WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Satori

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◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈

Chapter 12

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The chill from the sword held so close to my throat raised goosebumps all over my body.

If the middle-aged man who seemed to be their leader had not stopped them, I would have died.

"You said he's your benefactor?"

"That's right. After Chief Steward Jeong died, he protected my son and me."

"Hm..."

What was the relationship between those two?

The middle-aged man was speaking politely, but there was no real respect in his tone toward Seoryeong.

Seoryeong was trying to speak with confidence, but fear showed in her eyes.

"Spare him."

"...Pardon? But!"

Thud!

As the man seemed about to object, another martial artist beside him immediately punched him.

The man who had been hit looked at the middle-aged man with an aggrieved expression, but the middle-aged man merely stared back without expression.

Eventually, the man's eyes lowered. At the same time, the sword pointed at my throat was withdrawn.

I stared blankly at Seoryeong.

Martial artists on either side held my arms and pressed on my knees, leaving me unable to move.

"If Madam continues to refuse, we will execute that man."

"...All right. I'll go."

"Mom... Mister... Waaah!"

Gyeong, frozen after seeing me, clung to Seoryeong and burst into tears.

Even if he attended a martial academy and trained in martial arts, he was still a child.

As she stroked her son's hair, Seoryeong fixed her eyes on me as though trying to remember me and spoke.

"May I say one last farewell to my benefactor?"

"Do so. Briefly."

Seoryeong slightly lowered her head.

"Benefactor. I will never forget the kindness you showed me on the bright moonlit night. May you live a long and healthy life."

A few tears fell to the ground from beneath her lowered head.

The sight looked... unbearably sad.

"Escort Madam and the young master."

"Yes!"

The middle-aged man coldly gave the order to his subordinates as soon as she finished speaking.

Thud!

At the same time, a blow struck the back of my head, and everything went black.

Cold.

The feeling that came as my awareness slowly returned was familiar to me.

The feeling that someone was after me.

My eyes would not open properly, but I instinctively tensed and rolled to the side.

Thud!

Something struck into the ground where I had been.

When I forced my eyes open, I saw an old beggar with one eye missing.

The old man held a fire poker embedded in the ground as he blankly stared at me.

I could barely put strength into my body, but I forced myself up and somehow stood.

Even without looking, I could feel my body trembling.

And that I was slowly starting to stagger.

"Hehehe."

Seeing me like that, the old man smiled brightly.

Brightly enough to reveal his few remaining teeth.

The old man pulled out the fire poker and rushed at me.

Through my slightly blurred vision, I focused on his shoulder.

The instant his shoulder, pulled far back, came forward, I relaxed my legs and ducked as low as I could.

Whoosh.

As the fire poker passed over my head, I threw out my fist.

Thud!

"Urgh!"

Something broke and burst beneath my fist as it struck the old man in the groin.

I staggered upright again, picked up the fire poker he had dropped, and thrust it into the old man's neck as he bent over clutching himself.

"Ghk!"

The old man trembled for a while before going limp.

Leaving his corpse behind, I entered my house.

The first thing I did upon entering was take out the internal-injury medicine in my pocket and swallow it.

There was no other way to calm the muscles that were trembling from yesterday's beating.

Though I had no cuts or tears, my whole body was covered in bruises.

I had also been kicked hard in the side, so there was a high chance that my organs had been injured as well.

At least I had not coughed up blood.

After liberally applying wound medicine to the bruises all over my body, I lay down on the floor.

Yesterday's events consumed my thoughts.

Who were they? What would happen to Seoryeong and Gyeong?

The questions passed, and helplessness took hold of my whole body.

The miserable reality, where I had been unable to do anything, weighed heavily on me.

Had I grown arrogant just because I was Second Rate?

Had I walked around with my shoulders back just because I had internal energy?

I thought again about the man from yesterday.

He was certainly First Rate.

I had injured his knee and foot, but that was all I could do.

If the middle-aged man had not stopped him, I would have died.

A shiver ran through me, and the fear of death stiffened my body.

"Phew..."

I took a deep breath and calmed myself.

I had already survived near-death experiences several times.

I could not live cowering over something like this.

I thought again about that man from yesterday.

First Rate.

Yet someone at the First Rate was only one of their subordinates.

Considering how another martial artist had punched him the moment he appeared to object, and the grip strength of the men holding me, there was a high chance they were all First Rate.

Then they were a group made up of First Rate martial artists.

Who could assemble such a force?

Even at Azure Balance Gate, First Rate martial artists were rare.

Other than the Sect Leader, who was at the Peak Realm, I had heard that only the Young Gate Master, the deputy captain of the Azure Balance Sword Squad who was likely already dead, and several squad leaders were First Rate.

That was how highly regarded First Rate martial artists were.

What if more than ten people were all First Rate? And the middle-aged man leading them was at an even higher realm?

In the end, only a great martial faction could possess such a combat force.

Among the orthodox factions were the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families; among the unorthodox factions were the Eight Evil Families.

Or the Demonic Cult.

I crossed the Nine Sects and One Gang off the list.

They had features that were far too distinct.

The Demonic Cult was the same.

I had never met them myself, but if they had been the ones, I would not still be alive.

Then that left the Five Great Families and the Eight Evil Families.

Which one was it? Who were they?

My thoughts became tangled. I could not know.

Did I have to visit them all?

Because the medicine had begun to settle my body, I pushed myself up and walked to the corner of the room.

I was going to take out the silver taels I had hidden beneath the floor.

Then I stopped.

What could I do even if I went?

If I happened to find Seoryeong, would she follow me?

They had definitely called Gyeong "young master."

That meant he held a position worthy of their honorifics, at the very least.

They had even spared me, though I had injured one of their subordinates, because I was the benefactor of those two.

Despite their contemptuous attitudes, they were still mindful of Seoryeong and Gyeong.

I turned my gaze toward the room.

No matter how close it was to the market, this place was still one of the slums.

Naturally, security was poor, which was why Seoryeong always fetched her son from the martial academy herself.

I did not know the exact circumstances, but would Gyeong not be better off there than here?

Seoryeong would never leave Gyeong behind.

That was what a mother was.

And mothers could give up many things if it meant their children could live in a better environment.

I slumped down onto the floor.

Leaning against the bed behind me, I stared into empty space for a while.

Perhaps the sun was rising, because a little sunlight slipped through a crack in the wall and danced with the dust.

As I blankly watched it, I thought that I needed to become stronger.

The Yodan in the pouch at my waist.

And my inner-energy method of unknown origin.

With them, I would surely be able to gather a great deal of internal energy.

Of course, I still could not tell what effects that inner-energy method would have on me.

I would have to continue training to learn whether I would be affected by the yokai aura in the Yodan.

Even so, I had a feeling that I would not be able to give up that inner-energy method.

It was a way to grow much stronger, much faster than others.

Before, I might not have done it.

But now, that method felt far too sweet.

I might even be able to get a martial arts manual combining energy circulation and techniques from Gwak Ha-jun.

If that happened, I could use abundant internal energy to raise my realm quickly.

In the end, the reason I had no choice but to let Seoryeong go was because I lacked strength.

If I had been stronger, if I could have faced all of them, I would not have let her be taken away so helplessly.

Seoryeong had clearly been dragged out.

I did not know why, but it seemed that she had not wanted to go with them.

Even so, she had gone in the end to save me.

Of course, that was not the only reason.

She must have also judged that it could be better for Gyeong.

If Gyeong had been in danger, she would have resisted desperately.

"The kindness you showed me on the bright moonlit night. I will never forget it."

Her final words lingered in my ears.

My mind had been muddled, but her voice had lodged itself firmly in my head.

"Hm?"

Then I noticed something a little strange in those words.

The awkward phrase, "the bright moonlit night."

It was true that most of the times I had saved her had happened after sunset.

Even so, had she needed to add those words? Had she only said them casually? Was I thinking too sensitively?

The bright moonlit night.

My mind began quickly forming associations from that phrase.

A bright moonlit night meant a full moon.

The day when the roundest moon hung in the sky.

The last time my relationship with her had progressed further had also been on a full moon.

She had said something that day.

She had recalled a memory from childhood, when she played hide-and-seek with her older brother.

And when she hid, her family had been thrown into an uproar because they could not find her.

She had said that seeing the moon made her think of her older brother.

As I recalled that memory, one detail kept bothering me.

The wardrobe.

She had definitely said that she hid in the wardrobe, and her family could not find her.

It was an absurd deduction, perhaps, but I still rose from my seat.

I had a feeling that there was a reason she had gone out of her way to add those words.

The effects of yesterday's beating remained, so I staggered slightly as I headed to the house next door.

I opened the unlocked door and stepped inside to find the room in disarray.

I walked through its center toward the wardrobe behind the bed.

The wardrobe. More precisely, she had said she hid in one of its drawers.

I searched the bottom drawer first.

Seoryeong's worn-out clothes and Gyeong's slightly better clothes were neatly arranged inside.

I took out the clothes one by one and emptied the drawer.

Soon, I reached the bottom and found only a flat board.

Had I been wrong?

Thinking about it, she might have added those words for no reason.

After all, most of the times I had saved her had been at night.

Even so, I did not stop.

I forcibly pulled the drawer out.

Something I could have done easily before now felt somewhat difficult.

Rattle.

Still, I eventually managed to remove the drawer.

After turning it over and confirming there was nothing there, I carelessly tossed it aside and inspected the space it had occupied.

There was nothing.

Disappointment filling me, I sat heavily where I was.

What had I even expected?

Emptiness consumed my whole body.

I sat there blankly staring into space for several minutes.

In the end, I rose again and returned to my house.

The room that was always the same felt especially unfamiliar today.

"Hm?"

Then I spotted the wardrobe in my room.

As I slowly approached, the drawer came into view.

It was where I kept odds and ends that I did not use often, so I rarely opened it.

It was different.

Driven by an inexplicable intuition, I quickly opened the drawer.

The inside, which should have been a mess, was neatly organized.

I quickly took out the things inside and threw them behind me.

Then I found a small cloth bundle.

I reached in, took out the bundle, sat on the bed, and carefully unwrapped it.

Inside were a folded sheet of paper that looked like a letter and two thin booklets.

One was titled Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Saber, and the other Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Formula.

Judging by their titles alone, they seemed to be martial arts manuals.

Seoryeong must have been the one who left these behind... and I grew even more curious about her identity.

I quickly opened the letter.

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