The Sword God has Returned - Chapter 174



Only Krnovel

Episode 174: Do you really want to hear old stories (5)

Half a year has already passed since I started working as a ronin.

I’ve been through a lot during that time. They also killed people. Quite a lot too. There was also a crisis where I almost died. But everything passed safely. The first murder, the first crisis, everything.

Thanks to this, I became a well-known ronin in the neighborhood.

I even got a nickname. The martial people call this a byeolho, but although nicknames and byeolhos have the same meaning, they have a completely different feel. It would be understandable if the byeong-ho is a slightly more formal name.

I was still too young to use a nickname. His skills were outstanding, and his reputation was also outstanding. So, it was correct to call the nickname given to me a nickname.

Well, in the first place, when Little Ghost-dong (小鬼童) was a nickname, it wasn’t something worth bragging about.

The reason I was given the nickname Sogwi-dong was simple. Because my teacher’s nickname is Nang-gwi (浪鬼). People used to call me Sogwi-dong, meaning I was the disciple of that nang-gwi.

Just adding the consonant ‘ai’ means ‘young’, but it also adds ‘small’ in front of it. It could be said that it was a nickname that clearly showed how much the Ronin treated me like a child.

Of course, maybe it was because I had proven myself to a certain extent over the past half year, but there were very few people who really treated me like a child, but isn’t inertia important in anything? Nowadays, Sogwi-dong has lost its original meaning and has become more of a nickname.

… Honestly, I wish they would give me a different nickname now, but is that up to me? Accepting it and living with it was a comfortable way to live.

I walked while listening to the noise of people.

The place I came from was Ronin City (浪人市), a place where ronin were bought and sold. Ronin usually received requests here.

“This is not Sogwi-dong. Are you missing the smell of blood already?”

“If anyone sees me, they’ll think I’m a crazy murderer.”

“It wasn’t?”

As I entered Ronin City, someone giggled and placed a hand on my shoulder.

His name was Yang Hu, and he was a ronin like me.

A few months ago, I received a request together with Yang Hu, and I must have been so impressed with my appearance at that time that he used to say that every time he saw me.

“If he’s a real murderer, call him by a nickname other than Sogwi-dong.”

“Sogwi-dong is Sogwi-dong. Even after becoming the best person in the world, you are still a small ghost.”

“You must be young.”

After gently removing Yang Hu’s hand, I looked at the request board.

All of the requests written on the wooden board were tasteless. To put it another way, we could say that there are only trash requests.

Why is the water quality like this? These are all requests that cost a small amount of money, but take a lot of time.

“Aren’t all the requests like trash?”

Yang Hu came over, giggling. This situation seemed enjoyable.

I answered with a frown.

“It wasn’t like this two weeks ago when I last visited Ronin City, so what happened to change it like this?”

“That’s because Moorim is peaceful these days.”

Ronin are people who eat spicy food. And for swords, for force to be necessary, chaos was needed, not peace like now.

Now that the structure between each faction was extremely stable, there was no place for the Ronin to make a big fuss. Simply put, it means that it is the off-season.

“I don’t know because you’re a kid, but it just happens sometimes. “Don’t worry too much.”

“I wasn’t worried. So how long does it usually last?”

“Originally, chaos was the norm for Moorim, and the current situation is abnormal. “There will soon be a lot of work.”

“How long until that happens?”

“But wouldn’t it take about half a year?”

Half a year.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

Currently I was saving money. It was all in order to obtain a higher level of martial arts.

I have everything planned out. We’ve already investigated how much a second-rate martial artist usually costs, but things are getting messed up like this?

half a year. For some it might only be half a year, but for me it wasn’t. I already learned martial arts late, but I didn’t want to waste any more time here.

“You look troubled.”

Yang Hu put his hand on my shoulder again.

Come to think of it, why was this guy so excited earlier? I’m the one who saved up the money, but he’s a guy who earns by the day and spends by the day, so he’s probably in a lot of trouble right now.

Yang Hu said with a grin.

“Do you think you need money? “This guy, even when I asked him to go to the red light district with me, he refused, but I guess he had fun afterwards?”

“Stop talking nonsense. “What, is there anything that makes money?”

At my words, Yang Hu changed his expression completely and looked around.

After confirming that no one was interested in us, Yang Hu took me to a quiet place in Ronin City.

“I received a request.”

“Did they pinpoint you for the request?”

“that’s right. Anyway, I was originally going to refuse, but the request fee is only the advance fee… “Because it’s like this.”

Yang Hu writes letters with his fingers on the palm of his hand. I took a long time to decipher what the letters meant, then opened my mouth.

That’s how absurd a number was written on Yang Hu’s palm.

“Have you already received the request?”

“I’m planning on getting it.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

I suspected Yang Hu’s head.

In the Ronin world, there are several proverbs that have been handed down since ancient times.

First, don’t be obsessed with silver.

Ronin are not people who belong somewhere. So, when receiving a request, yesterday’s enemy naturally becomes today’s ally.

In such a situation, if you go around picking on your allies’ backs because of yesterday’s memories, you will get dizzy in many ways, so there is a saying that you should not be obsessed with Eun-won. It is natural, but it is not always followed.

Of course, it was extremely rare to actually stab the other person’s back during a request. For a ronin, trust is life. People who do everything for money often say that trust is something, but trust was still important.

In fact, it is the same as a freelancer, but if trust is lost, who will entrust the request to you? So, if you wanted to continue your life as a ronin, you would usually manage your reputation.

However, ronin are also human. Is it possible to become friends with the guy who tried to stab me in the stomach yesterday? Usually it was difficult. So those who had experience fighting as enemies at least once usually did not get along well. Even if we meet as allies, we will stay away from the place where that bastard is, saying, “I’m dirty, so I won’t go there.”

Second maxim: Don’t try to be a hero.

Ronin usually had a low life. It was extremely rare to receive systematic instruction, and there were many cases in which people used martial arts learned on the street or from low-ranking military officers.

Of course, it was inevitable that the level would fall relatively.

Just thinking about it, there was bound to be a difference in training time between a person who had no worries and a person who had to worry about meals, life, and the future every day.

But does it end there? Even if you are a martial artist from a small or medium-sized school, you are far superior to cheap martial arts that can be learned anywhere. It means the level is different.

There is not enough training time, and the level of martial arts learned is low. Those guys who couldn’t compete with a proper martial artist were the ronin.

So the saying that came out was, don’t try to be a hero. Because I was fussing for no reason, my head just flew off.

This was not a word that was well kept either.

Ronin did not set out to become heroes. Ronin liked money more than being a hero. Is there any way I can do this?

But still, those words were not kept. The reason was simple.

Why isn’t it said that being ignorant is brave?

Because their level was low, they were unable to recognize the strength of their opponents, so they often died while attacking them. In the end, they had no choice because fighting was their job. It’s a shame.

And the long-awaited, final, third proverb.

Avoid requests that pay a lot of money.

Ronin has always been in short supply. This is the martial forest of Dosangeomrim. Force was necessary and always insufficient.

However, the ransom price of ronin did not rise above a certain level. Except for a few.

In the end, there was one reason why clans used ronin.

Because it was cheaper to use ronin.

Raising a person to be a warrior, or even a master, is a task that requires enormous resources. Is there any sect that would want to deploy the manpower they have raised in that way anywhere?

There wasn’t.

So, when sects needed to use someone for ‘anywhere’, they used ronin.

In such a situation, if the price of ronin increases, will the clans really use ronin? Because this was not the case, the ransom price of ronin did not rise beyond a certain level.

So the adage that came out was ‘Avoid requests that pay a lot of money.’

If there is a person who tries to spend a cheap ronin at a high price, he is 100% a dirty person.

Well, as you may have noticed, this statement was not followed very well.

The reason is… … .

The reason is right in front of me, so I will skip it.

“If you want to commit suicide, go to Dongdong Lake. “I heard the scenery there is so nice.”

“Wait a minute, I know what you’re worried about. But I’m a few years older than you, so you can’t even think about that?”

“I don’t think I can do it?”

“That’s because I said no.”

Yang Hu beat his chest as if he was frustrated.

“I’m not just a dog rolling around, I’ve been a ronin for 8 years. “I’ve been through all the prenatal and other hardships.”

“Why would a person like that want to accept such a suspicious request?”

“I tried to refuse at first, too. however… … .”

“however?”

“I used my connections to find out about this and that, and it seemed to be okay?”

I narrowed my eyes.

Yang Hu was a veteran. He lived as a ronin for eight years, risking his life every time. He is talented, but he was only able to do that if he had excellent crisis detection skills.

There must be one or two connections that have been made while living as a ronin for a long time. He wasn’t a beginner, and it didn’t seem like a ronin of Yang Hu’s level wouldn’t be able to pick out a suspicious request.

Still, what was suspicious was suspicious.

And Yang Hu was not a particularly trustworthy ronin. How can you trust a hedonistic bastard who squanders every penny he makes? It would have been more reasonable to say that he was attracted to the opportunity to make a lot of money.

“So Guidong, let’s do it together. “This is a request that requires a trustworthy person, and the client will also welcome you if you come.”

“As I said, if you want to commit suicide, go to Dongdongho-.”

“Are you looking for martial arts skills? no?”

I closed my mouth at those words.

How did know?

“It’s obvious. “If a young, talented guy doesn’t splurge, is there only one more?”

“So what should I do?”

“When a client submits a request, they are not only talking about money. “I said I would get money because I didn’t need it, but he said he could give me martial arts if I wanted.”

Martial arts is a vision. Therefore, the martial arts people did not carelessly pass on martial arts to others.

If information about martial arts was leaked, the law of destruction could have emerged. Therefore, martial artists often practiced in places where no one else could see.

“Anyway, martial arts can be bought with money. “I don’t see any reason to take the risk.”

“Even if you say martial arts that can be bought with money, they are second-rate martial arts. “Don’t you know?”

“… no way.”

“They said they would give you first-class martial arts skills. “I was surprised to hear that too.”

You’re giving me first-class martial arts skills?

It was even more suspicious.

In order to obtain first-class martial arts skills, you had to join a small or medium-sized sect with a strong foundation, or a prestigious sect.

In addition, there were cases where home appliance martial arts were top-notch martial arts skills, but as you can see from the examples, first-class martial arts skills were not something that could be learned by paying money.

Even if I did, I had to pay a huge amount of money.

In this situation, you’re just going to give me first-class martial arts?

As expected, it was right to refuse this.

It was right.

‘… … .’

The words “if you want to die, die alone” lingered in my head, but in the end they just lingered in my head and never came out.

First-class martial arts.

That was something I desperately wanted at the moment.

If I continue my life as a ronin for 10 years, will I really be able to obtain first-class martial arts skills?

The probability of not getting it would be higher than the probability of getting it.

A choice had to be made.

Originally, in everything, the higher the risk, the higher the return.

And with first-class martial arts skills, it was worth taking a high risk.

If you just get it, it will shorten the time by at least 10 years.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“So what is the request?”

“Are you going to do it?”

“After listening to the request and personally investigating who the client is.”

If you feel like you’re okay even though you’ve beaten all the stone bridges.

I didn’t know if this request might be worth a try.