He had just come back from relieving himself.
A whole day's worth bursting out at once left his belly flat.
Smiling brightly at the relief of it, Jaegal Mun-hyeon greeted his father, who had just returned.
"Oh? You are home early."
But his pleasure lasted only a moment.
Seated with Han Si-heon, Jaegal Do-yun spoke with a thoroughly hardened expression.
"How did this come about."
"Pardon?"
"How is it that you know formations?"
"......."
"Speak, now."
Jaegal Mun-hyeon shot Han Si-heon a sidelong glare.
That damned bastard.
Beaten, and he went and told tales already?
That he had broken through the Fateless Terrace formation in a single stroke and walked out?
It had been a mistake.
He had resolved to become a dullard, and now a father itching to boast of his child had found out.
But what could be done?
He had as good as dug his own grave.
Since things had come to this, there was no need to go round the houses.
It did not suit his blunt temperament either.
Let it all out, then.
Only with a little lie mixed in.
"I merely read a book on formations in the Myriad Books Pavilion."
"What?"
"There were plenty of books. Things explaining the basics of various formations and mechanisms."
"You read the basic texts?"
"Yes."
"Th-that cannot......."
Bewilderment deepened on Jaegal Do-yun's face, and Han Si-heon shook his head with fierce eyes.
"Utter nonsense! You mean to say you read a few books and broke the formation of the Fateless Terrace!"
Ow, my eardrums.
Since when does a scholar use the Lion's Roar?
Jaegal Mun-hyeon screwed up his face, dug at his ear and snapped back irritably.
"Is that not allowed?"
"What was that?"
"There was nothing particularly difficult about it......."
At words of such utter composure, Jaegal Do-yun and Han Si-heon clamped their mouths shut.
Break a formation after reading a few books?
A mere seven-year-old?
"It is impossible. To grasp a formation's principles from reading alone is......."
"Section Chief Han, a moment."
Jaegal Do-yun cut off Han Si-heon, who still could not believe it, and gazed steadily at his son.
"Mun-hyeon."
"Yes, Father."
"Is what you just said true?"
"Do you not believe me?"
"I-I do. If a father does not believe his son, whom is he to believe? It is only that it is so entirely unexpected. I understand Section Chief Han's disbelief as well. The Fateless Formation is written nowhere in the Myriad Books Pavilion. That is because Section Chief Han created it himself."
"......."
"To be sealed in an unfamiliar formation and grasp its principles and find the Gate of Life without a single trial is a considerably difficult thing."
"Hmm. Then it seems I managed that difficult thing."
"Ha ha. This rascal......."
At his son's manner Jaegal Do-yun let out a dry laugh.
How could he scold him?
Somewhat out of nowhere and contrary to reason though it might be, Jaegal Do-yun was a man who knew how to listen to his son's words.
"Mun-hyeon."
"Speak, Father."
"Could you tell me the process by which you found the Gate of Life?"
"Of course."
Jaegal Mun-hyeon nodded, and his explanation flowed as naturally as water running from a high place to a low one.
Only as far as the process of adding the five elements on the axis of yin and yang, of course.
Showing too much would be awkward.
But even that much seemed to be quite enough to draw out their astonishment.
When he added a diagram to the explanation, his father's eyes looked ready to pop out and Han Si-heon's mouth looked ready to split.
From where they stood it could only be called a mad talent.
Jaegal Mun-hyeon was telling them, after all, that he had grasped a formation's structural principles from books alone.
And when he came to the process of examining and breaking the formation, their eyes looked about to roll clean over.
"S-surely a talent for formations is......."
"Wh-what!"
At Han Si-heon's muttering Jaegal Do-yun started violently and looked at him.
"What are you saying now? Collect yourself! A Genius of Three Arts, indeed! Is that not going too far?"
"......I said no such thing."
"Ah, it slipped out."
Father laughed awkwardly.
Then again, a talent for learning, a talent for music, and now a talent for formations as well; three arts, that is, a prodigy born with three talents at once, was fair enough to say.
"Ahem. Section Chief Han. Enough of that. To be born with three talents at once has never happened in the history of the Jaegal Clan. What an absurd thing to say."
"But I never said such a......."
"Enough! Mind yourself."
Jaegal Do-yun shook his head vigorously, yet his mouth was open as wide as a washtub.
If anything, Father looked the more out of his wits.
Then again, what parent would dislike the thought that his child possessed outstanding talent?
'A Genius of Three Arts...... If I told him I have already formed the elixir, he would be in for quite a shock.'
That would be a Genius of Four Arts.
No, if I put my mind to it, what is a Genius of Ten Arts?
Over a long, long life he had taken up this and that as a pastime more times than he could count.
But he held his tongue.
He already wore the look of a man dandling his precious little one; startle him too much and Father might suffer heart failure.
'And this seems to be flowing in an entirely different direction from what I had in mind.'
The point had been to drive Han Si-heon out.
So why are Father's eyes shining too, on top of Han Si-heon's?
They seemed to have discovered a talent far better than scholarship.......
Above all, Father was a prize fool when it came to bragging about his child.
Sealing their mouths first seemed to be the priority.
"Father."
"Hm?"
Jaegal Mun-hyeon's expression turned grave all at once.
"Please do not speak of the formations business to anyone. And stop boasting about me as well."
"Hm?"
"It is nothing remarkable. I was only able to break it because it was a basic formation."
"Basic! What nonsense is that? That is a formation Section Chief Han created after long deliberation. How is breaking it not remarkable!"
Jaegal Do-yun cried out as though the notion were preposterous.
I understand how you feel, but there is no need to raise your voice.
Yes, being outstanding is good.
Drawing notice is good too.
But there is a proper time for things.
There is no need to be brilliant early and become the target of petty men who do nothing but envy.
For now is the time to hide.
At least until he had skill worth putting forward before others.......
"Quite so! Do you know how hard I worked to devise that formation! This is a truly remarkable thing."
"......."
With Han Si-heon piling on as well, a sigh came of its own accord.
Who asked you to take his side?
"Father."
"Yes."
"Do you want me to be made uncomfortable?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you suppose the business in the Myriad Books Pavilion happened?"
"That was Mun-gi being thoughtless......."
"No. It was envy."
"......E-envy?"
"You are the Clan Head's third younger brother, Father. And I am your son. Once your generation passes, we are no more than a collateral line of the Jaegal Clan."
"That is......."
"And would it truly be a blessing for that collateral line to possess too outstanding a talent?"
"......."
"They will all say otherwise, but inwardly it cannot help but weigh on them. The checks from the other collateral lines will grow harsher too. If it comes to that, there will be more people speaking ill not only of me but of Mother. Is that what you want?"
At the words laid out point by point, Jaegal Do-yun's face darkened.
"Learning? If you wish it, I shall memorize the Precious Mirror of the Bright Mind this instant and study the Four Books for you. The same with music, and the same with formations. No, whatever else it might be, if it pleases you, Father, I can do it for you."
"......."
"But please keep all of it from crossing the pavilion's wall. For Mother's sake, if nothing else. If someone speaks ill of Mother again...... then......."
Jaegal Mun-hyeon did not bring himself to say the words 'I might kill them all,' but Jaegal Do-yun shut his mouth tight without needing to hear the rest.
The envy and jealousy of children.
The truth behind it had a somewhat different reason, but his son's words brought his wife's situation to mind.
He knew well enough that his wife had been the subject of gossip all along for being a musician's daughter and for his being a son of the Jaegal Clan. He had always felt sorry for it.
And Baek Su-hyeon, who had been listening to the whole exchange from beside them, had eyes gone thoroughly red.
Her son's heart had cut her.
And as a mother she felt sorry beyond words that her son stood in such a position because of her origins.
"Haa. Understood. I shall do so. Your father failed to read the depth of your heart."
"I am sorry."
"Not at all. If anything, I am proud. That you should think so."
Jaegal Do-yun wore a faint smile and stroked his son's head.
It was a relief that he was a man who, even when the words came from a child, would accept them if they accorded with reason and admit his own fault.
Which is not the usual way of things.
"Section Chief Han."
"Yes, Hall Leader."
"Can you do as Mun-hyeon asks as well?"
"Well...... boasting is your own specialty, Hall Leader, so if you simply keep quiet there should be no great......."
"Ahem!"
"My lips are sealed."
"Thank you."
And so the brief commotion was settled and supper was laid out.
Was she grateful for her son's heart?
Her sticking close to his side was all very well, but she was feeding him by hand as though handling an infant.
"Mother, I am seven already......."
"Do you not like it?"
"Pardon?"
"Seven is still a good while yet. Everyone else does this too. You are the strange one."
When Baek Su-hyeon gave him a slightly aggrieved sidelong look, Jaegal Mun-hyeon sighed and opened his mouth.
"......More, please. I want meat."
"That is it, my son."
Thoroughly delighted, Baek Su-hyeon picked up a good-sized piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
He could never beat Mother.
It seemed he would go on losing to her for as long as there was time.
And so the meal ended, and while they were drinking tea to clear their palates, Father asked,
"Mun-hyeon."
"Yes?"
"Have you any thought of studying formations properly?"
"Formations?"
"Yes. Learning is learning, but researching formations is a very important matter as well. If you are willing...... hah hah, am I not Leader of the Military Stratagem Hall? I shall arrange a place for you. No, better yet, how would it be to come to the Military Stratagem Hall with your father? Then you could learn your letters from Section Chief Han as well."
"Oh! That is a splendid idea."
When Jaegal Do-yun hinted at it, Han Si-heon's eyes lit up.
As expected.......
He had felt uneasy, and sure enough, unable to wait a moment, Father was coveting his son's talent.
But when it is time to cut a thing off, it must be cut off cleanly.
He was a seven-year-old who could now state his own mind firmly.
"No, thank you."
"Hm?"
"I have not the slightest intention of becoming a formations master."
"But...... why?"
"There is something else I wish to do."
"Something else? Do you mean you have already settled on your future?"
"I have."
At the firm answer, Father looked deeply disappointed.
But a formations master, of all things.
The Heavenly Demon has his pride.
"And what does our son want to do?"
"I am going to train in martial arts."
"M-martial arts?"
"Yes. Who knows? I may become the world's best."
Jaegal Mun-hyeon declared boldly the ambition he had kept in his chest.
Since he had failed to become a dullard, he judged it far better to ask his father's permission openly and begin training.
Come to think of it, he felt it might have been fine to do so from the start.
"In truth, when I went into the Myriad Books Pavilion I read a martial arts manual. It is a martial art called the Lesser Heavenly Star Art, and it was a truly fine one."
"Pfft!"
"Pffft!"
No sooner had the words fallen than the two, who had only been staring blankly, burst out laughing at once.
Spraying their tea, no less.
"The Lesser Heavenly...... Bwah hah hah hah!"
"That is the funniest thing I have heard in some time. The Lesser Heavenly Star Art, left abandoned for being useless, a fine martial art."
"My thoughts exactly, hah hah hah!"
At their reaction Jaegal Mun-hyeon's eyes narrowed.
Th-these.......
Laughing at me?
When they know nothing whatsoever about martial arts!
Father I shall forgive, since I cannot commit a breach of human decency.
But you, Han Si-heon...... how dare you!
It was just as his eyes rose.
"Silence, both of you."
"......."
"......."
At the sight of Baek Su-hyeon glaring at them with cold eyes as though she would devour them, the two shut their mouths tight.
Even so, to say silence with that lovely mouth.......
It was a word she never used, so by rights it deserved remark, but one look at her face said not to open one's mouth.
"The child finally declares an ambition, and grown men cannot encourage him but laugh at him instead."
"W-wife, it is not that......."
"Enough!"
When Baek Su-hyeon turned a look on him that was nothing short of venomous, Jaegal Do-yun could not conceal his predicament.
"Section Chief Han, if you have finished your meal, you may go."
"Pardon? Yes!"
Quick to read the mood, Han Si-heon vanished like a bolt of lightning.
A scholar, and quite the movement arts on him.
He seemed to have had his latent potential drawn out by a crisis.
And then.
"Husband, from now on you will sleep in the outer quarters."
"B-but wife, what do you mean?"
"Separately! Sleep."
It was the north wind and frozen snow itself.
They say when a woman bears a grudge, frost falls even in the fifth and sixth months.
Father, his shoulders drooping...... had brought it upon himself.