Chapter 364: Chapter 364
A sharp chill rode the breeze across the quiet training ground.
Namgung Seon-hwa stood at its center.
The wind was cold enough to make one shiver, but she—eyes closed, sword in hand—felt instead a refreshing coolness.
The beads of sweat dotting her forehead had begun to slowly dry, after all.
After standing with her eyes closed for a long while, the moment she judged everything was ready, she swung her sword.
WHOOSH.
Light and razor-sharp—the signature sword art of the Namgung Clan.
Boundless Firmament.
A searingly blue Sword Qi dominated the space.
The cold wind had already been blowing, but the instant Namgung Seon-hwa’s sword moved—
WHOOSH—
The air across the entire area seemed to freeze.
The blade swept in every direction, cleaving even the wind itself.
It was a sword art that had reached a more than respectable level, yet Namgung Seon-hwa bit her lip.
“Tch.”
She straightened the sword once more.
As though she’d erased every movement from a moment before, she closed her eyes and sank into deep meditation.
When she opened them again—
FLASH.
Her eyes blazed as if lit with crimson fire.
Her sword swept outward.
SWISH—
A sword art that resembled the Boundless Firmament yet felt entirely different.
Firmament Cloudless.
A sword art created by the Azure Emperor Divine Sword—the current era’s absolute master and head of the Namgung Clan—by refining and advancing the Boundless Firmament Sword Art, the Namgung Clan’s foundation.
It stripped away everything superfluous and pushed every strength to the extreme.
Moreover, only the direct line and a select few collateral members of the Namgung Clan knew that it was, in fact, the Breaking Strike Form of the Boundless Firmament Sword Art.
True to the intent behind its ruthless efficiency, it was sharp enough to rival any Black Path technique.
SWISH—
The searingly blue Sword Qi no longer radiated cold.
Instead, a spine-chilling sharpness seeped out in place of the chill.
A keen Sword Qi that seemed ready to slice flesh at the slightest touch sheared through the air in all directions.
SWISH—
Cutting space, cutting wind, cutting the marble floor.
SLASH, SLASH, SLASH.
Wherever the blue Sword Qi passed, hairline-thin sword marks were left behind.
And those thin marks grew dense, beginning to envelop Namgung Seon-hwa like a silkworm’s cocoon.
SLASH, SLASH, SLASH.
The closer ones were carved tightly together.
As if no enemy, no blade, would be permitted entry.
The radius of the sword marks grew steadily wider.
SLASH, SLASH, SLASH.
With each expansion of the circle, the once-tight web of marks gradually grew sparser.
Namgung Seon-hwa stepped lightly back, as though treading on air—
SWISH—
SLASH!
The Firmament Cloudless Sword Art, which had bloomed like an opening flower, collapsed back into a single bud in an instant.
The killing intent that had filled the training ground vanished without a trace, and the cold wind that hadn’t dared approach her rushed back in to fill the space.
“Hah, hah, hah.”
Perhaps from the exertion—white mist rose from Namgung Seon-hwa’s lips.
Without even thinking to wipe her sweat, she began examining the sword marks surrounding her.
The moment she scowled and raised a hand to her forehead—
“Remarkable skill.”
“……!”
A warm voice reached her.
“Who……”
She turned toward the voice, and her eyes went round as a rabbit’s.
“……Captain Kang?”
The one peeking out was none other than Kang Seo-pyo.
“Captain Kang!!!”
Namgung Seon-hwa, overjoyed, dashed over and seized his hands.
Kang Seo-pyo clasped her hands in return and offered his own greeting.
“How did this happen? What brings you all the way here? Did you have business at the Murim Alli……”
“My lady!”
“……Oh, I’ve been going on about myself again. I’m sorry.”
Kang Seo-pyo wore a somber expression for a moment, then shifted to a playful one and grinned broadly.
“It’s not Captain anymore. It’s Hall Master now.”
“What?!”
“Ha ha ha! You may address me as the youngest Hall Master in Namgung Clan history.”
The two spent a short while catching up, sharing stories they hadn’t been able to exchange.
After their exchange of well-wishes concluded, Kang Seo-pyo’s gaze drifted to the vast circular pattern of sword marks Namgung Seon-hwa had created.
“You’ve grown even sharper.”
Kang Seo-pyo’s expression was genuine.
There was a generally understood ceiling for what someone Namgung Seon-hwa’s age could achieve.
He’d already known she was skilled enough to enter the Academy on her own merit, but the display she’d just shown clearly merited the title of prodigy.
“……I still have a long way to go.”
But that prodigy was hanging her head rather than showing off her skill.
“Isn’t this more than enough to hold your head high anywhere?”
“……”
He’d heard she’d been like this, but actually seeing Namgung Seon-hwa in this state stirred something strange inside him.
She looked like a warrior who’d failed to do her part on the battlefield—unable to raise her head.
“I couldn’t…… help at all. People were dying, and yet…… there was nothing I could do.”
The words came out disjointed and without context, but knowing the circumstances, Kang Seo-pyo understood her easily enough.
News of the Black Forest had spread throughout Anhui and the rest of the country.
At every inn he’d stopped at on the way to the Murim Alliance, he’d heard the same stories again and again.
Even if only half the rumors were true, it must have been a devastatingly harrowing ordeal.
At the same time, he could appreciate what immense fortune it was that Namgung Seon-hwa had made it out alive.
And yet, that admirable young lady was deflated.
“My skill, of course, and even the name Namgung Clan—none of it was any help.”
On his way to see Namgung Seon-hwa, he’d passed several training grounds throughout the Academy.
The Academy should have been buzzing with end-of-term excitement, but instead it hummed with a taut, peculiar tension, like a wire pulled taut.
Every person in the training grounds was swinging their weapons with the desperation of someone preparing for a life-and-death battle.
He’d also seen students at a nearby inn the night before, drinking far too heavily.
Those in the training grounds and those drinking away the hours probably felt no differently from Namgung Seon-hwa.
Train yourself senseless, or drink yourself senseless.
There were only two things a warrior haunted by nightmares could do.
This was an inescapable trial for those who had been raised as sheltered flowers.
No matter how dearly Kang Seo-pyo cherished Namgung Seon-hwa, this was a burden he couldn’t carry for her.
“The Clan Head…… asked me to relay a message, if I found you swinging your sword.”
“……Grandfather did?”
Namgung Seon-hwa, who had been slumping, raised her head.
Kang Seo-pyo cleared his throat once or twice, then assumed a stern expression in imitation of Namgung Tae-ha.
“‘Rather than waste time curling up, take one more step forward. Rather than waste time hanging your head, swing the sword one more time. That is the spirit of the Namgung Clan!’ He asked me to tell you that.”
“……!”
“I believe the Clan Head said this because death is the one word inseparable from those who walk the path of the warrior……”
“I know. I understand.”
Namgung Seon-hwa nodded slightly.
“I know. I’ve been taught that since I was very young. When you feel fear. When you want to run. Take one more step forward—I’ve heard it so often I could recite it in my sleep.”
Namgung Seon-hwa smiled bitterly.
“There’s no paradise in the place you’ve fled to.”
“That’s right, my lady.”
She wouldn’t be able to overcome it right away.
Memories take time to fade.
But given a little time—once the memories dimmed and her martial attainment rose—things would gradually improve.
She would strive even harder to never face the same situation again.
Isn’t that how people grow?
“……But what was the other message?”
“I’m sorry? Which……”
“You said ‘if I’m swinging my sword’…… That implies there were alternatives.”
“Ah, that.”
Kang Seo-pyo grinned.
“If you were drinking, he told me to leave extra money for the tab. And if you were crying…… he said to just come back.”
“……”
“He said there’d be something that suits you better than the sword.”
Namgung Seon-hwa felt strangely as though she’d been tested without knowing it.
“Oh, that reminds me—is that young lord doing well?”
Kang Seo-pyo asked as if the thought had just struck him.
“Young lord? Do you mean Brother Gi-pyo?”
“No. I mean Young Lord Jin.”
“Oh…… yes. He’s doing well enough, I suppose……”
Her trailing words matched the way her expression dimmed.
She added a brief remark.
“……He just seems very busy these days, running around to various places.”
“Hmm?”
Kang Seo-pyo gave her a curious look.
“Has Young Lord Jin found himself a sweetheart, by any chance?”
“What do you……”
“Or perhaps my lady has taken an interest in someone else?”
“Excuse me?!”
The piercing killing move that cut straight to the torso left Namgung Seon-hwa’s head spinning.
“Wh-what are you saying right now???”
“Well, my lady, it seemed as though you have feelings for Young Lord Jin……”
“AAAAAH!!!!! Hall Master Kang!!!”
Kang Seo-pyo flinched slightly but didn’t wipe the smile from his face.
“My lady, I’ve attended you personally since you were a child. I couldn’t pretend not to notice even if I tried.”
“……”
Namgung Seon-hwa’s face burned scarlet.
“Moreover, promising young men like Young Lord Jin attract many admirers.”
“I-it’s not like that. I’ve just been…… confused lately.”
“Confused?”
“I don’t know how to describe it…… it’s like he’s become someone impossibly far away.”
In the Black Forest, Namgung Seon-hwa had spent the entire time running behind Jin So-un’s back.
He’d always been a reassuring presence, but in those woods, he seemed immense and vast.
Like a great, unyielding tree that would never topple no matter how fierce the storm, he pressed onward and onward.
With each step Jin So-un took forward, burning his own life away, Namgung Seon-hwa felt him slipping farther and farther beyond her reach.
She’d reached out without thinking, but each time, he was one step further away.
Like smoke dissolving into the air.
She’d even felt an anxious dread that he might simply vanish one day.
After listening quietly, Kang Seo-pyo nodded in understanding.
“I see. So you’ve fallen for him even more.”
“……Hall Master. Are you actually listening to me?”
“Am I wrong?”
“……”
Namgung Seon-hwa couldn’t answer.
No—she truly didn’t know herself.
“I just…… I don’t know. He seems like someone who’ll have to endure even more trials ahead, someone who’ll have to bear even greater pain and suffering, and that makes me……”
“Even more drawn to him.”
“……”
It was her own heart, yet she couldn’t put it into the right words.
She’d never felt anything like this before.
Watching the girl experience the growing pains of a new emotion, Kang Seo-pyo smiled tenderly.
“If that person is in pain, shouldn’t you go closer and comfort him?”
“Comfort him?”
Could someone as weak and small as her truly be any comfort?
Would he even need her comfort……
“Didn’t you say Young Lord Jin has a memory far sharper than most?”
“He does.”
“Then wouldn’t he be the one suffering the most right now?”
“……!”
Namgung Seon-hwa felt as though she’d been struck hard across the head.
She hadn’t thought of it.
She’d been too consumed by her own grief, hiding behind the excuse that he was busy.
“To my eyes, Young Lord Jin appeared to be an extraordinarily strong person. But…… he also seemed to have an equally tender heart.”
“……”
“If you’re still uncertain about your own feelings, why not start by offering comfort first? Feelings…… can be sorted out later.”
Feelings can be sorted out later.
Those words stayed with Namgung Seon-hwa for a long time.
***
“Hoo.”
Namgung Seon-hwa let out a long sigh at the door.
She’d thought it would be some time before she saw Jin So-un again. And yet here she was.
‘Is this really all right?’
The tangled thoughts in her head refused to sort themselves out, only feeding her anxiety.
She’d been about to turn back when she recalled Kang Seo-pyo’s words—that the one suffering most right now was Jin So-un. She steeled herself and knocked.
Knock, knock.
No response.
Knock, knock.
She knocked again, and the door slowly opened.
But the person who appeared was someone she’d never expected.
“What brings you here?”
“……Senior Dang, why are you…… um…… did I come to the wrong place?”
“Who were you looking for?”
“Young Lord Jin.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place.”
“……”
Why are you here, then?
Dang Seo-hui strolled back inside as if it were the most natural thing in the world, sat at the table, and began popping candied fruits into her mouth.
“……”
She stuffed her cheeks full to bursting with candied fruits, looking exactly like a squirrel.
When Namgung Seon-hwa kept staring, Dang Seo-hui’s eyes wavered with something like uncertainty.
Then she tentatively pushed the plate forward.
“Y-you can have some too.”
“……”
Was it actually safe to eat them?
Probably not. The look in her eyes suggested it would earn lifelong resentment.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“Then it can’t be helped.”
Dang Seo-hui swiftly reclaimed the plate. For some reason, the pace of her eating slowed.
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence hung in the air.
Namgung Seon-hwa had rehearsed what she’d say to Jin So-un dozens of times, but she’d never accounted for the possibility of running into Dang Seo-hui here.
After an uncomfortable stretch of silence, Namgung Seon-hwa spoke first.
At this rate, the silence might last forever.
“Where did Young Lord Jin go?”
“The Heavenly Eye Pavilion needed some advisory input, so he went there.”
“Then why are you here, Senior?”
“I came to ask him something. But Jin So-un is busy every single day.”
What could she possibly want to ask that she’d wait at Jin So-un’s quarters for days on end?
Namgung Seon-hwa asked cautiously.
“What is it you want to ask?”
Perhaps it was something too important to share—but Dang Seo-hui answered readily.
And then.
“I came to ask whether Jin So-un absolutely has to carry on Taeul Sect’s legacy.”
An answer Namgung Seon-hwa could never have imagined.
She blurted out in shock.
“What??”
Dang Seo-hui elaborated generously, munching on her candied fruit.
“Oh! More precisely, I came to ask if he’d be open to marrying in as a matrilocal son-in-law.”
“……”
Namgung Seon-hwa felt as though she’d been blindsided.