Chapter 373: The Imperial Family
After gaining an enlightenment thanks to Seol Lihyang, my martial training, which had felt somewhat at a standstill, began to pick up momentum.
In a way, that was only natural. Once I knew the direction I had to go, all that remained was to run with everything I had.
There had only been one thing I had done all this time.
To strip away.
All kinds of sword arts I had stolen with half an eye, the complicated techniques, and the subtle principles I had honed and polished over a lifetime.
I stripped all of it away. Until there was nothing more left to strip away.
And after stripping away, and stripping away again, what remained was an ordinary slash and thrust that could hardly even be called swordsmanship.
It was no different from the Three Calamities Sword Art, which merely occupied a slightly broader range of directions.
However, this unimpressive trajectory was precisely the essence of my sword, with nothing more left to remove.
What was contained within it was only a hair’s breadth that divided life and death.
If one day this sword were completed, then even within the Heavenly Demon’s qi force that filled heaven and earth, I would be able to establish a domain of my own.
For a moment, the imposing figure of the Heavenly Demon before my regression rose in my mind, but I immediately erased it and began focusing solely on my sword.
As I swung in a daze like that, how long had I been concentrating on dismantling every sword I knew into its smallest units?
By the time even my concentration was beginning to fray, I heard Tang Sowol’s voice as if she had been waiting for exactly that moment.
“Brother Cheon. Would you be alright for a moment?”
“Were you waiting for this? You could have just spoken to me.”
“Uh...... should I say I was waiting, or that I had no choice but to wait...... anyway, you have a guest.”
“A guest??”
When I turned my head a little farther, I saw a familiar middle-aged man in the part of my vision that had contained only Tang Sowol.
“Oh...... ooh......!”
It was Namgung Dowi, clenching his fist with a moved expression.
Well, it was still an incomplete sword anyway, and since I had learned this and that from Namgung Dowi too, it was not as though it mattered if he saw it....
But seeing a grown man with an expression like he was about to cry was burdening me to death.
“It hasn’t been...... long enough to say that, has it, Sword King elder? Anyway, it’s good to see you.”
“Not long enough, you say! It was the span of time in which your sword broke through its thick shell, awakened, and began walking its own path, so how could that be called a short time!”
“Ah, yes.......”
Even though I had known this would happen, I found myself unconsciously taking a step back. The current Namgung Dowi had that much force behind him.
“Do you remember what I said before? That your sword resembled the Namgung sword in how it gathered many sword arts and made them your own. The road to the sky that Namgung seeks has not yet been connected, but it seems you have found a sky of your own! I sincerely congratulate you!”
“Thank you.”
Well, burdensome was burdensome, but goodwill was still welcome, so I smiled and gave a light bow as well.
However, it seemed Namgung Dowi’s emotion had not yet come to an end.
“To circle around and around and, in the end, return to the root! In a way, it may well connect to the saying that all streams return to one source! From our spar before, I already knew your sword was similar to mine or perhaps even above it, but seeing it like this, I cannot help but acknowledge it! If that sword is completed, then the title Sword King should be yours! No, that’s not right! Even Sword King might not be enough. Sword Emperor...... no, Sword God! Ah, yes! If you have created a sword that encompasses all swords, then you would deserve to be called that!”
“I appreciate you thinking so highly of me, but...... what brings you to the Murim Alliance today? If it’s about the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance, you had already decided your stance long ago, so there should have been no need for you to come all the way here.”
When I saw actual moisture gathering at the corners of Namgung Dowi’s eyes, I hurriedly changed the subject.
Then, after taking a breath, Namgung Dowi continued in a somewhat calmer voice.
“This time, I did not come to the Murim Alliance because of Namgung Clan business. I moved because I received an order for it.”
“An order? To think there’s someone who can make use of the Sword King elder of all people with a single word.......”
“It was the Imperial Family.”
“If it’s the Imperial Family, then that would do it.”
Namgung Clan had once been a feudal house of the old imperial dynasty. In other words, from the perspective of the current Imperial Family, they ought to have been a rather awkward counterpart.
However, because of their trait of producing nothing but people obsessed with the sword generation after generation, and because throughout history they had cooperated with the Imperial Family’s affairs without complaint except for a single time.
For reference, that one time had apparently been during a succession struggle that had gone too far.
I was not a member of Namgung Clan, so I did not know the details, but I heard it had been something anyone would agree refusal was the proper answer to.
So even afterward, the Imperial Family had not taken issue with what happened back then.
Anyway, by steadily building the Imperial Family’s trust in that way, they, together with the Hebei Peng Clan, were often called upon for imperial matters despite being a martial clan.
“Even so, if you came to the Murim Alliance at a time like this to help with imperial business...... then it really is about the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance.”
“Indeed. After all, is it not something unprecedented in the history of Murim? The Imperial Family seems rather cautious about it in one way or another as well. To think Princess Mueui herself came in person, and even the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is coming.”
“If it’s Princess Mueui......”
I had heard of her, but the memory did not come clearly to mind, so I trailed off for a moment. Then Tang Sowol read my intention and whispered softly.
“She is the current Emperor’s fourth daughter.”
“I see. And to think even the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is coming with her...... wait. I assumed the Sword King elder had been entrusted with escort duty, but if the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is present, then it sounds like you were given a different role?”
“I am serving as an escort as well. However, the main reason the Imperial Family called me is likely because they want me to stand on the Imperial Family’s side between the Murim Alliance and the Imperial Family.”
“You accepted an annoying task.”
Instead of answering my words, Namgung Dowi let out a deep sigh.
Given his personality, getting involved in something like this itself must have been unbearably stifling.
No matter that a Flowering Stage martial artist was allowed an epithet with ‘king’ in it and, unofficially at least, was treated like a feudal lord.
Once one truly became entangled in imperial affairs, there were bound to be all sorts of problems.
“Well. Even so, do not worry. The Imperial Family is not foolish. They have likely already obtained information on the Demonic Cult through the Eastern Depot, so while they may negotiate this or that condition or restriction, the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance itself should pass smoothly enough.”
“In that case, that’s a relief.”
“Ah, and there is also another reason I came personally, even at the cost of disrupting your training.”
“Surely not.......”
“Yes. That surely not is correct.”
Namgung Dowi nodded with a stiff expression.
Honestly, I had hoped this day would never come, yet at the same time part of me had also thought that the day had finally arrived.
Was I not the live-in son-in-law of the Tang Clan, regarded as the greatest clan under heaven, while also being known in the Black Lotus Sect as the number one of the unorthodox faction?
I was also the one who had warned of the Demonic Cult’s threat beforehand, and the hidden driving force behind the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance.
Once the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance began operating in earnest, it was obvious that I would always stand at its center.
Naturally, the Imperial Family would also investigate what kind of person I was and try to take whatever measures they deemed necessary.
The current Imperial Family took a relatively tolerant stance toward Murim, so it probably would not become a major problem...... but that did not mean mutual discomfort could be avoided.
That said, it was not as though I could just avoid it unconditionally either.
“Huu. It can’t be helped. Since it’s come to this, I’ll cooperate as smoothly as possi—”
“Absolutely do not wander around outside. Make sure you do not happen to run into Princess Mueui, or get tangled up with the Embroidered Uniform Guard side....”
“...Pardon?”
“Hmm?”
Namgung Dowi and I blinked at each other.
That was not it?
At the same time that the faint motivation that had risen in me died down again, Tang Sowol let out a small giggle.
“Hoho, I understand what you mean, Sword King. I will hold Brother Cheon tightly in place so he absolutely cannot go outside, so do not worry.”
“Yes. If it is you, Sky-Winged Poison Phoenix, you will do well. Of course. Are you not a daughter of that Tang Clan.”
“Oh my. Thank you for the compliment.”
Tang Sowol wore a bright, outward-facing smile, while Namgung Dowi patted his chest as though he truly felt relieved.
Watching the two of them, my head tilted on its own.
“I have no idea what you are talking about. You make me sound like the sort of person who cannot even manage the simple task of staying still, and who only causes trouble if I go outside.”
“Is that so...... well then. Enlightenment does indeed always come when one reflects upon oneself.”
“...?”
It was a strange feeling, as though the conversation had connected and yet had not connected at all.
Namgung Dowi met my eyes and curled up the corner of his mouth.
“White Moon Sword Lord. Your martial arts are excellent. To the point that, even compared with those who left their marks upon Murim history, there is no great lack.”
“I know.”
“Yes.. your martial arts are excellent...... your martial arts, that is.”
It was a gaze as though he were looking at something deeply regrettable. Dumbfounded, I ended up asking back.
“As far as I know, Sword King elder, you are not much different. Things other than the sword do not really enter your eyes, do they?”
“Even so, I have never neglected my duties as clan head. Look here. Just as I am standing in this place right now.”
To put it simply, he meant that even then, he was still better than me.
I could not understand it. No matter how I thought about it, compared to a sword-madman like Namgung Dowi, I was basically a normal person.
Well...... in a place like this, there was nothing for a normal person like me to do but take one step back.
I let out a short sigh and nodded.
“Anyway, I understand what you mean. You’re telling me to avoid getting unnecessarily entangled with the Imperial Family and ending up in a troublesome situation, aren’t you? Thank you for your concern. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Not you, but Princess Mueui...... no, it is nothing. In any case, thank you for agreeing to my request.”
“It’s nothing. Aren’t we close, Sword King elder?”
“I’m already anxious. If by any chance something does happen, please never say such a thing.”
Namgung Dowi shook his head from side to side. As one martial artist to another, he was truly someone I got along with well, but when he showed this side of himself as clan head, there were times I just could not understand him.
Was he not worrying far too much? Even if I looked like this, I was still rather...
Ah, now that I thought about it, Namgung Dowi still did not know about my regression.
A young man who had reached the realm of an absolute master at an early age because of his talent, but who was still poor at understanding the ways of the world or dealing with people.
Was that not roughly how he saw me?
It was common enough. If one devoted oneself only to martial arts, a person was bound to become simple, both in a good way and a bad way.
However, I was a completely different person from what Namgung Dowi thought.
Before my regression, I had gone through all kinds of things, and when the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance had been on the verge of collapse, had I not even stepped forward by force because everyone who should have led it had died?
I had never met someone from the Imperial Family, and I could not say with confidence that I would handle them as well as I handled others, but....
That did not mean I would cause trouble or get blatantly taken advantage of.
I decided simply to accept Namgung Dowi’s feelings with gratitude.
“Haa...... Sky-Winged Poison Phoenix. Do not forget how important your role is.”
“It always has been. I will do my best as far as I can.”
So the sight of Tang Sowol and Namgung Dowi exchanging determination with serious expressions was surely just needless fuss.
***
A woman in splendid clothes who had lost consciousness and collapsed, and a middle-aged man in golden robes sprawled out while coughing blood.
Looking down at the two of them, who showed not the slightest movement aside from breathing, I spoke.
“Are we screwed......??”
“Please stay calm, Brother Cheon. What has already happened cannot be undone. So let us gag them and tie up their hands and feet first before they wake up.”
Tang Sowol was calm.
As though she had expected this to happen.