A Wastrel's Conduct
What is the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of Sichuan?
Ask nearly anyone, and eight or nine times out of ten the answer would be the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Great sects of the Nine Sects and One Gang, such as Qingcheng and Emei, made their homes in Sichuan as well, and yet the Tang Clan's power was so vast that everyone still agreed with one voice: the true hegemon of the province was the Tang.
"Incredible..."
What greeted me on my arrival in Sichuan was a main gate so enormous that the Thunder Power Sect's entrance could not begin to compare.
As I drew near, two men who looked to be gatekeepers stepped into my path.
"Halt!"
"What business brings you to the Tang Clan?"
"Please let them know I've come from the Thunder Power Sect to see my fiancée."
"The Thunder Power Sect...?"
One of the gatekeepers, having heard me out, passed through the gate into the clan grounds. A quarter of an hour or so went by before he returned.
"The Clan Head bids you enter."
"The Tang Clan Head wishes to see... me?"
"Yes."
I had only a moment to be startled by the sudden summons before the man stepped through the gate ahead of me, and I had no choice but to hurry after him.
Contrary to the common rumor — that the Tang dealt in poison and carried a sinister air — the buildings beyond the gate looked little different from those of any ordinary great clan.
I followed the gatekeeper for about ten minutes before he stopped in front of a vast hall.
"The Clan Head is waiting for you inside."
"Thank you for guiding me."
"Of course."
Once I was sure he had gone, I took my place before the doors to meet the Clan Head — and all at once a tremendous pressure began to bear down on me.
A heavy boom.
"Kh—!"
Realizing that the immense force pouring out from within the hall belonged to the Clan Head himself, I met that crushing presence head-on and pushed the doors open.
As they swung wide, the scene hidden behind them came into view.
Inside the hall, a middle-aged man watched me, green eyes gleaming.
A creak, then a sickening crackle.
Enduring the unpleasant sounds a body ought never make, I approached the man I took to be the Clan Head. When I came to a stop some ten feet from him, the cold expression he had worn until that moment broke, and he burst into hearty laughter.
"Kahahaha! Well, I'll be. Rumors really can't be trusted."
"..."
"I apologize for that rudeness just now. Still, you're the fiancé of a child I cherish. Surely a test of this degree was necessary?"
I stood dumbfounded by how unexpectedly easygoing he was, and the Clan Head went on before I could gather myself.
"Surprised? No need to be so startled. I simply wanted to see what sort of damned fellow stole our Soye's heart, so I called you in."
"Then... the result of that test...?"
"You passed, of course. The rumors circling about painted you as a wastrel with neither talent nor perseverance, a man who did nothing but idle and eat. I was a little worried. To think you'd be this far along."
"You flatter me."
"It isn't flattery. You've only just passed twenty, and already you've broken through the wall. How could that not be remarkable?"
"..."
His praise left me oddly embarrassed, so I steered the conversation elsewhere.
"In any case, why did you summon me here?"
"You've become engaged to my daughter. Isn't it only proper that you meet me?"
"Pardon? Soye isn't of the direct line, is she?"
"Ah, that's right — you said you'd gone into closed-door training. Then you wouldn't have heard."
"Heard what?"
"I've decided to take Soye in as my adopted daughter. You know that child's talent as well as I do, don't you?"
"W-wait a moment! You... you took Soye as your adopted daughter?"
"Th-that's right. Is there some problem?"
That can't be. In the original story, Soye was never adopted by the Clan Head.
And now that I thought about it... Soye was killed by the protagonist when she was nineteen...
I had already passed beyond the story I knew.
"Ah... no. I was just a little surprised."
"Is that so...? You looked rather more than a little surprised... Well, very well. Will you go see Soye right away, then?"
"Yes. I made her wait six years... but I missed her terribly, too."
"Did you... This old man has kept you far too long with his fussing. Soye ought to be at her own residence by now."
"Understood. Thank you for your kindness, Clan Head."
"No need to build me up like that. Attend me."
At the Clan Head's call, a maid entered his office.
"You called?"
"Take our guest to Soye."
"Yes."
The maid who answered looked me up and down once, then smoothed her expression back to what it had been and addressed me.
"I'll guide you. This way, please."
"Then I'll take my leave."
With a small nod from the Clan Head behind me, I stepped out of the room.
With every step I took after the maid, my heart pounded. At last, the reunion I had longed for and waited on through six long years was drawing near.
Do you know? That one brief week I spent with you became a moment so precious I would not trade it for anything.
That you became the person most precious to me.
Following the maid, I arrived at last — and there she was, the woman I had missed for so long.
"Young Mistress, are you really not going to accept any of the new marriage proposals?"
"Haa~... wasn't that conversation already finished?"
"It's just such a waste. What could you possibly be lacking that you'd marry a man like that?"
"Don't call him a man like that. Gaga is a far better person than you think."
"And that person hasn't shown his face once in six years?"
"Well, he went into closed-door training."
Not far from the Tang Clan Head's office, in the training yard of a private residence, a woman trained while talking with her maid. The maid pressed her advice as if she were at her wit's end, but the woman's stance did not budge.
"I mean, even the young clan heads of the Zhuge Clan and the Namgung Clan have been making eyes at you. What's so wonderful about some man from a family that isn't even all that impressive that you keep chasing after him?"
"Siwol."
"And the rumors around that man aren't even good ones, so why on earth—!"
"Yu Siwol."
The woman, who had been listening in silence, let a cold voice fall from her lips. She could not endure words that insulted her fiancé, and so she spoke.
Only then did the maid realize her mistake. She bowed her head and offered an apology to her mistress.
"I-I'm sorry. Young Mistress, I just..."
"Enough. Stop. I know you're thinking of me, Siwol, but I truly like Gaga. I'd rather you never brought this up again."
"Yes... I'm sorry, Young Mistress."
"Huu..."
Soye was letting out a sigh over the exchange when another maid approached and spoke.
"Young Mistress, you have a guest."
"A guest? Who...?"
At the maid's words, Soye turned toward the entrance of the residence, and her face hardened.
"Haa— what is it this time, Brother?"
"Who's your brother?"
"If you've come with nothing better to do than pick a fight, please go back."
"Impudent thing."
Tang Soye's older brother — though not by blood. Tang Pung, the Clan Head's own son and the Young Clan Head, had appeared to pick a quarrel with Soye.
He had long nursed an inferiority complex toward Tang Soye, who enjoyed the Clan Head's favor, and he often came at her this way.
"The Clan Head spoils you and indulges you, and now you think you're actually of the direct line, don't you?"
"..."
"Why don't you try saying something?"
"How could I possibly talk back to the Young Clan Head...?"
"Are you mocking me right now?"
No matter what she did, jealousy and irritation were all that came back, and Soye's head began to ache.
React like this and he's annoyed. React like that and he's annoyed. Why is he even like this... I wish he'd just leave me alone...
She was sinking into weariness at Tang Pung's words when he draped an arm across her shoulder.
"This is exactly why collateral-branch stock won't do. You haven't even got basic manners."
"I'll apologize for my rudeness..."
"When it comes down to it, all you know how to do is trust that face of yours and simper at men. Is there anything else?"
The daily quarrels born of his inferiority were grating enough on their own, but what angered her most was the way he sometimes looked at her as a woman, and the harassment he layered on top of it.
Soye knocked Tang Pung's arm from her shoulder and spoke.
"This girl isn't feeling well. I'll go in first."
"And who said you could?"
Unwilling to deal with Tang Pung any longer, Soye tried to return to her residence, but he seized her by the arm.
"I turned a blind eye because you were spoiled, and now you've crossed the line! Today I'll correct that habit of yours."
"Please stop."
"Stop? A woman ought to act like a woman. I'll teach you myself how to simper at a man—"
Tang Pung never finished the insult he meant for Soye.
A roll of thunder — and then a tremendous boom.
With the crack of lightning, a massive explosion shook Tang Soye's residence. In the space of a blink, amid a great bolt of violet lightning, Tang Pung's head was driven into the floor of the training yard.
And standing over him was a man with his hands in his pockets, one foot planted on Tang Pung's head.
Everyone present was still blank with shock, unable to grasp what had happened, when Soye — having confirmed who the man was — felt her eyes begin to shine.
"Gaga!!"
The heart that had beaten in steady rhythm for years began to pound, wild and uneven.