That's Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 30
The Namgung Family (1)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

The Wanderer’s League and Wi Cheon-gyeong kept their word.

They stepped aside and let the procession pass.

Of course, they did try to stop us for a moment when we started moving.

“Hey, Gun Ja-seong.”

“Hmm?”

I turned my head at the voice calling me.

Wi Cheon-gyeong, with his battered subordinates behind him, was looking up at me.

“What? Do you have more to say?”

“I have a question.”

A question…?

“What is it?”

“Using internal energy properly, what does that mean?”

I looked into Wi Cheon-gyeong’s eyes.

I saw a small spark within them.

A spark so faint and weak that it seemed like it could be extinguished at any moment.

Was his question related to this spark?

Could it be a longing for martial arts?

After seeing my movements and hearing that they were the result of using internal energy properly, had he developed a yearning for true martial arts, something he didn’t know?

The spark in his eyes was too small to discern its true nature.

Perhaps it was just simple curiosity. He might forget my answer right away.

But if there was even a 10% chance, I would answer.

Because I couldn’t give up on the possibility of another butterfly taking flight.

“It means that the use of internal energy isn’t limited to just enhancing physical abilities. Depending on how you use it, many things become possible.”

“……”

Wi Cheon-gyeong fell silent at my words, lost in thought.

Seeing that, I smiled faintly and pulled the reins again.

Neigh!

The horses neighed briefly and started moving forward again.

Hwa-ryeon, sitting next to me, asked in a low voice,

“Was answering that question just now also a butterfly flapping its wings?”

“Something like that.”

“…It’s either yes or no, what do you mean by ‘something like that’?”

I shrugged at Hwa-ryeon, who grumbled softly, and sped up to catch up to the procession, which had moved quite a distance in that short time.

Geez, even if she wanted to run away quickly, wasn’t it a bit too hasty to leave the person supposed to be protecting her, right here?

After grumbling inwardly for a moment, I asked the bold young miss, who was probably cooling her flushed face inside the carriage,

“Would you mind coming out and explaining your situation now? I heard that you ran away from home, but I haven’t heard the details yet…”

“Th-that…! Please stop talking about running away…”

I chuckled, glancing at Miss Seol, who was covering her face with both hands, when Master’s voice reached my ears.

“Yes, tell us what happened. Is it true that the Seol family unilaterally broke off the engagement?”

“…Yes.”

Miss Seol, finally calming down, nodded.

And with a deep sigh, she explained her situation.

“My father, the head of the Seol family, initially wanted to arrange my marriage with the Namgung family to gain their support.”

It seemed there was a meticulous calculation behind that decision.

The previous head of the Namgung family, Sword Saint Namgung Seon-hwi, who had recently passed away, had no children.

So, when he died, it was highly likely that his only younger brother, Master’s sworn brother, Namgung Seon-u, would succeed him as the head of the family.

And if that happened, his son would naturally become the young master, and his daughter would become the future mistress of the Namgung family.

It was with that calculation that the engagement between the two was arranged.

Master countered Miss Seol’s words.

“It’s not like it’s only the Seol family head who’s like that. That’s how marriage between families usually works.”

Except in very special cases, it was a blood alliance formed solely for the benefit of the families.

That was what marriage between families was.

“The Namgung family probably also accepted the engagement after their own calculations. The Seol family’s influence in the southern part of Anhui Province is significant.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Miss Seol nodded without any objections.

Hearing her answer, Master carefully continued with the next question.

“But why did the Seol family…?”

He was speaking cautiously, but he was essentially asking how the Seol family could even think about breaking off the engagement with the Namgung family.

Miss Seol, who couldn’t have missed his meaning, answered with a wry smile.

“…The current situation of the Namgung family isn’t very good.”

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with the Namgung family…?”

“……”

Miss Seol closed her mouth again.

Just then, one of the escorts at the front shouted,

—We’ve reached Hefei!

The procession had finally arrived at the gates of Hefei.

And before the city walls, there was a line of carriages and people, with an inspection point at the end.

But the attire of the person conducting the inspection caught my eye.

To be precise, it was the characters embroidered on their uniform.

–Paecheon–

Those characters embroidered on their uniform meant…

“Paecheon Fortress?”

Why were Paecheon Fortress warriors inspecting people at Hefei?

“What?”

Hwa-ryeon was startled by my words.

She leaned out to check the attire of the inspector and then quickly hid inside the carriage.

“Wh-why is Paecheon Fortress…?”

“Well, I’d like to ask that myself.”

I turned my gaze to the person who would likely know the answer.

As everyone in the carriage, including myself, looked at her, Miss Seol sighed and spoke.

“Hefei is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Namgung family. They’re on the verge of losing everything to Paecheon Fortress.”

“…What?”

Master’s cry of shock echoed inside the carriage.

***

Fortunately, we were able to enter Hefei without any problems.

It was thanks to Leader Mak diligently greasing the palms, or rather, bribing the Paecheon Fortress warrior beforehand.

“Thank you for taking care of that.”

“Not at all. Compared to what you’ve done for us, this is nothing.”

Leader Mak waved his hands dismissively at my gratitude.

Then, he suddenly exclaimed “Ah!” and pulled a pouch from his pocket.

“Here are the ten silver taels I promised you.”

I stared at the pouch, chuckled, and politely declined.

“Why…?”

“Thanks to Leader Mak, we were able to enter Hefei quietly without any problems. It wouldn’t feel right if you ended up taking the blame for this.”

Well, it’s not like we’re short on money either. Wnen I said that. Leader Mak looked deeply moved.

“…I will never forget this kindness. Please visit our Peaceguard Escort Agency again someday. I will help you in any way I can.”

With Leader Mak’s polite bow, we parted ways with the escorts.

And we headed straight for the Namgung family estate.

Miss Seol, who was now sitting on the driver’s seat instead of Hwa-ryeon, gave me directions, pointing here and there.

But as we went along, I noticed that people were staring at our carriage.

Or rather, at Miss Seol’s face.

“It seems like we need to cover your face. You don’t have a veil or a mask, do you?”

“Ah, no. I left in such a hurry that…”

Fortunately, there was a fabric shop along the way, so I bought two veils and handed one to Miss Seol and the other to Hwa-ryeon.

“Thank you.”

Miss Seol politely thanked me and put on the veil, and finally, people stopped staring.

But then another problem arose.

“Why, why didn’t you buy me one?”

Seol-i suddenly poked her head out from behind the curtain and demanded to know why I didn’t buy her a veil.

“Huh? Why would you need a veil? You’re still too young for that.”

“I’m not too young! I’ll be fifteen next year, and by then, young men will be drooling over me…”

I cut Seol-i off and said firmly,

“Although I hope it won’t happen, if there’s any guy like that, you should tell your brother immediately, okay? How dare they try anything with a fifteen-year-old…”

“Brother, my foot…”

Seol-i grumbled and retreated back into the carriage.

Miss Seol, seeing that, chuckled.

“You two seem close.”

“Close? She’s always grumpy.”

I shrugged and joked, and she chuckled again.

Just as the atmosphere was lightening up compared to before, Master’s words made it tense again.

“By the way, this is a serious matter. To think that such a thing would happen to the Namgung family.”

“……”

Miss Seol wiped the smile off her face and lowered her head.

Seriously, sometimes Master really had no tact.

Sighing inwardly, I chimed in.

“It does seem fishy, doesn’t it? Internal corruption, a failed escort mission, and a fire in the armory, all within a few days. It doesn’t make sense for incidents that barely happen once a year to occur consecutively like this. Someone must be pulling strings behind the scenes.”

“Considering what Miss Seol said and the current situation in Hefei, it’s obvious who’s behind it.”

Hwa-ryeon slightly lifted the curtain to check outside.

Just then, a martial artist with the character “Paecheon” embroidered on his uniform walked by, chatting and laughing with his companions.

“Paecheon Fortress has revealed its ambition. Now that they’ve dealt with most of the disobedient vassal families, they have nothing holding them back.”

“Ha, that bastard Ju Do-han…”

Master lamented briefly at Hwa-ryeon’s words, filled with conviction.

Meanwhile, we finally arrived at our destination, the Namgung family estate.

Stepping out of the carriage and looking at the Namgung estate, I couldn’t help but stare blankly with my mouth agape.

“…Wow.”

This was, the Namgung family estate?

The estate was so vast, incomparably larger than the Gun family estate, that the walls stretched on seemingly endlessly.

And above the main gate hung a large plaque with powerful and elegant calligraphy.

The characters engraved on the plaque:

– Namgung Family –

The renowned sword family that always appeared in martial arts novels was right before my eyes.