WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Raised by a Ruthless Swordsman ◈

Chapter 40: A Moment’s Respite in the Midst of Busyness

──────

I watched the two figures disappear through the door for a while.

Why did a guest have to arrive now, of all times?

For a moment, I considered following them inside. Then I dismissed the thought.

What would I do if I went in? If I intruded for no reason, I would likely get tangled up in something that made no difference whether I knew about it or not.

Once I turned away, though, I found I had nowhere in particular to go.

If I returned to the separate residence, I would surely sit alone in that empty room and work through useless calculations again.

Yet I did not feel comfortable going out to look around the city either. What Chae Wol had said yesterday held me back. Had she not said Nangong was surely looking for me?

With no other choice, I headed for the lakeshore. This waterfront was practically the front yard of Mist and Sunset Pavilion, so Chae Wol’s protection should extend here.

Up close, the shore was even more desolate than it had looked from afar.

The only people about were one or two anglers seated on the far embankment with their lines in the water despite the cold. With nothing much else to see, I decided to take a closer look at the pleasure boats I had watched from a distance.

I approached one moored along the shore.

The boat was larger than I had expected. Its sides were decorated with ornate painted designs, and a silk canopy had been raised overhead to make a proper room. It was less like a boat than a pavilion floating on the water.

It was nothing like my father’s old fishing skiff from my memories.

Was this how idle gentlemen amused themselves, drinking wine, listening to music, and enjoying the atmosphere?

I walked around the boat’s edge and even climbed aboard to peek beneath the canopy.

I studied how the painted decorations had been fitted in place and where the canopy poles had been set. Since I had never seen anything like it, it held my attention for a little while.

But after making one circuit, that was enough.

The other boats moored nearby were all much the same. Their painted colors and canopy arrangements differed slightly, but all of them were floating pavilions meant to entertain men of leisure.

Only then did I wonder what I was doing here.

I would be better off returning to the separate residence and becoming more familiar with the sword I had received.

News from Yeongpa would arrive when it arrived. Wandering by the water would not bring it even a day sooner.

I turned and climbed the embankment. Just as I was about to leave the shore and enter a narrow side path, the closed door of Mist and Sunset Pavilion cracked open in the corner of my vision.

Had the matter with the guest ended?

I waited for a moment, hoping so, but the door cruelly released only one person before closing again. Chae Ryeon came out, with no one following behind her.

But come to think of it, she served at Chae Wol’s side in this household. If news had come from Yeongpa, perhaps she would know.

I had nothing to lose.

I headed toward her and tried to call out, but when the moment came, I could think of nothing appropriate to say.

With the girls in the village, I had simply called their names. But that had been when I was ten.

Now, it seemed rude to call a grown woman by her name so casually, yet no other form of address came to mind.

How would I have learned how to address women my own age after spending ten years in the mountains?

“Excuse me.”

It was an awkward choice of words once it left my mouth. Fortunately, Chae Ryeon did not seem to mind. Recognizing me, she smiled prettily.

“Oh my, Young Master. Were you comfortable last night?”

“Thanks to you, I rested well.”

After that brief reply, I got to the point.

“It is good that I ran into you. Has any word come from Yeongpa?”

Chae Ryeon blinked, and the corners of her brows drooped slightly.

“Not yet.”

I had expected as much, but hearing it still left an empty feeling in my chest. Still, if it had not arrived yet, that only meant it would arrive eventually. I comforted myself with that thought.

Chae Ryeon seemed to study my expression before carefully adding, “The last person we sent to Yeongpa left seven days ago, so we should be hearing something soon.”

I had not even asked. She had likely added that only to ease the disappointment on my face.

“Thank you. That gives me a better sense of things.”

I dipped my head lightly and was about to turn away when another question occurred to me. I had already started speaking, after all.

“By the way, who was the woman with you earlier? The one wearing a sword.”

Chae Ryeon’s lips suddenly curled.

“Oh my. Young Master, are you looking for another woman?”

What?

The unexpected question stopped me cold. As I stood there blinking blankly, Chae Ryeon finally burst into bright laughter at the sight.

I knew it was a joke, yet being caught by it still left me dumbfounded. Even so, watching her laugh so freely did not put me in a bad mood.

Only after laughing for a while did Chae Ryeon compose herself.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Your expression was so serious that I couldn’t help myself.”

Though she said that, the laughter still lingered on her lips. Then, in a gentler voice, she continued.

“But that concerns Haomun business, so it would be difficult for me to speak carelessly about it.”

The way she gracefully evaded the question made it clear there was no point pressing further. Besides, it was not something I absolutely needed to know.

“Then forget it.”

I was about to leave without regret when her voice caught me from behind.

“However.”

Chae Ryeon took a step closer and folded both hands before her. A sweet plum-blossom scent tickled my nose.

“If Young Master teaches me something, I may be able to tell you as much as I know.”

Teach her something? What did she mean?

I wondered if she meant to pry into my past. Who I was, where I had come from, how I had learned that swordsmanship. If that was what she wanted, I had little desire to speak of it.

When I cautiously tested her meaning, Chae Ryeon shook her head.

“Oh, it’s not that.”

Her eyes crinkled softly.

“Ever since I was old enough to understand, I have lived only within these walls. I have learned about silk, music, and how to attend to guests, but I know almost nothing about what lies beyond the walls.”

Then she tilted her head slightly, her eyes shining.

“So anything will do. Even something ordinary to Young Master would be new to me. One such thing would be enough.”

Something ordinary.

That made me incline toward the idea. If it was neither swordsmanship nor my past, but simply something ordinary, there was no reason I could not offer it.

What would be suitable?

But when I tried to think of something, even that proved difficult. During ten years in the mountains, what ordinary thing had I learned aside from holding a sword?

As I turned my eyes toward the lake without thinking, I saw the anglers on the far embankment still sitting with their lines in the water. Watching them stare motionlessly at their floats despite the cold suddenly reminded me of myself several days ago.

“Have you ever gone fishing?”

“Fishing?”

Chae Ryeon’s eyes rounded.

“You lower a single hook on a line and lure out fish. There should be fish in the water here.”

Chae Ryeon seemed to hesitate for a moment, then smiled with her eyes.

“All right. Let’s try it.”

Taking a finely dressed woman fishing in the middle of winter briefly struck me as absurd.

But she wanted to.

In any case, the words had been spoken, so we went down the embankment toward the shore. Chae Ryeon gathered up her silk skirt with one hand and followed in quick little steps.

Not having a fishing rod was a problem, but not a difficult one.

I approached an angler on the far embankment and asked to borrow a set of tackle. They looked reluctant, but when I placed several coins in their hand, they produced a spare set without complaint.

Taking it, I headed straight for one of the pleasure boats I had picked out.

The boat operator was sitting idly at the side of the empty boat, so I gave them several more coins and broached the matter. When I said we only wanted to borrow the space and would not take the boat out, the boat operator readily made room for us.

Chae Ryeon placed one hand on the edge of the boat as if it were unfamiliar, her eyes sparkling.

“It’s my first time boarding a boat during the day. I’ve always come at night with the guests, when the lanterns are lit.”

“There’s nothing special about wooden planks floating on water just because it’s daytime.”

I answered indifferently. Having grown up seeing things float on water until I was sick of them, there was no reason boarding a boat would feel new to me.

Yet Chae Ryeon seemed to find my flat response amusing instead. Covering her mouth, she laughed quietly.

I baited the hook and handed her the line.

Even after taking it, Chae Ryeon only fidgeted with the line, unsure what to do.

“Lower it quietly into the water and wait. When the float suddenly sinks beneath the surface, wait a moment, then flick your wrist lightly.”

It was exactly what the elder had told me several days ago. I had only picked it up in passing myself, so my explanation kept coming out awkwardly.

Still, Chae Ryeon understood and lowered the line in a fairly convincing manner.

With the float remaining still, she seemed to find the silence tedious. Chae Ryeon began telling me this and that.

She told me how the kitchen woman had grown fond of a thieving stray cat and been severely scolded when Chae Wol found out. She told me how the old musician in the pavilion had pined away for three days because one of the strings he cherished had broken.

They were all trifling things from within the walls, but she told them so deftly that they were quite enjoyable to hear.

At first, I listened absentmindedly, but before long, I was responding with a word or two of my own. Whenever Chae Ryeon laughed brightly, the corners of my own mouth rose as well, and another story would follow that laughter.

The float remained still, but I did not find it particularly boring.

Fishing alone at the ferry landing several days ago had been enjoyable in its own way. But doing it with someone beside me was not bad either.

Though I could not truly say I had been alone then, either. The elder had stood beside me and constantly interfered with pointless remarks.

How much time passed like that?

“So, they say the fortune teller who lives beneath the bridge across West Lake can tell a passerby’s future just by looking at their face. They say the fortune teller is so accurate that people line up and... Oh!”

In the middle of her story, Chae Ryeon’s eyes widened before she could finish.

Her float had slipped beneath the water. The end of the line trembled faintly, as though something had firmly taken the hook.

“Y-Young Master! Did I catch something? What do I do? What do I do?”

Her graceful manner of speech was nowhere to be found as she stamped her feet.

The sight was so cute that I let out a small laugh. A girl who was always so carefully dressed and capable, yet she did not know what to do over one fish.

“Young Master!”

Perhaps she found it unfair that I was only laughing, because Chae Ryeon stamped her foot again and urged me on.

“Ah, your wrist. Flick it lightly.”

Only then did I tell her, and Chae Ryeon reflexively flicked her wrist. At once, the float rose, and something silver flapped out of the water.

It was a crucian carp smaller than my palm.

“I caught one! Young Master, I caught one!”

Seeing it flap at the end of the line, Chae Ryeon beamed like a child. The helplessness from moments ago had entirely vanished from her face.

I took the line and removed the fish.

“This one is too small to eat. It would be better to let it go.”

“Oh, what a shame. I finally caught one.”

Chae Ryeon looked deeply disappointed, but after quietly examining the small fish, she soon nodded.

I lowered it to the water’s edge, and the crucian carp flapped once before vanishing into the dark water.

“Would you like to keep going?”

Chae Ryeon looked tempted, then suddenly raised her eyes to the sky. The sun had already sunk considerably. It seemed it was time for her to return to the main building, and regret touched her face.

Seeing that regret, I somehow remembered myself from the night before.

“There will be other days. There’s no need to regret it.”

I borrowed Wi Jin-ak’s words. Chae Ryeon looked at me briefly, then smiled brightly.

“Then it’s a promise. You’ll teach me again next time.”

I nodded without a word. That much of a promise was no difficulty.

After returning the tackle to the old angler, Chae Ryeon and I climbed the embankment side by side.

After we had walked in silence for some time, Chae Ryeon suddenly spoke.

“Right, I should pay the price we agreed on.”

Then she lowered her voice slightly.

“That guest from earlier came from the Alliance.”

The Alliance. It was a familiar name. Wasn’t the Bright Mirror Society, where Du Gi, no, Yun Baek belonged, part of the Alliance?

Chae Ryeon continued.

Regarding what had happened to me yesterday, the proprietor had decided to send word to the Alliance. That morning, Chae Ryeon herself had gone to deliver the message to the Alliance’s Hangzhou branch.

Someone had been waiting there for Yun Baek. Upon hearing the news, that person had immediately rushed after her.

As I listened, I thought it over carefully.

If that woman had heard the news and come all this way in worry, she must be close to him. Yet I was the one who had left Yun Baek alone by the river and escaped on my own.

Would it not be uncomfortable if we sat facing one another? I was glad I had not gone inside.

In any case, the matter now unfolding was not one I had any place in. I had already handed the tea bundle over to Chae Wol, so I had fulfilled my duty toward Yun Baek.

For a while, it would be best to avoid going near the main building.

As we spoke, we reached a fork in the embankment path.

“I should go in now.”

Chae Ryeon smiled and lifted a hand, waving it gently.

Without thinking, I raised my own hand and gave her an awkward wave in return. How long had it been since I had said goodbye to someone by waving? It did not feel natural at all.

Perhaps that awkward gesture amused her again, because Chae Ryeon laughed brightly and hurried toward the main building.

What was so funny?

I stood watching the silk of her skirts recede for a moment before turning away.

The way back passed quickly. The men at the gate bowed as they had yesterday and made way for me. Crossing the courtyard and entering the side building, I saw Wi Jin-ak sitting on the porch.

With one hand resting on his sabre, he stared blankly into a corner of the courtyard. I was glad to see him and spoke.

“When did you arrive?”

“Not long ago.”

This worked out well. There was still daylight, and I had someone to spar with.

“If you’re willing, how about a bout?”

At that, Wi Jin-ak slowly adjusted his grip on the sabre resting beside him. A faint smile spread across his calm face.

“My hands were starting to itch for one anyway.”

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the paper windows were glowing pale with morning light. I got up and stepped onto the porch.

I drew a bucket of water from the well in the courtyard’s corner and washed my face in the cold water. My fingertips ached with cold. This was already the fourth day I had washed away my sweat with this well water.

During the day, I crossed blades with Wi Jin-ak. Whenever I had a chance, I sat cross-legged and gathered my scattered energy. Before I knew it, another day would be gone.

I quietly examined my dantian. The energy I had gathered was now well beyond eighty percent, firmly settled in place.

So this was how quickly it increased when I only gathered it without using it.

I drew another bucket of water and quenched my thirst. The stale feeling in my stomach finally cleared.

As I stretched my stiff body and turned my head, a stretch of lake came into view beyond the wall. It lay pale and gray beneath the morning mist.

That sight naturally brought yesterday to mind.

Chae Ryeon had insisted on dragging me out, asking if I had forgotten our promise. Yesterday, she had caught a crucian carp as long as her forearm. She had looked so proud while staring at it flapping from the end of her line.

After some thought, we gave it to the cook at the pleasure house. I remembered the cook’s wide grin upon receiving the fat fish, saying that tonight’s spicy fish stew was as good as guaranteed.

That thought made me smile.

“What could possibly make you so pleased this early in the morning?”

When I turned, Wi Jin-ak had already emerged from his room. He looked rumpled, as though he had only just awakened as well.

“Brother Wi. Did you sleep well?”

Wi Jin-ak stepped onto the porch and seemed to loosen up his body lightly before pointing with his chin toward the middle of the courtyard.

“To loosen up, how about a bout?”

I let out a hollow laugh. He was looking for a blade before we had even finished exchanging greetings. This man truly knew nothing but the sabre.

But had I not spent ten years in the mountains, holding a sword from the moment I woke until I went to sleep? In that regard, I had no intention of losing to anyone.

“Gladly.”

I went into my room to retrieve my sword and was just stepping back onto the porch.

But a stranger was already standing in the courtyard. Looking more carefully, I recognized the face. I had passed this person once or twice in the separate residence during my stay.

Could it be?

They soon noticed me, lowered their head lightly, and spoke.

“Word has arrived from Yeongpa.”

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried