Seeking the Enemy
Part Two: Seeking the Enemy
Agency Headquarters, Main Building.
"…This is…"
At the order of Commander Myeong, the Agency martial artists who had entered the interior let out involuntary groans.
"…You're saying just two people did all this?"
Corridors, rooms—every place the eye could reach within the labyrinthine main building of the Agency was strewn with the corpses of their enemies.
"Even if the Sword Venerable himself took the field… this is…"
"No."
An Agency martial artist who had bent to examine a body shook his head.
"Look at the traces left on the corpses."
Those who heard him understood his meaning without difficulty.
"…Half of them died by the sword."
"Then the other half…"
"Exactly."
The first to notice the traces pointed at a body.
The thick Agency breastplate had been crushed and twisted as if wrenched apart. What remained clearly imprinted on the chest was the unmistakable mark of a single fist strike.
And those who had died by means other than the sword appeared to make up roughly half the dead.
"Half of this was the First Young Master's work."
Shock swept through the group.
"That…?!"
"You're saying the First Young Master has crossed the wall?"
Outwardly, the one known as the fastest in Luoyang Sword Family history to cross the wall was the Second Young Mistress—Heavenly Robe Without Seams, Yeon Seo-rin.
"…Didn't the Second Young Mistress cross the wall only after entering her twenties?"
"The First Young Master is only seventeen this year…!"
"And more than that…"
The man who had first examined the traces shook his head slowly from side to side.
Having received specialized training in autopsy, he could read far more from the scene than the others.
"…These traces cannot be explained simply by saying the First Young Master has crossed the wall."
It made no sense.
Judging by the armor and empty scabbards on the corpses he was studying, these had unquestionably been Agency elite warriors.
"…Just how…"
Even if the First Young Master had crossed the wall, how could he have beaten to death elite warriors who had already climbed that wall and reached a mature mastery of the realm?
"The First Young Master is—"
Just as he was about to continue, a voice transmission reached every one of them.
This is Commander Myeong.
It was Myeong, who had been temporarily granted field command.
Brothers deployed into the main building—make haste with your duties.
The Agency martial artists who received the transmission began their work at once, without a single word of protest.
"External or internal—it doesn't matter! Completely seal every space related to intelligence!"
They took out the paper and paste they had brought and began sealing every location suspected of housing the Agency's stored information.
The work ensured that anyone seeking access to the Agency's information, by any means, would have no choice but to damage the paper seals.
…As I said before. This is a "consideration" so that our Agency may focus solely on recovery.
After the word "consideration," there was a brief pause before the next transmission.
…All of you, remain faithful to the duties you have been given. That is all.
Agency Headquarters.
The top floor of the main building, the Director's office.
"First Young Master."
Even with exhaustion plain upon him, Geam-jon's eyes alone still burned brightly.
"I have transmitted every order."
Yeon So-hyeon's face, as he sat cross-legged regulating his internal energy, was equally bloodless and pale.
"My thanks."
"Not at all."
Just two men had swept through the main building of the Agency—one of the Luoyang Sword Family's most elite forces.
If there was any fortune to be found, it was that the corrupted had numbered only about half of the Agency's total strength.
"The Agency holds far too much sensitive information, after all."
Even so, the old man had remained standing firmly on both feet until Yeon So-hyeon raised a hand and pointed to a chair. Only then did he sit and continue.
"The initial breach was something only the two of us—myself and the First Young Master—could have accomplished from the start."
Within the Agency that served the Supreme Operations Committee at closest range lay information that, if leaked outside, would raise storms on level ground.
In the chaos of battle, no one could say what might have happened.
"The seals will be strictly maintained until the elders of the Senate themselves come forth to break them and recover all the information."
"…Did Myeong seem to notice?"
"I did tell him it was a 'consideration' so that they might focus on recovery, but…"
At Yeon So-hyeon's question, Geam-jon gave a bitter smile.
"That young man Myeong is a clever fellow who does his work well."
It was an indirect answer, yet its meaning reached Yeon So-hyeon fully.
"…Is that so."
The emotion in Yeon So-hyeon's reply was complex.
Knowing that feeling well, Geam-jon slowly nodded.
"Regaining trust once lost is a difficult thing."
The Agency had lost trust.
The recovery of its core elements, including intelligence, and the large-scale reorganization that would follow, could not be left entirely in their own hands.
Those currently handling the situation had resisted the corruption—yet even among them, any number might still harbor other thoughts within.
"…One must trust one's subordinates, yet cannot trust them completely. That is the destiny of the one who stands first."
Both Geam-jon, Chairman of the Supreme Operations Committee, and Yeon So-hyeon knew that truth all too well.
In the past, it had been those closest to the Grand Family Head—Yeon So-hyeon's father—who had usurped the position Yeon So-hyeon should have inherited, creating the Supreme Operations Committee that existed now.
"…And that young man Myeong seems to understand that hardship well."
"That is fortunate."
"Come to think of it…"
Sensing that Yeon So-hyeon's reply had grown somewhat lighter, Geam-jon shifted the conversation.
"On the way back I checked, and several key figures were nowhere to be seen in the situation room."
Beyond the Director and Deputy Director themselves, those who had been knocked unconscious or severely wounded by Yeon So-hyeon's surprise assault were missing.
"Where are those men now—?"
"Those bastards are currently…"
A ghostly flame flickered once across Yeon So-hyeon's eyes.
"…being interrogated."
A strange metallic boiling noise layered over his original voice.
"…I see."
The aspect of the unfathomable existence—Amcheonjonza—had shown itself for only a brief moment. Yet that strangeness and grotesqueness were of a nature one could never grow accustomed to, no matter how hard one tried.
"…In that case, I shall have them processed as secretly imprisoned elsewhere for interrogation."
The Chairman did not press further.
"Now we wait for word—"
A presence.
The Chairman closed his mouth, and Yeon So-hyeon looked toward the door.
"Word has arrived."
With Yeon So-hyeon's permission, the one who revealed himself was the Chief Steward.
He who was temporarily serving as the eyes and ears of the Supreme Operations Committee in place of the Agency had come in person.
"I greet my lord."
The form of address was not First Young Master, but lord.
Yet Geam-jon showed no reaction, and the Chief Steward paid Geam-jon no mind either.
"Report."
"The operation is a success."
The Chief Steward led with the conclusion, a faint smile touching his lips.
"Once the Agency—which had been meant to blind and deafen the Supreme Operations Committee—was removed, chaos erupted throughout the upper ranks of the main family."
Geam-jon let out a sigh of relief.
"The First Young Master's gambit has worked."
"Yes."
The Chief Steward nodded and continued his report.
"Even with the Agency gone, those involved in this affair must somehow prevent the Supreme Operations Committee from intervening."
With the Agency out of play, fire had fallen upon the feet of everyone entangled in the matter.
If the Supreme Operations Committee intervened now, everything would come to nothing.
At the very least, they had to neutralize the First Young Master's forces and wipe out the foundation of the reform faction.
"And the work of seeking out those enemies? Is it progressing reliably?"
Urgency even edged Geam-jon's question.
"Of course."
That was the operation's name: Seeking the Enemy.
It was the core of the task Yeon So-hyeon had entrusted to the Chief Steward.
"From the highest bureaucrats of Luoyang's central administration, to members of the Yeon bloodline, the elders, and the heads of every organization…"
Temporarily backed by the authority of the Supreme Operations Committee, the Chief Steward was examining every inch of the Luoyang Sword Family, inside and out, without exception.
"Even those who had no connection to the large-scale embezzlement that once took place at Geomga Jeonjang are beginning to surface now."
Luoyang Sword Family, Intelligence Bureau.
"Send word around! Tell them we need their cooperation!"
Someone who appeared to be a director-level official was shouting at his subordinates.
"We must stop the Supreme Operations Committee from moving, no matter what! Block every piece of information going upward!"
At first, the Second Young Master's side had asked of them only silence.
Now the situation had changed.
With the Agency neutralized, they could no longer simply sit in silence.
"We have to hold out until those damned people on the Second Young Master's side wipe out the First Young Master!"
"…Director Lee!"
One of his close aides spoke with difficulty.
"I know the situation is urgent. But if we move this hastily, we risk exposing ourselves."
Once one man found the courage, others followed with direct remonstrance.
"Simply sharing intelligence with the Second Young Master in the imperial capital is already enough to cause problems later. For us to intervene so comprehensively in this situation—"
"Shut up!"
Director Lee spat curses.
"I already know that, damn it!"
Ordinarily he was known for his composure, but composure was impossible now.
"Is there anyone here who understands that better than I do?! Do you have an alternative?!"
His aides fell silent.
Not one of them could offer a sharp alternative.
"…There's no other way now."
Director Lee let out a deep sigh.
"The Second Young Master's side went too far with this."
He ground his teeth, unable to hide his agitation.
"It's all or nothing now. Live or die. Only one of the two remains."
Such scenes—attempts to prevent the Supreme Operations Committee's intervention—were unfolding everywhere, making no distinction between the Luoyang Sword Family and Luoyang itself.
And then.
This is an order document that can prove Director Lee's intervention.
One of Director Lee's close aides was making covert contact with a member of the Steward Bureau.
Excellent. I shall report it at once.
When the Steward Bureau man held out his hand, Director Lee's aide pulled the order document back.
Confirm it for me once more.
On his face were agitation, the guilt of betraying his superior, and the obsession to survive.
If I hand over this order document, I will definitely survive—correct?
A crooked smile curved the Steward Bureau man's lips.
Of course.
Across Luoyang, people were appearing who sold out the superiors whose missteps they had shared—staking their own survival as collateral.
"Well done."
"You flatter me."
At Yeon So-hyeon's brief praise, the Chief Steward bowed his head deeply.
"I am merely a tool, carrying out execution according to my lord's command."
The prediction that the Second Young Master's side would resort to the extreme of mobilizing force.
That they would receive the silent complicity of many power holders in the process.
And that by suddenly purging the Agency, they would be forced to move and reveal themselves.
"All of it has been possible only because of my lord's profound arrangements."
"Then the remaining variable is…"
Geam-jon opened the window and gazed far toward Luoyang.
"I only hope they can hold out until we have sufficiently sought out the enemies within."
Where Geam-jon's gaze fell was the distant place where the Valley of Sin lay.
The distance was so vast that even Geam-jon's eyesight could not truly make it out.
Yet even without seeing, he seemed to hear the desperate stand of Yeon So-hyeon's forces, the screams of the dying, and the clash of weapons.
"If our forces begin to be pushed back, we will have to intervene at once."
Operation Seeking the Enemy.
How greatly the operation to distinguish the true enemies hidden inside and outside the Sword Family would succeed depended on how long the Valley of Sin could hold.
"How much longer can our allied forces hold without the First Young Master?"
Circulating what little internal energy remained to somehow suppress the demonic qi of the Jeam Jincheon Scripture, Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
"How long can they hold?"
Even in a situation where he himself could not intervene, Yeon So-hyeon's smile was perfectly at ease.
"You should be asking when they will achieve victory."