“Hahahahahahaha—!”
Whatever he found so funny, Sword Demon threw his head back and laughed heartily.
He laughed long enough for tears to gather at the corners of his eyes, then looked at with his shoulders still shaking.
“You’re saying the only people who could teach you are and Richard Han? Bold words to say with a straight face. And yet, I can’t quite bring myself to hate it...”
He swallowed the rest, but I could tell he’d taken a liking to .
“Because it’s the truth.”
There are countless sword masters in Korea, but the only swordsmanship that felt aligned with the direction and grain of my own was Sword Demon Choi Geon’s.
Not wanting to lose this chance, I asked again with everything I had.
“Please teach the sword. Judge for yourself whether what I said is only arrogant—or whether I’m worth that much.”
“Impossible.”
With a bitter smile at his lips, Sword Demon shook his head and went on.
“It’s been a long ti since I put the sword down. So don’t bother trying to persuade .”
“That’s absurd...”
Only then did I realize there wasn’t a single sword anywhere in the house.
I’d vaguely assud he’d hidden one sowhere, but he didn’t have a sword at all?
Knowing what the sword ant to a man like him, I simply couldn’t believe it.
But the transparent honesty in his gaze as he stared at reflected nothing but truth.
“What’s absurd? Are you saying I lied just to deceive you?”
“...That’s not what I ant.”
I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like for soone who had devoted his life to the sword to put it down.
Was it tied to the reason he went into seclusion? Had sothing shocked him so badly he had to set the sword aside?
“I didn’t expect you to be this shaken. But it’s a fact. Even when I went after that black-path thug Nightfiend Sword, I used a needle instead of a blade for the sa reason.”
Maybe the confusion was written plainly on my face, because Sword Demon added an even, calm explanation.
“...I grew sick to death of the sword. I don’t even want to touch it or look at it. So teaching soone? Nonsense. Go back.”
That was a lie.
In a few years, you’ll release the swordsmanship you polished for a lifeti to the world with no conditions. You were that reluctant to let your art vanish.
Knowing that, I believed I could turn his heart.
Even if not right this mont.
I rose slowly and offered a cupped-fist salute.
“Understood. I’ll take my leave for today.”
“...For today?”
I’d never thought I could persuade him easily from the start.
Bringing in the best possible teacher of the sword—
No matter how long it took, I would keep knocking until the door opened.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. And the day after, and the day after that. I’ll co every day until you agree.”
“...Even if it’s pointless. Co a hundred tis, my answer won’t change.”
“You’re still not telling not to co, though?”
“Good grief...”
Sword Demon sighed in disbelief as he looked at , then asked, as if suddenly curious,
“What are you willing to give up for the sword?”
“Sorry?”
I tilted my head at the abrupt question.
Sword Demon stared at with a lonely look in his eyes.
Regret and remorse lay heavy in that gaze.
“I gave up everything. I offered up my youth, threw away wealth and fa, turned my back on friends, abandoned even my family. I lived with only a single sword to look at.”
“...”
“When I ca to my senses, I was alone. And even so, I never reached the realm I sought. Are you prepared to do the sa?”
He was asking about my resolve, but his words brought back my previous life.
Because in that life I’d lived a lot like him.
I’d started learning martial arts with the dream of becoming The Strongest in the World, but at so point I lost that purpose and beca a vagabond, scrambling to survive day to day.
“I...”
I’d spent most of my ti alone, with nothing to lean on but a single blade.
The difference between him and was that I had been lucky enough to get a second chance.
So at least about my resolve in this life, I could speak plainly.
“I won’t give up anything.”
“What?”
A faint anger creased between his brows.
But my answer wasn’t a joke or bravado.
“I won’t give up family or friends. I don’t care much about wealth or fa, but I won’t throw those away either. Because they’ll be strength to protect my family and friends.”
“Half-baked! You think you can reach a high realm with that kind of mindset?”
“Then I’ll work that much harder. I’ll give it everything I have so I don’t have to give anything up.”
Because I don’t want to be alone anymore.
Because I don’t want to live feeling lonely, isolated, and hollow.
“I’m going to be happy. Together with the people around .”
“...”
Sword Demon glared at in silence for a while, then let out a long sigh. His eyes were a little bloodshot.
“You impudent brat. You think I asked to hear that kind of answer? You think you’ll achieve greatness as a swordsman with such a soft attitude?”
The rest was practically a shout, and yet sohow it wasn’t frightening or unpleasant.
If anything, it felt like he was angry at himself, so I smiled gently and said,
“Then please help . Teach so I can beco The Strongest in the World without giving anything up—so that when I look back on my life later, I won’t regret it.”
“...Get lost.”
I bowed and turned to go.
He had refused , but I felt strangely relieved, having said everything I’d wanted to say if I ever t him.
“No matter how much you beg, I won’t teach you swordsmanship. But...”
I was descending the stairs when a voice drifted from behind , as if he were talking to himself.
I turned back slowly.
Sword Demon, his face full of conflict, gazed at steadily.
“I don’t want to watch you embarrass yourself by clumsily imitating my sword... If you drop by once in a while, I’ll at least check your form.”
In that instant I bead and bowed to the floor toward him.
“Thank you! Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Master!”
“...Master, my foot. It’s late. Get out.”
With that curt dismissal, Sword Demon spun on his heel and went back inside first.
But when I lifted my head, I saw the faintest smile at the corner of his mouth as he turned away.
*****
The next day.
As soon as school ended, I ran to Sword Demon’s place.
I knocked on the door, anxious he might have changed his mind overnight and vanished again.
“Master. I’m here!”
“...It’s open. Just co in.”
Inside, Sword Demon was dressed the sa as yesterday—flight jacket and track pants.
He must have been reading the newspaper; a folded paper lay beside him, and next to that was a back scratcher.
Don’t tell ...
Why did that thin bamboo back scratcher look like a sharp sword to ?
I swallowed hard and shifted my gaze from the back scratcher to him.
“I ran straight over after school in case you were waiting.”
“You’re drinking kimchi soup before anyone’s even offered you rice cakes. And who said I’m your master? I distinctly told you I’m not teaching you swordsmanship.”
“You said you’d check my form. Even that alone will help enormously going forward, so it’s only right I call you Master.”
“Huh? Your confidence could poke a hole in the sky.”
He clicked his tongue lightly. I held up the spare practice blade I’d brought to replace the one with a hairline crack.
“Should I warm up first?”
“...Do what you want. The rooftop’s empty, so go swing it up there.”
“Got it.”
I went straight up to the roof and started with a light warm-up.
Sword Demon followed up later and sat on a wide wooden platform to watch .
“...”
From his indifferent expression you’d think he had zero interest in what I was doing.
In the middle of watching , he’d lift his head to look at the sky, or read the newspaper he’d brought, or swat at gnats with the back scratcher.
That just ans there’s nothing to point out.
I didn’t mind and trained as usual.
I focused on what I’d refined and established in my last life, and on the parts I wanted to develop further.
After a while of saying nothing, Sword Demon tossed out a passing remark.
“You’ve ford a rough habit with your grip. Keep using it like that and you’ll wreck your wrist.”
I stopped at once and looked back at him.
“I try to be careful in my own way... Should I change my grip outright?”
“No need to go that far. For the move you just did, release a bit of the tension in your shoulder.”
Whoosh—
“Like this?”
“...”
“Did I do sothing wrong?”
“Maddeningly quick on the uptake,” he muttered under his breath, then opened the paper again.
Smiling at the praise, I swung even more earnestly. Soon another correction ca.
“Your stride is large and hasty. Are you picturing an opponent and moving to that?”
“Yes. How did you...”
“Training like it’s a real fight isn’t always good. First focus on the movent itself, then pause for a mont after it’s done and do it again.”
I carved the advice into my mind and swung again.
As I started to feel a little improvent myself, another note reached my ears.
“Anyone can go fast. Being able to do the sa movent ten tis slower is how you truly make it yours.”
“Yes!”
Each offhand word he dropped was exactly the advice I needed right now.
Just by changing my approach a little in line with his guidance, the routine beca several tis harder than usual, and my breathing grew quick and short.
“Huff, huff...”
I was cutting through the air relentlessly when my phone alarm went off and I stopped imdiately.
Sword Demon, arms folded as he watched seriously, asked with a puzzled look,
“Why stop all of a sudden?”
“Gotta eat dinner.”
Grinning, I pulled a three-person dinner box out of my bag—the one I’d asked my parents to prepare.
“I brought dinner. Let’s eat together.”
“I’m fine. Eat by yourself.”
I caught his sleeve as he rose from the platform to head back inside.
“My parents made this in the morning for to share with you, Master... Could you please have so for their sake? They’ll be disappointed if I bring any back.”
“...”
In the end, Sword Demon gave in and sat back down.
We sat facing each other on the platform and ate from the lunch boxes.
The rice was a bit lukewarm, but the seaweed soup in the insulated container still held a gentle warmth.
After eating in silence for a bit, he suddenly asked,
“Did you tell your parents who I am?”
“I didn’t go into detail. I thought you wouldn’t want more people to know you.”
He snorted at my serious answer and shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter if you tell them.”
“Sorry? But you said there are people looking for you...”
“The last ti they looked for was ten years ago. I overreacted and suspected you kids, but truthfully, it’s nothing that matters anymore.”
In the martial world, Sword Demon Choi Geon was a na long forgotten.
He knew that well himself—hence his indifference.
“Then... can I tell the friends who helped look for you yesterday? They worked hard to help . I should let them know.”
“Do as you like.”
As we ate together, we talked about this and that—things we hadn’t gotten to the day before.
I did most of the talking; Sword Demon answered briefly or tossed the occasional question.
“I have a rough sense of your bones and constitution. What about your Five Elents affinity?”
Once a martial-artist license is secured, the real work of cultivating inner-power thods begins, and what you can learn varies wildly with your affinity.
It’s not as decisive as bones or constitution, but for a martial artist, which of the Five Elents you’re suited to is still important.
I hesitated a mont, then decided to be honest.
“I have affinity for all Five Elents.”
“...Say that again.”
I tilted my head, then phrased it clearly to avoid any misunderstanding.
“My constitution allows to learn martial arts of all Five Elents.”
Sword Demon set his chopsticks down with a soft tap and stared at in shock.
“You’re... a Five Elents affinity wielder?”
It was a reaction that was clearly more than simple surprise.
User Comments
0 comments from readers