novelraw Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3 - Black Dragon Inn (2)
“Ahem! Hem! I greet the esteemed ones. You say you are from the Moyong Merchant Group? I apologize for interrupting your conversation. There is something I must tell you…….”
The bearded man hitched his trousers up high, bowed deeply, and continued speaking.
“Here, Black Dragon Twin Axes Jang Sam-sik offers his greetings. In fact, I was also intending to apply as a guard for the Moyong Merchant Group, you see.”
The bearded man, straightening his bowed waist, looked back at Eun-wol's group.
“This fellow called Jang Sam-sik was born in the Black Dragon River, beat a tiger to death around the age of ten, and is now a man shaking his notorious name in the vicinity of the Black Dragon River with two axes…….”
The group stared blankly at the bearded man who had suddenly appeared and started introducing himself lengthily.
“……Haha. This is, truly.”
The handsome middle-aged man, looking at the bearded man, tapped the table with his finger as if troubled.
Nam Chung, checking the hand gesture, turned his head to look at the handsome middle-aged man.
Nam Chung, who exchanged a glance with the handsome middle-aged man, scratched his head once, picked up a chopstick in his hand, and slowly rose from his seat.
“That is not all. If you ask about the name of this fellow Jang Sam-sik in the back alleys of this Black Dragon River, no matter whom you grab and ask…….”
Nam Chung turned his body toward the bearded man who was introducing himself with great fervor.
Subsequently, Nam Chung, taking one step forward, thrust the chopstick he was holding in his hand forward.
─ Pa-ang!
A sound of air bursting rang out from the chopstick Nam Chung extended.
The bearded man, confirming the chopstick shooting toward him without warning, instantly took out two hand axes from his waist and blocked the chopstick just like that.
─ Kka-ang!
It was a considerable reaction speed compared to his bulk.
The bearded man, having barely blocked Nam Chung's chopstick, retreated two steps with a thud-thud sound.
The bearded man, turning pale, opened his mouth wide.
Nam Chung, watching that spectacle, looked down at his chopstick once, tilted his head as if it were strange, and spoke toward the handsome middle-aged man.
“……He blocked it, though?”
“He blocked that?”
At Nam Chung's words, the handsome middle-aged man turned his head to the bearded man with surprised eyes.
The chopstick Nam Chung extended just now looked ordinary, but it contained the subtleties of the Eon Family Spear Technique.
The spear technique of the Jinju Eon Family is a martial art considered one of the best in the Gangho.
Although it was unleashed with a chopstick so its profound mysteries couldn't be fully contained, it was not something a simple drunkard could block.
“No, what on earth! What do you expect me to do if you thrust a chopstick like that all of a sudden?!”
The bearded man shouted while huffing and puffing.
“If it weren't a man of this Jang Sam-sik's caliber, a large hole would have nearly been punched in my belly!”
The handsome middle-aged man, who was staring blankly at the bearded man shouting at the group while spitting, wore a smile.
“Well, not bad.”
The handsome middle-aged man nodded, took out a small wooden token from his bosom, and threw it to the bearded man.
“Passed. If you can block that strike just now, you are worthy of being set up as a guard. You just have to come to the village entrance with that wooden token in three days. The trade caravan goes up to Wuhan in Hubei Province, where the Murim Alliance is located.”
The bearded man, who caught the wooden token that flew to him, paused his words for a moment at the handsome middle-aged man's words.
“……Yes? Passed? Are you saying I have passed?”
The bearded man, fiddling with the wooden token in his hand with a bewildered expression, smiled brightly and bowed his waist deeply.
“Thank you!”
The handsome middle-aged man, nodding with an awkward smile, waved his hand to force the bearded man back to his seat, and then his eyes shone toward Jaun again.
“You saw it just now, right? If you receive just one move from Nam Chung, I will accept you as a guard too. How is it? Will you try challenging it once?”
At the handsome middle-aged man's words filled with curiosity, Jaun tilted his head.
‘What is this?’
He was confused.
No, to be honest, he couldn't understand what meaning there was in blocking that man named Nam Chung's chopstick handling.
The chopstick handling he just saw wasn't fast enough to catch one off guard, didn't contain enough variations, and above all, the target was too obvious.
‘The level of guard they want is this much?’
Jaun, who had lived his whole life alone with his father in the mountains, found it difficult to gauge what level his martial arts were at.
‘Even if it’s a simple guard, I thought they would require a certain level of skill.’
Jaun, who pondered for a moment, slowly stood up from his seat.
“Let’s do it.”
Jaun picked up a chopstick and stood next to the table.
There was no need to think deeply.
Since he wasn't going to devote himself to the Moyong Family anyway.
It was enough for Jaun if he could just join the caravan and move to the region where the Murim Alliance was.
As Jaun came out next to the table, Nam Chung slowly raised his chopstick.
“Are you ready?”
At Nam Chung's words, Jaun nodded.
“Since it’s not a surprise attack this time, I will go a little faster.”
Nam Chung sent a signal to Jaun and extended the chopstick straight out just like that.
─ Pa-ang!
From Nam Chung's chopstick shot toward Jaun, the sound of air bursting rang out once again.
‘……As expected, there is nothing special. I should finish it roughly.’
Jaun, who calmly examined the chopstick flying toward him, took a step slightly diagonally forward.
“Uh?!”
In an instant, a look of panic appeared on Nam Chung's face.
It was because, with the one step Jaun took, the distance became insufficient to give variation to the chopstick, and furthermore, the spot where Jaun was positioned was clever, significantly restricting his movements.
While Nam Chung paused for a moment, this time Jaun extended the chopstick he was holding toward Nam Chung.
‘Just enough so he doesn’t get hurt.’
At the same time, Jaun's chopstick, which dug in exquisitely, wound around Nam Chung's chopstick and flicked it into the air just like that.
─ Clang
It was something that happened in the blink of an eye.
Nam Chung stared blankly down at the chopstick that had left his hand and fallen to the ground.
Jaun scratched his head, and the handsome middle-aged man looked at the fallen chopstick with his mouth wide open.
“Kik-kik. Did you slip on dumpling grease?”
Eun-wol poked Nam Chung's shoulder and teased him, but Nam Chung was lost in thought with a stiff expression without answering.
“You…… broke the Eon Family Spear Technique.”
The handsome middle-aged man opened his mouth while resting his chin on one hand.
“Right. You can see that spot as a weakness. Hmm…… Even so, from that position, there was absolutely no gap to dig into? How on earth did you create that gap?”
The handsome middle-aged man sprang up from his seat and hurriedly approached Nam Chung's side.
Approaching Nam Chung's side, the handsome middle-aged man put his head together with Nam Chung and started a discussion.
The two people, with heads together, showed no thought of getting up for quite a while.
‘Should I have just blocked it?’
Jaun, looking at the two people with serious expressions, scratched his head.
As the two people continued to whisper and talk, Eun-wol, who was watching the scene from the side, shrugged her shoulders and turned her body toward Jaun.
“You there. Don't get too arrogant just because Brother Nam Chung's hand slipped. He doesn't look like it on the outside, but despite appearances, he is a skilled person counted among the best in spear techniques in the Gangho.”
Eun-wol continued talking with her hands on both sides of her waist.
“Still, since you weren't hit by the chopstick, it’s a pass for now. It’s the first time we’ve taken in a guard this young……. How old are you?”
Jaun, looking at Eun-wol whose eyes were twinkling, opened his mouth.
“Fifteen.”
“……Tch. Same age. I was going to make you call me older sister.”
Eun-wol pouted her lips and scanned Jaun up and down once again.
“Well. Since your face is somewhat handsome, if we stand you up as a guard, the picture will be decent. I am Moyong Eun-wol. I am the person in charge of this Moyong Trade Caravan. Since you say we are the same age, I will specially allow you to speak casually. Nice to meet you.”
Eun-wol extended her hand to Jaun.
Jaun also slowly extended his hand and held Eun-wol's hand.
“Han Jaun.”
Jaun, who intended to introduce himself following his name, flinched for a moment at the soft sensation rising from his hand.
‘……It is so different from father’s hand. Is it because she is a girl who grew up finely?’
Holding the tender hand that seemed like it would melt if he applied just a little force, Jaun looked at Eun-wol.
As Jaun stared intently at her without saying a word while holding her hand tightly, Eun-wol suddenly flushed red in the face and hurriedly pulled her hand out.
“F-for now, since you passed, you just have to take this and come out to the village entrance in three days!”
As if trying to hide her reddened face, Eun-wol passed the wooden token to Jaun as if shoving it onto him, then hurriedly turned her body toward Nam Chung and the handsome middle-aged man.
“Brothers. Let’s go back right now! Do you know how much time has passed?”
Despite Eun-wol's uselessly loud shout, the two people showed no interest at all.
Eun-wol approached the two people, who were even drawing pictures on the floor while talking, huffing and puffing.
“I said let’s go back quickly!”
Eun-wol, glancing back at Jaun, grabbed the arms of the two people and started dragging them out of the inn.
The two people, unable to shake off Eun-wol's hands, stood up from their seats helplessly.
Even while being forcibly dragged out by Eun-wol, the handsome middle-aged man, who nimbly snatched a bottle of Hwahong Wine that the server was bringing, sent a smile to Jaun.
Following that, the handsome middle-aged man took out a small wooden token from his bosom and threw it to Jaun.
“You there, little brother. You just have to come to the village entrance in three days. Let us definitely meet!”
As the waving handsome middle-aged man disappeared outside the inn with Eun-wol, Jaun looked down at the wooden token in his hand.
On the wooden token, the characters Moyong were deeply engraved in an elegant style.
“……By the way, do I need two of these?”
Jaun muttered looking at the two wooden tokens received from Moyong Eun-wol and the handsome middle-aged man.
***
Time flowed quickly, and it was already the day the Moyong Merchant Group departed.
Someone tapped the back of Jaun, who had come out to the village entrance early.
“U-he-he. Who is this? You are that little brother who joined as the caravan’s guard, right?”
bearded man, who approached closely, sent a bright smile toward Jaun.
In the meantime, bearded man had even matched a new set of clothes and looked much cleaner.
“Since we will be accompanying each other in the future, let’s get along well. I am called Black Dragon Twin Axes, Jang Sam-sik.”
“I am called Han Jaun.”
bearded man extended a thick hand and grasped Jaun's hand.
Subsequently, bearded man, straightening his back, looked around once.
“What a good day! On this day when I am born as a man and go out to the Central Plains harboring great ambition, seeing that the weather is even sunny, isn't this all the heavens blessing us?”
A satisfied smile spread across the face of bearded man, who looked up at the sky once.
─ Rattle rattle
Behind bearded man, who was standing with his chest puffed out, the carriages of the Moyong Family that had finished preparations just in time began to enter in a line.
It was a trade caravan of immense scale, but the members of the Moyong household were controlling the cargo wagons in perfect order without a single confusion.
“One, two…… ten…… fifteen…… twenty? You say twenty carriages?”
bearded man, who was counting the number of carriages while looking at the procession, opened his mouth wide.
Since an ordinary trade caravan was at the level of three or four carriages at most, a carriage procession with over ten standing like this was not a sight easily seen.
At the rare carriage procession, onlookers began to gather around one by one.
“You came early.”
The handsome middle-aged man, who spotted the two people from afar, pushed through the onlookers and approached.
Unlike the last time, the handsome middle-aged man had his hair tied back neatly.
“Since we will be together for a while now, though it is late, I will introduce myself. I am called Do Hyeok-rin. In the Gangho, I am called the Wind and Moon Guest.”
At Hyeok-rin's greeting offered with a smile, bearded man opened his eyes wide in an instant.
“W-Wind and Moon Guest? Surely the Wind and Moon Guest, Hero Do Hyeok-rin, who was once chosen as one of the Top 100 Masters?”
bearded man, who was looking at Hyeok-rin with enlarged eyes, came to his senses, scurried over, and bowed deeply.
“Oh my. I did not recognize the Wind and Moon Guest-nim, whose fame is widespread in the Gangho.”
Hyeok-rin tapped bearded man's back once, who bent his waist deeply as if his head would touch the ground, and approached Jaun.
“Little brother. I have thought about it carefully, you see. Was that sword path on that day the sword path of the Three Talents Sword Art?”
Hyeok-rin brought up the sword story with shining eyes.
“That is correct.”
Jaun nodded at Hyeok-rin's words.
“Hah, indeed……. To think it was such a thrust from that position with the sword path of the Three Talents Sword Art. Although it is said there was a restriction on distance because it was unfolded with a chopstick, breaking the Eon Family Spear Technique with the Three Talents Sword Art is not something just anyone can do.”
Hyeok-rin stared blankly at Jaun.
“For three days, your sword did not leave my mind. You broadened my horizons. I did not know such a talent was buried in the countryside.”
At Hyeok-rin's praise, Jaun scratched his head.
“It is a sword that always got criticized by my father…….”
“If that is enough to be criticized, more than half of the martial artists in the Gangho should break their swords, man. And at such a young age, too……. It is only surprising. Anyway, let’s exchange sword moves often from now on.”
Hyeok-rin, tapping Jaun's shoulder with twinkling eyes, showed a smile and turned his body.
Hyeok-rin's hand pointed to the splendid carriage at the very front of the carriage procession.
“Now, now. Let’s stop with the greetings, and since it is departure time, let us move. Since you two are scheduled to escort that carriage with me, do not stray far from my side if possible.”
Hyeok-rin, having finished speaking, began to walk toward where the carriages were aligned.