Episode 324. My Martial Arts Are Not in the Books.
Having returned to his office, countless thoughts crossed Im Sobaek's mind, yet feeling as though he would break something if he did not compose himself, he sat still.
After waiting for some time, he heard the voice of a guard from outside.
“Alliance Lord, the Chief Strategist has arrived.”
“Show him in.”
Gongsong Sim asked as he closed the door.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“For some time now. Have a seat.”
Gongsong Sim walked over slowly and sat across from him with an expression no different from usual.
Im Sobaek also stared intently at Gongsong Sim.
“Chief Strategist.”
“Yes.”
“Strategist Gongsong.”
“Yes, Alliance Lord.”
“Senior Gongsong.”
“Yes, please speak.”
“How many years has it been since we came to know each other?”
Gongsong Sim answered.
“It has been about twenty-five years.”
“Precisely.”
“It has been twenty-six years and one hundred eighty-one days.”
“How has it been?”
“I do not know whether you ask of my feelings…… or what it is you ask.”
“I speak of our relationship. We were superior and subordinate, and now we are strategist and Alliance Lord.”
“I have always believed there was trust between us.”
Im Sobaek looked at Gongsong Sim and searched several times for words to say. Unable to think of anything suitable, he opened his mouth, leaving it to his emotions.
“When did you intend to tell me that you are a Seosaeng, when we had such mutual trust? When we reached thirty years? Or when one of us retired? Before one of us died?”
Gongsong Sim's gaze, which had been staring at the desk, slowly rose and fixed upon Im Sobaek.
“Did you say…… Seosaeng?”
“I know that you are not the type to deny what has already happened. You can probably guess what conversation I had with the Lord of the Hao Gate in the Secret Pavilion. Since we have known each other for twenty-six years and one hundred eighty-one days, let us get to the point.”
“This is all too strange.”
“What is?”
“Everything I had to do as a Seosaeng was encompassed within the duties of a strategist or an alliance member. I had no intention of revealing it. Not even after thirty years, nor upon retirement. Why should this suddenly come to light and make things uncomfortable between you and me, Alliance Lord? How in the world did the Lord of the Hao Gate find out about such things?”
Im Sobaek asked.
“Can you not answer with something other than a question in response to my question?”
“Where should I begin, and what should I tell you?”
“At the very least, what the Chief Strategist wishes to reveal. At the very least, what Gongsong Sim wishes to tell this younger brother. At the very least, what the strategist who kept assigning me difficult missions wishes to tell his old subordinate…… tell me anything. I have the right to hear it.”
Gongsong Sim nodded.
“Since you ask, I shall speak. Having never once anticipated such a day, please forgive me if my words lack order……”
“Of course, it must be so.”
Gongsong Sim organized his thoughts before continuing.
“You may not know, Alliance Lord, but from the very beginning, I worked in the archive.”
“There was an archive?”
“Its name has changed several times; now it is the Secret Pavilion. It was long ago. The mission I received was an exceedingly simple one: enter the Martial Alliance and carefully preserve the ancient texts.”
“The reason?”
“I learned the reason later. Books would come in from outside, one or two at a time.”
“So you mean the books of the Seosaeng were brought into the Martial Alliance, and you protected them in the Secret Pavilion?”
“Yes.”
“Since when exactly?”
“It has likely always been so. My predecessor, and the one before them, were also sent by the Seosaeng. Most likely, a Seosaeng joined the Martial Alliance and established the archive from the very beginning.”
Im Sobaek folded his arms.
“Is that even possible?”
“In truth, the only ones who value books so highly are the Seosaeng and the people of the martial world. The Seosaeng had essentially entrusted their books to the martial artists. Since those martial artists stake their lives on secret manuals, there was the effect of mutual protection. If there was an Alliance Lord among the predecessors, the matter would have been even smoother.”
“So what happened?”
“I managed the books. I spent several years storing them and dusting them off. One day, out of sheer boredom, I began to read the texts. Even after reading them all, I was bored, so I read them again. For several years, no one came to see me, so I thought all the Seosaeng had died. Then, from time to time, a stranger would suddenly appear and entrust books to me.”
“Martial arts?”
“No. There were records of fallen Seosaeng clans, and there were times when another Seosaeng would find and deliver the final records of a destroyed Hundred Schools lineage. The Martial Alliance was truly a safe place. So long as it did not perish, there was no reason for them to be seized. One day, there was even a specific request. Someone mentioned a particular martial art and asked for a copy. I diligently copied it and gave it to them.”
“Was there a reason? You violated the Alliance's laws.”
“The man who made such a demand was a supreme master. Since I had entered under orders from the start, it was clear whose laws I was to follow even then.”
“Then what?”
“I thought that someday I might be killed by Seosaeng who had mastered martial arts, so from among the texts I had read, I began to read again, focusing on martial arts. Reading, mastering, and reading again—time passed once more. Time flew by as I trained. News from outside would occasionally arrive, but it was mostly grim. Then one day, a supreme master renowned in the martial world entered the Alliance, earned the epithet Sword God, defeated many people, and eventually became the Martial Alliance Lord…… I already knew that person's true identity.”
“So the supreme master who entrusted the books was the Sword God.”
“Yes.”
Im Sobaek sighed.
“Good heavens……”
Im Sobaek stood up like a drunken man, fetched a wine bottle from an empty spot in the study, and returned. As he poured wine into the teacup he always favored, he looked at Gongsong Sim.
“Chief Strategist, this is a world where it is hard to live with a sound mind.”
“Yes.”
“You dislike alcohol, so I shall drink alone.”
As Im Sobaek drank, Gongsong Sim continued.
“……I spoke with the Sword God several times, and after that, my tasks kept increasing. I had to manage the Secret Pavilion as well, and I was incorporated into the Military Council and took on other duties. There were many times I worked through the night, but it was better than being bored.”
“What sort of work did you mainly do in the Military Council?”
“I mainly caught spies.”
“Is catching spies such an easy task?”
“The Alliance Lord taught me from time to time, so I also achieved much in martial studies.”
“The Sword God's guidance?”
“Yes.”
“Because I had spent a very long time reading books alone, the Sword God's teachings were like welcome rain. He always looked after me and helped me. The location of the Secret Pavilion changed, and the number of books brought in or taken out increased, and the Alliance Lord was always busy. Even so, whenever there was time, he would examine the martial arts I had learned alone and did not spare his advice. One day, it was also the Alliance Lord who brought a child and had me take her as my adopted daughter. Alliance Lord Im, you must have noticed as well—she is not of my bloodline, but the Sword God's.”
Im Sobaek nodded.
“I did think there was a passing resemblance.”
“One late evening, he summoned me and drank alone. He was very drunk, and he even shed tears. I remember it particularly well because it was a day when many Alliance members had died or been injured. At that time……”
Gongson Sim stopped speaking and looked down at his teacup.
Im Sobaek poured liquor into the teacup and held it out to Gongson Sim. Gongson Sim, who was said to dislike liquor, drank the liquor in the teacup as if it were nothing.
“At that time, the Alliance Leader told me that all matters concerning the Scholars would be entrusted to me from then on. He said he himself would have to spend the rest of his life as the Alliance Leader. Since it was both the order of the Alliance Leader and, at the same time, the order of a Scholar, I said I understood. The Alliance Leader said he was deeply concerned that the Scholars outside seemed to have changed, but that it was difficult because, in their eyes, he would be the one who had changed. However, he said that as the leader of the Murim Alliance, those who crossed the line enough to warrant concern ought to be killed, so I was to put them on the public-enemy list. It was no different from declaring that he was no longer a Scholar himself.”
“This is confusing.”
“Yes.”
“There were some who were put on the public-enemy list and then disappeared without a sound or rumor.”
Gongson Sim looked at Im Sobaek.
“……I went outside from time to time. I had been granted leave, but I had no particular business to attend to, and I reported the purpose of my leave to the Alliance Leader in advance. Conversely, there were times when the Alliance Leader went out and dealt with matters himself. The Sword God’s martial learning was at an exceedingly high level, and before I knew it, I too had learned no small amount, so facing strong enemies was easier than I had expected. At the time, I formed a private gathering. Many people came because they were curious about me. Since I knew what books had been taken out, I could tell what martial arts someone had learned just by looking at their qinggong. I killed some of them then.”
“Was it a gathering made for the purpose of killing them?”
“Not necessarily. The Scholars were acting far too much as they pleased, so my purpose was more to understand them. It was not easy to observe the circumstances of their changes, so I had to meet them in person. Before I knew it, I, now old, had become a senior among the Scholars. There were those who revealed genius at the gathering, but there was no possibility of controlling them, and killing them directly was impossible, so later I placed them on the public-enemy list.”
“Tian’e (天惡).”
“Yes. There were signs that he had even been saddled with crimes he had not committed under the name Tian’e, and his martial arts improved day by day, making it increasingly difficult to deal with him. After repeated gatherings, I realized that their martial arts, too, were developing and transforming at an increasingly rapid pace. After that, I no longer responded to the Scholars’ requests to take books out.”
Im Sobaek narrowed his brow as he looked at Gongson Sim.
“Then why did the White-Robed Scholar come?”
“For now, I do not know, because I had no intention of meeting him personally. Or perhaps he came to examine the Alliance Leader’s martial arts. He is the head of a library as old as the secret archive, a Scholar who killed the original head and took his place. We have reached an age where no one knows who the true Scholars are anymore. White Robe is the disciple of the Scholar who once reigned over the black path.”
“Then he was Heixian’s (黑仙) disciple?”
“Yes.”
“So there was a reason he was strong. They say Heixian treated his disciples more harshly than anyone else in the world, so without even seeing him, I can tell his mind must be badly twisted. If it was Heixian, then being killed by his own disciple would hardly be strange.”
“No one grieved Heixian’s death. However, few people know who killed him. My guess is that White Robe, Tian’e, Silmyeong, and Chumyeong joined forces to kill him. After killing the Black-Robed Scholar (黑衣書生), he began using the name White-Robed Scholar, and because Tian’e remains by his side, the Scholars cannot stop the two of them from acting as they please.”
“Why did you keep all of this silent?”
“Alliance Leader, I too intended to spend the rest of my life as Chief Strategist. Though I imagine that is difficult for you to believe.”
“Chief Strategist.”
“Yes.”
Im Sobaek looked at Gongson Sim and said,
“If I went all out, could I kill you here and now? Only now do I learn that you were my senior brother of the same school. Senior Brother Gongson.”
“The Alliance Leader’s martial learning is something you realized on your own, so it is not the Sword God’s martial learning.”
“But I received many teachings as well. He corrected even my smallest habits. A man does not have to teach swordsmanship to be one’s master. Since coming here, there is nothing I have realized alone. I learned everything from beginning to end. I even relearned how to fold my blankets. The reason a pathetic man from some neighborhood, who could do nothing and did not even have a good temperament, was able to become the leader of the Murim Alliance was because there was a Murim Alliance that taught me.”
“It is the same for me.”
“It is simply that the fellows I chattered with in the Alliance in my youth left before me, and that resentment took such deep root that I am now serving as Alliance Leader. By force……”
“I know that feeling.”
“I am not a god. How am I supposed to find out things like this? The same goes for I Jaha. The Sect Leader believes you are the head of the Scholars. Is that true?”
“It is not.”
“He told me to propose an alliance with all the Scholars. Even if only until the Demon Cult is brought down.”
“He is better than I am. I should have moved that way first. But they are such a disorderly force that it is not a realistic proposal.”
“The Sect Leader is not a man who calculates realistically. He is the sort who dreams first.”
“An unusual person, then.”
Having calmed his excitement, Im Sobaek spoke in a weary tone.
“Senior Brother Gongson, if I am not to your liking, please tell me in advance. If you tell me to die, I will fight here and die. If you spare me, I will go down to my hometown this very road. I ask you to treat me kindly. No matter how I think about it, Senior Brother is smarter than I am and lacks nothing in martial arts, so why did you not become Alliance Leader yourself, and only after all these long years give me this humiliation? Have I lived wrongly? Whenever Senior Brother gave me a difficult mission, I took care of it without complaint and returned.”
“If I were sitting in that seat, who would follow me?”
“Am I your shield against arrows?”
“That is not what I mean.”
“How much does Gongson Wol know?”
“I did not want her to become entangled in the affairs of the Scholars, so she knows little. She had been worried the whole time that I sat at my desk for so long, but since I no longer do even that, she will not suspect anything. However, if she has discovered something on her own, then even I cannot determine how much that is.”
“What about the fact that she is of the previous Alliance Leader’s bloodline?”
“She knows that it could not be helped. Because of the matter of protection……”
“This is absurd. I did think he favored her unusually much, but to think he had no choice but to do so. I thought I knew most of what happened in the Murim Alliance, but there was much I did not know. Is there anything else? Do not wait until I ask to answer—do you have nothing to tell me in advance?”
“There was a time when the Scholars demanded that the Six-War Great Sword be handed over.”
“They might as well ask me to hand over my arm. Idiotic bastards. What else?”
“There was a request asking for instruction on how I Jaha’s ultimate techniques are manifested. There were drawings, and even the martial arts the Sect Leader had learned were recorded. They also requested that, if there were similar martial arts, they be passed on.”
“What did you say?”
“I did not know either, so I did not answer.”
“Even Senior Brother does not know?”
“No.”
“Is it their obsession with martial arts that has kept the Sect Leader and me alive? Are they not utterly insane? Senior Brother is one thing, and Gongson Wol another; you are both people smarter than I am, so by what method do you intend to restore a relationship of trust that has cracked like this?”
Gongson Sim let out a sigh, then said,
“How would you feel about marrying Wol?”
“Do you call that a suggestion?”
“Then I do not know of any method either. Or shall I rather marry Wol off to the Sect Leader?”
“Why does the mind of a man called a strategist only turn in that direction?”
“Strategic marriages are effective. That is why dynasties made use of them.”
“I Jaha and Gongson Wol alike are the sort who will not even glance at something they are not inclined to do, so it is a vain delusion. And I already tried arranging it once, but they had no interest in each other.”
“What? How did you arrange that?”
“If you put them in one place and take a rough look at their faces, wouldn’t anyone be able to tell? One of them is thinking only about beating someone up, and the other thinks of nothing but the Military Council. You could say they both have eyes, yet still can’t see each other.”
“Then I will retire.”
“Haven’t you already half-retired? Gongsun Wol is doing all the work. Do you have somewhere to go after you retire?”
“I do not, but I have saved some money. Whether I buy land or a house, I will hide away and live quietly.”
“If that is truly what you want, then retire.”
Gongsun Sim spoke in a dispirited tone.
“It is a form of atonement.”
“That much I ought to accept. When you retire, prepare a cart and take every one of the scholars’ books with you. The Alliance is neither the scholars’ warehouse nor their study. The reason you ate and slept in comfort was because of the hardships borne by the members of the Alliance, not because the scholars looked after you. If any of the scholars’ lackeys remain in the Alliance, take them all with you. That is the courtesy you owe the Martial Alliance, which has cared for you all this time. Whether you retire and disappear, or return to the scholars and appear as my enemy, that is your choice. Let us end our connection here.”
“After I leave, I could deal with the scholars myself—”
“That is your life, so there is no need to ask me. I have a duel to prepare for and must rest, so leave now. And one last request. Make sure I do not see the scholars at tomorrow’s duel. They are not qualified to watch it.”
“Alliance Leader, why are you being so emotional…”
When Im Sobaek laughed through his nose, Gongsun Sim shut his mouth with a stiff expression.
Im Sobaek said,
“Senior Brother, I lived emotionally and came all the way to this position. Because I was emotional, one day I created the Six Battle Great Sword. The likes of those scholars could train for a thousand years and still never imitate my Six Battle Great Sword. My martial arts are not in books.”
“…Yes, Alliance Leader. Then I will take my leave.”
After Gongsun Sim left, Im Sobaek leaned back in his chair, propped both feet on the desk, and closed his eyes with a weary expression.
In the place where every manner of emotion had passed, only a sigh remained.