episode_0021

Well, naturally, I won.

The expressions on the faces of the other family heads, sect leaders, and acting sect leaders when they congratulated me, the winner, and gave me something resembling a trophy were quite a sight to behold. That alone made winning worthwhile. However, as expected, the abbot of Shaolin was on a different level.

Even though I crushed his disciple’s head and won, he still wore an amicable smile and congratulated me on my victory.

“Congratulations. I was certain that child would win the Yongbong Tournament, but… I have realized that the world is vast, and I, and Shaolin, still have much further to go.”

“….It’s nothing.”

“Amitabha.”

Well, that’s how the Yongbong Tournament ended, roughly speaking.

Jang Cheon-woo, belonging to the Yeom Military.

Yang Jamun told me that he had begun to be called by the epithet “One Dragon” due to his unparalleled performance and the fact that he defeated everyone in a single exchange.

One Dragon, huh….

It sounds pretty corny, but when I think about it, it doesn’t matter what I’m called since it’s a fake identity anyway.

In any case, now free, Bai Lian and I headed to the old woman’s house, where we had been staying.

“Are you with him?”

“Yes. We’re leaving now.”

“Then I must wish you a safe journey.”

I nodded at those words.

I appreciate her wishing me a good trip. But there’s something I need to give her before that.

“Here.”

“What is this?”

“What else could it be? Something to give to your boss.”

The old woman’s expression darkened at my words.

Then, she quickly looked back and forth between Bai Lian and me before opening her mouth.

“When did you notice?”

“The first night. Who wouldn’t be suspicious of someone doing something suspicious in a hidden basement late at night, when they’re not even preparing to open the store the next day? I thought you were trying to tell me outright. More than anything, there was someone who found me even though I didn’t tell them where I was staying. So I figured that’s how it was.”

“….”

The old woman looked at me as if she were dumbfounded.

You’re underestimating my perception too much, grandma.

“….Then I’ll have to ask again. What is this?”

The old woman’s energy changed.

Looking at the status window…, I didn’t see any particular changes other than my ‘skill’ stat going up a bit.

So you can change stats themselves. I don’t know if she hid it herself or borrowed the power of another item.

Anyway, I said, looking at the bundle of books the old woman was holding.

“I’m giving it to you because your boss seems really serious. Well, there’s nothing special in it. If you give it to your boss, they’ll know.”

“A boss…, do you know who I am?”

“No? I don’t know. I just know that you do strange things every night, and that your boss was watching me.”

“….”

The old woman sighed deeply and threw something away with a flick.

It was a wooden carving, but there were subtle engravings on the surface that were difficult to notice.

“What’s this?”

“Go to Sichuan.”

“Huh? What do you mean go to Sichuan all of a sudden? What is this?”

“The clue to what you’re looking for, the Giant Root Pill, will be there.”

A clue to the Giant Root Pill in Sichuan?

“Can I trust you?”

“Yes. In the first place, the Giant Root Pill is basically a medicinal pill…, a type of medicine. Sichuan…, and the Sichuan Tang Clan, which is based in Sichuan, has always been excellent in poison and the medical skills to detoxify poison. Of course, their assassination techniques are not to be ignored either.”

Indeed, I understand.

If it’s the Sichuan Tang Clan, they might know about the manufacturing method of the Giant Root Pill, or at least the sales route?

It’s certainly a plausible method.

“When you arrive in Sichuan, find the Mara Hall there, and show that wood carving to anyone there. Then they will help you.”

“Okay, good.”

I put the wooden carving the old woman handed me into my inventory and got up from my seat.

“Then I’ll really be going now, take care.”

After Leon and Bai Lian left, the old woman Wang just stared in the direction Leon had left.

“I guess he noticed.”

“That’s right.”

Yang Jamun and Dongho entered old woman Wang’s store.

Then, Yang Jamun, who received the book from old woman Wang, slowly skimmed through the contents of the book, and then burst out laughing.

“What is written in it that makes you laugh like that?”

Dongho asked Yang Jamun respectfully.

“There really is…, there really is something we need. A textbook on swordsmanship.”

“Swordsmanship!…, Could it be the one he showed at the Yongbong Tournament!….”

“No. As I said back then, the swordsmanship he performed was all basic swordsmanship. This is also just a diagram of basic swordsmanship that is not particularly special in itself.”

“A diagram of basic swordsmanship…?”

Dongho asked back, as if he couldn’t understand.

What’s so great about basic swordsmanship that he made a diagram of it and gave it to them as if it were a big deal?

Yang Jamun laughed as he looked at Dongho, who was bewildered.

Perhaps, he would have thought the same if he hadn’t seen it.

“Basic swordsmanship is, in other words, the foundation of everything. And this book…, in the absence of a martial art representing the Yeom Military, is a book that provides the foundation for creating a martial art that can represent it.”

“A foundation…?”

“Yes. It describes the basics of all weapons.”

Leon himself has already proven the importance and power of basic swordsmanship.

And he leaves this book behind and asks himself.

‘How far can you go?’

Then, it would be right for him to answer.

“We’re going to be busy. Dongho, can you contact that person?”

“Yes. I understand.”

“….Perhaps that person can break through that secret palace that the first Yeom Emperor left behind.”

* * *

“Ach!”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine…, but is someone talking about me?”

Leaving Shinhyun City and heading to Sichuan.

I had a map of the Phlegrea continent that I had obtained in the Roman Kingdom a long time ago, so it wasn’t difficult to find my way.

Thanks to the status window ability, or because the map was special, the ‘mini-map’ function was activated based on the map of the Phlegrea continent from the moment I obtained it.

Thanks to that, I didn’t forget the way back home and was able to go well. Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to move forward without getting lost.

If I ever have a chance to go to the Roman Kingdom, I must visit that general store again.

“It seems like we’ll arrive soon if we keep walking for days and days like when we went to the Frun Kingdom before, what do you think, Bai Lian?”

“Um…, those are memories I don’t really want to think about….”

As if she really didn’t want to think about it, Bai Lian looked at me with a pale face.

As if to ask, are you really going to do it again?

“I think we’ll have to hurry a bit because we spent a lot of time on something called the Yongbong Tournament~?”

“Woo…”

When I said it jokingly, Bai Lian puffed out her cheeks slightly, expressing her protest.

“Young master…, that’s too much… When I asked you to teach me swordsmanship, you didn’t teach me at all…., but you left a secret manual for them…., are you tormenting me this time?…..”

It seems that she didn’t like the fact that I gave them the basic swordsmanship diagram before going to the guys.

Seeing that she’s only doing this now after not showing it until now, I think she’s just acting out because I’m teasing her….

“I’ve said it several times that it’s just a basic swordsmanship diagram, not a secret manual!”

“That’s a secret manual! Do you know how much influence a diagram of swordsmanship left by an expert has on novices! You wouldn’t know! Because you’re strong!!”

“Hey, you! Besides, you use a ring-sword!! Our weapons are different!!”

The ring-sword that Bai Lian uses is a single-edged sword with a blade on only one side.

On the other hand, this side is a double-edged sword with blades on both sides.

You might ask, aren’t they both the same sword anyway? But they are different.

Double-edged swords are lighter than single-edged swords because the width of the blade must be wide and the thickness must be thin to maintain sharpness.

On the other hand, single-edged swords are heavier than double-edged swords because they maintain the thickness of the back of the blade to secure the weight and durability of the blade.

This subtle difference makes a big difference in swordsmanship.

‘Of course, the fact that I have an understanding of swordsmanship for single-edged swords in the memory of a 300-year-old sword king is another matter.’

There is no need to tell Bai Lian this fact.

Isn’t it the way of the world to reveal what is advantageous and hide what is disadvantageous?

“Anyway, stop pouting and come here quickly.”

“Hmph…, if young master could ride a horse, I might have gone quickly.”

“I know how to ride a horse?”

“….?”

‘Of course, I got the horsemanship skill thanks to the memory of a 300-year-old sword king.’

….Huh? This line. I feel a sense of deja vu.

But it’s true.

Before I possessed this game world, the only horse I had ever seen was when I went to Jeju Island for a horseback riding experience.

Even then, I just got on and the horse was held by a trainer? It wasn’t like I rode the horse and moved it myself.

But thanks to the 【Memory of the Sword King】, the 【Horsemanship】skill was created the moment I saw a horse.

It wouldn’t have been bad to ride a horse to level up this skill a bit….

“You can’t train if you ride a horse.”

“Train?”

“Humans are creatures that ultimately live with both feet on the ground in any case. As a result, all human actions ultimately come from the entire lower body that steps on the ground. You, there was a subtle shaking when you wielded your sword. Isn’t your lower body weak?”

“That’s because my chest is big.”

“….”

Her chest…, is big.

Um. It’s big. That’s why it feels good to hold it. The soft and elastic rice cake texture is good.

“Puh…, hehe, ahaha. I’m just kidding. I see…, you were watching me properly.”

“We’re in the same party, so of course I’m watching.”

“Um, um.”

Bai Lian, who seemed to be in a good mood again suddenly, strode forward briskly.

But I can hear some commotion up ahead.

As I increased my pace slightly to follow Bai Lian, I saw Bai Lian stopping and a carriage and a few people having a war of nerves in the distance. One of the unusual things was the appearance of the men who seemed to have attacked the carriage.

“What is that? A toad?”

Both the appearance and the exposed skin are somehow reminiscent of toads.

“They’re beastmen.”

“Beastmen?….”

Are there beastmen who look like that?….

I’m really sorry to say this, but they look like monsters, not beastmen.

“That’s not all…, that crest is the Tang Clan. And the woman facing them. It’s the girl I saw at the Yongbong Tournament.”

“Oh? Really?”

You remember all that. Amazing.

Anyway, is a member of the Tang Clan being attacked?

….Why? The Tang Clan is one of the 13 forces that founded Yeom Country. The treatment they receive would have been high, not low, so why are they being attacked in a place like this?

“Well…, I don’t know why. But at least the situation doesn’t look good.”

As Bai Lian said, the number of the toad beastmen is hopelessly small compared to the number of the Tang Clan.

In the first place, I don’t know much about martial arts, but the Tang Clan is famous for its poison and assassination techniques.

I learned from old woman Wang that this place is no different.

Poison and hidden weapons would be optimized for fighting against many, but despite that, they’re being pushed back….

“What are you going to do?”

“Where are we heading?”

“Sichuan.”

“What’s in Sichuan?”

“? There’s…, that’s right. The Tang Clan.”

As if she understood what I meant.

She smiled and readjusted her sword.

“Then young master. Won’t you let me take care of this?”

“Are you okay?”

“Um. No, rather, I might have to take it on.”

“?”

What is she talking about again?

When I looked at Bai Lian with a puzzled expression, Bai Lian shrugged her shoulders as if she knew I would.

“Young master. Do you remember what I asked you when I came to Yeom Country?”

“Huh?…. Um…. certainly….”

Ah, I remember.

“Did you say not to get involved with beastmen as much as possible?”

“That’s right. If you, a pure human, get involved with beastmen here, things might get difficult. Of course…, to be honest, it might be a very minor problem that you don’t have to worry about, but please bear with it here.”

It’s difficult to understand why I shouldn’t fight with beastmen, but if Bai Lian says so, then that’s how it is.

“Okay, I understand. Go wild once.”

“…Hehe, thank you for listening to me, young master.”

With those words, Bai Lian slowly readjusted her sword and walked towards the battlefield ahead.

“I’m still not good enough to cut down what I want to cut down like you, young master.”

Her steps were so leisurely, so light,

“It’s not like the sword that wanted to cut down all things in the universe has worn out.”

It was extremely sharp.