Chapter 99: Naga Grounds-2
Chapter 99: Naga Grounds-2
Na Seo-yu and Seonwoo Jin were able to return to her room only after a long while.
Na Seo-yu smiled brightly, just as she had back on the frontlines, and spoke to Seonwoo Jin.
"Thank you, Seonu Gongja. This is all thanks to you, Seonu Gongja."
At that, Seonwoo Jin laughed awkwardly and shook his head.
"Ah, it was only natural. Are we not family?"
At those words, Na Seo-yu asked with a puzzled face.
"Family?"
Seonwoo Jin hastily elaborated.
"Everyone in our Seventh Squad is family, are they not? All of us. Ahaha!"
"Ah, that's right. We are all no different from family."
Seonwoo Jin cleared his throat and asked her.
"Ahem, in any case, what do you intend to do now?"
Na Seo-yu sank into thought and replied.
"Well. I will of course refuse the marriage. The most important thing will be Father's treatment."
It was something Na Seo-yu had been entirely unaware of, but apparently the Na Clan Lord had sustained internal injuries during a bandit subjugation mission in the nearby mountains several months ago.
However, a condition that had not been so severe suddenly worsened drastically one day.
The Na Clan Lord himself had merely assumed it was because he had grown old and his vitality was failing.
Na Seo-yu murmured.
"I would like to meet the physician who is treating Father, but they will likely not let me meet him, will they?"
It was obvious that Madam Min would not cooperate in any matter unless Na Seo-yu agreed to the marriage.
At that, Seonwoo Jin ventured to suggest.
"What about this?"
"Yes?"
"You go to that woman and tell her that you, Na So-jeo, actually have a betrothed. That you cannot marry another because you are practically already married. And therefore, for the sake of the marriage, you must meet your father."
At those words, Na Seo-yu tilted her head.
It did not seem likely that Madam Min would give up just because of that, but more than anything, it did not seem likely she would even believe it.
"Would she really believe it if I suddenly said something like that?"
Then Seonwoo Jin asked carefully.
"Could I not step forward and play the role of the betrothed? Not for real, of course, just for a short while this time. Ahahaha...."
"What?!"
Na Seo-yu's eyes widened in surprise at those words.
But she soon burst into laughter and shook her head.
"No. You don't have to go that far, Seonu Gongja. I'm already grateful enough as it is; I can't impose on you with such an unreasonable request."
"Ah, is, is that so?"
Seonwoo Jin had to struggle to hide his disappointed expression.
'It wouldn't be imposing at all....'
Unaware of Seonwoo Jin's expression, Na Seo-yu spoke.
"Since I have seen Father, I think it would be good to go outside the Na Clan residence for now. We can start by searching for a skilled physician. What do you think?"
"Yes, yes? Ah, that could work well. I feel like some useful method might present itself. I will formulate a plan."
Having discussed up to that point, Seonwoo Jin left Na Seo-yu's room.
Na Seo-yu spoke to him with an apologetic face.
"I'm sorry, Seonu Gongja. I should arrange a proper room for you...."
"Haha! It is fine! With so much stealth work to do, I've half become an assassin myself now. It's not uncomfortable at all!"
Of course, it was a lie.
There was no way Seonwoo Jin wouldn't want to rest comfortably in a proper room.
On top of that, his mood was somehow unsettled.
While it was good that he had made Na So-jeo happy, for some reason he found himself thinking about his father back at the Seonwoo Clan, and above all, he felt bitter because it seemed confirmed that in Na Seo-yu's heart, he was still not a man.
It was then.
While Seonwoo Jin was stealthily looking around the Na Clan estate, he witnessed someone leaving through the main gate.
"Where are you off to at this late hour, Gongja-nim?"
"I have an appointment with close friends, so I shall go and return."
The one leaving the house with a few escort warriors and an arrogant expression was Na Seo-yu's half-brother, Na Seo-hwang.
Seonwoo Jin's eyes deepened as he watched him.
"Hm."
And he began to secretly follow behind him.
***
The place Na Seo-yu's younger brother Na Seo-hwang headed to was a giru located on the outskirts of Heung-ui.
"Aigo! Na Gongja-nim, have you come at last?! Ae-hyang was waiting with her neck stretched out for you!"
"Hm, public and private matters are plentiful, so I was a bit late. Surely you did not receive another guest in the meantime just because I was a little late?"
"Aigo! How could that be?! It seemed Ae-hyang was waiting for you alone, Gongja-nim, with one heart! Please, go right in!"
Judging from the conversation, Na Seo-hwang appeared to be a regular customer who frequented the giru.
Moreover, the talk about meeting friends had likely all been a lie.
"Tch."
Seonwoo Jin, who had been following with hopes of finding something useful, clicked his tongue.
There seemed no need to watch any further now.
Seonwoo Jin hid himself in a tree near the giru and entered a meditation state.
Having used stealth techniques so frequently lately, he no longer felt any discomfort.
He felt he might now actually be better than most run-of-the-mill assassins.
And how much time passed?
Na Seo-hwang came back out of the giru with a satisfied smile.
"Take care going, Gongja-nim!"
"Indeed. I shall come again."
Accompanied by two escort warriors, he began moving back in the direction of the Na Clan residence.
Seeing this, Seonwoo Jin slipped ahead of him and ambushed him first at the crossroads Na Seo-hwang would return by.
Unaware of this fact, Na Seo-hwang suddenly spoke up as he walked along with an arrogant gait.
"The night air is truly lovely tonight!"
While it was true the night air was cooler and nicer than the hot days of Guizhou, there was no particular reason it should be especially better today.
So if something was better than usual, it had to be his own mood.
Na Seo-hwang had nothing to be dissatisfied with these days.
The frontline problem he was supposed to go to was solved by sending his foolish noona, and when his ailing father passed away soon, he would inherit the position of clan lord.
And that, at the young age of just twenty.
Of course, the death of the Na Clan Lord, the foremost master of the Na Clan, did mean a sharp decline in the Na Clan's military strength.
Thus, there was ample possibility that the Na Clan could be threatened by surrounding powers afterward.
But Na Seo-hwang thought there was no need to worry about such things at all.
That was precisely because Na Seo-yu existed.
'Because I can just marry that stupid bitch off to the Salsangbang, keke.'
The reason for marrying Na Seo-yu into the Salsangbang was to make the Salsangbang, whose influence was rising day by day, the backbone of the Na Clan.
So if that marriage was accomplished properly, there could be no place around here that would threaten the Na Clan.
For that reason, Na Seo-hwang could not suppress the contented laughter leaking out.
'This means the only thing left for me is a comfortable life as the Na Clan Lord! Keuheuheu!'
Thinking these thoughts and walking with the haughty air of someone who had already become clan lord, Na Seo-hwang suddenly spotted the shadow of a man walking toward him, footsteps thudding steadily.
"Huh?"
Na Seo-hwang frowned the moment he saw him.
Perhaps it was because it was a night road and he was the only passerby that he stood out more, but for some reason, his gait was displeasing the moment he laid eyes on it.
Perhaps it was because those steps looked so unhesitating.
Na Seo-hwang glanced back at the two escorts following him and said.
"That fellow approaching from the front is a bit of an eyesore. You lot, make it so he isn't an eyesore."
It was a ridiculous order, but the two escorts answered without a word of complaint.
"Yes, Gongja!"
After all, following Na Seo-hwang around, such incidents were not exactly rare.
The two sturdy escorts passed Na Seo-hwang and approached the man, saying.
"Hey, you! Our Gongja-nim summons you! Come this way obediently!"
At that, the man, who had paused momentarily, began moving his steps again.
In his original direction, straight toward the two escorts.
Na Seo-hwang wore a greasy smirk as he watched the shadows of the man and the two escorts converge.
While pondering how he would toy with the fellow once the escorts roughed him up properly and brought him over.
And in the next moment, the sound of bones breaking was heard alongside screams.
Udeudeuk!
"Keueook!"
"Keuaaaak!"
"Huh?"
Na Seo-hwang, who had been lost in thought, suddenly felt something strange.
Because the screams sounded like they came from two people, not one.
And he could also see two of the three shadows collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Na Seo-hwang's wide eyes blinked.
"No way?"
Two of them collapsed, meaning my escorts got taken down?
No, there was no way....
But upon hearing the voice of the approaching shadow, Na Seo-hwang had no choice but to realize that the unthinkable had become reality.
The approaching man was speaking in a tone of incredulity.
"I was originally planning to spare you, but I never imagined you'd pick a fight first. You truly are a son of a bitch the likes of which I've never seen."
At the man's curse, which seemed directed at him, Na Seo-hwang suddenly flared up and shouted.
"You bastard! How dare you, do you know who I am!"
Even in this situation, Na Seo-hwang prioritized his own emotions. It was because he had never experienced a real crisis his whole life.
But right at that moment, an invisible kick lashed out and struck Na Seo-hwang's thigh.
Ppaaak!
"Keuaaaaak!"
Na Seo-hwang screamed at the pain that felt like his insides would burst out.
It was a terrible agony as if he had been struck by lightning, transmitted all the way to the top of his head.
His thigh bone was broken in a single blow, but he didn't even have the presence of mind to grasp that.
In the midst of his mind going white, he suddenly heard the other's voice.
"Na Seo-hwang, do you know your sins?"
"Wh-what?!"
Even amidst all that, he could recognize that the other party knew him and had targeted him from the start.
But his thoughts could not continue beyond that.
Because in the next moment, the bastard had precisely stepped on only the thumb of his left hand with his foot and crushed it.
Eudeudeudeuk!
"Keuaaaaak!"
Tears streamed down at the unbearable pain.
Na Seo-hwang instinctively began crying and begging for his life.
"Sa, save! Save me, please!"
It took only an instant for a lifetime's habits to be corrected.
After all, there was no way Na Seo-hwang, who had never experienced pain or hardship, possessed anything like mental fortitude or patience.
The single thought in his head was simply that he did not want to die.
At that time, the other party asked again in a cold voice.
"I asked if you know your sins."
"Yes, yes?"
When Na Seo-hwang failed to grasp what that meant, the man began stepping on and crushing his little finger this time.
Eudeudeudeudeuk!
"Keuaaaaak!"
Again, a pain that dyed his mind white.
To Na Seo-hwang, who was writhing like a worm, the other spoke coldly again.
"It seems you truly do not know your own sins."
Now, no reason remained in Na Seo-hwang's head. Only the instinct to survive by any means.
He screamed desperately.
"No, no! I know them well! I have committed sins worthy of death!"
At that, the man laughed scornfully and asked.
"Is that so? What sins have you committed?"
"...Yes?!"
Na Seo-hwang's expression went blank for a moment.
He didn't even know who the other was, so how could he possibly know what wrong he had done to him?
But the other party did not wait even a moment.
His foot, without a shred of hesitation, began stepping on and crushing Na Seo-hwang's ring finger.
Kkadeudeudeudeuk!
"Aaaaaaaak!"
Na Seo-hwang, who had once again writhed and screamed a painful scream, no longer hesitated.
He began shouting desperately.
"I'm sorry! I deliberately came two hours later than the appointed time to make sure Ae-hyang couldn't do business with other men!"
At that, the man's foot moved again and lightly pressed down on his middle finger.
It seemed that was not the answer he wanted.
Seeing this, Na Seo-hwang desperately began confessing his other sins.
"And yesterday, the woman I ran into on the street was quite pretty, so I...!"
The man's foot, placed on the middle finger, was applying force little by little.
Weeping profusely, Na Seo-hwang started spilling every crime in order of recency, one after another.
Those crimes were quite diverse, and most were things like assaulting the innocent or violating ordinary commoner women. Among them, there were also things about what he had done to Na Seo-yu.
It seemed he himself was aware that what he had done to his noona was a sin.
And among them, there was a confession that piqued Seonwoo Jin's interest.
Na Seo-hwang cried out fervently.
"So that I could inherit the clan lord position faster, Mother poisoned Father! But this is not something I did! It was something Mother did on her own authority!"
"Ho-oh."
Poisoned the Na Clan Lord?
So that was the reason the internal injuries had suddenly worsened.
Seonwoo Jin listened to all the wrongdoings Na Seo-hwang confessed even after that, right to the end.
His impression after hearing everything was that there was no need to keep the bastard alive.
He was a rare piece of trash in the world, after all.
But Seonwoo Jin decided not to kill the bastard.
No matter what, he was still Na Seo-yu's younger brother, so he thought it would be better to hear her opinion.
Besides, if he killed him now, wouldn't she possibly realize that he had done it?
"And then.... And then...."
Watching Na Seo-hwang desperately search for more of his own sins now that he had nothing left to confess, Seonwoo Jin spoke coldly.
"It seems you do know your sins, so I will not kill you."
At those words, Na Seo-hwang's tear-stained face brightened extremely in an instant.
"Yes, yes?! Tha, thank! Thank you! Thank you!"
And in the next moment, he felt a strong impact to his head and lost consciousness.
Peo-eok!
"Keok!"
Having lightly kicked the bastard's head to knock him out, Seonwoo Jin took off flying.
As for that bastard, though one of his legs was shattered, the escorts had only one arm each broken, so returning should be no problem for them.