Chapter 93 : Chapter 93
Chapter 93: I Will See You Again
I raised my head.
Flutter.
In front of the silk canopy, flags fluttered.
The characters embroidered in gold thread clearly indicated for whom this banquet was.
[Ink Sword Hero Jin Yeomyeong Hwansong Yeon]
…It was me.
And the flags were not just one.
[Kaifeng Mingga's Benefactor Jin Yeomyeong Hwansong Yeon]
[Elementary Class's Best Instructor Jin Yeomyeong Hwansong Yeon]
Embarrassing, but up to there was fine.
[Clean Teeth, Clean Martial Arts, Ashwae Hyeop Jin Yeomyeong]
Whose idea was that, really!
Jayeong saw my expression and approached laughing.
“I asked them to make that one too.”
“Hm, is that so? You did very well.”
Thinking again, having just one of those flags was fine.
Jayeong even meticulously took care of fulfilling the contract I had forgotten.
If the Geumun Trading Company did well, it was good for me too.
Mm mm.
Just then, a noble clan's servant approached with a tray.
“Here, please have some of this first. It's simple refreshments.”
The simple refreshments were quite luxurious.
They had removed the seeds from jujubes and filled them with honey. What was sprinkled on the outside seemed like gold dust.
“Jayeong, have you ever eaten something like this?”
“No. Where would I eat something like this.”
We reached out and put one in our mouths each.
“Oh.”
“Mm.”
As fancy as it looked, the taste was good too.
The honey was fresh, and because it was concentrated honey, the fragrance lingered fully in the mouth.
Mm.
We looked at each other's faces.
“Brother-in-law left early for no reason and missed out on such delicious things.”
“Would brother-in-law have eaten something like this?”
“Probably?”
Brother-in-law had only greeted us and the Hyeonmo Hoeju before disappearing soon after.
He said he could not stay long with his identity revealed.
But.
“His identity is already revealed too clearly, so he should have stayed longer.”
“He was quite self-reproachful. He seemed to have known the high-ranking people in the Beggar's Gang, so that's fine, but otherwise, he said too many people saw him.”
“He'll travel in disguise for a while?”
“Yes. Who knows. He might even change his face completely.”
“Ah. That could be.”
His body was not yet recovered, but with the three elders accompanying him, it was reassuring.
Pao Elder and Du Elder laughed heartily, while Yang Elder was silent as usual, and they disappeared into the streets.
Before Yang Elder left, I asked about Han Sanha. At that moment, he smiled a grim smile just once.
It was a smile better buried deep in the recesses of memory....
Shiver, I shook my body once.
Thinking about brother-in-law again, entering the noble clan's manor in Kaifeng was exactly as we had guessed.
Brother-in-law said he had only recently learned that Kwak Mihyang had become Hahou Seojin.
Much time had passed since they had lived together, and now none of them were the kids from back then.
He was not confident whether he could visit her, who had become the mistress of a noble clan.
However, at the moment when his life hung by a thread, the person he thought to go to was still the neighborhood big sister.
“Yes. Gasang-i is still the same. Even as a child, she was strong in responsibility. She lived trying hard to raise you well, Jayeong.”
Hahou Seojin approached the round table where Jayeong and I were sitting.
“Mihyang unni.”
“I came after watching the kids play.”
Looking toward where she came from, the children were in the midst of running around playing. Giggling laughter burst out, reaching even here.
It was not just the elementary class. Children of all ages had come out and were engaged in their respective plays.
“Is the academy really closed for the whole day today?”
“Yes.”
“And the Hyeonmo Hoe all agreed?”
“Of course.”
In just one day, the Hyeonmo Hoe had changed.
Not only had Hahou Seojin stepped down from being the hoeju, but they had also revised their policies overall.
The noble clan heirs would still need to learn various things in the future, but the process would now be very different.
The change applied to Hahou Seojin as well.
Her face had become even more at ease.
She had not only let go of being hoeju but also completely abandoned the policy of perfect control, even applying makeup lightly.
The dignified and aloof face had now become a bright and clear face.
She had regained her original face.
“Unni, what's in the box you're holding?”
“Ah, this.”
Clatter, she opened the box.
“Ah.”
Inside were old clothes. They were so worn that rather than being kept in a box, they should have been thrown away.
“Unni, this is-”
“Do you recognize it?”
“Of course. It's the clothes you wore when you were young. Back then, we didn't even have clothes, so we always wore the same ones.”
Roughly made black clothes from coarse fabric.
I knew them well because I had worn such clothes too. Clothes that did not show dirt even when stained.
Moreover, they were patched in places.
“When I wore this, I didn't even know what control was.”
Kwak Mihyang stroked the clothes with her hand.
“Yes, unni. There was no one to control anyway.”
Jayeong also brought her hand to the clothes.
The two reminisced about that time for a moment.
“Looking back now, I experienced my surroundings changing in an instant. And after that....... I didn't realize it myself, but it seems I was trying to prevent such things from happening to the children.”
“Unni....”
“I was viewing the children through my own painful experiences. It was wrong thinking.”
Then she smiled at me.
“You told me to think about how such a person as me would raise children....... It was really funny.”
“No, madam. I felt a sense of caution too. I should think about it in advance.”
Because of her own experiences, she had instead gone too far in the direction of over-control.
That did not mean there was a need to stop thinking about how to raise children.
Wasn't it the opposite.
I should keep worrying about it.
“Hmm. But.”
“Yes?”
“You should call me chehyang?”
“Ah.”
“Jayeong is like a younger sister to me, so Sword Hero is my brother-in-law too. Try calling me chehyang.”
“No, a bit slowly....”
But suddenly, hearty laughter rang out.
“Hahaha, then to me, you're my wife's younger sister's husband, so brother-in-law it is.”
“Ahh.”
It was Yeom Jaehaeng, Hahou's husband.
Along with Hansagwang, he was one of the two great clan heads of the Kaifeng noble clan manor. Such a person was approaching calling me brother-in-law.
“Brother-in-law..., you say?”
Family relations were expanding at a rapid pace.
Feeling a bit dizzy, I had no choice but to pick up another honey-filled jujube and eat it.
But another voice appeared.
“Our Han clan has a benefactor, but suddenly becoming brother-in-law to Yeom clan's head feels like a loss.”
It was Hansagwang.
He was truly making a dissatisfied expression.
“We in the Han clan seem to have recognized what kind of person Great Hero Jin is first. How can Yeom clan head become brother-in-law without any merit.”
“What can we do. He's my wife's younger sister's husband. If you're aggrieved, form a marriage relation!”
“Hm, indeed!”
Indeed, my foot.
What did he plan to do.
“Great Hero Jin! Have a daughter soon! We'll send our Dangyu to marry. Let's become in-laws.”
“Urk.”
Family relations were expanding without limit or end.
And getting entangled with noble clans at that.
No, but.
It was not the end.
“Then I'll have one more son and send him as a groom candidate. That would be fine, right, Great Hero Jin?”
Another man interjected.
Who was this.
I looked at his face and suddenly thought of Kang Yoohun.
The son of Madam Hyeong, the heir who had almost caused a big incident by eating the madan.
“Kang Seokjwa. Thank you for saving our Yoohun. The Kang family will not forget Great Hero Jin's grace.”
He grabbed my hand and bowed his head deeply. Sincerity was in his voice.
From the side, Hahou Seojin smiled and threw a frightening remark.
“We should open a class at the academy to prepare weddings with Great Hero Jin's children.”
“Yes?”
“Hohohohoho.”
With things like this, not only the Yeom, Han, and Kang clans but also the heads and madams of other clans approached.
“The Kaifeng noble clans will regard Great Hero Jin as benefactor and family.”
“We will never forget blocking the incident our children almost faced.”
“If it's something Great Hero Jin desires, we will help with anything.”
Everyone clasping hands in greeting, I was busily responding.
“Is there nothing you need right away?”
Hansagwang asked.
“Uh....”
I had already asked them to find spiritual medicine.
Then, hmm....
“This jujube.”
“?”
“Could you pack some? It's incredibly delicious.”
Yeom Jaehaeng burst into loud laughter.
“Hahahahaha, tell me the location of the Luoyang residence. We'll keep sending cuisine and local specialties!”
Something like this was fine to accept.
Without hesitation, I recited the residence location.
“Dear, you don't have greed for eating.”
“There are people I want to pack for.”
Just the faces that came to mind were plenty.
Yeom Jaehaeng listened to our conversation and held out a box.
“If there's nothing to request right away, at least take this.”
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
It was a low and wide box, perfect for fitting plates inside.
“This is....”
The box was filled to the brim with tokens.
“Gratitude Tokens....”
Even martial artists used gratitude tokens.
They were marks indicating that a sect or clan had received grace, and the request of the bearer of the gratitude token had to be fulfilled without fail.
“You saved us from the crisis where our clans almost collapsed, so of course we must repay the grace in the name of our clans. These are gratitude tokens containing the thanks of us Kaifeng noble clans. Please accept them.”
Not only Yeom Jaehaeng but the gathered noble clan people nodded.
Their hearts were contained here.
With gratitude tokens from so many clans, it could overwhelm most clans.
“Then I will not decline.”
“Oh! The Sword Hero accepts!”
I was the one receiving the gift, but the noble clan people were the ones rejoicing.
After that, I could only extricate myself after individually responding to the throng of noble clan elders who approached.
Phew.
Still, there were people left to greet.
This time, not adults but children.
“Teacher!”
The elementary class children had been watching this way since the adults gathered.
I could not just stay still after noticing their gazes.
I headed toward the children first.
Pat pat, the lined-up kids.
Bright eyes gathered toward me.
“Yes, were you playing well.”
“Yes! It's our first time like this!”
“It's so much fun playing all together!”
“I want to play like this again!”
The children's answers burst out in a rush. They looked as happy as their vigorous responses.
“Now there will be many such days. The adults decided so.”
“Really?”
“Wow!”
“Let's play!”
Now the adults of this place would spend much more time with you all.
They would go to various places, play together, and hold you in their arms.
“Play a lot, a lot.”
What kind of adult would I remain to these children.
I had only seen them for a day or two, so to most children, I would be a passing memory.
But it would remain deeply in the heads of some children.
I hoped it would be a form that made them feel good when recalled.
“Teacher. If you go now, you won't come?”
Handangyudo looked up at me.
“How could that be. I plan to visit here often.”
To receive the help of the Kaifeng noble clans, because there was the Beggar's Gang main branch, and also just to see these kids.
“Really?”
“Martial artists do not speak falsehoods.”
For someone like that, I had lied too much recently...
Thinking I wanted to be a good adult, and then lying.
“Martial artists do not speak falsehoods! So cool!”
Ugh.
My conscience stung.
But Handangyudo looked up at me with a face full of brightness.
“Then you'll see me every time you come?”
“Of course. I'll always stop by.”
“Waaah!”
To be this happy at the words that we could meet.
Somehow, to this little one at least, I had remained as a good adult's form.
I exchanged greetings with the children and sent them back to play.
Yeom Uhye had not left. She was with her older brother Yeom Usu.
Hahou Seojin's son and daughter.
“Uhye, right. And you are Usu, Uhye's older brother?”
“Yes. We came to give thanks.”
Yeom Uhye answered crisply.
Yeom Usu, who held her hand tightly, was also looking at me with bright eyes.
“We truly thank you.”
“It was what I ought to do as a martial artist.”
“Even so, thank you.”
Then he mumbled the latter part.
“For making our mother at ease.”
Mother, Hahou Seojin.
She who had led the Hyeonmo Hoe and strived for perfect control.
At the end of Yeom Usu's gaze, she was visible smiling and talking with Jayeong.
“So that's why the siblings came separately.”
“Yes. This is because the two of us wanted to give thanks.”
It was absurd.
Such straightforward siblings.
New chehyang, far from control, even if you do nothing, the children seem like they'll grow up well.
The siblings' gazes toward their mother contained affection.
Mother and children were connected by affection.
Until now, studies or life must have been hard, but if connected by affection, it would be fine.
It would be fine.
There was enough time to change.
“Yes, you two go play now.”
I sent the siblings off.
Hmm.
I took a deep breath.
When I first came in, for some reason even the air felt stifling.
Now it was refreshingly clear.
Looking at the sky, it was clear, so clear.
Now it was fine to return to Luoyang.
To our home.