Geom Mugeuk emerged from the Murim Treasury.
Jin Paecheon was waiting with his back turned to the entrance.
“Alliance Leader, I’m out.”
What had he come out with? Jin Paecheon was curious about that choice.
The moment he turned to look at Geom Mugeuk, Jin Paecheon went blank for the briefest instant. Had this been in actual combat, his life would have been in danger; for that moment, his mind was utterly empty.
‘The Gentleman Sword?’
Then came a surge of astonishment. He merely did not show it outwardly; in truth, he was shocked. He had nearly let out an involuntary gasp.
“These are the three things I chose.”
Laid across Geom Mugeuk’s outstretched arms was the Gentleman Sword.
And atop the Gentleman Sword sat a bottle containing Gongcheong Stone Milk, while beside it hung the Divine Maiden’s Dream.
Struck speechless, Jin Paecheon could not say anything for a while.
‘He came out with the Gentleman Sword?’
From the start, he had never imagined that Geom Mugeuk would bring out the Gentleman Sword. The thought had not even occurred to him.
The Gentleman Sword was practically the symbol of the orthodox faction.
It was a sword even he had only looked upon, never drawn.
‘Is what’s before me truly the Gentleman Sword?’
He looked again, and it was the Gentleman Sword.
“Do you know what kind of sword that is?”
He asked because he wondered if, by any chance, Geom Mugeuk had brought it without knowing.
“Of course.”
Geom Mugeuk looked down at the Gentleman Sword and said,
“It is the foremost Gentleman Sword of all ages.”
His gaze, which had been on the sword, returned to Jin Paecheon.
“I brought out the best sword among swords.”
No matter that he had told him to choose what he wanted, to think he had brought out the Gentleman Sword?
Jin Paecheon was dumbfounded and flustered. So much so that he did not know how to take this situation. Why had he never considered the possibility that Geom Mugeuk might choose this?
Jin Paecheon’s gaze moved back to the Gongcheong Stone Milk.
The most precious of all elixirs.
Perhaps because the Gentleman Sword had shocked him too much, that one was rather less shocking.
Yes, he could give him the Gongcheong Stone Milk. He had saved his grandchildren, and beyond that, saved the fate of the Murim Alliance.
But the Gentleman Sword was the sword that symbolized the orthodox faction. That sword entering the hands of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?
If the orthodox martial artists learned of this, there would be an uproar. Perhaps the repercussions would be even greater than the revelation that Cheonae Geosa had been a villain.
‘I must say no, even now.’
Jin Paecheon’s gaze turned to Geom Mugeuk. He was looking at him with a face full of mischief, as if he found something so very delightful. Yes, of course he would be delighted.
“What is that cloth?”
“It is a sacred object named the Divine Maiden’s Dream.”
Geom Mugeuk handed Jin Paecheon the Divine Maiden’s Dream that had been draped over the sword.
“It is a relic of the Divine Maiden Palace, one of the three organizations that guarded Cheonui Palace three hundred years ago.”
As Jin Paecheon examined the Divine Maiden’s Dream, he could find nothing particularly special about it.
‘It has historical meaning, but it is nothing more than a cloth with no special effect.’
From Jin Paecheon’s expression and reaction, Geom Mugeuk could tell. That sacred energy was something only he could sense.
“May I ask why you chose this?”
“There is someone I want to give it to.”
Jin Paecheon returned the Divine Maiden’s Dream to him. He did not ask who it was.
That was not what mattered. Now he had to make a decision. Once they left this place, there would be no turning back.
But in the end, Jin Paecheon did not say that only the Gentleman Sword was unacceptable.
A promise was a promise.
And it was no ordinary promise. It was a promise made by the Murim Alliance Leader to the temporary cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“It was an excellent choice.”
Yes, how could it be a wrong decision for a swordsman to choose the Gentleman Sword?
Jin Paecheon shook off his lingering attachment and regret, and sincerely congratulated Geom Mugeuk.
He resolved in his heart that he would not regret this choice.
Not just the Gentleman Sword—he would not have begrudged giving him every treasure and sacred object in that place. After all, he had saved his grandchildren’s lives.
If giving up the Gentleman Sword became a problem, he would gladly bear the responsibility himself. This matter was his problem, not Geom Mugeuk’s.
Now was the time to express his gratitude sincerely.
“I am grateful for what happened this time.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Jin Paecheon with an moved expression, then bowed his head respectfully.
“Please remain healthy for a long, long time and protect us.”
“Come now, man. Is that something the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult should say to the Murim Alliance Leader?”
The two looked at each other and laughed.
“Let us go back now.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk placed the Divine Maiden’s Dream and the Gongcheong Stone Milk in his robes, and wore the Gentleman Sword at his waist.
Though Jin Paecheon had firmly made up his mind to give it to him, his gaze went to the Gentleman Sword without him realizing it. Attachment still remained. As he felt his heart begin to seethe again—
‘Ah! I suppose I cannot be a gentleman after all!’
As he took a step, Jin Paecheon let out a wry laugh.
Ssssss—
Just as when they had entered, the fog within the formation cleared on its own and formed a path.
“Will you be returning now?”
“No. As I said before, I plan to call my friends, hold a celebration banquet for Hagun, and then return.”
When he first heard it, Jin Paecheon had thought it was just something he was saying. But it seemed he truly meant to hold a celebration banquet.
“If someone doesn’t raise a flag and shout, ‘Gather here,’ we’re the sort who might never see each other forever. And I’m usually the one raising that flag.”
Jin Paecheon knew how difficult that truly was. Even he was like that himself.
I am Jin Paecheon, so why should I? If you want to see me, you should contact me first.
To be honest, it would be a lie to say he did not have such thoughts.
“Why are you so intent on gathering together?”
“Because I like it. I like my friends. I like Hagun, I like Young Alliance Leader Bi of the Sado Alliance, and I like my other friends too. Seeing them is fun and enjoyable. That’s why I raise the flag. Of course, Alliance Leader, you may suspect that flag is a Charge Flag (突擊旗) for the battlefield, but it is merely a ha-ha-ho-ho Gathering Flag (集結旗) saying, ‘Everyone come here.’”
At Geom Mugeuk’s joke, Jin Paecheon smiled faintly.
“Do you not have friends like that, Alliance Leader?”
Even knowing full well what had happened with Cheonae Geosa, Geom Mugeuk asked.
As always, it was Geom Mugeuk’s effort to bury the corpse, but not allow the wound in the heart to be buried. If he had sent off one friend, then he ought to make a new one.
“Why not raise a flag yourself, even now?”
Jin Paecheon looked at Geom Mugeuk in surprise. He was telling him to raise the flag himself?
“If you raise a flag, Alliance Leader, all of Murim will be startled, so you should write it in large letters on the flag instead: There is absolutely no other meaning. This is a flag for playing!”
Jin Paecheon laughed aloud. Truly, the only person who could make him laugh like this was this Geom Mugeuk. Even while wearing that Gentleman Sword at his waist, no less.
“If I raise a flag, who would come?”
At that, Geom Mugeuk mentioned people he had never expected.
“There’s my father, isn’t there? And the Sado Alliance Leader as well.”
“!”
As though he meant it sincerely, Geom Mugeuk added,
“They might be secretly waiting for someone to raise the flag for them.”
With an expression that said Geom Mugeuk was impossible to deal with, Jin Paecheon began walking again.
He thought it absurd, but suddenly recalled the three-party meeting.
It had been more enjoyable than he expected. Just as the thought that it might be good to gather once more crossed his mind, Jin Paecheon flinched.
‘What nonsense am I thinking!’
So the two came out of the formation and walked together through the inner court, and at the place where Jin Haryeong had parted from them earlier, someone was waiting.
“Alliance Leader.”
The person who respectfully greeted Jin Paecheon was none other than Jin Hagun.
When he had entered the training hall, he had ordered his subordinate: if Geom Mugeuk came to see the Alliance Leader, he was to be called without fail.
It was so he could see his face before Geom Mugeuk returned to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Jin Hagun asked Geom Mugeuk,
“Did you choose good gifts?”
He had heard from Jin Haryeong that his grandfather had taken Geom Mugeuk to the Murim Treasury.
“I came out with only the most incredible things.”
Jin Hagun looked at the Gentleman Sword worn on the opposite side from the Black Demon Sword. Since he had never seen it in person, he did not recognize that it was the Gentleman Sword.
One thing was certain: no matter what treasure Geom Mugeuk took, it would not be a waste.
“I was grateful this time.”
He knew that the reason he had been able to become the successor was all thanks to Geom Mugeuk.
“Are you returning right away?”
He naturally thought Geom Mugeuk would now return to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I’m not going.”
“What?”
“I’m going to hold your celebration banquet before I leave. You became the successor, so of course we have to hold a banquet. I’ve already called all our friends.”
“Which friends?”
“You don’t even have that many friends. Why ask?”
Flustered, Jin Hagun looked at his grandfather. Jin Paecheon merely watched the two of them in silence.
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.”
To be honest, he felt good. This celebration banquet would surely be a gathering of those who congratulated him with the greatest sincerity.
“Now, and this.”
Geom Mugeuk unfastened the Gentleman Sword at his waist and held it out to him.
“My gift to commemorate you becoming the successor.”
At that moment, the one who was truly shocked was Jin Paecheon. It was beyond surprise; it was a shock. He had never dreamed that Geom Mugeuk would give the Gentleman Sword to his grandson as a gift.
Jin Hagun waved his hands and refused.
“No need. What gift?”
In that instant, Jin Paecheon made a strained expression.
Geom Mugeuk slyly teased him.
“You’ll regret it later.”
“I won’t regret it. It’s your gift, so you take it.”
Geom Mugeuk was about to wear the Gentleman Sword at his waist again. Jin Paecheon watched the sight with eyes full of lingering attachment.
Just as Geom Mugeuk was about to put it back on, he held the Gentleman Sword out to Jin Hagun again.
“Take it. I chose it to give to you. Don’t ignore a friend’s sincerity.”
Jin Hagun, who had been looking at Geom Mugeuk, turned to his grandfather. Since his grandfather had been the one to give the gift, he wondered whether it was all right to accept this.
His grandfather said nothing, only stared at the sword. Somehow, he seemed tense, unlike usual. He was not someone who would grow tense even before thousands of enemies.
Geom Mugeuk held the sword out in front of Jin Hagun.
“I received other good gifts from the Alliance Leader. So don’t feel burdened and take it. It’s nothing special, but if we drag this out for no reason, I’ll be the only one embarrassed. Hurry!”
“Thank you. Then I will accept it gratefully.”
In the end, Jin Hagun accepted the Gentleman Sword.
The moment he took the sword—
“!”
Jin Hagun’s eyes changed. The instant he held it, he knew.
‘This is no ordinary sword.’
Jin Hagun slowly drew the Gentleman Sword.
Shrrrng.
At last, the Gentleman Sword revealed itself to the world.
It was the Gentleman Sword, showing itself once more after crossing the long passage of time.
“Ah!”
An exclamation flowed naturally from Jin Hagun’s mouth.
The sharpness flowing along the blade was something he had never seen in his life. Truly, it seemed as though it might cut even the heart of the one who looked upon it.
He could feel the sword’s breath.
A deep and elegant breath of the sword.
It was the first time he had ever felt such a thing from a sword.
He had not seen every sword in the world, but still, he could tell. This sword was the finest of swords.
Jin Hagun slowly infused the Gentleman Sword with his inner force, greeting it and telling it what kind of person he was.
As if answering that greeting—
Wooooong!
The sword rang out briefly.
Thus their first communion ended, and he returned the sword to its scabbard.
Jin Hagun’s heart pounded as if it would burst.
“You said it was nothing special?”
At Jin Hagun’s question, Geom Mugeuk smiled and replied,
“It doesn’t suit me. I’m far too distant from being a gentleman.”
A gentleman?
In that instant, Jin Hagun’s eyes grew wider and wider, and he shouted,
“The Gentleman Sword!”
At his startled cry, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“Yes, it is the Gentleman Sword.”
Jin Hagun was astonished. How could he not know of the foremost Gentleman Sword of all ages?
That legendary sword was now in his hands under the name of a gift.
“The Alliance Leader gave me three items from the Murim Treasury as gifts.”
What Geom Mugeuk said from here on was meant for both Jin Paecheon and Jin Hagun.
“He has remained the Alliance Leader all his life and never laid a hand on a single item in the treasury. Considering his upright character, the Gentleman Sword would continue to be kept there in the future too, wouldn’t it?”
That was true. Jin Paecheon had never had any intention of bringing the Gentleman Sword out into the world.
“You grew up under such a grandfather. Would you be any different? The Gentleman Sword would be stored in the treasury in the next generation too. So I caused a little trouble. I thought that unless I caused trouble, that sword would never get to see the world. Well? How was it, greeting the Gentleman Sword? It’s happy to have escaped that stuffy place, isn’t it?”
Jin Hagun did not know what to say.
“Truly, you are…!”
He was right. If not for him, it was a sword he never would have been able to possess.
Moreover, it was a gift given by giving up one of the three things he could have had.
Jin Hagun looked at his grandfather. At the look in his eyes asking whether he truly could accept this sword, Jin Paecheon nodded.
Jin Paecheon did not reveal his emotions outwardly, but he was feeling an immense joy. He was far happier than he would have been if it had simply returned to the treasure vault. The Gentleman Sword would protect his grandson more reliably than anything else in the world.
Of course, the happiest person of all was Jin Hagun. What could be better for a martial artist than obtaining a fine weapon? And if that weapon was the Gentleman Sword?
“You like it, don’t you? You like it so much you could dance, don’t you?”
He liked it enough that he nearly fell into that trap. He had almost answered yes.
“I heard the Gentleman Sword is the history of the orthodox faction. From now on, my friend will be the one to carry on writing that history.”
Jin Hagun looked at Geom Mugeuk, who was rejoicing as if it were his own affair, with trembling eyes.
He could not say a word. No words could express this gratitude.
Jin Paecheon asked Geom Mugeuk,
“Why did you not say so earlier?”
Not knowing that this was how he felt, he had worried for nothing that the Gentleman Sword would pass into the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I did want to surprise you, but more than that, it was because I trusted you, Alliance Leader.”
“You trusted me?”
“Yes. Though I had brought out something that absolutely must not be taken, you did not stop me in any way. I believed you would do so, and you kept your promise to the very end. Now, in my heart, you have become an even greater presence.”
Jin Paecheon looked at Geom Mugeuk in silence. Leaving aside the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions, leaving aside status, as one martial artist—no, as one human being—he could only think that he was truly astonishing.
“Then I will be going.”
After Geom Mugeuk respectfully took his leave of the Alliance Leader, he said to Jin Hagun,
“It’ll take some time for everyone to arrive. I’ll send you the place and time later.”
Jin Paecheon and Jin Hagun stood for a long while, watching his back as he ran off in high spirits.
When Geom Mugeuk could no longer be seen, Jin Hagun spoke calmly.
“There were moments when I gave up. I thought, I can’t beat that friend. No matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to win.”
Jin Paecheon sensed that this was not the end of it, and asked quietly,
“And what about now?”
“I’m not giving up. I intend to let him go on ahead.”
At the questioning look in his eyes, Jin Hagun smiled.
“He’s such an outstanding friend, so I should let him go first. Instead, I’ll follow him in silence.”
It was by no means resignation. Nor was it a determination that he must win at all costs.
It was the will to walk together with Geom Mugeuk. Even if he was a little late, he would silently walk the same era as him.
“Someday, far in the future, I may see that friend sitting on a rock with white hair, waiting for me. Then I’ll tell him. Thanks to you, I made it this far.”
Jin Paecheon thought that the grandson who had always seemed so young had grown so much before he knew it.
He had always only worried. About the martial world Jin Hagun would lead, about the grandson who would have to face that Geom Mugeuk.
But today, a different thought came to him.
Now was not the time to worry about these children, but to cheer them on.
As Jin Paecheon began walking toward the Alliance Leader’s Hall, he said,
“When you meet him then, be sure to tell him. Tell him I was beside myself with worry that he might take the Gentleman Sword.”