The Beggar Young Master of the Namgung Clan

Namgung Il was currently on his way to the clan head's residence.

A sudden summons from the clan head.

He hadn't heard the reason yet, but Namgung Il had a feeling he knew why he was being called to the clan head's residence.

'That brat, did he end up tattling?'

Yesterday evening, Namgung Il had a very minor incident with Namgung Ji.

He was sure he had warned him once more before letting him go to end what happened here, here.

To think he would break his promise in less than a day. He really should have beaten him more back then.

'Just you wait. Next time, I'll beat you so bad you won't be able to walk back on your own two feet.'

Anyway, that was then, and now, getting through this situation was the priority.

A fight of that magnitude between direct descendants wasn't something that could be simply overlooked.

He didn't know how Namgung Ji's past acts of cruelty had been handled, but it would probably be difficult to dismiss yesterday's incident as a trivial squabble.

'Should I have gone easy yesterday?'

No, even if he went back to that moment, he wouldn't have ended it moderately.

A brat like that needed to be thoroughly crushed when you crush him, so he wouldn't act up in the future.

Namgung Il thought that the reason this mess happened was because he hadn't crushed him thoroughly enough yesterday.

'Well, it'll work out somehow.'

At least, he believed he hadn't done anything wrong.

In that case, there was no need to be scared before even meeting Namgung Cheong, was there?

Namgung Il entered the clan head's residence with confident steps.

"Young Master Namgung Il."

"..."

"I've been waiting for you."

As soon as he entered, a man approached him.

Judging by his attitude towards him, he seemed to be a warrior of the Namgung Clan guarding the clan head's residence.

"Lead the way."

"Pardon?"

"Weren't you waiting to guide me to where the clan head is?"

When Namgung Il asked, the man was speechless for a moment.

It was true that the reason he was waiting for Namgung Il was as he said, but the man was a little surprised inside by the unexpected reaction.

'Something... has changed.'

The Namgung Il the man usually knew always looked scared of something whenever he came to the clan head's residence.

But his current attitude didn't look scared; rather, didn't it look confident?

The man thought that the rumor he had vaguely heard this morning might actually be true.

'Is the rumor that Young Master Namgung Il beat up Young Master Namgung Ji really true?'

That rumor had already spread quite widely throughout the Namgung Clan.

However, most people thought it was just a groundless rumor, and the man was no exception.

After all, everyone had known for a long time that Namgung Il's martial arts skills were terrible.

Unless Namgung Il was reborn, it was absolutely impossible for him to beat up Namgung Ji with those skills.

"..."

However, the man thought that the rumor might actually be true.

Of course, there was no concrete evidence.

He was just thinking that based on his intuition, because he felt that something had changed about the Namgung Il in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, I apologize."

At Namgung Il's voice, the man barely managed to snap out of his thoughts.

"Please follow me."

Guided by the man, Namgung Il entered the clan head's residence.

It was his first time coming here in this body, but the place was quite familiar to Namgung Il.

'This place hasn't changed much.'

In the past, thanks to Namgung Jeongung, Namgung Il had frequented the clan head's residence as if it were his own home.

Even after more than twenty years, the interior didn't feel much different.

Walking down the corridor, Namgung Il found himself reminiscing without realizing it.

"If a house is this big, even the owner would get confused."

"I also got lost when I first came because I wasn't used to the paths."

"You're an idiot. You really got lost in your own house?"

"...You'll soon realize why."

He had had that conversation with Namgung Jeongung when he first came to the Namgung Clan's residence.

And just as he had said, he had really gotten lost while trying to go to the latrine.

Remembering that, a small laugh escaped Namgung Il's lips without him realizing it.

'...He's laughing?'

Of course, the man had no way of knowing why Namgung Il was laughing.

Could it be that he looked confident on the outside because he was so scared he had lost his mind?

As the two walked, each with different thoughts in their minds, they arrived in front of the inner chamber where the clan head was.

"Please enter."

The guidance ended here.

As the man said that and pointed to the door with his hand, Namgung Il walked confidently towards it.

Creak—

Namgung Il opened the door himself and entered. As he did, a rather familiar face came into view right in front of him.

'He's grown a lot since I last saw him.'

Was it around before he reached the age of twenty that he had last seen Namgung Cheong?

Now, Namgung Cheong was sitting there with no trace of his youthful appearance.

'He seems more like a clan head than his own father.'

The face he had seen in the past was still there a little, but the atmosphere was that of a completely different person.

Solemnity and gravity.

Seeing him now, with the smiling face he used to show him completely gone, Namgung Il could truly feel that time had passed.

'And...'

Near Namgung Cheong, there was another familiar face.

Namgung Ji, standing there with a swollen face. And next to him, a middle-aged woman was glaring at him with a displeased face.

'That woman must be Suseonghwa.'

He could tell at a glance.

Hadn't Namgung Ji tattled to his mother about what happened yesterday, and that had created the current situation?

After quickly grasping the situation, Namgung Il slowly walked forward.

Thud—

It was quite awkward to politely greet his friend's son, but his current status was that of Namgung Cheong's son.

Thinking that the family tree was severely twisted, Namgung Il raised his hands and made a fist-and-palm salute.

"Your son, Namgung Il, greets the clan head."

"..."

When an adult greets you, you should answer back!

This disrespectful... no, that wasn't it right now.

Realizing his own position again, Namgung Il maintained his salute.

"...Namgung Il."

His name came out of Namgung Cheong's mouth.

For a voice calling his son, it was a considerably cold tone.

Namgung Il lowered his salute and raised his head.

"I heard you beat your younger brother yesterday for no reason."

"..."

"Is that true?"

For no reason?

He had expected it, but it seemed that many parts had been distorted.

"There's no way our Ji-ah would have been beaten if he had fought fair and square!"

Just then, Suseonghwa suddenly interjected and started shouting.

"He must have used some cowardly trick!"

"..."

"I will uncover every single cowardly trick you used! So don't even think about lying!"

Like mother, like son, as they say.

Namgung Il thought he could roughly understand why Namgung Ji had grown up to be so disrespectful.

'A cowardly trick... Hmm—so that's how he explained it?'

From Namgung Ji's perspective, the fact that he had lost to him must be extremely embarrassing.

If the rumor that he was beaten with a bone spread throughout the Namgung Clan, he probably wouldn't be able to show his face.

Beaten with a bone by the biggest dunce in the Namgung Clan. Namgung Il knew immediately that he had made up that excuse to his mother to prevent such a rumor from spreading.

"...!"

As soon as their eyes met, Namgung Ji hastily averted his gaze.

It seems he at least recognizes that this situation is embarrassing.

To be impressed by just that... he had unintentionally confirmed again how he usually thought of that brat.

"Is being beaten with a bone also cowardly?"

"What?"

"Namgung Ji came into my room first and pulled out a wooden sword, so I just dealt with him with the leftover bone from my dinner."

As the word 'bone' came out of his mouth, Namgung Ji's pupils trembled.

At the same time, Suseonghwa looked back and forth between him and Namgung Ji with a face that said she couldn't understand what was going on.

Soon, with a shrill voice, Suseonghwa started shouting at him again.

"What kind of outrageous statement is that! Hurry up and tell the truth..."

"Be quiet."

It was then.

Namgung Cheong, who had been silent until now, spoke and cut off Suseonghwa's words.

Suseonghwa then spoke to Namgung Cheong as if she had been wronged.

"Do you really believe what he said?"

"I asked the question. So, wife, you should stay quiet."

"But..."

Glare—

Namgung Cheong silently sent out a wordless pressure.

In the end, Suseonghwa had no choice but to shut her mouth at that gaze, and Namgung Cheong looked at Namgung Il again and opened his mouth.

"Tell me in detail."

"..."

Namgung Il told him everything that had happened yesterday in detail.

From when Namgung Ji first entered his room, to the conversations and minor actions that followed.

Anyway, he felt that Namgung Cheong would remain neutral without prejudice, so he told him the truth as it was.

"This is everything."

"..."

"If you don't believe me, let's have me fight Namgung Ji here with a bone."

Flinch—

When Namgung Il said that, Namgung Ji became restless and shook his head.

Namgung Cheong remained silent amidst it all.

Soon, as if he had come to a conclusion, Namgung Cheong opened his mouth.

"I see. Hearing the story, it seems this incident happened under mutual agreement."

"..."

"That's enough. You may go now."

Huh? Is this really the end?

It seemed that the matter had ended more anticlimactically than he had thought, so Namgung Il had a slightly dazed expression.

"Wh-what do you mean!"

Just then, Suseonghwa interjected again, just like before.

"Do you have any complaints about my decision?"

"Look at your son's state! The boy is like this, and you're just going to end it without any punishment?"

"Namgung Il, Namgung Ji. Both are precious sons to me."

"That may be so for you, but not for me!"

"Suseonghwa."

A subtle anger.

When Namgung Cheong called her name in that voice, Suseonghwa swallowed her words.

"Did you think I wouldn't know?"

"...?"

"Il has also been beaten by his other brothers in the name of training. Does telling me to punish Il here mean I should also punish all those past incidents?"

"Th-that's..."

"If you don't want to make things bigger, just stay quiet."

Oh, that's cool.

Looking at Namgung Cheong, Namgung Il was applauding inwardly.

"Kuh..."

In the end, Suseonghwa couldn't refute anything.

She just quietly expressed her frustration by clenching her fists.

Namgung Cheong turned his head back to Namgung Il and said.

"You may go."

"..."

Thud—

At those words, Namgung Il silently made a fist-and-palm salute and bowed his head.

And he turned and walked out of the inner chamber.

From that one brief incident, Namgung Il had learned quite a lot.

'A complicated family.'

It was as if there was an invisible war of nerves.

Of course, some of it was clearly visible. And at the same time, Namgung Il felt even more puzzled about one thing.

'Why did Namgung Cheong let this kid commit suicide?'

Judging by his attitude just now, it didn't seem like he would have let that happen.

At first, he had thought that Namgung Cheong would openly discriminate against him like Suseonghwa, but now that thought had definitely changed.

"..."

He didn't know.

He hadn't lived this life for long, so if he lived a little longer, he would probably find out for sure.

Namgung Il was about to leave the inner chamber but then glanced back.

Tremble— Tremble—

Good things should be seen again.

To Suseonghwa, who was trembling and glaring at him, Namgung Il responded with a calm smile.

(End of Chapter)