110 — Chapter 110

A sudden situation.
Du Jung-baek’s expression hardened.

“Chief Steward Yeom, what is this?”
“It is because there is urgent business.”
“No matter what the business, did you not know that bringing in warriors from outside requires my permission?”
“It was urgent, so I omitted the procedure. I ask your understanding.”

He said “understanding,” but his attitude and tone didn’t look like he had any intention of seeking it.
Beside them, several Guardian Court warriors were even sprawled on the ground.
It was evidence they’d forced their way in, shoving aside anyone who tried to block them.

“Explain. If you do not satisfy me, I will not let this pass quietly.”
“Do as you please.”

Yeom Sang held a sneer at the corner of his mouth.

“Escort Hall Chief said something absurd. That the Guardian Court Master intends to break the alliance with the First Young Lord. Is it true?”
“It is.”
“From our standpoint, we cannot overlook that.”
“The Guardian Court is not a subordinate organ of the First Young Lord. There is no reason whatsoever for us to be interfered with.”
“To call accompanying you ‘interference,’ how hurtful. Heh heh.”

That peculiar laugh that grabbed my ears made the past surface at once.

-What happened, Seventh Brother? Today, you knelt before even a quarter of an hour had passed. Is this as far as the fame of One Ilgak Invincible goes?
-You must have frozen before the First Young Lord’s majesty. Heh heh.

Geuk Mu-hyeok’s mockery, always.
And each time, a vulgar laugh sounded from the side.
I hated that sound.

‘Good to see you.’

I’d often felt it after regressing, but every time I reunited with an ill-fated grudge from my past life, I was quietly pleased.
Because unlike back then, I could beat them down to my heart’s content.

“Leave at once. Leading warriors and invading this Court is on an entirely different level from what has happened until now.”

His voice sounded like he was forcing down the rage rising up.
Yeom Sang replied with a grin.

“Do not be so sensitive over such a small number. The number of warriors the Demon Bell Geuk Clan can mobilize is hundreds of times this.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“I am merely opening your eyes to reality. If the First Young Lord turns his back, the Guardian Court truly ends. It’s not too late, so retract your foolish decision.”

Du Jung-baek trembled, his expression wretched.
He must have been itching to tear Yeom Sang into a thousand, ten thousand pieces and kill him.
And that wasn’t all.
He must have realized anew the harsh future that had almost unfolded for him.
If even subordinates looked down on him, what about Geuk Mu-hyeok himself?
In reality, he would later be sucked dry and discarded, but in this life he’d fortunately met me.
Because our interests aligned.

But.

‘Something’s off?’

I felt a strange sense of wrongness.
Because this situation didn’t match Geuk Mu-hyeok’s way of handling things.
Geuk Mu-hyeok’s way was to stay in the back and use others.
That was how it was when he used the Elder Council Lord, and when he used the Guardian Court too.
But he sent Demon Bell Geuk Clan warriors?
While threatening he could mobilize dozens of times more?
No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t make sense.
That was the posture of someone willing to risk a head-on clash.

‘And on top of that, he’s not very interested in me.’

Ordinarily, his purpose for coming would be one of two things.
First, to stop the Guardian Court’s intent to dare break ties with Geuk Mu-hyeok.
Second, to give me, the one who caused it, a sharp lesson.

But aside from when he first appeared, Yeom Sang didn’t even look my way.
If he’d come under Geuk Mu-hyeok’s orders, he couldn’t afford to neglect me.
Why?

‘It means he has a real purpose elsewhere.’

“Hey.”

I called Yeom Sang right away.
It was to confirm whether my guess was right.
As if he’d truly forgotten me, he made an exaggerated fist-clasp salute.

“Ah, it is my first time seeing the Seventh Young Lord up close. They say you are iron among iron, and indeed your aura lives up to the reputation.”

Iron among iron was an expression for someone exceptionally outstanding among ordinary people.
And ‘lives up to the reputation’ on top of that.
They were all positive words, yet closer to sarcasm with not a shred of sincerity.

“From the way things are going, you seem to be the Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s chief steward. Am I right?”
“My, I did not introduce myself. I am Yeom Sang, the Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s Fifth Chief Steward. A confidant who faithfully carries out the First Young Lord’s will.”
“Then I’ll call you Chief Steward Yeom. What are you doing mobbing in like this?”
“To deliver our side’s intent.”
“What intent?”

Yeom Sang’s eyes sharpened.

“Do not attempt to go against the First Young Lord’s will. There is no great undertaking that a declining institution and a Little Demon with no backing can accomplish together.”

Oh ho. Coming on strong, aren’t you.

“Do you not know that the weak naturally rely on each other?”
“Instead of wasting time relying on other weaklings, how about doing something more productive? The weak have the privilege of begging for the strong’s generosity, do they not?”
“So you’re saying I should grovel before Geuk Mu-hyeok?”
“He is the First Young Lord. And to the Seventh Young Lord, he is your Great Sahyung.”
“What kind of sahyung keeps bothering his sajae like this?”
“I am offering you the chance to throw yourself under the First Young Lord.”

A snort of laughter slipped out.
Generosity, begging, throwing myself under him.
All things he could say because he didn’t know me.
Even in my past life, I didn’t do that.
I resisted to the end, and fought, and—

‘……got beaten to hell.’

It was true that my talent was outstanding.
But it was also true that before I left the Demon Cult, there was still a considerable gap between Geuk Mu-hyeok and me.
Even if he wasn’t better than me, he had talent with nothing to pick apart.
Of course, this life would be different. My growth rate itself had become overwhelmingly faster.

‘Still, just listening to him talk, he sounds like the very model of a loyal retainer…….’

But I knew that wasn’t true.
Because what filled this bastard’s head wasn’t loyalty, but something else.

“About bringing warriors into the Guardian Court, was this Geuk Mu-hyeok’s will too?”
“That is correct.”
“Did he order it directly, with his own mouth or in a letter?”

Yeom Sang hesitated.
That was enough of an answer for me.

“So it was your own decision. A mere chief steward mobilizing clan warriors and invading the Guardian Court. Bold.”
“You don’t seem to understand, but I have been granted broad authority by the First Young Lord.”
“You didn’t even get visiting permission from the Guardian Court Master. Isn’t this overstepping?”

If members of one force want to enter another force’s base, they need permission.
That was why, when I stormed the Guardian Court last time, they had grounds to try to execute me.
But Yeom Sang repeated the same thing like a parrot.

“As I just said, I have been granted broad authority by the First Young Lord—”
“So you’re fine with a full-scale war breaking out? The backlash won’t be small. Can you handle it?”

Without answering, Yeom Sang ran a hand over his already-slicked hair.
A sign I’d hit the mark.

“If things blow up, what will Geuk Mu-hyeok do? Will he say, ‘I ordered it,’ or will he cut you off and say, ‘I don’t know anything about this’?”
“…….”
“If it’s Geuk Mu-hyeok, he’d have no problem throwing you away. I heard he hates most of all when mud splashes on his own clothes.”
“……Are you insulting the First Young Lord?”

The moment ‘First Young Lord’ and ‘insult’ were put together, the Demon Bell Geuk Clan warriors all released killing intent at once.
Their ‘loyalty’ was far from real too.
It was closer to something trained into them.

“It’s not that. I’m just curious. Chief Steward Yeom doesn’t seem foolish enough not to know that, so why did you make such an unreasonable move?”
“What is that supposed to—”
“The clothes you’re wearing look pretty nice.”

I said, pointing at his hem.
A voice transmission came from Ju Ok-hwa at once.

[What are you saying, Seventh Young Lord? You were pressuring him well, and then why bring up clothes all of a sudden?]

I smiled faintly.
She’d find out in a moment.

“I heard there’s a place called Thousand Hues Brocade House. They say a single outfit easily costs a hundred taels of silver.”
“I do not understand what the Seventh Young Lord is trying to say.”
“I’m asking how much you’ve been lining your pockets behind Geuk Mu-hyeok’s back.”
“……!”

Yeom Sang’s eyes shook hard.

“No matter how wealthy the Demon Bell Geuk Clan is, is a chief steward’s monthly stipend really that high? You’re only the Fifth Chief Steward.”

Yeom Sang’s lips moved, but no words came out.
I smiled slowly.

“Maybe it’s this. You didn’t move for the First Young Lord. You made an unreasonable move to fatten your own belly.”
“You are making baseless slander.”

Yeom Sang barely recovered his voice.

“My clothes are not from Thousand Hues Brocade House.”
“Yeah?”

I looked closely at his hem.

“They say clothes from Thousand Hues Brocade House shift color subtly depending on the angle of light. That’s exactly what yours is doing.”
“Clothes like this can exist depending on the silk material.”

Yeom Sang’s voice rose slightly.
It was an overreaction typical of someone flustered.

“Yeah? Then roll up your sleeve once.”

Yeom Sang’s expression stiffened.
Thousand Hues Brocade House clothes have fine gold thread embroidered on the inside of the left sleeve.
It was their unique technique and identity.
Since the moment I brought up the clothes, Yeom Sang had been subtly covering the sleeve with his right hand.

“What are you doing? Not rolling it up. Isn’t it an easy way to prove it?”

Yeom Sang didn’t answer.
No, he couldn’t.
That silence said a lot.

The gazes of the Demon Bell Geuk Clan warriors began to change.
If Yeom Sang had truly embezzled Geuk Mu-hyeok’s wealth?
There was no reason to follow his orders.
Rather, they should bind him.

[Wow, as expected of the Seventh Young Lord. You’ve mastered finding other people’s weak points. So that’s why you brought up the clothes?]

At that moment, Ju Ok-hwa’s voice transmission came.
She cleared her throat, then opened her mouth while imitating a deep voice.

“Come to think of it, that belt ornamentation is no ordinary thing either. It has more than ten silver jades embedded, thirty taels each. And those shoes are from Sichuan’s Cloud Gate Pavilion. An item commoners can’t even glimpse. How did you obtain them? And—”

Her tone was so perfectly casual.
I almost burst out laughing.
The more she pointed them out one by one, the fiercer the Demon Bell Geuk Clan warriors’ eyes grew.
Even Jang Seong-chan looked at Yeom Sang suspiciously.
Yeom Sang stammered.

“Th-those are all with my own funds…… uduk, refrain from baseless slander. The First Young Lord is well aware of how I manage my assets.”
“Then should I ask him directly later?”

I gave a deep smile.

“That your clan’s Fifth Chief Steward is walking around draped in a thousand taels’ worth of silver, and whether he knows where that money came from.”
“……!”

All the color drained from Yeom Sang’s face.
I saw his future.
He was obsessed with exploiting the signboard of the Demon Bell Geuk Clan and Geuk Mu-hyeok.
Borrowing that power to swagger, he always acted like a big shot.
Because of that, he loved dressing up and indulged in luxury.

But if your tail is long, it gets stepped on.
In my past life, I’d wondered why the bastard who’d been yapping disappeared one day. Then I heard his corpse had surfaced in Black Dragon Lake, with both arms cut off.
Still wearing Thousand Hues Brocade House clothes.
They said he’d been siphoning off wealth that should’ve gone into the Demon Bell Geuk Clan for a long time.

I spoke to him.

“Here’s what I think. There was some kind of deal between you and the Guardian Court. So if the Guardian Court slips out of Geuk Mu-hyeok’s grasp, your money line gets cut off. That’s why you made an unreasonable move, isn’t it?”

Yeom Sang’s face turned white. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
In truth, I wasn’t certain either.
It was a guess based on Yeom Sang’s future and the current situation.

“Th-that’s absurd—!”
“For something absurd, everyone seems to be doubting you.”

The Demon Bell Geuk Clan warriors’ eyes toward Yeom Sang turned icy.
He spoke in a trembling voice.

“I warn the Seventh Young Lord. Do not speak falsehoods!”
“Warnings, whatever. Just prove that outfit isn’t from Thousand Hues Brocade House. Turn out the left sleeve. If there’s no gold thread, I’ll apologize.”
“There is no reason to comply with unreasonable demands.”
“Unreasonable?”

I snorted.

“There’s a simple way to prove your innocence, so I’m curious why you insist on refusing.”
“Stop! If you continue like this, I will not hold back any longer!”
“Don’t hold back.”

I replied calmly.
Yeom Sang ground his teeth.

“You seem to be looking down on me because I am a chief steward, but the Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s chief stewards all possess martial prowess at Peak Realm or higher!”
“You’re the one who seems to be looking down on me because of how I look.”

Honestly, my condition wasn’t good.
It was the aftermath of fighting Du Jung-baek.
But I couldn’t just sit still.
I couldn’t afford to lose the Guardian Court either.
If I beat this bastard ‘legally’ and drive him out, I’d gain Du Jung-baek’s trust and the Guardian Court’s people, and on top of that I’d feed Geuk Mu-hyeok a big mouthful of shit.

Fortunately, I knew Yeom Sang’s martial arts well.
And my Sword Eye would activate too.

I strode toward Yeom Sang, whose eyes gleamed viciously.
Ju Ok-hwa’s voice transmission came.

[What are you trying to do again with that body of yours?!]

‘I trust you, Hall Master.’

I grinned at her.