Chapter 102
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Chapter 29. Lion Gwak Nan-hoe (2)
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Gwak Nan-hoe attended the banquet and mingled with the northern warriors for about one shichen. When she rose from her seat first, a few quick-witted individuals promptly escorted her to the guild master's office in Full Blossom Hall.
The very place where the leader of a sect handled personal affairs.
Yet everyone took it for granted, a stark example of her current standing.
Representative of the Northern Alliance.
Though it was a temporary position and the sect leaders themselves hadn't attended, their disciples, senior brothers, and equivalents—proxies of the leaders—along with the elites of their sects were present. The gathered warriors numbered over a thousand.
It carried great symbolic weight.
If it seemed small, they could simply make it bigger.
This was the moment Lion Gwak Nan-hoe took her dazzling first step toward the center of political power in Lion Hall and, by extension, the Martial Qin Alliance.
Once Gwak Nan-hoe settled into the office chair and took command, many visitors came and went.
Representatives from the eleven northern sects participating in this subjugation force visited for private meetings, and emissaries from non-participating sects delivered letters.
After the external figures had their turn, her close aides began visiting one by one for confidential discussions.
Among them was the Great Black Cat.
The Great Black Cat had shone in multiple roles during this operation, assisting Jin Ga-yong in gathering intelligence on the Locust Unit and orchestrating schemes.
Alas, there was a blemish—the ending wasn't clean, but it had worked out somehow.
Afterward, he had been ceaselessly busy for the past four days, thrown straight into a new mission.
This was their first face-to-face since parting at Sowol Mountain.
There were matters that couldn't be conveyed in writing, topics requiring direct reports.
For instance, "How did you fail to extract the Locust Unit's report?" or "Some bastard must have colluded with Jin Ga-yong to sabotage us with a counter-operation." Things like that.
Midnight had arrived, and the banquet ended. It felt a bit early for such revelry, but with the forced march resuming at dawn, they focused on filling up with meat rather than drink.
Thus, a quiet darkness fell over Full Blossom Hall as well, and the last visitor arrived at the office, still lit by a single lantern.
Knock. Knock.
"Lady Nan-hoe, may I enter?"
The one who called Lion Gwak Nan-hoe so familiarly was Jeong Sa-jeong, retainer of Lion Hall and current vice-commander of the Face Pursuit Squad, the Iron Mountain Boar.
Clunk.
Gwak Nan-hoe was buried in the owner's chair, rifling through the piled documents on the desk. Without sparing a glance at the entering Jeong Sa-jeong, she said,
"Give me a moment."
Jeong Sa-jeong, accustomed to this, went to the guest table, took a seat, and poured himself tea.
One cup, two cups...
On the fifth cup, Gwak Nan-hoe closed the last documents with a sigh and cut straight to the point.
"The Great Black Cat reports that the Locust Unit's base is abandoned, the bandits having fled. They've also located the site they planned to relocate to—near Jireung Mountain."
"Oh? And so?"
"Yes. All that's left is to pursue and sweep them up."
"Congratulations."
Gwak Nan-hoe nodded and continued.
"I plan to divide into three forces. The first will track and eliminate the fleeing Locust Unit remnants. The second will seize their now-leaderless base and advance to Jireung Mountain over the next fortnight. The young lord of Ye Liang Sword Faction will lead the first, and the vice-leader of Seorim Society the second."
"Then the commander herself..."
"Will stay here to command the main force. Handling communications between units and providing support if needed. I'll also tidy up Full Blossom Hall's assets. But above all, I'll receive the guests coming here."
"Guests?"
"These."
Gwak Nan-hoe pulled out a separate stack of letters from one side of the desk.
Jeong Sa-jeong skimmed them with a furrowed brow.
"These are..."
"Yes. They couldn't join due to circumstances but want to lend a hand belatedly. There are this many today, but more will come soon enough."
"Heh heh heh. Like bats biding their time, now dipping a toe in. So what will you do?"
"What else? No reason to refuse. Our forces are sufficient, so this time, just financial support. I'll build ties based on their displayed sincerity. What do you think?"
Gwak Nan-hoe seemed intent on consolidating northern forces around the Northern Alliance's eleven sects she had allied with this time.
And it looked like the spark she had lit was already catching fire.
Jeong Sa-jeong nodded, gazing at her ambitious face.
"Excellent."
Jeong Sa-jeong was less Gwak Nan-hoe's man than her father, Lion Hall's guild master, Traveling Pleasure Blade Gwak Bu-ui's.
A man her father had assigned.
Thus, Jeong Sa-jeong was both advisor and watcher for Gwak Nan-hoe.
So her discussions with him in the office were a form of progress report to her father.
But that didn't mean he restrained her.
He only observed and reported, never interfering with her decisions. If she sought advice first, he offered it, but cared not whether she followed.
With the progress report concluded, Gwak Nan-hoe broached the question that had long nagged her.
"By the way."
"...?"
"Why him, of all people?"
"Who do you mean?"
"The Unrighteous Sword. Why did Father assign him to me specifically?"
Unrighteous Sword Jin Ga-yong. She was asking about the circumstances of his selection as Face Pursuit Unit's leader.
Jin Ga-yong's origins had stirred controversy from the start. His sect, Ye Mountain Zhao Family Manor, had fought the Martial Qin Alliance to the end as a representative of the opposition.
Moreover, the Face Pursuit Squad leader position was coveted by many in the alliance, making his appointment all the more shocking and contentious.
Without Gwak Bu-ui's firm push, it wouldn't have happened, and rumors still swirled.
Of course, there was a plausible justification.
'The wars are over. Discard old notions of friend and foe, select talent by merit, and achieve great unity.'
But in a reality where even allies scrambled for positions, had Gwak Bu-ui truly acted on such idealism?
Gwak Nan-hoe, his daughter, doubted it. Her father wasn't that man.
Thus, she wondered at his true intentions.
"Who knows the guild master's mind? But Jin Ga-yong proved himself afterward. Look at this Locust Unit matter—thanks to him, your plans proceeded smoothly."
"I acknowledge that. However..."
"Something else bothers you?"
"At this point, I wonder if he's truly my man. Take the Great Black Cat incident. No prior notice, but he must have guessed it was my intent."
Gwak Nan-hoe trailed off, but Jeong Sa-jeong grasped her meaning.
A sub-operation within the main plan.
While the unit drew the Locust Unit leadership's attention in battle, she had tasked the Great Black Cat and his ten underlings—who had finished their duties—with raiding the wealth storehouse.
But the unit botched it. Infuriating or bold, they used the ten cats to divert eyes and launch a surprise attack.
And succeeded spectacularly. She hadn't expected much.
No blame could be laid.
Far from blaming, it was embarrassing to even show displeasure.
Yet it made Jin Ga-yong irksome and worrisome.
Still just a small spark, but with everything going to plan, it stood out more.
Jeong Sa-jeong turned serious and advised.
"He's a keenly honed blade. Used well, he'll be useful as now. But mishandle him, and..."
"Hmph. Are you saying the blade isn't the issue, but the hand wielding it?"
"Merely likening to my position. Not criticism, but advice to consider."
Jeong Sa-jeong's point was that her dynamic with Jin Ga-yong mirrored his with Gwak Bu-ui.
Intrigued by the analogy, Gwak Nan-hoe awaited his next words.
"In my case, I don't presume to fathom the guild master's intentions."
"What do you mean?"
"It's unnecessary and overstepping. For I am his faithful blade."
"...!"
Jeong Sa-jeong shrugged.
A gesture that he'd said his piece. He left the office, leaving Gwak Nan-hoe deep in thought.
Perhaps after seeing so much blood that day, her nerves were frayed.
But.
'Is he truly my blade? Just one Father gave me to use? Yes, it's time to probe that.'
Two days later, on a pitch-black night.
The moon that night was exceptionally round and bright.
The man lay prone in the underbrush, staring at the enemies scouring the area for him. Habitually, he spun the crimson-bladed dagger in his hand, switching between reverse and forward grip.
The situation resembled hide-and-seek.
They hunted to kill him, after all. Many seekers, him alone—a twisted rule. But were the changes limited to that?
Thinking back, he'd loved hide-and-seek as a child. Heart pounding at the seeker's approach while hidden in a barn.
Stealthy footsteps.
Two approached cautiously this way.
At first, the thrill evoked childhood glee, the altered rules fresh. But over two hours in, seekers dwindled sharply.
Now...
"Boring."
The man muttered and sprang out.
Before they could react, he ghosted in and drove his blade between one's neck and shoulder.
Pfbt.
The trailing seeker recoiled, thrusting his sword defensively. Startled by the sudden appearance, his eyes bulged.
But he didn't see the follow-up.
The man closed in, slapping the sword blade with his left hand knife-edge, then stabbing the hilt hand with his reverse-gripped dagger.
Stepping further, he struck the seeker's throat with his left hand.
Gurk.
The seeker dropped his sword and stiffened.
The man kicked him down and finished with the dagger.
Pfbt. Pfbt. Pfbt.
With a jaded heart, he muttered,
"No fun. I had hopes for Ye Liang Sword Faction's swordsmen, but this... what can you do? Guess I'll be the seeker now."
The man was the Locust Unit's small leader, "Mad Dog" Ho Tae-a-hu.