What On Earth Is This Guy? (3)

Step. Step. Step.

A man wrapped entirely in black walked down the pure white marble path like a tiger.

His expression was cold, and a ferocity mixed into his steps.

“S-stop!”

“You cannot pass any further!”

The moment he reached the long staircase, the helper crossed their spears to block his way.

Anyone looking closely at the scene would surely notice something odd.

This place the helper guarded was none other than the residence of the Four Sects Alliance’s Alliance lord and Hegemony Lord, Jang Ilso.

Even a dog guarding a house changes in stature depending on which house it protects.

If the guard protects Jang Ilso’s residence, no one in the Four Sects Alliance would dare act recklessly.

Yet the faces of those facing the man in black bore obvious tension.

As if they were blocking someone they could not possibly stop.

“Move aside.”

“T-the Alliance lord ordered that no one be admitted…”

The man in black simply glared at the guard without a word.

The guard flinched and bowed his head deeply.

“I’ll say it one last time. Move aside.”

After a momentary silence, the helper slowly lowered their spears.

The Alliance lord’s orders are solemn.

But the man approaching now made one reconsider that solemn command.

He was someone with enough power to warrant that reconsideration.

As soon as the spears were withdrawn, the man took another step.

He climbed the white marble steps quickly and threw open the main gate of the hall without hesitation.

Creeeak!

The door swung wide, and the man briefly scanned the interior of the hall.

Then he strode inwards without pause.

“Y-you must not enter here!”

“Leave at once!”

The helper rushed over in terror and barred his way.

But the man in black pushed the helper aside as if annoyed and strode further in.

“Where is the Alliance lord?”

“I-if you do this…”

“I asked where he is!”

When the man in black suddenly shouted, the helper instinctively all glanced toward one side.

The man in black, as if understanding, moved in the direction they looked.

“Ah, no!”

A few helpers desperately threw themselves in front of him…

No, more precisely, they physically blocked the door he was heading toward.

“Not here! The Alliance lord will be furious!”

“Step aside.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Oh?”

(soft crunch)

At that moment the man in black tightened his fist slightly.

He seemed ready to beat the helper to death and force his way inside at any moment.

But at that exact moment, a languid voice came from behind the helper.

“Why the fuss about?”

“A-Alliance lord!”

The helper, face drained, hurriedly turned around.

The tightly shut door burst open and a man walked out slowly.

Hegemony Lord Jang Ilso.

He appeared in the doorway.

His voice was as relaxed and affable as always, his face showing obvious annoyance, but otherwise his appearance was markedly different from what members of the Four Sects Alliance were used to seeing.

His hair, usually slicked back and styled, hung loose and disheveled, and his upper body was exposed without clothing.

His bare skin was covered in scars large and small, so much so that at a glance it looked like his entire body had been tattooed.

And, startlingly, his body was drenched in sweat.

With each step Jang Ilso took, hot drops of sweat fell.

The sweat, unable to contain the heat of his heated body, rose as steam along him.

“G-get a cloth to wipe my body! Quickly!”

“Yes!”

The flustered helper began moving hastily.

It was all the more disconcerting because he rarely showed such a state.

But the man in black knelt with controlled motions, showing no sign of surprise at Jang Ilso.

“I pay my respects to the clan leader.”

Jang Ilso absentmindedly swept the hair sticking to his face away with a hand.

At that moment the helper who had run off returned urgently, holding up a white cloth with both hands and offering it.

“A-Alliance lord. H-here…”

Jang Ilso glanced down at the Sibi’s ashen face and laughed with wide eyes.

“Why are you trembling?”

“W-we…”

“Don’t tremble. It’s not your fault.”

Jang Ilso’s gaze turned to the man bowing before him.

“If there’s blame to be had, it lies with the one who ignored your words and entered here. Isn’t that so?”

Despite the blunt, clear rebuke, the man’s expression did not change.

He simply kept his head bowed in silence.

“Now, speak.”

Jang Ilso asked as he looked down at him.

“What’s the matter?”

The man in black raised his head and stared at Jang Ilso.

He knew as well.

That he was currently in a very dangerous situation.

Jang Ilso was obsessively averse to showing others image of his training.

Because he practiced forbidden, infuriating arts that people should not learn?

Or because there was a fatal weakness in his martial skill that had to be hidden?

None of those.

Training means pushing oneself and consuming internal qi.

And for a martial artist of Jang Ilso’s caliber, that degree is inevitably extreme.

In other words, while training he would inevitably be more vulnerable to attack than usual.

Jang Ilso would never allow someone to approach while he was weakened.

So if the man in black could not give a proper answer here, Jang Ilso would surely exact a price.

Even so, the man in black watched Jang Ilso without a flicker of perturbation, then spoke calmly.

“Clan leader. No, Alliance lord.”

“…”

“I have a report to make.”

“A report?”

Jang Ilso repeated with his eyes half-closed.

“Hmm. A report…”

His lips, slightly blue without color, curled in a chilling way.

“An important report, then? One that can restore my sour mood?”

Jang Ilso’s eyes flickered.

It was a dangerous sign.

But the meat-covered eyes quickly regained their composure as the man in black continued.

“The movements of the troops sent to Southern Island sect are strange.”

“…”

“By my judgment, it was a matter of urgency.”

“Hmm.”

After a brief silence Jang Ilso handed the cloth in his hand to a helper.

Then, looking at the man in black as if pondering, he clicked his tongue shortly.

He turned and began to walk.

“Follow me.”

“Yes.”

Step. Step. Step.

Jang Ilso strode lazily toward one side of the hall.

The helper who had been waiting opened the door quickly to match his pace.

A large, lavish bath filled with hot steam came into view.

Jang Ilso walked into the bath in the center of the bathroom.

Submerging his upper body, he leaned his back against the bath wall and tilted his head back languidly.

Though not a grand gesture, he looked utterly arrogant.

His long, loose black hair fanned out over the surface of the water.

Jang Ilso spoke.

“Jeok Ho.”

“Yes, Alliance lord.”

“Continue what you were saying. Now, did you say Ga-Myung was acting strange?”

“To be precise…”

The man called Jeok Ho swallowed dryly and opened his mouth.

“Rather than strange, suspicious.”

“…Suspicious?”

“Yes, Alliance lord.”

Steam from the hot water continuously clouded Jang Ilso’s face.

But Jeok Ho could guess what expression Jang Ilso might be wearing even without seeing it.

“…I know you don’t much like Ga-Myung. But this is a bit shabby. Even when trampling someone, some measure of dignity is required.”

“This is not a means to frame him, Alliance lord.”

“Hm?”

Jang Ilso stared at Jeok Ho as if demanding a more specific answer.

“Since arriving in Southern Island Sect, the daily report sent to headquarters stopped.”

At those words Jang Ilso’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The report Jeok Ho referred to was the regular dispatch that Ho Ga-Myung sent to headquarters.

Jang Ilso trusted Ho Ga-Myung and felt he didn’t need to check reports, but Ho Ga-Myung, inflexibly so, had always adhered strictly to principle.

Even if Jang Ilso ignored his reports.

“It stopped… it stopped. Does that mean something happened?”

Jeok Ho took another report from his robe and laid it on the floor.

“And this is the report that arrived today.”

Jeok Ho unfolded the report and showed it to Jang Ilso.

Jang Ilso looked it over for a moment.

The corners of his eyes twitched slightly.

“The battle with the Southern Island Sect… is it lasting longer than expected?”

“Yes.”

Below that were several stated reasons.

But those reasons did not register to Jang Ilso.

The important point was that, given Ho Ga-Myung’s ability and the troops he led, the conflict with Southern Island Sect should not be prolonged.

Unless someone intervened, Southern Island Sect could never withstand Ho Ga-Myung.

So this report must be false, or something had been omitted.

“Hmm.”

Jang Ilso’s eyes narrowed further.

“Who opened the report?”

“I did.”

Jang Ilso looked at Jeok Ho with amusement.

Reports sent by the Ten Thousand People Clan’s expeditionary force are sent to the hall itself, so anyone of sufficient rank could read them.

But if the one who sent the report was Ho Ga-Myung, the situation was a bit different.

In principle that’s so, but who would dare casually open a report sent by Ho Ga-Myung?

Jang Ilso wouldn’t bother unless it was urgent, and others wouldn’t dare open Ho Ga-Myung’s reports, so that report should never have seen the light of day.

Unless Jeok Ho, who had been in seclusion, finished early and came to headquarters sooner than planned.

Splash.

Jang Ilso’s fingers lightly tapped the water’s surface.

“So… something is happening down there that I don’t know about?”

His gaze darkened slightly.

“Since it was not certain enough to report to the Alliance lord, I personally investigated a few additional matters.”

Having finished, Jeok Ho looked at Jang Ilso in silence.

Jang Ilso slowly nodded, indicating for him to continue.

“From the investigation, it seems mobilization orders in the name of the troops were given to small and medium southern sects.”

“…Mobilization orders?”

“Yes. And… it’s not certain yet, but…”

A trace of tension flickered across Jeok Ho’s face.

“There are signs that the Lower District Sect has moved.”

This news carried a different weight than the previous report.

Jang Ilso murmured slowly.

“Small and medium sects are petty, I’ll pass over them… but the Lower District Sect…”

Putting all this information together, the conclusion was clear.

“Ga-Myung is…”

Splash.

As if calculating something, he repeatedly tapped the water’s surface with his fingertips.

“Ga-Myung is deceiving me…”

The long curve of Jang Ilso’s eyes formed a crescent moon line.

Cold, sinking eyes and gently curved lids.

Those two traits, hard to coexist, combined to give off a momentarily chilling aura.

“Is that what you mean?”

Slow and soft tone.

But the overwhelming weight behind it pressed down as if to crush the air in the bath.