Fissures
"Eldest Young Master."
Walking ahead to lead the way, the Sixth Director of the Hobop Court spoke first.
"I have prepared a reception room this way."
Watching the Sixth Director volunteer to guide them as if he were a mere subordinate, the Banker of the Sword House Bank clicked his tongue inwardly.
I never thought the Eldest Young Master would make such bold claims without any preparation…
The Banker stroked his beard as he watched Yeon So-hyeon stroll along at a leisurely pace, hands clasped behind his back.
Even so. The Sixth Director of the Hobop Court?
Even if he was the youngest among the Directors, he was still a Director of the Hobop Court—the largest investigative organ in the Luoyang Sword House.
And what's more…
The Banker's deeply lined gaze settled on the Sixth Director's back.
That youngest Director drove a blade into the back of his own direct superior—his highest superior, the Head of the Hobop Court…!
The corners of the Banker's eyes trembled faintly.
…And he did it in front of everyone.
The Sixth Director's actions, carried out in a public place, amounted to one thing:
Insubordination. Striking at one's superior.
It was not something the Head of the Hobop Court could simply overlook—nor something he should overlook.
And yet…
What the Banker was watching was not merely the Sixth Director's back, but his bearing.
A little stiff, perhaps, but his stride was steady. Chin lifted, leading the way with composure—he looked for all the world as though…
As though he has not the slightest worry about what comes next.
A method that would let the youngest of a faction turn on its leader and still carry himself with such brazen confidence afterward.
Even for a man like the Banker, who had weathered every storm on the filthy battlefield of gold and silver…
…I cannot even begin to imagine it.
The old man shook his head and looked toward Yeon So-hyeon's back.
Still, I have a question.
In that very moment—scarcely had the doubt taken shape—Yeon So-hyeon glanced back over his shoulder.
"You're wondering why I needed to make an enemy of the Head of the Hobop Court right now, aren't you?"
A wry smile cracked across the Banker's previously unreadable face.
"Was my expression so transparent as all that?"
"No."
"Then…?"
Until that wry smile, the Banker's face had been unreadable to anyone. Even guessing his mood was difficult—much less his thoughts.
"Because once you finish parsing the entire situation, that is naturally the question that will remain."
Yeon So-hyeon shrugged with unconcerned ease. The Banker shook his head in resignation.
"…You truly are the Eldest Young Master."
Just then—as if timed to the second—the Sixth Director's footsteps stopped.
"Here we are."
As the Sixth Director's aides opened the reception room doors, Yeon So-hyeon smiled into the sunlight spilling out from within.
"I was not the one who first made an enemy of the Head of the Hobop Court."
"…Then?"
Looking at Yeon So-hyeon's twisted smile, the Banker found the answer himself.
"The hand he offered—it was never meant for reconciliation, was it?"
"Indeed. That was merely…"
Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
"…a smokescreen to lull us into complacency while he aimed for our backs."
With the sun behind him, Yeon So-hyeon's eyes gleamed wetly in the reverse light.
"Had we taken the hand he extended, he would have dragged things out until the moment your disposition was decided."
The Banker was not surprised that a man of power had been scheming behind the scenes. That was not what shook him.
"From the time I first came into conflict with the Court, the Head of the Hobop Court was never on my side. He was one of the hidden key figures who tried to prevent me from ending my seclusion."
How, exactly, did the Eldest Young Master know these things?
Events from before his own influence and standing had reached their present height. Affairs that had unfolded at the highest levels. How did he know them as though he had witnessed them with his own eyes?
"The Head of the Hobop Court…"
Yeon So-hyeon's eyes, glittering in the backlight, seemed to pierce through everything—from the past to the present.
"…acted now precisely because he cannot even imagine that I know the Hobop Court's internal affairs down to the cracks in the mouse holes."
"…I see."
The old man wiped cold sweat that had begun, at some point, to bead across his brow.
Only then did the scene around them come back into focus.
The Sixth Director's faction had prepared thoroughly to receive their guests. And yet the moment Yeon So-hyeon began to speak in the corridor, it was as though the hallway itself had become the reception room they had prepared. Quietly, naturally, they controlled the corridor and secured the space.
Even the Sixth Director stood a single step behind, simply listening to the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon. As if not a shadow of doubt existed regarding any of Yeon So-hyeon's actions. Not a trace of discontent showed on any of their faces.
If Yeon So-hyeon had announced he would take tea right there on the corridor floor, their attitude would have said that of course he should.
…Just how long has the Eldest Young Master's dominion—his influence—reached this deep into the Hobop Court?
It would not have been strange if this place had been Wongak-jeong rather than the Hobop Court.
Naturally, the words Yeon So-hyeon had spoken earlier echoed once more through the Banker's mind.
See for yourself how much this Yeon So-hyeon's standing has changed within the main house.
"But if that is the case…"
The Banker shook his head, forcing himself back to the matter at hand.
"…was there any need to reveal a card like the Sixth Director at this very moment?"
With this, the Head of the Hobop Court would thoroughly purge the Sixth Director's faction. Beyond the penalties, the flow of information that had been coming in would be cut off as well.
"Is that so?"
"Is it not?"
At the Banker's retort, the smile on Yeon So-hyeon's face only deepened.
In that instant, something like lightning struck through the Banker's mind.
"Surely not…?!"
"Indeed. Exactly as you are beginning to suspect."
Yeon So-hyeon gave a short laugh and continued.
"Do you truly think the Sixth Director is my only hand and foot within this Hobop Court?"
A chill raced through the Banker's entire body.
At that same hour, elsewhere in the Hobop Court, a silent battlefield had unfolded outside the Head's office.
"Where in the world have all the Directors gone…?!"
The Head of the Hobop Court's closest aide lowered his voice to a whisper, trembling from head to toe as he berated his subordinates.
"Why are the Directors not answering the Head's emergency summons?"
The Head's closest aide, and that aide's own subordinates—until mere moments ago, they had believed without a shred of doubt that they had a firm grasp on the entire Hobop Court.
Until the Eldest Young Master paid his visit…
"I—I do not know, sir. The Third Director says a sudden family crisis arose and he has left the main estate…"
"…The Fourth Director is barring our entry on the grounds of urgent business."
"The Fifth Director is simply absent, without even offering a reason."
Without exception, they were sweating as though they had been caught in a summer downpour.
"What in heaven's name is going on…?!"
At his subordinates' reports, the Head's closest aide clutched at his own skull.
"What on earth is happening in this Hobop Court right now…?!"
Inside the Head of the Hobop Court's office, smoke hung thick in the air, and the cup on the table had long since gone cold.
"…In the end."
It was the Head of the Hobop Court who broke the heavy silence.
"Four of the six Directors have failed to answer the summons."
An unprecedented situation since the day he had assumed the office of Head.
"…Not all of them will be traitors."
A woman in early old age—the Second Director of the Hobop Court—took her lips from her long pipe and released her ordered thoughts together with a stream of smoke.
"Most of them are simply watching which way the wind blows in the face of this sudden upheaval."
The First Director nodded in agreement.
"If they had all turned against us, the Court would not be this quiet."
The Head of the Hobop Court inclined his head slowly in acknowledgment.
"…True enough."
Had they secured sufficient numbers, they would not have been hiding from the summons. They would already have stormed this room to impeach him.
"But the fact that they are watching and waiting means—"
"—that the spectacle the Eldest Young Master put on was that much of a shock to them."
The First Director smacked his lips as he eyed the Second Director's pipe. The Sixth Director, from whom he had always borrowed tobacco, was not present.
The Sixth Director had driven a blade into the Head of the Hobop Court's back in a public place. But that was not all.
"…A crack has begun in the Hobop Court."
"From here on…"
The Second Director exhaled a long plume of smoke, as though addressing the First Director as well, and took up the thread.
"…the question is whether this crack can simply be patched over, or whether—"
"Tsk."
The Head of the Hobop Court clicked his tongue and cut her off.
"—or whether it leads to collapse."
His eyes shone a cold, hard blue, but even that could not fill the hollow left by the empty seats.
The heavy silence that returned was broken by—
"Head."
—the Head's closest aide, who entered carefully after making his presence known. Sweat still shone on his face as he reported.
"People from the Third Young Master's faction and from the Yeon blood relatives have arrived. They continue to request an audience with you."
At that, the Second Director clicked her tongue softly.
"…They heard the news quickly, didn't they."
"…Or perhaps the Eldest Young Master arranged that as well. Damn it."
The First Director spat a quiet curse and let out a sigh.
"The massive upheaval the Eldest Young Master caused within the main house was a tremendous boon to our Hobop Court."
His words were the unvarnished truth.
With Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon's rising, countless power brokers within the main house had either fallen from grace or were under investigation. The Third Young Master's faction, over the disturbance at the construction site of the Yongbong-jihoe arena. The Yeon blood relatives, over the massive corruption surrounding the Sword House Bank.
That the Hobop Court—the center of every one of those investigations—should see its influence swell, and that every eye should turn toward it, was only natural.
"Can we not simply send them away somehow?"
"…About that."
At the First Director's words, the Head's closest aide shook his head with a troubled look.
"They do not seem inclined to leave quietly. They are openly mentioning their 'deals' with us and applying half-veiled threats."
Fortune invites misfortune, the First Director thought, swallowing another sigh—when the Head of the Hobop Court spoke.
"…Second Director."
Her gaze turned to him.
"Handle them for me."
"…That."
The Second Director made a sour face at the request. The Head of the Hobop Court ground his teeth at her reaction.
She had answered the emergency summons, yes—but her attitude was clearly different from usual. At least, it felt different to him.
"…Second Director. Were you not aiming for a seat among the Elders?"
At that, the Second Director shot the First Director a sharp glance. He merely shrugged.
The Head of the Hobop Court and the First Director were both Elders of the Luoyang Sword House. Of those present, only the Second Director herself did not yet belong to the Jangro-won.
"…You will have to settle this account dearly."
Watching her leave, the Head of the Hobop Court spoke to the First Director.
"For a moment—watch my back."
"Of course. But—"
The First Director rose from his chair as the Head of the Hobop Court stood.
"Where do you intend to go…?"
Hobop Court, Distinguished Guests' Reception Room.
"Eldest Young Master. An urgent report."
Someone approached Yeon So-hyeon as he entered and held out a slip of paper.
"My thanks."
The moment Yeon So-hyeon took the note—before the Banker could even glimpse the face of the messenger—the man was already gone from the room.
"Just as I thought."
A soft chuckle escaped Yeon So-hyeon as he read.
"It seems the Head of the Hobop Court has left his post in secret, taking only a bare handful of people with him."
To receive immediate word of a secret departure by someone of the Head of the Hobop Court's stature—and at a time when that man had raised his guard to its absolute peak.
Just how many eyes and ears has the Eldest Young Master planted…?!
The Banker's sharp gaze did not miss the brief hitch in the Sixth Director's movement.
Even the Sixth Director, who belongs to the Hobop Court itself, does not know all of the Eldest Young Master's agents.
It was as though Yeon So-hyeon's shadow had already engulfed the entire Hobop Court.
"For the Head of the Hobop Court to leave his post in a situation like this—what could the reason be?"
It was the Banker who answered Kang Ho's quiet question.
"With the Sixth Director now on our side, only one investigative organ connected to the Sword House Bank case remains, does it not?"
"Ah."
Kang Ho clapped his palm against his fist.
"The Audit Department."
The Banker slowly nodded, confirming Kang Ho's deduction.
"Most likely. If he still wishes to exert influence over this case, all that remains is the Central Audit Department—the one that first raided the Sword House Bank."
And the Central Audit Department fell under the Audit Department's authority.
The Banker narrowed his eyes with a low hum of thought.
"It would seem he is going to meet the Head of the Audit Department."
After the Head of the Hobop Court, the Head of the Audit Department.
However thoroughly Dokgo Ya-yeon—famed as a person of strict neutrality and Head of the Central Audit Department—might strive to keep to her principles, she could not simply ignore pressure from the Head of the Audit Department.
This…
In a situation that could only call to mind the phrase mountain after mountain, the Banker let out a low groan.
"…This will not be easy."
"Is that so?"
But Kang Ho only smiled faintly.
Just then, someone who had arrived ahead of them and been waiting inside the reception room stepped forward.
"A pleasure to meet you, Banker."
He introduced himself to the Banker with a smile that at first glance seemed amiable and approachable.
"I am Hwa Bok, of the Central Audit Department."
"…Why is the Central Audit Department here?"