158. Martial Alliance (1)
Martial Alliance (1)
158. Martial Alliance (1)
We were definitely country bumpkins. We had expected the Martial Alliance to be enormous to some degree, but the scale of our expectations had been far too small.
Crazy bastards. Sure, it was an alliance forged by the great sects and prestigious clans from every corner of the world, but I had never even imagined they would have gone this far. Funding and manpower beyond imagining. These bastards had used that power to build an entire small city. Inside the city visible from a distance, every single passerby was a martial artist. Hundreds of martial artists came and went, exchanging greetings, engaging in subtle psychological warfare. At a sight we had never even witnessed in Beijing, all of us froze, and the gatekeeper at the entrance looked at us and spoke.
"Welcome to the Martial Alliance. Have you come to watch the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering? You will need an identification badge to enter the Martial Alliance. If you require one to be issued, you will need an escort from a Silver-rank Sect to vouch for your identity."
Even the gatekeeper was a martial artist on the verge of the second-rate realm. It was absurd, but I pulled myself together and answered the gatekeeper.
"We have a badge."
When I showed him the Gold Plaque we had received from the Liaoning Branch Head, his eyes widened.
"We were told that special guests would be arriving. You must be the ones we were expecting. Please wait a moment while I notify the Advisory Staff Hall."
The gatekeeper sent a young martial artist off somewhere. A short while later, a young woman hurried over in quick little steps and greeted us respectfully.
"I am Sima Buyong, Fourth Military Strategist of the Martial Alliance Advisory Staff Hall. I greet the Sect Leader of Yeongsan Sect."
"I am Chae Yeong-ok, Sect Leader of Yeongsan Sect."
Fourth Military Strategist? At the appearance of a figure far more important than expected, Master greeted her while visibly tense, and Sima Buyong addressed us with a friendly face.
"This is your first time at the Martial Alliance, is it not? I have been assigned as your guide, so if you experience any inconvenience during your stay, please tell me."
"You, a Military Strategist, are our guide?"
At Master's surprised question, she smiled bashfully and said,
"I am not the fourth-ranking strategist. The head of the Advisory Staff Hall is, naturally, the Alliance's First Military Strategist, Military Strategist Zhuge Yeong. And his younger brother, Military Strategist Zhuge Son, is the Second Military Strategist and the Alliance's Deputy Military Strategist. However, there are fully eight Third Military Strategists. In truth, all advisors belonging to the Advisory Staff Hall begin as Fourth Military Strategists, and the Third Military Strategists are something like our team leaders. The martial artists of the Advisory Staff Hall are weak in martial arts and routinely looked down upon by other martial artists, so even a fledgling like me is given the excessive title of Fourth Military Strategist."
Though embarrassed, Sima Buyong received us with a pleasant smile. At her explanation, we finally began to relax.
"Ordinarily, sects bringing a Gold Plaque are handled by the Third Military Strategists, but since Yeongsan Sect consists mostly of young female martial artists, I was assigned the duty. Are you disappointed?"
"Not at all. In fact, we are relieved. We were terribly nervous, as this is our first time in the Martial Alliance—indeed, our first time traveling the Martial World at all. To have someone as lovely as you, Military Strategist Sima, taking charge of us actually puts our minds at ease."
"I have been dressing myself up and waiting for Yeongsan Sect for days. I had heard you had many great beauties, so I dressed up so as not to be embarrassed, and I am truly glad I did. Had I accompanied Yeongsan Sect looking the way I usually do, I would have fainted from shame."
Sima Buyong laughed brightly with an easy smile. She was not a staggering beauty, but she had a face that easily inspired goodwill, and in truth, she instantly put our terribly tense group at ease.
"We will take charge of your carts. Come this way. I will guide you through the Martial Alliance."
As I had felt in every large city, a guide was truly essential for country bumpkins. Without a guide, you grew uneasy before anything else. The interior of the Alliance was built up just like an ordinary city. On one side, a row of shops sold all manner of clothing and martial implements, and on the inn street, buildings consisting of ground-floor restaurants and second-floor lodgings stretched endlessly in identical rows.
"This eastern district is where visitors to the Martial Alliance stay. All shops and inns are operated directly by the Alliance, so if you hold a Gold Plaque, you may use all of them free of charge. Though since a Gold Plaque has hardly ever been used, the shopkeepers will probably be quite surprised."
"Hardly ever used? Why is that?"
A Gold Plaque was not merely a free ticket. It was something like a symbol of authority recognized by the Martial Alliance. Even in the twenty-first century, the sight of someone paying with a VIP credit card was an object of envy, so paying with a Gold Plaque in front of other sects seemed perfect for showing off.
"Gold Plaques are ordinarily issued only to the highest-ranking sects that were once among the Nine Great Sects, the Beggars' Sect, and the Five Great Clans. Those groups have already built their own estates in the western district, so they do not use the eastern district."
Ah. Gold Plaques were for VIPs from the start. The real VIPs had no reason to show off in the first place. While commoners gazed in dazzlement at hotel suites, the true upper class already owned their own villas. VIPs did not mingle in the same spaces as ordinary people to begin with.
"The eastern district is the street for visitors and ordinary sects. The western district is the street for great sects and prestigious clans. In the center are the halls of the Martial Alliance. To the north are the residences of martial artists belonging to the Alliance. To the south is the Cheonil Martial Hall operated by the Alliance. With the exception of the Alliance halls, Gold Plaque holders may tour anywhere, so feel free to look around at your leisure."
Put another way, it meant that movement was restricted depending on the type of badge you were issued. In this vast place built on the logic of power, discrimination was something that inevitably existed, as if it were only natural.
"First we should secure an inn. With the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering imminent, there will be no ordinary rooms left, but many expensive special rooms should remain, so take whichever you like."
The martial artists visible to the eye alone seemed to number in the hundreds. To Yeongsan Sect, which had always lived quietly, the swarming crowds were dizzying. Even at the explanation that our Gold Plaque allowed us to secure a pleasant special room for free, discomfort settled on everyone's faces. But we could not stand around vacantly here forever. Stranded in this chaotic street, we had to settle on a place to sleep quickly.
"How about that inn? There's a delicious smell of cooking."
Lee Eun-ha, whose body was sluggish but whose senses of taste, smell, and hearing were acutely sharp, pointed to one inn, and Son Yeong shook her head.
"No. There is a smithy right in front of that inn. It will surely be terribly noisy. We can eat there, but we must sleep somewhere else."
"Then, how about that one?"
This time Jeong-hyang pointed to an inn. With no shop in front of it, the place looked relatively quiet, but the instant she pointed, a man flew out of the inn and landed in the street with a whoosh. It was probably a fight between drunken martial artists. Since everyone on this street was a martial artist who loved watching fights, a crowd gathered at once, and Martial Alliance warriors had to be dispatched before the brawl was finally stopped. One thing seemed certain: we would have to give up on peace and quiet here.
What was more, the crowds were beginning to steal glances at us from a distance. No matter that all of the women had reached the second-rate realm—this was the Martial Alliance. Even if I revealed the full extent of my internal energy, there would definitely be bastards who approached with lecherous eyes. A headache. Did we really have to sleep in a place like this?
"The street is a little uncomfortable. Would it perhaps be better to pitch tents outside the Alliance and stay there?"
Master, who had quietly grown frightened at the immense crowd and their stares. Cho-ryeong, tightly holding Master's hand, was nodding too. Come to think of it, they had always disliked inns where strangers slept mingled together even more than camping in the wild, hadn't they? My own thoughts were similar, but the problem was that even outside the Alliance, countless martial artists were already camped out—a horde of riffraff—some trying to save on inn fees and others denied permission to enter the Alliance. With no Alliance martial artists around to keep order, the outside would plainly be an even bigger headache.
While we were dithering on this chaotic thoroughfare, the crowds began sidling closer. The martial artists gathered here might not be from the Nine Great Sects, the Beggars' Sect, or the Five Great Clans, but in their own home regions they were sects that strutted about with some swagger. Since it was obvious that we, being on this street as well, were no great sect, the flies who figured we were easy prey were drawn by the women's beauty and began creeping in.
At that moment, as cleanly as split bamboo, the crowd parted cleanly into two lines. Consternation flickered in the martial artists' eyes. As people well-informed about the Martial World's affairs, they showed that they wanted no involvement whatsoever with someone truly powerful. Especially if that powerful person was notorious for having a foul temperament—all the more reason to keep their distance.
"It has been a while. Young Master Baek."
"It has been a while."
She was someone I was certain I would reunite with after arriving in Henan. Countless things had happened since we parted, but Murong Rin greeted me with the exact same arrogant bearing as then.
"You are the Sect Leader of Yeongsan Sect? I am pleased to meet you for the first time. I am Murong Rin."
Uncharacteristically for the reputation of Beautiful Madness, she greeted Master politely. The old Master would have been shocked out of her wits, but Master was no longer the Master of the past. No matter how great the Murong Clan might seem to someone from Liaoning, she had already conversed with Murong Hyeok-jung; she was not much shaken by his granddaughter. Besides, setting Murong Rin's temperament aside, the fact that she was a young woman likely gave Master a familiar sense of ease. Ordinarily, Beautiful Madness would be a far more fearsome presence than those fierce-looking riffraff.
"You truly resemble your Clan Head. A pleasure. I am Chae Yeong-ok."
At Murong Rin's courteous attitude, the surrounding crowd buzzed. Who exactly was she, that this Beautiful Madness showed such scrupulous courtesy? The martial artists' gazes began to change.
"You look troubled, unable to secure proper lodgings. Why are you on a street like this?"
Murong Rin asked arrogantly. The martial artists staying here either belonged to the Alliance and held Silver Plaques, or had received Iron Plaques permitting them to tour the Martial Alliance under the sponsorship of a Silver-Plaque holder. To the many martial artists camped outside in winter because they had not even been granted entry, this eastern district was an object of envy, yet she dismissed it as “a street like this.” Countless martial artists nearby scowled at her arrogance, but Murong Rin naturally paid them no mind.
"These are the only inns, are they not? Not every sect keeps an estate in the Martial Alliance like the Murong Clan."
"Is that so? Then, why not build one here, on this occasion?"
"We do not belong to the Martial Alliance. We are here merely by invitation. If we were to build an estate, why would we build it here instead of Beijing?"
At my curt reply, she cackled with laughter, as if something amused her greatly.
"So the Hero of Liaoning intends to sleep in an inn like this? As a fellow Liaoning native, I would be too ashamed to allow it. I shall lend you one of the Murong Clan's estates."
"Pardon? You'll lend us an estate?"
"The main clan has three estates. We have stayed in Henan too long, and many of our household members have returned to the main clan due to the matter with the Duanmu Clan, so I shall lend you one for Yeongsan Sect. Considering the relationship between Young Master Baek and me, I should do at least this much."
Murong Rin's goodwill made me somewhat uneasy, but this offer was most welcome. Naturally for me, and for the women too—their faces plainly showed they truly hated staying on this inn street.
"A— a moment, please. Young Lady Murong."
Sima Buyong hastily stepped forward in response to Murong Rin's generous offer.
"Why? Is there a problem? Yeongsan Sect has been issued a Gold Plaque, so even if they stay in the western district, there is no issue whatsoever, is there?"
Under Murong Rin's glaring eyes, Sima Buyong withdrew a step. What was this? Was something else going on?
"Military Strategist Sima. You are a clever person. You grasp the intentions of the person giving the order precisely without lengthy explanation. However, Military Strategist Sima. Think carefully. Loyalty to the Martial Alliance and the Advisory Staff Hall is a righteous heart, but the Martial Alliance does not belong to the Nangong Clan, nor the Advisory Staff Hall to the Zhuge Clan. I trust you have understood well what the right course is for a strategist. I shall escort Yeongsan Sect myself, so if you have business, seek us out at the Murong Clan's third estate."
Before Sima Buyong could answer, Murong Rin turned her body and practically abducted us. I had no idea what the situation was, but given the mention of Nangong, Zhuge, and such, it seemed tied in some way to the internal power struggles of the Martial Alliance. I had no interest in the Alliance's power games. Whether or not this was part of Murong Rin's design, for the moment, we of Yeongsan Sect moved our steps to follow the woman who had allowed us to escape this chaotic street. While we were following Murong Rin to the western district where the prestigious clans stayed, she amiably exchanged greetings with Son Yeong.
"Young Lady Son, it has been too long. You seem to have become genuinely stronger. Are you not stronger than I am now?"
"I still have a very long way to go. My Junior Brother shared the fortunate opportunity he obtained, so I have learned some martial arts, but I dare not discuss whose martial arts are higher or lower with Young Lady Murong."
"Oh, come now. I am quick on the uptake. The whole of Yeongsan Sect has trained in the secret manual Young Master Baek obtained, have you not? Young Lady Son is a classic swordswoman. Have you not been itching to spar with me?"
True to a master of power-tripping, Murong Rin grasped the essence of a person with terrifying speed. Hit squarely where it hurt, Son Yeong managed an awkward smile.
"My martial arts may not be extraordinary, but I am a fair judge of people. Even if I am somewhat stronger at present, I am far from a true swordswoman, so Young Lady Son will not be satisfied. This is the Martial Alliance. There are many opponents here far more enjoyable than a boring one like me. When you have time, I will introduce you to suitable sparring partners."
When they met a strong opponent, the Peng Clan and the Murong Clan responded differently. The Peng Clan counseled a swift surrender to plan for future days, but Murong Rin made that strong opponent her ally. That was why, sensing Son Yeong's growth, Murong Rin was pleased. Perhaps someday she would drag Son Yeong around and use her as a sparring-match bomb to drop on martial artists she had found disagreeable.
"That is the Heroine Murong Rin, right? She is truly so beautiful. She is like a princess."
Cho-ryeong whispered to Master while tightly holding her hand. Cho-ryeong, a girl easily given to longing for someone like a princess, was stealing glances at Murong Rin and feeling utterly flustered. In truth, even apart from her beauty, Murong Rin, as a descendant of the Xianbei royal house, possessed a subtle air of elegance. Of course, inside that container was a deranged bitch utterly divorced from elegance—a stubborn, foul-tempered madwoman.