Choice
The Luoyang Sword Family. Sword Family Construction.
The Director’s office.
An elder of the Luoyang Sword Family held a rank high enough that, even seated with the head of a mid-sized clan, he would claim the seat of honor without a second thought.
“…...”
And yet three such elders had gathered here, and not one of them sat with the arrogance their station allowed. They held themselves with careful, almost reverent courtesy — a sight strange enough to be called a spectacle in its own right.
“Hmph.”
There was little mystery to it. The master of the office they had entered made no effort to hide his displeasure.
“The Second Young Master’s faction is making this demand of me?”
The supreme executive of the Luoyang Sword Family’s construction enterprise — the Director of Sword Family Construction — twisted his face into a scowl.
“This is absurd.”
A great hand, thick with the scars of labor, crushed the Second Young Master’s proposal into a crumpled ball.
“Director…!”
“A demand? How can you speak of it that way?”
By any measure, the gesture was an unforgivable rudeness. And yet the elders of the Second Young Master’s side only fluttered about all the more desperately, scrambling to soothe the Director’s temper.
“It is not a demand — merely a proposal from our side. And a most generous one, is it not?”
Within the Luoyang Sword Family there were men who already stood too high to be named elders at all, and the Director of Sword Family Construction was one of them.
“The price you offer is considerable, I’ll grant you that.”
Even in the eyes of the head of the most renowned construction enterprise in Luoyang — and beyond Luoyang, across Henan and throughout the Central Plains — the compensation named in the Second Young Master’s proposal was undeniably splendid.
“Th-then you agree?”
The elders brightened at once.
“In return, we ask only a small kindness from the Director—”
“A small kindness?”
The Director cut him off cold.
“You want Sword Family Construction to refuse every commission from the First Young Master’s side for the time being, and you call that a small kindness?”
The elders of the Second Young Master’s faction waved their hands in frantic denial.
“No such commission has even arrived yet, has it?”
The Director answered with blunt indifference.
“But if they mean to rebuild the Valley of Sin before the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering opens, the First Young Master’s side will have no choice but to come to us in the end.”
The elders exchanged glances and smiled.
“That may be true enough.”
“Haha. As if they had the funds for it.”
Even if, by some miracle, Yeon So-hyeon’s faction weathered the financial pressure now crushing them, hiring Sword Family Construction — infamous for the cost of its services — would still be impossible.
“Even so. From the very beginning—”
The Director raised a scarred hand and pointed at himself.
“—dragging me…”
Then he pointed at the floor.
“…and this Sword Family Construction into a filthy succession squabble is what I find intolerable.”
Before their eyes he flung the crumpled proposal to the floor.
“This conversation is over.”
It was a dismissal, plain and final.
“Ah, well… well…”
The elders rose from their seats in a flurry. Rejected, all but thrown out — and yet their faces held no sign of real distress.
“Quite apart from the terms of the proposal itself, we have already awarded Sword Family Construction every business concession listed as compensation, and the contracts have been filed.”
“They were so pleased to have major contracts dropped into their laps, they hardly knew what to do with themselves.”
“By now the lower offices will be drafting the approval documents to send up to the Director.”
At that, the Director’s thick, caterpillar-like brows gave a single, hard twitch.
“…...”
Watching him struck speechless, the elders of the Second Young Master’s side smirked.
“You are to be congratulated. To sit still and have every one of those great concessions fall into your hands…”
“But those large commissions will require every available hand Sword Family Construction can spare in the Luoyang region.”
“As things stand, whether the First Young Master places an order or not, Sword Family Construction will have no capacity left to touch the Valley of Sin project.”
The smiles at their mouths deepened.
“Having spoken so proudly of political neutrality, surely the Director would not refuse our commissions at his own level… would he?”
“…...”
It was a near-bottom-scraping tactic only the Second Young Master’s faction could attempt — a faction already swimming in vast capital, political resources, and real interests.
They rested their hands on the door handle and spoke.
“We brought the proposal to the Director only out of respect for the man who built a legend of success from the ground up.”
“And, of course, to hear his firm answer — to close off every possibility.”
They bowed their heads with a neat little dip.
“Next time we shall return with a proposal fine enough to earn that answer.”
“Once again, our congratulations on securing those major projects without a rival in sight.”
They left the door open behind them and walked away without looking back — measured, unhurried steps, though cold sweat slicked their backs beneath the Director’s scorching gaze.
“…...”
The secretary waiting outside hurried in and made to close the office door with careful hands.
The Director of Sword Family Construction spoke.
“Until I lift the order, allow no one near.”
“Yes, Director.”
When every last presence had faded, the Director opened his mouth.
“…So. Everything has gone exactly as you said it would.”
He turned his gaze toward the private chamber that opened directly from his office.
“First Young Master.”
The finest door of the inner room slid open without a sound, and Yeon So-hyeon leaned out.
“My, my. As expected of the famed Director of Sword Family Construction — even the private chamber attached to the office is magnificent.”
The youth offered his admiration with deliberate airiness. The Director made no attempt to hide his irritation at the First Young Master’s sly manner.
“Do not misunderstand.”
He rose from his seat, his great frame unfolding. The prosthetic that replaced the leg he had lost long ago on a construction site creaked as he stood.
“First Young Master. I allowed you to overhear this conversation for one reason only: to make perfectly clear that Sword Family Construction intends to hold its neutrality in the succession struggle.”
He let loose the same crushing presence that had made the Second Young Master’s elders sweat, and spoke in a low snarl.
“Not to join hands with a man who has neglected his duties for so long.”
He knew Yeon So-hyeon’s abilities of old, and the warning was plain.
“If I catch so much as a hint that you are plotting to drag this Sword Family Construction into the mud—”
“I know. You would rather overturn the entire board.”
Yeon So-hyeon cut him off and sat opposite him with perfect composure.
“So sit down, Director. Looking up at you is making my neck ache.”
The Director ground his teeth at the boy’s flippant tone. He had not the slightest intention of sitting simply because he had been told to.
“You heirs must understand how this Sword Family is held together even now.”
He possessed not a scrap of internal qi, and yet his presence seemed to press down upon the wide office.
“Even at this very moment, the factions that cling to their chosen heirs and the parasites who care for nothing but their own gain are rotting this family from within!”
His roar, thick with fury, rang through the chamber.
“Men like us are the last pillars holding up a Sword Family that is trying to collapse from the inside!”
More than ten years had passed since the family lost its head. That the twisted, decaying Luoyang Sword Family still stood at all was due, without question, to men such as him who continued to endure.
“This Sword Family — this Sword Family Construction — is my home. It is our home!”
He glared at Yeon So-hyeon, who was calmly pouring himself tea and savoring its fragrance, and thrust a hand toward the window.
“We — the enterprises of this Sword Family — built the main house. We built this Luoyang!”
“You are not wrong. This First Young Master fully acknowledges your labors.”
Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze turned upon him.
“But the materials with which that Luoyang was raised? The foundation beneath it?”
His eyes were calm, yet the Director’s massive frame flinched before he could stop himself.
“The Luoyang of today — this Luoyang Sword Family — was built by squeezing the blood and sweat from the poor.”
“…...”
The man who had been looking down at Yeon So-hyeon sank heavily into his seat.
“…As the numbers of the poor grew, the enterprises of the main house reaped enormous profits. I will not deny it.”
Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
“Nor do I deny that your blood and sweat are mixed into that work as well.”
He set down his teacup and continued.
“That is precisely why I have made neither request nor demand of you, or of Sword Family Construction.”
Yeon So-hyeon had asked for nothing — no commission, no favor, no assistance — regarding the Valley of Sin or Walnut Village.
“…Is that not simply because you lack the funds?”
“That is true as well.”
As the Director’s manner eased a fraction, Yeon So-hyeon laughed.
“I have been gathering capital from every quarter I can, but I have not yet secured funds enough to place a commission with Sword Family Construction.”
It was the truth. Even counting the capital the Tang Family had funneled in through indirect channels, he had only enough to advance the original plan. It fell short of the sum required to commission a full regional reconstruction from Sword Family Construction.
“…Does the work not need to be finished before the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?”
Yeon So-hyeon shrugged at the question.
“The work will be finished before then. The Valley of Sin will be fully restored.”
“Without commissioning Sword Family Construction?”
“Without commissioning them.”
How? Rather than ask a question he would not have answered anyway, the Director moved on.
“…So because you never meant to place a commission in the first place, you told me to accept the Second Young Master’s offer?”
“Exactly. Did I not say so from the beginning? Refuse them once, then accept the next proposal.”
“You did. But that would still shake Sword Family Construction’s neutrality—”
“It will not.”
Yeon So-hyeon cut him off with a smile.
“Had I placed a commission with Sword Family Construction, it might be another matter. But I will not place one at all. The transaction will be known only to those who took part in it.”
“…So long as I do not fill my private purse with the compensation we receive from the Second Young Master, there will be no leverage against us.”
“You are not a man who would ever fill his private purse. There will be no leverage.”
In Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze as he looked at him there was, unmistakably, trust.
“Therefore — before it is too late — accept the Second Young Master’s next proposal.”
Yeon So-hyeon turned his eyes toward the window.
“…If you do, the concessions you secure will only strengthen your position further.”
The Director of Sword Family Construction stroked his chin.
“And as the achievements of Sword Family Construction grow, our people will find it that much easier to resist outside temptation…”
He nodded with a reluctant air, then suddenly lifted his face.
“But First Young Master — ‘before it is too late’…?”
Yeon So-hyeon gave no answer to that question.
“You are doing well.”
He rose from his seat.
“Simply continue as you have until now.”
“…...”
Watching the First Young Master stand, the Director groaned inwardly. Just what is this First Young Master scheming…? The phrase “before it is too late” was one thing — but looking back over every word of their conversation, the First Young Master had shown not the slightest worry or anxiety about the war before him. In a situation like this, he is looking after me, the Director? As if he had nothing at all to do with the war?
Was the First Young Master trying to earn his goodwill? Hoping that a man who had received his favor would then move of his own accord on the First Young Master’s behalf? No — the thought was too childish for him.
Surely…
Then… is the First Young Master already certain of his victory…?!
“Ah. One more thing, Director.”
Yeon So-hyeon spoke as if the matter had only just occurred to him.
“Are you and Sword Family Construction handling the disturbances at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering arena site?”
The Director, mind still in turmoil, shook his head.
“We are responsible for the development of the site, but the response to the unrest falls to the commissioning party — the Third Young Master’s side. That was also the decision of the Supreme Operations Council. Our people have withdrawn completely.”
“I see. It would be best to keep that distance.”
The Director cast him a dubious look for concerning himself even with matters that no longer touched him, but Yeon So-hyeon paid it no mind and drained the last of his tea in a single gulp.
“The tea was excellent.”
Then, without a shred of lingering attachment, he turned and walked toward the window — meaning, just as he had come, to slip out of sight through it.
That air of complete unconcern stood in stark contrast to the Second Young Master’s faction, who had clung and clung to the very end.
“…First Young Master.”
Yeon So-hyeon, about to open the window, looked back. The Director closed his mouth for a moment.
“…...”
Even he seemed briefly uncertain why he had called out.
“…I will order the men on guard to take a short rest. Your return road should be somewhat more comfortable.”
“That is welcome news.”
Yeon So-hyeon opened the window. The sun had already set; the night wind of Luoyang stirred his hair.
“The First Young Master’s next move will involve the judicial organs of the main house, will it not?”
The Director already knew that the Law Protection Court, the Office of Inspection, and the other judicial bodies within the Luoyang Sword Family had been in an uproar since morning.
“You have already made your choice.”
Yeon So-hyeon sent him a final glance.
“I merely gave them the right to choose as well.”
He flung himself lightly through the window and was gone.
“…...”
The Director gazed for a moment at the place where he had stood, then murmured the words Yeon So-hyeon had left behind.
“…The right to choose.”
The wind that poured through the open window felt uncommonly cold.