Chapter 34

We walked for a bit from our room, led by Mr. Hans, to the dining room, where he said Sir Cedric and Aaron had been waiting for us. Mr. Hans stopped in front of an oak door for a moment before pushing it open. He then stood aside, bowing his upper body slightly as he let Luna and me inside.

Two people had already taken their seats at the dining table. A man who looked to be in his late thirties to early forties sat at the head of the table, with Aaron seated beside him.

“It's an honor to meet you, Sir Cedric,” I said to the man seated at the head of the table after stepping forward in front of Luna. “My name is Hwi, and the one beside me is my junior sister, Luna. Thank you very much for allowing us to visit your residence.”

Bowing my upper body slightly, I offered my greeting to the master of the house. Luna bowed gracefully behind me, with both hands placed on top of each other in front of her stomach.

“No need for such formalities,” Sir Cedric said with a gentle smile.

‘No wonder Master fell for him,’ I thought as I looked at his smile.

Even in my eyes, Sir Cedric was a very handsome man. I bet there were plenty of ladies, both inside and outside the court, who had fallen for him.

And it wasn't just his face. As expected of someone who bore the moniker “The King's Sword,” he had a physique to match. Sir Cedric wore his loungewear, a linen shirt and a silk tunic worn loosely for comfort, but even that couldn't hide his broad shoulders and the strong build beneath. Add his calm, mature demeanor and his status in the kingdom to the mix, and he must rank at the top of the “Gentlemen Ladies Want to Marry” ranking, if such a thing even existed.

Curious about Luna's reaction, I glanced at her discreetly, but I couldn't see any sign of interest in Sir Cedric. Maybe she was still too young to be interested in the opposite sex. Well, she was only nine, after all.

Rather than looking at Sir Cedric, Luna was looking at Aaron while fidgeting. She must have missed her brother after not seeing him for months. It looked like she was doing her best to keep herself from running over and throwing herself at Aaron, just to avoid being impolite to Sir Cedric.

I turned my attention toward Aaron, who was seated beside Sir Cedric, and greeted him. “It's been a while, Aaron.”

“It has,” he replied with a small nod.

Aaron looked much better than he had when we first met in the slums. He had been skinny, wearing ragged clothes, and looked dirty and smelled awful back then. Now, however, he looked like he had put on some weight, not too much, of course, just enough to be healthy. He also looked clean and wore proper clothes. His face looked tired, though. Mr. Hans had told me that he had just finished his training, so that was understandable.

“Hm? Hwi, was it? What is it that you brought with you?” Sir Cedric asked, noticing the bags of gifts I had brought along.

“Oh, right. These are gifts from Master Elara to you, Sir Cedric.”

“Gifts?”

“Yes. May I?” I asked before making my way toward the table, with Luna trailing behind me. One by one, I laid out the gifts in front of him, which consisted of three kinds of premium alcoholic beverages: Shaoxing Wine, Fang County Wine, and Clear Wine. There were also silks and several ceramic cups and bowls.

Aside from the silk, all of Master’s gifts were things that could easily break. That was why she hadn't even let me put them on the ground while we were waiting for the carriage before making our way here, constantly nagging me to be careful.

Still, wasn't everything she had gifted him from China? When we were preparing to leave Anhui for Britain, she had handed my father a list of things she needed because he had offered to help her prepare. But had she really used that opportunity to have my father buy all these expensive things just to give them to Sir Cedric?

‘Master... How shameless,’ I thought as I finished laying out all her gifts in front of Sir Cedric.

“Oh, wow... There's a lot,” Sir Cedric said with a troubled smile. “Lady Elara really didn't need to do this.”

“Please accept them, Sir Cedric. Every one of them is something Master Elara bought from my home country. When I accompanied her to buy these gifts, Master put a lot of thought into choosing each and every one of them.”

That was a lie. I didn’t even realize she had brought these things.

Well, what was the harm in telling a little white lie? My priority right now was to make Sir Cedric interested in Master. If telling a little white lie was what I needed to do, then there was no reason not to do it.

…

It took a while to explain all of Master Elara’s gifts to Sir Cedric after she told Luna and me to take our seats. I sat opposite Aaron, with Sir Cedric between us, while Luna took the seat beside Aaron.

“Thank you for the explanation, Hwi. Please tell Lady Elara that I’m grateful for her gifts,” Sir Cedric said before asking Mr. Hans to have the other servants take the gifts away and store them safely.

“Of course, Sir.”

It didn't take long for the servants to take the gifts away. Immediately afterward, Sir Cedric told Mr. Hans to have the servants bring out the food. Soon, all sorts of dishes were laid out on the table. Meats, vegetables, soups, and bread were spread across the table in quantities that seemed excessive for just one adult and three children.

It had been a while since I'd had such a lavish meal, not since I left the clan to follow Master Elara to this kingdom and learn more magic from her. Naturally, I felt pretty excited.

That didn't mean I hadn't eaten well at the Tower. It was just that most of the time, I ate by myself while reading books between magic training sessions, or I went out to eat at a restaurant. Honestly, I'd been eating so well that, combined with the fact that I was getting less exercise than when I was still training in martial arts, I felt like I'd gotten a bit chubby.

Seolhwa had told me that if I stopped training in martial arts, I'd get fat because I ate so much. To think that her words were starting to come true.

As I was telling myself to start training in martial arts again just so I wouldn't get fat, Sir Cedric told us to eat. All my previous thoughts about dieting were pushed to the back of my mind.

‘I'll exercise later!’ was how I convinced myself.

“How’s the taste?” Sir Cedric asked. “Lady Elara told me that where you came from, you used a lot of spices in your food. Spices are a rare commodity in this Kingdom, so I hope the food is suitable for you.”

“Don’t worry, Sir. I’ve been in this Kingdom for a while now, so I’m already used to the food here. And honestly, meat is always good, even with just salt and pepper.”

While filling my mouth with meat, I glanced at Luna, who was chatting with Aaron with a big smile plastered across her face. I could hear the excitement in her voice as she talked to her brother after such a long time apart.

“Right, Hwi. I heard that you were training with swords before you met Lady Elara.”

“Yes, I was. My family is one of the most well-known martial arts families in my home country.”

“Like a family of knights?”

“Hmm... Not quite.” I took a moment to think about how to explain it.

“The country I'm from has a unique system. There's a society called Murim, which is made up of martial artists. It gradually developed as martial arts became more widespread among the people. As more people learned martial arts, powerful individuals and groups began to emerge. However, not everyone wanted to serve the government or be involved in its affairs. Over time, these people formed a society of their own, separate from the Imperial Government. That's what we call Murim.”

“Of course, things weren't always peaceful between the two. The Imperial Government and Murim were constantly at odds, and their conflicts eventually escalated into war. The government had the upper hand in terms of manpower, funding, and logistics, thanks to the resources of the state. However, fighting Murim also cost them a great deal of manpower and weakened the Empire from within.”

“Eventually, both sides realized that continuing the conflict would only hurt the country. So, Murim united under an organization called the Murim Alliance and negotiated a treaty with the Imperial Government. The agreement was simple, the Empire would stay out of Murim's affairs, and Murim would do the same with the Empire.”

Sir Cedric looked intrigued by my explanation, even raising one eyebrow. However, his hand never stopped cutting a piece of steak and bringing it to his mouth. I didn't stop filling my own mouth with food throughout the explanation either.

I noticed someone watching me and turned to find Luna and Aaron looking in my direction. It seemed they were also interested in the country I came from.

“Then, did the Imperial Government simply allow essentially military groups to form within the country?” Sir Cedric asked, looking confused.

“Well, no. Every martial arts group, such as a clan or sect, must register with the government. Every martial artist in Murim must also be registered. There's also a limit to how large a group can become, and conflicts between martial artists must be settled among themselves. They're not allowed to involve civilians or cause them harm.” I explained some of the restrictions the Imperial Family had imposed on Murim.

“There's also a ban on certain types of weapons that martial artists aren't allowed to use, such as black powder weapons.”

“I see. That's a lot of restrictions, but I suppose they make sense.” Sir Cedric nodded. “But then, what benefits does Murim get from the treaty?”

“The benefits, huh? Hmm...”

I paused to think for a moment before answering.

“Martial arts groups, such as clans and sects, have their taxes cut in half. That's what I know from my family. Oh, right! In times of war, the government also isn't allowed to conscript us.”

“So, if another country invades, the martial artists won't do anything?”

“Maybe, maybe not. The Imperial Government can't conscript Murim's martial artists, provided they're registered, of course. But there's nothing stopping them from joining the Imperial Army and fighting in the war voluntarily.”

Martial arts had already spread so widely that even the government had developed its own martial arts techniques and inner energy cultivation methods. Some martial artists from Murim also chose to serve under the Imperial Family. It wasn't particularly unusual, really.

“Interesting,” Sir Cedric said. “It sounds like a very risky system to adopt, but I guess it's quite similar to the relationship between this Kingdom and the mages.”

Sir Cedric nodded, seemingly satisfied with the explanation. Luna and Aaron still looked as though they had plenty of questions about China, but I decided to ignore them for the time being.

One of the servants opened the door and walked in, carrying the Shaoxing Wine Master Elara had given Sir Cedric. The servant poured some into his cup before bowing and leaving the room.

Sir Cedric swirled the wine in his cup for a moment before bringing it to his nose and inhaling its aroma. He then took a sip.

“Hmm, exquisite,” he said with a nod. “Lady Elara certainly knows good wine.”

After savoring the wine for a while, Sir Cedric put down his cup and looked at me.

“Right, the two of you will be staying here for about a week, correct?”

“That is the plan.”

“Well then, how about joining Aaron's training while you’re here?”