WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 364: The Invisible Torrent (4)

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A chilly wind swept across the silent training ground.

Namgung Seonhwa stood at its center.

The wind was cold enough to make anyone shiver, yet Seonhwa stood with her eyes closed and sword in hand, feeling refreshed instead.

The beads of sweat on her forehead slowly began to dry.

After standing with her eyes closed for some time, she swung her sword the moment she felt ready.

Whoosh.

The Namgung Clan's signature sword art, light and sharp.

Changgung Unhindered Sword Art.

Wildly blue sword qi dominated the space.

A cold wind had already been blowing, but the instant Seonhwa swung her sword...

Swoooosh-

It felt as though the air throughout the surrounding area had frozen.

Her blade swept in every direction, splitting even the wind apart.

It was an impressive sword art, but Seonhwa bit her lip.

"Tch."

She raised her sword again.

As though she had forgotten every movement she had just made, she closed her eyes and sank into deep meditation.

When she opened them again...

Flash.

Her eyes gleamed as though blood-red light had flashed through them.

Then she swung her sword.

Swoooooosh.

It resembled the Changgung Unhindered Sword Art, yet it felt entirely different.

Firmament Cloud-Guarding Sword Art.

A sword art created by the Azure Emperor Divine Sword, the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan and one of the greatest masters of the age. He had refined Changgung Unhindered Sword Art, the foundation of the Namgung Clan.

It cast aside every unnecessary element and brought its strengths to the utmost.

Only the Namgung Clan's direct line and a few members of its branch families knew that it was also the Shattering Form of the Changgung Unhindered Sword Art.

True to its pursuit of extreme efficiency, its sharpness was no less fearsome than that of any Black Path art.

Swoooosh.

The wildly blue sword qi no longer carried any chill.

Instead, a bone-chilling sharpness seeped from it.

Sword qi so fierce that it seemed capable of slicing flesh with the slightest touch cut through everything around her.

Swoooosh.

It cut the air, the wind, and the marble floor.

Slash, slash, slash.

Each streak of blue sword qi left behind a sword mark as thin as a needle.

Those thin marks packed together, gradually surrounding Seonhwa like a cocoon.

Slash, slash, slash.

The ground near her was cut densely.

As though she would permit neither enemy nor sword to approach.

The radius of the sword marks slowly widened.

Slash, slash, slash.

As the circle grew wider, the tightly woven web of sword marks gradually became looser.

Seonhwa lightly stepped back as though walking through the sky.

Swoooosh.

Slash!

The Firmament Cloud-Guarding Sword Art, which had bloomed like a flower in full blossom, gathered back into a bud in an instant.

The killing intent that had filled the training ground vanished without a trace, and the cold wind that had not dared approach her filled the space again.

"Haa, haa, haa."

Perhaps because her body had heated up, white breath drifted from Seonhwa's mouth.

Without even thinking to wipe away her sweat, she began examining the sword marks surrounding her.

The moment Seonhwa furrowed her brow and raised a hand to her forehead...

"That is an astonishing display of skill."

"...!"

A warm voice reached her.

"Who...?"

Seonhwa turned toward the voice, and her eyes widened.

"...Unit Leader Gang?"

The one peeking out from the entrance was none other than Gang Seopyo.

"Unit Leader!"

Seonhwa hurried over in delight and grabbed Gang Seopyo's hand.

Gang Seopyo clasped her hand in return, equally pleased to see her.

"What happened? What brings you all the way here? Did you have business with the Martial Alliance..."

"Young Lady!"

"...Ah, I was only talking about myself again. I'm sorry."

Gang Seopyo briefly looked serious before breaking into a playful smile.

"I'm no longer a Unit Leader. I'm a Hall Master now."

"What?!"

"Hahaha! You may call me the Namgung Clan's youngest Hall Master."

The two spent a while catching up on everything they had been unable to discuss.

Once they had finished asking after each other's well-being, Gang Seopyo's gaze shifted to the enormous circular sword marks Seonhwa had created.

"You've become even sharper."

The praise was sincere.

There was a limit to how far someone Seonhwa's age could normally advance.

Gang Seopyo already knew she was skilled enough to enter the Martial Arts Academy on her own, but what she had just displayed was clearly worthy of being called the skill of a rare talent or prodigy.

"...I'm still far from good enough."

Yet rather than taking pride in her skill, Seonhwa lowered her head.

"You're already strong enough that you needn't be ashamed anywhere."

"..."

Gang Seopyo had heard she would likely be like this, but seeing Seonhwa in person felt strange.

She could not raise her head, like a warrior who had failed to do her duty on the battlefield.

"I... wasn't any help at all. People were dying, and yet... there was nothing I could do."

The words seemed disconnected, but Gang Seopyo knew enough of what had happened to understand her.

News of Mukrim had spread throughout Anhui Province and the rest of the country.

On the way to the Martial Alliance, Gang Seopyo had heard the same story again and again at every inn.

Even if only half the rumors were true, it must have been a desperate ordeal.

At the same time, Gang Seopyo understood how great a stroke of fortune it had been that Seonhwa had survived.

Even so, the admirable young lady stood there dejected.

"Neither my strength nor the Namgung Clan name was any help."

On the way to meet Seonhwa, Gang Seopyo had passed several training grounds within the Academy.

The Academy should have been loose with end-of-term excitement, but a strange tension hung over it, like a tautly drawn string.

Everyone in the training grounds swung their weapons desperately, as though preparing for a battle of life and death.

Gang Seopyo had also seen Academy students who had drunk themselves senseless at an inn near the Academy the previous day.

Those in the training grounds and those spending their time in taverns probably did not feel very differently from Seonhwa.

They trained or they drank.

There were only two things a martial artist could do after reliving a nightmare.

For those raised like flowers in a greenhouse, it was an unavoidable trial.

No matter how much Gang Seopyo cared for Seonhwa, it was not a burden that could be carried in her place.

"The Clan Head... told me there was something he wanted conveyed if I found you swinging your sword."

"...Grandfather did?"

Seonhwa, whose shoulders had been drooping, raised her head.

Gang Seopyo cleared their throat twice, then put on a stern expression while imitating Namgung Taeha.

"'When you would curl up, take one more step. When you would lower your head, swing your sword one more time. That is the spirit of the Namgung Clan.' That is what he told me to convey."

"...!"

"Perhaps he said that because death is something martial artists and warriors cannot separate themselves from..."

"I know. I understand."

Seonhwa gave a small nod.

"I know. I've been taught that since I was very young. When I feel afraid. When I want to run away. I've heard that I should take one more step so often that it's been drilled into my ears."

Seonhwa gave a bitter smile.

"Because there is no paradise where you run to."

"That is right, Young Lady."

She would not be able to overcome it at once.

Memories needed time to fade.

Still, after some time passed, when the memories grew dimmer and her martial attainment rose, she would feel better.

She would strive harder so she would not face the same situation again.

Was that not how people grew?

"...But what was the other message?"

"Pardon? What...?"

"You said, 'if I found you swinging your sword.'"

"Ah, that?"

Gang Seopyo grinned.

"If you were drinking, he told me to leave you more money for liquor. If you were crying... he told me to simply bring you home."

"..."

"He said there would be something more fitting for you than a sword."

Seonhwa felt strange, as though she had been tested without realizing it.

"Oh, right. How is that young master doing?"

Gang Seopyo asked as though they had just remembered.

"Young master? Do you mean Brother Gipyo?"

"No, Young Master Jin."

"Ah... Yes. He's doing well... I suppose."

Seonhwa's voice trailed off, and her expression dimmed with it.

She added quietly.

"...He does seem busy going here and there lately."

"Hmm?"

Gang Seopyo wore an odd expression at her reaction.

"Has Young Master Jin found a lover?"

"What are you..."

"Or perhaps, have you found someone else, Young Lady?"

"What?!"

Seonhwa felt dizzy from the sharp fatal strike that pierced straight through her.

"W-What are you talking about?!"

"Well, Young Lady, you have feelings for Young Master Jin..."

"Aaaah! Hall Master Gang!"

Gang Seopyo flinched, but the smile on their lips did not disappear.

"Young Lady Seonhwa, I attended to you personally from childhood. It's impossible for me to pretend I don't know."

"..."

Seonhwa's face turned bright red.

"Besides, there are many people interested in promising young men like Young Master Jin."

"It isn't like that. It's just... I've been confused lately."

"Confused?"

"It's hard to explain... It feels as though he's become someone too far away."

In Mukrim, Seonhwa had kept running while watching Jin Sowoon's back.

He had always been dependable, but in that forest, he had seemed immense and vast.

Like a great tree that never fell no matter what storms it faced, he kept moving forward, steadfastly taking one step after another.

Whenever Jin Sowoon took another step while burning away his life, Seonhwa felt as though he was moving farther and farther away from her.

Without thinking, she had reached out for him, but every time she did, he seemed to move another step away.

Like smoke dispersing into the distance.

She even feared that he might vanish like that one day.

Gang Seopyo, who had listened quietly, nodded as though they understood.

"I see. You have come to like him even more."

"...Hall Master, were you listening to what I said?"

"Was I wrong?"

"..."

Seonhwa could not answer.

No, more precisely, she did not know herself.

"I just... I don't know. It feels like he's someone who will have to endure even more trials ahead, someone who will have to bear greater pain and suffering..."

"You have become more attached to him."

"..."

They were her own feelings, yet she could not put them into words.

She had never felt anything like this before.

Gang Seopyo gave a gentle smile while looking at the girl suffering through the growing pains of a new emotion.

"If he is in pain, shouldn't you draw closer and comfort him?"

"Comfort him?"

Could someone as weak and small as her truly comfort him?

Would he even need her comfort...

"Didn't they say Young Master Jin's memory is better than anyone else's?"

"That's right."

"Then isn't Young Master Jin the one suffering the most right now?"

"...!"

Seonhwa felt as though she had been struck hard on the head.

She had never even considered it.

She had been absorbed in her own sorrow and used his busyness as an excuse.

"To me, Young Master Jin seemed like an incredibly strong person. But... he also seemed to have a very tender heart."

"..."

"If you still don't understand your own feelings, why not comfort him first? You can... think about your feelings later."

She could think about her feelings later.

Gang Seopyo's words remained with Seonhwa for a long time.

#

"Hoo."

Seonhwa let out a long breath as she stood before the door.

She had thought it would take more time before she saw Jin Sowoon again. Yet somehow, she had already come here.

'Is this all right?'

The thoughts in her confused mind refused to settle, feeding her anxiety.

Seonhwa had been about to turn back, but she repeated Gang Seopyo's words that Jin Sowoon was probably the one suffering most. In the end, she knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

There was no response.

Knock, knock.

When she knocked again, the door slowly opened.

Yet the person who came out was someone she had never expected.

"What brings you here?"

"...Why are you here, Senior Dang... Ah... Did I come to the wrong place?"

"Who are you looking for?"

"Young Master Jin."

"Then you came to the right place."

"..."

No, why were you here?

Dang Seohui walked inside as though it were natural, then sat at the table and began popping candied fruit into her mouth.

"..."

Her cheeks puffed out as she stuffed herself with candied fruit, making her look like a squirrel.

When Seonhwa kept staring at her, Dang Seohui's eyes wavered as though she was confused about something.

Then she cautiously held out the plate.

"Y-You may eat some if you want."

"..."

Could she really eat some?

It did not seem so. Even from Dang Seohui's eyes alone, Seonhwa felt she might earn her resentment.

"I'm fine."

"Then it can't be helped."

Dang Seohui quickly pulled the plate back. For some reason, she began eating the candied fruit more slowly.

"..."

"..."

An awkward silence settled between them.

Seonhwa had thought dozens of times about what to say to Jin Sowoon, but she had never considered the possibility of meeting Dang Seohui here.

After a brief awkward silence, Seonhwa spoke first.

Otherwise, it felt as though the silence would never end.

"Where did Young Master Jin go?"

"Cheonmok Pavilion said they needed his advice, so he went there."

"Then why are you here, Senior Dang?"

"I came to ask something. But Jin Sowoon is busy every single day."

What could she possibly want to ask that she had waited at Jin Sowoon's lodging for days?

Seonhwa carefully asked.

"What do you want to ask him?"

She thought it might be something important that Dang Seohui would not tell her, but Dang Seohui readily answered.

Then...

"I came to ask Jin Sowoon whether he must inherit the Taeul Sect."

Seonhwa received an answer she had never imagined.

Startled, she cried out without realizing it.

"What?"

Dang Seohui then explained in greater detail, as though doing her a favor while chewing her candied fruit.

"Ah! More precisely, I came to ask whether he may marry into my family as a live-in son-in-law."

"..."

Seonhwa felt as though she had been struck hard across the back of the head.

Footnotes:

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