon Sword Art of his own.
If the Sword King’s martial art earlier had been fluid like water, concealing the utmost strength within softness, then the martial art being displayed now was a Yellow Dragon Sword Art interpreted upon the foundation of wind.
Geom Mugeuk’s wooden sword, which had been moving slowly, grew faster. The quiet breeze that stirred reeds became a gust of wind climbing up a valley, and soon turned into a typhoon that swept through the surroundings.
The Sword King felt freedom in the Yellow Dragon Sword Art Geom Mugeuk displayed. A wild freedom that blew as it pleased, drifting gently one moment and suddenly whirling the next.
When Geom Mugeuk finished all three forms, the Sword King walked toward him.
“Is this rebellion?”
He meant that Geom Mugeuk had not done it as he was taught.
“This is all something I learned from you, Instructor.”
He was referring to the fact that the Sword King had reinterpreted the original Yellow Dragon Sword Art and taught it to him. Geom Mugeuk had simply reinterpreted that reinterpretation.
As if he had been waiting to show him, Geom Mugeuk was not surprised by his appearance at all.
“You were waiting to show me, weren’t you?”
And he did not try to hide it.
“You are the only one who would recognize what this is, Instructor.”
Even though they knew each other’s identities, Geom Mugeuk treated him as an instructor, and the Sword King treated him as a student.
The Sword King’s gaze turned toward Geom Mugeuk’s bare feet. He had said that bare feet were good, but Geom Mugeuk was probably the only one who had actually put it into practice.
“It’s good training barefoot.”
It was not simply because he could feel the energy of the earth. The sensation of stepping through footwork was so vivid that he could grasp the placement of his feet more accurately.
“Show me that form you performed earlier one more time.”
Geom Mugeuk showed him the three forms of the Yellow Dragon Sword Art he had reinterpreted. After watching them all, the Sword King held out his hand.
“Wooden sword!”
Geom Mugeuk turned the wooden sword around and respectfully offered him the hilt. It was as if he were handing over a real sword.
Taking the wooden sword, the Sword King reproduced Geom Mugeuk’s forms exactly.
With just a single look, he too made the martial art Geom Mugeuk had reinterpreted his own. To reinterpret a martial art, and then reinterpret that reinterpretation again. It was something possible only because of the realm the two of them had reached.
Then, all of a sudden, the Sword King charged at Geom Mugeuk in a surprise attack.
Shwaaaak!
The Sword King’s wooden sword tore through the air as it flew toward Geom Mugeuk. It was not some other martial art. It was none other than the First Form of the Yellow Dragon Sword Art. And he executed it exactly as Geom Mugeuk had interpreted it.
The three forms followed in an instant. The strong wind became a gale and stirred up a typhoon.
Whoooosh. When the dust that had risen settled, the two of them could be seen. Geom Mugeuk had evaded every one of those terrifying attacks.
“Ugh, this wretched dust.”
The Sword King waved his hand.
Both of them behaved as if the surprise attack just now had never happened. Geom Mugeuk did not ask why he had attacked him, and the Sword King did not apologize.
“Yours is better.”
The Sword King acknowledged it honestly. Geom Mugeuk’s reinterpretation was more complete.
At that, Geom Mugeuk sighed.
“Why sigh when I said yours is better?”
“That’s not why I sighed.”
“Then why?”
“When I see someone more impressive than me, I habitually sigh.”
He said it like a joke, but he meant it. Someone on the level of the Sword King did not easily admit that he was lacking. But the Sword King had acknowledged his insufficiency without the slightest hesitation.
“Why the sudden flattery?”
“I’m a shield, aren’t I?”
He meant that he had someone to protect.
“Since I’ve already started flattering you, I’ll finish it. The reason mine had no choice but to be better is because I reinterpreted it based on something far more outstanding.”
The Sword King stared intently at Geom Mugeuk, and his gaze deepened.
“I think I understand a little now.”
Though there was no explanation before or after, Geom Mugeuk could guess what he meant. Perhaps he meant that he now understood why the affairs of his organization had been blocked time and time again by the young cult leader of the Demon Cult.
“You say you are a shield, yet what are you doing here instead of protecting the women you ought to protect?”
“A shield needs to rest a little too. Now that I’ve actually tried it, being a shield isn’t something just anyone can do.”
Even playing the role of a shield mostly in words was this exhausting. Ian was like that, Uncle Hwi was like that. His own guards were like that too. It must truly have been difficult—he felt that anew once more.
“Being a shield doesn’t suit the temperament of someone as full of worries as I am at all.”
At that, the Sword King asked directly,
“That woman named Ian—what is she to you?”
“She is like my heart.”
At his honest answer, the Sword King looked puzzled.
“Is it all right to speak so openly of such a great weakness?”
“She is not my weakness. She is my enemies’ weakness.”
“What does that mean?”
“If they touch her, they will die by my hand in the most miserable way in the world. So she is a weakness that scatters my enemies’ nerves, because they must restrain their desire to touch her to the very end.”
The Sword King laughed loudly and pleasantly.
“That was a fresh bit of sophistry.”
The Sword King began walking on his way again. Looking at the shoes dangling from his waist, Geom Mugeuk asked,
“Why don’t you kill me?”
Surely he had appeared as an instructor in order to kill him.
“Why are you putting it off?”
The Sword King stopped walking for a moment and looked up at the sky. It was as if he meant to find the answer up there.
Geom Mugeuk looked up at the sky with him.
And so the two of them looked up at the sky for a long while.
“What did you ask me?”
“What did I ask? Ah, why you aren’t killing me?”
“It’s been a while since I had some fresh air outside, for one.”
As the Sword King started trudging away again, he added,
“And because there are far too many boring bastards in this martial world.”