The Third-Rate Warrior Saving the Girl (4)
Namgung Sega, the great family ruling Anhui Province from Hwang Mountain, was always bustling with visitors. High-ranking officials, renowned elders from prestigious sects—they came in droves. This was everyday life for the household staff, so the servants and maids didn't bat an eye. But today was different.
The Murim Alliance's total military strategist had arrived in person.
A skilled steward knew how to gauge a guest's importance and treat them accordingly. But the wine, tea, and refreshments tailored to tastes were stopped at the entrance by the guards.
"They're discussing important matters inside. Come back later."
"Ah, understood."
As the stewards inwardly cursed the guards' ignorance—warm wine and snacks going cold—they overheard from within.
"I gave the academy pass to someone else."
"……."
Namgung San's brow furrowed deeply as he listened. The Iron Sword Sect had dodged the topic, insisting on stopping by Namgung Sega, and now things had come to this.
"Seonhwa possesses skills that rival any promising young talent."
Namgung San spoke with utter confidence. He was the Murim Alliance's Dragon-Phoenix Conference representative and heir to Namgung Sega's next generation. But his opponent saw even that pedigree as insignificant.
"Then she'll pass the entrance exam with ease."
Unable to contain his emotions, Namgung San pressed on.
"You know what people call the Murim entrance exam, don't you?"
Hell Exam. The brutal test to enter the Murim Academy, where hundreds of thousands from across the martial world applied each time, and only five hundred passed.
Namgung San had led his family's retainers through that hell last round, but Namgung Seonhwa wasn't in the same boat.
"Did you entrust the pass to her?"
"……."
Even the mighty Namgung San couldn't help but feel wounded by Jegal Somyeong's words.
"We initially planned to test if she was qualified. We can't give it to someone unworthy."
"Then why couldn't even she take that test?"
"Because the one who took the pass is superior to Seonhwa."
"……."
Rage erupted like a volcano.
Who in Anhui Province could surpass Namgung Seonhwa of Namgung Sega in talent?
"That can't be. You must be mistaken, Total Strategist."
The words slipped out, and he instantly felt the atmosphere shift. His reason, clouded by fury, had led to a grave slip.
"Do I need to convince you?"
"……."
"What reason do I have to persuade you, anyway?"
"…My apologies."
Regret always came too late. By the time he sensed the chill in Jegal Somyeong's gaze, it was far too late.
"Your family's situation worsens by the day, doesn't it? But is there anyone in the martial world who can afford to pity everyone?"
The painful truth stabbed at his chest—a feeling he'd never known in days free of fear or want. Still, he couldn't gamble Seonhwa's life on this bitterness.
"…I apologize. May I ask one thing?"
"Who I gave the pass to?"
He hadn't even finished asking.
It meant Jegal Somyeong already knew his next question and reaction. The head of Mantongbu wasn't a position for just anyone.
"Tae-eul Gate's Jin Sowoon."
Yet he revealed it anyway—proof he wasn't worried about what came next.
"May I take it from him?"
"He seemed planning to pass it on anyway. Do as you like."
Namgung San bowed silently and left the hall.
Once he was gone, Jegal Somyeong grumbled while drafting documents.
"Why the hell do I have to get dragged into this bullshit because of your family's wastrels?"
The room was empty, but he kept talking.
"Keep acting up like this, and I'll burn your Cheonggungdang to the ground."
"Haha, old man. You've climbed high in the Murim Alliance, and now you don't even show your face?"
A white-bearded elder appeared before Jegal Somyeong and sat. It was Namgung Taeha, current head of Namgung Sega.
"You saw it, right? That rotten punk glaring at me and yapping away? I almost gouged out one of his eyes."
"Tch. Can't argue with that."
"Damn it, how many times did I change that brat's diapers…? Should've ripped off his pecker back then."
As Jegal Somyeong's crude words continued, Namgung Taeha's face flushed red.
"Ease up! You old coot! And when did you ever change San's diapers? And talking about ripping off someone else's precious son?!"
"You senile relic! Why do you think I came all the way to Anhui for that unheard-of Iron Sword Sect Lord's sixtieth banquet? You got the nerve to say that to me?!"
"Who asked you to come?! You showed up just to avoid the elders' eyes!"
Like boys not even thirty, the two bickered until they huffed in silence for a while.
"Sangwon and his lot are plotting something, aren't they?"
For Namgung Sega's direct line to fear the entrance exam—it was already a harbinger of major trouble.
"The family is on the verge of splitting in two."
"Haha, you damn old man. What have you been doing all your life holed up at home, unable to handle things?"
"……."
Jegal Somyeong's mockery continued, but Namgung Taeha had no retort.
"Is it really that serious?"
"The collaterals, centered on Sangwon, are starting to act on their own."
"Just call them back into the family."
"Think I haven't tried?"
Namgung Sega strictly divided duties: direct line upheld traditions internally, collaterals managed external affairs. But the balance had tipped—the outer forces now coveted inner power.
"The collaterals are reorganizing around Cheonggung Merchant Group. Now, when we handle family matters, we have to 'ask' the collaterals. 'Ask' them."
"……Ugh."
"Worse, we've lost all channels to know what they're doing outside. Word's already coming in that they're running amok, borrowing Namgung Sega's name here and there. You've heard, right?"
"……I have."
That was why he'd come to Anhui this time.
"Any countermeasures?"
"Working on a counter-form for Cheonggung Mu-ae Sword Method."
"Have you lost your mind?"
The family head attempting to dismantle the sect's signature martial art—the face of Namgung Sega. Even charitably, it was impeachable. If it went wrong, the entire direct line could be slaughtered without recourse.
To prepare such a thing casually—Jegal Somyeong could only shake his head.
"Otherwise, I'd have to stain my own hands with the children's blood."
"……Did you succeed?"
Curiosity as a warrior before strategist. Could a counter-form exist for a profound art like Cheonggung Mu-ae Sword Method?
Namgung Taeha's grim face was answer enough.
"It's layered with the investigators' lifetime experiences. Someone like me can't just whip it up."
"So you're wasting time on a fool's errand?"
"What choice do I have? Got another solution?"
"……."
Even the Murim Alliance's total strategist drew a blank on this crisis.
"See? Even you can't solve it. Who could, if the great Total Strategist can't? All I can do is keep chipping away."
"……Perhaps."
Jegal Somyeong suddenly recalled a face. Sly, brazen, even doubting the strategist to his face—the insolent bastard seemed to hold clear answers. But that calculating nature made him unlikeable.
"……Though the price for his answer might be too steep."
"Who?"
"The one your grandson's chasing."
"Tae-eul Gate's Jin Sowoon? He knows the answer?"
"Doubt it. How could that punk solve what Namgung Sega's head and the Alliance's strategist can't? Still, with his cunning, he might find an escape route."
"Haha, if even your 'bald head' approves, I'd like to meet him."
"You senile old fart, who's bald?!"
"Come on, let's grab a drink. Toss those documents."
"This isn't something to toss! This one paper shifts the entire Alliance power structure…."
"Yeah, yeah, I know you'll sign it anyway. I'll help. Let's go."
"You bastard! Those papers I 'forgot'—you forged my signature, didn't you?!"
The two shrugged off the burdens weighing on their shoulders and moved to lighter pursuits.
# My meticulously laid plan had unraveled from the start.
"We're not hiring guards."
"Then can't I at least stand watch?"
"……Which sect are you from?"
"Tae-eul Gate."
"……Ahem. Sorry. No openings."
Reality remained harsh on Tae-eul Gate. Infiltrating internally to stop the kidnapping was ideal, but announcing, "Your daughter is in danger of abduction," would likely get me treated as a kidnapper or lunatic. Either way, bad for me.
Instead of sneaking in, I sent a threat letter—as if I were the intruder. They'd beef up preparations upon reading it.
I'd have to thwart it externally. But the confidential report only noted the kidnapping and murder—no process details.
"It's from interrogation; no need for the how."
So I scoured my mental archive for related files.
※ Mu -Grade - Mass animal corpses in forest between Hebi and Sohu. Ruled as reckless hunting. Warned hunters.
※ Gi -Grade - Report of theft in slash-and-burn village. Stolen: worn clothes, old crops, etc. No response.
※ Gi -Grade - Report of missing women from slash-and-burn village. Sent branch's 9th-grade warriors; vanished. Investigation closed.
※ Gi -Grade - Several female corpses found in Sohu. Presumed missing from slash-and-burn village. No identifiers; notified villagers. Case closed.
※ Gi -Grade - Beheaded young girl's body in abandoned house near Ye River. Wearing slash-and-burn village clothes, but no claimant. Cremated. Case closed.
From these low-priority Gi- and Mu-grade reports the branch barely cared about, I found traces of Wang Soso.
No body identified as hers, but the Ye River corpse description matched her closely. Hiding key incidents amid trivia was a classic assassin ploy.
My plan started at the slash-and-burn village on the route from Wang Merchant Group to Ye River.
"But why not milk more hostages?"
Wang stronghold to Ye River was just three days. Live hostages were more valuable—why kill immediately?
Wang Geumsan could've been squeezed for his vast wealth.
"Well, that might've exposed them, leading to a messy end."
Cheonggung Merchant Group rode Namgung Sega's back, but Wang was no pushover. Botch it, and military or imperial forces could mobilize.
"Still, if they feared that, why target Wang Merchant Group at all?"
Leaving the question hanging, time passed—and unidentified figures began gathering in Hebi.