Chapter 10: The Clan Head’s True Nature

A few shijin ago.

As Yeon was bursting out the main gate of the clan manor.

“No, Clan Head! You haven’t even said goodbye to Muyoung yet!”

“Where did Muyoung go?”

Muyoung was watching Moyong Yeon leave from a distance.

“…”

Muyoung’s gaze towards Moyong Yeon was terrifyingly devoid of emotion.
Moyong Yeon’s pale face and appearance, as if he would collapse at any moment, were still the same.
But Muyoung could clearly feel that Moyong Yeon was a different person from yesterday.
From his subtle aura to his manner of speech and actions.

‘He’s a completely different person.’

These were aspects one would never find in the timid Clan Head.
Just his changed walk was proof.
Normally, he would be walking with his head bowed listlessly.
Now, he was walking straight with powerful, quick strides, his chin slightly raised.

‘What a fascinating change.’

It was already an odd situation for Moyong Yeon to go out alone in the first place.

‘…Pathetic kid.’

Muyoung usually thought of Moyong Yeon in that way.
It wasn’t that he was disappointed, though.
Rather, he thought it suited this family well.
Muyoung had never been fond of the Moyong Clan, after all.
Not to mention Moyong Yeon, the Clan Head.
The steward, who disliked him, was also the same.
As someone with deep pride and loyalty to the Moyong Clan, there were especially many conflicts.

– Why on earth are you still here?!

And Muyoung flinched at the steward’s words, which exploded like a sudden outburst one day.
For that moment, he empathized with the steward’s words.

‘Why?’

The reason I remain here.
Muyoung asked himself, but in truth, he wasn’t unaware of the reason.
Muyoung’s face, following the Clan Head’s footsteps, momentarily held a bitter expression.

‘I know it all too well.’

A vow.
He had made a promise he shouldn’t break.
Knowing that, he was merely disillusioned by the fact that he had to protect Moyong Yeon.

“Gasp, gasp…”

Moyong Yeon, now exhausted and resting for a moment, came into Muyoung’s view.

‘Just for that much effort…’

Even if he had changed overnight, his essence remained.

‘Who does he take after?’

Muyoung naturally recalled the former Clan Head.

“He resembles his father.”

The man who eventually left without protecting anything.
Muyoung narrowed his eyes.
He was a kid who, like the former Clan Head, had not a single likable quality.
Even his courageous demeanor would not last in front of the Black Wolf Sect.

“…”

That was also the reason he was trailing the Clan Head now.
Without him, no problem could be solved.

“Hmph!”

Moyong Yeon started moving again.
Muyoung also followed him, moving between the buildings.
An hour after arriving at Tiger Moon Tower.
Moyong Yeon, unable to wait for Pil-Gu any longer, was seen heading out.
Muyoung, who had been sitting on the detached building’s roof, changed his posture.

‘Has he already given up?’

He couldn’t hear their conversation from a distance, but he could confirm that Moyong Yeon had spoken with the attendant a few times.

‘Even if it’s Moyong Yeon, I thought he would wait a little longer.’

If he returned like this, it was obvious he would receive cold glares from the steward.
But he also thought it was a wise choice.
Muyoung didn’t think the Black Wolf Sect would obediently keep their conditions either.
Furthermore.

‘Isn’t this better for me?’

This annoying chore would end early, after all.

However.

“?”

Muyoung frowned slightly.
Why was Moyong Yeon not leaving the tavern but heading towards the gambling den?

“Hehehe. You scoundrels are all dead.”

He even wore a sinister smile, unbefitting his gentle face.

‘What audacity?’

Muyoung had watched the Clan Head for a long time, but he had never seen him gamble, or even play with his peers.

“…He must have lost his memory and gone completely insane.”

Muyoung was dumbfounded.

Muttering.

Just then, the atmosphere in the gambling den was becoming boisterous.

“Moyong Yeon…”

“Send manpower to the first floor now.”

The Black Wolf Sect members began to move, intent on taking the money Moyong Yeon had brought.
Muyoung knew well how the Black Wolf Sect had built up Tiger Moon Tower.
The first-floor gambling den, for show.
And the second-floor VIP rooms, where the main games were played.
Professional gamblers trained there were waiting for their prey.
No matter how much luck Moyong Yeon had, it was impossible for him, an ignorant boy, to win.

“Wow! It seems luck is on my side today?! Should I really go for double?!”

Meanwhile, Moyong Yeon was surrounded by shills, laughing joyfully.
He looked pathetic, enjoying gambling without knowing he was about to lose all his money.
Therefore.

‘…What is it?’

After some time had passed.
Muyoung couldn’t understand the situation unfolding before his eyes.
The VIP rooms were originally managed as individual rooms, prohibiting entry to others.
However, Muyoung was more specialized than anyone in concealing his presence and infiltrating, so he could sneak in disguised as a staff member.
Although he couldn’t follow Moyong Yeon into the room, he could check Moyong Yeon’s condition through the open door whenever staff members entered or exited.
At first, Moyong Yeon lost money to the gamblers as he had expected.

Creak.

“I won.”

Then the door opened.

Creak.

“Oh, me again.”

Each time the door opened, he was surprisingly winning money from the gamblers.
And quite a lot.
If Muyoung’s reaction was this strong, how bewildered must the actual parties be?
By the time the last game ended, the gamblers were half out of their minds.
Moyong Yeon was a young boy who hadn’t even reached his coming-of-age and an ignorant Clan Head, so it wasn’t strange for them to react that way.
Their rage reached its peak, leading them to fight among themselves, and they even missed Moyong Yeon making off with the money.

‘Hah.’

A hollow laugh escaped him when he realized his prediction was wrong.

‘I thought he would be completely fleeced and kicked out by now.’

Was it skill, or luck?
To call it skill, the fact that Moyong Yeon had been a kid who knew nothing about gambling was an issue.
To call it luck, it seemed like too much luck to be possible against professional gamblers.
But no matter how he looked at it, Moyong Yeon’s demeanor as he left the gambling den with his money was too calm.
There was none of the excitement typical of those who won money by luck.

‘As if it were a matter of course.’

The gap between the Moyong Yeon he knew and the Moyong Yeon he was seeing now amplified his sense of incongruity.
But Muyoung’s confusion didn’t end there.
Soon, the Black Wolf Sect stopped Moyong Yeon, who was returning after winning money.
The original Moyong Yeon should have come to his senses, even if late, and begged for forgiveness in front of the Black Wolf Sect.
But.

“Perhaps because I’ve been in a noisy place for too long, his comprehension seems a bit dull.”

Moyong Yeon’s reaction was absurd.
Moyong Yeon alone could never defeat the Black Wolf Sect.
It meant there was nothing good about going against the situation.

‘What is he trusting in?’

But it wasn’t long before he found the reason in Moyong Yeon’s actions.

“I’m dying! The Clan Head is dying!!”

“…”

It was the moment Moyong Yeon suddenly looked towards where he was and feigned illness for all to see.

‘Huh.’

Muyoung was dumbfounded.

‘He was trusting in me…?’

Of course, if it were him, he could sweep away those Black Wolf Sect thugs in one go.
However, the reason Muyoung hadn’t directly intervened in the fight with the Black Wolf Sect until now was not because he lacked confidence.
It was because he believed he was not the kind of person to step into such matters.
Whether Moyong Yeon knew that fact or not, he wasn’t sure.
Far from complaining, he couldn’t even properly meet his eyes.
He couldn’t possibly know about the vow, so he was rather worried that Muyoung might leave.
Their relationship was quite distant from a typical master-servant relationship.
He couldn’t believe that the Clan Head was trying to call him out.

“Oh my, the Clan Head is dying!”

And with such a shallow trick.
Muyoung’s mind was in chaos.

‘How did the Clan Head know I was nearby?’

He was acting as if he knew where Muyoung was.

‘What on earth is it?’

Even if he had lost his memories.
It was suspicious that a person could change so much in a single day.
Rather, it was as if all the appearances he had shown until now were false.

“Aargh! Muyoung!”

For a Clan Head who couldn’t even properly express simple thoughts due to worrying about others, wasn’t he too brazen?

“Ugh! Oh my! Choke! Gasp!! My neck!! I can’t breathe!”

What on earth were those antics?
Watching Moyong Yeon’s feigned illness grow increasingly exaggerated, Muyoung felt a strange sensation.

‘What should I do about him?’

Naturally, he felt no loyalty.
To him, Moyong Yeon was less of a Clan Head to protect and more of a cumbersome burden he was forced to carry.
In truth, he wanted to abandon him and leave.

‘Then I could leave this detestable Moyong Clan.’

A crane among chickens.
Among the incompetent people of this Moyong Clan, he was the only capable one.
If it weren’t for Moyong Yeon, he would have been living a better life somewhere else.
But Pil-Gu threw Moyong Yeon to the ground.

“Keuk!”

Clang!

“Are you ready to pay the price?!”

The moment he roared and drew his sword.

Whoosh—!

Muyoung had no choice but to move, even though he disliked it.
Because he had vowed to protect him.

Clang!

Muyoung, appearing with a deep sigh, lightly parried Pil-Gu’s sword.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Yeon, with a faint smile, casually greeted Muyoung.

“…What on earth is this?”

Muyoung, who had been confronting Pil-Gu, turned to look at Yeon.
Unsuppressed confusion and annoyance floated across his handsome face.

‘He didn’t want to step in, it seems?’

It was certainly a little different from his memory.
In the past, he remembered a fierce determination to protect.
But the Muyoung in Moyong Yeon’s memories seemed to move reluctantly.
And the same was true now.

‘What on earth happened in the past ten years?’

Yeon opened his mouth towards Muyoung, who was staring intently at him.

“What are you looking at?”

“It seems you knew I was here.”

There was a hint of question in his monotonous tone.
Although he didn’t ask directly, it implied, ‘How did you know, even though I concealed my presence?’

“Yes, I knew.”

“How?”

When Yeon deliberately answered simply, Muyoung pressed him again.

“Hmm?”

He understood his curiosity, but he disliked the questioning attitude, as if he were being interrogated.
Moreover, he was subtly exuding an oppressive aura…

‘Does he think I’ll be scared by that?’

It might have worked on the previous Moyong Yeon, but not on him.

‘It only stirs up defiance.’

Yeon slyly changed the subject.

“Is that important right now?”

Yeon gestured towards Pil-Gu with a nod.

“Ah.”

Muyoung frowned, as if annoyed.
His expression was like someone who had just found an annoying fly.
Pil-Gu felt enraged.

‘Huh?’

He had forgotten about him?

‘Me, the Vice Leader of the Black Wolf Sect?’

Moyong Yeon, the Clan Head, had been ignoring him since the tavern.
And this bodyguard guy even looked at him as if he were less than an ant.
At first, Pil-Gu was bewildered, not understanding the situation, but now his assessment of the situation was complete.

“You…! You!!”

Pil-Gu’s throat made a boiling kettle sound as he couldn’t contain his anger.
Added to that, his face was turning crimson and blue.
It was quite a spectacle.

“These bastards are insulting me in pairs?! Have you forgotten that we agreed to repay only half the debt on the condition that you come alone, leaving your subordinates behind?!”

Oh, really.
Who was it that stood him up?
His habit of only citing conditions when it suited him was pure self-serving.

‘Still, a clean transaction.’

It was generally better to settle debts without any complications.

“Ah, just a moment.”

He fumbled.
Yeon, using Muyoung as a shield, began to count the silver nyang in his knapsack one by one.

“About this much?”

Yeon, having finished his calculation, put the silver nyang and bank notes into his bundle and threw it at Pil-Gu.

Thud!

“That’s the full amount of the Moyong Clan’s debt.”

“…”

“I broke the condition, so this amount is correct, right?”

Yeon’s eyes sparkled.
His tone was cheerful.
But it was subtly overbearing, as if it were natural for him to be superior to someone.

“No reason to be angry now, right?”

“…”

Pil-Gu was speechless.

‘What on earth is happening?’

The debt relationship with the Moyong Clan, which he had cultivated for so long, was ending so meaninglessly?

‘And it’s not even his own money.’

At Yeon’s feet, a larger pile of silver nyang lay than the money bag he had thrown.
It was money won from the gambling den, but to Pil-Gu, all that money looked like his own.

‘And he’s repaying the debt with that money?’

No matter how he thought about it, it was absurd.
If the situation ended like this, the Black Wolf Sect’s prestige would not only plummet, but the Tiger Moon Tower’s reputation could also suffer.
Moreover, how little did he think of him to dare utter such words?

“Moyong Yeon…”

Pil-Gu trembled all over, spewing anger from the continuous mockery.

“Yawn.”

Yeon, however, didn’t seem to care much.
Rather, he found Pil-Gu’s mere anger-spewing boring.

“Perhaps the interest wasn’t enough?”

Yeon took three silver nyang from his knapsack and threw them at Pil-Gu.

Clink.

Roll.

The three silver nyang hit Pil-Gu’s head and bounced off.

“Oops, my mistake.”

Yeon smiled brightly.
Anyone could see it was thrown intentionally.