Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 139

139. Belated Apology

With a lingering sense of regret, Unhyun trudged back to the weapon rack and placed the wooden sword in its place.

Then, he turned to look at Moryong Sang-ah.

Moryong Sang-ah was beaming, seemingly overjoyed.

“Was it alright?”

Unhyun asked with a smile.

Moryong Sang-ah raised both hands high and grinned.

“The best!”

“Really?”

Unhyun didn’t think that the young Moryong Sang-ah would have a deep understanding of swordsmanship.

Still, he was pleased by her praise.

“Thank you.”

“Hehe.”

Moryong Sang-ah quickly ran over and clung to Unhyun’s arm.

“You were so cool, Oppa [term for older brother or male friend], Why didn’t you do that before?”

‘Before’ probably referred to the time when he had a dispute with the younger disciples.

Unhyun chuckled and said, half-jokingly, with feigned arrogance.

“A sword isn’t meant to be drawn at just any time.”

Moryong Sang-ah laughed.

“But you did it specially for me, right? Thank you, Oppa.”

“Hehehe.”

Unhyun smiled.

Then, he suddenly noticed Moryong Sang-ah glancing back.

Unhyun also turned his head without thinking.

And once again, he met the countless gazes of the young disciples staring at him.

“Ahem.”

Again, the disciples immediately turned their heads, avoiding eye contact.

With dozens of young people in the training hall turning their heads in unison, it was quite a sight.

‘Why are they doing that?’

Unhyun tilted his head.

But he still couldn’t think of anything in particular.

‘…Well, it probably doesn’t matter.’

It’s not like they were picking a fight like last time.

There was no hostility or resentment in the eyes of the young disciples.

“Hehehe.”

Moryong Sang-ah, who was clinging to Unhyun’s arm, laughed.

Wondering what was so good, Unhyun looked down at her, and Moryong Sang-ah smiled at him.

Her expression was so adorable that Unhyun couldn’t help but smile.

“Let’s go. I’ll buy you some sweets.”

“Wow, really? You’re the best, Oppa!”

Unhyun felt good.

Perhaps it was thanks to the brief training session, but he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so lighthearted.

Pitter-patter.

Together with the small and cute Moryong Sang-ah, Unhyun left the training hall.

The young disciples of the Moryong Clan couldn’t take their eyes off their receding figures.

How long had the silence settled in the training hall?

“What, what was that just now?”

As soon as someone opened their mouth, an answer popped out as if they had been waiting for it.

“Was that, perhaps, Sword Qi [spiritual energy manifested through swordsmanship]?”

“Sword Qi? That Sword Qi we only hear about?”

“Yeah, I’ve never actually seen it myself…”

The disciples of the Moryong Clan looked at each other and began to murmur.

Once they felt the danger had passed, their attention naturally focused on Unhyun’s ‘Sword Qi’.

“But can Sword Qi be imbued in a wooden sword?”

They had never even heard of Sword Qi in a wooden sword.

Everyone was puzzled when someone suddenly said.

“Don’t they say that masters at the peak of their skill can emit Sword Qi even with just a tree branch?”

“Then that person from earlier, no, that master, is at the peak of his skill?”

Generally, emitting Sword Qi is enough to be called a master.

And it is said that reaching the end of that path leads to the realm of the peak.

Peak masters who can overwhelm even masters who emit Sword Qi.

“I don’t know.”

Another disciple shrugged and said.

“We don’t even know about Sword Qi emission, how would we know what’s beyond that?”

They had never even seen Sword Qi emission in person, let alone the realm of the peak.

So, they couldn’t judge what level the scene they had just witnessed was.

“…Still.”

Someone muttered.

“It was amazing.”

At least one thing was clear.

He is a master.

A master whom the young disciples could hardly dare to look up to.

“But will it be alright?”

Suddenly, another disciple said in an anxious voice.

“What?”

“Won’t there be any problems later?”

That was the anxiety that all the young disciples felt equally, but had tried to put off.

“Hey, what did we even do?”

One of the young disciples said irritably.

“We just watched.”

He said as if he felt wronged.

But it didn’t dispel the disciples’ anxiety.

“But last time…”

“That’s why the Great Disciple scolded us. And would a master of that level still hold a grudge about what happened back then?”

“You never know.”

Someone threw out a thoughtless remark.

“Why, aren’t masters known to be eccentric and have strong pride?”

The chattering suddenly stopped.

The word ‘pride’ had struck a nerve with them.

It was absurd to expect to get away with provoking a master’s pride.

“Don’t say unnecessary things.”

Ko Jin-cheol frowned and said.

“The Great Disciple will take care of it, so we should just focus on swinging our swords.”

The young disciples nodded at those words.

But their anxiety was not completely gone.

The gazes of those who were looking at each other turned back to Ko Jin-cheol.

“Why?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to apologize in person?”

One of the disciples said.

“Even though the Great Disciple scolded us, we didn’t apologize to that master directly.”

Ko Jin-cheol frowned.

But that was right.

No, in fact, they should have apologized before being scolded.

They couldn’t do that at the time because Unhyun had already left.

“Hoo.”

Ko Jin-cheol sighed.

“Alright, I understand. Let’s do that.”

He thought it would be better himself.

Unhyun didn’t seem to have a particularly eccentric personality at first glance.

But still, the other party was a master.

A master at the peak of his skill, living in a different world from them.

It was only natural that tension rose on the faces of Ko Jin-cheol and the other disciples.

***

The next day, Unhyun visited the training hall as usual.

Originally, he should have been present as a scribe in Dogo-rang’s investigation, but Dogo-rang firmly refused cooperation.

Tang Seol-yeon of the Tang Clan was angry, but Yeongho-jun, who was in charge, simply shrugged.

Stating the principle that ‘the Murim Alliance [martial arts alliance] does not reign above anyone’.

Considering the nature of the Murim Alliance as a council of clans, it was the right thing to say.

However, considering that no one dared to oppose the Murim Alliance, it was an unusual event.

Unhyun, as the scribe, also had nothing to do, so he returned to the training hall like this.

‘I’m glad to avoid an uncomfortable situation.’

He was a little sad that he couldn’t see Dogo-rang.

Because he had many questions for him.

Unhyun moved his feet to the training hall, thinking about this and that.

“Taha!”

As always, the shouts of the Moryong Clan disciples greeted him.

Unhyun entered the training hall.

It was at that moment.

Thud.

The shouts stopped.

And the Moryong Clan disciples, who were training, stopped all at once.

‘Huh?’

Unhyun raised his head.

And he found that all the young disciples were looking at him, Unhyun himself.

Just like yesterday.

‘What is it?’

Unhyun blinked.

An awkward silence flowed in the wide training hall.

The young disciples of the Moryong Clan subtly avoided eye contact.

As Unhyun wondered, someone’s voice was heard from among the Moryong Clan disciples.

“I know, I know.”

Swoosh.

The Moryong Clan disciples, who had been gathered in an orderly manner, split to the left and right.

And a young man walked out from the middle.

“Ahem, ahem.”

The young man turned his head and coughed, trying to hide his awkward expression.

But his steps towards Unhyun did not stop.

Step, step.

Unhyun waited for the disciple to come closer.

He was an ordinary-looking young man, but his eyes were quite serious.

‘What’s going on?’

As Unhyun wondered, the young man who had come close stopped.

And he put his hands together and bowed politely to Unhyun.

Swish.

“My name is Ko Jin-cheol.”

“Ah, yes. I am Unhyun.”

Unhyun returned the greeting for now.

It was just a common-sense reaction, but Ko Jin-cheol’s expression became much more relaxed.

The fact that Unhyun had accepted the greeting itself was a good sign.

“We are new disciples who have recently registered with the clan.”

At Ko Jin-cheol’s words, Unhyun looked at the other disciples.

The young disciples standing over there were looking at this side with tense expressions.

“I see. But what…”

Unhyun looked at Ko Jin-cheol, wondering why they were suddenly greeting him.

Ko Jin-cheol swallowed hard.

“…Last time.”

Ko Jin-cheol said with a tense expression.

“We didn’t recognize you and committed a great discourtesy. We are sorry.”

Ko Jin-cheol, who had his hands together, bowed deeply.

It wasn’t just Ko Jin-cheol.

The young disciples behind him all put their hands together and bowed their heads.

“We are sorry! Master!”

The voices of the young disciples, who were very nervous, echoed through the training hall.

Unhyun was embarrassed.

Suddenly receiving an apology, especially a group apology, was completely unexpected.

“No, well, there’s no need to do this…”

But neither Ko Jin-cheol nor the other disciples raised their heads.

Unhyun sighed.

He seemed to know why they were acting like this.

Moryong Sang-ah had said yesterday that ‘Jin Oppa had definitely educated them’, so they were apologizing belatedly.

“Raise your heads.”

Ko Jin-cheol raised his head.

“Everyone too.”

At that slightly louder voice, the disciples behind him also raised their heads.

Unhyun said to Ko Jin-cheol and the young disciples.

“I have accepted your apology. So, you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

That meant they didn’t have to worry about being scolded by the Great Disciple Moryong Jin.

But it sounded quite different to Ko Jin-cheol and the disciples.

Didn’t it mean that if they hadn’t apologized like this, something to worry about might have happened?

“T, thank you.”

Ko Jin-cheol stammered.

Unhyun nodded.

“You are not street vagrants, but disciples of the Moryong Clan.”

It was already in the past, and he didn’t hold it against them.

But he felt he had to say this.

“From now on, I hope you will judge and act rightly, not because of someone else, but by your own judgment as martial artists.”

Those words pierced the hearts of Ko Jin-cheol and the disciples.

It sounded like a scolding for the belated apology and for ignoring the other person based on their appearance.

“Y, yes, I understand.”

Ko Jin-cheol, whose face had turned red, stammered.

Unhyun smiled.

“Thank you for apologizing like this.”

Whatever the reason, apologizing for a mistake is the right thing to do.

Unhyun said so sincerely.

Was that sincerity conveyed?

Ko Jin-cheol’s expression was still stiff, but his eyes were much more relaxed.

“No, we are the ones who are grateful.”

Ko Jin-cheol bowed once again.

Unhyun also nodded and tried to move his feet.

It was then.

“Excuse me.”

Ko Jin-cheol suddenly said.

Unhyun stopped and turned his head.

“Perhaps… are you going to train now?”

Ko Jin-cheol swallowed hard.

The scene he had seen yesterday vividly came to his mind.

And the thrill of that time too.

Was Unhyun going to do that training again?

Unhyun hesitated for a moment.

He hadn’t intended to do so just a moment ago.

But if he could, he honestly wanted to.

But why was Ko Jin-cheol asking that?

Ko Jin-cheol, noticing Unhyun’s puzzled look, quickly said.

“No, it’s not that, but…”

After hesitating for a moment, Ko Jin-cheol mustered up the courage to continue.

“…I was wondering if we could watch you train.”

Ko Jin-cheol’s voice was gradually getting smaller as he spoke.

Even he himself thought it was an extremely brazen request.

But what could he do?

He couldn’t forget the scene he had seen yesterday.

“Ah, that’s…”

It was when Unhyun was about to say something.