Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Reason the Rich Stay Rich
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“Ugh.”
Namgung Hyeon-u was on the ground, groaning in pain.
‘Damn it.’
The sickly-looking Young Lord's strength was anything but ordinary.
It wasn't just his strength.
He was Namgung Hyeon-u, the indomitable man who would get back up no matter how many times he was hit or knocked down, but the way the Young Lord targeted only the most painful spots was driving him insane.
The members of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade watching were just as shocked.
‘Crazy! Hyeon-u is in that state?’
Namgung Hyeon-u wasn't the type to lie on the ground and feign injury.
He was so tenacious, the indomitable Namgung Hyeon-u who would spring back up no matter how many times he was struck, even in the same spot.
“Wow...”
Perhaps because he was witnessing such a bizarre scene, Namgung Jun, who had placed second in today's ranking match, couldn't close his mouth.
He wasn't the only one.
All the members of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade had the same reaction.
‘What are we supposed to do about this?’
Weren't they also scheduled to face that mad Young Lord?
Of course, 299 of them would rush him as a mob, but there was no guarantee they wouldn't end up like Namgung Hyeon-u.
A dark sense of anxiety and fear crept over them—the thought that if the Young Lord picked just one person to beat, it could be them.
Namgung Urin spoke to the groaning Namgung Hyeon-u on the ground.
“Get up. Is this all you've got? Is your mental fortitude this weak?”
“Ugh.”
He wanted to get up.
No, perhaps he could have.
But Young Lord Namgung Urin's aura was too fierce.
No, it was an aura that seemed like it would truly kill him, wasn't it?
For the first time, Namgung Hyeon-u was feeling fear.
Even though he knew the Young Lord wouldn't actually kill him, Namgung Urin's aura radiated an intensity that suggested the unthinkable could happen.
“Did you think I'd let it slide if you just lay there groaning?”
He had no intention of doing so.
If this was all it took to fix their spirits, he wouldn't have even started.
“Young Lord, please stop...”
“Shut up! Did you think you could restore the Namgung Family to its former glory with that kind of spirit? Did you think the martial world was so easy that this would be enough?!”
Besides letting out a groan, there was nothing Namgung Hyeon-u could do.
“Look! Your pathetic, groaning form on the ground is the Namgung of today! No one is coming to your aid! Your dead family members certainly won't. What did I say? Didn't I tell all of you to try and defeat me? Yet not a single person has moved. Look, everyone! Is this the Namgung Family? How do you expect to get revenge with a Namgung like this?!”
Namgung Urin cast a sharp gaze at his uncle, Namgung Yul, the commander of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade, and its members.
Everyone avoided his gaze.
Fortunately, the Family Head, Namgung Yul, did not avert his eyes.
Mad or not, Namgung Yul was berating himself, thinking he deserved to be beaten by his nephew right now.
Namgung Urin's gaze returned to Namgung Hyeon-u.
“That's why.”
“...?”
“This is the reason you're getting beaten. Don't feel wronged. You're not the only one.”
And so, the thrashing began again.
To a seemingly cruel extent.
In a matter of minutes, Namgung Hyeon-u passed out.
Namgung Urin's gaze turned to the remaining 299 members of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade.
However, the brigade members' eyes were fixed on their commander.
‘Why are you just standing there watching?’
‘Commander!’
‘We're all going to die at this rate!’
‘You're not that kind of person, Commander, are you?’
Each and every one of their gazes was desperate.
They pleaded for him to stop it here, saying they didn't want to end up like Namgung Hyeon-u at the hands of that mad Young Lord.
It wasn't the look 299 men should have when facing a single person, Namgung Urin, but they had all been broken by his aura.
“These bastards!”
Perhaps because of that, Namgung Urin's madness raged even wilder.
Namgung Urin's gaze also turned to the commander of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade.
“What will you do?”
“...”
The commander glanced at the 299 pairs of eyes on him.
They were utterly pitiful.
Weren't their expressions like those of abandoned children on a bridge, begging for at least a scrap of food?
‘I'm sorry.’
What could the commander, Namgung Geon, do right now?
So he turned his gaze to the Family Head, Namgung Yul, but Yul's eyes were already fixed on the dark night sky.
With his benefactor and sister-in-law, Yeonhwa, standing right there, what could he possibly do?
The commander, Namgung Geon, suddenly found himself with nowhere to look.
“Ah, my stomach. It hurts so much. Family Head, I have an urgent need for the latrine, so I'll be taking my leave.”
Leaving the 299 desperate gazes behind, Namgung Geon hastily departed.
“Th-that...”
As Namgung Yul, who was pointing a finger at Namgung Geon and fidgeting as if desperate to leave his seat, was about to stand, Yeonhwa grabbed him.
“The Family Head must stay. The commander said he had urgent business.”
*Groan.*
“Ah, yes. I suppose so.”
Namgung Urin's gaze returned to the 299 members of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade.
They all looked like they were facing death.
No, the faces of the 299 brigade members were already dead.
“What are you doing? Not coming at me.”
They all just flinched.
“If I come to you, you'll end up like him,”
he said, pointing at Namgung Hyeon-u.
At that, one of them shut his eyes tight and charged at Namgung Urin.
“Ah, fuck it!”
he cursed.
With that one man as the start, everyone else acted crazy and rushed toward Namgung Urin.
A smile graced Namgung Urin's face.
‘It's working.’
Namgung Urin was proving the established theory that a beating, which seemed like it would only work on a dog, worked on people too.
Yes, go mad.
Without going mad like this, they couldn't possibly raise the current Namgung Family back to its former glory.
And so, a fight resembling a dogfight broke out.
A battle of 299 against 1.
No matter how skilled a master was, fighting against that many people was pure madness.
Even masters get tired, but this was possible for Namgung Urin because he had no such worries.
It was possible because of his infinite primordial energy.
That's not to say it was truly infinite.
It replenished when empty, but not as quickly as it was depleted.
Fortunately, in this current dogfight, there was no reason to use his primordial energy recklessly, so Namgung Urin had no reason to tire.
“Hey! I've got my eye on you guys on the ground. Anyone pretending to be down, I'll come over and stomp on you myself!”
‘Agh! That crazy bastard!’
‘Won't someone take that bastard away!’
The brigade members who had fallen got back up, screaming, and charged at Namgung Urin.
As if to say, 'whatever happens, happens.'
Thinking that it was all the same whether they died this way or that.
Still, thankfully, no one left the training grounds.
None of them were thinking of abandoning the Namgung Family.
No, it wasn't fortunate.
The gaze of the Family Head, Namgung Yul, was filled with shadow.
‘What will I do if they all go mad like that...’
All because of that one madman.
The Namgung Family was going mad.
The Azure Sky was going mad.
But the shadow soon lifted, and a warm ray of sunlight shone upon Namgung Yul's face.
* * *
After the insane dogfight ended, Namgung Yul, Yeonhwa, and Namgung Urin—who was perfectly fine even after that brawl—were facing each other in the Family Head's office.
“Ahem.”
Namgung Yul had been clearing his throat nonstop ever since Namgung Urin's ridiculous martial contest ended.
“A-ahem.”
No, he was forcefully suppressing the laughter that was about to burst out.
But he couldn't hide his shaking shoulders.
“Ahem. I'm unusually thirsty today.”
Namgung Yul poured and drank a glass of water.
‘Calm down. Calm down.’
He was so happy he could die.
He knew his nephew was more talented than his older brother, but he never dreamed it would be to this extent.
No, how could he have even imagined it?
This was beyond what could be described as merely 'talented'.
It was absurd enough for a kid not yet of age to master the Azure Sky Infinite Sword Art.
What?
He can perform the Emperor Sword Form, the ultimate secret of the Azure Sky Infinite Sword Art?
*Hahahaha.*
‘I knew he was a madman from the start.’
He just thought he was a simple madman.
Anyway!
Mad is mad.
Namgung Yul wanted to fully enjoy this satisfying feeling, but with his sister-in-law and nephew Namgung Urin present, he didn't want to show such an unseemly side of himself.
He held back, feeling like it would give them something to hold over him.
“Family Head.”
“Ahem. Please speak.”
“If you're happy, just say so.”
Yeonhwa was happy too.
How could she not be?
Her beloved son had shown her more than she could have ever hoped for.
And she had saved face in front of the Family Head, Namgung Yul.
“Happy? What are you talking about?”
Anyone could see from his expression that he was ecstatic, but Namgung Yul played dumb.
If he admitted he was happy, overjoyed even, his nephew might get an even bigger head and who knew what kind of trouble he'd cause next.
Yeonhwa knew, but pretended not to.
“If you say so.”
“It's really not that.”
“Ah, yes.”
Namgung Yul's gaze turned to Namgung Urin.
“So, why did you come all the way here?”
Unlike his response to Yeonhwa, this was him saying he wanted to enjoy his current happiness in peace, so why did he have to come all the way to the Family Head's office?
“I have something to tell you.”
Wasn't this the nephew who had shown him something beyond all expectations?
How hard must he have suffered and trained in seclusion... He had displayed martial prowess beyond imagination, so what could he not listen to?
“Alright, speak.”
“I've heard the stories. I know that our family's situation, as well as my mother's Hangeul Merchant Guild, is not good.”
*Heh.*
He could tell from his words that his nephew had matured a lot.
To think he was already worrying about the family.
As a child, he was a nephew who only thought of himself.
The more he was praised as endearing, the more endearing things he did. This was his nephew, Namgung Urin.
“So?”
“The secluded training chamber was filled with Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron and Luminous Pearls. I don't know the details, but I understand they are worth a considerable price.”
The eyes of Namgung Yul and Yeonhwa widened.
Namgung Yul, because it was a truth he knew but one that must never be revealed.
“W-wait a moment.”
Yeonhwa was shocked, wondering what he meant by that in the destitute Namgung Family.
“...Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron? Luminous Pearls?”
Yeonhwa's murderous gaze turned to Namgung Yul.
The Hangeul Merchant Guild had been cut in half trying to support the Namgung Family.
So what was this about Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, and what in the world did he mean by Luminous Pearls?
“Family Head. What is the meaning of this?”
“Th-that... is the history and tradition of the Namgung Family. It must never be touched...”
“Family Head!”
*Flinch.*
Namgung Yul's bottom lifted off his seat at Yeonhwa's roar.
‘Damn it!’
This was a fact that must never get out.
Thanks to his damn nephew, this secret had reached Yeonhwa's ears.
Namgung Yul's furrowed brow turned toward Namgung Urin.
“Family Head! Why are you looking at our Urin!”
“Ah, it's nothing.”
“Family Head. Explain yourself. What is this all about? Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron? Luminous Pearls? Why did you hide this? No, Urin, how much is there?”
‘Hey! Hey! No!’
You can't!
Do you know what that is?
Namgung Yul was sweating bullets.
“All four walls of the training chamber are made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, and there are about forty Luminous Pearls.”
“A-all four walls are Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Forty Luminous Pearls...?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“No. This is no time to be sitting here. Urin, let's go. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
“Yes, Mother.”
And with that, Yeonhwa and Namgung Urin rushed out of the Family Head's office.
“Dammit...”
Because of his nephew, the treasures containing the history and tradition of the Namgung Family were on the verge of disappearing.
No, it was obvious they would disappear soon.
“Sigh.”
The dark clouds gathered once again on Namgung Yul's face, which had just been filled with the warm sunlight of the azure sky.
However, five years after suffering an event that nearly wiped them out, the Namgung Family was being reborn as a family of immense wealth.