Bandits (1)
I had assumed at first that closed-door cultivation took place in some kind of secret chamber hidden inside the clan estate. Instead, I was told to leave if I wanted to train.
At first I didn't understand what they meant, but it turned out the Wang Clan had built a facility in Sacheon specifically for closed-door cultivation. Being royalty, apparently, they couldn't be trusted to stay shut away inside the estate — they'd come wandering out far too easily.
By definition, closed-door cultivation meant severing every tie to the mundane world and devoting yourself entirely to training. But a royal was a royal even in the martial arts. There was no way they could endure it. And so they'd built their retreat at the very edge of the land, about as far from Gaegyeong as it was possible to get.
"Do you not need water, Young Lord?"
"It's been barely a moment since we moved. I'm fine. By the way, have you ever been down south?"
"The south, you say? Before I joined the Wang Clan, I lived in a region called Goryeong."
"Really? Then you'd know it well. What's it like down there?"
In my past life I had lived around Liaodong, so I knew nothing of the lands where Silla and Baekje once stood. No news ever reached me from there — the occasional report of war was about the extent of it.
"Rivers, mountains. Not so different from the scenery you see once you head a little way down from Gaegyeong."
"How dull."
My interest evaporated. Watching my enthusiasm die, Ansong seemed determined to offer something more, and began rummaging through his memories with an audible groan.
"Hm. There is one of the Six Great Clans down there — the Kim Clan of Sacheon. But, well, we've never had anything to do with them."
The Kim Clan traced its origins to the royal house of Silla. When Silla fell in ages past, its last king surrendered to Wang Geon and received the surname Wang — the clan was born from that famous story. At some point, though, they had abandoned the Wang name and returned to being Kim. The problem was that these royals of a fallen kingdom had grown powerful in the south — the southeast, to be precise — by hunting down the Japanese raiders who plagued the coast.
From the Goryeo throne's perspective, they must have been nearly as worrisome as the Wang Clan itself, but the accepted wisdom was that the court never felt truly threatened — after all, the Kims kept the raiders in check and lived a vast distance from the capital.
In truth, they simply lacked the strength to do anything about them.
With that much distance between you, sending soldiers to keep watch was no simple matter. You had to feed them, and the court couldn't afford it. So they were left alone — and the result was one of the Six Great Clans.
"The Kim Clan of Sacheon, hm.... Father did tell me never to get entangled with them."
"I share your father's sentiment, Young Lord."
The moment I'd first heard about Sacheon, I had asked Wang Inho about the Kim Clan. If they were a family favorably disposed toward the Wangs, I'd planned to open diplomatic channels once my training was complete.
Everything I had learned so far about Choe Chunghon and the current Goryeo royal house told me that the alliance between the Wang Clan and the Shin Clan alone would make for a hard-fought war. If it ever came to open battle, soldiers would pour in from every direction — east, west, north, south, and the heartlands alike.
At the very least, I'd need one front secured. The south, specifically — I needed a power that could hold back the soldiers coming from there. That was the meaning behind my question, but the look of pure loathing on Wang Inho's face forced my mouth shut.
Never entangle yourself with them! Never!
I had never seen Wang Inho raise his voice like that. What on earth was this family, that he'd react so viscerally? But then, he wasn't the kind of man to say such things without reason.
I resolved to be careful about avoiding them as we walked, and before I knew it, we'd come quite a long way.
"Where are we, roughly?"
"Let me see.... I believe this is Icheon."
I'd expected the journey to take more than ten days, but at this pace we'd arrive in about five. Was it because the roads were better maintained than in my past life? I must have miscalculated.
"Shall we rest somewhere around here, Young Lord? It's beginning to grow dark."
"Good call. In half a shijin it'll be too dark to find a village."
"Then I'll scout around for one nearby."
With those words, Ansong vanished. Truly, Peak Realm masters are a different breed. Having stalled at First Rate, I had no real idea what that was like.
Will I reach the Peak Realm when my training is done?
Well, I had the Wang Clan's family martial arts manuals with me, so First Rate or Peak, something would come of it.
Saak!
"Young Lord. There's a village just ahead."
"Ah, good. Thanks for the effort."
Following Ansong's lead, I set off toward the village, and before long it came into view.
"Looks decently large."
"Yes. Likely the biggest settlement in the area."
No need to worry about finding a room vacant, then. But the moment Ansong and I stepped through its gates, something struck me as wrong.
Where are the people?
There wasn't a soul outside. Had a tiger gotten in? This country of Goryeo was full of mountainous terrain, so it did happen now and then.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I walked up to a random house. If a tiger was the culprit, we'd have to kill it before it developed a taste for human flesh.
"Hello there! Is anyone home?"
At Ansong's shout, a rustling sound came from inside. Then a farmer with a visibly weary face opened the door.
"....Who might you be?"
Suspicion written all over his eyes, plain as day. But he seemed to notice at a glance that Ansong and I were dressed in silk, and made no move to do anything about it.
"I have just one question. Has a tiger taken up residence here? Why does a village this size have not a single soul walking about?"
"Hm. I don't know who you young masters are, but you'd best leave this place. Quickly."
Something's off here. Judging by his tone, it wasn't a tiger. Which left only one answer.
"Bandits, perhaps?"
"Th-that is...."
When I poked my head out from behind Ansong and asked, the farmer looked somewhat flustered.
Figured as much.
He was trying to hide the presence of bandits, and in cases like this, it usually meant they'd been threatened into silence. The same tired old threats, you know — talk, and we kill your family.
Most of the type who preferred extracting tribute over outright pillaging a village worked this way. And bandits collecting tribute were more often than not what we'd call deserters.
There were far too many deserters in my past life. Whether it was the young days I spent taking pay to sweep them out of the hills, or my time in service, deserters were everywhere.
This era won't be any different.
Old memories stirring, I decided it had been a while since I last swept out some bandits. The villagers deserved the help, too.
Having made up my mind, I reassured the farmer.
"We'll deal with them for you. Just take us to your village headman."
As I spoke, I casually drew out a few coins. The farmer's eyes wavered, and before long he stepped out and closed the door behind him.
"You'll truly deal with them...?"
His voice trembled with anxiety, so I flashed him a grin and pointed at Ansong.
"This man has trained in the martial arts. Don't you worry."
"Huhk!"
The farmer gasped and stumbled backward onto his backside. Common folk had a tendency to revere martial prowess and mystic arts as something near-divine. Well, considering these men could accomplish things beyond ordinary comprehension, it was only natural, really.
We waited for the farmer to collect himself, and he soon guided us to the village headman's house.
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"You truly mean to say you can drive them off?!"
A middle-aged man with the first traces of a white beard stared back at us, eyes wide. The headman had clearly been suffering through this for a long while — deep furrows were carved across his brow.
"Yes. This man here will handle it all."
"Why do you keep pointing at me...."
Cupping a hand over my mouth, I answered the uncharacteristically grumbling Ansong.
If a boy my age claims to know martial arts, who's going to believe him?
"Hgk!"
And with that, I jabbed a finger into the gap between Ansong's ribs. Bent double, he forced the words out through a strangled whisper.
"I'll handle it myself, then."
You little rascal. If you're going to speak up, do it loudly. What kind of man whispers like that?
In any case, the headman seemed deeply moved — his eyes even glistened faintly as he seized my hands.
"Thank you! Thank you! How could I ever repay such kindness.... We have nothing to offer— ah! Seonhwa! Come here, child!"
At the headman's call, a young girl named Seonhwa stepped into view. Oh, you can't be serious.
"This is my daughter. Please, take her."
"No — I don't know what to say to that...."
The girl called Seonhwa looked a good two or three years younger than I was now. With a stiff, frozen expression, she came forward slowly. Flustered, I waved my hands frantically.
"Please, don't do this. I have no intention of taking payment, let alone your daughter."
"You truly need nothing at all?"
"No, no. So if you could just take back the girl, please—"
Faced with my earnest pleading, the headman finally relented and sent Seonhwa back, bowing his head.
"Having nothing to give you, I can only apologize for my rudeness."
"Don't apologize too much, either. Just tell me where the bandit camp is. I'll sweep them out this very day."
At my words, the headman's face darkened. Now what?
"The thing is... we don't actually know where their camp is."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"The bandits are careful enough, it seems. No one knows. The only way we could find out would be to catch one of them and ask."
The headman added that some of the bandits came to collect tribute once a week.
"Three days have passed since they last came, so it will be another four before they return."
So did that mean I'd have to sit around waiting to catch one? That would take time. Maybe I should just comb through the mountains myself.
While I paused to think, the headman apparently misread my silence, because he called for Seonhwa again.
"Seonhwa! Come here, child!"
"I'll do it! I will!"
Please just let her stay!
After that, we were given a house to ourselves for the night, and resolved to wait for the bandits to come to us.