By Zephyria 
Baek Ryeo-il did not fear the coming battle, nor the possibility of death. Right now, he simply wanted to carve the image of the person beside him more deeply into his eyes.
As they drew closer to the inn, familiar clothes and faces became more frequent.
The disciples of Mount Hua, who were in charge of commanding this battle, walked with particularly hurried steps. Some recognized him and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment, while the younger disciples bowed politely as they passed.
As he stepped into the courtyard, Ma Jin-cheon was standing there with Jegal Yeom-gang.
“Uncle? What are you doing here?”
“Mu-yeon! Where have you been! I’ve been waiting for ages.”
Jegal Yeom-gang rushed toward Seong Mu-yeon.
“Let’s go back for now!”
“Huh? Where?”
Seong Mu-yeon sent a bewildered look as he was dragged away by his uncle. Seeing him struggle, not knowing how to handle the relative showing such excessive interest, Baek Ryeo-il couldn’t help but smile.
“Baek Ryeo-il, you brat…”
Turning his head, he saw Ma Jin-cheon waiting for him with an extraordinary expression. Judging by his tightly shut lips and the deep furrow between his brows, he seemed quite angry.
However, Ma Jin-cheon, who had opened his mouth to unleash a torrent of nagging, seemed to choke up upon seeing his face. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he asked.
“…Are you alright?”
Forgetting his anger, Ma Jin-cheon seemed to be scrutinizing him, noticing something had changed. There was no point in mocking Jegal Yeom-gang for being a doting relative; Ma Jin-cheon was exactly the same.
“Your disciple has arrived, Master.”
Baek Ryeo-il swallowed his smile and clasped his hands in a formal salute. He then bowed his head deeply to show respect.
“Why the sudden formality? Enough. Forget it.”
Ma Jin-cheon grumbled and brushed him off, sounding awkward.
Baek Ryeo-il strode forward and hugged his master.
“W-why are you suddenly doing this? Did you eat something wrong?”
Ma Jin-cheon squirmed awkwardly, trying to push him away.
When others had kept their distance from him, treating him with caution because he had lost his parents, Ma Jin-cheon was the only person who had approached and reached out his hand. Ma Jin-cheon was not fundamentally different from the others; it must have been difficult for him to deal with a child who had suffered such great trauma at a young age.
Yet, Ma Jin-cheon had not hesitated to approach him. Out of fear that Baek Ryeo-il might be startled, he had observed and cared for him with cautious precision.
“Did I ever tell you? It’s all thanks to you that I grew up so well, Master. My mother and father would be grateful too.”
“…”
Ma Jin-cheon froze stiff in his arms.
“Thank you for raising me.”
Ma Jin-cheon, who had seemed as vast as a great mountain in the eyes of the young Baek Ryeo-il, had somehow become smaller than him.
Ma Jin-cheon could have taken other brilliant talents as his disciples. Instead, he had devoted his entire youth to Baek Ryeo-il alone.
“…”
Ma Jin-cheon said nothing and gave no reaction. He couldn’t even see what kind of expression the man was making.
He simply gripped Baek Ryeo-il’s sleeve tightly once. Then, he pushed Baek Ryeo-il away to break the embrace.
“I’m glad you seem to realize it! But does a brat who knows that still cause this much trouble? You ungrateful wretch…”
Ma Jin-cheon shouted, pretending to be angry, but his ears were bright red.
“…Are you smiling right now? Anyway, don’t ever do this again! It’s creepy as hell when a grown man clings to me like this!”
“Oh, come on, you love it.”
“What?! You truly need a good thrashing to come to your senses! While everyone else is running around until the soles of their feet sweat, you’re the only one slacking off, so be prepared!”
Ma Jin-cheon muttered something incomprehensible about asking the senior disciples how terrifying he could be before disappearing inside.
“Wait for me, Master!”
Baek Ryeo-il quickly followed Ma Jin-cheon inside.
Seong Mu-yeon, led by Jegal Yeom-gang’s hand, entered a manor not far from the inn. It seemed the Jegal Clan had rented an empty manor to stay in.
“Family Head! I have urgent news…!”
A middle-aged man who spotted Jegal Yeom-gang approached, but froze upon seeing Seong Mu-yeon.
“What is it, Chief Steward Jin?”
“A message has arrived from the Alliance. I have already reported it to the Young Family Head, but I thought the Family Head should also know…”
The steward trailed off, glancing sideways at Seong Mu-yeon. It was a gaze filled with blatant hostility, one that was all too familiar to Seong Mu-yeon.
He intentionally blurred the core content of the message from the martial alliance, clearly signaling that ‘there is no information for you.’ Not only the steward, but even the warriors and servants passing by in the distance looked at Seong Mu-yeon with cold eyes.
As expected, the people of the clan did not acknowledge Seong Mu-yeon.
It seemed that accepting Seong Mu-yeon as one of them was a wish held by Jegal Yeom-gang alone.
“Is that so? Ah, Young Family Head! Perfect timing. Come here and hold onto your cousin so he doesn’t run away! I’ll be back shortly.”
However, Jegal Yeom-gang, distracted by other things, failed to notice the reaction of the family servants. He called over Jegal Un and dumped Seong Mu-yeon on him.
“…Yes.”
Jegal Un looked as if he would rather lie in a coffin. However, unable to disobey his father’s order, he gestured for Seong Mu-yeon to follow. He didn’t even let his fingertips touch him, as if he didn’t care whether Seong Mu-yeon ran away or not.
Seong Mu-yeon didn’t know why Jegal Yeom-gang thought that, but he had no intention of fleeing.
In fact, this was for the best.
Since things had turned out this way, he intended to make his position clear.
“Um, Young Family Head. There is something I need to discuss with you urgently.”
“…”
Jegal Un glanced at Seong Mu-yeon, then promptly ignored him and looked straight ahead.
He hadn’t been a warm person to begin with, but now he was so cold that ice seemed to be dripping from him.
During the three-way meeting between Jegal Yeom-gang, his son, and Seong Mu-yeon the previous day, Jegal Un had been forced to call him ‘brother.’ Moreover, it was only natural for him to be displeased since he was on the verge of losing his family estate right before his eyes.
“Are you still angry? I didn’t intend to harass you on purpose in front of the Family Head. I had a desperate reason for doing so…”
“…”
“Hello? Are you listening to me? Young Family Head Jegal Un? Un-ah?”
“…”
Jegal Un ignored him completely.
In silence, Jegal Un led Seong Mu-yeon to a room being used as a temporary office.
Then, without even glancing at Seong Mu-yeon, he sat down at a long desk cluttered with scrolls and bamboo slips. He continued working as if Seong Mu-yeon weren’t even there.
Regardless of the situation, wasn’t this too narrow-minded? He was so narrow-minded he made a shrimp’s heart look huge.
“Look here, Young Family Head. Is it really okay for me to inherit the family?”
Only then did Jegal Un make eye contact with Seong Mu-yeon.
“Please speak comfortably, Brother. This younger brother is deeply concerned that if Father sees this, a thunderous roar of disapproval will fall upon us.”
Was it his imagination, or did Jegal Un seem to grit his teeth every time he said the word ‘Brother’?
“A family that someone spent their entire life devoting themselves to building… and the Divine Strategist Jegal, one of the five greatest families in the martial world, being handed over to some random guy from who-knows-where, only to be ruined and eventually vanish from history… I suppose it can’t be helped.”
“…”
“I did my best, ‘Brother.’ It’s out of my hands now, so it’s your turn to take responsibility, ‘Brother.’ Please pity the clan and spare no effort, grinding your bones to powder, so as not to bring shame upon the family.”
Jegal Un sneered, his lips curling up in sarcasm.
Though Jegal Un had mostly resigned himself to it, he seemed to think, like Seong Mu-yeon, that the current situation was absurd.
Since they shared the same opinion, they could be called allies, but…
“Oh, Father is preparing to take you to the main house. But do you know what he told me? He told me to stay behind and lead the clan to destroy the Divine Demon Sect! Haha, isn’t that lucky? While I risk my life on the battlefield doing someone else’s favor, you, Brother, can stay comfortably in a warm room, enjoying lavish feasts at every meal, and then just swoop in and take the crumbs once the victory bell rings! My, my. The bear does the tricks, but Mr. Wang takes the money! Haha.”
‘Look at the way this brat talks.’
His tone was irritating.
Seong Mu-yeon, who already had a lot built up, briefly thought that he wouldn’t mind becoming the Family Head if it meant he could give Jegal Un the middle finger.
However, he couldn’t bring himself to ruin a perfectly fine clan just because his feelings were hurt.
“I think there’s some misunderstanding, but I have absolutely no intention of becoming the Family Head.”
“Of course you would. The great Brother naturally has no intention of becoming the Family Head… what?”
Jegal Un looked stunned, a blank expression on his face.
“I said I don’t want to be the Family Head. Why don’t you try talking your father out of it?”
“…Are you serious?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t take the Jegal Clan even if you gave it to me for free. It’s a hassle, so you take it, Young Family Head.”
Seong Mu-yeon answered indifferently.
“…I don’t understand. You were so proactive in front of Father yesterday, so what wind blew for you to suddenly hate it? What does the Jegal Clan lack? It’s a place someone like you wouldn’t even dare to look at!”
“Good grief, you get angry when I say I’ll take it, and you get angry when I say I don’t want it. Which tune am I supposed to dance to? If you can’t believe me, should I make an oath? I want to live a long, thin life. I feel like if I become the Family Head of the Jegal Clan, I’ll live a short, thick life. That’s why I’m not doing it.”