The Weight of a Name
A short while later, another waiter brought over the noodles and dumplings, setting them down in front of me first.
Having apparently been warned by the boy from earlier, the waiter glanced nervously between me and the Jegal Clan members even as he set the food down and turned to leave.
They seemed so distracted that they forgot to collect payment, so I went over myself and handed over the silver before returning.
"I've gone an entire day without eating, so I'm quite famished. If it wouldn't be too rude, may I begin my meal first?"
I deliberately spoke with excessive politeness, mindful of Jegal Soyeon's presence. I had no intention of giving her any opening to criticize me.
Jegal Soyeon let out a soft, barely audible hum before answering with an innocent-looking smile.
"Of course. Please, go ahead."
I picked up a pair of chopsticks, carefully lifting a portion of noodles to my mouth. The taste was quite good, fitting for the size of the inn, but I had no time to savor or admire it.
"How is the noodle dish?"
Jegal Soyeon rested her chin on her hands and asked in a gentle voice. Yet for some reason, it felt as though a snake were coiling around my throat.
I swallowed the noodles and took a moment to consider my answer.
"It's good. I haven't tried many noodle dishes, but this one is quite decent."
At my reply, Jegal Soyeon nodded and gave a signal to the man seated beside her. He immediately raised his hand and called for a waiter.
The same young waitress who had brought my noodles earlier hurried over. Jegal Soyeon placed her order.
"Three bowls of noodles, please."
The waitress nodded and dashed off toward the kitchen.
As I watched her retreating figure, Jegal Soyeon spoke in an awkward tone.
"I didn't do anything to harm or threaten them. Please don't misunderstand."
"I simply gave them my name when they said they would call me once a seat opened up."
Did she truly not understand the weight her name carried? I didn't think so.
Still, the water was already spilled, and it wasn't worth making an enemy over something so minor. If anything, this was remarkably tame behavior for someone from the murim.
"...I see."
With that dry, formal reply, I popped a dumpling into my mouth. I had barely chewed halfway through it when three bowls of noodles arrived.
Jegal Soyeon handed two pieces of silver to the forgetful waitress, then took a small bite of her noodles. After chewing a few times, she spoke.
"Mm. You're right. It is quite good."
I wasn't sure how much time had passed. Our sporadic conversation had stretched well beyond half an hour by my estimate. My bowl was nearly empty.
Just as I was about to excuse myself and stand, thinking we'd established enough rapport, Jegal Soyeon looked at me and said,
"Geom Mang Jin Sowoon. I thought the name sounded familiar, and now I remember why."
She clapped her hands together in exaggerated admiration and continued.
"Reaching the Peak Realm at ten years old. I was quite shocked when I heard the news from Hapbi half a year ago."
Once again, Jegal Soyeon spoke with that same sharp, crescent-moon gaze.
"After looking into it further, I learned that you're only ten years old, and you've only been wielding a sword for a little over a year?"
Did she truly only just remember? I doubted it. I trusted the Jegal Clan's memory far too much for that. Her words carried not a shred of sincerity.
Moreover, it seemed their information network had reached the point where they could uncover even these details.
"Are you aiming to win the tournament in order to ascend?"
In other words, was I planning to shed my imugi scales and become a dragon at the Yongbongjihoe?
I answered without appearing overly humble or arrogant.
"If fortune smiles upon me, that is my intention."
Jegal Soyeon chuckled softly.
"I've heard there aren't many standout participants in this year's Yongbongjihoe. May fortune favor you."
"The same to you, Lady Jegal Soyeon."
.
.
"He's an interesting man."
Geom Mang had left first. However, the senses of a Peak Realm master—including his hearing—were not to be underestimated, so she waited a long while before speaking again.
Looking at the two martial artists seated beside her, Jegal Soyeon asked,
"Do you think you could defeat Geom Mang?"
The two warriors hesitated. Before they could answer, Jegal Soyeon let out a quiet laugh and gazed at the spot where Geom Mang had disappeared.
"There's no need to feel ashamed."
"That kind of shame is something only humans need to feel among themselves."
Her smile turned cold, unlike before, as she added in a detached tone.
"Geom Mang's very existence operates on a different density of time than ours. What would take us years to accomplish, he finishes in a single day."
She gripped her chopsticks tightly. Though she was a woman, the strength in her trained hands bent the wooden sticks out of shape.
"An imugi? Nonsense. He's already slain a dragon from Sichuan."
She remembered it vividly—the story that had set the entire murim ablaze, loud enough to be heard even from inside a room. The Sword Net of the Namgung Clan had defeated the Poison Dragon in a sparring match. They said he had already reached the Peak Realm.
She had thought it an absurd lie, but upon further investigation, every detail proved true.
"You two know which of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans is the weakest, don't you?"
Whether due to lack of skill or simply sharp instincts, the two warriors understood what she wanted and remained silent.
Jegal Soyeon laughed bitterly.
"The Jegal Clan."
She tapped her own head with a finger.
"They call us the Murim's Strategists, but in the end, everything in the murim comes down to power. The Sixty-Four Hexagrams? Foreseeing heavenly secrets? Those are nothing but scraps of paper before true masters."
It was the truth.
That was why merchant groups with financial power were quietly looked down upon in the murim, and why the government had collapsed while the imperial court had become irrelevant.
The absolute masters of the murim were stronger than anyone could imagine. With nothing but their own bodies, they built wealth through force and crushed authority with martial might.
That was how the Nine Great Sects were born, and how the Five Great Clans began.
"Our clan has been recognized as one of the Five Great Clans for centuries, yet in all that time, we haven't produced a single Transcendent Realm master."
That was why the Jegal Clan was in danger. Unlike the other clans, they had started by producing prime ministers in the imperial court before extending their reach into the murim.
They possessed neither vast wealth nor authority. And they had no supreme masters to enforce either.
"Strategists who threaten the Jegal Clan's position are appearing one after another. Not long ago, the Moyong Clan even produced a strategist for the Wulin Alliance."
Their only asset was innate intellect, yet even that was losing ground with each passing day.
"If we could bring Geom Mang into our fold..."
Jegal Soyeon understood her clan's precarious situation all too well. That was why the young man she had just met seemed so precious.
He was still young, currently with the Namgung Clan, which meant his future choices were many. Jegal Soyeon wanted to place the Jegal name before him.
"Look at him... He reached the Peak Realm in just half a year. Transcendent Realm? That's far too small a goal. The Transcendent Realm is simply the future that awaits him. Whether he'll become the greatest under heaven or the greatest in history remains to be seen!"
Like someone witnessing rain after a long drought, Jegal Soyeon spoke with unrestrained joy.
"Moreover, his divine sword technique is likely a one-person inheritance. If that, too, becomes ours..."
If Geom Mang came to the Jegal Clan, their reputation would pierce the heavens and spread across the world in an instant.
And if they could obtain his martial arts as well, it would be the perfect union of civil and military excellence. The Heavenly Brain Jegal would become the Heavenly Jegal.
"What could we offer him? Wealth? Honor? No... that's not it..."
Those were things he could obtain anywhere. What could the Jegal Clan offer that no one else could?
Nothing came to mind immediately.
"...He said he's staying with the Namgung Clan. How deep are his ties with them? The Changgung Sword Squad? Its leader?... Or perhaps an engagement?"
The Sichuan Tang Clan was out of the question—their elders were too rigid to even consider recruiting him. That left the Namgung Clan as the Jegal Clan's primary rival.
Joining the Changgung Sword Squad? They could offer better terms.
Becoming its leader? It would be difficult, but they could still provide superior conditions.
However...
"If he's already engaged..."
To surpass becoming the Namgung Clan's son-in-law, the Jegal Clan would first need to establish superiority over the Namgung Clan. That made it difficult.
Furthermore, he was said to be quite close with the Namgung Clan's second daughter. If the two grew a little older and developed feelings for each other, recruiting him would become impossible. People didn't calculate gains and losses when it came to love.
"I want him. I want him. I want him. I want him."
How... how could she make it happen?
Together with her tangled desires—impossible to resolve yet overflowing with ambition—Jegal Soyeon's night grew deeper.
