The Beggar Young Master of the Namgung Clan

Ak Simin was staring intently at the ornament held in his hand.

"Hmm..."

"..."

"The student council president gave this to you?"

"To be precise, she told me to bring it back to her after three days."

After leaving the student council hall, Namgung Il had immediately gone to see Ak Simin.

Because the only person he could discuss this matter with was Ak Simin.

If he could have figured out Cheon Hong-ryeon's intention, there would have been no need to put their heads together like this, but Namgung Il still had no clue what Cheon Hong-ryeon was up to.

"She said she would give you twenty merit points if you returned this to her after three days?"

"That's right."

"..."

"Do you think that's true?"

Ak Simin's reaction to seeing the ornament was not much different from Namgung Il's.

Although he had a feeling that she was definitely up to something else, Ak Simin also couldn't immediately think of what it was.

"What the student council president said to you is probably true."

"..."

"Although she's a weirdo, I know her as a person who keeps her word."

"It didn't seem that way to me."

When Namgung Il answered like that, Ak Simin tilted his head.

"Did something happen?"

"Yes, a lot of various things happened."

Namgung Il told Ak Simin everything that had happened at the student council hall.

After hearing everything, Ak Simin let out a sigh with a bitter expression.

"I didn't know it was that bad. Thank you. I'll have to be on my guard in advance if I have to go to the student council hall next time."

"How can you say that so calmly? A cute junior almost died because of a mistake."

"It's fine since you're safe. And you're not cute at all."

"I hope a mace flies from the front when you go in next time, senior."

After exchanging such blessings with each other, the two went back to the main topic.

"So, do you have any guesses?"

"..."

"That student council president isn't the type of person who would end it with just returning one ornament, right?"

"That's right."

Ak Simin fully agreed with Namgung Il's opinion.

The mischievous Cheon Hong-ryeon.

Her eccentric personality was very famous within the academy.

As an anecdote, she had dressed in the uniform of another class and had attended classes pretending to be a student of that class, and she had set up traps here and there to catch students not just once or twice, and once she had even set off gunpowder in the academy in the middle of the night.

"I've also been caught in a trap made by the student council president."

"..."

"The traps were quite ingenious, so it wasn't easy to avoid them."

When Ak Simin said that, Namgung Il recalled the device that had sent a dagger flying at him.

If she had the skill to lightly install a device of that level, wouldn't she be able to easily install any kind of trap?

He could fully understand the words that Ak Simin had been helplessly caught in Cheon Hong-ryeon's trap.

"But how did such a person become the student council president?"

Namgung Il couldn't understand that.

For a person who went around playing such pranks without hesitation to be the student council president.

It didn't fit at all with the impression of a student council president that was generally thought of in the world.

"Although she's a person who causes quite a lot of incidents and accidents like you, surprisingly, her reputation around is good."

"...?"

"Besides that, her grades are excellent enough to compete for the top spot, so she's also favored by the teachers."

In the end, is it popularity and grades?

Namgung Il felt that the selection method for the student council president was wrong, even if it was very wrong.

Otherwise, there was no way a person who threw a dagger at one's forehead without a second thought at their first meeting could become the student council president.

Although Namgung Il had such a question in his heart, since nothing would change even if he did, he just kept his mouth shut.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Ak Simin looked down at the ornament held in his hand, and his two eyes widened slightly.

Did he perhaps figure something out?

Namgung Il discovered that reaction and asked Ak Simin with a voice full of slight anticipation.

"Did you figure something out?"

"Now that I see it, this thing."

"..."

"It's what the student council president always wears in her hair."

"...Is that it?"

"That's it."

I'm a fool for expecting something.

Namgung Il let out a deep sigh as if to show Ak Simin.

"You don't have to sigh like that!"

"How can I not sigh now?"

"Still, since we've learned that this ornament is an important item to the student council president, we might be able to find out something more from that, right?"

There was a point in Ak Simin's words.

If it wasn't a precious item to her, she wouldn't always wear it in her hair.

Namgung Il took the ornament from Ak Simin and looked at it closely once more.

"..."

To carve the shape of a dragon so finely like this would be impossible unless one was a considerable craftsman.

A white dragon that felt as if it would fly up to the sky and disappear far away at any moment.

Although he couldn't know the exact value of the ornament, if he were to sell it, it seemed he could get a considerable price.

"Why would she give me that precious thing?"

Namgung Il immediately had that question.

If it was a precious item to her, isn't it a little strange to hand it over to someone else so carelessly like this?

Although she had said she would get it back after three days, not that she was giving it completely, still, it was strange to hand over a precious item to a person she had seen for the first time so readily.

"How would I know the heart of that weirdo?"

"..."

"Still, since she entrusted you with a precious thing, won't she surely keep her promise to you?"

"Hmm..."

Could he think of it that way?

Namgung Il stared at the ornament and said to Ak Simin as if he were indifferent.

"How much would this sell for?"

"Why are you suddenly asking that?"

"..."

"You... you're not thinking of something strange now, are you?"

"Hey—no way. I just asked because I was curious."

Why didn't he believe those words?

Ak Simin was worried about three days later in a different sense.

* * *

Namgung Il was lying on his bed, staring at the ornament in his hand.

'This... the more I look at it, the more I feel like I've seen it somewhere.'

It might have been just his own illusion.

Because recently, whenever he was alone, he had always been staring at this ornament.

Although he had been looking at it continuously to find out what secret was in it, in the end, Namgung Il had not been able to find out anything.

'...That's it, it's tomorrow anyway, so there's no point in thinking about it anymore.'

The day he had promised with Cheon Hong-ryeon was tomorrow.

Namgung Il was planning to wake up early in the morning and return the ornament to Cheon Hong-ryeon.

Although he hadn't figured out what she was up to, if he returned it early before she could do anything, it wouldn't really matter, right?

Since the time to return it was not specifically set, it would be fine to return it as soon as the sun rose.

'Tomorrow is a day with no classes for a change. Should I go out to the city after returning this?'

Namgung Il had not yet been to his own tavern in Luoyang even once.

Although the tavern would be running well on its own even if he didn't go, still, since he was the owner, shouldn't he show his face at least once?

It seemed he could spend the holiday pleasantly if he stopped by the tavern for an inspection and had a drink after a long time.

"Jong Seo-eon."

"Yes?"

"Wake me up earlier than usual tomorrow."

"Uh... do you have a class tomorrow morning?"

"No."

Then why was he asking him to wake him up early?

Although Jong Seo-eon couldn't know the reason, he just nodded.

"I understand."

Hearing the answer, Namgung Il covered himself with the blanket and went to bed.

How much time had passed like that?

A man entered the room, carefully opening the door.

"..."

The man walked carefully into the dark interior.

The place where the man stopped was right next to the bed where Namgung Il was lying.

As if to check the face of the sleeping Namgung Il, the man stood still and stared down.

Swoosh—

As if he had finished checking, the man held out his right hand towards Namgung Il.

The right hand that was getting closer and closer to Namgung Il's face.

Just then, something snatched the man's right hand in the middle.

"...!"

As his right hand was suddenly grabbed and pulled strongly, the man lost his balance and fell forward.

With a single scream, his face was buried in the bed.

Namgung Il was now on the man's back, pressing down on his body and completely restraining him.

"Who are you?"

"W-wait...!"

"Who are you to crawl into my room like a rat in the middle of the night?"

From the moment the door had opened, Namgung Il had noticed the man's presence.

Because his qi sense was always on alert around him even while he was sleeping, to the point where he had told Jong Seo-eon to wake him up by hitting his forehead.

No matter how deep a sleep he was in, he could usually notice any strange occurrences in the room.

"Captain...? Is something wrong?"

Just then, Jong Seo-eon woke up from the commotion and muttered.

Namgung Il, who was still restraining the man, said to Jong Seo-eon, who was still not fully awake.

"Jong Seo-eon, light the lamp right now."

"Yes...?"

"Get a hold of yourself and hurry."

"Ah, I understand!"

Realizing that the situation was somewhat urgent, Jong Seo-eon hurriedly lit the lamp in the room.

Fwoosh—

When the light was lit, the interior was finally properly visible.

Namgung Il took the lamp from Jong Seo-eon and shone it on the face of the man he was now restraining.

"...?"

As soon as he checked the face, a question couldn't help but appear in Namgung Il's two eyes.

"Jeong Hyeon-yeong? Why are you here?"

"L-let me go!"

"Not until you answer my question."

Namgung Il said and restrained Jeong Hyeon-yeong's body even more strongly.

And so, a single scream came out of Jeong Hyeon-yeong's mouth.

Namgung Il asked Jeong Hyeon-yeong again in that state.

"What were you trying to do, sneaking in while I was asleep?"

"I think you're misunderstanding something, I was just trying to wake you up!"

"By sneaking into my room in the middle of the night like this?"

"Since it's the middle of the night, I was trying to wake you up quietly! I admit it's a situation that can't help but be misunderstood, but it's definitely not like that, so please let me go and let's talk!"

"..."

Namgung Il let go of the arm he was holding and got off him.

And so, Jeong Hyeon-yeong, who had barely become a free body.

As if he still felt pain in the arm that Namgung Il had twisted, Jeong Hyeon-yeong let out a groan and rubbed that part with his hand.

"Where on earth did you learn such a restraining technique? If I had made a mistake, my bones would have been broken..."

"Never mind that. Why on earth did you come here in the middle of the night?"

A sense of vigilance was still felt in Namgung Il's tone.

Well, it couldn't be helped if one were to sneak into a room in the middle of the night like this.

Jeong Hyeon-yeong sighed and put his hand in his clothes.

"I'll have to show you this first and then talk."

"...?"

Jeong Hyeon-yeong said and held out a piece of paper to Namgung Il.

"What is this?"

"Don't be so wary and just read it first. Then you'll know the reason why I came to see you in the middle of the night like this."

"..."

Namgung Il silently took the paper that Jeong Hyeon-yeong was holding out. And he began to read the characters written on it, shining the lamp he was holding in his other hand.

"...?"

The moment he read the text, a question appeared in Namgung Il's two eyes.

Namgung Il was momentarily at a loss as to how on earth he should accept the content written on this paper.

'What... on earth is this?'

Although the text was quite long on the paper, to summarize it simply, it could be said in one word.

A wanted poster.

Seeing his own name designated as the target, Namgung Il was at a loss for words for a moment.

(End of Chapter)