Chapter 22 — Four Men And Gyeongdo (2)

The King had been racking his brains over how to make contact with Hwa-guk.
Shin Hweein knew that much, having been present on the very occasion.

But to think he’d gone so far as to dispatch an envoy in person.
And more astonishing still, the envoy in question was Yun Jubaek, standing right there before his eyes.

“A Lieutenant Colonel of the Spell Army’s special-operations unit, handed a royal command out of nowhere. You must be astonished. Truthfully, so am I. I suspect my uncle put a word in His Majesty’s ear about it.”

Yun Jubaek seemed to know perfectly well that he hadn’t been chosen as envoy on pure merit, and a wry smile crossed his face.
Yet his shoulders stayed squared and proud, as befit a member of the Eight Pure-Blood Houses who never hesitated to use his family’s clout to advance himself.

“Then ought you not to be going to Tokyo? The Royal Residence (the palace where the king dwells) is there, is it not?”
“That much has already been arranged between us and Hwa-guk. I’m being dispatched straight to Gyeongdo, as Aeshin’s representative, to act in concert with the people coming out from the local Onmyo Bureau.”
“Aha, the Onmyo Bureau, you say. And so on this mission you mean to take me along with you?”
“In truth, His Majesty has been generous about it, so as to raise the two of our names together. I am well aware, Master Shin Hae. Have you not just rendered service to the Royal House? And by that very service, I hear you’re to escort Princess Mirye at her coming-of-age ceremony as well.”

That alone made him eminently suited to be sent alongside me as one of Aeshin’s representative younger generation, Yun Jubaek added, laughing roundly, before his face suddenly clouded over.

“To have caught even the King’s eye is a windfall I can scarcely credit. But to escort the Princess at her coming-of-age ceremony is as much as to say you’re a candidate for prince consort, is it not? In that case, what becomes of Lady Ham Seoyeon? Have the two of you quarrelled?”
“No, we even spent the weekend together. We’re on the very best of terms.”
“Whoa. At this point I just plain respect you. Just… just out of the league anyone could ever catch up to.”

Yun Jubaek clapped his hands, his face a picture of thorough misunderstanding.
Shin Hweein had already judged the matter past any remedy of his.

“In any case, you reached the Second Rank recently, did you not? My uncle was saying it’s not just Second-Rank, you’ll be at First-Rank before long. At any rate, congratulations on the promotion.”
“Lt. Colonel Yun, congratulations on your own promotion to First-Rank.”
“Eh? Why, you knew? How embarrassing, this is.”

Embarrassing, he says.
And yet from the very moment he’d raised the topic of sorcerer-grades, he’d already been laying down the bait.

For the record, Shin Hweein had heard the news of Yun Jubaek’s First-Rank promotion through the press.
Once a man was a direct-line scion of the Eight Pure-Blood Houses, the whole country took an interest in such matters, and unless he made a particular point of hiding it, no sooner was he promoted than the news spread far and wide through the press, the papers, even the internet communities.

That said, in the case of the Shin House, no public news had come out.
Not regarding eldest son Shin Uin, of course, nor even Shin Jain, whom Shin Hweein had been convinced was at the First-Rank level after meeting him in person last time.

“Embarrassing, nothing. First-Rank means you’re unmistakably an upper-tier sorcerer, counted among the country’s foremost military assets. It’s something anyone would congratulate you for.”
“To hear it put like that is a kindness. I have just barely managed to keep up the pride of the Three Capital Houses.”
“But to return to the main matter, then… in truth, in carrying out this royal command there’s a part that gives me some difficulty.”
“Eh? Is there some particular reason you cannot?”
“It is this.”

Shin Hweein revealed that he’d already accepted the Cardinal’s commission and was scheduled to cross over to Gyeongdo with the exorcist priest, Father Lucas.

At which Yun Jubaek mulled it over for a moment, then nodded readily, as though there were nothing to it at all.

“Where’s the problem in that? From what I hear, the Cathedral too is going to be acting alongside the Onmyo Bureau anyway, so we may as well all go to Gyeongdo together.”
“Would that truly be alright?”
“If need be, I can speak with my uncle and have this royal command itself reframed as something to be resolved jointly with the Cathedral. Rather, that might be the better way. The famous exorcist priest is coming along, is he not? It’ll be that much more reassuring when dealing with the Onmyo Bureau.”

While the subject was up, Yun Jubaek pulled out his phone to settle the matter on the spot and started a call with Yun Jinseong.

Yun Juna, who had come along after him, eyed the sight with a look that said this is what the direct-line is like…, then bowed her head to Shin Hweein.

“I cannot join you in going to Gyeongdo, but I do beg you, please don’t skip even the most basic exercises.”
“You could come along as well, you know.”
“No, I cannot. I bear the same Yun name as Brother Jubaek.”

Yun Juna refuted his words in a tone more resolute than he’d expected.

“By the last affair, despite being only a branch-line, I gained a fame quite beyond my station. To put my foot then into a royal command Brother Jubaek has also received would be, would it not, as much as to steal the merit he stands to earn.”
“That seems a somewhat overwrought notion. Of course, if it be your own will, I shall respect it…”
“My thanks for the invitation. When some opportunity comes for the two of us to act together later, I shall be glad to join you then.”

She said this with a faint smile, and seeing that Yun Jubaek’s call still hadn’t ended, added in a small voice:

“And the truth is, I’ve come to want to reach First-Rank myself, and quickly. Thanks to you I’ve come into a fine weapon as well, so for the time being I mean to focus on training.”
“I see.”

In words she always spoke of respecting the direct-line and emphasizing her own branch-line standing to seem humble.
But the moment she fell behind Yun Jubaek in awakened-grade, she’d been stung enough to give chase, and seen in that light her temperament came across as quite transparent.

“In that case, may I venture one piece of unsolicited advice?”
“Meaning that the gap between the two of us is closing? That is something most welcome to hear.”
“Do not look on me as a trophy won by victory in some competition against another.”

Having read out her inner thought and pointed it out in a sharp tone, Shin Hweein then cleared his throat.

That wasn’t what I meant to say.

“When we fought together the other day, I saw you handling the two abilities with freedom and ease.”
“It is a sorry showing. Better if I’d made First-Rank as a Warrior alone.”
“May I speak frankly, as I observed and judged it? …Could it be, Yun Juna, that your talent as a psychokinetic is in fact the greater of the two? Greater than as a Warrior?”
“…”

In that instant Yun Juna whipped her head around to check on Yun Jubaek.
Fortunately he was still on the call, and Shin Hweein had already raised a barrier so that only the two of them could hear.

By what had taken place at Hwadam Amusement Park, Shin Hweein had brought the Seo direct-line’s talent into full bloom, and so had come into command not only of array-craft but of barrier-craft as well, handling it now with ease.

Having confirmed this, and only then releasing a breath of relief, Yun Juna turned back to Shin Hweein, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smile.

“How surprising. So you really had been watching me carefully. Or else, could it be that you take more interest in me than in that Sham-Shaman?”
“Hah.”

She was trying, however awkwardly, to give him a coy smile, and at the sight Shin Hweein answered with a snort.

“That look doesn’t suit you. If your intent is to dodge the question, I shall not press further…. But if you truly wish to grow stronger, it would be better, I think, to choose the path that fits your own aptitude rather than fitting yourself to the family.”
“…Forgive me, but I intend to dodge it to the end.”
“Very well. Then keep at it.”
“Yes.”

If so, then truly he and this woman would never grow close in all their lives, could never understand one another.
Her reasons for wanting to grow stronger were too utterly different from his own.

Shin Hweein said no more, gave her a nod, and at once let the barrier down.

Just then Yun Jubaek, his call finished and his attention back on them, caught sight of the two and stood with his mouth gaping wide.

“Wow. No… wow…”
“Whatever you are thinking, it is not that.”
“Wow…”

He’d already reached a state in which human speech could no longer reach him.

Mercifully for Father Lucas, departure was set for the morning of the following day.

With an important schedule looming, drink was out of the question.
But in commemoration of the three of them being set to act together, they enjoyed a rather lavish dinner at the Cathedral, the Cardinal warmly entertaining Yun Jubaek with the meal now that he’d concluded his consultations with the Royal House through the Yun family.

“The Cathedral really is a fine place for a proper feed. In my line of work I’ve eaten temple cuisine on a few occasions, and that was, well… it wasn’t bad, but there’s no meat in it…”
“Buddhism! One of Korea’s traditional religions, no? I should very much like to meet with the monks at least once and have a proper conversation with them.”
“They are all fine people. Or rather, the truth is, if you’re not a fine person, you can’t grow strong on that path.”
“I had heard self-discipline there is exceptionally strict.”

Perhaps because they were about to leave the country together, Father Lucas too set aside his usual unfavorable view of Yun Jubaek and made every effort to build rapport with him.

Inwardly applauding the priest’s professional discipline, Shin Hweein saw a baduk board being set out on the table once the meal had been cleared away, and rose from his seat.

“Ah, Brother, where are you off to?”
“Just stepping out for some air.”
“Now that you mention it, Master Shin Hae.”

Yun Jubaek, baduk-lover that he was, hadn’t been able to take his eyes off the board, and he struck up a conversation as though just remembering.

“On the way over here, my uncle hit me out of nowhere with a contract. Whatever Master Shin Hae told me, I was to keep secret. He said if I just told you so, you’d tell me yourself. Is it something important? He added that it’d be easier to operate if the two of us knew the same things…”
“…Certainly so. I may yet have to call upon the Gatekeeper’s Brand.”
“Gatekeeper’s Brand? Surely not.”

Shin Hweein inwardly grumbled at Yun Jinseong, yet thought to himself that since everyone who was going to know already knew, one more in the person of Yun Jubaek would change little.

Of course, if the number of people who knew his true identity went on growing by ones in this fashion, in the end even those he’d have rather kept in the dark would come to know it, and the whole thing would lose its meaning.
But truly, by this point, his using the name Shin Hae was scarcely more than a pretext for moving about freely outside the Shin House, was it not?

“My true name is Shin Hweein. The character I bear as family name is Shin, meaning embered ash.”
“Shin… embered ash… embered ash?!”

When Shin Hweein, on speaking those words, undid his disguise-art and revealed his true face, Yun Jubaek froze on the spot for a moment.
Then, at length, he barely managed to open his mouth.

“The youngest of the Shin House, Shin Hweein? The one who would sit bandaged in a corner at every clan gathering… aaaah!”

Yun Jubaek, unable to take in reality, stood there in a daze, then gave a great shout and shot to his feet.

“That’s why you got on so well with Lady Ham Seoyeon! You two had been close since you were children! Wow, really had me fooled?! Now I think of it, the records said you were missing. How, no, then is your body all healed up? When I heard the Shin House was finally pushing you into the Ember-Blood Gate, I thought, ah, ruin has at last set in on the Shin House. But you all had a plan, did you? Wow, a direct-line son of the Shin House and a sorcerer making a name for himself, no wonder His Majesty would want a piece of him! No, wait, looking at you now that’s not even the issue. The face alone is, wow. No wonder they’re all bowled over.”

The words tumbled out so fast that Shin Hweein couldn’t catch half of what he said.
But seeing how plainly his joy outweighed any surprise or sense of betrayal, he was slightly moved.

“By the by, the Shin House, is it? What, then you weren’t a rival to me, you were my prospective brother-in-law? Hah, really. By any chance, was there anything I did up to now that wounded you? If there’s anything piled up, let’s clear it all out right now. No, strike that, I’m the guilty one, so do as you please with me.”
“Anything piled up… there couldn’t possibly be.”

Naturally, that moment of being moved did not survive even a few seconds before vanishing entirely.

Yun Jubaek advanced with a beaming grin, patted his shoulder, and said:

“Then from now on, call me Bro Jubaek. Bro. And drop the formal speech.”
“This as we are is comfortable. May I, however, still call you Big Bro?”
“That goes without saying. So this is why my uncle even wanted a contract for it. There’s some secret reason behind it, isn’t there? Do all the Shin House people know? Then is Uin’s whole song-and-dance about searching for you all part of it?”
“No, in the Shin House only my father knows. And, by extension, the butler.”
“Ah. If Lord Shin, the head of the house, knows, then there’s no problem at all.”

The phenomenon by which everyone began nodding the moment Shin Yuhyeon’s name came up, it seemed, applied to Yun Jubaek as well.

He kept nodding away, lamenting if only we had drink at a moment like this…; but at Shin Hweein’s offer to share a cup once this mission was over, he gladly nodded his agreement.

By this Shin Hweein too had secured himself a counterpart to share his next cup with, free of the women, a thing of mutual benefit, surely.
He and Yun Jubaek were not so very close, but with the Yun House he was already deeply entangled; rather than pour a cup for Yun Jinseong, who was already as strong as one could be, was it not better to pour one for Yun Jubaek?

“At this rate, this mission’s going to be more fun than I thought!”
“Heh-heh. For the party to be on good terms is a good thing. Then, shall we begin a round?”
“Let’s!”

By an unlooked-for revelation of their connection, the bonds among the party had grown a step firmer.

Shin Hweein shook his head from side to side and stepped out of the room.
By coincidence, Do Yumi happened to be nearby.

“What are you doing here?”
“Ah, I was just looking for you, Big Bro.”

Do Yumi, hidden in the shadows, gestured to him urgently.
Suppressing the feeling that he’d rather not indulge her, he drew near, and she whispered to him:

“I’m getting baptized tomorrow. His Eminence the Cardinal is going to baptize me directly, on the Pope’s behalf. The exorcist-nun training, they said, starts only after that.”
“A glorious matter.”
“Honestly, I’ve no intention of becoming a real believer, so I’m not really sure what to make of it… but it’s a whole lot better than living at that house. And you’re here too, Big Bro.”

Surely this woman didn’t think Shin Hweein would be staying at the Cathedral forever.
No. If it was this woman, she just might be thinking exactly that…

“My baptismal name is Agatha. Father Lucas gave it to me. I looked her up, she’s a really good person.”
“Yes, the priest would surely have chosen a baptismal name that suits you best.”

Without knowing the particulars, Saint Agatha was likely the patron saint of something that fit her too.

“Hee. I heard you’re going abroad tomorrow, Big Bro. So I came to at least tell you my baptismal name before the baptism itself.”

Her gaze was so clear that Shin Hweein, who had been treating speaking with her as a chore, came near to feeling ashamed.
Without thinking, he reached out and took one of her hands in his.

“Eh?!”

Perhaps because she kept calling him Big Bro, the thought had come over him that she was rather like a younger sister.
He himself was struck with a sudden oh no, what have I done?, but fortunately Do Yumi’s reaction was not bad.

“Is today my birthday?”
“Agatha, you’ve had a hard time of it all this while.”
“Eh… no, just suddenly setting off the waterworks like that is against the rules, isn’t it?”

If anything, her tear-ducts were probably just a bit too weak.

Putting on a wry smile, Shin Hweein stroked her hand and said in a low voice:

“From here on too, things won’t be all smooth sailing. For every new kind of joy you gain, you’ll come into another kind of pain as well. It will surely be hard… but with Seonu beside you, you’ll be able to overcome it all without fail. When it gets truly hard, lean on the priest, on Seoyeon, on me. We shall help you.”
“Big Bro…”

Perhaps she had understood Shin Hweein’s heart.
She nodded firmly.

“I’ll work hard. The sins I’ve piled up till now… I don’t know if I can ever make up for them. But I don’t want to be a shame to Seonu.”
“You understand well. Keep your spirits up.”
“Ah…”

Giving a faint smile, Shin Hweein let her hand go and stepped back.

Do Yumi wore an expression that said she wanted to talk with him a little longer, but, unfortunately, that was not to be.

“Oh-ho.”

For her ever-watchful demon, Sister Barbara, had appeared.

“Not keeping prayer hours and sneaking off somewhere, and here you are in a dim corner picking up a man? A prospective nun, on the eve of her own baptism?”
“Ah.”

Sister Barbara glared at the despairing Do Yumi, then turned and gave Shin Hweein a firm warning as well.

“Hey, you. Don’t get cocky just because you’re from a famous house. And don’t go seducing a girl who’s about to become a nun! She’s nowhere near done with her formative years!”
“I have no such intent, rest easy.”
“Eh? No, Big Bro, I’m fine with it, you said love was free—!”

Do Yumi, even as she was helplessly dragged off by Sister Barbara, shouted out from now on, when it’s just the two of us, call me Yumi—!

By what principle, in heaven’s name, the depth of his relationship with her seemed to grow inside her every time he met her, Shin Hweein could not begin to fathom; but for this once, since he’d supplied the pretext himself, he resolved to bear with it.

“That was wicked of you, young master.”
“Yes, that was wicked of me.”

Replying to Geum Moa, who had emerged into view as naturally as ever, Shin Hweein turned to her in surprise mid-sentence.

“Are you finished already?”
“The finishing work isn’t done yet. Before that, you have to make me the hilt and the scabbard.”
“Ah… yes. As it happens I was just on my way out for some air, so let us go out together and reach an understanding with the staff.”

Nodding to her words, he at last set out for outside, and just then his phone buzzed.

This time, who could it be? If wishes counted, let it be Ham Seoyeon…

Thinking such thoughts inwardly, he woke the phone’s screen, and:

[Guji Mochizuki: Grand-Master! It looks like I’m about to be summoned to Gyeongdo for cooperation with the Onmyo Bureau! For now, heads, fast! Send me three heads, fast!]

It was a message whose contents, by who knew now how many turns of the same wheel, gave him an overpowering sense of déjà vu.