The World's Greatest is Dead

Whoosh. Shrrk.

The sword cut through the air more slowly than usual. Normally, these were movements meant to brush past and cleave as fast as possible, but not this time.

Slowly.

As slowly as I could.

I moved the sword while keeping only my posture steady. The trembling tip of the blade gave off a strange sensation.

Wooooong.

The sword cry rang out. By now, the feeling of making the sword cry was familiar. It was the same as then.

I aimed the tip of the sword and focused on the resonance.

It had been the same then, too.

I had focused everything on the sword cry. I had not even thought about anything else.

To enter body-and-sword unity—

What was the most important part?

If I had to choose, then for me—

A state of complete absorption.

First, I had to enter a state of complete absorption. Keeping that in mind, I put strength into my body.

PZZZZZZZZT—!!!!!! Radiant Moon Flash Aura burst out like a flash of light and wrapped around my whole body.

When I used Moonbolt, that distinctive uplift surged through me.

Moonbolt made me enter an artificial state of complete absorption. Within it, my physical abilities and reaction speed rose explosively through energy, and the destructive power of every martial art increased, but—

This doesn’t feel right.

It felt different from the state of complete absorption needed to enter body-and-sword unity. Was the problem that it was artificial?

I could not feel the sensation from that time.

The feeling of the paths becoming one.

All five senses had aligned with the sword, and the path I saw had focused into one.

That alien shape, as if time had stopped, which I had felt back then.

That was what I was chasing.

Shrrrk.

I slid the sword I had been swinging back into its scabbard.

“Whew.”

I was soaked in sweat. I had struggled to chase only the sensation from that time, and in the process, far too much time had passed.

“It isn’t easy.”

This was difficult.

“Nothing you can tell me?”

I asked out of frustration. Naturally, the one receiving the question was the Heavenly Demon.

[Kkeul-kkeul—]

He laughed.

[Once you have already grasped the first thread, teaching becomes meaningless.]

“......Why?”

[Do you know why Yoo Cheongil did not tell you about body-and-sword unity?]

“Because he disappeared before he could?”

[That may be one reason, but it is not the same.]

“......Then.......”

[Body-and-sword unity is ultimately different for every individual who sees that realization. It is not a realm that can be taught. For example—]

Sssssss.

The Divine Sword trembled by itself. I had not done it.

[This seat’s body-and-sword unity was achieved through one single thought: cutting off the opponent’s neck.]

“......What?”

[Kill. It was the result of the most primal and instinctive thing—killing. Then what was yours?]

“.......”

Me.

The one thing I had been looking at.

What was it?

I had not been trying to kill Mo Yong Tae. I had only focused on the sword cry, and poured all my strength into erasing thought.

Was that the reason?

Was erasing thought the first thread of my body-and-sword unity?

......I don’t think so.

That was not it. I knew it instinctively.

“Hmm.......”

[Do not rush.]

The Heavenly Demon spoke.

[The fact that you entered that place means you will eventually reach it. That is what {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} kind of place it is.]

“.......”

A place I would eventually reach...... Was that really true?

I still could not tell.

Even if he told me not to rush—

I’ve already felt it.

The sensation of touching body-and-sword unity.

I did not think I would be able to forget it.

This is ridiculous.

What was it, anyway?

I had been a human being with not the slightest interest in martial arts. How had I ended up like this?

Martial learning, huh.

I still did not understand it.

But—

It isn’t bad.

This kind of complexity was gradually starting to feel not bad.

*****

A day passed, and I climbed the mountain again.

I arrived at the summit where Mo Yong Tae was.

“You came.”

When I came with Mo Yong Yeongsun, Mo Yong Tae looked at me and frowned. Why that expression the moment he saw me?

Just now, when he was looking at Mo Yong Yeongsun, he had looked as if the whole world were pretty. The instant he saw me, his face turned into one looking at filth.

“Isn’t that a bit much?”

Discrimination could happen. But looking at me with that much contempt was too much.

When I spoke like I found it absurd, Mo Yong Tae pointed to his own shoulder.

“That is not something I should hear from the one who did this to an old man’s arm.”

“.......”

The aftermath of the spar.

The very fact that I had wounded that old man was a miracle, and yet it still felt strange every time I saw it.

Well, that was that.

“......I think you brought it on yourself.”

It was not as if I had wanted to fight. He was the one who had made a wager, and this was what happened. Meaning it was not my fault.

“Hah. One exchange of swords and you’ve lost all manners. Yeongsun, this is what kind of man he is.”

“......Grandfather, please.”

Maybe the problem was that he was trying to start a fight from the beginning. Mo Yong Yeongsun sighed.

“Tch.”

As if that was enough, Mo Yong Tae shook his head and tossed me a pouch.

The instant I caught it, I froze.

Clink.

The sensation from inside felt bizarrely unpleasant.

Surely not, right?

Unease swept through my head.

“That is it. The item your grandfather left behind.”

“......I...... see.”

“Judging by your face, it seems you know what that is.”

“.......”

I had an idea. I had just been hoping it was not true.

But as always, my damn hopes had never once come true.

“.......”

This time was no different.

I opened the pouch slightly. After checking what was inside, I frowned.

How did my guesses never miss, not even for an instant?

“Goddamn it—”

I whispered quietly.

Inside were two pairs of bells.

Seeing them, I let out a low groan.

“What did your grandfather leave you?”

Mo Yong Tae asked, sounding curious.

“Do you not know......?”

“I was not especially curious, so I never looked.”

“......Just.”

If I had to put it one way—

“He left me trash.”

Incredible trash.

Not just trash, either. It was something I had thought I had gotten rid of long ago, something I would never have to see again.

Something utterly useless to me.

Something I did not want to keep anywhere near me.

He had put that into my hands.

At my answer, Mo Yong Tae gave a small laugh.

“That sounds like him.”

It was a statement that gave me a very clear picture of what kind of person he had been. Seriously, what kind of human had he been? My memory was so hazy that nothing came to mind.

No, forget it. That was not the problem right now.

These bells, and the word precept.

If he knew even the word precept—

What the hell is this?

What connection did he have to my past life?

I could not understand it.

This makes it seem like—

There was some reason I had reincarnated into the Bang Family.

“Tsk.”

I swallowed a groan.

“Enough. If your business is done, go down. It is about time for me to tend the medicinal herbs.”

“......Ah, yes. Understood.”

As if to say I should leave now that the main matter was handled, Mo Yong Tae waved his hand. At that, I bowed my head.

Whatever the case, it was also true that thanks to him, I had gained body-and-sword unity.

“I’ll see you next time.”

“Why would I see you next time?”

“......If you don’t want to, then don’t.”

“Such manners.......”

Tch.

Listening to Mo Yong Tae click his tongue, I turned around.

Mo Yong Yeongsun was about to quietly follow me as well when—

“You.”

Mo Yong Tae called me.

“Yes?”

“You may fool everyone else, but do not fool yourself.”

“.......”

“You have to do at least that much to be a man.”

Mo Yong Tae spoke to me with calm eyes.

I did not ask what he meant.

I knew.

“......Understood.”

“Go.”

“Yes.”

I took Mo Yong Yeongsun and descended the mountain.

Do not fool yourself.

That was a terribly difficult and painful thing to say.

*****

After that, I arrived at the Bang Family residence.

Mo Yong Yeongsun did not come with me. She said she had business at her family and had to go straight there, so only I returned.

As soon as I came back, a fragrant smell greeted me.

“Head Steward. Are you making something again?”

“I only prepared something simple.”

“......You worked hard.”

I smiled and thanked him.

Then I looked inside. For some reason, I could hear a lot of commotion.

What was this?

There should be no reason for the Bang Family residence to be this noisy.

When I went inside, I saw several children.

“Do this too!”

“Me too, big sister!”

They were familiar faces.

“What are you all doing?”

“Oh! It’s him!”

“Brother!”

They were the children from the Academy.

Why were they here?

And—

“What are you doing?”

“.......”

The one playing with those children was Yu Yeon.

“Brother! This big sister is amazing!”

“......What is?”

“She’s super strong! Big sister, show him again!”

At the child’s words, Yu Yeon carefully grabbed the child.

Whoosh—!

“Are you insane?”

She threw him upward with all her strength. He shot rapidly into the sky.

“Ahaha—!”

The sound of the child laughing brightly grew gradually closer. When he was about to reach the ground—

Rustle.

Yu Yeon stepped up lightly.

She rose into the air as if stepping on flower petals. My eyes widened slightly at the sight. How was that so natural and weightless?

Yu Yeon, having risen like that, caught the child in her arms before he could fall.

Thud—!

I stared blankly as she landed holding him.

“How was that!?”

The child asked me.

“......What do you mean, how was that?”

“It was amazing! This big sister is incredible.”

“......Yeah. Sure. She’s an incredible kid. I know that.”

Did that brat know?

Did he know that the girl he was treating like an amusement ride was Mount Hua’s greatest future, the Heavenly Demon’s daughter, and a famous figure called Sword Peak in the Central Plains?

“No. Forget it.”

“Big sister, me too!”

“Hey, hey. Stop bothering her.”

I peeled the kids away from her. If I did not, Yu Yeon seemed like she would keep playing with them.

“And you, stop entertaining the children.”

“.......”

Yu Yeon looked embarrassed.

As if realizing it was over, the children looked disappointed.

“So, why are you here?”

Why had the Academy children come?

When I asked, the children looked as if they had suddenly remembered and handed me a letter.

“This! The headmaster told us to give it to you.”

“The headmaster?”

Why would that old woman?

“She says you should visit once.”

“When?”

“At the Academy!”

“......That old woman isn’t at the Academy.”

She had been given the title of headmaster, but in reality, she was an old woman with no interest in the Academy. It did not matter. She had only been placed there in name anyway.

She was not someone we had put there to teach the children.

But—

She told me to come?

She told me to come?

“Don’t tell me that old woman is at the Academy.”

“Yeah! The headmaster is there!”

“......Why?”

That old woman was always shooting around in every direction. What was she doing there?

Since I could not understand it, I spoke, and—

“She told us to say this if you said that.”

The child suddenly furrowed his brow fiercely.

It was the face of someone imitating somebody else.

A face that seemed to carry every kind of irritation in the world.

Then he said to me,

“You had better bring me an explanation for why that lowborn thing from the North Sea is here.”

“.......”

“That’s what she told us to say!”

“......Mm.”

Hearing that, I nodded.

“I’m screwed.”

Lately, it felt like my luck had been completely smashed to pieces.