The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 379

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 379

Chapter 379. A Letter from the Northern Sea Ice Palace (3)

Eun Jin-ho struck the ground with his spear shaft as he spoke.
“Then, draw your sword.”
“I was planning to anyway.”
I stepped forward before Eun Jin-ho and unsheathed my blade.
The pristine white steel of the Eun Moo-geom gleamed with an icy brilliance.
I assumed my stance, and a tense standoff settled between Eun Jin-ho and me. Then, without either of us signaling the start, we rushed toward each other.
“Haaah!”
“Hah!”
A clash of sword and spear.
Due to the difference in weapon length, the spear holds an advantage at greater distances.
However, its weakness lies in the difficulty of responding properly once an opponent closes within its effective radius.
Those who wield spears are well aware of this vulnerability.
That is why they additionally study hand-to-hand combat techniques.
Through these techniques, they push back an opponent who closes in, create distance, and resume using the spear.
This is the orthodox approach for spear wielders.
But I did not close in at all. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.
Clang!
Crash!
Eun Jin-ho’s Azure Dragon Spear and my Eun Moo-geom collided, producing a sharp metallic ring.
As I maintained distance without pressing deeper, exchanging blows, Eun Jin-ho seemed to sense victory and asked.
“Is that all you have?”
No way.
As Palgap said, I do not wager on fights I will lose.
What I just showed was merely a warm-up.
I had come here immediately after finishing my breathing exercise. And those exchanges were sufficient to loosen my body.
“Surely you’re not showing your full strength either, Elder Brother?”
“Of course not!”
“Good to hear.”
Whoosh!
I flashed a grin at Eun Jin-ho and simultaneously surged toward him.
“Ugh!”
His spear shaft blocked my Eun Moo-geom.
Crash!
Though I had exercised some restraint, Master Yeom’s skill was truly formidable.
Not the blade itself, but the scabbard blocking Eun Moo-geom—how remarkable.
I had merely sparred with him adequately for about an hour.
Jin-ho fought with everything he had, but I simply went through the motions, matching his intensity without truly exerting myself.
Yet this was no deception of my elder brother.
There was purpose behind every move.
Jin-ho possessed talent and skill beyond his years, but he harbored one chronic weakness.
It was tactical combat.
He did not think strategically while fighting. Was it his impulsive nature?
He never distributed his strength according to circumstances, nor did he attempt to draw his opponent into favorable terrain.
His method was simple: unleash full power from the start and crush his opponent.
In ordinary circumstances, such overwhelming force would secure victory, but the world harbored many who favored cunning tactics.
Exploiting moments of fatigue, luring enemies into traps.
Against such methods, he would be utterly defenseless.
In my previous life, I had realized this too late and attempted to change, but never perfected the transformation.
That had been Jin-ho’s undoing.
Since he was growing stronger faster than in my previous life, if he shifted to fighting with strategy rather than brute force, the danger he faced would diminish considerably.
His combat style had not yet fully solidified due to limited experience against masters, so it was not too late to change now.
And I had grown strong enough to impart such understanding to him.
“Huff, gasp….”
After roughly an hour had passed, Jin-ho’s complexion clearly showed his exhaustion.
His breathing had become ragged.
If I were his enemy, I would consider this the moment to strike his throat.
“Hah, gasp, what are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why… why aren’t you tiring?”
“Because I’m moving efficiently and conserving my inner energy, naturally. If you exhaust yourself completely like that, of course you’ll tire quickly.”
I sheathed Eun Moo-geom as I spoke.
Then Jin-ho tilted his head and asked.
“Are we done?”
“Not quite.”
Clang—!
I swung the scabbard toward him.
“Ugh!”
He blocked instinctively, but Jin-ho staggered backward several steps.
A look of dismay crossed his face.
But I did not stop there, continuing to swing the scabbard relentlessly.
Clang—!
Clang—!
Clang!
Unable to mount a proper counterattack, he barely managed to block while being driven backward continuously.
It still isn’t enough.
Whoosh—! Thwack!
I struck my elder brother’s chest with the sword still sheathed in its scabbard.
“Ugh!”
Eun Jin-ho crumpled to the ground.
Not expecting me to go this far, my brother erupted in protest.
“Hey! This is too much for a light sparring match! I’m your elder brother! Your elder brother!”
“So what?”
I replied flatly.
“You gave it your all when you sparred with me, didn’t you? Then naturally, I should give my all too.”
I swung the scabbard toward my brother again.
Thwack! Smack!
“Ugh! Argh! Ahhh!”
Eun Jin-ho’s screams echoed through the forest. But I had already set up a barrier, so his cries wouldn’t leak outside.
“Brother, if this were a real blade, you’d have died over ten times already.”
Smack—!
“Gack!”
“Eleven times now.”
“You hate me, don’t you?”
“How could you say such a thing? The reason I’m using the scabbard is because I like you, isn’t it?”
Smack!
“Don’t hit me while you’re talking!”
Eventually, Eun Jin-ho threw up his hands and cried out.
“I surrender! I surrender! I lose!”
“Brother, not yet.”
“What?”
“Duels between warriors are supposed to end when someone dies, aren’t they?”
“What?”
I drew the Eun Moo-geom from its scabbard and fixed my gaze upon Eun Jin-ho.
The Eun Moo-geom radiated an intense, biting cold.
Facing my killing intent, Eun Jin-ho spoke in a trembling voice.
“W-wait, Seo-ho? You’re joking, right?”
“Block it. Otherwise, you’ll really die.”
Clink—!
I raised the blade and pointed it at Eun Jin-ho.
Whoosh—!
With that warning, I charged straight toward Eun Jin-ho.
But already exhausted and drained of strength, there was no way he could properly defend against my attack.
“….”
Before my blade reached Eun Jin-ho’s neck, I withdrew my power.
“Ugh…”
He collapsed.
Realizing he was alive, Jin-ho sank to the ground where he stood.
The blade slid into its sheath with a soft whisper.
I asked as I sheathed my sword.
“How does it feel to be dead?”
“…It’s vile.”
Of course it was.
Losing your life to another’s blade was hardly a pleasant experience.
“So you admit you lost to me?”
“Hah, didn’t I just say it? I surrendered.”
“Then let’s review the fight.”
“Huh?”
“What? Brother? That expression? Don’t you review your fights after they’re over?”
“I just fight, and if I win, that’s good. If not, I fight again next time, right?”
Good grief, this stubborn fool.
I tolerate it because I’m his younger brother—otherwise I’d have beaten it into him.
Actually… I suppose I just did beat him.
“Brother, remember the condition I set earlier? You agreed to do me a favor?”
“Yes.”
“From today on, review every fight and submit a report to me. So let’s start by reviewing today’s fight, shall we?”
I continued.
“What was the reason for your defeat today?”
“That is…”
Watching my brother fumble for an answer, I sighed and spoke.
“I told you earlier—if you come out with overwhelming force from the start, you’ll naturally tire quickly.”
“But the first strike must succeed.”
At my brother’s protest, I began explaining calmly.
“Brother, imagine that behind you stand the Eunpung Guard Six Commanders and your family, all depending on you to protect them. To keep them safe, you must defeat the enemy before you. If the enemy were only in front of you, then yes, overwhelming force from the start would work. Or if you faced an enemy one-on-one, perhaps the first strike doctrine would hold true. But here’s the thing, brother.”
I raised my sheath and pointed it at Jin-ho’s neck.
“The world is treacherous. What if there are hidden enemies? If you’ve already exhausted all your strength, could you handle them? And if you die like that, those you sought to protect will die as well.”
“…”
“You said it yourself—being dead feels vile. So how would it feel to watch those you protected die? How would it feel to die knowing you failed to protect them?”
I paused for a moment before continuing.
“Could such a thing be expressed merely as ‘vile’?”
No.
I could speak of it because I had experienced it directly in my previous life.
It transcended mere revulsion—it was an endless abyss of despair and regret, self-loathing and sorrow, rage and every conceivable negative emotion twisted together into something indescribable.
Jin-ho must have felt that emotion too.
The fact that he had begged me to spare only him while captured meant he had already lost his subordinates before that.
“I really don’t even want to imagine that future.”
“Neither do I.”
I despise such a future. That’s precisely why I grit my teeth and push forward—to change it.
“Then what should we do?”
“Obviously, we need to change our fighting style by using our heads. Sometimes like a serpent, sometimes like a jackal. They say a tiger that’s lived long survives because it’s cunning enough.”
“Is that really as easy as you make it sound?”
I spoke to my elder brother, who was bristling with frustration.
“I know it’s not easy. And from what I’ve seen, you learn better through physical experience.”
I grinned wickedly.
“So starting tomorrow, we’re going to do something fun.”
“What? What is it?”
My elder brother shuddered, as if he instinctively sensed what I was about to propose.
“Starting tomorrow, my Guard Warriors and I will be on one side, and you and the Eunpung Guard Six Commanders will be on the other. We’ll conduct a group sparring match. Of course, I’ll target you first. If you can’t block my attacks, the Six Commanders will take a severe beating from me.”
“Damn it!”
My elder brother bit his lip.
He must be feeling tremendous guilt knowing the Six Commanders would suffer because of him.
I know this method is cruel.
But if it forces my elder brother to change how he fights, I’m satisfied.
Even if he resents me through the process, that’s fine.
I’m happy just knowing I can continue to see him alive.
“But you’re far stronger than me. How could I possibly defeat you?”
“I’ll account for that. If you cut my sleeve, that counts as your victory.”
“What if I refuse?”
This isn’t something I can enforce as a wager condition. If he refuses, it’s all for nothing.
But he can’t refuse this proposal.
“Next time I go to the Northern Sea, I’ll have to tell your mother-in-law: I’m sorry, but our elder brother is a man who cannot properly protect the Dharma Protector’s daughter. Perhaps the Dharma Protector could train him….”
“Ack! I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I said I’ll do it!”
He should have just agreed from the start instead of being stubborn.
“Oh, and elder brother.”
“What?”
“Don’t forget the combat review report.”
.
.
.
When my elder brother Eun Jin-ho and I returned to where we’d camped for the night, Palgap asked me a question.
“Why is Eun Jin-ho covered in dirt, sir?”
“We sparred a bit.”
“Ah….”
Palgap nodded, and I tilted my head in confusion.
“I thought you’d lecture me. What’s this about?”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you might accuse your elder brother of something disrespectful.”
“I know well how courteous you are, Young Master. But I’m sure there was a reason for what you did.”
I felt oddly grateful.
“Please, have your meal.”
“All right.”

After breakfast, we set out once more toward the Northern Sea.

* * *

Clop, clop.
Creak, creak.
The sound of hoofbeats and the rumble of wagon wheels echoed through the forest path.
Eun Jin-ho, riding his horse, touched his neck gently.
‘Phew….’
When he sparred with Eun Seo-ho earlier, he truly thought he would die. The killing intent that Eun Seo-ho unleashed was genuine.
Moreover, a real blade had touched his throat.
Though it hadn’t drawn blood, that alone was enough to drain the strength from his legs and make him collapse.
He considered it remarkable that he hadn’t soiled his trousers.
‘This bastard… just how strong is he?’
He could only grumble.
Eun Seo-ho was far stronger than he’d imagined.
Advice from such a younger brother would surely be sound. And he was naturally sharp-minded besides.
The counsel to use his head rather than fight so brutishly like now.
‘Seo-ho has never said anything wrong… but can I do that at will….’
Just then, the Vice Squad Leader riding beside him asked.
“Why do you have such an expression on your face?”
“Hm?”
“I heard you sparred with the Third Sub-unit Leader this morning. Did you lose, perhaps?”
“No… Seo-ho said something strange.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me to change my fighting style. To fight using my head? Not to go for a full-force assault from the start.”
“That’s appropriate advice.”
“Hm?”
“To be honest, you’ve managed to hold your own until now, but it’s been precarious.”
“You thought so too, Vice Squad Leader?”
“Yes. I even considered mentioning it, but I was worried it might be overstepping, so I held my tongue. So please change your approach now.”
“Hmm, I see. But Vice Squad Leader.”
“Yes.”
“Starting tomorrow, Seo-ho wants to spar with me every single day.”
“How remarkable! Daily sparring, no less! The Third Sub-unit Leader must hold you in high regard, Squad Leader Jo. That’s precisely why he’s stepping in personally to help you change your fighting style, isn’t it?”
The Vice Squad Leader spoke with a smile.
“Don’t worry, sir. We’ll do our best to fill the gap left by your absence.”
“Wait… I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“Sir? What do you mean?”
“He also told the Sixth Squad to participate in the sparring.”
“What?”
“He said if I lose to Seo-ho, he’ll disband the unit members.”
“…Squad Leader. Should we run?”
“It’s already too late.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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