Chapter 4 – The Sword Talks (2)

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Jun 29, 2022

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‘You… what are you?’

Thanks to following the dagger’s instructions, I managed to overcome at least one crisis.
At first, I did wonder if I was really hallucinating or if it was really the dagger.
Still, I struggled to understand this unfamiliar and bizarre experience after experiencing it for the first time.

-I am the Small Short Sword.

The dagger stated its sword name with elation.
The name of the dagger was Small Short Sword.
It was also the name that is engraved on the sheath.

-Do you think they didn’t know how to write Big and ended up using the sword Small? What a shame they did this to me, Small!?

The dagger, strangely, seemed to not like being a dagger.

However, I couldn’t figure out how the dagger managed to figure out the attacks of that second-rate warrior and even gave me instructions to deal with him.

-Because I can see, I told you.
I saved your life in the best way.

‘It isn’t like that.’

-As if.
You are someone who has too many doubts.

‘Would anyone find it easy to accept this?’

-True.
It is strange for me that you, a human, can hear my voice

The dagger understood what I was saying.
It was like I was talking to a person and not a dagger.

-Oh my, after 47 years of being a sword, I could have a conversation with a human.
That too with someone who isn’t much more than an idiot.

‘Idiot? This is bad!’

I wanted to cry from the dagger’s words.
It’s treating a decent human like me as a fool!

 -This is funny.
Even though I look like this, there are many things I have seen and heard.
I know martial arts better than a kid like you who just enjoys alcohol.

‘Ha! Understand martial arts?’

-I have only seen martial arts for nearly 20 years after being wielded by my owner.
They said that even useless people can bring in good things at times.
Did you know that?

‘Former owner?’

The former owner would be my deceased mother.
If so, the owner that this dagger referred to must be the one who passed down the dagger to my mother.
Perhaps my maternal grandfather?

-Maternal grandfather, my ass.
Did you forget that your mother got me as a present from a passerby? Think straight.

…This guy’s character is getting harsher the longer we are speaking.
It feels like just its harsh words can hurt me greatly.

After all, my mother was a female servant.
She couldn’t have gotten such a dagger from her father.

‘Because I was young, I don’t seem to remember it well.’

-Right, right.
You must have.
You don’t remember since you were wrong.
Must have had a hell of a comfortable life.

This brat talked way too much.

As long as I kept talking, there was no guarantee he would stop talking.
Then there was only one thing left to do, I needed to deal with this and then run away.

-You seem busy.

The dagger seemed to want to talk more, but I didn’t have time.

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‘I need to get out of here quickly.’

-Yah.
Before that, say thank you.
I helped you…

Oh, shut it!

‘Right, right, thank you.’

-Oh myyy!

It felt like it was messing with me.
Anyway, I needed a weapon, so I took the sword of the dead masked man.
The dagger continued talking, which made me feel a bit hesitant.
I don’t know if I was fortunate or not that this dagger could speak to me.

‘Is this one unique?’

-Can’t you understand what the blade is saying?

‘What?’

I couldn’t hear it at all.
But the dagger, Small Short Sword, grinned and said.

-That blade is cursing you a lot.
It is cursing you for killing its owner.
Uh… brat is cursing me too! It isn’t wrong to help a fool! Uh!

I couldn’t understand a single thing.

‘Ah…’

The blade was much heavier than I expected.

I was back to a past where I couldn’t even train properly, so this blade aws probably not the right fit for me.

‘Shit.’

-Who will be surprised by that? You should train.
You should have developed some muscle strength.

‘I know.’

As expected, it was heavy.

I can wield it if I hold it with both hands, right? That might work.
But I had no internal qi and must be agile to counter them.

After giving up on lifting the blade, I searched the dead man’s body and found five throwing knives.
I had some training with these while in the Blood Cult.
However, I had to really be close to throw it right.

‘Let’s take it for now.’

-You know how to use it?

‘I know’

-When did you learn?

The dagger seened confused.
This guy seemed to know only the present version of me.
Well, even I couldn’t believe that I had returned back to the past.

-Yah! Behind.

‘What?’

For a moment, I was startled as I began to move ahead.

Pak!

A muffled sound came from behind.

I barely managed to hold my balance and looked behind me.
There I saw a masked man holding a large iron club with sharp thorns.

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“Shit!”

I couldn’t help but curse out at this.
It looked like he was aiming for me.
Though since the club was quite large, the movements seem sluggish.

‘Now is the time.’

I moved ahead and tried to stab him in the chest with my dagger.
But the large man took his hands off the club and moved back to dodge the attack.

This ominous feeling of mine came true.
This guy was also a second-rate warrior.

In addition, he seemed to be the kind who has learned footwork skills for avoiding attacks and was ready to counter my attack with a kick.

Papak!

His right foot launched itself straight for my head.

-Keep your head down.

Small Short Sword’s voice echoed in my head.
And I followed it.

-Take a close look and slash his calf!

As soon as I heard the dagger’s command, I tried to slash the left calf, the man’s balancing foot, but he managed to dodge it and get away.

And then, with a feeling of alertness, he moved further back.

I decided that I couldn’t let him go, so I followed to maintain my distance and then took aim.

-No!

The dagger cried inside my head.
At that moment, the kick from the masked man hit me in the stomach.

Puck!

“Kuak!”

I fell back as pain burst from my stomach.
If I had practiced martial arts or internal qi, I would have been able to endure it by applying the qi to my stomach, but I was just a normal man.

And normal people had difficulty breathing when they got hit in their stomach.

“Cough! Cough!”

I suffered from shortness of breath as I continued to cough.
Then the masked man frowned.

“What? You couldn’t avoid this?”

He seemed to think that I should have dodged his kick.

-Idiot.
How can you fall for such a low-level kick?

The dagger decided that criticizing me right now was the most amazing thing.
Still, I was already in pain so responding to it was impossible.
In a situation where tears were forming in my eyes, the masked man decided to come for me.

-Avoid it! Run!

The dagger called out, but I could do nothing.
It was impossible for a body that was hit and unable to breathe to even move.

“Kuak!”

As I suffered a blow to my head, my consciousness began to fade.
I had struggled so hard to not get caught by these people.
Yet like in my previous life, I couldn’t even escape from the inn.

I didn’t know how much time had passed.
The sound of voices in the air gradually reached me as my mind regained consciousness.

“Two of them were killed by this kid? Can’t the captain handle his men properly?”

I heard mumbles all around.

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Looks like I was finally captured after I fainted.
I woke up but focused on the voices without opening my eyes to understand the situation better.

“I am sorry.
Please punish me.”

“Uh!’

Puck!

A muffled groan.
The person that asked for punishment seemed to have been hit and fallen to the ground.

“Don’t act and get up.”

“Yes.”

“What is his true identity?”

“These are the things he had.
He had a plaque, an old dagger, and six silvers.”

“Whose child is he?”

This was bad!

I kept thinking as I kept my eyes closed.

Eventually, my name was going to be known to them once again.

“He is the son of the So family of Yullang.
His name is So Wonhwi.”

“Yullang’s So family… wait, Yiyang So family!”

Yiyang So family!

In Murim, there were families who have fame as great as the top martial arts families.
Among them, my family, the Yiyang So family, was one of the three most prestigious families in Honam.

“What? So, was this guy the trash which was kicked out of the Yiyang So family?”

Despite my pretending to be unconscious, wasn’t it too much to call me trash when I was right here! I am angry.

But this was the truth.
The current me was trash which cannot even be seen as a child of that family.

“Given his age, it seems to be true.”

“They say he is trash who cannot even learn to cultivate qi.
Who wouldn’t abandon him? But he manages to take down two of our warriors?”

While having a person who seemed to have been their superior say this felt nice, it didn’t give me any pleasant feelings.
I killed two of his men, which meant my current situation was dangerous.

“And he did this with just this rusted dagger? If he mastered qi, he would have been quite useful.’

A voice tinged with regret.

The same situation as before.
At that time, I was treated like trash, just like at my family’s home.

Still, I got a decently high evaluation.
It seemed like they wouldn’t try to kill me.
Just as that wishful thought entered my mind, I heard…

“Unfortunately, we need to kill him.”

‘… what!’

I flinched at his words that seemed to seal my fate.
This was an entirely different situation from before.

“Uh? He should be around the secondary level.”

“I lost two people who worked for me, so I now have to take the one who took them out and use them? Definitely not.
Just deal with him quickly.”

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Apparently, the masked men I killed seemed to be people their superior cherished.
It was totally unexpected.

I had barely survived and returned to the past, but now I have to die again?! As I thought this, I heard a sound.

Tak!

Something flew and hit my head.

“Ouch!”

I groaned as I opened my eyes from the pain.
Around me, ten masked men were looking at me.

Among them, a middle-aged man with a blue belt and a long scar near his lip was shaking his head.

‘That’s the leader!’

The blue belt symbolized someone in the status of sect leader in the Blood Cult.
It is a position that could only be touched by climbing the best form of any martial arts in the cult, similar to a first-rate warrior.

Looking at the fingers of the leader, I felt weird.

“When you wake up, you need to open your eyes.
But here you are eavesdropping on me like a rat.”

He caught me.

The leader pretended to slash his neck with his hand.

Srng!

The two masked men near me drew their blades and swords.

They seemed like ones who would like to cut my throat at any moment.

Pak!

‘Shit!’

I was tied up with a rope.
I couldn’t even run away.
I was just like an animal ready to be sacrificed.
I was in a situation where everyone was watching me with the urge to decapitate my head.

Then my eyes moved towards a masked man standing behind the leader.

To be precise, my eyes moved to the white band, more like a white tassel at the sword at the waist of the man, which was clearly visible to me.

“Pain is fleeting.”

The moment the masked man raised his blade to cut my head, I pounded my head on the ground and shouted loudly as if I was possessed.

Thud!

“Blood Demon King! Fourth Blood Star! Long live and prosper the Blood Cult! This lowly person greets a prominent person of the Blood Cult!”

Whisper.

As soon as I said it, the masked men all looked at the person I was seeing.
It was the same with the man with the scar.
The masked man standing behind him looked flustered and took off his mask.
His handsome face was accentuated with sharp features, like that of a sword.

“Uh?”

The leader and the other masked men quickly knelt down after being momentarily shocked at seeing the man there.

“Fourth Blood Star, we greet you!”

The person who was also known as the Killing Blood King opened his mouth.

“Interesting.”

The object of his interest was me.