Chapter 24. Swordswoman, Hwaryeon (1)
The voice that came after a short pause didn't sound very friendly.
Could Mysteries also have the same kind of conflict between mages and martial artists that existed in the gallery?
I had already gotten a taste of just how much hostility mages and martial artists held toward each other through the gallery.
Their relationship was so vicious that it almost felt like the relationship between Koreans and Japanese.
Should I have left Arlin behind?
I had only just begun regretting my decision when I heard sparks crackling behind me.
Since it was still early, the surroundings were somewhat dark, but flashes of light repeatedly brightened and dimmed the area.
I looked back.
At some point, Arlin had already taken a book out from her clothes and opened it.
Bright flashes of light burst from the book and scattered through the surroundings.
The flowers along the walking path turned black and burned wherever those flashes touched them.
At the sight, every member of the Swordsmanship Preservation Association drew their swords.
Sharp metallic sounds pierced my ears.
Sword against magic.
Martial artist against mage.
Just as the two sides were about to clash, I hurriedly opened the gallery and began reading aloud a post written by someone called Near-the-Peak-of-Supreme-Mastery.
“What is a sword?”
My voice cut through the thunderous roar of lightning and the metallic sound of blades touching their scabbards.
Arlin and the members of the Swordsmanship Preservation Association turned toward me at the same time.
Even under their piercing gazes, I continued reading the next sentence.
“Those who have only reached an incomplete understanding may decorate the sword with all kinds of beautiful words. But from what I have realized, the true nature of a sword is nothing more than a killing tool. In the end, a sword is simply a blade.”
“...?”
“No matter how you use a blade, it can only fulfill the role of a blade. Can you swing a sword and create fire? Can you train with a sword and use it to relieve the hunger and thirst of the poor?”
“What are you—”
“You cannot. Absolutely not. A sword was created to kill, and therefore, killing is all it can do. But magic is different. With magic, you can accomplish countless things. You can save people, kill them, protect them, control them, adjust things, harmonize them. All of it is possible.”
At that point, the swords of the association members turned toward me.
A crimson energy rippled over the tips of their blue-glowing blades.
I realized that energy was internal energy.
Their killing intent shot straight toward me.
Arlin walked forward and stood in front of me as if protecting me.
Electricity blooming from her hands spread around my body.
I hid my trembling body and continued reciting the post with a calm expression.
“Martial arts can never defeat magic. My beloved Gallery Owner eventually chose magic instead of martial arts... and that must have been the reason.”
“Gallery Owner?”
“Hmm...”
Pretending nothing was wrong, I maintained my composure and continued into the next paragraph.
“But does that truly mean martial arts can never defeat magic? That a sword can never defeat a book? That the internal energy cultivated by humans can never overcome the mana contained within nature?”
“Can humans never defeat nature? No matter how long a single human trains with the sword, no matter how much internal energy they accumulate, is defeating a mage who borrows the power of nature truly an impossible dream?”
No!
That wasn't true—!
I drew a breath from the deepest part of my lungs and shouted it out all at once.
My voice thundered through the area.
Perhaps slightly overwhelmed by my momentum, the tips of their swords trembled.
“I refused to believe that! For the Gallery Owner who abandoned us! For my fellow martial artists in the gallery! I created this swordsmanship!”
“A sword not meant simply to cut! A sword not meant simply to kill people! A sword meant to accomplish everything its wielder desires!”
“It contains every realization I obtained after surpassing the Absolute Realm, transcending even the Realm of Harmony, and reaching Supreme Mastery! It contains every truth I learned throughout my 2,300 years of life! It is the culmination of everything that makes me who I am!”
“That is this swordsmanship—!”
Every member of the Swordsmanship Preservation Association stared at my mouth.
So did Arlin.
Even the men who had been about to leave while carrying food had stopped and were staring.
Everyone had become completely absorbed, imagining what words I would say next.
Then I finished.
“This swordsmanship right here. This is the swordsmanship I intend to donate to the Swordsmanship Preservation Association.”
An awkward silence filled the area.
The members of the Swordsmanship Preservation Association stared at me with dumbfounded expressions before finally speaking.
“...If the description you just gave us is true, and you hand over that swordsmanship, we will give you one of our members. There will be no time limit either. Would that satisfy you?”
“Yes.”
“Then hand over the swordsmanship immediately.”
What followed was a transaction that left both sides satisfied.
“You must be an incredible swordsman. I can't even begin to measure the depth of your enlightenment. I can't sense any internal energy from you either. Is this what they call Returning to Simplicity? Could you spar with me sometime?”
“Shut up. Yuhyeon needs to examine the gallery with me. He has already decided to walk the path of magic.”
“I have nothing to say to a magic freak. Besides, you're just a temporary bodyguard hired for a fixed period. I'm a permanent employee with no time limit. We're on completely different levels. Don't try talking to me.”
“Exactly the kind of nonsense I'd expect from sword trash. There isn't even a trace of logic in what you just said. It sounds as though you gathered fragments of unconscious thought and forced them into language despite having no idea how sentences work. You're like vermin.”
“I'm a woman, magic freak. And you're calling me sword trash? Looks like you're dumber than I am. How sad. Your brain is the only thing you have, yet even that is inferior to mine.”
Arlin of the Magic Preservation Association.
And Hwaryeon, who had just joined us from the Swordsmanship Preservation Association.
Ever since they had been forced to travel together a little while ago, they had been arguing nonstop.
Listening to their conversation that felt like it was about to burst my eardrums, I opened the front door of my house.
Even while continuing their argument, the two of them followed me inside.
Lee Yeonhee and Confirmation Bias were there.
Lee Yeonhee approached me with a bright smile, but when she noticed Hwaryeon beside me, she blinked.
Hwaryeon.
Our newest companion.
She was a member of the Swordsmanship Preservation Association and a martial artist whose martial arts and swordsmanship had supposedly reached the First-Class Realm.
At the same time, she was just as beautiful as Lee Yeonhee and Arlin.
Her most distinctive feature was her black-and-red hair, the exact opposite of Arlin's.
She had started speaking casually to me the moment she saw me.
When she said, “Let's get along from now on,” and then fell silent, I thought she might be the quiet type.
I had been wrong.
I never expected Hwaryeon to talk this much.
