Even the Sword God Needs Paternity Leave

Chapter 2: My Circumstances Are Important

“Waaaaaah!”

Tae-bok’s cry sounded once more.

The first breath toward the world, a cry declaring his existence.

I, his father, was here as a witness.

Hearing it again brought a surge of joy.

“…….”

But soon, I had to prepare my mind. Because I remembered what sound would follow next.

“Kuheuk, kuuk.”

That sound.

A small sound of vomiting something up.

The midwife who had checked the baby’s condition came out.

“Baby’s father.”

Elder Jeong was a skilled midwife.

“The mother is healthy. She’s exhausted and a bit out of it, but her body is fine. However…….”

She hesitated.

The ominous silence grew longer.

“Please speak.”

I calmly dispelled the silence.

Elder Jeong nodded and opened her mouth.

“The baby has vomited bile.”

In the small bowl she held, there was a translucent golden liquid.

“I know a physician. Let’s quickly send someone to fetch him.”

The physician Elder Jeong knew was quite skilled.

In my previous life, that physician came and resolved the bile vomiting.

At the time, since I didn’t know about the Severed Meridian, I thought that was sufficient.

“May I see Tae-bok’s face first?”

“Let’s do that. The baby is in the room next to the mother, so go there. I didn’t mention the bile so as not to alarm the mother, so be careful.”

“Yes, thank you.”

To reach the small room where Tae-bok was, I had to pass through the large room where my wife was.

In front of the large room, the midwife’s assistant held out a basin. It was hot water infused with herbs. I sprinkled some on my body and washed my hands.

For the time being, I had to be careful, very careful, for the sake of the mother and the newborn.

I entered with cautious footsteps.

“Wife.”

“Darling.”

My breath caught in my throat.

My wife, Yeom Ja-yeong, lay there in her form from ten years ago.

She who had passed away, unable to care for herself while focusing solely on Tae-bok’s treatment.

“Huu…….”

Ja-yeong was still regulating her breathing, her eyes brimming with tears.

My own vision blurred slightly.

“You’ve worked hard. Truly worked hard.”

“Darling…, quickly go and greet Tae-bok as well.”

“Yes, yes, I’m going now. You close your eyes and rest a bit, wife.”

“I will.”

Her lightly closing eyelids trembled faintly.

I remembered her last will.

That even if she departed first, I must never give up on Tae-bok’s treatment.

I wouldn’t give up.

I wouldn’t give up on Ja-yeong or Tae-bok.

That was why I had come here.

Listening to Ja-yeong’s breathing settle into a deep sleep, I headed to the side room.

There.

“…….”

Tae-bok was there.

Wrapped snugly in the soft cloth I had prepared in advance, his eyes tightly closed as if he had never cried.

“I missed you.”

I missed you.

I thought I’d never see you again and was so scared.

“Father…, has come.”

I’ve come back through time to meet you again.

A face as small as a fist, with even smaller eyes, nose, and mouth. The wrinkled skin, fresh from birth, was flushed red.

I took in this face with my eyes. No matter how much I tried to capture it, it overflowed.

“Babies usually sleep as their job. For the next two or three months, they’ll sleep over eight shichen (16 hours).”

Elder Jeong followed me in and explained.

What dreams might he have while sleeping like that?

Are you dreaming happy dreams right now? I hope so.

I’ll handle the Severed Meridian myself.

“Let me check his pulse.”

“Huh? Does the baby’s father know medicine too?”

“I don’t know much, but I’ve picked up a little from watching over someone’s shoulder.”

I brought my fingers to Tae-bok’s neck. Newborns are so small that finding the acupoints is difficult.

“…….”

I concentrated all my nerves to feel his pulse.

I hadn’t learned any medicine just by watching over someone’s shoulder.

But when it came to this Severed Meridian, I was the second greatest expert in the world after the Divine Physician.

- Thud, thuu, thuuu, thud, thud, thuuuu….

Even coming back, it was the same.

His pulse was irregular.

The sign of the Severed Meridian that I would come to hate for the rest of my life.

Latent Waste Severed Meridian.

A Severed Meridian that lies dormant and suddenly blocks the blood vessels when the child turns ten.

No one knows until he turns ten.

Though frequent illnesses caused worry, no one thought it was a Severed Meridian.

Each time, it was a different symptom and treatable, so he was just seen as a child prone to minor ailments.

The only clue was the irregular pulse that appeared briefly when a symptom struck.

Capturing that exact moment was difficult.

That’s why people lived unaware and lost their child.

“If I hadn’t met the Divine Physician, I would have been the same.”

In my previous life, a major seizure occurred a year after the bile vomiting subsided.

By a stroke of luck, the Divine Physician was at the Murim Alliance branch in Luoyang at that time. Seeing me, a young master of the alliance, favorably, he personally took charge of the treatment.

That was the moment I learned about Tae-bok’s Severed Meridian.

“This time, it has to be different.”

I muttered softly, and Elder Jeong looked up.

“What did you say?”

“The physician I know is nearby. I’ll go fetch him.”

The earlier the intervention for the Severed Meridian, the better. The Divine Physician had said so while treating the seizures.

- It would have been better if we had intervened from the start. Looking at the birth date, it was when I visited the Dragon Sword Gang.

I would do that.

I would bring the Divine Physician right away.

That was what I had to do now.

I turned my body.

As I left Tae-bok’s side and passed through the large room again, my wife was asleep, her eyes still closed as before, exhausted.

I gazed at her face for a moment.

“Thank you, and thank you.”

For the ten years of my past life and for this moment now.

“This time, I won’t let you wear yourself out.”

And I set out on my way.

* * *

I walked.

As I walked, many things passed by my side.

People finishing their daily routines with the setting sun.

“Ink Sword Hero! We have some leftover pancakes today, take some!”

The old title I hadn’t heard in ten years passed by.

People beginning their nights with the rising moon.

“Ink Sword Hero! Some thugs have attacked the Great River Escort Agency. I’ll buy you a drink, let’s discuss it together!”

News of the Demonic Cult, which people hadn’t yet realized, also passed by.

As soon as I passed the bustling streets,

- Thud.

I propelled my body forward.

I checked the circulation of my inner energy while simultaneously inspecting every muscle and bone in my body. Walking and running, I grew accustomed to the body I had ten years ago.

- Whoosh.

The sound of the wind brushing past my ears grew louder.

Fields, farmland, and forests flowed by on both sides in an instant.

My thoughts flowed along with them.

The people who had called out to me in the bustling streets.

Getting along with people wasn’t hard. Doing what I had to as a White Path member was enough.

Rather, people worried about me.

They didn’t find me intimidating because I was a jianghu figure.

- Hmph, Sword Hero, you’re too rigid. Just because something’s called a rule doesn’t mean you have to follow it all.

- That’s why you can’t speak up in the alliance, right? They keep passing down missions to you that don’t even need to be done. Please, use some tact.

- Don’t you ever feel frustrated, Sword Hero?

It wasn’t just Namgung Jeheon, Zhuge Sheng, and Thunderbolt Demon. It seemed everyone had looked at me with similar eyes.

Now, it was said among the prodigies that Ink Sword Hero stood out.

Stood out… perhaps I was the best?

I had never received an invitation to the Murim Alliance’s Dragon Phoenix Assembly.

My master lived his whole life buried in obscurity, with no fame to speak of.

By the time the Murim Alliance recognized me, a man with no background, I had already defeated renowned Black Path masters.

People speculated that the Murim Alliance didn’t invite me to the Dragon Phoenix Assembly to uphold the dignity of the clans and great sects.

Whether that was true or not, I couldn’t say.

But it was a clear fact that I had the skill to speak my mind.

- Kwaaaah.

By the time the wind in my ears sounded like a storm,

[Dragon Sword Gang]

My footsteps stopped.

“Who are you!”

“This is the Dragon Sword Gang!”

The Dragon Sword Gang guards blocked me.

Two stood and shouted, while one sat on the steps in front of the door.

“State your identity.”

“I am Ink Sword Hero Jin Yeomyeong.”

“Hm? Ink Sword Hero?”

The guards’ gazes turned hostile.

“Yes, I am Jin Yeomyeong.”

The standing guards turned their heads toward the one sitting on the steps.

He seemed to be the leader of the three. He didn’t stand, just looked up at me with a slant.

“You don’t have an invitation, do you?”

Today was the Dragon Sword Gang Leader’s 60th birthday celebration.

“Our Young Gang Leader still can’t get up from his seat.”

I was the one who had beaten the Dragon Sword Gang Leader’s son to a pulp.

Though it was because the Young Gang Leader had struck a commoner first.

“I’m not sure if the Gang Leader wants to see Ink Sword Hero. If you wish, I can relay a message inside. Tsk tsk.”

His gruff tone, as if chewing on something, grew even more muffled.

Fine, there were procedures to follow.

I had to state who I was, explain why I came uninvited, and wait for the Dragon Sword Gang Leader to arrange a meeting with the Divine Physician.

The guard chewing and moving his jaw spat out whatever he was chewing with a “ptoo.”

It flew a good distance and landed in front of me.

A drop of water splashed, wetting my shoe.

“…….”

I had the skill to subdue their Young Gang Leader in an instant.

Yet they acted this way.

Because of a grudge against the Young Gang Leader? No. There was another reason.

Ink Sword Hero would follow procedure. He wouldn’t cause trouble. That’s the kind of person he was.

They knew that.

That’s why, despite the vast difference in martial prowess, they acted without hesitation.

“Even these lowly ones knew what kind of person I was.”

“What? Lowly ones?”

“Watch your tongue!”

It was laughable.

The Jin Yeomyeong everyone knew was rigid, tactless, and frustrating.

That’s probably why they all told me to live differently.

- Explode a bit, let go, try being free.

I had said I would do that.

“I want to smash the door and go in.”

“What?”

“I mean, deep down, I want to smash the door and go in.”

The guard who spat widened his eyes and stared.

“Deep down? So what are you going to do about it? What’s the point of telling me that?”

What’s the point?

“Because from now on, I’ll act on my deep desires.”

“What?!”

I raised my scabbard.

“Eh?!”

I gave them no time to react.

I leaped over the guard on the steps in one go and struck the door with my scabbard.

- Crack!

The shattered door flew inward.

I followed, jumping inside.

“Tch, intruder?! An intrusion!”

“Jin Yeomyeong broke the door!”

The Dragon Sword Gang guards at the door shouted and chased after me.

“Stop right there!”

“Stop, sto—, he stopped?”

It wasn’t just about breaking the door.

I turned toward the three guards. Sensing the mood, they hesitated.

“Huh? Huh?”

“Ink Sword Hero? Don’t come closer!”

Especially the one who spat, I met his gaze directly.

“Huh, huh, huh, ugh!”

Smashing the door and advancing menacingly.

Something unthinkable.

Something Ink Sword Hero would never do.

Yet it was happening.

“I’m not the Jin Yeomyeong you knew anymore.”

Should I have said, “I’m not Jin Yeomyeong,” instead?

Or perhaps, “No, you bastards”?

Hmm, thinking of Tae-bok, I should probably watch my language.

Though my mind was conflicted, my hands moved with clarity.

The guards tried to defend themselves in shock.

Crack, thud, smack.

They couldn’t keep up with my speed. The sound of breaking rang out clearly.

“Can’t even block a single strike.”

Looking at the three guards lying side by side after being hit with my scabbard,

a sudden thought crossed my mind.

“…….”

Should I do it, or not?

I’d never done it before, so I hesitated.

But since no one was watching, maybe I could practice.

“Ptoo.”

I spat at a person. It was my first time.

And the arc was beautiful.

“Hm. Not bad?”

More than anything, it felt pretty good.

My steps toward the inside felt much lighter.

“Who are you, this is the Dragon—, gah!”

Another guard appeared but ended up on the floor the same way.

A slight laugh escaped me.

“I am one of the sixteen Dragon Swords of the Dragon Sword Gang—, urk.”

No guard could stop me.

“Haha.”

It really felt good.

“Stop! This is the inner courtyard! One of the Four Great Masters, me—, ugh!”

The guard blocking the inner gate fell with one strike.

“Hahaha.”

Why did it feel so good?

Bang, I flung open the inner gate and shouted a greeting. I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

“Dragon Sword Gang Leader, Jin Yeomyeong has arrived! Congratulations on your 60th birthday! Hahahaha!”

Inside the inner courtyard, all eyes turned to me.

The startled Dragon Sword Gang Leader rose awkwardly.

The man who had turned the once-honorable Dragon Sword Gang into a Black Path faction.

“Jin, Jin Yeomyeong! How dare you—!”

Seeing his furious gaze,

‘Oh…….’

For some reason, it felt like I was doing the right thing.

I smiled faintly and continued sharing my true feelings.

“To be honest, I don’t really feel like congratulating you.”

I came here because of my own circumstances.