A New Bodyguard, Part 1
Under the original course of events, Seok Geum-ryong should have been killed by Woo Jun-rae, the Flying Horse Spear, only to claw his way back from death and spend the rest of his life limping on one leg.
Instead, he had escaped that miserable future entirely and survived.
Not only that, but however shaken and unstable the man might have been, he had even won a brilliant victory over Woo Jun-rae, a first-class master of no small skill. The gains were enormous.
He had also learned the true face of Seok Myo-hee, something he had never known in his past life, and Woo Jun-rae, who should have been used and discarded before dying in disgrace, had instead been praised as a righteous man who threw away his own life to protect his master and given a splendid funeral.
Through it all, no one suspected Seok Geum-ryong, whose life had been threatened in the affair.
He had tampered with the scene himself, and more importantly, no one would ever have imagined that a child of only ten possessed such formidable martial skill.
For Seok Geum-ryong, it was a perfect ending.
And what he had gained did not end there.
- Fifth Young Master Seok Geum-ryong of Seokga Manor was almost killed by an assassin!
The news swept through Seokga Manor like a howling gale, and of course it reached Seok Ji-sung, the lord of the manor.
"What? I told them to strengthen his protection, and this happens again?"
Upon hearing the report, Seok Ji-sung erupted in fury.
No matter how fierce the struggle for succession is, no matter how urgent the need to remove enemies, Seok Geum-ryong is still only ten years old.
What was more, not long ago Seok Ji-sung had sent several tonics and medicinal ingredients to Seok Geum-ryong, wishing for his health and recovery.
And now, before even that matter had settled, someone had sent assassins after him. That could only mean...
"So now they think I'm some useless old man tucked away in the back room?"
Seok Ji-sung's health had worsened by the day, and as a result, many of the manor's senior figures and stewards had begun to turn away from him.
But Seok Ji-sung was not so easily brushed aside. The more the assassins targeted Seok Geum-ryong, the more fiercely he meant to protect him.
"Someone come here."
Then, as if some thought had struck him, he summoned the senior figures of Seokga Manor.
"Yes, Lord Manor."
"Please speak."
Seok Ji-sung, lord of Seokga Manor.
He was usually known as kindly and scrupulously respectful to those beneath him, but once angered he became terrifyingly cold and ruthless.
Those who knew his temperament well worked desperately to avoid drawing the eye of the enraged lord.
"Gather every peak expert within the manor."
"...??"
Many were puzzled by the sudden order, but no one dared oppose it.
They had seen too many times what happened when one argued with an angry Seok Ji-sung.
"And summon Geum-ryong as well, the one who narrowly escaped death."
They could understand gathering all the peak experts. What they did not quite understand was why Seok Geum-ryong had to be called at the same time.
Still, they bowed and accepted it in the end.
"Yes, understood."
* * *
"My father wants me?"
Upon receiving the message, Seok Geum-ryong turned in surprise to Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil.
"Yes, that is correct. And since he is also summoning every peak expert within Seokga Manor, I would imagine..." Gong Sang-pil hesitated, then continued, "he intends to appoint an excellent bodyguard to serve you directly, Young Master."
That was not merely Gong Sang-pil's guess.
It was what many others had been thinking ever since Seok Ji-sung ordered every peak expert in the manor to assemble.
So this is how it changes! The future really has changed.
At the mention of receiving a bodyguard, Seok Geum-ryong was screaming inwardly.
That was because this outcome was completely different from the future he knew.
After a brief moment of confusion, Seok Geum-ryong steadied himself.
No. It makes sense that the future would change.
His confusion did not last long.
His thoughts had already settled into perfect order.
In his past life, Seok Geum-ryong had been left with a permanent limp after surviving on the brink of death, but since that future had now been erased, it was only natural that the corresponding result would change as well.
And this was not an entirely unfamiliar future either.
Three years from now, on Fifth Young Master Seok Geum-ryong's thirteenth birthday, Butler Gong Sang-pil will die in his place.
Gong Sang-pil's death would shock Seok Geum-ryong deeply, and seeing that, Seok Ji-sung would conclude that he had been too indifferent to his fifth son. The excellent martial artist assigned to him at that point was none other than Woo Do-min, who had fallen from the Northern Dipper Swordsman to the Gold-Selling Swordsman, himself.
What should have happened three years later had merely come a little earlier.
Thinking that, Seok Geum-ryong shifted his focus.
Then among those peak experts and above, is my former self in this life, Woo Do-min, among them?
He meant to find out where his original self had ended up in this life, and what had become of him.
Gong Sang-pil, who knew a great many martial artists by name, said he did not know, but in his past life Woo Do-min had still been someone under Seokga Manor's protection.
So Seok Geum-ryong decided to search one last time and confirm whether Woo Do-min was truly nowhere within Seokga Manor.
"I'll change into formal robes and get ready."
At the lord's summons, Seok Geum-ryong changed into his only set of formal robes and headed for the main hall of Seokga Manor.
Even Seok Geum-ryong, blood of the direct line though he was, had no idea how many inspections he had to pass before reaching Seok Ji-sung's residence.
"You have come?"
When Seok Geum-ryong arrived, Seok Ji-sung welcomed him with a gentle smile.
Looking at him, one could tell that the memory of the wife he had truly loved made him ache, and hearing that his son had nearly died before somehow surviving filled him with a tangle of emotions.
"Yes, Lord Manor."
Today, this was not a father and son meeting at a birthday banquet; with so many other people present, the address had to remain formal.
"Yes. I called you because I heard that assassins infiltrated the manor and your life was put in danger."
"I am all right."
"There is no need to refuse. Unlike your other brothers, you have almost no proper bodyguards protecting the estate, do you? I judged that this simply won't do..."
Swish.
Seok Ji-sung pointed behind himself to the dozens of peak experts standing there in imposing silence.
"Geum-ryong, I intend to assign you a bodyguard who can watch over you like an iron wall."
Hearing that, Seok Geum-ryong smiled to himself.
As expected.
At the same time, his eyes went to the dozens of peak experts.
Thump-thump.
As he studied them, he could feel his heart begin to race.
What if his present self, Woo Do-min, was among them?
But luck or not, nowhere among those many peak experts was the Gold-Selling Swordsman Woo Do-min to be seen.
Seeing that, Seok Geum-ryong became certain.
Did my former self, Woo Do-min, simply never exist in this world, or vanish somewhere along the way?
Or perhaps he had lived quietly somewhere else, untouched by Seokga Manor at the very least.
"Geum-ryong, choose your own bodyguard. Not merely someone who will guard and protect you, but someone who must also learn martial arts for the sake of basic self-defense."
Ohhh!
No sooner had Seok Ji-sung finished speaking than sighs rose from the senior figures of Seokga Manor.
"Lord Manor. Forgive my impertinence, but... Young Master Seok Geum-ryong should be studying merchant affairs. To have him learn martial arts instead..."
"Isn't this slightly outside the laws of the Seok family?"
"The founder of Seokga Manor said that the study of commerce should come before martial arts."
Several of them stole glances at Seok Ji-sung as they quietly voiced their opposition.
It was, in its own way, reasonable.
The reason Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil also pressed merchant studies more than martial arts was largely because of the family's traditions.
"Heh, what an amusing thing to hear."
He might have yielded to the others' objections, but Seok Ji-sung was different.
Rather, the more they objected, the sharper his eyes shone.
"All my other heirs here, excluding Geum-ryong, were born with the influence of illustrious maternal families. From birth they took in elixirs and secretly learned martial arts. But Geum-ryong's mother died as soon as he was born, and his mother's family is practically nonexistent. And you're telling me that only Geum-ryong should not learn martial arts?"
Seok Ji-sung clenched his fist, feeling a low, simmering anger.
He was right.
Although openly practicing martial arts and placing it above merchant studies did run against the family's rules, that was only a formality.
For instance, among Seok Geum-ryong's half-siblings were children backed by one of the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Clans.
They had long been influenced by their maternal families, learning the martial arts of those sects and clans, and some were already approaching the level of first-class masters.
So to invoke family rules and oppose Seok Geum-ryong learning martial arts for self-defense was nothing more than blinding oneself to the obvious, opposition for the sake of opposition.
What was more, many of those who opposed him belonged to factions supporting Seok Geum-ryong's brothers.
Their goal was to prevent Seok Geum-ryong from gaining even the tiniest advantage.
"To tell Geum-ryong, who already stands in a harsher position than his brothers, that he must not learn martial arts is no different from sentencing him to death. Therefore... I will never forgive anyone who opposes my plan."
Seok Ji-sung growled with rare ferocity and laid down the law. At that, no more retainers dared speak against him.
And so, Seok Geum-ryong would bring a skilled martial artist into the small circle of people around him and gain yet another teacher to instruct him in martial arts.
"If anyone has objections, let them raise a hand."
"..."
After hearing what he had just said, who in the world would dare object?
Seok Ji-sung crushed the senior figures in an instant, then turned to Seok Geum-ryong with a kind smile.
"Now then, Geum-ryong. Choose one. As you have learned merchant affairs yourself, you should know this much already: the ability to recognize the true worth of people and goods, and purchase them early, is a merchant's virtue."
There was a reason Seok Ji-sung did not simply pick one himself and instead asked Seok Geum-ryong to choose.
Of the dozens of peak experts gathered there, some were already nearing the transcendence realm, while others were the sort who had only barely managed to set foot in the peak realm.
To borrow a merchant's comparison, they were like products of the same kind, with top-grade and low-grade goods existing side by side, and the task was to identify the top-grade one.
Who will Geum-ryong choose, I wonder?
Even as he set this test, Seok Ji-sung honestly did not expect much.
First, Seok Geum-ryong was still far too young. Second, to recognize a martial artist when he had no real connection to martial arts was, in truth, a difficult task.
So he had deliberately placed the more renowned and formidable masters near the front, to make it easier for Seok Geum-ryong to make a good choice.
But what was this?
"I will... choose that person."
Seok Geum-ryong had been staring intently at the dozens of peak experts one by one.
After long deliberation, he finally made his decision.
The person he pointed out was a most unexpected and surprising one.
"W-what? Truly?"
Even Seok Ji-sung was so startled that he asked again to confirm it.
To everyone's surprise, the one Seok Geum-ryong had chosen was not one of the famous, highly esteemed masters in the front row, but rather a man standing in the back, someone whose martial ability had only just barely reached the rank of peak expert.
If judged as a commodity, he would be considered low-grade without question.
"Yes. That is correct."
Unlike the disappointed Seok Ji-sung, Seok Geum-ryong's eyes did not waver at all.
The one he had chosen was the martial artist Seokga Manor had only recently recruited, a man whose skill among peak experts was especially lacking: the Shadowless One, Shin Dan-woo.
The reason Seok Geum-ryong chose him was simple.
He already knew information no one else in this room did, and he understood Shin Dan-woo's true nature in meticulous detail.