The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 24

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace – Episode 24

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace – Chapter 24

A Dragon Born in the Night (2)

Seo Yeon-jeong frowned at Knox’s high-pitched voice, as if snapping out of a daze. It was as if she had finally regained her senses after being momentarily charmed.

Seeing this, Yoo Ji-woo looked back and forth between Yoo Seong-woo and Seo Yeon-jeong, looking embarrassed.

“What is it?”

“It’s a dragon’s passive skill. These guys are born with maxed-out charisma and charm stats, so ordinary people without immunity get easily charmed. I forgot about that.”

“Y-yes? I charmed that person? Me?”

“It’s a normal reaction for humans facing a dragon, so don’t try to fight it. When we go out, a mask and hat will be essential.”

Seo Yeon-jeong, who had been listening to their conversation, walked over, placed the children’s clothes on the bed, and bowed to Knox.

“Hello. I’m Seo Yeon-jeong, the chief of staff at Meteor Industries. What is your name?”

“N-Nox. I’m a dragon…”

“Mr. Knox. You’re a dragon.”

“Sis, don’t be too surprised. Oppa brought him from 불야성 [Bul-ya-seong, meaning ‘Nightless City,’ likely referring to a specific Abyss or location within the story]. He was trapped in the basement of 흑성 [Heuk-seong, meaning ‘Black Star,’ likely another location].”

“Trapped in the basement of 흑성?”

“Oppa said that his heart was acting as the core of 불야성.”

“So that’s why it was an unassailable Abyss.”

Seo Yeon-jeong was a very quick learner.

Quickly grasping the relationship between the three, she greeted Knox and said,

“Now that I think about it, I didn’t buy any children’s underwear. I’ll go back and get some.”

“But is there even a store open at this hour?”

“There’s an unmanned clothing store that’s open 24 hours.”

“There’s everything…”

Yoo Seong-woo muttered absentmindedly.

Unmanned ice cream shops, unmanned convenience stores, unmanned clothing stores, unmanned hotels….

He thought that one day, there might even be unmanned divers.

* * *

“High Priestess, this is today’s offering.”

“Leave it there.”

There were quite a few different races that had set foot on Earth.

Some had partnered with nations to gain VIP status, while others had sneaked in.

Among them was a race that had signed an agreement with the UK and had their autonomy over the forests of Northern Ireland recognized.

The top floor of a hotel overlooking the sea at the northernmost tip of Northern Ireland.

The one gazing at the sea, filled with deep darkness, in the unlit room was no ordinary human.

Neatly descending silver-white hair. And rabbit’s fluffy ears drooping down.

They were the ‘토월족 (Tumon Tribe)’ [Tumon Tribe, also known as Moon Rabbit Tribe], one of the very few among the many different races that had settled on Earth.

As the name suggests, they were a rare race also known as ‘Moon Rabbits.’

The 토월족, with their special ability called ‘월문 (Moon Hearing)’ [Wol-mun, meaning Moon Hearing], listened to the stories of the moon in the sky.

The moon was the god of the 토월족.

It was a type of ‘oracle prophecy’ that allowed them to hear the voice of God.

However, since the oracle prophecy ability varied from individual to individual, the 토월족 with the best hearing became the ‘High Priestess.’

The current High Priestess, ‘Yuwol,’ was said to have a ‘Moon Hearing’ ability superior to any other 토월족.

She glanced at the Abyss Core, the offering placed on the table, and reached out to grab it.

Then, the core melted into her hand, and Yuwol’s ears, which had been looking down, perked up.

The moon’s voice began to be heard.

The 토월족 used this ability to foresee the disasters that would appear in Ireland, the Abyss.

Based on this, they had obtained autonomy in Northern Ireland.

Yuwol closed her eyes, perked up her ears, and opened her eyes wide as she listened to the moon’s voice.

“Finally, the savior has descended. I have waited for so long…”

She put her hands together, bowed her head, and murmured again.

“I will do as you wish. It is time to cross the sea to the distant land of the East.”

* * *

“What’s that?”

“Ice cream.”

“What’s that?”

“Waffle shop.”

“What’s that?”

“Takoyaki shop.”

“What’s that?”

“…What *is* that? Stinky tofu fries?”

There were all sorts of strange shops.

Yoo Seong-woo returned to Sehyun.

With a troublesome sandbag attached.

Of course, that sandbag had a fearsome cuteness that was different from others.

A sandbag was a sandbag.

Yoo Ji-woo couldn’t take Knox with her due to circumstances, and Yoo Seong-woo was the only one who could control him if anything happened, so he naturally became Knox’s caretaker.

Since they had decided to settle on Earth, social education was necessary, so he took Knox out for a walk.

He put on a wide-brimmed hat that covered his face so that he wouldn’t be charmed by the dragon’s allure.

He had woken up from a long sleep and had a full stomach.

Knox, a child with great curiosity, asked what everything he saw was.

It was no wonder he was amazed since there was nothing like that where he lived.

Yoo Seong-woo answered casually and wandered around.

It wasn’t bad to see him quietly munching on some snacks he had given him.

Then Knox asked.

“By the way, what should I call you?”

“What?”

“Ji-woo unni [older sister] calls her unni… Oppa [older brother]?”

“Never call me that. If you’re going to call me anything, just call me by my name or 아저씨 [ajeossi, a respectful term for a middle-aged man, like ‘mister’].”

Yoo Seong-woo decided on a title in response to Knox’s words.

Knox nodded and decided to call him 아저씨 from now on.

“…There are so many humans in this world. Everywhere I look, there are only humans. So many of them.”

“There are only humans on Earth originally. I heard that other races have been mixing in recently, but I’ve never seen them.”

“Really? How many are there?”

“I don’t know. I remember it being 7 billion. But I heard it’s decreased a lot now.”

Even though the population had decreased due to the past great disaster.

Still, it would still be in the billions.

At the word billions, Knox thought that humans were really disgusting, like bugs.

The humans she remembered were treated like livestock.

She didn’t even have much interest in them in the first place.

But the first human she met on Earth was Yoo Seong-woo, which shook her mind.

He was definitely not a weak human.

The fact that he had defeated the demigod Elder Lich, and the aura he felt was not ordinary.

Besides, a dragon’s eyes are special.

It’s not for nothing that they are the originators of magic.

Because they had eyes that could see through the flow of magic and the shape of the soul, they also recognized Yoo Seong-woo’s strength.

Usually, the shape of the soul is similar to the appearance, and it is larger or smaller depending on the energy.

But Yoo Seong-woo’s soul, as seen by Knox’s eyes.

‘Sword…’

To be exact, it was like a mass made by melting all kinds of swords together.

The handles of the swords were sticking out here and there, and the color was crimson, very deep.

Seeing that the shape of the soul was not huge, it meant that it was a highly compressed, dense soul.

Knox couldn’t know that far, but she could tell just from the shape of the soul that Yoo Seong-woo was a veteran who had overcome many hardships and trials.

So much so that a young dragon like herself would be no match.

That’s why she chose the instinct as a creature.

To submit and follow.

As Knox was licking the ice cream in her hand and thinking about it.

“Seong-woo ssi [formal address], fancy meeting you here.”

A person fully equipped with a hat, sunglasses, and a mask approached and called out to Yoo Seong-woo.

Yoo Seong-woo tilted his head slightly as he looked at the person in front of him, and then said, as if he remembered the voice.

“Baek Woo-dong.”

“It’s Baek Woo-hyeon. You’re deliberately getting it wrong, right? I’ll choose to believe that.” [implying he knows Seong-woo is teasing him]

Baek Woo-hyeon took off his sunglasses, lowered his mask slightly, and smiled.

He had a likable and handsome face, so there must have been more than one or two people who fell for this face.

Combined with his fame as an S-class diver, he also had a fandom comparable to that of a celebrity.

Of course, Yoo Ji-woo had told him about it, but Yoo Seong-woo didn’t care at all.

Baek Woo-hyeon’s gaze turned to Knox, who was clinging to Yoo Seong-woo’s pants and gobbling up the things in her hands as if she wouldn’t let go.

“Is this child your daughter, by any chance?”

“There’s no way. He’s just a troublesome kid I’m temporarily taking care of.”

Baek Woo-hyeon bent his knees to match Knox’s eye level and waved his hand.

“Hello?”

“H-hello.”

“Eat and talk. Eat.”

Gulp.

“Hello. Woo-dong 아저씨. I’m Knox.”

“Knox? It seems like a foreign child. But he speaks Korean well. And it’s Woo-hyeon, not Woo-dong.”

“아저씨 said Woo-dong earlier…”

“Woo-dong is something you eat. My name is Baek Woo-hyeon. Baek Woo-hyeon. But you’re really good at Korean. Where did you learn it? Knox.”

“I learned it from 아저씨. I’m really good at Korean. Ice cream is 존맛탱 [jon-mat-taeng, a slang term meaning ‘delicious’ or ‘tasty’].”

“Where did you learn that word?”

“It was written on the sign of the store earlier…”

It wasn’t just the internet that was ruining the child.

Yoo Seong-woo decided to correct Knox’s language habits later and asked Baek Woo-hyeon, who was greeting Knox.

“Did you keep the kids quiet?”

“Of course. You practically cleared it alone. If there’s anyone who opens their mouth after seeing that, I’ll have to take care of them.”

“Don’t go that far. And I didn’t do it alone, we did it together. If the legion commanders hadn’t drawn aggro, it would have taken quite a while to clear.”

“…Thank you for your touching words. Ah, do you have some time by any chance?”

“I don’t have anything special to do.”

“Then, would you like to stop by our 본국검회’s dojang [bon-guk-geom-hoe, a traditional Korean martial arts association; dojang is a training hall or studio]? I’m heading that way anyway.”

“본국검회?”

“Yes. It’s the guild I belong to, and a dojang. It’s a place where aspiring martial artists or current divers belong to for training.”

“Don’t you use a dao [a single-edged Chinese sword, sometimes called a saber] instead of a sword?”

“본국검회 is not necessarily a place where you only train with swords. We also teach swordsmanship, swordsmanship, 도법 [do-beop, sword techniques], and spear techniques.”

본국검회 (本國劍會) [Bon-guk-geom-hoe, meaning ‘Native Sword Association’].

To know the roots of 본국검회, you have to go back to the past.

본국검 is a swordsmanship that first appeared in the 승정원일기 [Seungjeongwon Ilgi, the Diaries of the Royal Secretariat], 현종 14년 3월 11일 신사, 1673 기사 [Hyeonjong 14th year, 3rd month, 11th day, Sinsa, 1673 record].

A deeply rooted swordsmanship of the Korean Peninsula during the Joseon Dynasty, recorded in the 3rd volume of the Muyedobotongji [Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts].

본국검회 made its name by successfully restoring such 본국검, and recruited martial arts divers based on its success in practically reinterpreting and compiling it with experts.

본국검회 is where the foundations of martial arts divers, who had previously been a disorganized group, were laid, to the extent that the survival rate of martial arts divers is divided before and after the launch of 본국검회.

The place where most of the martial arts divers in Korea belong, and a large guild that is never inferior to anyone in terms of force.

A den of sword and money-crazed people who have gathered funds and connections based on a huge number of trainees.

Yoo Seong-woo hesitated for a moment at Baek Woo-hyeon’s invitation and nodded.

He didn’t have anything to do anyway.

He was wondering what to do to kill time.

본국검회 would be mostly people who train with swords, so it seemed like it would be fun to watch.

“Are you okay with it?”

“Yes. I have to go wherever 아저씨 goes…”

Knox also nodded, uttering something that sounded somewhat resigned.

“Then let’s go to 본국검회. I should take a look at what those guys are doing.”

“I will guide you right away!”