The Reason for Trust - 4
Ever since I'd come to know Ha-no, branch head of the Hao Gate's Yangwi Fortress office, I'd met with him every time I visited the city—whether I sought him out or he came looking for me. Over those shared drinks we traded all manner of stories, and in the process I picked up quite a bit of interesting information. Some of it I already knew; some of it I didn't.
One item he'd shared that fell into the former category was the tale of the Emei Sect's defrocked nun—the woman expelled from the sect who had, so the story went, gone on to become a royal chef in the Imperial Palace. It was the kind of story anyone would learn simply by playing through the Emei Sect events.
"....."
I looked at Yo Hwan, the woman at the center of that story. She had averted her eyes, quietly slipping out from under my gaze.
"That must be why she couldn't find work in Cheongho. Am I wrong? And the reason people outside the murim know things only murim folk are supposed to know—just as you said—is because you told them, no?"
Chae Jeok-yo's eyes narrowed. Meeting her frosty expression, I shook my head.
"Even without your story, they could hardly have ignored the Emei Sect's influence. Plenty of murim folk pass through Cheongho, and no small number of them are people who must mind the sect's feelings. So yes—I know full well that innkeepers there hesitated to hire Yo Hwan because they were too busy watching those very people."
"...So the esteemed innkeeper of Seomhwa Village has nothing to be afraid of, then?"
What was there to fear? Not many murim folk came to Seomhwa Village to begin with. And the Hongseong Sect had no particular ties to the Emei Sect. True, Hong Ryeon held a post as a Murim Alliance inspector, but that had little to do with Emei either, so it wouldn't be an issue. Besides, playing through Yo Hwan's event never made you an automatic enemy of the Emei Sect in the first place. There were any number of ways around it.
"What about the Hongseong Sect? They belong to the Murim Alliance too—they can't just brush off the Emei Sect, can they?"
"I'm the one hiring Yo Hwan. It has nothing to do with the Hongseong Sect. My inn isn't a murim faction—what business is it of theirs?"
"...So. You mean to block Moon Watching Pavilion's event, then?"
"Hauling a woman off against her will hardly seems like the business of an orthodox sect."
"Ugh...!!"
Chae Jeok-yo groaned through clenched teeth. I floated this argument and that after it as well, but did I really expect any of it to land? The fact remained: she meant to take Yo Hwan by force.
"You're not after her skills as a royal chef in the first place, are you? You want something else from her entirely."
She flinched.
Chae Jeok-yo, who had been glaring at me with venomous eyes, shuddered.
Bullseye.
It wasn't as if Moon Watching Pavilion lacked royal chefs. To be sure, they might take Yo Hwan in for her medicinal cuisine—but that wasn't what Chae Jeok-yo wanted. No, she meant to get her hands, by whatever means necessary, on the Emei martial arts Yo Hwan knew and was bound by oath never to speak of. Perhaps she even had a way to break that oath.
But the Blade Emperor was a man of immense pride—and he held the Moonlight Blade Technique to be the supreme martial art under heaven. Would he spare even a glance for the Emei Sect's arts? Which meant that everything Chae Jeok-yo was doing now, she was doing for herself and herself alone. With martial arts from a sect of Emei's caliber, merely comparing and analyzing them would be enough to make her stronger.
What she planned to do about the fallout afterward, I couldn't say. That part never appeared in Cheonsang Myeongwol...
Had she trusted in nothing but the pavilion's name and the Blade Emperor? Or in Byeokroemun, the sect that backed her? Even granting all that, this was recklessly thoughtless...
Then again, come to think of it, Cheonsang Myeongwol wasn't entirely without people who ran wild on the strength of their family or sect alone—so I couldn't dismiss that guess either.
In any case, here was what mattered.
I held her gaze as she ground her teeth, and asked:
"Is taking Yo Hwan truly an official event of Moon Watching Pavilion? Choose your words carefully. There are plenty of eyes watching and ears listening here."
If this affair had been planned by Chae Jeok-yo alone and not by Moon Watching Pavilion, then the responsibility for it would be hers alone to bear.
At that mention, the sound of her grinding teeth carried all the way to where I stood, and at last Chae Jeok-yo spun on her heel. But the glare she threw back over her shoulder made one thing plain: this was far from over.
I took Yo Hwan and headed for Cha Mo's inn. Cha Mo seemed rather taken aback by the sight of a sheepish Yo Hwan, but she offered no comment—simply set out tea in silence.
"...Is this really all right?"
There was no strength left in that husky voice. Yo Hwan, fiddling with her teacup, was forcing a smile. Faced with an expression so heavy with regret, pain, and apology, I quietly slid my tobacco case back where it belonged.
"I told you, didn't I? I merely needed someone who could cook medicinal cuisine."
"I..."
"Then stay here a while. There's somewhere I need to go."
Yo Hwan was settled—now it was time to see to the magistrate's request. I called to mind the talisman master he'd spoken of, a woman named Chang Ju. Even in Cheonsang Myeongwol, I'd at least heard the name. I remembered that when buying talismans in the game, a few talisman masters had remarked that the One-Horned Ghost, Chang Ju, drew a truly fine talisman.
Of course, our scenario had never included recruiting Chang Ju. It amounted to nothing more than: have one person skilled with talismans stay in Seomhwa Village. That was all. Even so, someone like her would be more than enough help. And since the magistrate had extended the invitation, her wages would come from the government office—no burden on us at all.
"...Where are we going?"
"To fetch someone. A woman called Chang Ju. They say she's a skilled talisman master."
"...Chang Ju? You don't mean the One-Horned Ghost, Chang Ju?"
"Oh? You know her?"
"Of course I do."
The older woman broke into the same confident smile she'd worn the day we first met.
"She lives right next door to me."
Wherever people live, the same truths hold—and even here, beside the beautiful lake of Cheongho, the gulf between rich and poor was unmistakably real. By the time we had walked well beyond the bustling streets radiating out from Moon Watching Pavilion, the buildings had begun to look decidedly shabby.
Squelching along the mud-caked road, Yo Hwan kept stealing glances our way. No—to be precise, at Chae Jin, who walked beside me.
"What are you staring at?"
"...Nothing."
From the moment they'd first met, Yo Hwan had been subtly keeping her distance from Chae Jin. I might have missed it without watching closely, but I'd already picked up on it. They would be together for some time yet, and if this went on, things would grow uncomfortable for them both. Even Chae Jin couldn't fail to notice someone so openly avoiding her.
Or perhaps she already knew.
"Miss Chae is—"
"...Hm?"
"She is not the kind of person you seem to think she is."
The kind, say, who would take what she wanted by force for her own gain—murim folk like Chae Jeok-yo. As far as I knew, Chae Jin was nothing of the sort.
"If you find it hard to trust Miss Chae, then trust me. I am your employer."
"Ha. And you haven't even paid me a single coin yet?"
With that, she lapsed back into her trademark husky drawl—and then burst out laughing. She seemed in somewhat better spirits than before, at least. When she struck out ahead with noticeably lighter steps, Chae Jin gave the hem of my sleeve a little tug.
"Th-that... um. Thank you. For trusting me."
"I already told you, didn't I? That I trust you."
"...I just wanted to hear it one more time."
She flicked her tongue out in a playful grin and scurried ahead with quick little steps—no doubt because she'd spotted Yo Hwan standing frozen in front of a shabby house. By the time I caught up with them, Yo Hwan was already knocking at the door.
"Hey! It's me! You home?!"
"Ugh... what now."
The voice from within was thick with sleep. Beyond the opened door appeared a solidly built woman with a thoroughly ordinary face. Around Hong Ryeon's and Chae Jin's age, perhaps? With a scar by her eye, she scowled, still only half-awake, then grumbled:
"What is it, dragging me out at the crack of dawn?"
"...Crack of dawn?"
The sun sat high in the sky. When I gave her an incredulous look, she swept her gaze over me from head to toe and tilted her head.
"A... customer?"
"I've come with an introduction from the magistrate of Seomhwa Village. My name is Yu Wol, innkeeper of Seomhwa Village."
"The Seomhwa magistrate...? Oh! That fellow? He should have told you already—I've no taste for being tied down to work in one place."
"Even so, I'd ask you to at least hear me out."
I'd come up with plenty of ways to win Chang Ju over during the walk here. All right. Now was the moment for my powers of persuasion to shine at last.
O Elder Seo Hui, who reclaimed the Six Garrison Lands of Gangdong with his three-inch tongue—lend me your strength!
"Heh heh. Want to hire me? Then go persuade that granny over there first. Not that it'll be easy. You know who she is, don't you? She served as a royal chef in the Imperial Palace, no less. She'd be far more useful than some drifter like me. Get that old lady hired, and I'll come along too!"
Was she trying to divert the attention onto Yo Hwan? Chang Ju smirked—and Chae Jin beside her beamed brightly.
"Then you can simply come along! This royal chef has already agreed to join us."
"...What?"
Chang Ju's eyes went wide, and the persuasion I'd so carefully prepared proved unnecessary.
...
Still—thank you, Elder Seo Hui!
Grumbling all the while, Chang Ju kept her word—after all, one mouth can hardly say two different things. When she emerged with her belongings packed and saw Yo Hwan genuinely packing up as well, she looked utterly dumbfounded, flustered as though her own gambit had backfired spectacularly. By the time I'd led her back to Cha Mo's inn, the sun was beginning to sink.
All right. It was time to decide.
If we stayed here, Chae Jeok-yo would certainly attack. It had been that way in Cheonsang Myeongwol, and a woman who'd stormed off in such a state was hardly going to sit quietly. So slipping away quickly was one option. Once we boarded the official post carriage, she would find it difficult to give chase—flight posed no real problem either.
But considering Chae Jin, it might be better to see this through to the end right here.
Chae Jin wished to keep her seat as eldest disciple and, in time, to succeed the Blade Emperor as head of Moon Watching Pavilion—and every other inner disciple wanted the very same. Which meant that all of the pavilion's inner disciples were, in effect, rivals. Among them, Chae Jeok-yo—who schemed through politics and used her faction to slyly devour Chae Jin's position bite by bite—was a particularly grating enemy. Seize this opportunity, and we could stop her from striking at Chae Jin. Push a little further, and we might drive her out altogether.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
I looked at Chae Jin. Gazing at the ever-optimistic woman as she smiled serenely, I asked without preamble:
"Do you want to become the head of Moon Watching Pavilion?"
"Hm? Well, of course."
"Then you make the choice."
I laid out my thinking, and Chae Jin groaned, eyes closed, before asking:
"And what do you think, Innkeeper?"
"Both have their merits and their faults, but I find myself leaning toward the latter. The trouble is, Miss Chae, that then you would be the one who has to fight Chae Jeok-yo..."
Everything else posed no problem. I'd heard on the way over that Chang Ju, too, had grown up in the army and could more than hold her own in a scrap. Yo Hwan said she could protect her own person well enough. And if things turned truly dangerous, we could set off the official warning flare the magistrate had given us and summon Cheongho's government troops. Surely no one would stir up trouble right before the soldiers' eyes.
The only other concern was that, being weaker than any of them, I might find myself in danger... but that much I was prepared to accept.
"You don't think I'd lose to Chae Jeok-yo, do you?"
"Not for a second."
Even before she had attained Moonlight Flash, Chae Jin could have beaten Chae Jeok-yo. Now that she'd grown stronger still, there was no question at all. So I answered flatly, and she burst into that trademark, confidence-drenched laughter of hers.
"Ahahaha! Then I simply can't betray that trust, can I? Let's rest a day and set out after. I'm fine with that. In the meantime, shall we go out and have a look around? Cheongho has plenty to see even after dark."
Her decision came fast—and if so, there was no reason to hesitate.
"Sounds good. I had gifts to buy anyway. Then as for today's training—"
"Obviously we train before we go."
In the end, only after finishing our training behind the inn was I finally able to head out with Chae Jin.
The town that had grown up around Cheongho offered plenty to see. What caught my interest in particular were the bolts of cloth for garment-making—quite a few varieties I'd rarely seen in either Seomhwa Village or Yangwi Fortress. This fabric. Wouldn't it be perfect for crafting sachets later on? Imagine it—a limited-edition special release for a special occasion...
"What are you looking at so hard?"
"Nothing at all. Ah—and I'd like to buy some gifts while we're out. Do you know a good shop?"
"That would be Taehwa Emporium over there. They carry Cheongho's local specialties too, so it's the best there is."
With that, Chae Jin led the way. Taehwa Emporium sold a truly impressive array of goods—enough to justify her confidence. And with so many goods came crowds of people, among them no small number of murim folk bearing weapons. One girl among them, a great saber slung across her back, was someone even I recognized by sight.
Eyes round as saucers, she looked back and forth between Chae Jin and me, then began tilting her head. She kept sneaking glances our way right up until she left with her companions, and the moment our eyes met she hastily pretended otherwise—but she'd been caught already, so what was the use.
"...That's Paeng Hui-seo. She's a friend of Ryeon's."
I knew that already. She was a girl who appeared often in the main storylines of Chae Ryeon, Sa Yun, and Yura—another of the game's protagonists.
"If that girl is here... then Ryeon really is at Moon Watching Pavilion, isn't she."
"Is that so? Then shouldn't we go and see her? It's been a long while since you two last met."
"Well. I'm sure she's managing just fine on her own! Come on, then—let's hurry and pick out what we're buying!"
Looking somehow a touch downcast, she forced a cheerful note into her voice and helped me choose the gifts: something for the magistrate, something for the village chief, something for the girls working at the inn. And something for the Hongseong Sect. When it came to presents for the Hongseong folk, Chae Jin looked a bit disgruntled—but she couldn't stop me all the same.
By the time I returned to the inn with an armful of gifts, the sun had set and night had fallen without my noticing.
"I'll need to stop by Moon Watching Pavilion briefly before we leave tomorrow morning. There's something I have to fetch."
"Is that so?"
Chae Jin tossed out the remark as I came downstairs—having stowed my luggage in the room arranged at Cha Mo's inn—and joined Yo Hwan and Chang Ju over drinks. Even when Yo Hwan pointed out that she might as well go now if that was the case, Chae Jin only repeated that it would be a quick in-and-out visit.
And so we were sipping our drinks in the quiet inn when—perhaps because I'd given her warning before we went out earlier—Chang Ju remarked with utter indifference:
"There's some unsavory killing intent drifting about out there."
"They did say you were army-bred—you're sharp. Any idea who it might be?"
Chae Jin had already caught on. As her hand drifted toward the sheathed saber at her side, I lowered the hand holding my cup.
"Who else could it be?"
Black-clad men came storming into the inn. Chae Jin studied their faces and sighed.
"Thankfully, they're not Moon Watching Pavilion's own warriors. Hired separately, are they? Or else..."
They could well be fighters Byeokroemun had prepared on the side. Either way, their skill didn't look especially impressive. Which meant this affair, just as in Cheonsang Myeongwol, was most likely Chae Jeok-yo deciding and moving on her own...
I set down my cup and rose to my feet.
"Miss Chae. I'll manage to look after myself somehow, so—"
"Aw, don't worry. I'll protect you, Innkeeper. That's what a bodyguard is for, no?"
Chae Jin flashed her usual overconfident, insolent grin, and I nodded.
"Then I'm in your hands. Now—let's begin."
Scarcely had my words fallen before Chae Jin's saber cleared its sheath—and with that, the black-clad men came surging in. Even so, facing numbers that far outnumbered us, I didn't feel particularly afraid.