A Medieval Knight in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 38

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shrine
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“To obtain an alias in less than a month after entering the martial arts world here… that’s remarkable, Sir,” Mu-guang exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

So, you do have interests other than swords.

You, who always talked about sword techniques and forms even while sitting in the carriage, had other interests. Perhaps he had been scolded too much by Elder Baek.

“You’ll get one soon too,” William replied.

“I hope so… but isn’t it said that aliases are difficult to obtain if you seek them, and come naturally when you don’t?” Mu-guang mused.

“So stop bothering Sir William and focus more on practicing your swordsmanship,” Elder Baek chided.

“Yes, Master,” Mu-guang responded.

After being reprimanded by Elder Baek, Mu-guang scratched his head and resumed swinging his sword. William watched him for a moment before turning and heading back to the campsite.

At the campsite, Hye-ryeong was alone, staring blankly at the crackling fire.

“Uncle lion, you’re back?” she called out.

“What’s with you calling me ‘Uncle lion’?” William asked.

“Since you’re the Blue-Eyed Lion Uncle, I shortened it to ‘Sa-jeo-ssi’ (Uncle Lion)!” Hye-ryeong explained cheerfully.

What an odd nickname, William thought. To be frank, it didn’t seem like a typical alias from a martial arts novel. He wondered if Hye-ryeong might actually be a transmigrator or reincarnator herself. Her behavior was so out of place for someone from medieval China that it was hard to believe.

Scratching his head at Hye-ryeong’s peculiar sense, William sat down beside her. Where was Hajin?

“Where did Hajin go?” he asked.

“He went out hunting for a bit! I’m keeping watch over the fire,” Hye-ryeong replied.

“You didn’t go with him?”

“I’m really bad at hunting… I can’t see well below me…” Hye-ryeong hung her head low. It seemed like she was looking down at her own chest.

Indeed, with such a large chest, even if tightly bound, it would be difficult to chase after fleeing animals. Even martial artists couldn’t do that with that kind of body, after all.

William recalled seeing her struggle when eating as well, with seasonings falling onto her chest. From Hye-ryeong’s perspective, that large chest must be quite inconvenient.

“Don’t look so glum. You have things you’re good at too,” William consoled her.

“I do?” Hye-ryeong perked up.

“Um… you’re….good at talking?” William offered, not having many ideas.

“Hehe,” Hye-ryeong giggled.

It was just something William had said off the top of his head, but she seemed to like it. Well, if she was happy with it, that was fine. William smiled slightly and drew his longsword.

He only took this sword out now. His beloved weapon gleamed with a sunset hue in the warm light cast by the flames. He wondered when he would actually get to wield it, after just oiling it all this time.

Though he was trying to avoid fights if possible, eventually he would have to draw his sword. He made a mental note to find a capable blacksmith near the Wulin Alliance and have another sword made.

It might not be bad to have a gladius specialized for sword fighting or a more versatile armed sword made. With the many arts he had learned, having one more tool to use in actual combat would be advantageous.

While longsword techniques were versatile, sometimes a weapon specialized for certain sword techniques could be more useful than the versatility of longsword techniques.

As William pondered this while gazing at the campfire, Hajin emerged from the bushes holding a dead well dressed rabbit. He brushed off the leaves stuck to his body, washed the rabbit with some water he was carrying, then skewered it on a wooden stick and placed it over the fire.

“Have you done this often?” William asked.

“I learned to do it a few years ago when I had to go to the Wulin Alliance,” Hajin explained.

“The Wulin Alliance… We should reach Changsha in about half a day, so we’ll soon be in Hubei Province,” William noted.

Since they were currently just south of Changsha, that seemed about right. They could rush there now if they wanted, but there was no need to hurry.

By now, news of the demon cult’s attack on the Haenam Sword Sect and the appearance of the Lightning Bombs would have spread throughout the Wulin Alliance in Hubei Province. By the time they arrived, countermeasures would likely be in place.

…They would be, right?

William hoped they weren’t just wasting time in pointless meetings. He recalled how frustrated he had been with the allied forces doing that when he was a knight in the Western Regions.

In war, you had to first execute the politicians before things could move forward.

It was because they couldn’t do that that his knight order had been annihilated.

“Hubei…” William mused.

“Senior Brother, will we be able to see Dongting Lake on the way?” Hye-ryeong asked eagerly.

“We should be able to see it from a distance,” Hajin replied.

“Hoho, Dongting Lake. It’s truly a dreamlike place. It really seems like a lake where immortals would live,” Elder Baek commented.

“Eh, what immortals? It’s just full of drunkards passed out after drinking too much,” Hagyeong scoffed.

“Hagyeong,” Elder Baek warned.

“Ah, I got it,” Hagyeong backed down.

The eldest disciple was dignified while the second was flippant – it seemed like he had a personality that would easily get into trouble. William shifted his gaze from the cheeky Hagyeong to the rabbit that was starting to brown nicely over the fire.

The portions seemed a bit small for seven people. Well, they could each eat a little and supplement that with food bought from the previous village…

“It seems to be cooked now,” Hajin announced.

Taking the lead, Hajin removed the meat from the bones and distributed it among the seven of them.

After finishing their simple meal, they spread out the blankets they had brought and layed down.

It wasn’t ideal to lie down right after eating, but mornings came early in the martial arts world, so it was better to sleep early.

It’s not like they had smartphones or any form of night time entertainment here anyway.

“Uncle…” Hye-ryeong called out softly from beside William as he lay with his eyes closed. Her voice was barely audible. William responded quietly:

“What is it?”

“Sleep well.”

“…You too, sleep well,” William replied.

He heard a soft “hehe” of laughter. With that laughter, William’s consciousness faded into darkness.

“Is that Changsha over there?”

“I’ve seen it before, but every time I see this scenery, I feel overwhelmed.”

As Hajin said, there was something about Changsha’s scenery that overwhelmed people.

Was it because it was a mega-city rarely seen in this era? Or was it because of the tall buildings lined up, making it hard to tell if this was in the medieval times or in the modern days I knew?

Perhaps it was both.

William kept his eyes fixed on Changsha’s appearance, even as he continued walking.

It made him newly realize that he had indeed come to the Central Plains.

The towns in the Western regions were truly small, probably not even a fraction of Changsha’s size. Only domains with castles reached a level that could be called proper human settlements.

He understood now why there were jokes before his transmigration like the one about one country being only as big as Dobong-gu

“Hoho, while Changsha has many sights for us to see, Dongting Lake, which can be seen by going upstream, is one of Hunan’s most representative scenic spots. If things go well, it might be good to stop by once,” Elder Baek suggested.

“That would be nice if that was possible,” William agreed.

“Well, wouldn’t a short visit be fine, Elder?” Hajin added.

“Don’t we have a lot to do? We need to finish discussing the demon cult that has just revealed itself, and shouldn’t we build relationships at the assembly? There’s also a martial arts tournament scheduled soon, where we need to achieve results, right?” Elder Baek countered.

There certainly was a lot to do. But shouldn’t everything stop when the demon cult was mentioned?

“Will the events continue as normal even though the demon cult is active?” William asked.

“They will. On the surface, it might seem like we’re underestimating the demon cult, but… continuing with the events as planned is also a declaration that ‘we are not intimidated by the likes of the demon cult to the extent that we have to cancel our events’” Elder Baek explained.

It was about showing strength, William realized. Looking at it that way, it didn’t seem like a bad strategy. The problem was that if they were caught off guard, they could suffer greatly.

Therefore, the main topic of the anti-demon cult meeting would likely be how to detect and deal with the demon cult’s schemes.

Of course, William wouldn’t be entering the meeting room himself, so he’d only hear the conclusions they reached from Elder Baek.

If things followed the original work, the demon cult wouldn’t cause trouble, so things should progress smoothly, but…

What if there were variables on their side too?

What if their failure to annihilate the Haenam Sword Sect caused the situation to snowball in an unexpected direction?

Where and how would that snowball roll?

William kept his unease to himself and nodded in agreement with Elder Baek’s words.

“Who will participate in the martial arts tournament?” he asked.

“Hagyeong and Mu-guang will participate,” Elder Baek replied.

“I’ll crush all those arrogant bastards, so Senior Brother can leave it to me!” Hagyeong boasted.

“I’ll do my best,” Mu-guang said humbly.

“I’m planning to participate in the Phoenix Tournament too!” Hye-ryeong chimed in.

Was there a separate tournament just for female martial artists?

Hye-ryeong declared with an enthusiastic face that she would definitely obtain a cool alias.

“You’ll cheer for me, right?” she asked William.

“Of course,” he replied.

“Hehe,” she giggled.

“I heard the prize for winning this time is a rare spiritual medicine, so it’s exciting. Hye-ryeong, show the people of the Central Plains how fierce the swordsmanship of the Haenam Sword Sect is,” Elder Baek encouraged.

“Yes!” Hye-ryeong responded eagerly.

But isn’t that spiritual medicine meant for the protagonist to win and consume? William thought to himself.

No, since this is a separate tournament, it might not matter.

The one in danger is Hagyeong.

William silently wished Hagyeong well, knowing she would be defeated by the protagonist.

“By the way, Sir William, won’t you participate in the martial arts tournament?” Hajin asked.

“Me?” William responded.

“Yes. You should be able to participate as an unaffiliated martial artist.”

William thought about participating … but knowing that the protagonist would come and sweep everything, William didn’t feel the need to participate. He shook his head, and Hajin said with a disappointed face:

“I was hoping to see you fight in a match…”

“That’s something we can do when we have time later. More importantly… let’s think about which inn we’ll stay at in Changsha now.”

“Hoho, leave that to this old man. I know a good inn,” Elder Baek said.

I hope we’re not getting involved in something again, William thought with slight unease as they entered Changsha.

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