Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 11

011. Report Review

“Thank you for your hard work, Instructor Do.”

With Ilchunghyun not returning, Unhyun’s training concluded.

Though his body was tired, Unhyun’s eyes sparkled as he bowed to Dojin.

Dojin replied in a formal voice.

“Scholar Un, you’ve worked hard as well.”

“Then, I’ll be going now…….”

“Very well.”

As Unhyun gathered his books and writing tools and left the pavilion, Dojin, who had been standing stiffly, finally relaxed.

“Hoo.”

Fatigue was evident on the face of Dojin, the Gold Guard instructor.

‘This is the first time a training session has been this challenging.’

Dojin put away the two swords he had been holding.

One was his own, and the other was the one Instructor Ilchunghyun had brought for training.

Just as he was thinking of taking a seat to rest, he sensed someone approaching from behind.

It was Instructor Ilchunghyun.

Dojin was pleased.

“Instructor Ilchunghyun.”

Ilchunghyun, who had approached, slightly bowed his head to Dojin and looked around.

“I seem to be a bit late. Did Scholar Un leave?”

“He left a little while ago.”

Ilchunghyun nodded.

Dojin asked cautiously.

“Did your business go well?”

Ilchunghyun’s face stiffened slightly.

“Well, what could be so special about it?”

Though he said that, Ilchunghyun’s expression seemed strained. However, Dojin didn’t press him.

He couldn’t pry if Ilchunghyun didn’t offer information first.

“More importantly, how was the training? Scholar Un’s questions must have been a bit… taxing.”

At Ilchunghyun’s question, Dojin shook his head.

Sighing, Instructor Dojin said,

“That’s truly the first time I’ve seen a trainee like that.”

A slight smile appeared on Ilchunghyun’s face.

“I figured as much.”

As if he understood, Dojin began to vent his frustrations.

“Starting with asking out of the blue, ‘What is a sword?’, there wasn’t a single thing he wasn’t curious about. Moreover, when I gave him an answer, he wrote it all down.”

Dojin clicked his tongue, dumbfounded.

Because the other person was writing down his words with a serious expression, he had to pause and think even before giving a simple answer.

Moreover, that wasn’t all.

“I was so frustrated that I showed him the stances directly, but he only had more questions. And his insight was so sharp…….”

Gold Guard Instructor Dojin sighed.

“Perhaps the person who wielded the sword the most today wasn’t Scholar Un, but me. I think I demonstrated all the stances I’ve learned so far.”

Ilchunghyun nodded with a smile.

Indeed, Dojin’s clothes were quite disheveled.

“Next time, when he asks such questions, Instructor Do should ask him in return. Ask, ‘What does Scholar Un think a sword is?’ That will make it much easier to answer.”

At Ilchunghyun’s words, Dojin shook his head.

“Next time? I absolutely refuse such tiring trainees, absolutely.”

“But wasn’t it fun?”

At those words, Dojin paused for a moment.

Come to think of it, he remembered being surprised at how quickly the time had passed.

Moreover, perhaps it was just his imagination, but the passing breeze seemed fresher than usual.

“Fun…….”

Dojin murmured quietly. And he smiled without realizing it.

To think that the word ‘fun’ would come out of Instructor Ilchunghyun’s mouth was something he couldn’t have imagined before.

Come to think of it, he had a feeling that Ilchunghyun’s changes over the past year might be because of Unhyun.

Gold Guard Instructor Dojin shook his head slightly and smiled at Instructor Ilchunghyun.

“I’ll pass.”

“Huhu.”

At Dojin’s words, Ilchunghyun replied with a gentle smile.

It was a warm and natural smile that Dojin had never seen before.

***

Unhyun, who had returned to Munyeongak [a scholar’s study or library], was in a good mood.

He was quite pleased with what he had gained from Instructor Dojin today.

“Instructor Do is a better person than he looks. Instructor Ilchunghyun doesn’t show that side of himself easily.”

Muttering, Unhyun carefully placed the book he had brought in a corner and prepared his brush.

He wanted to write down the details of Dojin’s swordsmanship while his memory was still fresh.

Instructor Ilchunghyun had always said, ‘Don’t let flamboyant skills steal your eyes,’ so the dazzling swordsmanship that Instructor Dojin had shown today was not something he could easily witness.

“Saying that after showing skills that are worth stealing eyes for……, tsk.”

Although he grumbled, Unhyun actually agreed with Instructor Ilchunghyun’s words.

What is visible on the surface is always just countless leaves.

If you really want to know the truth, you have to find the hidden pillars and roots.

And that is absolutely impossible if you let the external splendor steal your eyes.

‘That’s why I appreciate Instructor Ilchunghyun’s answers.’

Ilchunghyun knew exactly what he was talking about.

So he didn’t waver even at Unhyun’s sudden questions.

You might think it’s obvious, but in fact, that’s something only someone who is truly proficient in their work can do.

Was that why?

Although there was no such flamboyance as today, the simple and plain movements that Instructor Ilchunghyun occasionally showed remained in Unhyun’s memory for a long time.

Rustle.

Unhyun opened the book, picked up his brush, and quietly calmed his mind.

“Hmm.”

The splendid swordsmanship unfolding from Gold Guard Dojin’s sword vividly came to his mind.

At the same time, his brush began to race across the book in a single stroke.

“As the sword scatters rainbows, everything under the heavens holds its breath. Its gesture is as soft as a fairy’s touch, yet it calls death like the fangs of a viper…….”

With the elegant writing style he had honed during his ten years as a scholar, Unhyun described Instructor Dojin’s swordplay.

Perhaps he was quite excited, as Unhyun put down his brush only after writing quite a few lines.

And with a satisfied expression, he read his sentences once more.

“Good.”

Nodding, Unhyun gently blew on the ink to dry it and carefully put down the book.

“Now, it’s time to wrestle with those miscellaneous books again.”

Unhyun turned his head.

A neatly stacked pile of books on one side of the desk was glaring at him.

A book placed separately next to it was the ‘Report on the Holistic Approach to the Origins of Martial Arts Transmitted to the Murim Factions’ [Murim refers to the martial arts world], written by a scholar from Baekhojeon [White Tiger Hall, likely a scholarly institution].

Unhyun couldn’t easily reach out and glared alternately at the pile of books and the book by the Baekhojeon scholar.

After much internal debate, Unhyun finally reached out for the book by the Baekhojeon scholar, the book Unhyun simply called ‘Report.’

“I’ll just take a quick look.”

Unhyun muttered as if making excuses to himself.

However, his eyes were already shining as he opened the ‘Report.’

“Let’s see, today Instructor Dojin’s sword path was probably…….”

Unhyun turned the pages familiarly.

This ‘Report’ was not just filled with praise for the Emperor.

After a lengthy discussion of the origins of martial arts and martial arts itself, it described the most fundamental and ideal sword path as seen by the author.

It wasn’t a secret manual of the Jianghu [the martial arts community] martial arts world, so to speak.

What was written there was not the sword technique itself, but the principles or conditions that an ideal sword path should have.

“Here it is.”

Unhyun stared intently at the book with a serious look.

As if he were trying to enter the book, Unhyun was completely absorbed in it.

Then he tilted his head and muttered.

“Not at all? Completely different. Was it a movement from a different school?”

Unhyun flipped through the book.

However, Unhyun already knew the book almost by heart.

If it wasn’t the part he found at first, there was no need to look at the other parts.

After looking here and there, Unhyun raised his head.

“It was such a splendid and powerful sword form, but it’s completely different from the description in this book. Even the sword form that Instructor Ilchunghyun showed had some similarities.”

Putting down the book, Unhyun frowned.

“Which one is wrong?”

This ‘Report’ is always on Unhyun’s desk.

It wasn’t because this book was very interesting or because it was an amazing martial arts manual.

Unhyun was attached to this book because it was a book about martial arts written by a scholar like himself, and also because it dealt with martial arts from a scholar’s point of view.

The author himself was so confident that he even wrote that he had ‘systematically and holistically discussed the essential core of martial arts.’

The problem was that except for Unhyun, or rather, even Unhyun didn’t think so.

“Still, he’s a Gold Guard instructor, so it’s unlikely that Instructor Dojin is wrong…….”

Today, Unhyun was quite drawn to Instructor Dojin’s splendid sword form.

And perhaps he thought that his sword form was the closest to the realm described in this book.

But it was different.

It wasn’t even similar.

“Then is this report wrong after all?”

There was no one to answer, no matter how much he muttered to himself.

Unhyun stared at the book with an expression as if he had encountered an unsolvable mystery.

“A book written after a lifetime of research…….”

Even if it was a lifetime’s work, it was still a book written by a scholar who had never wielded a sword.

It was obvious without asking which one was right, the Gold Guard instructor or this report.

However, Unhyun didn’t want to conclude that this nameless scholar from Baekhojeon, who might have walked a similar path to his own, was wrong.

Because that would be too disheartening for this nameless scholar, and for himself as well.

“Well, if I don’t know…”

Thud.

Unhyun got up from his seat.

“I can just test it myself.”

What was written in this ‘Report’ was not just a description of the ideal sword path.

The truly amazing thing was that the author of this book was proposing a training method to reach that ideal state.

That was the conclusion of this report, and it was also the part that the author put the most effort into.

You could feel the utmost sincerity in every single letter.

“If it doesn’t work, so be it.”

Holding the ‘Report’ under his arm, Unhyun left Munyeongak.

He had long forgotten that doing things himself when he didn’t know something was an extremely unfamiliar method to his former self, and that he had resolved to ‘just take a quick look.’

***

Unhyun’s steps led him to the small pavilion where he had been training until just now.

In this place that had become so familiar over the past year, Unhyun felt his mind calm down.

‘I really hated this place so much at first.’

It wasn’t just hating it.

His whole body ached, and there were times when he was in so much pain that he couldn’t sleep properly.

There were times when he thought he might die if he didn’t quit training.

But that time didn’t last as long as he thought.

‘When I think about it, it’s really amazing. Is this what they call adapting?’

He never thought that the day would come when hard training would become an ordinary routine.

However, one day when he didn’t train due to Instructor Ilchunghyun’s circumstances, Unhyun realized that his body was heavier than usual.

It was an amazing discovery.

From then on, Unhyun began to realize the advantages of training one by one.

“Pfft.”

Unhyun, who had been lost in thought, chuckled.

‘Come to think of it, I even had dreams about it.’

Twice.

Once as a nightmare, and once as an exciting dream of reaching some amazing realm.

Smiling to himself, Unhyun shook his head to clear his mind.

‘Now, then…….’

Unhyun looked around once and went to the back of the small pavilion to pick up something.

It was a tree branch about the length of a sword.

Unhyun had hidden it himself.