The Deviants (8)
I welcomed Jin Yeong Daehyeop.
“What brings a great hero like you all the way out here?”
Hubei Province was important in its own right, but it was still quite a distant place. I hadn’t expected them to send someone of Jin Yeong Daehyeop’s caliber.
“His Majesty summoned me personally and gave the order. He seemed worried when he heard you were here.”
“Ah……”
I couldn’t help letting out a groan at his words.
“You’re in my grasp. Don’t even think of escaping. Unless you want to die working inside the palace walls.”
The Emperor’s voice echoed in my mind.
Ugh… that sends chills down my spine.
The Hubei Provincial Governor standing beside me looked puzzled, as if wondering what Jin Yeong Daehyeop’s words meant.
But explaining it would be complicated, lengthy, and utterly embarrassing, so I didn’t bother clearing up his confusion.
“You must be tired from the long journey, Daehyeop.”
Seeming to catch my intent to get down to business, Jin Yeong Daehyeop nodded and spoke.
“Governor, I bring an imperial edict from His Majesty the Emperor.”
At his words, the Governor and the rest of us immediately knelt and paid our respects.
Jin Yeong Daehyeop unfurled the red silk scroll he had carefully tucked into his robes.
He read the edict aloud. Its contents praised us for doing our jobs well, noted that edicts had also been sent to the Provincial Military Commander and the Inspector, and ordered us all to cooperate fully in resolving this matter.
Having read it through, Jin Yeong Daehyeop rolled the scroll back up and handed it to the Governor.
We are pleased with the diligent handling of affairs. Edicts have been dispatched to the Provincial Military Commander and Inspector as well. Cooperate fully to resolve this incident.
“We receive His Majesty’s edict with utmost sincerity.”
The Governor accepted it with both hands, bowed once more, and rose.
We all stood as well.
I had a feeling I knew why Jin Yeong Daehyeop had come in person. He was needed to coordinate between the Provincial Military Commander, who handled the troops, and the Inspector, who oversaw prisons and punishments.
“The Provincial Military Commander has already dispatched troops, and they’re waiting nearby.”
The Governor said.
“Truth be told, I don’t know the details. Eun the Young Branch Leader handled it at my request, so you’d be better off discussing it with him than me.”
“Is that so?”
Jin Yeong Daehyeop looked at me, his gaze filled with satisfaction.
Yikes!
I need to be careful. That’s the look of someone thinking, ‘How can I recruit him into the Gold Guard?’
Two hours later.
The Hubei troops waiting nearby launched an assault on the Seowoon Sect.
Leading them was the Deputy Provincial Military Commander of Hubei.
Since it was a major operation, the second-in-command of Hubei’s military had stepped up.
Upon arriving at the Seowoon Sect, he bellowed loudly.
“Hear this, you rebels! Surrender immediately! Refuse, and you will not escape death!”
At that very moment.
The refugees inside the Seowoon Sect began to grow deeply uneasy at the sounds from outside.
“What’s that noise right now?”
“Looks like soldiers surrounding the place.”
“Why here?”
“What do they mean by ‘rebels’?”
It was only natural they were baffled.
The Seowoon Sect had given shelter and food to people like them, who had nowhere to go amid the famine.
And now they were calling them rebels?
“Those damn bastards! Calling good people like this rebels!”
“The country’s gone mad—completely mad!”
“We can’t just sit here! We have to repay the kindness they’ve shown by housing and feeding us all this time. At least clear up this misunderstanding!”
“Right! Let’s do it!”
Thus, a mood formed among the refugees to block the soldiers. The one who had just spoken about clearing the misunderstanding smirked inwardly.
‘Idiots.’
He’d said it to use the refugees they’d fed and sheltered as human shields.
‘They’re so soft-hearted, they just get used by us. Heh heh.’
There was a reason they’d gathered the refugees in the first place.
They planned to spark a massive peasant revolt through them, but the empire had somehow struck first.
‘If only we’d had a few more months! Damn it!’
There were about eight hundred refugees and two hundred sect disciples.
But the encircling forces numbered several thousand.
With things like this, their only way to survive was to push the refugees to the front as arrow fodder.
That would buy them time to escape.
“Let’s go!”
“Yeah!”
“Me too!”
As the refugees surged forward en masse.
“But you know, something feels off.”
Someone among them spoke up.
It was a bear-like, burly man, and his words somehow drew everyone’s attention.
He was a new face, but he felt strangely familiar, like someone they’d known for years.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been wondering about it all along. How many of us are there?”
“Us plus the sect disciples? Roughly a thousand?”
“So how much rice do we eat in a day? And how many months have we been here?”
At that, the refugees realized just how enormous the amount of food provided had been.
“I may not know much about letters since I’ve only ever farmed, but one thing I do know: nothing in this world is free.”
Those listening nodded in agreement.
It was a simple, clear truth they sometimes forgot.
“And where does all that food come from? People are starving to death in this famine.”
Only then did they sense something amiss and start murmuring.
“Truth is, I’ve been uneasy. What do they want from us to feed and house us like this? Now that the soldiers have us surrounded, I think I know.”
He continued.
“They planned to use us to spark a rebellion. Now they want us as arrow fodder.”
“What?”
“R-Rebellion?”
“We never intended to……”
He cut them off firmly.
“Even if you didn’t intend to, keep hearing complaints about the country and people naturally move that way.”
“……”
Someone spoke up.
“B-But they’ve fed us this whole time. We owe them that much!”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Has the famine lasted a hundred years? It’ll end soon, and times will get better… What about your wives and kids here with you?”
By now, all eyes were on him.
“Side with rebels, and you become rebels. Think the soldiers will let a mob of them go?”
He sniffled and went on.
“Don’t we have to save our families?”
At the mention of family, the refugees’ hearts swung toward the bear-like man’s words.
The tide had turned.
Panicking, a Seowoon Sect warrior blurted out.
“Ah, you damn fools! Why do you think we’ve been feeding you bastards? You can’t back out now… Oops!”
“……”
He clamped his mouth shut, but it was too late. Everyone had heard.
“What? Just now?”
“So there was a reason they brought us here and fed us?”
“Just like he said?”
“Whoa… you sons of bitches!”
As the refugees’ mood turned ugly, he drew a hidden dagger and shouted.
“You useless trash!”
He grabbed a nearby child, pressed the dagger to their throat, and said.
“Get out there now! Plead our innocence or charge them, do something! Unless you want to watch this brat die!”
The sudden hostage situation stunned the child’s parents and those around.
Thwip!
Thud!
A hidden weapon struck his shoulder.
“Urk!”
Unable to bear the pain, he dropped the dagger. Someone leaped in and subdued him.
“Good thing I learned to throw hidden weapons from Instructor Pil-i.”
“Well done, Yeo Warrior.”
Then, someone who’d been disguised in ragged cloth revealed themselves.
A strikingly handsome young man who drew all eyes.
It was me, Eun Seo-ho.
The refugees stared at me in shock.
I looked around at them and said.
“In truth, we were sent by His Majesty the Emperor. He knows you’ve been wronged. As the father of the empire’s myriad people, His Majesty wishes to give you a chance at salvation.”
What had worried me most while resolving this was the refugees.
What crime had they committed, really?
Last time, they’d actually started a revolt, so they paid the price. But this time, they’d just been used.
The punishment should fall on the Seowoon Sect that exploited them.
That’s why Palgap, the escorts, and I had infiltrated.
I continued.
“Line up single file and follow my servant. We need to get you out of here quickly.”
They moved swiftly and orderly after Palgap.
But,
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“You’re not leaving like this! Pay back what you’ve eaten from us—with your lives!”
Seowoon Sect warriors appeared, weapons drawn, blocking the refugees.
Of course they wouldn’t let us go easily.
Shing.
I drew my sword. I’d anticipated this, which was why I’d brought all the escort warriors, not just Palgap.
“Everyone, get out!”
Clang!
Clang clang!
While we held off their attacks, the refugees hurried away.
And,
“You there! What gives you the nerve to sneak out? Thought blending in with the refugees would work?”
“Damn it!”
We dealt with those trying to escape disguised as refugees too.
By the time we’d bought enough time, all the refugees were out.
“Full advance! Attack!”
“Waaaaah!”
Soon, with a massive roar, soldiers poured into the Seowoon Sect. They wore ally markers, so we were safe.
They began rounding up the sect warriors indiscriminately.
“Leave this to them. Let’s move.”
“Yes!”
We headed out immediately.
We needed to capture the most important figure alive to wrap this up.
The Seowoon Sect leader.
But I paused for a moment.
I realized I didn’t know the leader’s identity.
Find the strongest fighter?
But the leader wasn’t necessarily the strongest. Especially in a place like this, they might have become leader due to loyalty to the Murim Alliance.
Then.
“Kkuu!”
Golden Bell chirped from my sleeve. At the same time, I sensed a familiar aura from the sky.
It was the bird that had delivered my letter before. And now one of Golden Bell’s subordinates.
The bird shot down like an arrow, circled above me twice, then flew off somewhere.
Follow it?
I used lightness skill to trail the bird.
There……
“D-Damn it! We gotta run! I told you I didn’t want to do this crap!”
Was a man frantically packing money. The bird had led me right to the sect leader.
I glanced at Im Pil Warrior, who hurled a hidden weapon at him.
Thwip!
Thunk!
“Argh!”
He screamed and turned to us, shouting in terror.
“I-I don’t know anything! I just did what I was told!”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want to know. Tell me what they ordered you to do.”
And so, the Seowoon Sect was subdued.
The sect leader and key figures were captured alive and thrown into a temporary prison at the Provincial Governor’s office.
They faced bloody interrogations.
“S-So… the one who ordered me to do it was a guy named Ham Song.”
“Ham Song? Who the hell is that?”
“I don’t know much. Just… that he holds a position in the Murim Alliance.”
The Murim Alliance came up in his confession.
But we couldn’t touch the Alliance with this alone.
They’d play dumb or cut off tails again.
But they couldn’t keep it up forever.
I was satisfied that it came out in front of the Governor. This would erode his trust in the Murim Alliance. That alone was a huge gain.
That evening.
I headed to the Fourth Prince’s residence. I’d requested a meeting with him.
“Come in.”
“Thank you for granting my sudden request.”
“No need. So, what did you wish to discuss?”
He looked slightly dejected. Understandably—his servant had been a spy.
But that wasn’t why I’d come.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“Do you harbor feelings for Lady Jaryeong?”
“Gah! Cough! Cough!”
He spat out his tea. His face flushed red in an instant.
That confirmed it.
Lady Jaryeong was betrothed to the third son, Prince Yeon Myeong-hyeon. But the Fourth Prince Yeon Se-mun before me also loved her.
He’d learned his brother was seeking a gift for her and had his servant procure the poisoned tea—unaware of the poison.
It had been a wayward affection.
I sipped my tea, swallowing the bitterness.
With that, this incident was resolved for now.
The real problem lay elsewhere.