Childhood Friend of the Zenith
chapter-262

Upon my arrival at the Namgung Clan, the first place I was led to was the guesthouse.

While the servants unpacked my belongings, I took the opportunity to look around.

…This guesthouse seems better than my own house.

That was undeniable.

Because it was a clan that didn’t hesitate on their money spendings, even their guest houses were grand.

Though of course, they wouldn’t give us an ordinary place to stay due to our relationship, but it was still a splendid place.

I took a glance at the pond this place had, and the scales of the fish inside were all beautiful.

The pond was already big enough, but it also had a ton of fishes in it which required extensive management.

“What a waste of money.”

The management fee alone sounded like a hassle.

That was my only impression of this place.

I wasn’t one to be fascinated by such things, so I had no other opinions on it.

Besides, I had to think about the upcoming events right now.

The engagement date is a few days later.

The engagement, which I thought would happen immediately upon my arrival, was scheduled for a few days later.

To be fair, it made sense, given that we would be exhausted from the journey.

But do we really need a few days to prepare?

I wondered if that was really necessary.

Of course, I should be grateful that I was given a few days to prepare for this rather awkward engagement.

A few days huh.

The engagement may have been delayed due to my personal problems, but Gu Clan still went directly to Namgung Clan.

With many eyes watching, the Gu Clan appeared to be the conceding side in this situation.

Coming to the Namgung Clan meant the male was going to the female’s house for the engagement, which would certainly spark talk.

They’ll probably say stuff like I’m the son in law or something.

They’ll also see Gu Clan as a lesser clan compared to Namgung Clan.

It is always like this.

People pick on each and every single thing.

This damned world has nothing easy in it.

Anyways.

It could be perceived as rude for the Namgung Clan to make us wait a few days after our long journey.

When we first heard this, I saw Father’s expression stiffen a bit.

They are probably talking right now.

The Lords left to have a conversation between the two, so they are probably talking about this matter.

There shouldn’t be any problems as long as explanations are given for this.

Did something happen?

I just hoped that I wouldn't encounter any problematic situation.

Because of how I always ran into trouble wherever I went, I just wanted to have a peaceful trip this time.

Though of course, I already knew that it would be difficult for this trip to be peaceful.

Fuck my life.

It was none other than the matter about Namgung Clan’s Lord.

What should I do? What can be done?

When I looked at his sparkly gaze from earlier, it was clear he had no intention of letting me go.

I was honestly proud of him for waiting for over a year.

He found the flaws in his martial arts and he probably thinks that I’m the only one that could fix his flaws.

That much was understandable, but considering how the great King of Swords, Namgung Jin was still thirsting for such a thing, it meant he hadn’t made much progress even after practicing what Elder Shin taught him.

…What should I do?

I had told him back then that I would teach him, but that was when Elder Shin was still with me.

He was very proficient with swords, and he also was a person that watched the Thunderous Sword, Namgung Myung in his prime.

Elder Shin said that he would teach Namgung Jin himself while being disappointed with the degradation of the Namgung Clan’s swordsmanship and had offered to teach Namgung Jin himself, but now Elder Shin was asleep within my body.

So how am I supposed to teach him?

I’ve never held a sword in my life besides the wooden sword I played with when I was young.

So how could I teach Namgung Jin anything?

I’m going insane.

Thanks to that, I was completely filled with worries.

Hey, if you saw everything, then wake him up already.

[…Krr?]

Stop pretending like you’ve just woken up. Wake Elder Shin up.

Judging by how the beast reacted right away when I called, it seemed like the bastard wasn’t asleep after all.

You’re just going to pretend like you know nothing despite watching everything?

[Grr?]

…I’m going to go insane, seriously.

I hated the bastard for always playing dumb, but there was a reason why I couldn’t do anything about it.

Before Elder Shin fell asleep, the bastard spoke about the condition where it didn’t wake up Elder Shin.

The bastard said it itself that Elder Shin would be able to wake up himself after a year.

That was the pact we made, so if the bastard was being honest, it meant that Elder Shin wasn’t waking up on purpose right now.

The situation is this messy, yet he has a reason not to wake up?

If Elder Shin was watching this right now, there was a good chance that he wasn’t waking up on purpose just for me to suffer…

…Hmm.

That honestly sounds more likely.

If I thought about the old man, he certainly would do such a thing.

_ It’s annoying that he would gladly do that just to mess with me._

I even partly believed that he had already woken up and was giggling in the background right now.

If that was the case, it’d be very nice for him to wake up.

Putting aside the matter about Namgung Jin,

There was another reason for Elder Shin to wake up.

…We have to ask about the Thunderous Sword.

When we visited Henan, we met with Elder Shin’s friend in Shaolin and the Light of Might, Cheolyoung said this.

He said that he wasn’t the only one that kept his soul inside something and that the Thunderous Sword, Namgung Myung, was doing the exact same.

I believed that the Thunderous Sword was also obviously in the Namgung Clan’s treasure as long as he was right.

…Though there is an exception.

I wasn’t certain when I thought about a certain treasure that was outside of the clan.

It was also most likely that Namgung Myung was inside the treasure that was outside of the clan.

The Thunder Fang.

It was the Namgung Clan’s divine sword that was called the fang that contained lightning.

It was the sword that the Thunderous Sword used in the past, and it was a treasure that the martial artist of Wudang, the Monster of Wudang had possession of, though I didn’t know why.

Moreover, the sword left the grasp of Monster of Wudang in my past life and was used by the Demonic Sword.

If his soul was contained in a treasure, then I obviously think that it would be in there.

Still, there was always a chance that wasn’t true.

Considering that it was the great Namgung Clan, there was no way that was the only treasure they had.

However, I wasn’t in a situation where I could just freely go look at such treasures.

Whatever it is, I just need Elder Shin to wake up so we could talk about it.

But Elder Shin was still silent.

I didn’t think that he disappeared.

As always, I felt Elder Shin’s presence deep within my Dantian after all.

He was just very quiet.

“Sigh…”

Under the scorching sunlight, I let out a heavy sigh.

I came here with just a bit of nervousness, but I had much more stuff to do in Namgung Clan than I thought.

As I was massaging my temples in pain,

“Hmm?”

I suddenly turned my head and looked behind me..

I saw only a few ordinary trees, but I focused my eyes and looked closer.

What is that?

It felt as if something was watching me.

I sharpened my senses, just in case,

“Am I just mistaken?”

But I didn’t catch anything with my senses.

Moreover, considering how close the gaze I supposedly felt seemed, there was no way that I didn’t feel it.

I even walked in that direction to check, but I found nothing special besides the ordinary trees.

“What’s going on, it’s making me feel uneasy.”

It felt rather clear for me to call this a mistake, but I couldn’t find anything no matter how much I looked for it.

Right as I was thinking about searching a bit more,

“Young Master, it is almost time for the banquet.”

Hongwa appeared from far away and informed me about my plans.

“…I’ll be going now.”

“We will prepare as well.”

“Okay.”

In the end, I began to move without being able to investigate any further, but my gaze was still locked onto the tree.

It was only the first day, yet it gave me an uneasy feeling.

******************

Inside the Namgung Clan, someone had entered the first daughter’s house for the first time in a while.

It was because the owner of the house returned after leaving this place empty for a few years.

“Young Lady, could I tidy your hair?”

The servant carefully spoke to the owner.

They served the owner for almost 10 years, yet they didn’t know much about her.

The owner was someone who stayed inside their room and disliked visitors.

Either that, or they hid themselves elsewhere and hid their presence as well.

Because of that, even the servants that were closer to her didn’t know much about her.

The only thing they knew about their owner was that she was way too beautiful and rarely spoke.

She may have been the direct servant, but she wasn’t much different compared to other servants.

No one was able to stay close to her because of how she disliked company.

As a result, the servant felt rather concerned about her owner returning after a long time.

However, they had to prepare for the banquet, and the servant had been ordered by the Lord to ensure the Young Lady was properly prepared, so the servant endured their nervousness and asked her owner.

As the servant was nervously waiting for a response, the owner slightly looked in the servant’s direction and responded.

“…Please.”

The servant’s eyes widened after hearing the owner’s voice.

“Ah…! Y-Yes.”

The servant couldn’t help but be surprised.

It was the first time that her owner responded to her clearly.

The servant realized that her owner not only had a beautiful face, but also a wonderful voice when she heard her clear voice.

The servant’s careful hand made contact with the owner’s beautiful white hair.

She was surprised by the hair that felt like silk, and was surprised once more after seeing her beautiful white skin despite it going through summer.

…She’s so beautiful.

The servant wondered.

She heard that the Young Lady even earned herself a title outside of the clan.

Which is what made her wonder why the Lord of the Clan didn’t love his daughter all that much.

“…Hey.”

“Yes?”

As the servant was carefully tidying hair and helping with makeup, the servant was surprised yet again after hearing the Young Lady.

It was because it was the first time that the Young Lady started the conversation.

“Is something the matter, Young Lady…?”

The servant wondered if she had made a mistake.

She believed that she must have made a huge mistake, considering that the Young Lady spoke first.

“Name…”

“Excuse me?”

“…What’s your… name?”

The Young Lady asked for the servant’s name.

The servant wondered why she asked such a question, as it was so unexpected, but she had to answer first.

“…Oakji, my name is Oakji.”

Her voice trembled as she responded.

The servant was embarrassed about her name, but the Young Lady still maintained her expressionless face.

“Oakji.”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“…I’ll remember it.”

“Huh…? Oh, right… thank you.”

The Young Lady, Namgung Bi-ah, marked her servant’s name in her mind.

It has been 10 years.

It had been that long ever since she met her servant for the first time, but she only now learned her servant’s name.

Despite it not being a short time, Namgung Bi-ah only now realized that she didn’t even know her servant’s name.

No.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know it.

It was more like she didn’t want to know it.

Namgung Bi-ah closed her eyes, embracing the hand that tidied her hair.

She wasn’t in a situation where she could remember someone’s name because her life was filled with hell due to the stench.

However, now she had gained some space and time to learn about someone else’s name.

“…Sorry.”

“Pardon?”

Namgung Bi-ah apologized.

It was because she hadn’t even known her servant’s name.

She lightly controlled her breath.

Her house was still filled with the stench, but she didn’t feel like she was going to die from suffocation like before.

This could’ve been because she had gotten stronger, or because ‘his’ level had gotten higher on the contrary.

Whichever it was, it meant that she was one step out of the hell she used to live in.

“Hey…”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“…That… would that be fine?”

Oakji looked in the direction Namgung Bi-ah’s hand was pointing in.

It was a box filled with a bunch of accessories.

It was given for blood relatives of Namgung Clan to use, but Oakji never saw Namgung Bi-ah use it even once.

“Uh… what do you mean by fine?”

“Would a guy… like it…?”

When Oakji heard her whisper in embarrassment, she had to hide her gasp.

She didn’t expect her Young Lady to ask such a question.

The Young Lady’s eyes watched her, waiting for a response, while her cheeks and ears became red, making her look incredibly beautiful..

Then a thought passed by her mind.

…Does she love her fiancé that much?

Just how great of a man is he for the Young Lady to make such an expression?

Oakji was very curious.

“Would you like to… try it on?”

“Yeah…”

Namgung Bi-ah responded with a slight nod.

She didn’t care about it too much in the past, but Namgung Bi-ah now knew that she was beautiful.

This was just a fact, and it didn’t mean much to her.

She was satisfied as long as that one person looked at her and thought she was beautiful.

Because of this, she wanted to take advantage of her beauty and catch his attention even more.

Namgung Bi-ah then thought of someone.

She thought about the face of a girl that stuck herself next to him in recent days.

“…”

It was a pretty girl with a cold aura.

She knew how to beautify herself, and she had many followers thanks to her capabilities.

She’s different compared to me.

She felt a lump in her chest.

Yet it felt murky and heavy.

Namgung Bi-ah knew that such an emotion was jealousy and guilt.

She had trained her sword to escape from the stench, so she wondered if she gained the ability to feel such emotions now thanks to that.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

She felt like the only thing she had was the name of her fiancé.

“I must… work harder.”

“Young Lady? What did you just…”

“Hmm… It’s… nothing…”

Namgung Bi-ah shook her head.

Then she thought about what happened earlier in the day.

Other people didn’t seem to have noticed, but as his father and her own father were having a conversation, Namgung Bi-ah felt a gaze from somewhere else.

It was the gaze of her brother, watching her from afar.

It wasn’t necessarily a gaze.

It was more accurate to say that she felt a stench.

Clench.

Just thinking about it made it harder for her to breathe.

She wanted to believe that she was mistaken, but something definitely felt different.

Unlike how she had been eased from the stench compared to before, her brother’s stench had grown denser

There was the distance, but Namgung Bi-ah was able to feel a clear difference.

It meant that he had gotten much worse.

…I hope… nothing happens.

Namgung Bi-ah prayed as she closed her eyes.

She prayed that nothing would happen to her brother, who had followed her ever since the past, and to the man that came to her clan.

“It is done.”

Upon hearing Oakji, Namgung Bi-ah slowly opened her eyes.

She felt something on her ear.

It was the earrings she had picked earlier.

Namgung Bi-ah then pulled another accessory from her pocket and asked her servant to place it in her hair.

Oakji listened to her order without much thought.

The accessory was the one he had bought her last time.

…This much is enough.

She felt more relieved after putting on the accessory, even though it was just an accessory.

Namgung Bi-ah slowly stood up.

It was time for her to go to the banquet.