Chapter 5

As the manor’s daily affairs wound down, it was late; the manor’s lord Bukgung Yoon and the retainers had all gone to their quarters.

The Flying Swallow Manor housemistress Wang Ga-hwa and the head of the guard Jeong Yeo-gwang gathered together.

“How did the new recruit’s training go?”

Wang Ga-hwa asked him.

Formally the housemistress and the head of guards had no rank difference, but in reality they did.

Wang Ga-hwa treated Jeong Yeo-gwang as if he were her right hand, it was she, not Jeong, who handled communication with the true master they served.

“Hmm……”

Jeong Yeo-gwang made a low, awkward sound.

How could he admit frankly that the new recruit had frozen him during the training and barely said a word?

“I made sure to tell him clearly.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang was a martial arts man with pride; rather than confessing the truth he chose to equivocate.

Wang Ga-hwa nodded in satisfied agreement.

“Good. Well done, Warrior Jeong. That Yeon Mujin caused such a stir in front of Bukgung Yoon today, I don’t know how embarrassed she was.”

“I felt the same.”

“To say he’ll make Bukgung Yoon the Family lord, come on. Is that even sensible? What if Yoon gets some foolish notion? That young warrior doesn’t know the world and might act recklessly. We can’t just let that happen.”

“That’s true.”

“Warrior Jeong, be especially vigilant. Make sure that fellow doesn’t come into contact with Yoon.”

“Of course.”

“Just in case.”

Wang lowered her voice as she looked at Jeong Yeo-gwang.

“If she gets needled into declaring herself Family lord, you know how complicated that will be, right? You know young master will be displeased at any mistake by Warrior Jeong, don’t you?”

With a subtle tone, Wang Ga-hwa shifted all blame onto Jeong.

Jeong Yeo-gwang wanted to ask: how is that solely my fault?

But for now there was no need to argue about blame with Wang Ga-hwa.

It hadn’t happened, and it wouldn’t happen.

Because it was something that must not happen.

“Of course I know.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang merely nodded with an impassive face to reassure the ill-tempered steward. He did just that.

Wang Ga-hwa wore a satisfied smile.

“Very good. We’ll trust only you, Warrior Jeong.”

The room assigned to Yeon Mujin was at the far end of the guard building.

The room shared a wall with the stables, so the smell was strong.

As if that weren’t enough, no one had come to visit Yeon Mujin in two days.

The manor’s stewards and the other guard warriors hadn’t spared him a greeting or glanced his way.

Arrogant bastards; even if I’d served in this house, I’d have a decade or more on them.

“So they’re openly ostracizing me, are they?”

Petty behavior for retainers of the great Bukgung family.

Unable to stand the hunger, Yeon Mujin went to the dining hall first.

Silence fell over the hall when he appeared.

Yeon Mujin spotted Jeong Yeo-gwang among the guards gathered to eat.

Jeong Yeo-gwang saw Yeon Mujin too.

“What’s this, you’re still here?”

Jeong Yeo-gwang sneered at Yeon Mujin.

He was still sore in his pride from being frightened by Yeon Mujin last time.

Yeon Mujin ignored the provocation and asked.

“I didn’t see any orders assigned.”

“What kind of orders?”

“The lady’s personal guard duty.”

“Ah.”

A snickering laugh leaked out among those sitting around Jeong Yeo-gwang.

“There’s no need for now. The current guard staff is enough. We’re not short-handed. Besides, we can’t place someone of your low background right next to the miss.”

Now they’re openly mocking his lineage.

Since they were so blatant, Yeon decided to push back.

“My background is Bukgung Guard. The lady’s personal guard post was directly appointed by the Bukgung Family lord. Naturally my status is guaranteed by the main house’s outer affairs and by the Family lord.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s eyebrows twitched.

‘Does this bastard think I’m beneath him?’

His rude use of informal speech even in front of the other guards was irritating.

“That is an issue for the main house. Don’t you know that the Family lord guarantees autonomy for the manors run by Bukgung direct kin?”

He knew. All too well.

That’s why, in his previous life, the sons ran wild doing all manner of shameless things behind their fathers’ backs.

But Jeong Yeo-gwang seemed to interpret Yeon’s silence differently.

“That’s why you shouldn’t accept low-born fools who know nothing, tsk……”

Yeon Mujin ignored him again.

“The authority granted by the Family lord belongs to the manor lord, not you. Who decided that? Did Lady Bukgung Yoon decide directly?”

“I decided. Full authority over the miss’s guards has been delegated to me.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang folded his arms and said smugly.

Then a muffled chuckle sounded from somewhere.

Jeong Yeo-gwang looked around but no one was laughing.

The chuckle grew louder.

The culprit was Yeon Mujin.

Jeong Yeo-gwang and the other warriors all looked at him as if to ask ‘is he out of his mind?’

After laughing for a long moment, Yeon Mujin wiped his eyes and said.

“Delegated? Delegated, you say? Say it properly: you didn’t bind and snatch her away by force, did you?”

“What, you punk?”

“So when exactly does the guard duty start?”

“Have you stuffed something in your ears? There’s no need. Just keep lazing around like a parasite.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang suddenly remembered something and added a line.

“Also, skipping guard training the past two days will be deducted from your monthly pay. The steward told me to pass that on.”

“What guard training?”

“At Flying Swallow Manor the guards, except those on duty, gather at the training grounds every day for eight hours to train. You haven’t shown up for two days, have you?”

That was also news to Mujin.

Yeon Mujin started to ask why Jeong Yeo-gwang was deciding his pay but stopped; judging by his attitude it wouldn’t be worth it.

Instead he answered calmly.

“Fine. I’ll attend starting tomorrow.”

The Bukgung family’s estate was vast.

Some manors had over a thousand dependents, and across the whole family there were well over ten thousand people in service to the Bukgung family.

So even members of the same family often didn’t know each other’s faces.

The same applied to Yeon Mujin.

No matter who he was, Yeon Mujin couldn’t remember every retainer in the Bukgung family.

However,

Flying Swallow Manor’s head of guards, Jeong Yeo-gwang.

Flying Swallow Manor’s housemistress, Lady Wang Ga-hwa.

These two were people Yeon Mujin already knew.

‘So those two belonged to Flying Swallow Manor.’

But there was a difference between the people Yeon Mujin remembered and their current positions.

Originally both served the Sixth young master; they were not retainers of Bukgung Yoon.

Which meant:

‘Flying Swallow Manor has already been taken over by the Sixth young master’s faction.’

Only now did Yeon Mujin understand why Bukgung Yoon had never shown prominence during the past cycle.

The Sixth young master’s men had infiltrated Flying Swallow Manor and were running it like their own.

Now everything made sense.

Bukgung Yoon’s strangely listless attitude, and the retainers swaggering before her, everything fit.

Their attempts to check and bully Yeon Mujin were all meant to wear him down until he gave up.

If Bukgung Yoon tried to become Family lord, the biggest problem would be her elder brother, the Sixth young master.

“True. That man was always suspicious.”

He’d always tried to plant his agents in rivals’ manors whenever he could.

Yet to think they’d dare.

“Nowhere else have they treated a Family lord’s personally appointed guard like this. Are these bastards crazy…….”

Yeon Mujin was not an easy pushover.

He remembered every word Jeong Yeo-gwang had said.

‘Repay favors and grievances thoroughly.’

That was Yeon Mujin’s motto for living in the murim world.

“That rude bastard, talking trash about the lady behind her back, calling her names… what a damn brat.”

He himself had spoken bluntly to Bukgung Yoon before, but Yeon Mujin didn’t dwell on that.

“Dare insult the future Bukgung Family lord? You’ll be dead later.”

There was something Yeon Mujin needed to do right away.

First of all.

‘I need to deal with those two traitors.’

As in the first meeting and again now.

From the looks of it, Wang Ga-hwa was the head and Jeong Yeo-gwang was her blade.

He couldn’t go and cut Wang Ga-hwa down immediately, so his first goal would be to sever her limbs, i.e., neutralize her influence.

Specifically, seize control of the guard unit.

“Dealing with armed men is the easiest task.”

Yeon Mujin smirked and headed to the training ground.

If one word described Flying Swallow Manor’s guard training, it was ‘every man for himself.’

Some practiced unarmed combat, some sparred, some quietly trained swordplay alone.

But most of the warriors just chatted nonsense and wasted time.

Unlike other manors, Flying Swallow Manor’s guards held one of the most idle posts, the manor lord Bukgung Yoon rarely went out.

Within the manor they only needed to cover shifts; the rest idled and collected their monthly pay.

That was the reality of Flying Swallow Manor’s guard unit.

The next day, Yeon Mujin truly went to the training ground.

But no one stepped up to face him, everyone had heard Jeong Yeo-gwang’s orders.

The warriors watched with mocking looks to see what Yeon Mujin would do.

Would he take a sword? Do conditioning? Practice grappling? Train forms?

Some even sat around him openly, ready to make fun of whatever he did.

But what Yeon did overturned everyone’s expectations.

He sat cross-legged and began to cultivate his qi.

“……!”

“Is he out of his mind?”

A hollow laugh spread among the warriors.

A martial arts warrior is most vulnerable during qi cultivation; that’s why most never do it in front of others.

Especially not in front of people eager to tear him apart…….

“Is he faking it?”

Jeong Yeo-gwang said in disbelief.

Maybe he’s showing off his courage? A reasonable suspicion.

But seeing Yeon Mujin’s clothes dampen with sweat dispelled that notion.

Unless he could open and close pores at will, he was truly cultivating qi.

And very earnestly.

“He’s truly a madman.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang clicked his tongue.

He’d never seen anyone with such guts.

Is there demonic qi in his head? He was said to be a wanderer, could he secretly be from some Evil-Demonic Sect side?

Otherwise he couldn’t do something so reckless. What if someone accidentally pushed him the wrong way?

Meanwhile Yeon Mujin did not stop his cultivation.

One hour, two hours, four hours passed and people’s interest waned; Yeon Mujin continued sweating and focusing on his qi.

And when eight hours had passed.

“Huu…….”

Yeon Mujin exhaled deeply and opened his eyes. The moment he stood, every gaze at the training ground turned to him.

Yeon Mujin shot a remark at Jeong Yeo-gwang, who looked as if he’d bitten something bitter.

“What are you looking at? First time seeing someone cultivate qi?”

Then he sauntered off alone toward his quarters.

The others just stared stupidly at Yeon Mujin’s departing back.

After the silence, Jeong Yeo-gwang spoke up.

“But that bastard, did he never learn to speak respectfully?”