Even the Sword God Needs Paternity Leave

Chapter 14: Jin Yeomyeong

At the very hour when the Ink Sword Hero Jin Yeomyeong was saving Trading Company Leader Zhu Hochong inside Luoyang.

The Murim Alliance Luoyang Branch.

"Why did you call me? And telling me to come quietly at that."

Kwak Daebang.

The martial artist who had shown a blunt attitude when Jin Yeomyeong visited the branch.

He was now taking a blunt attitude even before the man who had summoned him.

"It seems something happened with the Beggar's Gang inside the city."

"Ah, don't worry about such things. The Beggar's Gang will handle their own affairs. We can step in when they request help."

"Is that so?"

"Right now I called you about the Ink Sword Hero matter."

"..."

The person before Kwak Daebang was Deputy Branch Leader Gong Pilsang.

He had unconsciously tried to blow breath—haah—to wipe the desk when he stopped short. In place of his cherished ebony desk sat a standard Alliance-issued desk.

Lifting his head bitterly, he saw Kwak Daebang's blunt face.

He tossed out a single remark that pierced right to the lungs.

"I heard the Ink Sword Hero broke it."

The rumor couldn't help but spread.

For the Ink Sword Hero to break a desk in anger—no one had imagined such a thing.

Gong Pilsang let out a groan—mmm—and looked at Kwak Daebang seriously.

"He's acting strange."

"Pardon?"

"It's not his usual behavior, is it?"

"So what?"

"Isn't it suspicious?"

"Not particularly."

Kwak Daebang's attitude showed no sign of softening. He seemed to have no intention of accommodating the Deputy Branch Leader in conversation.

'Just as the Alliance assessed.'

Gong Pilsang wasn't flustered.

He had already read the personnel file on Kwak Daebang.

'Rough temperament, doesn't comply with superiors. When pressured, pushes back.'

There were many such martial artists. Having risen to Deputy Branch Leader, he had encountered many.

Actually, this worked out well. Since this rough-tempered person didn't get along well with Jin Yeomyeong.

"Not suspicious? But listen, what if by any chance he's under the influence of demonic arts?"

Kwak Daebang's sufficiently blunt face became even blunter.

"Demonic arts? The Ink Sword Hero?"

Gong Pilsang repeated the words the Branch Leader had said to him.

"It's unlikely. Unlikely, but... it's too different from his usual behavior."

Kwak Daebang now tilted his head slightly as well.

"It's worth suspecting."

"Right? Now we're communicating. At times like this, observing for a while could be called the Murim Alliance's duty."

"Hmm. The Alliance's duty."

"That's right! The Alliance's duty."

Gong Pilsang praised Kwak Daebang.

"Among the branch members, there's no one with the skill to monitor Jin Yeomyeong. I sent someone just to observe his presence, but it turned into a disaster."

"What happened?"

"His head got hit or something, and about three days of memories disappeared. He completely forgot even my instructions."

"Kuhahahat!"

Though it might be rude to Gong Pilsang, Kwak Daebang laughed without restraint.

"Now, now, the Outer Hall martial artists are on friendly terms with Jin Yeomyeong. Only you possess both skill and objectivity."

"Hmm."

"Before coming to the branch, you received a mission from headquarters to wipe out Black Path forces at Yangcheon Bridge, right?"

"That's correct."

"Your relationship with Jin Yeomyeong is..."

He trailed off vaguely, but Kwak Daebang himself clearly pulled out the answer.

"I don't like the Ink Sword Hero."

"Right! Exactly. So you can be objective."

Gong Pilsang admired himself, thinking his eye hadn't been wrong.

Objectivity didn't matter. The more he disliked him, the better.

"So, what you need to do is—"

He began explaining the surveillance mission to Kwak Daebang.

Kwak Daebang still had a blunt face. An expression that made it unclear whether he was listening or not.

But he nodded. After hearing the full explanation, he even said he understood.

"Good! I'm counting on you. Then depart right away."

Kwak Daebang left the branch building with Gong Pilsang's encouragement.

And then.

After walking for a bit, turning back.

"What a ridiculous guy. The Alliance's duty?"

He let out a single remark.

"I hate that bastard Gong Pilsang more than the Ink Sword Hero."

Kwak Daebang scratched his heavy, fleshy chin, thinking about how to handle this matter.

The deliberation wasn't long.

As expected, he was someone with a rough temperament who didn't comply with superiors.

"Fuck it, I should just tell the Ink Sword Hero."

When it came to pushing back, he was someone who pushed upward rather than sideways.

.

.

And not long after Kwak Daebang left.

Branch Leader Hwangbo Gak came looking for Gong Pilsang.

Gong Pilsang rose from his seat and approached him as if flying.

A bowing back, rubbing hands.

He displayed the utmost respect for the Branch Leader.

"Branch Leader! Do you remember Kwak Daebang I mentioned before? I just sent him to monitor Jin Yeomyeong. Now we just need to wait for reports to come in."

However, what returned was an angry shout.

"What have you done!"

"P-pardon?"

"Didn't you hear that the Beggar's Gang Luoyang branch and Black Path forces fought?"

"I did hear, but..."

Don't interfere in faction affairs until there's an official request for support.

If you interfere unnecessarily, you might be criticized for hasty involvement. Rather, wait for them to yield and come to you.

Hadn't this been Hwangbo Gak's usual directive?

That's why Gong Pilsang hadn't gotten involved in the Beggar's Gang's affairs.

"The person the Beggar's Gang members were protecting was none other than Captain Zhu Hochong of Golden Cloud Trading!"

"Oh, is that so?"

"What do you mean 'oh'!"

It wasn't a simple fight.

An attack with a purpose.

And the Alliance knew absolutely nothing about the background of this matter.

"Why was the Beggar's Gang protecting Captain Zhu Hochong? Isn't he a wanted man?"

"How frustrating. For news to still be this delayed."

When Hwangbo Gak looked at him coldly, Gong Pilsang's head shrank.

"The new magistrate declared that all of Zhu Hochong's charges were false accusations."

"What? False accusations?"

"That's right. As soon as he arrived, he reinstated Zhu Hochong."

"That means..."

"The new magistrate is on Zhu Hochong's side. Perhaps because of that, people are now flocking to Golden Cloud Trading like clouds."

"If Golden Cloud Trading rises under the magistrate's protection, they'll stand tall in Luoyang's commercial world again."

Having gotten this far in the conversation, Gong Pilsang suddenly asked urgently.

"Then shouldn't we hurry and go too? Branch Leader, didn't you always say connections with commercial figures were important?"

"Another frustrating thing to say!"

Hwangbo Gak burst out shouting.

"P-pardon?"

"Either help from the very beginning like the Beggar's Gang, or if not, go leisurely instead. Going now, you'd just be one of the miscellaneous people. Don't you understand even this logic?"

Gong Pilsang was someone who had spent his life bowing to gain connections. He didn't know there was a method of going leisurely instead.

"Deputy Branch Leader! To not grasp anything! It was an opportunity to bestow favor on Luoyang's largest trading company! Then..."

The political struggles within the Alliance required many things besides schemes and martial arts.

One of them was funding.

To miss the opportunity to gain Golden Cloud Trading's support.

The bowing Gong Pilsang looked utterly incompetent.

"It would have been better if you'd at least intervened in the middle while things were happening."

Gong Pilsang couldn't answer that his actions were because of Hwangbo Gak's usual directives.

Responsibility was suddenly thrust before his eyes.

Even if it wasn't his responsibility, it couldn't be helped. To deflect this required power.

Whether that was position or something else.

"I'll observe more carefully. This time the Beggar's Gang got the first move, but I can make up for it."

He just said this, but.

"The first move wasn't stolen only by the Beggar's Gang!"

Hwangbo Gak's angry shout showed no sign of stopping.

"Pardon? Then which other faction is there? Mount Hua? Zhongnan? Didn't they withdraw their interest from Luoyang?"

"It's not a faction."

Hwangbo Gak said while holding back his frustration.

That was right.

There was someone who had bestowed as great a favor on Zhu Hochong as the Beggar's Gang.

As soon as he heard that name, Hwangbo Gak held his head.

'If only that bastard Gong Pilsang hadn't offered childcare leave.'

The Deputy Branch Leader just blinked.

"Not a faction. Who is it?"

In the end, another shout burst out.

"It's the Ink Sword Hero! The Ink Sword Hero! Jin Yeomyeong!"

He had saved the life of the Golden Cloud Trading Company Leader.

How could this be?

Hadn't he said he would rest?

That wasn't it.

The leave of absence was an excuse, and he had been making contact with a prime figure like Zhu Hochong.

Now among Luoyang's martial artists, the people who could freely receive Golden Cloud Trading's support were two: Beggar's Gang Branch Leader Swift Wind and the Ink Sword Hero Jin Yeomyeong.

'He really hasn't gone over to others within the Alliance, has he.'

There were no such signs yet, but.

'If only the Ink Sword Hero were my subordinate...'

It was a moment when he wanted to grasp him in his hand even more.

***

"The Ink Sword Hero Jin Yeomyeong?"

A murky voice spoke Jin Yeomyeong's name.

Before him, trading company leaders were bowing their heads.

At noon they had joined mouths in a splendid tavern saying they would take Zhu Hochong's head.

Now with darkness fallen, they were trembling in someone's underground location.

"So it became that way."

The murky voice spat out briefly.

Banyang Trading Leader Guyang Je hastily opened his mouth.

"I apologize. It happened because Leader Yang's handling was sloppy."

"..."

"He was the one who decided to hire assassins. I merely connected them in the middle."

Here too, responsibility went round and round.

When Leader Yang hired the assassins, there had been Leader Guyang's cooperation.

The boast about them being skilled individuals had also come from Leader Guyang's mouth.

But just like at the Alliance branch.

To deflect thrust responsibility required power.

Leader Guyang's Banyang Trading.

Leader Yang's Great Ocean Trading.

Leader Guyang's side was overwhelmingly more powerful.

"Leader Yang got scared and didn't come to this meeting today."

The trading company leaders knew.

Their ruler considered them more useful the larger their trading company's scale.

Even if it was Leader Guyang's fault, he would be kept alive.

Then the one to be made an example would be Leader Yang.

Leader Yang also knew this fact and had hidden himself.

"Leader Yang must be punished."

When Leader Guyang spoke first.

"Leader Yang must be punished."

Just like at the tavern during the day.

The other trading company leaders' mouths joined as well.

"..."

The ruler who had been looking down at them for a while finally nodded.

"Master Dongpae's son has come to pledge allegiance. If we entrust it to him, he'll either resolve it himself or Master Dongpae will move."

"Then I'll send word. We'll entrust Leader Yang to him."

"Yes."

Guyang Je wiped sweat with his sleeve.

Now responsibility wouldn't come to him. The responsibility would die inside Leader Yang's belly.

Another leader from the side asked.

"What shall we do about the Ink Sword Hero Jin Yeomyeong?"

The ruler asked as if testing Guyang Je.

"What is Leader Guyang's deep and far-reaching strategy?"

Deep and far-reaching strategy.

It was sarcasm.

Guyang Je, who had been relaxing, stiffened again.

"We must observe first. Since he didn't directly oppose us, there's nothing good about touching him first."

"Really? I hope that answer is correct this time."

It was over.

Now it was time for the trading company leaders to disappear.

They bowed their heads again toward their ruler.

"As the Black Path King wills."

To the Black Path King who reigned over Luoyang's shadows.