Ch#18
The news that I had a lover spread as quickly as the scandal of my one-night stand with Jeok I-geon.
And the effect was spectacular.
“Seol-ha, I totally misunderstood you for a moment! To think I didn’t even know you had a lover!”
“Me too! I knew you weren’t that kind of girl.”
“When is the wedding date?”
“…The wedding?”
“Yeah, isn’t that why you’re quitting your job as a maid? So-ok told us.”
Ah, So-ok.
How could you go around talking about what I told you in confidence?
We’ve shared a room for five years, and she’s a friend I owe so much to, so I only gave her a heads-up in advance. I never expected it to bounce back on me like this.
They say one lie breeds another, and that was exactly the case right now.
If I said anything even slightly negative here, I might arouse suspicion all over again.
I forced myself to play along, pretending to be overjoyed.
“We don’t know the wedding date yet. We’ll have to figure it out slowly from now on.”
“He must be a really wonderful person. Seventeen is a bit young to marry, after all.”
Of course. It’s incredibly young.
“What are you talking about! If he got into the Blood Shadow Squad, she has to lock him down! A steady salary will roll in, and he’ll be away from home often. I’d say there’s no better husband material than that!”
“Is that so?”
Watching the unnies giggle right in front of me brought on a slight reality check, but I did my best to maintain my poker face until the very end.
We won’t see each other in two months anyway.
If I could just endure until then, a bright, hopeful future awaited me.
“Unnies, about the Second Young Master’s lunch today…”
Thanks to my sacrificial lie, Jeok I-geon’s meal preparations went smoothly without a hitch every single time.
In proportion to that, my martial arts skills grew day by day.
In absolute secrecy.
“What you must learn is the Demon Birth Sword(Masaenggeom), the foundation of swordsmanship(geombeop).”
On the first day of training, Jeok I-geon handed me a wooden sword and began the lesson.
To think the day would come in my life when I would learn swordsmanship.
The martial arts novels I had read in my past life flashed before my eyes like a kaleidoscope, and I fell into a deep, emotional reverie all on my own.
“The Demon Birth Sword consists of three basic preceding stances, and one final stance that combines them.”
Huh?
I’ve heard this somewhere before.
In martial arts novels, when the protagonist first learns the Three Powers Sword Style(Samjae Geombeop), the teachers always say something like that.
“First stance, Demonic Army Suppression(Magun Apje)!”
Thud!
Jeok I-geon stomped forward and brought his sword down with immense force.
“Second stance, Sweeping Demonic Wind(Mapung Seokgwon)!”
He then twisted his body, executing a horizontal slash.
“Third stance, Path of the Demon King(Mawang Jiro)!”
Vertical, horizontal… next is definitely a thrust.
Crack!
Jeok I-geon’s sword pierced the empty air, and a split second later, the air itself imploded with a loud crack.
“Final stance, Demonic Wind Over the Heavens(Mapung Cheonha)!”
Swish!
Whoosh!
The final form was a continuous execution that combined all the previous stances.
His movements were so blindingly fast that it was difficult to even track them with my eyes.
“Did you see?”
Jeok I-geon asked as he sheathed his sword. Even after such intense movements, his breathing remained perfectly calm and steady.
“Show me.”
Direct practice after seeing it just once.
As expected, Jeok I-geon never cut anyone any slack.
This is actually making me nervous.
To be honest, martial arts still felt like an elusive cloud to me.
Could I really do something that only superhuman beings beyond the realm of ordinary mortals were capable of?
Completely forgetting that my Ren and Du meridians had already been cleared, I picked up the wooden sword, lost in useless worries.
Well, whatever, let’s just give it a shot.
“First stance, Demonic Army Suppression!”
Taking a large step forward, I brought the sword down with all my might.
“You must stamp your foot firmly.”
I thought I had, but in Jeok I-geon’s eyes, it must have looked clumsy.
He corrected my posture, tapping my lower body with his scabbard.
“Only when the roots are deep can a tree spread its branches. Try again.”
There he goes again with his obsession with roots.
“Yes!”
At Jeok I-geon’s command, I swung the sword down hard once more.
“A sword is not a club. Do not strike; slash. Try again with the intent to slash!”
The intent to slash.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
I repeated Jeok I-geon’s words like a mantra, focusing my mind as I swung the sword down powerfully.
“Now it is somewhat passable.”
Having him correct my mistakes on the spot definitely helped; my posture improved with every single swing.
Perhaps because of that, Jeok I-geon’s tone, which had been blunt at first, softened considerably.
“Next is Sweeping Demonic Wind.”
Wait, why am I sweating so much already when I’ve barely done anything?
I wanted to rest for just fifteen minutes, but I lacked the courage to dare ask Jeok I-geon for a break.
I simply swung the sword, over and over, without rest.
How many days passed like that?
The next martial art I learned after the Demon Birth Sword was a footwork technique called the Demon Birth Steps(Masaengbo).
Jeok I-geon said that the Demon Birth Sword and Demon Birth Steps, being the basic techniques of the Demonic Cult, had to be so deeply engraved into my body that I could execute them freely even in my sleep.
He pushed me incredibly hard, saying that only by mastering the basics could I learn advanced martial arts.
The training sessions, which were supposed to be limited to lunchtime, often dragged on until evening. Eventually, I practically lived at the training grounds, enduring the grueling regimen.
The surprising thing was that this entire process was incredibly fun.
No matter how far Jeok I-geon pushed me to my limits, I persevered and made the techniques my own.
Was it really possible to reach this level of skill in such a short period of time?
Could I… actually be talented?
No way… It couldn’t be something like the Heavenly Martial Body(Cheonmu Jiche), right?
Even though my eight extraordinary meridians had been opened, my progress was making leaps and bounds that anyone would find hard to believe.
Honestly, at this rate, I felt like I could defeat even one of the Ten Great Villains if I ran into them.
“You have achieved basic mastery(minor accomplishment) at least.”
Of course, in Jeok I-geon’s eyes, I was still nothing more than a greenhorn.
“We will end today’s training here.”
“Thank you for your guidance.”
Unintentionally, Jeok I-geon and I had formed a relationship akin to master and disciple.
Though I couldn’t call him my master, I expressed my sincere gratitude to him at the end of every training session.
Fear was fear, but gratitude was gratitude.
“Seol-ha, it seems you have a guest outside. Wipe yourself off with this and go quickly.”
Cheon Gang, who had been practicing on his own in the corner, approached and delivered the news.
Jeok I-geon’s training grounds, enclosed by high walls, were accessible only to me, his exclusive maid, and Cheon Gang, his escort warrior.
Thus, the fact that I was learning martial arts from Jeok I-geon was a secret known only to the three of us.
“A guest came to Geonyeonggak looking for me?”
Who on earth would look for me?
“Could it be Grandmother?”
“It was a man.”
“A man?”
“A young fellow is waiting for you quite eagerly.”
“Yes, Cheon Gang-nim. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll head out now.”
Overcome with curiosity, I practically ran out of the training grounds.
I had absolutely no idea who could have come to meet me.
Where is he?
I ran over thinking he would obviously be near the main gate, but not a single soul was in sight.
Is he near the back gate?
I walked briskly across the garden, weaving through the buildings toward the back gate.
“I heard you passed the Blood Shadow Squad’s selection! I heard they don’t just let anyone in there, you’re so cool!”
“Seol-ha seemed so proud of you. And you’re getting married soon, too!”
On the way to the back gate, there was a resting area where the maids could relax when they were tired from work.
From that direction, the sound of laughter and chatter rang uneasily in my ears.
Argh, Yang So-baek!
I instantly recognized the visitor’s identity.
The guy who was once just a male friend, but had somehow mutated into my lover.
I wondered who it was, and of course, it’s you?
If you had business with me, you could have just come to the noodle shop like usual. Why did you suddenly show up here?
And of all times, at this exact moment!
Terrified that my lie would be exposed, I even utilized the Demon Birth Steps(Masaengbo) to rush to the scene.
“Hahaha, I’d love to get married too. If only Seol-ha would say yes.”
What is that jerk talking about?
“Yang So-baek!”
To drag him out of there before it was too late, I blurted out his name at the top of my lungs.
Thanks to that, all eyes turned to me.
“Seol-ha!”
Yang So-baek leaped up from his seat, his face lighting up with joy.
But why is he looking at me like that?
For some reason, he looked deeply touched.
“Get out here, quick!”
Regardless of his expression, I urged him to hurry outside.
The lies so far were more than enough.
I didn’t want to spin any more of them, and I needed to quickly explain the situation to Yang So-baek, who was probably completely in the dark.
“Seol-ha!”
But what was this?
This uneasy feeling.
As Yang So-baek ran over and wrapped me in a fierce embrace, I sensed a highly unfamiliar atmosphere radiating from him.
If only that were the only problem.
“…!”
I almost had a heart attack.
Standing not very far away was Jeok I-geon.
With eyes that looked ready to kill me at any second.
