At the gatekeeper’s words, I tilted my head.
“Pardon? A guest?”
“He says he came from Hunan. He introduced himself as Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok, the second son of Hunan’s Provincial Administration Commissioner.”
Wait, Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok?
What was he doing all the way here in Beijing?
Ah. Come to think of it, I did make him a promise.
I recalled what had happened back then.
At the time, Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok had begged me to become his master, but I had turned him down as gently as I could.
— I won’t formally accept you as my disciple. To be perfectly honest, that would place quite a burden on me. Besides, the decision you’re making right now may simply be a moment of youthful impulse. So spend three years training faithfully according to my instructions. If your feelings still haven’t changed by then, come find me.
And this year marked the third year since then.
Three years was by no means a short amount of time.
Besides, he was a secular disciple of the Southern Mount Heng Sect. I had assumed he would find another master long before then, which was why I’d made that promise in the first place.
Haa. Well, I suppose I should at least meet him.
Since he happened to be in Beijing, maybe he’d merely stopped by to say hello. Or perhaps he’d found a new master and had come to apologize for breaking our agreement.
It would be wonderful if that were the case…
I turned to look at Lady Seohyang. Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok was the older brother of Young Lord Yeon Myeong-hyeon, Lady Seohyang’s former fiancé.
So there was a chance he would find something strange about her appearance.
But I couldn’t avoid him forever, either.
Well, this was exactly why she’d learned the Novel Disguise Art.
“Will you be all right?”
At my question, Lady Seohyang nodded.
“Yes.”
I turned back to the gatekeeper and asked,
“Did you escort him to the Reception Room?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
Lady Seohyang and I headed to the Reception Room together.
Slide.
When I opened the door and stepped inside, Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok was sitting there drinking tea.
Compared to when I’d first met him… how should I put it? He looked considerably sturdier now.
On top of that, the hooliganish air he’d once carried was completely gone. Now, at a glance, he looked every bit the polished son of a high-ranking official.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Ah! Great Hero!”
He shot to his feet and immediately dropped to his knees before me.
“As promised, three years have passed. So please, Great Hero, keep your promise and accept me as your disciple.”
“…”
I could hear it – the sound of all my hopes shattering into pieces.
Suppressing a sigh, I asked,
“Hasn’t it technically been less than three full years?”
“This is the third calendar year.”
“And there’s no chance the Southern Mount Heng Sect would approve of you forming this sort of relationship with someone else.”
“You don’t need to worry about that either. My master-disciple relationship with them was one formed for mutual benefit in the first place. So I brought this document with me.”
He pulled a scroll from his luggage and held it out.
I accepted it and read.
[Through this document, this sect hereby guarantees that no objection shall be raised should our disciple, Yeon Ju-hyeok, receive instruction in martial arts from another. Su-baek, Sect Leader of the Southern Mount Heng Sect]
No, seriously. How in the world did he get his hands on something like this?
Even if he was only a secular disciple, he was still a disciple who had learned their martial arts.
When I raised my head to stare at him, he grinned broadly and continued.
“My father is Hunan’s Provincial Administration Commissioner.”
“Are you sure you’re supposed to use your father’s authority like this?”
“What’s the problem? To be perfectly honest, my father has done more than enough for the Southern Mount Heng Sect. It’s not as though asking for this much in return is unreasonable.”
“…”
Somehow, he seemed to have gotten even more brazen since the last time I saw him.
“I can’t imagine the Great Hero is the sort of man who would go back on his word…”
“Haa. Please stand up.”
“I won’t rise until you accept me as your disciple.”
“I said I understand, so get up.”
“Pardon? Then… does that mean you’ll accept me as your disciple?”
I nodded.
What else could I do after saying something like that?
I despised people who went back on their word, so I had no intention of becoming one myself.
Besides, Yeon Ju-hyeok was someone who had given his life for me in my previous life.
Back then, though, his name had been Il-mun.
I could never forget the rough-voiced man who had gone everywhere wearing a mask because his face had been horribly disfigured by fire.
— My Lord! The reason we Escort Guards exist is so that you may live! Please, don’t render the very reason for our existence meaningless.
— B-But… if this continues, you’re all going to die.
— We know.
— Then I’ll stay and fight with you–
— Ah, damn it! You’re seriously pissing me off! What the hell do you mean, fight with us? You’re only First-rate! If you try fighting those bastards, all you’ll accomplish is getting yourself killed like a dog! What you need to do right now is run while we buy you time!
— …
— Damn it, we don’t have time for this!
Smack!
A burning pain had exploded across my cheek.
— Just run already, you stupid bastard!
The eyes of the man who had slapped me were trembling.
Probably because he had just done something an Escort Guard should never have dared to do.
But I understood why he’d been forced to do it.
Back then, I had wasted the time my Escort Guards had sacrificed themselves to buy me.
If I had run the moment they told me to, there was at least a chance I might have survived.
Of course, considering what Namgoong Gang later told me, even if I had escaped that place alive, they most likely would have hunted me relentlessly afterward.
— Palgap. I’m counting on you.
— Understood.
In the end, Palgap forcibly hoisted me over his shoulder and fled, and from there, all I could do was watch as my Escort Guards fell one after another beneath the blades of the Murim Alliance warriors.
And Il-mun – no, Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok – had died when an enemy sword took his head.
“Your expression suddenly turned dark. Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
I shook my head, casting off the memories, and smiled.
That was the past. None of it had happened yet.
And this time, I would make sure it never did.
“By the way, did the Provincial Administration Commissioner approve of this as well?”
“Of course. Naturally, I received my father’s permission.”
“Good.”
Now that he was my disciple, I would have to train him thoroughly enough that he never died such a pointless death again.
As I stared at him with that thought in mind, he suddenly shuddered.
“Ugh…”
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No. It’s just… I suddenly felt a chill. Beijing really is colder than I expected.”
His instincts were pretty sharp.
I chuckled quietly and said,
“Then stand up. And now that you’re my disciple, don’t go dropping to your knees so casually.”
“Yes.”
At my words, he finally rose.
Then he noticed Lady Seohyang standing near the door and tilted his head.
“That young lady…”
“Is something wrong?”
“Isn’t she Lady Dong Ja-ryeong?”
I sighed and shook my head.
“She’s my deputy, Lady Gwak Seohyang. And didn’t Lady Dong Ja-ryeong pass away three years ago?”
“Ah… R-Right, she did. My apologies. You look so much like her that…”
Lady Seohyang smiled and replied,
“I suppose she and I must look very similar. Her older brother made exactly the same mistake before.”
“As I explained to him at the time, my deputy here has a mole beside her eye. She also practices martial arts. Once he learned those things, he apologized.”
“I-I see.”
He nodded.
“Well, if even those brothers who absolutely doted on their little sister said you weren’t her, then you truly must not be. My apologies for the discourtesy.”
He apologized politely.
“It’s quite all right.”
At that moment, Palgap quickly jumped into the conversation.
“Deputy Gwak is also going to marry the Young Master this autumn.”
“Ah! I see! Congratulations. Then I’ll address you as Madam from now on.”
I clapped my hands.
Clap, clap!
“Now that you’re officially my disciple, I’ll have a room prepared for you here at the Merchant Group.”
“Um…”
He scratched his head as he spoke.
“You can just speak casually to me. How could a disciple have his master speaking to him so formally?”
“My own master speaks formally to me as well, so there’s nothing particularly strange about it.”
“I-I see.”
Who would have thought my master’s insistence on speaking formally to me would come in handy like this?
After Palgap showed Yeon Ju-hyeok to his quarters, I was about to head for my office.
“Um, Master. Where are you going?”
“To my office. I still have work left to finish.”
“May I come with you?”
I didn’t see why not.
“Come along.”
And so, we headed to my office together.
The moment we entered and Yeon Ju-hyeok saw the mountain of documents piled on the desk, his face went pale.
“M-Master. What is all that?”
“Documents I have to process.”
“Pardon?”
He let out an incredulous laugh.
“I didn’t realize it was possible to survive that much work.”
I nodded.
“Somehow, you manage. Though I am tired every single day.”
He thought for a moment before asking me,
“May I help?”
“You must be fairly exhausted after traveling all the way to Beijing. You don’t want to rest first?”
“Yes. I didn’t force myself on the journey, so I’m not particularly tired. And I’m worried about your health, Master.”
“Well, in that case… do as you please.”
I turned to Lady Seohyang.
“Deputy Gwak, please give Young Lord Yeon something to work on.”
“Understood.”
And just like that, we started working.
At some point, I noticed that the documents being passed to me had been organized a little differently.
Still, they were every bit as neat and easy to read as the ones Lady Seohyang prepared.
Which meant this must have been Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok’s work.
“Young Lord Yeon.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You’re surprisingly good at this.”
“Ah, that’s because Deputy Gwak taught me well.”
“No. Someone without aptitude for this sort of thing wouldn’t be able to do it so well no matter how good the teacher was. I take it you’ve handled work like this before?”
At my words, he scratched his head and answered,
“To tell the truth, I’ve been taught this sort of work since I was young. My father said he would never tolerate anyone calling his son incompetent…”
“I see.”
I looked at him and fell into thought for a moment.
Once Lady Seohyang and I married this autumn, my first deputy’s position would become vacant.
Which meant I would no longer have a deputy I could trust enough to entrust with everything.
In that case, why not try giving the position to him?
He was straightforward and tenacious.
He had waited three whole years and then traveled all the way here to become my disciple. There was little chance a man like that would betray me.
For now, I should at least see whether he was interested.
“Young Lord Yeon, aside from learning martial arts from me as my disciple, do you have anything else you need to do while you’re in Beijing?”
“Not particularly. I came here with nothing but the intention of learning martial arts from you, Master.”
“Then how would you feel about becoming my deputy?”
“Pardon?”
“Once Deputy Gwak marries me, this position will be vacant. When that happens, I’d like you to take over as my deputy.”
At my words, he tilted his head.
“Don’t you already have another deputy?”
“Ah, Deputy Gal has… certain circumstances.”
It wasn’t that Deputy Gal Hyeon-ri had a poor character, but I didn’t trust him unconditionally.
That was also why I still didn’t entrust him with anything I considered truly confidential.
“Regardless, once that happens, I’ll need a deputy I can trust. Would you be willing to work for me in that capacity?”
Yeon Ju-hyeok’s eyes lit up.
“Does that mean… you trust me?”
Why did he seem more moved by the fact that I trusted him than by the offer itself?
“But I still don’t quite understand. We may have formed a master-disciple relationship, but it hasn’t even been a full day. Why do you trust me that much?”
“Three years is a long time. You remembered the promise you made with me for all those years, and then you actually came to find me. If I can’t trust someone like that, then who am I supposed to trust?”
“…That’s only because you left such a strong impression on me, Master.”
I shook my head.
“No. Even before any of that, this is a matter of character. That is why I trust you.”
Besides, if he had been Provincial Administration Commissioner Yeon’s eldest son, I never would have made such an offer.
But because he was the second son, I could offer him the deputy position without placing him in an awkward situation.
“All right, then. Let’s get back to work.”
“Yes.”
.
.
.
Evening arrived.
“You worked hard today.”
Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok’s eyes were slightly unfocused.
“You look exhausted. Are you all right?”
“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”
Then he stared at me with an indescribable look in his eyes.
“What is it?”
“Ah, nothing. I just… find you rather admirable, Master.”
“Is that so?”
I continued as though it were nothing worth mentioning.
“After struggling through this for about six months yourself, you’ll start feeling like this much work is nothing.”
“…That somehow makes it even more terrifying.”
“Then I’ll see you at dawn tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
With that, I sent Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok back to his quarters.
He isn’t going to… run away, is he?
Rustle.
At that moment, Palgap sidled up beside me and asked,
“Would you like me to keep watch and make sure he doesn’t run away?”
“Hmm…”
I shook my head.
“It’s fine. He won’t run.”
Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok’s resolve wasn’t that weak.
Granted, in my previous life, there had been a particular event that hardened his resolve, but even the fact that he had come looking for me this time proved he had admirable perseverance.
Just then–
“Ah, Seo-ho.”
“Brother.”
Brother Jeong-ho came to see me.
“Where’s Young Lord Yu-jin?”
“He went back to his quarters. But…”
He looked like there was something he wanted to talk about.
“What is it? You came because you wanted to tell me something, didn’t you?”
“You caught me.”
“I’m your brother. Of course I did. So what is it?”
At my words, my brother’s expression turned serious.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“When you go to Nanjing this time, I want you to travel with the people from the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group.”
Judging by that expression, this wasn’t simply about broadening his horizons.
“…So what’s the real problem?”
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won't get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt