Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Joo Ho-jeong
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“Forgive me…”
Standing in the middle of the utterly wrecked courtyard, I apologized to Namgung Hyun.
Namgung Hyun, who had been staring at the courtyard—ruined beyond repair—with his mouth agape, gave an awkward smile at my apology.
“Ah, it’s fine. It wasn’t being used anyway, but… just what on earth happened to make it like this…?”
“W-Well…”
Hesitating, I confessed that I’d been inventing a new martial art.
“…You’re saying you were creating a new martial art?”
“Y-Yeah… pretty much?”
I paused for a moment before answering.
It felt like I was restoring a martial art, but if I went strictly by reality, I had to call it an invention.
But the reactions around me were downright strange.
My master, who had arrived first and discovered this disaster, of course. Namgung Hyun, Seol Sojeo, Hwa Ryeon, and even Seol-i were all looking at me with expressions of utter disbelief.
“…Why are you all staring like that?”
“If a young man around twenty suddenly claimed he’d invented a new martial art, everyone would react like this.”
Answering my question, Hwa Ryeon let out a small sigh and looked around once more.
“If it were just empty words, we’d dismiss it as laughable boasting…”
Following her gaze, I surveyed the surroundings too.
It was a gruesome scene, as if hundreds of blades had slashed through wildly.
Even though I was the one who did it, the result left me stunned.
“…Seeing this, no one could mock it as mere boasting.”
“At least it wasn’t an enemy attack.”
“You scared me…”
Starting with Hwa Ryeon shaking her head, the group each muttered a word and left the courtyard.
Ah, no. You’re just leaving like that? Leaving me here alone?
Gazing longingly at their retreating backs, I stretched out a hand that couldn’t reach them, when Namgung Hyun’s voice pierced my ear.
“Young Hero Goon.”
“Ah, yes.”
Perhaps because I felt guilty, I straightened up immediately, and Namgung Hyun smiled faintly as he faced me.
“Don’t take it too hard. After all you’ve done for the clan so far, we wouldn’t be so shameless as to complain over a single courtyard.”
“Ah, I appreciate you saying that, but…”
Scratching the back of my head, I inwardly pondered how much compensation I’d have to pay.
Not quite a gold piece, maybe ten nyang of silver?
I was deep in calculating the compensation when Namgung Hyun made an unexpected proposal.
“If it’s really weighing on you, could you grant me one request?”
“A request?”
At my question, Namgung Hyun nodded.
“Yes. Actually, I was on my way to ask you for a spar.”
“Oh, a spar?”
It was welcome news midway through.
Even if he didn’t have any famous martial arts I knew of, this was still the Namgung Clan.
I was dying to see what techniques they used, so him bringing it up first was perfect for me.
Seeing me openly delighted, Seol Sojeo smiled faintly, and Namgung Hyun’s face also lightened with a smile.
“Truth be told, I hesitated to ask for a spar since it felt like imposing too much, but now my mind’s at ease. If you spar with me, we’ll call this courtyard incident forgotten. How about it?”
Hmm. So, basically, wrecking the courtyard gets settled with a spar?
“I’d be thrilled. I’ve been eager to witness the Namgung Clan’s martial arts.”
“Perfect, then. How about tomorrow at noon?”
Tomorrow? Uh, that’s a bit…
“Um… could we do it a few days later?”
“Pardon? That’s fine, but… may I ask why?”
At Namgung Hyun’s question, I smiled sheepishly and replied.
“Truth is, I haven’t finished inventing the new martial art yet. In… about three days, I think I can create one or two more techniques. How about after that?”
“Th-Three days… I see.”
At my answer, Namgung Hyun’s expression turned peculiar.
Nodding with a mix of bewilderment and awkwardness, he said we’d meet in three days and left the courtyard with Seol Sojeo.
Left alone in the courtyard again, I subtly gripped my sword once more, only to squat down on the spot from the long-forgotten sense of powerlessness.
“Ugh, it devours inner energy like crazy.”
The Emperor Sword Form, which I’d tried just once, had consumed most of my thirty years’ worth of inner energy with a single swing.
The cause was that I’d uncontrollably poured an absurd amount of inner energy into the sword on my first try.
Its power was immense, but if it drained inner energy this much, it was utterly unusable in real combat.
“I need to find a way to reduce the inner energy consumption.”
Of course, first I had to complete the Creations of the Bowless Sword.
“Puhuhu…”
Even as my strength ebbed away, laughter burst out.
I couldn’t hold back the joy of thinking about how to perfect the next technique and what to include in the ones after.
In high spirits, I forced myself to my feet.
“Then, shall we start with this technique again?”
I swung the sword once more.
Forgetting the powerlessness from my depleted inner energy, the darkening sky—everything—as I focused solely on the sword.
In that state of total immersion, I kept swinging.
*
An Hwi Province, An Gyeong.
Today, as usual, Paecheon Castle’s young castle lord Joo Ho-jeong got blackout drunk at a brothel and was being carried back to the Seol Clan by his escorts.
“Kuh…”
Ho-jeong snored lowly, reeking of booze.
The epitome of a wastrel lost in drink and women.
The Seol Clan members, displeased by his state, clicked their tongues knowingly.
-That scum with our young lady…
-The clan head’s gone too far, even if it’s for the family…
Voices brimming with anger, disgust, and contempt trailed after Ho-jeong as he was carried into the guest quarters.
But those voices vanished as if by magic when Paecheon Castle lord’s Four Great Escorts—Soon Chang Cho Un-yeop—appeared.
“…Take him inside.”
Gazing impassively at Ho-jeong on the escort’s back, Un-yeop personally opened the guest quarters door and let the escort in.
The escort entered reverently and carefully laid Ho-jeong on the bed.
“I’ll take it from here, so go rest. You’ve worked hard.”
After dismissing the escort with praise, Un-yeop firmly shut the door.
Turning around, he saw Ho-jeong—who’d been snoring moments ago—wide awake, chuckling with his fingers hooked around his nape.
“From what I overheard, my reputation in the clan is at rock bottom. What’s the clan head’s reaction?”
“He’s the one who pushed the marriage despite knowing a unilateral breakup would blemish his daughter. Whether his daughter’s husband is a wastrel or a pervert, it probably doesn’t matter to him.”
“No reaction, then.”
Ho-jeong clicked his tongue shortly, bored.
All this time, he’d frequented brothels daily, guzzled booze, and rambled madly about becoming the future emperor.
Thanks to that, his reputation in An Gyeong had plummeted to the worst.
Yet the one who should react—the clan head—remained utterly unresponsive.
“More ambition-crazed than I thought.”
Sneering sharply at his future father-in-law, Ho-jeong.
Un-yeop gazed at him quietly and asked softly.
“Is all this really necessary? I haven’t met her, but from the clan’s talk alone, Seol Yak-byeong is a flawless match.”
Gentle disposition, impeccable conduct, and beauty hailed as An Hwi’s top.
The perfect bride any son’s father would dream of.
“I’d prefer the young castle lord stop this wandering and marry, fulfilling the castle lord’s will.”
This was Un-yeop’s sincere wish.
He didn’t much like Seol Se-woong trying to sell his daughter for the clan either.
But pushing the political marriage to gain the Seol Clan’s power was the will of his liege, Castle Lord Joo Do-han.
He didn’t want his small liege—the young castle lord—to keep ruining his reputation and defy that will.
But Ho-jeong merely scoffed at Un-yeop’s persuasion.
“An Hwi’s top beauty would wither away in the back room forever if married to me. Do you know how many women have become candidates for my ‘concubines’ already?”
“…”
Un-yeop couldn’t answer Ho-jeong’s question.
He’d given up counting after the concubine candidates surpassed a hundred.
Catching the unspoken story in that silence, Ho-jeong chuckled and continued.
“Fortunately, Seol Yak-byeong seems at odds with her father. It’s been seven weeks since coming to the Seol Clan, and not a single hair of hers in sight. She’s surely locked herself away, refusing to marry me.”
“If the young castle lord cleans up his act now…”
“In a situation where rumors of me as a wastrel have spread across the Central Plains, it’s far too late.”
As he said, tales of Ho-jeong rampaging as a wastrel, backed by his father the Paecheon Castle lord’s prestige, were widespread throughout the Central Plains.
And that was Ho-jeong’s sole ‘rebellion’ against his father.
‘…Rebelling at this age is kinda ridiculous, though.’
What could he do? His life had been caged from the start.
Smiling wryly to himself, Ho-jeong looked at Un-yeop before him.
Whether aware of his feelings or not, this rigid escort continued his loyal admonitions today as well.
“Young castle lord. Please stop demeaning yourself. You might truly fall from the castle lord’s favor at this rate.”
“That’d be delightful. It’s exactly what I desperately want.”
“Young castle lord…”
Un-yeop’s face hardened.
His eyes accused: Are you joking at a time like this?
‘It’s no joke.’
Ho-jeong sincerely wished to fall from his father Do-han’s favor.
But such a thing wouldn’t happen even if the heavens collapsed.
“To Father, I’m a tool to bring the martial world under him. Even if that tool has many flaws, with no replacement, he can’t discard me.”