The meeting

It was morning.

No. More precisely, it was dawn.

Around 4 to 5 A.M.

Chun Woo-Moon rises up and looks outside. The sun hasn't came up yet.

"Why am I awake so soon?"

After he lied down last night, he couldn't sleep.

Strangely, he wanted to take up the sword and swing it. Like his body was saying that 'it's not yet the time to sleep! I still have a lot of energy.'

So he got up and started swinging the sword till midnight. Maybe even after midnight.

That's why it's strange that he's up so soon.

'Maybe it's just a habit? Did I have this kind of schedule everyday? Or maybe my body just needs less time for it to recover? Since I'm not even sleepy. Or maybe both?'

"Now that I think about it, my body recovered very quickly, considering it was supposed to be a heavy injury."

The physician had said that he should have been in bed for at least two weeks but he was healed in just two days. Even considering that some after effects really remained like physician Jang had said so, He didn't have any discomfort even while swinging his sword and pushing his body.

'Well, whatever. Let's get up for now.'

After he washed his face, he begun his sword training again.

He didn't know why but he like to train and swing his sword. It was like he could be free from anything in this world and distance himself from his worries when training. Like the fog in his mind clearing, he could think more rationally and organize his thought better. He could even come up with better solutions and faster.

His time training and swinging the sword was more enjoyable than anything else in this world for him.

At this time, he truly was a bird spreading his wings and flying freely in the sky.

After some time, his stomach started growling which caused him to come to a stop. He turned his head and saw the sun rising quite high in the sky. The time was probably around 8 to 9 A.M., considering the sun's position and the shadows on the floor.

'Now that I think about it, I haven't had anything since last night. Do I have anything to eat?'

Last night, when he entered the house, the food was ready for him, so he just ate that and didn't think too deeply about it. But even he would die if he didn't eat, so he started searching the house for food.

Fortunately, unlike the thoughtless Chun Woo-Moon, the mayor and villagers were considerate and thoughtful, so they left something for him to eat when he woke up.

Though it wasn't much considering the food was some jerky, some bread and some milk, it was still food and they themselves probably didn't have much a different menu. Maybe there would be some soup beside it if they had wives or could cook themselves.

Chun Woo-Moon was grateful that there was anything at all.

Even if there was only a dried bread, he would be grateful beyond measure, but there was a complete course so he had nothing to complain.

"Thanks for the food."

After eating the breakfast gratefully, he started washing his sweaty body with a wet cloth and water.

After he washed himself, he sensed the presence of some people coming closer.

'Two. No, three people are coming.'

But soon after he was surprised at himself.

'I could do something like this? Since when? I wasn't ale to do it yesterday. Is it because of the training? Did I become stronger? Or was I able to regain my senses and skills after training? I don't know.'

More precisely, by training he was more used to his body and how to move it, so his body remembered how to use it's strength and the among of power he could use also increased.

If he was an absolute master before forgetting his identity, then of course he wouldn't remember it and he couldn't use the strength of an absolute master. For reaching that state, one needs lots of understanding of martial arts and enlightenment, so if he doesn't remember anything then of course he can't use his strength.

For now, he could only use the strength of the body he trained for years and the techniques his body remember. But by training, not only does he understand how to use his body, his understanding of martial arts itself will go up.

That's what happened in this case. You could say that his brain has regained some of his martial arts understanding from his subconsciousness, while his body regained his martial prowess. And that's why he was able to sense the presence of people.

Knock, Knock.

No sooner was it that someone knocked on the door.

"Hey, young man. You awake? I have somethings to say. Mostly about your request."

It was old man Dan's voice.

"Coming."

Chun Woo-Moon opened the door and let the guests in the house quickly.

Besides old man Dan, the mayor and someone Chun Woo-Moon didn't know, were there. A young man with sharp eyes and a cool and expressionless face around middle twenty.

The young man looked at Chun Woo-Moon and was surprised. Then, he quickly averted his eyes and turned his face to the side and looked down.

'B-beautiful. No wonder elder Dan and the mayor repeatedly warned about him. Elder Dan even said that I shouldn't look at him since he feels uncomfortable when someone stares at him. I'm completely convinced.'

Even thought he know that he shouldn't look, he still stole glances at him every few seconds. It was something he had no control over as it was more of the human instinct to look at something beautiful and not wanting to look away.

'I should control myself! I have to work with this person and go to that place. I can't let his beauty get in the way of the mission and be a source of distraction for me!'

But he didn't know that his action has led to Chun Woo-Moon misunderstand his intention.

'What's wrong with this person? Does he hate me? Did I do something wrong? After he saw my face, he suddenly got angry and averted his eyes. Is he someone the past me knew?'

In his desperation of controlling himself, his face had contorted and his action of averting his eyes and not looking at Chun Woo-Moon seemed like avoidance to others.

Although old man Dan and the mayor seemed to have perceived his intention and understood the situation that wasn't the case for Chun Woo-Moon.

"Um, first of all, can I know who that person is? Then we can talk about the reason you came here."

"Ah, of course. That was the intention from the start. Since he is involved in the things we are about to discuss."

"But before that, please come and sit."

"Thank you."

Before he knew it, his body moved to the stove and he unconsciously prepared the tea and tea cups and served them to the guests.

After he sat down and took a sip of the tea, he flinched and was suddenly surprised at himself.

'When did I even prepare it? More importantly, did this house even have tea leaves? Maybe it had? I think I saw it when looking for food. But where did the teapot and teacups suddenly came from? I'm sure there was nothing like this in the house or in my possession.'

But he hadn't realized another important thing. The fact that his body moved without him even thinking about serving something and the fact of making tea itself.

Since he has lost his memory, he shouldn't remember that he could make tea or how to make it. But his body moved with it's own volition and even prepared it!

It means that either he liked making tea so much that his body moved on it's own to take this opportunity and make it, or that he had so much guests to see everyday and was forced to make tea and serve them, that the moment he saw and perceived them as guests, he would prepare to entertain them.

Maybe even both.

"Ho, this tea is so good and soothing. If I had known you had such skills, I would have asked you to prepare some for me sooner."

While taking a sip from his tea, Chun Woo-Moon answered with his thought.

'I didn't know either.'

"You are right. But, where did you get this teapot and teacups from? I don't think the villagers had put something like this in this house, since I was overseeing the process and seeing if anything was lacking. Did you buy it yesterday?"

"No, I was with him all the time yesterday and he didn't stop anywhere, let alone buy something. And even if he did, this village doesn't have such fine and luxurious items."

The teapot and teacups were adorned with a dragon embraced by clouds and beautiful trees and flowers, and decorated with gold. Rather than a pattern, it was more like a scenery.

"Then, was it your own possession? I don't think it was there when we moved your luggage."

'Even if you ask, I don't know either. It was in my hands before I knew it. Let's make something up for now.'

He set his cup down and opened his eyes while directing his eyes at them.

"It was buried in the yard. When I went to get some air in the morning, my foot get caught in something. At first I thought it was a stone. But upon a closer look, it was a box's corner, so I dug it up to see what it is and these came out of that box."

"I see. But why was it buried?"

"It probably was from before this village was formed. After all, there has never been someone so wealthy that can afford these tea set in this village's history."

"Right. Maybe they wanted to hide it because someone was after them or while carrying it, it had fallen and was buried under ground after years had passed."

'Is it really that valuable? Then where did this tea set actually come from? If it's not mine and it's that valuable, I should return it right?'

As he was thinking like that, the young man sitting across him coughed to gather the attention to himself and spoke.

"More than that, let's get to the main point. We came here for something else, not to talk about tea and tea sets, right? before that, let me introduce myself, as it seems like the elders don't have any intentions of doing it."

"I'm Jang Ki-Jun. Physician Jang's grandson and one of the village's hunter. I'm quite confident in my speed and wit. Nice to meet you and looking forward to you cooperation."

This was the first time these two meet, but who would have thought what their meeting would led to? No one could have known. That the combination of these was something that brought changes and disasters to this world.