The Serpent's Invitation
One of the old proverbs passed down through the ages is that the guest is king. Of course, the truth of that saying depends entirely on the guest, but it essentially means the host must treat their visitor with the utmost care.
For the Jegal Clan, the Namgung Clan was not a party to be slighted. That was why not only the direct bloodline members including Namgung Jehyun but also the warriors who had accompanied them received proper hospitality.
Yet as with all things, there is the saying that too much is as bad as too little. This principle allows for no exceptions. Military power, wealth, honor—things that appear to follow the logic of “the more the better” only have a limit set far beyond ordinary measure. Once that line is crossed, they become chains.
The reason these thoughts occupied my mind was simple. The situation I now found myself in was walking a razor’s edge directly between those two proverbs.
“...Me?”
Today was the final day before we left the Jegal Clan. It must have been around the hour of the horse when, while seated and circulating my internal energy or tracing countless sword paths through my mind, a single person came looking for me. I opened the door to find a servant of the Jegal Clan. He asked whether I was indeed the Extreme Sword Dragon Jin Sowoon. When I confirmed it, he respectfully drew a neatly folded note from his sleeve, placed it in my hand, and withdrew.
I stared blankly at the rapid, almost dizzying sequence of events before finally unfolding the paper now resting in my palm.
I have long heard the illustrious reputation of the Extreme Sword Dragon echoing from afar.
I had hoped one day to share a seat with you, yet lacking the opportunity, I had set that desire aside. However, I received word that you are currently staying at our clan.
If it would not be an imposition, would you honor me with your presence at the beginning of the You hour today? I will send someone at the appointed time.
“No wonder everyone’s been scurrying around like their tails are on fire.”
The letter’s invitation had been phrased as a polite question, yet the messenger had vanished so quickly that no room remained for refusal. Add to that the unilateral courtesy of sending someone at the exact hour. It was a cunning move, and a trap that could not fail to spring.
“I’m not even the main character here. Isn’t this hospitality a little excessive?”
From my conversation with Namgung Seha two days ago, I had already deduced how he might approach me. I had also taken note that he possessed a mind of considerable depth.
Should I track down the servant from earlier and decline? It would be easy enough. If the man had been hired from outside the clan walls, the Beggars’ Sect could locate him within two hours. If he had been summoned from within the clan itself, I could find him on foot in half that time.
But there was no need. In the end, I had never intended to refuse and avoid the meeting anyway. After all, to catch a tiger one must enter the tiger’s den.
No matter how dangerous a man he might be, he could not treat me carelessly. I stood here as a member of the Namgung Clan, and personally I was a valued guest holding the Jegal Clan’s very own token of gratitude.
“Let’s hear what he has to say.”
...
Not long after the You hour, the same servant who had delivered the note returned and spoke to me once more.
“If you would be so kind as to follow me?”
I gave a small nod. He bowed deeply, turned, and began walking slowly ahead of me.
At first the path was unfamiliar. Yet the further we went, the more a sense of recognition grew. The moment I became certain I had walked this way before, the place that greeted me was exactly where I had met the Jegal Clan Lord days earlier.
“You may enter through here. This humble one shall now take his leave.”
After bowing to me once more, he slowly backed away. At some point his steps quickened, and he all but fled the area. It seemed the task had been quite burdensome for him.
I turned my gaze from the now-irrelevant servant to the door before me. Lightly hooking my finger through the ring, I gripped it firmly and pulled it open.
“I can only express my deepest gratitude that the renowned Extreme Sword Dragon has deigned to visit in person.”
The moment the door opened, the man seated in the exact spot the Clan Lord had occupied last time spoke while gently stroking the feathers of what appeared to be a messenger hawk. It was a face I had seen before. As expected, the man who had stood beside the Clan Lord on the first day was indeed Jegal Jihan.
“You flatter me. It is I who am honored to receive the chance to sit together with the Young Master of the Jegal Clan.”
Replying in kind, I took the seat opposite him. Jegal Jihan spread his hand and released the hawk. The white bird flapped upward with a soft flutter and settled onto the back of his chair.
“First, I heard you saved our youngest sibling previously. I assume my father and the child already conveyed their thanks sufficiently during your meeting a few days ago, but allow me to express my own gratitude as well.”
So saying, he retrieved a box that had been placed beside his chair and set it on the table between us. From his sleeve he produced a key and unlocked it.
Clack.
As the lid opened, countless glints of light spilled forth. They were all gold ingots. The box was rather large; if filled to this degree, it likely contained close to two hundred pieces.
“...I have already received something.”
This was excessive. The gratitude plaque had been the exact limit. This clearly crossed the line of repayment for the recent matter. Yet Jegal Jihan showed no intention of withdrawing the box. He even placed the key atop the gold and spoke.
“It is of no concern. I am merely expressing my gratitude in my own way, just as my father has done in his.”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“...If you find it too much, please consider it a token of personal favor and sincerity from the Young Master of the Jegal Clan.”
As expected. Unlike his father, he was known to be an extremely cold and rational man when it came to weighing profit and loss. There was no way he would act out of mere sentiment.
“Is this a bribe?”
A token of favor and sincerity. We would simply call that a bribe. Lifting my eyes from the box of gold and its key, I looked at Jegal Jihan and asked.
“What do you intend to use me for by offering this bribe? In any case, I am bound by contract to the Namgung Clan. I cannot offer any particular assistance.”
Every word was the truth, free of even the slightest exaggeration or falsehood. Moreover, even if I wished to help with something right now, I was in no position to do so, nor could I guarantee that the situation would change in the future.
Jegal Jihan answered with words that seemed to carry a hidden meaning.
“...Something large but illusory is inferior to something small but certain. The latter may one day achieve great success, but the former is fundamentally flawed and offers no room for improvement.”
Large but illusory. Small but certain. I could not tell exactly what the two phrases alluded to. Yet I understood that the “small but certain” was what he hoped to gain by offering me this bribe, while the “large but illusory” was the opposite.
After a moment’s thought, the veiled meaning became faintly clear. Therefore I looked at Jegal Jihan and said,
“The large but illusory thing is the gold.”
Gold ingots certainly possessed great value. Among goods commonly traded in the market, nothing of equal size could surpass them in worth. However, for a clan of the Jegal’s stature, an excess of mere gold held little true value. Rather, it was a trap designed to lure one into chasing illusions.
“The small but certain thing is a connection with me. Is that the correct interpretation?”
There was clearly something more important to them. Even if it meant incurring a loss right now, even if what they received in return seemed less than a speck of dust. Things such as the clan’s honor, or a connection with a remarkable individual.
“...You possess considerable insight for one so young.”
Jegal Jihan pushed the box toward me once more and spoke again.
“I simply hope that, when the time comes for you to weigh us against others, when your heart begins to lean toward another party, you will at least spare us a moment of reconsideration.”
I stared at him. For the briefest instant, his tongue seemed to flicker inside his mouth like that of a viper, sharp and forked.
“I will not accept it.”
Accepting that box would be an act that denied everything I was. It would be severing the stump of the tree that still remained unburned within me—the part of me that upheld justice without being swayed by power.
“In any situation, I will always reach out toward what I believe is right.”
I needed that stump. The one that reminded me there was still a place where I could rest, a place where I could entrust myself, a reason for the existence called Jin Sowoon to continue living.