The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 55

Chapter 55. A First-Rate Warrior Who Startled the Divine Sword (3)

The cleanup after the battle proceeded swiftly.

Even though they were saddened by the loss of their comrades, they did not show themselves wavering. Seeing them, I was quietly impressed.

‘This must be what divides prestigious clans from the rest.’

The procession headed toward the Namgung Clan once more, but the three of us at the very front had fallen into a markedly different atmosphere from when we had first entered Mount Gueom.

Namgung San and Namgung Seon-hwa were weighed down by a deep heaviness, and since I knew well where that heaviness began, I accepted the mood and kept my mouth shut.

“Hm? Why has Father come out?”

When we reached the Namgung Clan, Namgung Jin-myeong was waiting outside with the clan’s warriors.

The people lined up to visit the Namgung Clan all had curious expressions, wondering who in the world the Young Clan Head of the Namgung Clan was personally waiting to greet.

“What? Someone the Clan Head came out to greet personally?”

“It seems to be Young Master San and Lady Seon-hwa.”

“Look closely. The person the Clan Head is heading toward is someone else.”

At that moment, Namgung Jin-myeong looked at me and raised his hand high.

“You’re finally here! Welcome!”

Though he must have heard about what had happened on Mount Gueom, Namgung Jin-myeong gave no sign of it and simply laughed heartily as he patted my back.

“Do you know how eagerly I have waited since I heard you had set out?”

“I apologize for being late.”

“No! No! Rather, I should blame my children for failing to provide you a comfortable journey.”

Namgung Jin-myeong glared at Namgung San.

“I heard the story. If not for Young Master Jin, you could have suffered something serious, yes?”

“I apologize.”

“Tsk tsk!”

At Namgung Jin-myeong’s attitude, I had to work hard to hide my surprise.

Right now, at the entrance, there were not only us, but dozens of people waiting to visit the Namgung Clan.

And in front of those people, he was openly scolding his child.

“Now, now, let us go in. And I am truly sorry, but there is a clan meeting for a short while, so would you wait in the detached pavilion?”

Since I knew they needed to discuss something because of the incident on Mount Gueom, I nodded.

“Please take your time. I also need to unpack.”

***

After parting with Namgung San’s group, on the road to the detached pavilion under a Maidservant’s guidance, there were five training grounds, each three times larger than the training ground that existed in the Taeul Sect.

And on those training grounds, countless martial artists stood densely packed, training in martial arts.

“““Haat!”””

When they thrust their fists and shouted in unison, the air burst apart, and it felt as if the entire training ground was shaking.

It was only a single move, but it was a scene that displayed the Namgung Clan’s power.

I strongly felt that this was indeed a great clan worthy of having influence under heaven.

And in a clan like this, the battle with enemies inside was bound to be fiercer than the battle with enemies outside.

‘If one could possess a clan like this, anyone would have no choice but to desire it.’

All martial sects were suffering similar difficulties to the Namgung Clan. The Namgung Clan was merely a little earlier than the others in waging a fierce internal power struggle.

“This is the place.”

The lodging the Maidservant guided me to was a small pavilion with a quiet atmosphere, attached to a modest pond.

Though it was small, it did not feel shabby. Rather, the pavilion itself had an antique beauty that seemed anything but ordinary.

Even if the scale was not large, a private pavilion was still a private pavilion.

Among the warriors wandering the Murim, there were countless people who said they would have no further wish if they could visit the Namgung Clan and be assigned a private pavilion.

After all, being given a private pavilion was no different from saying the Namgung Clan already considered one an honored guest.

‘At this level, I’m being treated well enough that others would envy me.’

When I entered the pavilion, Maidservants suddenly came rushing in.

Then, without warning, they grabbed my hands and feet and tried to drag me to one side.

“Wh-What are you doing right now?!”

“Before you meet the Clan Head this evening, a bath comes first.”

I unfolded Lotus lightly and gently slipped free of their hands.

The Maidservants looked a little startled when they saw their hands slip away as though oil had been applied to them.

“If it is a bath, I will do it alone!”

I had suffered all the humiliation there was to suffer at the Clear Bright Escort Agency. There was no way I could repeat the same humiliation twice.

“…….”

The Maidservants watched one another’s expressions, then tried to edge closer again.

“Ehem! Stop! If you come any closer, I won’t wash.”

“……Understood. We will guide you.”

When we crossed the pond and entered through a door on one side of the pavilion, a bath barrel with hot steam rising from it had been placed there.

When I stared at the Maidservants who did not leave from in front of the bath barrel, the Maidservants looked at one another and stood there blankly.

“We will assist you with your bath.”

“I’m not a child. I can do it by myself.”

“Still…….”

“I have clearly said it. If you wish for me to stand before the Clan Head looking filthy and smelling foul, then remain here.”

“Understood. Please call us anytime if there is anything you need.”

The Maidservants lined up the bathing tools to one side and all left. As I took off my clothes, I shook my head.

“Do they have no hands and feet, or do they not know shame?”

I soaked my body in the large bath and washed away all the dust and blood I had been covered with during the battle.

When I finished bathing and came out, clothes made of black silk with silver-thread patterns embroidered on them had been prepared.

“Because of that damned Black Flame Dragon sobriquet, I’m going to end up wearing black every time.”

Still, it was not bad.

If I wore a black martial arts uniform, dirt did not show much, and even being covered in blood did not feel as repulsive.

Especially because subtle silver patterns had been worked into it like this, I even looked somewhat like an extraordinary person.

Just as I looked at the clothes reflected in the bronze mirror, the door opened with a rattle, and the Maidservants rushed in.

“I…… I clearly…….”

“We will assist with the next step.”

Then they grabbed my hair, brushed it, and even applied face powder.

This time, resistance was useless.

“Please do not lie down so the powder and hair oil do not get ruined.”

“……I will sit.”

“If you sit, your hem will crease.”

“……You are not telling me to stand, are you?”

“…….”

“……You are not telling me to stand, are you?”

Even though I repeated the question, the Maidservant gave no answer.

“…….”

Who was the bastard who said he would have no further wish if he ever received an invitation from one of the Five Great Clans?!

***

Left with no other choice but to stand, I was looking at the pond outside the detached pavilion.

As I watched the carp swim freely and wondered how much those bastards might be worth, a Maidservant came trotting over and offered tea.

Thinking she had simply prepared it for me, I put the tea to my lips, but the taste was extraordinary.

“The taste is…… excellent.”

“It is Junshan Silver Needle, the tea the Clan Head cherishes most.”

“Pfft!”

Startled, I spat out the tea water in my mouth.

And the thought that immediately came to me was that it was a waste to have spilled the expensive Junshan Silver Needle. It seemed the habits of poverty carved into the body did not disappear easily, even while one had promissory notes worth tens of thousands of taels.

“J-Junshan…… Silver Needle, you say?”

It was a precious tea whose name had been known since the Tang dynasty and which, in the Qing dynasty, had been monopolized by the imperial household. That monopoly had been released by now, but that did not mean it was a tea just anyone could drink.

Junshan Silver Needle was a precious tea that could be called the height of luxury, to the point it could not be bought even with an equal weight of gold.

“……Does the Namgung Clan serve this kind of tea for guests?”

“That is not the case. It is a tea served only to guests staying in the Emperor Pavilion.”

“……This place was the Emperor Pavilion?”

The Namgung Clan’s Emperor Pavilion was the place where the Founding Ancestor had first established the clan and resided.

Now, the clan itself had expanded, and there was a separate pavilion used by the Clan Head, but the Namgung Clan had named the former Clan Head’s pavilion the Emperor Pavilion and lent it only to their most honored guests.

Did not Eminent Masters of the Murim often engage in battles of nerves over whether they were given the Emperor Pavilion while staying at the Namgung Clan, as one way of measuring their own value?

GULP.

Dry saliva passed down my throat without my realizing it.

“Before you began staying here, it was vacant. Ah, recently, the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance visited.”

“…….”

The place that had seemed comfortable to stay in because it felt small and quiet suddenly felt stifling.

‘……Still, perhaps this is fortunate.’

There were many things related to the Namgung Clan that were quite uncomfortable.

There were the Seven-Colored Jewel and Namgung San’s Great Swallow Divine Pill, and I also had to ask them to handle the matter of the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder I had used on Mount Gueom.

If they were paying enough attention to lend me the Emperor Pavilion like this, I could feel a little at ease.

“Isn’t this the scent of Junshan Silver Needle? Why in the world serve something like this to someone who can’t even appreciate its taste?”

At that moment, someone entered the Emperor Pavilion while grumbling.

“Who are you?”

He was a young man of medium height, with eyes slit thin like a weasel’s, a face full of pockmarks, and skin slightly dark, perhaps from seeing much sunlight. Without answering my question, he glared at the Maidservant.

“You are trying to ruin the Namgung Clan’s household finances entirely. Is it all right to spend recklessly because it is not your money?”

“……That is not it, sir. The Clan Head told us not to be negligent in our hospitality…….”

“Even so, how could you bring out Junshan Silver Needle? For someone of his level, he would have been overwhelmed with gratitude even if you had served Biluochun.”

I felt a little heated, but I also somewhat agreed with the bastard’s words.

‘Still, even in his youth, he was utterly arrogant and insolent.’

Since his was not a face I was particularly glad to see, I expressionlessly watched what the bastard did.

“……I-I apologize.”

Only after the Maidservant finally lowered her head with tears in her voice did the weasel nod in satisfaction.

“Always think before you act. The money was earned through the blood and sweat of us in the Collateral Line.”

“……Yes.”

After saying that, the weasel perched his rear on the table and held his teacup out to the Maidservant.

The Maidservant filled his cup with Junshan Silver Needle.

“Jin So-un, was it?”

“That is so.”

“……Ha. That is so? You have no manners.”

There was a clear intent in him.

An intent to start a quarrel and cause an incident.

Otherwise, no matter how much he was from the Collateral Line, there was no way he could commit such behavior before a guest assigned the Emperor Pavilion.

‘It must be because of the incident on Mount Gueom.’

The Namgung Clan would immediately dig deeply into this incident.

They were in a situation where the clan could not be allowed to move before they erased their traces.

Just then, there was a guest named me whom the Direct Line considered important, so the purpose of diverting their eyes was obvious.

‘He thinks that, after all, the Taeul Sect is only so much, and they can smooth it over easily enough at the Collateral Line’s level.’

It was not as though this was my first or second time being treated like a consumable, but seeing how it felt freshly unpleasant every time I suffered it, I did not think I would ever grow used to such treatment before I died.

“What etiquette should I show to someone who will not even introduce himself? I never learned that.”

“You mean you do not know me?”

I knew the him of the future.

As for the present, he was not yet at the level where his name resounded like Namgung San’s.

Of course, he himself likely thought his name resounded just as much as Namgung San’s.

“Must I know you?”

“Ha ha! Good grief.”

He was of the same generation as Namgung Seon-hwa, two years older than her, and believed that although he had been born with talent no less than Namgung San’s, he had been robbed of countless things that were his simply because he was from the Collateral Line.

“I suppose it is beyond the knowledge of a disciple from a sect located at the very bottom of the One Hundred Eight Peaks.”

As such, his desire for recognition was also tremendous. When I thought of the money he had spent at the Murim Alliance in my previous life, it had been comparable to the yearly operating expenses of a fairly decent martial sect.

“I wonder. It is true our sect is humble, but even my youngest Junior Brother knows the name of Senior Namgung San, the Azure Dragon Sword.”

And what such a man hated most was being compared to Namgung San.

“What did you just say?”

“You speak as if I am picking a quarrel with you. Is it so difficult to say your own name? Or is it because your name is something shameful?”

His lips trembled, and he spoke as though grinding out each word.

“Have you never heard the sobriquet Boundless Sword?”

“Ah…….”

When I let out a small exclamation, the bastard immediately became triumphant.

He was truly an easy man to understand.

If I provoked him once more here, an incident would probably occur just as he wanted.

‘Should I endure it? Or not?’

It was none of my concern whether the Direct Line and the Collateral Line fought each other inside the Namgung Clan, but in any case, I had nearly been swept up in the aftermath and put in danger.

They had a debt to repay me.

“This is my first time hearing it. There was such a childish sobriquet?”

“You bastard!”

The weasel set down his teacup and struck both hands together, gathering power.

Then he poured out the Heavenly Wind Palm Force that Namgung San had shown on Mount Gueom.

“Kyaaaaak!”

The Maidservant caught in the Palm Force fell, and the Junshan Silver Needle spilled across the floor.

What a waste.

Wanting to avoid the disaster of the Emperor Pavilion being damaged, I unfolded Lotus and diverted the bastard’s Palm Force into the air.

BOOM. BOOM.

Along with the sound of air bursting, the Palm Force scattered.

Watching that scene blankly, I said.

“Since your sobriquet contains the word sword, you seem to be someone with nothing worth seeing except the sword.”

“You bastard!”

In the end, the weasel could not hold back and drew his sword.

And then he immediately unfolded the Boundless Firmament Sword Art.

His talent was not enough to compare with Namgung San’s, but the level of the sword art he unfolded was considerable.

However, the Shattering Form for the Boundless Firmament Sword Art had already been completed in the future.

Unlike Namgung San, I drew the Black Dragon Sword and unfolded the Shattering Form of the Boundless Firmament Sword Art in a single move.

Unlike when I had only weak inner arts, using it with inner arts amounting to Two Cycles made the pulling force rise to an absurd degree, and though the weasel struggled to endure it, his sword ended up in my hand.

“H-How!”

I hooked the foot of the bastard whose eyes had gone wide, spun him once across the floor, and knocked him down.

THUD.

“Guhk.”

Then I stepped on the bastard’s neck and subdued him.

“What is going on?”

Having heard the commotion, Namgung Jin-myeong, Namgung San, and Namgung Seon-hwa came running. Soon, they saw the scene before them and were greatly shocked.

“What in the world.”

I said shamelessly.

“Someone who refused to reveal his identity came in and caused a disturbance, so I subdued him.”

“What?”

“I asked for his identity several times, but he would not answer. I suspected he might be someone related to Mount Gueom, so I had just captured him.”

“…….”

Perhaps the weasel felt humiliated by being subdued, because his face flushed bright red.

At that moment, a middle-aged man with a long beard appeared behind Namgung Jin-myeong.

“That child is my son.”

Namgung Jin-myeong, San, and Seon-hwa all turned their heads behind them.

The man, who looked a little older than Namgung Jin-myeong, had a large build and a face filled with stubbornness.

“How dare you oppress a child of the Namgung Clan here of all places?”

Namgung Jin-myeong spoke in confusion.

“Brother, it seems there was a misunderstanding between them.”

“A misunderstanding? If someone entered the Namgung Clan, he naturally should have thought that person belonged to the Namgung Clan and behaved with caution. What in the world is this sight?!”

“…….”

Only then did I slowly move my foot away and speak.

“So you were a young master of the Namgung Clan. Had you told me earlier, I would have been careful.”

The weasel shouted furiously, as if wronged.

“Did I not tell you?! Boundless Sword!”

“Why go around saying a sobriquet no one else even knows? If you had just said the surname Namgung from the start, this would not have happened. And for someone of the Namgung Clan, were your martial arts not too pitiful?”

“…….”

The weasel, unable to refute my words, trembled.

I quickly turned and offered a clasped hands greeting to Namgung Song-ju, the weasel’s father.

“I apologize. If I had thought he was a child of the Namgung Clan, I would never have dared do such a thing. Please forgive me. Still, is it truly my fault that your son attacked first and was subdued?”

“He was not ambushed…… but attacked first?”

At the words that he had attacked first, Namgung Song-ju trembled and glared at his own child.

Soon, those blazing eyes turned toward me.

I offered a clasped hands greeting with a smile of goodwill.

‘Your son being an idiot was not part of the plan, was it?’