A Medieval Knight in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 46

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shrine
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“Uncle! Look over there! It seems they’re preparing for some big event!”

I shifted my gaze following Hye-ryeong’s finger as she pointed excitedly like a child.

Strong men were bustling about, busily preparing something. Seeing lanterns hung here and there throughout the city, I wondered if they were holding a festival.

We walked through the city, with its lively atmosphere, searching for an inn where we could rest.

Unfortunately, this time Elder Baek didn’t know of any good inns, so we wandered around a bit before heading towards an inn on the outskirts.

The inns in the high-traffic city areas were already overflowing with countless people.

“Hey, innkeeper! Do you have two rooms available?”

“Yes! We have exactly two rooms left!”

“Give us those two rooms. And bring us some simple snacks as well.”

“Yes, sir!”

I watched the back of the busily walking innkeeper after he received our request briefly, and then I started to survey our surroundings.

It was so crowded here too, such that I couldn’t help but think we were lucky we were able to find any available rooms. Why were so many people gathered here? I discreetly tuned out of the conversation at our table and listened to those around us.

“Have you heard the news? The barbarians are causing trouble again. This time they’re making a fuss both up north and down south, so it’s quite a headache.”

“Are they causing trouble again? I heard unsettling rumours last year when they caused a commotion and martial artists were mobilized to deal with them… It looks like we might really get dragged into it this time.”

“Would the Son of Heaven take martial artists with him? At most, he’d probably select a few righteous sect martial artists to form a special unit. After all, martial artists aren’t that useful on a real battlefield.”

Barbarians, huh. Did they mean the Japanese pirates and the nomads?

I didn’t know history well enough to know exactly who they were referring to, but it seemed better to avoid going north if possible. I didn’t want to get caught up in a war unnecessarily.

But wasn’t there any other topic besides these gloomy stories?

I continued eavesdropping on the men who kept chattering about national affairs. Hye-ryeong was looking at me strangely, but she seemed to realize what I was doing and soon averted her gaze, resuming her conversation with our companions.

“I hope this night market won’t disappoint me.”

“Has the night market manager ever disappointed us? I’m sure he’ll present some amazing treasure this time as well.”

“I wonder who will become the owner of the treasure.”

“That’s interesting too, but I heard the pleasure houses are preparing special performances, so shouldn’t we go see those?”

“If you get intoxicated by those women, you might not even get to see the treasure. The items that appear at the night market are all rare, so don’t get distracted.”

I couldn’t help but perk up my ears at the word “treasure” amidst the excited voices.

A treasure, huh.

I wondered what this treasure that was supposedly going to be unveiled at the night market could be. Originally, I had planned to stay just one night and leave, but it might not be bad to look around the night market once.

We had already delivered all the necessary information to the Wulin Alliance’s Tongcheng branch, and there was still almost a month left until the gathering of the renowned experts from the righteous sects began, so we had plenty of time.

“So do you know what is this treasure that is going to be presented?”

“Ahem, my throat is dry, it’s hard to speak…”

“Oh come on, waiter! Bring us a bottle of flower wine here!”

“Yes, sir!”

How needlessly annoying, But I guess it would be awkward to ask him directly without even buying him something to drink.

“Uncle? The food is here, you can eat now.”

“I heard you stop nagging.”

“Hmm.”

Hye-ryeong made a laughing sound that made me want to give her a smack and then picked up her chopsticks. I also picked up my chopsticks and dug into the food that had already started to disappear.

“I only heard this by chance, but the treasure that’s going to be unveiled this time is…”

Come on, couldn’t you speak a little louder? Your voice was too low.

If I asked directly, they probably wouldn’t tell me.

“Sir, are you that curious?”

“When a treasure is mentioned, how can I not be interested?”

“If it’s a famous treasure, you should be able to see it while looking around the night market.”

Hajin was right.

Since it was being unveiled at the night market, we should be able to see the treasure if we walked around.

And speaking of the night market, there was one more thing I wanted to look for.

A qinggong manual.

I didn’t want some coveted high-level qinggong manual that everyone would desire, just something adequate that I could use.

It would be convenient to learn at least a fairly decent qinggong for any future endeavors.

Actually, if I could just ride a horse, there would be no need to learn qinggong, but since maintaining a horse was incredibly expensive, it would be cheaper to just learn even a third-rate qinggong.

So I planned to check if there was a qinggong manual I could learn that didn’t require mastering a specific internal energy cultivation method.

“I wonder if they sell manuals at the night market.”

“If it’s a night market held in such a large city, you might be lucky enough to find a decent manual. Though most of them are likely to be close to basic techniques…”

Hajin, who had been eating quietly, chimed in responding to my muttering.

“Uncle, why do you want to buy a martial arts manual?”

“I want to try learning qinggong.”

“If it’s about learning qinggong… Why don’t you just learn the Flowing Water Step… Oh. Uncle, you didn’t learn the Primal Yang Technique, did you?”

Hye-ryeong started to speak but belatedly realized that I hadn’t learned the Haenam Sword Sect’s internal energy cultivation method and made an apologetic expression.

“Sir William, qinggong isn’t that difficult to learn, so if you obtain a manual, I’d be happy to help you.”

“You can ask me for help too if there’s anything you don’t understand!”

Hye-ryeong, what’s the point of asking you when the Elder is right here?

Still, I thought I should prepare some questions to ask her later so she wouldn’t feel left out. It would be a bit mean not to indulge her when she was looking at me with such sparkling, expectant eyes.

“Alright, now eat your food.”

“Hehe.”

Is that really something to be so happy about?

I smiled wryly as I watched Hye-ryeong resume eating with gusto.

Maybe this is what it would have felt like to have a little sister.

“Then after we finish eating and rest a bit, let’s go see the night market!”

“Alright, but finish your meal first.”

The freshly steamed dumplings are getting cold.

I popped a steaming dumpling into my mouth.

Ah, I craved kimchi. Dumplings should be eaten with a piece of kimchi on top. But in a place where kimchi was unknown, that wouldn’t happen unless I made it myself.

…But then again, there might not even be chili peppers here in the first place.

As far as I knew, chili peppers were introduced quite late. And even then, they probably weren’t the varieties I knew, so recreating 21st-century kimchi would be nearly impossible.

All I could do was imagine the faint taste of kimchi while chewing and swallowing the dumplings.

After filling my stomach, I put down my chopsticks and downed the flower wine the waiter had brought with the meal in one gulp.

I wasn’t sure if it tasted good, but it was a bit bitter.

“I’ll go rest in our room for a bit.”

“Go ahead.”

“Please go in.”

“Rest well, Sir.”

It was still daylight, so I thought I’d catch a bit of sleep. I got up, asked the waiter for directions to our rooms, and went up the stairs.

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“Uncle?”

“…Ah. Is it evening already?”

I turned my head to look out the window.

The dark sky and the reddish light rising from below irritated my eyes. Were those all lanterns? I stretched and got up.

My body was in decent condition, probably because I had slept for a few hours.

Actually, it wouldn’t have been bad to meditate either… but since I had done plenty of that on the way here, skipping it for one day should be fine. I asked Hye-ryeong, who was humming with her hands behind her back:

“Where did the others go?”

“Elder Baek and Mu-guang went to the Wulin Alliance branch, and Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, and Geonsam are drinking together.”

“I guess we’ll go to the night market then.”

“Hehe.”

A huge smile spread across Hye-ryeong’s face. It was clearly a face full of anticipation.

Is she that happy about going to the night market together? I’m glad too, but…

After all, I’ve experienced about 4 years of military life, combining my time in the military in reality and in this place.

“Is the night market open already?”

“They say it opens in about two hours!”

“Then we have time to wash up before going out.”

I grabbed a towel and left the room.

Hye-ryeong followed behind me like a baby penguin, and we arrived at the well together.

“Hye-ryeong, why are you following me?”

“Um… just because?”

She replied with a meaningful smile. I looked at Hye-ryeong with narrowed eyes and smiled, then drew water from the well.

The water in the bucket looked refreshingly cool at a glance.

I guess just washing my face will do. Washing my hair is… a bit awkward.

It would be nice if there was soap here too.

Having no choice, I washed my face and hair with water and dried off completely with the towel. Then I spoke to Hye-ryeong, who was waiting for me, leaning against the building wall:

“Let’s just put the towel back and head out right away.”

“The towel basket is right here!”

“Ah, so it is.”

I tossed the towel into the basket Hye-ryeong pointed out and straightened my clothes.

Now it’s time to leave.

Sensing it was time to depart, Hye-ryeong stood next to me and held out her hand.

“The night market will be crowded, so we might get separated. Please hold my hand!”

“Of course.”

I gently took Hye-ryeong’s hand. Though there were calluses on her hand, the soft touch of her hand tickled my fingers. When I looked at Hye-ryeong, she was looking up at me with a flushed face.

“Now let’s go explore!”

And so, Hye-ryeong and my night market adventure began.

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As expected. It is not exactly a surprise that she has feelings for William but for some reason it feels like a little girl having a crush on her mature uncle while he just indulges her.