〈Chapter 215〉 Harbinger. (1)
Harbinger. (1)
“You’ve caused quite a lot of trouble.”
I swallowed dryly at my father’s cold words.
Though his tone was flat, unmistakable anger seeped through.
Since it was rare for my father to show his emotions so openly, I knew how serious this was.
‘I’m screwed.’
The karmic debts I thought I’d settle after returning had piled up higher and higher.
And now, they had all exploded at once.
So it wasn’t about blaming anyone—it was all my karma, no matter how I put it.
“…A jailbreak.”
I flinched.
My shoulders trembled involuntarily at the word coming from my father’s lips.
“A bloodline member of the Gu Clan, breaking out of his own clan’s prison?”
“…That’s—”
“Before that.”
Father cut off my words as I tried to explain and make excuses about the Heavenly Road Pearl.
And his gaze turned toward me.
[…He’s terrifying. Now that I look, you really do resemble him more.]
I thought so too.
It wasn’t his usual stoic expression—his eyes looked at me with raw emotion.
They looked fiercer than I could have imagined.
“You killed First Elder?”
…Yes.
I didn’t offer a single excuse.
Because I had actually done it.
“I heard you killed First Elder in the name of the bloodline.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Do you understand what this means?”
“…I understand.”
“Then why did you do it?”
Though I could feel the anger contained within—
Father neither raised his voice nor shouted at me.
He simply asked if I knew, and if so, why.
He was demanding an explanation from me.
His red eyes were fixed solely on me.
As if to say there would be no escaping this if I didn’t give a proper answer.
‘Hoo.’
I hadn’t planned on running away anyway.
I took a brief breath and then explained to Father.
Why I killed First Elder.
And why I broke out of prison.
Ah, and I spoke about the Heavenly Road Pearl without omitting anything.
Especially this part—I explained it in very fine detail.
It wasn’t that long a story.
And it certainly wasn’t a story that needed embellishment.
“…”
After the story ended.
Father, having heard the explanation, said nothing and simply fell into silent thought.
What had changed—
was that his anger had lessened somewhat.
And his raised eyes had returned to their original state.
That alone was a huge change for me.
Father, who had been keeping his silence, opened his mouth again with a shallow sigh.
“Answer clearly. There must be no lies.”
“Yes…”
“The secret manuscript at First Elder’s residence. Is it true?”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“Then how is it that you know of it?”
At these words, I looked into Father’s eyes and realized something.
‘He’s looking for justification.’
Father was searching for the justification—that I had no choice but to do what I did.
Rather than doubting whether my words were true—
wasn’t he looking for evidence that I had no other choice?
‘But how do I explain that?’
I had acted first and thought later, but—
there was no way to explain it other than that I knew through memories of my past life.
But I couldn’t exactly offer that as an explanation.
When I couldn’t provide any answer—
Father averted his gaze from me and moved on.
The moment he realized it was something I couldn’t answer, he cut that line of conversation short.
“As for the second matter, you’ve rendered great service, so it may be something that can be overlooked.”
This referred to finding Gu Huibi’s location through the Heavenly Road Pearl.
And breaking out of prison to rescue her.
Father seemed to be telling me this was something that could somehow be overlooked, but—
“However.”
Of course, not everything could be overlooked.
“Even if what you say is true and the secret manuscript is found. Even if there were circumstances, passing judgment on First Elder on your own is far beyond the rules. Do you understand?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“I want you to realize that you do not yet have the power to do such things.”
Not yet.
Because I understood the meaning contained in those words, it didn’t sit well with me.
No matter what I did, it was no different from saying I would eventually succeed as Young Patriarch.
“An Elder Council will be convened over this matter.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly at Father’s words.
It meant an Elder Council that hadn’t convened in several years would open because of this.
Well, it was bound to happen since First Elder died by my hands.
Ah, by the way, the last Elder Council was also convened because of me.
Was it when I acted like a madman toward Paeng Ahee and broke off the engagement?
‘Looking at it this way, I really am a troublemaker, huh?’
Maybe it was because even after regressing, I had caused no small amount of trouble.
I felt a slight sense of self-loathing rising.
‘Did I regress just for this…?’
Of course, I shook it off after a few grumbles.
“Know this. Second Elder will not be attending this Elder Council.”
“…!”
“And I will not take your side either. That means you will have no one firmly on your side.”
‘This is a bit serious.’
I knew well from my past life that Third Elder and Fourth Elder didn’t look favorably upon me.
Moreover, since I had done that to First Elder—
it didn’t seem like a favorable situation would unfold.
‘But, Second Elder being excluded…’
Was this Father’s order?
Removing an elder from the Elder Council—what kind of damn nonsense was this?
As I made a displeased expression, Father added a word.
“I believe it is time for you to take responsibility for your actions.”
The words of a parent that struck true, piercing through the karma of the past.
Were still heavy.
Even if our relationship was somewhat strained.
“I understand.”
I hid my sigh and answered with effort.
Not only was there nothing to refute—
those words about taking responsibility weren’t just directed at me.
They were also words Father was directing at himself.
In the slightly quietened atmosphere—
Father shifted his gaze back to the letter and spoke quietly to me.
“The fate of Gu Seonmun and the punishment to be given to you will be decided after the Elder Council.”
“ ”
“In the meantime, I hope you will stay put.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
At least until the Elder Council ended and matters were settled.
In short, he was telling me to stay put.
‘As if trouble would explode again during that time.’
Even if it did, I had to stay still.
If I caused anything else to explode right now, there really would be no answer.
I probably wouldn’t die at Father’s hands, but wouldn’t all my hair get burned off?
[But it seems you won’t get hit either way.]
‘Right.’
Even in my past life, no matter what trouble I caused—
Father had never laid a hand on me in punishment.
I probably wouldn’t get hit this time either, but—
‘…I can’t let my hair burn.’
I’d rather just be hit.
But that wasn’t an option.
And Gu Seonmun, having lost its sect leader—
its sole successor, Gu Jeolyeop, was still young.
Second Elder, who was first in the line of succession, was not a Sword Master, so it would probably pass to another person.
Or Father could manage it simultaneously until Gu Jeolyeop, who held the position of Young Sect Leader, was ready.
‘That Jeolyeop brat…’
It was a name I couldn’t help but worry about.
Because I hadn’t seen him once since sending him to the infirmary.
‘Though I don’t think it’s a situation where I can visit him.’
Once matters related to the secret manuscript at First Elder’s residence were settled.
I would have to see him after that.
Because I couldn’t just leave him be like this.
As I was swallowing such bitter feelings and soothing myself—
Father suddenly spat out a bizarre topic while looking at me.
“I heard you earned an epithet. The True Dragon, was it?”
“Excuse me?”
I stupidly answered without thinking because he suddenly brought up such a nonsensical epithet.
Why was he suddenly bringing that up?
Besides, it sounded incredibly lame every time I heard it.
True Dragon, what the hell is a True Dragon?
I hadn’t known before, but now that I had an epithet with the word Dragon in it—
it felt like an epithet too grandiose for a late-stage prodigy.
It actually made me feel like a real snake among snakes rather than a dragon.
“Not bad.”
“…What?”
I was stunned by Father’s words in that moment.
What did he just say?
“Well done.”
The way he spoke with a slight nod of his head—
it really seemed like praise.
Watching that, it wasn’t just extremely awkward—
it made me feel queasy.
‘Why is he acting like that. Did he get hurt fighting the Palace Lord?’
No, I saw him beat the hell out of her rather than getting hurt.
Or maybe he heard something wrong.
Setting that aside, I asked Father.
“…If you have nothing else to say, may I ask you something?”
As I rubbed my full belly with my hand, Father looked at me.
“It seems you have business with the Moyong Clan—what is it?”
“Moyong… ah.”
I had clearly exchanged brief words with an elder of the Moyong Clan just moments ago.
It was a reaction of having forgotten already.
“It’s business.”
“…Of course it’s business. Naturally.”
As if anyone would ask because they didn’t know that.
“It’s something you don’t particularly need to know.”
I immediately gave up at Father’s words.
Because I knew that if he spoke like that, he would never tell me more.
[Isn’t giving up too fast?]
‘This is when the experience of my past life helps.’
[What a useless kind of help…]
Swish—
“If you have nothing more to ask, take your leave.”
Hearing Father’s dismissal, I immediately turned and walked out of the master’s quarters.
When I quietly came out like that—
the sun was gradually setting.
‘It seems they won’t throw me back in prison.’
This was surely because Father had returned to the clan.
Honestly, going back to prison didn’t seem so bad.
‘If I go back now, hell awaits.’
If the first hell was facing Father—
an even more grueling schedule awaited as the second hell.
It was to the point where crawling back into prison would be better.
“Welcome, Young Master. You’ve worked hard.”
Setting foot in quarters I hadn’t visited in I didn’t know how long—
Hongwa was the first to greet me.
‘…Hmm. I’m in trouble.’
The problem started right here.
The fact that it was Hongwa who came first, and not someone else, said everything.
The fact that someone who would normally come running and embrace me wasn’t visible.
Cold sweat was already trickling down.
Hiding my panic, I cautiously asked Hongwa.
“The kids?”
“…”
At my question, Hongwa flinched, and I could see her eyes tremble slightly.
At that sight, I smiled bitterly and nodded.
‘I’m fucked.’
I realized from Hongwa’s reaction that I was screwed.
“Miss Namgung has arrived and retired to her room. She seemed tired.”
“Is that room by any chance my room?”
“Yes.”
Why are you answering as if that’s obvious?
Why is it obvious that she’s sleeping in my room…?
“Miss Dang said she has business in Hyeon.”
“…Is that a small mercy?”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s nothing.”
Dang Soyeol having business in Hyeon—
a bloodline member of Sichuan having an appointment in Shanxi was merely curious, but—
right now, I didn’t care about such things.
“What about Wi Seola?”
It was the first time.
That I had called her Wi Seola directly from my own mouth.
It was something that probably hadn’t happened even in my past life.
Because I had always called her by epithets like the Little Sword Saint or the Divine Sword.
“Ah, Seola is…”
Hongwa hesitated for a moment.
Fortunately, she told me about Wi Seola.
“—Seola should be at the back mountain.”
My steps were already heading toward the mountain.
The sun would be setting soon—why had Wi Seola gone to the mountain?
She had even heard that I had arrived.
[Isn’t it obvious? She doesn’t want to see your face.]
Noya spoke as if confirming the guess I had intuitively felt the moment I heard.
I found myself gnawing at my lips without realizing it.
Why did my chest feel so suffocated over something like this?
It was an emotion I felt all too often, yet it was always a heavy burden.
I climbed the mountain having only heard she was at the back mountain.
But I somehow vaguely knew where Wi Seola would be.
I couldn’t sense her presence.
Wi Seola’s presence had always been faint, so even at her peak, she was difficult to find.
Wi Seola would be where the sunset was most visible.
If my guess was right.
It could be a cliff.
Or it could be a mountain peak, but—
on the back mountain of the Gu Estate, there was only one such place.
Sure enough.
On the hill where the sunset was slowly sinking—
a figure came into view.
Shhk-shhik!
Along with the sound of wind being cut, a wooden sword was dancing in the air.
At a glance, it seemed like swordsmanship.
But from a martial artist’s perspective, it was a crude sword trajectory without a single proper form.
Could you even call it a sword trajectory?
‘So she did learn the sword.’
To think she really was swinging a wooden sword.
Tok-.
Was it because I had revealed my presence?
The movements that had been ceaseless stopped, and her gaze turned this way.
‘Huh?’
Of course, the one there was Wi Seola.
And of course, the one looking at me was also Wi Seola, but—
for some reason, looking at her made me feel like my breath was stopping.
‘Why?’
Wi Seola’s hair was black with a faint brown tint.
The shining blonde hair I had seen in my past life was gone.
And the eyes looking at me were black like obsidian, not gold.
Why was I recalling the past rather than the present as I looked at Wi Seola?
Was it because her black hair, tinged with sunset light, looked a bit bright?
Yes, that must be why I was having this delusion.
“Uh, hello?”
I cautiously greeted Wi Seola.
Waving my hand slightly.
Even I could tell it was quite a pathetic greeting.
But no other greeting came to mind.
“Yes…”
Fortunately, Wi Seola answered.
Her voice seemed much lower than usual.
But at least she had responded.
“It’s been a while.”
“It has. Before, I was just a bit hurried…”
Fortunately, she didn’t seem too upset.
I tried to casually offer the excuse I had prepared.
“Young Master Gu.”
“…I was in the middle of speaking… what?”
I had to stop mid-sentence and look at Wi Seola.