The Weight of a Family Name
***
Something rolled to my feet at that moment.
…An iron coin?
Iron coins were the currency used in these parts.
Why is this here?
The boy who had bowed his head held out his palm.
"You little punk, what cowardly trick did you pull?!"
A red mark in the shape of a perfect circle lingered on his skin. Was it my imagination that it matched the size of an iron coin exactly?
I gently stepped on the coin with my foot and shouted back.
"What are you talking about? You screamed on your own and fell over!"
"What? Something definitely hit my hand!"
The fuming boy turned to his gang.
"She didn't throw something? She did, right?"
The other boys in the group exchanged glances and muttered among themselves.
"I, I didn't see anything. Did you?"
"No, I didn't see it either."
"Then what's this?!"
The boy was yelling like a thug when someone from the crowd of onlookers shouted.
"Cut it out! Bullying someone younger than you—pathetic!"
"Yeah! Give it a rest!"
"Those damn brats cause a scene every day!"
More voices joined in agreement.
"B-Brother."
The smallest boy in the group, looking scared by the mounting pressure, tugged at the boy's clothes. Even the leader's eyes wavered uneasily.
Then another boy from the back yelled.
"Shut up! I clearly saw something flying! If it wasn't that girl, then someone else threw it! Who was it? Come out! I swear on the Jang Family name, you won't get away with this!"
That name felt familiar.
Jang Family?
A figure flashed through my mind.
Nah, no way. But whenever I think 'no way,' it always turns out to be true…
As the boy glared around with bulging eyes, the murmurs died down. Instead, people whispered cautiously.
"That kid's a son they put forward from the Jang Family…"
"Jang Family's still a powerhouse around here. No point getting tangled up."
"The Jang Family head's son is infamous for his nasty temper…"
They grumbled under their breath but the overt jeers faded away. And the more I overheard, the more convinced I became that my hunch was right.
The Jang Family boy called out to the tall one.
"Brother, come here a sec…"
I used the moment to check on Yahul. He seemed to have calmed since his eyes had briefly glazed over, but behind that composed face, his gaze was fiercely predatory, like he was ready to rip out a throat.
I patted his clenched fists reassuringly.
That's when the boy who'd been hit by the coin stepped forward again. The burliest one seemed to be the gang's enforcer.
"You—which family are you from? What's your name?"
"Why do you suddenly care?"
"Answer the question!"
Unable to make sense of it, I furrowed my brow—until I caught the Jang Family boy's gaze and realized.
It's my clothes.
Yahul's outfit wasn't bad. The fabric was fine, just plain—no frills, like a young heir from a decent house. But compared to him, mine was quite ornate.
It wasn't my taste… but it was a gift packed with the Second Lady's sincerity. Too flashy for around the residence, so I'd left it hanging. A coat covered in white fur trim—what kind of kid wears white? But leaving the gift to gather dust felt rude, so I'd thrown it on for the outing.
The Jang Family boy must have clocked my getup.
As I pondered, lost in thought, the gang piped up.
"Why're you hesitating like that?"
"Why no answer? Did the coin mess up your head?"
"Just some no-name nobody…"
I grabbed Yahul's arm as he tensed to lunge again and declared.
"Baek Ri-yeon of the Baek Ri Clan."
Shocked voices erupted immediately.
"Baek Ri Clan?"
"Baek Ri-paehyeok of the Eleven Great Powers of the World…"
"Wait, why is the Baek Ri Clan here?"
The stunned boys whispered among themselves.
"My father's name bears the characters for 'righteousness' and 'river'."
I brushed off my hem and glared at the one who'd run his mouth.
"Who was it that called me a nobody?"
"…"
Silence, like their lips were glued shut.
I hid my slightly trembling hands. Flaunting my father's background was a first for me.
Before my regression, just hearing someone mention his name left me breathless. Unless absolutely necessary, I'd never uttered it first. Everyone knew me anyway, but I'd only ever said it aloud in formal introductions.
Then a warm grip enveloped my shaking hand. I knew who it was without looking.
"B-Brother."
One of the gang muttered, and the burly boy responded in bewilderment.
"The young lady of the Baek Ri Clan?"
His tone turned polite in an instant. The sudden shift left me deflated.
He clasped his hands in a formal fist salute.
"I am Cheon Wi-eung of the Cheonbo Sect."
Cheonbo Sect. I'd heard of it—not from my original knowledge, but in chit-chat with Seo Ha-ryeong.
A pretty big righteous sect around here…
Starting with Cheon Wi-eung, they scrambled to introduce themselves one by one. The one who'd called me a nobody was from some no-name family I'd never heard of.
Finally…
"Jang Cheol of the Jang Family."
Jang Cheol. It was him, alright. The minor villain side character from the novel who pestered Namgung Ryu-cheong.
Wow, running into him here like this.
Even as a kid, his face was already etched with malice.
Cheon Wi-eung, unable to hide his awkwardness, apologized.
"S-Sorry for causing a ruckus without recognizing you, young lady."
His head inflated a bit, mimicking adult speech.
Namgung Ryu-cheong was cute doing that, but this kid? Total middle-school syndrome vibes—gives me chills.
Speech patterns really did depend on looks.
Cheon Wi-eung looked eager to escape.
"W-Well then, we'll be going…"
That's when it happened.
Jang Cheol, who'd been brooding alone, suddenly cut in.
"Brother, don't chicken out."
"Cheol, what the hell?"
Cheon Wi-eung was too busy glancing at me.
"I remember now."
"Remember what?"
Jang Cheol's face twisted into a sneer.
"I heard the great hero Baek Ri has a daughter who's a qi cripple. That's her."
I realized then: he wasn't just a villain side character. He'd always been rotten to the core.
"What? Qi cripple? What does that mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Dad told me! The great hero Baek Ri suddenly brought home some girl as his daughter, but she'd fallen into qi deviation and became a total cripple. Half-wit too!"
His giggling face beamed with excitement.
"Qi… cripple?"
In an instant, their gazes filled with pity, contempt, disdain. A feeling all too familiar.
If not for the hot hand squeezing mine painfully tight, I'd have doubted if I'd really regressed.
I shook my head with a hollow laugh.
"Ha, this is exactly the problem. Martial artists don't treat you like a person without inner energy."
Cheon Wi-eung, flipping sides again, glared at me.
"How dare a qi cripple act all high and mighty…"
I cut him off mid-sentence.
"You asked for my name and family, so I told you—and now it's 'acting high and mighty'?"
Cheon Wi-eung seemed at a loss for words.
I pressed on.
"And if I’m a qi cripple like you say, doesn’t that make you all bullies picking on a powerless commoner who can’t even learn martial arts? I don’t know about the Jang Family, but if they act like this, they belong to the black path, not the white."
Technically, with the Baek Ri name, I wasn't a commoner anymore—but kids wouldn't parse that logic.
Sure enough, Cheon Wi-eung just gaped like a fish.
Jang Cheol stomped his foot, yelling.
"Argh! You no-name wretch, how dare you insult my family?!"
His retort was so lowbrow it didn't even anger me—just made me snort.
"Who knows. Your father's speech is so crude—maybe you're the real nobody, inheriting from him."
"W-What?!"
"Saw it from the line-cutting. Like father, like son."
Jang Cheol looked utterly dazed.