New Atmosphere
Daily life hadn't changed much.
He still swung his sword every day and practiced One Illumination Movent Technique.
That was all he wanted to do, and all he could do.
Rather, what had changed was the Yu household.
The events at Five Star Gate and the duel spread rapidly throughout the nearby area, as if they had grown legs.
Though it was only up to the small surrounding villages, by now, everyone who needed to know, knew.
The nearby rchant guilds all ca seeking out the Yu household.
It wasn't just small peddlers coming over the hills; even the larger, mid- and long-distance rchants began to visit the Yu household, requesting guards.
Thanks to that, the Yu household increased its power and gained a bit of fa.
anwhile, Five Star Gate, the victor of the duel, had gone into closed-door training.
Regardless of the outco, the fact that the Five Star Gate Leader was defeated by Yu Jungho's son, Jeong-un, was apparently unbearable.
They declared they would not end the seclusion until they achieved results from their martial training.
In the Yu household, now enjoying an unseasonable boom, Jeong-un heard the news and tilted his head in curiosity.
'Then why haven't we done the sa?'
Of course, there had been so changes within the Yu household as well.
The family's warriors bowed deeply whenever they saw Jeong-un, sotis looking at him with eyes full of awe.
In the training hall, so warriors had even begun to follow Jeong-un, practicing the Three Talent Sword Technique.
This attention beca burdenso for Jeong-un, so he relocated his training to the family's private training hall.
Luckily, he did not run into his brothers.
Perhaps finding Jeong-un awkward, no one tried to et him.
It seed everyone was training in different places.
'That works out for .'
Thanks to this, Jeong-un could fully devote himself to training without any interference.
One thing that stood out was that Yu Dong-ryong was training in martial arts with great diligence.
After Jeong-un moved to the private training hall, Yu Dong-ryong began training in the public training hall instead.
He beca one of those who repeated the Three Talent Sword Technique daily, following Jeong-un.
'Though it won't make much difference anyway.......'
It was sowhat admirable, but honestly, Jeong-un found it hard to see it in a positive light.
From what Jeong-un saw, Yu Dong-ryong simply wasn't talented.
'Still, it's better than Ascending Dragon Sword Technique.'
"Young master!"
At the distant sound, Jeong-un lowered the wooden sword he had been swinging.
By now he was quite used to Jang Hong's voice.
'What's this about?'
Jeong-un glanced at his shadow to estimate the ti.
The sun was setting, but it wasn't yet ti for dinner.
Moreover, Jeong-un no longer attended the evening banquets.
Since the duel, Yu Jungho had never called for Jeong-un at dinner again.
To put it more coldly, Yu Jungho now treated Jeong-un almost as if he didn't exist.
Previously, he had just been considered a lazy ghost, but now he truly was treated like a ghost.
And Jeong-un rather liked it that way.
Thanks to this, he could imrse himself in martial arts without any restrictions.
'This kind of freedom...'
If he thought about it, even when he'd locked himself in his room before, he'd still been treated as invisible.
In the end, not much had changed.
"What's the matter?"
As Jang Hong hurried closer with an urgent face, Jeong-un asked lightly.
By now, Jang Hong felt quite familiar to him.
"The chief steward is looking for you."
"The chief steward?"
Jeong-un opened his eyes wide in surprise.
It was the na of a person who was completely unrelated to him.
'Why would he want ?'
The Yu household had been a fairly large landlord family even before his grandfather had brought back the basics of martial arts from Mount Hua.
With such large lands, they had to be skilled in comrce, and since expanding into the military hall, there was even more to know.
The chief steward was the one who made detailed plans for all of this.
If the family head, Yu Jungho, listened to reports and decided the business's direction, the chief steward handled the concrete planning and execution.
In reality, he was soone with no reason or opportunity to et the likes of Jeong-un, who had always been shut away.
"He says he has sothing to deliver to you."
"What is it?"
"That, I don't know."
"All right. Tell him I'll be there soon."
Jang Hong bowed and left the training hall.
The private training hall was off limits to anyone not of the bloodline.
Only personal guards serving a blood mber, like Jang Hong, could co to relay ssages like this.
It was likely the chief steward, even though he was technically Jeong-un's senior, hadn't co in person for this reason.
'Everyone really keeps the rules strictly.'
It was almost amusing but also showed a clear social hierarchy and strong codes.
Jeong-un found it curious how such rules had co about in a rural village like this.
"... Should I train a little more before I go?"
Looking up at the reddening sky, Jeong-un raised his sword again.
He hadn't completed the set number of repetitions yet.
'It should be fine if I'm a little late.'
He was the higher rank, after all.
It was tis like this the rules felt convenient.
* * *
"Please open it."
He had just entered the chief steward's small office.
The chief steward stood up, bowed politely, and gestured straight to the table.
"...?"
On the table sat a wooden box engraved with an elegant pattern.
After staring at the chief steward for a mont, Jeong-un reached out and picked up the box.
It was light, almost as if there was nothing inside.
Carefully opening it, a slightly bitter scent wafted up.
Inside he saw a small, round, earth-colored pill.
"It is said to be a pill made by mixing decade-old Polygonum multiflorum with various dicinal herbs."
"Who sent this?"
"Five Star Gate."
"Five Star Gate sent this to ? Why?"
The unexpected na made Jeong-un ask in surprise.
The chief steward shook his head.
"I did not accompany you to the duel, so I don't know the details, but I heard it was the result of a wager on the duel."
'Did we make such a bet?'
Thinking back, it seed Five Star Gate's Sect Leader might have said sothing like that.
But Jeong-un hadn't paid much attention to his words, so he couldn't rember well.
"Anyway, thank you."
As Jeong-un put the box inside his robe, the chief steward asked quietly.
"Will you take it yourself?"
"We'll see."
"You should take it."
"Why?"
"I believe it would be best if the young master took it."
"...?"
The chief steward had served the Yu household's affairs since his father's generation.
He knew everything about the household—it was no exaggeration to say nothing escaped him.
Even for a small, rural martial household, it was no easy task.
'Was he always like this?'
To know the household's affairs so deeply, in other words, ant he had always led a life separate from Jeong-un's.
Even being stared at so penetratingly from up close felt unfamiliar.
"I was given it, so I should take it."
After nodding for a mont, the chief steward asked again.
"Do you know how to take it?"
"Is there a special way?"
"Please wait."
He turned, went to the corner of the room, opened a chest, and took sothing out.
It was a thin booklet with no title.
"I heard there's a special thod to take pills. I happened to acquire this by chance, so it worked out."
"Did you get it for ?"
"We are also a martial household, after all. I just thought it'd be good to have a copy."
Jeong-un suppressed a laugh.
"Thank you."
"You're welco. Please return it through Warrior Jang Hong afterward."
As Jeong-un nodded and turned to leave, the chief steward called out again from behind.
"Oh, and the first young master has asked for you."
"My eldest brother? What for?"
"He did not state the reason. He asked you to co to the private training hall at midnight."
'The private training hall?'
He couldn't guess the reason at all.
Yu Geum-ryong, more than anyone, had hardly interacted with Jeong-un, much like the chief steward.
'A lot of people want to see today.'
Surely it wasn't a challenge to a duel?
Jeong-un tilted his head for a mont before stepping out.
* * *
By midnight, the night outside was pitch black, darker than just dark.
But in a place like the Yu household, large lanterns lit here and there kept it quite bright—not as bright as day, but bright enough.
'I hardly need a lantern.'
Ever since he trained daily in One Illumination Movent Technique, he could see in the dark almost as if it were dayti.
He didn't know what mysterious thod improved his eyesight, but it was startling how much his vision improved with training.
'If only I had started training younger...'
The more he thought about it, the more regrettable it felt, but it was useless to dwell on it now.
Even the remnants of his dream had beco faint.
Though the mories had seed vivid for the first few days—almost like the day before—now they remained only as indistinct scars, like a faint outline from a dream.
Of course, he could never forget how it ended.
It wasn't just the bitterness of being killed by soone.
The part he could never forget was having swung a sword his entire life, gaining nothing, and dying in vain.
The subtle, bitter emotion left by that death was unforgettable.
'This ti...'
Then, from afar, he felt a strange aura.
It didn't even seem like whoever it was tried to hide their presence.
'It's almost like... soone's swinging a sword.'
Maybe Yu Geum-ryong was swinging a sword.
Even though he couldn't see it, it was strange how clearly he could sense it.
The closer he got to the training hall, the stronger the feeling grew.
'How far does the power of true ki reach?'
If he was this sensitive, he couldn't imagine what the top masters—said to run over water—must perceive of the world.
It was beyond imagination.
Swish— Swoosh—
As he got closer, he actually began to hear the sound of swords being swung.
Entering the training hall, sure enough, Yu Geum-ryong was showing his sword technique.
"......"
Yu Geum-ryong was so absorbed that it felt awkward to greet him.
Jeong-un simply waited, and after he finished his final move, Yu Geum-ryong wiped sweat from his brow and turned to him.
"How was it?"
"I've heard you've perfected the Ascending Dragon Sword Technique—it seems to be true."
"I didn't know you could flatter so well."
"It's sincere."
He wasn't lying.
Whatever else, within the family, Yu Geum-ryong had the best martial skills.
No doubt Yu Jungho had more accumulated internal energy gained with age, but Jeong-un thought that having more wasn't always the key to victory.
'It all depends how you use it.'
He'd heard that in the martial world, so sword arts were ant for short duels.
Which ant you could be killed by a single cut before showing your full hand.
In that sense, Yu Geum-ryong was the most proficient at using the Ascending Dragon Sword Technique.
Even if he had lost to Five Star Gate's eldest.
"Why did you want to see ?"
"Co closer."
Yu Geum-ryong sheathed his sword and motioned to Jeong-un.
Jeong-un glanced briefly at his sword and approached.
He still hadn't been granted a real sword.
"I don't have many questions for you."
"...?"
"No, that would be a lie. Honestly, I don't even know where to start."
Hearing these ambiguous words, Jeong-un just quietly watched him.
He didn't seem to be asking for answers.
"Father refuses to acknowledge you, as if denying reality. Perhaps he's too old to admit what he's seen and heard."
"......"
"I will inherit the Yu household. Even though the second and third try to compete with now, they can't surpass , no matter how hard they try. Everyone knows it except them."
Is that so?
Honestly, Jeong-un didn't know, as he'd never looked at it closely.
'Co to think of it, it does seem fitting for my third brother.'
Yu Dong-ryong, no matter how you saw it, was not soone fit to lead a group, regardless of the family's size.
"Even if it ans nothing to you, this place is its own world. It doesn't need anything more, nor is anything missing. In this world, you are the odd one out."
"...?"
"So leave. Go to your own world."
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】
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