Urban Vagabond: Reload

A franchise café near the school.

I was sitting across from the martial artist who’d come from Azure Sky Sword Gate.

“Want something to drink? If you want dessert too, feel free to order as much as you like.”

“Water’s fine for me.”

We were the only two people in the fairly spacious café. It wasn’t until I noticed the sign on the entrance flipped to [CLOSE] that I realized they’d rented the whole place out.

Is this their way of showing that this sort of thing is nothing to Azure Sky Sword Gate?

The owner brought over coffee and water, then quietly disappeared into the back.

Once we were alone, the person sitting across from me slid over her business card.

“Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Bu Yeonha, Scout Team Leader at Azure Sky Sword Gate.”

I turned the card over in my fingers.

Right next to the blue Azure Sky Sword Gate logo, it read: “Azure Sky Sword Gate Scout Team Leader — Bu Yeonha,” with a cell number embossed under that.

“So the scout team... that’s separate from the Sword Corps?”

“Up until two years ago, I was in the Sword Corps. I moved over here because of an injury.”

“...”

“You don’t have to look at me like that. I’m very happy with my current team.”

Bu Yeonha took a sip of coffee with a small smile.

If you just went by her looks, you could easily mistake her for a model or some kind of celebrity.

A striking face that popped out at a glance, crisp enunciation, and a sharp suit draped over her frame—everything about her made her look like someone special.

Add the Azure Sky Sword Gate pedigree on top of that, and any boy or girl who dreamed of becoming a martial artist would probably either shrink back or stare at her with starry eyes.

But none of that—her looks or the rest—really registered for me.

Pulled from the front lines because of an injury? For that, her level feels way too high...

The qi I could feel from Bu Yeonha was some of the cleanest and most refined I’d sensed from any martial artist I’d met.

I couldn’t put the feeling into exact numbers, but... it honestly wouldn’t have surprised me if she turned out to be stronger than Nightfiend Sword.

And she didn’t even look that much older than me.

Guess this is why they’re one of the Eight Great Sects.

While I was weighing her skill, she must have been looking me over just as closely, because she smiled again and said,

“You look even more solidly built than you did in the video.”

“Thank you. You, Team Leader, seem so strong it doesn’t even make sense you’re on the scout team instead of the front lines.”

My answer must have been unexpected; she blinked a couple of times.

Then the soft curve of her eyes narrowed just slightly, a faint, intriguing smile forming at the corner of her mouth.

“Impressive. Most people couldn’t care less about my strength. You actually paid attention to it?”

“If I’m sitting across from another martial artist, of course the first thing I check is their qi.”

“Oh?”

A short exclamation, colored with not bad.

Setting down her cup, Bu Yeonha finally got down to business.

“It’s probably a waste of breath to explain Azure Sky Sword Gate to you, but it’s my job, so here we go. You know this already, but when it comes to the sword, we’re the top sect in the country.”

She introduced her sect with overflowing pride, and I nodded along obediently.

There were maybe two sects in the country that would disagree with that statement, but in terms of objective assessment and popular opinion, it was hard to deny Azure Sky Sword Gate was the premier sword sect.

“Unlike the other Eight Great Sects, Azure Sky Sword Gate only practices sword-based martial arts. Because we don’t need anything else. I’ll put my name on the line and say we can provide the best martial arts and the best environment a swordsman could ask for.”

The Eight Great Sects.

Back in the days when I drifted through the underworld as a vagabond, they’d been beings I could only crane my neck back and stare up at.

The absolute peak of the righteous path, martial artists living in a sky so high it might as well have been another world entirely.

I’d run into them a few times on jobs that were difficult to resolve openly in the daylight; without exception, they’d looked at underworld vagabonds like me the way you might look at filthy little insects.

Azure Sky Sword Gate were some of the cockier ones, if I remember right.

Sure, I’d only ever met a tiny slice of Azure Sky Sword Gate’s disciples, but it wasn’t like I had a particularly good impression of them.

“‘Azure Sky’ means a clear, blue sky. It lines up perfectly with the righteous path’s spirit. Never compromising with the black-path or demonic—”

“That part’s a bit...”

The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them, and her eyes narrowed.

“Hm?”

“It’s nothing. Please go on.”

She tilted her head slightly, then continued, laying out Azure Sky Sword Gate’s history, traditions, and claims to fame.

I nodded here and there, but my mind was on something else entirely.

What the hell happened between my teacher Sword Demon and the Eight Great Sects?

I remembered all too well Sword Demon’s face when he’d mentioned the Eight Great Sects, and the hostility I’d felt from him.

In the future, the Eight Great Sects’ power and influence grew even larger than they were now.

There were even rumors that just being an elite of one of the Eight Great Sects was enough to make Martial Alliance executives look up at you from below.

Maybe Sword Demon got pushed out of the Martial Alliance because of the Eight Great Sects.

Up to that point, it was a simple guess anybody could have made, but I had some extra information no one else did.

There were traitors among the Eight Great Sects who sided with the Heavenly Demon Cult.

When the Heavenly Demon Cult turned the world upside down, the Eight Great Sects had split into two camps.

Either they lay low and adapted to the new world in silence,

Or they claimed they’d fight the Heavenly Demon Cult and marched their disciples off to war.

Which path had Azure Sky Sword Gate taken...?

That had been a time when I was on my last legs and couldn’t have cared less about worldly affairs, so I didn’t remember every detail.

If Azure Sky Sword Gate turns out to have ties to the Heavenly Demon Cult—and if they’re not unrelated to my teacher Sword Demon’s death... then you’re going to pay for that.

That was also why I hadn’t just brushed off Bu Yeonha’s request and had agreed to this meeting.

But up to now, I hadn’t felt anything especially suspicious from her.

“By the way, are you always this quiet? Feels like I’ve been the only one talking this whole time.”

“I’m of the school of thought that martial artists should show things with their actions, not with words.”

“That’s a good habit. I’m the same—I prefer people who keep their mouths shut and prove themselves with their skills.”

I’d thrown that out as a convenient excuse, but she seemed genuinely pleased with my answer.

“I’ve said enough about myself and bragged plenty about Azure Sky Sword Gate. If you’ve got time, want to grab dinner? I’d like to treat you to a meal and talk through the details.”

It sounded like she was finally moving into serious recruitment mode, so I shook my head.

“I carry my dinner around in a lunch box so I can eat after training. And I’m already late for my training time.”

I figured that could come off as rude from her side of the table.

But if anything, she seemed to like me more and more.

“Excellent attitude. Then I’ll keep it short. You don’t seem like the type who enjoys talking in circles anyway, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

Bu Yeonha pulled a contract out of the briefcase she’d brought and laid it on the table.

“Kim Muhyuk. We want to raise you at Azure Sky Sword Gate. This is a late-bloom prospect contract we’re offering based on your potential.”

“...”

“It probably won’t all sink in right now, so you can take it home, go over it with your parents. You can have a lawyer look at it too.”

“I’ll read it right now.”

I pulled the contract toward me and started scanning through it quickly.

I hadn’t been expecting much, so I was flipping pages pretty fast—until my hands started to slow down.

“This is...”

To my surprise, it was actually a little better than the Blood Tiger Gang contract Fifth Tiger had waved at me back at The Dark Den.

But if I factor in that this is the righteous path, not the black-path...

The righteous path came with far more procedures and restrictions than the black-path, so their contracts had to be more conservative.

Taking that into account, this was a ridiculously good deal for me.

And when you added the Azure Sky Sword Gate name on top of that, I’d probably look like an idiot for turning it down.

Bu Yeonha smiled, full of confidence.

“Like I said, this isn’t a typical late-bloom prospect contract. It’s more on par with the kind of terms we offer late-bloom prospects whose constitution is close to a Level 2, if not outright Level 1.”

The conditions were much better than I’d expected. Dazed, I asked,

“You do know my constitution is Level 4, right? There’s no reason to invest this much in me.”

“You proved it in real combat.”

She cut cleanly to the core.

“I watched the footage of your fight. You didn’t flinch facing a stronger black-path veteran—you went straight at him with everything you had. Do you have any idea how extraordinary a talent that is on its own?”

Her eyes were shining with interest as she looked at me. It was so obvious how excited she was that it was hard to chalk it up to salesmanship.

“Once the higher-ups saw that video, our team got torn to shreds. They wanted to know how we could not even know someone like you existed. They told us to grab a contract and get to you immediately. That’s why I, the team leader, came in person.”

She said it had all gone down at dawn that morning—and that she’d been staking out the school gate for hours, guarding the main entrance, in case another of the Eight Great Sects tried to contact me first.

“Constitution, bones and muscles—they matter, sure. But there are plenty of late-bloom prospects who’ve got better raw specs than you and still freeze up in real combat, overwhelmed by killing intent, and end up dead or crippled, unable to ever come back. That’s the reality, as depressing as it is.”

As she launched into a passionate explanation, I just sat there with my arms crossed, listening.

“And I heard you declared you’d earn a first-rate license on your very first licensing exam? If we sign this, Azure Sky Sword Gate will heavily support you with whatever you need for that test.”

“...”

“You’d make one hell of a case study. ‘The Level 4 Constitution Uprising.’ The first late-bloom prospect with an ordinary constitution to earn a first-rate license on the first exam. You’d be Azure Sky Sword Gate’s new mascot—someone all the juniors could look up to as a symbol of their dreams and hopes.”

“You’re really good with words. Listening to you, I kind of want to sign like I’m under a spell.”

“For someone supposedly spellbound, you’re keeping those arms crossed pretty tight.”

I snorted at her joke.

Even if you walked in with no intention of signing, it would be hard not to waver a little after hearing a pitch like this.

And it wasn’t just empty talk for recruitment’s sake; there was enough sincerity in her voice and manner that I could feel it.

With your talent, you’ll be able to enter any sect you want.

In that moment, I remembered my teacher Sword Demon’s words, when he’d taken one look at my bones and constitution.

And that ridiculous line about it being easy to find a teacher better than him.

“And this isn’t something I’m really supposed to say yet, but...”

Watching me think, she must have decided she almost had me, because she leaned in and dropped her voice like she was hammering in the final nail.

“One of our elders has taken a liking to you. If your luck holds, you could become that elder’s direct disciple.”

Becoming an elder’s disciple in one of the Eight Great Sects basically meant that, in the next generation at least, you were almost guaranteed a senior or executive position in the sect.

“...”

If I turned this down, I’d have no right to complain if people called me an idiot for the rest of my life. That’s how sweet the offer was.

Thanks to that, I was able to settle my decision cleanly.

“I’m sorry. I’ll still have to refuse.”

“...Why?”

She clearly hadn’t expected to be turned down after all that. She stared at me with a blank look.

I made sure to spell out my reason clearly so there’d be no misunderstanding.

“The more I compare it, the worse the terms look.”

“...What?”

She looked completely at a loss, like it was an answer she’d never even dreamed of hearing.

She stared straight into my face, trying to figure out whether I was serious.

Then, eyes going wide, she muttered, incredulous,

“...That makes no sense. You really think that? What exactly is missing from these terms? Wait—did some other sect from the Eight Great Sects get to you first?”

By my standards, you could pile all of those conditions on one side of the scale and they still wouldn’t outweigh the single person on the other.

An elder? I’d have to think about it even if the Azure Sky Sword Gate Master said they’d personally teach me the sword.

Next to my teacher Sword Demon’s guidance, those terms were laughably lacking.

And there was no reason to shackle myself now for things I’d naturally gain anyway once I became stronger.

“If you’ve said everything you wanted to say, I’ll get going. Like I told you, I’m already late for training.”

I stood up without a shred of hesitation.

Looking up at me, Bu Yeonha spoke in a voice that had gone hard and cold, completely different from before.

“...Sit down. We’re not finished talking yet.”