Ch.136Miho 7

Walking through the Japanese village street, I kept thinking.

The refugees who migrated here.

They must be truly dedicated to attracting tourists.

To recreate the authentic Japanese atmosphere so perfectly.

They’ve poured all their craftsmanship into surviving in Korea.

“Unni, look at that!”

“It’s a masked performance. Amazing… I’ve only seen this in anime…”

Fusion-style Japanese music flows through the streets.

People march along, wearing various masks and beating percussion instruments.

The unusual spectacle captivates the tourists’ attention.

Our Korean traditional clothes stand out conspicuously in this Japanese village.

Thanks to that, even Japanese tourists cast glances our way.

But we were too busy enjoying the atmosphere of the Japanese village to notice such stares.

People wearing fox masks, cat masks, and strange male masks.

They jump out from behind to startle the audience and sometimes dance with them.

They seemed to linger especially long when they stood in front of us.

A woman in a fox mask stands before me.

There’s something peculiar about the aura of this woman dressed in a black kimono.

She gives the impression of being a mysterious entity rather than human.

She stops in front of me, bends her knees to match my eye level, and stares intently.

“W-why are you looking at me like that…?”

Her blatant gaze makes me stutter involuntarily.

This is my first experience like this, so I’m not sure how to react…

Soon, the woman raises her finger.

She points alternately at her fox ears and mine.

“Fox…?”

Dark eyes flash behind the mask.

I stare at them, momentarily entranced.

Meanwhile, she places a small charm-like object in my hand.

The moment I notice the charm in my palm, the woman gracefully disappears into the masked crowd.

“Did something happen, Siho?”

While I was staring at where she had vanished, my sister tapped my shoulder.

The touch finally brought me back to my senses, and I shook my head.

“No… it’s nothing…”

I fidgeted with the charm I’d received.

The character for “fruition” was engraved on it.

It seems to emit a strange fragrance, as if imbued with magic.

I liked the character, so I tucked it into the inner pocket of my jeogori.

Then I walked leisurely, following my sister.

Before long, we reach the center of the Japanese village.

The highlight of the festival, a samurai sword demonstration, was taking place there.

“Now, today’s main attraction! An A-rank hunter in Korea and a traditional Japanese samurai by birth! Suda-san’s iaido demonstration!”

A man in a yukata announces in a loud voice.

At his call, we all stop walking and watch the show.

A man dressed in black samurai attire stands in the center of the plaza.

In front of him is a pillar made of 20 bamboo stalks bound together.

It looks extremely sturdy and solid.

It reminds me of the forelegs of a level 7 elephant-type monster, the Mastodon.

The bamboo is massively thick.

I can’t imagine cutting through that with iaido.

Before starting his demonstration, he confidently explains his swordsmanship.

“Japanese swordsmanship is superior to that of any other people. Even now that the Gates have opened, we’ve survived through our traditional sword techniques.”

I watch his preparation with my hands clasped together.

After all, flashy sword techniques like iaido are every man’s fantasy!

“I apologize to the Koreans here, but today I’ll show you that Japanese swordsmanship is superior to that of Joseon.”

Hearing those words, my sister’s brow furrows.

For her, a Korean flame swordsman, that statement is nothing short of provocation.

Well, I suppose I’d feel offended too if a foreigner suddenly claimed their swordsmanship was superior to ours.

Still… we’re just here to watch a show, so we should probably let it slide…

“Let’s just watch for now, Unni. Iaido… it’s such an interesting spectacle, right?”

My sister nods calmly at my request.

If it had been Anna or Jeoksa, this would definitely have caused trouble, but that’s my sister for you.

What a relief…

“Now, here we go!”

The MC’s grand shout.

With that cry, the plaza of the Japanese village falls silent.

The samurai takes a deep breath.

And the moment that breath ends…

The sword is drawn.

A chillingly sharp sound echoes through the previously quiet plaza.

In that brief instant, the keen blade flashes like lightning.

Following that brilliance, a diagonal crack appears in the bamboo pillar.

And then…

The massive bamboo that seemed impossible to cut splits in half.

It was so thick that dust rose when the bamboo fell to the ground.

The dust scatters throughout the plaza.

“Thank you.”

Suda bows with his hands together in a disciplined manner.

The audience momentarily looks stunned at the iaido demonstration that passed in an instant.

“If you enjoyed Suda-san’s iaido, please give him a round of applause!”

Only then do the spectators begin to applaud in unison.

The Japanese voices among them were particularly loud.

“There are almost no ability users who use iaido in this world anymore! You’ve witnessed a rare experience!”

“—!”

Seizing the moment, the MC uses the rarity of iaido to encourage donations.

Many people put money directly into the donation box.

The applause continued even as donations poured in.

“Wow, that’s really amazing, isn’t it?”

I looked up at my sister with an excited voice.

But unlike my enthusiasm, she remained very calm.

She seems lost in thought.

As if analyzing Suda’s technique.

Eventually emerging from her monologue, she muttered to herself.

“That’s not swordsmanship…”

“Not swordsmanship?”

My sister sometimes tends to analyze and study to hone her own skills.

But to think she’d do this even at a festival… as expected of a main dealer.

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen my sister’s skills since she trained with Anna.

Having been educated by a ranker, she must have at least A-rank hunter skills now, right?

My sister has grown another step forward…

Thinking about this makes me feel somewhat anxious.

My hand instinctively reaches for the charm given by the mysterious woman.

I firmly grasp the charm tucked in my jeogori.

Fruition… will I ever be able to develop my abilities again and be helpful…

“That’s probably a completely different technique. He’s probably not even a real samurai.”

With her hand on her chin, lost in thought, she soon comes to her senses.

Her raised voice had reached the samurai’s ears.

The man with a fierce face befitting a warrior soon looks at my sister.

The gazes of the elegant Korean lady and the samurai meet.

“You there, miss. What did you just say?”

“I said you don’t seem like a swordsman class.”

My sister answered calmly.

Her eyes held determination and integrity.

“Um, Unni… who cares if he’s a swordsman or not. It was an impressive magic trick, wasn’t it?”

“Magic trick…! Hey, little fox girl. This isn’t just a simple trick. It’s iaido passed down through generations!”

The man’s gaze turns to me instead.

He’s completely shaved off his eyebrows and has black eyeliner around his eyes.

I swallowed hard at the sight of that intimidating Japanese-style makeup and costume.

But my sister didn’t back down and firmly confronted the warrior.

“Don’t yell at my sister.”

“No, Unni… it was my mistake. I’m sorry…”

“It is a trick. More precisely, an ability.”

At those words, the samurai confidently crossed his arms.

Frowning with his shaved eyebrows, he asked back.

“Oh? Then how will you prove that my technique isn’t iaido?”

He casually walked to the pile of cut bamboo.

Then he kicked the cleanly cut surface, rolling it toward my sister.

His confident demeanor makes the audience take a dubious attitude.

Especially the locals, who openly criticized the Korean for disrespecting Japanese swordsmanship.

“What’s with that woman…”

“She’s wearing hanbok. She probably can’t accept the greatness of samurai swordsmanship.”

“Seriously… Korean inferiority complex never goes away.”

At the negative comments from various people, my fox ears droop helplessly.

I carefully grabbed my sister’s sleeve.

“Unni… let’s go. We might get stoned at this rate.”

“No, I was going to leave, but seeing how these people talk, I can’t let this slide.”

Her golden eyes flash.

Soon, the Joseon lady grabs her skirt sleeve and walks confidently up to the samurai.

“Of course you can’t tell just by showing the bamboo cross-section. Whether it was cut with a sword or another ability.”

The samurai looks somewhat tense at her confident attitude, which suggests she knows something.

He snaps back at Jisu.

“So how are you going to prove it?”

At the warrior’s firm question, Jisu confidently points to his scabbard.

“That sword. Draw it.”

“The, the sword…? Why?”

“Looking at the bamboo, I can see they were cut very recently.”

At her words, the crowd all look at the cut bamboo.

Indeed, the cut surface was still full of moisture.

“If you cut it with a sword, there should be bamboo moisture and pulp on the blade.”

Jisu shouted as if speaking to the crowd.

Then she suddenly grabbed his scabbard.

“So if you really cut it with iaido, there should be traces left on this blade, right?”

Some in the crowd nod at her plausible explanation.

But the Japanese locals still shake their heads with uncomfortable expressions, unable to accept it.

“Come on, if you don’t like being mistaken for a magician, draw it.”

“…”

The samurai kept his mouth shut as if being interrogated.

Then, as if he had no choice, he slowly drew his sword with a slightly trembling hand.

And there it was revealed.

A clean blade without a trace of foreign matter.

“Look.”

My sister rubbed her finger on the sharp blade.

Then she shows her fingerprint to everyone.

“There’s no moisture at all. The sword never even touched the bamboo.”

At the sight of the blade without a single piece of bamboo attached, the crowd murmurs in unison.

Even the Japanese who had mocked my sister earlier clear their throats and avoid eye contact at her exposure.

“My… my iaido is more meticulous and faster than anyone else’s. That’s why no liquid or particles could touch it!”

The samurai stuttered as he snatched back the sword.

Then he shot back strongly as if to rebuke my sister.

“And what would a girl like you know? Have you ever even swung a sword?”

His trembling finger points at my sister’s composed face.

But the lady just smiles gently.

“That’s right! What would a Joseon girl know about swords!”

The Japanese cheer for the samurai in awkward Korean.

The MC looks troubled by the escalating atmosphere.

“You say I don’t know about swords?”

At those words, my sister chuckled.

Then she briefly looked down at her skirt that almost touched the ground.

Soon she raised her head again.

Unlike the beginning of the festival, her expression is now solemn.

Like a Joseon swordsman.

“Then, let me cut the bamboo with that sword.”

My sister demands the sword from the samurai.

The Japanese swordsman bursts into laughter at her audacity, claiming she’ll cut 20 bamboo stalks with her female body.

“In all my life… I’ve never met such a bold young lady. Alright, go ahead and try.”

He confidently handed her the sword.

The katana looks very heavy.

She lifts it easily with one hand, as if to show off.

Not only lifting it, but skillfully rotating and gripping the sword.

At that sight, the crowd collectively goes “Ooh-” in admiration.

“It’s much lighter than the Vice Chairman’s sword. Definitely not ideal for cutting bamboo.”

She walks confidently to the center of the plaza, speaking like an expert.

The show staff have already prepared a new bundle of bamboo for her.

But even to my eyes, the bamboo seems thicker and tougher than before.

Even I frown at their underhanded tactics.

Unni….

Jisu briefly puts down the sword.

Then she ties her elegant hair tightly and tucks up her voluminous skirt, securing it at her waist.

This reveals the inner pants she’s wearing underneath.

The male spectators clear their throats at the sight.

But…

My sister, born as a swordsman, didn’t care at all.

She was only thinking about punishing that arrogant fraud who disrespected Korean swordsmanship.

Soon her golden eyes flash.

The plaza, which had been buzzing with criticism, falls silent once again.

To witness the swordsmanship of this delicate, elegant Joseon lady.