The Second Mission
The next day.
To receive my next assignment, I went straight to meet Haein Gakju.
During the three days I’d spent in a kind of blissful trance, testing the simultaneous use of Purple Sunset Divine Art and Ice Soul Divine Art, Haein Gakju had apparently stopped by twice with new work.
Apparently, each time he’d been driven off with a fierce glare from Gokseon, which made me feel a little guilty.
Haein Gakju had only been trying to do his job, after all.
Anyway, as I went to meet him, Gokseon was naturally with me again.
On top of that, Baek Jin-ah and Dang Yeong-young had come along too. Sure, that much I could understand. We had worked a mission together last time, too.
But why were Geumran and Hong Si-yeon coming along as well?
“Um… senior? Did you and Lady Hong also have business with Haein Gakju?”
“No? Why would we have any business over there?”
“Then why…?”
“Child. There’s no need to understand every little thing in this world.”
Geumran brushed it off, and said nothing more.
Gokseon didn’t add anything either.
So I simply took it in stride. Well, they’d do what they wanted.
“Oh-ho. You’ve come at last. Are you feeling all right?”
“Yes. Thanks to your concern, I’m fine. I’m sorry I made you make two pointless trips.”
“Ho-ho. No need. This sort of thing happens all the time, doesn’t it?”
“I was worried I might have delayed whatever mission you were supposed to take on because of me.”
“Please don’t concern yourself with that. Now that you’ve come, that is all that matters. Then, may I entrust you with a mission? Shall I explain it to you?”
“Yes. Please do.”
“Heh. Very well. You speak with such confidence that it puts me at ease.”
With that, Haein Gakju began to explain the mission to me.
“This time, it’s a bandit suppression mission. I don’t know how familiar you are with the local geography, so I’ll explain in detail. Between Henan and Hubei lies a vast mountain range known as the Dabie Mountains. Since it forms such a solid barrier between the two regions, bandits have infested it for a long time. As a rule, for banditry to flourish, there must be plenty of goods moving through the area. Bandits are not going to sit all day on a mountain path where no one ever passes by, gnawing on their fingers.”
It was all new to me, so I listened with a small nod.
“Even bandits know to keep their heads down if they go too far, because sooner or later a suppression force gets assembled. They do this sort of thing to make a living, after all, so there’s no sense in overdoing it. That’s why, until now, they had always been content to take a little passage fee and let people go on their way. And everyone was happy enough to pay it and move along.”
“Why just let it slide? Isn’t there a reason to get rid of them altogether?”
When I asked, Haein Gakju gave a wry smile and said, “A matter of cost and propriety. The amount they skim off is less than what it would take to suppress them, so people let it go. As you know, bandit suppression is no easy task. Why do you think the government has left them alone all this time?”
“Hmm….”
“And it may be a little ironic for a member of the Murim Alliance to say this, but if you think of it as a toll, it isn’t necessarily such a loss. In a way, if bandits hold the mountain roads, they keep other bandits and worse dangers away.”
Hearing that, I roughly understood.
An empty mountain path with no one around was, in its own way, more dangerous. There could be lunatics lurking there with murder on their minds, or wild beasts like bears and tigers could attack you.
But if bandits seized control of the area, that sort of thing would disappear.
It would become their territory.
So if paying a bit of passage money meant you didn’t have to deal with those dangers, I could see why people would consider it worthwhile.
Kind of like protection money from the black-market sects?
Pay a fixed expense up front and prevent uncertain threats and bigger disasters?
“Then…”
When I spoke up, Haein Gakju looked at me with curious eyes.
“If a suppression mission has been issued for them, that means they’ve gone too far, doesn’t it?”
“You’re a perceptive young lady, which makes my job easier. That’s right. These were people who, even while living as bandits, had always feared for their own necks and kept things modest. I don’t know why, but recently their conduct has become rather violent. It would be one thing if it happened once or twice, but this is on a different scale. They’re not merely charging passage fees anymore; they’ve been taking lives with alarming frequency. That’s why this matter has reached the Murim Alliance.”
Well, if it were an ordinary problem, the nearby sects would handle it.
That was what martial sects were for, after all.
Wasn’t that one of the biggest reasons martial artists existed in this world?
To establish order with force in places where the government couldn’t reach.
That was why even the authorities recognized those territories and called it a hands-off understanding between government and Murim.
But as I was thinking along those lines, something suddenly came to mind.
“By any chance…”
“Go on.”
“Is a place called Pyeongjeong Mountain connected to this?”
“Pyeongjeong Mountain? Pyeongjeong Mountain… Pyeongjeong Mountain….”
“The place on the road between Kaifeng and the Jegal Clan Manor.”
“Ah! Right! That Pyeongjeong Mountain! I know where you mean. It isn’t part of the Dabie Mountains, but you could say it’s an extension of them. Still, why are you bringing up Pyeongjeong Mountain?”
I told him what had happened there.
The bandits we’d encountered while traveling to the Jegal Clan Manor with Moyong Jua and Paeng Jeon-ho.
The ones who had disguised themselves as merchants in order to lure us in and prey on us.
After hearing the whole story, Haein Gakju, along with Gokseon, Baek Jin-ah, Dang Yeong-young, Geumran, and Hong Si-yeon, all looked genuinely shocked.
“What! They pulled a stunt like that!? Just a bunch of lowly bandits!? Ho-ho. This is no laughing matter. If something like that happened, it means there may be even more vicious incidents that haven’t been reported yet!”
Haein Gakju’s expression had grown serious. He looked worried, as if the situation was even worse than he had imagined.
“Then my mission is to suppress those bandits, correct? Please tell me the details. Which bandits should I take down?”
When I said that, Haein Gakju answered with a more solemn expression.
“That was what we intended at first, but after hearing your story, I’m afraid it won’t be that easy. We’ll need to investigate more thoroughly and organize an official suppression force. So please wait a little on this mission. I’ll have to assign you another task instead.”
“Mm. Is there really any need to go that far? Senior. You’ll be coming with me this time too, won’t you? Please. I’m begging you.”
When I asked, Gokseon gave me a somewhat indifferent look, then answered anyway.
“Well, let’s do that.”
Honestly. What a fun person.
He was the sort of man who would obviously come along anyway. Still, you had to give him his pride.
“Lady Baek and Lady Dang will come too, right? I trust you will.”
“Of course.”
“We will.”
Good. Baek Jin-ah and Dang Yeong-young were in.
“Senior.”
When I called to her, Geumran looked at me with a strange expression.
“If you’re not busy, would you be willing to come with me? I think this matter is necessary for the safety of Murim. If it’s you, Senior Geumran, a hero of Mount Hua who values righteousness and chivalry, I’m sure you wouldn’t just turn a blind eye to people’s hardship.”
At my words, Geumran let out a faint smile.
Right. She had no reason to come all the way here just to trail after me to Haein Gakju.
She had business with me too.
She probably wanted Hong Si-yeon to beat me somehow. Or at least get her a chance to try.
Besides, I’d learned something from watching Gokseon.
People of that level in Murim actually don’t have all that much to do. That much was true.
They had fame and skill, yes, but once they reached that point, they didn’t bother with trivial errands anymore.
And the sort of major events that would be worth moving them around didn’t happen often.
No, more accurately, they shouldn’t happen often. If they did, it would be a truly grave matter.
So in the end, people like that were free. Very free.
You could tell by the fact that Gokseon could just keep hanging around me and there was no problem at all.
Which meant I could drag her in.
More importantly, Geumran had shown interest in me too, so this was going to work.
“It’s not a bad idea, since this child could use some real experience. But let me make one thing clear: Si-yeon and I aren’t helping you. We’re going to help those who need help.”
“That’s exactly the kind of righteous thinking I’d expect from you. Thank you.”
After I wrapped it up like that, Geumran snorted with amusement.
See? There was no reason this wouldn’t work.
With that settled, I turned to Haein Gakju.
He was clearly trying to hold himself back, but the corners of his mouth were already threatening to reach his ears.
“Haein Gakju. We’ll head over to the Dabie Mountains, then. So could you tell us the details?”
Haein Gakju looked like he might float away from happiness.
This time, free labor was going to take the job off his hands again. And now Geumran was joining in too.
If he were told to dance right here and now, he’d probably be able to keep it up for two full days.
It was almost impressive how hard he was trying not to burst out laughing.
“Excellent! I’ll explain it right away! Lady Baek! Then this way, please. Wasn’t it originally the case that you had to complete three missions before being promoted to silver badge? One, I can’t just sit by when your heart is so devoted to the Murim Alliance every time, Lady Baek. If you see this through successfully, I’ll promote you to silver badge at once!”
“Thank you, Haein Gakju.”
Oh. That was good news for me. A faster promotion was always nice. One less round meant one less drain on time and effort.
“And! I’ll inform those above me so I can give Lady Baek and the others every possible convenience on the way to the mission site! So please wait just a little longer! I believe we can depart as early as tomorrow morning!”
Haein Gakju was practically vibrating with excitement, looking as if he wanted to lock everything in right this instant.
I glanced at Gokseon and Geumran, and the two of them gave me looks of agreement.
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
Once it was decided, Haein Gakju finally broke into a full smile.
Honestly. He wasn’t even bothering to hide how pleased he was anymore.
He must be pretty experienced with this sort of thing, too.
He really must have been that happy.
Seriously, he was delighted beyond reason.