Woo-yong Jin lets out a sigh.
“Haa… This is truly a dirty old place.”
After briefly venturing out into the world, he was naturally sent back to where he originated when Byul Rak fell victim to the Cursed Face Art.
There, he was preoccupied with the newly revealed memories of Byul Rak.
“Why? Is there something troubling you?”
To this, a young girl in the vision brightly approaches and greets Jin Woo-yong.
Woo-yong Jin replied with a dark voice.
“Looking at Byul Rak’s past, it fills my heart with gloom.”
“This guy, you must have guessed that his past would be full of tragedies, so why are you so surprised?”
“That’s different. No matter what, I thought someone should have received love from their parents.”
“How many parents in this world are not like parents at all?”
“Haa… This is on a different level.”
Woo-yong Jin pressed his forehead.
The past was far too dark, and just by looking at it, a considerable amount of fatigue had accumulated.
“Look at Byul Rak.”
“What about this guy?”
“Ever since ancient times, he’s been a fellow who spreads love. Even the regression he carried out without emotion was only possible because of his affection for the world.”
“Yeah, that’s true, but what’s so special about it? It’s impressive, but it doesn’t seem worth getting this excited over.”
Listening to the young girl’s words, Woo-yong Jin shook his head.
No matter how knowledgeable she appeared compared to himself, she was still a child. Or perhaps because she was a “fragment” and thus had a limited perspective.
“Think about it.”
“About what?”
“Someone who has never received love from anyone gives it to everyone.”
“Ah!”
“So now, you’ve realized how unreasonable the actions of this person are.”
The young girl nodded in agreement.
Woo-yong Jin felt a sense of satisfaction as if his prospective son-in-law had been acknowledged.
Just a moment later, he remembered how badly that son-in-law was currently struggling, and his mood quickly soured.
“Do you know this, Master Jin?”
“What is it?”
“What do the people from the Western Regions beyond the Silk Road call people like this one?”
While pointing at the empty sky, the young girl spoke. Jin Woo-yong understood that she was referring to Byul Rak.
“What do those foreign noses from the West call him? Who cares?”
“They call him ‘Brave Knight.'”
“Brave Knight?”
“Yes, a person who never falls into corruption, no matter what happens, and doesn’t submit to tribulations.”
The young girl’s voice was unusually soft.
Almost like the time during the Battle of Seven Flowers when she briefly mentioned ‘a dog’s world.’
“A brave knight with courage… Hmph. My future son-in-law is far beyond that level.”
“Is that so? Then what is it?”
“…A Heroic Knight.”
“Excuse me?”
“That fellow Byul Rak is a Heroic Knight. Not some brash Brave Knight or whatever.”
At Jin Woo-yong’s words, the young girl stifled a laugh.
A Heroic Knight, it was definitely a fitting term for someone like Sword Sage.
Whether he would continue to live as a Heroic Knight in the future, well, that was uncertain.
“Do you know this?”
“What is it?”
“The father of this person, namely, the Azure Heaven Sword King, Namgung Danhyuk.”
“What about this reckless guy?”
“Turns out, he’s no ordinary reckless fellow!”
The girl spread her arms wide as she spoke.
Jin Woo-yong frowned seriously, questioning what sort of nonsense she was up to.
“It’s true! He did so many disgraceful things! If it weren’t for bribes in the Martial Arts Alliance, the Azure Heaven Sword King would have been branded as a public enemy long before this person!”
“…What?”
“Keke, when the rumors that this person was a hypocrite spread, do you know what the first reactions were from the majority of martial artists? ‘That’s expected.’ They said, ‘The Namgung blood runs strong.'”
“…! You mean it was to that extent?”
“Honestly, didn’t you witness it during the Battle of Seven Flowers? The people of Namgung House and martial artists alike looked down on them so much. Is it entirely this person’s fault? Considering the past has spanned two generations, they simply dismissed this person as the same!”
“Of course, younger generations might not know about it, but there’s something called ‘watering down.’ That’s why the world quickly turned their backs on him. What good are ten years of good deeds when the father has accumulated karmic debt for over thirty years?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
“One might even call him an unsung accomplice in plotting against Namgung Bin. This so-called Azure Heaven Sword King.”
As the girl continued her narrative, Jin Woo-yong sighed deeply each time.
“This world does not leave my future son-in-law alone…”
“Keke, the world is inherently merciless, you know.”
“Could there be, by any chance, something else?”
“Something like a scandal, perhaps?”
“Yes, like hearing things from parents that one shouldn’t, or being locked up in a secret library… Is there anything else remaining beyond that?”
Jin Woo-yong asked with an expression of disbelief.
The girl, returning to her cheerful self, responded brightly like a cuckoo bird.
“Of course! There is a decisive event that made this person erase his own memories!”
Jin Woo-yong frowned deeply. A string of curses swirled silently in his mouth.
*
It’s difficult.
It’s unbearable.
I want to leave this unpleasant place right now.
This hateful technique doesn’t even allow me the freedom to close my eyes.
Huh.
“Umm…”
Even after hearing those words from Mother, young me seemed to go about life as usual for a few days.
Like usual, I was ignored by the clan; when confined, I would read Tao Te Ching or similar texts.
Occasionally, when harassed by my stepmother, I would silently evade the situation.
Truthfully, I was a little worried. The words said by my mother back then were, as far as a young me could bear, excessively cruel.
But, unexpectedly, the young me seemed to let it go with composure.
Although inside, there might be unspoken anguish, judging from the occasional mutterings, it seemed otherwise.
‘What might Father be doing? I wish Mother would also take care of herself…’
The muttering voices reached my ears. These are the thoughts of my younger self.
‘Father might have a harsh expression and a fiery personality, but in reality, he’s not that bad when you get to know him…’
Even in the midst of all this, I was viewing Father favorably.
I’m not misunderstanding the situation.
Confinement, threats, violence, verbal abuse… Looking at it now, these are sins on par with those of a regular villain.
But young me grew up accepting such things as normal.
I knew it wasn’t right, but I didn’t think it was a serious wrongdoing. That’s because I had consistently endured such treatment from a very young age.
For various reasons, it’s truly a family I don’t like.
‘I’ll head to the training yard early today. I’ve read all the books I can read already…’
I set off towards the training yard.
Although I thought like that, I liked rereading the books I had already read. Probably, it was out of fear that if I stayed in my room, I might be dragged by the hair by Father and confined again.
This would probably be better. Why endure such meaningless suffering after all?
Jog. Jog.
Upon arriving at the training yard, there was no one in its vast expanse.
This was because I had arrived quite early, before the sun even rose.
After loosening my body for a while, I grabbed my sword. It was a heavy wooden sword.
I immediately began to sway the sword according to the techniques I had learned.
Whoosh!
A heavy sound of air was cut.
Occasionally, a powerful sword force even startled myself.
It was because of the heavy sword. I continued to swing the sword without rest, sweat beading down my forehead.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
After a complete rotation of the sword, thrusting directly with the momentum. Quickly retrieve and slash downward.
As if there were imaginary enemies in the air. I closed my eyes and trained the sword technique.
Like that…
Half an hour. One hour, two hours.
Three watches, one hour of time, two hours of time…
…Why can’t I stop?
“Haa, heea… ”
My mouth, wide open, exhaled a strange breath.
This is because training was excessively long. Swinging the heavy wooden sword for two hours?
It was a training method that could harm rather than help.
I wanted to tell myself to stop, but no voice would come out.
I could only watch this abnormal scene silently.
“Huff, huff, heeaaargh…”
My complexion turned pale but I didn’t stop training.
I kept glancing toward the door. It was as if my mind was elsewhere while training.
At this moment, I could hear my emotional muttering.
‘Father may come at any time…’
…
‘If Father sees me resting and walks in… and sees me like this…’
…
‘He will surely get angry… Just, hold on a little more. Father has never missed a training session. If I hold on a little longer, he will probably come…’
Undoubtedly, when I started training, I had no distractions at all.
The tip of the sword was steady, not wobbling.
Worried about Father’s violence, the sword tip now wobbled like a thin branch.
Both because I was exhausted and because my mind was restless.
I was afraid of Father.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
I continuously swung the sword without rest. People entering the training yard worriedly looked at me, but no one stopped me.
Because everyone avoided involvement with me.
There’s no one willing to approach someone who’s losing out in the successor competition, someone they dislike so much, risking unnecessary harm.
After several hours had passed.
When I was practically on the brink of collapse from exhaustion.
When the sweat was falling like rain, forming a small puddle in one corner of the training yard.
Only then did I put down the sword and clumsily leave the yard.
‘This much… Father won’t say anything to me when we meet…’
I went to the training yard earlier than anyone else and left the latest.
It was already dark outside. Thick darkness, carrying a chilling cold, lay across it.
In order to avoid hitting, being scolded, or being locked up, despite waiting so long, Father never came after all.
I weaved through the darkness, stumbling.
The destination was the river. It seemed like my intention was to soak my sweat-drenched body in the river water.
Walking aimlessly like that, I had finally arrived at the riverside.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
Some sounds pierced my ears.
‘W, what’s that sound?’
Curiosity mixed with a bit of fear made me approach cautiously in the direction of the sound.
The tall grass hindered a clear view.
Therefore, I had to meander a bit before reaching the exact location.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
However, the clearer sound grew as I approached, and my steps gradually led to the outline of the source.
“Uh … Ugh… Stop…”
” … Huff, heee… ”
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“Stop… It hurts… Ugh, ugh, it hurts…”
” Huff! Haa…”
The sound source turned out to be two people.
The woman was lying down, and the man was on top suppressing her.
A notable point was that both were naked like monkeys.
Upon seeing the provocative scene, young me was frozen like a stone.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
They were so absorbed in their act that they couldn’t even notice anyone watching.
However, after continuously observing, something felt off.
There was no trace of pleasure or joy in the woman’s face.
Tears, the color red, blush colors.
A woman with hard-to-find pink hair in the East Asian continent. Tears of blood streamed down her eyes.
‘…!’
I was about to throw up after seeing the shocking sight.
The moment I identified the side profile of the man, young me collapsed to the ground.
Thud!
The sound alerted the man who was showing me only his side up till now. Turning his head toward me, his face became unmistakably visible from the front.
It was…
My father, Sword King Namgung Danhyuk.
“Who is that brat?”
Namgung Danhyuk pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and threw it the moment he noticed someone watching.
“Who dares to spy on me! Come out!”
Whoosh!
Being so small, I was already hidden among the grass even as I collapsed, but the dagger aimed at my head cut across my right jaw to my cheek.
Sizzle!
At that moment as well, due to the shocking scene I had just witnessed, young me couldn’t utter any words. Not even an internal monologue.
And this silence was also shared by me who was witnessing the same vision.
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