The Representative
Under the bright moonlight, the Second Young Mistress roughly scratched at her hair.
"Tch. So I lost him after all…"
From the start, she had never expected that the Life-Taking Ghost Sword would so readily agree to spar with her.
Even so, a loss was a loss.
"What a waste of the name 'Sword Forest' he shares with me."
"Second Young Mistress."
A calm voice rose from behind her as she grumbled.
"If you intend to stay the night, may I prepare a place for you to rest?"
It was the voice of Jeong-a, the chief maid.
"Hmm. A bed doesn't much matter to me…"
The Second Young Mistress slowly turned to look at her younger brother's chief maid.
"How did you find me standing out in a place this remote?"
The spot she had reached while chasing the Life-Taking Ghost Sword was already so isolated it was embarrassing to still call it part of Wongak Pavilion's gardens.
At her question, the chief maid offered a cryptic smile from within the dark.
"I am the chief maid of Wongak Pavilion, after all."
Yeon Seo-rin, the Second Young Mistress, had the uncanny sensation that the maid's eyes were casting a golden light.
"I thought something felt off about you from the beginning…"
Yeon Seo-rin rubbed at the goosebumps rising along the back of her neck.
"You…"
Her gaze sharpened like a drawn blade.
"What the hell are you?"
Several dozen days earlier.
Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
The Governor who ruled Chengdu by imperial mandate asked his daughter as she prepared to set out on a long journey.
"…You have no intention of returning, do you?"
It was a conversation the two of them had already repeated several times in recent days.
"…"
Sang-gwan Nan-hwa gave no real answer, only a stiff nod.
"…Very well."
The Governor of Chengdu had no choice left but to accept that he was sending his daughter out into a harsh and unforgiving world.
"Will you place yourself under the protection of the Fourth Young Master of the Sword Family?"
"…Yes. The Fourth Young Master of the Sword Family is someone who can exercise sufficient influence in Sichuan."
At that, the Governor nodded, yet still brought up the matter that had continued to weigh on his mind.
"I do not know whether such a chance will ever come, but…"
Facing his daughter's puzzled look, the Governor of Chengdu went on.
"If you ever have the opportunity to meet the First Young Master of the Sword Family, be sure to meet him."
"The First Young Master…?"
Sang-gwan Nan-hwa set aside, for the moment, the name Mugeomza—the Swordless One.
Her father was by nature so cautious that those around him often thought him timid. If he was the one bringing up the First Young Master, there had to be a reason.
"I myself never had the chance to know that First Young Master personally, but…"
As her father's story continued, Sang-gwan Nan-hwa's eyes grew deeper.
The present.
Wongak Pavilion, the First Young Master's study.
"First Young Master. Do you by any chance remember Elder Ju, who once served as Grand Scholar of the Two Gates in the Imperial Court?"
At Sang-gwan Nan-hwa's words, Yeon So-hyeon lightly struck his knee.
"Of course. I remember him well."
He was a man with whom Yeon So-hyeon had steadily maintained ties through letters and the like since childhood.
"Then that gentleman is…?"
Sang-gwan Nan-hwa nodded.
"Yes. I was told that he was my father's own benefactor and teacher."
Only then did Yeon So-hyeon understand why Daseonrang had accepted his invitation so readily instead of the Fourth Young Master's, and a wry smile touched his lips.
"…So he gilded my face for me, inventing praise I never even earned."
"…At first I found the stories hard to believe myself."
Even at the moment of sending off a daughter he might never see again, that father had spoken of them only half-convinced.
The tale of how, at such a young age, he had collated and condensed hundreds of medical texts.
The tale of how he had promulgated new methods of farming.
The tale of how, by reading the heavens and observing the weather, he had prevented the starvation of countless common folk.
Had the man who passed those stories along not been his own teacher, the Governor of Chengdu would never have believed them.
"Now that I am meeting the subject of those stories in person, it is difficult to dismiss them as mere exaggeration."
Sang-gwan Nan-hwa covered her mouth and smiled softly.
"…Well. They were nothing so remarkable."
She had meant the words as praise for Yeon So-hyeon, yet he did not look particularly pleased.
"I only did the best I could in each moment."
What was that bitterness coloring his tone?
"More importantly…"
Just as Sang-gwan Nan-hwa was about to look puzzled, Yeon So-hyeon had already moved on to the next matter.
"I have heard your story thoroughly enough."
All that remained was the First Young Master's decision.
With Sang-gwan Nan-hwa at their head, every member of Daseonrang straightened her spine.
"That this First Young Master should become the new representative of Daseonrang…. Frankly, I never expected the matter to resolve itself in so smooth a fashion."
Thanks to that, his own plans would now proceed far more smoothly as well.
"Even so…"
With a small smile, Yeon So-hyeon slowly shook his head.
"Before I accept your proposal, I must first explain to you the situation in which this First Young Master currently finds himself."
Sang-gwan Nan-hwa nodded with a set face.
"We are listening."
"I am well aware that you have come through tremendous hardship and adversity to reach Luoyang, and this Wongak Pavilion."
Slowly but with absolute clarity, Yeon So-hyeon laid out the circumstances that now lay ahead of Daseonrang.
"But everything you endured at the hands of the Emei Sect will, the moment you become entangled with this First Young Master—the moment you become entangled with the Luoyang Sword Family—feel like nothing at all."
It was an unmistakable warning.
"You are already well aware of the conflicts surrounding this family's struggle for succession."
Before departing for Luoyang, Daseonrang had already gathered and shared more than enough information on the state of the Luoyang Sword Family.
Even so, the martial force of the Luoyang Sword Family they had witnessed today, the prestige and scale they had witnessed today, lay in a realm beyond anything they had anticipated.
"The moment you entrust the representative seat of Daseonrang to this First Young Master, you will be drawn into the power struggle of the foremost house under heaven."
A twisted smile rose at the corner of Yeon So-hyeon's mouth.
"Even at this very moment, one whom this First Young Master 'released' is busily meeting those who hold key posts in the main family, rapidly inflating the affair."
Somewhere in the Luoyang Sword Family.
"Yes, that is precisely what I mean."
The Vice Head of Geomga Jeonjang whispered in a low voice to the elder seated before him.
"That tenfold sum is an amount the First Young Master could never possibly cover in the short term should the joint venture with the Fourth Young Master fall through."
At the elder's thoughtful nod, the Vice Head pressed on in a still stronger tone.
"That is the First Young Master's very first move."
He spoke with flecks of spittle flying.
"If he stumbles from that very first step, what then? From the outset the First Young Master will be pushed out of the succession struggle!"
And the Head of Geomga Jeonjang, who had forced the loan upon the First Young Master and would bear all responsibility, would have no choice but to step down.
"If funds are needed, who am I? Speak freely to this Vice Head of Geomga Jeonjang!"
The Head's seat already seemed to shimmer before his eyes.
"I will lend you as much as you need at once!"
"My second brother, with whom this First Young Master's conflict has only been growing of late, will never let this opportunity pass."
Yeon So-hyeon bared his teeth in a smile.
"Not only him. Every last person who has long ground their teeth at this First Young Master will come at us with blades between their teeth."
His gaze swept over each member of Daseonrang in turn.
"Do you still wish to hand the representative seat to this First Young Master? All of you will be plunged into a battlefield the likes of which you have never experienced."
A heavy question that demanded they stake their lives.
Silence settled over the study.
But that silence did not last long.
"Do you, by any chance, have a proposal document for that joint venture?"
"Of course."
At Sang-gwan Nan-hwa's question, Yeon So-hyeon readily produced a thick sheaf of papers.
"We are not accustomed to contests of political power."
Taking the documents, Sang-gwan Nan-hwa said,
"In the eyes of the Sword Family's power holders, we would no doubt seem merely adorable. But…"
The women of Daseonrang passed the papers among themselves, examining the business plan Yeon So-hyeon had drawn up.
"As merchants, we can judge our odds simply by reading a business plan."
They raised their voices with one another, whispered, widened their eyes, and even clapped.
Yeon So-hyeon gave Daseonrang ample time to review his plan and exchange their opinions.
Only after the cup of tea that had stood before him was empty did Sang-gwan Nan-hwa speak as their representative.
"The odds of success for the business plan are more than sufficient."
Yeon So-hyeon smiled faintly.
"Only 'more than sufficient'?"
Sang-gwan Nan-hwa smiled in return.
"If we refine this plan, it will become perfect."
At that confidence, the smile at Yeon So-hyeon's lips deepened.
"Not everything will unfold according to plan, you know. The interference of hostile forces, in particular, will be no small thing."
Smiles settled across the faces of Daseonrang.
"As we said, we are weak at political fights."
"Isn't that the part our highest authority—the representative—is supposed to handle?"
"Only then can we subordinates freely exercise our abilities."
Yeon So-hyeon burst into a hearty laugh.
"Good. Very good."
Daseonrang laughed with him.
"Honestly, watching the Emei Sect accomplish so little with that kind of power in Sichuan made us sick with contempt."
"All they managed was intimidation and snatching up shares."
"Moving a dying mountain temple into Chengdu was fine enough."
"And launching an academy business, then running a matchmaking enterprise for the young ladies who graduated from their bridal finishing courses—that was decent as well."
"Through that matchmaking they secured considerable influence among the upper classes. But that was as far as they could go."
"White-haired and venerable, they may be, but in the end it was the limit of what an outdated mind could conceive."
The tall one among them, An Song-gyeong, put on a mischievous look.
"We were in the accessories trade only because it had the lowest barrier to entry as a first venture."
"In Luoyang, together with the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family…"
Sang-gwan Nan-hwa turned a confident smile on Yeon So-hyeon.
"We too are delighted to have seized a real opportunity at last. We look forward to working with you."
She added briefly,
"Representative."
Greatly pleased, Yeon So-hyeon clapped his hands.
"Excellent. In that case, the hour is late, so let us all retire for the night and gather again tomorrow morning—"
His voice trailed off.
"No! That part has to go like this!"
"I told you no! Are you even looking at the same proposal I am?!"
"Hmm. To think such a plan could even be conceived…"
"This is Luoyang, after all. It can't be compared to the peaceful lands of Sichuan."
Daseonrang had already plunged headlong into the work of refining and reinforcing the business proposal.
Faced with her companions' state, Sang-gwan Nan-hwa offered a faintly awkward smile.
"Your proposal was so fascinating that all the blood seems to have rushed to their heads, Representative."
Yeon So-hyeon laughed heartily and summoned the maids, instructing them to provide Daseonrang with ample refreshments and drink.
Daseonrang.
He watched from a step back as they forgot even their fatigue and plunged into fierce debate.
In the previous history, they were drawn into this very affair, lost members, and still rose again to succeed in the end.
And in his final memories, they had been the legendary merchant house that climbed to the lowest seat among the Ten Great Merchant Guilds of the Central Plains and flourished for an age.
With this, another piece has been set upon the board.