LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 89.2 The Entire World is My Home (10.2)
Woo-Moon tilted his head in confusion. Was the elder completely unaware? That was exactly what he had to do the entire time as he traveled to the Baek Estate from his hometown.
“I’ve done it many times. Why do you ask?”
Hearing Woo-Moon’s answer, all the elders reacted as if Buddha himself had bestowed upon them some wisdom. “Oh? Oh!! Really?! Amazing, that’s perfect!”
“As expected, Woo-Moon, you’ve been raised right. The bloodline of the Iron Sword Baek Family is truly evident within you! I can’t believe we finally have such a treasure! This is an incredible blessing for the family!”
“Woo-Moon, you’re the best!”
Woo-Moon suddenly became even more anxious hearing this unexpected praise from the elders, who were behaving in a manner completely unlike their usual selves.
“Wait, there’s no way....”
Gong-Su pretended not to notice Woo-Moon’s tone.
“Is there a problem, Woo-Moon?”
“There’s no way you’re asking me to take these little chicks who haven’t experienced what it’s like to live on the road and take them the entire way to the Justice Coalition... right? Right??”
Seeing as Woo-Moon hit the nail on the head, the elders could only clear their throats as they were too embarrassed to speak.
“Ahem!”
“Cough, cough cough.”
The veins on Woo-Moon’s forehead began to throb.
“If that’s the case, then I’m not going. I refuse. Do you really think that these children, who have been living such affluent lives this entire time, would choose to still go if they knew you were asking them to suddenly go sleep in the wilderness? If it's those immature brats, it feels like they’d lie down on the spot and say they weren’t going as soon as they heard the news.”
One of the female elders with a round face and a good-natured appearance, Baek Jin-Suk, spoke with a hint of happiness in her voice.
“You think so too? Yes, they probably will. Hohoho. Of course, we thought about that as well. See, back in our day, we did everything the family had told us to do without a single word of complaint. But these days, the children don’t do a single thing if they don’t like it. So, we’ve decided to trick them, hohoho. We’ll give them the usual amount of money to spend on travel expenses, but then we’ll cause some... unfortunate circumstances and leave them with no other choice but to sleep outdoors and look for food. At that point, what can they do? They’d already left the family estate, hohohoho!”
Baek Jin-Sook giggled to herself without looking at Woo-Moon’s expression, which was gradually turning into the face of someone forced to eat a surprisingly juicy piece of dog shit. Then, her laughter slowly trailed off as she belatedly realized what was about to happen.
The other elders also rubbed their temples in pain as they saw Baek Jin-Sook behave as recklessly as usual.
“Ho... ho... ho. What, it’s not as funny as I thought? It was funny to me, though...”
“Yeah, funny to you. Not me.”
Hurt by Woo-Moon’s curt words, Baek Jin-Sook clamped her mouth shut.
Woo-Moon took a deep breath and spoke firmly again.
“I won’t be going to the gangho this time. I would like to just practice martial arts at home.”
The second he declined, Gong-Su urgently began to try to convince him.
“We feel so guilty that we have to ask this of you, as you’ve already done so many great things for the family. However, just think about our situation, Woo-Moon. Wouldn’t you?”
“I mean, couldn’t you elders just do it directly? Why do you need me to do this?!”
Hearing Woo-Moon’s rebuttal, the elders suddenly grabbed at random parts of their bodies.
“Oh, oh! My waist! As I get older, my back isn’t what it used to be...”
“Woo-Moon, I’ve already reached seventy this year! Look, it’s not even cold right now, but I keep coughing.... Cough, cough, cough!”
“I’m actually seventy-two! My knees aren’t what they used to be. Just think of how bad my edema is...”
“Woo-Moon, when I was young, I was so penniless that I had to sleep on the streets whenever I went out on expeditions. Because of that I developed a sickness that causes half my face to grow numb and my mouth to droop! Look at it right now! Here, here! Can’t you see it drooping?”
Seeing the ever-regal elders act so childishly in front of him, Woo-Moon was shocked, realizing that this was in fact their true face.
‘I mean, just what...’
“Woo-Moon, how old are you this year?”
Suddenly, one of the elders asked him his age. Even though Woo-Moon knew he was falling into a trap, he still answered politely.
“...I’m still young. Yes. I’m still a greenhorn, just barely in my twenties.”
“Hmm. Is that why? You, well, you know... The thing is, the kids are starting to like you and respect you even more these days!”
Baek Jin-Sook immediately agreed with the elder, piling on.
“Ah! Of course, that’s it! Hohoho. He’s attractive, has good character, his martial arts are stellar, and he’s so kind and approachable, even though he’s of a different status than the others!”
Gong-Su also joined the combination attack.
“So, dear little Moon. Right now, you’re no different from the kids’ idol. Even if they don’t want to admit it, do you know how much they’re looking forward to going to the gangho with you?”
“Even if circumstances were to suddenly change and make all of you have to subsist in the wilderness, the children will be okay with it...no, they’ll enjoy it as long as they’re with you. It wouldn’t be possible for anyone else! Only you can do this!” another elder added.
Woo-Moon sighed as he listened to his grandaunts and uncles suddenly speaking so eloquently, in a completely different manner from their oh-so-elderly complaints just moments earlier.
‘Ah! I did hear about this from the soldiers who came to eat while I was working at the inn. In the military, people would bully and trick younger or lower-ranked soldiers into doing their chores. This definitely is the same thing!’
Amid the chatter of the elderly racing to speak over each other, Woo-Moon finally opened his mouth.
“Okay, okay, cut it off. I’ll do it. I’ll do it!”
Then, all of the elders immediately grew quiet. Clearly, Woo-Moon still had something to say.
“In return! Because I’m doing the thing you all don’t want to do, please make sure I get a reasonable payment. A thousand taels! What do you think?”
The elders discussed among themselves for a while. Even for the Baek Family, a thousand taels wasn’t a negligible amount of money.
“Fine. We can do that. We can afford at least that much, considering we’d be getting the chance to educate the children with someone as incredible as you.”
Woo-Moon shook his head. “But, you all know it, right? This is nothing but patching a collapsing wall. You can only use random pretexts so many times before they grow tired of it. In the end, regardless of whether or not they accept it, we’ll still have to force them to live a simple and frugal life according to the family code. They’ll have to be forced to live in the wilderness.”
Woo-Moon’s words were indisputable; all of the elders knew he was right. Gong-Su’s expression turned somber.
“Of course, we know. However, the family’s situation is too chaotic right now. The children must also have been incredibly shocked and shaken, even if they aren’t saying anything. In a situation like this, if we also suddenly force them to completely change their lifestyle, we could cause them irreparable harm.”
Jin-Sook’s expression also sobered, different from her usual carefree appearance.
“Our cautious babying won’t last long. Once this current situation is handled, we plan to force a proper shift in ideology.”
The most important members of the family had killed and trapped their own relatives out of greed for power. It had definitely been a shock for the other members of the younger generation. They were young and they were still learning and developing, and there wasn’t any guarantee that none of them would become twisted and fall into depravity from the impact of Hye-Ryeong’s schemes.
It was only after the elder’s genuine plea that Woo-Moon understood why they were really doing this and how important it was to be as careful as possible when dealing with the younger generation at a time like this.
“Okay. Well... you probably are more familiar with dealing with the younger generation than I am. Then, at least this time, I’ll trust and follow your instructions. Anyway, it’s getting late and I need to plan out a situation that would force us to live in the wilderness, so you’ll have to excuse me.”
Woo-Moon returned to his quarters and thought about what they had said all night. However, he still couldn’t come up with a suitable solution.
‘Ah, whatever. Screw it. I’ll figure it out on the way. I’ll just have to make some excuse or another.’
***
The next day.
“I’ll be back.”
“Make sure you take care of your health!”
“The younger already left, and the older is now leaving. All I want from you is to come back home safely, okay? Ma-Ra, you too,” Jin-Jin said.
“Okay, mother. Don’t worry about us,” Woo-Moon answered cheerfully, while Ma-Ra nodded her head.
Si-Hyeong approached Woo-Moon confidently, took his hand, and stood as close to him as physically possible without merging into a single hybrid being.
“Senior brother! You can’t forget about me while you’re out, okay? Don’t forget to bring me gifts when you return, okay?”
Not too long ago, Woo-Moon had officially introduced Si-Hyeon to the Baek Family as the Palm Martial Emperor’s “grand-disciple” and his junior sister. Of course, the unconventional hierarchy couldn’t be helped, and the elders had to just deal with the chaotic mess and arbitrary lineage that Sang-Woon had left behind again.
As Si-Hyeon let go of his hand, she pushed a purse secretly into his grasp.
‘What’s this?’
Seeing Woo-Moon’s confused gaze, Si-Hyeon smiled quietly and whispered in his ear, “They say a man’s pride comes from a thick purse. I pulled about three hundred taels out of the Merchant Guild’s coffers. Don’t feel pressured, half of the guild is your property, after all.”[1]
Woo-Moon smiled as he could smell her fragrant scent and feel her warmth. He whispered back to her, “Thank you, junior sister. As expected, you’re the best.”
Si-Hyeon's face turned red as Woo-Moon's breath tickled her ear.
“O-of course, senior brother.”
A little while later, Woo-Moon, Ma-Ra, and Eun-Ah, together with nine out of the freshly-invested Ten Distinguished Swords—Ye-Ye had to stay behind to serve as proxy to the patriarch—left the Baek Estate and began their journey to the Justice Coalition.
***
The evening of the first day.
“Woohoo!! We’ve finally reached an inn!” one of the girls among the Distinguished Swords shouted with joy.
The girl standing next to her frowned as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. “It feels like I’m chewing sand after walking through that dust storm.”
Baek Ryeong, the youngest of the girls among the Distinguished Swords, stretched cutely. “Ah! I want to hurry and go take a bath!”
Her older sister turned and lightly swatted her forearm.
“Watch what you’re saying! You’ve already grown up; why are you talking about baths when you’re standing around men?”
“Hmpf! What’s wrong with talking about baths? Am I not allowed to even talk about baths just because I’m a woman?”
“You little... Do you really want to get scolded?”
Woo-Moon smiled as he thought their bickering was cute.
‘Wait, Baek Ryeong... Isn’t she the girl from back then?’
She was the girl who started making up random stories when the girls from the Namgoong Family were praising him for his good looks, turning Woo-Moon into some sort of lecher in a matter of moments.
“Uncle! What do you think about spending the night here?” said Baek Jeong-Woo. He was temporarily holding the First Sword position while Ye-Ye was not with them.
Woo-Moon suddenly remembered the task he had been sent to do.
‘Dang it, what should I do? I haven’t figured out an excuse for us to have to stay in the wilderness yet...’
He soon set his worries aside. It was still the first day of their journey, and they still had a long way to go. He convinced himself that it was okay for them to start the journey comfortably in an inn, considering the hardships that were to follow.
‘Because I prefer this to sleeping in the wilderness, anyway. Let’s just sleep in the inn for today.’
“Yes, I was thinking the same thing. We still have plenty of time, anyway,” Woo-Moon said after making up his mind.
Baek Jeong-Woo smiled without any pretense at his response.
“Well, by the way, Uncle, let’s all just be comfortable around each other. No need to care about all the etiquette, I think it’ll be easier for all of us that way.”
As he spoke, the other Distinguished Swords, who were listening to their conversation in anticipation, all joined in.
“That’s right, Uncle! Please feel free to talk freely!”
“Please be comfortable, Uncle! Age is just a number!”
Even those among the Distinguished Swords who were older than Woo-Moon now urged him to drop the etiquette.
1. At current market value, 300 taels of gold are worth roughly 740,964.43 USD. Woo-Moon is loaded. ☜