Recently, my training that ran from morning till night has been split into two sessions.
You’ll know the reason soon enough.
Oh, here it comes.
“Master, it’s time to eat.”
“Didn’t I say I don’t need to eat?”
I protested with a frown.
But immediately, I was hit back, and it was the worst type of comeback.
“Didn’t you tell me that a solid meal is essential for training?”
“…”
I couldn’t deny it since it was my own words.
With a small sigh, I followed the little rascal to the hut.
“Are you sighing again? Didn’t you say that sighing could chase away good luck?”
“…”
How did things end up like this?
Suddenly, memories from three years ago flooded back.
I had demonstrated swordsmanship to a little boy who mistook me for a witch, to prove that I was no such thing.
The boy, with a vaguely dazed expression, asked about me, and I told him my name, thinking I had nothing to hide.
“Hmm, up till here, I see no problems.”
After that, for reasons unknown, I got carried away and accidentally revealed my goals, and the boy, for some strange reason, looked at me with shining eyes, filled with determination.
Then he prostrated himself on the ground and said,
“Will you take me as your disciple?”
Upon hearing that, I bent down, watching the little boy looking at me without moving an inch, his face pressed into the dirt.
He had dark hair and crimson eyes, like blood, and though I couldn’t say for sure his age, he looked like a primary school student, probably around the lower grades.
In the future, this kid’s good looks might make several girls cry.
If this place were truly a world from a novel, that little boy would clearly be a protagonist.
He could be the hero of this world.
Having thought that far, I wanted to reject him.
It was too heavy a burden for me.
As you know, I am a coward, afraid of the impact my actions will have on the future, unable to act recklessly, and utterly clueless about this world, even after years.
How could a coward like me become someone’s master, a parent, or even their whole world?
‘That’s absurd.’
I know my place.
Even with aspirations to cut the heavens, I can’t even think of leaving this small mountain; I’m just all talk.
I’m not good enough to show virtues akin to a righteous hero, and I’m not bad enough to harm others for my own goals.
I’m just a coward, an ignoramus.
How could I truly help this boy, who might be destined to be the hero of this story, maybe even someone carrying a heavy fate to save the world?
I certainly would only be a negative influence.
Having wrapped my thoughts around, I conveyed my rejection.
“I’m sorry.”
The boy looked at me with a bewildered expression and asked,
“Could you tell me why?”
As a coward, I couldn’t bear the thought of causing this boy distress just by revealing my selfish reasoning, so I could not even explain.
It’s impossible for me to say words that he might not even comprehend, just because he could be a main character.
“I’m sorry.”
I turned to leave, but the story’s main character, the boy, spoke once more from behind me.
“Please… I’ll do all the hard work…”
Maybe sensing his own inadequacy, he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
“I’ll make sure not to be a hindrance on your path, Cheon Ha-rang.”
His eyes were misty, possibly because he felt the sting of being a helpless kid.
“Even though I… have nothing but this stubbornness, I…”
He took a pause, as if catching his breath, then slapped his forehead on the ground hard enough for blood to trickle down and said,
“Please… show me mercy.”
I stared at the crying child, desperately pleading for mercy, and suddenly, a question bubbled up in my mind.
“Why me?”
“Because your goal is similar to mine.”
My goal, unlike all my bluster, maybe this kid could really achieve it.
“To cut the heavens? Well then, why do you want that?”
The young boy began to pour out his deeply buried grievances about life.
“I…”
In due time, I began to hear the tale of how this child ended up in this remote mountain.
It was a story far too heavy for someone of his age to bear.
As he spoke, my eyes widened in shock, and by the time he finished, I closed my eyes, deep in thought.
I still considered myself a coward and an ignoramus.
I couldn’t be his master; I couldn’t become his parent.
I couldn’t afford to become the world he carried such a heavy fate for.
But even if I’m not the protagonist in this story, I could, perhaps, be a supporting character that could appear in his fate.
Maybe I could provide a resting spot, just for a little while, for this poor child who’s led a hard life, this child carrying a heavy fate.
I might not be good enough to dedicate my whole existence to saving the world, but I’m not evil enough to cast away this small, pitiful life.
So, I accepted the boy’s plea.
I just hope my presence doesn’t lead him astray,
And my existence can serve as a brief stop for this child’s life.
That’s all I hope for.
I stopped reminiscing about the turning point of my life, opened my eyes, and looked at the Nameless, who was serving me food.
Cheon Mu-myeong, that’s the name I call him.
Three years ago, when I asked for his name, he said he wanted to bury his past name and I gave him a new one.
Honestly, it doesn’t have any deep meaning.
Since a master and disciple are like parents and children, I gave him my surname, and now since he has no name, he’s called Nameless (無名).
But…
Honestly, I think it’s a pretty cool name.
“I should’ve picked that name.”
I mean, Nameless sounds like a hidden master, right?
A name like that belongs to someone who saves people in danger without revealing their identity.
Even though I gave him that name, I was inexplicably envious.
Tsk.
As I clicked my tongue lightly, Nameless quickly gave me a knowing look.
‘Hey, what an impudent brat… Hush!’
Of course, I didn’t voice my thoughts out loud; I just imagined scolding him with my lips pouting.
He wasn’t this naughty back in the day…
Having a close relationship between disciple and master is nice, but—
‘This is a bit…’
I think not.
‘My authority has hit rock bottom…’
For the first few months, he respected and followed me, but living together seemed to have let him figure me out, and now he acts so cheekily; is this what they call “male bonding”?
Still, judging from the way he looks after me, he probably doesn’t hate me.
At least, I hope so.
After accepting him as my disciple, plenty of aspects of my life have become enriched.
Since I have no intention of going down the mountain to visit the nearby villages, Nameless once curiously asked me.
“Master, why do you only stay in the mountains?”
Of course, I couldn’t say, “Because I’m scared.”
So, I just quietly avoided his gaze, and he sighed, skinned some game, and said he would head to the village, bringing back various convenient items like spoons and blankets.
Thanks to him, my quality of life improved dramatically.
‘Hmm, thinking like this makes his impudent behavior somewhat forgivable.’
Nodding to myself, Nameless casually ignored me and continued his meal.
After finishing eating, I watched Nameless washing the dishes.
‘When did he grow so tall?’
It’s only been three years, and yet this fourteen-year-old Nameless now stands a head taller than me.
So, whenever we face each other, I have to look up at him, making me feel unjustly indignant at times.
‘I must be around 150 cm tall myself, so how tall is he at sixteen? Over 170?’
My stomach really hurts.
I was around 160 cm when I was a guy, but now that I’ve become a woman, I find myself smaller.
‘Geez…’
Regardless of whether I didn’t eat well as a child and my growth was stunted, isn’t this too sudden?
Soon enough, he’ll be a head taller than me.
‘My dignity as a master…!’
It’s on the verge of crumbling.
“Nameless.”
He put down the dishes he was washing at the sound of my call and looked at me.
“Yes, Master?”
“Could you stop growing so much?”
“Excuse me?”
Tsk, if that’s all I got to say, he should at least pretend to be considerate, but instead, he frowned as if I said something unreasonable.
“It’s nothing.”
“Yes.”
Nameless lightly replied and went back to washing the dishes.
It was just a peaceful day-to-day life.
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