The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 132

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

Chapter 132
For a moment, Young Master Park’s expression suggested he doubted his own ears. The reactions around us mirrored his disbelief. Soon, his face contorted with anger.
“Speaking carelessly without understanding the meaning. This is precisely why it won’t work…”
“Why wouldn’t I understand? You’re asking for a sparring match, aren’t you? Or not?”
I cut off Young Master Park’s words and spoke.
“…”
Young Master Park fell silent, caught off guard.
It was only natural. The white martial robes of a Formal Disciple of the Baek Li Family. Wearing white martial robes meant, at minimum, that one’s martial prowess had been recognized.
In comparison, I was someone who had experienced a tragedy known throughout this household.
‘Yet to propose a sparring match would be absurd.’
I smiled faintly and tilted my head.
“Why that reaction? Ah! Don’t tell me you’re afraid you’ll lose?”
“I’m at a loss for words!”
Young Master Park shouted loudly, as if wanting everyone around to hear.
“A sparring match? What sparring match! If you got injured, it would cause an uproar.”
If he possessed any sense of reason, he would understand that sparring with me would bring nothing but trouble. Because he had done something wrong.
As expected.
“Stop spouting such unfunny nonsense! Come on, everyone, let’s go!”
Young Master Park and the other children surrounding him attempted to leave together. But.
‘If it ends like this, it won’t be fun.’
It was before Young Master Park could even turn around.
Splash! I kicked at the muddy water pooling on the ground. Muddy water splattered across Young Master Park’s white martial robes. Fortunately, I even got to see it splash across his face.
“What are you doing!”
I laughed and held out my mud-splattered shoe.
“My shoe got dirty because of you. Clean it quickly.”
Did he think he could just run away like this?
* * *
‘How tedious.’
These were peaceful days. Baek Geom Danju walked slowly through the Practice Hall with his hands clasped behind his back. His fierce expression excelled at concealing his boredom. Before long, that fierce expression twisted even more menacingly.
“What is all this commotion?”
A persistent, grating noise continued to irritate his sharp sensory perception. The Baek Geom Unit’s exclusive Practice Hall was separated from the Formal Disciples’ Training Ground by only a single wall.
At Baek Geom Danju’s words, one of the unit members hurried off to investigate. And he returned with news entirely unexpected.
“Young Miss Yeon has arrived.”
“Yeon?”
Yet it was not surprising news. Baek Geom Danju had already received reports of this before. That Baek Li-yeon occasionally visited to check on the children Baek Li-ui-gang had brought—those with nowhere else to go.
However, when Baek Li-yeon came, she merely gave the children some snacks and confirmed they were doing well.
She was fundamentally different from the Twin Cousins, who came claiming to be direct descendants of the Baek Family, displayed their authority, caused disturbances, and interfered with training. So he had actually been pleased with her.
He had even once considered bringing her to the Baek Geom Unit’s Practice Hall to show her the training of the unit members, but this commotion was unexpected.
He felt disappointed within.
Baek Geom Danju spoke.
“So what’s all this commotion about?”
“A Formal Disciple and one of the trainees the Fourth Young Master brought have gotten into a dispute, sir.”
The Baek Geom Unit member had dressed it up as a mere dispute, but given Baek Geom Danju’s experience, I immediately saw through the euphemism.
I grasped the true situation lurking beneath the word “dispute.”
“When Miss Baek Li-yeon tried to stop them….”
The Baek Geom Unit member who harbored goodwill toward Baek Li-yeon continued with a somewhat worried expression.
“The young lady has agreed to spar with the Formal Disciple.”
“What did you say? A sparring match?”
Baek Geom Danju’s eyes, which had been drowsy with boredom, suddenly gleamed with interest.
“Indeed, this is the kind of entertainment one needs in their twilight years to live long.”
* * *
I held one of the wooden practice swords the trainees here used and examined it from every angle.
‘The quality really is inferior compared to mine.’
Moments like this made me realize anew how fortunate my circumstances truly were—to live without worrying about food, clothing, or shelter. Had my father not been there, I would have been no different from these orphans. And that would have required luck on top of everything else.
Then I heard a trembling voice.
“Please don’t do this because of me.”
It was So-han, the boy who had been bullied. And Yu Chang, the boy who had been carrying laundry with Jin-jin, couldn’t lift his head either.
“It’s my fault for calling you here in the first place. I’m so sorry. If I’d known this would happen….”
The other children my father had brought also gathered around me upon hearing the commotion, looking absolutely mortified.
I held back as much as I could, but my exasperation only grew.
‘These kids really….’
“Do you think I’m going to lose? Huh?”
“….”
“….”
“….”
A cold silence fell with no answer in return.
“Unbelievable!”
So this was the extent of their faith in me!
I turned to Jin-jin, whose eyes had just met mine, and asked.
“Jin-jin, do you think that too?”
Even Jin-jin hesitated and lowered his head.
Even Jin-jin!
“Well, everyone’s been saying you’re sick….”
I could easily guess what they’d been hearing. Probably something like: Baek Li-yeon who comes looking for you is a cripple with a sealed dantian, the rope you caught is rotten, that sort of thing.
“Don’t worry, Jin-jin. I sparred with Namgung Ryu-cheong at the Namgung Clan. And I won!”
It wasn’t a lie. I had lost the sparring match, but Namgung Ryu-cheong had said that allowing me to use my wrist was essentially the same as him losing.
Jin-jin blinked and spoke.
“…Who is Namgung Ryu-cheong?”
“….”
Then So-han opened his mouth again.
“I-I’ll go apologize for my mistake. Young Master, you should just… go back….”
Why should I listen to any more of So-han’s absurd excuses?
I approached So-han and abruptly lifted the hem of his garment as he spouted such foolishness.
“…!”
“Gasp!”
“So-han!”
Gasps and cries of shock echoed around us. So-han’s body was covered in bruises that were unmistakably from repeated beatings.
“I-It’s fine. It’s fine.”
So-han’s complexion turned ashen in an instant as he snatched his garment back from my hands.
‘Thank goodness I’m still young.’
If I were any older, I wouldn’t have been able to lift his sleeve like that.
“W-What? When did this happen?”
“Why didn’t you say anything!”
It seemed no one else had known. I had noticed it because I’d been carefully observing the instability in his qi flow.
“Has this been happening often?”
“N-No, it hasn’t.”
That was precisely why I’d been visiting this place occasionally. Once they knew I was paying attention, they’d at least maintain some basic standards. But recently, with everything involving Seok Ga-yak and up to the Jegal Family Head, I hadn’t been able to come by.
‘And the estate is ridiculously vast….’
It was quite an inconvenient distance to travel if one wasn’t determined to make the trip.
I let out a sigh, and So-han flinched at the sound.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“What do you have to apologize for?”
That was when Jin-jin spoke up.
“Then we should tell Sister’s father!”
“That’s not an option.”
Jin-jin withdrew dejectedly. The moment my father got involved, a children’s quarrel would instantly become an adult’s affair.
And there was the question of whether my father would even intervene in the first place.
“Enduring through such trials is also a form of skill.”
That was my father’s philosophy regarding these children.
“That’s enough. I’ll handle this myself.”
No, actually it was better this way. I’d been thinking it might be time to reveal that my sword training was genuine, not just a pretense.
‘I’ve already reached the Second Realm—I can’t keep hiding it forever.’
If my grandfather were still alive, perhaps. Even he wouldn’t have expected me to reach the Second Realm so quickly.
‘So it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use this incident as an opportunity to reveal the truth.’
I observed the people who had gathered to watch, seemingly one by one. Given the location, young boys and girls made up the majority. Other formal disciples had apparently heard the commotion and come to see, and I could spot white martial robes scattered throughout the crowd.
And most of their gazes upon me were far from kind.
‘Hmm, it would be nice if there were someone more authoritative present.’
There were a few members of the Baek Geom Unit, but beyond that… As I was scanning the surroundings, I suddenly froze. Then I deliberately turned my gaze away as naturally as possible.
Just then, Young Master Park appeared with a wooden sword in hand, bringing his entourage along.
“How much longer do you intend to continue this? If it seems too difficult, you’re welcome to give up.”
I spoke to Young Master Park.
“I was thinking.”
“Pardon?”
“Just sparring like this isn’t fun, is it?”
Young Master Park’s expression grew suspicious, as if he couldn’t fathom what I was getting at.
“Let’s make a wager.”
“…A wager?”
“Yes. A wager. If you win, I won’t come here again.”
“You won’t come? Never again?”
“That’s right.”
Young Master Park’s face lit up with intrigue. I continued.
“But if I win, you don’t come here again either.”
I lifted my head and asked.
“What do you say?”
Young Master Park, whose expression had momentarily brightened, suddenly cried out.
“That’s absurd! How can you tell me not to come when I train here?”
Young Master Park had apparently forgotten to use formal speech—or perhaps he was doing it intentionally.
I looked at him as if to say he didn’t understand.
“Are you an idiot?”
“What did you just—”
“It means expulsion from the Baek Family as a disciple.”
“….”
Gasps of shock rippled through the onlookers around us.
Ignoring the murmurs of disbelief and accusations of going too far, I continued speaking to Young Master Park.
“I’m a direct descendant of the Baek Family whether I come here or not. But you? If you can’t come here anymore… what then?”
I tilted my head slightly, observing Young Master Park as he stood speechless.
“And yet you dare complain that my presence bothers you?”

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