Chapter 38 Overseas Trip

Chapter 38: Overseas Trip

Absolute Master After Divorce, Lightning-Struck Tycoon After Divorce, SSS-Class Hunter After Divorce.

Titles of web novels I saw in the hospital right before I died in my past life.

Living as a lifelong bachelor, I read them back then wondering why these keywords were trending.

Looking back now, they were keywords that couldn’t help but trend.

How could I know without ever getting married?

Well, that’s because the black cat named Myohyang living in my house turned into a golden cat.

“Hey! Put some clothes on, will ya?! Why are you always walking around shirtless?!”

If I even tried to cool off by taking off my shirt, a nagging voice like a high soprano would rain down on me.

“Sis. I’m craving meat dishes for dinner tonight…”

“How old are you, still whining about side dishes?”

No request ever passed easily.

“If you’ve nothing better to do, go line up the patients for me.”

I was forced into grueling labor.

Seeing this happen to mere housemates made me roughly picture the lives of married men.

‘What kind of fight are you people having?’

Kick me out and live alone?

I’m human too, so sometimes I think that.

But how could I kick out Myohyang, who was like a real sister?

Moreover.

‘Myohyang pays for all the living expenses too…’

Food, firewood, clothing, even household goods—Myohyang covered every single expense in the house.

I’d offered to contribute to the living expenses countless times.

‘My promise to take care of Chief Jin wasn’t a lie. If I took that money, wouldn’t it mean Chief Jin was taking care of me?’

Thanks to her, I was living a life of eating and sleeping without spending a single penny.

Anyway, what I need now is time.

Time to escape that cryptic figure called Myohyang and find peace of mind.

And that opportunity came sooner than expected.

“So, escort the Third Prince to the entrance of Shaanxi Province? With the Blue Dragon Sword?”

Because North Palace Baek had generated a new quest.

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t your escort alone suffice? The Third Young Master’s martial arts are formidable.”

“It’s not about safety.”

“Then what is it?”

“He said he needed a traveling companion.”

I tilted my head at the unexpected request.

It didn’t strike me as a particularly auspicious connection.

“Since it’s an order from the Military Department, there’s no room for refusal. Departure is tomorrow, so rest today.“

Even without this, he had intended to return home, but he nodded with the most grateful expression he could muster.

”I shall never forget the master’s kindness for the rest of my life!“

”······.”

It doesn’t cost anything to overact once.

After bowing his farewell, the thought suddenly struck him on the way out.

‘Not bad, huh?’

The journey from Guolong City, right next to the capital, to the Sichuan-Shaanxi border was roughly a thousand li.

Traveling by horse, he could easily make the round trip in a fortnight, even allowing for extra time.

As the son of the Minghuang City Lord, he wouldn’t be sleeping rough on the road; he could rest in inns at night.

‘A free trip, then.’

He’d been feeling stifled anyway, so this seemed like a welcome change.

* * *

The next day.

He joined Yi Jeok-ha’s party and exited through the North Gate.

The road to Shaanxi Province was mostly paved with wide official highways, dotted with villages along the way.

Moreover, thanks to the carriage prepared for the Three Young Masters by Guryongseong, the journey was remarkably comfortable.

The problem was.

“The sword has its way. It can save lives or take them. That’s why our Blue Dragon Sect…“

”While the speed of the sword is important, I believe its direction is equally crucial. That’s why in our Muwang City…“

”Master said that the sword…“

”I once saw Father wielding the Sword of the Void, and the sight of it…”

The problem was that I simply couldn’t bear to listen to the conversation of the two sword geeks in front of me.

It felt exactly like being forced to listen to middle-aged women in the front seats of the KTX discussing morning dramas.

I felt like I was going to lose my mind, staring blankly out the window with unfocused eyes, when Lee Jeok-ha spoke up.

“Oh! We’ve been talking too much about swords in front of the Master. My apologies. Team Leader Jin.“

”Now that you mention it, you’re right. How about we talk about sword techniques instead?“

”That’s a great idea. We have a master of sword techniques right here.”

Seriously, is martial arts the only thing you can talk about?

Finally, after holding back until I felt like I was going to lose my mind, I decided to take control of the conversation.

“How about we skip that and talk about life instead? Like regional specialties, for example.”

Like how Sichuan province is famous for its Sichuan pepper powder.

After briefly discussing local specialties from each region, the conversation quickly stalled.

Because, frankly, these two were idiots who knew absolutely nothing outside of martial arts.

“You don’t know much, do you? How about food? I hear people in the north eat a lot of hotpot?”

“I eat whatever’s put in front of me…”

“Me too…”

‘What the hell is the point of living?’

After that, I brought up economics, animals, hunting, the weather, even politics—a forbidden topic.

“Never seen it, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Too busy training to read.”

“Never even shot a bow, let alone hunted.”

“Is that so?”

The conversation simply wouldn’t progress.

If I didn’t quickly shift to another topic, these geeks would inevitably retreat back into their own little worlds.

Finally, I threw out the last keyword I’d been saving.

“What kind of place is Muheungseong? I’ve never been there, so I’m curious.”

They surely wouldn’t be unaware of the place they belonged to.

“Hmm, Muheungseong…”

“If it’s sensitive, you don’t have to talk about it.”

“No, it’s fine. I can filter out sensitive topics myself. Let me see… Our Muheungseong is…“.

Only then did the conversation begin to progress.

I too was curious about Muheungseong, so I opened my ears wide.

In this world without the internet, news from thousands of miles away was precious information.

”It’s a place where martial arts are everything.”

“…?”

The explanation that followed from Yi Jeok-ha was utterly horrifying.

The average training time for martial artists in Muheungseong was 10 to 12 hours a day.

He even said the time devoted to mental training wasn’t counted as training time, but as sleep time.

And as if that weren’t enough, they discussed martial arts even while eating or drinking.

What kind of dystopian worldview was this?

“Then when the hell do they rest?”

“What, you’re worried about that? When you die, you get eternal rest.”

Unlike me, grimacing in horror, Dan-un listened to Lee Jeok-ha’s explanation with an expression brimming with interest throughout.

And then.

“That’s a culture we need in Guryongseong too. I’ll spread it around as soon as I get back.”

He displayed the resolve to spark a revolution in Guryongseong, much like Lenin after reading Marx’s Capital.

Watching him, I made a firm resolution deep within my heart.

‘If this bastard ever becomes the castle lord, I’m out of here immediately.’

In many ways, it was the start of a journey quite different from what I’d imagined.

* * *

Except for the endless martial arts debates, the journey wasn’t bad.

By day, we traveled comfortably by carriage, taking in the sights.

When night fell, we stopped at villages, feasting on delicious food and wine at inns until we were stuffed, then resting our weary bodies in comfortable beds.

After a week of such travel, we had almost reached the border between Sichuan and Shaanxi.

Now, Yi Jeok-ha and his companions would pass through Shaanxi and Shanxi, heading for Wuhuang City in Liaoning.

As parting time came, Yi Jeok-ha looked back at Dan Un with a bitter expression.

“These past few days with you all will be a lifelong memory.”

Dan Un, who had long been acquainted with Yi Jeok-ha, bowed his head slightly and returned the salute.

“The same goes for me. I’ll visit Wuhuang City soon.”

“Is that so? When you come, I’ll let you thoroughly examine the swords of my Wuhuang City.”

“More than that, I wish to learn the advanced culture of Wuhuang City.”

“Hah, I’ll help with that too. Visit anytime.”

Somehow, it felt like a dreadful conversation had passed, but I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge it.

Then, Yi Jeok-ha thrust his face forward and greeted me.

“The greatest gain from this trip to Guryongseong seems to be meeting you.”

Seeing his smiling toad-like face, I nearly burst out laughing.

With superhuman patience, I barely held it in and replied.

“To call me a gain? I’m merely a lowly outer court warrior. That’s an outrageous thing to say.”

“Haha, modest too? If you’re just an outer court warrior, then I must be worse than one. After all, I lost to you.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“One thing—if we fight again, it won’t be easy. I’m not the type to fall for the same trick twice.“

”I look forward to it.“

Yeah, today’s the end of it anyway. We won’t be seeing each other again.

”By the way. Have you ever considered coming to Muwangseong? I’d offer you the best treatment.“

”Now I see, Third Young Master, you’re quite the joker.“

”Only half a joke.”

Realizing half was serious, I hastily declined.

“I have too many people under my responsibility…”

Switching sects was absurd, but someone like the Third Prince of Muwangseong might find a way. Better to refuse firmly.

“What a pity.”

After that chilling farewell, we parted ways.

He headed northeast.

Danun and I rode southwest.

On the way back, Danun spoke to me, his gaze noticeably deeper.

“Swords, you see…”

Oh, man.

* * *

Half a day passed as we walked along the road, half-listening to the sword geek’s tedious explanations.

As the sun began to set, we arrived at a village and headed for an inn.

“Dumplings, vegetable stew, and two bottles of rice wine.”

A simple meal, unlike our departure.

That made sense—on the way there, Golden Toad, Yi Jeok-ha, had paid, but on the way back, we had to manage with the budget given to us.

But there was a major miscalculation in my plan.

“Have them boil a couple of chickens too. Cancel the rice wine; make it baijiu instead.“

It was Danun, the wealthy heir apparent of the Blue Dragon Sect.

”I’ll buy, so eat plenty.“

”Oh my! I’ll eat heartily.”

The one who buys the drinks is always right.

Come to think of it, today was the first time Danun and I had ever drunk together, just the two of us.

When we were close, we were too young to drink.

After reaching drinking age, I was too busy avoiding him.

I worried slightly that he might get drunk and start swinging his sword, but that didn’t happen.

Instead, we reminisced about memories from the Ascension Pavilion and had a pleasant conversation.

“Heh heh heh, Brother Dan should have seen Instructor Chil’s face. It was quite the sight.”

“Really? Why didn’t I get to see that?”

“Well, wasn’t it because Dan-hyung was too busy training?”

“It would’ve been fun to watch together.”

“See? That’s why you have to play when you play! This whole education system based on competition is the problem. Politicians don’t understand a thing. The kids are suffering so much. Speaking of which, the curriculum should focus more on developing critical thinking than rote memorization. How can we cultivate proper talent when all they do is make us memorize things?“

As I poured out my sweeping criticism of Guryongseong’s education policy, Danun’s eyebrows twitched.

”······I also think training primarily through memorization isn’t good.”

“Oh ho, Brother Dan, you think that too?”

“Yes, I believe focusing on sword training is better than rote memorization. I suspect the entire Blue Dragon Hall shares that view.”

“……Well now, that’s something the Green Dragon Hall would find disappointing to hear.”

Something felt off about that, but since the gist was clear, I let it slide.

Amidst the back-and-forth conversation, bottles of liquor began piling up on the table.

How much time had passed?

Clunk!

The inn door swung open, revealing a man covered head to toe in blood.

It was Lee Jeok-ha’s bodyguard.

The large, imposing figure rushed to the table and spoke in a voice trembling with fear.

“Th-Th-Third Young Master has been attacked.”

No wonder things were going smoothly.