The Banquet Has Only Just Begun!
"Everyone, enjoy the festival!"
Since the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon had spoken those words, it came to pass exactly as he had said.
"They're handing out wine and food in front of Wongak-jeong…!"
"Come on, let's go!"
The maids of the maid corps and the Fourth Young Master's attendants poured out liquor and food without the slightest reservation. And as fortune would have it, evening had already fallen.
"Aah—now that is wine…!"
Word of the feast reached those of the Luoyang Sword House who had finished their work for the day, and they flocked in like clouds.
"Is this the wine the Medicine Fairy herself named?"
"It's medicinal wine in the truest sense of the word!"
And that was not all.
"Everyone gathered on this street tonight is a guest of Wongak-jeong!"
The head attendant of the Fourth Young Master Yeon Bi—normally so gentle—raised a clear, ringing voice over the maids.
"The Eldest Young Master has commanded that we enjoy the festival. Nothing is to be found wanting!"
Her presence was fierce enough to rival a warrior's battle spirit.
"This is a fight for our pride! Do you understand?!"
"Yes, Head Attendant!"
Simply cooking within Wongak-jeong and carrying dishes out was nowhere near enough for them.
"We're short on meat! Why haven't the extra ingredients we ordered arrived yet?!"
"They're almost here! The back roads are packed solid with people—the servants are carrying the ingredients in themselves!"
The maids came out into the street itself, grilling, stir-frying, and deep-frying meat right there on the spot.
"Having the Eldest Young Master among us is truly the greatest blessing upon our House!"
The lively chatter of people drunk on the moment, the crack of celebratory fireworks bursting here and there—
At the small shrine to the Medicine Fairy set up along the street, visitors burned incense and lifted their prayers until the sound of their wishes carried into the night-veiled sky.
"May you live ten thousand years without end…"
"Medicine Fairy, please watch over the Eldest Young Master's path ahead…"
Musicians spread their seats beneath the flower-shaped lanterns strung thick along the street and struck up merry tunes.
"That's right! Today we settle this once and for all…!"
"I'll carve your epitaph with my own two hands!"
Excited warriors drew their swords on every side, and even those savage exchanges of steel became, in the crowd's eyes, nothing more than a dance of blades to stoke the revelry.
"Magnificent…!"
People perched on second-story railings and rooftops alike, unable to contain their delight, sang along to whatever melody happened to be playing.
"The yellow waters of the Yellow River run deep—!"
"The proud soul of the Sword House—!"
The beat was all wrong, the lyrics made up on the spot, and some of it sounded less like singing than drunken roaring.
"Come! A toast, everyone!"
"To the Eldest Young Master!"
"To him!"
That was joy.
That was happiness.
It was a moment that soothed and made them forget every shortcoming, every long and bitter hardship, every sorrowful and grueling trial they had endured.
That was a festival.
"Clear the road!"
A voice heavy with profound inner force rolled out like thunder.
"Make way for the War Department of this House!"
Without exception, a column of warriors—each bearing at least one sword—came into view.
"The War Department's men are here?!"
"Are those the famed warriors of our House's War Department?"
Their eyes were as cold and killing as drawn steel. Their presence was as sharp and chilling as a newly honed blade. Every last one of them was a veteran tempered in real battle, and the oppressive weight of a formation moving as a single body was enough to raise gooseflesh.
"Ohh! Splendid!"
"Even they have come to congratulate the Eldest Young Master…!"
The crowd's spirits were already soaring high. Wrapped in the strange sense of security that Wongak-jeong itself seemed to radiate, they regarded even this ominous procession of warriors—men whose gazes they would normally have avoided meeting—as nothing more than a magnificent spectacle for the moment.
"The ones at the head of the column are the generals of our House's War Department—!"
"Aren't those the Sword House Military Generals?!"
Gossip-loving busybodies could hardly fail to recognize the famous officers of the War Department.
"These are the pride of our House—the ones who made the northern barbarians tremble during the Northern War!"
Just as the onlookers crowding the street and leaning over railings said, there was something about the Sword House generals, white beards streaming in the wind, that made people hold their breath in involuntary awe.
"As expected! Every one of them carries the weight of long experience!"
Ironically, it was the men of the War Department who found themselves thrown off by the festive atmosphere.
"Did I not tell you to clear the road?!"
Ordinarily, the mere raising of their banners would have cleared an open avenue for their exclusive use. Now, thronging spectators had turned them into the spectacle instead.
"The Sword House Military Generals of this House are passing!"
The heat left behind by the Eldest Young Master's demonstration of the Grand Patriarch's single sword at the Elder Council Hall, and then by his duel with Elder Paeng, had long since passed beyond anything normal.
As the column continued to stall, an elderly Sword House general clicked his tongue beneath his helmet.
…At this rate, the whole event will be over before we get there.
At once, sound transmissions from the other generals burst out like bamboo shoots after rain.
We're not even going to get a look at the Eldest Young Master's face, are we?
That's why I said leave the troops behind from the start, damn it!
Hell. What good does it do us, clinging to face we don't even have…
What was that?! You one-balled bastard—!
With this single remaining ball of mine I've fathered seven children! If I'm a one-ball, then you—who only managed two—must be a eunuch!
Gentlemen, please—no cursing! No cursing!
For all the majestic title of Sword House Military General, and for all their solemn expressions, these were men who had rolled through the mud of the battlefield from the root up. Their tongues were as thick and crude as they came.
Want a taste of my sword before you ever get to see the Eldest Young Master's?
Fine by me, you bastard! Today I'll finish off that one ball you've got left!
If so much as a whisper of these transmissions leaked out, the War Department's dignity would crash straight into the dirt.
…Damn it all!
At last the Commander of the War Department, unable to endure any more, exploded.
Do the two of you want to make fools of yourselves in front of this entire crowd?!
The two old generals released the hilts they had been toying with.
…We'll settle this later.
In my whole life, not one man who ever said "we'll settle this later" turned out to be truly frightening.
Did I not tell you to stop?!
Hot-blooded old men were, in essence, no different from reckless children who knew neither water nor fire.
Forcing down the curses that tried to claw their way up his throat, the War Department Commander gave a young officer a nod.
"…From here, we go alone."
At once the relatively younger Sword House general spun around and raised a fist.
"Loyalty!"
One of the deputy commanders read the signal and immediately repeated the order.
"Halt!"
"Halt!"
The warriors thundered the command back in unison and stopped as one, feet striking the ground in perfect time.
"Deputy commanders—take control of the men and return them to the War Department barracks!"
Wait.
They had come all this way, only to turn around and leave behind the mouthwatering smell of roasting meat, the lively songs, and the fragrant scent of wine that filled heaven and earth?
Emotion dripped from the deputy commanders' faces—but what choice did they have?
"All forces, about-face!"
There was pure resentment in the deputy commander's roar.
"From this moment, we return to the main barracks!"
It looked as though bloody tears were welling in the eyes of the turning War Department warriors.
Boys. Feeling wronged?
From behind their heads came the sneering sound transmissions of the two generals who had just been arguing about balls.
That's why they say this in the army!
If it burns you up—then rise higher yourselves!
Keh-keh-keh—the two old officers even went out of their way to load their transmissions with open laughter and send it after the departing men.
Veins stood out on the War Department Commander's wrinkled brow. His foot flashed like lightning, leaving no shadow.
Thwack! Thwack!
"Urgh…!"
"Ghk…?!"
Accompanied by satisfying impacts, the two Sword House generals crumpled, clutching their shins. The Chief of Staff shook his head and, with a sigh, cast a sound transmission.
…By the way, Commander.
What is it?
The Chief of Staff drew close enough that nothing could leak, then asked with extra care.
Are you certain there is a way for our War Department to reclaim its political standing within the House?
Ever since the Grand Patriarch—the Eldest Young Master's father—had collapsed, large-scale military operations by the Luoyang Sword House had inevitably dwindled. In the same vein, the War Department's opportunities for glory had likewise faded after the Northern War.
And that was far from the only problem.
Aigoo, that hurts.
…I thought my shin was going to split.
Those two frivolous-seeming old generals had once been members of the Elder Council themselves. In the past, most of the Sword House Military Generals had been elders of the clan. But as the succession struggle heated up and the Sword House sank deeper into corruption, pure military men had been driven from their places in the Elder Council.
…The old saying that we are a Sword House of constant martial spirit is nothing but an empty phrase now.
Those who purely revered the martial way had been cast out of the core of power.
Commander…?
When no answer came, the Chief of Staff carefully spoke again.
…Of course I cannot be certain at this stage. But—
The War Department Commander turned his gaze. It was fixed in the direction of Wongak-jeong, the place they had been heading toward.
For now, we have no choice but to trust Elder Yeom's word.
Elder Yeom belonged to the War Department as they did, and he was currently the only one among them who still held a seat in the Elder Council.
Could it truly be as Elder Yeom said?
The Chief of Staff swallowed dryly.
Does the Eldest Young Master really possess a sure method to reverse our War Department's situation?
…It is the Eldest Young Master.
Pardon?
For a moment the Chief of Staff failed to understand. The War Department Commander turned and repeated the transmission, carefully and distinctly.
The Eldest Young Master.
I—I will correct myself…!
The War Department Commander turned and strode on, pushing through the spectators' stares.
D-don't leave us behind…!
Aigoo, my leg…!
The sight of the two old generals limping desperately after him was so ridiculous that the other officers burst into laughter over sound transmission.
Heh-heh.
You two had better get those legs fixed before you try sparring with the Eldest Young Master!
In times past the War Department Commander might have laughed with them. Now his face was set hard as stone.
…While pirates shelled the streets of Luoyang, and while black-path thugs ran wild—
He clenched his teeth.
…we did nothing.
In the end, the War Department warriors under Elder Yeom had played a role at the last moment. But until a campaign was authorized from above, the War Department—for all its proud name—had been forced to stand by and merely watch the situation unfold.
…I will not allow us to endure that kind of experience again.
Was it the battlefield instinct of an old general who had spent his life sweeping through war? For some reason, a strange premonition had taken root in him.
…It feels as though this is the only chance left before the Luoyang Sword House walks a path from which there is no return.
Whether the words Elder Yeom had spoken in secret were true, he did not dare claim certainty.
The Eldest Young Master holds a secret strategy that will save the War Department.
If he had been clever enough to judge the truth of that claim, he would never have been driven from the Elder Council in the first place.
…From this point on, I have no choice but to confirm it myself.
His footsteps stopped.
Before him stood the main gate of Wongak-jeong.