Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 262

Chapter 262: Anhui (3)

Upon my arrival at the Namgung Clan, the first place I was led to was the guesthouse.

While the servants unpacked my belongings, I took the opportunity to look around.

...This guesthouse seems better than my own house.

That was undeniable.

Because it was a clan that didn’t hesitate on their money spendings, even their guest houses were grand.

Though of course, they wouldn’t give us an ordinary place to stay due to our relationship, but it was still a splendid place.

I took a glance at the pond this place had, and the scales of the fish inside were all beautiful.

The pond was already big enough, but it also had a ton of fishes in it which required extensive management.

“What a waste of money.”

The management fee alone sounded like a hassle.

That was my only impression of this place.

I wasn’t one to be fascinated by such things, so I had no other opinions on it.

Besides, I had to think about the upcoming events right now.

The engagement date is a few days later.

The engagement, which I thought would happen immediately upon my arrival, was scheduled for a few days later.

To be fair, it made sense, given that we would be exhausted from the journey.

But do we really need a few days to prepare?

I wondered if that was really necessary.

Of course, I should be grateful that I was given a few days to prepare for this rather awkward engagement.

A few days huh.

The engagement may have been delayed due to my personal problems, but Gu Clan still went directly to Namgung Clan.

With many eyes watching, the Gu Clan appeared to be the conceding side in this situation.

Coming to the Namgung Clan meant the male was going to the female’s house for the engagement, which would certainly spark talk.

They’ll probably say stuff like I’m the son in law or something.

They’ll also see Gu Clan as a lesser clan compared to Namgung Clan.

It is always like this.

People pick on each and every single thing.

This damned world has nothing easy in it.

Anyways.

It could be perceived as rude for the Namgung Clan to make us wait a few days after our long journey.

When we first heard this, I saw Father’s expression stiffen a bit.

They are probably talking right now.

The Lords left to have a conversation between the two, so they are probably talking about this matter.

There shouldn’t be any problems as long as explanations are given for this.

Did something happen?

I just hoped that I wouldn't encounter any problematic situation.

Because of how I always ran into trouble wherever I went, I just wanted to have a peaceful trip this time.

Though of course, I already knew that it would be difficult for this trip to be peaceful.

Fuck my life.

It was none other than the matter about Namgung Clan’s Lord.

What should I do? What can be done?

When I looked at his sparkly gaze from earlier, it was clear he had no intention of letting me go.

I was honestly proud of him for waiting for over a year.

He found the flaws in his martial arts and he probably thinks that I’m the only one that could fix his flaws.

That much was understandable, but considering how the great King of Swords, Namgung Jin was still thirsting for such a thing, it meant he hadn’t made much progress even after practicing what Elder Shin taught him.

...What should I do?

I had told him back then that I would teach him, but that was when Elder Shin was still with me.

He was very proficient with swords, and he also was a person that watched the Thunderous Sword, Namgung Myung in his prime.

Elder Shin said that he would teach Namgung Jin himself while being disappointed with the degradation of the Namgung Clan’s swordsmanship and had offered to teach Namgung Jin himself, but now Elder Shin was asleep within my body.

So how am I supposed to teach him?

I’ve never held a sword in my life besides the wooden sword I played with when I was young.

So how could I teach Namgung Jin anything?

I’m going insane.

Thanks to that, I was completely filled with worries.

Hey, if you saw everything, then wake him up already.

[...Krr?]

Stop pretending like you’ve just woken up. Wake Elder Shin up.

Judging by how the beast reacted right away when I called, it seemed like the bastard wasn’t asleep after all.

You’re just going to pretend like you know nothing despite watching everything?

[Grr?]

...I’m going to go insane, seriously.

I hated the bastard for always playing dumb, but there was a reason why I couldn’t do anything about it.

Before Elder Shin fell asleep, the bastard spoke about the condition where it didn’t wake up Elder Shin.

The bastard said it itself that Elder Shin would be able to wake up himself after a year.

That was the pact we made, so if the bastard was being honest, it meant that Elder Shin wasn’t waking up on purpose right now.

The situation is this messy, yet he has a reason not to wake up?

If Elder Shin was watching this right now, there was a good chance that he wasn’t waking up on purpose just for me to suffer...

...Hmm.

That honestly sounds more likely.

If I thought about the old man, he certainly would do such a thing.

_ It’s annoying that he would gladly do that just to mess with me._

I even partly believed that he had already woken up and was giggling in the background right now.

If that was the case, it’d be very nice for him to wake up.

Putting aside the matter about Namgung Jin,

There was another reason for Elder Shin to wake up.

...We have to ask about the Thunderous Sword.

When we visited Henan, we met with Elder Shin’s friend in Shaolin and the Light of Might, Cheolyoung said this.

He said that he wasn’t the only one that kept his soul inside something and that the Thunderous Sword, Namgung Myung, was doing the exact same.

I believed that the Thunderous Sword was also obviously in the Namgung Clan’s treasure as long as he was right.

...Though there is an exception.

I wasn’t certain when I thought about a certain treasure that was outside of the clan.

It was also most likely that Namgung Myung was inside the treasure that was outside of the clan.

“Huh...? Oh, right... thank you.”

The Young Lady, Namgung Bi-ah, marked her servant’s name in her mind.

It has been 10 years.

It had been that long ever since she met her servant for the first time, but she only now learned her servant’s name.

Despite it not being a short time, Namgung Bi-ah only now realized that she didn’t even know her servant’s name.

No.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know it.

It was more like she didn’t want to know it.

Namgung Bi-ah closed her eyes, embracing the hand that tidied her hair.

She wasn’t in a situation where she could remember someone’s name because her life was filled with hell due to the stench.

However, now she had gained some space and time to learn about someone else’s name.

“...Sorry.”

“Pardon?”

Namgung Bi-ah apologized.

It was because she hadn’t even known her servant’s name.

She lightly controlled her breath.

Her house was still filled with the stench, but she didn’t feel like she was going to die from suffocation like before.

This could’ve been because she had gotten stronger, or because ‘his’ level had gotten higher on the contrary.

Whichever it was, it meant that she was one step out of the hell she used to live in.

“Hey...”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“...That... would that be fine?”

Oakji looked in the direction Namgung Bi-ah’s hand was pointing in.

It was a box filled with a bunch of accessories.

It was given for blood relatives of Namgung Clan to use, but Oakji never saw Namgung Bi-ah use it even once.

“Uh... what do you mean by fine?”

“Would a guy... like it...?”

When Oakji heard her whisper in embarrassment, she had to hide her gasp.

She didn’t expect her Young Lady to ask such a question.

The Young Lady’s eyes watched her, waiting for a response, while her cheeks and ears became red, making her look incredibly beautiful..

Then a thought passed by her mind.

...Does she love her fiancé that much?

Just how great of a man is he for the Young Lady to make such an expression?

Oakji was very curious.

“Would you like to... try it on?”

“Yeah...”

Namgung Bi-ah responded with a slight nod.

She didn’t care about it too much in the past, but Namgung Bi-ah now knew that she was beautiful.

This was just a fact, and it didn’t mean much to her.

She was satisfied as long as that one person looked at her and thought she was beautiful.

Because of this, she wanted to take advantage of her beauty and catch his attention even more.

Namgung Bi-ah then thought of someone.

She thought about the face of a girl that stuck herself next to him in recent days.

“...”

It was a pretty girl with a cold aura.

She knew how to beautify herself, and she had many followers thanks to her capabilities.

She’s different compared to me.

She felt a lump in her chest.

Yet it felt murky and heavy.

Namgung Bi-ah knew that such an emotion was jealousy and guilt.

She had trained her sword to escape from the stench, so she wondered if she gained the ability to feel such emotions now thanks to that.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

She felt like the only thing she had was the name of her fiancé.

“I must... work harder.”

“Young Lady? What did you just...”

“Hmm... It’s... nothing...”

Namgung Bi-ah shook her head.

Then she thought about what happened earlier in the day.

Other people didn’t seem to have noticed, but as his father and her own father were having a conversation, Namgung Bi-ah felt a gaze from somewhere else.

It was the gaze of her brother, watching her from afar.

It wasn’t necessarily a gaze.

It was more accurate to say that she felt a stench.

Clench.

Just thinking about it made it harder for her to breathe.

She wanted to believe that she was mistaken, but something definitely felt different.

Unlike how she had been eased from the stench compared to before, her brother’s stench had grown denser

There was the distance, but Namgung Bi-ah was able to feel a clear difference.

It meant that he had gotten much worse.

...I hope... nothing happens.

Namgung Bi-ah prayed as she closed her eyes.

She prayed that nothing would happen to her brother, who had followed her ever since the past, and to the man that came to her clan.

“It is done.”

Upon hearing Oakji, Namgung Bi-ah slowly opened her eyes.

She felt something on her ear.

It was the earrings she had picked earlier.

Namgung Bi-ah then pulled another accessory from her pocket and asked her servant to place it in her hair.

Oakji listened to her order without much thought.

The accessory was the one he had bought her last time.

...This much is enough.

She felt more relieved after putting on the accessory, even though it was just an accessory.

Namgung Bi-ah slowly stood up.

It was time for her to go to the /genesisforsaken