Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1607. Transmigrated to the Central Plains’ Murim (12)

“Did someone... hit you?” I asked.

“...”

“...”

‘Who... the hell laid a hand on you?’

I found myself staring blankly at Squirmy’s face. For a moment, I couldn't even process what I was looking at. It felt as though all I could do was stand there and stare at him.

Something kept surging up from deep inside me, and I had to hold my breath to keep it down. I wanted to shout and scream, but it felt as though something was lodged in my throat, which prevented the words from coming out of my mouth.

I couldn’t stop tapping my thigh. Having unexpectedly become the center of my attention, Squirmy looked completely lost. He seemed unable to decide whether he ought to hurry inside or greet his mother first.

In the end, all he could do was lower his head as far as possible and desperately hide his face.

‘Like hell that's going to hide anything. Are you an idiot? Do you seriously think you can cover that up?’

How could he possibly hide it? This wasn't some minor injury. His face was altered beyond recognition.

‘You little fool...’

His eyelids were so swollen that I wondered whether he could even see, and one entire side of his face was covered in bruises. I couldn't understand how he was even walking around in that condition.

In an instant, Young Master Jin's escort mission and engagement vanished from my mind.

“...”

“...”

Naturally, I took a deep breath to calm myself before speaking, “Raise your head.”

Squirmy flinched and immediately began hiccuping. “Y-You see... h-hic...”

“Didn’t I tell you to raise your head, Jin-Cheon?” I said.

“I-I’m sorry. Sob... I... made another mistake. Please don’t hate me... sob...” Jin-Cheon begged.

“I didn’t tell you to raise your head so I could scold you,” I said.

“...”

“...”

“Are you not going to listen to your mother?” I questioned.

“...”

“Damn it! I told you to raise your head!” I yelled at him.

‘Why do you keep forcing me to lose my temper?’

He finally lifted his head slowly, and when I finally saw his face, it looked even worse than I had imagined. It wasn't just his face. His arms looked swollen as well. There were even angry red marks around his wrists.

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed as though an adult had to have grabbed him by the wrists, and after that, they had to have repeatedly slapped him across the face.

There was dirt on his chest, too. It looked as though someone had kicked him there.

“...”

“Who did this to you?” I asked.

“...”

“I asked who did this to you,” I said.

“W-Well...” he muttered.

“...”

“I-I was fooling around on the stairs at the academy and... hic!... h-hic!!! I t-tripped and fell... sob... waaah...” he cried.

“How dare you lie to your mother?!” I scolded him.

“Hic! H-hic!”

“I don’t wish to hear even the slightest falsehood from your lips, Jin-Cheon! Answer my question this instant!” I demanded.

“...”

“...”

“I-it was... the head of the Yang Family... sob... waaah... hic... sob...” he answered.

‘The Yang Family? The local landlord? You mean the Yang Estate?’

Of course, I knew him. Those living in this village would definitely know him, as he was one of the wealthiest men in the region.

‘That perverted bastard?’

Naturally, he wasn't just some rich country bumpkin. Considering the academy and martial school Jin-Cheon attended, I'd deliberately settled in a district with decent educational institutions.

There had also been security and several other factors to consider.

Of course, the Yang Estate couldn't even begin to compare to great clans like the Murong Clan or the Jin Family of Shenyang, but within the region, they still had enough influence to throw their weight around.

In fact, I had heard they had a fairly famous wandering martial artist as a guest retainer. The man even possessed a martial title, which meant he was known at least within the region, perhaps throughout Shenyang, Liaoning, or even the martial world at large.

I had also heard that he was close to the sect leader of some small martial sect.

If I remembered correctly, he had boasted about sending his son there once the boy turned eleven. To top it all off, he had once made a tasteless pass at me, suggesting I become his concubine. Yeah, it was that bastard. The same one said that he would raise Jin-Cheon for me if I were to join the Yang Estate.

‘That son of a bitch...’

“...”

Somehow, I could already guess how everything had played out. Jin-Cheon's fists were swollen, too.

‘Don't tell me an adult got involved in a fight between children.’

“Explain exactly what happened and tell me everything without a single lie,” I instructed.

“Hic... w-well...”

“Stop stammering and speak slowly,” I told him.

“Yang... Yang... Yang Seon-Woo and I... had an argument,” he said.

‘Yeah, the landlord's son.’

“And why did you argue with him?” I asked.

“...”

“...”

“...”

The boy hesitated, but when I narrowed my eyes at him once more, he squeezed them shut and forced himself to continue, saying, “Yang Seon-Woo... i-insulted y-y-y... sob... ngh... you.... sob... waaah... sob... I-I really didn't mean to do it... but before I realized it... I lost control... sob... hic... It was my fault.... sob... This is all my fault... sob...”

“And then?” I asked.

“There was... a large disturbance at the academy. Yang Seon-Woo left, and... about an hour later, the head of the Yang Family suddenly came to the academy...” he said.

“...”

“And he laid hands on you. Is that what you're saying?” I asked.

“Y-yes. He said... he was disciplining me...” he answered.

‘Ha... that bastard. You've got to be kidding me.’

“...”

‘I can’t believe this actually happened.’

“...”

‘I swear to God...’

“M-my lady! I have news... Ah... Y-Young Master?” So-So shouted.

“...”

“Wh-what happened to you, Young Master?!” she asked.

“S-So-So... sob!” Jin-Cheon cried.

As expected, the Shim sisters lost their composure the moment they saw Jin-Cheon's face. Tears instantly welled up in their eyes. Meanwhile, Jin-Cheon himself seemed to be calming down a little.

He was always close to the Shim sisters, and their arrival appeared to have eased some of the tension he had been carrying on his shoulders.

Though perhaps the words “calming down” weren’t the right way to put it. His tear ducts seemed completely broken, and tears streamed down his face without pause. Shim So-Wol burst into tears the moment she saw him crying. Considering she was usually the one responsible for picking him up after class, her reaction was understandable.

She probably planned to fetch him an hour later, but this happened before she ever got the chance. Of course, I had no intention of blaming her. Even though she dropped to her knees and was crying, "Please punish me, my lady," her words barely registered in my ears.

“I'm going to the academy,” I told them.

“M-My lady!” So-Wol shouted.

“M-Mother...” Jin-Cheon mumbled.

“Please... leave this matter to us, my—”

“I said I’m going to the academy,” I interrupted her.

Naturally, I set off immediately. The Shim sisters and Jin-Cheon looked thoroughly alarmed, but none of them seemed willing to stand in my way. I was walking far faster than usual, so quickly that the scenery blurred past me.

It seemed classes had just ended. Children around Jin-Cheon's age were beginning to appear everywhere. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but groups of them were gathered together, laughing and chatting.

Some were running around doing things that made absolutely no sense, as children their age often did. Others were swinging sticks around as though they were great martial masters. Now that I thought about it...

‘How come this kid has never brought a single friend home? Is it because I'm too scary? Or do the rumors keep the other children away?’

He had never once brought home a classmate. The same went for the children he trained with at the martial academy. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't remember Jin-Cheon ever talking about his friends either. Then I noticed another kind of child. The ones walking home hand in hand with their mothers.

They strolled along with smiles on their faces, holding their mothers' hands as though they had not a single worry in the world.

The sight irritated me, and it was because it made me suddenly understand why Jin-Cheon had asked me to go to the inn with him after school. In a world full of scenes like that, he had been walking home either alone or holding the hand of a maid instead of a friend, a classmate, or his mother.

‘Goddammit...’

I could understand some of his loneliness, or perhaps “loneliness” wasn't quite the right word. Even if he wasn't lonely, surely there had been times when he simply wanted what everyone else had.

Of course, I didn't think my decision was wrong. I was never in a position where I could devote all my attention to him, and I believed that being overly protective wouldn't do him any favors.

Even so, imagining him walking this road alone every day made my irritation grow, especially when I heard the laughter spilling out from the inn ahead. Perhaps it was some tradition among the academy families, but parents seemed to be dining there together with their sons and daughters.

In that case, there was probably no need to go all the way to the academy. Classes just ended, so they were likely inside.

I hadn't passed them on the way here, after all. The inn itself was neither particularly luxurious nor especially shabby. Whoever ran it clearly understood their clientele.

If I had to describe it in modern terms, it felt remarkably similar to a family restaurant, and inside that family restaurant-like inn, I spotted the Yang Family enjoying themselves.

Naturally, the first person I looked for was the Yang brat. Part of me wondered whether an enraged Jin-Cheon had beaten him into a bloody pulp, but...

‘Wait, you're perfectly fine.’

There was a small bruise around his eye, but he didn't look seriously hurt. It looked exactly like what it was—a scuffle between children too young to do any real damage.

‘But this... this motherfucker... this fucking bastard turned Jin-Cheon's face into that?’

Naturally, I brushed past the waiter who greeted me with a warm smile and strode straight toward the Yang family. Before I knew it, my breathing grew heavier. Perhaps my expression darkened as well, as the Yang brat flinched the moment he saw me.

Even the wealthy madam seated beside him looked startled and hurriedly shot the boy a warning glance. They knew... they knew exactly what they had done wrong. They knew full well that they'd gone far too far with a child.

“Ah! It has been a long time, Madam Yeon. Why don't you have a seat?” the head of the Yang Family offered.

“...”

“Ahem... ahem... as a matter of fact, I was planning to visit your estate myself,” he said.

“...”

“Jin-Cheon committed a rather unfortunate offense against my son, so I took it upon myself to discipline him in your stead, but it seems there has been some misunder—”

There was no reason to hear any more.

Smack!

“Wh-What are you—”

Smack!

“You filthy and greedy old bastard! How dare you! How dare you lay a hand on my son! What right did you have to touch him?!” I roared at him.

Perhaps it was the sight I had witnessed on the way here; perhaps all the frustration that had been building up inside me until now had finally exploded, or perhaps it was the memory of seeing Jin-Cheon's battered face.

Regardless of the reason, I was so furious that tears nearly burst from my eyes.

“How dare you?! What right do you have to hit him?!” I shouted.

Of course, I forced them back before they could fall back.