The Sealed Gates of the Jegal Clan
Slurp.
"Mmm~ Hubei food really hits the spot with that perfect spicy kick."
In a famous restaurant somewhere in Hubei Province, Do-ha—who had somehow crossed over already—had altered his appearance with magic and was savoring a bowl of spicy noodles with open admiration.
Glug.
"Ahh. It's been a while since I've had this liquor."
Do-ha drank and let out a satisfied sigh. Much like the cuisine of Sichuan, Hubei food was aggressively bold. The dishes burned, and the liquor hit even harder. Locals joked that if you were poisoned by something truly lethal you should take a sip of mountain wine, but for ordinary toxins a mouthful of Hubei liquor would do the trick. That was how potent the stuff was.
Yet it wasn't entirely a bad thing. The first sip scorched the tongue and throat, but once it slid down the esophagus it turned surprisingly smooth. Most high-proof spirits still burned all the way down; this region's brew did not.
"Hmm. I finally make it here and the Jegal Clan has sealed its gates…"
When he asked the waiter, the man didn't know the details, only that the Jegal Clan had been closed for over a year already. At first Do-ha had considered simply barging in and dragging Jegal Seo-wol out regardless of any seal, but the kid would never have come along quietly. More than that, he was curious why the clan had sealed itself in the first place.
I could just ask Je-u…
But he couldn't go see Je-u right now. Why?
Because the bastard wouldn't hand over the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, so I walked into Martial Alliance Headquarters and cleaned out everything that looked useful.
Je-u was still furious about it. His face was already known on Earth, so he hadn't come looking for a fight, but if Do-ha showed up now the man would draw his sword first and ask questions later.
A soft scrape of a chair.
Thud.
"?"
While Do-ha was eating, someone sat down across from him.
"Never seen your face around here. First time in the region?"
"And that matters because…?"
"No reason. Just figured maybe I could help with something. You looked like you had a lot on your mind."
"…"
Do-ha looked at the beggar sitting opposite him and allowed a faint smile. A random beggar plopping down at his table had seemed odd—until he realized the man belonged to the Beggars' Sect.
Glug.
"I may not look like much, but I know a thing or two."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Damn right! Anything you're curious about, I'll tell you. Well… it'll cost you a little, of course."
The beggar rubbed his fingers together. Information always had a price.
"I do need some information. But…"
"?"
"Why the hell are you drinking my liquor without asking?"
Do-ha stared at the beggar's hand. From the moment he sat down the man had casually poured himself a cup, and this was already his second.
"Haha, well, look at that. Force of habit… This place's food just makes your hands move on their own, you know? That's how you know it's a real gem…"
Do-ha held out his hand.
"One silver tael. You drank my liquor, so pay up."
"What?! What kind of daylight robbery is this?!"
The beggar nearly jumped out of his seat and set the cup down. Two cups of liquor for a whole silver tael? That was enough for an ordinary family to live on for a month.
"My liquor's expensive."
"Look at me! Do I look like I have money?! I'm a beggar!"
"I can tell. You look like a beggar."
"…"
The Beggars' Sect disciple's expression turned sour. Sure, his clothes said beggar, but did the man have to say he looked like one? He was still decent-looking underneath the rags…
"Listen… friend, are you from the Western Continent? You don't seem to understand how currency works around here…"
"I'm from the Eastern Continent."
"Y-you're not seriously expecting a silver tael, are you?"
"I am. My personal creed is that debts and grudges must always be repaid."
"…"
The beggar met Do-ha's eyes and quietly looked away. No internal energy leaked from the man, so he should have been an ordinary person—yet those eyes were razor-sharp. He was clearly far stronger than the beggar himself.
"Fine, whatever! Gut me if you want—I still don't have a single silver tael!"
"What kind of beggar is this shameless? You steal someone else's food and then act like this."
"I'm a beggar, so of course I'm shameless!"
"…"
For a moment Do-ha was speechless. The man wasn't wrong… but that level of brazenness reminded him of someone.
He'd get along great with Canteas.
A perfect beggar version of Canteas.
"Then pay for the liquor with information instead."
"Heh~ And what might you be curious about?"
The beggar smiled. Trading information for the drink was more than fair—within reason, of course.
"I heard the Jegal Clan sealed its gates. Why?"
"Were you planning to visit them? Bad timing, friend. They shut down operations over a year ago."
"The Jegal Clan isn't a restaurant. Why are you saying they 'shut down operations'?"
"This guy doesn't get it. Sects are businesses too. They take disciples, collect fees, and teach their martial arts. That's no different from selling martial arts for money. And when people have problems, they take commissions and send martial artists out. What is that if not a service industry? Service, right? I'm not great with Western Continent words."
The beggar tilted his head and poured out his thoughts. He was exaggerating a little, but he wasn't entirely wrong either.
"Then what about the Beggars' Sect?"
"Huh…?"
"You said sects are like that. So is the Beggars' Sect you belong to also a service industry?"
"Ohh… You knew I was from the Beggars' Sect?"
The beggar's eyes lit up. He had hidden his internal energy and never mentioned the sect.
"A beggar who knows a lot of information? Has to be Beggars' Sect. Even kids know that."
"Well, true enough."
"Though I didn't expect a branch leader to be this shameless."
"…"
The beggar—no, Dokgo Man, branch leader of the Beggars' Sect—narrowed his eyes. Beggars' Sect disciples tied small knots of string to show rank. A brand-new beggar had zero. Full members had one or two. Branch masters had three. Protectors had four. And a branch leader carried five knots.
Right now, however, Dokgo Man's clothes had none. Because the meaning of the knots was common knowledge throughout the martial world, anyone pretending to be an ordinary beggar usually untied them first.
"How did you know? Even the Jegal Clan head doesn't know I'm the branch leader."
That was because the previous branch leader had died and Dokgo Man had only recently been assigned to the region. He had been wandering the streets to learn the lay of the land—and do a little business on the side.
Do-ha held out his hand again.
"?"
"Money."
"Ah, this guy again with the money talk!"
"If you want to know how I figured it out, you'll have to buy the information, valued customer. My intel doesn't come cheap."
"You… wouldn't happen to be from a convoy escort company, would you?"
The constant talk of money and the calculating attitude felt exactly like someone from a trading convoy.
"So why did the Jegal Clan close its doors? Finish the story."
"Ah, right, where was I?"
"You said they shut down operations."
"Yeah, that's right. So why did they shut down? Because the young master caused a massive incident."
"The young master… Jegal Seo-wol?"
The very person Do-ha had planned to recruit and bring back was the young master. Even though he was the third son, he had been the strongest candidate for the next clan head.
"That's the one. Jegal Seo-wol caused a huge mess."
"What kind of mess?"
"Ah-ah, from here on you have to pay, valued customer."
Dokgo Man parroted Do-ha's earlier words right back at him. Why was this guy acting like a complete amateur? If he wanted more details, he had to pay.
"I already paid more than enough for the liquor I drank…"
"This isn't one-silver-tael information."
"Are you seriously trying to charge a silver tael for two cups of liquor?!"
"Well, this liquor is expensive."
"At most this stuff is worth a few copper coins…"
"It was the last bottle."
"Huh?"
"That was the last bottle they had. And you drank it without asking."
"D-don't lie!"
Snap.
"Hey, waiter."
"Yes, sir?"
"Is there any more of this?"
"As I mentioned earlier, that was the last bottle of the day. My apologies…"
"No problem. Thanks for letting me know."
Do-ha nodded and tipped the waiter a copper coin.
"You tip the waiter that freely and then nickel-and-dime me?!"
"Oh~ You know what a tip is?"
"Damn it, of all people I had to run into a hardass."
"Normally, eating someone else's food without permission gets you in big trouble."
"Fine. I'll tell you what kind of incident it was. Consider it payment for the liquor."
"Deal."
Only then did Do-ha nod. Truthfully he could have just given the two cups away, but Dokgo Man felt so much like Canteas that he wanted to mess with him a little.
"Do you know Lee Han-so of the Mount Hua Sect?"
"Lee Do-baek's kid."
Lee Do-baek, sect leader of Mount Hua. A master who had reached the Hwa-gyeong—the Transcendent Realm—and was so mild-tempered and even-tempered that people said he would have fit better in a Buddhist temple than on Mount Hua.
"That Lee Han-so was beaten half to death."
"…You're kidding."
"I'm not. Jegal Seo-wol thrashed him like a dog. Even when people told him to stop, he ignored them and kept hitting."
"Why?"
Do-ha's eyes widened slightly. They were both disciples of the Nine Great Sects. Was there any need to go that far? And if the other side had told him to stop, that meant he had already admitted defeat. Continuing to beat someone after that turned it into a personal grudge.
Of course, I used to just beat people up whenever I felt like it…
But he hadn't belonged to any sect, so it had been fine.
"Lee Han-so must have done something wrong. For that clever kid to go that far…"
"Huh? Who's clever?"
"Who else? Jegal Seo-wol."
"Oh, buddy, how many decades has it been since you last set foot in the Eastern Continent? You're talking about ancient history!"
"?"
Dokgo Man's words left Do-ha looking completely lost. Ancient history? Did that mean it wasn't true anymore?
"Jegal Seo-wol being brilliant and clever is all in the past! These days he's a complete delinquent!"
"That kid??"
"Yeah! Harassing women, beating up disciples from other sects, walking into random inns and eating without paying…"
"That last part sounds like you."
"…"
Dokgo Man clamped his mouth shut for a second. Well, that was true, but…
"I'm a beggar!"
"Only when it suits you."
"Ahem… Anyway, that's how the little bastard lives now. Then a little while ago he went looking for Lee Han-so and drew his sword out of nowhere."
"Why?"
"I don't know the full details, but he said this to Lee Han-so:"
'I heard you're some kind of genius. Show me.'
'What the hell… This is supposed to be a genius? Hey, don't even pick up a sword. You're pathetic. Or is the Mount Hua Sect just that mediocre?'
As a result, the Jegal Clan had been forced to apologize to Mount Hua and seal its gates. No matter how wild he acted, a young master openly insulting another sect like that crossed the line.
"Satisfied now?!"
"Yeah."
Do-ha nodded at the branch leader's question. He was more curious than ever about how Jegal Seo-wol had ended up like that.
He stood.
"Where are you going?"
Dokgo Man looked up as Do-ha rose from his seat. There was still liquor left—where was he off to?
"I finished eating, so I'm leaving."
"There's still liquor left."
"Who cares about leftover cheap liquor. You drink it."
"What the hell?!"
Dokgo Man shot to his feet. This was the same "cheap liquor" the man had valued at one silver tael for two cups!
"I have business at the clan."
"Did you even listen to what I said? They're sealed!"
"Sealed just means the doors are closed, right?"
"Huh? That's… not exactly what sealed means…"
"But the doors are closed, aren't they?"
"Well, yes."
"Doors open if you kick them hard enough."
"…"
Dokgo Man stared at Do-ha as if looking at a complete lunatic.