In Order to Prepare - 1
It was about time I paid that visit to Yangwi Fortress. The Cheonghoe Merchant Guild had sent word asking me to come, and besides, I needed to get my hands on the new iron.
Of course, I could have sent someone in my stead, but I wanted to meet Cheon Il-hwa in person—and if fortune allowed, to secure the services of the likes of Gi Noya or Wi Yeol against any eventuality.
After all, considering what I had done for them this time around... even if they wouldn't send two the way they had before, surely they could spare at least one?
If things went well, I figured Gi Noya himself might come. Chae Jin had met him a while back and passed along word about Yohwan, after all. And a man as fond of good drink and good food as Gi Noya would play the reluctant guest and come running the moment an invitation landed in his lap.
"So. When are you planning to leave?"
As I'd mentioned before, this time both Chae Jin and Hong Ryeon would be making the trip. I had brought it up to Chae Jin over a shared meal, and she'd nodded as though it were hardly worth noting.
"I intend to depart tomorrow. I sent someone to Hongseong Sect yesterday to ask, and it seems Hong Ryeon will be free for the next several days."
"I see. You know, for a man as busy as you claim to be, you're strangely diligent. Aren't you?"
"It isn't strange diligence—it's simply as it should be. I'm doing the work that falls to me."
"Hm. Then I suppose I'd better do the work that falls to me as well. Straight into training after lunch, yes? I'm planning to drill my Geumnasu properly today, so feel free to look forward to it."
"Come now, go a little easy on me, would you?"
"I'm plenty easy on you already!"
Just as Chae Jin cried this out with a bright laugh, Yohwan emerged from the back kitchen, a plate in her hands.
"What's this?"
"Threw something simple together. Give it a taste."
What Yohwan held out was one of her medicinal dishes—a dish called Bul-hokjam that granted a modest boost to one's stamina when eaten. Made solely from vegetables like bamboo shoots and lotus root, it was temple fare through and through, and perhaps that was why Chae Jin looked less than thrilled. Even so, in Cheonsang Myeongwol this was one of the more efficient dishes around.
"Bul-hokjam, is it?"
"Oh, so you know it. That's right. It's a dish that does wonders for the body..."
I dug into the Bul-hokjam at once. The texture of the bamboo shoots and lotus root was quite pleasant. The moment I finished, Chae Jin leaned in and asked expectantly,
"Well? How is it?"
"Yohwan's cooking speaks for itself."
"Heh. It replenishes the vital ki and blood and raises your stamina, so eat it often while you still can. And... you said you're heading to Yangwi Fortress, didn't you? Then there are some ingredients I'd like you to bring back."
"Things we can't get around here?"
"Ah, they grow only in that region. I need Palhongcho and Giugak. Get a generous amount of both. The Cheonghoe Merchant Guild will likely stock them. They turn up in medicinal cuisine all the time, so buy plenty."
Would it be better, then, to simply arrange regular deliveries from the guild outright?
When I visited the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild this time, I would have to expand the list of goods Cheon Il-hwa supplied us.
"If there's anything else you need on a regular basis, tell me. I'll set up standing deliveries."
"Oh? Even things from beyond Yangwi Fortress's surroundings? Then I'll write up a list for you."
If Yohwan could procure her ingredients with less trouble, the medicinal dishes would come all the more easily. And while I was at it, why not take over Chang Ju's supply line as well?
I turned the idea over between sips of tea, while Chae Jin tilted her head, then rose from her seat.
"All right, I'm full, so let's start wrapping things up."
"Let's."
And so, after finishing my training with Chae Jin, I went to see Chang Ju. She, too, turned out to have materials she wanted delivered on a regular basis. The magistrate had already been meaning to entrust material supply to me, so I sought him out as well, and we signed contracts covering the new iron and the supply of materials.
"Is it because Seomhwachon keeps flourishing? My workload certainly keeps growing."
"Mm. I'd say so."
"Then wouldn't it be better to establish a proper merchant guild of your own?"
"I've no thought of that yet."
"Why not?"
"If I were to run a guild, I'd sooner draw the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild here instead."
Had the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild been an ordinary merchant house, or a sect of the martial world, I might have felt some reluctance. But their true identity was the imperial army. In other words, however warmly we got along, they were hardly the type to seek to grow their influence within Seomhwachon.
If anything, joining hands with them could only help bring my goals—and our scenario—to completion.
My judgment was that with so much already demanding my attention, there was no need to run a guild on top of it all. If I ever did, it would be wiser to wait and see how matters stood next year.
"Fair enough. They're government, after all..."
"Just so."
Chae Jin seemed convinced by my explanation. With a small nod, she stretched out her long legs and strode along as she spoke.
"Then I suppose you'll be visiting Yangwi Fortress often?"
"I imagine so, for a while at least. It'll be hard work for you, Young Lady Chae."
"Fufu. Just what I was hoping for."
The next morning.
I was readying the cart when I felt a finger poke my shoulder. The moment I turned my head toward it, something brushed against my cheek as well.
Long fingers.
"Good morning!"
It was the red-haired beauty smiling radiantly—Hong Ryeon, dressed in a Hongseong Sect disciple's garb. She waggled the small bundle in her hand at me, and I nodded.
"Welcome. You're joining us despite your busy schedule—my thanks."
"Not at all. This is Hongseong Sect business too, isn't it? Although... isn't someone missing? Is she not coming?"
"Who said anything about not coming?"
At the voice drifting out from inside, Hong Ryeon glanced back. Chae Jin emerged to meet her gaze and loaded her luggage onto the cart.
"And here I thought you wouldn't make it, hearing how busy you were."
"Fufufu. Of course I'd come. It's our business, isn't it?"
"Our?"
"Mm. Ours. Hongseong Sect's business and the innkeeper's. Naturally the ones representing them have to move, no? Besides, your master seems to be in a better mood these days, so all the more reason to go."
The Sword Saint's mood had lifted? I looked at Hong Ryeon, and she shrugged.
"She went off on a little trip a few days ago, and she's seemed much better since. She hardly has nightmares anymore, either."
Well, that was a relief. If our greatest asset were to waver, the unease would have been considerable.
Still, I couldn't afford to simply rest easy. I would have to keep searching for ways to help her.
"There's quite a lot to do at the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild this trip. I'd love for you both to rest, but I'm afraid that won't be easy. I'll be covering the travel expenses, of course. Any objections?"
"None whatsoever."
Hong Ryeon and Chae Jin, who had been locking eyes with each other, answered in perfect unison.
Good enough for me.
I climbed onto the driver's seat of the cart and took up the reins.
"Then let's be off."
The road from Seomhwachon to Yangwi Fortress was hardly complicated, but neither could it be called entirely safe.
Even in Cheonsang Myeongwol, travelers ran into demon beasts or bandits often enough on the move; there was nothing unusual about it.
"Whew."
Chae Jin exhaled low and gave her saber a light flourish. Black blood flecked from the blade and spattered the dirt, and along the roadside, the pack of corpse wolves that had been prowling there lay toppled.
Having swiftly dispatched the five corpse wolves, she strolled back at her leisure and climbed into the back of the cart.
"Who knew we'd run into demon beasts the moment we left Seomhwachon's territory? It wasn't like this last time."
True enough—on my last trip with Chae Jin, we hadn't met a single beast. I nodded, drew a dagger, and set about harvesting fangs and claws from the carcasses.
The fangs and claws of corpse wolves were among the very materials Chang Ju had requested. Processed properly, they could serve as talisman components—which meant one less unnecessary expense.
"Thanks to this, we've picked up fine materials for Chang Ju. A stroke of luck."
"We didn't meet any demon beasts last time, did we? Fufu. So are we just lucky this time, I wonder?"
Hong Ryeon, who had followed along to help, added her own remark. Lucky it certainly was.
I hadn't expected corpse wolves to show up around here, after all.
With the harvesting done and the carcasses flung to the far side of the road, we climbed back onto the cart.
"It seems the demon beasts have been growing more numerous lately. The missive from the Murim Alliance mentioned as much."
The reason for the increase was simple enough.
The Iron Blood Dan had begun operating in earnest, and turmoil was springing up across the land.
Of course, apart from the affair with Hongseong Sect, they had yet to step into the open—but even so, the chaos they sowed from beneath the surface was nothing to be dismissed.
"And on top of that, it seems the Murim Alliance has begun investigating the Iron Blood Dan..."
"Say what?"
Chae Jin hadn't known either, it seemed, and asked with evident curiosity. Hong Ryeon nodded gravely and relayed the contents of the Murim Alliance missive that had arrived some days before.
"You know how there are other places where spiritual energy gathers, besides Mount Hongseong? Apparently there have been attacks on some of them. Most were fought off, but a few..."
"Tsk. What in the world are those bastards playing at? If they've got that kind of strength, they should go enlist."
"Haha. General Cheon would be delighted to hear that. So? Which places were hit?"
"To-il Hall, the shrine honoring the earth god in Toyang County, and the Rock Hermitage in Cheongse County. Neither had anyone of real strength guarding them, so both were destroyed..."
"I see."
"So the Murim Alliance is dispatching martial artists to defend the places where spiritual energy gathers."
"You're not going?"
At Chae Jin's question, Hong Ryeon flashed a grin.
"Mount Hongseong is one of those places, so where exactly would I go? The Alliance even told me to stay put for the time being. What about you, though? Isn't Cheongho one of them too?"
"The Moon Lotus Pavilion is there. You think anything happens just because one of me is missing? Besides, I have to protect the innkeeper, don't I?"
"My, my. You could always leave that to me."
"Oh, come off it~. You're busy enough as it is—how could I leave him with you? I'll look after the innkeeper myself, so you just keep Mount Hongseong safe, Eldest Disciple of Hongseong Sect."
Listening to Hong Ryeon and Chae Jin trade jabs, I swayed the reins. That the Iron Blood Dan was assaulting and destroying the places where spiritual energy gathered meant one thing: they had not yet given up on Mount Hongseong and the rest.
Tsk. If they were the type holed up in a single den, they could at least have scraped together their strongmen by any means necessary and launched a proper assault.
But the Iron Blood Dan moved without any fixed lair, so even that was impossible...
"So in the end, it's a game of whack-a-mole."
"Well, nothing to be done about that."
At Hong Ryeon's dry voice, I shrugged.
If it was mole-catching they wanted... then all I could do was catch them diligently.
By the time we drove the cart into Yangwi Fortress, the sun was lazily sinking toward the horizon. We passed through the fortress glowing red in the afterglow, made our way along the familiar streets, and upon reaching Cheonghoeru, found a man standing out front.
"Oh~! Been keeping well, I trust?"
It was Ha-no.
He came sidling up with a bottle in one hand and a smirk on his face, then tilted his head at the sight of the two women seated in the cart.
"Chae Jin the Moonlight Blade, Eldest Disciple of the Moon Lotus Pavilion, and Hong Ryeon the Sun-Falling Sword, Eldest Disciple of Hongseong Sect. What reason brings you all this way with two such masters in tow? Don't tell me you've come to take over Yangwi Fortress?"
"What nonsense is that?"
"Heh. A joke, just a joke. And well met, really—I was just about to send you a letter."
"You have something to tell me?"
He nodded.
"Sooner or later, the New Four Black Lotus Alliance will be on the move. And..."
"......"
"The places they have in their sights. Seomhwachon lies along one of the alliance's routes of advance. You'd best prepare, just in case."
Unlike his usual self, Ha-no's words were grave to the very bone. I nodded.
So the closing stage of Chapter 1 was drawing near.
"I want to hear everything. In detail."
"Then let's talk in the usual place."