Chapter 106

“Seventh Young Lord, are you going to keep staying still? Things are getting urgent.”

Hidden Cloud Pavilion, a few days after I visited the Guardian Court.
In front of me, Ju Ok-hwa and Hwang Seung-hyu sat side by side.
With frustration plain on her face, Ju Ok-hwa continued.

“I’m telling you, the Guardian Court is working hard to gather forces. The Radiant Moon Jin Clan and the Destructive Sword Son Clan already declared their support. Soon, everywhere under the First Young Lord’s influence will come swarming in. But what about you, Seventh Young Lord? You’ve got only the Illusory Hwang Clan and me. And the Ghost-Face Unit is only running around looking for Ak Mu-jin.”
“The Ghost-Face Unit joined because they thought the Guardian Court had detained Unit Leader Ak in the first place. Now they know it’s unrelated to the Guardian Court, they should pull out.”
“That’s why I’m saying you should come up with a countermeasure.”
“I also agree with Ink-Needle Hall Master’s opinion.”

Hwang Seung-hyu added cautiously.
Whether they liked it or not, the two of them had already boarded the same boat as me.
Because they were bound to me by strong business arrangements.
So they couldn’t help feeling stifled, but I didn’t care one bit.
If anything, I asked Hwang Seung-hyu instead.

“I get how you feel, but aren’t you worrying only about me too much?”
“What do you mean?”
“Because you don’t seem to care at all about your youngest brother who’s gone missing.”
“……Hup.”

Hwang Seung-hyu’s expression turned awkward.
I’d met Im Yeon and the guards in person, and I’d even found a lead about Ak Mu-jin’s group.
But only Hwang Seung-jong’s trace was completely gone, and after watching Hwang Seung-hyu these last few days, a question suddenly rose.
How could he be this uninterested in his brother’s whereabouts?
I threw him a suspicious look.

“Th-that is…… you could say ‘whereabouts’ and ‘location’ are clearly different concepts. For location, the person’s own will matters, and for whereabouts, it depends on the seeker’s ability, does it not? So what I mean is—”

I shook my head.
All he had to do was say yes or no, but he was twisting in circles like that. As if he wasn’t from the Illusory Hwang Clan.

“Stop.”
“Yes, understood.”

Hwang Seung-hyu let out a sigh of relief.
From that reaction, he knew where Hwang Seung-jong was, but where could it be that he kept it secret?
Ju Ok-hwa opened her mouth again.

“What matters right now is the Guardian Court. Why do you think they’re gathering forces? Because they’re going to settle things with you, Seventh Young Lord.”
“Tell them to gather more. It’s proof the Guardian Court is that uneasy.”
“So you’re saying you’ll just take it?”

I smiled at Ju Ok-hwa as she furrowed her brow.

“Do I look like that kind of person?”
“Then what will you do?”
“We fight them with what we’re good at.”

Confusion hung on her face.
I let the moment hang, then spoke.

“The Guardian Court Master. After talking to him directly, he wasn’t what I thought. I saw an opening to dig into.”
“What opening?”
“He treasures the Guardian Court to an extreme. That’s why he joined hands with Geuk Mu-hyeok too. If we use that point, we can create a crack between them.”
“So you’re going to drive a wedge between them?”
“That’s right.”

As expected of Ju Ok-hwa, she got it at once.

“Up until I visited the Guardian Court, I was going to smash it by force.”

No matter how many forces I gathered, I’d still be lacking compared to the Guardian Court, but I had a good method.
The method I used to bring down the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan. Move the Disciplinary Court and the Demon Inquisition Court.
If the Guardian Court revived, the authority of those two organizations would inevitably shrink.
If they were given a trigger, they’d tear into the Guardian Court harder than anyone.

“But in the long run, this method could make things even harder.”

Demon Cultists might treat life lightly, but a large-scale clash was different.
There would be many casualties, and the aftermath would be massive.
It would accelerate the divide between Geuk Mu-hyeok’s side and those who weren’t.
That wasn’t what I wanted.
What I needed right now wasn’t division inside the Demon Cult, but Geuk Mu-hyeok’s isolation.

“So rather than a frontal collision, cutting the link between the Guardian Court and Geuk Mu-hyeok is far cleaner.”
“You’ll turn the flow with rumors.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have something important? Something half-baked isn’t going to work.”

Ju Ok-hwa asked with her arms crossed.

“Of course I do.”

In the future, the Guardian Court Master and Geuk Mu-hyeok would fall out.
The Guardian Court showed a steep decline until the organization itself vanished, and that place was filled by a new organization behind Geuk Mu-hyeok.
They said Du Jung-baek barely survived, and went around muttering like a madman.

-Make the Guardian Court great again!

Of course, there were countless conflicts before it reached that point.
Even I, who never cared about the Guardian Court, knew one point of contention.
I planned to use it.

“Let’s do it like this. What we need to do is-”

Before long, a strange rumor began spreading within the cult.

“I heard the Seventh Young Lord stormed into the Guardian Court?”
“Yeah. They say he even beat up the Escort Hall Chief.”
“And he still walked out fine?”
“I heard the Guardian Court Master personally let him out. There must be some kind of relationship between them.”
“Is that information accurate?”
“If it isn’t, it doesn’t make sense. This is something only people in the know would know, but it’s said that the Guardian Court Master is one with the First Young Lord. Then why would he obediently let the Seventh Young Lord, who’s in competition with the First Young Lord, go?”

More and more meat clung to the rumor.

“I heard the Guardian Court Master actually had a lot of complaints about the First Young Lord.”
“Why?”
“He promised he’d raise the Guardian Court’s authority if the Guardian Court Master came into his faction, but then treated him like a subordinate. Like telling him to get permission for every important decision, or meddling even in personnel authority and planting his own people in key posts. And that’s not all. I heard something else too—”

Concrete details that no one but an insider could know passed from mouth to mouth.
It even became talk that the Guardian Court Master letting the Seventh Young Lord go was a step toward breaking with the First Young Lord.
Without even realizing it, the Guardian Court Master was gradually stepping onto the path of isolation.
Just as I intended.

“Good work.”

I expressed gratitude to Ju Ok-hwa’s subordinate.
Because she had organized the public sentiment in detail, which helped me grasp the situation.

‘Geuk Mu-hyeok won’t stay still.’

He had an exhausting personality.
He doubted everything, always tested people, and even those who swore loyalty to him were no exception.
To the point that even the Elder Council Lord, who now acted like they were bound by a blood oath, would later split from Geuk Mu-hyeok.
Though he died not long after.
Considering that, he would try to control Du Jung-baek far more tightly than before.

‘Du Jung-baek will feel his own position even more bitterly.’

That to Geuk Mu-hyeok, he really was nothing but limbs.

-The Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s Chief Steward visited the Guardian Court.

As time passed and the fifth day arrived, the information I wanted came in.

‘I can go tomorrow.’

I stared out the window and thought.
When Du Jung-baek was at his most shaken.
I wouldn’t miss that moment, and I’d flip the situation completely.

Guardian Court, Court Master Hall.
Du Jung-baek crumpled the report his subordinate brought without care.
It was a guess about who was behind the recent rumor, so it was useless.
It was without a doubt Baek Su-gyeong.
He seemed to have gained plenty of advantages this way so far.

‘He’s got some skill.’

To spread a rumor to this degree meant he had a finely organized information network.
But it would be pointless.
But his relationship with Geuk Mu-hyeok wasn’t built on trust. Still, it wasn’t so flimsy that it would break over rumors like this.
Especially since they had much to give each other.
At least, that was what he thought up to now.

“Court Master, Chief Steward Yeom has arrived.”

Chief Steward Yeom was Yeom Sang, the Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s Fifth Chief Steward.
He handled various matters in Geuk Mu-hyeok’s place, since Geuk Mu-hyeok often left his seat.
He flung the door open and walked in.

“What is this? Entering without permission.”
“Because there’s no need to ask permission. What intent are you harboring?”

A man in his thirties, Yeom Sang, with his hair neatly slicked back with camellia oil, arrogantly perched on any chair.
Du Jung-baek let out a deep sigh.
Whenever this man visited, it was never pleasant, not once.

“What are you talking about?”
“The rumors. That the Guardian Court Master is reconsidering his relationship with the First Young Lord.”

Yeom Sang spoke with a sneering curl.

“I heard you let the Seventh Young Lord go. You could have handed him to the Disciplinary Court, or eliminated him.”
“That was a judgment made as Guardian Court Master.”
“A judgment?”

Yeom Sang snorted.

“That the First Young Lord meddles in Guardian Court personnel, that he demands permission for every important decision, that he uses the Guardian Court like limbs. What ‘judgment’ was it, to voice complaints like that?”

Du Jung-baek’s brow furrowed.

“I never said that.”
“But if the rumor spread with this much detail, doesn’t that mean it leaked from within the Guardian Court?”

Yeom Sang rose from his seat and approached Du Jung-baek.

“The First Young Lord is suspicious. That perhaps you’ve begun harboring an unpleasant heart.”
“Nonsense.”
“Then prove it.”
“……Prove?”
“Eliminate the Seventh Young Lord. That is the only way to dispel the First Young Lord’s misunderstanding.”

Du Jung-baek’s face hardened.
A faint killing intent seeped from his whole body.

“I am not a subordinate of the Geuk Clan.”
“I never said subordinate. However, if you act for the Guardian Court, shouldn’t you make a good showing to the First Young Lord?”
“…….”
“It seems the Seventh Young Lord has been getting cheeky lately, but that’s only because the main house and the First Young Lord have not stepped in personally. I trust the Guardian Court Master knows that well.”

A brief silence passed.
Yeom Sang looked down with his chin lifted, as if facing an inferior.
He was waiting for an answer.

“……Tell the First Young Lord. That the meaning is well received.”
“A wise judgment.”

Yeom Sang rose, wearing a sneer.
When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped.

“Is there a gambler who jumps in after checking every card? That kind of man gains nothing. If anything, he only loses.”

Leaving those words behind, Yeom Sang departed.
Du Jung-baek’s temples throbbed.

‘Prove it? Since when did I become someone who must prove himself?’

Clenching his fist tight, he stood and went to the window.
He stared at the Guardian Court and sank into regret.
This place had once protected the cult’s order with power no one could challenge, but now it had fallen into someone’s limbs.

Du Jung-baek didn’t move from the window all night.
He pondered, and pondered again, until the lamp went out and dawn arrived.

‘Do I have to eliminate the Seventh Young Lord.’

One side of his chest felt heavy.
Until recently, he considered him a target that must be eliminated.
But after facing him directly, his thoughts grew complicated.

-What are you trying to protect, Court Master? The Guardian Court, or Geuk Mu-hyeok?

The Seventh Young Lord’s words kept coming back.
That fearless, confident stance.
The insight that made him feel ashamed.
Above all, how he willingly risked his life to protect his people.
He might have carried the Guardian Court’s spirit far more than even himself, the Guardian Court Master.

‘He might be better than the First Young Lord.’

Du Jung-baek gave a bitter smile.
If things were different, he would have reached out first.
But he had already joined hands with Geuk Mu-hyeok.
To revive the Guardian Court, he had to maintain that relationship.
He had no room to sway for personal feelings.

‘……There’s no choice but to eliminate him.’

If he weighed Baek Su-gyeong alone against the entire Guardian Court, the answer was clear.
If he eliminated the Little Demon, a harsh aftermath would follow, but it couldn’t be helped.
Because even if it cost his own sacrifice, he had to save the Guardian Court.

‘I should pick the day.’

It was at that moment.

“Court Master, the Seventh Young Lord has come!”

Baek Su-gyeong came to the Guardian Court on his own feet.

“He told me to deliver these words. That he will cut off your torment for you.”

As if he had read his innermost thoughts.