The Seonu Clan
"Brother, so how much martial skill have you gained? Since you entered the Clan Head's private library, why not show us how much you've improved?"
It seemed he had chosen me as a convenient sacrifice to show off before the young ladies.
Indeed, Seonu Gi's head for petty schemes was as sharp as ever.
But truth be told, my own temper was boiling as well.
Perhaps not in this life, but in my past one, I had reached the very peak of first-class martial arts. My experience and insight would never simply vanish.
So watching a brat who hadn't even stepped into first-class yet strut before me—it was unbearable.
'It's hard. Hard to endure…'
But the real problem was my body.
I could trust myself, but I couldn't trust this body. Right now, I was so out of shape that even walking left me breathless.
To say I was closer to a pig than a man… was sadly not far from the truth.
So I gritted my teeth and chose to endure.
They say even ten years is short for a gentleman's revenge.
Waiting for the right chance after reclaiming a proper body would be wiser.
So I forced a silly grin and spoke mildly:
"How could one change so suddenly after a single day of study? I've only tried to make some effort. I'll be heading back soon, so—ugh!"
Thwack!
But he clearly had no intention of giving me a choice.
A sharp pain lanced through my forearm, as though it had been broken.
He had lunged without warning, throwing a fist that I barely managed to block.
"What?"
Seonu Gi froze, staring at me in shock.
Apparently, me blocking his sudden strike was far beyond his expectations.
But I was just as shocked.
That single block hurt so badly.
My untrained arms were throbbing painfully.
Once, I would have evaded easily, but now my body couldn't respond quickly enough—I had no choice but to take it head-on.
The weakness of this body filled me with despair.
"You… blocked it? Third Brother actually blocked my punch?"
Even that much seemed to shake him.
He stood stiff, muttering in disbelief.
Then my other brothers, who had been watching, burst into laughter as if they had been waiting for this.
"Puhahaha! Gi, even a pig stopped your punch! Are you that slow?"
"At this rate, the shame of the Seonu Clan will pass to you, Gi! Hahaha!"
Their thoughts were obvious.
They had wanted to show off before Lady Jegal. Now that their rival, Seonu Gi, had made a fool of himself, they pounced at the chance to belittle him.
Naturally, Seonu Gi's humiliation was beyond words.
Embarrassed before the very woman he wanted to impress, his face turned red, and he lunged into a proper stance.
"How dare you!"
His fists came flying, leaving afterimages as they struck like wind.
Whsssh! Whsshssh!
"Ughhh!"
Again I managed to block, but the pain bit into my very bones.
I nearly begged him to stop.
But then… something strange happened.
Though I had never seen these moves before, they looked strangely familiar.
'That's… could it be?!'
It was the Thirteen Gale Strikes, the Seonu Clan's fist-and-kick method.
Though I had never trained in it, my eyes recognized each motion instinctively.
In an instant, I forgot the pain and focused wholly on his moves.
His fists and kicks whipped about like a storm. Just as small winds gather into a gale, his techniques intertwined seamlessly, overwhelming defenses—complex, refined maneuvers.
And at that moment, the scene aligned perfectly with the diagrams I had just memorized from the library.
My mind blazed with clarity.
Techniques I could not grasp from words and drawings suddenly became vivid and real.
It was pure exhilaration.
I couldn't stop myself from exclaiming:
"Excellent!"
He faltered mid-attack.
"What… what? Excellent?"
When he froze, I panicked.
The techniques I had just been matching in my mind halted as well.
"No! Slip of the tongue! What are you doing, why stop?! Attack me more! Quickly!"
His face twisted.
As though he were looking at some kind of pervert.
My brothers, of course, seized the moment to jeer again.
"Puhahaha! Gi, he likes it! Did you hear?!"
"He says he wants more! Your punches must feel good to him, hahahaha!"
Grinding his teeth furiously, eyes blazing, Seonu Gi charged again.
"Die!"
"Yes, come at me! Hahahaha!"
I was elated.
In my past life, I had only stolen glimpses of Zhengchang and Qingsong sword arts. Naturally, they were shallow imitations—no depth, no true form.
But now, for the first time in two lives, I was properly learning martial arts.
And not just any, but the true legacy of my clan, the Seonu Clan.
As his storm of attacks rained down, I absorbed and confirmed every movement, aligning them with the memory in my mind.
It was as if a clear bell chimed in my head.
Then came the strike—one of the clan's signature moves, now plain as day to my eyes.
The Blue Gale Breaker.
His fists pounded against my guard like a downpour, before suddenly shifting into a kick to strike my opening.
At that moment, my eyes caught his flaw—the awkwardness of an unrefined student.
Almost without thinking, I stepped forward.
My palm extended naturally, and his chest slammed straight into it.
Bam!
A solid impact rang through my hand.
"Gahhh!"
Spitting blood, he was flung back by his own momentum.
Thud!
He collapsed in the grass, unconscious.
"Huff… huff…"
My breath came ragged. I must have pushed this weak body to its absolute limit.
Even my mocking brothers fell silent, blinking in shock.
They had clearly not expected Seonu Gi to fall.
But soon enough, their eyes hardened.
The eldest sneered.
"You fat pig… just got lucky."
"Why don't you show us that trick as well?"
This was bad.
I had no strength left to stand.
'Damn it. This won't do.'
Cold sweat ran down my back.
I could take a beating, sure—but their eyes glimmered with killing intent.
If I were badly injured and couldn't return to the library, that would be the most humiliating loss of all.
I scrambled to stall.
"Bro… Brothers! Gi seems badly hurt from my mistake! Shouldn't you check on him first?!"
But they only sneered.
"Hmph! Since when do you care about anyone else?"
"Gi is probably hoping we'll take revenge for him!"
And then it happened.
In that desperate moment, salvation came from the most unexpected place.
From none other than the very one who had thrown me into this mess—Lady Jegal.
"A younger brother lies injured, and instead of checking his condition, you're trying to bully someone who can barely stand? Truly disappointing. Don't you agree, Cheong-yeon?"
The young woman standing half a step behind her, the one with her eyes hidden beneath her bangs, nodded stiffly. With that, the situation abruptly dissolved.
My flustered brothers scrambled to explain themselves, rushing to Seonu Gi.
"N-no, of course not! We were just about to check on him!"
"I'm already checking! Gi, are you alright?!"
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Pathetic. Truly pathetic.
That I had spent a lifetime suffering under such fools—was there anything more disgraceful?
But then again, I was no less pathetic.
If they had been decent men, we might have built a bond long ago. Like my late friend, Dan Hasang.
The face of my unjustly slain friend rose in my mind.
Even having returned to the past, I had only seen him in death.
And so, once again, I swore with all my heart:
"Hasang, I will find the villain who destroyed you. And I will make him pay."
While I was lost in that thought, my brothers carried the unconscious Seonu Gi away, retreating like a receding tide.
Only Lady Jegal's companion—the one she had called Cheong-yeon—lingered, fixing me with a meaningful gaze before finally following the rest.
And then they were gone.
Alone once more, I lay sprawled in the grass, gasping for breath.
Above me, the blue sky drifted lazily with scattered white clouds.
But then, suddenly, a shadow fell across my face.
I turned—and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
"When did you… Father?!"
Seonu Jung, my father, stood over me.
My stomach dropped.
After all, he had granted me access to the Clan Head's library—and here I was, collapsed like some sluggard. Surely he would think I had wasted the opportunity.
"I-I was just… that is…!"
Strange.
In my past life, I had never once longed for Father's approval.
And yet, the thought of disappointing him now filled me with more fear than even a beating from my brothers.
But his eyes were not filled with disappointment.
Instead, they held something achingly tender—an emotion I had never seen from him before.
So unfamiliar, I could scarcely believe it.
Softly, almost gently, he said:
"You've worked hard, Jin. And…"
From his lips came words I thought I would never hear, words I could hardly believe.
"…I am proud of you."
Something surged inside me.
I had no idea what expression to wear, only that I struggled desperately to suppress the flood welling up from within.
Then Father lifted his gaze to the sky and murmured:
"Do you know? Of my four marriages, only once did I marry by my own choice."
It was the first time I had ever heard such a thing.
"At the time, I believed it was simply what I had to do for the clan. But now… now I'm not so sure."
His voice was so desolate it ached in my chest.
At the same time, my mind reeled, unable to comprehend.
Or rather—unable to believe.
"Those words… does that mean… of his four wives, the one he chose himself was… my mother?"
I stared at him, unable to respond, my heart knotted.
Then suddenly, he shifted the mood, smiling faintly.
"Did you read the manual of the Thirteen Swords of Seonu?"
"Yes? Ah, yes! I read it."
He walked slowly toward the open grassy clearing, speaking as he went.
"Then I think I'll practice swordsmanship for the first time in a while. You rest here, and return to the library afterward."
And with that, he began to perform the Thirteen Swords of Seonu.
At first, very slowly.
From beginning to end.
Then again, a little faster.
And again, faster still.
Over and over, repeating.
Until I could see no more.
By the third run, I already understood every form completely.
But still—I couldn't stop watching.
Enthralled, spellbound.
This moment, I felt, would never fade from my memory.
At last, when Father's breathing grew heavy, I bowed deeply, then returned to the library.
The thought of stopping, of not reading more manuals, had long since vanished.
I read again, with even greater focus than before.
I would waste not a single moment.
I devoured every martial manual, and at last reached the final texts: the journals of my ancestors.
They had recorded their experiences, their insights. But of course, I understood none of it yet.
'If I couldn't even grasp techniques before, it would be absurd to comprehend insights so soon.'
Finally, I slid the last volume back into place.
And then I noticed something.
The cover felt… wrong.
One side was oddly thicker than the other.
I remembered. At the frontlines, I had once uncovered spies passing secret messages hidden in books just like this.
Without hesitation, I carefully peeled the cover apart.
"Just as I thought!"
Inside was a folded slip of paper.
On both sides were drawings and writing, with bold titles at the top of each sheet.
"Fourteenth Form."
"Fifteenth Form."
Fourteenth… Fifteenth…?
"…Could it be?"
It seemed I was the very first to ever discover this.