Chapter 6

Chapter 6

In the deep dawn when all animals should have been asleep, someone was moving quietly, hiding their body within the shadows.

The one entrusting himself to the darkness sensed the presence of people nearby, closed his eyes at once, and focused.

Then, the presence of those inside the house became far clearer.

‘Two of them.’

One was probably an attendant. Without making a single sound, the man slipped quietly and stealthily into one of the rooms.

There were no unnecessary movements in his actions at all, and thanks to that method of movement, not a single sound had escaped his body until now.

The man looked at the Fifth Young Master, who lay with his face completely covered by the blanket, and thought,

‘This one really has it rough.’

Since he himself was also an orphan, he did not particularly want to kill him, but……

‘They paid too much money. I’m sorry, kid.’

As that thought ended, the man was just about to stab the figure under the blanket with his dagger.

Pshhk!

“Grrrk!”

At that moment, a flash appeared in midair, and the man’s neck was pierced by something.

With eyes that could not believe what had happened, the man turned around. There, Youngho, who had been hiding in the shadows, was looking at him with a mocking gaze.

“What? You came to kill me over mere money. Shouldn’t you at least pay the price for trying to kill such a weak, delicate boy?”

The man could not even answer Youngho’s words and collapsed forward. Considering that a loud noise might alert Sopyung, Youngho caught the assassin’s body and slowly lowered it to the floor.

As blood soaked into the ground, Youngho scratched the back of his head roughly.

“Then the cleanup is…….”

Ah, right. I’m not the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance.

Youngho, who had briefly thought of himself as a lord again, spoke with an awkward smile.

“I’ll have to clean it up myself.”

With those words, Youngho let out a long sigh.

As always, Youngho woke at the Hour of the Cat, finished the circulation and regulation of qi that martial artists performed upon waking, and immediately entered training.

Since it was not yet time to properly take up the sword, he prioritized physical conditioning in his training.

After pushing his body to the point where it creaked all over, Youngho sat down on the ground for a moment and steadied his breathing.

“Hoo…….”

An assassin had tried to kill him at dawn today. Well, that was something to be called only natural. He had more than sufficiently expected it.

Was it not very normal for fellow disciples to send assassins after one another? From that perspective, the senior brother who had sent an assassin after him was actually a very ideal senior brother.

“Or was it a junior sister?”

Either way, it was one of the two. And it was like comparing acorns’ heights anyway. Still, if an assassin came every day, even he would find it troublesome.

‘I do need sleep time…….’

Even before the Regression, there had been times when a senior brother or junior sister sent an assassin. But back then, it ended at the level of inflicting some superficial wounds—now it was completely different.

‘They were trying to kill me.’

The assassin had clearly intended to kill him. Not to harass him, but to kill him.

‘It’s a different pattern from before the Regression.’

It seemed they had sensed that something about him was unusual.

‘Well, it’s not like I ever tried to hide myself.’

Honestly, if they had not felt any sense of incongruity here, they would just be idiots. Though lacking somewhat, his senior brothers and junior sisters were Cheonung’s disciples.

And Cheonung was meticulous and precise. Could the disciples he accepted truly be ordinary? If Cheonung’s disciples could not even notice this level of discordance, it would be less embarrassing to die with their noses buried in a dish of food.

“Then at the very least, I need someone who can guarantee my sleeping time…….”

If he were fully grown, it might be different, but his current body was still in the middle of growing. He had not even finished growing taller yet.

Losing height, which could be turned into an advantage in combat, was an obvious loss.

“It can’t be helped.”

Youngho stood up and spoke to Sopyung.

“Sopyung, is the food not ready yet?”

“Please wait just a little longer!”

“Hurry and make the food already. I’m hungry.”

“Yes!”

“Good. Oh, and I’ll be going out for a bit, so watch the house.”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“To a place that will protect me.”

After lightly washing up, Youngho ate all the food Sopyung had prepared.

“Ah, beef never gets old no matter when I eat it. Don’t you think so, Sopyung?”

“I’ll eat anything you give me, Young Master!”

“I’m sure you will.”

Youngho chuckled and said,

“I’ll be back in a bit, so watch the house.”

“Yes. And please be careful, Young Master.”

“Alright.”

Seeing the sincerity in Sopyung’s eyes, Youngho chuckled once more and left.

Youngho exited the house and headed toward Cheonung’s office. There were still occasional gazes directed at him, but he paid them no mind and simply made his way to the office.

Youngho naturally handed his sword to the guard and said,

“Hurry and finish it.”

Hearing Youngho’s utterly nonchalant words, the guard could not hide his flustered expression.

To a martial artist, their weapon was their life. No matter how urgent the business with the Lord might be, no one could so easily hand over their own armament.

Yet the Fifth Young Master standing before him showed not the slightest resistance to immediately entrusting his weapon.

It was a sight the guard had never seen in all his time on duty. However, perhaps displeased with the guards’ hesitation, Youngho frowned and said,

“Hurry up. I didn’t come as a disciple to see my master—I came as Youngho of the Unorthodox Alliance Lord’s Residence to see the Lord.”

At those words, the guards snapped back to their senses, searched Youngho’s body, and said,

“You may enter.”

At that, Youngho knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Once permission was given, Youngho naturally stepped into the office.

Seeing that someone else was sitting in the seat where Cheonung should have been, Youngho said,

“It seems my master isn’t here.”

“Didn’t you just say you came to see the Lord?”

“The guards were taking too long, so I just said something offhand.”

At that, Cheongsol looked at Youngho with an amused expression. Youngho also noticed that Cheongsol had taken an interest in him, but he left it at that.

‘It’s not a bad kind of interest, anyway.’

“My name is Cheongsol.”

“Youngho.”

“Judging by your reaction, it seems you know roughly what kind of person I am.”

“I know a bit.”

“And I would like you to drop the formal speech. Like last time.”

At Cheongsol’s plain and concise request, Youngho chuckled and said,

“Alright.”

“So then, for what reason has the Fifth Young Master come here?”

“I want to go out for a bit.”

“I see.”

At present, Youngho possessed not a single thing within the Unorthodox Alliance Lord’s Residence. Interpreted another way, it meant he could leave at any time.

With nothing to his name, there was nothing to lose by leaving. If another of Cheonung’s disciples wished to go out, they could simply do so, but in Youngho’s case, permission was required.

That was because Youngho had not yet earned trust—the trust that he would not spread Cheonung’s martial arts, as the Unorthodox Alliance Lord, just anywhere.

“Where do you plan to go?”

“I’m thinking of visiting the Gold-Blood Hall branch. It’s right next to the Unorthodox Alliance Lord’s Residence.”

“Do you require an escort?”

“Even if I say I don’t need one, you’ll still attach a few people, won’t you?”

At those words, Cheongsol’s hand, which had been diligently organizing documents even as Youngho entered, stopped for a moment.

Skilled. That was the only thought that came to mind. Despite not yet being fully familiar with the workings of the Unorthodox Faction, he was adept, as if he had experienced such things many times before.

Sensing Cheongsol’s puzzlement, Youngho spoke in a light tone,

“When you’re young, you adapt quickly.”

“This old man has overstepped himself. Understood. You may go and return shortly.”

“And my master’s permission?”

“This much can be handled under my authority. After all, I am the Chief Aide of the Unorthodox Alliance Lord’s Residence.”

“Thanks. Then I’ll be off.”

“Understood.”

As soon as the conversation ended, Youngho left the office. Watching that, Cheongsol set down the brush in his hand and thought,

‘It’s strange.’

The report that an assassin had infiltrated Youngho’s quarters at dawn had already been delivered long ago. And so had the fact that Youngho had survived.

But that was not what mattered now.

‘He’s too calm.’

Youngho must have seen an assassin for the first time today. Yet not only had he survived, he was utterly composed.

Youngho’s reaction resembled Cheonung’s—someone who had faced assassins hundreds, thousands of times.

Did that truly make sense? That a greenhorn who could not even properly wield sword qi yet seemed similar to Cheonung, the master of the Unorthodox Alliance Lord’s Residence.

Of course, if Cheonung heard this, he would likely find it interesting or amusing.

But to others, it was not so. To Cheongsol, who was always cool-headed and composed, this incident was far too alien.

He showed not even a trace of unease. Rather, it seemed as though he was merely annoyed at having to deal with something bothersome.

It did not make sense. It was incomprehensible. There had not been many who exceeded the bounds of his expectations.

And most of those belonged to the category of monsters. Could that young brat truly be one of them?

‘That’s going too far.’

Nothing was certain yet. For now, it was time to observe. He knew that much. Still, Cheongsol felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

“Shadow.”

“Yes.”

At Cheongsol’s call, someone who had been unseen in the office appeared before him like a ghost.

“You will personally protect the Fifth Young Master.”

“Understood.”

Shadow felt puzzled at being told to protect rather than surveil, but he was Cheongsol’s shadow. If told to do it, he did it; if told not to, he did not. That was all.

In an instant, Shadow hid himself back within the darkness.

The moment he left the office, Shadow immediately followed after Youngho. Even while hidden in the shadows, Shadow’s figure surged swiftly forward.

It was just as he was watching Youngho from behind.

‘……!!’

Youngho’s eyes met Shadow’s.

Impossible. No—surely not?

The moment their eyes met was so brief it was barely worthy of being called an instant. Yet Shadow felt an inexplicable chill.

It couldn’t be. Even a Master Level expert could not read his presence. So it couldn’t be.

Carrying that eerie feeling in his heart, Shadow observed Youngho even more closely.

Seeing Shadow like that, Youngho let out a quiet chuckle.

‘He seems more interested in me than I thought.’

He had not expected them to assign Shadow.

‘He was a talented one. Even when I was the Unorthodox Alliance Lord, he served me for several years.’

Though in the end, he had retired after growing too old.

Shadow was merely an observer. Back when Youngho had not been the Lord, Shadow had only watched him.

Even when he was on the brink of death—when leaving him alone meant he would certainly die.

In the end, he had somehow survived, but it would be a lie to say he did not resent the fact that Shadow had not helped him.

In truth, he had strongly wished for Shadow’s aid during the succession struggle.

‘Well, that’s that. He’s not going to protect me anyway, so I should hurry.’

Even after exiting the buildings of the Unorthodox Alliance Lord’s Residence, Youngho did not bother to deploy lightness skill. He simply walked slowly toward the location of the Gold-Blood Hall branch.