In Order to Prepare - 4
The moment we returned to Cheonghoeru, Cheon Il-hwa summoned us. Upstairs, we found the preparations for dispatching his troops already complete. A fresh force matching the elite soldiers first raised against the Demonic Cult in number — better equipped, at that — would surely be a tremendous help to the Magistrate who would lead them.
...It would work out, right? For this part, I'd simply have to trust our dependable Magistrate.
"I feel rather sorry for using Seomhwachon as a shield, you know. Still, you could say I've given nearly everything I have to give..."
"It's your own escort that worries me, General Cheon."
"Haha. I happen to be a master of the Cheon Family Spear Technique. And I've elite troops to spare besides, so worry not."
The Cheon Family Spear Technique was one of the imperial martial arts. A master of that overbearing, destructive spear art, he said, could at the very least keep his own person intact. And beyond Gi Noya and Wi Yeol, he claimed there were others watching over him from the shadows — so there was no need to fret on his account.
"I pray you see this crisis through safely."
"That is my hope as well."
After all, if Seomhwachon fell, I'd be the one left with the headache.
Having finished my talk with Cheon Il-hwa, I stepped outside — and spotting four people by the door deep in conversation, their faces grave, I wandered over, curious.
"What's the matter?"
"Ah, Innkeeper. I heard it from Gi Noya. He says the unorthodox sects are moving in ways that are anything but ordinary right now?"
She'd caught the outline from Ha-no earlier; now, with the full details from Gi Noya piled on top, worry had crept onto her face. As Hong Ryeon spoke with a grave expression, I gave a shrug.
Was there anything serious enough to warrant her worry? No.
"We can hold them off well enough."
Hadn't we been racing ourselves ragged all this time for precisely that?
"Even so..."
"There's no need for Hongseong Sect to carry every worry and solve every problem."
Right. We couldn't pile everything onto Hongseong Sect alone — and we shouldn't. The strength they wielded was formidable, to be sure, but they numbered barely twenty. And if the worst came to pass, the Sword Saint would have to contend with the Iron Blood Restriction and the New Four Black Lotus Alliance Leader at the same time. Neither would be her equal, perhaps, but both were formidable in their own right; facing those two at once would already mean the Sword Saint had done everything within her power.
Then what of the rest of the unorthodox sects? The Iron Blood Dan operatives they'd drag along behind them? The sell-swords they might have bought? However mighty Hong Ryeon was — a master bearing the epithet Sun-Falling Sword — could the Hongseong Sect under her command hold back that tide alone? One pair of hands could not hold off ten. The backing, then, had to come from our side. Wasn't that exactly what the scenario we'd agonized over was built for?
I gave Hong Ryeon's shoulder a reassuring pat.
"Seomhwachon will not fall — and it will never suffer any great harm."
"...You really are always so sure of yourself."
"Hongseong Sect stands with us, the Moonlight Blade is at our side, and Gi Noya and Wi Yeol will fight alongside us. Beyond that, there are the soldiers General Cheon is sending, and the Magistrate and his men of Seomhwachon are laboring over the defenses as we speak. When you weigh all of that—"
I said it without a sliver of doubt.
"We will clear this crisis for all the world to see."
Yes. We had to get past at least this much. With all the hills still waiting ahead of us, collapsing at a rise this small was hardly an option.
Hong Ryeon, at a loss for words, simply gazed at me — and I smiled back.
"In any case, it seems our business here is finished. You must be tired, but we ought to head back quickly. I'll repay this debt in full, next time."
I folded my hands in a cupped-fist salute and bowed to Hong Ryeon and Chae Jin, and the two of them accepted. Thank heavens for people you could reason with.
"Gi Noya, Wi Yeol — let's travel together, since we're headed the same way."
"Aye, let's."
"Very well."
Leaving Cheonghoeru behind, we gathered the goods Yo Hwan and Chang Ju needed, along with fine iron for the Sword Workshop, and set out at once for Seomhwachon. Perhaps it was the extra people and baggage, but with our pace slowed, a gang of bandits ambushed us along the road — and from behind us came strange shrieks and a deep rumbling of the earth.
Bandits and demonic beasts, attacking at the same time.
"Heeheehee! Everything you've got is min—"
—Swish!
Of course, they never stood a chance. How many masters were riding in this cart? Gi Noya merely gave his hand a light flick; his silver thread flashed, and the bandit chief at the rear lost his head on the spot. In the same breath, Wi Yeol snatched up his spear and charged out, while Hong Ryeon vaulted down from the back seat to meet the beasts rushing in.
"So that's the silver thread I've only heard tell of. The Heavenly Net?"
Gi Noya's signature weapon, that silver thread, grew as keen as any blade when infused with internal energy — its cutting power formidable, and it made for excellent traps besides. The reason I had pulled out all the stops to bring Gi Noya into this was that very silver thread. Truth be told, I'd tried to get my hands on some myself, but it was only sold in the Northern Region...
"That's right. This is the Heavenly Net, woven from Heavenly Silkworm silver thread that can only be harvested at the Heavenly Silkworm Treasury in the North. It's fairly well known up there, but hardly anyone down here has heard of it."
That figured. With the beasts pressing in, only those with high-level martial arts, soldiers, or officials could come and go from the North anyway.
"Then why did you come down here from the North, Gi Noya?"
At Chae Jin's curious question, Gi Noya chuckled low. True to his love of drink and good gossip, he seemed to have no intention of hiding a thing. Sipping the liquor he'd brought from Cheonghoeru, he began his tale.
"I was making my living as a hunter up in the North, see. Heh heh. My lord came and saved this old hide of mine. Then he asked me to come along with him."
"Your lord — you mean General Cheon?"
"The very same. In his younger days he was quite the sight. Him and General Cheon, and that young whelp over there — we went about toppling every villain worth the name."
Chae Jin listened with evident delight as the old master, once famed throughout the murim, unspooled his glory days. Then Wi Yeol came back from finishing off the bandits, his features twisted in a scowl.
"More than half of what that old man says is bluster. Don't take it to heart."
"Why, you little—!"
And off they went again, bickering. Meanwhile, Hong Ryeon — returned from dispatching the Flying Head Fiends and a demonic beast called a Joyo Spirit that had appeared at our rear — settled naturally into the seat beside me.
"Didn't Chang Ju want this?"
"Huh? Oh. Right — the Joyogeum."
The jewel taken from a Joyo — a bull-shaped demonic beast with two horns and a gem set in its brow — was used to reinforce talismans. It was an essential ingredient for crafting talismans a full grade higher, and Chang Ju had asked me to secure some if I could. That would make one more, on top of what I'd already bought in Yangwi Fortress and from the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild.
"You're giving it to me?"
"That works out even better. Thank you."
"Hehe. Just words?"
"Come down and visit sometime. Let's share a meal. Bring someone else along if you'd like."
"Yes, I will."
Satisfied, Hong Ryeon moved to the back, and Wi Yeol — his bickering match with Gi Noya concluded — came over. Surely not to demand pay for his troubles.
"Come to think of it, sir. This is what that bandit was carrying earlier."
"What is it? A Crow Plaque?"
Chae Jin asked, pressing in at my side, and I gave a shrug.
"It doesn't look like a Green Forest token... Might it belong to some new organization?"
As Wi Yeol offered his theory, Gi Noya studied the plaque, and his brow creased.
"Honestly, there's no filthy trick they won't try."
"Here, let me have a look too."
Hong Ryeon drifted over and sat down beside me, turning the plaque in my palm this way and that.
"I can't make it out either. Even within the Murim Alliance, I never heard word of a token like this."
"Then it must be newly made. And the organization newly minted these days would be..."
"The New Four Black Lotus, I'd say. Let's look into it."
While Gi Noya spoke with a grave face, I slipped the plaque into my pocket. If this really was a plaque of the New Four Black Lotus... just as it had worked in Cheonsang Myeongwol, if I gathered these up and brought them to the Four Black Alliance standing against them, would they hand over rewards? I hoped so. The bounties for turning in tokens like these had been plenty juicy. Given Wang Hwi's distaste for pointless friction, I doubted he'd refuse to pay up... And if he did, I'd simply pry my due out of him myself. There were more than enough ways to manage that.
Apart from that single encounter with bandits and beasts, nothing else of note occurred, and we made it back to Seomhwachon without incident. I showed Wi Yeol and Gi Noya to the rooms they'd used before, then turned to Chae Jin.
"I have a few stops to make — the Sword Workshop and the county office. Will you rest?"
"Mm. I'm coming with you."
"Very well. Then, Hong Ryeon — once my errands are done, I'll give you a ride back. Will you come along? Or you're welcome to head back on your own..."
"Hehe. Thank you."
As she settled leisurely into the cart, I rummaged inside my coat. What I drew out was the envelope Cheon Il-hwa had handed me.
"And — here. Take this."
I held out the envelope of promissory notes for the proceeds from the herbs and sachets, my own share already set aside.
"They're notes drawn on the county office, so spend them as you need. I can cash them for you whenever you like."
"Th-this much?!"
"We split it precisely as the contract says. The middleman doesn't get to gobble up a fortune."
Not that I had any intention of gobbling anything. Besides, I hadn't taken a loss either.
"Th-then... um. Might I leave it in your care?"
"I don't mind, but wouldn't it be better to hold it yourself?"
"Most of what we need, we buy from your shop anyway..."
Well, that was convenient. I'd simply have to slip a little extra her way, quiet as anything, now and then.
"Then so be it. From now on, take whatever you need without a second thought, and ask for whatever you lack. Still — just in case."
I pressed half of the notes firmly into her hand.
"Keep at least this much on you. They say a generous heart springs from a full granary, but an empty purse breeds its own unease. It always grieved me to see Hongseong Sect held back by want of money — so from now on, let nothing weigh on you in following Hongseong's teachings."
"...Uu. Truly... thank you."
"There's no thanks to be had. I only did what needed doing."
And I meant it. We had each given what we had to give, and received what we were owed.
Having said my piece, I took up the reins. At the Sword Workshop, Old Man Mak was overjoyed beyond all reason when we delivered the iron, and at the county office, the Magistrate was delighted to hear of the arrangement with General Cheon.
Still, with an attack all but certain, a shadow crossed the Magistrate's face. But preparing and enduring was far better than being caught unawares — and so he resolved to see this trial through, one way or another. Watching the Magistrate, his resolve refilled, take personal command of the soldiers and begin their drills, we turned back toward the inn. Hong Ryeon, stepping down along the way, said with a smile:
"I'll come by this evening."
"Why? Won't you be tired?"
"Not at all. Besides, isn't today the day I tend to your qi and blood?"
"My qi and blood?"
When Chae Jin, seated behind us, looked puzzled, I gave her a rough account of the arrangement. A smile touched Hong Ryeon's lips — and a deeper one touched Chae Jin's.
"Then, this evening. Good timing, actually — there was something I meant to discuss. I'll save it for then."
"Hehe. Yes."
With that, Hong Ryeon departed, and we rolled the cart on to the inn. And there, we found a crowd of people.
"Big sis~!"
Chae Ryeon, who had gone off to Hang-a's secret realm, had returned.