How to Earn Trust - 1
Ever-Bright Fortress. A city where the night itself does not exist — no word could sum up Yangwi Fortress more neatly than that one.
In Chapter One of Cheonsang Myeongwol, after the people of Seomhwachon are massacred and their village burned to nothing, this city is where Sayun first sets foot. Her description of it back then had been "a sea of people."
It was the literal truth. As the stage for the first chapter of her main story, Yangwi was packed with facilities offering every kind of systematic support. All those people meant countless shops to serve them, and so the city as a whole looked like one vast marketplace — nothing strange about that.
As the famous American singer Frank Sinatra once put it — "Alcohol may be mankind's greatest enemy, but Jesus said to love your enemy" — people always come looking for a drink. Wherever crowds gather, liquor is an amusement that can never be left out, and as if to prove it, Yangwi Fortress was riddled with taverns.
The most famous among them was Cheonghoeru. As if to prove itself the one grand tower fit to represent a city stuffed with drinking houses, Cheonghoeru kept its lanterns burning around the clock — day or night, it made no difference. Red and blue lanterns hung side by side, servers greeted every guest with unfailing courtesy, and from the second floor upward, beautifully dressed women sold their laughter to draw patrons in. Beyond that, there were fire-breathing strongmen, women who chewed iron for a living. By filling its halls with people and curiosities sure to snare a customer's interest, Cheonghoeru had made itself the finest tavern in Yangwi Fortress, its tables full at every hour.
In Cheonsang Myeongwol it was merely a place you dropped by for the odd event, but with the thing standing before me in the flesh, the tower's grandeur was nothing to sneer at.
And into that very Cheonghoeru, I stepped.
"Cheonghoeru, huh. I've been here before, you know. Isn't this place awfully expensive?"
"It is."
"And yet you've set up a meeting here. Impressive."
She had come along to Yangwi Fortress as my escort, but there was nothing in particular for her to do at the moment. Naturally so — Yangwi might be crowded, but its public order was anything but bad. If anything, save for a few spots, it was remarkably well kept. Where people gathered, money gathered; where money gathered, jackals came running for the spoils. If those jackals weren't kept on a tight leash, Yangwi would rot into a demon's den overnight. And the Castle Lord of Yangwi controlled them with such an iron hand that none dared act up, so the good order followed as a matter of course.
Which left exactly one reason I had brought Chae Jin with me as my guard: the request I might receive today, from the man I was about to meet. That man had no reason to call me out for a simple meal.
"It's an invitation, after all. What sort of clout do you imagine I have, booking meetings in places like this?"
"That's true enough. So? Which floor are we headed to?"
"The fifth."
Chae Jin's eyes went round. To her rather obvious astonishment, I waved a hand as though it were nothing.
"Don't read too much into it. I was invited."
"Er... but you can't get above the second floor of Cheonghoeru without proving yourself, can you?"
Cheonghoeru's fame in Yangwi rested on more than its rarity as a tall building with good wine, good food, and no shortage of eccentrics and lovely courtesans. From the second floor up, you had to prove your worth to climb — be it through martial arts, scholarship, music, or whatever else. Even Sayun met the Master of Cheonghoeru, who was also the head of the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild, only after trudging through a long chain of events. That stretch practically made up the bulk of Chapter One, and with so many quests to clear, getting past the fourth floor was never easy. Chae Jin's surprise was hardly strange, then.
"The third floor's as far as I've ever made it."
"Then why not use this chance to try passing the trial for the fourth? Someone like you could manage it."
"Why would I bother? I'd sooner eat the food at our place — ah, I mean my place. The inn's cooking is better. And whatever the innkeeper makes is better still."
"That's an illusion. I simply season bold, that's all."
Strong flavors provoke the tongue into tasting more than they actually do, that's all. Not that I couldn't cook — I just couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder with properly trained chefs.
"Welcome, Master Yu."
When we reached the stairs to the fifth floor, a hulking man greeted me — but his sharp gaze was pinned on Chae Jin. Sensing it, a combative smile crept across her lips.
"She's with me."
"I hadn't expected you to bring Moon Lotus Pavilion's Moonlight Blade. Please, go on in. The Guild Master awaits."
He stepped aside with an easy gesture. Climbing the stairs beyond, Chae Jin eyed me with wonder.
"What are you staring at?"
"Nothing. That man just now — he was quite the master. About on par with my little sister, I'd say..."
"I can't speak to that, but a master he certainly is."
The Cheonghoe Merchant Guild existed as cover for the Imperial Conscription Department. As such, even the men playing gatekeeper here were experts from the military — not to be taken lightly.
"...Well, now I'll have to stay sharp."
Chae Jin drew a light breath, and in the same instant, strength began flowing into her supple frame. Only when I saw her hand drift to her hilt, ready to draw at a moment's notice, did I shake my head with a laugh.
"No need to work yourself up that much. What's this... feeling unsure of yourself?"
"As if."
Cocky as ever. Wearing her usual arrogant smile, she thumped my shoulder twice.
"I am Chae Jin, the Moonlight Blade — eldest disciple of the venerable orthodox sect Moon Lotus Pavilion, and in the murim, more renowned than even the Setting Sun Sword!"
She winked, flashed her tongue, and grinned mischievously; I gave her a snort of laughter.
By the time we reached the fifth floor, the mood had changed completely from everything below. Stillness. We had stepped into a world apart, wholly severed from the ring of wine and song, the courtesans' laughter, the bellowing of drunks. As if in proof, every sound that had been buzzing in my ears died the instant we crested the stairs. A formation of some sort, no doubt. Even in Cheonsang Myeongwol, the BGM switched once you hit the fifth floor.
Maybe it was that change — or maybe she was smiling at the two men standing before the great door at the hall's end, a middle-aged man and an old one.
"...The Flashing Spear of Seomhwa, Wi Yeol. And the Thousand-Li Solitary Walk, Gi Cha-jo."
Both were masters who had once vanished from the murim. The moment it registered with her that on top of the earlier expert she'd now crossed paths with Wi Yeol and Gi Cha-jo too, I set a hand on her shoulder. The fabric of her robe — one only inner disciples of Moon Lotus Pavilion were permitted to wear — clung damp against my palm.
"No need to be nervous. They're not enemies."
"Why are people who vanished years ago standing here of all places?"
"Because they belonged to the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild from the very beginning. They never disappeared. They simply went back to where they'd always belonged."
I walked toward them, and the two masters who'd been studying me with fierce eyes dipped their heads slightly. And I, of course, returned the cupped-fist salute with a bow of my own. To that, the middle-aged man — Wi Yeol, the Flashing Spear of Seomhwa — spoke with grave courtesy.
"The Guild Master is waiting."
"Forgive me for being late."
"You are not late."
"Even so, with General Cheon Il-hwa of the Imperial Conscription Department — who labors for the Empire night and day — waiting on us, I can only regret I couldn't arrive a single hour sooner."
"Heh. Master Yu does have a pretty way with words, as ever."
Gi Cha-jo, the Thousand-Li Solitary Walk. The old master, his hair white as fresh snowfall, grinned, and I smiled back.
"How could I speak carelessly to men who would sacrifice themselves for the Empire's peace and safety?"
"Haha. Well, when deeds fall short, words will do."
He flashed his teeth and swung the door open. The room beyond was fairly spacious, though almost nothing in it was of real value. At the far end, wrestling a mountain of paperwork at a massive desk, sat a middle-aged man. Nothing about his face stood out, but the moment he saw me he grinned, rose from his seat, and came over.
"Welcome, Master Yu."
"It's been some time."
"Come, come. Sit, sit."
Smiling at his ease, the man showed me to a seat. General Cheon Il-hwa — Guild Master of the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild and a high officer of the Imperial Conscription Department — poured my tea with his own two hands. Chae Jin stared at the spectacle, dumbstruck, but it wasn't as if I hadn't seen that reaction coming, so I let it slide.
"My thanks for the other day."
"Think nothing of it. As a subject of the Empire, helping the Empire is simple duty, no?"
"Even so — without you, we'd never have recovered the Conscription Token."
The Conscription Token. The pass the Conscription Department used to issue its orders. It was the proof that one recruited soldiers in the Emperor's name for the Empire's sake, and without it, no legitimate command could be given. Honestly, I couldn't fathom being unable to give orders over one missing trinket — but if that was how it worked, so be it. In any case, the affair had been gnawing at Cheon Il-hwa for quite a while.
And while I'd been at the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild to sell off goods, I'd gone and found it for him. It hadn't been particularly hard. It was one of the side events you could run in Part One of Cheonsang Myeongwol — the kind that raises your trust rating. Raise your trust with the guild high enough, and the Empire would hand you elixirs, loan you cavalry, even lend you masters as escorts — with all that at stake, there was no reason not to help. The event itself wasn't difficult, and unlike some others, its location didn't shuffle around at random, so skipping it would have been madness.
The only real worry was the suspicion that I might steal the thing or play some crooked trick — but herding people's attention toward a fixed, known answer was never hard. Not when I had experience herding folks into the Sayun Dan on the strength of one fixed truth: that Sayun was the true protagonist. I hadn't escaped doubt entirely, granted, but between running errands for the guild and consulting with them by letter, I seemed to have bought a fair share of the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild's trust. Otherwise, they'd never have summoned me here like this.
I settled the thoughts whirring through my head and bowed to him.
"It was nothing."
"Haha. Ever the modest one. Ah — have you eaten?"
"Yes, a light meal on the way. Though... what business did you call me out for...?"
"Mm... the truth is, there is a matter where I hoped to borrow your wisdom, but..."
Letting the sentence die, he flicked a glance at Chae Jin.
"Ah, you'd be the swordswoman Chae Jin of Moon Lotus Pavilion. My men are gathered just outside — why not share a drink with them? I'll see you're given fine company."
He was wrapping a request for her to leave in pretty paper, and I shook my head at him. Whatever else she was, Chae Jin was my escort — and while she was no member of the Sayun Dan, she was plenty trustworthy. I had no idea what task Cheon Il-hwa meant to hand me, but I'd likely need her help to carry it out, so she was better off hearing it too.
"Um... innkeeper? Are you sure about this?"
"Do you truly imagine that Chae Jin, the Moonlight Blade — eldest disciple of the venerable orthodox sect Moon Lotus Pavilion and a heroine of the murim — would go blabbing about what's said in a room like this?"
Even if she couldn't count past ten without her fingers.
"...R-right, of course. Hehe. On my sect and my martial arts, I swear — not a word of what's spoken here will pass my lips."
"Phew. If Master Yu vouches for you, then accept it I must. Very well, Master Yu. This is the matter I wished to ask of you."
Only then did Cheon Il-hwa hand the documents across to me. Upon them was written:
Like the business before, this was an achievement-point event — and one I knew like the back of my hand. Which meant...
"My strength is small, but might I lend a hand?"
If a task could raise trust, it was to be done, no questions asked. Stack this on top of everything I'd already done for Cheon Il-hwa, and I'd have the military's own masters ready to cooperate at my call — how was anyone supposed to resist that?
Heh heh heh. I'd wring this dry for every last drop — and when the day came to fight the Iron Blood Dan, the Empire's support would come pouring out.