Martial Wild West

“Darn it… it all…”

Jang Geon grumbled expletives under his breath, swaying slightly. His contorted expression and twitching eyelids expressed his pain, anger, sadness, and despair. The tiles fell from his trembling hands. He had lost again.

“Looky here, ain’t usually the type to spill this, but ya shouldn’t be fiddlin’ with this here game of chance.”

A middle-aged man sitting at the same table advised Jang Geon, looking at him with pity. However, Jang Geon glared back at him with more ferocity, gritting his teeth.

“You folks… ya couldn’t’ve… all schemed…”

The middle-aged man chuckled softly.

“Schemed? Nah, yer hand ain’t steady enough for that kind of talk. You’re jest downright awful at this gambling business.”

These words were the final blow. Jang Geon eventually lost all strength and hung his head low. He knew better than anyone else that the gamblers at this table hadn’t conspired against him. Having been fleeced before, he naturally honed his senses and even awakened his intuition to watch the gamblers’ hand movements.

The problem was that he was so focused on their hand movements that he completely neglected to control his own expressions or read his opponents’ emotions. When he was in a fight with a sword, he reached a natural state like breathing, but once he held the tiles, everything went haywire.

Regardless, he had been thoroughly fleeced at this gambling table.

“Don’t you go dismissin’ my words. You’re dreadful at gambling. And for someone who’s totin’ a blade around, you sure as hell shouldn’t be with such dangerous goods when you can’t even win at a simple game of chance. You might actually find yerself on the business end of that blade one day.”

The middle-aged man gave some serious advice while gathering the coins spread on the table. However, Jang Geon, who had been hanging his head, didn’t seem to hear him. He slowly rose from his chair and walked towards a long table at one end of the tavern, facing the owner. The middle-aged man shook his head in disappointment at being ignored.

“Seems to me like your luck’s run out.”

The tavern owner, who had been roasting something on a small stove, put it down and took out a bottle of liquor as Jang Geon approached and sat down. Jang Geon naturally accepted the bottle and glass and filled the glass as he spoke.

“I ain’t ever had any luck to speak of.”

The tavern owner, who seemed to be somewhere between middle-aged and elderly, simply smiled and turned his attention back to the small stove despite Jang Geon’s blunt response. He had been boosting the tavern’s sales for five days now, so even his rough words seemed pleasant.

After downing his drink, Jang Geon rested his arm on the table and rubbed his chin, looking around the tavern with weary eyes.

Most of the people were drinking and eating snacks rather than having a meal. Many were farmers who had finished their hard day’s work in the late afternoon, and shopkeepers who had closed their stores and come for a drink. In one corner of the tavern, a guest was sitting deeply in a chair with a wide straw hat covering his face, plucking a bamboo flute. Jang Geon tilted his glass again, using the sound of the flute as a side dish.

The two-story tavern, shaped like a Chinese character, was bright with the afternoon sunlight. However, thanks to the bright sunlight, the areas in shadow looked even darker in contrast.

Jang Geon, sitting in the darker corner, looked at the brighter side with his desolate eyes. Dust particles, catching light in his cloudy gaze, floated leisurely, appearing to swim amidst the laughter and chatter of joyful people. He wondered about the life of such drifting dust. Is it merely surrendering to the ebbs and flows between winds? If so, could such a life be as fulfilling as those of the joyously laughing farmers and merchants?

A small smile surfaced on the lips of Jang Geon, who was stroking his chin while observing the dust. The sight of him losing money and falling into solitary fantasy amused him.

Nevertheless, he had learned something this time. Unlike the previous time, he did not gamble until his pocket was completely empty. The remaining coins in his possession comforted him.

As Jang Geon tilted his glass of alcohol with a satisfied smile, he noticed three men entering, sweeping the tavern’s entrance curtain aside.

Glistening straw hats, black windbreakers, and sword hilts jutting out from behind their right shoulders. Considering their identical attire and grim demeanor, they seemed to be a bunch of weirdos.

The tavern owner let out a small moan audible only to Jang Geon, who was nearby, then approached the men, of course, still standing behind the long table.

“Well, howdy. Ya here to stay a spell?”

The man in the lead of the three in black windbreakers didn’t respond to the innkeeper’s words. Instead, he lifted his straw hat slightly, slowly observing the interior of the inn. After scanning the room until the tavern owner showed signs of discomfort, he found someone and smirked.

“…Beg yer pardon, partner?”

The man lifted a single forefinger in response to the tavern owner’s words. The tavern owner roughly understood what he meant and poured a strong drink. The man gulped it down in one go, slammed a coin on the table with a clank, and trudged further inside.

The tavern fell silent. Even at a glance, the atmosphere around the trio was unusual. However, because they had spread out and come inside, people couldn’t leave and could only observe the situation.

The man who had been at the forefront slowly made his way to the back of the guest who had been playing the flute until now. The guest, who had been practically lying down on his chair with his legs on the table, felt the unusual quiet in the tavern and slightly lifted the straw hat that was covering his face.

“Well now.”

Jang Geon, who was sitting and watching them with his chin propped, admired the scene with a whisper only he could hear. The face revealed under the lifted straw hat was quite beautiful, especially the red lips and the distinct beauty mark beneath them enhancing her charm.

“So you were here, Juyeo-lang.”

Upon hearing the voice from behind, the woman sighed lightly and responded without changing her sitting posture.

“And just who might you be, lookin’ for me?”

The man, looking at the woman’s back, growled as he spoke.

“I’m Sogwal-yong, a hand of the Jega family from Shandong. Even if my name don’t ring a bell, surely you ain’t a stranger to the name Jega?”

“Shandong Jega? That there Jega family oughta be in Shandong. Ain’t they currently in Sinsacheon?”

“…You’re wandering off the trail, Juyeo-lang. That ain’t the matter at hand.”

“Then what might be the matter?”

Claiming to be a subordinate of Jega, Sogwal-yong smirked and replied.

“It’s the fact that today, you’ll be meetin’ your maker.”

Juyeo-lang, the woman, frowned as if she had a headache and rubbed her temples.

“…I reckon I see what’s brewin’. But I’m sorry, that Jega fella’s lost his marbles. All I did was play the harmonica for some coin as per usual. Do I gotta carry the burden for his madness too?”

“Enough of yer jibber jabber! We know you had a scheme, ensnaring our Prince! We got ourselves an eyewitness too!”

Juyeo-lang looked perplexed, as if she couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Y’all got an eyewitness for such a claim?”

“Seom Ji-young, the oracle, laid it all out. How you drew close to Prince! Even said you stole the family’s secret right from under his nose!”

At Sogwal-yong’s growl, Juyeo-lang sighed deeply.

“This is hogwash. What secret? Ask that Prince fella straight if such a thing ever happened.”

“You hussy! Prince! Prince is…!”

“…What’s the matter with Prince? Something happen to him?”

Sogwal-yong didn’t answer her. With a flushed face, he grabbed the hilt of the sword behind his shoulder and shouted.

“On yer feet! And face me! I ain’t about to cut down a woman who’s turned her back!”

As he grabbed his sword, the other two also lowered their bodies and grasped their sword hilts. The people inside the inn held their breath with terrified expressions.

Juyeo-lang remained as she was, with her feet up on the table. She leaned her head against the backrest and stared at the tavern’s ceiling before she spoke.

“You really aimin’ to fight over that kid’s tantrum?”

“Kid?! Prince is the rightful heir, who’s even had his rite of passage this year!”

“He’s still wet behind the ears at sixteen. And the more I ponder it, don’t seem like the Jega family’s truly worried over this. Ain’t that right?”

Sogwal-yong yelled out.

“What in blazes are you prattling on about now!”

“Right? If the Jega family truly gave a damn, it wouldn’t be a handful of greenhorns like you they’d send, but a real family member bearing the Jega name. Alone.”

At her soft voice, Sogwal-yong flinched significantly. His face turned red.

“The nerve! We three can handle a lone drifter like you! Stand already!”

Juyeo-lang asked again.

“Really fixin’ to fight? ‘Cause once I get started, I ain’t gonna pull my punches.”

Sogwal-yong, now thinking she was mocking him, threw his straw hat he was wearing onto the ground and spoke lowly.

“All right then, you’ve called it down on yerself. If it’s a blade in yer back you want, I’ll oblige.”

Saying so, Sogwal-yong tightened his grip on the sword hilt and drew it. Following suit, the other two also drew their swords. And as the three swords made a sound while being drawn, in that moment, before the blade completely left the sheath, Juyeo-lang, who had been sitting until then, turned her body like a lightning bolt.

As she turned, something flew and lodged into Sogwal-yong’s chest.

“Argh!”

Sogwal-yong let out a single scream and fell backward, propelled by the force of the object lodged in his chest. The other two alternately looked at the fallen Sogwalyyong and Juyeo-lang with their eyes wide open. There were two daggers lodged in Sogwal-yong’s chest. Juyeo-lang smiled slyly and said,

“Since you boys drew steel first, it’s self-defense.”

The two guests from the Jega family came to their senses at her words and, shouting loudly, swung their swords. Juyeo-lang dodged by spinning backward, and their sword swings split the chair and table where she had been sitting. Judging by how they split the wooden table in one go, they didn’t seem to be mere brats as Juyeo-lang had described.

“Ah! There’s a brawl! Call the law!”

“Run away!”

As they began to fight, the patrons of the tavern who had been holding their breaths started screaming and running away in droves. However, unlike the fleeing crowd, Jang Geon remained seated in his spot, taking a swig from his alcohol cup with a bland expression. A chair flying amidst the chaos was abruptly stopped by Jang Geon’s hand. He gently placed it down.

The tavern owner, seeing Jang Geon’s behavior, blinked his eyes, then brought over the bewildered waiter, who was unsure what to do amidst the broken tables and chairs. They peeked over the table across from Jang Geon, sighing repeatedly.

“To clean all this up…”

“…Uncle, reckon we ain’t making a dime this month.”

Juyeo-lang, who had thrown the dagger at first, had now drawn a straight sword, slightly longer than her forearm, from behind her back and was fighting with it. Her flexible movements, hopping between tables and chairs, looked almost like a dance.

The two warriors had exceptional sword skills, enough to split tables in a single strike, but they weren’t fast enough to keep up with Juyeo-lang’s nimble jumps. Moreover, they tangled their paths and collided with each other, causing a mess. Juyeo-lang was toying with them.

“Oh.”

Jang Geon was delighted to see a character using lightness skill for the first time in a long while. It seemed that some kind of study had been added to her naturally light and flexible body. Perhaps he was witnessing the pioneer of the lightness skill in the New Continent.

Then, as all the tables on the first floor were smashed, Juyeo-lang landed back on the floor. And the two warriors stopped breathing the moment they saw her feet touch the ground.

Immediately after, two streaks of light passed by Juyeo-lang. Juyeo-lang was still in the same posture with her straight sword gripped in her right hand, and the two warriors were standing behind her, showing their backs.

A moment of silence followed the streaks of light. Then Juyeo-lang stood up straight and sheathed her sword back into the scabbard on her back. As the sound of the sword meeting the scabbard echoed, the two warriors collapsed. One had his neck half-cut, and the other had a dagger lodged in the middle of his forehead.

Jang Geon, who had watched the whole scene, clapped in his mind and took another sip of his drink. The visitor, who had provided him with music earlier, was now enhancing the taste of his alcohol with a sword fight. He nodded his head alone, feeling good.

Juyeo-lang, after steadying her breath for a moment in her standing position, looked at Jang Geon, who was still confidently sitting in the tavern and nodding his head alone, as if he was a madman. She noticed the tavern owner hiding behind Jang Geon and approached him.

“Apologies for this ruckus. It’s all on account of those scalawags. They’ve torn your tavern apart.”

The tavern owner shrugged with a half-dazed smile.

“Runnin’ a tavern means getting accustomed to this sort of ruckus. Don’t you worry none, miss.”

“No, I can’t just let it be. This wouldn’t have happened but for me.”

She said so, unstrapping the flute from her back. Fiddling with the bottom part of it, a small square hole opened with a click. She took out a pouch from it, thought for a while, then handed the entire pouch over.

“Here, use this for the repairs.”

“Well, I’ll be, you didn’t have to…”

The tavern owner didn’t refuse. He laughed as he took the heavy pouch. The woman, after giving the money, glanced around at the slain men and the wrecked tavern, nodded to the innkeeper, and left.

Jang Geon understood her quick exit. Even though it was self-defense, the martial arts association’s chief would probably want to detain her. To avoid that hassle, it was best to leave quickly.

Shortly after, Jang Geon realized he should have left sooner as well. The late-arriving association chief was nitpicking at every detail. If it wasn’t for the tavern owner serving him drinks and food, he might have punched the guy.

The next day, Jang Geon was leisurely driving his horse through the cool forest air. He had managed to avoid completely emptying his pocket with gambling, but it was undeniably thinner. The village from yesterday was a peaceful place with no particular attractions. The incident with Juyeo-lang was probably the most exciting event in a year.

There was no way for a martial artist to make money in such a place.

He had to go looking for trouble to earn money. Jang Geon chuckled wryly and slowly drove his horse. The sunlight filtering through the trees was soothing. He tried to recall the tune he heard from Juyeo-lang’s flute yesterday and whistled it.

While leisurely driving his horse on the mountain path and whistling, Jang Geon slowed down as he saw a jagged cliff on one side of the mountain path.

Upon reaching the cliff, he could see the winding mountain ridge in the distance, an even farther giant snow mountain, a meandering river underneath, and a wave-like forest. They all provided an unexpected tranquility to Jang Geon.

Inhaling the fresh air deeply, Jang Geon was about to leave the cliff with his horse when he pulled on the reins to stop again. His horse snorted as if questioning his indecisiveness.

“…Is that her again?”

Down there, at the bottom of the cliff, he could see Juyeo-lang confronting someone.