Awareness of One's Place

Just a short while earlier.

"Run! Run!"

The voice of Hyang, head of the Wongak Pavilion maid corps, rang out with thunderous force.

"No matter what happens, do not stop for anything!"

The column of armored carriages tore madly through the narrow alleys.

Even when the hastily reinforced armor plates snagged on haphazardly expanded buildings and ripped free.

Even when the wheels caught in potholes the destitute had dug into the road, sending the carriages lurching violently.

"Everyone, hold on tight!"

The entire maid corps clenched their teeth until blood welled from their gums, clinging to the carriages as if their bodies themselves were the only anchors left.

"Blue smoke…!"

Even amid the chaos, a maid gripping a telescope and watching the distant upper reaches of the valley snapped her eyes wide.

"Elder! It's the signal!"

Leaning her upper body out through the roof hatch, she ducked her head and shouted into the carriage interior.

"Unit Leader Tang Baek has succeeded in assassinating the ringleaders!"

Inside the violently shaking carriage, Gwak Nopin—the Fourth Young Master's closest strategist—had been firmly secured by the maids. She burst into laughter.

"As expected of Unit Leader Tang Baek! His timing is always exact!"

Even as the carriage rattled without mercy, even as enemies erupted from every side alley to bar their path and were smashed aside—

"Everything is proceeding exactly according to plan!"

The sight of an elderly woman with no internal energy whatsoever throwing her head back in mad laughter carried a chill that even the battle-hardened maids of the corps found unsettling.

"Well then—now it is time we fulfill our own role!"

The words had barely left her lips when the view exploded open; the narrow alley came to an abrupt end.

The maid in the lead carriage sent a voice transmission racing back along the column.

"We found it with perfect precision…!"

Gwak Nopin truly lived up to the name Sleeping Dragon of the South.

With nothing more than a single map and a compass… she guided this madly racing column to the exact point!

Hyang, head of the maid corps, marveled inwardly even as she dropped into a lower stance and poured internal energy into a piercing shout.

"All units—impact charge formation!"

The maids had already lowered their centers of gravity and locked into position before the order even reached their ears.

The armored carriages, now plunging down the descending slope, began to gather speed far beyond what they had managed while racing full-tilt through the alleys.

Even those who cultivated internal energy and practiced martial arts found the velocity dizzying.

Axles and wheels shuddered as though they would shatter at any instant.

"Charge!"

The horn blown by a maid in the rearmost carriage reverberated through the entire valley.

And then—

With a world-shaking roar—

the armored carriage column slammed into the enemy's rear.

"———!"

As if struck by boulders hurled from catapults, enemy flesh, blood, and shattered body parts sprayed in every direction.

Lower reaches of the Valley of Sin

"……!"

"…Hah!"

Standing on the rooftop, the family heads of the newly allied houses let out sounds that could have been awe or dismay—no one could tell which.

Their faces looked as though they themselves had just been run down by the charging armored carriages.

Among them, the more faint-hearted squeezed their eyes shut at the moment of impact.

What overwhelming charging power…!

The husband and wife of the Seo family—itself a military lineage—could not tear their eyes from the spectacle.

We knew the Luoyang Sword Family's armored carriage technology was renowned throughout the Central Plains…!

But the First Young Master's armored carriages are on an entirely different level…!

The warhorses.

The carriage chassis themselves.

Even the maid corps driving them.

All of it stood in a different class from any combat armored carriages they had ever encountered.

"…They aren't even slowing the charge."

The acting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head of the Seo family gave a hollow laugh.

Just as she said, the column that had smashed into the right rear of the enemy's central formation continued to plow forward, never losing speed, grinding the enemy ranks into paste.

The sheer mass of the armored carriages.

Warhorses driven to their absolute limit.

Enemies who had left their backs completely exposed.

And the downhill slope of the valley itself—together they produced a result that raised gooseflesh.

"…Should that not simply be called a war chariot?"

The son-in-law of the Seo family trembled as thrills of pure awe ran through him.

In that moment he recalled the voice of the old woman who had shouted from the departing armored carriages when they first arrived.

"Trust the armor! Trust the mobility!"

"The maid corps will pierce the enemy formation in a single stroke and bisect their ranks!"

Exactly so.

Having charged into the rear of the enemy's central formation at its rightmost tip, the maid corps' armored column was now driving not lengthwise, but transversely—cutting a long horizontal swath straight through the heart of the enemy lines.

One floor below the rooftop where Yeon So-hyeon and the new allied family heads stood.

Those watching that overwhelming spectacle were not limited to the newly allied houses.

"……."

Inside the reception hall, every last person clad in silk had pressed themselves against the windows, burning the sight into their eyes.

"……."

They were none other than the investors who had poured capital into the Valley of Sin and had come to recover their funds.

Because of the sudden upheaval, they had been unable to leave and were effectively trapped inside the reception hall.

"…Is this the First Young Master's military strength?"

Someone's muttered words snapped the spellbound onlookers back to themselves.

"It seems the impression has been rather deep."

The woman who tossed the sarcastic remark was Tang Ye-rin—the Fourth Young Master's closest aide, currently dealing with them in place of the absent First and Fourth Young Masters.

"Ahem."

"Hrm. Hrm."

Even though her words carried a distinct thorn, they could only clear their throats. There were reasons enough for that.

"All of you will be able to leave the Valley of Sin safely. As I have been saying 'from the very beginning,' we are merely delayed for a short while."

The deliberate stress she placed on "from the very beginning" was no illusion.

"D-do not scold us so harshly."

One man spoke up, and the others quickly added their own grumbling.

"When the authorities suddenly arrived to take the First Young Master away, how could we not be shaken?"

"We did receive our investment funds back, yet our feet have been bound here. Of course we had to protest!"

Tang Ye-rin heaved a sigh.

"Haa."

Their behavior had long since passed the point of absurdity.

"Everyone present here…"

She swept them with a look of pure exasperation.

"From early this morning you all lined up in front of the Fourth Young Master demanding the return of your investments. And then…"

Those under her gaze averted their eyes.

"The moment the First Young Master arrived at the Valley of Sin, every last one of you insisted on receiving the funds back from him personally."

Her words continued without mercy.

"After that—when the matter of the Third and Fourth Young Ladies ignited a storm of blood—you all raised a clamor demanding to meet the Fourth Young Master instead of the First."

"……."

"……."

Whether they remembered how shameful their own actions had been…

"And later, when the wardens arrived with government troops and the atmosphere soured, you immediately began hounding me for the money."

No one interrupted Tang Ye-rin.

"Then, when I promised under the First Young Master's orders that I would remove all of your names from the investor list in one batch, every one of you rejoiced."

Now her expression was close to outright contempt.

"And yet, at this late hour—"

She pointed toward the window.

"Now that you have witnessed our power with your own eyes, you want your names put back on the investor list?"

Her voice rose ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sharply.

"Does this place look like a children's playground to you?!"

Her cutting tone made them all flinch.

"Ahem."

Yet shamelessness was the virtue that had allowed professional investors to survive this long on the streets of Luoyang by nothing but their wits.

"That is why we offered additional investment funds in exchange for being restored to the list, is it not?"

"Exactly. So how much more should we put in?"

"As a token of apology, we shall make the additional investment quite generous."

These people are truly…

Faced with such brazenness, Tang Ye-rin's expression twisted as though she had bitten into something foul.

Not even offering apology money—offering more investment funds instead.

In plain terms, it simply meant they intended to extract even greater profit.

Interpreting her silence however they pleased, the investors grew still more shameless.

"Do not think of it so simply."

"If word spreads through Luoyang's investment circles that we are solidly invested here, will it not become easier to secure further capital in a stable manner?"

"It will be interpreted as proof that the First Young Master's faction is strong enough to protect its allies."

But the reason Tang Ye-rin had fallen silent with that sickened look was not solely their shamelessness.

Everything is unfolding exactly as the First Young Master predicted.

Yeon So-hyeon had already foreseen this entire situation.

How the investors would move.

What conditions should be offered to them.

He had given her clear, simple instructions long in advance.

"Very well."

When Tang Ye-rin nodded, color returned to every face.

But as she continued, those faces froze solid.

"The previous investment funds have already been recorded in the ledgers as returned to you."

She smiled brightly.

"If you wish to invest, each of you will have to put up entirely new capital."

Before the investors could even spit out their complaints, she pressed on.

"This is a matter the First Young Master himself ordered me to enforce! If any of you have objections—"

She raised a finger and pointed upward, toward the rooftop.

"Feel free to protest directly to the First Young Master who is currently upstairs."

No matter how shameless they were, after witnessing the scene unfolding outside the windows, not a single one of them possessed the liver to confront the First Young Master face-to-face.

"……."

In that moment they once again grasped their own positions with perfect clarity.

"Ah, and for reference—"

Tang Ye-rin looked down at them with a smile still curving her lips.

"I am telling you this because I know you have been cut off from outside information while effectively confined here."

She let out a soft chuckle, drawing out the moment, then continued.

"At this very moment, the Second Young Master's Great Immortal Merchant Group is under joint investigation by the Central Investigation Department and the Inner Court of the main house."

"……!"

There was no need to say another word.

"I-I'll put up the investment funds at once!"

"We pay them to you, correct?!"

"The contracts! Draw up the contracts immediately!"

Rooftop.

"The Great Immortal Merchant Group…?"

Unlike the investors, the new allied family heads—who still maintained open channels of communication with the outside—changed color once more.

"Yes, that is correct."

Under the collective gaze of the family heads, a retainer of the Seo family reported to the acting head while cold sweat ran down his temples.

"At present the Central Investigation Department and the Inner Court of the Sword Family have jointly begun a forced investigation."

Messengers from the other houses who had arrived almost simultaneously added their pieces.

"The Second Young Master's faction of the Sword Family is mounting fierce resistance…"

"The Great Immortal Merchant Group has declared it will not hesitate to use armed force in self-defense."

"In effect, analyses are already circulating that armed conflict has already begun."

No one asked again to confirm the truth.

Standing before their eyes was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a man who understood this situation far better than any of them.

"First Young Master."

With every gaze fixed on his back, Yeon So-hyeon—who had been standing with his hands clasped behind him, gazing toward the upper reaches of the valley—answered without changing posture.

"Their information contains no errors."

He glanced slightly over his shoulder.

"And if I were to add a little confidential information of my own…"

A faint smile curved the First Young Master's partially visible face.

"By now the Third Young Master's faction will have begun a political clash with the Yeon bloodline of the main house."

"……!"

That smile was directed unmistakably at the newly allied family heads.

"With this,"

Yeon So-hyeon said to them,

"this alliance has become all the more desperately necessary for you—while the value of each of you to me has fallen still further."

"……."

At that moment—

"We won!"

"Victory is ours!"

From far away, at the upper reaches of the valley, triumphant roars from Yeon So-hyeon's forces began to roll down the slopes.

Yeon So-hyeon's quiet voice cut cleanly through those distant cheers and drove itself into their ears.

"Now… have you sufficiently realized your place within this alliance?"