A Tale Of A Scribe Who Retires To The Countryside [EN]: Chapter 88

Episode 88. This Isn’t Goodbye

Swaaaaa.

The grass along the riverbank swayed like waves in the night breeze.

The moonlight shattered on each blade of grass, creating the illusion of standing in the middle of the ocean. The stars filled the night sky, shining above like a navigator’s guide.

Sabeok.

Son Bin, who had been quietly catching his breath, looked up at the sound of someone approaching.

“Am I disturbing you?”

A woman’s soft voice. It was Sa Su-yeon.

She stood there, as composed as ever, with a slightly nervous expression. The blue moonlight traced delicate lines on her beautiful face.

“Not at all.”

Son Bin replied with a smile.

“I have something to ask you.”

“What….”

Sreung.

A cold, gleaming blade appeared from her fingertips.

Her gaze at Son Bin did not waver in the slightest. The warm smile she had shared with the children during the day had vanished as if it were a lie.

“With my sword.”

It was an expression Son Bin had never heard before, but he understood it instantly.

To ask with a sword meant to answer with a sword.

It was a request for a duel.

“I understand.”

Sreung.

Baekro [a revered sword] revealed itself in Son Bin’s hand. Sa Su-yeon let out a soft sigh at its beautiful form under the moonlight.

“It’s a truly beautiful sword. Did you have it back then, too?”

She was probably referring to the time they headed to the snowy mountains together.

Son Bin nodded.

“Yes. I’m temporarily holding it for an old Taoist. I have to return it someday.”

Sa Su-yeon gave him a slightly questioning look. Baekro was a sword that anyone would admire just by looking at it. She knew, of course, that entrusting such a sword was not meant literally.

But that wasn’t important now.

“You’ve mastered Hyeoncheon-gyeol [a supreme sword art].”

“To be precise, it’s Hyeoncheon Daegang-gyeol [a variation of Hyeoncheon-gyeol].”

Son Bin gave a bitter smile. The image of that person, Saja-hyeok, came to his mind without him realizing it.

“My father praised it, but he said it couldn’t compare to Hyeoncheon-gyeol.”

The only evaluation of his Hyeoncheon Daegang-gyeol was Saja-hyeok’s short remark.

But that was enough for Son Bin. Only Saja-hyeok was the only person who could evaluate Hyeoncheon Daegang-gyeol.

“Is that so?”

Sa Su-yeon smiled faintly.

“Then, show it to me.”

Huuuuk.

At the same time as those words, an enormous energy began to pour out of Sa Su-yeon. It was stronger and sharper than Son Bin remembered.

An overwhelming force, reminiscent of Saja-hyeok, was emanating from the slender Sa Su-yeon.

“Let me see what your sword is truly like.”

Sa Su-yeon’s eyes were shining coldly. Facing her fierce momentum, Son Bin replied.

“Though I may not be able to compare to you, Sojeo [Miss Sa].”

Wuuuung.

With Son Bin’s soft voice, Baekro began to hum softly. As if resisting Sa Su-yeon’s energy.

“I will gladly answer.”

Sa Su-yeon, who had been shining her eyes coldly, smiled. With a smile that seemed truly satisfied, she said.

“Good.”

Huoong.

A pale blue energy swirled around her sword. The energy surrounding her sword, like a materialized blade, was beyond comparison to what it had been before.

But Son Bin felt his mind calming down.

Wuuuung.

A faint warmth was transmitted through his hands. Baekro’s low hum seemed rather pleased.

The energy emanating from Sa Su-yeon was so intense that his skin tingled, but there was no sharp hatred in it.

All that was present was a resolution so clear it was almost transparent.

The endless night sky, the vast earth, and even the blowing wind seemed to gently embrace the two.

Hung.

The pale blue energy began to draw a circle in the air. There was no warning or sign, but Son Bin could clearly see the moment her sword moved.

It was Saja-hyeok’s Hyeoncheon Sword Technique, the beginning of that very trajectory.

Shwing.

Son Bin’s sword cut through the air, drawing an arc.

Two sword paths, completely the same as Sa Su-yeon’s but with a completely different flow, fearlessly approached each other. And the tips of the two people’s swords met in the air.

Jjaeng!

A sound like something breaking burst out between the two.

∴

“I must be getting old.”

“You’ve been old for a long time now.”

Namak Old Master frowned at Shin-ui’s words.

“But why the sudden self-reflection?”

Shin-ui asked, raising his glass.

“Look at that.”

The Old Master pointed to the two people’s duel with a nod.

“If I had seen that kind of sight in the past, I would have grabbed my Soryeong Sword and jumped in without hesitation…….”

The Old Master sighed softly and said.

“Now, I’m just happy to watch.”

“Hmph.”

Shin-ui took a sip of his drink and said.

“You’ve finally become a bit of an adult.”

It was a tone without any sarcasm, filled with regret. The Old Master didn’t reply, he just quietly raised his glass.

Jjaeng.

A sound like something breaking was heard again. Shin-ui looked up at the two people’s duel. Under the star-filled night sky, shining trajectories were embroidering the air.

“Yeon-a seems to have made up her mind, too.”

Shin-ui said, as if muttering to himself.

∴

Pararak.

Sa Su-yeon’s clothes fluttered greatly. With a graceful movement as if dancing, Sa Su-yeon drew a circle. But it was an unavoidable choice to deflect the rebounding force.

Tak.

Sa Su-yeon stopped. Dry grass and small stones were swept up by her energy and scattered, and the long lines made by her toes had already left considerable traces here and there in the clearing.

“Amazing.”

Sa Su-yeon said. She had deflected most of it, but she could still feel a faint shock in her hand. It was due to her own power being returned by Son Bin’s sword.

“Is this how you defeated that person from the Blood Dragon Gate?”

“Yes.”

Son Bin replied. Even though he was clearly holding the Seon Sword Baekro, what was felt from him was not the spirit and energy of a warrior, but the calmness of a scholar holding a brush, intoxicated by the moon.

Baekro’s blade shone like an illusion under the moonlight, humming softly.

“But, was there such a sword form in Hyeoncheon-gyeol?”

“Hyeoncheon-gyeol cannot be defined. It is like a majestic flow, and one can only speak of its past traces.”

Son Bin said with a smile.

“As Sojeo also knows.”

Sa Su-yeon also smiled.

“Even that answer is the same.”

She didn’t say who it was the same as. But both of them knew who it was.

“Now, only one thing remains.”

Seuk.

Sa Su-yeon said, raising her sword.

“Since that day in the snowy mountains, I’ve been thinking and thinking. I repeated the things you told me word for word, over and over again. Then, suddenly, one thing started to bother me. That is, the fact that you pierced the weakness of Okryong [Jade Dragon] with Okryong Yeokrin-cham [Jade Dragon’s Reverse Scale Strike].”

Sa Su-yeon’s eyes shone under the moonlight.

“He had an unusual obsession with Okryong Yeokrin-cham. So, perhaps like then, I thought you had stirred him up with words, or shaken him with bluff. Of course, I thought there was no other possibility, I thought so.”

Okryong was abnormally angry at Sa Su-yeon’s Okryong Yeokrin-cham. And even then, Son Bin succeeded in agitating him with words. To the point where he didn’t even notice Saja-hyeok’s approach.

“But now, I wonder if it literally means that you stabbed him.”

Wuuuung.

Pale blue energy swirled around her sword again.

“Show me. The Okryong Yeokrin-cham that you completed.”

“I understand.”

Son Bin said. Holding the Seon Sword Baekro with both hands, he faced Sa Su-yeon straight on.

‘This is, Okryong Yeokrin-cham?’

Sa Su-yeon was momentarily puzzled. She also knew the Okryong Yeokrin-cham that Saja-hyeok had shown her.

It was definitely not that stance.

But Son Bin no longer moved, only Baekro’s blade sparkled under the moonlight.

Paat.

Sa Su-yeon lightly stepped forward, and her sword instantly rushed towards Son Bin.

Huuuung.

The wind followed where she passed, and the pale blue energy rippling blade fell towards Son Bin like a death sentence.

And at the last moment, Baekro, who had been silent until then, slowly began to move from top to bottom.

Hung.

‘Ah.’

At that moment, Sa Su-yeon saw it. A perfect Okryong Yeokrin-cham that was no different from the one her father Saja-hyeok had shown her.

The very sword path that she thought she would never see again was majestically revealed there. Like the blue moonlight that filled the world.

∴

“Sojeo!”

Sa Su-yeon blinked at Son Bin’s urgent voice.

“Are you alright?”

Son Bin’s eyes, looking at her, were full of concern. Only then did Sa Su-yeon realize that she was standing there blankly.

Had she lost consciousness? But that couldn’t be. She clearly remembered Son Bin’s sword falling towards her from above, and then rising again.

And then Son Bin’s sword stopped as if by a lie.

“Sojeo?”

Son Bin called her again in a worried voice.

“What’s next?”

Sa Su-yeon said. Her voice was so hoarse that it seemed barely audible, but Son Bin managed to understand.

“Next?”

“I’m talking about the next move of Okryong Yeokrin-cham.”

Okryong Yeokrin-cham is a one-style, half-form. Hadn’t Saja-hyeok told Sa Su-yeon to complete that move?

“There is no next. Okryong Yeokrin-cham is already complete in itself.”

Son Bin said. It was an answer that Sa Su-yeon had never even thought of, but Sa Su-yeon readily accepted it. No, she had no choice but to accept it. Anyone who had seen that sword path would have done so.

“Is that so…….”

Sa Su-yeon muttered softly. And then she suddenly looked at Son Bin.

“Did my father see this sword path too?”

“Yes.”

Sa Su-yeon closed her eyes. And then she opened her eyes again and said quietly.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

Son Bin said. But at her words, something hot welled up in his chest, and his eyes became moist.

Sa Su-yeon smiled. Her smile was shining brightly under the moonlight.

*

*

*

“No!”

Soso shouted in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry. Aeng-aeng was already shedding tears.

“Why are you leaving? You can stay here with us.”

Sa Su-yeon smiled and stroked Soso’s head.

“I’m not going for good. I’ll be back.”

“B, but…….”

“I’m going to go and get permission from Grandpa and Grandma. They don’t know anything yet.”

“Is it far? Will it take a long time?”

Aeng-aeng asked, looking up at Sa Su-yeon with teary eyes.

“Well? It might take a little long.”

“Then I don’t want you to go!”

“It’s okay.”

Sa Su-yeon hugged Aeng-aeng tightly and said.

“I’ll definitely come back. So I’ll braid Aeng-aeng’s and Soso’s hair beautifully every day and put flowers in it.”

But Aeng-aeng’s tears didn’t stop easily. The other children surrounding them also had gloomy expressions.

Jau, who was like the leader of the alley, ran to Son Bin and looked up at him with reddened eyes.

“Teacher! Teacher Su-yeon is leaving.”

Instead of answering, Son Bin gently stroked Jau’s head. His heart was just as heavy. But he couldn’t say anything.

As if replacing his feelings, Shin-ui’s heavy voice was heard sitting next to him.

“She is leaving to come back again.”

Looking at Sa Su-yeon trying to appease the children, Shin-ui said.

“That guy was alone in the world, but he’s not Yeon-a’s mother. It’s Yeon-a’s first time visiting her mother’s family, but the first news is her child’s death……. Tsk.”

When Sa Su-yeon was young, her mother would often talk about her family. She even promised to hold hands and go together someday.

But that promise could not be kept.

One day, her mother suddenly became unable to return, and Sa Su-yeon had to live with Saja-hyeok in a place where there was nothing.

“Still, Yeon-a has no choice but to go.”

Son Bin had no choice but to nod. If he put himself in her shoes, not knowing whether her child was alive or dead was something she could never do.

Even if it was tragic news, it was Sa Su-yeon’s responsibility to inform them.

It wasn’t easy to appease the crying children. After barely sending the children back, Sa Su-yeon came out with her backpack. There weren’t many things to carry anyway. Just like then.

“Are you going to be alright?”

Sa Su-yeon smiled at Son Bin’s worried words.

“I’m not a little kid like Soso or Aeng-aeng. Don’t worry.”

“But that long way alone…….”

Sa Su-yeon would return to the place where she had lived with Saja-hyeok. She would collect his belongings there and visit her maternal family, whom she had never seen before.

Son Bin had already said that he would not leave her alone. He would never send her away when she was hurting like before. But Sa Su-yeon said with a smile.

“It’s okay. It’s different from then.”

Son Bin still couldn’t let go of his lingering feelings.

“You said that Hyeoncheon-gyeol is like a great Dao [the natural order of the universe] and knows where to go on its own.”

Sa Su-yeon suddenly said to Son Bin.

“So you don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Worry? What kind of worry are you talking about?”

Son Bin’s expression as he asked back was very serious.

Sa Su-yeon let out a laugh without realizing it. She was going to give him advice about his inner strength, but at this rate, she felt foolish for even saying it.

“That’s…… no, it’s nothing.”

Sa Su-yeon smiled and shook her head. She somehow thought that it might be better as it is now.

Son Bin tilted his head. He didn’t seem to understand why she was saying that.

“Ah, and.”

Sa Su-yeon suddenly held something out. It was a long, thin object wrapped in silk.

“This is…….”

“That sword.”

“Ah.”

Son Bin frowned without realizing it. It was the broken blade that had been stuck in Sa Su-yeon’s chest.

He was wondering if she had been carrying this all along when Sa Su-yeon’s voice continued.

“It’s my first time going to my maternal family, so I don’t think I can take something like this with me. But I don’t want to throw it away either.”

Sa Su-yeon said, looking down at the blade in Son Bin’s hand.

“Could you keep it for me for a while?”

“I understand.”

To her, this was a memory of an unforgettable moment. Just like the meaning Ho-ah Sword had for Saja-hyeok.

Son Bin said.

“I’ll keep it for a while.”

“Thank you.”

Sa Su-yeon bowed slightly and approached Shin-ui.

“I’ll be back.”

“Be careful. Remember what I told you.”

“Yes.”

Sa Su-yeon also bowed to the Old Master.

“Stay healthy until we meet again.”

“Hmph. I can’t even get sick if I wanted to. This noisy guy is next to me.”

The Old Master turned his head and grumbled. Sa Su-yeon, who was smiling, approached Dang Mwol-ah, who was a little further away. To her, who was always covering her face with a veil and was small and slender.

“When I come back, I’ll be an even more beautiful young lady.”

Dang Mwol-ah’s atmosphere had changed a lot in the past few days. Unlike before, when she was just a slender girl, she now had the appearance of a full-fledged young lady, little by little.

“I don’t care if you don’t come back.”

Dang Mwol-ah said in a cold and quiet voice.

“But don’t make Son Gongja [Young Master Son] wait too long.”

Sarak.

Sa Su-yeon suddenly reached out and took Dang Mwol-ah’s small hand. Dang Mwol-ah flinched, but didn’t pull her hand away.

“You’re always so kind.”

Sa Su-yeon said, looking at Dang Mwol-ah’s slightly trembling eyes through the veil.

“When I come back, I’ll do your hair again.”

Dang Mwol-ah didn’t say anything. Sa Su-yeon let go of her hand with a smile and approached the horse tied in front of the gate.

Tak.

Sa Su-yeon untied the reins and climbed onto the horse with a light movement.

Pureureu.

The horse neighed. Sa Su-yeon reached out and gently stroked the horse’s neck.

“Then, I’ll be back.”

Sa Su-yeon said so in a seemingly light voice. And without waiting for the reactions of others, she immediately kicked her feet.

“Haa!”

The horse immediately kicked off the ground.

Ttagak, ttagak.

“Sa Sojeo!”

Son Bin called out, but Sa Su-yeon didn’t look back. Sa Su-yeon left Cheongwon like that.

∴

Ttagak.

As the horse left Cheongwon, Sa Su-yeon stopped the horse. And only then did she turn her head and look back.

The appearance of the village, which had become familiar in a short period of time, felt as if it was seeing Sa Su-yeon off.

“It’s okay. I’m not alone.”

Sa Su-yeon said softly. The words that she couldn’t bring herself to say in front of them, the words that made her face blush just by thinking about them.

“As long as I have your heart thinking of me, I’m never alone. So this isn’t goodbye.”

Swaaaaa.

The wind blew. Carrying that wind that scattered her hair, Sa Su-yeon said quietly.

“We will definitely meet again.”

A warm warmth bloomed from deep within her cold heart. Sa Su-yeon turned her head. And she kicked her feet with strength.

“Haa!”