The Senior from Blue Dragon
"What brings you here today? Are you looking to discuss enrollment for your child?"
"Well, that is…"
Hwang Jong-baek had been staring off into space, and it took the instructor behind him giving his sleeve a light tug before he finally gathered his wits.
"Ahem! I've come to see the head of this academy. If he's inside, kindly fetch him for me."
"Ah, you may speak with me directly."
Hwang Jong-baek frowned.
"I have business for the academy's master, not its martial instructor."
"…Martial instructor?"
"Hmm?"
"My sincere apologies. I've failed to introduce myself properly."
Jin Cheong-un clasped his hands and offered a formal bow.
"I am Jin Cheong-un, master of the Cheongun Martial Arts Academy here in Yinghua Village."
"You're the master?"
Apparently his age had invited a misunderstanding. Jin Cheong-un answered with an easy smile.
"I took an early interest in the art of teaching, so I opened my doors young."
"I'd heard you were young, but really—my."
The tone grated on him a little, but Jin Cheong-un simply smiled again.
Oh well, he thought. First customer of the day. Kindness, and kindness again—he repeated the mantra to himself.
"I'm not that young, for what it's worth. Would you care to look around the academy? I'd be happy to give you a proper tour…"
"No need. I'm not here to enroll anyone."
"…?"
"Ahem!"
At Hwang Jong-baek's pointed cough, the instructor behind him stepped forward and made the introduction.
"This gentleman here is Master Hwang Jong-baek, head of the Blue Dragon Martial Arts Academy in Seokmun Village. Show proper respect."
"…The Blue Dragon Academy?"
Hwang Jong-baek preened slightly as he smiled.
"Heh heh, yes indeed. The Blue Dragon Martial Arts Academy, which produced more than ten successful applicants in this year's entrance examinations alone. Its master, at your service."
Silence.
Then Jin Cheong-un's expression transformed. The corners of his mouth, which had curved so gently, flattened into something bland, and his head tilted at a peculiar angle.
And out came a single line.
"…So you're not a customer."
"…?"
Jin Cheong-un abruptly brushed past them, walked to the entrance of the academy, and shut the main gate.
Clang!
He even latched it with a bolt that looked absurdly, suspiciously sturdy.
Then he let out a short sigh, laid a hand gently over his chest, and murmured to himself.
"Ah, the spirit of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains."
Why was he muttering to himself like a madman? And why lock the door?
Hwang Jong-baek and the instructors were blinking at him in bewilderment when—
"M-Master, the door again?"
A startled cry rang out from the direction of the main hall. They turned to find a young woman frozen in place, her face full of shock.
"Speak."
"…?"
"Tell me. Your business here."
Jin Cheong-un turned to face them at last, and his demeanor had unmistakably changed from moments before.
"What is your purpose in visiting another man's place of business?"
Hwang Jong-baek's eyes darted about uneasily.
Jin Cheong-un said nothing at all, never even touched his teacup, and simply stared at him with unblinking intensity.
His eyes… there's something faintly unhinged in them?
Hwang Jong-baek was beginning to doubt this was even the same man he'd met at the gate.
Then Jin Cheong-un gave a slight tilt of his head.
"So. What's your business here?"
"Ah, w-well, you see…"
Hwang Jong-baek reflexively started to answer, then caught himself.
Wait, why am I cowering like this? Even if I'm intimidated, the one who should feel small is HIM!
He straightened his spine, narrowed his eyes into a glare, and declared:
"Ahem! Do you truly not know why I've come?"
"No idea."
"…?"
"You have to actually tell me. I'm not a mind reader—how would I know?"
For a moment Hwang Jong-baek wilted under the sheer momentum, but he soon rallied, steeling his gaze.
"How long has your academy been open?"
"Why do you ask?"
"As I understand it, you filed your registration with the county office a good while ago. So why have you never joined the Association, hm? Forcing an officer like myself to come all the way out here in person."
Hwang Jong-baek made a point of stressing the words an officer like myself.
And sure enough, a tiny scrap of confidence—a mouse-tail's worth—seemed to sprout where none had been before!
"Anyone operating a martial academy in Yichang County must join the Yichang Regional Martial Educators' Alliance. Don't tell me you weren't aware."
"Regional Alli—sorry, what was that?"
"Not Regional Alliance. The Yichang Martial Educators' Region—"
"Yichang, what?"
"…Just call it the Martial Arts Association. Most people do."
"If it's fine to shorten it, why did you tack all that extra nonsense on in the first place?"
"…"
Hwang Jong-baek was struck speechless for a moment.
Privately, he thought the exact same thing—but watching this fellow say it to an officer's face made him feel almost cleansed, somehow.
"A-anyway, you've been rather curt with me this whole time…"
"That was me talking to myself. My apologies if it offended."
"Oh! Oh, you were talking to yourself. Ha ha."
Why, though? Why did it remind him of the neighborhood thugs who used to torment him every day as a boy and shake him down for his pocket money?
Hwang Jong-baek swallowed hard and studied Jin Cheong-un carefully.
And in that instant, he saw it.
Through the loosely draped gap of the man's robe, a thick scar writhed like a living thing.
S-so he really is no ordinary fellow!
The instincts of the man who had once served as the Martial Alliance's gatekeeper and written a legend of incident-free service were sounding the alarm.
This was not someone to provoke carelessly. That instinct had never once been wrong!
"So membership is mandatory, then?"
"Th-that's right."
"Why?"
"Well, the Association coordinates everything that goes on in the trade and protects members' interests, so naturally it pays to join, doesn't it? It's not just academies either—merchants around here sign up too…"
"Merchants as well?"
"Escort agencies, armories… most anyone whose livelihood touches the martial world joins up."
Jin Cheong-un's eyes went wide.
"Wait. Did you actually come here today to invite me to join?"
"Th-that's about the size of it."
"Hm."
Jin Cheong-un let out a thoughtful hum.
Have I misjudged this?
The spirit of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains. Stand down.
He'd assumed this was another Black Tiger Gang situation—troublemakers come to pick a fight—but wasn't this more like a senior colleague looking out for the newcomer?
Jin Cheong-un gave a short nod.
"I've been discourteous. I let my manners slip badly, I fear."
"Hm? Hm?"
"I had every intention of paying the Association a visit before long anyway. I'm sorry to have made you take the trip for nothing."
"You meant to come yourself? Hahaha! Well, what do you know! And here I was—!"
Hwang Jong-baek, who had been wound tight as a bowstring, burst into a hearty laugh at the thought of things resolving far more easily than he'd expected.
"Truth be told, there's been a fair bit of grumbling. People worried an outsider might ignore the rules and stir up trouble. You did register, but you've shown your face not once since—completely disappeared without a word, you see."
"Hm. That was ignorance on my part—awkward indeed."
He remembered his own first registration with the Martial Alliance.
Wherever you went, nothing mattered more for a newcomer than reading the room and making a good first impression. Fumble it in the early days and you'd be under suspicion forever after. With everything that had piled up since the opening, things had simply gone sideways.
"What would you have me do?"
Hwang Jong-baek flinched.
Jin Cheong-un was scratching at his collarbone as he asked. Of course—right on the side with the scar!
"N-now, now, don't worry yourself! You didn't know, did you? If I put in a good word for you, everyone will understand!"
"You'll help me, then?"
"Of course I will! That's precisely why I came today! I may not look it, but I'm an officer of the Association! An officer, I say!"
The Blue Dragon instructors who had tagged along tilted their heads in confusion.
Weren't they supposed to push back a little, put the upstart in his place, enforce some discipline?
"Why would you help a total stranger this much on the very day you've met him?"
"Well… ah, that's it! The young man's working so hard, I simply want to lend a hand. Ha ha ha."
"…!"
"If anything difficult comes up, or there's something you don't understand, ask me freely. I'll tell you all about this and that."
No—so this is who he actually is?
Jin Cheong-un had misjudged him because he was a bit plump, talked down to strangers, and peppered his speech with casual banmal—but he was just a good-natured senior in the trade, wasn't he?
With an expression full of genuine gratitude, Jin Cheong-un assumed a formal fist-in-palm salute.
"Senior."
"Hm? S-Senior?"
"If I'm the junior in this trade, then you'd be my senior, wouldn't you? This junior of yours committed a discourtesy out of misunderstanding. Please accept his apology."
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"I will serve you like an elder brother from this day forward. I beg you for your generous guidance and instruction."
"Ah, uhh… well then! Ha ha…."
Hwang Jong-baek's face turned as vague and formless as kneaded dough, but Jin Cheong-un simply smiled brightly, thinking only that he'd made a fine connection.
Late that night.
"So it looks like I'll need to attend that meeting they've got coming up."
The meeting was to be held in Yiling Castle. Yiling, as in Yiling Hall. Outsiders generally took any mention of Yichang to mean this Yiling Castle.
Same region or not, the round trip would eat up a good three days. He knew it well, since he'd made the journey once before—the Black Tiger Gang had been headquartered there, after all.
Jeong So-so's face brightened.
"Good thinking, Master. Even just going and coming back with proof that you're part of the council would help."
"They said they'd give me a plaque, did they?"
"Yes, I heard that once you join, they issue an official plaque certifying you as a recognized academy."
"Hmm…"
"Is something bothering you?"
"I'll be running the place with my own money—I don't see why I should have to fuss over things like that."
Perhaps because it wasn't an ordinary merchants' guild but an organization entangled with the Jianghu. Even so, it was peculiar in a number of ways.
"Did they have gatherings like this back when you ran the place, So-so?"
"They existed, but they never had this much influence. I looked into it, and it's something that's changed recently."
"Recently, how?"
"These days, when the magistrate's office has announcements to make, they don't visit each academy individually—they notify the Association instead. Same goes for the wider Jianghu."
Though the world was vast—far too vast—private organizations often stood in for the government's role.
Long-established sects or powerful local clans usually handled that duty, but Yichang had no great sects of its own, so the Association had apparently risen to fill that position.
"They even share work opportunities and refer disciples to one another. It'll help you a great deal."
"So-so, how on earth do you know all this?"
She flinched, then admitted, a little sheepishly:
"I just… while I was out shopping for dinner, I asked around here and there. Thought it might be useful to you, Master…"
"Ho."
Jin Cheong-un was genuinely impressed.
Whoever her old master was, he must have taught her magnificently. Surely someone of virtuous character, outstanding looks, and great ability.
"But they say the meetings aren't exactly friendly affairs. You should be careful."
"Careful of what? Isn't it an organization academies built to help each other?"
"That's true, but…"
"What could possibly happen? I'll just go, pay my respects, and come back."
Watching Jin Cheong-un yawn without a care in the world, she felt a flicker of unease.
There won't be any trouble, right?
Memories of the Black Tiger Gang flashed through Jeong So-so's mind.
Jin Cheong-un seemed to think he'd hidden it well, but of course she had a fair idea of what her master had actually done.
No, no. Who am I to worry about my master?
Wasn't the situation completely different from the Black Tiger Gang affair?
Right. What problem could there possibly be?
Jin Cheong-un was, unlike her, a genuinely seasoned adult.
However careless and halfhearted he might appear to outsiders, it was all an act—she knew he was a man of deep thought beneath the surface.
There would be no problem.
Her master was wise, after all!
Early evening.
Jin Cheong-un stepped into a sprawling estate in the heart of Yiling Castle.
So this is the White Horse Martial Arts Academy, the most prestigious in all of Yichang.
It was said to be where the Association Leader himself served as master, a storied academy that had produced luminaries from every walk of life.
"What brings you here today?"
"Jin Cheong-un, of the Cheongun Martial Arts Academy."
"Ah, so you're—"
One of the attending staff let out a small snort of laughter.
"This way, please."
Something about it inexplicably rubbed him the wrong way. What was that about?
Soon Jin Cheong-un was led into a wide courtyard bustling with people.
"Is that the young whelp?"
"Even younger than I heard."
He found himself at the center of a knot of sidelong glances that plainly deemed him unworthy.
He let out a short sigh.
So this is what a botched first impression costs.
Nothing for it, then.
Even now, he needed to plant the image of Jin Cheong-un—the warm, courteous junior of the trade.
"What could you all be discussing so merrily? Do make room for me."
"…!"
"Ah, I'm Jin Cheong-un of the Cheongun Martial Arts Academy—the very one you were talking about, I believe. What were you saying about me, and in such depth?"
Smirk.
That was what he said, wearing the finest smile he could conjure, and—
"R-right, of course. A pleasure."
"Ahem! Er, I have someone to meet briefly, so if you'll excuse—"
The academy masters scattered like rabbits fleeing a wolf.
Dear me. Apparently these seniors of mine are rather shy sorts.
"…Master Jin. A word?"
Just then Hwang Jong-baek approached, looking distinctly sour.
"Ah, Senior Hwang, welcome. I was just trying to build some rapport with the other seniors."
Rapport?
That wasn't a pissing contest just now?
"Senior, the atmosphere at this meeting seems quite different from what I was told."
"W-well, about that."
Hwang Jong-baek glanced nervously around and lowered his voice.
"I'm sorry I didn't warn you beforehand. The truth is, they've never taken kindly to newcomers. You're a competitor appearing out of nowhere, and worse—you opened your academy without the council's blessing…"
"I'm opening it with my own money. How does that make me a target for dirty looks?"
"Well, you see… hah."
Hwang Jong-baek sighed.
"I understand how you feel, but you need to get through this meeting carefully. Whatever anyone says to you, just nod along—yes, yes—and let it wash over you. Understood?"
"…"
"I say there. Why aren't you answering?"
Jin Cheong-un merely narrowed his eyes and let out a noncommittal hmph.
And then—
"The officers will now enter first. First, Hall Master Seo of the Great Azure Hall."
At the entrance to the main hall, an usher began calling names one by one.
"…And finally, Master Hwang of the Blue Dragon Academy."
"See you in a bit! Remember what I told you!"
Hwang Jong-baek ducked swiftly inside.
Even after all the officers had filed in, a long silence followed, and nothing happened.
Jin Cheong-un gazed at the closed doors for a moment, and he understood.
So they've just sorted the high from the low, have they.
He'd imagined an organization where the people of one region pooled their strength together.
But it seemed the reality was a little different from what he'd had in mind.