Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 95

095. Pruning

The task turned out to be bigger than expected.

However, Unhyun steeled his resolve.

‘How can I be daunted by the work when I volunteered to do it?’

Saying this to himself, Unhyun approached the nearest flowering tree.

“Let’s see. Is this how it’s done?”

Unhyun grabbed a branch that was sticking out and placed the small knife at its base.

Then, he applied strong force.

“Oof.”

*Scratch.*

“Huh?”

The branch was cut off more easily than he thought.

But the shape became awkward. The remaining part was too long.

“Okay, this time……”

Unhyun brought the knife closer.

Then, he applied force again.

*Slice.*

“Oops.”

This time, the blade dug inward.

At this rate, the flowering tree might be cut in half altogether.

“Th, this…….”

Unhyun pulled out the knife.

“This won’t work, will it?”

At this rate, he might end up killing all the flowering trees instead of pruning them.

“Hmm.”

Unhyun held the small knife and turned it this way and that.

Then, he muttered in a low voice.

“Right, this is also a sword. I mustn’t swing it carelessly with a distracted mind.”

*Swish.*

Unhyun took a deep breath and straightened his posture.

Then, he gripped the knife lightly but firmly.

As if holding a sword in one hand.

Unhyun gazed at the flowering tree in front of him with serious eyes.

His hand fell lightly in an instant as he quietly stared at the branch.

*Swoosh.*

Although the branches were lush, the movement of the knife was as unhindered as if he were swinging it in the air.

*Shh.*

The knife did not stop and passed through the flowering tree once more, drawing a circle.

*Thud.*

Unhyun took a step back.

At the same time, several branches of the flowering tree fell to the ground with a thud.

“Success.”

The cut part was very clean, unlike before.

It went as he intended, but Unhyun tilted his head.

“But it’s too slow? I can’t strike a pose like this every time I prune a branch.”

Unhyun was about to think of another way when.

‘Huh?’

Unhyun quickly turned around.

But there was no one behind him.

‘What is it? It felt like someone was there?’

To be precise, he had a fleeting feeling that someone was watching him.

But there was no one but Unhyun himself.

“I definitely feel like someone is watching……”

Unhyun raised his head.

All he could see was a low fence and a distant hill beyond it.

Unhyun stared intently at the hill, just in case.

But again, he couldn’t see anything.

“Am I getting too sensitive…….”

Unhyun muttered to himself and picked up the knife again, facing the flowering tree.

“In the end, I have no choice but to do it myself, one by one.”

Unhyun sighed as he looked at the lush flowering trees.

Cutting down several branches with one strike looks quite impressive, but it is not effective.

In the end, he has no choice but to stick to the flowering tree and cut each one directly, just like any other worker.

Considering the situation and circumstances for each branch.

“There is a Way in carving wagon wheels, and there is a Way in the knife that slaughters cattle, so how can pruning be taken lightly?”

Unhyun reflected on his own careless perception of trying to get it done quickly.

And with a sincere heart, he began pruning in earnest without rushing.

*Snip.*

A branch of the flowering tree was cut off cleanly.

It was only one of the many pruning tasks to be done, but this was the beginning and also everything.

*Snip, snip, snip.*

A small sound flowed out like a whisper between the lush flowering trees.

It continued endlessly, like a flowing river or passing time.

***

Ira Young came out of the inner quarters when it was almost lunchtime.

And she heard from Old Butler Noh that Unhyun had been working in the inner garden all morning.

‘What?’

Ira Young was startled.

‘The sun is already high in the sky, and he’s been working all morning? In that messy inner garden?’

Ira Young knew the situation in the inner garden well.

Even skilled workers shook their heads, so Ira Young was more angry than worried that he had been there all morning.

“Go and tell him to stop right now!”

Ira Young said urgently to Old Butler Noh.

Ira Young felt upset as she watched the butler rush to the inner garden.

‘That foolish person. If it doesn’t work, you should give up quickly. How could he have been doing it until now?’

Biting her lip, Ira Young thought of Unhyun, who seemed naive.

‘What if he got hurt? He seemed like someone who had never gotten his hands wet…….’

She had been blunt with him out of anger, but she never wanted Unhyun to get hurt.

‘He doesn’t even know it’s all because of him!’

When you think about it, it’s all Unhyun’s fault that she became such a bad person.

She wonders what grudge this person has against her to make her so upset, but there’s no reason for any particular story.

Worried that Unhyun might be hurt, Ira Young waited anxiously for the butler to return.

*Thump, thump.*

Turning her head quickly at the sound of footsteps, Unhyun was walking towards her, looking perfectly fine.

Ira Young, who had been worried, was overcome with anger at his carefree appearance.

“You should come when it’s lunchtime before being called. What were you doing that you didn’t even know the time?”

“Hahaha. I’m sorry, Miss Ira Young.”

Unhyun smiled. His hair and clothes were covered with leaves and twigs.

“I was trimming the flowering trees and found it quite interesting. I forgot about the time. Hahaha.”

Ira Young narrowed her eyes at the sight.

‘Something’s strange?’

His face is too fine for someone who has been pruning all morning.

He doesn’t seem tired, and there’s no sign of sweat.

‘Did he not prune and just play around?’

The traces of work are evident in his hair and clothes.

But maybe that’s just the appearance, and he might have been playing around, reciting poetry.

“Ahem, then how many days will it take to trim the entire inner garden?”

Ira Young asked in a subtly sarcastic tone.

Unhyun tilted his head and answered nonchalantly.

“I think it will only take half a day more…….”

Ira Young’s expression twisted awkwardly.

‘Ha! Half a day?’

Ira Young could clearly see that Unhyun didn’t know anything.

The messy inner garden is a task that takes several days, even if you use skilled young workers, and even several of them.

No matter how much he worked all morning, half a day from now?

‘I knew it. As expected…….’

He didn’t work and played around, so he’s saying such ridiculous things.

Like a scholar who is confident that he can finish all his studying in one day.

Just as an absurd smile was spreading across Ira Young’s face.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

The butler, who had gone to deliver the message, rushed back.

“I’m sorry. I’m late.”

Ira Young was about to say it was okay when she suddenly had a good idea.

“It’s okay. More than that, how is the inner garden? Has it been trimmed well?”

Ira Young asked the butler with a seemingly polite expression.

She was expecting to see Unhyun embarrassed soon, but Ira Young’s expectations were shattered miserably.

“Well, um? In my opinion, almost all of it…….”

“Yes?”

Ira Young frowned without realizing it.

“What did you say?”

The butler was flustered and said again.

“Ah, of course, it will take a few more days to clean up the cut branches and make it look good, but the pruning is almost done.”

Ira Young was dumbfounded.

For a moment, she even thought that the butler and Unhyun were conspiring to make fun of her.

But Unhyun is one thing, but there’s no way the butler would do that.

*Thud.*

Ira Young moved her feet.

“Miss, where are you going?”

The butler asked, but Ira Young did not answer.

Leaving Unhyun, who was staring with a puzzled expression, Ira Young hurried her steps.

She was going to go to the inner garden herself.

*Thud, thud.*

And after a while, Ira Young couldn’t close her mouth at the sight that unfolded before her eyes.

“Oh my god, how could this…….”

The inner garden was a mess.

The garden floor, which was barely visible, was full of cut branches.

But the lush flowering trees were definitely organized.

It would take a few more days to clean up all the cut branches and trim the garden, but compared to before, it was almost done.

*Swish.*

Ira Young bent down and picked up a cut branch.

The cut surface was smooth without a single scratch.

‘How could he have done all this in the meantime…….’

Ira Young was confused.

The flowering trees that filled the inner garden were regaining their original appearance to some extent.

Although it wasn’t beautiful enough to be felt, all the branches that had been growing unsightly had been cut off.

It was hard to believe that it was done by a scholar who only read books and looked clumsy.

“Did he work as a gardener in the imperial palace instead of a scholar?”

Ira Young muttered as if she was dumbfounded.

But that’s not it.

He cut a lot of branches, but that’s all, it’s not beautifully trimmed.

“How did he do it?”

Ira Young frowned and muttered.

But she didn’t see it, so she couldn’t know.

She kicked the branches scattered on the floor, but the cut branches remained silent without saying a word.

***

After lunch, Unhyun rolled up his sleeves again.

No, he just rolled them up.

“What are you trying to do?”

At Ira Young’s words, Unhyun blinked and replied.

“What do you mean……? There are still branches to prune, Miss Ira Young?”

Unhyun liked pruning for the first time.

It was a similar feeling to when he was training with the White Tiger Training Sword.

At first, it was strange, but soon he realized that pruning and swordsmanship training were not that different.

Of course, the movements of the body are completely different, but the movements of the sword are essentially similar.

And above all, what stimulated Unhyun’s interest was the strange feeling he felt when cutting living branches.

‘And the results were quite interesting.’

Unhyun discovered that the cut branches showed subtle differences depending on what mindset he had.

He wanted to find out more about the difference, so Unhyun really wanted to finish the remaining pruning.

“That’s enough.”

Ira Young said coldly to Unhyun.

“Leave that work and come with me for a while.”

“With Miss Ira Young?”

Unhyun’s eyes widened.

He couldn’t imagine that Ira Young would ask him to go out with her.

But Ira Young nodded willingly.

“Yes. Wait here while I get ready for a moment.”

With those words, Ira Young went into the inner quarters.

But Unhyun, who was left behind, had his mouth wide open.

“Oh my, I can’t be like this.”

Unhyun looked at his clothes and hurried to the detached house.

Unhyun remembered that he had another set of clothes in his bundle.

He can’t go out with a beautiful lady in his work clothes.

“Wait, now that I think about it, the world is very dangerous these days…….”

He even met bandits on the Janggang waterway [Yangtze River].

If he goes out with Ira Young and meets some bad guys, he has to step up.

Unhyun decided to bring the wooden sword that he had wrapped in cloth, just in case.

“I need to change my clothes and take my wooden sword, so I need to hurry.”

Humming a song before he knew it, Unhyun hurried his steps with a light heart.

Because he can’t keep the lady waiting.