Proof of Chivalry
"...And around there, you'd set up a few wine houses with that kind of feel. If you lay down a formation behind them where the musicians' playing drifts out the windows, no one would ever notice."
"A formation?"
"How else are you going to hide a forge?"
"You've got a point."
"One of my comrades once talked about a formation for times like this. You place a lump of meteoric iron at each of the seven directions, or something like that..."
"Enough! That's filthy expensive and complicated!"
"That's exactly why hiding a forge inside a city is nonsense."
"Damn it... I'll have to think it over."
"Anyway, what about my unique weapon?"
"I've told you a dozen times the orders are backed up. At least a year from now."
"Damn it all."
"I'm not trying to hide for no reason, you know."
Gwak Yeon recalled those old memories.
But of course, none of that served as a sufficient explanation for the two men before him.
The fog slowly lifted. As the two faces, still tinged with suspicion, gradually came into view, Gwak Yeon was about to offer the excuse he had prepared in advance.
"Stop with that nonsense and properly... Huh?"
The moment his face was fully revealed—
"Gwak Yeon?"
The name left the lips of the man holding the hammer, and the white-haired man in the pavilion took it up at once.
"The second young master of the Seoho Gwak Family, isn't it?"
"You know me?"
"Ha! So that's how it was!"
"The young master's nighttime stroll, is it."
Instead of answering, the two men looked at each other and let out soft chuckles.
The Seoho Gwak Family.
That alone seemed to explain everything. They both nodded as if the matter were settled.
"Looks like you spent quite a bit of money."
"The foremost family of Hangzhou is certainly different."
It was true enough.
One of the two great families of Zhejiang Province, known as the foremost family of Hangzhou—the Seoho Gwak Family. In a great city like Hangzhou, there was no one who did not know the name. The family itself was a guarantee of identity.
At the same time, a family of that stature naturally possessed not only wealth but also a level and volume of information far beyond the ordinary. If they truly set their full strength to finding something, locating a manor hidden by formations within the city would not be impossible.
In other words, the two men seemed to be under the mistaken impression that Gwak Yeon had reached this place through information obtained by the family's power.
...Well, it doesn't matter.
Gwak Yeon gave a quiet nod and was about to take another step when—
"Wait!"
The white-haired man in the pavilion blocked his path.
"He might have used a disguise technique."
"True, it could be a human-skin mask. Stay right there a moment, would you?"
Fog rose once more near the main gate. The blacksmith took out a mirror and reflected Gwak Yeon within the mist. Only then did he nod and gesture him forward.
"It's him. Come in."
"Formations and even mystical artifacts. I had heard the rumors of Master Ha's metallurgy, but this exceeds my expectations."
"Oh?"
The white-haired man in the pavilion spoke with open surprise.
"You even learned our surname? Calling yourselves the foremost family of Hangzhou was no empty boast after all."
...So it was.
With that casual remark, Gwak Yeon confirmed that these men were bound by blood to the close friends of his previous life.
Sons... no, grandsons, most likely.
Eighty years had passed; it made sense. Now that he looked, there were subtle resemblances.
"In any case, what brings the young master of the Seoho Gwak Family all the way out here?"
"Forge me a unique weapon."
"Ha! Just like that? How long have we even known each other?"
"...To think I would speak these words across generations."
"Generations? What are you talking about?"
"You misheard."
"...?"
It was not only the face that blinked a beat too late. Their tone and that chuckling laughter carried not the slightest regard for the fact that their visitor belonged to Hangzhou's foremost martial family.
"Is it because no one reined you in? You're spouting some bizarre jokes."
"A unique weapon is no joke."
"Go home quietly. If you spread word of this formation, we have every measure prepared to make even the Seoho Gwak Family pay the price. Don't entertain foolish ideas..."
"Why?"
"You don't know why you're asking?"
"I mean, why should I leave?"
"That's obviously... Wait, why have you been grinning like that this whole time?"
"You'll understand when you reach my age."
"Tsk tsk. Madness, is it?"
Standing face-to-face with the grandsons who so resembled the close friends he had once known—Gwak Yeon found the situation rather strange.
"Anyway, leave. I don't forge weapons for anyone except the chivalrous heroes I personally acknowledge, even if they put a blade to my throat."
"I have chivalry of my own."
"Ha! If the pride riding on a duel between families is what you call chivalry, then you've come to the wrong place!"
The blacksmith snorted.
Well, it was already common knowledge throughout Hangzhou that Gwak Yeon of the Seoho Gwak Family was soon to duel the successor of the Jusan Baek Family.
"Chivalry needs a more ferocious flavor than that."
"For example?"
"Have you heard the rumors of the masked man roaming Hangzhou's night streets lately? They say there's a fellow who goes mad trying to kill every black-path scum who has made others shed tears of blood. He rampages like a lunatic who has a blood feud with their parents... Now that kind of chivalry would interest me."
It was a little regrettable, in a way.
Still, he was glad he had managed to put on and take off the mask without drawing the world's eyes each time he hunted the black path.
"My chivalry is similar. Eradicating evil is my goal."
"Just words? Then my goal is to become the Jade Emperor."
"Amcheongok. Heukcheolbang. Giheolgul."
"Is reciting the names of Hangzhou's notorious black-path groups something to be proud of?"
"I will wipe them out within a week."
"What!"
"Would that serve as proof?"
Silence fell for a moment.
The Ha brothers exchanged glances, their faces saying they had just heard something utterly bizarre.
"..."
"..."
Gwak Yeon looked at them and gave a quiet nod.
"I thought that much might convey the sincerity of my words."
Mid-sized black-path groups like those could be eliminated without leaving any trace of a vampire's abilities.
Since he intended to keep hunting great evils anyway, revealing that this body hated the wicked was acceptable enough.
Proof of chivalry.
In a way, he could think of nothing more fitting for Hangzhou. Smiling, Gwak Yeon spoke.
"If I prove my chivalry within a week, will you forge me a unique weapon?"
An endless sea.
Toward the soaring flag of a ship floating upon it, a single black bird flew.
"Hangzhou, too far—! Too far—!"
The bird landed at the prow.
There, a man lay with his legs crossed and his arms pillowing his head.
"Caw—! Caw—!"
The man's face was hidden.
A sheet of yellow paper covered it—whether to block the sun or to help him sleep.
Jianghu Ranking List
When the black bird cried out in succession, a small yawn sounded and a hand rose to the paper covering the face.
"Caw—! Caw—!"
"...You're late and still this damn noisy."
"Gwak Yeon! Watched him!"
"I get it, so stop squawking before I eat crow meat."
"Not a crow—! Heoksijo—!"
"Enough."
The paper was suddenly brushed aside, revealing the face beneath. At the madness gleaming in those sunlit eyes, Heoksijo snapped its beak shut.
"So."
Baek Jung-hyeok opened his mouth.
"Report."
"Every night! Disappears!"
"Gwak Yeon?"
"Yes! All week long! Not a single day missed!"
"Where to."
"Hangzhou! Dark places!"
"To do what."
"That! Don't know!"
"This son of a..."
"Sneak sneak! Disappears!"
As Baek Jung-hyeok's hand moved toward his robes with a scowl, Heoksijo hurriedly flapped its wings and spat out the rest.
"Sneak sneak! Looking around looking around!"
"Hold on."
Still pillowed on his arms, Baek Jung-hyeok closed his eyes tightly.
Then he murmured with a meaningful expression.
"So the fool second son of the Gwak Family slips out of the house every night in secret and comes and goes from some dark corner of Hangzhou."
"Right! That's it!"
"Even avoiding the eyes of beasts... Interesting."
A few possible pictures formed in his mind.
Whichever it was, something stimulating enough to shake Gwak Yeon's spirit during the duel.
A long grin split Baek Jung-hyeok's mouth.
His drive, which spared no means for victory, made no distinction between the weak and the strong.
Never letting his guard down was basic. On top of that, he did not hesitate to dig up secret shame or weaknesses unknown even to those around the target, then seize and shake them right before or during a duel.
In that regard—
"Dig deeper."
This spiritual beast from across the sea, far more articulate than a common mynah, was a long-term piece Baek Jung-hyeok found quite useful.
"Too, too hard—! Hard—!"
"Gwak Yeon. Dig up more of that bastard's secret information."
"Promise! Keep it!"
"I know."
"Last time too—!"
"Enough."
When he moved to put his hand into his robes again, Heoksijo snapped its beak shut.
"Three weeks left. Stay longer this time."
"Angry—! Annoyed—!"
Even as it grumbled, the creature shot into the sky—perhaps because of the weakness he held over it.
Flutter!
Only then did Baek Jung-hyeok stretch and slowly rise to his feet.
"That's one piece taken care of..."
What he had just obtained was merely one of several elements needed for a perfect victory. He thoroughly enjoyed this time of selecting the ingredients before cooking his opponent.
Three weeks until the duel.
"Well then."
Baek Jung-hyeok clapped his hands once and slowly shifted his gaze with a thoughtful look.
To the pile of humans stacked opposite the prow.
In other words—
"What kind of poison should I use?"
He was once again staring at the bloodied pirates, mouths gaping as they suffered from the experimental poisons, and sinking into deliberation.
About a week had passed since then.
In other words, at this point when the duel between the Seoho Gwak Family and the Jusan Baek Family was only about half a month away—
"...I've returned."
Gwak Yeon appeared at the manor once more.
The blacksmith of the Ha surname who had obstructed him a week earlier, and even his younger brother who had quietly tried to avoid conversation, now looked at him with entirely different eyes.
"I wonder if the rumors reached you right away."
"...We heard."
"...We did hear."
They already knew, of course.
The ones the second young master of the Seoho Gwak Family had named with his own mouth a week earlier.
Amcheongok. Heukcheolbang. Giheolgul.
Those black-path groups that had hidden throughout Hangzhou and squeezed the lifeblood from the common people had been wiped out at a rate of one every two days. Some of the scenes had even been clearly witnessed by people enjoying the night streets.
It had gone roughly like this.
Black-path thugs harassing commoners they encountered on the streets or in wine houses and inns would be "coincidentally" spotted by the second young master of the Seoho Gwak Family as he passed by.
After "minor" provocations and shoving matches that raised voices, they would soon vanish into some shadowed corner of the city.
And the only one who returned, covered in blood, was Gwak Yeon—
Both Ha brothers had heard the rumors. In fact, one of them had even witnessed the scene from among the crowd.
Yet—
"We can't know the full truth. We never saw their ends with our own eyes, after all."
"A fair doubt."
Gwak Yeon spoke and tossed the sack from his back onto the manor grounds.
Thud.
A bloodstained sack.
After checking inside, the blacksmith looked back at Gwak Yeon with a meaningful gaze.
"Of course, even here a question could arise. Whether it was not me but some other warrior of the family who stepped forward, for instance."
"..."
"You seem well-versed not only in metallurgy but in martial arts as well. If you wish to verify it yourself..."
"No."
The blacksmith quietly shook his head.
And then, as if it were the natural next step, the words left his mouth.
"Young hero, show me your forms."
Gwak Yeon was able to hear, across generations, the answer he had longed for eighty years earlier.
"I will forge you a unique weapon to match them."