Chapter – 03
It took a full seven days to travel from the city of Franz, a remote border region and the outskirts of the Etilehda Kingdom, to the capital, Danan.
If we hadn’t used the gates along the way, the journey would easily have taken over a month.
The gate in Danan was built on a high elevation.
Turning my head to look at the city, it truly deserved to be called a capital.
Even though I had lived until recently in the most developed city of South Korea,
or perhaps precisely because of that, I’m not sure,
but regardless, I couldn’t help but admire the well-ordered, compact rows of red brick buildings.
A red bridge crossing a blue river, a sharply pointed clock tower soaring high into the sky,
a spacious square and a massive triumphal arch.
It was simply amazing that the landscape I had described in just a few lines had fleshed itself out to create this spectacle.
I was lost in admiration for who knows how long.
“Bleeeeeeugh!”
“Mr. Kang Joo-hyuk. Are you alright? Goodness me. You’re like this every time we use a gate. But rest assured. We’ve arrived now.”
The old man personally patted the protagonist on the back.
That’s right.
[There are people who suffer from terrible nausea during instantaneous travel using gates. The protagonist, Kang Joo-hyuk, was one of them.]
There was such a setting.
At this rate, it looked like his face was going to be torn in half.
I glanced at him; his face was pale, and he was glaring with his eyes wide open.
What a temper.
***
The way to the Pungrimhwasan (Wind Forest Fire Mountain) was quick.
It was easy to find too.
Because the largest building in this city was the Association’s building.
When the old man reached the entrance of the Association, walking with his hands clasped behind his back, some people who recognized him either greeted him or whispered among themselves.
“Chairman, you’ve arrived!”
“The Sword Saint has returned!”
The building, which was already bustling, became even noisier with the old man’s appearance, reminiscent of a market.
“Have you all been well? Any incidents while I was away?”
“Of course not, sir!”
“That’s a relief. Does anyone know where my assistant is?”
“If you mean Miss Hesse, she just stepped out a moment ago, Chairman. She said she had business at Coleman’s blacksmith. It’s been about an hour, so she should be back soon.”
“Thank you. I’ll head up first, so please tell her to come to the chairman’s office.”
“Yes, sir.”
There were really a lot of people in the Association.
Moreover, it wasn’t just the sheer number of people; each one’s appearance was varied.
Starting from a giant clad in chainmail to people bundled head-to-toe in robes,
well-dressed men with groomed mustaches,
what seemed to be ordinary errand runners,
and even people carrying an armful of cleaning tools.
Not all of them were members of the Pungrimhwasan.
That’s because the Association’s lobby was a place where you could entrust requests, much like a mercenary guild’s.
As the old man strode briskly up the stairs, Kang Joo-hyuk and I, who had been standing there blankly, followed behind him almost simultaneously.
With every step, dozens, no, hundreds of gazes stabbed into us.
They must be curious.
It probably wasn’t a common occurrence for the chairman to personally bring someone.
After walking up the stairs for a while and passing through a corridor, the old man finally stopped, grabbed a doorknob, and slowly opened it.
The plaque on the door.
Chairman’s Office.
The space, about ten pyeong (approx. 33 sq meters) large, contained only a spacious wooden desk, chairs, shelves, and a rectangular table.
The old man sat at the head of the table and spoke.
“Sit down. You’ve had a tough week. The journey here was a bit rough, wasn’t it? Anyway, this here is Pungrimhwasan. It’s a gathering of swordsmen. I am their representative.”
The old man made his already wrinkled face crinkle even more.
It meant he was smiling.
His crescent-shaped eyes were full of mischief.
It seemed he was thinking of something amusing.
I could easily guess the content of that amusing thought.
He intends to make us into swordsmen.
“A week ago, when we left Franz, I asked you. If you would follow me. You both nodded readily, right? From now on, you are guests of Pungrimhwasan. I’ll give you spare rooms. Of course, it doesn’t mean you can stick around forever. Hmm. A year should be sufficient, I suppose. For you to adapt to this world.”
Just as his words ended, a knock, knock, was heard from outside the chairman’s office.
“Chairman. It’s Hesse.”
The brightly ringing voice belonged to a woman. She soon opened the door and appeared, standing to the old man’s left.
Her height barely reached my chest.
The brown hair fluttering at her nape and the innocently blinking light blue eyes were the first things that caught my attention.
Her cute, compactly arranged features and a white sweater that snugly covered her from her waist down to her thighs gave her a lively impression.
Kang Joo-hyuk, who was looking at her along with me, unusually showed a surprised expression and muttered.
“…Cat ears?”
Just as he said, on her head was a pair of animal ears, perked up and twitching this way and that.
Those weren’t decorations or anything; they were her real ears.
Along with a tail sticking out about thirty centimeters near her buttocks.
She was a cat-type beast-person.
“Chairman, you called for me!”
“Ah. Yes. Miss Hesse. Long time no see. It’s nothing else, but we have guests at Pungrimhwasan. Please assign them a spare room. To these two here.”
The eyes that hadn’t left the old man since she entered the room finally turned this way.
She looked at me with an expressionless face, as if she didn’t find me particularly interesting, but when her eyes met Kang Joo-hyuk’s, her face slightly reddened.
I could roughly guess why.
“Shall I do it right now?”
“That would be good.”
“Please follow me.”
Just before leaving the room following her, the old man spoke as if he had just remembered.
“Once you’re done, come to the training ground behind the building. Both of you.”
***
The room Hesse guided us to was a single room, neither uncomfortably small nor unnecessarily large.
It had an attached bathroom with a shower.
For a moment, I wondered what a shower was doing in a medieval-style world, but then I remembered that I was the one who had inserted such convenient settings, so I just let it be.
There was a comfortable bed too.
Really, no complaints.
I left the room, which had nothing more to see, and headed towards the training ground as the Sword Saint had said.
Well, I tried to head there.
If I hadn’t run into Kang Joo-hyuk, who was using the room across from mine, right at that moment.
Now that I think about it, he was a person whose specs themselves were excessively perfect, fitting the protagonist mold.
Putting aside abstract things like talent, will, and conviction, just looking at his physical condition alone was enough.
Tall height and sturdy build.
With a face like a pretty-boy…
…It wasn’t unreasonable for Hesse to react that way.
Well, describing a guy is pointless anyway.
Feeling it would be awkward to just keep making eye contact, I opened my mouth first.
“Hi. How are you…?”
Let’s see.
Before I could even finish my sentence, he turned his head away with a *whoosh* and headed outside.
His attitude suggested he had no need to listen to pointless talk.
At his behavior, which seemed to have thrown away even the concept of basic manners, I could only let out a hollow laugh.
Damn it. Who the hell made the protagonist’s personality like that?
…Me.
Back when I was serializing the first chapter of *Istalinia Chronicles*, that kind of thing was trendy.
A guy with no manners who earns dislike from those around him, but then shows his worth at a critical moment, or the quiet type who moves people with a few abrupt words.
The bad boy style.
I felt like punching my past self.
And if I could, that bastard Kang Joo-hyuk too.
***
The weather was clear, without a single cloud.
A spring temperature, neither hot nor cold.
Occasionally, a cool breeze brushed past our clothes, hit the massive structure, and dissipated, unable to go further.
The massive structure was, of course, the Association’s building.
We were standing in an empty lot that could be called a training ground.
I was feeling a bit drowsy from the warmth emitted by the midday sun.
The old man’s voice reached me in that state.
“I will teach you how to wield a sword.”
Ah. The first chapter has begun.
I thought blankly.
The protagonist is discovered in Franz and moves to Pungrimhwasan.
He learns swordsmanship from the Sword Saint.
The development up to this point was the same as the novel.
The only difference was that an impurity named me had slipped in.
The Sword Saint is definitely a powerhouse within the world view.
A master swordsman who has reached the highest pinnacle attainable by a human.
Learning swordsmanship from him was, without a doubt, an incredible opportunity.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
“You look like you’re thinking, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’ Just learn it. It’s a skill that will absolutely never be bad to have. I have connections with otherworlders, so I know. You are all heading for the World Tree, correct? The path to the Forest of Su-Gyeong, where the World Tree is, is teeming with monsters. The road there is not easy. Even if this old man were to go, I couldn’t guarantee I’d even get a glimpse of the World Tree’s leaves. So, this is my way of offering a little help.”
“Why are you helping us?”
Kang Joo-hyuk suddenly threw out a question.
For someone as emotionless and suspicious as him, the Sword Saint’s kindness must be of an incomprehensible sort.
The old man, not minding the brusque tone of the young whippersnapper at all, answered.
“Just because.”
Kang Joo-hyuk’s face reddened very slightly.
It seemed he thought the Sword Saint was making fun of him.
Just before he could say something in response, the old man spoke again.
“Truly, there’s no particular meaning. I just act as my heart moves me. When you reach my age, such things happen more often. There’s no problem even if I act without any reason, just as I feel. On the contrary, it sometimes turns out to be a blessing. I was just bored with nothing to do when you two caught my eye. Wouldn’t it be stranger not to help?”
“……”
“So, I’m helping. Are you convinced?”
“…To some extent.”
“And you?”
The old man’s gaze stuck to me.
Of course, I had no reason to be dissatisfied from the start.
When I expressed my agreement, the old man smiled his characteristic, age-inappropriate, rascal-like smile.
And slowly raised his arm to point somewhere.
The empty lot with nothing in it.
“Then run.”
Kang Joo-hyuk had a face that didn’t understand what was going on.
Run? Suddenly?
Why? Where? For how long?
I didn’t have any mind-reading abilities, but it wasn’t hard to guess his inner thoughts.
Leaving the dumbfounded him behind, I quickly ran forward.
“You’re a friend who catches on quick.”
The old man’s words echoed from behind me as if in a reverberation.
