Chapter 117: The Gathering Wind
The air could be seen freezing. The air was something invisible, but at this very moment, it felt as if it were visible.
‘It was only natural.’
Considering the status of Jang Mun-gyeong, one of the Ten Great Swords of the Land, he could be compared to Adept Heu-do, the number one sword of the Wudang Sect, who was listed in the same rank.
In terms of government office, he was like a king ruling over a region. Moreover, he was not a king in name only, but a king with bright and vast prospects, holding a sharp authority whose future was more anticipated than the present.
As could be seen from the fact that he was Lady Jang So-wol’s father, Jang Mun-gyeong’s age was known to be around fifty, so his era still had a long way to go.
A visit from Jang Mun-gyeong was not something that even the soaring sects in Martial World or those at the level of the Five Great Families would take lightly.
How much more so for a place like the Bright Fate Escort Agency; the weight and shock of receiving him could not help but be extraordinary.
“It is a good place. It smells of sweat.”
However, Jang Mun-gyeong looked around as if he had come out for a walk, and then headed toward Jang So-wol.
“Your foundation has become sturdy. I thought you were wasting time doing useless things on the side.”
“Yes, yes, I have been doing well.”
“I will leave you be for a while. It will be worth watching.”
“You do not need to worry. I am all grown up now.”
It was a peculiar way of conversing.
The key points seemed somewhat misaligned, but strangely, the flow of the conversation back and forth continued.
‘She knows how to make that kind of expression too.’
The sight of Lady Jang So-wol expressing her inner thoughts without hesitation looked novel.
Lady Jang So-wol, who usually stood out for being mature compared to her age, looked like someone of her own age.
Her unadorned, true appearance seemed to feel like that.
Then, suddenly meeting my eyes, a light blush tinted Lady Jang So-wol’s face.
Meanwhile, Lady Jang So-wol was not the only one whose eyes met mine.
“It is you.”
The giant’s attention turned toward me.
If it were someone with weak courage, they might have shrunk back and trembled.
‘Even so, he is below my masters. To the point of being incomparable.’
However, that was a story that did not apply to me.
“If you speak without context like that, it is difficult to understand.”
“The fellow who taught the sword to Adept Heu-do.”
A bolt from the blue was contained in the words he spoke so calmly.
“Gasp!”
“…What on earth is that?”
Startled by that bolt from the blue, people gasped one after another.
I met Jang Mun-gyeong’s eyes directly.
It was a gaze that naturally looked down from a high place. Combined with his arrogant attitude, that look felt different when facing it head-on.
‘He is like a wolf.’
Not a well-fed beast of prey, but a wolf that was still hungry.
Unlike his dry-feeling shell, what glistened in his inner core contained a chillingly vivid hunger.
[He is a fellow with no composure. Well, that is not bad either.]
[There were many in my time as well. And there will be many in the future too.]
‘Huh?’
However, the reactions of my two masters looking at Jang Mun-gyeong were peculiar.
It was different from when we met Adept Heu-do or the Divine Monk.
Was it because he was not a disciple of the same sect?
There was no feeling of them making a fuss with excitement.
If it were a relaxed setting, I would want to look into it properly, but now was not the situation for that.
“Please spare me a moment.”
“Right… now?”
I was rather flustered by Jang Mun-gyeong’s straightforward attitude.
“Is there some urgent business?”
“Lady Jang is…”
“I came to see you.”
This man singled me out and spoke.
Perhaps because the meaning of his words was somewhat subtle, a noisy murmur rose from the surroundings once again.
I did not know who it was, but the sound of swallowing saliva was indeed loud.
“She is a child who is doing well on her own, so I have nothing in particular to say to her.”
“Yes, yes~~”
Perhaps accustomed to Jang Mun-gyeong’s attitude, Jang So-wol made a sound of casually brushing it off.
“…Tsk.”
Looking at how the sound of a soft tongue-click could be heard after that, it seemed she was not completely at ease, though.
For no reason, the back of my head felt prickly. Feeling embarrassed and awkward, I scratched the back of my head without realizing it.
‘Still, since I am also interested in the martial arts aspect.’
The genius swordsman who created the Peak Sword Tao that Lady Jang So-wol used.
The sword I saw during the spar with Lady Jang So-wol had a great deal of things to reference.
It seemed like a problem that could be easily solved by asking my masters, but the masters’ intentions lay in the fact that they did not teach me.
The parts my masters did not teach were things I had to realize on my own.
There was a clear line.
From beginning to end, my masters’ actions had been like that.
“This way.”
Since it was not something to stand and talk about like this, I suggested moving to a place where we could talk first.
***
“Since it is not my home, I do not know what might be suitable to serve a guest.”
Fortunately, Yi Hwa, who had quietly followed, served tea and withdrew. Otherwise, I would have almost served plain water.
From the looks of it, he did not seem to be a personality that liked grand hospitality, but there was still a minimum level of courtesy.
Slurp.
Although it was a meager reception, Jang Mun-gyeong drank the tea without showing any sign.
“How old are you?”
“I will be twenty next year.”
“You are young.”
“Yes, as you can see.”
“Is your family home a martial family?”
What is this?
‘A background check?’
Looking at the content of the questions and answers exchanged, it felt like sitting in a meeting between the families of a betrothed couple. It was not the direction I had thought of or expected.
“We are closer to a local gentry family. My father has never gone out into the world, and my grandfather, who uses the characters ‘Ja’ and ‘Yeom’ for his name, rose to a fairly high government office.”
At my grandfather’s name, Jang Mun-gyeong’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.
It did not seem to be a reaction of merely having heard the name.
“It is a name I have heard before.”
“Is that so?”
“I heard he was a unique figure. They say he was a government official who yet had no sense of distance from Martial World people. He was said to be holding hands with those he knew.”
“Yes.”
Talking with him, he did not feel like a person skilled in conversation. The conversation we shared also felt like it was flowing in a strange direction.
But I became interested in the mention that came from that direction.
‘As expected, it seems Grandfather is not someone who is just cooped up at home in retirement, is he?’
Handling the matters in Sichuan, I realized that Grandfather was not just living a life of leisure.
If they were people known by someone of Jang Mun-gyeong’s caliber, they were bound to be extraordinary. Since he even said he was holding hands with such people, I could not help but pay attention.
“Is there anything you know about that?”
“It is only to the extent that he seems to be doing something even lately. I do not know the detailed inside story. I have no interest in that kind of work either.”
He drew a clear line on that part.
However, I caught a clue from the words of this man, Jang Mun-gyeong.
‘He just said “that kind of work,” right?’
This man, Jang Mun-gyeong, did not seem to have a direct connection with Grandfather.
However, through the people he knew, he seemed to have at least a rough guess as to what kind of work Grandfather had his feet in.
That was why he mentioned “that kind of work.”
If Grandfather was mentioned and it was a field this man would have no interest in, calling it “that kind of work,” then?
‘Politics.’
The first thing that came to mind was indeed the field where those who ate the state’s salary were mentioned, the part about politics. It was probably the most likely.
Thinking about this, a question arose once again.
‘Sure enough, did Grandfather really retire?’
It seemed there were many stories I did not know.
“It seems the conversation flowed in a strange direction for a moment.”
‘No, it has just been flowing in a strange direction from the very beginning, sir.’
I wondered what he was talking about now.
‘For someone whose very first words were a background check with a consistently dry attitude, what is he saying now… Hm?’
While feeling that his actions and words did not match, something suddenly flashed through my mind.
If one inserted just one subject to act as a stepping stone between the discrepancy of his actions and words, this would make sense.
Lady Jang So-wol.
‘What, he does think like a parent.’
It was also true that I felt a bit displeased seeing him ignore the daughter he had not seen in a long time and request a private meeting to see me first. Since he brought up Adept Heu-do’s story, I also thought we would talk about martial arts first.
However, unlike his appearance, he seemed to care in his own way.
Looking at such a Jang Mun-gyeong, I was reminded of my father.
Pretending to be solemn, pretending not to worry, yet he always kept it in mind in a corner of his heart.
‘Men…’
A laugh almost came out for no reason.
Although the martial artist called the Seamless Heavenly Robe, who was one of the Ten Great Swords of the Land vying for the peak of Martial World, was a stranger to me, a father who thought of his child while pretending to be blunt was not unfamiliar. Perhaps because of that, this man, Jang Mun-gyeong, felt more comfortable than a moment ago.
Detecting my demeanor, Jang Mun-gyeong’s eyebrows twitched.
“A fellow I know used to make that kind of expression sometimes.”
“I see.”
“Every time, I had to hold back the urge to rip his smiling mouth open.”
“…I will be careful.”
‘I cancel the thought I had just now.’
It was certainly not a situation to approach with family-oriented thoughts.
Stepping back to prevent the intrusion of emotions or personal thoughts, in the end, this man and I were strangers.
‘Thinking about it that way… is this a bit?’
Thinking about it carefully, it was quite a dangerous situation right now.
No matter how generously this man, Jang Mun-gyeong, looked at me, I was a loafer who had coaxed his precious daughter into eating meals, conversing, and sweating (practicing martial arts) together under one roof.
Is this really okay?
“Are you okay?”
“Yes? What do you mean?”
“It feels like your qi suddenly fluctuated.”
He was clearly a tactless man, but he was sharp in other aspects.
In a way, that was more troublesome.
If he were simply a quick-witted person, he would not even say useless things!
“Because I sometimes hear a suspicious voice. An inner voice, so to speak.”
[What is it, you? Surely that suspicious voice you mentioned is not referring to us?]
[Then am I playing the role of Papiyas?]
‘No, really!’
My masters responded sensitively to the words I just made up.
“You are also a somewhat peculiar fellow. I have rarely seen someone whose facial expressions change several times in real-time like that.”
“Haha…”
Perhaps because it was said by someone like Jang Mun-gyeong, those words particularly stung.
“Let us move to the main point.”
“That is what I wish.”
It did feel like the story kept drifting sideways.
Once by that man, and another time by me.
Let’s make some progress now.
And the words that came from Jang Mun-gyeong’s mouth were.
“I want to exchange blows with you.”
……Excuse me?
“…Yes?”
“Mmh. You seem to have misunderstood when I said ‘compete.’ Since that term is more familiar to me…”
Perhaps sensing that he had used the wrong word after seeing my frozen expression, Jang Mun-gyeong pondered for a moment and brought up his business in slightly more refined language.
“I am interested in you. So, let us have a spar.”
“…”
The thought I had a moment ago arose once again.
Is this really okay?
‘Why do I envision the scene of my neck being flying off by that sword?’
That is not okay at all, though?