Even the Sword God Needs Paternity Leave

Chapter 3: Let’s Go Apply for Leave

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

The Dragon Sword Gang Leader erupted in anger.

“Jin Yeomyeong! How dare you insult me!”

The Dragon Sword Gang was the lowest among the orthodox factions near Luoyang.

But soon, it would shift to the gray area between orthodox and unorthodox, and eventually become a Black Path faction.

All under the current Dragon Sword Gang Leader’s influence.

I ignored his outburst and searched for the Divine Physician.

Tae-bok vomited bile because of the Severed Meridian.

I needed to bring the Divine Physician to prevent the effects from accumulating.

“Ahem… If it isn’t Jin Yeomyeong, the famous Ink Sword Hero of Luoyang these days?”

I didn’t have to search long.

The Divine Physician, who was being treated as an honored guest, was asking the Gang Leader.

“Yes, that’s right. But rumors are often distorted. I’ll resolve this quickly.”

The Gang Leader stood up confidently, but his gaze swept over the scabbard in my hand.

Seeing it held in my hand rather than sheathed at my waist,

“Ahem. Jin Yeomyeong! No matter our personal grudges! To barge into a gathering of martial luminaries with a sword… Your arrogance knows no bounds!”

Outnumbered in martial skill, the Gang Leader quickly invoked the “martial luminaries.”

“Look at Jin Yeomyeong, everyone. He stormed into a gathering of jianghu seniors with a sword. Doesn’t the title Ink Sword Hero ring hollow now?”

The “Dragon” in Dragon Sword seemed more about their tongues than swords, given how smoothly he spoke.

Still, his words had an effect.

The murmurs that started with my arrival grew louder.

A young swordsman from among the martial artists stepped forward.

“Ink Sword Hero, can you explain what’s happening?”

The noise subsided as everyone wanted to hear an answer.

I could do that.

I was about to share the prepared explanation.

“It’s…”

But the moment I opened my mouth,

“You need to provide a proper explanation. After causing this much commotion, don’t think you can brush it off with a flimsy excuse.”

A cold voice cut in uninvited.

A middle-aged man seated next to the Divine Physician, in the second-highest seat.

He sat in a formation flanking the Divine Physician with the Gang Leader.

He must be someone close to the Gang Leader.

I decided to heed his demand.

“Understood. I’ll state three reasons for not congratulating him, draw a comprehensive conclusion, and move on to my purpose for coming.”

The middle-aged man’s expression turned strange.

“Huh?”

A murmur rose from among the martial artists.

“That much?”

It wasn’t because of the middle-aged man’s demand.

I wanted clarity. That’s what I wanted now. I wanted to be utterly clear.

“First reason I don’t feel like congratulating: The Young Gang Leader and his guards have been causing trouble in the nearby county. The Young Gang Leader even beat a commoner, forcing me to intervene personally.”

That’s how I ended up subduing the Young Gang Leader.

“Second: The guards later visited the beaten commoner and threatened them not to make an issue of it.”

There was no remorse, of course.

“Third: Since my clash with the Young Gang Leader, the entire Dragon Sword Gang has been hostile toward me.”

Aftercare for the commoner, their reaction to me.

This couldn’t happen without the Gang Leader’s orders.

“Combining these three reasons, it’s clear that the overall discipline under the Gang Leader has become highly corrupt. Thus, I’ve lost respect for the Gang Leader and have no desire to celebrate his 60th birthday.”

I laid out what I had been thinking.

Honestly, I’d never publicly criticized someone like this before.

Though I spoke boldly on the surface, inside, it still felt awkward.

But how did it feel?

Pretty good.

“Let me put more heart into it. If you’re going to use ‘Dragon’ in your name, it should match. Your actions and swordsmanship are closer to a snake than a dragon—less a mythical serpent or a viper, more like a forearm-length snake.”

“Puhup!”

The young swordsman who first asked for an explanation couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

Even after coming back ten years, his face was vivid in my memory.

A young swordsman who came from outside and settled in Luoyang. We often crossed paths, and he always stepped up to help me with jianghu matters.

His laughter triggered a few other martial artists to laugh along.

“Khup.”

“Kkhk.”

The mood was good for now.

It was the Gang Leader’s 60th birthday celebration, yet no one sided with him unconditionally. I could guess his usual character.

Amid the martial artists’ laughter, the Dragon Sword Gang Leader glared at me with eyes nearly popping out.

“Is it true?”

The Divine Physician’s short question snapped the Gang Leader back.

“How could it be true?”

The Gang Leader protested, but,

“It’s true. I can arrange for you to meet those commoners as witnesses.”

There were clear witnesses.

The Divine Physician shook his head.

“Out of respect for your late elder brother, I’ve been visiting… But to think such things have been happening.”

Originally, the Divine Physician only learned of the Dragon Sword Gang’s behavior much later. He was too busy traveling the world to tend to patients to notice.

In the meantime, the Gang Leader had been trading on the Divine Physician’s name.

Making this public was also my way of repaying the Divine Physician.

The Dragon Sword Gang Leader alternated his gaze between the Divine Physician and me.

“Jin Yeomyeong. You…?”

Was he wondering how Ink Sword Hero Jin Yeomyeong could go this far?

But I wasn’t done yet?

“Then I’ll move on to the purpose of my visit.”

“Kahaha!”

The young swordsman erupted into full laughter.

That set off more laughter around the room. Laughter is contagious. What a nice thing.

I bowed deeply to the Divine Physician.

“I came knowing you were here to take you with me.”

The Dragon Sword Gang was irrelevant now.

What mattered was my business.

Tae-bok was waiting for me at home.

“Understood. Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

This time, I was the one surprised.

The Divine Physician began preparing to leave without even hearing the details.

“You came to take me, didn’t you? I intend to go. Lead the way.”

The Gang Leader grabbed the Divine Physician’s sleeve, but it was futile.

“There’s a patient, isn’t there? You wouldn’t show up like this for something trivial.”

The Divine Physician gave that as his reason.

But everyone present could tell. He had decided to leave as soon as he learned of the Dragon Sword Gang’s behavior.

He wouldn’t be seen at the Dragon Sword Gang anymore.

The Dragon Sword Gang Leader’s face cycled through various emotions as he looked at the Divine Physician.

“Ink Sword Hero.”

Those emotions condensed into a cold, single phrase directed at me.

“Fine, fine. All good.”

It wasn’t good.

He had regained his composure. He was preparing a counterattack.

“All good, but…”

“Yes.”

“Still, you came to my celebration and are taking a guest midway? And after throwing all those accusations around.”

They weren’t accusations.

The Gang Leader signaled the middle-aged man who had interrupted me earlier.

The man stepped forward.

“You can’t just ruin the celebration’s mood and leave. Yes, I think you should take some responsibility.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is a jianghu gathering, isn’t it? Let’s liven it up a bit. A duel with me, for instance.”

A duel.

Since the Gang Leader was humiliated, he wanted to humiliate me too. It also meant he was confident he could handle me.

“I haven’t seen you around this area before. May I know your honored title?”

“I am called Absolute Sword Hand.”

I’d heard of him.

He was the Gang Leader’s cousin. He had mastered a different martial art, not the Dragon Sword Gang’s, and achieved great mastery.

He was the one who showed ruthless hands when the Dragon Sword Gang turned to the Black Path.

Should I kill him here?

I hesitated for a moment.

But what concerned me wasn’t Absolute Sword Hand.

“A duel to liven things up. Fine.”

“Hm?”

“But I’ll choose the opponent.”

Absolute Sword Hand was slightly surprised by my easy agreement, then smirked at my mention of choosing an opponent.

“What do you mean? For Ink Sword Hero, it should be someone like me…”

I turned my head away from Absolute Sword Hand.

“Listen to me.”

He didn’t listen.

I looked toward the lined-up martial artists. They, too, looked at me with puzzled expressions.

Why are you looking at us? That kind of look.

Among them was the young swordsman who had been the first to laugh.

That smiling face, that laughing demeanor—it was a pleasure to see.

The same laugh he had when we purged the Black Path in the past.

“I’d like to duel with you.”

“Oh? With me?”

He didn’t lose his composure despite the sudden call-out.

But he wasn’t agreeing to a duel either. He waved it off with a laugh.

“I have no reason to duel Ink Sword Hero, do I? I’m just a passing guest, unrelated to what’s happening here.”

He was right.

By principle, he had no reason to duel.

So I quietly channeled my inner energy.

While doing so, I looked at his face.

A young swordsman who would soon righteously step into the affairs near Luoyang, earning a reputation as a hero,

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

And there was the grinning face of a Demonic Cultist.

“Ink Sword Hero!”

Absolute Sword Hand stepped forward.

He was clearly annoyed after demanding a duel and being ignored.

“Why suddenly me, and not that young hero, ugh!”

I ignored Absolute Sword Hand again.

Young hero, young swordsman, whatever you call him.

“Demonic Cultist! Take this!”

To me, he was just a Demonic Cultist.

I closed in quickly and thrust my sword.

Clang.

The sound of swords clashing rang out.

The Demonic Cultist was prepared and blocked my strike.

But it was unexpected.

“Ugh.”

I had infused my unique martial art, Eight Trigram Unity Technique, into that single strike.

The Demonic Cultist had no choice but to channel his demonic arts to withstand my inner energy.

The martial artists shouted as they looked at him.

“Huh?”

“What’s that?”

The cheerful smile vanished from his face.

His vertically slit, yellowish-tinged pupils.

White hair sprouting from his sideburns, down his jaw, to the back of his neck.

His thighs, suddenly doubling in size, straining his pants.

A figure like a human overlaid with a mountain goat.

It was the Beast Meridian demonic art from the Demonic Cult’s Great Meridians.

He glared at me with distorted eyes.

“How did you know?”

His voice trembled thinly, like a goat’s bleat.

I had no words to offer.

After the Demonic Cult’s resurgence, cultists lurking in various martial circles began revealing themselves.

- Die! Ink Sword Hero!

The young swordsman, who had been eagerly joining Luoyang’s martial affairs, swung his sword at my back.

Instead of explaining, I threw out a single phrase.

“Demonic Cult extermination.”

Did I need to explain to a Demonic Cultist?

“Everyone, be careful!”

The Divine Physician’s shout, infused with deep inner energy.

Thanks to that, even the martial artists who had drunk heavily scrambled to prepare for battle.

“It’s demonic arts!”

“The Demonic Cult’s remnants have appeared!”

Not remnants, but that could wait.

The Demonic Cultist crouched low.

He held his sword hilt at his left side, the tip aimed at me.

A stance foretelling a fierce thrust.

I, too, drew my sect’s treasure, the famed sword Mukheun.

‘Mukheun, I’m counting on you again.’

True to its name, its blade and hilt were entirely ink-black.

The blade was thick and oval-shaped, but its edge was razor-sharp.

Infusing it with the Eight Trigram Unity Technique, Mukheun hummed.

It was the same greeting as always.

“Then let’s begin.”

I extended my right hand holding Mukheun behind me, stretching it horizontally.

“…….”

A flicker of doubt crossed the Demonic Cultist’s eyes.

My stance didn’t seem well-suited to counter a quick thrust.

He might wonder if it was a feint.

But now that his identity was exposed, he couldn’t afford to drag this out.

“Ink Sword Hero! Here I come!”

The Demonic Cultist declared his charge, stomping the ground so hard the stone slab shattered.

But,

“Pathetic trick.”

I said quietly.

It wasn’t a charge.

It was a tactic favored by goat-formed Demonic Cultists. They’d shout a charge and then leap over to escape.

Knowing this well, I jumped up and slashed across the Demonic Cultist’s abdomen.

With a wet sound, his intestines spilled out.

“Baaah!”

He fell, bleating like a goat.

Capturing him alive would be useless due to the restrictions anyway.

I circled behind him and delivered a second strike.

Roll, his severed head tumbled across the courtyard, stopping only when it hit something.

The same end as when he struck at my back in my previous life.

A spy gathering intel on Luoyang’s martial circles.

Better to eliminate him before Absolute Sword Hand.

“…….”

The fight ended in an instant, leaving silence all around.

“I hope this livened things up.”

I threw a remark at the Dragon Sword Gang Leader, whose face paled.

To think a Demonic Cultist was at his celebration.

It would have been hard to screen him out beforehand, but that wouldn’t excuse the humiliation.

The talk would start tomorrow.

No, not even tomorrow.

“Dragon Sword Gang Leader, what is this?”

“Did you invite that Demonic Cultist too?”

Questions poured in immediately.

“How could I have checked everyone? He was a young hero who recently appeared, so I invited him!”

The Gang Leader protested, but,

“Why invite someone like Ink Sword Hero and not someone with a renowned reputation?”

“A celebration where heroes don’t come but Demonic Cultists do. Tsk tsk.”

With a justification in hand, the martial artists didn’t hesitate to criticize the Gang Leader.

“Gang Leader, an investigation seems unavoidable.”

“That’s…”

A martial artist from the Murim Alliance delivered the decisive blow.

Regardless of innocence, his reputation would take a hit.

Meanwhile,

“Ink Sword Hero! Truly lives up to his name!”

“He seems even stronger than his reputation! That Demonic Cultist couldn’t do a thing!”

As criticism piled on the Gang Leader, admiration grew for me.

“How did you know it was a Demonic Cultist?”

“Well, Ink Sword Hero has fought many Demonic Cult remnants, they say.”

I didn’t even need to create my own justification. It formed naturally in people’s words.

“Isn’t it true he’s the strongest among the prodigies!”

“That sword technique, Eight Trigram Unity Sword…”

“He’s the top swordsman of Luoyang!”

The talk was growing.

But my interest had already left the celebration.

Spotting the Divine Physician,

“Let’s go.”

He rose to his feet.

It was time to head home and see Tae-bok.

* * *

“How should I address you about this.”

The Divine Physician’s expression grew heavy after examining Tae-bok.

“It’s fine.”

It’s fine.

“Please tell me.”

I already knew.

“Because I am this child’s father.”

Nothing could change that fact.

This time, I would fulfill my wish.

The Divine Physician placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Listen carefully. This isn’t a common Severed Meridian.”

An explanation about the Latent Waste Severed Meridian followed.

“…I see.”

My head drooped.

Even hearing it again, it was heavy.

Tae-bok’s fate was too heavy.

A heavy fate, but his father is here.

Father came back to break this fate.

“The problem is the treatment, which is truly difficult.”

“…….”

A treatment to change fate.

“This Severed Meridian cuts off the path to commune with natural energy. That path must be opened with true energy and firmly reinforced.”

“My martial art is based on the Eight Trigrams.”

“Good! That’s perfect. You can use your martial art to channel true energy. Then you’ll need elixirs corresponding to the Eight Trigrams.”

Since Tae-bok was too young, I would need to consume the elixirs and infuse him with my inner energy.

“And probably, at the end, a special method will be required—”

He tilted his head, lost in thought.

The Divine Physician was tall. His face had a stern look somewhere. Despite practicing health preservation, he had the air of an old tree.

In my previous life, when Yeom Ja-yeong passed away, when Tae-bok passed away,

- I’m sorry, I’m sorry. This old man couldn’t help and I’m sorry.

That was ten years from now. Time had passed. Moreover, the war with the Demonic Cult had overwhelmed him with patients.

Tears had flowed down the aged tree’s face, hot with regret.

He had mourned so deeply.

“Hm? Ink Sword Hero, why are you suddenly like this?”

I knelt and bowed in gratitude.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

Thank you for helping me even ten years from now.

“What’s this? I’m a martial artist and a physician. No need to kneel for something natural.”

The meaning in my kneel was mine alone until now.

Now, I was with Yeom Ja-yeong, and today Tae-bok came to me.

And this bow carried another meaning.

“Shamelessly, I ask for your help once more.”

I could gather the elixirs myself, but I needed the Divine Physician’s medical expertise.

He was the only one who could handle the various phenomena arising from Severed Meridian treatment.

“Please help with my child’s treatment. My family and I need your assistance.”

Of course, I had to bow.

“Hahaha, what are you saying? I’m a physician.”

His rough hand lifted me by the shoulder.

Looking up, a bright smile hung on the old tree.

“It’ll be tough, but let’s do it together.”

He offered help again, as in my past life.

Willingly.

“Thank you once more.”

I bowed my head.

Purely out of gratitude.

“Ahem, I said get up.”

He lifted me again.

“But this is my first time seeing this Severed Meridian in person, not just in texts. It’ll be a challenge for me too, with many hardships ahead.”

“It’s fine.”

I wasn’t new to treating Severed Meridian. You helped me for ten years, so this time, I’ll lead.

“It might be hard alone. Borrow the Murim Alliance’s strength.”

The Alliance’s power is needed. That hasn’t changed.

But,

“I won’t cling to the Alliance.”

“Is there another way?”

“Yes, there is.”

“What is it? This will be incredibly difficult.”

What’s changed is my approach to needing the Alliance.

“I’ll make the Alliance come to me.”

Instead of me clinging to the Alliance, I’ll make the Alliance cling to me.

“Huh? How?”

“First, I need to become free.”

“?”

I looked toward Luoyang, where the Alliance branch was.

“I’ll start by applying for paternity leave.”

This is where it begins.