5.
“I have returned.”
Wonil reported his return to Yangjeong, the Thousand-Man Commander.
“Good work. I wondered if I’d made an unreasonable request of you, but it seems it was the right decision in the end. It was the work of martial artists, wasn’t it?”
Yangjeong had already received a report beforehand through the Hundred-Man Commander. A single squad of ten had achieved a great merit in pursuing and capturing martial artists.
He believed the credit for this affair belonged solely to Wonil.
Indeed, the report recorded that Wonil’s role had been significant.
“It seems Vice-Commander Gosang was reading my cues.”
Without even asking, he could easily guess what the report contained. To leave a good impression on him—Yangjeong’s close associate—Gosang would have praised Wonil to the skies.
“No, the merits of a Squad Leader named Gujangwon and his squad members are properly recorded as well. In any case, wasn’t it thanks to your talismans that they could subdue them?”
“That is not the case. Squad Leader Gu is a man too valuable to remain a mere Squad Leader. He fought well against disciples of a renowned sect.”
“Disciples of a renowned sect?”
Yangjeong tilted his head. He had heard they were martial artists, but they were a group that had been pursued and captured by mere soldiers. Thus, he had assumed they were a crude band of unaffiliated wanderers.
“I was told they were disciples of the Cheonhwa Sword Gate. Are you familiar with it?”
The reason Yangjeong, who had only just turned thirty, could rise to the high position of Thousand-Man Commander was thanks to his powerful backing.
The Yang Family Spear.
Unlike most martial families, the Yang Clan had forged deep ties with the Imperial Family and had placed members in the military generation after generation.
The spear technique called the Yang Family Spear, or the Pear Blossom Spear, had been selected as the standard martial art of the Royal Army twenty years ago, and in exchange for offering the clan’s secret teachings to the Imperial Family, the Yang Family Spear had grown into a clan wielding powerful influence in the military.
“Cheonhwa Sword Gate? I feel like I’ve heard of it, and yet I haven’t……”
Born into a clan that placed its ambitions in the military rather than the martial world, Yangjeong was not well-versed in the affairs of the Murim.
“On the contrary, I have heard of it. It is quite a famous sect in northern Shaanxi. It cannot compare to Zhongnan and Huashan, but it boasts power in the region rivaling that of major sects.”
“Wait, you’re saying a mere Squad Leader fought well against disciples of a renowned sect?”
Yangjeong was a Jeongcheonho of the fifth rank. Thus, he knew better than anyone the difference in capability between ordinary soldiers and martial artists.
“It was the result of Charyun combined with my small assistance, but it was by no means an easy feat.”
“I shall grant him a separate reward.”
“Yes. I believe it would be best to do so. Above all, he is well-liked by his subordinates and a man of clear judgment, so I recommend keeping him close and employing him heavily.”
Though it had been a short time, while together Wonil had come to regard Gujangwon with considerable favor. More than his martial skill, his magnanimous character was to Wonil’s liking. He was a talent worth keeping close and nurturing.
“If you speak so highly of him, he must be quite the talent.”
“Yes. But in truth, there is another individual whom I must recommend far more strongly than Squad Leader Gu.”
“Must recommend?”
Yangjeong did not miss the strange excitement seeping from Wonil’s voice.
“Yes. If possible, I would like for him not to be a mere subordinate but to be taken in as a disciple of the Yang Family Spear, but……”
“Our main family is different from ordinary martial houses. We have no custom of taking in outside disciples?”
“If you see for yourself, your thoughts will change.”
Wonil broke into a broad smile, as if amused by the thought alone. In his mind, he could picture Yangjeong’s expression of shock at Wicheonsaeng’s talent.
“Just who is this person?”
“A mere soldier subdued none other than the daughter of the Cheonhwa Sword Gate’s Sect Leader.”
“And the woman’s martial arts were not lacking?”
“I dare say no one here could stand against her except you, Commander Yang.”
Though he had not witnessed it directly, had not the martial artist he and the soldiers had struggled to subdue said that she was a far stronger individual than himself? Of course, Wicheonsaeng too had been able to achieve merit thanks to Ganho’s assistance. But even taking that into account, was it not an astonishing achievement?
“Is he not affiliated with some place? His age?”
“No matter how highly I estimate his age, he cannot have reached his twentieth year. Moreover, he is serving as a proxy conscript. There is no way he could be affiliated with anywhere.”
“And yet he subdued a martial artist?”
It was an answer that once again left him no choice but to doubt the level of the Cheonhwa Sword Gate martial artist.
“He has learned nothing more than a third-rate sword technique called the Three Talents Sword Technique, picked up casually over a few months. You will be astonished when you see him.”
“The Three Talents Sword Technique?”
Was it not a technique among the lowest of the low, one that renowned sects wouldn’t even acknowledge as proper martial arts? In the first place, it was a bare-bones basic form consisting of nothing more than a horizontal slash, a vertical slash, and a thrust.
“I do not doubt you, but……”
“Rather than that, go and see for yourself.”
At Wonil’s words, Yangjeong smacked his lips with a displeased expression.
‘He is not a martial artist, but……’
Wonil had placed himself under Yangjeong to secure a position at the Heumcheongam, which oversaw celestial phenomena. Though he was not a martial artist, given the level of his superior arts, it could not be easily dismissed as nonsense.
“Very well. I need to hear their circumstances anyway. Let’s start by meeting the prisoners.”
If he could ascertain the level of the Cheonhwa Sword Gate martial artists, he would naturally be able to gauge the level of the soldier called Wicheonsaeng.
“Will you come with me?”
“Yes. I would not want to miss this.”
“Miss what?”
“There is such a thing.”
Wonil smiled brightly and avoided answering.
*
*
*
‘I wanted to focus on my training……’
Wicheonsaeng let out a short sigh with a troubled expression.
He had wanted to train in the forms of the Falling Flower Sword Technique and the technique called Gungsin Tanyeong that he had newly comprehended, but an order had come down to watch the prisoners.
The camp, filled with military tents, had no separate facilities to confine prisoners, so a makeshift wooden prison had been constructed by joining wooden planks together.
The word “prisoner” was a foreign one on the northern front, if nowhere else. Because the barbarians who couldn’t even communicate had no value as prisoners.
“Sigh.”
“Yes. You must be worried about your future.”
“?”
A Cheonhwa Sword Gate martial artist who heard Wicheonsaeng’s sigh sneered.
“Isn’t it you who should be worried, not me? Or do you not know that the punishment for plundering military grain is beheading?”
“Haha, do you think a Cheonhwa Sword Gate martial artist would be punished for something so trivial? You must be ignorant—even the provincial commander treads carefully around our Sect Leader. Since you have wounded our Sect Leader’s cherished daughter, it is you who should be trembling.”
Gyeongjin, the second disciple of the Cheonhwa Sword Gate, was incomparably bold despite being a prisoner.
“……”
“It seems you’re too frightened to answer. But it is already spilled water.”
“……”
When Wicheonsaeng made no reply at all, Gyeongjin, mistaking it for fear, grew even more excited and ran his mouth.
“But if you repent right now and release us, I will entreat my Sect Leader to forgive you with perhaps just one of your arms. How about it?”
“Huaaaah~”
“Y-you bastard!”
He had not particularly meant to mock him. It was simply a boring conversation, and a yawn had escaped him before he knew it. But Gyeongjin, thinking he was being ignored, flared up.
“I will definitely see you weep tears of blood!”
“You’re so damn noisy!”
Suddenly, a stone flew in fiercely.
Ganho, who had received the monitoring order together with him, had hurled a stone from near his foot.
As befitting the company’s finest marksman, it was an excellent display of stone-throwing. But Gyeongjin easily evaded the projectile with a flick of his feet.
“Do you think you can do anything to me with such crude stone-throwing?”
Gyeongjin snorted as if the very idea were absurd.
“Hey, this bastard is really……”
The enraged Ganho raised his spear.
“Ganho!”
Wicheonsaeng urgently called out to Ganho.
“I know, I was just annoyed and pretending. You think I’d actually stab him?”
“No, that’s not it. Throw another stone.”
“What?”
Ganho made an expression of disbelief.
‘It was definitely the same footwork.’
The mysterious footwork he had witnessed during the fierce battle with the female swordsman. The renowned technique called footwork.
‘I was too distracted by her blade to see it properly……’
Compared to the female swordsman, it felt somewhat crude and unstable, but he could still tell it was the same technique.
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
“Just try it.”
Wicheonsaeng replied while keeping his gaze fixed on Gyeongjin’s two feet.
“If the jerky rations come out……”
“Sure.”
“Alright.”
Ganho smiled brightly and picked up another stone. This time, he swung his arm down as if skimming a flat stone across water and threw it.
“Not a chance.”
Though it was even sharper in speed, Gyeongjin avoided it easily once again.
“Oh? You keep dodging, huh?”
Ganho, like Wicheonsaeng, was also born in a remote backwater village. He knew that people called martial artists existed, but he knew nothing of their exact standing.
Perhaps ignorance is bravery? Ganho fearlessly continued throwing stones in succession, and Gyeongjin evaded them all using his footwork.
“Stop!”
“S-senior sister……”
When the woman with a pale complexion shouted sharply, Gyeongjin flinched and made a surprised expression.
“The verdict has not yet been passed. Therefore, I ask for at least minimal respect.”
“Did I start it first? They started this mess, and now……”
At the polite tone that someone of the upper class might use, Ganho made a deflated expression and threw the stone on the ground. Generally, country folk were weak to such manner of speaking.
“Junior Brother Gyeongjin.”
“Yes.”
“Refrain from unnecessary words.”
“I apologize. I could not forgive that wretch who wounded you with cowardly tricks.”
“That is not what is important now. Above all, do not use the Cheonhwa Sword Gate’s martial arts in front of that man.”
“What?”
Gyeongjin tilted his head as if asking what she meant.
“He…… steals martial arts.”
“What in the world do you mean?”
It was not as if they carried secret manuals; how could he steal their martial arts?
“Are you satisfied now?”
“……”
Without answering Ganho’s question, Wicheonsaeng muttered something.
“So from the beginning, you were turning your ankle like that with rotation in mind. That’s why you stepped so strangely. Now that I think about it, until now I could only think of ways to move my feet forward…… I didn’t know there was a method like this.”
“What are you muttering about alone?”
At the small, incomprehensible murmuring, Ganho scratched his ear and frowned.
“Huh!”
It was a murmur so quiet that even Ganho right beside him could not hear it, but a martial artist’s hearing was sharp.
“C-could it be that he has understood the principles of the Wind-Borne Leaf Steps?”
Perhaps because she was the cherished daughter of the Cheonhwa Sword Gate Sect Leader? Cheonseorin wore an expression of utter astonishment.
Had he not mimicked the Falling Flower Sword Technique like a ghost when fighting her? To her, Wicheonsaeng was truly a terrifying existence.
“Wind-Borne Leaf Steps?”
“It means a leaf carried across by the wind. Just like its name……”
Upon hearing Cheonseorin’s words, Wicheonsaeng nodded immediately.
“I see. Just like its name, one must step even more lightly, but that guy had learned it crudely.”
“L-lies! The main sect’s secret teachings passed down through six generations are not so easy!”
Cheonseorin let out a scream-like shriek.
“Senior sister, please calm down. What could a mere soldier do with the main sect’s secret footwork…… Hup!”
An unbelievable sight was captured in the eyes of Gyeongjin, who was trying to calm Cheonseorin.
“Like this, like this…… No, it must be lighter. As if there’s no weight at all……”
A miraculous lightness and unpredictability, like a leaf fluttering in the wind, was unfolding at Wicheonsaeng’s feet.
“Y-you, where on earth did you steal and learn the main sect’s secret teachings!”
“What are you talking about? You showed it to me just now.”
“What?”
Gyeongjin froze as if bewildered.
Acquiring martial arts through crude observation alone? If that were possible, how could a word like secret teaching exist in this world?
“It makes no sense. This can’t be real.”
Cheonseorin buried her almost tearful face between her knees.
The two martial artists, who had their sect’s secret ultimate technique stolen right before their eyes, simply could not accept reality.
And that emotion was not something she alone felt.
“What on earth did I just witness?”
Yangjeong, who happened to witness this scene, could not hide his shock just like the Cheonhwa Sword Gate martial artists.
“That is precisely it.”
“What do you mean?”
“That was the exact expression I wanted to see.”
Wonil was quite satisfied to share the shock he had experienced with Yangjeong.
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Don’t thank me!
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