Chapter 16
— — —
A matchmaker, someone who arranges marriages for young men and women.
They usually visited places with young men of marriageable age, but sometimes they came to make an early impression.
Like the matchmaker from the Deng Clan who had come today.
In fact, Namgung Ho had rushed to see Namgung Baek as soon as he heard the news.
“To push their precious only daughter on you so hastily. It seems the Deng Clan is quite eager to have you.”
He was, after all, a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan.
His looks were impeccable, and his excellence in both literary and martial arts was beyond question.
Moreover, he was nine-tenths certain to inherit this great Namgung Clan.
It was no exaggeration to say that every martial artist in the Central Plains with a daughter had their eyes on Namgung Baek.
“Her name was Deng Soso, wasn't it? They say she's quite fond of you as well.”
But even at these words, Namgung Baek's eyes remained empty.
Receiving the affections of girls was something he was all too used to.
There was even an incident where the emperor's youngest daughter, visiting Anhui, fell for the young Namgung Baek and pestered her father to let them marry.
‘Quite different from my case, indeed.’
Namgung Ho, whose features were somewhat stern, spoke in a joking tone.
“With things like this already happening, you won't have to worry about marriage.”
At that moment, a suppressed sound burst from Baek's lips as he stood with his head bowed and fists clenched.
“What good is that? I'm a prospective son-in-law who won't even be alive by the time of the wedding.”
Leaving only those words behind, Namgung Baek turned away coldly.
The more they talked, the more things welled up inside him, making it impossible to stay still.
What stopped his steps was Namgung Ho's earnest call.
“Baek.”
But Baek did not turn around. He merely stopped in his tracks.
“...Won't you have breakfast at the Azure Sky Pavilion tomorrow?”
Baek gave no answer.
He just lowered his head deeply and quickened his pace.
Watching his grandson's retreating back, Namgung Ho clenched his fists and turned his gaze to the distance.
There were things in the world that even he, one of the Five Great Kings Under Heaven, could do nothing about.
His grandson, who had built walls all around himself, was one of them.
---
Horizontal slash, vertical slash, thrust.
These were the fundamentals of all sword arts, the ‘Three Talents Sword Art’.
“Hiyah!”
Hong-seol struggled to control the wooden sword, trying to follow the forms of the Three Talents Sword Art.
The Namgung Clan's training swords were made of wood with an iron core.
No matter how much healthier Hong-seol had become, she had spent many years malnourished. It was still too much for a child smaller than her peers to wield.
Thud.
No matter how hard she tried, the tip of the sword would soon drop to the ground.
Watching her, a look of pity spread across the face of the Master of the Azure Sky Unit.
‘She can't even wield a wooden sword properly, so why is she so desperate to learn martial arts...?’
“Young Lady, let's take a short break.”
He plopped down on the ground and patted the spot next to him.
“Hah, hah. Yes.”
Catching her breath, Hong-seol set the wooden sword aside and trudged over to sit beside Namgung Uigyeol.
Having sweated together for a few days, they seemed to have grown quite close.
Looking at Hong-seol squatting beside him, Namgung Uigyeol began to speak with some difficulty.
“Um, Lady Hong-seol, you wish to learn martial arts, correct?”
“Yep!”
It was an answer without a hint of hesitation. He carefully asked again.
“Why do you want to learn martial arts?”
“To achieve a Diamond Body.”
Namgung Uigyeol nodded.
I see.
So Lady Hong-seol is learning martial arts because she wants to achieve a Diamond Body.
But why is she doing this at the Namgung Clan instead of Shaolin? Is it because they don't accept women... no, that's not it!
Why on earth is her goal a Diamond Body?
“Grandfather told me. He said if you master external arts to their limit, you can achieve a Diamond Body.”
“And what will you do once you have a Diamond Body?”
“Once I reach that state... even if I've only learned external arts, there should be a way to make a living.”
At those words, Namgung Uigyeol's mind went blank for a moment.
“R-right, Master of the Azure Sky Unit?”
The child seemed to be looking for confirmation.
“That's true. At the very least, you could work as an armed escort or a ronin.”
“An armed escort?”
“It's a profession where you get paid to transport goods or people. A ronin is like a wandering warrior who works for an employer as needed.”
“Aha.”
Uigyeol watched Hong-seol nod for a moment before asking.
“But Young Lady, do you intend to do such rough work in the future?”
Hong-seol gave a shy little laugh. “Hehe.”
“I'm not really a member of the Namgung Clan, you know.”
At those words, Namgung Uigyeol's heart suddenly felt heavy.
“Young Lady...”
“There must be a lot of people who dislike me for doing nothing but eating their food...”
Besides, though he didn't know it, Hong-seol was a cat beastkin.
She couldn't stay here forever while hiding that fact.
“S-someday, I'll have to leave this house... so I'm preparing for that day.”
Namgung Uigyeol was at a loss for words.
Hong-seol was right.
Weren't the elders already treating her like a thorn in their side?
“Young Lady.”
Namgung Uigyeol stood up and bowed his head.
“I will help you stay comfortably in the Namgung Clan, at least until you become an adult!”
So that Lady Hong-seol can safely win the upcoming tournament.
So that she can receive the Grand Patriarch's teachings and one day reach a state like the Diamond Body.
‘I will teach the Young Lady the sword forms of the Vast Sky Expanse Sword Art perfectly.’
His eyes shone with firm resolve.
---
“Senior, don't you think the Master has been a bit strange lately?”
“Hah, hah. What, strange?”
A man training in the outer courtyard's training grounds collapsed onto the floor.
All around, utterly exhausted men were sprawled about like empty sacks.
They were the renowned Changcheon Unit of the Namgung Clan, elite warriors who answered directly to the Patriarch.
Their training was famous for being grueling, but lately, it had been getting even more intense.
The moment they tried to rest, the voice of Namgung Uigyeol, the bear-like Master of the Azure Sky Unit, would thunder across the training grounds.
“Is this any time to rest? Someone born with a body not as sturdy as yours is trying that hard...! Ugh.”
With a look of utter pity thrown in for good measure.
And whenever he left, he would invariably assign them homework.
“I'll be back in two hours, so maintain your horse stance.”
“It's not that he's strange, he's pretty much gone like this.”
The man whose legs had just given out twirled a finger by his temple.
“Gasp, Senior.”
One of the sprawled-out men covered the mouth of the one called Senior.
“What will you do if the Master hears you saying such disloyal things?”
The man called Senior shook his head, brushing off his junior's hand.
“Hear what? The Master is busy teaching that kid in the inner courtyard anyway.”
At the mention of that, the junior's expression turned peculiar.
“Ah. Come to think of it, didn't it start around then?”
“What did?”
“The training getting harder, I mean. It was definitely after the Master took charge of that kid...”
The man called Senior shot to his feet. After checking the identification tag at his waist, he suddenly started striding toward the inner courtyard.
“Senior! Where are you going?”
“I have to see for myself. Just what is the Master seeing in the inner courtyard that makes him come back so fired up?”
“Senior!”
The junior's voice, trying to stop him, echoed across the outer courtyard's training grounds.
---
“Young Lady, please try this.”
Namgung Uigyeol held something out.
It was the object he had been wrestling with every evening for the past few days, a dagger in hand.
“A training sword?”
“It's not just any wooden sword. Try swinging it.”
The wooden sword in Hong-seol's hand was quite light. Unlike the other iron-cored swords, it was light enough for her to handle without straining.
After feeling how snugly it fit in her hand, Hong-seol looked back at Namgung Uigyeol.
“D-did you perhaps carve this from wood yourself, Master...?”
At Hong-seol's question, Namgung Uigyeol scratched his head awkwardly.
“Well, for now, yes.”
It was instantaneous.
Tears welled up in Hong-seol's eyes.
“Benefactor!”
Hong-seol scurried over and hugged him. Being so short, she could only manage to wrap her arms around one of his thick legs.
“Huh? Benefactor?”
Namgung Uigyeol was dumbfounded.
“You have bestowed a sword upon me, so you must be my benefactor!”
Namgung Uigyeol nearly jumped.
“To be called a benefactor for something like this is absurd. If you go out into the martial world and form bonds of favor and enmity like that, you'll be in big trouble.”
“...?”
Seeing Hong-seol blinking her large eyes while clinging to his log-like leg, Namgung Uigyeol let out a deep sigh.
“You don't know much about the martial world, do you?”
Nod, nod.
It seemed he would also have to take on the duty of explaining the ways of the Jianghu.
“During our breaks, I will tell you stories about the martial world.”
“Yes!”
Hong-seol's face brightened.
Namgung Uigyeol smiled, looking a bit troubled.
This young lady surely thought his explanations of the martial world would be like old fairy tales.
When in reality, it would be a tedious lecture on clans and political situations...
A small worry that the young lady might get bored crossed his mind.
But Namgung Uigyeol had a more pressing matter to attend to.
“Now, please raise your wooden sword.”
At his words, Hong-seol lifted the wooden sword with a determined gaze. Judging by her eyes alone, she looked serious enough to take down the Heavenly Demon.
Namgung Uigyeol raised his own wooden sword and assumed the ready stance.
“I will now teach you the first form of the Vast Sky Expanse Sword Art.”
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