The Strategist's Burden
“Father!”
“Yes, I heard.”
Jegal Mun-ho sat leisurely sipping tea while reviewing documents, his demeanor no different from any other day.
Jegal A-yeon’s eyes trembled.
“How can this be acceptable? Are you truly all right with this?”
“I am.”
Jegal Mun-ho nodded, then gave a bitter smile.
“No. In truth, it is not all right. It cannot be. Imprisoning the Martial Alliance’s Guardian in the dungeons is no small matter. We may be extinguishing one fire only to invite a flood later.”
“Exactly!”
“The problem is that even that single spark could burn the entire Martial Alliance to the ground.”
Jegal A-yeon bit her lip. She understood how critical it was to catch the spy. If they failed, the information the spy leaked could bring about catastrophe. Yet even accounting for that, this course was dangerously reckless.
“Wouldn’t it be better to explain the situation now and seek another solution? The Kongtong Sect is powerful—not only in martial strength but in influence. Especially in Gansu Province, their reach…”
“Extends even to the Yumen Pass. In other words, they wield considerable sway over the northern trade routes.”
“Precisely! If this becomes known outside…”
“We must ensure it does not. The Kongtong Sect will also wish to keep this quiet. They would never stand idly by while their reputation crumbles.”
Jegal Mun-ho lifted his head and looked at his daughter.
“A-yeon.”
“…Yes.”
“The seat I occupy receives more contempt than praise. Even if I use my wits to greatly benefit the Martial Alliance, the credit goes to the next Alliance Leader or the Guardians—not to me.”
“……”
“But what if I fail? Then everyone will say the Alliance fell into such a state because of an incompetent Chief Strategist. That is the nature of this position. Succeed, and you merely break even. Fail, and you are reviled more than anyone.”
Jegal Mun-ho smiled.
“Yet I did not refuse the Guardians’ recommendation because I, too, wished to be of some help to the world. Regardless of my own abilities, if the influence of our family and my modest wisdom could contribute to the peace of the realm, then accepting this post was worthwhile.”
“I know.”
“When I accepted this seat, I set everything else aside. That is why I have already begun grooming your younger brother to succeed as family head. Before I am the head of the Jegal family, I am the Chief Strategist of the Martial Alliance.”
Jegal Mun-ho’s eyes flashed. The smile that had filled his face vanished, replaced in an instant by the unyielding resolve of a hardened man.
“As Chief Strategist, I am prepared to bear every disgrace. Even if my methods seem excessive or occasionally despicable, I am willing to endure anything for the sake of the realm’s peace.”
“……”
“Of course, I will not cross the line.”
He would not cross the line. The words meant he was prepared to do anything short of crossing it. In a way, the statement felt more chilling than a declaration that he would cross it.
“If we fail to catch the spy, the Martial Alliance’s intelligence will reach the enemy. The Alliance is a coalition of the orthodox sects, yet it also handles information across the entire Central Plains. In short, with a single spy planted inside, the enemy can obtain every piece of information in the realm with ease.”
“……”
“When I consider what they might do to these lands in the future, I would imprison even Shaolin’s Gong Gong Dae-sa in the dungeons if it meant rooting out the spy.”
Jegal A-yeon sighed.
“Are you truly all right with this?”
“I am not. But it must be done.”
“Thinking about it, you and Hojeong must have considered other options. The fact that you chose this path anyway means there is a compelling reason.”
Jegal Mun-ho smiled. He was proud of his daughter. Intelligent people often lacked understanding, yet she did not. That only deepened his guilt. Though it was in the past, his inability to reject the political marriage proposed by the Namgoong family when the clan was struggling had nearly caused her great harm.
She was a daughter he would always feel sorry for and grateful to. Because she was such a daughter, he had not wanted her to walk the same path as him. The same held true for his son.
Still, he felt he could tell her.
What he and Yeon Hojeong were seeing. What they desired.
“It is not merely about catching the spy.”
“Pardon?”
“If our only goal were to capture the spy, we could simply take more time. There would be no need to force hasty plans such as catching them within a few days or setting traps.”
At least, not if the spy were the sole objective.
Confusion appeared on Jegal A-yeon’s face.
“That part puzzled me as well. Of course, catching the spy quickly is ideal, but once we publicly declared we knew of their existence, the spy would not dare act recklessly for a while.”
“So you saw that far.”
“Yes.”
“Then what do you think our true purpose is, beyond catching the spy, that forces us to move so urgently?”
“……”
Jegal A-yeon’s expression grew serious. She had already reached this suspicion. She was certain there was something more than simply catching the spy—another reason they had no choice but to capture the spy as quickly as possible, something she did not yet know.
Yet hearing it stated outright made it clear there was another critical matter separate from the spy hunt.
“I… don’t know, Father.”
Jegal Mun-ho shook his head.
“No. With your wisdom, you can certainly understand. It is only because Yeon Dae-su and I are handling this that you have not bothered to think it through.”
“Pardon?”
“Because the father you see rarely undertakes extreme measures.”
Jegal A-yeon could not fathom what her father meant.
Jegal Mun-ho gazed out the window. Beyond dozens of buildings stood a large, spacious three-story pavilion. A massive wall surrounded it, exuding an air of antiquity yet also an inexplicable sense of dread.
It was the Martial Alliance’s punishment hall.
“The Martial Alliance is in a precarious state. On the surface it appears splendid and powerful, but inside it is hollow. One misplaced spark from a campfire could set the whole thing ablaze.”
“…?!”
“Our strength grows by the day, yet our foundation remains weak. The reason lies with the Guardians.”
Jegal A-yeon swallowed without realizing it. She sensed instinctively that her father was about to share a grim secret he had told no one else—something only Yeon Hojeong knew.
“We are not the Dark Faction. Nor are we the imperial court, nor the long-vanished Blood Cult or Demonic Cult. We are people who know how to open our ears, respect one another, and admit our own mistakes.”
One might say that was nothing extraordinary, but those who understood knew how difficult the obvious things truly were.
Schoolmasters taught children never to lie. Yet no one in this world had never told a lie. Conversely, it meant that upholding even the most basic principles was exceedingly hard.
“It was a miscalculation. Respecting one another is good, but the Martial Alliance is also a vast martial organization. Where power flows, incidents follow. And how those incidents are resolved determines the futures of countless people.”
“……”
“While the Guardians hesitated in the name of mutual respect, our enemies steadily grew stronger. We are no different. If this continues, the Martial Alliance will become a foolish monster that no longer knows where to direct its own immense power.”
“But… isn’t it precisely because respect is our foundation that we differ from the Dark Faction?”
“It is. Aspiring to ideals and dreaming of them is right. Even if we never achieve those ideals, failing to pursue them would make us no different from beasts. However…”
Jegal Mun-ho turned his gaze to Jegal A-yeon. In that moment, she saw in her father’s eyes both profound exhaustion and a fierce will to solve the problems of reality.
“Ideals and reality must be viewed differently. I have come to understand that.”
A man of Jegal Mun-ho’s caliber could not have been ignorant of this. His words meant he had finally felt in his bones what he had previously understood only in theory.
“We must continue to dream of ideals. We must take each step toward them with certainty. Yet we must not ignore reality. Future-oriented thinking that disregards reality creates serious problems—just as the Martial Alliance faces now.”
“……Then what form do you believe the Martial Alliance should take, Father?”
“We need a governing system ruled by an Alliance Leader who wields strong authority.”
“……!”
“Of course, that leader must possess exceptional ability. They must also be free of moral flaws—not merely free of them, but possessed of a far clearer moral vision than others.”
“……”
“Furthermore, they must have the strong decisiveness not to be swayed by the morality of the times. In other words, the Alliance Leader must be someone who can wisely discern the line between morality and reality while never discarding morality. And the Guardians must follow such a leader.”
Jegal A-yeon’s eyes trembled.
“Such an Alliance Leader…”
“Does not exist at present.”
Jegal Mun-ho spoke with finality.
“There is no suitable candidate right now. But we cannot simply watch the Martial Alliance collapse because no such person exists. As a strategist, I have a duty to create a stable environment before such a leader takes office.”
“A stable environment?”
“Removing the Guardians who sow discord.”
Jegal A-yeon was startled.
“R-remove them?!”
Jegal Mun-ho smiled.
“My choice of words was somewhat extreme. By removal, I do not mean actually killing the Guardians or imprisoning them. It means issuing a political death sentence that bars them from participating in the Martial Alliance’s politics.”
“……!!”
“No matter who becomes Alliance Leader, we must ensure the Alliance never loses sight of its purpose. To that end, even if we must temporarily lose some of our strength, we must root out every parasite gnawing at the Alliance.”
“Th-then sending the Kongtong Sect’s leader to the punishment hall was also…?”
“Yes. It is part of that plan. Without Yeon Dae-su, it would have been difficult to attempt.”
Jegal Mun-ho’s eyes burned with intensity.
“The Martial Alliance must change. We must catch the spy, purge the Guardians who cause discord, and forge an organization of those who are truly united for peace and order. At the very least, the current Martial Alliance requires such measures.”
Once, Moyong Gun had told Jegal Mun-ho:
I do not dislike you. In fact, I believe you are someone the Martial Alliance desperately needs.
Moyong Gun had cited this very disposition as the reason.
Jegal Mun-ho would do everything in his power to ensure the Martial Alliance functioned according to its purpose, no matter who became its leader. That remained true even now, when there was no leader.
Jegal Mun-ho was changing. The grim reality and stifling circumstances had forced him to act as the unknown strategist Moyong Gun had once seen.
“I will bear every disgrace. I will not share this responsibility with Gong Gong Dae-sa or Yeon Dae-su. That is what it means to be a strategist.”