The Incompetent Hero and the Emperor of Yeom (5)
Yogyeong City.
It was the largest stronghold near the border of the Yeom Kingdom, where the Moyong family had planted its roots. Ordinarily, merchants from Jo should have been a common sight here — the streets thronged and the markets humming with life. Instead, the city lay unnervingly quiet.
The reason was obvious enough. There were no merchants from Jo.
Yogyeong's livelihood had always rested on trade with Jo. But with the isolationist decree locking Jo's merchants behind their own borders, that commerce had dried up completely. The city's main artery of income had been severed, and the atmosphere — and the condition of the place itself — had soured accordingly.
"Hmm..."
I took in the bleak, hollowed-out streets and muttered under my breath.
"I think I'm starting to get why they wanted Dandong back so badly."
"Yeah, no kidding."
Seollin nodded lightly, as if the same thought had crossed her mind. Looking at it as a daughter of the Dan family, the gulf between the Moyong and the Dan was enormous. Put bluntly, compared to the Dan, the Moyong were poor.
It was hardly their fault. The Dan sat astride Sichuan, the choke point through which most of Yeom's goods flowed. The Moyong, by contrast, clung to the borderlands — and that geography left them heavily dependent on trade with neighboring nations, Jo above all.
"...Come to think of it, I heard the isolationist decree started because of an assassination attempt on Jo's king. Baekryeon, any ideas about that?"
"Hm...? Well... this one was quite startled herself upon hearing Doryeong's account. As for whether anything comes to mind... no. At the very least, while this one still resided in Jo, there was no such omen. More than that... among the many nations this one has traveled, Jo is the land where the king's authority runs strongest. For an assassination attempt against the king to occur in such a place..."
Baekryeon trailed off, as though something had just occurred to her. When she continued, her voice trembled.
"...Though, thinking on it now — our Baek family was originally charged with the protection of Jo and its royal house. With our clan wiped out... it was perhaps inevitable that His Majesty's safety would grow precarious."
"Ah..."
"Baekryeon..."
Remembering her fallen house, Baekryeon bowed her head. Seollin, who knew the story, said nothing and simply patted her on the shoulder. Then, determined to break the heavy mood, she forced a bright tone and turned to me.
"A-anyway. So we chased the Moyong all the way out here to Yogyeong. What now? You planning to march straight up to them and settle this face-to-face?"
"What good would that do? They'd just deny everything."
"Then what?"
"What else? We sneak into the Moyong estate and dig up whatever evidence we can find."
If they really were in bed with the Beastman Alliance, something had to be left behind. They weren't the kind of bosom buddies who helped each other on a handshake and a smile. Somewhere there would be records — aid given, aid received — clean paper trails to keep the partnership free of loose ends. Shove that under their noses and they wouldn't be able to wriggle free.
I was already mapping out the next steps when Seollin tilted her head.
"And how exactly are you going to find it?"
"What do you mean, how? I just said — we sneak into the Moyong estate and look."
"Yeah. Who's 'we'?"
"Who...? Well... that would be... uh..."
My voice trailed off of its own accord.
"..."
"?"
I looked at Seollin.
Dan Seollin. Martial artist of the Dan family. Specialties: hidden weapons and poison arts. And fellatio.
I looked at Baekryeon.
Baekryeon. Last survivor of the Baek family. Specialties: peerless swordsmanship. And cowgirl.
The moment those thoughts lined up, a headache bloomed behind my eyes.
Me. The hero. Specialty: smashing things.
Conclusion: nobody in this party could infiltrate the Moyong estate and extract intelligence.
We were screwed.
"You any good at stealth work?"
"I can poison people."
"Forget I asked."
Seollin answered with complete confidence. That was not an answer.
"Baekryeon, what about you? Stealth? Did your family teach you anything like that?"
"Ah. Our house specialized in open warfare rather than covert action... this one has little confidence in stealth."
Baekryeon gave an awkward little smile as she said it.
So much for the talent pool in our party. I was disappointed.
...Was I actually going to have to do this myself?
The family head's study of the Moyong estate.
There, Moyong Muung, head of the Moyong family, sat staring at the sparse documents spread across his desk. There weren't many of them, and the contents were thin enough that he already had most of it memorized — which was precisely why the long sigh escaped him.
A knock sounded at the study door.
"F-Family Head. The martial artists we sent to Dandong have returned."
"Have they? ...And? How did it go?"
"...It appears they were all defeated."
"...Hah."
At the report of failure, the family head let out a sigh he couldn't hold back. He lowered his gaze, and the meager stack of papers swam into view.
Ordinarily, the desk would not have been this bare. Trade with foreign nations — not mere domestic commerce within Yeom — generated mountains of paperwork. That so little remained was solely because Jo's isolationist decree had severed nearly every deal with Jo.
Trade with Jo had been the lion's share of the Moyong family's income. With that share cut off, their finances grew worse by the day. The one remaining hope had been Dandong — not merely for Jo's trade, but because ships from Dandong could carry goods swiftly to other regions.
"...What am I supposed to do about this?"
His head throbbed. If only they had reclaimed Dandong somehow... even a little breathing room for the family's coffers would have helped. And yet he understood, too. If someone suddenly started claiming territorial rights over Dandong out of nowhere, he himself would have barked at them to stop talking nonsense.
...I really shouldn't have given it up back then.
Moyong Muung cast his mind back to that day — the day they had decided to abandon Dandong.
Word had come, as it so often did, that pirate activity was flaring up again. He had assembled a suppression force and sent them out.
"Crush them thoroughly as always, but do not pursue them too deep. The sea is their domain. Chase them too far and you risk being surrounded on the water — needless sacrifice."
"Understood, Family Head. We will take it to heart."
"Don't trouble yourself over it. We've done this a dozen times. We'll show those pirate scum exactly what the Moyong family is made of!"
"Good. I trust you."
That was all. Just another ordinary day. Just another routine sweep of the pirates making trouble out of Dandong. No one expected failure. No one imagined things would go the way they did.
"Family Head! Family Head!! Disaster!"
"What is all this commotion?"
"Th-they've been wiped out!! The martial artists we sent to Dandong to clear the pirates — all of them massacred, save one!!!"
"W-what did you say...?!"
Every last one of them dead, save a single survivor. The shock left no one able to speak. And that lone survivor...
"You there!! What in the world happened?! How could mere pirates do this to you all—!"
"Heh... heheh... we're all... going to die, Family Head... heheh... we're all going to die anyway... heeheeheeheehee..."
"!!"
The man muttered like a soul possessed, spouting nonsense. Had one of the pirates been a practitioner of some foul sorcery?
After wrestling with it, Moyong Muung decided to go to Dandong himself.
"This won't do. I will go in person."
"Y-you yourself, Family Head?"
"Yes. I need to see with my own eyes what could kill every martial artist of the Moyong family and leave the sole survivor broken in the mind."
"U-understood! We'll make ready at once!"
He set out for Dandong that very day. Keeping his movements secret against any contingency, he and his retainers arrived, launched a ship at once, and crossed the rough waves toward the pirates' island.
"Aaagh! It's the Moyong!"
"You idiots!! What the hell was the lookout doing?!"
"Ghk—!"
No matter how fierce they fancied themselves, pirates were still pirates. Their base blood showed — they crumbled helplessly before the blades of the Moyong.
And as he cut them down, Moyong Muung thought: These are nothing. So why did the proud martial artists of the Moyong have to die? Why did the sole survivor return with his mind in ruins?
"For the crime of defiling the name of the Moyong family — you will pay in blood, here and now!!!"
"Gah! It's the family head!!"
"Why is the family head here—?!"
"C-call him! Call him right nowww!!!"
Him?
Even as he carved through the pirates, Moyong Muung heard it clearly.
"So someone filled you with this empty confidence, did they?! I'll drag that wretch out myself—!"
"Aigoo... what in the world is all this fuss about."
A hush fell over everything.
In that instant, an overwhelming presence crushed down upon them all — a voice that did not belong to anything of this world. It was not only Moyong Muung who felt it. Every martial artist who had come with him turned and stared at the same figure.
Blue hair. Armor. A man who looked for all the world like a general.
"I gave you a proper warning last time and sent you packing... and yet here you are again. Don't you lot ever think about how much of a pain in the ass you are?"
Eyes the same blue as his hair flashed as he looked them over. The pressure rolling off him felt exactly like a hunter sizing up his prey.