The Namgung Clan (1)
I cleared my throat. "Ah. Ah."
My tongue was perfectly fine. Even though the sensation of it being chewed off and severed still lingered vividly in my mind. When I looked down, my hands and feet were also a welcome sight. They were pale and soft, just like back when I hadn't gripped a sword so often. And above all, my face. The one I'd seen in the mirror was quite different from the one in my memories. The baby fat hadn't quite disappeared yet, and both my eyes and hair were black—not blue or white.
"...It doesn't seem like a fleeting vision or anything like that."
Then was this regression? I'd heard of it before. The very first leader of the Wulin Alliance from ancient times, whose records had long since been lost and only survived in oral legends, had supposedly turned back time and pacified the murim. I'd always thought it was just nonsense made up to glorify the alliance, but after experiencing it myself, I couldn't help but think it must have been true.
"Roughly... eight? Nine years?"
It felt like I'd gone back about twenty years. Since this body had only just surpassed the level of a second-class martial artist, that estimate seemed about right.
"Then..."
No one had died yet. The place where I'd woken up was the Namgung Clan, in my own room. If I opened the door and turned right, Seha's room would be there. A little further and I'd find my brother's room, and beyond the courtyard, my father would be waiting.
"Ah... ah...."
Primordial Heavenly Venerable, I thank you. I truly thank you.
I wanted to run to them right this instant and embrace them tightly, but I knew I wouldn't be able to hold back the sobs that would burst out. Actually, they were already spilling over. To make sure no one saw me like this, I lowered my head right where I stood and cried without making a sound.
I cried like that for a long while, calming my heart, when someone knocked on the door and entered.
"Young miss...? Have you been crying?"
"Sister Hwa...?"
It was Yoo Hwa. The grateful guard sister who had stayed by my side until the very end, even though she was a former assassin.
Since claiming I hadn't been crying clearly wouldn't work, I quietly brought a finger to my lips and made a request.
"Please keep this a secret from Father and the others. They'll worry."
"...Are you hurt somewhere?"
I'd asked her not to worry, yet she already sounded concerned as she asked. Far from being hurt, my body was in excellent condition. If she asked why I'd cried...
"A bad dream. I had a bad dream."
"Everyone—Sister, Brother, and Father—died, and I died helplessly too. That's the kind of dream it was."
It really was a terrible nightmare.
Apparently she hadn't expected that reason at all. She nodded with a slightly awkward expression. Then her face quickly turned resolute as she spoke to me.
"That will never happen."
"Especially you, Young Miss. Even if it costs me my life, I will protect you. Please don't worry about such things."
Her words were incredibly reassuring.
"Thank you for saying that, Sister."
With those words of gratitude, I rose from where I'd been sitting. I forced a smile to hide the tear stains as much as possible and spoke casually.
"Father called for me, didn't he?"
"Ah. Yes, that's right."
It was probably because of breakfast. We always gathered in one place to start the day together. In truth, Father woke up early, ate first, and then came back just to see our faces. I hadn't known that little secret when I was young.
"I'll just wipe away the tear marks and come. Tell him I woke up late and am changing my clothes."
"I will."
Sister gave a small bow and turned to leave for where Father was waiting. That's when a thought suddenly occurred to me. Since time had turned back, there was one thing I absolutely had to do if I could.
"Sister, can we meet for a moment after breakfast?"
"Of course."
After giving that short reply, Sister left to deliver my message to Father. She wouldn't tell him about the crying, right? I quickly changed my clothes and followed after Yoo Hwa, who had gone ahead.
.
.
"...Sister."
"...Yes."
In the end, my fears came true without any twist. The moment I cautiously entered Father's room, he pulled me into his arms and wouldn't let go. It was wonderful to be young again and see my family alive once more, but being turned into Seha's teasing target wasn't exactly pleasant.
- Hehe. Sister, you always tell me not to cry so easily.
Yoo Hwa couldn't even meet my eyes, looking embarrassed as she mumbled.
"I... wasn't planning to say anything, but... the Clan Leader's senses are truly like a ghost. He was about to draw his sword, asking if something had happened, so I had to stop him..."
Ah. That.
"...I understand."
If anyone wondered what kind of father would worry and even draw his sword just because his child woke up late for breakfast, well, our father—the Clan Leader of the Namgung Clan—would definitely do exactly that. The fact that it came from pure parental concern made me grateful, though it could sometimes feel a bit overwhelming.
"By the way, what did you want to see me about..."
"Oh right. I almost forgot again."
While talking, we'd somehow walked all the way to the clan's training grounds. I looked around and saw the weapons neatly arranged nearby. I naturally picked up one of the swords hanging there and spoke.
"Sister, you were from an assassin background, right?"
"That's correct. I spent some time in the Assassination Manor."
The Assassination Manor. The greatest assassin organization in the murim. I hadn't remembered that detail, so I nodded and filed it away in my memory. Then I smiled brightly and said,
"You haven't forgotten stealth techniques yet, have you?"
"No. Of course I still remember them."
Sister immediately demonstrated her stealth technique for me. It was to the point where you could only barely see her if you were certain she was standing right in front of you. My own realm had been lowered, but so had hers, so it didn't matter. I wouldn't get caught.
I confirmed that the sword in my hand was in good condition. Then I immediately picked up another sword from the same spot.
"Could you go outside for a few days and find someone for me?"
"...Find someone?"
Sister's eyes began to waver. Asking an assassin to find someone was practically the same as asking them to kill that person. From her perspective, it seemed she didn't like the idea that I would even think such a thing.
Killing that man. I wasn't going to kill him, but if I could give him a good smack, that might be entertaining in its own way.
"I'm not asking you to kill him. Ah, if it bothers you, hitting him on the back of the head once would be nice. Just watch his behavior for about a week or so."
And just in case, I added one more thing.
"Especially focus on how he trains in martial arts."
If he had regressed like me, he would be pouring every ounce of his focus into swinging a sword even at this very moment. I could predict it—he'd be grinding his teeth, swearing he'd stab a blade into the Heavenly Demon's heart. But if I was the only one who had returned, he'd probably be holding a farming tool like a hoe instead. If it was the former, he was the kind of man who would grow strong even if left alone. But if it was the latter, I intended to guide him this time so he wouldn't stray from the path he had originally wanted.
Unlike when he was young, I now had both the will and more than enough power to support it.
"It was in a village called Nam... something. I can't quite remember. Anyway, if you go west from here, there are several villages. The boy who goes by the name Jin Sowoon is the one."
"...Nam... something village... I'll probably need to use the Beggars' Sect to find him."
I should have remembered the name better. Since the Namgung Clan held strong influence in Hapbi, there were more than a few villages nearby with 'Jin' in their names. Sister stroked her chin with a somewhat uneasy look, thinking deeply before she spoke.
"...Young Miss. Have you met this person before?"
"You've never been outside of Hapbi."
I froze for a moment. From my perspective, it had been so obvious that I'd overlooked it. This body was only eight years old. I wasn't the twenty-eight-year-old who could wander the world as she pleased. Of course I wouldn't have had any chance to meet him.
"...I haven't."
"Pardon?"
"Still, I know him. Please do this for me."
I squeezed my eyes shut as I spoke. No matter how I thought about it, it was a contradictory statement that didn't make sense. But Sister slowly nodded, seeming to accept it.
"I'll request leave from the Changgung Sword Squad and go. It will probably take about a week before I depart."
"Thank you, Sister."
After saying that, I gripped one sword in reverse and used its blade to write on the flat of the other. Since I couldn't even draw out sword qi, let alone sword force, it took quite a bit of effort in a short time, but carving shallow letters wasn't a problem.
"Please deliver this as well."
I handed her the sword with the characters Ryeon Ryeon Ryeon carved into it.
"Just what kind of man is this Jin Sowoon..."
It must have been difficult for Sister to understand any further. Asking her to deliver a sword was one thing, but even though it was just a single blade and something that could be dismissed with a few words, it was still a belonging of the clan. From her perspective, she would wonder why I would go this far for someone whose face she didn't even know.
"What kind of man, huh..."
Right. What kind of man was he?
I didn't know that well myself. At least he definitely wasn't the Sapae Singun of the Ten Venerables yet. Since he was in his teens now, he was probably just a truly promising layabout. And yet he had this strange ability to draw people's hearts to him. Maybe he was a playboy or something?
It was hard to explain it clearly to Sister, but I thought this would be enough.
"Ten years."
The time it takes for rivers and mountains to change. At the same time, the time it took for a young martial artist in his prime to rise to the Ten Venerables.
"The man who will become the greatest swordsman under the heavens within that time."
"...Where would such a man even exist?"
Sister seemed to think it was absurd and brushed it off like a silly joke.
You're right, Sister. But you know what? The world of murim is surprisingly vast.
"When I looked, there actually was one?"
Such an impossible man.