Ch. 31
I looked at the grandmaster and said clearly.
"I won't be going on the security escort with you. But I've decided to subjugate all the mountain bandit strongholds that attack us. So you can fight to your heart's content, thinking that there is someone who will avenge you even if we all die."
"Huh?"
The grandmaster had a blank face.
"Isn't there not much time left until we leave for the security escort? You'll have to wake everyone up and train them."
The grandmaster shook his head.
"Still, I think this is better than just sitting around and waiting for the news that the Silver Wind Force will be disbanded. Because we are martial artists."
It might have been a trivial thing to say, but for some reason, it felt different to me.
I also thought that all the members of the Silver Wind Force might have had that feeling a little.
The thought that no matter what other people thought of them or what they said, they were also martial artists.
Wouldn't they have wanted to fight with pride at least once?
They themselves might not know their own limits and abilities accurately.
Because they had never been passionate.
I wanted to burn up with them willingly.
I was going to make them burn up even if they didn't want to.
When we went to the training ground after eating, people were already gathered there and training.
I remembered Danli Yeonmuk training with his team members.
"Grandmaster, may I say something?"
"Yes, if you have something you want to do, do it, and if you have something you want to teach, teach it."
Perhaps because he thought that there was little chance of surviving the life-threatening security escort anyway, the grandmaster did not assert any pride.
The members also seemed to have some expectations of me.
I laid out the training method that Danli Yeonmuk had used in front of them.
I didn't think they would be able to do it all at once, but I taught them with the thought that if I fed them ten spoonfuls, they might be able to swallow about half a spoonful.
Even though they were struggling, they did not give up.
"We're going to die within a month anyway, but we have to at least try something before we die."
The members said that and swung their swords until they were on the verge of collapsing.
There were also people who were amazed at themselves, saying that they had never known they had such perseverance.
It was the same for me.
I was surprised because I hadn't expected them to be able to do that much.
Before we left for the security escort, Pae Maseong came, and a stir arose among the people who saw him directly.
Seeing that, I realized once again how much Pae Maseong's fame had grown in the meantime.
The members of the Silver Wind Force seemed to be expectant and excited, wondering if they could be introduced to Pae Maseong through me, but Pae Maseong seemed to know for sure that he had not come here to play.
He didn't seem to have any intention of wasting even a little time, and he barely gave a glance to the other people, went into the training ground, and devoted himself only to training.
As long as he wasn't spoken to, he didn't mind if other people were training next to him, and the people of the Silver Wind Force, who had noticed that, trained together next to Pae Maseong.
When there was no one to compare with, they might have been able to be satisfied, thinking that they had trained really hard and severely if they did this much, but now it was not like that.
Pae Maseong was much younger than them, but seeing him train continuously without stopping for a moment, it seemed that many people felt a sense of challenge.
That was not the only positive effect.
Since Pae Maseong did everything accurately, his movements were definitely worth watching and learning from.
Other people, as time passed, would compromise with themselves because of the screams their bodies were letting out and would gradually change to comfortable movements, but Pae Maseong was not like that.
Even after time passed, his movements barely changed, and his speed was constant until the end.
Since Pae Maseong's perseverance was so amazing that it was creepy and chilling, just seeing him changed people.
Perhaps because he knew that these were people who would share joys and sorrows with me in the future, there were times when Pae Maseong would occasionally look at their movements.
It wasn't that he could be with me all the time, and after time passed, these people would have to face the enemy with their backs to me, and it seemed that he didn't have much faith in their current state.
A much-needed piece of advice at a much-needed moment.
I finally realized how much that one thing could change a person.
The people clung to their training to an unbelievable extent, and the rumor spread throughout the Danli family.
One of the people who had casually spread the rumor was me.
I could accept the Silver Wind Force being criticized for its own faults as much as I wanted, but I refused to be criticized for other faults.
I wanted people to know that we had also done our best this time.
If it turned out like this, I thought that even if we met the mountain bandits and were greatly defeated and returned, or if we met our deaths there, they would at least mourn for us.
That was also helpful for the morale of the Silver Wind Force.
Seeing the martial artists of the other martial forces watching and being surprised, the members of the Silver Wind Force seemed to be stimulated.
Even if they thought, 'Should I stop now that I've done this much?', Pae Maseong was holding on next to them, and other martial artists were at the training ground.
So it was a situation where they couldn't easily stop.
Thinking that the situation was interesting, I prepared for the subsequent events.
* * *
I had Pae Maseong not follow the security escort, and only I joined the security escort group with the Silver Wind Force.
After the security escort that had transported the dowry, the mindset and mental state of the members of the Silver Wind Force had completely changed.
I felt like I finally knew what the commonly used phrase 'their eyes are alive' meant.
They passed through the official road without letting their guard down.
And when they reached the mountain path, they met the mountain bandits as expected.
They were strong, organized, and well-trained people who could not be compared to the ones we had met before.
It was to the point where I thought at a glance that they were not our opponents.
The mountain bandits attacked as if they had known in advance that we would be coming.
The conclusion that we had defeated the mountain bandits just because we had trained hard for a day or two did not come out.
This was reality, and reality was not that easy.
But each person blocked far more people, and they held on for an unbelievably long time compared to before.
Before, if they tried a little and thought there was no chance of winning, they would give up the attack in advance and from then on, they would look for ways to protect their own safety, but now, more and more people were determined to die and did not let go of their swords until the end.
As a result, I was the one who became busy.
Before, I had helped out of pity because they looked pitiful and insignificant, but now, something tender and grand was welling up inside me.
Seeing them trying to block, knowing that they couldn't do it, it felt like something was boiling up.
As a result, I wanted to help them more and wanted to lend a hand even a little.
When I ran out, creating a wind, and swung my sword, the mountain bandits fell miserably each time.
Seeing the opponents they had been fighting with their lives on the line just a moment ago fall in that way, the members of the Silver Wind Force, as if they had seen hope, started to fight again.
The mountain bandits must have also heard something about the Silver Wind Force, so they must have been out there.
Then they must have realized that the atmosphere was strange.
They might have even wondered if they had mistaken the security escort group.
In the meantime, I continued to swing my sword, and more and more people fell in front of me.
Just when hope was rising that we might have a chance of winning if it went on like this, suddenly, the number of people on the other side increased.
In an instant, dozens of people rushed in from behind and swung their swords without hesitation, and casualties on our side began to mount.
When I told everyone to retreat, the grandmaster of the Silver Wind Force, listening to my words, ordered the members to retreat.
The grandmaster had followed the words I had said, even though I had no authority to do so.
I only realized that much later. At that moment, I had just been shouting and swinging my sword like a madman, thinking that I had to protect even one more person.
In the end, we lost the goods in the security escort carriage, and there were many injuries.
But even though we lost, it wasn't as empty and laughable as before.
I felt that we had done well, and hope for the next time arose.
The injured people also seemed to be thinking similarly.
We had drawn out the mountain bandits who would not have normally come out, and it was also good that there were no deaths on our side.
That was a result I could accept.
Although we had lost the cargo, it was not the end, as we could just find it again.
"You fought well. You were like different people today. I was proud to be a member of the Silver Wind Force."
The members had a 'no way' face when they heard what I said.
They seemed to think that they were not at a level to hear such words, no matter what.
But they deserved to hear those words.
They had to go on another security escort with their injured bodies, so couldn't I at least say that much?
"I'll ask you to do the same next time. I'll think that you'll be better next time than today."
They had a face that belatedly realized that it was not the time to be happy about the praise.
* * *
Experience, and faith in oneself and one's comrades.
I newly realized how much that could change a person.
The members of the Silver Wind Force changed to an amazing extent.
They themselves seemed to be surprised at the fact that they could change so much.
Once they tried and found out that it was successful, their confidence seemed to build up.
Once they had the data that they could defeat the enemy if they swung like this, they became more and more bold and decisive.
Before, even if they swung their sword once, all sorts of hesitation and fear were caked on, but now, I could read the conviction in their sword strikes.
It seemed that once they swung their sword, there was no need to check the result again.
I realized how many movements were saved just by that one change.
We lost the cargo every time, and we failed the security escort every time.
The result was the same, but the meaning contained in each failure was different.
The will to succeed next time arose, and it seemed possible.
When the security escort group led by the Danli family's Silver Wind Force passed by, the mountain bandits, who had only sent out a very small number, now packed their tools properly and sent out a large number.
That alone was a big change.
And yet, casualties among the mountain bandits continued to mount, and as time went on, the perception of the Silver Wind Force's security escort group changed.
That was what I had hoped for in the first place, but the Silver Wind Force stepped up much more actively than I had thought.
The best thing was that although there were injuries every time, there were no serious injuries or deaths at all.
If someone was in danger next to them, the members of the Silver Wind Force would throw their bodies and somehow save their comrades. If they couldn't, I did.
Through that time, the members seemed to gain faith that they could fight safely.
(End of Chapter)