The Hunting Dog of the Prestigious Family Has Returned Chapter 55

“You slipped out of that quite neatly. Does being in the same intake make someone a colleague even after just meeting?”

“Only because you let it slide, senior.”

The long-awaited appointment ceremony passed with surprising speed.

The elders of each clan and the senior officials filed in, followed by Kim Jungheon, and one by one they bowed according to protocol.

Then each person lifted the nameplate bearing their own name, shouted a single ‘I am overwhelmed by the sovereign’s grace!’ toward the corpse-king seated at Geunjeongjeon Hall, and that was the end of it.

The empty formality passed in the blink of an eye, and what remained was the real event — the induction ceremony.

Unlike the state examination passers of the Imperial Household Department, who had had their eyes and vocal cords ground out, the induction ceremony overseen by the aristocrats was, in the literal sense, a grand banquet celebrating the accession to one’s post.

“Seeing everyone enjoy the banquet, it seems the trouble of arranging this gathering after so long was worthwhile.”

“……!”

In the middle of sharing drinks with the official who had been beating Jeong Jihoon just moments before, the person I had been waiting for appeared at an impeccable moment.

Kim Jungheon, the very man who had organized this event.

And Kim Hyunwoo, following at his side.

The moment the head and heir of the Andong Kim clan appeared before them, the promising young talents gathered around Jeong Jihoon bowed their heads in unison.

“So. There was quite a commotion in the banquet hall. What were you all talking about?”

“N-no, th-that’s not, it’s…..!”

His tone was not one of reproach. It was closer to an offhand question.

Yet the faces of Jeong Jihoon and the others who received that question froze in an instant.

As did mine, naturally.

I had prided myself on growing accustomed to that voice over decades of exposure.

And yet, the moment I heard those distinctive tones, I could not suppress the feeling of every hair on my body standing on end.

“Young Master Jeong here seemed to be having difficulty adjusting to the palace’s customs, so I was offering some assistance.”

I was the only one who wasn’t stumbling over my words.

A transparent lie.

Kim Jungheon surely knew as much.

He looked at Jeong Jihoon as if requesting an explanation, and Jeong Jihoon glanced back toward me.

‘What are you staring at? Play along.’

Perhaps he caught my glare, or perhaps Kim Jungheon’s presence simply bore down on him.

Jeong Jihoon scrunched his expression, then continued in a composed voice.

“……It is exactly as was said. I apologize for the unseemly display.”

“Hm.”

As though the answer was satisfactory enough, Kim Jungheon gave a nod of acknowledgment and pressed no further.

I aged ten years in that moment.

If Jeong Jihoon had gone off here about the palace attendants or his friends, his fate would have been no different from what it had been in my previous life.

As those who had been whispering returned to their places one by one—

“……!”

A sharp intake of breath made me glance aside.

Kim Hyunwoo.

His gaze was fixed, motionless, on the bestowed flower pinned to my samo.

The reason was simple.

“Top passer? That one……?”

Right. Top passer.

In this 23rd century, it was a hollow title Kim Jungheon handed out at his own discretion, but that didn’t mean its weight had vanished entirely.

“Young Master Hyunwoo doesn’t look pleased.”

“I don’t understand it either. Top passer. Wasn’t that the one Jo Seonghwan received last time?”

“Of all people, why on earth would he give it to someone like that lowborn….”

I felt exactly the same as them.

My original plan in accepting Kim Jungheon’s proposal was simply to use him as my backing and buy time to protect the casino under his name.

Far from being named top passer, even a minor sinecure at the bottom rung would have been fine with me.

And yet, even as I was thinking that, a grand title like ‘top passer’ had been bestowed on me out of nowhere.

From the perspective of the other aristocrats’ sons, their bewilderment was only natural.

‘Good lord, look at those expressions. If Kim Jungheon weren’t here, they’d have taken a swing at me.’

The gazes of the others were one thing, but Kim Hyunwoo’s face in particular was something to behold.

‘I didn’t ask for this post. Why are you taking it out on me.’

If you’re unhappy, take a swing at Kim Jungheon standing right next to you.

But as if entirely uninterested in the color draining from Kim Hyunwoo’s face, Kim Jungheon was preoccupied with going around to each promising young talent in turn, studying their faces and committing them to memory.

“It, it is an honor to meet you. My lord.”

“The court uniform suits you. It will not be easy work. I trust you will devote yourself to Joseon.”

To the scions of clans that had survived the Andong Kim purges, he spoke in a firm voice, slowly applying pressure.

“Ah, g-greetings! I received your guidance at the Reception Ceremony some time ago, my lord. Do you remember me?”

“Are you not the prized pupil of Master Sahwan? Is the master keeping well?”

“Yes, yes!”

To those from clans that had long been aligned with the Andong Kim, he showed a gentler manner, reinforcing the bonds built over the years.

And so the drinking party warmed further with Kim Jungheon’s arrival.

“You seem rather displeased for such an auspicious occasion, young master.”

“…….”

I addressed Kim Hyunwoo, who was sitting in a corner of the banquet hall nursing his drink.

My first reason for poking at someone already irritable was to provoke him. My second was to get a read on his current state.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You could at least manage a better face before you speak. Does it truly displease you that much, an illegitimate wretch receiving a post above his station?”

“……Tch.”

Kim Hyunwoo clicked his tongue sharply and set down the drink he’d been holding.

In ordinary circumstances this would have been the moment for him to tell me to get lost, but this time that didn’t happen.

“I swear to you, I knew nothing of this. That I received a post, that I was named top passer. Every last bit of it was the lord’s decision.”

“Why should I believe that?”

“Give me a little credit. Have we not sent Jo Seonghwan to the underworld together?”

Jo Seonghwan.

At that name, the expression on Kim Hyunwoo’s face stiffened.

“Thanks to that, Jo Seonghwan’s crimes were laid bare one by one, and the Pungyang Jo clan, which had been eyeing the family, is on the verge of utter destruction. Everything has gone exactly as you wished.”

“……Right. It has.”

A laugh came naturally at the sight of Kim Hyunwoo tilting his cup.

‘Right. This is all the result of things going exactly as you wanted.’

The nobles conducting human experiments on commoners, causing a rift to open in the middle of Hanseong.

The nobles fracturing among themselves because that fact came to light.

And as a result, the great force that was the noble class splitting in two.

You brought all of it on yourself.

Because Jo Seonghwan wasn’t killed by me, it was you.

Everyone knows that.

“So do extend me a little trust. As long as the money keeps coming through properly, nothing harmful will come your way.”

“…Tch. Mercenary.”

Pressing close like a flatterer, I watched Kim Hyunwoo give a short laugh and drain the rest of his cup.

If this much would do, the balancing act could be called a success.

While I was thinking that, Kim Jungheon, having finished his rounds of politicking, walked slowly toward me.

“Changwoon.”

“Yes, my lord.”

I answered immediately at the sound of my name and met his gaze.

I had died and come back, but I still could not get any read on what this man was thinking.

Probably never would in this lifetime, either.

“What you have received this time is a post above your station. You know that well enough yourself.”

“I am overwhelmed by your lordship’s generosity.”

Even as a polite formality, I did not let the word ‘decline’ pass my lips.

Was I mad. To turn down a position this good.

Without any particular hesitation, Kim Jungheon continued.

“I did not grant it without reason. This post is to commend you for what you did in service of our clan, and further, in service of this country Joseon.”

“…….”

In service of the clan.

Hearing those words, my lips parted as I was about to say something—

“For having foreknowledge of the purge the Pungyang Jo clan set in motion, and playing a part in suppressing it.”

“……!”

The moment Kim Jungheon finished speaking, the eyes of several sharp-minded young aristocrats grew keen, and I felt goosebumps race down my spine.

‘I knew it would come to this…!’

Madness. Absolute madness!

Hearing Kim Jungheon’s words, the outline of his intent finally took shape in my mind.

Kim Jungheon had just publicly declared, before all these many aristocratic scions, that I was not unconnected from the incident by which the Pungyang Jo clan had been destroyed.

‘I thought things were running too smoothly, and this was how he meant to bind me in place?!’

I swept my eyes frantically over the faces of the promising young talents around me.

Too late.

Already, a few were looking at me as if gazing up at a superior.

The moment this banquet ended, these young talents would fall over each other to report this fact to their respective clans.

And the clans opposing the Andong Kim — every one of them without exception would set their sights on my back.

A single sentence.

With that one casually passing remark, half of every noble in Joseon would come to regard me as an enemy!

“Devote yourself further from here. You must not grow complacent.”

“Yes. I will take your lordship’s counsel to heart.”

Not a moment’s hesitation — I bowed my head immediately.

No look of dismay, no contorted expression could be allowed to show.

Right now I was a single pawn on Kim Jungheon’s board.

If I showed any more than this, in that instant I would make an enemy of Kim Jungheon.

Kim Jungheon, or half the noble class. Which one to make an enemy.

A hellish set of choices, but if a correct answer had to be chosen among them, it was this one.

Right. This was the correct answer.

“…….”

As if appraising my response, Kim Jungheon was silent for a time.

“Good.”

With a single word whose meaning I could not parse, he turned and left the banquet hall.

“Hff.”

Perhaps because the tension broke.

I drew a long breath and sat down, and the official who had been sitting across from me slowly rose.

“I should be going soon. I came thinking I’d watch the juniors while I was at it, but I’ve stayed far too long.”

“Ah, that reminds me….”

He’d been uncomfortable with how familiarly he kept pushing close, but this was actually a relief.

“Senior, what is your name?”

“Ah, me?”

I asked in passing, with a brief handshake.

Even if he was a senior official of considerable age, anyone who could subdue Jeong Jihoon — said to be a prodigy — so effortlessly was no ordinary figure.

At my question, the official smiled faintly and opened his mouth.

“Song Gwanhoon.”

The moment I heard that name, my energy drained away, and for some time I could not find a word to say.

Song Gwanhoon.

The name of the hidden second-in-command of the clan, who had stood at Kim Jungheon’s side in close service for decades.

“Those absolute lunatics.”

Only after they had gone could I manage to open my mouth.

From start to finish.

It meant Kim Jungheon had been watching everything.

---

“My lord. It’s me.”

That evening, in a study set aside in one corner of the Andong Kim estate.

At the sound of someone calling to him, Kim Jungheon, who had been tilting a teacup, turned his gaze.

Song Gwanhoon — the official who had confronted Changwoon in the banquet hall just a short time ago.

But the moment he stepped into the study, the optical camouflage wrapping his face dissolved and his true face was revealed.

A long scar running across the outer corner of his eye.

Those who had seen this face could be counted on one hand, even within the clan.

“Rare of you. To speak first, I mean.”

“I am sorry to presume.”

“It’s fine. It’s you, after all, not just anyone.”

The person who had served Kim Jungheon from the very moment he first awakened his phase power.

Song Gwanhoon bowed his head with a deferential air, and Kim Jungheon set down his teacup and spoke.

“I can guess what you mean to say. It would be about the elders putting in their word over the naming of the top passer.”

“…….”

No answer.

A sign of assent.

“However hollow the title may be, it remains something bestowed on the most promising candidate. And having named Young Master Changwoon for it…. there seem to be rumors circulating within the clan.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“That your lordship may be including Young Master Changwoon in the succession contest.”

He did not mince words.

Because neither Kim Jungheon nor Song Gwanhoon felt any need to.

“The succession contest…. Hyunwoo will fly into a rage again.”

As if this were an entertaining intellectual diversion, Kim Jungheon spoke with a faint smile.

“I’ll ask your view. Between those two sons of mine, which holds more value as heir to this clan?”

“Young Master Hyunwoo.”

An answer without a moment’s deliberation.

“And the reason?”

At Kim Jungheon’s question, Gwanhoon answered without delay.

“Young Master Changwoon has no ability whatsoever as a phase ability user. He is not worth reconsidering on that point, and as a failure who cannot preserve the clan’s bloodline, that assessment stands.”

“Certainly true.”

A blunt assessment.

Kim Jungheon nodded slowly, then immediately pressed the next question.

“And outside of phase power?”

Outside of phase power.

At those words, Gwanhoon’s consideration stretched a little longer.

The business Changwoon was running, and the money he was pulling in.

The ability to build that kind of business and generate that much capital in a single year — even with the backing of a power clan, it was not something that could be done easily.

And moreover, the reason Kim Jungheon had raised this question would not be merely this business acumen alone.

He recalled Changwoon’s appearance in the banquet hall.

“He knows how to conceal his face. Harboring other intentions without letting them slip carelessly, and probing his opponent with subtle cunning. It was almost like….”

Gwanhoon paused briefly.

“Watching my lord in his younger years.”

“…….”

Hearing that, Kim Jungheon rose from his seat and looked out at the night view of Hanseong spread beyond the window.

“Are you thinking of Young Master Changwoon as one of the candidates for heir?”

“It cannot be done. How could I make a half-blood with no phase power the head of house.”

Having said this, Kim Jungheon opened his mouth with a sigh.

“If that one had even a trace of phase power, I would never have had to agonize over it in the first place.”

A word that sounded almost like a lament.

Unlike his usual manner, there was emotion seeping into his tone.

“Issue him a royal command. If you have verified him, his capabilities will be sufficient, have him learn the work in the field.”

“As you mentioned before, my lord, do you intend to send Young Master Changwoon there?”

“Yes.”

Kim Jungheon moved his gaze to the map set in one corner of the study.

A precise hologram map of Joseon.

What he was looking at was the land of death at the northernmost edge — the Northeast Frontier.

“I need to see for myself whether what is hiding in those mountains is a mountain lord or merely a house cat.”