Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Namgung Clan
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“...It’s been a long time.”
My master murmured in a voice thick with emotion.
Well, it had to have been at least ten years since he’d last set foot here, so it was only natural for him to feel nostalgic.
“By the way, there are no sentries?”
I craned my neck, looking around for any guards.
Don’t martial clans and families usually station watchmen at their main gates?
Just as I reached out toward the grand, lacquered gate that exuded an air of luxury, wondering if I should just knock, the door suddenly swung open. A young man appeared.
The man startled upon seeing me standing right there, then asked in a slightly wary tone,
“...Who might you be?”
“Uh, I’m... well...”
I was pondering how to respond to the mild-featured man’s question when Seol Sojeo’s voice rang out from behind me.
“The Namgung household...!”
At that voice, the man’s eyes widened to saucers as he peered past me at Seol Sojeo, who had removed her collar.
“Ice Beauty...?”
Hah, this must be her fiancé.
*
Under the guidance of Namgung Hyun—Seol Sojeo’s fiancé—we were led inside the estate.
Even from within, the sprawling manor stretched out impressively in every direction as we were escorted to a guest room.
“Still, this feels like a dream. To think my missing uncle is sitting here before me, perfectly fine.”
Namgung Hyun sat beside Seol Sojeo, gripping her hand tightly as he smiled at my master, apparently determined never to let go no matter how red her face turned.
My master watched the scene fondly for a moment before belatedly collecting himself with a cough and speaking up.
“Ahem, forgive me. I had to go into hiding for personal reasons for a time. I only learned recently of the Sword Sovereign’s passing. Had I known sooner, I would have come at once.”
“It’s gratitude enough that you’ve come now. Father will be delighted too.”
“Come to think of it, what of your father, Brother Namgung...?”
Namgung Hyun’s face darkened at my master’s question.
“Father... had to head to the Regional Governor’s office on clan business for a spell.”
“...The Regional Governor?”
The Regional Governor was the highest authority in this Yeoju Bureau where Hefei lay.
Even the head of the Namgung Clan couldn’t meet him on a whim—he was a man of great stature.
In other words, the Namgung Clan head had been summoned to the government office by the Regional Governor... and it didn’t seem like it was for anything good.
I wasn’t the only one who picked up on that, as the mood in the room grew subtly heavy.
Namgung Hyun tried to lighten the atmosphere by changing the subject.
“B-By the way, how did all of you end up coming here with the Ice Beauty?”
“Ah, well...”
I explained to Namgung Hyun the circumstances of our journey here—Seol Sojeo’s flight from home and the attack by those ronin disguised as bandits.
Hearing this, Namgung Hyun gazed at Seol Sojeo with a deeply moved expression.
“Ice Beauty, to go that far...!”
“Clan heir...”
Their eyes met in tender affection.
It seemed the marriage alliance between their two families wasn’t purely political for these two.
As someone who hadn’t so much as dated in twenty long years, it made my stomach ache fiercely, so I gave a pointed cough.
“Ahem!”
“Ah...! S-Sorry.”
The two snapped out of it at my cough, their faces flushing as they apologized.
Namgung Hyun cleared his throat awkwardly and bowed his head to me in thanks.
“Young Hero Goon, we owe you a great debt. Thank you for bringing the Ice Beauty back safely. I will surely repay this favor.”
“No need. It was all happenstance anyway. At first, I thought the bandits were just after our cargo...?”
As I spoke, a sudden question occurred to me.
“Come to think of it, why disguise themselves as bandits?”
“Pardon? What do you...?”
I explained to Hwa Ryeon, who was tilting her head in confusion.
“No, hear me out. During the second attack, they didn’t even bother hiding who they were. No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason to go through the trouble of posing as bandits just to strike.”
“...Ah.”
Hwa Ryeon let out a belated gasp of realization at my words.
The others tilted their heads too, but Seol Sojeo wore a troubled expression, as if something was nagging at her.
“Seol Sojeo? Do you have any guesses?”
“Hm? Oh, no... It’s nothing much, but maybe they were trying to take me away in secret.”
“...In secret?”
According to Seol Sojeo, right before she fled home, the household had been unusually hectic.
“They even doubled the watch on my room. It made escaping... far harder than I expected.”
She still seemed embarrassed about running away, stumbling awkwardly over the word as her cheeks colored.
Hmm, so the house was in an uproar?
–Our daughter, who was about to marry soon, up and ran off on her own.
Master Wi Cheon-gyeong’s words came back to me.
She was on the verge of marriage, wasn’t she?
“Maybe a new fiancé was on the way? Do you know who this new betrothed was?”
“No, not really... They just said he was the finest match imaginable.”
The finest match? Who could that be?
*
Southern Anhui Province, Ankyeong.
Here stood one great martial family wielding immense influence over the region’s south.
The Heavenly Lord Seol Clan.
It was the home of Seol Yak-bing.
In the clan head’s office of the Seol Clan.
Clan Head Seol Se-woong, the Heavenly Lord’s Lone Sword, broke into a cold sweat inwardly as he eyed the man seated across from him.
Flash Spear Cho Un-yeop.
One of the Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord’s Four Great Protectors and a top-tier master even within the fortress itself.
And why was such a man here at the Seol Clan?
He had come following his charge.
If one of the Fortress Lord’s Four Great Protectors was escorting someone, did that mean the Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord himself had come?
The answer was no.
Fortress Lord Joo Do-han had assigned him to guard his own son, the Young Fortress Lord Joo Ho-jeong.
Unlike the other protectors, Un-yeop had served Joo Do-han loyally for many years, which was why the lord trusted him with protecting his only son.
At his lord’s command, Un-yeop had shadowed the infamous wastrel whose reputation spread across the Central Plains.
It had already been five years.
This time, the Young Fortress Lord had insisted on meeting his betrothed—the Anhui Province’s top beauty, Seol Yak-bing—and so they had come all the way to Ankyeong.
Yet the bride-to-be hadn’t shown her face even once.
“Is Young Lady Seol still abed with illness?”
“Yes, my apologies. She took ill quite suddenly...”
“...I see.”
They had announced the Young Fortress Lord’s visit well in advance, and yet she had fallen ill?
Un-yeop found Se-woong’s attitude highly suspicious but said nothing more.
Se-woong inwardly heaved a deep sigh of relief and silently cursed the ronin band that still hadn’t reported back.
‘These wretched ronin scum. I paid them a king’s ransom because their skills were supposedly top-notch, so why the hell haven’t I heard anything...!’
The excuse of illness wouldn’t hold for a day or two.
They couldn’t stall any longer.
His daughter absolutely had to return by today at the latest.
Unaware that a messenger bird from Cheon-gyeong was already en route reporting the mission’s failure, Se-woong prayed desperately for his daughter’s swift homecoming.
Meanwhile, Un-yeop’s silence had its own reasons.
He was in no position to reproach the other man.
‘...Young Fortress Lord.’
For days now, without so much as a glimpse of his betrothed’s hair, the Young Fortress Lord had grown bored of waiting and headed to the brothel in broad daylight.
He was probably swilling liquor with courtesans on either arm by now.
‘Hoo...’
Un-yeop sighed inwardly as he recalled the Young Fortress Lord’s profligate ways, steeped in extravagance and debauchery.
And so, in the Seol Clan head’s office, the two men sighed repeatedly—for entirely different reasons.
*
“Kyaa~!”
“Ahn, young master~.”
In Ankyeong’s undisputed finest brothel, the Azure Cloud Tower.
Today, from midday onward, the courtesans’ laughter echoed through the halls.
It was all thanks to a noble guest who had appeared out of nowhere—not because the madam had dreamt of dragons last night.
The guest had declared upon entry that he’d reserve the entire place for the day, climbed to the top floor, and ordered every courtesan in the house brought to him.
With dozens of courtesans, he poured and drank expensive liquors of every variety.
Having already pocketed two gold nyang, the madam grinned ear to ear as she attended to him with utmost care.
The noble guest, Tyrant Heaven Fortress Young Lord Joo Ho-jeong, gulped down the Yeo-ahong wine the madam had personally brought, then chewed on a snack fed to him by a courtesan beside him and laughed heartily.
“Ahahaha~ This must be the Peach Blossom Paradise!”
Over ten empty bottles already littered the floor around him.
The courtesans, well admonished by the madam to serve him properly, fawned coquettishly while asking in voices brimming with curiosity.
It was only natural to wonder about this rich, young, handsome lord.
“Young master, what sort of person are you?”
“Me? What sort of man am I...”
Ho-jeong paused as if pondering, then grinned and declared,
“The future emperor of this land~”
“......”
The mood stiffened instantly.
The future emperor? Did that mean this lord was of imperial blood—perhaps the crown prince himself?
To women who’d never even been to the capital their whole lives, it was hard to tell if he was joking.
“Hm?”
Ho-jeong cracked open heavy-lidded eyes at the sudden shift in air and burst into guffaws.
“Puhahaha—! Just kidding, kidding! How can you not tell joke from truth? What kind of courtesans are you, anyway?”
“Ah, ahaha, hahaha—!”
The courtesans forced belated laughter and clapped along.
Buoyed by the sound, Ho-jeong shouted,
“Now, bring more liquor! We shan’t let the drinks run dry!”
With the buzz of alcohol, the revelry heated up once more.
It continued until the sun set and the moon rose.