Chapter 21. A Third-Rate Warrior Welcomes an Uninvited Guest (2)
The first one to receive the visitor was Hong Sa-ryeon.
After finishing her class at Busaeng Hall, she had been on her way to do some personal training when she discovered the visitor.
He wore a fine sword at his waist, his clothes were far more luxurious than any Sa-ryeon owned, and his handsome face and tall stature made him look anything but ordinary.
Even though he had entered an unfamiliar place, his bold air, without the slightest sign of discomfort, made him seem like no ordinary being.
Most of all, his face looked like one she had seen somewhere before, yet she could not remember it at all.
“What brings you here?”
“I am looking for someone. Might there be a person named Young Master Jin So-un here?”
Sa-ryeon’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected words from the noble young master’s mouth.
His face clearly looked four or five years older than So-un’s, so she wondered when So-un had gotten to know someone like this without her knowing.
“What business do you have with him?”
“I have come to meet him over a personal matter.”
“Senior Brother Jin has not come back for several days already. I think you will have to come again next time.”
“Hmm…….”
She had indirectly given him an order to leave because of the rudeness of not even introducing himself, but the noble young master did not budge.
“Then may I wait here?”
“……What do you think you are doing right now? Taeul Sect is not an inn.”
Only then did the noble young master look as though he had realized his mistake.
“Ah, I made a mistake. I will greet the Sect Leader first and receive permission. Will you guide me to the Sect Leader?”
“Excuse me!”
At last, Sa-ryeon’s patience ran out, and the moment she let out a sharp cry.
The noble young master smiled at the corners of his mouth and said,
“I am Namgung San of the Namgung Clan.”
“Heaven-Opening Divine Dragon?”
Only then did Sa-ryeon remember that he had been there with them when they suffered humiliation at the Iron Sword Sect.
“That is right. That is me.”
Taeul Sect was slightly excited because of Namgung San’s presence.
Gye Cheol-yeong was going to and from the detached residence so often that its door might wear out, and the hall masters of the other halls were also quietly stopping by the detached residence to build a friendship with him.
The commotion was especially great among the young disciples.
A rising expert they had only heard of through rumors of the murim. And one famous as a handsome young master, at that. Since such a person was staying at Taeul Sect, it was simply hard for them to endure.
“Great Hero Namgung San is so cool.”
“How nice would it have been if I had been born somewhere like the Namgung Clan too?”
“At the very least, I wish I could learn the Namgung Clan’s Boundless Firmament Sword Art. They say even their disciples are chosen through strict selection, right?”
In any case, I had no guess as to why he had gone out of his way to come looking for me.
There was no way he was connected to Namgung Sang-won.
Namgung Sang-won’s goal, from the very beginning, was to suppress the direct line of the Namgung Clan and have the collateral line become the master of the clan.
To Namgung San, who was practically the next-generation master of the Namgung Clan, he was no different from an irreconcilable enemy.
Then had he come to commend me for what I had done?
The timing was too fast.
Even if he knew about that matter, would the great Namgung Clan under heaven send their one and only legitimate heir just to meet one mere warrior of Taeul Sect? The Heaven-Opening Divine Dragon, called the greatest talent in Anhui Province, at that?
No reason made sense.
Namgung San’s visit was something that had not happened in my previous life.
If something that had not happened in my previous life happened in this life, it meant there had to be something to fill that gap.
‘Something that existed in my previous life but does not exist in this life…… or the opposite.’
At the end of that thought, I had a guess.
“……So that was it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It is nothing.”
“When in the world did you build a friendship with the Namgung Clan? Do you go out and meet people every day whenever you leave?”
“It is not like that.”
“In any case, hurry up and go. He has already been staying here for a week, and everyone in Taeul Sect is uncomfortable because of it.”
“Understood.”
“That way is the Great Mysterious Hall. The guest is staying at the detached residence.”
“I will greet the Sect Leader first before I go. You go and tell that person that I have arrived.”
“No, I said he has been waiting for a week!”
“It was that person’s own choice to wait, and since we had no appointment, I may also follow my own schedule.”
“No! Just what are you……! And since when have you diligently gone to greet the Sect Leader like this?!”
“……I was always doing well. You go and deliver the news.”
Sa-ryeon grumbled, “If he’s going to go later anyway, why is he telling me to tell him……,” and headed toward the detached residence.
When I entered the Great Mysterious Hall, Father and Hong Mun-gi happened to be discussing matters within the sect.
“Sect Leader. Disciple Jin So-un has returned from an outing.”
At my greeting, both Father and Hong Mun-gi could not hide their startled eyes.
Seeing them get startled that much, it ended up becoming true that, just as Sa-ryeon had said, I usually did not go around greeting people properly.
“Yes, did you return safely?”
Hong Mun-gi, who regained his expression first, received my greeting with a benevolent smile.
On the other hand, Jin Tae-san still could not hide his startled eyes.
“Just what on earth has happened? You came all the way to greet the Sect Leader.”
“Father, if you say that, you are spitting in your own face.”
“This rotten bastard……”
Unlike the fiery Sa-ryeon, Hong Mun-gi gave an elegant laugh.
“You have a guest at the detached residence. Have you heard?”
“Yes. I have heard.”
“Good. Then go.”
“That guest does not have an appointment with me. I have a few things to report first, so I will sit for a moment.”
This time, even Hong Mun-gi, along with Jin Tae-san, could not wipe the startled expression from his face.
“Could I have a cup of tea?”
“You even want to drink tea before leaving? You brat, Namgung San is waiting.”
“Father, just what is so great about the Namgung Clan that I have to go meet him without even reporting to the Sect Leader? When I look at you, Father, you seem like someone of the Namgung Clan, not someone of Taeul Sect.”
“You, you…… rotten!”
“Hoho, Tae-san, I am sorry, but could you prepare tea? It will be pleasant to drink tea with So-un after so long.”
“Haa.”
Jin Tae-san prepared tea with a practiced manner, and before long, a cup of tea with steam rising from it was placed in front of me.
I cut out the unnecessary details before and after and reported the story of saving Wang So-so.
“……Hoho, so you thought the child seemed to have been kidnapped, followed them, and rescued her.”
“Yes. However, while saving her, the child seemed to have an illness, so I passed down the Taeul Heart Method to her. I apologize for failing to receive permission.”
“It is fine. Martial arts are, by nature, for benefiting people. If it was something you could save with basic martial arts, then you sufficiently did what you had to do.”
Hong Mun-gi and Father roughly understood it as my having rescued a woman and child from human traffickers, and the reason I deliberately put it this way was to prevent a misunderstanding if Wang Geum-san came looking for us later.
“By the way, why did Young Master San of the Namgung Clan come looking for you? It has given us headaches, having him occupy the best room in Taeul Sect for a week and serving him three meals a day.”
“Who knows? Perhaps he came to learn a move from me.”
“What?”
Father’s face crumpled like a sheet of paper, and it was enjoyable to see no matter when.
“Am I not someone who defeated Seong Mo-hyeon of the Iron Sword Sect in my own way? On top of that, I even took the Ninefold Sword, so would not even the eldest young master of the great Namgung Clan under heaven want to learn a move from me?”
“Enough! Rotten bastard. If you are going to talk nonsense, get out!”
“Yes, Sect Leader. This disciple will leave now to receive my guest.”
Namgung San felt a strange emotion.
Though he had not seen his counterpart or spoken with him, he felt anger.
What was even stranger was that the emotion had suddenly risen within him.
When he learned of the man’s absence, he had felt no anger.
Because he had not made an appointment with him.
He had spent seven days in shabby lodgings and eaten meager meals, but he had felt no anger.
Because he was the one who had said he would wait. Because he could not complain that Taeul Sect’s standard of hospitality was only this much.
However, the moment he heard that Jin So-un had returned to Taeul Sect.
Anger surged up from deep within his chest.
Because this was the first such experience in his life, even he was flustered.
“What kind of person is Young Master Jin So-un?”
The girl beside him was conveying the news while looking restless.
She could not compare to him, but because she was a girl carrying the burden of having to inherit the next generation of her sect, she was a child who had drawn a little of his interest.
“Senior Brother? I’m not sure. He’s such an impossible person to pin down.”
The girl, who had frowned as she spoke of something unpleasant, gradually became more excited as the conversation continued.
“Well, he does a lot of unpredictable things, but I don’t think that’s because he’s trying to do only whatever he wants. In any case, he cares a lot for the junior disciples of the sect. He has no manners, but he also takes terribly good care of the elders. Even though he doesn’t greet people properly himself, if someone says something disrespectful, his eyes flip over and he charges in.”
“It seems your senior brother is reliable.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? I just told you.”
“Is that so?”
The girl whose name he did not know stuck out her tongue with an blegh and put on an expression as though she had chewed on gallbladder.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
A young man entered the detached residence.
A common Blue Steel Sword tied at his waist. A martial arts uniform that was old but seemed to have been washed cleanly. Long hair tied up neatly. Not a single thing about him looked special.
‘How strange.’
Yet as Namgung San looked at him, his emotions simmered and boiled as though iron were being heated.
“Are you Jin So-un?”
“Did you come looking for me without knowing me?”
The nameless girl who had been keeping him company looked back and forth between Jin So-un’s face and Namgung San’s, trying to understand what was happening.
“I have only heard what was relayed to me about you.”
“That day…… were you not there?”
“That day?”
“The Iron Sword Sect.”
Come to think of it, he felt as though he had seen that child and this nameless girl at the scene where the Iron Sword Sect was deprived of the Ninefold Sword.
“Ah! I see. Now that I think of it, you were there with us.”
“……Do you have a problem with your memory?”
What should he call it? Did the very existence known as Jin So-un draw revulsion from the depths of his heart?
Even words that seemed to have been thrown out without any meaning stirred his emotions.
“No. I tend not to give my attention to things I have no interest in.”
“……Then why did you come looking for me?”
Where should he begin?
With the fact that the object Jin So-un possessed had been his? Or with the fact that Jin So-un had intercepted it midway?
Namgung San turned his head to the nameless girl and said,
“You should step out for a moment.”
“Ah…… yes. Understood.”
“What did you just say?”
Jin So-un furrowed his brow deeply.
For an instant, Namgung San felt as though he had done something wrong.
However, nothing was wrong.
“I asked her to step out because I have something important to discuss with you.”
“‘You should step out’ is an order. It is not a request.”
“……Uh, uh. S-Senior Brother. What’s wrong? I’m fine. Please talk. I’ll go now.”
The nameless girl instead became flustered and left.
The person called Jin So-un stared blankly at the girl’s back.
“What did I do wrong?”
“Does the Heaven-Opening Divine Dragon not even know the difference between ‘you should step out’ and ‘would you step out’?”
“……”
Only then could Namgung San understand the cause of all these feelings of displeasure, anger, irritation, and rage.
“You…… are quite arrogant.”
The emotions he had felt from everyone present in Taeul Sect.
Admiration, awe, fear, regard, respect, praise.
He could not find even a speck of those in Jin So-un.
Rather, he exuded contempt, disdain, scorn, and insult, emotions Namgung San had never felt even once in his life.
“How strange. Since when did the Namgung Clan become the Emperor’s clan?”
“……”
Namgung San decided to stop.
Because he thought that if he continued conversing with Jin So-un any further, he might get angry.
“You probably do not know why I suddenly visited and sought you out, do you?”
Somehow, he could understand Jin So-un’s feelings too.
There were such people. Those who showed hostility when they met an immense counterpart because of their own insignificant presence.
Those who feared all the more because they knew nothing.
Taking good care of such people was also a virtue of the strong.
“The reason I came is……”
“Is it not because of the Entry Token?”
“!!!”
This bastard, did he know from the beginning?
What reason would Namgung San, who had had no interest in Taeul Sect at the Iron Sword Sect, have to visit Taeul Sect?
Most of the spiritual medicines and secret manuals I had obtained were things no one knew about, so if I had to name something someone would know among the things I had gained, it would ultimately be only the Steel Guardian Pill and the Entry Token.
There was no way the legitimate heir of the Namgung Clan had come because he wanted the Steel Guardian Pill, so that meant it was the Entry Token.
His attitude was quite brazen.
He was clearly the one who had come to make a request, yet there was none of that.
He merely looked as though he firmly believed that if he asked, I would give it to him.
“That was originally mine.”
The way he spoke was also the natural tone of someone asking for borrowed money to be repaid.
I had no intention of giving it to him anyway, but since he came out like this, I could not help feeling even more twisted inside.
“The Grand Strategist did not say anything like that.”
“It was something I requested in the first place, and that was why it ended up in your hands.”
If the Grand Strategist had made a firm promise to Namgung San, there would be no reason for Namgung San to come to me and ask me to return the Entry Token.
Because the Grand Strategist could simply make one more and give it to him.
In the end, the Grand Strategist, who had intended to give the Entry Token to Namgung San, had thought it would not matter greatly even if he gave that Entry Token to me.
The conclusion was that the Entry Token was not Namgung San’s.
“How strange. If it was so certainly yours, Great Hero, then why did the Grand Strategist give it to me? It seems this is a matter you should argue with the Grand Strategist about, not one you should argue with me about. Or perhaps the Grand Strategist is too burdensome an opponent, while Taeul Sect is easy, so you came here?”
Namgung San let out a long sigh.
“You have a talent for grating on your counterpart’s feelings.”
“My words do not stray from reason, so if your feelings were grated upon, Great Hero, that would be your problem.”
“Of course, I am not asking you to simply return it.”
“……”
“I have come prepared to pay sufficient value for it. This is a jewel called the Seven-Colored Jewel. It is a precious treasure worth enough to buy at least a ninety-nine-bay mansion. I will give you this.”
On Namgung San’s palm, a jewel emitting seven colors shone brilliantly.
In my memory, it was a treasure valuable enough to buy three ninety-nine-bay mansions.
“The reason I came here under my own name and did not make this a public dispute was for both Taeul Sect and you. If the people of the murim learned that you coveted something of the Namgung Clan’s, how would they see you, and how would they see your sect, Taeul Sect?”
As he said, if he made this public, the matter would grow.
And the Namgung Clan’s story would spread more strongly, tightening around Taeul Sect.
On top of that, he was not asking for it for free and had even said he would give me the Seven-Colored Jewel, so I was at the point where even expressing my gratitude would not be enough.
“Cut the crap.”
“……What?”
I meant to express my gratitude, but my true feelings came out instead.
“Well, do as you please.”
“Do you think…… I cannot?”
“Taeul Sect is not that small a sect. You are taking me, who belongs to such a place, far too lightly.”
“……You want this to become a major matter. Can you handle the Namgung Clan?”
“Even if I cannot handle it, you will not find the Entry Token.”
“……”
“And you should choose carefully. The Iron Sword Sect acted the way you are acting now, Great Hero, and had the Ninefold Sword taken away.”
“……!”
For the first time, Namgung San’s face hardened stiffly.
