Cleanup and Challenge (1)
“You’re here.”
“Yeah.”
“Where’s the family head?”
“He said he was going to talk with Gong Gong Dae-sa. We can eat first.”
“I see.”
Yeon Hojeong looked Kang Liang up and down.
Kang Liang’s appearance was quite rough. Dried bloodstains clung to his white clothes in several places.
It wasn’t from training. The white bandage wrapped around one hand wasn’t for his own injury.
“How’s helping the Medical Pavilion head going?”
Kang Liang let out a sigh.
“It’s not just busy. Screams never stop from every direction, and the moment you think you can catch your breath, another patient starts convulsing. There’s no time to rest, let alone sleep.”
Truthfully, given Kang Liang’s ambiguous position, there was no need for him to get involved in such matters. He had joined as part of the Medical Army during the Guangdong operation, but even that wasn’t an official posting.
In short, he was a guest of the Yeon Family of Byeoksan. He had no obligation to concern himself with anything happening inside the Martial Alliance.
Nevertheless, he had stepped forward first to assist the Medical Pavilion.
“If it’s too much, you can stop.”
Kang Liang shook his head.
“Things have stabilized now, so there isn’t much left to help with. We agreed they’d contact me when they need an extra hand.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“What’s there to thank me for, brother? By the way, what happened to those damned spies?”
“They were spies, but there was only one. The rest were just handlers and messengers.”
“Well, same difference.”
“True.”
“I heard it was mostly resolved, but your eyes are dark. Something on your mind?”
Yeon Hojeong couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’ve gotten pretty sharp.”
“I’ve been around you long enough to notice at least this much.”
“It’s nothing big. It just looks like the Martial Alliance will have to enter a semi-seclusion for a while.”
Kang Liang’s eyes widened.
“S-seclusion?”
“Semi-seclusion. Not a full one.”
“Either way, it means cutting back on external activities, doesn’t it?”
“Correct.”
“But why?”
Yeon Hojeong shook his head.
“It’s complicated to explain. Right now, we need to focus on strengthening our internal foundations. That’s why the idea came up.”
“Hah……”
“Organizations are strange. The bigger they get, the more gaps appear for people to exploit. This spy incident proves it. Who would’ve guessed the head of one of the Nine Great Sects was a spy? The fact that no one noticed for so long shows how loose the Martial Alliance has become.”
Kang Liang clicked his tongue.
“It’s not that the Alliance is loose. Any organization would’ve been the same. For example, when you were sent as a spy to the Black Dragon Department, no one noticed either, right?”
“True. That can happen. But from now on, it can’t.”
“You’re right.”
Yeon Hojeong shrugged.
“We’ll have to see how things unfold. For now, we just have to do our best in our respective positions.”
Kang Liang’s eyes gleamed.
“Respective positions… Does that include you, brother?”
“Yeah.”
Yeon Hojeong looked up at the sky.
Summer was nearly over. The sun was setting earlier than it had just a few days ago.
“I need to prepare. Prepare to head to the Black Dragon Department.”
Kang Liang smiled.
“I’m going too, right?”
“Whenever you want.”
“You told the Black Dragon Lord himself that I’d be coming with you.”
“Circumstances can always change. If you have something else to do, there’s no need to come along.”
“That won’t happen.”
Swish.
Kang Liang removed his outer robe and rolled his shoulders. He looked as if he had shaken off all his fatigue.
“This is a chance to learn more about my enemy. I can’t let an opportunity like this slip by.”
Yeon Hojeong narrowed his eyes.
“Can you hold back?”
Kang Liang smiled.
“They say revenge tastes sweeter the longer you wait. I’m not foolish enough to ruin the fine wine I’ll drink later just because I’m thirsty now.”
A faint smile appeared on Yeon Hojeong’s lips as well.
“You might die without anyone noticing while you’re waiting for that wine.”
“That’s possible too.”
“If that’s how you feel, then so be it.”
“When do you plan to depart?”
“Well, first the atmosphere inside the Alliance needs to settle.”
Kang Liang studied Yeon Hojeong for a moment, then shook his head.
“You’re planning to cause trouble again, aren’t you?”
“Trouble?”
“Your eyes look like you’re about to smash someone to pieces. You seem quite excited.”
“You say the most terrifying things.”
“Fine. Who is it?”
“I told you, there won’t be any trouble.”
“It might not be outright destruction. But it seems like you’re about to make a rather aggressive decision?”
“An aggressive decision… Yeah, that’s fair.”
Yeon Hojeong closed his eyes.
“I wonder if it’s really necessary to go this far, but if I can do it, I should. It’ll also lighten the military counselor’s burden.”
* * *
“Hoo.”
Namgoong In let out a soft sigh after emptying his cup.
“I feel drowsy.”
Before he knew it, the sun had set behind the western mountains, and a night filled with starlight had arrived.
Drinking by the window of his residence felt rather special. On top of that, the entire Martial Alliance had just gone through a major incident. Now that things had been roughly smoothed over, a sense of ease settled in his heart.
“I should only have a little more and then sleep.”
Recently, the time he spent holding a sword had decreased.
It wasn’t because his mindset had changed. No matter how busy he was, he never skipped his dawn training.
However, he had a lot on his mind these days.
‘It’s about time I stopped looking left and right from the middle path.’
Namgoong In thought of the council elders.
More precisely, he recalled Jegal Mun-ho’s face—the same face that had spoken so coldly and directly even in front of the elders.
“People really do change a lot.”
Before the Martial Alliance was founded.
Back then, the Jegal Family’s power wasn’t particularly great. Even if it had declined, its influence was still significant, but it wasn’t what it used to be.
And Namgoong In knew exactly why the Jegal Family had lost its strength.
‘But now……’
When had it started?
Probably not long after he became military counselor. After the meeting where he showed that side of himself, Jegal Mun-ho had changed.
When the family head changed, the family’s vitality changed with him. Gradually, the world’s evaluation of them began to shift as well.
Was this something that only happened inside the Martial Alliance? If you didn’t see the change in the person, you wouldn’t know?
Nonsense. The martial world was still a world of people. Jegal Mun-ho’s wise yet bold tactics and administrative ability had already spread throughout the Central Plains.
In other words, at a time when his family was weakening, he had stepped onto a stage where he could prove himself and properly displayed his worth.
Namgoong In recalled the moment when Jegal Mun-ho first shed his former weakness and revealed his terrifying presence.
‘The Alliance laws are strict. No member of the Martial Alliance is exempt from them. Even the Alliance Lord, once the protection period under the special Alliance Lord law ends, can be punished according to the law.’
‘If you don’t intend to grant the division commanders even that much authority, then I will resign from my position as military counselor as well.’
‘When we agreed to the founding of the Martial Alliance, I believed that all the elders present here were prepared to uphold the strictness of the Alliance laws.’
With every word he spoke, it felt as if fire was spewing from his eyes and mouth.
Was that the moment of his awakening? From then on, Jegal Mun-ho gained an immense authority that no one could treat lightly.
‘How can a person change so completely?’
Of course, he knew the fundamental reason Jegal Mun-ho had changed.
The problem was whether a person could change so easily, even with such a reason.
‘His influence within the Martial Alliance has changed. That in turn affects the power of each family.’
Namgoong In’s eyes deepened.
‘The current Jegal Family is rising as a legendary noble house that no orthodox sect in the martial world can easily touch.’
If one only considered influence, the Jegal Family was still below the Namgoong Family.
Because there was a gap in actual wealth and military strength. Especially since the Namgoong Family had the Sword Emperor, the divine sword known as one of the Sacred Heavens of the current martial world.
That name alone meant the Jegal Family could never stand above the Namgoong Family.
At least not yet.
‘Father is getting old. Having reached that level, he might even live longer than me, but……’
Namgoong Seung, the Sword Emperor, was effectively retired from active duty. Of course, if something interesting happened, he would appear in the Central Plains at any time, but he was clearly no longer active.
People were creatures of forgetfulness. The world knew the Sword Emperor existed in the Namgoong Family, but if he never showed himself, they would gradually forget his existence.
And then?
‘That won’t do.’
The prestige of the great Namgoong Family would lose the power that came from actual military strength. That must not happen.
‘You’ll have to reveal that power to the world soon. Otherwise…… I won’t be able to hold back either, Father.’
Namgoong In leaned back in his chair.
“……The night is beautiful, but my mood can’t follow such a lovely sight.”
These days, he even felt like handing everything over to his eldest son and resting for a few months.
‘Is this my fate, to be drawn to politics rather than martial strength?’
Speaking of politics, the Jegal Family came to mind again.
‘I never thought it would bother me this much.’
He had started paying attention to the Jegal Family ever since he rejected their marriage proposal involving his second son, Namgoong Hyeon.
They must have known it would be a burden on this side as well, yet the Jegal Family had still refused the proposal.
It meant they were willing to risk damaging their political relationship. Considering Namgoong Hyeon’s martial arts and reputation, it could even be seen as an act of disregard toward their side.
To boldly reject such a sensitive matter?
‘They chose the Yeon Family over us…… How interesting.’
The Yeon Family of Byeoksan and the Namgoong Family had been entangled in a rather deep grudge.
But that grudge had already been settled in the past. There was nothing to gain from dragging it out any longer.
Namgoong In’s eyes deepened.
The Jegal Family, and the Yeon Family of Byeoksan.
‘Two families that have grudges with our main house are now rising rapidly in the martial world.’
It was irritating.
In politics, there were no friends or enemies. If goals aligned, anyone could become an ally at any time, and if goals diverged, one could coldly turn their back in an instant.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he didn’t want to associate with either the Jegals or the Yeons.
‘They and I are fundamentally different. Even among beasts of prey, tigers and lions live in different places.’
Tap. Tap.
After lightly tapping the window frame a few times with his clenched fist, Namgoong In shook his head and stood up.
“I’m having too many pointless thoughts. I should go to sleep early today.”
But once again, he couldn’t fall asleep early.
“Family head.”
“What is it?”
“You have a guest.”
Namgoong In frowned.
“Didn’t I say I wouldn’t receive guests after sunset?”
“Y-yes. However, they’ve come on official business……”
Official business?
“Who is it? The guest?”
“It’s the head of the Medical Division of the Righteous Army.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“Family head? What should we do? Should I send them away……”
“No, it’s fine.”
Namgoong In pulled his chair out again.
“Let them in.”