It was the very next day that notices were posted all across Yellow Dragon Fortress.
Their contents were succinct and clear.
「Eviction Notice.
The deadline is fifteen days from today.
Refusal is not permitted.
― Lord of Yellow Dragon Fortress, Baek」
"Dan Sahyeok! Where is Dan Sahyeok right now!"
Black Tortoise Pavilion, the official quarters of the Martial Alliance's advisory staff, was thrown into chaos.
Sama Jin was bellowing at the top of his lungs, his face that of a man who had just stepped on a lit fuse.
"The only person who would do something like this is Dan Sahyeok. Turn Yellow Dragon Fortress--no, all of Xi'an inside out if you must, but find him and bring him to me!"
"Yes, Strategist!"
The warriors under the advisory staff scrambled off in every direction.
Sama Jin fought the urge to tear his own hair out.
"Damn it all! Lord of Yellow Dragon Fortress? He has already started acting as if this place belongs to him?"
Ink, inkstone, and paper would have been easy enough to procure.
He must have dashed off the brief lines in a single stroke and scattered them everywhere.
"Strategist! We searched his quarters but could not find a single hair!"
"Of course not!"
Sama Jin snapped at the subordinate who had come scurrying back.
"What kind of fool would have slept soundly in the quarters we provided? He must have spent the night somewhere else!"
"That is not the case, actually."
"Not the case? What do you mean, not the case? Unless Dan Sahyeok is completely out of his mind--"
Sama Jin's voice trailed off on its own.
The voice that had just answered him.
It did not belong to his subordinate.
What was more, it had come from right beside him.
Sama Jin broke into gooseflesh in spite of himself.
"D-Dan Sahyeok?"
"The one and only."
The voice came from beside him again.
He whipped around in shock and found a man with a face that was by now all too familiar.
"Dan Sahyeok!"
"I said yes."
A flash of annoyance crossed Dan Sahyeok's eyes, seemingly unamused at being called by name over and over.
At the sight, a flood of words and expressions surged through Sama Jin's mind, only to vanish one by one.
"Wh-where have you been?"
"I took a brief stroll."
"And before that?"
"I woke up, then had a meal. I slept in the quarters the Strategist provided and ate at the warrior's mess hall."
"......"
"By the way, the food tasted like utter garbage. I never imagined it could be worse than the mess hall at the Gansu Branch, where supplies were always running short."
"Ngh......!"
"At any rate."
Dan Sahyeok folded his arms.
"I take it you are making this fuss over the notice I posted, Strategist?"
"Ngh!"
Sama Jin let out a prolonged groan, cleared his throat a couple of times, and fixed his expression.
"Do you...... have any idea what you have done?"
"As the rightful owner of Yellow Dragon Fortress, I issued a proper eviction notice to the tenants."
"Rightful owner? A proper eviction notice?"
"Indeed."
"Yellow Dragon Fortress does not belong to you!"
"I believe that matter was already settled yesterday."
"Well......"
Sama Jin found himself at a loss for words.
With the Martial Alliance Leader's seat vacant, the most powerful figure within the Alliance was undoubtedly the Abbot of Shaolin.
And Great Master Gomok had sided with Dan Sahyeok, so there was no issue of legitimacy.
But that did not mean he could simply accept it and move on.
Sama Jin had to say something, anything.
"It has not yet been confirmed that the Blood Sky Demon is dead."
"That is precisely why I granted a fifteen-day grace period. Besides, from the way you phrase it, it sounds as though there would be no issue transferring ownership of Yellow Dragon Fortress so long as the Blood Sky Demon's death is confirmed."
"N-no. That is not......"
Pressed for words, Sama Jin racked his brain desperately.
"Over a thousand martial artists currently reside here. Is it not excessive to evict them all at once?"
"Are you joking, Strategist?"
"What?"
"If they can afford to live at headquarters, then they are hardly strapped for lodging fees. Even if they leave here, they will have no shortage of places to stay."
Sama Jin was left speechless yet again.
Speaking to the man before him was no different from shouting at a wall.
Yet he could not simply sit there mute as if he had swallowed honey, either.
"Wh-what about the furniture and supplies people have brought into the fortress......?"
"They can move them out. They are martial artists, for heaven's sake--they are not going to struggle with a bit of heavy lifting."
"......"
"Besides."
Dan Sahyeok said evenly.
"If anyone wishes to continue residing within Yellow Dragon Fortress, they need only negotiate with me, the fortress lord."
"Negotiate?"
"Yes. Negotiate."
Dan Sahyeok spoke in a measured tone.
"Yellow Dragon Fortress is absurdly vast. The number of smaller buildings alone exceeds one hundred. Leaving all that space empty would be a loss from the fortress lord's perspective as well."
"Mm, mm."
"So naturally, it is more profitable to house tenants and collect payment. It is a simple matter."
"S-so what you are saying is, if we draw up a new contract with you and pay you the fee......"
"I receive money and provide buildings and space in return."
"Ngh!"
"Of course, I will not let just anyone in merely because they pay."
Dan Sahyeok's explanation sent Sama Jin into a deep, involuntary reverie.
"So...... you are saying that if we pay a fair price, Yellow Dragon Fortress could continue to be used as the Martial Alliance's headquarters, just as before?"
"If you pay a fair price."
"......How much are you thinking?"
"Money is not the issue."
"Then what is?"
At Sama Jin's question, Dan Sahyeok's expression turned resolute.
"Whether the organization called the Martial Alliance is qualified to remain in my building--that is what matters."
"Wh-what do you mean by that? Qualified? Are you saying the Martial Alliance as it stands now lacks such qualification?"
"I did not say that outright, but perhaps it does."
A deeply ambiguous answer.
A single possibility flashed through Sama Jin's mind.
"That sounds an awful lot like you intend to manipulate the Martial Alliance."
"Not particularly. I am merely the owner of a building called Yellow Dragon Fortress, not a member of the Martial Alliance."
"Not a member? Are you not a First-Class Warrior assigned to the Martial Alliance's Gansu Branch?"
"I quit."
"You quit?"
"I did. I resigned when I set out for here."
"......!"
"By now, Branch Commander O should have processed my resignation."
Branch Commander O.
He meant O Duseok, the head of the Martial Alliance's Gansu Branch.
The man who, by Dan Sahyeok's account, had confirmed the Blood Sky Demon's severed head.
And the same man who had sent the carrier pigeon here to Yellow Dragon Fortress.
"As for the various sects and clans."
Dan Sahyeok continued.
"If any of them wish to remain in Yellow Dragon Fortress after the fifteen days have passed, I am willing to negotiate individual contracts."
"Individually?"
"Yes. In that case, they would be contracting not as members of the Martial Alliance, but as their respective sects and clans."
"No one knows about any of this yet."
"That is why I plan to post additional notices shortly. By tomorrow, everyone will know."
A plan with no apparent gaps.
Not meticulous, perhaps, but not outside the bounds of propriety.
From an objective standpoint, at least.
"N-now see here. No matter how you look at it, is this not too radical?"
"Perhaps. But that does not make it wrong, does it?"
"It may not matter to you, but from the Martial Alliance's standpoint......"
"If you were going to worry about standpoints, then you should never have made such a vow in the first place. Would you not agree?"
"......"
Once again, Sama Jin had nothing to say.
In truth, when one examined it objectively, it was by no means an unreasonable demand or condition.
The Blood Sky Demon, Cheon Muyeol, had once been the monster who drove the Martial Alliance to the brink of annihilation.
Though he had failed and been driven, badly wounded, to the frontier of Gansu, he remained every bit as dangerous.
Moreover, he was still powerful.
The Martial Alliance, which had considered him a thorn in its side, had dispatched assassination squads and combat units on multiple occasions over the past decade.
Every last one had failed.
As the failures mounted, the strategy had shifted.
From offense to containment.
In the end, the Gansu Branch had become the final line of defense, tasked with holding the Blood Sky Sect at bay.
If that very Blood Sky Demon Cheon Muyeol had fully recovered from the injuries sustained at the Bloody Battle of Mount Hua and allied with frontier forces to raise an army once more?
The Martial Alliance might well have faced a new crisis.
'Viewed in that light, this man is undeniably the Martial Alliance's hero, and yet......'
The problem was that his price was too steep.
When one traced it back, the blame for things spiraling this far lay with the previous Alliance Leader who had provided the opening.
'Alliance Leader, I have respected and revered you all my life, but...... this once, I cannot help but feel a touch of resentment.'
Sama Jin chewed over the bitter taste while muttering to himself.
All the while, Dan Sahyeok was saying something perfectly carefree.
"If the Strategist also wishes to stay here, come find me. Not as the Martial Alliance's Strategist, but as a representative of the Sama Clan."
"......"
"Is there anything else?"
"Just one question."
Sama Jin bit down on his lip.
"Why are you going this far?"
Dan Sahyeok did not answer, merely watching Sama Jin in silence.
His transparent gaze made Sama Jin falter for a moment, but he shook his head and pressed on.
"There is no need to go so far as to demand Yellow Dragon Fortress."
"Turn that around, and there is no reason I should not take Yellow Dragon Fortress, either."
"That may be true, but......"
Sama Jin chose his next words with tenacity.
"You are the Martial Alliance's hero. Assuming, of course, that the Blood Sky Demon's death is proven true--but let us say it is."
"Go on."
"There is no need to make enemies of the Alliance's sects and clans by pushing things this far. The fame and honor you stand to gain would bring you wealth exceeding what Yellow Dragon Fortress is worth."
"That may be so."
"So why go to these lengths? Why abandon a well-paved road and choose the treacherous--"
"If I only intended to take the easy path."
Dan Sahyeok cut him off.
"I would never have fought the Blood Sky Demon to the death in the first place."
"......!"
"Is that not so, Strategist?"
It was.
Unable to think of a single rebuttal, Sama Jin closed his mouth.
At the same time, he realized that Dan Sahyeok harbored some other intention, and that he would not reveal it easily.
'What on earth is this man......'
Staring at the utterly inscrutable man, Sama Jin felt a strange, incomprehensible sense of disconnection rearing its head.
***
After his conversation with Sama Jin, Dan Sahyeok strolled through the fortress grounds with perfect nonchalance.
A handful of warriors recognized him and whispered among themselves, but none dared approach.
Word of the incidents at the Martial Emperor Hall and the dining hall the day before had already spread throughout the fortress.
Whether he was truly a supreme master capable of killing the Blood Sky Demon remained uncertain, but that he was a master was beyond question.
That was the warriors' consensus regarding Dan Sahyeok.
He stopped.
Dan Sahyeok halted abruptly in his tracks.
A group of people had swarmed up to block his path.
The man at their head, who appeared to be their leader, spoke.
"Dan Sahyeok, First-Class Warrior assigned to the Gansu Branch. Is that correct?"
"Half correct."
"Half correct?"
"I am Dan Sahyeok, but I am no longer a warrior assigned to the Gansu Branch. I quit not long ago."
The man gaped blankly for a moment, then gathered himself and fixed Dan Sahyeok with a fierce glare.
"In any event, you are indeed Dan Sahyeok."
"I am."
"I am O Seokryong, senior disciple of the Taebaek Sect of Hamyang. These are my junior brothers."
"......And?"
"This notice."
O Seokryong held up a scrap of paper and waved it.
"Did you post this?"
"I did."
"You, claiming to be the owner of this Yellow Dragon Fortress, declared that all Martial Alliance members are to be expelled?"
"I did."
"And do you suppose this O Seokryong and the disciples of the Taebaek Sect will stand idly by in the face of such tyranny?"
Dan Sahyeok regarded O Seokryong in silence, then spoke quietly.
"That is none of my concern."