The highest floor of the main building in the Divine Sword Do Clan's main estate was a space prepared for the Family Head.
“Hmm.”
The Family Head, Do Yeik, was there.
Despite standing at the pinnacle of all warriors, he never neglected his own training, and even on the day a banquet was to be held, he did not skip his regimen.
After swinging his sword for a round, he washed his sweat-soaked body.
And then….
“Refreshing.”
With a wet towel draped over his head and only a towel wrapped around his waist, Do Yeik entered the sauna.
Huu.
He spent that time in a heat that ordinary people could not endure, without even controlling his mana.
Although sweat flowed endlessly, not even the slightest disturbance could be seen in his breathing.
In that state….
“It seems everyone has gathered.”
Without spreading a sensing net, Do Yeik expanded his physical senses and grasped the whereabouts of the direct descendants in the main building.
For him, detecting the presence of those who handled mana and had trained with swords since childhood—unlike ordinary people—was not a difficult task.
Soon, he reined in his senses.
“Since everyone seems to have gathered, I should start preparing as well.”
The banquet would soon begin.
His children had come to visit despite their busy schedules; as the Family Head, he could not afford to be late to the clan’s annual event.
Just then, the chief secretary came to see him.
“Family Head, the banquet is scheduled to begin soon.”
“Yes, I know. I am coming out now.”
The chief secretary conveyed the message from outside the door.
Do Yeik gripped the towel on his head and rose from his seat.
When the door opened, the heat and steam trapped inside the sauna leaked out.
“We shall assist you with your preparations.”
“My thanks.”
Without minding that heat in the least.
The chief secretary, wearing fogged glasses, gestured to the servants behind him.
The servants approached Do Yeik and attended to him.
Do Yeik received the clothes they handed him and draped them over his body.
As he did so, he asked the chief secretary.
“Now that all my children have gathered in one place, has any issue arisen?”
“There was no particular issue significant enough for the Family Head to concern himself with.”
“Is that so.”
“However….”
The chief secretary paused briefly.
Do Yeik sent him a silent gaze.
Soon, the chief secretary continued.
“I have been told that two of your sons were engaged in a conspicuous quarrel.”
“A quarrel? Nothing serious, then. So, who fought with whom?”
“It was Sub-Lord Do Beomjun and Branch Head Do Sangjun.”
“Sangjun?”
“Yes, Family Head.”
“Hmm….”
His fifth son, Do Sangjun.
A pitiful child who had inherited the blood of a renowned family, yet foolishly formed a household with an ordinary, talentless person.
Do Yeik could not help but find it unexpected upon hearing Do Sangjun’s name.
Because after marrying against the clan’s opposition, Do Sangjun had lived knowing his place and keeping himself humble.
The fact that such a person had started a fight inevitably piqued his interest.
“It seems the quarrel reignited over the previous matter in which the two had clashed.”
“That matter.”
Soon, Do Yeik understood.
As Family Head, there was no way he would not know of the disputes occurring within the clan.
He recalled the incident not long ago when Do Beomjun and Do Sangjun had clashed over a matter concerning their children.
“So even that fellow, who tried to live quietly and unobtrusively, shows such a side when his child is involved. So, what happened?”
“The thing is….”
Even if Do Sangjun bared his teeth, he could not match Do Beomjun’s influence.
Do Yeik asked while anticipating the answer.
But the answer that came out of the chief secretary’s mouth was completely different from his expectation.
“Coincidentally, Young Master Do Seungu and Young Master Do Gyeonu ended up sparring at that time, causing matters to flow toward the parties resolving the issue themselves.”
“….”
“Sub-Lord Do Beomjun escalated the situation and took everyone present to watch the two young masters’ spar.”
“Huh, how did it come to that?”
It was a completely unexpected turn of events.
Do Yeik clicked his tongue.
“Sangjun will be thoroughly humiliated.”
Judging by the flow of events.
It was likely a scheme orchestrated by Do Beomjun and Do Seungu to embarrass Do Sangjun and Do Gyeonu.
Do Sangjun had fallen into a trap.
Do Yeik decided to lose interest in the obvious outcome.
Had the chief secretary not spoken immediately after.
“However, I was told that Young Master Do Gyeonu was the one who proposed the spar first.”
“What?”
“Young Master Do Gyeonu challenged him to a spar.”
“….”
“He went straight up to Young Master Do Seungu and….”
Do Gyeonu proposed the spar.
Do Yeik could not help but doubt his ears upon hearing the chief secretary’s words.
“That child… did that?”
“Yes, it is certain.”
Rabbit, Do Gyeonu.
A grandson who was once called a prodigy in the clan, but came to be scorned due to his weak and timid nature.
Do Yeik could not believe that he had challenged Do Seungu to a spar.
‘What is he thinking?’
Do Yeik fell into thought.
Thought soon led to curiosity.
“If I go now, will I be able to see it?”
“Perhaps by the time the Family Head arrives, it will already be over.”
“Then I must go see the result.”
The outcome was easy enough to guess.
But he could not help but be curious as to what exactly Do Gyeonu was relying on to challenge Do Seungu.
Soon, Do Yeik moved his steps.
* * *
Any existence inevitably reveals a gap the moment it attacks.
That moment is precisely the moment of the hunt.
I aimed for that moment….
“Sleep well. You were nothing special.”
I struck at Do Seungu’s opening.
The Suwang-ryu Defense Form, Second Form, basically required defending with force equal to or greater than the opponent’s attack, so if one could not properly gauge the opponent’s skill, it could not be used efficiently.
However, I was able to compensate for the weakness with the effect of Evasion Instinct.
The Evasion Instinct had adjusted the distribution of power for me.
[Skill level has increased.]
[Instinct Control Lv 1 → 2]
Instinct Control’s level had risen.
I brushed aside the message that appeared and looked down at Do Seungu.
Do Seungu had collapsed face-down on the ground.
In a way, he looked stuck to it.
“I didn’t intend to end it like this….”
Looking at Do Seungu lying spread-eagle, I smacked my lips in regret.
‘I can’t say I hadn’t considered pretending it was a mistake and cutting off an arm or something…’
But no matter what, I couldn’t do that.
It was beyond what I could handle.
Even if the Divine Sword Do Clan emphasized competition, it wasn’t a clan so mad for competition that it would incite internal strife or, above all, disregard human life.
‘So instead, I was planning to drag it out and toy with him, damn it.’
I ended up misjudging my strength.
Of all things, it was because I got emotionally worked up in the middle of it.
“Can’t ask him for a rematch? Should I suggest we go again when he wakes up?”
Do Seungu’s triumphant face overlapped with the face of the bastard who used to torment me in the past.
Seeing that face made me angry.
So before I knew it, too much strength went into the hand gripping my sword.
The result was this mess.
“Not getting up?”
I prodded the bastard collapsed on the ground with the tip of my foot.
He didn’t even twitch.
Then I suddenly got scared.
‘…Isn’t he dead, by any chance?’
I had struck him with the back of my blade, but that didn’t mean I could rest easy.
If hit wrongly, a person can really die.
Moreover, this was my first time knocking someone unconscious with the back of a blade.
So inevitably, I was frightened.
“Hey, get up. Get up, hurry.”
I tapped the bastard’s body with my sword.
When he still didn’t regain consciousness, I slapped his cheeks a few times.
“Hey, don’t play dead.”
Slap!
“Get up, hurry.”
Slap!
“Don’t make me a murderer.”
Slap!
“Seungu? Won’t you get up?”
Slap!
“Ugh….”
Oh, there’s a reaction.
When Do Seungu’s both cheeks turned red, the bastard furrowed his brow.
Only then could I feel relieved.
It was only then that I realized I only needed to check if he was breathing for it to be settled.
In my momentary loss of composure, I had forgotten an extremely obvious fact.
It was then.
“Huh?”
Having grabbed his nape to half-raise him, I soon realized something was flowing out from the bastard’s lower body.
It was piss.
His lower body was soaked enough for anyone to tell he had wet himself, and a puddle was spreading on the floor.
Since the sparring hall floor wasn’t dirt, the pale yellow hue showed clearly.
“Ah, he pissed himself….”
Oops, did I say that too loudly?
I belatedly gauged the reactions of the people watching the spar.
“….”
The people had their mouths open.
While it was Do Seungu who had fainted, been slapped, and pissed himself, they looked out of it as if they themselves had been struck.
I giggled upon seeing them.
‘Seems everyone saw it.’
Well, with a puddle this big, there was no way they couldn’t see it.
There was no need for me to announce it; people were already seeing everything.
“Ugh, gross.”
Soon, I stepped back.
Do Seungu’s piss had already spread to my feet.
‘…With this, I probably can’t ask for a rematch.’
At any rate, I had confirmed Do Seungu’s survival.
I let go of the bastard’s nape and decided to return to Yeeun.
Right then.
“Haha! Perhaps the spar is already over, and there is nothing to see?”
“….”
“Regardless of who won or lost, as adults, let us encourage them both.”
Suddenly, the training hall doors burst open, and adults streamed in.
Among them, I could see Father and Mother.
‘What is going on?’
I took in the sight of them approaching and tilted my head.
“Seungu, well done. Gyeonu, you too, don’t take losing to heart…?”
Soon, as they approached the sparring hall and laid eyes on me and Do Seungu.
“S-Seungu!”
“…!”
The eyes of my third great-uncle, who had been leading the people at the very front, widened, and he let out an extremely surprised cry.
His face also twisted severely.
‘Ah, so that’s what this was.’
Having grasped the situation, I let go of Do Seungu’s nape.
The bastard collapsed with a thud once more.
* * *
As for what happened after that….
It was utter chaos.
“What the hell did you do to make my child end up like that!?”
“….”
Do Seungu’s father, Do Beomjun.
My third great-uncle, who usually put on airs at the slightest opportunity, went ballistic with his face flushed red.
And then he tried however he could to hound me and cover up the situation.
He was trying to pin a cowardly trick on me and invalidate the spar.
“Hyung, what the hell are you doing to a child right now! Have you lost your mind!? You’re the one who said not to intervene regardless of the spar’s outcome! Don’t you remember!?”
“Get out of the way! Do Sangjun!”
Naturally, Father stepped in physically to prevent my third great-uncle from threatening or approaching me.
It was only natural that a scuffle broke out between them.
“Ah, please calm down!?”
“You getting out of the way or not!?”
“All the kids watching said it was a fair spar!”
“Keuk…! What do those young kids know, and you’re telling me to believe them!?”
They weren’t using their fists, but the two of them pushed and pulled at each other until they finally ended up rolling on the floor.
‘…It’s a total free-for-all.’
I could only watch the scene silently.
There was no way I could intervene in a fight between fathers.
Meanwhile.
A fight broke out elsewhere as well.
“Fine, let’s say the spar was fair! But how dare you hit the child even after the spar ended! Can’t you see how swollen his cheeks are!? That bastard is a complete thug, isn’t he!?”
“What? What did you say? Hyungnim, say that again right now. Did you just call my son a bastard? A thug?”
“Don’t hit my mom!”
My mother and Do Seungu’s mother.
The mothers had started fighting too.
Both of them argued with their eyes wide open, as if neither would back down.
Then, when Mother got her hair grabbed, Yeeun joined in too.
‘Our mom is terrifying….’
It was nothing but unfamiliar to see Mother shouting with a face driven to the extreme.
I hadn’t known Mother, who used to bow her head and grovel to others when in the main house, could show such a side.
That aside….
“Hey! Do Beomjun! You think being the hyung makes you everything!?”
“You bastard, what did you just say!?”
“Yeah! I said a thug bastard! With a child born from some lowly thing, it’s no wonder he’s so rotten….”
“What about your son’s rudeness? The kid must take after you, because I’ve wanted to punch him every time I saw him since long ago? It’s okay, Gyeonu! You hit him good!”
It was a complete mess.
There was no mess quite like it.
It was so chaotic that one couldn’t tell if this was a renowned swordsmanship family or a swordsmanship market.
‘How do I stop this situation?’
The clan members seemed to have no intention of stopping the situation.
Rather, they seemed to be enjoying it.
Looked like I couldn’t expect any help.
I let out a sigh.
It was right then.
“What are you all doing right now!”
A roar erupted, enough to suddenly fill the training hall.
The voice, imbued with mana, contained a power that seemed to intimidate people.
“….”
After the roar ceased.
Everyone fell silent.
They all turned their heads toward the direction of the sound as if they had made a promise.
I was no different.
“There is nothing more unsightly.”
“….”
A tall old man was walking over.
The Family Head of the Divine Sword Do Clan—Grandfather.
‘Why is Grandfather here?’
It wasn’t just me having that thought; probably everyone present was thinking it.
But Grandfather didn’t seem to have any intention of answering our questions.
As soon as Grandfather approached us, he frowned openly.
“A complete mess, nothing but a mess. And you call yourselves people of a renowned family? I am ashamed to even watch.”
I became the childhood friend of the mid-boss.