“I…”
Kim Oheung began explaining why he needed to learn martial arts, wearing the expression of a man about to share an embarrassing story. When he finished, Jang Obok looked at him, opened his mouth wide, and laughed.
“Just as I thought. Little Brother, you’re dreaming a dream much like mine.”
“You too, Big Brother?”
“Of course. It’s my wish to take the military examination as well, but…”
Jang Obok let his voice trail off. The circumstances of Kim Oheung and Jang Obok were almost identical. Kim Oheung wanted to learn martial arts so he could pass the military examination and return home in glory.
“No matter how much money I save, I can’t read, so it’s all for nothing. To get anywhere, I’d have to prove that I’m exceptional in the practical test.”
Kim Oheung and Jang Obok were no less strong or courageous than military commanders. However, commanders had to lead troops into battle, so they were not selected based on martial strength alone.
And unlike the yangban, commoners faced extreme difficulty even taking the military examination. If there was so much as a problem in their family history, they were barred from taking it altogether.
“It’s already been three years since I came to Hanyang, but I haven’t even managed to save any money. I’m afraid I’ll grow old and die like this. That’s why I want to learn martial arts and pass the military examination.”
After hearing Kim Oheung’s circumstances, Jo Won smiled gently.
“If that is what you wish, there is nothing I cannot teach you.”
“Really? No, I mean—really, Master?”
The moment Jo Won agreed, Kim Oheung called him Master. Jo Won immediately waved his hands.
“Master? That’s out of the question. What I can teach you is limited to what I picked up by ear or learned by watching others in the Central Plains. What I learned follows the rule that martial arts are not passed on to just anyone, so I cannot teach it to you.”
“Then what should I call you…?”
A momentary longing passed through Jo Won’s eyes. His retainers, now all deceased, had asked him the exact same thing as Kim Oheung when they first met him.
“…Big Brother.”
“You want me to call you Brother?”
Kim Oheung hesitated as he looked at Jo Won’s appearance. Kim Oheung was twenty-one that year. Jang Obok was three years older, at twenty-four.
“How old are you, exactly…?”
Kim Oheung asked carefully, worried that he might make Jo Won uncomfortable. Jo Won smiled faintly. His smooth face turned toward Kim Oheung.
“I’m forty.”
“F-Forty?!”
“No way!”
Kim Oheung and Jang Obok wore expressions of disbelief. No matter how he looked at him, Jo Won did not appear a day over twenty-five, even giving him the benefit of the doubt.
And with his sickly appearance, Jo Won looked every bit the scholar. Kim Oheung stared at him and said,
“You can be honest with us. Even if you’re younger than me, I can still call you Big Brother…”
“Why would I lie about that? It’s true. I’m forty.”
“Good heavens…”
“That’s impossible.”
Jo Won was accustomed to such reactions. But in the martial world, it was not particularly unusual. There were quite a few people in the martial world who maintained their youth despite advancing in age, just like Jo Won.
When a person’s internal energy reached half a jiazi, aging slowed. When it reached a full jiazi, aging proceeded at an extremely slow pace. If one’s understanding reached Return to Simplicity, the bones and muscles were adjusted and impurities expelled. After undergoing Bone-and-Marrow Rebirth, one returned to the finest possible physical condition.
Advancing one step further led to the Return to Youth realm, in which one actually grew younger. This realm was called the Profound Realm.
Advancing another step from the Profound Realm led to the Life-and-Death Realm. From that point onward, one could choose the day of one’s own death.
“Th-Then, in that martial world…”
“Ancient monsters fly through the skies and rule over the martial world.”
“There’s a world like that?”
Kim Oheung and Jang Obok could not hide their astonishment at the existence of such an unimaginable world in the Central Plains. Then Kim Oheung asked cautiously,
“Then, Big Brother…”
It was only natural that they would be curious about the realm of the man they had decided to serve as their Big Brother. They had a duty to know how strong the Big Brother who would teach them martial arts was, after all.
“What does an empty title I earned there matter? Besides, now…”
Jo Won spoke in a voice too quiet for Kim Oheung and Jang Obok to hear.
“There’s no one left to hear it, celebrate it, and be happy for me.”
Realizing that Jo Won did not want to talk about it, Kim Oheung raised his voice to cover Jo Won’s mutter.
“From now on, please speak freely with me, Big Brother! And what are you going to do, Brother?”
Kim Oheung looked at Jang Obok.
“Songpa Tavern?”
“Yes, guild chief.”
“Seven people. You asked about these men?”
Usun stood among the performers gathered in the largest room of the Performers’ Guild, politely clasping his hands in front of him and bowing his head.
“Yes. They said they would pay for the information.”
“Hmm… An unidentified man who wiped out the Songpa Gang by himself…”
The leader of the Performers’ Guild was called the guild chief. Eom Gyedal, a pansori performer crouched on the floor directly in front of Usun, brushed back his hanging hair.
“I’m already busy enough to drop dead, and now another job lands in my lap? So, Usun?”
The Performers’ Guild was home to people with all sorts of talents, including performers, entertainers, and musicians. Among them, Usun was famous as a master tightrope walker and the most agile and swift of the guild’s performers.
That was why the guild chief always asked for Usun’s opinion whenever he returned from a job.
More often than not, Usun’s observations and impressions turned out to be accurate.
Gulp.
The instant the guild chief said those words, Usun remembered Jo Won’s eyes and swallowed involuntarily. Even though Jo Won was not standing right in front of him, the terror of meeting those eyes and feeling as though he were falling into an abyss remained vivid.
“He’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
Usun had never once returned from observing someone and called them dangerous. The river merchant Kim Manseop had been among those he had investigated, so the guild chief narrowed his eyes.
“He’s just a man who drags a cart loaded with thousands of books. But he’s not merely unusual—he’s dangerous? Is it because of the Songpa Gang?”
“…His eyes.”
“His eyes?”
The guild chief looked incredulous. But Usun was just as frustrated. Jo Won had never directly threatened him or flaunted his power.
Yet with his gaze alone, Jo Won had made Usun feel every emotion under the sun.
“He wiped out the Songpa Gang by himself, and Kim Oheung and Jang Obok of Seoho bow before him like tame lambs. On top of that, he’s the man who offered to buy Songpa Tavern for one gold piece and one nyang.”
“So he possesses martial strength, wealth, and even the respect of the people.”
“He’s dangerous. I believe it would be best to maintain an appropriate distance from him—or better yet, stay away from him altogether.”
Usun said this, then bowed his head. He had said everything he needed to say. But the guild chief narrowed his eyes and stared at him.
“Why are you afraid of him?”
It seemed the fear in Usun’s eyes had been visible to the guild chief. Usun bit his lip and looked at him.
“I have a bad feeling. A feeling that he’s an utterly terrifying man.”
The guild chief sighed as he watched Usun. Then, apparently deciding that Usun was only acting this way because he had been under too much strain lately, he dismissed the matter. Usun lowered his head.
When Usun stepped back, the guild chief turned to the performers gathered in the Performers’ Guild and asked,
“What do you think we should do?”
The Performers’ Guild soon grew noisy as the performers began offering their opinions one by one. Amid the clamor, Usun sat on the floor with his mouth firmly shut, remembering Jo Won’s face.
“Heh-heh. Big Brother, huh?”
Jang Obok snickered as he entered the building. It made sense. He had never really imagined that he would become someone’s younger brother.
But in the end, Jang Obok also decided to serve Jo Won as his Big Brother and receive instruction in martial arts.
He had no choice after Jo Won accepted Jang Obok’s request to see his skills before making a decision.
And Jang Obok experienced Jo Won’s greatness firsthand.
“To think this Jang Obok couldn’t even touch the hem of his clothes.”
Jo Won had not even moved a single step from the spot. Even while fighting Jang Obok with his hands clasped behind his back, Jo Won had deflected and evaded every one of his attacks.
Pride only arose when there was at least some difference in skill. After realizing that he was not even in the same league, Jang Obok did not drag things out and immediately acknowledged Jo Won as his Big Brother.
Thus, as though they were swearing the Oath of the Peach Garden, Jo Won became the eldest, Jang Obok the second, and Kim Oheung the third, forming a sworn brotherhood.
“Since Big Brother is looking for certain people, it would be better to have someone in a government office, even if I’m only a low-ranking constable.”
Muttering this, Jang Obok entered Uibinbu, his place of work.
“Just getting here now?”
“Yes, sir.”
Jang Obok’s chivalrous nature often sprang forth regardless of time or place. Because of that, his superiors treated him indifferently, as though he were a stranger, while the clerks and constables of the same rank welcomed him.
“Is it noisier than usual today?”
When Jang Obok quietly asked another colleague, one of the clerks shrugged.
“How would I know? The gentlemen above us, like the noksa and seori, never tell us anything. If they tell us to go out, we go out. That’s all there is to it.”
The only duties of clerks and constables were palace guard duty and serving as escorts. The noksa and seori above them, on the other hand, could be promoted to higher positions after completing a certain number of days in service, depending on their background.
Unlike the clerks and constables, who came from the middle-status class or commoners, noksa sometimes included illegitimate sons of yangban families. They lived in an entirely different world from the others.
“I’m thinking of going to play a round of cards today. Want to come?”
“Play cards?”
“Yeah. I hear there’s going to be a serious game at Songpa Market.”
Jang Obok was tempted for a moment, but soon shook his head. Then he tilted his head.
“Which tavern is hosting it?”
Card games were usually held in taverns. Renting one of the tavern’s private rooms and gambling through the night was their only form of entertainment.
Perhaps his hands were itching to play, because one clerk was already taking the stance of someone about to pick up his cards. He shrugged.
“Songpa Tavern. Why?”
Jang Obok thought it was a good thing he had asked. Apparently, the tavern keeper had not told them about the change. What would Jo Won, who had just taken over the tavern, say if he saw them?
“Forget it. That place isn’t very good. Let’s go somewhere else. The owner changed, too.”
“Huh? Really?”
The clerks and constables began discussing where they should go instead. Jang Obok let out a sigh of relief as he watched them, then whipped his head around.
A loud voice had carried in through the window from outside.
“Her Highness Hwa Wan Wangju is proceeding to the market! Make sure nothing is left behind…”