Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 377 (Part 1)



377 (Part 1)

A meal that started with the entire inn rented out.

Naturally my father was seated at the head of the table.

Next to him was Mrs. Mi and the empty seat seemed to be for Elder Il.

Both Gu Hee-bi and Gu Yeon-seo were seated as well.

Gu Yeon-seo in particular had red eyes as if she had been crying.

Up to that point it was fine.

Crying is something that can happen.

Whether Gu Yeon-seo was crying because she hadn’t seen Mrs. Mi in a long time or for some other reason didn’t really matter.

The problem here was.

‘Why are they here?’

What was bothering me was something else.

It was clearly a family meal yet there were some unexpected faces present.

I couldn’t help but wonder why those people were here.

First of all.

‘Why is Namgung Jin here…?’

Namgung Jin the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan was sitting right next to my father. Honestly I thought I had seen wrong.

Why on earth was he sitting here?

Not only Namgung Jin but Namgung Bia was also sitting beside him.

Namgung Bia waved at me as she entered through the door.

‘Well that’s okay.’

After all since we were engaged to the Namgung Clan it made sense.

It was a family meal so it was understandable to have the fiancée’s family join us.

Up to that point it felt like it was okay even if it wasn’t expected.

‘…But why is she here?’

The problem was Wi Seol-ah who was sitting next to Namgung Bia.

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

Looking at Wi Seol-ah’s expression I could feel her emotions.

She had a face that seemed to question why she was even here.

Our eyes met. Her pupils were shaking wildly.

The expression on her face was filled with a plea for help.

‘It seems she was dragged here against her will.’

But who dragged her here?

Even if she was dragged here it was strange that my father allowed it….

‘…Ah.’

My father must have known that Wi Seol-ah was the granddaughter of the Sword Master. Was that the reason?

But my father wouldn’t have called for Wi Seol-ah.

At that moment.

-…I brought her with me.

I heard a telepathy in my ear. It was Namgung Bia.

-You brought her? Wi Seol-ah…?

-Yeah….

-Why?

-Is that not allowed?

Namgung Bia spoke to me as if questioning what the problem was.

But I was more curious about why she thought it was okay.

-…No this is….

-I got permission.

-Permission? From whom?

-From Mother….

I had to frown slightly at Namgung Bia’s words.

Mrs. Mi allowed this?

‘Why would Mrs. Mi…?’

My gaze instinctively turned to Mrs. Mi.

As soon as I sent my gaze Mrs. Mi looked at me.

Just as I was about to ask my question filled with doubt Mrs. Mi spoke to me first.

“Did you plan to stand there the whole time?”

“…I was going to sit down now.”

I moved and pulled out the chair across from Namgung Bia and sat down.

There was practically no other empty seat available.

Wi Seol-ah happened to be sitting next to Gu Hee-bi.

Because of that Gu Hee-bi slowly approached Wi Seol-ah and started to speak.

“You….”

“Yes…?”

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

“We’ve met before right?”

“…!”

Wi Seol-ah flinched at Gu Hee-bi’s words.

It was only natural.

Wi Seol-ah had indeed met Gu Hee-bi in the past.

It must have been when I returned to the Gu family after finishing my trip to Sichuan.

It was probably when Gu Hee-bi returned to the main house after her time in the Sword Corps.

It had been less than a year since I had returned.

When Gu Hee-bi saw Wi Seol-ah back then she said to me:

-Give her to me.

Gu Hee-bi had asked for Wi Seol-ah who was serving as my attendant.

At that time I had said it was ridiculous to give her away and I almost had my hair burned off.

It was quite a fierce memory to call a recollection.

Remembering that time Gu Hee-bi looked at Wi Seol-ah and said.

“Hey cutie. Unnie doesn’t remember?”

“W-wait a moment.”

“I’m glad to see you but why is our cutie here?”

Gu Hee-bi hugged Wi Seol-ah as if she had found a delightful snack and started to pet her here and there.

Wi Seol-ah sent another desperate look for help.

But that was something I couldn’t intervene in.

At that moment.

Namgung Bia suddenly looked at Gu Hee-bi and said.

“…Um.”

“Hmm?”

Gu Hee-bi frowned at Namgung Bia’s words.

Gu Hee-bi didn’t particularly like Namgung Bia.

‘Rather than dislike it was more like she felt uncomfortable.’

Even when I was being punished and rolling around on the front lines Namgung Bia tended to stick close to Gu Hee-bi.

Gu Hee-bi showed her disgust.

But Namgung Bia didn’t care and followed Gu Hee-bi around exploring the front lines or dealing with demonic beasts.

Was it that Namgung Bia secretly liked Gu Hee-bi?

That Gu Hee-bi…?

‘Why…?’

No matter how much I thought about it I couldn’t understand but that was the reality.

“…Me too.”

“What?”

Namgung Bia pushed her hair forward as if asking to be petted.

Gu Hee-bi’s face momentarily went blank.

I was also taken aback by that.

I never expected her to ask for that.

And upon hearing that Gu Hee-bi immediately frowned and said.

“No. You’re not cute anymore since you’ve grown up.”

“…!”

She firmly rejected it and then began to play with Wi Seol-ah again.

In the meantime Namgung Bia’s expression which had turned pale as if she was shocked was quite a sight.

Seeing that I thought.

‘Growing up must refer to height right?’

It must be that.

‘No that’s not the important part.’

Perhaps because the situation was so ridiculous I momentarily forgot what was important.

I immediately sent a telepathy to Namgung Bia.

-So… you called her too?

Namgung Bia looked at me with a vacant expression as if she had lost her soul.

As if asking who I was talking about.

I pointed with my fingertip to the person sitting at the end of the table.

There sat a handsome young man smiling brightly as if he were in high spirits.

That guy was the most unexpected person I could think of.

“Wow. I was so hungry and I’m really looking forward to this.”

The young man wore a bright smile seemingly unconcerned about the uncomfortable atmosphere.

It was Jang-ryong Woo-hyuk.

I was so taken aback by that sight.

Why was he who should be eating at the Wudang Sect suddenly sitting here…?

Just when I was wondering why that crazy guy was here.

As if sensing my confusion Mrs. Mi spoke to me.

“Mr. Woo I called him.”

“Mrs. Mi did?”

Mrs. Mi brought Jang-ryong here?

“She said Yangcheon is your friend. Isn’t that right?”

“…Yes that’s correct.”

I wondered what reason Jang-ryong had for appearing and it seemed Mrs. Mi had brought him along.

No did my father allow this…?

Since Cheol Ji-seon had also given his permission I could understand Jang-ryong being here.

But with the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan present how could this be allowed?

“Since the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan also said he’s your friend he readily permitted it.”

“Oh yes….”

Mrs. Mi shattered my last doubt with ease.

The reason the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan didn’t find this uncomfortable was obvious.

‘That guy….’

Namgung Jin had to make a good impression on me.

So he must have lightly permitted this.

In a situation that had significantly deviated from a family meal.

Creak.

The door behind me opened and Elder Il appeared.

“Oh dear I almost arrived late.”

“…Elder?”

“Hmm?”

Elder Il looked at me as if to ask why I was calling him.

The reason I called Elder Il was simple.

Because.

‘…Why is he carrying that on his shoulder?’

On Elder Il’s shoulder was Cheol Ji-seon hanging like laundry.

“Why is that…? Never mind.”

I was about to ask but then shut my mouth tightly.

At this point I felt like I should just let things be.

I decided to give up on understanding.

For now I just wanted to fill my stomach.

******************

The meal time passed without any particular incidents.

After all what could happen while just eating?

However since there were many people there was a fair amount of conversation.

Generally it was mostly Namgung Jin and Elder Il who were talking.

How was Cheon-jun doing?

Why didn’t Namgung Cheon-jun come…?

Oh by the way the reason Namgung Cheon-jun didn’t come was the same reason he couldn’t come to the Shinryonggwan.

I had given orders for him not to come near Namgung Bia.

So even if Namgung Cheon-jun wanted to come he wouldn’t be able to come to Henan.

In the meantime Gu Hee-bi was still hugging Wi Seol-ah.

It seemed she really liked her.

Even after hearing that Wi Seol-ah was the descendant of the Sword Master her attitude didn’t change.

Among them the one who stood out was Jang-ryong.

While Cheol Ji-seon was nervously glancing around and eating with his nose that crazy guy was eating with complete abandon seemingly having the time of his life.

‘…Please you crazy guy….’

At least it wasn’t right for someone who was supposed to be a Daoist to be tearing into chicken legs with both hands.

It was so bad that even my father who usually didn’t care much about others was watching Jang-ryong closely.

Despite that I didn’t bother to pick on him.

It was because Jang-ryong didn’t seem to be in a good state.

His eyes which usually looked sleepy had a slightly vacant expression.

But I could tell that something was subtly different.

It was strange that he who should be at the Wudang Sect was here acting like this.

‘The people in my family who allowed this are also strange.’

I didn’t know what was going on but it was clear that Jang-ryong wasn’t in a good state.

After all he had just lost his Senior Brothers during the last attack.

I had noticed his darkened demeanor at that point.

Even though he would smile and pretend to be fine whenever I spoke to him I could tell that smile was fake at least as much as I could.

It was the kind of smile he often wore in the Demon Realm.

Even while eating whenever I spoke to Jang-ryong he would respond as if he was okay.

‘This is unsettling.’

I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

In the midst of all this Jang-ryong really just ate and as soon as the meal time ended said his goodbyes and disappeared.

Did he really just come to eat?

‘This is ridiculous.’

Watching that I felt like I had worried for nothing and I was left feeling deflated.