Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Guest
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#032 The Guest
After the incident at the Red Dragon Hall, I picked a day to tell Yong Ma-san the truth.
That the Red Dragon Hall knew his identity and was watching him.
It was unsettling, but as he was a regular customer who came for Mujeon’s Set Meals every day, I felt I should at least warn him that his life was in danger.
However, he answered as if it were nothing.
“I know. I even know what kind of offer you received when you went to the Red Dragon Hall.”
Seeing my surprise, he smirked and continued.
“Nothing will change. I won’t run away.”
Then, he nonchalantly sat down and started eating.
I looked at Yong Ma-san and thought.
‘Lord, no, Buddha, it seems a pitiful soul will be joining you soon.’
Poor bastard.
To be stuffing his face without a clue that his life is hanging by a thread.
“Hm? Do you have something to say?”
“No. Just eat up. Sis, bring some more meat side dishes over here. You have enough rice? Want me to get you more?”
He could die tomorrow, so I had to make sure he was well-fed.
They say a well-fed ghost is a pretty ghost, after all.
Yong Ma-san looked at me with bewildered eyes.
“Did you eat something funny?”
“I’m just grateful that our work has gotten easier thanks to you.”
“So you know how to appreciate a favor. A slight step up from a beast, I suppose.”
“This son of a bitch?”
After that heartwarming breakfast, I went to my room and flopped onto the bed.
“Ugh… this is nice.”
The Outer Hall officially had a 7-day work week, with 12-hour shifts. There were no vacations, let alone paid time off.
In modern times, these were working conditions so atrocious that if you burned the company down, the judge would weep and declare you innocent.
However, I was an exception.
From the rank of Squad Leader and above, you had flexible work hours.
‘This is why you have to become an executive.’
If there was nothing special going on, I just had to stop by the First Squad’s office once a day for a simple briefing.
In return, the responsibility was heavy.
If an incident caused a major disturbance in the Outer Fortress, or if a security failure led to the destruction of a key facility, not only would you have to submit your resignation, but you could also be forced to take all the blame and be thrown in the dungeons.
‘Of course, that doesn’t apply to me.’
I didn't know when Yong Ma-san’s head would roll, but as long as our cooperation continued, there was no way any problems would arise.
So, I thought I could take a nap today and then leisurely stroll over to show my face.
“The Vice Hall Master has summoned you to headquarters immediately.”
Ha Jin-hyeong’s words forced me out of bed.
“Why?”
“W-well… the Third Young Master of the Martial Emperor Fortress is coming.”
“What?!”
* * *
The Martial Emperor Fortress.
One of the Five Hegemons of the World, like the Nine Dragons Fortress, it could be seen as a nationwide gang that controlled the northeastern region of the Central Plains.
With the self-proclaimed strongest martial artist in the world as its lord, the entire fortress was steeped in a culture that revered martial arts.
One key difference from the Nine Dragons Fortress, which also had ‘Fortress’ in its name, was that the Martial Emperor Fortress operated not as a coalition of various factions, but under a system of absolute rule.
In other words, there were no messy shared interests involved.
Thanks to this, the Martial Emperor Fortress, along with the Ten Demon Alliance, was considered by gossips to be one of the two strongest powers among the Five Hegemons.
The third son of the absolute ruler of the Martial Emperor Fortress was equivalent to a cabinet-level official in modern society.
At the news of such a person's visit, Vice Hall Master Ga Rip gathered all the squad leaders and roared.
“Starting today, we begin environmental beautification!”
There was a high possibility that the leadership from the Main Fortress would come all the way to the Outer Fortress to greet the guest.
What if such an important guest arrived to find the Outer Fortress littered with all sorts of trash and filth?
‘That would be a disaster.’
A diplomatic embarrassment.
If something like that happened in the modern era, the Minister of Foreign Affairs would be fired.
So, cleaning was necessary, but… there was a problem.
“Don’t you think it’s impossible to clean everything in time?”
As the only female squad leader in the Outer Hall, the Fifteenth Squad Leader, said, there wasn’t enough time.
The Inner Fortress of Nine Dragons Fortress alone was over 80 acres, so the Outer Fortress surrounding it was large enough to be considered a city in its own right.
And it wasn’t just the sheer size.
This was the world of martial arts, where there were no sanitation workers, let alone standardized trash bags. The streets of the commercial districts were utterly filthy.
To make a comparison, it was dirtier than a city street after a wild Saturday night.
It was a project that the hundred members of the Outer Hall had no hope of completing within the given timeframe.
However, Ga Rip was a surprisingly decisive man.
“That’s why I plan to issue a reserve mobilization order.”
At the mention of a mobilization order, all the squad leaders in the meeting room shouted in astonishment.
“A!”
“Reserve!”
“Order!”
That was right.
Ga Rip had decided to mobilize the full force of the Outer Hall to focus all efforts on environmental beautification.
‘Then there’s a chance.’
Adding the reserve warriors would bring the project’s manpower to four hundred.
It would be impossible to finish in a single day, but if they took their time and worked methodically, they had a good chance of success.
The next day.
Every single person registered with the Outer Hall grabbed a bamboo broom and began sweeping every corner of the Outer Fortress.
From various household trash to filth.
It was far dirtier than imagined, and a few with weak stomachs made it clear they didn’t want to do it.
But each time, a thunderous roar from Ga Rip and the squad leaders fell upon them, leaving them no choice but to move their bodies, dripping with sweat.
The only silver lining was that plastic and vinyl didn’t exist in this era.
Most of the trash consisted of wood, worn-out cloth, and stones. Most of it could be handled just by clearing, carrying, and burning it.
As for the filth, they could just bury it in the ground.
The only problem was the immense size of the Outer Fortress, which made the work grueling.
‘Huh?’
As I sat at a nearby tavern ‘managing’ my squad members, I spotted a ‘solution’ passing by on the street.
I immediately leaped down from the second floor and approached him.
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“Isn’t it Squad Leader Jin?”
It was the gang member from the Two Immortals Gang who had helped me find Bukgung Baek before.
Or would it be more accurate to call him a disciple of the Beggars' Sect?
In any case, this was no time to get caught up in details, so I quickly got to the point.
“You said you guys are close with the waiters at the taverns, right?”
“Are you talking about us? We know everyone, from the waiters to the market merchants and day laborers.”
As expected of a disciple of the Beggars' Sect, the best spy organization of this era, he was well-connected.
“That offer you made before, to come find you if I had any trouble, is it still valid?”
“Of course. Just say the word, and we will help you with all our hearts.”
“Then, help me with some cleaning.”
* * *
That help turned out to be more effective than I thought.
The waiters from the taverns, inns, and brothels clustered in the commercial district stepped up to clean the areas around their workplaces, cutting our workload in half.
Thanks to them, we achieved the feat of finishing the environmental beautification of the Outer Fortress, a task slated for three days, in just one.
*Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.*
Ga Rip nodded repeatedly, clapping his hands.
“As expected of the First Squad Leader. I knew of your capabilities from the very beginning.”
“This is aaaaall thanks to the heavenly guidance of our Vice Hall Master, is it not?”
For the record, Ga Rip was the one who had rejected my application when I first applied to the Outer Hall.
Still, there was no need to bring up the awkward past, so I feigned ignorance and accepted his praise.
And that decision brought an immense reward.
“A cash bonus! I couldn’t put much in, but it should be enough for a round of drinks somewhere.”
“A-a cash bonus?!”
Despite the barren state of our finances, Ga Rip had prepared a bonus.
In my three years in the Outer Hall, I had never once seen anyone receive a cash bonus.
I hadn’t even received one when my achievements at Mount Jeongcham had improved the Outer Hall’s reputation.
This meant Ga Rip considered this matter very important and held my contribution in high regard.
“Thank you!”
“Well then, you must be tired, so go and get some rest.”
A tsunami of emotion washed over me as he patted my shoulder and walked away.
“Damn it all to hell!”
That is, until I looked inside the coin pouch, which was filled with nothing but copper coins.
* * *
Even after finishing the environmental beautification, the warriors of the Outer Hall remained busy.
They were tasked with monitoring the route the Third Young Master of the Martial Emperor Fortress would take from a distance.
Of course, the Outer Hall warriors wouldn’t be able to stop a top-tier assassin or a master in disguise. No one expected them to.
It was merely a formality, a way to show the Third Young Master how much they were looking out for him.
Therefore, Ga Rip had all the Outer Hall warriors wear red headbands for the duration of the Third Young Master’s stay.
So they could be recognized from afar.
And then.
Finally, the delegation from the Martial Emperor Fortress arrived before the gates of Nine Dragons Fortress.
The Grand Chancellor and the masters of the Lord’s Hall, who were already waiting at the gate, greeted them.
The warriors of the Outer Hall stood in a line behind them like a folding screen.
None of the arrivals from the Martial Emperor Fortress even glanced at the Outer Hall warriors, treating them like actual folding screens.
Well, what could you do?
Life in the Outer Hall was all the same.
It was probably the same for the Outer Hall guys working at the Martial Emperor Fortress.
As I stood there, lost in thought for a moment, I soon heard the Grand Chancellor’s voice.
“Welcome. I am Sama Mok, the Vice-Chancellor of Military Affairs of Nine Dragons Fortress.”
At the simple yet courteous greeting, a young warrior from the Martial Emperor Fortress’s group stepped forward.
“Thank you for the warm welcome. I am Lee Jeok-ha, the Third Young Master of the Martial Emperor Fortress.”
‘That man is the Third Young Master of the Martial Emperor Fortress?!’
I couldn’t help but be shocked when I saw his face.
“……!”
It seemed the others felt the same, as everyone’s eyes widened as they stared at him.
Lee Jeok-ha was ugly… no, his appearance was so bizarre that the word ‘ugly’ couldn't even begin to describe it.
‘Aren’t kids in his position supposed to be handsome?’
In all the martial arts novels I’d read, the young masters of powerful families were always described as handsome. I had assumed it would be the same here.
To think that a guy who looked like a bullfrog was the Third Young Master of the Martial Emperor Fortress—if I hadn’t been told, I never would have guessed. Prejudice is a scary thing.
Pretending not to be surprised, I shifted my gaze to the warriors who had accompanied the Third Young Master.
Their temples bulged, a sign of deep internal energy, and their bodies were covered in muscles like steel.
It was proof that they were masters who had trained both their internal and external arts.
‘Look at the thickness of those necks. They’re like tree trunks.’
They were just as one would expect from the warriors of the Martial Emperor Fortress, a group obsessed with martial arts.
‘I would’ve been screwed if I’d ended up there.’
A sense of gratitude toward Old Man Hyeon Geom-ja, who had brought me to Nine Dragons Fortress, welled up inside me.
“Please, come in. The Fortress Lord is waiting.”
“Understood.”
At the Grand Chancellor’s signal, everyone cleared a path. The people from the Martial Emperor Fortress went inside.
Our job was done here.
The guests would proceed to the Main Fortress, and from then on, it was the domain of the higher-ups.
“You’ve all worked hard. I’ve assigned the reserve unit to duty, so everyone, get a good rest today.”
At Ga Rip’s words, the squad members rejoiced in hushed tones.
An unexpected day off was always welcome.
Wu Je-jun approached me, unable to hide his cheerful expression.
“It seems we haven't had a chance to spend time together since you became the First Squad Leader. How about we all go for a drink?”
It was an invitation to a team dinner I couldn't possibly refuse.
Even I couldn’t avoid treating the squad members I’d be spending so much time with to at least one meal.
Spending money was a given; the key now was to minimize the expense as much as possible.
“Sounds good. Come to my house around dinner time.”
In times like these, a home-cooked meal was the best option.
“To your home? Won’t it be a hassle for you?”
“We’ll get closer if I show you where I live, don’t you think?”
“Hmm, you have a point. A rational thought, just as expected from our Squad Leader.”
“I’ll go ahead and get things ready, so take your time. The guys who were in the Seventeenth Squad know where I live, so you can ask them.”
“Yes, understood.”
Such a smart and perfect way to save money. I was proud of myself for coming up with such a brilliant plan.
“Are you crazy! How am I supposed to cook for that many people with so little time! I’m already swamped with my duties as a physician!”
That is, until I heard Myo Hyang’s sharp nagging.
“Ah, no, that’s not what I…”
I finally understood why my mom used to give my drunk dad such a look whenever he brought his friends home in my past life.
‘I miss you, Father.’
“I swear, I can’t deal with you!”