Episode 7: The Human Sword, Questions and Answers.
After Wang Il left to verify the authenticity of the recommendation letter, Jang Ingeom, left alone in the investigation room of the Inner Chief Command Post, fell into deep thought. The windowless room was stifling, and Jang Ingeom’s heart was much the same. The world seemed different from when he had lived on Changbai Mountain. When he was with his masters, everything had been clear. Do well, and you were praised. Make a mistake, and you were scolded. But what mistake had he made to be dragged to this investigation room? No, if Wang Il had done nothing wrong, then why was he so worried about being demoted? It was the moment he realized that once you were entangled in the world and your connections multiplied, life could no longer remain simple.
Wang Il returned after roughly four hours had passed. As he opened the door and entered the investigation room, he was accompanied by a middle-aged man with a sharp yet cold impression.
“Chief Strategist. This is Jang Ingeom. Pay your respects. This is Chief Strategist Jegal Inseon.”
Though a few flowery words would not have been out of place, Wang Il introduced him plainly, and Jang Ingeom offered an equally plain greeting.
“I am Jang Ingeom. I greet the Chief Strategist.”
The Strategist Jegal said nothing, merely observing Jang Ingeom. He was moderately tall with a dignified build, but no trace of learned martial arts could be found. That he, a master at the absolute pinnacle, could not sense a single thread of qi… As expected, like master, like disciple.
Jang Ingeom calmly withstood the sharp gaze of the Strategist Jegal, a gaze that seemed to pierce through to his lungs. It was a gaze where neither arrogance, fear, dignity, nor bashfulness could be felt. Merely clear eyes.
‘They mistook a man like this for a cook sent from a guesthouse?’
The Strategist Jegal glanced at Wang Il and let out a short laugh before finally opening his mouth.
“Deputy Squad Leader Wang. I should like to speak with this… cook alone for a moment.”
“I shall withdraw. Please call for me if you need anything.”
After Wang Il quietly closed the door and left, the Strategist Jegal sat down before the table. At the gesture to sit, Jang Ingeom, who had risen to greet him, also took his seat. The conversation began.
“I have seen the recommendation letter. Considering your masters, I ought to treat you with respect, but regardless, you are now an Alliance member under the Inner Chief Command Post, and I am its head, so I shall speak informally. Do you have any complaints?”
“No, Chief Strategist. It is only natural.”
The Strategist Jegal inwardly let out a sigh of relief. While coming here, he had considered countless possibilities in his mind. If Jang Ingeom were someone who expected special treatment, the ensuing conversation would have been stifling, but fortunately, he was not.
“So, how is the cooking? If you wish, I can have you transferred to the Divine Dragon Division—no, the Azure Dragon Combat Division. It would likely be a staff-level position.”
“Thank you, but I am satisfied with my current work.”
“Satisfied… You did not become a cook of your own accord, did you? I understand there was a mistake on Deputy Squad Leader Wang’s part.”
“I am working hard to be of help to the Alliance and the squad members. I am meeting people and building friendships. I am slowly learning about the world.”
The Strategist Jegal received a fresh shock. That those people’s disciple was working in a restaurant while striving to be of help to the Alliance. It was a story he wanted to tell to the proud noble sons of the Divine Dragon Division.
“Learning about the world… I see. Then let me ask you a question. What do you think is the reason for the Murim Alliance’s existence?”
What kind of question was this? Jang Ingeom had expected to be reprimanded for not showing the recommendation letter sooner and being mistaken for a cook from the Qingsong Guesthouse. It was an unexpected question. If it had been before he heard about Namgung Seolhyun and met Gwak Jagi, he would have answered that it was to eradicate evil and protect justice. But Jang Ingeom could not answer that way.
“Shouldn’t the Murim Alliance… prevent the strong from oppressing the weak?”
Hearing Jang Ingeom’s answer, the Strategist Jegal’s eyes gleamed with unusual light. Not good and evil, but the weak and the strong. Somehow, he felt this was a young man with whom he could truly communicate.
“You are rather unusual. Most answer that it is to eliminate the Demonic Cult and prevent foreign invasion of the Central Plains. A Murim Alliance that protects the weak…”
The Strategist Jegal, who had been lost in thought for a moment, carefully opened his mouth.
“The powerful of the present day are the Nine Sects and One Faction, the Five Great Clans, and several great merchant conglomerates. Then what must the Murim Alliance do?”
Jang Ingeom could not answer, and the Strategist Jegal had not thrown the question expecting one. He had tossed it out seemingly casually, hoping it would remain as a hidden seed planted deep in Jang Ingeom’s heart. When the time came that it was needed, the seed he planted today would rise to the surface, and if Jang Ingeom was wise, he would find the answer himself.
“I have met a rare young man who understands words, causing me to speak unnecessarily. I suppose there may come a time when we speak again. You… go back to the restaurant and do what you must do.”
Jang Ingeom felt puzzled to see the Strategist Jegal speak such unexpected words and quickly wrap things up, but the man’s words were correct. He had things to do.
“Thank you for understanding my mistake in not showing the recommendation letter first and failing to introduce myself properly. I shall return to my duties. And… Deputy Squad Leader Wang is not at fault. If any punishment is necessary, I—”
“Deputy Squad Leader Wang will be fine, so do not worry. Actually… I am thinking of promoting him soon.”
With even his worry for Wang Il resolved, Jang Ingeom left the investigation room with a light heart.
The Strategist Jegal sat alone in the investigation room and briefly organized his impressions of Jang Ingeom. He had seen many spirited young men, but wise ones were rare. Jang Ingeom appeared wise beyond his years. But as his own words said, he was learning about the world, so he would need to learn more of its ways. He had seen potential, but for now, Jang Ingeom was a blank sheet of white paper on which nothing was drawn.
‘If I report this to the Alliance Chief, he will be quite vexed.’
+++
The sun that had shone overhead when he was escorted there had already passed over the western mountain. After hearing a few words of caution from Wang Il and leaving the Inner Chief Command Post, Jang Ingeom could not help but stop before the main gate of the compound. He discovered Wang Suryeon, Namgung Inhye, Ju Cheongcheong, and even Jin Sohyeon crouched by the roadside.
“Why are you all gathered here?”
“We went to the restaurant for dinner… but Chef Jang wasn’t there, and someone we’d never seen before was preparing the food… We asked what was going on, and they said you’d been dragged off to the Inner Chief Command Post…”
Jin Sohyeon’s eyes were moist as she spoke. They had likely been waiting blindly in front of the Inner Chief Command Post without even eating dinner. As they asked if he was alright in voices mixed with worry and relief, Jang Ingeom smiled warmly and said,
“Let us go. I will prepare dinner for you.”
Fortunately, there was rice and side dishes left by the temporary cook, so they could easily set a late dinner table. Though they met three times a day at the restaurant, it was the first time they were eating together, so it became a meaningful meal for both Jang Ingeom and the squad members.
Jin Sohyeon complained throughout the meal that the temporary cook’s skills were terrible, and Wang Suryeon, who would normally have scolded her, agreed that the rice was undercooked and the side dishes salty. It was likely a small comfort for Jang Ingeom, who must have suffered much today. In Jang Ingeom’s mind, however, it was the squad members who had actually suffered.
It was the undercooked rice and salty side dishes of a cook with terrible skills, but everyone ate deliciously. The mood was the side dish, and being together was an even better side dish.
After the meal, they gathered in the backyard as usual. It was much later than normal, so they could have rested for the day, but with Wang Suryeon’s sparring match approaching in five days, they could not afford to. For the remaining days, they had decided to stop individual training and help Wang Suryeon, and Namgung Inhye had volunteered to be her practice partner.
The sword that Namgung Inhye displayed was the Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword. Unlike martial artists of the great houses her age, who usually learned the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique, her progress was extraordinary, and she had reached a level of mastery in the Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword. The sword extended nimbly and briskly without obstruction, and the wielder maintained a soft yet dignified posture, making it seem almost beautiful at a glance.
Wang Suryeon, who was receiving Namgung Inhye’s sword, was extremely tense. While she assessed herself as having just entered the second-rate, Namgung Inhye felt like a master at the peak of the second-rate, or perhaps already in the first-rate. Moreover, her sword was the Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword. It was a sword technique ranked among the highest even in the Namgung Family, which had risen to the top of the Five Great Clans through their swordsmanship alone.
After receiving the 108-Character Mind Formula from Jang Ingeom, Wang Suryeon had constantly recited it, excluding only her sleeping hours. Though it had only been a few days, her senses, especially her sight and hearing among the five senses, seemed to have sharpened, and relying on those senses, she barely managed to meet Namgung Inhye’s sword that flew like a swallow. As exchanges of techniques repeated, her senses gradually began to grasp the swallow’s trajectory, and she followed the thread of its flight with her sword. Satisfied, Namgung Inhye increased the speed of the Flying Swallow and added more variations.
For roughly an hour, Namgung Inhye slowly raised the level to match Wang Suryeon’s adaptation. Jang Ingeom, who had been watching, opened his mouth.
“Squad Member Namgung. I have heard there is a practical sword technique called the Lone Spirit Single Sword in the Namgung Family. Have you learned it?”
At Jang Ingeom’s sudden question, Namgung Inhye and Wang Suryeon stopped their swords. After lightly catching her breath, Namgung Inhye answered with puzzlement.
“No. The Lone Spirit Single Sword is too murderous and is not taught to the daughters of the great house.”
“I see. The Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword you are displaying now is a clear and righteous sword technique, so the sword intent it pursues is completely different from the sword techniques of the Kongtong School that I know. If Squad Member Wang’s senses adapt to the Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword, she may actually be confused in the real sparring match against Gwak Jagi.”
Namgung Inhye seemed to understand immediately and nodded. Jin Sohyeon, who had been puzzled by what he meant, asked Jang Ingeom,
“What are the Kongtong School’s swords like? Wouldn’t they be righteous, being of the Daoist lineage?”
Namgung Inhye answered Jin Sohyeon, “Though the current Kongtong School is inherited by Daoists, I have heard that the one who originally founded the school and passed down its martial arts was not a Daoist master.”
Jang Ingeom added what he knew.
“That is correct. Based on the Founding Ancestor’s Seven Injuries Fist, various martial arts were developed afterward… Because the Kongtong School is located on the border, they frequently experienced conflicts and wars with foreign forces, so their martial arts mainly consist of practical combat techniques focused on killing. ‘Violent and ferocious’… That is my master’s evaluation of the Kongtong School’s martial arts.”
“Then what should we do? Still, sparring with Inhye seemed to help my senses improve little by little…”
Seeing Wang Suryeon’s face full of regret, Jang Ingeom wore his usual calm smile. Quietly rising from his seat and approaching Namgung Inhye, he received a wooden sword from her and said,
“I have never learned the Kongtong School’s sword, but I know what they pursue, so I shall attempt a rough imitation. Squad Member Wang, spar with me.”
Wang Suryeon and Jang Ingeom stood facing each other with wooden swords. He could feel the squad members’ anticipation-filled gazes gathering on them. They had seen Jang Ingeom perform the Guardian Nine Swords and the Seonmu, but this was their first time seeing him in a sparring match like this. Moreover, he said he would try to display the Kongtong School’s sword based only on his master’s evaluation without having learned or even seen it, so their curiosity was heightened even further. Just what kind of sword would he show them?
Wang Suryeon’s sword was a Perception Sword. It was not suitable for initiating attacks, so Jang Ingeom’s sword moved first. In that instant, cries of surprise burst from the watching squad members, and the frozen Wang Suryeon looked with shocked eyes at the wooden sword stopped an inch before her neck.
Jang Ingeom’s sword had not been astoundingly fast or filled with unfathomable variations. Rather, the moment the sword moved, a violent aura instantly surged and pressed down on Wang Suryeon. Like a child who closes their eyes in fear, her senses shut down, and though the sword had not been astoundingly fast, it had astoundingly, effortlessly decided the match.
“Th… this is…”
Wang Suryeon’s heart was still pounding too hard for her to speak properly. Namgung Inhye asked in her stead, directing her question at Jang Ingeom, who wore a calm smile.
“Chef Jang. That technique just now… I believe it was the third technique of the Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword. What did you do?”
“That is correct. I had taken note of the technique Squad Member Namgung displayed earlier. It was also a technique that Squad Member Wang had successfully blocked several times. Just now… I performed the same technique at the same speed. Only the momentum was different.”
“Then, are you saying the Kongtong School’s sword techniques have this kind of momentum?”
Wang Suryeon had still not calmed her pounding heart, but she seemed to have regained enough composure to ask questions.
“Perhaps. Honestly, such a ferocious aura is not fitting for a sparring match between colleagues of the Alliance studying together. But the Kongtong School’s nature is such… And above all, I imagined that Gwak Jagi might wield an even more violent aura than this.”
To her, who was thinking deeply about something with a worried face, Jang Ingeom spoke as if to comfort her.
“Senses are like a delicate young blade of grass, and sometimes like an innocent rabbit. When they encounter something they do not wish to see, they hide. The aura I forcibly generated just now is likely unfamiliar to you, Squad Member Wang. You probably did not even want to imagine it. But… now you must become accustomed to it, whether you wish to or not. As long as your senses do not hide, you know. That the sword from just now could be sufficiently neutralized.”
The sparring between Wang Suryeon and Jang Ingeom continued until late at night. Jang Ingeom’s sword was the Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword, the Flowing Cloud Sword, and sometimes the Guardian Nine Swords. Whatever form it took, it was ferocious and violent. Namgung Inhye wanted to know how he could instill such a feeling into her own Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword without particularly using internal energy, but she set aside her curiosity for Wang Suryeon, who was concentrating on the sparring.
The aura and momentum Jang Ingeom imbued in his sword drove Wang Suryeon’s mind like a violent storm, and as her heart grew exhausted to the point of mental confusion, she was able to realize. That this was what true tempering was.
As Wang Suryeon dragged her tired body and even more tired mind toward the dormitory, Jang Ingeom quietly told her,
“It would be good if your sixth sense awakens before the sparring match with Gwak Jagi… When it awakens, it will be confusing at first. There are times when what the five senses tell you and what the sixth sense tells you differ. When that happens… you must trust your sixth sense.”