Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Balancer
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The meeting had ended.
As Yeon So-hyeon emerged from the stone cave, he saw the Agency's warriors waiting.
“Eldest Young Master, we will escort you to the entrance of the secret chamber.”
The female commanding officer who had been standing by bowed politely and approached with a blindfold.
“Get rid of that.”
Yeon So-hyeon bared his teeth.
“But this is the Agency's protocol…”
“Protocol be damned.”
Yeon So-hyeon pointed behind him.
“This was my father's private training ground. Got it? I've been here dozens of times as a kid.”
He strode ahead, and the Agency's warriors hurried to follow.
“But…!”
“By the way, I could get to One-Corner Pavilion from here blindfolded, even rolling on the ground if I had to. Don't waste time with nonsense.”
The female commander, wearing a smooth mask, seemed momentarily flustered before tucking the blindfold into her bosom.
She signaled her subordinates, who quickly summoned the unit waiting with the sealed carriage.
She swiftly handed Yeon So-hyeon over to the commanding officer in charge of the sealed carriage.
Finishing her instructions, she approached Yeon So-hyeon and clasped her hands in salute.
“I've spoken to them, so they will escort you comfortably to One-Corner Pavilion.”
Yeon So-hyeon patted her shoulder.
“You're good at your job. You've got tact.”
“…You flatter me.”
Yeon So-hyeon climbed aboard the sealed carriage, gripped the door, and said to her,
“You must have felt suffocated working so long in a stuffy place like the Agency.”
“That's…”
Yeon So-hyeon closed the door and spoke through the small window.
“If you ever leave the Agency, come to One-Corner Pavilion. I'll need capable people from now on.”
At his words, the surrounding warriors let out snickers.
Someone cleared their throat awkwardly.
And who could blame them? Who would abandon an important position in the Luoyang Sword Clan to follow the infamous Swordless One?
Yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, she scratched her head and replied,
“Uh… my name is Cheongsu. If that day comes, I'll be in your care.”
Yeon So-hyeon burst into laughter and rapped on the ceiling of the sealed carriage.
“Let's go home, everyone.”
The sealed carriage sped away like the wind, vanishing from sight. The warriors stared at their commanding officer in disbelief.
She shrugged nonchalantly.
“Why stare like that? Knowing how to build connections is crucial in society.”
The warriors sighed.
“…The connection our commanding officer just made seems like a rotten rope.”
At someone's remark, she widened her eyes and glared at him.
“Puhahaha!”
It was a hearty laugh.
Ignoring her subordinates' stunned gazes, she clutched her stomach and laughed for a good while.
Finally calming down, she said,
“Ah, laughing too hard made my stomach hurt.”
She waved her hand, and they all shrugged and began to withdraw.
She picked up her mask from behind and wiped away the tears from laughing too much.
“…A rotten rope? That Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon?”
She shook her head.
“I guess I'm getting old.”
Watching the warriors ahead, she gave a wry smile.
'Well, most of those who remember the old days were replaced after the Family Head fell.'
The organization, established for a single purpose, had failed in that purpose.
After that day, many who had been with her on the scene either quit voluntarily or were replaced.
'I guess it's about time for me to leave the Agency too…'
She had been increasingly dissatisfied with the Agency's upper echelons lately.
* * *
The stone cave after Yeon So-hyeon departed.
The new female senior councilor spoke.
“…The decision to lift the Eldest Young Master's seclusion. It was the right call, wasn't it?”
The new male senior councilor replied.
“Did we have any other choice?”
“We didn't, but…”
One of the senior councilors spoke.
“The Eldest Young Master could reveal the truth of that day at any moment. Then…”
Another senior councilor continued.
“Those still loyal to the Family Head would draw their swords against us all at once.”
“Many of those in the upper echelons back then still harbor doubts about what happened.”
“A great upheaval would come…”
The general affairs councilor stepped forward.
“This council stands above the main family's laws, but there weren't many ways to properly check it.”
Everyone listened intently to his words.
“Yet, this council has continuously strengthened its internal regulations, strived for fairness in all matters, and feared above all losing respect.”
Another senior councilor nodded.
“That was because of the Eldest Young Master's existence.”
“That's certain. It was his presence—the one who could expose everything at any time—that allowed this council to maintain its principles until now.”
The silent new male senior councilor asked in a strained voice.
“…Didn't we ever try to eliminate him?”
One senior councilor chuckled.
“There might have been such plans early on. But think about it. Do you think he hasn't prepared for his own sudden death?”
“We haven't even grasped how many in the main family's highest ranks still maintain ties with him. And when you add the prestigious figures inside and outside Luoyang…”
Everyone clicked their tongues.
“He seemed to simply seclude himself in One-Corner Pavilion for ten years, but who knows…”
“Without him, I can't even imagine what the main family would look like now.”
As they murmured about Yeon So-hyeon, one senior councilor spoke.
“By the way, I quite liked this meeting hall, but now we can't use it anymore.”
“Can't be helped.”
They gazed at the spot where Yeon So-hyeon had stood.
Sunlight poured through the hole in the ceiling, illuminating the Sword Clan Golden Seal on the floor.
Yeon So-hyeon had left the Family Head Seal there.
“…No one dares touch it.”
“Not until a new Family Head emerges or the Supreme Family Head miraculously awakens and resumes his role.”
“We have no choice but to seal the entire meeting hall.”
The silent chairman finally spoke.
“Everyone, remember this.”
All focused on the chairman's voice.
“We've made countless promises to the Eldest Young Master that we couldn't keep, but even this time, he kept his promise to us.”
The room fell instantly solemn.
'I will ensure the Family Head Seal in my possession does not influence the main family's successor competition, so do not worry.'
The past supreme executive council had been thrown into chaos upon belatedly learning the Family Head Seal was in Yeon So-hyeon's hands.
It was what the young Yeon So-hyeon, who had appeared at that meeting, had said to them—somehow knowing the fact.
“If there is still a promise we can keep, one with even a chance of possibility…”
The records councilor answered.
“It is to do our utmost to prevent the successor competition from escalating into a massive conflict.”
“That is possible only for us, the supreme executive council, who hold all authority.”
After a moment of silence, reaffirming their role, one senior councilor joked lightly.
“Now that even the Eldest Young Master has officially entered as a successor candidate, things are going to give us even more headaches.”
“No more peaceful sleep from now on.”
“You mean you've been sleeping peacefully until now?”
As they chattered noisily, the new female senior councilor said softly.
“…Will it really get harder for us than now?”
Her voice echoed in the stone cave.
“The Eldest Young Master has silently endured all those slanders for the main family until now.”
Even being called the Swordless One, coward, or craven—he had borne it all in silence.
“For such an Eldest Young Master, wouldn't he take the lead himself in preventing that massive conflict?”
The senior councilors nodded one by one.
“…That's a valid point.”
“He just might act that way.”
Then the chairman's voice resounded.
“But do not forget. If the Eldest Young Master feels we are not fulfilling our role…”
Everyone could sense the unmistakable fear in his voice.
“He will, without hesitation, ignore all rules at any moment and repeat that bloodbath.”
The stone cave sank into heavy silence.
* * *
While the other senior councilors held a meeting to turn this council chamber—where the Sword Clan Golden Seal lay—into a sealed ground,
The chairman was lost in deep thought alone.
'...Was the constraint the Eldest Young Master held over this council truly only such intangible things?'
Making the supreme executive council more just through his mere existence?
He didn't believe that was all.
The proof was his own existence as chairman.
'How dare he call us a band of thieves?!'
'The little brat gets hyped up because people around him praise him as a genius!'
'Drag that punk out of the meeting hall right now!'
He still vividly remembered the remarks the early supreme executive councilors had hurled at Yeon So-hyeon.
They had been utterly shameless.
They were the ones who had practically imprisoned the sole legitimate successor, the Eldest Young Master.
They had relied on the Eldest Young Master's goodwill, believing the truth would never come to light.
They were the old fools who had rampaged as if the Luoyang Sword Clan were their own.
'...Now, none of them remain in this position.'
Their identities had been revealed one by one through covert rumors.
The 'Oath of Silence,' the most crucial internal regulation, had to be upheld for the supreme executive council's legitimacy.
Back then, he had thought it was because security regarding the initial emergency meeting members was relatively lax.
But such incidents continued afterward.
Those who tried to privatize their power as senior councilors.
Those with excessive ambitions, who secretly aided their factions, or sought illicit gains.
Such people had their true natures exposed one by one and vanished from the council.
And what remained until now was the one person who had opposed their actions to the end.
The one who had anonymously sent a letter of apology to the Eldest Young Master.
The only one who admitted his errors and accepted his original sin.
The current chairman, himself.
He recalled the final conversation he had with Yeon So-hyeon before departing.
* * *
“…The supreme executive council owes the Eldest Young Master an immense debt. However.”
Facing the flustered chairman, Yeon So-hyeon spoke with hands behind his back.
“However, I understand that does not mean you can grant me special privileges in selecting the Acting Family Head.”
“…Thank you for understanding.”
Even the slightest hint of favoritism toward the Eldest Young Master in the Acting Family Head selection process would not be tolerated by the other successors.
“Moreover, I know that being only slightly ahead of the other successors is not enough to become Acting Family Head.”
“…I apologize.”
Only a massive, convincing gap could minimize discontent.
“Leave that to me.”
He smiled at the chairman seated behind the special curtain.
“So you just continue as you have, Chairman.”