A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15
My eyes were somewhat glazed, and my legs trembled slightly—but not to the extent I had anticipated.
‘How on earth…’
Even the renowned warriors of the Changcheon Division would whimper in pain for a day after such exertion.
Yet how could a child return to the Training Ground without a single complaint?
Though the green healing stone had alleviated her fatigue through the night, Hong Seol was merely eight years old.
At this point, I could discern that the child’s determination to master martial arts was extraordinary.
‘Yes, one day is possible. But she won’t appear unscathed tomorrow.’
Clenching my teeth, I deliberately suppressed the weakening resolve within me and subjected her to brutal training using logs that day as well.
The martial world is a cruel realm of survival of the fittest. Unless one possessed unwavering resolve, it was better not to begin at all.
Hong Seol, who had groaned throughout that day, eventually collapsed onto the Training Ground floor in exhaustion.
Yet the very next day, Hong Seol returned to the Training Ground with resolute determination etched upon her face.
‘This won’t do.’
I decided to change the nature of her training.
Following my instructions, two sturdy wooden posts were erected in the Training Ground. A long wooden beam connected them, and a thick rope was strung lengthwise with its end tied in a knot.
“Now then.”
I swiftly grasped the rope and climbed to the top, then withdrew a peacock tail feather from my robe and wedged it into the knot.
“Your task today is to obtain that feather.”
Hong Seol, standing before the post, gazed down at her own soft palms.
‘She’s surely worried the rope will chafe her hands.’
I deliberately withheld even the training gloves I typically provided for such exercises.
“Only by passing this trial will you earn the right to learn swordsmanship.”
“I understand.”
Once again, Hong Seol nodded obediently and grasped the rope.
“Hup!”
No matter how hard she tried, it was impossible for her thin limbs to reach the top.
‘I cannot bear to watch.’
I deliberately turned away. Continuing to observe Hong Seol struggling with blood beading on her palms would surely weaken my resolve.
Mastering martial arts is never easy. Moreover, this child would need to exert hundreds of times more effort than others merely to reach an ordinary standard.
‘Therefore, if her resolve is anything less than absolute, it is better she abandon her hopes now.’
Such was my sentiment toward Hong Seol.
Time passed, and gradually the sun began to set.
I cast a troubled gaze toward Hong Seol.
‘By now, she should surrender.’
Yet Hong Seol continued to alternate between climbing and slipping down the rope.
“Ah!”
Having climbed halfway before slipping, Hong Seol collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud, her strength depleted.
“Are you unharmed, young lady? Perhaps we should end for today…”
“I can do more! More!”
She had surely exhausted every ounce of strength, drawing even upon reserves she didn’t know she possessed.
Remarkably, the child’s eyes still gleamed with unwavering determination.
“Just one more hour….”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol gazed at the crimson-stained sky. Evening had already fallen.
“Grand Patriarch, please go inside first! I’ll continue just a bit longer.”
“Then, continue just a bit longer.”
“Yes!”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol hesitated before bowing his head and turning away.
‘It’ll only be a short while anyway.’
And the next morning.
When Nam Goong Ui Gyeol opened the Training Ground door, he could only gasp in shock.
“Just… a bit more…!”
Hong Seol was still gripping the rope, climbing toward the peacock feather.
Her tiny fingertips were mere millimeters from touching it.
The grimy blue martial robe the child wore was exactly as I had last seen it yesterday.
‘Could it be… she spent the entire night like this?’
In the bamboo basket placed beside her lay scattered rice balls, half-eaten.
Surely the maidservant, worried about the child, had brought them.
“This can’t be….”
The moment the bewildered Nam Goong Ui Gyeol muttered unconsciously.
“Oh!”
Startled by that small sound, the child let out a cry.
Thud!
“Miss!”
The instant Nam Goong Ui Gyeol heard something fall onto the Blue Stone, he lunged forward like lightning.
Oh no.
The slack rope stretched between the poles swayed back and forth.
The small child was already sprawled across the Blue Stone. Whether she had struck her head during the fall, the child lay completely motionless.
“Miss!”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s face drained of color as he seized Hong Seol’s tiny shoulders.
Her scraped and bruised palms swayed limply with his trembling.
“What have I done…!”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s voice broke with regret he couldn’t suppress.
The next moment, a small voice escaped from between Hong Seol’s delicate lips.
“I’m… fine. I’m not dead, Grand Patriarch.”
“Miss! Are you conscious?”
“Yes… My palms hurt so much that I lost my grip on the rope.”
Hong Seol, raising her upper body, shook her head as if dizzy.
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s face ashen, prostrated himself before Hong Seol and bowed his head.
“It is my fault that I injured you, Miss. The blame falls on me for imposing such reckless training. Please, take my life.”
Hong Seol turned her head to look at Nam Goong Ui Gyeol.
Thick black eyelashes fluttered. Within the eyes beneath them lay not a shred of doubt.
“You did all of this for me, didn’t you? Isn’t that right…?”
“….”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol found himself unable to offer any response to those words.
Hong Seol, if anything, asked him apologetically.
“What should I do? I wasn’t able to bring the peacock feather. Does that mean I’m not yet qualified to learn swordsmanship?”
At those words, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s voice caught in his throat.
There had never been any such trial to determine qualification for learning swordsmanship. It was merely something he had invented.
And yet she had thrown herself into this absurd training, remembering those words.
The child was utterly sincere in her pursuit of martial arts.
‘I was wrong in my thinking….’
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol, who had been gazing desolately at the ground in silence, suddenly opened his mouth.
“Had I not made a sound, Miss would have obtained the feather regardless. Moreover, merely enduring four days of grueling training in silence is more than sufficient qualification to learn swordsmanship.”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol, who had been kneeling, rose to his feet. He grasped the rope and climbed, then descended with the peacock tail feather detached from the top of the pole.
“Miss, you have moved my heart and obtained this feather. Therefore….”
He approached Hong Seol and bowed respectfully.
“Tomorrow. Beginning tomorrow, I shall teach you swordsmanship.”
The peacock feather that Nam Goong Ui Gyeol offered descended gently onto the lap of the seated Hong Seol.
* * *
There was a shadow watching quietly through the crack in the door.
A boy with neat silver hair—Nam Goong Baek.
Something seemed to be troubling him, for he had come to the Training Ground with a sword sheath gripped in one hand.
“Martial arts, what’s so special about it that….”
He, who had been muttering to himself, suddenly stiffened and closed his mouth.
He had sensed an extraordinary presence.
Sure enough, from far down the corridor came Nam Goong Ho, the Grand Patriarch, walking with his hands clasped behind his back.
Nam Goong Baek quietly lowered his head.
Just then, a small voice emerged from within—Hong Seol’s voice.
[“Couldn’t I begin learning swordsmanship starting today?”]
[“No, you must rest today first. You need to eat as well.”]
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s voice, tinged with reluctance, accompanied hers.
“Heh, the leader of the Changcheon Division is being led around by little Seol.”
Nam Goong Ho deliberately spoke in a cheerful tone.
“What do you think, Baek? That Seol—tiny as a bean, yet possessing such remarkable spirit, wouldn’t you say?”
“….”
Nam Goong Baek offered no reply, merely lowering his eyelashes.
Seeing this, Nam Goong Ho felt his throat tighten.
‘This isn’t how this child usually is….’
He blamed himself and barely managed to part his parched lips to ask after his well-being.
“How are you feeling?”
“There is little difference.”
As always, it was a terse reply.
Nam Goong Ho deliberately broached the subject with studied indifference.
“So, I hear the hawk faction paid a visit just now?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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