The Hunting Dog of the Prestigious Family Has Returned Chapter 18

“So then.”

The next day, at the Andong Kim main house.

Seated at the head position, Kim Jungheon, head of the Andong Kim clan, looked down with narrowed eyes.

The conference room located in one corner of the main house.

There stood Yoo Sanghyeon bowing his head toward him, and the Administration’s high officials lined up looking down at Yoo Sanghyeon.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Yes. As a father, my heart aches that my daughter has gone that way… but that is not the fault of those present here, but my own negligence in not properly watching over my daughter.”

Kim Jungheon had summoned Yoo Sanghyeon to inform him of Arin’s death and express his regrets.

If he’d gone mad and rampaged, they could have detained him on that pretext.

If he’d killed royal guards or other nobles in the process, they could have peered into his head as a criminal.

But this man, Yoo Sanghyeon, did no such thing.

Rather the opposite.

He claimed his head had cooled overnight, that he hadn’t known his daughter possessed such power, showing behavior no different from a petty person.

“Hah! In the midst of your daughter going missing, you don’t even harbor doubts…”

“Even if he’s a frontier ignoramus, a noble is still a noble. He knows Hanseong’s protocols.”

“If the Iron Tiger General is this sort of man, we can rest easy about Hamgyeong Province for the time being.”

The reactions of the surrounding nobles weren’t too bad either.

They either mocked Yoo Sanghyeon.

Or despised him.

The sight of him desperately struggling to live despite his daughter’s death must have seemed quite amusing.

‘Even if they’re lowly frontier rabble, they’re at the monster front’s forefront. Further provocation isn’t the best course.’

In the end, Kim Jungheon made his decision.

There was nothing good about escalating the incident further, and no need to stir up a finished matter and provoke them.

“…Since the Commander speaks thus, I too will not take this matter any further.”

When Kim Jungheon opened his mouth, the murmuring nobles all stopped speaking at once.

“The ability use toward Young Master Kim Hyunwoo was ability rampage caused by the backlash of sudden ability awakening, and the party involved, Miss Yoo Arin, died from the backlash of that ability rampage. We can no longer hold anyone responsible for this matter.”

“…”

“Therefore, as proxy for the victim Kim Hyunwoo, I request leniency for the perpetrator Miss Yoo Arin and her father, General Yoo Sanghyeon.”

Leniency.

From the listener’s position, it was enough to make one’s stomach turn.

Not only did they kill his daughter and treat her as the perpetrator, but they forgave him as if bestowing grace.

But Yoo Sanghyeon, receiving that insult with his whole body, showed no particular reaction to the end.

“I am deeply grateful for Lord Left State Councilor’s magnanimity.”

He simply said that and bowed his head.

Watching him, Kim Jungheon soon spoke in a somewhat softened voice.

“…Additionally, I express deep regret to General Yoo for losing his daughter in an unexpected accident, and the main house will provide some consolation money.”

“…”

“You may leave now. I’m terribly sorry for causing you to experience such unpleasant matters in succession.”

Starting with Sanghyeon turning his back and leaving after bowing once, the nobles who’d been gathered in groups of three to five began departing one by one.

Expressions as refreshing as if a rotten tooth had been pulled.

But among those nobles, Kim Jungheon alone was not like that.

“Deokhun.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Attach someone to Yoo Sanghyeon. Until he leaves Hanseong.”

When Kim Jungheon spoke thus, the guard questioned back.

“Are you saying to continue surveillance? It’s already a finished matter…”

“Right, a finished matter. Too cleanly finished, at that.”

Having said that, Kim Jungheon looked at Yoo Sanghyeon’s retreating figure disappearing into the distance.

“The central nobles disparage them as lowly things pushed to the frontier… but the Iron Tiger Army isn’t such an easy bunch.”

“…”

“They’re a tribe like untamed tigers. If Yoo Sanghyeon were truly a petty person who could laugh off even his daughter’s death, the Iron Tiger Army would have already torn that throat out.”

“Then, is General Yoo acting…?”

“Yes. That must be it.”

If he’d been angry instead.

If he’d gone mad demanding they return his daughter alive, things would have been much easier.

They could have completely erased him under an appropriate pretext.

But that man chose to bend to him instead of being angry.

Acting like the fools filling central who only fill their own pockets, like the elders.

He was sharpening the blade of revenge toward those who took his daughter’s life.

“Burying the royal bloodline was fortunate, but thanks to that, we’ve gained a tumor. However…”

Compared to the importance of the matter, did we perhaps get it cheaply?

Having said that, Kim Jungheon slowly rose from his seat.

Thinking about the next scheduled event, he couldn’t delay any longer.

---

“Don’t make me laugh—!”

Along with the shout, a letter made of hologram smashed against the wall.

Sparking fragments of the letter.

But paying no mind to that, Kim Hyunwoo was screaming into empty space.

“Death from weakness due to ability rampage? Are you saying you killed that wench with such an absurd story?!”

What arose in Kim Hyunwoo’s mind was the sensation from that moment.

The girl who’d caught up to him with just her gaze, Yoo Arin.

That flash of golden radiance and his own phase power shattered to pieces.

The gut-churning pain and deep sense of defeat.

And she’s dead?

Ability rampage?

It was absurd.

That girl who’d blown him away.

Those eyes that looked down on him like a bug—how were they those of a weak wench?!

“Isn’t this actually fortunate for you, Young Master?”

But his guard Hocheol asked as if puzzled.

“The wench called Yoo Arin possessed power surpassing yours, Young Master. Since Lord Kim Jungheon removed her at the appropriate time, I believe it’s actually beneficial…”

“No. The opposite!”

Kim Hyunwoo, grinding his teeth, spoke.

“Though I, possessing this generation’s greatest phase power, stood right there, Father personally moved the Royal Investigative Bureau to kill that wench. Don’t you know what this means?”

There was no need to answer.

He hadn’t been asking him in the first place.

“Father has already made his judgment. That I can’t beat that wench! That no matter how much I grow, defeating that wench was impossible from the start…!”

This face-to-face meeting had been more important to Kim Hyunwoo than anything else.

It was an event to display his power to Joseon’s nobles and make clear who would become Joseon’s master.

But that wench.

That lowly wench from the frontier had ruined all of it.

“So that wench… that wench shouldn’t have died like that.”

“…”

“It would only have meaning if I personally tore her to death before everyone’s eyes!”

Right, that’s how it should have been.

But now that that wench had dropped dead, he…

“I’m now left forever defeated, aren’t I…!”

The words spat out in anger had somehow become tearful mutterings.

The first defeat he’d faced in his life.

The crushing defeat where he couldn’t even resist seemed to have twisted Kim Hyunwoo’s heart.

While his body trembled with rage that had nowhere to go—

“I see. So losing to that wench seems to be such a big problem.”

“…!”

He snapped his gaze upward at the voice heard from above.

Left State Councilor Kim Jungheon.

His father was looking down at him with cold eyes no different from usual.

“I came worried since I heard you were injured, yet these are truly worthless thoughts. Who’s stronger, who’s weaker…”

Hocheol had already taken a rigid posture and bowed his head.

He’d tried to announce his father’s appearance, but Kim Jungheon seemed to have stopped him.

“If you plan to lead the family someday, remember this. Whether power is great or small, strong or weak, means nothing.”

“Then what is important?”

“Surviving.”

Having said that, Kim Jungheon approached the hospital room window.

“Surviving and constantly watching what’s beneath your feet.”

The dedicated hospital wing located in the Andong Kim main house.

Below the window, Hanseong’s endless skyscrapers spread out like a carpet.

“Grab the feet of those standing above and drag them down. Cut off both arms of those climbing from below so they can never rise again.”

“…”

“Because our Andong Kim clan climbed to this position that way.”

Having finished speaking, Kim Jungheon turned his gaze to look at Kim Hyunwoo.

Was he still too young to understand?

Taking a breath, he spoke in a slightly softened voice.

“You did everything you needed to do. Though there was confusion due to an unexpected variable, you succeeded in imprinting your power on the elders.”

“Then…!”

At the words that burst out unknowingly, Kim Jungheon looked at Kim Hyunwoo.

Should he speak? After hesitating briefly, Kim Hyunwoo finally opened his mouth.

“Then why must we remain on the same level as them?”

“Remain?”

As if to say continue speaking, Kim Jungheon crossed his arms.

“Didn’t you also see it, Father? How they couldn’t even follow half of my phase power!”

“…”

“Moreover, now that we’ve seized both the royal guard and Royal Investigative Bureau, our Andong Kim clan possesses power on a different dimension from other families. Even if they all combined their strength, they couldn’t match us!”

Yet Kim Jungheon shows them courtesy and propriety.

And himself too.

Despite possessing this generation’s greatest phase power.

Despite being sublime existences different from them in essence, they remained on the same level as them while observing aged protocols.

“But you were defeated. By a wench from the frontier.”

“…!”

“And you still claim to be a sublime existence?”

Though he seemed at a loss for words, Kim Hyunwoo continued speaking.

“If you’d given me more time, I could have killed that wench myself.”

“Kill her yourself? Then what you’re saying is…”

While he was speaking eloquently—

“You little bastard, are you saying you’ll become king?”

A shocking phrase flowed from Kim Jungheon’s mouth.

A statement that made even Hocheol standing beside gasp.

He’d spoken of changing the royal line.

“Father. What do you suddenly mean by that…?”

What did killing that wench have to do with those words?

While thinking that—

Kim Hyunwoo’s eyes grew wider as he chewed over Kim Jungheon’s words.

The power that wench called Yoo Arin had shown.

The nobles’ abnormally sensitive reactions.

And even the word ‘king’ that had just come from Kim Jungheon’s mouth.

When he recalled all of those things, something arose in his mind.

“That wench…?”

“Exactly what you’re thinking.”

As if shocked, Kim Hyunwoo remained speechless for a long while.

But that too was brief.

“…I don’t think I lack the qualifications.”

“Oho.”

At the phrase that burst from Kim Hyunwoo’s mouth, Kim Jungheon turned to look at him.

“Good.”

Was he angry? No, he wasn’t.

But it was an expression whose true meaning was impossible to read.

It seemed both pleased and mocking.

“Then first, there’s something you need to see.”

“Something I need to see?”

“Yes. More precisely… there’s someone you need to meet.”

At the same time he spoke, someone knocked on Kim Hyunwoo’s hospital room door.

What entered through the opened door was a palace attendant belonging to the Imperial Household Department.

He bowed in a respectful posture as if to guide Kim Hyunwoo.

“Put on your ceremonial robes and come to the indicated location. The other late awakeners will be waiting for you.”

“Ceremonial robes, someone I must meet with such formality… who is it?”

“Do you truly not know?”

The reason today’s event bore the name ‘face-to-face meeting.’

Having muttered that, Kim Jungheon slowly opened his mouth.

“You will have an audience with His Majesty, the father of this nation.”