The Fighting Dog's Ambition
"Beating that lunatic senseless is one thing, but I have a request before we get to that. In the end, the real reason that scoundrel Tang Do-gyeong keeps hanging around the Wanderer Inn is that match against the nangin who's so skilled at yabawi, isn't it? What if we arranged that contest not inside the inn, but in a proper public setting? We would, of course, compensate the innkeeper handsomely for the trouble."
His calculation was clear: if the duel with the nangin were staged in the open rather than behind closed doors, at least the rumor that Tang Do-gyeong was fraternizing with the Sichuan nangin could be snuffed out.
"If you simply keep Tang Do-gyeong from setting foot in the inn, I will pay one hundred gold taels a day."
Yu Sa-yeon's answer was absolute.
"Impossible."
"...Even when this Tang Dok-gi of the Tang Clan is the one asking?"
Tang Dok-gi's expression darkened. Grace repaid twofold, grudges repaid tenfold—that was the family motto the Tang Clan lived by. A request from them carried a weight no other great house could match. Even a polite refusal, once it curdled into resentment, painted a grim picture of what might follow.
"If you reveal that nangin's identity and put him on an official stage, I will give you five hundred gold pieces."
Was Tang Dok-gi throwing out that number because he knew I was the man in question, or because he didn't? Most likely he still thought of me as nothing more than the bodyguard or attendant Yu Sa-yeon had brought along. Common sense said the actual party involved would be locked away safely inside the inn.
And yet here I was, standing in the same room. If Tang Dok-gi simply decided to erase me, the whole affair would end right there. The Tang Clan and the Wanderer Inn would become sworn enemies, true—but from the Tang Clan's perspective that was hardly the worst outcome. Sichuan Province already lay outside their sphere of influence; they had no plans to expand here. Making enemies of the Sichuan nangin, who never left the province, cost them nothing.
I had known the risk and still come with Yu Sa-yeon because I needed to hear the exact situation from someone of the Tang Clan. I just hadn't expected to hear an offer like this to my face.
Yu Sa-yeon's expression was hidden beneath the black bamboo hat she wore.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
Tang Do-gyeong lost a game of yabawi to a nangin—that alone was a massive incident, the kind that would send my renown skyrocketing. But arranging a public match against him was an entirely different beast.
The facts said Tang Do-gyeong was defeated by a nangin at yabawi. The rumors said Tang Do-gyeong got swindled by a nangin who used sorcery.
In other words, a few people might already suspect I was a genuine gambling master, but the core of the gossip was still that Tang Do-gyeong had simply been humiliated once by a smooth-talking con man. Of course, now that he was dropping by the inn every single day, the "gambling master" theory was gaining ground.
If I held a public gambling match under those circumstances, I would instantly become a gambling god. A single lucky win could be written off as a master's momentary lapse or carelessness. But a super-peak expert standing right next to me for a full hour and still failing to snatch a single round—while a huge crowd watched?
A nangin who once tricked Tang Do-gyeong and a gambling master who could toy with a super-peak expert were two completely different creatures.
Ho Cheon-an's life would be over on the spot.
I never believed Yu Sa-yeon would sell me out. She was the representative of the Sichuan nangin. On ordinary days she shook them down for her own profit, but she was also the one who shielded them from outside pressure. She was like a brutal older brother—snatching candy from his little siblings one minute, then flying into a rage the next when someone else laid a hand on them and turning the offender into paste.
Still... the sum was enormous.
Five hundred gold pieces just to reveal my identity? It wouldn't have been strange if Yu Sa-yeon's eyes had spun in her head.
I was seriously calculating how my renown would change if I fled to Huan or Tibet when her voice cut through my thoughts.
"I refuse."
Yu Sa-yeon! I knew I could count on you!
Of course our big sister would never throw away a golden goose ranked in the top ten. Her sense of loyalty was rock-solid to begin with.
"Hrm..."
The atmosphere turned ugly in an instant. Yu Sa-yeon had trained in martial arts as the owner of the Wanderer Inn, but she was only an ordinary first-rate. There was no way she could stand up to the pressure of someone estimated to be at the Super-Peak Realm like Tang Dok-gi.
Naturally she was being pushed back, so I dropped a bomb to help her.
"Innkeeper, there's something else you've forgotten. The matter of Hero Tang Do-gyeong deciding to become a Sichuan nangin."
"Wh-wh-what did you just say? What did that scoundrel claim he was going to become? This is a joke, right? Innkeeper! Don't tell me you accepted?"
Tang Dok-gi's aura shattered at once. Yu Sa-yeon, freed from the pressure, drew a long breath and answered.
"...I naturally avoided giving a clear answer. But who knows what tomorrow will bring."
"Ha... haha..."
Tang Dok-gi kept laughing hollowly for a long while before the light finally returned to his eyes.
"That is utterly, completely unacceptable. I know this is a shameless, discourteous thing to say, but the day Tang Do-gyeong becomes a Sichuan nangin, the Tang Clan will not sit idle."
"...Of course. I have no desire to accept him either."
"I will speak to the clan head and offer a thousand gold taels if I must—just keep that from happening! Please!"
"We want to avoid that situation just as much, so the Tang Clan will have to act quickly."
"Naturally! This is no time for face-saving! I will bring every Tang Clan force currently in Diancang at once—just hold that bastard until I return!"
After Tang Dok-gi left, Yu Sa-yeon stood still for a moment, then slowly sank to the ground. I grabbed her hand in alarm and found it trembling violently.
"Haaah... I thought I was going to die."
Tang Dok-gi was a far higher expert than I had guessed. I had thought he was merely glaring, but he had been concentrating his internal energy on Yu Sa-yeon the whole time without my noticing—a subtle force my level couldn't even detect.
After several deep, ragged breaths, Yu Sa-yeon finally steadied herself and let out a long sigh.
"You saw me turn down five hundred gold taels, right? Be good from now on."
"Ah, come on, I already said I was sorry."
"Hmph."
The moment we returned to the Wanderer Inn, an emergency strategy meeting convened.
Some nangin were out on commissions, but most of them were still at the inn. The Wanderer Inn was unusually tight-knit for a gathering of nangin, yet that didn't mean there were no strong individualists among them.
"Hey, becoming a Sichuan nangin is something you do if you want and skip if you don't, right? Even if he is from the Tang Clan..."
"Throw that guy out."
"W-wait a second!"
After one tactless nangin muddied the waters and got locked in a room for his trouble, the real strategy meeting—or rather, the debate for and against—began in earnest.
"I personally welcome Hero Tang becoming a nangin!"
The spearhead of the pro-Tang Do-gyeong faction was Half-Moon Blade Jeong Sam. Why did it have to be that guy? My so-called classmates never helped and only got in the way at every turn; I was seriously considering cutting all ties.
"I am fully aware of the many problems that would arise if Hero Tang becomes a Sichuan nangin! But with Hero Tang's martial prowess and character—and if we Sichuan nangin stand united—we can overcome any difficulty! Myself and the entire Hero Tang Comrade-Squad Hopeful Faction are ready for that!"
"Hear, hear!"
"Make Hero Tang a Sichuan nangin!"
Hero Tang Comrade-Squad Hopeful Faction? My head was spinning. Yu Sa-yeon pressed a hand to her forehead in disbelief, while Black Cat had brought a whole basin of puffed rice and was watching the show with sparkling eyes.
When our gazes met, Black Cat paused for a second, then held the basin out to me.
"Want some, Senior?"
Your own senior is tangled up in this mess and you're snacking on puffed rice? Still, the puffed rice itself was innocent, so I grabbed a handful and stuffed it in my mouth.
A sudden wave of unease made me speak up. She had been so diligent handing out flyers during the sorcery performance, only to suddenly run off and pick a fight with Yeo Il-ye.
"You said you'd listen. If you go running off like last time, you're really in for it."
"Last time was just bad luck. I'm handling everything just fine on my own."
Handling what? I hadn't even given her any orders.
Anxiety swelled, but the debate was already underway, so I had no choice but to turn my attention back to it.
"I object!"
Just as Jeong Sam's passionate speech wound down, Whale Sword Yeo Jinsang burst out from the opposite side.
I wasn't even surprised anymore.
Right. Life is something you live alone. In the dictionary of Ho Cheon-an there is no entry for "classmate affection," or even "classmate."
"Senior Ho's classmates really are legendary."
"...Let's just drop it."
"We of the Hero Tang Flower-Path Hopeful Faction oppose Hero Tang's entry into the Sichuan nangin!"
Flower-Path? As in bohwa-ro—walk only the path of flowers? Something like "let Hero Tang walk a flower-strewn road"? Anyway, another group of nangin immediately rallied behind Yeo Jinsang's opinion.
"We too burn with the desire to exchange martial arts with Hero Tang and work alongside him, but how can we put our own selfish desires first and block the road ahead of him? If Hero Tang becomes a Sichuan nangin, how much will the world point fingers, and what a great stain it will leave on his chivalrous path! Being content with the exchanges we already have is the true way to help Hero Tang!"
"That's right!"
"We must protect Hero Tang's renown!"
The nangin had split cleanly into two camps: the Hero Tang Comrade-Squad Hopeful Faction and the Hero Tang Flower-Path Hopeful Faction. The two groups, led by Jeong Sam and Yeo Jinsang, faced each other in a tense standoff.