Eight Corners Society (3)
Eight Corners Society (3)
When I stepped out of the lodging, the stars were dim.
I turned my head to the side. A blonde woman sat in a chair, staring into empty space. Hwang Ryong-seong's humming drifted out from inside the room. I approached her and spoke.
"You've been through a great deal."
Was her name Eun Ho-seol? Despite her elegant name, her striking features stood out even more up close. Her eyes were fierce—hard to believe for someone said to be Hwang Ryong-seong's captive—and against her white skin, her lips and blue eyes were stark, giving her an alien air that felt out of place in the lavish mansion. She moved only her eyes to look at me, then spoke in a hard tone.
"...Get lost."
"How very cold."
At my words, her expression soured further. She glanced toward the mansion for a moment, then lowered her voice and spoke.
"...Just because you're that man's guest, you think I'm easy prey? If you don't leave, I'll call him. That man."
Her language was clumsy, but her meaning was perfectly clear. In fact, her clipped, decisive delivery made it even more chilling. But if I shrank away here, I'd only be remembered as some ordinary scoundrel. I raised the corners of my mouth and replied.
"I've never seen you as easy prey. I'm a man who raised my clan through sheer strength. The desire to make your house's name resound, by any means necessary, is the same for both of us. Perhaps we're in similar circumstances."
At the mention of similar circumstances, Eun Ho-seol's eyes creased. She sank into thought for a moment, puzzling over what was similar, then twisted her lips again and spoke.
"Bullshit."
Hwang Ryong-seong's humming still echoed out. But if the exchange went on too long, the bastard might come out to check the situation. I bowed my head in greeting and said.
"Next time, tell me about the North Sea Ice Palace."
And without waiting for an answer, I turned and left. Eun Ho-seol, who had been about to say something, watched me walk away with wide eyes, tilted her head for a moment, then sat back in her chair and stared into empty space. I waved the martial arts manual about in my hand, tucked it back inside my chest pocket, and ran back to my lodging.
******
"...So you accepted the martial arts manual."
Zhuge Yeong-yu scanned the cover of the Heavenly Dragon Axe Technique with a displeased look. He was only reading the title, yet his expression suggested he'd stumbled upon a demonic manual. Puzzled, I replied.
"I had no choice. If I'd refused to take it, my relationship with Hwang Ryong-seong would have been over, wouldn't it? Now that I know he's truly dangerous, I actually need to get closer to him."
It really was unavoidable. Even if I'd said I would think about it, refusing his so-called generosity in front of a man who acted so carefree would have ended any chance of a normal conversation afterwards. And since my realm was inferior to his, staying close to him was far better for finding an opening than making him an enemy.
"...Still, if you needed martial arts, I could have just gone to the Murim Alliance archive and gotten you one."
But the reason Zhuge Yeong-yu was upset was a little strange. He wasn't angry that I'd accepted a gift to get closer to Hwang Ryong-seong. It seemed to sting that Hwang Ryong-seong had been the first to give me a martial arts manual to learn.
"He'd have gotten it from the Murim Alliance archive too, so doesn't that just save you the trouble?"
Since no sect the bastard might serve under used hand axes as a primary weapon, the manual's source would be the same. If Zhuge Yeong-yu had gone to the archive, he'd probably have brought back the exact same skill.
"...Even so, if you'd only told me, I would have picked out something decent from the archive myself. I could have read it first and helped you, or it would have been nice to personally teach you the various stances."
Zhuge Yeong-yu spoke with a genuinely regretful expression. No matter how much he showed the side of a scholar brimming with academic curiosity, his true nature was that of a martial artist and a Peak Realm master. It seemed he was displeased that a martial artist close to him would grow stronger through another man's advice instead of his own.
Even his pouting lips, sticking out like a duck's beak, made him seem childlike. Before he could cling to the topic of martial arts any further, I hurriedly changed the subject.
"Anyway, I told him I would consider it. It wasn't something I could answer lightly, so Hwang Ryong-seong didn't press me on the spot either. I thought that if I'd immediately brought up betraying you, great hero, you might have felt a bit hurt."
At those words, Zhuge Yeong-yu looked at me, cleared his throat awkwardly, and averted his eyes. Then, with the corner of his mouth twitching, he spoke.
"No, well, you didn't have to think that far. Th-this... for now, thank you."
Sometimes I thought that Zhuge Yeong-yu was surprisingly easy to handle. A grown man who had reached the Peak Realm had a strangely girlish side in many ways. Prod him a little, throw out the kind of hints you'd use on a woman, and he'd flop around, hooked like a fish on a line. I set aside those pointless thoughts and asked.
"So, great hero. How should I proceed? The best move is to declare I'm going over to Hwang Ryong-seong, then relay information to you from the outside while waiting for an opportunity. But isn't this the kind of operation that's only possible if we trust each other?"
Pretend to betray him, share information, and look for an opening.
Saying it was easy, but it was a surprisingly difficult art. Hwang Ryong-seong's terms were far too generous, while Zhuge Yeong-yu could only offer me honor in return. The Zhuge family and the imperial household wouldn't likely cast me aside, but could the Embroidered Uniform Guard truly trust me? Amid all the maneuvering, could Zhuge Yeong-yu see this operation through without testing my loyalty?
My question was simple.
And Zhuge Yeong-yu answered me with a smile even simpler than that. He was a man who quickly grasped the intent behind a question.
"I trust you, great hero."
There was no need to ask again. If Zhuge Yeong-yu trusted me, I intended to proceed with the plan as it was. Because for me, there was no option of crawling under Hwang Ryong-seong anyway. No matter how sweet the reward, you can't live your whole life as a snake's tail.
Even if I couldn't be the dragon's head, I wouldn't be satisfied until I'd hacked the snake in front of me to pieces and left them behind.
That was the kind of bastard I was.
"By the way, how do you plan to extract information from the inside? Mastering the Heavenly Dragon Axe Technique is all well and good, but I don't see Hwang Ryong-seong leaking information to just anyone."
I spoke.
"Did you know that Hwang Ryong-seong's wife is from the North Sea Ice Palace?"
"Hmm?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu's expression flickered oddly. He tilted his head as if deep in thought, then shifted again. Glaring at me with furrowed brows, he rubbed his chin, steadied his breathing, and asked this.
"...I trust that isn't the case."
"Which part exactly do you trust isn't the case? She's a married woman. She's a beauty. I'm going to seduce her. All of it is correct."
When I confirmed his half-guessed suspicions, Zhuge Yeong-yu slammed his palm on the desk and shouted.
"No, no! That's just wrong! Ah, you already have so many wives! And it hasn't even been long since you declared your marriage, yet you plan to make advances on another man's woman! It's de-depraved conduct!"
His tone sounded oddly frantic. Sometimes, when it came to matters of women, his reason seemed to fly out the window. Considering his looks and the rumors that he was a regular at the pleasure houses, his own history with women was likely no small thing—so why the hell was he like this toward me? On top of that, at the mention of touching Hwang Ryong-seong's wife, the word that jumped out of his mouth first wasn't 'dangerous' but 'depraved.'
What the hell was a bastard who held a special premium grade at the Hubei Province pleasure houses going on about?
"Of course it's a dangerous move, but he isn't the kind of opponent you can beat only by taking the safe path, is he?"
"No, I mean, that's true but...."
Zhuge Yeong-yu rolled his eyes, searching for something to say. But no matter how much he racked his brain, no rebuttal would come. It was true we had no separate inside informant, and even if it was a dangerous move, I couldn't see any other way to win unless we resorted to something like this.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure I don't get caught."
Zhuge Yeong-yu looked at me with a complicated expression. Then he frowned, rubbed his face with both palms, and with a sigh slumped back into his seat. The chair rattled, and Yeong-yu looked up at me and said.
"...Be careful. I trust you, but at times like this, you're just not very trustworthy...."
His voice was deflated. I nodded to him and spoke.
"In matters of women, who in this world can best me?"
Hwang Ryong-seong was a master of considerable skill. On top of that, he had the Murim Alliance backing him, so ordinary battles of public opinion couldn't even scratch him.
I had to avoid the bastard's eyes while seducing his wife, and at the same time get into his good graces. Fulfill both those conditions, climb into the closest position, lay hands on critical information, and create the one fatal blow that would tear him down.
Getting close to him wasn't that difficult. I now had the Heavenly Dragon Axe Technique, the martial art he'd given me, and now that I'd supposedly chosen Hwang Ryong-seong's side over the Zhuge family, it wouldn't be strange at all to drop by frequently under the pretext of seeking his advice.
And under that pretext, I'd come and go from his mansion and seduce Hwang Ryong-seong's wife.
I'd slowly make his wife mine, extract inside information, and then smash the back of the bastard's head in to take everything from him.
"First, gather information on the North Sea Ice Palace."
So what mattered right now wasn't information on Hwang Ryong-seong.
Information on Hwang Ryong-seong's wife, Eun Ho-seol, and the North Sea Ice Palace—that was what mattered.