The Seonu Clan
When Yeonha heard that I had deliberately borne the false charge in order to be sent to the frontline, her expression faltered in surprise before she left.
Something about that reaction felt… different from my memory, leaving me uneasy.
'What is it? What's different?'
Back then, Yeonha had only wept endlessly, trying to comfort me.
Was the difference simply because I hadn't wept this time?
I was lost in such thoughts when the second visitor I had been waiting for arrived.
Tap!
Far sooner than I expected.
A figure dropped silently from the roof, startling me.
"Father?!"
The second visitor was none other than my father, Seonu Jung.
He looked at me with a heavy expression.
'What? Even Father feels different this time.'
Was it because I had changed?
The timing of his visit, the look in his eyes—it was all utterly unlike my memories.
Back then, he had come with a resigned expression, asking if I had any last requests.
I had pathetically begged to be allowed to escape, and he had sighed, shaken his head, and left.
But now… no resignation. No weary sigh. Just a grave silence, his eyes fixed upon me.
As I stared tensely, Father finally spoke, his voice heavy.
"Was it truly a false charge?"
My eyes widened.
Had he overheard what I'd told Yeonha?
Which meant… he had been here earlier?
Then in the past, too…?
Why?
I could not answer, only stared at his face.
Again, he spoke, his voice weighed with gravity.
"Jin… I knew you were hiding your talent, pretending to be a fool. But I did not know you longed to leave the clan. If I had known earlier…"
His face was etched with deep regret.
That expression shocked me.
And then—words I never imagined I would hear from him:
"I'm sorry, Jin. Because of your useless father, your life has become a wreck."
My mind was thrown into chaos.
What? What was this?
Until now, Father had abandoned me completely.
He had never stopped me, but neither had he ever protected me—from my brothers, or from their mothers' bullying.
That was why I had been so utterly isolated in the clan, and why I had resented him so fiercely.
But now—what was this?
Could it be…?
An idea I had never once considered in my previous life began to piece itself together.
Each of my brothers' maternal families held enormous influence.
Even Father, the clan head, had to constantly balance their power.
So if he favored one child, he would lose control over the others.
Thus, by protecting no one, he could prevent the clan from tearing apart.
And since I had no maternal family behind me, no external power… he had been unable to protect me at all.
Or—was abandoning me actually his way of protecting me?
'If that's true… then…?!'
The father I had always resented, never once longed for, now appeared different before my eyes.
Of course, this was only a theory. My years of bitterness didn't vanish in an instant.
But the regret carved into his expression was unmistakably real.
Then he asked:
"Do you have any request?"
Suddenly, my mind snapped to attention.
Whatever his true feelings, this was the chance I had been waiting for.
I swallowed hard and spoke with solemnity.
"Will you allow me entry into the Clan Head's private library? Just one day is all I need."
His eyes widened at the unexpected request.
"The library? For only one day?"
I carefully chose my words, speaking slowly and with gravity.
I had to persuade him.
"I… shamefully, have neglected training, and I do not even know our clan's martial arts. Before I am sent to the frontline, I wish to learn even a little of our clan's techniques."
Yes. In my last life, one of my greatest regrets was this.
I had been thrust into the position of clan head after my brothers died or disappeared, yet I knew nothing of the Seonu Clan's martial legacy.
At the frontline in Yunnan, I had been forced to claw my way up from the bottom, learning martial arts with incredible difficulty—
'Even stealing others' techniques to do so.'
I remembered those bitter, filthy days.
Treated as worthless, ignored and shunned by my fellow soldiers.
If I could now learn even the clan's famed Thirteen Swords of Seonu, one of Guiju's most respected techniques, I could rise far faster.
At least, compared to my last life, when I could only steal glances at comrades' martial arts.
Father's expression grew complex.
"You think you can learn martial arts in a single day, from books alone?"
"Better than not learning at all."
He pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. I will allow it."
Yes!
I clenched my fist, nearly crying out in triumph.
At last, I could erase one of my greatest regrets.
But his words weren't finished.
"But!"
"Yes?"
My nerves tensed again.
And then—from his mouth came another shock.
"Practicing inner cultivation techniques alone is far too dangerous. I will teach you myself. Sit cross-legged, now."
"Wh—yes! Yes, Father!"
Though startled, I immediately sat cross-legged.
Then his palm pressed against my back, warmth flowing into me, guiding me.
"What I will impart to you is the Hunwon Muguk Gong. I will recite its formulas several times. Listen well, and memorize them all. In the beginning, there was yin, yang, and chaos…"
Hunwon Muguk Gong?!
I nearly cried out in astonishment.
Hunwon Muguk Gong was the inner cultivation method taught only to the Clan Head and the heir.
Which meant—he was passing on the greatest secret art of the Seonu Clan to me.
It should have been a moment of sheer joy and honor.
Yet strangely…
More than the thrill of receiving a supreme art, what moved me most was the searing warmth of my father's palm on my back.
It was… so warm.
The warmest touch I had ever felt from family in my entire life.
The next day, I was granted entry into the Clan Head's private library.
My brothers objected furiously, but Father silenced them, saying that if I went to the frontline ignorant of our clan's arts and died immediately, it would disgrace the clan even further.
Thus, for the first time in both my lives, I stepped into the private martial archive of the Seonu Clan.
Cracking my knuckles, a sly smile spread across my face.
"Eheheheh."
Enough with "just one day"?
More than enough!
I wasn't planning to learn martial arts today anyway—just to memorize them.
To force every last page into my head. That was the ability I was most confident in.
As a child, I had been called a prodigy for my memory. And after being sent to the frontline, I had no choice but to develop that memory further in order to survive.
Since I knew no martial arts, I had to watch my comrades' techniques just once, then imitate and absorb them.
Later, Captain Seol Pung admired that ability and gave it a name:
"Scene Memory Technique."
Like a human copy-machine, I could recreate even the number of leaves in a forest after one glance.
So I could say with confidence:
"Everything in here is destined to enter my mind today. Come quietly, and I'll use you all properly. Heheheh."
The Clan Head's private library was a small room, its four walls lined with shelves. Almost every book there was a martial arts manual.
The thought of devouring them all into my memory made me feel full, as if I'd eaten a feast.
Of course, I couldn't expect them all to be useful. Among them were basic manuals like Three-Talent Sword Arts and Six-Harmony Fist, and even health exercises like Five-Animal Frolics.
'But so what? This is a hundred times better than my last life, when I had nothing at all to learn.'
I started with what I'd just learned yesterday from Father: Hunwon Muguk Gong, and the clan's ultimate art, the Thirteen Swords of Seonu.
I read each three times carefully, making sure not to muddle the order.
My memorization was perfect—but the difference in comprehension was stark.
The Hunwon Muguk Gong, which I had already been guided through, I understood.
But the Thirteen Swords of Seonu? I couldn't understand a thing.
'So it really is nonsense to think you can learn martial arts from drawings and words alone. In martial arts novels, people become masters just by reading manuals. Hah.'
Fiction was fiction, after all.
Still, I continued shoving martial arts into my head, believing they would be of use someday.
Time flowed like water.
By the time I had read half the library's books three times each, it was already afternoon.
My head throbbed unbearably, my body completely exhausted.
'I'm going to die. I can't take any more.'
Overloaded with memory, I stumbled outside to breathe fresh air.
The world spun as I rose, and staggering out the door, I collapsed on the grass in front of the library.
"Ugh, I'm dead!"
Sprawled on my back, I stared blankly up at the sky.
For a moment, I felt better. But then I remembered half the books still remained, and my head throbbed again.
Temptation crept in.
'Maybe I should stop here?'
After all, none of this would help me immediately. Most of it I didn't even understand.
Hadn't I already gained enough, learning Hunwon Muguk Gong and glimpsing the Thirteen Swords?
The temptation whispered stronger in my head.
Then—
"Hmph! I knew it. How could he possibly learn martial arts?"
"Indeed. A pig will always collapse like a pig, no matter what."
I lifted my head.
My three brothers were passing through the garden, leading two young ladies of remarkable beauty.
My eyes drifted naturally to them.
Both were striking.
But while one's heavy bangs gave her a gloomy air, the other's beauty was dazzling enough to make my eyes snap open wide.
Swallowing hard, I instinctively compared her to the most beautiful woman I knew.
'That level… could rival Lady Tang.'
Tang Yeo-eun, one of the captains of the Thirteenth Flying Dragons, was a direct descendant of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Though the youngest among countless Tang siblings, she had joined the frontline. There, her astounding skill in memory, stealth, poisons, and even swordsmanship earned her the title Tang Clan's Sword Phoenix.
It was a title reserved only for women acknowledged as the future leaders of the martial world, those who combined martial prowess and beauty.
And now, here was a woman whose beauty rivaled even hers. Of course my eyes lingered.
But that alone seemed to provoke my brothers.
The eldest, Seonu Seong, glared and barked:
"You filthy pig! How dare you look at Lady Jegal? Forgive him for offending you, Lady Jegal."
Lady Jegal?
Could she be… the famed Heavenly Sword Phoenix, Jegal Seoyul?
I had heard rumors that among the Jegal Clan—renowned for strategy and intellect, but weak in martial arts—a sword genius had emerged.
'I recall hearing the Jegal Clan was sending her to tour various martial families for experience… so she came here as well?'
I vaguely remembered hearing of the Jegal Clan's visit around this time, but I had dismissed it as irrelevant.
Hurriedly, I averted my gaze.
I knew all too well how men behaved before beauties—especially my brothers.
Best to hurry back to the library.
Then, the woman—surely Jegal Seoyul—spoke.
"And who is that?"
My chest sank.
Lady, please!
Do you want to get me killed?
Any attention to me was fatal.
At once, my brothers answered eagerly:
"Our disgraceful third brother."
"As you see, more pig than man."
"Father gave him special time to learn martial arts before he leaves for the frontline tomorrow. Yet look at him."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"He is going to the Blood Demon Cult Frontline?"
And with growing curiosity, she looked at me again.
'Oh no! Lady, please!'
I shut my eyes tight.
Sure enough, my brothers' gazes turned sharp, glaring at me as though to devour me.
"He is not worthy of your attention, Lady."
"Indeed. As you see, nothing but a pig."
"He goes to the frontline only to pay for his crimes."
"Ah, I see."
But even as she nodded, her eyes lingered on me.
My brothers scowled.
The youngest, Seonu Gi, twisted his lips into a cruel grin and began striding toward me.