Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered - Chapter 8

**Chapter 008: Baekhojeon’s Report**

“Ouch! Ah…”

A groan escaped from Unhyeon’s lips as he struggled up the stone steps of Munyeongak on trembling legs.

Unhyeon nearly collapsed on the spot.

“…There’s not a single part of my body that doesn’t ache,” he muttered, grimacing.

He had only slightly twisted his foot while climbing a few steps, but the pain caused him to groan involuntarily.

His muscles ached all over, to the point where he could feel the existence of muscles he hadn’t even known he had.

It was hard enough to keep his shaky legs from giving out completely.

“All I did was stand for one si-jin (a traditional Korean time unit, approximately two hours), and yet…”

During that time, Unhyeon had to hold his arms up, maintain his posture, and keep his entire body tense.

At first, Il Chung-hyun (a senior martial arts instructor) had seemed calm and kind, but as soon as training began, he showed no mercy.

If Unhyeon’s posture faltered even slightly, Il Chung-hyun’s stern rebuke would immediately follow. As a result, now not just his legs, but also his arms, waist, and neck were sore.

“It’s only the first day, and I’m already like this… phew.”

Unhyeon finally made it into Munyeongak, where he leaned against a chair and let out a long sigh.

If this was how it was on the first day, the thought of what was to come seemed daunting.

Still, what gave him a sense of satisfaction was the book tucked under his arm.

Unhyeon looked at the book with a pleased smile.

“Learning it properly really does make a difference.”

Today, he had taken down quite a few notes.

If he had tried to understand this much by just reading the book on his own, it would have probably taken him three or four months.

Thinking of this, Unhyeon opened the book and reviewed the sections he had noted down today.

There were unfamiliar words and explanations densely packed on the pages, but now he had a rough idea of their meanings.

As the notes went on, his handwriting became messier, and the last part was almost illegible.

But that was inevitable.

After an hour of training, it was hard to even move his arm properly.

“I should organize these before I forget…”

In truth, there wasn’t much written in the last section.

He had merely pretended to take notes while Il Chung-hyun repeated the explanations. In reality, he had been so exhausted that he wanted to put down the brush immediately.

Given his state of mind, it’s no wonder the notes were so poorly written.

Tak.

“Phew…”

Unhyeon closed the book and let out a long sigh.

As he leaned back in the chair, the fatigue seemed to wash over him all at once.

Right now, he didn’t feel like organizing anything—he just wanted to rest.

“Hm? What’s that smell?”

Suddenly, he wrinkled his nose at the musty smell that reached him.

“No way…”

He absentmindedly brought his sleeve to his nose and quickly turned his head away.

“Ugh. This smell… it’s coming from my clothes…”

It was the smell of his own sweat.

He hadn’t noticed it outside, where there was at least some breeze, but now that he was indoors, the stench from his body was overwhelming.

Considering how much he had sweated, it would have been strange if there wasn’t any smell.

“What should I do about this?”

Unhyeon was at a loss.

Although he had a change of clothes, he didn’t have enough to wear a fresh set every day.

At this rate, he’d run out of clean clothes in just a few days.

“As a scholar, I can’t just wash my own clothes…”

He grimaced as he recalled the sweat he had shed during training.

Il Chung-hyun had indeed suggested he take off his clothes earlier.

In truth, Unhyeon had desperately wanted to.

But out of courtesy, he had declined once, and Il Chung-hyun hadn’t brought it up again.

“A person shouldn’t just ask once and then drop it… How can someone as high-ranking as a Gyodu be so timid…”

Unhyeon muttered under his breath, blaming the innocent Il Chung-hyun for no reason.

He then resolved that next time, if it was suggested even once, he would just take his clothes off. Otherwise, his clothes wouldn’t last.

As he frowned and turned his head, Unhyeon’s eyes fell on a neatly stacked pile of books on one side of the table.

“Well then…”

The books on the table were ones he had dug out from countless miscellaneous texts over the past month.

Until yesterday, the sight of this pile had been overwhelming, but now it seemed manageable.

“Shall I take a look?”

Unhyeon picked up the book at the top of the stack.

It was one he had selected just a few days ago.

“A report on the holistic approach to the origins of martial arts techniques passed down in the Murim sects…”

Looking at the title, which seemed to have been abandoned as unreadable by anyone, Unhyeon felt a sudden sense of familiarity.

“Come to think of it, I used to live with books with such rigid titles.”

But that was in the past.

It had only been about a month since he started going through miscellaneous texts, but it felt like ancient history.

Flap.

Here’s a professional translation of the provided Korean text into English:

—

As he turned the page, the word “Foreword” written in large letters caught his eye.

“They say that the foreword always contains everything about the book. Even if you haven’t read the content, you can at least pretend you’ve read the book by just reading the foreword.”

Recalling the useless tricks he had picked up during his long years of studying for exams, Unhyeon began to read the densely packed letters.

“Following the will of Heaven, His Majesty the Emperor, who has ascended to the throne, has bestowed upon me the great and overflowing grace of serving as a scholar at Baekhojeon…”

Like any other report prepared at the imperial palace, the foreword of the book began with praise for the emperor.

Unhyeon moved his gaze along the tedious and ceremonial sentences.

But only for a moment. The black letters began to blur in his vision, and soon enough, his eyelids naturally began to droop.

Ssh.

Unhyeon’s head slightly tilted forward, and soon, a steady breathing sound began to escape.

Shweeek, shweeek.

The early summer afternoon in the palace was warm.

Exhausted, Unhyeon soon began to snore softly.

Drrrr, drrrr.

A sudden noise quietly spread throughout the Moonyeon Pavilion, and the gentle breeze that entered through the window softly brushed Unhyeon’s tousled hair.

And so, Unhyeon was enjoying a sweet afternoon rest.

***

It was over a month later when Unhyeon once again picked up the report with the complicated title.

The martial arts training under Commander Il Choonghyeon of the Imperial Guards was quite rigorous, and for Unhyeon, who had hardly ever exercised before, just keeping up with it was a challenge.

The strange breathing technique was no exception.

For a while, Unhyeon would barely make it back to the Moonyeon Pavilion, where he would bury his head in a book and fall asleep.

As a result, he had stopped not only reading the books but even organizing the miscellaneous writings.

But isn’t it said that humans are creatures who adapt to their environment?

The time he spent dozing off gradually shortened, and today, he finally reached the point of picking up a book.

And it was none other than this book with the complicated and lengthy title.

Rustle.

Unhyeon sighed as he slowly read through the foreword and turned the page.

“Well, it’s not impossible that there was someone before who had the same hobbies as His Highness the Crown Prince…”

According to the book, the author was a scholar at a place called Baekhojeon.

And this Baekhojeon happened to be the exact same place where Unhyeon was now, Changryongjeon.

It was built by one of the previous emperors during his time as the crown prince to fulfill his interest in martial arts.

The Crown Prince continued to maintain Baekhojeon even after becoming the emperor, and the author of the book was the only scholar who worked there.

“So, in a way, the person who wrote this book is my predecessor.”

Unhyeon tilted his head as he looked at the book.

“But Baekhojeon… Where, or when, did it exist?”

He couldn’t figure it out.

The foreword only mentioned “His Majesty the Emperor,” with no titles or references that would allow him to infer the time period.

In any case, according to the book, the author performed his duties very effectively and faithfully.

Even after the emperor’s demise, Baekhojeon was maintained.

This was because the emperors who succeeded the one who founded Baekhojeon did not want to close it down.

However, unfortunately, it seemed that the later emperors did not share the same hobbies, and the author ended up merely reading books and idling away his time at Baekhojeon.

The author, who had spent his days serving—or rather, observing—several emperors, finally left the Forbidden City in old age, and this book was the last thing he wrote before departing.

In other words, it was the only work of his life.

“Is there anything left of what this person did?”

Unhyeon flipped through the book from the back.

What Unhyeon needed right now was something like a model answer sheet.

The closest thing to that was probably the work of the scholar at Baekhojeon who wrote this book.

But unfortunately, nothing like that was readily apparent.

Moreover, given the grand praise for the emperor who had allowed this book to be placed in Moonyeon Pavilion, it seemed unlikely that any other works by the author—such as stories about the martial arts that the former emperor enjoyed—had survived.

“What a shame.”

Just as Unhyeon clicked his tongue and murmured, an unexpected response came from behind.

“What is so unfortunate, my lord?”

Startled by the clear voice, Unhyeon turned around.

A eunuch wearing a brown Taegam robe was standing there with a smile.

“Ah, Eunuch Park!”

Unhyeon’s face brightened with joy.

Eunuch Park Kyu bowed deeply.

“Yes, it is I, Eunuch Park. It has been a while, my lord.”

“Indeed, it has. Ha, haha.”

Although his expression was joyful, there was an awkwardness in Unhyeon’s voice.

Pretending not to notice, Eunuch Park asked Unhyeon.

“Is there something that has troubled you, my lord?”

Unhyeon waved his hand.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just talking to myself… haha.”

Even as he spoke, Unhyeon avoided making eye contact.

Not just eye contact.

As if trying to keep his distance, Unhyeon was slowly inching backward.

Eunuch Park pretended not to notice and nodded.

“You were talking to yourself. I thought it might have been something else… Oh?”

Suddenly, Eunuch Park widened his eyes and spoke.

“Oh no, hasn’t your official robe become stained? And…”

Eunuch Park trailed off.

But the way he covered his nose with his sleeve spoke more clearly than words to Unhyeon.

“What is that smell?”

With one hand covering his nose, Eunuch Park frowned at Unhyeon.

“I, I’m sorry.”

Unhyeon stammered, looking embarrassed.

“I, I have my reasons, so this, this happened.”

The reason Unhyeon had been trying to keep his distance from Eunuch Park was precisely this.

Unfortunately, since the first day, Commander Il Choonghyeon had never suggested that Unhyeon take off his jacket.

As a result, Unhyeon’s official robe was not only wrinkled in several places but also stained.

This was the best of his clothes; the others didn’t even bear mentioning.

Although Unhyeon himself didn’t notice it much, the stench was strong enough to be noticeable from a distance.

With one hand covering his nose, Eunuch Park sighed and spoke as if in passing.

“Well, if I put in some effort, I could take care of your official robe, but…”

“Re, really, Eunuch Park?”

Unhyeon’s reaction was just as Eunuch Park had expected.

But contrary to Unhyeon’s eager expression, Eunuch Park subtly drew back.

“But I would need to know what happened in order to ask someone for help.”

Unhyeon’s face froze.

The other reason Unhyeon had been avoiding Eunuch Park was the fear that his learning martial arts might be discovered.

After all, it would be strange for a scholar like him to be learning martial arts from the commander of the Imperial Guards.