Reincarnated Sword Ghost-Chapter 5 : Too slow, so I just stopped...

Too slow, so I just stopped...
Two maids of the Yu household were walking side by side when they stopped and tilted their heads up, as if looking ahead.
Their gazes landed on none other than the young master's quarters.
"He's not there."
"Once again, sir Jang Hong isn't here today, either."
The two confirmed that no one was in front of the residence's door, then widened their eyes at each other.
Jang Hong, who was considered somewhat of a senior among the Yu household's servants, had the main duty of guarding the young master.
However, since the young master stayed locked up in his room all day, in reality, it was as if he didn't have any work to do.
Of course, that wasn't to say Jang Hong ever neglected his responsibilities.
Finding him standing in front of the young master's door every day had not been difficult.
Yet recently, Jang Hong had completely disappeared from his post at the young master's residence.
A guard not standing watch at the young master's quarters?
That meant the young master himself was not in his room.
"Did he go to the training hall again today?"
"It's hard to believe, even when we see it every day..."
The maids in charge of the young master's quarters shook their heads and chatted as they glanced at each other.
They didn't even bother lowering their voices; after all, they knew no one else was around.
"We used to struggle so much just to tidy his bedding."
"Right! He'd never get out of bed at all."
The maid cleaning the floor burst into laughter. Then, suddenly, looking puzzled, she paused her scrubbing.
"What's this?"
"What is it?"
The other maid, who was arranging the new bedding, asked as she looked over.
The floor-cleaning maid put down her rag and began rubbing the floor with her hand.
"Is something smeared here?"
"On the floor?"
The other maid leaned closer and peered at the floor. She could see a patch of wood reflecting the light slightly differently from the rest.
"You're right. What is that?"
"This..."
At that moment, the maid who was rubbing the floor seemed to realize something.
"It's not something stuck here... it's been worn away?"
"Huh?"
At those words, the other maid leaned in for a closer look.
When she touched it with her hand, it really did feel as if the floor was ever so slightly depressed.
Soon, she noticed the groove had a peculiar shape.
"This... looks like a footprint?"
"Look here!"
The maid next to her pointed at another spot. There was more than one footprint-shaped indentation.
"What is this?"
"How could the floor get worn down in the shape of footprints?"
Then one of the maids quietly muttered,
"Could it be... he kept stepping in the same spots over and over?"
"That much, enough to dig out marks like this?"
"... Is something like that even possible?"
The maids stared blankly at each other and at the footprint-shaped marks on the floor.
* * *
"The young master's come out again."
"I'm getting used to seeing him like that these days."
"It's the same every time. All he does is swing that Three Talent Sword Technique."
"Who knows what he's even doing?"
Jeong-un came to the training hall every single day, not missing even one, for quite a long stretch.
He would appear at dawn, even before the sun was fully up, and swing his sword.
At first, people ridiculed him, saying it wouldn't last. But gradually, some fell silent as they watched.
A few even nodded, admitting change had indeed taken place.
But now, new rumors began to shadow Jeong-un wherever he went.
"It's just a waste of time."
"Surely, he knows himself that it's too late to truly master Ascending Dragon Sword Technique, so he just swings around meaninglessly."
"There have always been rumors that he has no talent in martial arts anyway..."
Listening to the warriors whispering nearby, Jang Hong sighed inwardly.
As the guard assigned to the young master, he too came to the training hall every day.
Perhaps because of his standing as the family's advanced-rank warrior, the others didn't gossip openly when he was around.
Still, they muttered in hushed tones, thinking he wouldn't hear.
But for someone as well-trained as Jang Hong, those whispers were easy to catch.
'Why won't he learn the Ascending Dragon Sword Technique?'
When Jeong-un first changed, nobody was happier than Jang Hong.
They weren't close, but for years he'd watched the young master, and now he found the transformation genuinely admirable.
However, he felt disappointed to see Jeong-un swing his sword in such a simple, untrained fashion.
The military hall instructor that the head of household was going to assign had already been rejected.
Jang Hong himself had offered many times to teach him the Ascending Dragon Sword Technique, but for some reason, Jeong-un always refused firmly.
Of course, what Jeong-un was doing wasn't completely pointless.
Horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, and thrusts were the most basic of basics; mastering the fundamentals was critical in martial arts.
Still, endlessly repeating just the basics was not the way to make progress.
In the end, building up inner strength and learning advanced sword techniques was the path forward.
'But even so...'
Jang Hong stared absently at Jeong-un, who swung his sword in the same posture again and again.
From early dawn until now, without proper rest, Jeong-un had endlessly repeated the Three Talent Sword Technique.
'Why is it those simple moves are starting to look extraordinary?'
The actions themselves were obviously basic. Jang Hong, too, had practiced those very movements when he started training.
But as the days passed, Jeong-un's techniques increasingly appeared different.
Though fundamentally basic forms, there was something else about them.
'Now that I think about it, it was odd even when he first picked up a sword.'
Jeong-un never seemed awkward with the sword.
Even though it was a wooden sword, not a real sword, he wielded it as if it were completely familiar.
It was hard to believe this was the same young master who had spent his entire life shut in his room.
'But still...'
It was too late. The age of seventeen was just too late.
That's what Jang Hong believed.
* * *
"Hoo..."
Jeong-un slowly exhaled. Compared to when he had first picked up a sword, his progress was immense.
Back then, swinging the wooden sword even a little would exhaust him to the point of collapse.
But now, he could endure wielding it for a long time.
Most of all, the posture while swinging was finally starting to become ingrained in his body.
He was inching closer to the sensation he used to have, practicing the same forms every night in his dreams.
'I still have a long way to go.'
The body was like a vessel. He still didn't know what kind of vessel he truly possessed.
He knew well that only a large and sturdy vessel could hold something worthwhile—he had experienced having a broken vessel in his dreams, after all.
'What you fill the vessel with is important, too.'
Though his father, Yu Jungho, had handed him the family's secret manuscript for the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique, Jeong-un hadn't even opened it.
Not that he had a particular reason.
He just still found swinging the sword to be more fun.
But in truth, the biggest reason was that One Peach Heart Breathing Technique closely followed the same system as the Ascending Dragon Sword Technique.
'If Ascending Dragon Sword Technique is only at that level...'
In Jeong-un's eyes, that sword art was clumsy.
It looked plausible and flashy on the surface, befitting its name, but somehow it was hollow at its core.
'It's better not to practice something you have no confidence in.'
Instead, swinging the Three Talent Sword Technique a few more times was the more reasonable choice.
That was Jeong-un's conclusion.
"Are you still at it?!"
Suddenly, someone shouted. Startled, Jeong-un paused mid-motion and turned his gaze—it was the third young master, Yu Dong-ryong.
Already, the nearby warriors bowed their heads respectfully to Yu Dong-ryong.
Jeong-un, too, gave a brief nod, but Yu Dong-ryong only frowned and stared at him.
"Pathetic fool."
"What brings you here?"
"What do you think? What else would I come to the training hall for!"
Yu Dong-ryong snapped irritably. Although, everyone there knew his words were misleading.
The family's young masters didn't usually use this public training hall.
They had a private household training hall reserved just for them.
Among the Yu household's heirs, Jeong-un was the only one who used the communal training hall.
Jeong-un, too, knew about the exclusive training hall for direct descendants, but deliberately avoided it.
He simply didn't want to run into his brothers there.
'But he went out of his way to come here.'
Jeong-un wasn't curious about Yu Dong-ryong's reason for coming. He only felt his time was being wasted because of him.
That's why he hoped Yu Dong-ryong would finish whatever business he had and leave rapidly.
Unfortunately, Yu Dong-ryong had no intention of doing so.
"I came personally to teach you."
"...?"
Jeong-un looked at him silently. So did Jang Hong and the other warriors.
For Yu Dong-ryong, who'd never cared about the young master in his entire life, to suddenly suggest teaching him martial arts was obviously strange.
"I don't want to learn martial arts from you, big brother."
"Hmph, as if I want to teach you!"
"Then why all of a sudden?"
"Didn't you hear what our brothers said last time? They told me to start paying attention to you! I heard you were still ignorantly swinging your sword, so I came to check with my own eyes."
Jeong-un gazed intently at Yu Dong-ryong's face. It was obvious he wasn't sincere, even at a glance.
Even if Yu Dong-ryong genuinely wanted to teach him, Jeong-un had no intention of learning.
The real problem was that anyone could see Yu Dong-ryong just wanted to use the excuse of 'teaching' to humiliate him.
That sneering face didn't even bother to hide his intentions.
'... Should I just play along a bit?'
Yu Dong-ryong's motive was clear as day. He probably wanted to embarrass Jeong-un in front of others, thereby strengthening his own position.
Yet all Jeong-un wanted was for Yu Dong-ryong to simply leave this place as soon as possible.
Every moment spent standing here was a waste.
Normally, Jeong-un spent all day in the training hall, from dawn to evening.
After eating, he would retreat to his room and continue training.
Now, a few wooden swords always rested in his quarters.
At Jeong-un's request, Jang Hong had kept them ready so he could practice whenever he wanted.
Even after returning to his room, Jeong-un would practice with the wooden sword until almost midnight before sleeping, only to rise at dawn and head back to the training hall again.
"I heard you refused to learn the Ascending Dragon Sword Technique from father?"
"Yes."
"Arrogant brat. Let's see what you're so confident about."
Yu Dong-ryong glanced around and pointed to a corner of the training hall.
A warrior quickly ran over and handed him a wooden sword with respect.
Yu Dong-ryong swung it a few times, then clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"So light. To think you're still training with toys like this at your age."
Then, with one hand clasped behind his back and the other holding the sword, he pointed it at Jeong-un.
"Come at me."
"Are you saying you want to duel me right now?"
"What, did you think I called you here for a friendly lesson?"
"Stop wasting time and just head back, will you?"
Jeong-un replied indifferently, letting his sword hang at his side.
As if expecting that response, Yu Dong-ryong rushed at him, eyes gleaming sharply.
"Maybe a beating will finally motivate you!"
Crack—!
At that moment, a heavy sound echoed throughout the training hall. The wooden swords had collided.
"......"
Everyone's gaze dropped to the ground. There, a wooden sword lay abandoned, its owner having lost his grip.
"...?"
Yu Dong-ryong stared blankly at his empty hands.
Suddenly, there was nothing in them.
"W-what...?"
"Th-the third young master lost his sword after it clashed with the young master's...?"
"This is...?"
Jeong-un, seeing that, muttered bitterly to himself.
'He was just too slow, so I stopped him.'
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
This story has the Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble feels.
I like that it's not a direct reincarnation...
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