The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 102 : Winter (2)

At the time when the heads of the Namgung Clan were gathered for their regular meeting. The head of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Imho, and his youngest daughter, Namgung Yeohwa, were having a private meeting at their residence. Namgung Imho, looking at his youngest daughter who was nonchalantly saying things he had never imagined, touched his forehead.

"Are you really saying that with a sane mind? A marriage proposal?"

Ten Dragons and Ten Phoenixes. It was a nickname given to the twenty most outstanding among the rising stars. Namgung Yeohwa had earned the nickname 'Flower Phoenix' for her outstanding martial arts, resourcefulness, and beauty.

Her face, as radiant as a blooming flower, was full of smiles.

"Yes, Father. I said it was a marriage proposal."

If someone else had said such a thing in front of Namgung Imho, their head would have been split open at once.

But the opponent was his youngest daughter, who had never once betrayed his trust. A genius of the world who had entered the business world at the tender age of ten and had doubled the power of the Namgung Clan in ten years.

Since she was his youngest daughter, who possessed skills and abilities beyond his imagination, Namgung Imho, instead of throwing his sword, calmly looked at her.

"Try to make me understand why our great Namgung Clan has to arrange a marriage proposal with that mere orphan."

"The first is his ability. Haven't you heard the reputation of the Golden Ear of the West, Jang So-gil, tiresomely?"

"I've heard it tiresomely. It was an incomparably arrogant reputation."

That mere orphan was not someone who could be compared to his daughter.

As Namgung Imho muttered as if to complain, Namgung Yeohwa replied with a voice full of laughter.

"I know his anecdotes in detail. A business talent comparable to him will not appear for the next few decades."

"Are you saying that his ability is greater than yours?"

"If there is someone comparable to him, wouldn't it be only Master Zhongli? Incorporating a person with such outstanding ability into the Namgung Clan will be a gain, not a loss, for the future leap of the Namgung Clan."

There was not a hint of shame in his daughter's voice. She truly believed so.

Namgung Imho wanted to refute inwardly, but he did not. It was because he knew that his daughter's ability far surpassed his own.

If she said so, it was better to think so. Namgung Imho, suppressing his anger, nodded his head.

"Is there no other reason?"

"The second is his origin."

"Origin? What benefit is there for us in the origin of an orphan who has no family to back him up?"

"That is why, on the contrary, he is suitable to be taken in as a son-in-law to continue the bloodline of our Namgung Clan."

It was the custom of the Central Plains for a man to continue the family line. But Namgung Yeohwa possessed an outstanding ability that no one could follow, so there was no one in the family who dared to oppose her.

The next head of the Namgung Clan was Namgung Yeohwa. As long as nothing happened to her, it was almost certain that she would become the head of the family.

That was why Namgung Yeohwa's marriage proposal had to be in the form of bringing in a boy from another prestigious family and making him a son-in-law.

"Handing over one's own child as a son-in-law is a disgrace to the family. Therefore, the families that want to have a marriage proposal with me are mainly families that are one to three ranks lower than our family in terms of status, or families that are on the verge of ruin with their feet on fire. There is no great benefit to our family in getting involved in a marriage proposal with such people."

"...That's true."

"On the other hand, Jang So-gil is a person who has accumulated wealth and power in his own generation. There are no in-laws that come with him, and there is no backing to fight for power."

"..."

He had ignored him because he was an orphan, but was there also an attractive part because he was an orphan?

Namgung Imho, wary of himself being persuaded by his daughter's logic, replied with a sharp tone.

"What's next?"

"It is the power he possesses. Isn't the inspector of the Martial Alliance the sharpest blade that the Martial Alliance Leader boasts of?"

He had cut through Hyeongsan, cut through Diancang, and cut through the Beggars' Sect. In the end, he had even cut through the Western Great Mountain. No one could deny that the sword called 'inspector' was a famous sword of the world. Namgung Imho swallowed his saliva.

"What if the Namgung Clan could possess that famous sword through a marriage proposal?"

Those who stood in the way would be cut down with the famous sword. They could be annihilated with martial power without having to use various means by turning around and around. It was the power that the Namgung Clan, which had financial power but lacked martial power, had pursued for decades.

Namgung Imho, forcing his head, which was nodding on its own, to stand upright, put a lot of strength into his chin. With a chin like a walnut, he squeezed out words of refutation.

"Still, I am against it. That person's temperament is not something that others can handle. Above all, that person is a radical person who would beat even a scholar of our family without considering the front or back. Can he really be handled?"

"It will be rewarding to manage him."

Namgung Yeohwa, smiling brightly, replied quickly as if she would not accept any refutation. Namgung Imho glared at her.

"Still, I am against it! If it's something that can be done with his power, it can also be done by using officials. It can also be done by using a ronin unit..."

"I do not know of an official or a ronin unit that can do the same thing as him. But if your words are so, I can give one more reason."

"What is it?"

"It is the sword art."

"Sword art?"

At the words 'sword art', Namgung Imho's face crumpled.

Originally, the Namgung Clan was a renowned family of the sword. If one mastered the family's martial arts, the 'Boundless Azure Sky Sword Art' and the 'Emperor Sword Form', to their extreme, it was also possible to become the supreme ruler of the martial world. In fact, if you went back through the family's history, there had been two supreme rulers of the martial world and three Martial Alliance Leaders.

But the Namgung Clan had lost that martial art.

"Isn't the sword art of our family already cut off?"

"To remind me of the shame of our family. If it weren't you, I would have ordered your head to be cut off at once."

It was because after taking a daughter of a great merchant from India as a wife, those who were obsessed with wealth were born one after another. Those who became the heads of the family neglected martial arts and coveted wealth and power.

Still, there were those who had consistently trained in martial arts, but such people had died during the Great War against the Demonic Cult. The Emperor Sword Form of the Namgung Clan had been lost and could not even be stored in the martial arts library, and only half of the Boundless Azure Sky Sword Art remained.

"According to the testimony of a reliable person, Jang So-gil has inherited the secret arts of the Diancang Sect, the Sun-Shooting Sword Art and the Plucking String Body Step, from the Martial Alliance Leader."

"The Sun-Shooting Sword Art of Diancang!"

If it was the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, it was a super-advanced sword art comparable to the Boundless Azure Sky Sword Art. It was more than enough to fill the place of the lost sword art.

"Do you still oppose it?"

Ability, origin, power, wealth, martial power. He was a person who was not lacking in any aspect to be Namgung Yeohwa's partner.

Still, Namgung Imho, who had wanted to oppose and had opened his mouth. Knowing that there was nothing more to refute, he frowned in disappointment and clicked his tongue.

Still, to think of handing over his precious daughter to an orphan whose bloodline he didn't even know. What should he say to his wife?

As he was bowing his head with a miserable heart, Namgung Yeohwa said cheerfully.

"Mother has already given her permission."

"My wife?"

"Grandfather also gave his permission a long time ago."

"Father? A long time ago? What does that mean?"

"Actually, there was already a marriage proposal with that person three years ago."

Three years ago was when his father was still the head of the family, not him.

What had his father done without his knowledge?

Namgung Imho screamed.

* * *

Gumen Long grinned.

"You're quite something yourself. To think you already had a marriage proposal with the Flower Phoenix of the world, Namgung Yeohwa, three years ago..."

"No, no, what are you talking about? A marriage proposal three years ago? It's the first time I'm hearing about it."

"That's what they said over there. To think that the great Namgung Clan of the world had arranged the marriage first, it's really amazing."

In a marriage proposal, the one who proposes first is the one who is in a hurry. Usually, the one with a lower status asks the one with a higher status.

No matter how frighteningly brilliant Jang So-gil's achievements were, there should have been no reason for the Namgung Clan, the richest of the five great noble families, to extend their hand first.

"They enclosed this letter, saying they had made a promise with Jang Dae-gil of the Great Cloud Guild before."

"With Lord Jang...?"

The letter that Gumen Long handed over was, judging by the handwriting, indeed written by Jang Dae-gil. It was a letter discussing the marriage between Namgung Yeohwa and Jang So-gil. The content was concise.

[I am happy about the proposal, but if I were to bring up the matter of a marriage proposal now, our child would say he would get married regardless of his own will. I wish for this child to find a partner he truly wants, so I would say it is still premature at this time. If there is a connection, it would be reasonable to talk about it after he has at least passed the age of twenty.]

Jang So-gil's heart, holding the letter, was just heavy. Come to think of it, Lord Jang had once hinted at it. He had said, 'There is a fine child, so I will introduce you someday,' was this it?

No, wait. A fine child? That Namgung Yeohwa?

The Golden Ear who had entered the business world at the age of ten and had increased the number of vipers she was raising in her stomach by one each year was fine?

Did Lord Jang perhaps misunderstand the meaning of the word 'fine'?

Mixed feelings crossed his mind as he looked at the letter. Jang So-gil closed his eyes and sighed.

'Lord Jang, Lord Jang. I have never doubted you in my life, but this matter is truly too much. To call that Namgung Yeohwa, the Golden Ear of the East, a fine child. This is not it, my lord.'

If the standard of 'fine' was appearance, then he had nothing to refute. She was called the Flower Phoenix because she was the most beautiful among the Ten Phoenixes.

He had heard that the playboys of the world would offer a thousand gold pieces to hear her jade-like voice once, for a single meeting, and would show their ardent courtship.

'I acknowledge her appearance, but the other parts are not. They are not.'

The Golden Ear of the West and the Golden Ear of the East had heard stories of each other tiresomely. For Jang So-gil, he had no choice but to be wary of Namgung Yeohwa, because even if only half of the rumors were true, she was a truly demonic woman.

Besides, just as Jang So-gil himself was. Rumors did not represent the whole. For people of Jang So-gil and Namgung Yeohwa's kind, the rumors were less than the reality.

It meant that if you knew the truth, she was a person twice as vicious as the rumors.

As he was looking at the letter with a dizzy head, Gumen Long grinned and took out another letter.

"This is the reply that the Namgung Clan sent at that time."

The reply from the Namgung Clan was just one line.

[We will wait with pleasure.]

"Isn't it very ardent?"

"Th-the great Namgung Clan of the world, why."

"I heard that the head of the family at that time liked you very much. They say it was a marriage made by grabbing your adoptive father's trouser legs and begging."

He had heard that Namgung Yeohwa's age was about twenty this year. The same age as Jang So-gil.

Martial artists generally married late, but the Namgung Clan was a prestigious noble family before being martial artists. It was quite rare for someone to not be married at the age of twenty.

He had just thought she was a peculiar person. To think that this was perhaps waiting for Jang So-gil to get older.

Jang So-gil, flustered, his pupils trembled rarely.

"She has waited for three years. Even after you went missing, she has been waiting, rejecting all marriage proposals. Isn't it tear-jerking? To monopolize the love of the Flower Phoenix like this. You are also a man with many sins."

"I-I'm grateful, but. Still, to do this much is a bit..."

Jang So-gil took a step back from the pressure.

Gumen Long, with an interested face, took a step forward.

"So, what do you think about this matter?"

Even the Martial Alliance Leader was just one person. Other people's love stories were a very good side dish for drinks.

The Martial Alliance Leader, who was approaching with long strides as if to press for an answer.

Jang So-gil closed his eyes tightly.

(End of Chapter)