Monopolizing Fortunes (48)
Monopolizing Fortunes (48)
After dodging the dagger with the Phantom Step, he attacked with the Lesser Flame Kick. In a confined space, a dagger was effective, but the kick art wasn't bad either.
The Baekeum Assassin, who had exchanged three moves with Do Tong-dal, keenly felt that this mission would not be easy.
There was a reason the commission fee was a whopping three hundred silver nyang for what was supposedly a mere thug.
Even though Do Tong-dal couldn't use his arms, he wasn't easily overcome by the Baekeum Assassin. Just when he seemed cornered, he would escape with two quick movements, and even when the Baekeum Assassin was clearly on the offensive, he would turn defense into offense with his mysterious footwork.
On top of that, his relentless kicks made the arms and legs used to block them go numb. A solid hit seemed like it would break a bone or two without much trouble.
For a thug to possess martial arts this strong! Indeed, there was no such thing as easy money in this world.
The Baekeum Assassin glanced out the window. A long sword would be more advantageous than a dagger. Not only was he more accustomed to it, but it was also better for dealing with Do Tong-dal, who couldn't use his arms.
However, a long sword was not an efficient weapon in a cramped room. But if he went outside, there was no way Do Tong-dal would follow him.
The one who absolutely had to kill his opponent was the Baekeum Assassin, not Do Tong-dal.
Do Tong-dal, who had kicked a chair to knock the Baekeum Assassin down, spoke.
"Hey, shouldn't an assassin run away if his attack fails?"
"Don't lump me in with third-rate assassins."
"Fuck, an assassin's an assassin. Do you guys have first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate too?"
"I am the Baekeum Assassin, the terror of the martial world!"
What set him apart most from other assassins was this pride. It was the pride in his martial arts—the belief that he never failed, and that even if a situation like this arose and he had to fight his target, he could win.
He was of a different caliber from other assassins who turned tail and ran when their ambush failed.
Crunch!
Do Tong-dal, who had been retreating, burst through the door and out into the hallway. Yellow moonlight seeped through the hallway window, turning golden.
Having rolled on the floor to avoid the Baekeum Assassin's attack, Do Tong-dal was forced to retreat again because of the dagger.
The inconvenience of both arms wasn't just the disadvantage of being unable to hold a weapon.
Even after getting used to it, the absence of his arms was a fatal weakness when trying to keep balance or engage in offense and defense.
The Baekeum Assassin's martial arts were clearly not superior to Do Tong-dal's. He was confident he could at least match him.
Nevertheless, as time passed, Do Tong-dal had no choice but to be pushed onto the defensive. That was the consequence of missing both arms.
The Baekeum Assassin, pressing his attack, also sensed that victory was not far off. When Do Tong-dal, who had been continuously retreating, stepped onto the main hall floor and then down into the courtyard, that feeling turned into certainty.
Shing—!
The sword on his back was finally revealed.
"It wasn't clean, but a completed mission is a completed mission."
The moment the Baekeum Assassin came at him with the sword, Do Tong-dal regretted that he should have somehow held out in the room.
The Baekeum Assassin was markedly different when using a dagger versus a long sword. He was sharper, faster, and his attack range was naturally wider.
Do Tong-dal, who used kick arts, naturally had to close the distance. In a fight between a long weapon and bare hands, distance decided victory or defeat.
The Baekeum Assassin, knowing this fact all too well, gave Do Tong-dal no opening to slip in.
Slash!
The sword licked past his chest and arm. Thanks to his protective gear, his chest was unharmed, but blood spurted from his arm.
'Even a useless arm hurts, huh.'
All Do Tong-dal could do was dodge. If only he had a sword... no, even just a dagger, he wouldn't be pushed back so one-sidedly.
The sword licked past his thigh again. It wasn't deep, but it was proof that Do Tong-dal's victory was slipping further away.
'Fuck, am I really going to die like this?'
He hadn't even become the emperor of the night yet. He had only caught a faint whiff of the sweet fruit's scent, and it seemed this damn fate couldn't stand even that.
Thrust—!
His chest was pierced. The sword, starting from his back, passed through his body and burst out through his chest.
Do Tong-dal, who had been moving violently, stared blankly ahead. He had naturally assumed he would die, but the one dying tonight was the Baekeum Assassin.
The Baekeum Assassin seemed unable to believe it either. Glancing down at the tip of the sword piercing his own chest, he desperately tried to turn his head.
He wanted to confirm who had stabbed him from behind before he died, but it was a futile effort.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
By the time the fifth drop of blood running down the blade hit the ground, the Baekeum Assassin's head slumped forward.
As the sword was withdrawn, the Baekeum Assassin collapsed. Only then could Do Tong-dal see the person who had killed the assassin.
"My... arm?"
Namgung Seol-rin spoke as she wiped the blood from her sword.
"I'm not your arm anymore, so don't call me that."
The title wasn't important. What mattered was that Namgung Seol-rin was here right now.
"Why are you here?"
"My schedule got messed up, so I arrived a bit late."
"I mean, why did you come?"
"To sleep. There's no reason to sleep at an inn when I have a house."
"Since when is this your house?"
"Then let's just say I'm imposing on you for the night."
With that, Namgung Seol-rin went inside the house.
"Hey! You should at least clean up the body before you go!"
She disappeared into the main hall, saying.
"I saved your life, so you can handle the body yourself."
In the end, Do Tong-dal went to the nearby Red Tiger Society branch, roused a thug on night duty, and had him dispose of the corpse.
By the time he had woken the physician in black and finished treatment, dawn had fully broken. Do Tong-dal went to bed hoping to get even one shichen of sleep and only then let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, it seems I'm not fated to die so pointlessly after all."
He hadn't expected Namgung Seol-rin, who appeared like a lie, to save his life.
"But why did you really come?"
His mind was complicated, but sleep still came. Naturally, he woke up late. Namgung Seol-rin was not in the house, having gone somewhere.
Do Tong-dal put Namgung Seol-rin aside for a moment and focused on the assassin.
"Who sent him?"
Nine times out of ten, it was the Black Dragon Society. They had been quiet after being squeezed for five thousand nyang, but they had finally responded with an assassin.
"Still, I should make sure. Should I go and poke them?"
Do Tong-dal headed to the headquarters first. He needed to at least report that he had been attacked by an assassin.
But Namgung Seol-rin was there.
"What? What did you say?"
Do Tong-dal couldn't believe what he had just heard from Wang Chil. Wang Chil repeated it clearly for him.
"I said Miss Namgung has become a Protector of the Red Tiger Society."
Do Tong-dal looked back and forth between Wang Chil and Namgung Seol-rin. He was so dumbfounded he was speechless when Jang Yu-seom arrived.
Jang Yu-seom had also heard the news. But his reaction was quite different from Do Tong-dal's.
"That's wonderful."
Do Tong-dal burst out shouting.
"Wonderful my ass! Does it make any sense for My Arm to become a Protector!"
Namgung Seol-rin spoke.
"I already told you at dawn today that I'm not your arm anymore."
"Fine! You're not my arm! But still, not a Red Tiger Society Protector!"
Wang Chil asked.
"Why?"
"Does it make sense for a daughter of the Namgung Clan to be a Protector of an underworld society?"
"Are you looking down on our Red Tiger Society?"
"It's common sense! Common sense!"
"You punk! Common sense says you should be happy a master is joining the Red Tiger Society, so why are you throwing a fit!"
Right, Wang Chil wasn't the one to argue with. Do Tong-dal said to Namgung Seol-rin.
"Let's talk."
Namgung Seol-rin followed Do Tong-dal without a word. Wang Chil shouted from behind.
"If she's a Protector, she outranks you, so treat her with respect!"
'Outrank my ass!'
Do Tong-dal slammed the office door shut with his foot—bang!—and asked Namgung Seol-rin.
"What on earth were you thinking, coming here?"
Namgung Seol-rin asked back.
"What were you thinking when you sent me away?"
"Because I don't need you anymore."
"You can't even eat by yourself and you almost died to an assassin."
"Fine. You saved my life, so the debt between us is settled. Now go back."
"Why are you trying to send me away?"
"This is no place for you! Does it make sense for a daughter of the Namgung Clan, the foremost of the Five Great Clans, to be involved with the underworld?"
"The Namgung Clan isn't all that. For the record, that's what my brother said."
"Cheol-hyeon allowed you to come here?"
"I don't need my brother's permission... but yes, he said it was fine."
"Can you traffic people? Can you sell opium? Can you kill people just because you're told to?"
"The Society Leader said we don't do human trafficking or opium. And killing people is something I've already been doing."
"Why on earth do you want to stay in the Red Tiger Society?"
"Why are you trying to send me away?"
"Because you like me!"
He ended up saying it. She had worn a mask for most of the time, but Do Tong-dal could tell.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Hah... Don't talk nonsense! Why would I like someone like you?"
"Don't forget that I've learned the Mind-Reading Art."
"You can give that damn Mind-Reading Art to a dog!"
Namgung Seol-rin, who had yelled at the top of her lungs, slammed the door—bang!—and left. No matter how strongly she denied it, it was too obvious in her expression and her gestures.
"This is driving me crazy."
* * *
Namgung Seol-rin followed a step behind Do Tong-dal, just as she had when she went by the nickname 'My Arm'.
"How about wearing the mask again?"
"Why?"
"Someone might recognize you."
"It doesn't matter."
It wasn't just empty words. When she first became Do Tong-dal's arm, she hadn't intended it, but she had considered the mask a blessing.
If the martial world learned that a daughter of the Namgung Clan was acting as a guard for an underworld thug, it would bring shame upon the family.
But as time passed, the mask's purpose gradually changed. It was no longer about hiding her identity, but about hiding her feelings from Do Tong-dal.
She had tried desperately to rein in her growing feelings for Do Tong-dal. To like a mere underworld thug was unacceptable for a daughter of the Namgung Clan.
It was a time that confirmed that the hardest thing in the world to control is the heart. In the end, she accepted it. She let go of the question, 'Why?' There doesn't have to be a reason to like someone.
Then her feelings were discovered by Do Tong-dal, and she was sent away. She had been prepared for it. Since Seon Hye-min and Yeon Ja-yeon had also noticed, it was difficult to avoid the eyes of Do Tong-dal, who had mastered the Mind-Reading Art.
What was unexpected was that Do Tong-dal had cut her off so decisively. It was that firmness that made her even feel a sense of betrayal.
Nevertheless, she came back. She couldn't bear or accept her connection with Do Tong-dal ending like this.
"I really can't understand it."
Now that all debts and favors were gone, Do Tong-dal could no longer send Namgung Seol-rin away as he pleased.
Without a word, Do Tong-dal headed for the Black Dragon Society's headquarters. The sight of a woman carrying a sword sticking close behind a man was strange to anyone who saw it.
It was a look Namgung Seol-rin had received even when she wore the mask, so she was used to it now.
As Do Tong-dal entered the first floor of the headquarters, the thugs' gazes gathered one by one. At first, they didn't know who he was, but as soon as the name 'Do Tong-dal!' came out of someone's mouth, the thugs scrambled to their feet.
There wasn't a single thug in Hangzhou who didn't know Do Tong-dal.
"I want to see the Society Leader."
A sharp-eyed thug who looked to be in his mid-twenties asked.
"What business do you have with the Society Leader?"
"I'll state my business when I see him."
"The Society Leader is not here right now."
A lie. Thugs really can't lie.
"Is that so? Then tell him it's war starting tomorrow."
As Do Tong-dal turned to leave, the thug hastily grabbed him.
"Wh-what do you mean? War, all of a sudden?"
"I'm the one who was suddenly attacked by an assassin. You wouldn't have sent an assassin after me without intending to go to war, would you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but there are rules even among underworld societies..."
"Rules, my ass! Since when is sending a martial world assassin a rule of the underworld! If you're part of the underworld, no matter how hard it gets, you should fight by the underworld's laws! You cowardly bastards!"
Do Tong-dal's voice was so loud it could be clearly heard on the second floor. The sound of hurried footsteps coming down the stairs was heard, and then a man in his early forties appeared.
"The Society Leader will see you now."
"No guts, no consistency."
Do Tong-dal followed the middle-aged man up to the second floor. So Tae-sang was sitting at the end of a long table.
Do Tong-dal plopped down in a seat across from him, at a distance. It was their first time meeting face-to-face, but they weren't on friendly enough terms for a warm greeting.
So Tae-sang's expression upon receiving Do Tong-dal's visit wasn't very bright either.
"I heard a bit of the conversation. An assassin? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Thugs really can't lie. I can see right through it when even the boss is lying."
* * *