episode_0049

“I’m asking what this is.”

Cain’s voice grew colder.

Jeong Yu-shin’s brain spun rapidly.

If I show it, I die.

It was Jeong Yu-shin’s intuition, honed from battling through life-or-death situations.

Cain doesn’t know what happened between me and Mion yet.

He calmed his trembling heart.

Jeong Yu-shin’s mouth opened.

“Isn’t that Mion’s hair?”

“So, why is it on your shoulder?”

“I guess a few strands fell while she was helping me with the lesson.”

“Mion got that close?”

Cain asked with a distrustful voice.

“Isn’t it possible to get close to help? She teaches other kids closely too.”

Jeong Yu-shin sighed and continued speaking.

“And Commander, no matter how I think about it, this seems a bit too much. I know you cherish your younger sister, but I find it hard to understand you acting like this over just a strand of hair. Do you think I’m crazy enough to lay a hand on Teacher Mion? Even during class?”

The two men locked eyes.

Jeong Yu-shin stared intently at Cain.

A moment of silence swept through the orphanage yard.

Cain sighed and scratched his head.

“···I overreacted. Sorry. I haven’t seen my sister in a long time, so I’m a bit on edge.”

“It’s alright. Then.”

Jeong Yu-shin parted ways with Cain and left the orphanage yard.

He walked calmly, then glanced back.

Cain was nowhere to be seen. Jeong Yu-shin frantically ran towards the Swordsmanship Association.

If it’s discovered that I have the Virgin Female Corruption Imprint.

And on top of that, if the fact that I fondled Mion’s soft, mochi-like belly comes to light?

It won’t just end with a beating.

Sweat beaded on Jeong Yu-shin’s forehead as he ran down the street.

The early summer sun and wind brushed past his cheeks.

Some people shouted something and moved away from Jeong Yu-shin.

He ran for a while and arrived at the Swordsmanship Association.

Thump!!!

He threw the door open with all his might.

“Ashur-nim!”

Ashur, who was sprawled on the counter chair, raised his head.

“Scar, the Association’s door isn’t the same as your house’s. Be careful.”

“That’s not what’s important.”

“Then what is?”

“Do you know the Labyrinth City Knight Commander, Cain?”

“I know him. He’s a guy who learned swordsmanship from me. Why?”

“How strong is he?”

“Strong enough to send a new recruit Barbaroi to the afterlife in one strike.”

“Shit.”

“Even cursing? Is this your home?”

“Sorry.”

“Why do something you’ll be sorry for? Anyway.”

Ashur looked at the restless Jeong Yu-shin and leaned back leisurely in his chair.

“Someone was looking for you.”

“Who?”

“Barbaroi.”

“What?!”

Jeong Yu-shin let out a startled shriek.

Misfortune upon misfortune.

Why, of all things?

“···Who are those guys? Why are they looking for me?”

“I don’t know either. They just came in and asked me. If there were any mixed-blood Barbaroi training here.”

“And then?”

Ashur shrugged at Jeong Yu-shin’s urgent question.

“I told them there was.”

“Why would you tell them that?! Are you allowed to reveal a trainee’s personal information like that?”

“They seemed to have an idea already.”

The Cain matter vanished from Jeong Yu-shin’s mind.

Even more terrifying guys were circling around him.

“···Where are those guys, exactly?”

“The pleasure district in the eastern area.”

Thwack!!!

Jeong Yu-shin struck his forehead.

The darkest place is under the lamp.

Why didn’t I realize it?

Earthworms are in dark and damp places.

Demons are in the pits of hell.

How could I not have realized until now that the promiscuous Barbaroi were gathered in the pleasure district?

‘He was the gigolo of the red-light district.’

Jeong Yu-shin grasped his throbbing mind.

Wait.

That’s strange.

“The eastern district, you said? I went there last time, but I didn’t see them.”

He had entered the eastern district when he went to catch the slave hunters.

“Wasn’t it night then? Why would Barbaroi be wandering the streets at night?”

Ashur asked back with an absurd expression.

“What do you mean by that?”

“They should be on the bed doing coitus at night. How come you know even less about Barbaroi than I do?”

“…”

“You starting to feel the crisis of your chastity approaching? You need to get stronger, right? Let’s go.”

Jeong Yu-shin followed Ashur to the training ground.

Despite it being early summer, the training ground was crowded.

There were people training not only with swords but also with spears and shields.

Ashur took a steel longsword from a corner of the training ground and threw it.

Jeong Yu-shin raised his hand and snatched the longsword.

It was a heavy sword, different from the wooden sword he had been using until now.

It was a training sword, so it wasn’t sharpened.

“Use this from now on.”

“Am I not using the wooden sword anymore?”

“Yeah. You leveled up, right?”

“How did you know?”

“Just a hunch. The wooden sword will feel weightless, so use the steel sword from now on.”

As expected of a sword master, his insight was sharp.

He wanted to ask more about the Barbaroi and Cain, but he held back.

Now is training time. It was right to ask questions related to training.

As soon as he arrived at the training ground and saw the people training, another thing came to his mind.

The weakness that was revealed during the battle with the slave hunter captain.

The duration of the Sacred Weapon.

The summoned weapon disappears after 3 seconds.

This means that if you use Sacred Weapon to engage in a sword-to-sword struggle with your opponent and 3 seconds pass, you will be completely defenseless.

Jeong Yu-shin pondered this problem and came up with an answer.

Jeong Yu-shin scratched his head and spoke.

“I want to parry swords, but how do I do it?”

“Are you talking about parrying?”

“Yes.”

Ashur shook his head.

“Stop talking nonsense. You’re not at that level yet.”

“Isn’t it doable?”

Ashur raised a finger and pointed at Jeong Yu-shin.

“I was just going to let it go, but I can’t. I need to go over your fight with the slave hunters in the eastern district.”

“What do you need to go over? Didn’t you already know everything? There were a lot of trash, so I did some sword fighting.”

Ashur crossed his arms at Jeong Yu-shin’s answer. His face was full of irritation.

“I’m not saying anything about killing. The problem is the way you fight. You rely on your imprint and just charge in with your body, just hitting and taking hits with brute force. You swing the swordsmanship you learned poorly in a sloppy way. You take a hit and give one. Did you go to a drinking party? And you bite people’s necks? Are you an animal?!”

Ashur’s voice grew louder and louder.

Ashur seemed quite angry, so he shouted in the middle of his speech.

“Hey!!! Someone bring me some water!”

Several people moving their bodies in the training ground ran into the Association building.

Jeong Yu-shin scratched his head.

“That’s how it went.”

“What do you mean that’s how it went! Thinking about it again makes me angry! No, you bit their necks?!”

Ashur tore at his hair.

At that moment, a man with a mohawk hairstyle came running with a water bottle in his hand.

The elf snatched the water bottle and gulped it down.

“Phew. I can’t take it. Bring ‘that’.”

“A…are you sure?”

“Bring it before I pull out your hair.”

“I understand.”

The mohawk-haired man ran back into the Swordsmanship Association in a hurry.

The mohawk was holding a strangely shaped leather pouch.

“What is this?”

Jeong Yu-shin asked.

“A sandbag. The sand is special, but you don’t need to know. Just think of it as a magic tool that overloads the wearer’s body.”

Ashur continued, looking at the blankly standing Jeong Yu-shin.

“Wear it on your waist, ankles, and wrists.”

Jeong Yu-shin received the pouch from the mohawk man.

It was heavy as if it contained iron powder.

“It’s not very heavy.”

Ashur raised the corners of his mouth at Jeong Yu-shin’s words.

“Don’t come crying and begging me to save you later.”

“What’s with that?”

“Run. With the sword.”

At Ashur’s command, Jeong Yu-shin started running around the training ground with the sandbags on his body.

People who saw Jeong Yu-shin’s appearance clicked their tongues.

“It’s here. That hell training.”

“Tsk tsk. The new recruit has a lot to suffer.”

Jeong Yu-shin listened to it with one ear and let it out the other. It wasn’t that difficult.

Three hours later.

“Huuueeeck. Keueeeck.”

Jeong Yu-shin staggered and crawled on the floor of the training ground.

Ashur scolded.

“Get up!!! You animal-like bastard!”

‘Crazy.’

He thought it wouldn’t be a big deal because it wasn’t heavy, but he was wrong.

As time went by, his stamina was quickly drained and the burden on his muscles became increasingly severe.

He couldn’t take a single step, so he crawled on the floor.

The hot sunlight from the sky poured down on Jeong Yu-shin.

Ashur approached and squatted down in front of the crawling Jeong Yu-shin.

“Get up. You bastard.”

Jeong Yu-shin used all his strength to get up.

His legs trembled like a newborn baby deer.

“You have to do the last 3 laps. Why are you crawling like that?”

Ashur got up from his seat and continued speaking.

“Parrying? Stop talking nonsense and run around the training ground quickly. Next is sparring.”

Jeong Yu-shin gritted his teeth and walked unsteadily.

He finished all the laps around the training ground.

Ashur threw a training steel sword.

Thud!

The sword hit Jeong Yu-shin’s body and fell.

With trembling hands, he barely picked up the sword.

“Here I come.”

Before Jeong Yu-shin could get into position, Ashur’s sword was swung.

Whack!!!

His right arm throbbed.

[Revenger]

The imprint was activated.

Jeong Yu-shin’s eyes burned with blue resentment.

Ashur chuckled.

“Scar, you can’t overcome the world with just madness and evil. I’ll engrave that fact clearly in your body.”

Jeong Yu-shin charged without answering.

Clang!!!

The elf’s coldly shining eyes and Jeong Yu-shin’s blazing eyes met.

Close combat.

They entered a battle of techniques.

Clack clack clack.

The clashing swords began to make a strange sound.

“Constant training is the royal road. Swinging the sword every day. Pushing yourself to the limit every day. Diligently practicing whether it rains or snows, in the spring breeze and summer sunshine, is the power to overcome the world.”

“…”

Ashur kept talking while holding the sword, but he listened to it with one ear and let it out the other.

It made his head spin to keep listening.

Jeong Yu-shin pushed Ashur’s sword away with force and stabbed him straight.

Ashur lightly turned his body to avoid it and thrust his sword into Jeong Yu-shin’s neck.

Stab!!!

“Cough!”

Jeong Yu-shin grabbed his neck and staggered back.

It was difficult to breathe properly because his neck was blocked.

Swoosh!

Ashur’s sword aimed for his left shoulder.

He instinctively raised his sword to block it.

Clang!!!

He eventually dropped his sword due to the strongly attacking force.

Clatter.

The sword that flew through the sky fell to the floor of the training ground.

“Pick it up. You’re still a long way off.”

Jeong Yu-shin staggered to where the sword had fallen. It was difficult to move because of the weight of the pouches.

He barely picked up the sword and stood in front of Ashur.

“Here I come.”

Ashur said nonchalantly and rushed in again.

Jeong Yu-shin was beaten and engraved Ashur’s sword into his body.

“Don’t charge in with your body first. If you fight like that and meet the right person, your head will fly off.”

“Pull your left foot back. Look at your posture. I guess I have to start over from the beginning.”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to just look at the sword?”

“If you’re going to defend, do it properly. Don’t just lift the sword halfway, block it properly. There’s no proper guy among those who rely on their imprint and grip the sword loosely.”

Ashur shouted and swung his sword.

Time passed.

People in the training ground left one by one, and only Jeong Yu-shin and Ashur remained.

It became night.

“You’re still a long way off. It’s important to learn the basics of offense and defense. Parrying is about successfully defending against or deflecting the opponent’s attack. The problem is that there are various races. What does that mean? The methods of attack are all different. The strength is also different, and the postures are different. It’s hard to read. Is that the end? No. Parrying is the cornerstone for preparing a riposte. Various factors must be combined, including reaction speed to attacks, timing, and physical control ability. Parrying is too early for you, who just attacks recklessly.”

Ashur said calmly. He explained in detail in a different attitude than when he first shouted at him not to talk nonsense.

“Huuueeeck.”

Jeong Yu-shin knelt down and exhaled.

His whole body was soaked in sweat. It was just like when he first trained.

It’s too difficult.

The battle of techniques too.

The battle of strength too.

The variety of techniques too.

Nothing was easy.

He felt like he was getting better, but it was a delusion.

He realized his shortcomings.

Sweat from his forehead dripped onto the floor of the training ground.

Ashur looked at Jeong Yu-shin staring at the floor and scratched his cheek.

“I don’t usually say this kind of thing. Listen carefully.”

“…”

“You have talent.”

“…”

“Work hard. Engrave the posture of offense and defense in your heart. A sword tip that is scattered means that the mind is shaking. You seem quite stable now, but you never know. Only constant training can protect your mind. I’m telling you not to bite people’s necks.”

“···I understand.”

Ashur didn’t show it, but he seemed quite shocked by the news that Jeong Yu-shin had bitten someone’s neck.

Jeong Yu-shin barely answered. He stood up, his body covered in sweat and dust.

“And don’t trust that Aldaine too much.”

Ashur frowned and said.

“Why shouldn’t I trust him?”

“You can tell just by looking at him, right? He has a bad personality. He’s not a proper guy. Take my word for it.”

Jeong Yu-shin’s expression soured at Ashur’s answer.

There seemed to be another reason for criticizing Aldaine, but Ashur was reluctant to speak.

Since he thought of it, there was one more thing he wanted to ask.

“How did the Magic Tower matter go? Do they say they can cure my madness?”

“Tsk. They say they don’t know either. They want to take a look, but I can’t trust them.”

“Where is the Magic Tower?”

“If you leave Labyrinth City and go north for about 3 days, there’s a city, and that’s where the headquarters is. There’s also a branch in Labyrinth City.”

“Did you go to headquarters?”

“Yeah.”

“···Then.”

“Stop asking questions. It’s late, so go back.”

‘Why is he being irritable?’

“Yes.”

Jeong Yu-shin took off the sandbags he was wearing and stared blankly at Ashur.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“Go first.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

Jeong Yu-shin bowed politely and left the training ground.

“Come out tomorrow too.”

Ashur said to Jeong Yu-shin’s departing back.

“Yes.”

Jeong Yu-shin disappeared from the training ground.

Ashur, who had been looking up at the sky for a while, said.

“Come out.”

A person walked out of the shadows of the building.

Cain.

Mion’s older brother and the Labyrinth City Knight Commander.

“What kind of guy is that Barbaroi?”

Cain swept back his blond hair and asked.

“Did you meet your sister?”

“I couldn’t meet her. They said she wasn’t feeling well.”

Cain stared intently at Ashur.

He didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down before hearing the first answer.

Ashur pondered for a moment before opening his mouth.

“He’s a good friend. He’s not a guy who would harm others without a reason. You don’t have to worry about your sister.”

“···I’ll believe you since Ashur-nim said so. And the committee has a summons. Please stop by the inner castle sometime.”

“Alright. I will be on my way.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Cain turned his body and disappeared into the darkness.

Ashur looked at the spot where Cain had been and clicked his tongue.

“I’m not a babysitter. Tsk.”

* * *

“It’s really worth the money.”

Jeong Yu-shin staggered back to the inn.

He had no strength left in his body due to excessive training.

It wasn’t this bad, no matter how hard it was.

He felt a sense of dread that today would continue in the future.

Creak.

He opened the door and entered, looking around the dark inn lobby.

Anne and Tarman must have finished their work and returned to their accommodations, it was quiet. All the guests were sleeping.

Something covered with a cloth was placed on the counter.

He approached and removed the cloth.

It was a black bread sandwich with ham, vegetables, and a fried egg. A note was placed on top of the bread.

‘Scar-nim, you didn’t come, so I made dinner and left it for you.’

Jeong Yu-shin read the note once and put it in his pocket.

Damn it.

He can read it.

He was dizzy at the thought of how he would handle the training in the future.

Cain and the real Barbaroi also irritated him.

He was exhausted mentally and physically.

But.

The fact that he could read comforted him.

Of course, he couldn’t read it perfectly fluently.

However, if he continues to train constantly like learning to read, there will surely be good results.

‘Hoo.’

Jeong Yu-shin sat on the counter chair and chewed on the sandwich.

The vegetables seemed to have been made not too long ago, the vegetables were crunchy, and the bread and meat were warm.

He was parched, so he took a bottle of alcohol from the cupboard behind the counter and poured it into a glass and drank it.

Jeong Yu-shin tilted his glass and sat on the counter chair, staring blankly at the dark inn lobby.

How is Darmon doing?

What happened to Karin?

He had various thoughts, but no answers came to mind right away. He got up from his seat and went up to the second floor.

He returned to his room, wiped his body with a wet towel, changed his clothes, and lay down on the bed.

Darkness came.