***
Nam-gung-se-ga.
Numerous guests visited the Nam-gung-se-ga, the master of Anhui Province located in Huangshan, even on normal days.
From high-ranking officials to elders of prestigious sects.
Since such work was like a daily routine, the servants and maids were not very nervous, but today was a bit different.
The Chief Strategist of the Mu-rim-maeng had visited.
A great administrator must know the importance of a visitor and treat them accordingly as an essential skill.
However, the alcohol, tea, and refreshments tailored to their tastes were stopped by the warriors at the entrance.
“We are having an important conversation inside, so come later.”
“Ah, I understand.”
While the administrators were secretly cursing the ignorance of the warriors who didn’t think about the warmed alcohol and refreshments getting cold.
“I gave the entry plaque to someone else.”
“......”
Inside, Nam-gung-san’s eyebrows were heavily furrowed as he listened to the story.
He had insisted on stopping by the Nam-gung-se-ga while changing his words at the Cheol-geom-mun, and in the end, it had turned out like this.
“Seon-hwa has skills that do not fall behind any successor compared to others.”
Nam-gung-san spoke confidently.
He, who belonged to the Mu-rim-maeng’s Yong-bong-ji-hoe and was the next-generation owner of the Nam-gung-se-ga, said it, but the opponent was a person who felt that even such a background was nothing special.
“Then she would enter easily even if she took the regular exam.”
Nam-gung-san said, unable to control his emotions.
“Do you know what people call the Mu-rim regular exam?”
The Hell Exam.
The name that Gang-ho enthusiasts call the regular exam taken to enter the Mu-rim-hak-gwan.
A desperate exam where hundreds of thousands apply from all over the Gang-ho every time, and only five hundred pass.
Nam-gung-san had led his family’s servants and taken that hellish regular exam in the previous session, but Nam-gung-seon-hwa was not in the same situation as him.
“Did you entrust the entry plaque to me?”
“......”
Even the great Nam-gung-san could not help but be hurt by Je-gal-so-myeong’s words.
“I said I would test if Seon-hwa was qualified in the first place. I cannot give it to someone who is not qualified.”
“Then why can’t Seon-hwa even take that exam?”
“Because the person who took the entry plaque is better than Seon-hwa.”
“......”
Anger burned like a volcano.
In the current Anhui Province, who had the talent to surpass Nam-gung-seon-hwa of the Nam-gung-se-ga?
“That cannot be. The Chief Strategist must have misunderstood something.”
After blurting out the words, he felt the atmosphere around him change rapidly.
Because his reason was temporarily paralyzed by anger, he had made a slip of the tongue that he should not have made.
“Am I in a situation where I have to convince you?”
“......”
“What on earth is the reason I have to persuade you?”
“...I apologize.”
Regret is always late, no matter how fast it is. Once he realized the unique coldness dwelling in Je-gal-so-myeong’s gaze, it was far too late.
“You said your family’s situation is getting worse day by day? But is there any reason for me to look after all the circumstances in the entire Gang-ho?”
The painful words pierced his heart.
It was an emotion he had not felt in the days when he was afraid of nothing and lacked nothing.
But because of the emotion of misfortune that was eating away at his heart, he could not risk Seon-hwa’s life.
“......I will apologize. And may I ask one thing?”
“Are you asking who I gave the entry plaque to?”
He heard the answer before he could even ask the question. It meant that he already knew the question and action he would take next. Being the Chief Strategist of the Man-tong-bu was truly a job not just anyone could do.
“Jin-so-un of the Tae-eul-mun.”
Nevertheless, revealing it meant that even though he knew what he would do after that, he wasn’t worried.
“May I take it back?”
“It seems he also intends to give it to someone else in the first place. Do as you please.”
Nam-gung-san offered his respects without a word and then left the pavilion.
After Nam-gung-san left, Je-gal-so-myeong, who was writing documents, complained.
“Why on earth do I have to get involved in such trivial matters because of the wild brats in your family?”
There was no one inside, but Je-gal-so-myeong continued to speak.
“If you keep acting like this, I will set fire to your Chang-gung-dang.”
“Hehe, old man. You’ve gone to a high position in the Mu-rim-maeng, and now you can’t see anything?”
With the answer, an old man with a long white beard appeared in front of Je-gal-so-myeong and sat in a chair. It was Nam-gung-tae-ha, the current head of the Nam-gung-se-ga.
“You saw it too, right? That rotten fellow glaring at me and snapping at me? I held back while trying to pluck out one of his eyes.”
“Tsk. I have nothing to say.”
“You damn son of a bitch, I changed his diapers how many times...... I should have just cut off his penis back then.”
As Je-gal-so-myeong’s rough words continued, Nam-gung-tae-ha’s face also turned beet red.
“Stop it! You old geezer! And when on earth did you change San’s diapers! And what’s with the talk about cutting off someone else’s precious son’s parts?”
“You senile has-been! Why did I come all the way to Anhui Province and even attend the 60th birthday party of the Cheol-geom-mun Sect Leader, whom I’ve never heard of! Is that something you should say now!”
“My goodness! Who told you to come! You came because you were uncomfortable looking at the elders’ eyes!”
The two, who had fought like children not even of age, eventually puffed with anger and remained silent for a long time.
“Is that fellow Sang-won plotting something?”
The direct descendant of the Nam-gung-se-ga is afraid of the regular exam.
This alone was as good as predicting a great incident.
“The family is on the verge of splitting into two.”
“Hehe, damn old man. You’ve been in the family all your life, what have you been doing without even being able to manage things?”
“......”
Je-gal-so-myeong’s mockery continued again, but Nam-gung-tae-ha could not say anything.
“Is it really that serious?”
“The branch family fellows, centered around Sang-won, have started to act as they please.”
“Wouldn’t it be fine if you just called them into the family?”
“If that were possible, would I be worrying like this?”
The Nam-gung-se-ga thoroughly distinguished between the direct and branch families and divided the work.
The direct family continues the tradition within the family, and the branch family takes charge of the family’s livelihood outside the family.
However, the internal and external forces that should have been balanced began to diverge into an imbalance, eventually reaching the point where the outside coveted the power of the inside.
“The power of the branch family is being reorganized centered on the Chang-gung-sang-dan. Now, when dealing with matters within the family, I have to ‘ask’ the branch family. ‘Ask’, mind you.”
“......Ugh.”
“Moreover, we have even cut off the channels through which we can know what the branch family is doing outside. Word is already coming in from here and there that they are committing tyranny by borrowing the name of the Nam-gung-se-ga. You must have heard it too, right?”
“......I heard it.”
Because the reason I visited Anhui Province this time was to talk about that.
“Do you have a countermeasure?”
“I am making a... Pa-geom-sik (Sword-breaking technique) of the Chang-gung-mu-ae-geom-beop.”
“Are you crazy?”
The head of the Nam-gung-se-ga is trying to dismantle the martial art that is like the face of his family. No matter how well you look at it, it was a huge thing that would end in impeachment.
If it goes wrong, it would be unavoidable even if the entire direct family were killed.
That he was calmly preparing for such a thing, Je-gal-so-myeong could not help but be dumbfounded.
“Otherwise, I have to see the blood of the children with my own hands.”
“......So, did you make it?”
Curiosity as a martial artist before being a Chief Strategist.
Can a Pa-geom-sik really exist for a profound sword technique like the Chang-gung-mu-ae-geom-beop?
That answer was enough just from Tae-ha’s depressed face.
“Isn’t it a sword technique where the life-long experiences of our ancestors are piled up layer by layer? It’s not something I can make just because someone like me suddenly jumps in.”
“Then are you wasting your time uselessly?”
“Then what can I do? Do you have another solution?”
“......”
Even though he is the great Chief Strategist Je-gal-so-myeong, nothing particularly came to mind regarding the current situation.
“Look at that. You are also a problem that cannot yield an answer in the end. Who can give an answer that even the great Chief Strategist couldn’t solve? I have no choice but to dig into this alone like I’m going to die.”
“......Perhaps.”
Je-gal-so-myeong suddenly thought of one face.
A guy who is slick and cunning, and who is obnoxious enough to be suspicious even in front of the Chief Strategist, but who seems to know a clear answer.
But at the same time, an unpleasant face that seemed like he would calculate thoroughly.
“......But the price I have to pay to get the answer seems too high.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The guy your grandson is trying to chase.”
“Jin-so-un of the Tae-eul-mun? That person knows the answer?”
“Who knows. How would that guy solve a problem that even the head of the Nam-gung-se-ga or the Chief Strategist of the Mu-rim-maeng couldn’t solve? Still, he’s a guy with great quick-wittedness, so I think he might be able to create some escape routes.”
“Hehe, a guy recognized by the great grumpy old man. I want to meet him once.”
“Who is the grumpy old man, you senile geezer!”
“Well, well, don’t be like that, let’s go have a drink. You just throw that document aside too.”
“This is not a document to be thrown aside like that! In this one document, the power structure of the Mu-rim-maeng......”
“Ah, never mind. I know you’ll sign it anyway. I’ll do it with you. Let’s go.”
“You bastard! Was it you who did those documents I don’t remember?”
The two threw off the dignity that had been weighing down their shoulders all this time and moved to another place with a light heart.
<><><>
My well-planned scheme went wrong from the beginning.
“We are not looking for bodyguards.”
“Then can’t I just stand guard?”
“......Which sect are you from?”
“Tae-eul-mun.”
“......Ahem. I’m sorry. There are no spots.”
The wall of reality was still harsh for the Tae-eul-mun.
If I could stop the kidnapping, it would be best to do it from the inside, but if I said, ‘Your daughter is in danger of being kidnapped,’ I would be treated the same as the kidnappers or be treated as a crazy person.
Any result was a bad result for me.
Instead of infiltrating the inside, I finished the work by sending a threatening letter as if I were going to invade.
If they see the threatening letter, they will prepare something more, right?
In the end, I had no choice but to stop the kidnapping from the outside, but the problem was that the classified document only recorded the fact that she was kidnapped and killed, but the process was not written down.
“It’s a document written through interrogation, and anyway, the process wouldn’t be necessary.”
Thanks to that, I had to search through the library in my head all over again to find documents related to this.
※Grade Mu (E)
-A large number of animal corpses appeared in the forest between Hefei and Lake Chao. Concluded as an incident due to indiscriminate hunting. Warned the hunters.
※Grade Gi (D)
-Report that a thief entered a slash-and-burn farmer village. The things stolen were trivial things like old clothes and famine crops. Did not respond.
※Grade Gi (D)
-Report that women are disappearing from the slash-and-burn farmer village. After dispatching the 9th-grade warriors of the branch, the investigation was concluded because no traces could be found.
※Grade Gi (D)
-Several female corpses found in Lake Chao. Presumed to be women who disappeared from the slash-and-burn farmer village. Since there were no specific facts, the incident was closed after delivering the message to the slash-and-burn farmers.
※Grade Gi (D)
-Corpse of a young girl with her head cut off found in an empty house near Ye-gang. She was wearing clothes of the slash-and-burn farmer village, but since no one stepped forward from the slash-and-burn farmer village, it was cremated and disposed of. Incident closed.
I could find traces of Wang So-so in the Gi-grade and Mu-grade reports that were not considered very important even at the branch.
In conclusion, Wang So-so’s body was not found, but judging by the physical description of the corpse found in Ye-gang written in the report, it was highly likely to be Wang So-so.
Also, hiding an important incident within several incidents was one of the common methods used by assassins.
My operation started from the slash-and-burn farmer village on the way from the Wang manor to Ye-gang.
“But why didn’t they use the hostage more?”
From the Wang manor to Ye-gang, it’s only a three-day distance.
In the first place, a hostage is more advantageous to use when alive, so it was a question of why they killed her right away.
In fact, if they had used Wang So-so well, it would have been possible to borrow the enormous wealth that the Wang family manor had accumulated.
“Well, if they had done that, their identity might have been discovered, and if that happened, it wouldn’t have ended well.”
Although the Chang-gung-sang-dan is backed by the Nam-gung-se-ga, the opponent is the Wang family manor.
If they touched it wrongly, a huge incident that could even move the military and the imperial family could occur.
“Still, if they were afraid of that, why did they touch the Wang family manor?”
Leaving such a question behind, time passed, and people of unclear identities began to gather in Hefei.