Monopolizing Fortunes (21)
Monopolizing Fortunes (21)
The overwhelming feeling that he had not run from his fear made him forget the pain of his wounds.
"Well done. Now you can choose the day you leave the mountain."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means the size of your fear is something only you can know now. My eyes can no longer gauge it."
"My body still locks up, so it's hard for me to use my real skill."
"You idiot, if you use your real skill, I'll die."
"Heh heh heh...... I should at least leave one sword mark on your body too. Look how many scars I've picked up in the meantime."
"Damn, it's like raising a tiger."
He grumbled, but his mood was good. Namgung Cheol-hyeon would soon overcome his fear.
He was following exactly the process Do Tong-dal had watched countless times, so there was no doubt.
Do Tong-dal promised to see him tomorrow and parted from Namgung Cheol-hyeon. He could not stay tied to Namgung Cheol-hyeon all day.
When he arrived at the branch, the thugs in the office came rushing over, tripping over one another.
"Squad Leader! Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
Do Tong-dal's face went blank with confusion.
"Did I have a son without knowing it?"
"They say you're going to the Seo-ung Branch as Deputy Branch Chief?"
"How are we supposed to handle it if you leave, Squad Leader? Take me with you!"
They say a man is always the last to hear rumors about himself, and Do Tong-dal alone had not known that he was going to the Seo-ung Branch as Deputy Branch Chief.
He hurried up to the second floor. Wang Chil and Jo Jin-ho were in the middle of a serious conversation.
"Boss!"
"Oh? Tong-dal, you're here."
He smiled brightly at Do Tong-dal, but awkwardness seeped through.
"What is this about me going to the Seo-ung Branch?"
"The Society Leader has finally acknowledged your contributions. A Deputy Branch Chief at your age. Isn't that something?"
Jo Jin-ho spoke.
"Though for us, it is a little disappointing."
Do Tong-dal let out a long sigh.
"The disappointment isn't the problem. The Society Leader has finally started keeping us in check."
"In check?"
"It's a scheme to separate you and me. He promoted me to Deputy Branch Chief because he was afraid the family would talk if he just sent me as a squad leader."
Jo Jin-ho nodded.
"I did think something was strange. According to word coming out of headquarters, the Society Leader doesn't care for Tong-dal."
"So what? It's Deputy Branch Chief."
"It's a hollow title. And isn't the Seo-ung Branch Chief Seo Bong-seok?"
He was not a clever man, so he was not the sort of person who could properly control or watch Do Tong-dal.
"Seo Bong-seok is going to headquarters as a Coordinator, and Jang Jeong-baek, who was a Coordinator, is going as Branch Chief. I don't know what the Viper did wrong."
Going from headquarters to a branch was the same as a demotion, regardless of title.
"Jang Jeong-baek?"
Just hearing the name made his anger surge and his molars clench tight.
It was Jang Jeong-baek who had urged Do Tong-dal into penal military service. It was also Jang Jeong-baek who had promised him a dazzling future.
And the person who tormented him most after he came back with his leg cut off was also Jang Jeong-baek. The one who killed Wang Chil, who had been Do Tong-dal's brother and father, was Jang Jeong-baek too.
In every worst moment of his past life, Jang Jeong-baek had been there.
"Son of a bitch!"
"The Viper is a son of a bitch, but don't call him that to his face."
At Wang Chil's words, Do Tong-dal suppressed his boiling rage.
"Jang Jeong-baek didn't get demoted. He went on his own."
"A guy who lives for money and success would never do that."
"It's probably to deal with me, since I've gotten on the Society Leader's nerves."
Jo Jin-ho spoke.
"He acts as the Society Leader's tongue, so Tong-dal may be right."
"Hah—! To hold a grudge against a mere branch chief and squad leader. The Society Leader really is petty."
"You and Tong-dal aren't 'mere' anymore. If you left the Red Tiger Society and said you were founding a new underworld organization, there'd be plenty of boys who'd follow you out."
"Huh? Nah, I wouldn't do something like that. And the boys wouldn't follow me anyway."
"I know you wouldn't do something like that, but it's a plain fact that there are plenty who would follow you."
Do Tong-dal spoke.
"The Society Leader is pressing the matter."
Wang Chil and Jo Jin-ho were startled.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I was planning to pull him down someday, but it looks like that day will come sooner."
"Are you saying you're going to start a rebellion right now?"
"Why are you so surprised? As if you didn't know."
"I didn't know! When did you ever say anything like that!"
"I told you I was going to become the emperor of the night. Is it possible to sit in that seat while leaving the Society Leader alone?"
"Well, that's...... isn't that a story for the distant future?"
"Society Leader Jo Chi-un is just a step to be trampled on the way to that seat. The only difference is when he gets stepped on. In the end, he's bound to be stepped on by us."
"Us?"
"Yes. You, me, and Jin-ho too."
"Me too?"
"Of course. If we weren't going together, would I be telling Jin-ho this?"
Do Tong-dal narrowed his eyes and asked.
"You wouldn't betray us, would you?"
"No, I'm absolutely not a traitor. But isn't turning against the Society Leader also betrayal?"
"You have to choose. Society Leader Jo Chi-un or Wang Chil."
"Huh? Hnnn? Why am I in that choice!"
"You should sit in the Red Tiger Society Leader's seat before you die."
Wang Chil waved his hands in refusal.
"I don't want a high seat like that. It makes me dizzy. Make Jin-ho do it instead."
"Nah, that's not right. If anyone does it, it should be you. For me to do it would be wrong."
"No! You do it!"
"No. You do it."
"Just take turns. Boss can do it for a few years, then Jin-ho can take over for a few years."
Jo Jin-ho asked in a low, suggestive voice.
"But can we really swallow up the Red Tiger Society?"
"It's possible if Society Leader Jo Chi-un keeps making missteps like he is now. Even an emperor fears the people's hearts, so a Society Leader who has lost the family's hearts can never hold on. If there's a suitable person for the seat, that is."
"And that suitable person is Wang Chil?"
"What do you think, Jin-ho?"
"Honestly, Wang Chil is better than Society Leader Jo Chi-un. For one thing, he's easy to handle. Heh heh heh......."
Jo Jin-ho had plenty bottled up in his chest too. He had been tormented for years by Gwang Hae-bong, who had risen thanks to Jo Chi-un, so his feelings toward Jo Chi-un could not possibly be good.
"Then what do we have to do?"
Anyone dreaming of rebellion had to stake their life on it. Yet somehow, with Do Tong-dal beside him, Jo Jin-ho did not worry about that. It did not feel as though they would fail.
"Just keep doing what you're doing now. When there's something to do, I'll let you know."
* * *
The dagger grazed past Do Tong-dal's uvula by a hair. If he had dodged even a little later, his throat would have been cut clean through.
Even after such an attack, Namgung Cheol-hyeon did not stop swinging his blade. The first time he had nearly killed Do Tong-dal, he had been so shocked that he had even dropped his blade.
'He's definitely gotten solid.'
The two exchanged attacks without pause for two ke, and neither wounded the other nor seized the advantage.
Do Tong-dal stepped back with a light hop.
"Let's stop. If we go any longer, I'll get hurt."
"I'm in tatters, and you're saying you won't even get a scratch on your fingertip?"
"Yeah, I'm a coward. That's why I'm an underworld thug. Heh heh heh......."
"You damn bastard!"
"Tomorrow is the last day."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"There's nothing left for me to do."
At those words, Namgung Cheol-hyeon's face stiffened for a moment.
"Have I really...... made it?"
"Even if you need to go further from here, that's entirely your part. No one can help you anymore. Of course, there is still one final gate left in Hangzhou."
"What final gate?"
"Come to the place I tell you tomorrow."
* * *
"It is an honor to meet the Young Head of the Namgung Clan, a renowned house of the martial world."
At Jang Yu-seom's courteous greeting, Namgung Cheol-hyeon also clasped his hands in salute.
"I heard there was a hidden master here, so I imposed on you by coming uninvited."
"I am merely an idler of the underworld who earns his meals by the blade, lacking in skill."
Namgung Cheol-hyeon saw at a glance that Jang Yu-seom was modest, but his skill was anything but.
The saying that one master recognizes another existed for a reason. From Jang Yu-seom's stance, the rhythm of his breathing, and the level set of his shoulders alone, Namgung Cheol-hyeon could gauge his martial arts.
Do Tong-dal spoke to Jang Yu-seom.
"Thank you for granting my request."
"I should be the one thanking you. Don't they say a worthy rival is as precious as a lifelong friend? I already have a friend like Squad Leader Do, and now I've met a rival like Namgung Cheol-hyeon. I could ask for nothing more."
At Jang Yu-seom's word "friend," something twinged in one side of Do Tong-dal's chest.
"Shall we begin, then?"
Do Tong-dal's words filled the hall with tension. Today's duel had come about because Do Tong-dal had asked Jang Yu-seom.
It was a duel with live blades. Do Tong-dal was not enough of an opponent for Namgung Cheol-hyeon with a long sword, so he had asked Jang Yu-seom.
As the two drew their swords, Do Tong-dal spoke.
"I hope both of you will be careful."
It was a duel, but he had already told the two to fight as if it were real combat. Since they were using live blades, a duel fought like real combat could put their lives at risk.
"Begin."
Do Tong-dal stepped back after speaking, but neither man moved readily.
In a fight between masters like them, the saying that the first to strike was certain to win did not hold true.
If one rushed in recklessly and exposed an opening, one could lose in that instant. As the suffocating time of tension passed, the killing intent thickened.
Once one side showed killing intent, the other naturally answered in kind.
'Cheol-hyeon, that guy is serious.'
Perhaps he had even become addicted. When you keep fighting with your life on the line, at some point a thrill arrives.
The electric sensation of moving between life and death can dominate the body more intensely than opium.
Sometimes that rapture becomes an oblivion agent that makes you forget fear.
As expected, Namgung Cheol-hyeon moved first. With less experience in life-and-death duels, he was the one who lost patience.
Clang—!
A thunderous sound rang out, incomparable to when the daggers had clashed. Jang Yu-seom pushed aside Namgung Cheol-hyeon's sword and aimed for his waist, and Namgung Cheol-hyeon, narrowly dodging, thrust his sword toward Jang Yu-seom's chest.
In an instant, a curtain of blades dominated the hall. The speed was so fast it was hard to follow with the eyes.
'Cheol-hyeon's martial arts are astonishing.'
He was holding his own against Jang Yu-seom, who was fighting in earnest. Looked at another way, Jang Yu-seom's martial arts were also at an astonishing level.
The Namgung Clan was a renowned house among renowned houses in the martial world. It was loosely grouped as one of the Five Great Clans, but in all of history it had never once missed the seat of the foremost.
Even as the names of the Five Great Clans changed with the times, the Namgung Clan had never once been pushed out of the Five Great Clans.
As befitted the Namgung Clan, which had produced the King of Swords several times, its grand and powerful sword overflowed with force.
Jang Yu-seom's weapon against that immense strength was speed. On the battlefield, where one killed many enemies, there was no sword art as effective as speed.
With two completely different swords clashing, it seemed the outcome would be decided quickly, but the duel continued for over one ke.
That was because Jang Yu-seom had the strength to withstand Namgung Cheol-hyeon's immense power, and Namgung Cheol-hyeon also possessed the quickness to handle Jang Yu-seom's speed.
Both had suffered two or three wounds each, but none were fatal.
Since this duel was for Namgung Cheol-hyeon to overcome his fear of blades, it could stop around here.
Namgung Cheol-hyeon was no longer the coward of the past. Namgung Cheol-hyeon, born into the Namgung Clan, possessed courage that did not shame that blood.
It was not something being created but something that had already been there and was now being revealed. That was why Namgung Cheol-hyeon had been able to grow so much in such a short time.
There was no need for Do Tong-dal to decide when to end it. Jang Yu-seom, who knew the purpose of the duel, was the first to step back lightly and open the distance.
"This seems about enough."
Jang Yu-seom had a competitive streak too, of course, but he was wise enough to know that giving in to it could lead to regret.
Namgung Cheol-hyeon sheathed his sword and bowed with clasped hands.
"I owe you a great debt. Thank you once again."
"For me as well, it was a refreshing duel after a long time."
"The two of you should see to your wounds first."
* * *