🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 25
“Huh? It was a mistake, a mistake. So please let go of this.”
The man wearing a bamboo hat raised both hands as if he were genuinely flustered.
“A mistake? You think saying it was a mistake makes everything okay? Do you even know how much these silk clothes cost?!”
Seeing the man meekly apologizing, the drunkard shouted triumphantly.
“This is going to end badly. Tsk, tsk.”
The martial artist who had been idly chatting with Geum Seolha clicked his tongue. Geum Seolha looked at him curiously.
“Why?”
“Watch carefully. Kid, do you see the sword hanging at that man’s waist?”
“He’s a martial artist too?”
“If he were only an ordinary martial artist, that would be one thing. Look closely at the sword’s hilt.”
Following the explanation, Geum Seolha stared at the sword handle before tilting her head. There was nothing particularly unusual about it.
“Other than the red tassel hanging from it, I don’t see anything special.”
“That may be true elsewhere, but here, that red tassel is something very special.”
Watching the man chuckle and casually tap his bamboo hat, Geum Seolha blinked.
“Why is it special?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
She did.
“I truly apologize. I’ll compensate you properly for the clothes.”
“Compensate? Compensaaate?! A beggar-looking bastard like you dares talk about compensation? I don’t need it!”
“Then at least let go of my collar…”
“I’ll teach you some manners today!”
The moment the drunkard grabbed the hilt of his lavishly decorated sword—words more fitting for a righteous hero addressing a villain of the unorthodox faction—
“You’d better not draw that. I’ve never had a history of letting anyone who pulls a sword in front of me leave peacefully.”
The low laugh accompanying those words completely changed the atmosphere.
Geum Seolha’s eyes widened.
“That person’s aura…”
“Changed completely, didn’t it? That’s how he really is. He pretends to be easygoing, but the moment he gets hold of a sword, he loses his mind.”
Hearing the explanation, Geum Seolha nodded.
At that very moment, the drunken man, his face flushed with humiliation, drew his sword.
Slice.
In the instant between closing and opening one’s eyes, a lock of the drunkard’s hair fell to the ground.
“Uh… u-uhhh?”
Unable to comprehend what had happened, the drunkard frantically felt his head before collapsing onto the floor.
“Wh-what… what was that…?”
“This makes wearing a bamboo hat all this way completely pointless.”
“W-who… who might you be…?”
“Quit talking like I’m some dead man. Hey, thanks to you, I’m going to get nagged at again. Happy?”
The man sheathed his sword, removed his bamboo hat, and crouched before the drunkard.
“You should’ve accepted my apology while I was being nice.”
Grumbling that this whole troublesome situation could have been avoided, he bared his teeth in a grin.
At first glance, he had handsome features, but the large scar running across his left eye added a savage edge to his appearance.
“Live a decent life. You were supposed to die today, but I let you off in exchange for just one lock of hair.”
He lightly tapped the drunkard’s cheek with his fingertips.
“H-hiiiik!”
Some instincts didn’t lie.
There wasn’t a shred of bluff in what the man had just said.
Every word was sincere.
Realizing that, the drunkard wet himself.
He had truly almost died.
“If not for the guest I was happy to see, your life would’ve ended today.”
After delivering the chilling warning, the man straightened and glanced around.
“What are you all staring at? Is the show over?”
At his shout, the music that had stopped resumed in a hurry, and the frozen spectators quickly looked away as whispers spread through the brothel.
“Judging by the way he talks, that’s definitely Jeokrang.”
“Look at the red tassel on his sword. Even with the bamboo hat, it’s undoubtedly Jeokrang.”
“Everyone usually gets out of his way when they see him, so why cover his face and cause such a commotion?”
“Shh! Quiet! Don’t you know his temper? If he gets annoyed, we’ll end up like that guy!”
Though the lively atmosphere wasn’t quite what it had been before, the place gradually regained its bustle.
Only then did the guards managing the brothel rush in and drag the drunkard away.
The martial artist who had been explaining everything hurriedly patted Geum Seolha’s back as she continued staring at Jeokrang.
“Yikes, do you know how sensitive that bastard is? Look somewhere else. Somewhere else.”
Ah, right. Masters were said to have keen senses.
Just as Geum Seolha tried to avert her gaze from the man called Jeokrang—
“Hm?”
It felt like their eyes had just met.
A bad feeling washed over her.
“Um… mister. What happens if he notices me?”
“What happens? Who knows what that lunatic will do? It’ll become a huge headache.”
Jeokrang’s eyebrow twitched for a moment.
Then he began striding directly toward them.
Geum Seolha smiled blankly.
This seemed… very bad.
By the time he reached her and extended his hand, someone stepped in and blocked him.
“Hey now, you shouldn’t go around touching someone else’s child.”
“Oh? Then let go of me, old man.”
Geum Seolha rolled her eyes.
What exactly was happening?
The martial artist who had earlier said she reminded him of his son was now gripping Jeokrang’s wrist.
“The one I’m interested in isn’t the kid. It’s the guy standing next to her.”
At Jeokrang’s irritated words, Geum Seolha turned around.
“Dad, is he someone you know?”
“…Dad? Did she just say Dad?”
Jeokrang dug a finger into his ear.
A moment later, an astonished shout burst from his mouth.
“What? That crazy bastard’s a dad? A father?”
Looking utterly unable to believe it as he stared at Ha Dowoon, Jeokrang’s reaction prompted Geum Seolha to speak.
“Mister, you know my dad? You’re wearing a bamboo hat, so you can’t even see his face. How did you recognize him?”
Caught off guard by her string of questions, Jeokrang hesitated before letting out a hollow laugh.
“Hey, kid. Is that really your dad?”
Geum Seolha narrowed her eyes.
What was wrong with her Dowoon? What did he mean by that? Thaaat?
“Ugly mister, do ugly people answer ugly too? Or do you talk even worse than me? You shouldn’t call people ‘that.’”
At her scolding tone, the martial artist holding Jeokrang burst into laughter.
“Pfft—Hahaha! That’s right! Jeokrang really wasn’t raised properly.”
“You shouldn’t be worse than me. It’s okay for me because I’m still little, but mister…”
Geum Seolha deliberately trailed off while slowly looking him up and down.
The blatant gesture made his face immediately sour.
“Hah, this tiny little brat.”
The exasperated click of his tongue made Geum Seolha genuinely indignant.
She had already been secretly worried because she seemed smaller than other children her age.
“Kids are all small when they’re young!”
“Well now. So you don’t like being called small? I was big even when I was your age, kid.”
“It’s not being called small that I hate. I just don’t like ugly mister.”
“I’ve lived long enough to hear someone call me ugly.”
Still sounding unconvinced, Jeokrang let out a dry laugh and roughly ran a hand through his hair.
His gaze swept past Geum Seolha and landed on Ha Dowoon, who had remained silent the entire time.
“Hey, you. So what’s going on here?”
“…”
“Did you finally get tired of playing some worthless dog’s role and crawl back? Or did you crawl out because you’re trying to play father after causing trouble somewhere?”
Those were hardly words one would say to someone they had just met.
Geum Seolha’s eyes grew round as she tightly grabbed Ha Dowoon’s sleeve.
“Don’t tell me that’s Dad’s friend?”
Even in the middle of it all, she faithfully returned the very same disrespectful way he had referred to Ha Dowoon.
Her audacity left Jeokrang looking dumbfounded.
“Dad, you should choose your friends carefully.”
There were countless meanings packed into those simple words.
The martial artist who had been silently watching the scene slammed the table loudly.
“Pwahahaha! This is magnificent! Absolutely magnificent!”
Jeokrang shot him an icy glare before folding his arms.
“I thought you’d live your whole life without sparing a single glance toward places like this. Things must’ve gotten pretty desperate for you in Geumrin.”
“…”
“Or has taking care of a little kid finally become too much for you?”
Geum Seolha narrowed her eyes.
She had suspected it before, but now she was certain.
This man definitely knew Ha Dowoon.
At last, Ha Dowoon spoke.
“I seem to recall giving you a proper warning not to let that mouth of yours run carelessly.”
“It’s been so long I nearly forgot your face. You think I’d remember some warning?”
“…”
“If you’ve got a problem with it, then let’s settle the rankings with another fight.”
Jeokrang’s fox-like eyes curved into a sly smile.
He looked excited somehow, perhaps stirred by his competitive spirit, as he idly played with the hilt of his sword.
“That’s enough. They’re not your guests.”
The martial artist, clearly enjoying himself to death, fully turned around to face him.
“They’re my guests, brat.”
Though his voice carried a faint smile, the warning in his cold gaze was unmistakable.
Jeokrang noticed it and let out a dry laugh.
“Hah.”
The corner of his mouth twisted upward.
“So I thought you’d given up being someone else’s dog… turns out you just found another master instead?”
