Grandfather's Resolve
After bickering and playing shadow puppets until her fingers ached, Ryeon toppled over. In the brief, natural silence that followed, she stared at Hwaryun sprawled across the chair, suddenly feeling a pang of guilt, and ruffled his hair thoroughly.
Hwaryun grumbled about her playing with him to her heart's content only to torment him afterward, but unlike usual, he let her hands be.
"You don't have to worry about a thing."
"I'm not worried."
"You're so cute, it's a good thing."
"What'd you say?"
"If you weren't, I'd flick your forehead a hundred times for real."
Ryeon pretended to flick him, then neatly combed through Hwaryun's hair with her fingers and grabbed both his hands. They had once been rough and small, but now they were a bit longer and softer.
Sigh. I've gone and worried my little brothers too.
Ryeon steeled her resolve. For her own sake, for the sake of her worried little brothers, and above all, for Danmok Hyeon-u himself, she couldn't let things drag on indefinitely.
I'll settle it all in one go!
In the deepest part of Wolyeongjae, the quiet sound of tea being poured echoed softly. Ryeon offered a cup infused with her purified spiritual energy. Danmok Cheon-gi closed his eyes, savoring the aroma.
The scars marring half his face remained, but he looked far more at ease than before.
"I thought you'd keep pursuing the Dao with me."
"I told you I'd only train together until Seong-a's sparring match."
"Hmph. I figured you'd get hooked midway and stick with it. Talking about how fun it is to learn side by side with your cousin and all."
Ryeon beamed at his sharp words.
"I have to keep learning the sword from Grandpa. Swords are the most fun, after all!"
Having somewhat soothed her grandfather's grumbling, Ryeon glanced down at the fan spread on her lap.
She was starting to realize that this information didn't reveal everything. It didn't show the gentler aura around Danmok Cheon-gi now, or the deeper inner energy he had cultivated.
I guess I have to figure that out myself.
"Next spring, before attending Kyunghang Yunryeon, I plan to summon the branch family children to the estate."
"Yeah, I heard."
With the family's dire straits, they'd put off accepting and training branch family kids.
"Did Treasurer Seol blab every little detail?"
Danmok Cheon-gi narrowed his eyes, but Ryeon peered into her tea leaves as she replied.
"It's my money, so of course they'd tell me. Who else would they tell?"
"Isn't it from selling goods made in the family pharmacy?"
"Should I leave just the material costs with the family and pocket the rest?"
"Would you?"
Ryeon teased back playfully, but his response was more serious than expected. Surprised, she looked up. Danmok Cheon-gi's expression was calm.
"Keep it. It's money you earned. That's right."
Ryeon caught on to his thinking.
"Are you worried that because of this money, you might have to make me family head later, whether you want to or not?"
"……."
His gaze deepened at her words. With the money she'd earned, they'd repair the crumbling estate, pay those loyal to the family, and now start training the long-delayed branch kids. Thanks to her, Danmok Cheon-gi had overcome his injuries, Yuseong had gained new insight through Danmok Han-so, and even her other granddaughter Danmok Seong had found her place—but that was intangible.
"If you don't make me head, will I throw a tantrum and cry that it's unfair?"
Ryeon burst into giggles at her own words. Danmok Cheon-gi struggled to calm his burning frustration as he watched her.
Just then, Ryeon's eyes drifted afar for a moment before returning.
"No, that's not it. Later, when you hand me the family, you're worried people will say I became head only because of my own money?"
Danmok Cheon-gi neither denied it nor continued.
He knew her abilities, and his heart leaned toward her, but only those who could see far ahead climbed high. Those below needed to prove their light up close—and that light was martial prowess.
"……Didn't you say we should try something with my spiritual energy?"
He let out a low groan.
"And if, by some chance, that fails, that's what worries you?"
"……Yes."
"Then if I take back all my money, how will you fund recruiting new disciples?"
"Money... money always turns up somehow."
"You haven't asked Pungrim Jeonjang for help until now, so this would be the first and last time?"
"……Yes."
Even as the family crumbled, he hadn't thought to seek aid through his daughter's in-laws because even if it opened a path, he saw no destination. Danmok Cheon-gi admitted he'd been despairing.
He should have lit his own fire and found the way, but he hadn't. He couldn't.
Once counted among the world's best, he couldn't overcome his grudge against his unhealed wounds or accept his diminished self. Seeing his son—sacrificed for the murim—fade from memory kept him sleepless. So he'd done nothing, merely watching as his striving daughter labored in vain, until they reached this point.
His granddaughter had laid the foundation; it was only right he climb upon it himself. He was still Danmok Cheon-gi, the supreme elder of this Danmok estate, after all.
Ryeon gazed quietly at her grandfather, then lowered her eyes.
"Grandpa."
"Yes."
"You gave it to me. The Man-nyeon Ji-geuk Hyeol-bo. That's its price."
"Don't talk nonsense! Who demands repayment for medicine used on their granddaughter?"
"Yuseong-do also lost his inner energy, right? That's something money can't buy."
"That's for him to thank you for. And though you may not know, he broke his limits thanks to you."
She already knew, but Ryeon just smiled.
"That's just because he's an amazing murim warrior."
"Hardly."
"More than that, have you wondered why someone like him—who couldn't even speak properly to me—went that far?"
There was only one reason. Because he was loyal to Danmok Cheon-gi, because he too loved the Danmok family that her grandfather cherished.
"He has no interest in wealth or glory, no desire to rise above others. He just wants the Danmok family to thrive. So repaying him by running the family well seems fitting, don't you think?"
Simply loyal to the Danmok Cheon-gi he loved, Danmok Han-so had offered his irreplaceable time to once raise the master's granddaughter to her feet.
Had he regretted it in her past life? He'd awakened her, but she died young at barely twenty, never fully escaping her sickly state. Watching his inner energy futilely dissipate in that invalid's veins...
Ryeon shook off the creeping gloom. That past was gone.
"……Ryeon-ah."
"There'll be a way. If not, I'll make one. Don't worry."
Sensing the air grow heavy, Ryeon quickly changed the subject.
"More importantly, Grandpa, since I've invested so much money, can I pick a few when selecting the branch kids?"
"You, personally?"
Not all branch children were accepted as murim warriors. They vetted aptitude and grit first. So Ryeon planned to scan status windows and pick overlooked talents.
Saying it out loud, it sounds like a parachute appointment request.
Stuffing in a few people she wanted with some cash. If she hadn't been bedridden until nine, preserving her spot as the invalid heir, she might have done it for real.
"Selecting disciples who'll become the family's future pillars isn't like picking playmates. You know that, right?"
"Of course. Grandpa, someone who earned the money themselves can't waste it frivolously."
In truth, the harder you earned, the more you might splurge from compensation psychology, but her drive to revive the family kept that in check.
"Are you a merchant kid or what? Where do you learn such talk... Aigoo."
Danmok Cheon-gi clicked his tongue at her boastful words, meaning to scold, but ended up chuckling.
"It's a promise!"
"Fine, fine."
"And also."
"What now?!"
"Once the kids arrive, we'll need instructors to teach them, right? For that..."
Ryeon leaned in, whispering softly.