Etranger

Biyeon looked at Sedum. As soon as he raised his head, he met her eyes. He didn’t know whether it was accidental or intentional. Biyeon’s mouth was slightly curled up.

Sedum tilted his head, scratched the back of his head, and then turned his gaze toward the other crew members. A meaningful smile was on Sedum’s mouth.

***

The crew now had a fairly resolute, veteran-like appearance. The group atmosphere was excellent and disciplined. They didn’t look like people from a remote mountain village. They remained relatively unmoved even when looking at the glamorous exterior of the city. They seemed as free as the wind and as relaxed as a running river. There would be no disagreement among them. All of the crew members were becoming more and more like their captains. 

They were constantly growing. That growth was happening rapidly through relentless practice. After departing the Akum’s village and passing through two provinces, they were ambushed a total of three times. The crew had battled each time.

The first ambush came from an unlucky band of bandits who couldn’t figure out the opponent’s level, and the second was a fairly famous mercenary guild who attacked them even though they knew of the caravan’s combat power.

The last enemy they met was called ‘Martial Alliance.’ Contrary to the traditional martial arts clans, these warriors belonged to another world of armed martial arts forces. 

Every attack was a planned ambush, and the enemies’ attacks had their own differing styles.

The caravan’s strategies and movements, from infiltration and ambush to seizure and escape, were the same as the combat methods of modern special forces. There were some tactical differences, but not much different from those found in the Korean special forces on Earth.

What was unfortunate for these ambushers was that the caravan was commanded by the best experts, as far as the mode of battle was concerned. What was fortunate for them was that the defending caravans’ warriors had a low level of combat capabilities. The individual crew members had low combat power, so it wouldn’t be weird if they were only able to run away and escape.

San and Biyeon did not directly participate in these battles. Even when the crew fought against the terrifying warriors in their third encounter, they watched and observed from a distance.

The message they conveyed to the crew was consistent and always simple. When the crew faced a battle, San and Biyeon would quietly observe the crew from afar, as if they were watching a game.

Sometimes, they clapped, screamed, or gave encouragement…

“Only protect! It’s not important to protect the cargo, protect your companion!”

“You practiced a lot. No big deal!”

“Fight creatively! Trust your colleagues and counterattack!”

“If you don’t finish in an hour, there’s no dinner!”

The three company commanders, Yekin, Yuren, and Raron, knew what to do as they fought. The battle with the first enemy ended in a frighteningly short time.

The movement of the bandits was slow because the crew trained at a faster speed. The enemy’s intentions were predictable. The first enemy conducted a surprise attack, the standard of an ambush battle, but the bandits didn’t enjoy the effects of a surprise attack. The bandits attacked roughly according to their usual style, but the defensive ability of these rural warriors was like an iron wall. The bandits could only stick their lips out as all their attacks were countered.

Eventually, the attack failed, and casualties rapidly increased in the crew’s subsequent systematic counterattack, eventually forcing the bandits to retreat. The crew members cheered and rejoiced. They thought they were lucky and that they face an unfortunate band of idiotic bandits.

However, on the next day, while fighting another battle, the crew’s thoughts started to change.

The second attack came from a relatively famous group of mercenaries. This group possessed a far superior level of organization and warfare ability than the bandits. The mercenaries conducted a surprise attack that came in swiftly. They were also armed with powerful weapons and armor.

If they had clashed two months ago, the crew members wouldn’t have been able to resist. However, the results of the battle were surprising for the crew members. The crew’s warriors blocked the mercenary group’s incoming attacks with their own strength. Although a third of the crew were injured and were exhausted after the half-day battle, more than half of the mercenary warriors were killed in the scuffle. After the second battle, the crew’s thoughts were gradually turning into doubt, doubt over their preconceived ‘common sense’. They started to consider that their combat ability may not have been as low as they initially thought… that they possessed the potential to be much more than they were.

Even though no one said it aloud… the crew constantly recalled the ‘games’ that they participated in two hours a day with their captains and how those ‘games’ were clearly forming the ‘core’ of their battle strategies and movements.

‘It was as if the ‘core’ of the battle was already set within us…’

This was company commander Yuren’s thoughts after defeating the ‘Martial Alliance’ warriors in the crew’s third battle. It wasn’t combat skills that the captains had been drilling into the drew members. They were forced to ‘visualize’ movements and scenarios as if they were painters or artists. The visualizations that the captains wanted were not simply a sketch. Everything that could be expressed had to be expressed. The visualizations had to be expressed in words, and the body had to reproduce their visualizations like a mime. In addition, the crew had to describe the flow of changing shapes and characteristics in their visualized world. What they described were never useless details but the various options that flowed from the ‘core’.

The core was usually abstracted into a few lines and a few points. For example, when they visualized a head, they only needed to draw a circle in their minds. Movements were made with straight lines and curves.

The crew used this visualization to try and recreate the movements of an opponent’s body and sword. They needed to visualize the flow of actions until the moment the tip of the sword touched their bodies. When the crew first started training, they struggled to death. At first, the captain swung a sword, the tip of the sword approaching slowly towards their bodies. During the entire approach, they weren’t allowed to close their eyes. Once they were able to see the movement, they recreated it multiple times within their minds.

On the battlefield, their constant visualization exercises and physical training allowed them to possess a bold spirit in the face of an opponent’s attack and flexible judgment to counter. They achieved simplification by extracting only the core. They overcame fear through countless training and experience.

Like memorizing the multiplication table once and never having to memorize it again, so the opponent’s movements and feelings were visualized as a simplified ‘scene’ and the flow of these scenes was processed in real-time. The crew members were now able to collect and analyze data to make a decision on how to react.

They could read the opponent’s muscle twists, expressions, and gazes at the same time. Thus, although still in the beginning phase, the warriors were constantly looking and reenacting reality in a time and space they created.

Creating this internal ‘worldview’, a form of image training, was what San and Biyeon brought into this world. They were not looking for the shortest distance between space, but the shortest distance between space in relation to time.

***

Count Essen’s household members were leading the front carriages, as they were to lead negotiations. Porato City wasn’t new for most of them. Yesil, the youngest at only eighteen years old, was thrilled. This was the place she had heard so much about and dreamed of visiting. She planned to also study abroad here.

The procession was currently heading to a luxury hotel. Even if they were only rural nobles, keeping up the Count’s face and authority was important. In particular, in the context of negotiations ahead, the delegation’s outward appearance cannot be overemphasized. The accommodation was suggested by Sedum.

This ‘Poran Kingdom’s Highest-Grade’ hotel lodged high-ranking nobles, such as the Count, or higher. The party rented a large space that had a large living room, communal bathrooms, separate bedrooms, and a large storage unit. In these prestigious hotels, lodgings for groups were always available because the upper-level nobles frequently came into the city.

Usually, the first floor didn’t have walls but a bulkhead with removable partitions to provide a private space for merchants and junior warriors to rest. The second floor had luxurious bedroom accommodations for nobles and warriors. The convoy decided to rent out an entire building. It was the safest and easiest option to protect the crew members and the cargo.

“You want me to lodge upstairs?” Cecil protested.        

“Then who else will go up? An old man like you should rest upstairs,” San replied.

“The crew will feel uncomfortable if the captains do not lodge upstairs.”

“We’re not inconvenienced! Don’t make me repeat myself twice.”

“Okay.”

San and Biyeon decided to stay at the entrance of the living room on the first floor. Sedum decided to take a place at the other side of the entrance. They put themselves in the most dangerous positions. It was the captains’ will to protect the crew and to protect their cargo.

“Did Dite leave?” San asked Biyeon.

“She left. She’ll probably stay at the temple for a while.” 

“Alright, any updates or news?”

“I think some customers will visit us tonight.”

“When do you think we’ll be able to sell?”

“Because our products are very expensive, it’ll take a while. We also need to consider the appraisal time for each prospective buyer.”

“Let’s proceed slowly. We’re not in a rush. Since we’re finally here, shall we go around the city? Hey, Yeria! Is Yekin around?”

Yeria and Yekin came running out. Yesil followed along, like a bonus…

“Did you say you know this neighborhood well?” Biyeon asked. 

“Yes!”

“Can you guide and explain the city’s attractions?” 

“Okay.”

“What about our stuff?” asked Biyeon as she turned to the general direction of the storage area.

“We’ve set some traps in the warehouse. Like a prestigious hotel, the facilities for storing valuables are strictly guarded. It should be fine. Let’s go… shouldn’t we get something to eat?” San replied.

“Still…” Biyeon said as she carefully looked around. On the other side, Sedum was looking down.

“The little guys can’t get into a big game. The same as Las Vegas, the gambler’s paradise. There are no bullies or shoplifters there. If you’re uneasy, let’s ask the hotel for more security.”

“Okay.”

It was early evening. The sky was dark, and the wind was blowing the rain down sideways. They were taking a walk along the central street. The city was buzzing on either side of the street. The beginning of San and Biyeon’s new destiny and adventure was about to begin in this city.

Episode 2. Book 4: Choice – Chapter 1

“They have arrived in Porato,” the messenger carefully stated. 

The Master was looking out the window with his hands behind his back.

Through the open windows, he could see the Orom Mountain Range with ice caps atop the mountains. The sound of the wind whipping around outside was quite loud.

“This area is ruled by Siluone?” the Master asked. 

It was more of a rhetorical question.

The cold wind scattered his silver hair, but he didn’t care. The messenger thought a little before carefully stating, “Siluone hasn’t made any move yet. She is gathering her forces in the north, but it’s not a large force.”

“She asked for the data a while back, right?”

“Yes. I passed along the data a month ago. She was very angry.”

Soft wrinkles formed on the Master’s face.

“She must have been. Since we dragged our feet for three months… What about the edits to the data?”

“I omitted the parts you told me to omit.” 

The Master nodded.

“Did she show interest?”

“She was very interested.”

“What about my request?”

“She said she would think about it after analyzing the data.”

The Master smoothed his hair back. His gaze was still facing out of the window.

“What is the state of the Pian?”

“We have temporarily closed it. It’s calculated to take about 20 years to recover.”

“What about the other summoned?”

“As planned, the group operation programming was completed safely. They were sold and handed off to the customers. Two priests were given to the God of War, Kamije, two priests to the God of Fire, Tehara, and for Eliana, the magic dragon…”

The Master waved his hands. The messenger shut his mouth.