The Sword King’s gaze fell to the shoes in his hand.
When had he last received a gift like this from someone?
“I don’t even wear shoes much.”
“That’s all the more reason you should wear clean ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since you go around barefoot, don’t the shoes you have dangling from you stand out even more?”
“Now that I think of it, that’s true.”
The Sword King had yet to say thank you for the shoes. He was clearly more flustered than when Geom Mugeuk had drawn his sword.
“If I accept something like this, it’ll make things awkward when I ask you for a favor later.”
Geom Mugeuk did not ask what favor he meant. Instead, he took the words as a joke.
“When you ask me for a favor, be sure to look down at your waist!”
The Sword King stared at Geom Mugeuk for a moment, then sat down and slapped the soles of his feet clean with his hands.
Then, right in front of Geom Mugeuk, he put on the shoes.
“They fit perfectly.”
“My eye for such things is hardly ordinary, is it? It’s the same eye that will one day pierce through your forms, Instructor, and strike your heart with perfect accuracy.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to stab those eyes out first.”
The Sword King rose from his seat and dusted off his backside.
“But what if I’d tampered with those shoes? How could you just put them on like that?”
“If I die because my eye failed to recognize someone so petty, then I die for my own lack of discernment. I’d deserve it.”
The Sword King took out the old shoes he had been carrying at his waist.
“I wore these for a long time too.”
They were so worn that it was impossible to tell when he had first put them on.
“Do those shoes hold some meaning?”
The Sword King shook his head.
“If these old shoes have any meaning, it would be that I lived my life paying that little attention to what others thought.”
“I envy you. I’m terribly conscious of other people.”
“You are?”
Geom Mugeuk seemed as though he would be freer than anyone.
“I want to be a fine person to that one, and look witty to that one. In a dangerous moment, I want them to think of me first. I want to be the star of this gathering. I am conscious of all sorts of things. Even speaking honestly like this is because I’m conscious of you, Instructor. I want to seem like a sincere person.”
The Sword King could feel that Geom Mugeuk was not lying.
“Isn’t living like that exhausting?”
“It is exhausting, but it’s rewarding too. If I hadn’t been this conscious of things, would you be having a conversation like this with me now?”
He would not. They would certainly have gone through an entirely different process from now. No, perhaps the conclusion would already have been reached.
Whoosh.
The Sword King raised blazing yang qi in his palm and burned the shoes he was holding.
After looking for a moment at the shoes blazing fiercely, the Sword King left the ash behind and strode away.
Geom Mugeuk shouted after his retreating back.
“You mustn’t stab my eyes! They’re what I’m most confident in!”
* * *
Geom Mugeuk called Ian and Seojin to a deserted clearing.
“From now on, I will pass the Yellow Dragon Sword Art on to Team Leader Seo.”
Seojin looked at Geom Mugeuk in surprise. She knew. Over the past ten days or so, something had been exchanged between the instructor and Geom Mugeuk through the medium of the Yellow Dragon Sword Art. And now he was saying he would pass the fruits of that on to her.
Startled, she looked at Ian. Her expression seemed to ask whether she could accept it so readily, and Ian smiled and nodded.
Only then did Seojin look at Geom Mugeuk and express her gratitude.
“Thank you very much.”
Lately, she had been thinking constantly that she wanted to become stronger. But the Ghost Arts were not martial arts that produced results overnight, and she was not in a position to learn a new martial art either.
How grateful could she be, then, that Geom Mugeuk had somehow understood her heart and was now trying to pass swordsmanship on to her?
“If you are teaching swordsmanship to Team Leader Seo, then I will withdraw.”
Ian tried to tactfully step away. After all, it was originally improper to be present when someone was passing martial arts on to another.
If Geom Mugeuk had meant to send her away, he would have called only Seojin in the first place.
“No. You learn it with her.”
“Pardon? Me too?”
“If you learn it as a supplementary sword art, it will certainly be of help.”
He himself used the Nine Flames Demonic Art as his main martial art, but there were times when he used the Flying Heaven Sword Art. Enemies who did not require the Nine Flames Demonic Art were handled with the Flying Heaven Sword Art. She, too, would often find herself in similar situations.
“There is something you must pay special attention to as you learn. Think about why the existing Yellow Dragon Sword Art was reinterpreted in this way.”
And the most important part of this instruction was this.
“How you would reinterpret it.”
Ian asked with a surprised expression.
“Am I qualified to do that?”
Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“More than enough.”
Geom Mugeuk was certain that the process of that contemplation would help Ian more than the sword art itself.
Ian could tell. This training, too, was an extraordinarily precious fortuitous opportunity. Geom Mugeuk was always giving her moments like this.
Looking into her trembling eyes, Geom Mugeuk nodded once.
Instead of saying thank you, Ian bowed her head.
If reinterpretation was more important for Ian, then for Seojin, the meaning was different.
“Team Leader Seo will go with this sword art until the day she dies.”
He was certain there was almost no chance she would obtain a better sword art. The new Yellow Dragon Sword Art, blended from his and the Sword King’s interpretations, had been completed as a sword art of unmatched excellence.
She needed proper swordsmanship. Once she became a true master of the Ghost Arts, she might not need any other martial art, but until then, she had to survive. No, even when that time came, knowing proper swordsmanship would be far more useful.
Geom Mugeuk passed on to the two women the Yellow Dragon Sword Art he had reinterpreted, just as it was.
He explained it truly simply. As with any field, only those who truly understand can explain simply; the essence of that profound martial learning was conveyed to the two women in easy words.
Ian was intelligent, of course, and so was Seojin. Because of that, the transmission of the martial art proceeded without obstruction. Whenever they did not understand something, they asked questions on the spot and discussed it together.
Since Ian had learned it with her, if there were parts Seojin did not understand in the future, they would be able to discuss them together as they trained.
As the transmission was drawing to an end, a man came and handed Ian a small piece of paper before disappearing. He was a martial artist from Silver Moon.
Previously, Ian and Seojin had gone to Tongcheon Pavilion and Silver Moon and told them to examine all information related to the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall. And today, Silver Moon had obtained urgent information.
Ian relayed the information written on the paper.
“The White Snake Squad is coming here.”
Geom Mugeuk was not surprised at all, as though he had expected it.
“Estimated arrival time?”
“They say it will be around midnight tonight.”
Geom Mugeuk looked down at Ian’s Sun-Moon Sword. She had wrapped the scabbard in old cloth so it would not stand out.
“It seems the time has finally come to stain that sword with blood.”
* * *
A single carriage was racing along.
There were three people riding in the carriage.
One of the men among them opened his mouth.
“This is the first time in years I’ve gone on an operation as the youngest.”
The man was White Eight Snake, a member of the White Snake Squad.
After entering the top ten of the hundred vipers belonging to the White Snake Squad, every mission had revolved around him.
But today’s mission was different. Three people were riding in the carriage, and the other two were both ranked above him.
White One Snake and White Five Snake.
These numbers, naturally, denoted their ranks. In other words, White One Snake was the strongest master in the White Snake Squad, excluding the squad leader. White Five Snake was the fifth-ranked master.
Even White Five Snake commanded a truly expensive fee, so how much more so White One Snake?
There were several legendary contracts White One Snake had accomplished. The tale of how he had killed the Martial Alliance’s elder master, the Purple Clear Sword, alone and escaped was passed down within the White Snake Squad like a legend.
“Is there something about this contract that I don’t know?”
He had finished another contract and joined this carriage yesterday, and he had been truly surprised when he saw the two people already riding inside. Perhaps White Five Snake had been just as startled when he had joined earlier and seen White One Snake.
In any case, when he considered the target of this contract, it seemed like he could have gone alone.
“I doubt it’s a contract that requires all three of us.”
As he said that, White Eight Snake observed the other two. This was the first time something like this had happened since he had begun taking contract work.
At last, White Five Snake opened his mouth.
“Of course not.”
White Five Snake looked at White One Snake, who was seated beside him, and said,
“If it were something that needed all of us, would we even be able to come back alive?”
It would be a mission of certain death.
Of course, White Five Snake did not think that was the case. Not when he considered the squad leader’s personality as he had seen it until now.
“The squad leader smelled money.”
At White Five Snake’s words, White Eight Snake immediately understood the situation.
The squad leader intended to properly squeeze money out of the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall.
The moment White One Snake was mobilized, the contract fee became incomparably more expensive. White One Snake had symbolic value by name alone.
In short, they were using an ox-slaughtering knife to kill a chicken so they could charge an outrageous price.
And would that greedy White Snake Squad Leader really end it with this single contract? He would scheme somehow to extort more money.
‘He’ll suck up every penny they earned running that martial hall.’
The problem was that a man who merely ran a martial hall had joined hands with the White Snake Squad in the first place. How could that naive man have known that once he set foot on that path, there was no turning back? The beginning of vileness was always exceedingly proper and trustworthy.
In that case, he would have to handle this contract himself. He could not possibly make his seniors, who were like the heavens above him, do the work after coming along with him.
White Eight Snake glanced at White One Snake. White One Snake had his eyes closed and said nothing.
‘How much will he receive for this contract?’
Three times as much as him? Five times? He would be the one doing all the work. Once you became the best, you earned money just by showing up.
Of course, he had no complaints. Someday, he too would sit in that seat and earn money while doing nothing but putting on airs.
White Eight Snake asked toward the driver’s seat,
“When will we arrive?”
“We should arrive before midnight.”
White Eight Snake said to the other two,
“When we arrive, please have a drink and wait. I will go handle it and return.”
At that, White One Snake opened his eyes. In his cold, snake-like gaze, there was not the slightest trace of carelessness.
“The squad leader…”
In his low voice, one could feel profound internal energy.
“If he had sent White Two Snake, then it would have been because of money. But the fact that he sent me means there is something troubling him.”
White One Snake gently closed his eyes again and said,
“If you want to return alive, you had best move together.”
White Eight Snake politely bowed his head and answered that he would, but he regarded what White One Snake had just said as embarrassment over earning money for nothing.
‘Why are you being so grave? Anyone watching would think we were going to face the Demon Cult, not a martial hall.’
* * *
“Anyone watching would think you were learning some peerless divine art.”
The person who entered the clearing was Yeon Baekjin.
Geom Mugeuk had suddenly contacted him and asked to meet. He had said it was an important matter involving life and death, and that he must not be late for the appointed time and had to meet him here.
‘What on earth is going on?’
He had come to the meeting place inwardly tense, only to find Ian and Seojin performing the Yellow Dragon Sword Art.
Geom Mugeuk, who was teaching, and the two women, who were learning, were all exceedingly serious.
“But it seems a bit different from the Yellow Dragon Sword Art.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled and said,
“They only learned it a few days ago, so they are still unskilled.”
“That’s not the reason, is it? It must be because the instructor taught it strangely.”
Yeon Baekjin could not stop thinking about the temporary instructor he had met in his elder brother’s office. So he looked into him and found that he truly was serving as a temporary instructor in the White Dragon Class.
But the students’ complaints were no small matter. He had been teaching the Yellow Dragon Sword Art strangely.
“I met that man called an instructor in my brother’s office. My brother does not deal with instructors, yet that man had come there.”
“So you met your elder brother.”
Yeon Baekjin nodded. Since Geom Mugeuk had also advised him to meet his brother, he summed up the situation of that day in a single sentence.
“I went to talk, but my brother made me use a blade.”
And he guessed that the reason Geom Mugeuk had called him here today was also related to his brother.
“Why did you ask to see me? You said it involved life and death?”
Truly, he was not this sort of person. He was not someone who would come running like this just because someone told him to, especially not because a mere student had called him. If it involved life and death, he was the sort of person who would say, Then you should come to me.
Was it because of Geom Mugeuk? Because of Seojin? Or because of that beautiful woman? For some reason, he felt as though he kept being swayed by them.
Geom Mugeuk delivered startling news.
“Masters of the White Snake Squad are coming to the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall.”
It was completely unexpected, so Yeon Baekjin was startled.
“Is that information certain? The White Snake Squad is not a place that leaks information easily. How did you find out?”
“A White Snake Squad martial artist died by the sword of a mere White Dragon Class student. Did you think they would sit still? So we released people to watch them.”
Yeon Baekjin thought that if it was the Ghost Gate, they might well be able to display that level of intelligence-gathering ability.
If what he said was true? His gaze naturally turned toward Seojin.
“I will protect you.”
He was not someone who said such things to others, especially not to women.
But for some reason, his gaze kept going to her. Besides, the beginning of this matter had been his brother’s fault.
It was only natural that she should be grateful, yet Seojin showed no reaction at all.
Feeling that something was strange, Yeon Baekjin looked at Geom Mugeuk.
From Geom Mugeuk’s mouth came a truth even more shocking than the fact that they were coming.
“The targets of the contract include not only Seojin, but you as well, Hero Yeon.”
Yeon Baekjin stood there blankly for a moment, too shocked, before the delayed impact washed over him. The words “I can’t believe it” rose to his throat, but he could not spit them out.
When he had gone to meet his brother, he had felt that it might be possible. But he was really trying to kill him? He had truly placed a contract with the White Snake Squad?
“Do you know when they are coming?”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze went behind Yeon Baekjin. He had deliberately called Yeon Baekjin to this secluded place at just the right time.
Because he thought they would not miss such a fine opportunity, with their contract targets gathered in such a remote place.
“It seems they have already arrived.”
Masked men revealed themselves from within the darkness.
Yeon Baekjin turned around, stepped in front of Seojin, and said,
“If you want to live, stick close behind me!”