Chapter 40

Little Dragon Pavilion’s training ground.

A space that should have been filled with Wi So-rang’s shouts was instead wrapped in silence.

At the center stood Wi Geum-myeong.

He wore a cold expression as he stared at the middle of the training ground.

There, four wooden dummies stood at the cardinal directions, each set three meters apart.

They were set up to prove that Wi So-rang had reached the fourth stage in the Broad Sun Fist Art.

That was right. A demonstration had been prepared.

Here, Wi So-rang would splendidly prove that she had attained the fourth stage in the Broad Sun Fist Art.

“Why that face? You look like someone hoping for failure.”

I asked as I looked at Wi Geum-myeong.

He replied curtly.

“You are seeing wrong. I am the one who wishes most for the Sixth Young Lady’s growth. However.”

“However?”

“I simply do not trust the Seventh Young Lord.”

“Is that why we are doing this so modestly?”

There were only three of us here.

Wi Geum-myeong, Wi So-rang, and me.

Everyone else, even the guards, had been dismissed by Wi Geum-myeong.

Im Yeon insisted that she could not do so under guard regulations, but I sent her out.

We were not in a situation that needed guards right now.

“Since we do not know what result will come out, there is no need for fuss.”

“Well, that is true enough.”

“I only hope your past boasts will not turn out to be empty words.”

“You will soon be able to see for yourself whether they are empty or not. You have not forgotten that you agreed to grant my request if she succeeds, have you?”

“A true merchant does not speak two different things with one mouth.”

Wi Geum-myeong narrowed eyes already small from his thick flesh even further.

Hearing his firm assurance let me relax a little.

“One free use of the Iron-Soul Workshop. That is what I want.”

The Iron-Soul Workshop was a smithy run by the Iron-Gold Wi Clan.

It was renowned throughout the Demon Cult for its high quality.

“Hm, very well. That much is possible. When will this begin? I would like this done quickly.”

“Just a moment.”

I walked over to Wi So-rang.

She was standing near the dummies, looking anxious.

“Sajeo, are you really nervous?”

I knelt on one knee to meet Wi So-rang at eye level.

Wi So-rang dipped her head slightly.

“It feels too sudden. Sajae, do you think I can really do it?”

“I am sure. About ninety-nine percent.”

Yesterday, I had confirmed Wi So-rang’s potential.

She would definitely succeed.

‘Though she does need a bit of encouragement.’

In truth, Wi So-rang was right.

It was sudden.

I could have spent about four more hours to firmly push her up to the fourth stage, but suddenly a thought came to me.

It was fine if Wi Geum-myeong did not trust me.

But it was a problem if he could not trust his own daughter.

If I let him keep forcing that harsh training method, the future I had seen would repeat.

Wi So-rang’s growth would stagnate for a long time, and she would run away. Only then would that stagnation slowly loosen a little, but by then the time when she could have grown explosively would already be past.

How many conflicts would there be in between.

And I could not keep looking after Wi So-rang every single time.

So instead of just, ‘Ta-da, you are at the fourth stage now.’

If I staged a dramatic scene he would never forget, would Wi Geum-myeong not change his attitude, at least a little?

“Sajeo, do you remember how you moved on the boat yesterday? Especially when you landed that hit on me.”

“Yeah.”

“What did it feel like?”

“…It felt like I had ridden up onto a really strong wave.”

Wi So-rang spoke without confidence, but I smiled.

That was it.

Wi So-rang already knew the answer.

“Try to recreate that feeling. That will do it.”

“I still feel like I cannot do it…”

Wi So-rang glanced sideways at Wi Geum-myeong.

“Sajeo, do you not want to eat as much meat as you want? What dish do you like best?”

“Mm, braised pork!”

“Then you have to do it. Only then will the Patriarch change.”

Of course, he would not completely change from this one time.

But the more moments of proof there were, the more Wi Geum-myeong would gradually acknowledge Wi So-rang.

“……”

Wi So-rang looked into my eyes for a moment, then nodded firmly.

“Got it, Sajae!”

“Remember this, Sajeo. You have to strike all four dummies within two breaths.”

“Okay!”

I wondered if I was asking too much of her, but fortunately she seemed to understand.

That did not mean all her anxiety vanished, but this was enough.

Wi So-rang was ready to reach four stars.

---

Wi So-rang stood at the exact center of the four dummies.

The distance to each dummy was one and a half meters.

If she smashed them without using internal energy within two breaths, she would have reached the fourth stage in the Broad Sun Fist Art.

“Hooo.”

Wi So-rang let out a long breath, trying to shake off her tension.

Even so, she could not escape Wi Geum-myeong’s needlelike gaze, but she forced herself to ignore it.

“Cha-at.”

After a few deep breaths, Wi So-rang finally launched a strike at the first dummy.

Perhaps because she was in too much of a hurry, the impact at her fingertips was absurdly weak.

Before she could even check the result, Wi So-rang twisted her body towards the next target.

She had to move like this if she wanted to destroy all four within two breaths.

But the first button had already been fastened wrong. Her kick at the second dummy narrowly missed.

‘No!’

Wi So-rang’s mind went blank.

It was because she intuitively sensed failure.

Her moves at the third and fourth dummies failed as well.

By the time her two breaths ended, the four dummies were standing exactly as they had been.

“Tsk tsk.”

Wi Geum-myeong clicked his tongue.

That sound turned into a thousand-pound boulder that pressed down on the child’s shoulders.

‘I am doomed…’

Wi So-rang’s face crumpled as if she were about to cry.

She had wanted to do well, had felt like she could, yet in the end she had failed.

There was no restriction that she had to succeed within a few tries.

It was because everyone here knew.

If you were not at the fourth stage, then trying dozens or hundreds of times would be useless.

In other words, Wi So-rang’s attainment was still lacking.

‘What do I do?’

Her clenched fist shook.

She wanted to pull it off beautifully just like her sajae had told her to, wanted to be acknowledged by her father.

She did not know what to do.

“Sajeo, what are you in such a rush for?”

“Sajae…”

Wi So-rang looked at Baek Su-gyeong.

Unlike herself, her older sajae did not look worried at all.

“Ride the wave.”

At Baek Su-gyeong’s calm words, Wi So-rang closed her eyes.

Then she recalled that sensation again.

That sensation of exploding for an instant, like riding up onto a wave.

That sensation as if her limbs had grown longer and she was sweeping through an area she had not been able to reach.

Wi So-rang chewed on that feeling over and over.

---

“Hoo, I knew this would happen.”

Just as Wi So-rang closed her eyes, Wi Geum-myeong let out a deep sigh.

“I truly do not know what this is supposed to be. Did you simply want to show me the sight of her failing?”

“As if I would do that.”

“Do you truly believe the Sixth Young Lady can reach the fourth stage?”

“Of course I do.”

“I do not expect anything in the slightest. I will be going first.”

“Wait a moment.”

I stopped Wi Geum-myeong as he went to turn around.

Then I continued.

“Sajeo will pull it off. Please watch just a little longer.”

“It is meaningless. That child’s limits are already clear.”

“But you are her father. Your daughter has not given up, so how can her father give up?”

“…Hoo.”

Wi Geum-myeong’s eyes wavered slightly.

He stared into empty space without a word for a while, then finally spoke with a heavy sigh.

“The Iron-Gold Wi Clan is, at its root, a merchant family. I too trained in martial arts from a young age, but to be honest, I have always been more familiar with the abacus than martial arts. Perhaps because of that, once I became Patriarch I heard sneers that my achievements were stacked up with money. So I placed my hopes on So-rang. I did not want her to be pointed at like me. I wanted her to be acknowledged as a true warrior.”

I did not know what to say.

I had never known he held such feelings.

I had simply thought he was using Wi So-rang for power.

“I did not trust it, but inwardly it seems I wanted to. Since the Seventh Young Lord is a different kind of man from me, I thought perhaps you could see what I could not. But it seems that too was a vain hope.”

“…That is probably how it is. Just as you can see what I cannot, I can see what you cannot. So, trust me.”

“……”

He did not answer, but it seemed Wi Geum-myeong no longer intended to leave first.

I gave a small nod and turned my gaze to Wi So-rang.

Her bearing had changed from just before.

The stray thoughts that had filled her head seemed to be gone.

Things like her father’s gaze, the thought that she must not disappoint him, fear of failure.

“Hup.”

Wi So-rang sprang powerfully toward her targets.

Pak. The first dummy made a dull sound.

Without hesitation, her attack flew toward the second dummy.

Pat—

It grazed it.

“Sseup.”

Wi So-rang’s second breath was thrown slightly off.

In the end, the third and fourth dummies again were not struck properly.

Wi So-rang did not despair. She simply returned to her place as if it were all one continuous move.

At once, she let out a new first breath.

Pak, pak, pak!

Three hits and one graze.

Wi So-rang lightly bit her lip.

‘Keep doing it just like now.’

I spoke inwardly.

Condensing power, then detonating it. That sensation like riding up onto a wave.

Wi So-rang had nearly grasped it.

Most likely, she would break through the wall on this attempt.

“Hup.”

The first breath.

Kicking off the ground, Wi So-rang swept the first dummy with her leg. Using the rebound, she spun her body and struck the second dummy with her fist.

Her movement was far more natural than before.

“Hup.”

The second breath.

Wi So-rang’s clothes snapped sharply in the air.

Closing the distance, she poured her strikes onto the third and fourth dummies.

A ten-year-old child had completely dominated a radius of one and a half meters all around.

Ppabababak!

All four dummies shattered at once.

Scattering wooden splinters in every direction as if spraying blood.

In the center of it all stood Wi So-rang.

“S-Sajae…”

The child’s pupils trembled violently as she panted for breath.

“Sajae! I did it! I really did it!”

Her voice was filled with joy.

At last, Wi So-rang had reached the fourth stage in the Broad Sun Fist Art.

She almost flew as she ran over, grabbed my hand, and jumped up and down.

“You did great, Sajeo!”

I swung our joined hands up and down and shouted from the heart.

I had believed she would do it, but seeing her actually succeed made me incredibly proud of her.

And there was someone staring at us in shock.

Naturally, it was Wi Geum-myeong.

I asked him.

“You saw that clearly, right?”

“……”

It seemed Wi Geum-myeong could not put anything into words.

Across his thick face, surprise, bewilderment, and a faint, unhidden emotion of being moved flickered by in quick succession.

I let out a short laugh and spoke.

“You can just be happy. It is your daughter who did it.”

“…An achievement that should have been reached long ago.”

Wi So-rang, who had been looking up at Wi Geum-myeong with bright eyes, dropped her shoulders.

Honestly, would it kill him to give at least one word of praise?

As if turning away from his daughter, Wi Geum-myeong looked at me.

“A promise is a promise. Shall we go to the Iron-Soul Workshop now?”

“Why? You are going to come with me?”

“Yes. There is not a single craftsman who works iron who is not stubborn. It will be better if I go with you.”

The offer was tempting.

In truth, I was well aware of the infamous reputation, of sorts, of the Iron-Soul Workshop’s smiths.

If Wi Geum-myeong accompanied me, there could be nothing better.

However.

“That is a shame. I have something to do.”

I pointed to Wi So-rang with a glance.

It meant he should praise his hardworking daughter a little, and that instead of forcing things like vegetarian meals on her, he should buy her some meat.

Right now was a moment when he needed to be Wi Geum-myeong the father before Wi Geum-myeong the merchant or Patriarch of the Iron-Gold Wi Clan.

Perhaps my blatant eye gestures made him uncomfortable.

Wi Geum-myeong furrowed his brow.

I did not care and motioned with my eyes again.

Then, as if he could not help himself, he turned his gaze to Wi So-rang.

Wi So-rang looked up at him again with bright, expectant eyes.

“You have worked hard, Sixth Young Lady. Now that you have reached the fourth stage, strive even harder toward great achievement.”

“Yes…”

Wi So-rang’s shoulders sagged.

He had said she had worked hard, but in the end, his attitude seemed unchanged.

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

I clicked my tongue even louder than Wi Geum-myeong had earlier.

What an incapable father, when it came to being honest.

Can he really not express his joy in any way but that?

Why did the Heavenly Demon suddenly come to mind?

“Ahem. Sixth Young Lady, shall we return to the main house?”

Wi Geum-myeong cleared his throat and asked.

“The main house?”

“You have spent your strength. I will tell the cook to prepare braised pork. Let us go.”

“…!”

Wi Geum-myeong swung his heavy body around and began to walk.

Wi So-rang only blinked in place.

She was surprised.

At the fact that he would no longer force her to eat only vegetables, and that he had named the dish she liked most.

I nodded to the brat.

“Ah.”

Wi So-rang’s face brightened.

“L-Let us go together, Patriarch.”

Following after Wi Geum-myeong, Wi So-rang turned back to look at me.

Winking one eye and raising her thumb, she looked every bit the mischievous little rascal.

[Thank you, Sajae. I will not forget this favor!]

I received sound transmissions from two people at once.

One was from Wi So-rang.

[Come to the Iron-Soul Workshop in four hours.]

The other was from Wi Geum-myeong.

I watched the two retreating backs with satisfaction.

Would their father–daughter relationship be a little different from my previous life?

From now on, I would have to hope that Wi Geum-myeong would pay closer attention to Wi So-rang’s talent and believe in her more.

‘I should go train.’

Stretching big while still standing, I started walking as well.

Imagining what I would make at the Iron-Soul Workshop.