A Very Suspicious Invitation

“Ugh…….”

The one-eyed assassin. One-Eyed Ghost barely managed to open his eye through the terrible pain.

What had happened to him? Agonizing pain wracked everything from his arms and legs down to every joint in his fingers, leaving him unable to move at all.

But when he took a closer look, he realized the pain wasn’t why he couldn’t move. One-Eyed Ghost was actually bound tightly with rope to something resembling a pillar.

“What is this……?”

Only then did One-Eyed Ghost remember that he had lost consciousness after getting thoroughly beaten by the Sect Master of the Dokgo Gate.

Once the reality of his situation sank in, a sigh escaped him naturally.

Still, one question remained in his mind: why had Dokgo Mu-jin spared him?

At that moment, someone’s voice came coldly from behind him.

“I don’t think he’s awake yet.”
“Still? Damn, he sure sleeps a long time.”
“Could he be dead?”
“Nah, that’s not it. Though it’d be a shame if he did die.”

Even for an experienced assassin like One-Eyed Ghost, there had been few moments this tense. The two men’s footsteps drew closer…….

The man who had been speaking casually poked One-Eyed Ghost in the cheek.

“Huh? This bastard’s awake.”
“What? But his eye’s closed.”
“His breathing changed slightly. Hey, wake up before I put you to sleep forever.”
“…….”

Unable to withstand Dokgo Mu-jin’s threat, One-Eyed Ghost reluctantly opened his eye.

Bright moonlight filled his vision, and the moment he saw the young Sect Master’s face, which looked anything but bright, One-Eyed Ghost hiccupped.

Watching the assassin’s expression, the Sect Master of the Dokgo Gate smiled ever so gently.

“Good night. Sweet dreams.”
“…….”

Feeling as though he might faint all over again, One-Eyed Ghost hiccupped once more.

I did say I wouldn’t kill him for now, but that didn’t mean I planned to keep him alive no matter what.

If he still couldn’t abandon an assassin’s way of thinking after I chewed him out, punched him, and kicked him around, then there was nothing I could do.

I respected his choice.

Of course, by respect, I naturally meant sending him off to heaven.

I stared at the one-eyed assassin who had just woken up. He looked considerably more haggard.

Come to think of it, why did most of the men who met me end up looking so gaunt? I had no idea.

I spoke to the man, whose coarse beard looked slightly longer than it had yesterday.

“Hey.”

The man stared straight at me before opening his mouth.

“Speak.”
“Where are you from? I don’t think I ever got an answer back at the inn.”
“I have no intention of answering, so get lost.”

Why was it that whenever I tried speaking nicely, all I ever got back were insults or outright dismissal?

They said kind words invited kind words in return, but apparently that saying didn’t apply to me.

Did these bastards think I was a pushover?

I pulled a dagger from inside my clothes and immediately hurled it at the one-eyed assassin.

The dagger flew like a gale and buried itself in the pillar beside the assassin’s ear.

“I keep speaking nicely to you, so now I look like an idiot to you? You’re afraid of the Black Serpent Gate, but not me?”
“I’m afraid of nothing. Death included. So if you’re going to kill me, kill me. Torture me or do whatever the hell you want. You still won’t get an answer out of me.”

I frowned as I looked at the pathetic assassin’s murderous expression.

‘……This bastard has issues.’

Judging by the mark of a fugitive he carried, the bastard clearly had some kind of story. The problem was that there was no way to learn it when the man himself refused to say anything.

Threats didn’t work particularly well on men like this either. This was why fearless bastards were such a pain to deal with.

Come to think of it, I’d been hated by plenty of people for the same reason in my previous life……I guess this is karma.

I wasn’t particularly trying to persuade him. Still……I told him what I honestly believed. I didn’t know why. There were plenty of times when even I had trouble understanding my own heart.

“I’m an enemy of the Black Serpent Gate. Beyond that, I’m an enemy of villains.”
“So what?”
“The reason I kill people is because this world is full of bastards who deserve to die. But why the hell did you become an assassin who kills people? I don’t understand.”
“…….”

The assassin gave no answer. In the end, I was the only one talking, like I was delivering some long-winded speech.

“If you’re doing this because it’s what you truly want, then I’ve got nothing to say. But if it isn’t, tell me who turned you into an assassin. I’ll destroy them myself.”

The black-clad man snorted.

“You? And what makes you think you have the power to do that?”
“Listen. I stopped worrying about whether something was possible a long time ago. The only thing I ever feared was forgetting my resolve to kill those who deserved to die.”
“…….”

The one-eyed assassin’s expression subtly changed. I couldn’t tell what emotion lay behind it, but his eye looked confused.

With my hands clasped behind my back, I studied the emotions in the man’s eye one by one before speaking.

“……What’s your name?”

The assassin answered in a different tone.

“……I forgot my real name long ago. I’m known by the epithet One-Eyed Ghost.”
“I see. One-Eyed Ghost. I’ll ask you one last time. Have you been killing people of your own will?”

One-Eyed Ghost surely knew that his life or death depended on his answer.

He was the kind of man who feared having his will twisted more than he feared death, so I expected an honest answer.

One-Eyed Ghost began to answer seriously, then stopped.

“No, I haven’t. I…….”

His scarred lips, sealed shut like a floodgate, twitched after those few words. He seemed to be trying to speak, but couldn’t easily force the rest out.

I raised my right hand and cut him off at the right moment.

“I understand. I’ll hear the rest another time.”

There was no need to force open the mouth of someone who didn’t want to talk. And if what he had to say concerned an entire lifetime, then it was only right to hear it after more time had passed.

For now, confirming that One-Eyed Ghost hadn’t been killing people of his own free will was enough.

I left the story of One-Eyed Ghost for some unknown day in the future and asked another question.

“Did the Black Serpent Gate send you?”

One-Eyed Ghost answered more calmly than before.

“No. I belong to an assassin organization. The Black Serpent Gate Master hired us. I merely happened to be the one they sent.”
“What’s the organization called?”
“The Bloodland Assassin Guild.”

Come to think of it, why were Black Path bastards and assassins so damn fond of words like black and blood? I clicked my tongue.

“Assassins, I swear……when did the Black Serpent Gate hire you?”
“Not long ago. We make it a rule to act on commissions as quickly as possible.”
“Then…….”

Then the longer this dragged on, the more likely things were to take an unpleasant turn.

If One-Eyed Ghost didn’t return to the Assassin Guild soon, it wouldn’t be strange for the Black Serpent Gate Master to hear about it, come charging in, and start a war.

Someone coming to ambush me wasn’t much of a problem. The problem was that if things went that way, all of Yongmyeong County could end up completely devastated. A war was still a war, after all.

Fighting wasn’t my hobby, but everyone except me dying certainly wasn’t either.

I’d never had to worry about things like this when I acted alone. A sigh escaped me all over again.

‘The bigger my faction gets, the more shit I have to worry about. What the hell is this……?’

Apparently, becoming the Sect Master of a sect with plenty of subordinates wasn’t entirely something to celebrate.

When my expression turned serious, Gongson Han’s face darkened as well, and for once he voiced a genuine concern.

“Isn’t all of Yongmyeong County going to get destroyed at this rate?”
“That won’t happen. Because…….”
“I know. I know. I know all too well. Because you’re the strongest, Sect Master. Yes. I know all too well. Hey, ugly bastard over there.”

Suddenly, Gongson Han started taking his temper out on everyone around him.

“Our Sect Master is the strongest. The greatest under heaven, got it? So don’t get cocky. Fix that look in your eye before I fucking crack that skull of yours clean open.”
“…….”

One-Eyed Ghost and I stared blankly at Gongson Han, who looked as though he’d entered his rebellious phase several years too late.

Was this why people said late puberty was such a difficult thing?

I watched Gongson Han rage like a lunatic, then let out a deep sigh.

“……Try to understand. I raised my Chief Steward wrong.”

One-Eyed Ghost nodded.

“……I’ll keep that in mind.”

Grrrrrrrrrrr…….

A tremendous roar swept over the three of us. Had the Black Serpent Gate already launched a surprise attack? No.

It wasn’t the Black Serpent Gate. An assassin named Hunger had ambushed an assassin named One-Eyed Ghost. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“My apologies. I haven’t eaten in three days…….”
“You haven’t eaten for three days?”
“I was taught that assassins are supposed to eat only once every two days.”

This was exactly why assassins were such strange bastards. If you were hungry, you just ate. Why the hell did they make life so exhausting?

Either way, assassins were still people. And obvious as it sounded, people needed to eat when they were hungry.

I wanted One-Eyed Ghost to live a life closer to that of a person than an assassin, so the first thing he needed was a proper meal.

“……Gongson Han. Let’s eat. Put together something decent for dinner.”
“Understood. What about him?”

I stared at One-Eyed Ghost.

“Untie him. If you’re not planning to fight me right now, come along and eat. Otherwise, attack me here. I’ll welcome a life-and-death duel with open arms.”
“……I have no intention of doing that.”

In the end, I had One-Eyed Ghost untied. He got up awkwardly, then looked at us with an even more awkward expression.

Not that I cared. As I walked out of the storeroom, I exchanged some pointless conversation with Gongson Han.

“What’s for dinner?”
“We have stir-fried bok choy. Have that with rice.”
“What else besides bok choy?”
“There’s seasoned eggplant. Would you like some of that too?”
“Damn it……why is everything vegetables? Don’t we have any meat?”
“Just eat it. You’re not a child, so stop complaining about the side dishes…….”
“What did you say, you bastard?”
“I’ll have them prepare something. Dongpo pork is fine, right?”

As we walked slowly, the faint sound of One-Eyed Ghost limping after us reached my ears.

I watched One-Eyed Ghost make a whole damn production out of the Dongpo pork with his bandaged arm.

He kept dipping a silver needle into it and pulling it back out, apparently checking for poison.

I lifted my chopsticks and pointed them at One-Eyed Ghost.

“Why don’t you just eat normally? You really think I’d poison you? It’s not like I’m weaker than you.”

One-Eyed Ghost didn’t answer. He simply picked up his chopsticks and began eating in tiny bites.

He still seemed wary of us, because for someone who hadn’t eaten in three days, he certainly wasn’t eating with much enthusiasm.

Truthfully, if he’d spent his entire life as an assassin, his behavior wasn’t difficult to understand. So I stopped nagging him.

I suddenly picked up the bottle of alcohol and held it out to One-Eyed Ghost.

“Want a drink?”

One-Eyed Ghost glanced at me from the corner of his eye like a dog gauging its owner’s mood, then silently held out his cup.

When I filled it, One-Eyed Ghost drank without testing the alcohol with his silver needle.

It was a cup offered in place of ten words, so that single drink carried more than one meaning. At that moment, Gongson Han suddenly held his cup out to me.

“Pour me one too.”

Could anyone possibly be more oblivious? I couldn’t even be bothered to complain, so I answered carelessly.

“Pour your own.”
“Damn……didn’t work.”
“…….”

Somehow, just looking at this bastard made all the self-discipline I’d built up deep inside feel like it was going to waste.

After that brief exchange, the three of us spoke no more.

As a result, stray thoughts about the Black Serpent Gate floated through my mind throughout the meal. Most of them were meaningless enough that I quickly forgot them.

Plenty of thoughts came and went, but in the end they all led me to one conclusion. It would be better if I attacked the Black Serpent Gate first.

Once I’d more or less finished eating, I stood and looked at One-Eyed Ghost.

“One-Eyed Ghost, do you know where the Black Serpent Gate Master is?”

One-Eyed Ghost set down his chopsticks and looked straight at me.

“I do. I met him personally and spoke with him, though his face was covered at the time.”
“Draw me a rough map now. It doesn’t have to be exact.”
“Right now?”

Gongson Han stared at me in surprise as well.

“……Don’t tell me you’re planning to attack them right now?”
“I am.”
“Alone? Isn’t that too dangerous?”

Standing there, I answered indifferently.

“If I don’t move quickly, all of Yongmyeong County will be in danger. It’s fine if the Black Serpent Gate and I go to war, but it’ll be a problem if this turns into the Black Serpent Gate versus the Dokgo Gate.”

I could practically hear Gongson Han wondering how a many-against-many fight could possibly be worse than one-against-many.

‘What kind of bullshit is that?’

A short while later, I took the rough map One-Eyed Ghost had hurriedly drawn and spoke.

“I’m going to go raise some hell for the first time in a while. Stay here and watch the house.”

One-Eyed Ghost’s voice came from behind me.

“Sect Master, take me with you.”
“Why?”
“……I’d at least like to repay you for the meal. I won’t hold you back, so please take me with you.”

I turned around and found One-Eyed Ghost looking more serious than ever.

Maybe One-Eyed Ghost had been a martial artist before he ever became an assassin. It was a commendable thing to say, but considering the state of his body, it was out of the question.
I waved him off.

“Forget it. You stay here. Where do you think you’re going in that condition?”
“I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m not. Sit there and eat your damn food.”

At that moment, Gongson Han, who had been glancing from side to side and reading the room, cleared his throat and cautiously raised a hand.

“……I’ll go too.”

This time, I was surprised for a slightly different reason.

“……Are you serious?”
“Actually, I wasn’t.”
“You eat your damn food too.”
“Yes.”

At that moment, the doors to the main hall opened to either side, and three men dressed neatly in martial robes appeared.

I knew immediately that these bastards were from the Black Serpent Gate. For one thing, they were dressed entirely in black.

The strange part was that men who should have wanted to beat me to death were giving off a surprisingly friendly air.

The young man who looked the most composed of the three suddenly dropped to one knee and spoke to me.

“Sect Master Dokgo. We are messengers from the Black Serpent Gate. We have come only to convey our Sect Master’s wishes. We harbor no sinister intentions.”

For the moment, I welcomed this suspicious show of goodwill.

“……Welcome. Have you eaten? If not, why don’t you come over and join us?”

The kneeling man took one look at the table, which held nothing but a single plate of stir-fried bok choy, and immediately answered.

“Ah, we’re quite all right. We appreciate the thought.”
“So, what did the Black Serpent Gate Master tell you to say?”

The messenger cleared his throat before speaking.

“……He said there seems to have been some misunderstanding. He has no intention of fighting and would like to speak with you. He instructed us to invite you personally and say that he hopes you will come, as he intends to receive you lavishly.”

I looked back and forth between the messenger, One-Eyed Ghost, and Gongson Han in bewilderment.

Sending an assassin after me and then inviting me over? That made about as much sense as Gongson Han turning over a new leaf and becoming a diligent martial artist.

I suddenly came up with roughly forty-eight thousand guesses as to what kind of bullshit scheme the Black Serpent Gate Master might be plotting.

Most of them were pointless. In the end, I looked at the messengers……and answered in a low voice.

“……Let’s go.”

If there’s no way to know until I crack it open, then I’ll just have to crack it open. If the Black Serpent Gate Master tries some bullshit once I get there, I’ll beat the hell out of him. If he doesn’t, I’ll have a drink with him and then beat the hell out of him.

With every kind of suspicion in mind, I accepted the suspicious invitation.