Swordsman Daljin

Elder Mon decided to meet the king. We and the king began talking in a room like a conference room. On the king’s side, three guards and Chancellor Zhao were with him.

“Elder Mon, I hear that Lord Daaren and your companion, Lord Kanru, defeated the ogre demon. You have my gratitude.”

“It is a joyous thing that the ogre demon could be disposed of. However, the ogre demon was the palace maid Beifan. That is a problem.”

“What is the problem?”

Elder Mon told him that there might be a place inside the palace where demonic qi had accumulated. The king’s expression changed.

“Absurd. Such a thing is impossible.”

It was not the king, but Chancellor Zhao, who raised his voice.

“However, there are no records of the palace maid Beifan leaving the palace.”

The king nodded.

“I see. So there is a proper reason. Chancellor, have it investigated.”

“As you command.”

“Elder Mon, if we discover a place where demonic qi has accumulated, what should we do?”

“If it were undeveloped land, burning the whole area would be enough, but since it is a palace, you cannot burn it down. You will need a medicine called a Purifying Qi Medicine.”

“Do you have that medicine?”

Chancellor Zhao asked.

“No, we will need to gather the ingredients and make it.”

Apparently, our stay was going to be extended.

“Kou, we need the horn of a One-Horned Red Wolf to deal with the demonic qi. Could you go and obtain one?”

Elder Mon said this to me. It was an order.

“You mean I should go to the demon realm to get it?”

“No, there is a forest near the royal capital called the Forest of Bewilderment, where yōma live. It is a yōma that has settled there.”

I had known that there were places other than demon realms where yōma lived, but I had not known there was one near the royal capital. That Forest of Bewilderment was apparently north of the royal capital. It was less than a tenth the size of the demon realm north of Mount Gyorei, but many yōma had settled there.

“I shall send someone familiar with the local terrain to guide you.”

Chancellor Zhao said.

“Thank you.”

Kanru turned his gaze toward Elder Mon.

“Will Kou be all right?”

Elder Mon smiled when he heard that question.

“A One-Horned Red Wolf is a weaker yōma than a Thunder Bear.”

Elder Mon told us about the One-Horned Red Wolf. Apparently, the One-Horned Red Wolf was over two meters long.

The king had been listening to that conversation as well. And since he did not know that I had defeated a Thunder Bear, he seemed to grow uneasy.

“It is dangerous to leave such a yōma to a young Taoist practitioner alone. I shall order one of my retainers to accompany him.”

I could not exactly refuse by saying I did not need one because he would be in the way, and while I was wondering what to do,

“Thank you very much.”

Elder Mon expressed her thanks. With that, I could no longer refuse, and I ended up going together with one of the kingdom’s retainers. The retainer the king chose was a warrior named Fang Daljin.

Daljin was a master swordsman, and apparently he was highly skilled in a sword art called the Nine Lotus Sword. Kanru looked like he wanted to come too, but if he did, there would be no one left to guard Elder Mon.

The next day, I departed for the Forest of Bewilderment. Accompanying me were Chai, the guide, and Daljin.

“Lord Kou, I will be going with you, so please be at ease.”

Daljin was a man around one hundred eighty centimeters tall, with a solid build. He was probably about thirty-five years old. Chai was a small man, and he seemed to feel that being chosen was a nuisance.

People who willingly wanted to go to the Forest of Bewilderment, where yōma lived, were probably in the minority.

“By the way, Lord Kou, what kind of martial art are you skilled in?”

Daljin asked. His words were polite, but from his attitude, there was an air of him thinking, “What can a brat like this do?”

“I specialize in a broadsword martial art called the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique.”

I was still thirteen years old. It might have been inevitable that he would see me as a brat. However, age meant nothing to yōma. If Daljin was not as much of a master as his reputation suggested, he would likely be badly injured.

“So what you are holding is not a spear, but a broadsword.”

Since it had a sheath on it and was covered with a bag made from Silver Sheep Thread cloth as rain protection, he apparently could not tell whether it was a spear or a broadsword.

In the direction of the Forest of Bewilderment, there was a large town called Rugol, and merchants going there for business traveled along the same highway.

“Chai-san. What kind of place is the Forest of Bewilderment?”

I asked Chai, our guide.

“I only know its location, and I have never entered the forest. However, I have heard that the One-Horned Red Wolves are near a lake inside the forest.”

When Daljin heard that, he grinned.

“As long as I am with you, there is nothing to worry about. I will slay any yōma with this treasured sword.”

“Lord Daljin, have you ever hunted yōma before?”

When I asked, Daljin answered, with a face full of confidence, “No.” I felt the urge to retort, “So you haven’t?” but I firmly restrained myself. This was not Japan.

As we proceeded along the highway while having that kind of conversation, a mountain came into view. Apparently, we were going to cross that mountain. We began climbing the winding mountain path, and about thirty minutes later, Chai said he wanted to rest.

“We are almost at the pass. Can you not push on?”

Daljin checked.

“I cannot. I cannot take another step.”

There was no helping it, so we decided to rest halfway up the mountain. Trees grew thickly around us, and visibility was poor. I sat down on a large rock, took out a bamboo water flask, and drank some water.

“Phew.”

“Lord Kou, what kind of yōma have you fought before?”

Daljin asked.

“Various kinds. Fang Rabbits, Piercing Wolves, Iron-Claw Bears… There are all sorts of yōma in the demon realm.”

When I said that, I noticed the presences of multiple people approaching.

“Do bandits appear around here?”

When I asked Chai, he looked uneasy.

“There are rumors like that. Did something happen?”

“Several people are suppressing their presences and approaching us.”

Daljin narrowed his eyes with a startled look, then showed an expression as if he was concentrating on something.

“Tch, it is true.”