Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth

Chapter 03

Moo-myung searches the room full of screens for the man who (he thinks) killed his friend Mak Mun. He focuses on Sammaekjong's voice, vowing to kill him today, and lunges. But instead of seeing his enemy at the point of his sword, Moo-myung is horrified to see Ah Ro instead, looking at him with wide, scared eyes.

Looking around for the man he's chasing, Moo-myung walks towards Ah Ro, and she backs away from his sword. Sammaekjong assesses the situation and sneaks around behind Moo-myung, then takes a flying leap at him, sword raised high.

Moo-myung grabs Ah Ro and whirls around to face his opponent, flinging her to safety. He attacks Sammaekjong and their swords flash as they fight, until Sammaekjong flees to a safer position. As he goes, he thrusts his sword through a screen and manages to slice into Moo-myung's sword arm before running out of the building.

Moo-myung is left behind, injured and furious. But he spots a flash of gold in the straw, and sees that in the scuffle, Sammaekjong left his dragon-head bracelet behind.

Ah Ro makes her way outside as well, but her legs have gone to sleep, and she's stuck sitting in the dirt. She hides her face in her skirt when Moo-myung runs past her, then grumbles at the insanity of sword fighting in broad daylight.

Sammaekjong meets his bodyguard Pa Oh for a drink, and tells Pa Oh about losing his bracelet in the fight. Apparently the bracelet is special and may only be worn by the king, though Sammaekjong isn't that concerned.

They overhear a pair of men at a nearby table discussing why the king never shows his face, and Sammaekjong's ears perk up. One man gossips that it's because the king is a eunuch and an idiot, and Pa Oh rises as if he plans to confront them.

But Sammaekjong stops him, and sadly says that he would rather be a eunuch and an idiot as he thinks about his mother forbidding him to reveal himself. He also recalls Moo-myung's taunt that hiding must be his habit, and he tells himself that he can't let that happen.

Merchant Joo-ki cheers up a morose Hwa-gong by telling him that the private information he's been collecting on the nobles is on its way. Hwa-gong is skeptical, when suddenly Ah Ro shows up and dramatically slams down the book containing all her written notes.

Hwa-gong starts to open the book, but Ah Ro smacks his hand away, explaining that it's nearly illegible because she was so rushed. She offers to give the information as a verbal presentation - for an extra fee, of course.

Ah Ro launches into her presentation, and explains that in Silla, there are three kinds of authority - the queen's men, those opposed to the queen, and those in the middle, the "centrists." The highest social rank possible, the True Bone, have authority equal to that of the queen regent.

Ah Ro starts with her nomination from the centrists, a young man known to be the most beautiful in Silla. His name is YEO-WOOL (Jo Yoon-woo), and he's famous for his charm.

Ah Ro reports that Yeo-wool has a lot of authority, but he's uninterested in wielding power. Yeo-wool's mother was sister to a former king, but Yeo-wool doesn't know who his father is, only that he's among the True Bone.

Ah Ro moves on to her next recommendation, one of the most talented young men in Silla: Ban-ryu, who is Master Hong's biological son and minister Park Young-shil's (the leader of those opposed to the queen regent) adopted son. Ban-ryu is known for being handsome but cold, though that doesn't dampen his popularity with the ladies.

We see Ban-ryu and his rival Su-ho engaged in a soccer game that looks more like a fight to the death. Ah Ro continues that if Ban-ryu is known for using his head, Su-ho is knows for using his body. He's the son of Kim Seub, one of the queen regent's supporters. Su-ho is also famous for being a terrible flirt, as we see him being slapped by a succession of women.