In Search of the Head (2)
I truly studied hard.
I read books about the history of Jianghu, military texts about strategy and tactics in war, books on geography, organizational management, espionage, and intelligence management, as well as books on art, literature, philosophy, and medicine that were not directly related to the work of a strategist. I even read books about architecture and climate.
Seeing me devote myself only to books, Father and Mother were startled once again.
They had not imagined I had such a side.
“A great scholar is emerging from our family.”
At Mother’s joke, Father merely laughed heartily.
In any case, the two of them were satisfied with my belated studying. It was their common belief that an ignorant sword died faster.
A month had passed since I began studying.
Already, one wall was stacked full of books I had read. I had begun studying in order to enter the Justice Pavilion, but now I was purely feeling the pleasure of reading books.
“I bought everything according to the list you wrote.”
Gwangdu came into the room carrying an armful of books. Seeing that the books he had brought last time were stacked to one side in the pile of already-read books, Gwangdu shouted in surprise.
“You have read all of them already? That is a lie, right? You just roughly flipped through them, right?”
“That is right.”
“Seeing you admit it so readily, you really did read them all.”
“Of course.”
“How in the world do you read books so quickly? Do you understand all of them?”
“Some I understand, some I do not. When reading books, one must abandon the obsessive idea that one must understand everything perfectly.”
“Aaaah!”
At the excessively loud exclamation, I raised my head and looked at Gwangdu.
“Those words struck me deeply. When performing forms, I should abandon the obsessive idea that I have to perform them perfectly…”
“If you abandon that, you die. You have to perform them perfectly.”
“Yes, sir.”
I let out a small laugh at his swift change of attitude, and Gwangdu laughed along.
“I heard things are going well with Do-Sun. You look good.”
“How does someone who only reads books in his room know the outside world so well?”
“Because there is a world inside books too.”
“I am sorry, but the real world is outside that door! Do-Sun is outside too.”
“Hahaha.”
Yes, that was right. I was holed up here in order to go out into that world.
One thing that surprised me anew while studying.
Unexpectedly, I learned that experts of Martial Arts had written many books unrelated to Martial Arts.
For example, Northern Sea Divine Spear Du Yang-Su had published a book related to calligraphy and painting, or Western Poison Whip Jeong Chung had left behind a travelogue. In particular, Jeong Chung was someone who did not seem like he would read a book, let alone write one.
‘This person wrote this kind of book?’
There were not just one or two times when I was truly startled. Moreover, when I saw books written by people I had known, it truly felt deeply moving in a new way.
Perhaps I had lived like a frog in a well.
When one handles all sorts of affairs in the Alliance, it feels as though one knows everything about this Jianghu. When one meets all sorts of people, it feels as though one knows people well.
But while studying this time, I felt it.
I had truly lived a life tilted to one side, and in truth, I did not know Jianghu well. I had not even properly known what kind of people they were, the people who had spoken with me face to face.
Of course, I did not regret that life. Because I lived that way, Jianghu had been peaceful. If not, would those people even have had time to write books?
By the time Gwangdu had hauled books in about five more times, flowers began to bloom on the tree visible outside the window. At last, the third month had come.
Although only two months had passed since I fell into reading books, I gained one realization.
I came to know that this study was connected to Martial Arts as well.
Of course, it did not directly affect Martial Arts. But study affected me.
As I read books, the person called me changed. And because I changed, the Martial Arts I unfolded also changed. Of course, that change was subtle, but it was a meaningful change.
Because it was the moment when something I had vaguely felt several times after being newly born as Byeok Ri-Dan became certain.
When I lived a new life, I could reach a new realm of Martial Arts.
I could now be certain that Martial Arts changed only when I changed.
Before leaving Shandong for the examination, I met Song Hwa-Rin one last time.
“You are going back to Wuhan tomorrow?”
“I think I will have to be away for a while.”
“That is disappointing.”
Her tone was calm, but now she expressed her feelings as they were.
“It will not take very long.”
If I failed the Justice Pavilion entrance examination, I might return immediately.
“I heard you have been absorbed in studying these days?”
“The rumor spread all the way here?”
“There is probably no one in Shandong who does not know. You know, don’t you? Shandong seems wide, but it is actually an extremely narrow place.”
The same was true of Jianghu as a whole. The Central Plains were endlessly wide and vast, but at times, they also moved like a single body.
“Everyone must be saying I have gone mad.”
“There is no way. Your reputation in Shandong has completely changed. If one were to choose the most promising rising talent here now, they would choose you.”
As expected, it was because of the Lesser Sword Unit’s activities. Among rising talents around my age, there was no one carrying out such large-scale activity. In any case, if positive rumors had spread, there was nothing bad about it. I intended to control Shandong first anyway.
“Is your going to Wuhan this time related to your studying?”
At her question, I nodded. I did not want to lie unnecessarily, but I also could not tell her that I was going to obtain Gal Sa-Ryang.
“Go and look after the Lesser Sword Unit kids from time to time.”
“Me?”
“It is a sword unit we made together, isn’t it?”
The reason she hesitated was not a matter of justification. I guessed what she was worried about.
“With your skill, you can overwhelm them. So have confidence.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I am certain. Trust my words.”
Lady Go Seon-Hwa’s True Flower Sword Art could not be compared to the Martial Arts of the Lesser Sword Unit’s martial artists. If one had to find Martial Arts worth comparing it to, it would be around the level of the South Sea Seven Forms that Gwangdu had learned.
“If you shut yourself alone in the training ground and learn Martial Arts, you will quickly hit a limit. You have to mingle with people to improve faster and more easily overcome walls.”
Perhaps there was something she agreed with, because she nodded with a serious face. Since the True Flower Sword Art itself was Martial Arts that carried a sense of loneliness, my words must have struck her even more deeply.
“All right. I will stop by once in a while.”
“Thank you. Then I will be going.”
“Be careful.”
After leaving the Song Estate, I headed straight for Wuhan.
My heart pounded. I was on my way to save the most important person for the great undertaking ahead.
Could I truly capture Gal Sa-Ryang’s heart as Byeok Ri-Dan, not Cheon Ha-Jin?
[Read only on MugenCodex]
Wuhan, where the main headquarters of the Grand Martial Alliance was located, was crowded with people who had come to take the Alliance entrance examination. The streets were filled everywhere with applicants who had gathered from all over the Central Plains.
When many people gathered, all sorts of human types gathered as well.
A middle-aged man whispered secretly by my ear.
“If you pay only ten taels, I will tell you the secret to passing.”
I had no idea how many of these fly-like people had already clung to me.
“I have no need.”
“You will lose something big by saving a little money!”
From a man who went out of his way to curse me as he left, to a braggart who claimed that more than twenty martial artists had passed thanks to him. All sorts of scoundrels overflowed.
The examinations for the other organizations were all held in the training grounds, but only the Justice Pavilion’s examination was held indoors.
As I entered the examination hall, I hid the rest of my internal energy, leaving only half a gapja. Concealing one’s presence and hiding internal energy was an extremely high-level task, but it was something I could do well.
Of course, if an expert greater than me examined my body, they would discover that I had hidden my internal energy. But before that, no one could find out.
As I sat in my assigned seat and waited for the examiner, I felt strange.
To think the day would come when I would take the Grand Martial Alliance entrance examination.
Looking around, everyone clearly looked tense, and indeed, most of them were men dressed as scholars. They all looked intelligent, so I inwardly worried about whether I could pass.
The first examination was a written test. It asked about basic knowledge. Mostly questions I had expected came out. I took it without difficulty.
The examination results came out in the afternoon, and fortunately, I passed. More than two-thirds of those who had taken it failed.
Those brats had looked frighteningly intelligent. Turns out they were all empty vessels.
For some reason, it felt good to be acknowledged for something other than Martial Arts.
“Those who passed are to come tomorrow for the second examination!”
The next day, I went to take the second examination.
This time, the questions were more difficult. Unlike the first examination, which simply involved finding answers, this time one also had to present one’s own opinion.
Fortunately, the questions came from a field I knew well. They were questions about various strategies and tactics related to war.
For example, there were questions like this.
Given a certain terrain, with the number of allies being this many and the number of enemies being that many, how should a formation be established for defense? For an attack, when and in what manner should one infiltrate?
A spy who infiltrated the enemy knows certain confidential information. He has been captured by the enemy. To save him, several sacrifices must inevitably occur. Should one endure the sacrifice and rescue him, or should one abandon him?
Those were the kinds of questions.
When it came to fighting, I was more of an expert than the people who had made or would grade these questions. I wrote my answers by adding what I had learned from the books I had recently read to my existing knowledge.
Everyone else looked troubled, but rather, I took the examination without much difficulty.
About two shichen after I submitted the examination paper, the examiner appeared again.
He announced those who had passed. Fortunately, my name was also there, and when the examiner called my name, I saw him observe me closely.
Was there a problem with the answer I had written?
In any case, most people failed this examination.
The next day, the final interview examination took place.
When I entered the room, emotion stirred in my heart. The interviewer waiting inside was Gal Sa-Ryang.
Why was he here?
There was no way several strategists had come out to conduct interviews. Then it meant he was in charge of this matter. It seemed he was somehow holding out properly within the Justice Pavilion.
In any case, if I had encountered him like this from the beginning, it was actually better.
I walked calmly and sat before him.
Suddenly, I remembered the time when I entered the room where the Sword Emperor was and sat before him. The fight from now on would be ten times harder than that fight.
My relationship with Gal Sa-Ryang began from this moment. Rather, now was more important than after passing. I had to catch his eye and go to his side.
But even so, I could not stand out too much. Gal Sa-Ryang disliked subordinates who stood out too conspicuously. I had to enter his eyes very naturally.
“Byeok Ri-Dan, the heir of the Byeok Sword Clan of Shandong.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“If it is the Byeok Sword Clan, it is a traditional martial family of Shandong. Why did you apply to the Justice Pavilion?”
“Since I was young, I have aspired to become a strategist of the Grand Martial Alliance.”
After looking at me for a moment, his gaze turned to the documents placed before him.
“You received the highest score on the second examination.”
“Ah, is that so? I did not know.”
So that was why the examiner had looked at me closely.
Gal Sa-Ryang began reading the answers on the examination paper I had taken.
“I think I was lucky.”
I thought Gal Sa-Ryang would merely glance at it, but his gaze did not leave the examination paper.
Perhaps he was feeling a trace of Cheon Ha-Jin from my answer sheet.
When Gal Sa-Ryang raised his head toward me again, his attitude had changed. From the businesslike feeling earlier, his eyes now showed a somewhat deeper interest.
“How is your Martial Arts skill?”
“It may not be very necessary in the Justice Pavilion, but I am confident in my Martial Arts.”
“Can you show me?”
“Yes.”
I confidently rose from my seat.
I received a piece of paper that could be discarded and threw it into the air.
Swish, swish!
The paper instantly became four pieces, and those pieces overlapped and landed on the blade of my sword.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!
I once again sent the paper on the blade into the air and cut it into several pieces. The finely cut paper fluttered like snow.
“Oh! Excellent!”
Gal Sa-Ryang exclaimed in admiration. Although he did not possess Martial Arts, he had spent his whole life by my side watching all sorts of martial artists. Just by seeing the way someone held a sword, he could tell their skill.
I displayed the skill I had achieved when I reached great mastery of the White Moon Sword Art. It was the greatest level of skill that he, or anyone else, could accept.
There would be plenty of smart people in this place. Gal Sa-Ryang himself was immediately smarter than anyone.
Seeing that he had asked me to display Martial Arts, the thought flashed through my mind that perhaps the person he needed was a subordinate who could use Martial Arts to some extent.
If not? And if it produced the opposite effect?
I could only hope that would not be the case.
After that, several more questions followed, and in that way, the interview also ended.
“The announcement will be made two days from now.”
“I humbly ask for your favorable consideration.”
I bowed politely and came outside.
As I came out, I slowly looked around. This place where the examination and interview were held was the outer compound of the Alliance, so it felt unfamiliar. I had always been in the inner compound, and even when I went in and out, I had moved through passages only the Alliance Lord used.
The flowers blooming along the path leading out through the main gate swayed in the spring breeze.
Two days later, I went back there to hear the announcement of the successful applicants.
The examiner walked out for the announcement. Gal Sa-Ryang was nowhere to be seen.
“From now on, I will announce the final successful applicants.”
The twenty or so second-stage passers who had gathered to hear the results all grew tense at once.
In truth, I was tense too. Ah, it seemed it was the first time I had ever been this tense.
“There are five successful applicants in total.”
The other organizations had newly selected dozens or more, but due to the nature of the Justice Pavilion, this time only five were selected.
The examiner called the names of the successful applicants in succession. Cheers and exclamations crossed one another.
Fortunately, my name was there at the end.
“…Byeok Ri-Dan! Those are the five. Congratulations.”
The examiner had the five who passed come forward and said with a pleased face,
“From today onward, you are proud martial artists of the Justice Pavilion.”
From Alliance Lord to new martial artist, I returned to the Grand Martial Alliance in this way.
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