That’s Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 24
Seol-yak-bing (1)
『 Translator – Divinity 』

I continued running along the road.

I didn’t even spare a glance at the trees that whizzed past me, focusing solely on the source of the commotion ahead.

Clang! Clank!

Aaaagh!

The distant sounds grew clearer, and I could start to make out the two clashing forces.

“Are those… bandits?”

They wore clothes made of wild animal hides and wielded axes.

A group whose appearance screamed “bandits” was attacking a carriage.

And people who appeared to be escorts from an escort agency were surrounding the carriage, trying to fend them off.

“Block them! We must block them at all costs!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the shout of the middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader of the escorts, they responded with a roar and bravely faced the bandits.

But the problem was that the bandits outnumbered the escorts by at least two to one.

“Agh!”

“Kugh!”

The screams coming from everywhere belonged to the escorts, and every time one rang out, the number of escorts fighting the bandits visibly decreased.

Naturally, the leader’s face grew increasingly grim.

It was around that time.

That I, having run with all my might, arrived at the scene.

“Huh? Who’s this?”

Two bandits who noticed my sudden appearance approached me.

And seeing their faces up close, I couldn’t help but tilt my head.

Something was off.

They were clearly dressed like bandits and wielding axes like bandits, but their essence felt incredibly out of place.

Usually, bandits were supposed to have thick beards and fierce expressions.

But these two didn’t give off that feeling.

They certainly had thick beards and somewhat fierce faces, but something was strange.

The way they held their axes, the way they kept fidgeting as if their clothes were uncomfortable…

Simply put, they felt like they were imitating bandits, not actual bandits.

“This bastard isn’t answering. I said, who are you!?”

Agh!

The bandit’s curse overlapped with a scream coming from afar.

I shook my head and came to my senses.

Whether they were bandits or just imitating bandits, the fact that they were attacking travelers didn’t change.

I immediately drew my sword.

Shing!

As I drew my sword, the two bandits widened their eyes, exchanged glances, and burst into laughter.

“Puhahaha! Well, well, look who it is, a young hero!”

“Oh my, how scary. I wonder if you’ve ever even stabbed anyone with that sword?”

The two bandits mocked me openly.

I didn’t want to waste any time.

Kicking off the ground, I simultaneously slashed at both of them and approached the escorts who were under attack.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Sounds of bewilderment at my sudden disappearance.

Ignoring the sounds of blood splattering as their chests were sliced open and the thud of the two bandits collapsing, I charged towards the other bandits.

“Wh-what the!?”

The bandits, who had been busy attacking the escorts, shouted in surprise as they saw me approaching.

At the commotion, everyone’s eyes turned towards me, and some of them noticed their fallen comrades behind me.

“Yong-chil! Deok-sam!”

Yong-chil, Deok-sam… Come to think of it, the people of this era really put no effort into naming their children.

Feeling a renewed appreciation for my parents who had given me the rather pleasing name of Ja-seong, I swung my sword.

“Agh!”

Two bandits collapsed, their sides and chests slashed by my swift sword.

“Get that bastard!”

Finally realizing that I was an enemy, the bandits charged towards me with contorted faces.

Of course, it was useless for them to swarm me like that.

These idiots, who couldn’t even properly use their meager internal energy, couldn’t even touch the hem of my clothes.

“Kugh!”

No, that wasn’t all.

The way these guys swung their axes was too clumsy.

Their posture was awkward, considering they were wielding weapons with long handles and a center of gravity concentrated at the head.

It was as if they were originally sword or saber users who were forced to use axes.

Seriously, who were these guys?

After brushing past a bandit and leaving a long cut on his side, most of the bandits were lying on the ground.

“Ugh…”

“Ooph…”

I hadn’t cut them deeply, so their lives weren’t in danger, but they wouldn’t be able to move properly for a while.

I walked past the groaning bandits on the ground and the dumbfounded escorts, approaching the hulking figure who had been standing imposingly at the back.

He was probably the leader.

“…Who are you?”

“A passerby.”

The bandit leader scowled at me, the one who had suddenly appeared and taken down all his subordinates.

His fierce face grew even more hideous as he heard my answer.

“If you’re a passerby, then just pass by. Why are you interfering and causing trouble!?”

“Well then, should I just watch as you bandits attack travelers?”

“Ha…!”

The bandit leader let out an exasperated groan.

He seemed more frustrated with the situation itself than angry at my unwelcome intervention.

Seeing that, I gained certainty.

These guys weren’t really bandits. They were disguised as bandits for some other purpose.

What could their motive be? Were they after the goods, as bandits typically were?

Various questions arose, but I had to put them aside for now.

The bandit leader grabbed the axe strapped to his back.

The way he held the axe was different from the other guys who were imitating bandits.

Gripping the axe handle firmly, the bandit leader growled,

“You’re going to die today because of your nosiness.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the bandit leader swung his axe down like lightning.

I took a step back to dodge, and the axe, missing its target, slammed into the ground.

Bang!

He had struck with such force that most of the axe head was buried in the ground.

Seeing that, I narrowed my eyes.

Not only was the way he held the axe different, but his swing also had real power and weight behind it.

This guy, he was someone who actually used an axe.

Moreover, I could sense a faint surge of energy as he channeled his internal energy.

It wasn’t as much as mine now, but it was far greater than what I had before consuming the elixir.

“Hup!”

Circulating his internal energy throughout his body, the bandit leader roughly pulled the axe out of the ground.

“What a pity. You could have died painlessly in an instant.”

“If you want to send me anywhere, you’ll need to swing that axe a little faster.”

“You arrogant brat.”

The bandit leader grinned ferociously and swung his axe again.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With every swing of his thick, veiny arms, the axe came flying with an ear-splitting sound.

But it still couldn’t reach me.

His footwork, which seemed to have some form and technique, wasn’t bad, but it was too slow to reach me.

“You’re like a slippery rat!”

The bandit leader’s face contorted into a hideous scowl, evidently displeased by how easily I evaded his attacks.

“Uwaaaagh!”

With a roar that echoed through the surroundings, his axe swings became wilder and more erratic, creating more openings.

The moment I had been waiting for had arrived.

Having swung his axe with excessive force, the bandit leader momentarily lost his balance, exposing his right shoulder.

I immediately raised my sword, gripped in both hands, above my head.

The first move of the Three Talents Sword Technique, Mountain Suppresses the Summit.

Despite its grand name, it was just a simple downward strike.

And with just a simple downward strike, I wouldn’t be able to inflict much damage on a giant twice my size.

So, I put all my weight into the descending sword.

Shifting my center of gravity into the sword, I struck with all my might.

This was the essence of heavy swordsmanship.

By adding the principles of heavy swordsmanship to the ordinary downward strike, while it wasn’t enough to suppress a mountain, a force incomparable to its original power pressed down on the bandit leader’s shoulder.

“Kuh-ugh!?”

Unable to withstand the weight of the heavy sword, the bandit leader crashed onto the ground, face first, with a loud thud.

Kwaaaang!

The bandit leader remained motionless, his face buried in the ground.

He had even let go of the axe he had been gripping tightly, seemingly knocked unconscious by the attack.

Of course, his shoulder, where my sword had landed, was already starting to swell.

If I hadn’t struck with the flat of the blade, his shoulder would have been severed.

“U-uwaaa… T-the leader, in one blow…!”

A terrified voice came from behind me.

I turned my head, and the bandits, clutching their wounds, were staring at me with fear in their eyes.

Shrugging at them, I quietly sheathed my sword.

Perhaps realizing that I had no intention of finishing them off, they quickly got up and tried to escape.

“Hey.”

“…!”

I called out to them from behind as they were about to flee without hesitation.

They flinched, stopped in their tracks, and turned to look at me with uneasy expressions.

I gestured with my chin towards the bandit leader, who was lying unconscious before me.

“Take your leader with you.”

“……”

The bandits looked confused for a moment, as if they didn’t understand my words.

When I stepped aside, they cautiously approached, helped the bandit leader to his feet, and then ran away.

As I was watching them leave, someone approached me.

It was the escort leader who had been loudly encouraging his men earlier.

He walked up to me and cupped his hands in a respectful greeting.

“Thank you for saving us, young master. I am Mak Pyeong-sam, the leader of the Peaceguard Escort Agency.”

“Ah, yes. I am Gun Ja-seong.”

I returned the greeting and introduced myself, and he smiled broadly.

“So it’s Young Master Gun. Truly, heaven has helped us. I thought we were all going to die, but to be saved by a young master who appeared out of nowhere, it’s like a story from a street novel. Hahaha!”

I stared intently at Leader Mak, who was laughing heartily.

He stopped laughing and looked slightly flustered.

“Why are you looking at me like that…?”

“You’re not asking.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Normally, people would ask or get angry.”

Fortunately, none of the escorts seemed to be dead, and it didn’t look like the bandits had intended to kill them, but they had still been suddenly attacked.

If I had let those bandits go without killing them, most people would ask why. If they were short-tempered, they might even get angry.

Even if they were bandits, they could have been taken to the authorities for a reward.

But Leader Mak didn’t ask anything and just expressed his gratitude.

Based on these circumstances, I could only reach one conclusion.

“You knew, didn’t you? That they weren’t bandits.”

“……”

Leader Mak was speechless, caught off guard.

It seemed my guess was correct.

“Well, it’s none of my business, but I’m curious. What’s the situation?”

“Th-that’s… It’s related to the person we’re escorting, so I can’t speak carelessly…”

“Escorting?”

So, it wasn’t a carriage transporting goods, but an escort mission.

Indeed. I hadn’t noticed it before, but it was a carriage for passengers, not for cargo.

Just then, someone emerged from the carriage, pulling back the curtain.