A Medieval Knight in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 41

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shrine
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Once we cross this border, we’ll be in Hubei Province.”

“Finally, we can see the end of this journey.”

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what the Wulin Alliance is like!”

“Come on, all cities are the same. Junior Sister, don’t get your hopes up too high… Ow! Why did you hit me, Junior Sister?!”

“Senior Brother, don’t you have any tact?!”

We will be arriving at Hubei at last. After experiencing just how vast the Chinese land was during these past few months of travel, I didn’t feel particularly moved by the news that our journey was nearing its end.

They say it like that, but it still took a month to get here. That’s China for you.

The land truly was expansive.

“Our destination today is Tongcheng City. It’s located at the southernmost edge of Hubei Province, so once we arrive there, it could be said that we’ve reached the entrance of Hubei,” Elder Baek explained.

“The southernmost edge… I’ve heard that the Wudang Sect and the Zhuge Family are in Hubei Province,” Hajin commented.

I’d like to visit them if we have the chance.

As I voiced this thought, Elder Baek nodded with a smile in his eyes.

“That’s right. But unless we specifically go to find them, it’ll be hard to see the Wudang Sect. The Wulin Alliance is in Wuhan, but the Wudang Sect is on Mount Wudang at the northwestern edge of Hubei Province.”

Considering the vastness of China’s territory, even just visiting the Wudang Sect would take a lot of effort. Hubei Province alone was probably about half the size of the Korean Peninsula. The scale was overwhelmingly large.

“The Zhuge Family is in Jingzhou too! We probably can’t go sightseeing there though…” Hye-ryeong chimed in.

“The Zhuge Family…” I mused.

What were they like in the original work again?

To be honest, they weren’t a particularly prominent family apart from having one military officer in the Wulin Alliance.

They weren’t known for exceptional martial arts, and besides Zhuge Sanyue, the Wulin Alliance military officer who showed up whenever the Wulin Alliance was featured, they didn’t have much presence.

I probably wouldn’t have any reason to interact with them, so there was no need to pay them much attention.

“Come to think of it, I heard you have connections with a military officer of the Wulin Alliance,” I said to Elder Baek.

“At one time, wasn’t I known as the social butterfly of the Haenam Sword Sect? When I was actively traveling the martial arts world, I made many friends here and there. I even met my wife during my travels.”

A smile spread across Elder Baek’s face. Was he thinking about his wife? It seemed they had been a happily married couple.

“I should expand my network too…” Hajin murmured.

“As the senior disciple, it’s important for you to build relationships with many people. The more friends you have, the better, and the fewer enemies, the better,” Elder Baek advised.

“I’ll do my best,” Hajin replied.

“As the senior disciple, you’ll need to learn how to socialize at the Wulin Alliance. And also how not to be deceived by honeyed words.”

“Yes!”

The future sect leader, huh, His shoulders must feel heavy.

…Just before the final battle, the commander had said he’d recommend me for the position of Knight Banneret if I survived.

If we had won that last battle, I might be strutting around quite proudly by now.

I would have become the youngest Banneret, after all.

Well, that dream had now turned to bubbles.

“Uncle, are you in pain?” Hye-ryeong asked, noticing my expression.

“…Just remembering the past a bit.”

“The past?”

“I was just remembering some memories that were not particularly good.”

“Now that you’re in a new land, why don’t you forget the past and start over with a fresh mindset? The Central Plains is a good place to live too,” she suggested.

“Except for the fact that the Demon Cult is about to start a war soon,” I pointed out.

“Ah…” Hye-ryeong smiled awkwardly, belatedly remembering that fact.

…If it weren’t for the Demon Cult, I might have found a decent job or become someone’s guest by now, living quietly.

Whether here or there, it was the same.

“But if the martial artists unite their strength, we should be able to defeat them,” Hye-ryeong said optimistically.

“I suppose so.”

After all, in the end, the protagonist did bring down the Demon Cult with the support of the Wulin Alliance.

…Come to think of it, will I be able to meet the protagonist when we get to the Wulin Alliance?

If my memory serves me right, the protagonist should have joined the Wulin Alliance patrol around this time.

I didn’t particularly want to become close to him, but I did want to see him from afar at least once.

It would be good to check if the original protagonist had changed in any way, and I was curious to see the face that was described as being so handsome that women naturally flocked to it.

…Well, the biggest reason was still that I wanted to alleviate my anxiety.

What if the protagonist didn’t exist?

What if the protagonist disappeared for some reason?

…It was terrifying just to imagine that.

So I absolutely had to confirm the protagonist’s existence.

It was uncertain whether the martial arts world without the protagonist could fend off the Demon Cult. That would be the endpoint of my peaceful future plans.

“Uncle?” Hye-ryeong called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Ah, sorry. What were we talking about?”

“Nothing. You just suddenly closed your mouth with a serious expression…”

“I was just thinking about my livelihood, don’t worry about it.”

At my words, Hye-ryeong opened her mouth with an expression that showed she didn’t understand why I was worried about my livelihood.

“Why do you need to worry about your livelihood? You can just live on Haenam Island, can’t you?”

“In this world, you can’t predict what will happen even a moment from now, so it’s better to prepare in advance.”

Who could have predicted that I would drift all the way to the martial arts world?

Just a few months ago, I was having a bet with the commander about what would be on the lunch menu.

“Haenam Island is a good enough place… Uncle, you must prefer the city…” Hye-ryeong’s shoulders slumped as she spoke with a dejected face.

“It’s not that I prefer the city… it’s just that I can’t keep freeloading off the Haenam Sword Sect forever.”

The Haenam Sword Sect probably wouldn’t say anything about me freeloading, but still, a person has to have some pride. I couldn’t just do nothing.

I was planning to either obtain a suitable position at the Wulin Alliance or raise my realm to become a renowned expert recognized in the martial arts world.

“But if you really have nowhere else to go, you’ll come to the Haenam Sword Sect, right?” Hye-ryeong pressed.

“I’d like to keep that as a last resort for now.”

Now that I’ve come all the way to the Central Plains, even if I can’t find a place to settle down in , I should at least look around once. At the very least, I wanted to see the famous sects of the martial arts world like Mount Wudang, Mount Song, and Mount Hua.

“Junior Sister, aren’t you being too obvious?” Hagyeong interjected.

“Senior Brother, can you please be quiet?” Hye-ryeong snapped back.

“…”

Hagyeong, if you had even a shred of tact, half of this problem would be solved and occasions like this where you are reprimanded would not happen

I saw Hye-ryeong’s fierce glare as she whipped her head around, and I couldn’t help but smile wryly. That Hagyeong kid always got beaten up for running his mouth, but he stubbornly kept at it despite getting hit all the time.

He was oddly principled in a strange way.

“Hoho, the Haenam Sword Sect will always welcome you, so feel free to visit anytime. We’ll treat you with the utmost hospitality,” Elder Baek chuckled.

“Thank you,” I replied.

As we continued walking and chatting, the sky gradually began to turn crimson. It was about time to find a place to set up camp.

“There’s a valley nearby, let’s camp there,” Elder Baek suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement. I had no reason to object either, so I nodded along with the Haenam Sword Sect disciples.

————————–

“Wow…”

“Just looking at this waterfall clears my mind.”

“Elder! I heard that Taoist cultivators train by standing under waterfalls with their bare bodies!”

“The Shaolin monks do that too. Both Taoists and Buddhist monks often sit cross-legged in meditation while being pounded by waterfalls. I’m not sure if it’s really effective, but it might be worth trying once, don’t you think?”

Training under a waterfall, huh.

It’s a romantic training method, but if you ask me if I actually want to do it, well… Maybe in summer, but I had no desire to be drenched in this cool weather.

No matter how tough a martial artist’s body might be, there’s no reason to enjoy inflicting harm to one’s body.

I’m not a monk practicing the Vajra Indestructible Body technique, after all.

“Hagyeong and Mu-guang, go gather some branches for firewood,” Elder Baek instructed.

“Yes!”

“Hajin and Geonsam, come hunting with me.”

“Elder, what about me?” Hye-ryeong looked at the elder as if asking why she wasn’t being given a task. Her face showed that she felt left out. But the elder opened his mouth with a laugh.

“Well… how about catching some fish in the stream with Sir William?”

As he said this, the elder winked at me.

I didn’t expect to see a wink here…

By the way, receiving that ‘I’ll step back so you young ones can get along well’ kind of look made me feel a bit strange.

“Uncle! Let’s go catch some fish!” Hye-ryeong exclaimed.

“Alright,” I agreed.

We immediately turned and headed towards the stream.

Up close, the waterfall crashing down as if it would destroy the valley was truly magnificent. I don’t know about anything else, but if anyone was hit by that waterfall’s water, wouldn’t it at least easily solve any shoulder stiffness?

Though someone might break their neck if they’re not careful.

“With such strong currents, fishing with a rod is out of the question,” I mused.

I broke off a thick branch from a nearby tree and trimmed it roughly with my dagger.

Even martial artists are insignificant in comparison to nature’s power, so there was no need to foolishly fight against nature.

It’s more realistic to hunt fish with a spear.

“Uncle, have you caught a lot of fish before?” Hye-ryeong asked.

“Not really. I’ve never actually caught any.”

There was no time for fishing on the battlefield. I was just imitating what I had seen in a movie once.

In my mind, fishing without a rod equals fishing with a spear was the established formula.

“Hehe, I’ll teach you! Despite how I look, I caught a lot of fish when I was young!”

“If you insist.”

I handed the spear to Hye-ryeong. She took it with a proud expression and strode towards the stream, beginning to survey it.

“Where could the fish be~?”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Uncle! Look at this!”

What is it? I immediately abandoned the spear I was making for myself and approached her side at her urgent call. When I got close, Hye-ryeong pointed at the stream water and said:

“Look at this!”

“What?”

Following Hye-ryeong’s finger, I observed the stream and saw something red floating in the water.

Hye-ryeong skillfully scooped up that something with the spear and placed it on the ground.

“A piece of cloth?”

A piece of cloth soaked in blood.

Our gazes naturally shifted towards the source from where this cloth piece might have drifted from.

The top of the waterfall.

Through the waterfall, a streak of red could be seen giving an ominous sign.

…Why can’t we have even one quiet day?

I sighed, having a premonition about the occurrence of a troublesome incident.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

I have to say I am getting more curious about the protagonist and why wasn’t I surprised they got delayed along the way again?