A splendid manor. Three middle-aged men, their faces flushed with anger, were venting their outrage and making their appeal.
"How could the Baek Clan do such a thing? They made a wreck of my boy's face!"
"Exactly. Of all the people to side with, their so-called Young Clan Head sided with a butcher bastard......"
"This is as good as dragging the trust between the Jiangnan Baek Clan and our Three Houses into the dirt!"
In that order, they were Geum Tae-seong, Jo Yang, and Wang Ik.
The fathers of the scoundrel trio who had been beaten to a pulp by Baek Do-gyeom and Kang Woo-jin.
People commonly called them the Three Vassal Houses of Baek, meaning the sects under the Baek Clan's wing.
"Ha-ha-ha."
And the man seated in the place of honor, knocking back his drink, was named Baek Chan-yeol.
He was Clan Head Baek Chan-seong's little brother, called 'the Hungry Tiger,' just as his greedy eyes suggested.
Because even though ages had passed since he lost the succession race and split off to form a branch family, his hunger for the Baek Clan remained.
"Now why would my foolish nephew do that?"
That was also why Baek Do-gyeom was a subject he could never set aside.
Why?
Because though he himself had fallen short, his nephew was the perfect prey for making his own son Clan Head.
"Does a scoundrel need a reason to run wild? Hmph!"
Geum Tae-seong, head of the Butterfly Geum Clan, snapped irritably.
He wasn't wrong. Since childhood, the boy hadn't learned any martial arts and had done nothing but wreak havoc on the strength of his family's power.
However.
'If they were so sure who was right and wrong, they'd have gone to the Baek Clan first, not me. Sly foxes, the lot of them.'
Baek Chan-yeol was no fool either. Everyone in Jiangnan knew all four of them were scoundrels to begin with, so this was enough to make a dog laugh.
In any case, a crack between them was good news for him.
"But are you certain it was my nephew who did it? That boy couldn't possibly be up to that, could he?"
If it was true, that was a problem in its own right. The boy had walled himself off from martial arts all his life, had he not?
"Well......"
"Tell me the truth."
"Ahem! It seems it was that butcher bastard who did it."
"What? Hahahaha!"
Baek Chan-yeol went blank, then burst into roaring laughter. So that was the one the boy had wanted.
"Please don't laugh at us like that. The shame of it......"
"Enough, enough. These things happen. Who says a dragon can't rise from a ditch? It seems my nephew has an eye for people after all."
Though he seemed to have no knack at all for the politics of leading a clan.
Of all the blades to pick, he had chosen a butcher over rich scoundrels. All Baek Chan-yeol could do was laugh.
"Don't even get me started. Throwing away his friends for a mere butcher."
"He has always been like that. The moment he plays with a toy a little, he tires of it and wants a new one."
"Then are you saying our children are toys he used and threw away? Heavens! How could you......"
The heads coughed and fumed. What a cunning way with words.
But driving a spike into a hairline crack was Baek Chan-yeol's way of getting on in the world, and his guiding principle.
"At this rate, can the Jiangnan Baek Clan even stand tall in our generation?! People are already talking. If this goes on, forget joining the Six Clans of the Divine Land, even its place as the First Clan of Jiangnan is in danger!"
"Exactly. And how does it make any sense for the heir of a martial family to be unable to perform a single martial art properly?"
The fiercer the heads' denunciations grew, the colder the curl of Baek Chan-yeol's lips.
"It won't do. No, that won't do at all.
"But do not fret too much, any of you. The days of indulging my sorry nephew's childish whims are numbered."
"What do you mean by that......"
"In fifteen days, the Myriad Talent Assessment will be held at the Baek Clan."
"Oh!"
At the words Myriad Talent Assessment, the eyes of the Three Houses' heads flew wide open.
The Myriad Talent Assessment was a customary event held before the Righteous Heaven Academy opened its entrance examination.
Some of the Ten Great Masters personally visited the renowned families of each region to examine the aptitude of their prodigies.
To any exceptional prodigy among them, they wrote a special letter of recommendation that granted admission to the Academy outright, no conditions attached.
You could call it a courtesy between old family friends, meant to build mutual ties with the famous clans.
The problem was.
"By rights, my nephew, as Young Clan Head, ought to receive that letter. But you all know it too, don't you? That boy has a body that can never learn martial arts. Hmhmhm."
"Then......!"
"That's right. This time, with all the clan elders gathered there, my son will step forward."
"Oh!"
"And I will show them. Who is better suited to be the Young Clan Head who leads the Jiangnan Baek Clan from here on. Hahahaha!"
Baek Chan-yeol burst into confident laughter. At that, the heads bowed as if their minds were made up and signaled their men with their eyes.
Their men brought over chests full of silver ingots, one after another, and stacked them in the back.
Baek Chan-yeol grinned at this and raised his cup.
'Clan Head, this is what management is. This is statecraft. Not sitting alone at the top, putting on airs.'
***
The next day.
From early morning, a thunderous scolding rang out in the Clan Head's Hall.
"Do you even know what you have done—!"
The Dignified Tiger, Baek Chan-seong, had become an enraged tiger and let out a furious roar.
Beside him, Chief Steward Dan stood looking restless.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry!"
And Baek Do-gyeom and Kang Woo-jin lay prostrate, begging forgiveness.
The reason, of course, was what had happened yesterday.
They had explained the whole story, but either way, the inn had been reduced to ruins and a dozen or so people had been carried out.
Naturally, it wasn't something that could earn them any praise.
"Do-gyeom, is it so hard for you to behave until you leave for the Academy?! If you lack aptitude, even throwing yourself into your studies every day would not be enough. Yet you go around causing trouble every other day!"
"Um, but, Clan Head? He behaved as well as he could, though? He even sat by himself drinking tea. The cheapskate."
"Hey, just stay quiet."
"Aw, why? It's true."
"That's what he says, Father."
These brats......! Baek Chan-seong trembled, and only then did the two boys bang their heads down on the floor again.
"You said you are Young Hero Kang?"
"Please, just call me Woo-jin."
"Very well. I have heard the whole story. I would have felt wronged too. But righteousness means that you endure if you can endure, and even if you cannot, you think it over three times. If you settle everything by force, how would that be any different from the heretics of the demonic path! Is that not so?"
"That is utterly preposterous!"
"Wh-what?!"
Baek Do-gyeom sighed and poked him in the side.
"It's the opposite."
"Oh, yeah? So 'utterly preposterous' was utterly preposterous. I mean, Father's words are a hundred percent right! Wahaha!"
Baek Chan-seong pressed hard on his temples.
"I will hold the Butterfly Geum Clan, the Six Blades Gate, and the Golden Dragon Merchant Guild clearly to account for their wrongs. But neither of you did a single thing right either, so go back to your quarters, stay confined there, and write letters of repentance. As you write, you will reflect on what you did wrong, again and again."
"Yes!"
"Yes."
When the two boys had left, Baek Chan-seong let out a heavy sigh.
"Haah."
Chief Steward Dan, standing beside him, at least smiled in relief and offered some comfort.
"Even so, please do not worry too much. Scoundrel or not, he did not torment the weak. He tormented the wicked, did he not?"
"That is exactly why it is a bigger problem. He does not even have the strength to protect himself, so why on earth does he keep blowing things up like this......"
I miss you, my wife. These days, Baek Chan-seong found himself longing for his wife more and more.
***
"Wow......"
As they stepped out of the Clan Head's Hall, a deep sigh escaped Kang Woo-jin's lips.
Well, getting chewed out first thing in the morning by someone else's father he'd only just met would put anyone in a bad mood.
But.
"I've seriously got a whole new view of your family."
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, he didn't blame me even once?"
"Why would he suddenly blame you?"
"Hey, damn it. That's just how the world is. If you're a butcher bastard, just breathing in a place like that is a crime."
That's...... Nothing I could say to that.
"So?"
"But he never said it once. Butcher bastard, lowborn, anything like that. You'd think something would come up. He called me Young Hero. Young Hero Kang."
Kang Woo-jin seemed to get choked up, wrinkling his nose for no reason and lacing his fingers behind his head.
"That's why I don't get it."
"Get what now?"
"How a scoundrel like you came out of a family this good."
"Thaaanks for the reminder."
"Hey, but you know."
Kang Woo-jin suddenly stopped walking and tilted his head.
"Why does everyone look at you and say you've got no aptitude?"
"Hm?"
"I mean, your father earlier, and the look in the warriors' eyes too. Everyone treats you like a guy who's walled himself off from martial arts entirely."
"Well, that's......"
Because that was how it had always been.
"At the inn, you threw knives like a pro. You were toying with them. Don't tell me...... That doesn't even count as aptitude around here?!"
That was only because I'd just gotten it.
"I was a leech in a well......"
"Frog."
"Ugh, you're insufferable!"
Still a kid, a total kid. I chuckled and turned my head away.
'Come to think of it, I am curious.'
I knew full well the Seven Evils' aptitude was exceptional, but how far would it take me?
Throwing knives had more or less worked.
What if I learned swordsmanship?
"Maybe I'll find out."
That was when my interest in martial arts had suddenly shot up.
"Since when did the mighty Jiangnan Baek Clan become a place where lowborn trash like that come and go?!"
An irritable voice drifted over, the kind that sent your annoyance through the roof just hearing it.
When I turned my head, a middle-aged man I'd never seen before and people who looked like his family were standing in front of a Baek Clan warrior.
"He is the Young Master's guest, so......"
Smack! A boy who looked about my age swung his palm, and the warrior's head snapped sideways.
"And who do you think you're talking back to, you wretch?"
"My apologies."
"Apologies? Then you shouldn't have done something to apologize for!"
Smack! Another slap landed. His face red, the warrior lowered his head.
"Since when has discipline in the main family grown this lax?"
"Father, I'll set things straight properly today."
Father and son were both out of their minds. I'd have let most things slide. But this really got under my skin. Laying a hand on a Baek Clan warrior who'd one day fight for me?
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Hey, Baek Do-gyeom!"
Ignoring the startled Kang Woo-jin, I strode toward the family. The middle-aged man snorted and sneered.
"Is that all you have to say, seeing your uncle after so long? Still as ill-mannered as ever, I see."
Ah, the uncle. No wonder he looked like a nasty jackal. Then again, it would be stranger if a house this big had only one scoundrel.
"Father, please understand. Brother Do-gyeom has always had a bad inferiority complex. Just like someone with no upbringing."
Just then, the little bastard who looked to be his son chimed in from the side.
"You......"
Eyes as mean as a street punk's, but a fairly handsome face. A big, strapping build, and extremely familiar.
"Don't tell me, Baek Tae-jin?!"
"Long time no see, brother. You still recognize me? That's right. It's me, Baek Tae-jin. Has it already been two years since we last saw each other? I went into closed-door training and only just came out after reaching the ninth stage of the White Flower Sword Art. Ah, is it rude to bring that up with you, brother?"
Wow, it really was him. That obnoxious sneer could only belong to Baek Tae-jin.
I'd completely forgotten about this guy.
A cousin born three months after Baek Do-gyeom, who had entered the Righteous Heaven Academy's Azure Dragon Corps in the same year.
And a guy who had hated Cheon Su-hyeok every bit as much as Baek Do-gyeom did.
The reason was truly petty, too.
Because all the girls' attention went to Cheon Su-hyeok. A textbook beta male.
'I never thought I'd run into Baek Tae-jin here.'
But that was that.
"So what exactly are you doing?"
When I asked my uncle again, coldly, he curled his lip and sneered.
"Can you not see for yourself? I am restoring the order of the family that you threw into chaos."
"Order?"
"Sitting in the Young Clan Head's seat without even being able to learn martial arts, I can see why you run wild without knowing heaven from earth. But beating down the young heads of the Three Houses wasn't enough, so you had to bring that lowly butcher bastard into the house? Have you finally lost your mind? I'm so ashamed I can't hold my head up!"
So that's what this was. I got the picture. Birds of a feather. This so-called uncle was clearly close with the families of Geum Su-hwi's gang, a pack lower than beasts. He must have gotten an earful from them and come here to act like this.
"So that's your reason for striking a warrior of the main family?"
"Do I need any other reason? When the master can't tell dung from bean paste, the dogs he keeps had better come to their senses."
When I looked around, the warriors were hanging their heads and biting their lips. This hadn't been going on for just a day or two.
"Brother. You may have a body that can't learn martial arts, but you used to be pretty smart, didn't you? Of all the people to hang out with, how could you hang out with that butcher bastard? It's beneath you."
"Enough talk. Throw that butcher out this instant, then go to the elders of the Three Houses and offer your apologies. That is what you must do as Young Clan Head."
At the uncle's chilling rebuke, Kang Woo-jin's face crumpled coldly.
I could feel it just from his eyes. 'Figures. Why would it be any different here? I'm the guilty bastard.' A look of disillusionment, as if he had given up on everything.
But Kang Woo-jin, this time, you're wrong.
"I'm learning so much from you, Uncle. Yes, when something's wrong, you have to teach it, even if it takes a beating."
"Yes, you're finally beginning to understand. Then hurry up and......"
Smack! Ignoring my uncle's words, I slapped Baek Tae-jin across the cheek without hesitation.
"Huh......?"
While everyone froze like stone statues, I said what I had to say, flatly.
"For someone younger, you've got a real mouth on you when you talk to your elder. Butcher bastard? Is my guest some pal of yours? And laying hands on a member of the household however you like. I'd have let most of it go, but today I can't just let it slide."
"Y-you're insane?"
"You're the one who's insane."
Smack! With a satisfyingly solid feel against my palm, Baek Tae-jin's head snapped sideways.
"I'm seriously going to kill you!"
Baek Tae-jin lunged at me, his eyes rolling back in rage, but not a chance. I dodged easily and raised my hand again and again.
"Mind."
"Ack!"
"Your."
"Kgh!"
"Honorifics."
"Kaaagh!"
The guy who had been glaring daggers took three slaps, and with his lip split, he dropped his trembling eyes like a meek lamb.
Baek Do-gyeom, on the other hand, glared at him with colder eyes than ever before.
'Fuck, crazy bastard. What's with those eyes......'
There was no other intent behind it. It was just that, of all the countless emotions he had lived through with the Seven Evils, the one that took up the most room was murderous intent.
"Whether it's a warrior of the main family or Kang Woo-jin. Whoever you touch, it's the same as touching me. Run your mouth like that one more time, and it won't end at this."
The little bastard of a cousin couldn't answer at all and just clenched his teeth.
Of course.
"Baek Do-gyeom...... You insolent braaaat—!"
Not that it worked on everyone.