Monopolizing Fortunes (179)
Monopolizing Fortunes (179)
Won Dae-yeon spoke.
"Hall Master Do suddenly wants to spar."
"What did you eat on the way back from the Revenge Society this time? What kind of medicine is it now? How do you keep stringing lucky encounters together like that?"
Jang Yu-seom, who had come along, added a word.
"Wouldn't more be better?"
Jo Seong-un munched on an ear of corn and urged the sparring along, as if to say, "Hurry it up. I want to see how good Hall Master Do's martial arts really are."
Jang Yeon-seon moved aside to the edge of the rear garden on her own.
"Be careful not to get hurt. I'm not planning to go easy."
Do Tong-dal said as he drew his sword.
"But don't make it a fight to the death."
Won Dae-yeon yielded the first move to Do Tong-dal, and Do Tong-dal did not refuse.
Do Tong-dal himself, who had said not to make it a fight to the death, came at him as if it were one. But Won Dae-yeon, receiving Do Tong-dal's attacks, was at ease.
No matter how much one's Internal Energy was strengthened by taking miraculous elixirs, if one's martial arts did not support it, it was nothing more than a hut with a solid foundation.
During roughly one ke of sparring, Won Dae-yeon's attacks numbered no more than ten, and each time Do Tong-dal had to feel a chill.
In a real fight, he could have suffered five or six wounds, or even lost his life.
No regret showed on Do Tong-dal as he sheathed his sword. It had not been a sparring match he meant to win anyway.
Won Dae-yeon, on the other hand, was surprised.
"I thought you had been neglecting your training all this time, but now I see you've reached a considerable level. Judging by the force I felt, your Internal Energy is solid as well."
Jo Seong-un also spoke in surprise.
"I'd heard that for a thug his martial arts were decent, but this is far beyond just decent."
Even with the compliments that followed, Do Tong-dal's expression did not soften.
"Let's go inside. I have something important to tell you."
Do Tong-dal opened his mouth as soon as everyone had taken their seats.
"I met the Revenge Society's Society Leader."
Namgung Seol-rin asked in startled surprise.
"You met the Society Leader?"
Do Tong-dal recounted in detail the process by which he had met the Society Leader. And at the end, he let out a regretful lament: "Ah! I should have gotten ten nyang for the information."
Won Dae-yeon asked.
"You said you fought the Society Leader. That must be why you sparred with me. How was it?"
"It's not something I can judge precisely, but he doesn't seem inferior to you, Won Dae-yeon."
The weapons they used and the martial arts they had mastered were completely different, but there is a certain aura one feels while fighting.
"Is that so? Well, for someone of the Revenge Society Leader's caliber, that would only be natural."
Jo Seong-un spoke.
"With Senior Brother's current martial arts, he could easily be counted among the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven, so it isn't natural at all. Moreover, at the time the Won Merchant Company was wiped out, the Society Leader's martial arts would have been nothing worth mentioning. Even with eighteen years having passed, starting to seriously train in martial arts at a late age and rising to the ranks of the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven should be considered nearly impossible."
Jang Yu-seom spoke.
"It isn't entirely impossible. Just look at Hall Master Do here—he's only been learning martial arts for barely two years."
"Hall Master Do is a special case that comes along maybe once in a hundred years."
Do Tong-dal put an end to the pointless debate.
"Let's set that issue aside for now. What matters is what comes next."
"What happens to the plan you set up?"
At Namgung Seol-rin's question, Do Tong-dal let out a long sigh.
"I have to scrap it. I can't gamble when the other side knows all my cards."
Won Dae-yeon spoke.
"From what I've heard, the Society Leader doesn't seem to regard you as a complete enemy. If he did, he would have tried to kill you."
"He must have calculated the benefit of me dead versus me alive. If he killed me there, his enemies would multiply in an instant."
"Not only the Righteous Chivalry Sect, but even the imperial palace, which has only just withdrawn, would become his enemy."
Namgung Seol-rin added.
"Our Namgung Clan and the Northern Unorthodox Alliance wouldn't stand idle either."
"I don't think the Alliance Leader old man would fight the Revenge Society over me."
"Sis Su-ran would charge in as if the Revenge Society were her sworn mortal enemy."
"Even so, I'm too dangerous to them. If I became an enemy, the Revenge Society itself could disappear."
Having tried to start a war between the orthodox and unorthodox factions, the Revenge Society was effectively an enemy not only to the orthodox sects but to the unorthodox sects as well.
At present, the person who knew the most about the Revenge Society without being part of it was Do Tong-dal.
"The Society Leader must be drawing some grand picture too. What could that picture be?"
For the first time since his rebirth, an obstacle had appeared before Do Tong-dal, who had advanced unstoppably from success to success.
"But how would the Society Leader know that the Jongnam Sect Leader's birthday banquet would be canceled? Is he plotting some scheme to have it canceled himself?"
At Namgung Seol-rin's words, Do Tong-dal shook his head.
"I don't think that's what he meant."
That question was resolved three days later. The emperor had died. Since it was known that he was on his last legs, the emperor's death was not surprising.
What surprised Do Tong-dal was that the Society Leader had anticipated the emperor's death.
With the emperor dead, drinking and banquets were prohibited for at least one hundred days.
Of course, there would still be people drinking, and there were those who held banquets as well.
But the Jongnam Sect Leader's birthday banquet was no small affair, so it could not help but draw attention. Naturally, the Jongnam Sect's event was canceled.
The emperor had not passed on the throne before his death, but since he had proclaimed that he would transfer the throne one month later, Ju Hyeong-seon's ascension to the imperial throne proceeded smoothly.
"I'll go pay the Revenge Society a visit."
Everyone tried to stop Do Tong-dal at those words. They said that since the Revenge Society already knew his identity, going there was like sticking his head into a tiger's jaws.
But simply waiting for the other side's disposition did not suit Do Tong-dal's nature.
"Be thoroughly prepared. You know what to do if anything seems even slightly off, right?"
He had also made preparations against a possible Revenge Society attack. If even the slightest danger appeared, the best course was to flee. He had already decided on a place to run to.
Namgung Seol-rin spoke worriedly.
"You be careful. You know what to do if you feel you're in danger too, right?"
"Worrying about me is the most useless thing in the world."
He reassured them playfully, but a tiger's den could never be entirely safe. The first person he met, the Young Society Leader Won Jin-u, was already radiating killing intent.
"You deceived me all this time?"
"I apologize."
No matter how he laid out his excuses to Won Jin-u, they were excuses that would not work at all.
"I thought you might flee in the night, but you came here on your own two feet. You've got nerve, just as I've seen all along. Since you've come to a place where you could die of your own accord, I suppose you have some special business?"
"If I were an enemy, I wouldn't have come here at all. I could simply reveal the Revenge Society to the martial world, couldn't I?"
"Then the Righteous Chivalry Sect wouldn't come out unscathed either."
"Have you seen any sign of the Righteous Chivalry Sect trying to flee?"
Since the flight plan was known only to the leadership, the Righteous Chivalry Sect appeared calm on the surface.
"You may not be an enemy, but you're certainly not an ally either."
"Neither enemy nor ally, so we can start over from the beginning."
"I don't know what you want to say, but I don't want to hear it."
As Won Jin-u was about to stand, Do Tong-dal spoke.
"Doesn't the Young Society Leader have something else he wants as much as revenge?"
Won Jin-u, halfway risen, stopped.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I hope the Revenge Society's revenge is completed. If that weren't the case, the Revenge Society would already have been exposed to the martial world."
That was what had puzzled Won Jin-u most. Do Tong-dal had deceived the Revenge Society, so he could be called an enemy, yet he had not done what an enemy would naturally be expected to do.
Even Won Jung-bang, the Society Leader and his father, who had uncovered Do Tong-dal's identity, had not given a definite answer on that point.
"Hear me out just a little longer."
"Mount Hua and Jongnam. The Won Merchant Company's true enemies."
"You're telling me to fight only those two sects?"
"The sooner you repay your enemies, the sooner you can do what you want to do, can't you?"
"How did you know I wanted something else?"
"I guessed from the smell of ink that still tickles my nose, and you're telling me right now as well, Young Society Leader."
"No matter what you say to me, the one who makes the decisions is the Society Leader."
"You could at least offer some advice."
Do Tong-dal said as he stood.
"The picture you've drawn is probably a fine one."
Won Jin-u wanted to show Do Tong-dal the pictures he had drawn so far. Those pictures he had never once shown to anyone else—drawn alone, judged alone, and secretly burned, over and over.
Won Jin-u guided Do Tong-dal to a room not far away.
"Society Leader, Hall Master Do is here."
"Come in."
Society Leader Won Jung-bang's room was not much different from Won Jin-u's. Won Jung-bang pointed to the chair across from the desk.
"Sit."
With his beggar disguise removed, Won Jung-bang looked quite different. He appeared to have just passed fifty, and he gave off a subtle air of pressure.
"You may leave."
Once Won Jin-u, who had bowed, left, Won Jung-bang spoke.
"I said I would go to the Righteous Chivalry Sect, but you came to me first. And you didn't run."
"You must have expected it. If I were the type to run, you would have killed me when we met before."
"Still, I didn't expect you to come this quickly. What's your business?"
"I want to clearly establish the relationship between the Revenge Society and the Righteous Chivalry Sect."
"The Righteous Chivalry Sect is nothing but a scarecrow set up by the Revenge Society. That's how it was, and that's how it will be."
"Then I'll have to run."
"Hm?"
"I'll leave behind the people the Revenge Society sent."
"You say absurd things with such confidence."
"Honestly, I want to end this mess quickly and go back to being a thug. I've even thought of a place to settle down. But you're telling me to become your subordinate? I'd rather bite my tongue and die than live wearing a leash."
"Didn't you say life is the most important thing?"
"That's when you're enjoying wealth and glory."
"If the Revenge Society unifies the martial world, I'll let you live that way."
"Wealth and glory enjoyed while wearing a leash is no different from being a pampered son of a bitch."
"Do you think you have a choice?"
"Plenty. In fact, isn't it you who has few choices, Society Leader?"
"I could kill you right now."
"If you were going to kill me, you should have done it when we first met. That way you could have bought time for the Righteous Chivalry Sect, the imperial palace, the Beggars' Sect, the Namgung Clan—ah! The Northern Unorthodox Alliance too. Anyway, they could have had time to find the culprit. Though they would have found out eventually."
"Fearsome enemies."
"Those fearsome forces could become your allies, Society Leader."
"You're telling me to hold only those who killed my family responsible."
"Most revenge ends that way."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll have to think about it when the time comes."
"It seems you've already thought about it."
Do Tong-dal ignored the question with a shrug of his shoulders. Won Jung-bang, who had been staring at Do Tong-dal, spoke.
"How about a wager with me?"
"A wager?"
"Just as I uncovered your identity, you try to uncover mine."
"You'll have to explain in a bit more detail."
"The Revenge Society Leader is not my only identity."
"So you're active elsewhere under a public identity."
"I could be a thug like you."
"That's too vague."
"I uncovered you from just as vague a starting point."
"The deadline, about one year......"
"I'll give you one month."
"That's unfair."
"You're not naive enough to believe the world is fair, are you?"
One month was nowhere near enough time to uncover someone's identity. But Do Tong-dal had several clues about the Society Leader.
Just as he had uncovered that the Won Merchant Company was the Revenge Society's predecessor from hearing only Go Seon-hwa's hometown, these were quite useful clues.
"Assuming I accept the wager, what will you stake, Society Leader?"
"As you demanded, I'll take revenge only on Mount Hua and Jongnam."
"Only those who are actually responsible. In the manner I want."
"Very well."
His ready agreement meant he was confident of winning the wager.
"If I win, you will become my well-fed, well-kept dog. Not just you, but the entire Righteous Chivalry Sect."
Do Tong-dal shook his head.
"I can't stake other people's fates on our wager. I absolutely cannot accept those terms."
"So you'd accept if it were you alone."
"I'd serve with all the loyalty of a dog or horse."
From the Revenge Society's standpoint, it was by no means a bad set of terms. Even in the worst case, they could still carry out their revenge.
Won Jung-bang leaned back deeply in his chair.
"You seem remarkably confident."
"It seems the same goes for you, Society Leader."
"It'll be like finding a needle on a white sand beach."
"Finding a needle on a white sand beach is my specialty."
"One month."
Do Tong-dal rose to his feet.
"I'd better hurry."
* * *