The Sin Of A Man Of Resolve (2)

Kkiiik!

The door to the inner courtyard opened.

Tiger King Unit Leader Wang Gyu shouted.

“Prepare for battle!”

The unit he’d brought, consisting of one hundred Black Tiger warriors, snapped into stance at once.

But no one burst out from the open gate. There was no baleful killing intent, no powerful battle aura.

Just as Wang Gyu, staring at the door, was about to speak again.

“Come in.”

The voice sounded too young. Wang Gyu hesitated, brow furrowing.

“The formations inside have all been disabled. It’s fine to enter.”

At last Wang Gyu gave hand signals.

Pabababak!

Black Tiger Fist Sect warriors streamed through the gate and over the wall into the inner courtyard.

“!”

Entering with them, Wang Gyu was taken aback.

Over a hundred swordsmen were gathered to one side. Their look was strange.

They showed expressions that were hard to pin down as any one thing. Resentment, anxiety, flustered shock, fear, resignation, and more. More than half of them looked like they wanted to draw their swords on the spot, but it seemed they were forcing themselves to suppress their fighting spirit.

“You’re here.”

And in the passage leading to the Fort Master’s quarters.

A masked man stood with arms folded, leaning on the wall. At his feet lay a middle-aged man, face pale, one arm severed, and unconscious.

Wang Gyu called out.

“Who are you?”

“Call the Sect Master.”

“What?”

It was then.

“Unit Leader Wang, stand down.”

Wang Gyu and the warriors withdrew respectfully.

Seureuk!

With light steps, Wi Gyo-hwa finally appeared.

“You’re here.”

“…It’s been a while.”

“You look well.”

Wi Gyo-hwa’s brows slightly furrowed.

Yet her words came out plain and soft.

“What’s with the costume? A mask just because it’s night? That’s not like you.”

“All you know about me is my rotten temper, so what nonsense are you spouting?”

“Still the same it seems. That tongue of yours.”

Jin-hyeon snorted a laugh.

“How about changing that tone. I’m the one who made you the master of Black Tiger, after all.”

Wang Gyu flinched without meaning to.

Fire lit in Wi Gyo-hwa’s eyes.

“So that’s why you told me to bring every man I could? To repay your favor?”

“I made you the master, but I don’t call it a favor. It was a deal. I happened to spare your life on top, so a little courtesy wouldn’t hurt.”

“Enough useless talk.”

“True. This isn’t the best place to reminisce.”

Unfolding his arms, Jin-hyeon looked over the gathered swordsmen.

“If you’ve surrendered, drop the blades. Or were you planning to watch and draw if the situation turns?”

The leader of the Purple Bamboo Sword Unit who had just came back to his senses, Woo Hang, asked with a gloomy face.

“Will you spare us?”

“One question first. Was your loyalty to the Black Bamboo Fort that thin? You yielded easier than I thought.”

Woo Hang closed his eyes.

“The victor has the right to insult the defeated. Do as you wish.”

“Was my question hard? If I had meant to mock you, I’d have beaten you half-dead first.”

“…”

“So your answer?”

Hesitating, Woo Hang sighed.

“I knew this day would come sooner or later.”

“Seems it was too hard. That’s some world-class answering beside the point.”

“It’s hard to hold out on loyalty alone under a leader who won’t even pay proper wages.”

“Oh?”

“When loyalty shakes, morale drops. The Fort Master trusted formations over his swordsmen. In the end many left the Black Bamboo Fort.”

“So the Fort Master was a miser. Did he let men walk away just like that?”

Woo Hang shook his head.

Clicking his tongue, Jin-hyeon looked at fallen Yeom Yong-cheon.

“So that’s where he picked up those rootless huckster tricks, and started pulling that shit.”

Only then did Wi Gyo-hwa understand why breaching the outer grounds had been easier than expected.

The swordsmen were strong, yet the breakthrough came easier than expected. The problem wasn’t their skill, it was morale.

‘So it’s been happening longer than I thought.’

Jin-hyeon could tell YeomYong-cheon hadn’t paid his men because he had been scraping war funds with the Abundant Prosperity Guild and the Divine Spear House.

‘Whatever the case, it’s over.’

Dusting his hands, Jin-hyeon coolly swung his foot.

Bbagak!

The savage crack drew silence.

Wi Gyo-hwa, Wang Gyu, the Black Tiger warriors, and the Black Bamboo swordsmen all stared in shock. He’d snapped the unconscious Yeom Yong-cheon’s neck, just like that.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…”

“What a strange lot.”

It was the attitude of a man asking what the problem was, when all he’d done was kill the bastard he meant to kill.

‘He’s dangerous.’

Wi Gyo-hwa kept thinking, not even noticing that her own face had gone white.

‘Not just his martial arts. That decisiveness… you never know where he’ll jump.’

He had come to seize the Black Bamboo Fort, so killing its head was possible.

But he made shocking choices at moments that seemed wrong for it. That obvious yet abrupt action made others fear him.

The problem was, none of it looked premeditated.

“Let’s go. Sect Master Wi, walk and talk with me.”

“Wait.”

“Mm?”

Wi Gyo-hwa knit her brows.

“You caused a mess like this and you’re just going to leave? What about Black Bamboo Fort?”

Jin-hyeon widened his eyes as if puzzled instead.

“You were just going to tidy up and stop there?”

“Huh?”

“Black Tiger beat Black Bamboo. So shouldn’t the Black Tiger Fist Sect seize Black Bamboo Fort and expand its power?”

“!!”

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

Stammering, Wi Gyo-hwa asked,

“You’re telling me to take Black Bamboo Fort?”

Jin-hyeon spoke as if it were obvious.

“Isn’t it better for you? Swallow Black Bamboo’s assets, manpower, and businesses, and Black Tiger’s power will at least double.”

“!!”

“If you don’t want it, dismiss their swordsmen and send the amassed wealth to me instead.”

“N-no, that’s…”

“Seems a waste, right?”

Jin-hyeon smiled.

“It’s no small thing for a sect master to march with her top men. If the head moves, there should be cause. Don’t tell me that you came just because I asked.”

Truthfully, she had come because he asked.

It was true that Jin-hyeon had killed her father and brothers, which made him her mortal enemy. But it was also true that Jin-hyeon was the one who had made her the sect master, something she had never even been allowed to hope for.

She hadn’t liked her two brothers anyway. One was lust-mad, the other a fool. And when their father was cornered by the enemy, had even thought of sacrificing his daughter.

Jin-hyeon was the one who had orchestrated that situation, so it was only natural that her anger remained. Yet she wasn’t in a position to ignore him and attack.

The Eight Martial Houses’ balance was breaking anyway. She had come ready to go for broke. But to swallow the entire Black Bamboo Fort?

She stared at him, unable to hide her fluster.

Jin-hyeon frowned.

“You…”

He was about to say more, then realized there were too many eyes around.

“Walk with me.”

After a moment’s thought, Wi Gyo-hwa gave orders to Wang Gyu.

“Disarm Black Bamboo’s swordsmen. Secure the inner courtyard, send the ones wounded by the outer grounds to the infirmary, gather the servants and maids in one place and give them a choice.”

“Yes? Ah, yes!”

“As for the assets from Black Bamboo’s stores…”

“Yes.”

“…Pay the swordsmen twice the sum of their back wages. The same for servants and maids.”

“T-twice?”

Not only the Black Tiger warriors but even the swordsmen were startled.

Wi Gyo-hwa spoke to Woo Hang, leader of the Purple Bamboo Unit.

“Go to the outer yard and steady the swordsmen. Fighting now will only waste lives.”

“U-understood.”

It felt as if everything was progressing in one swift, unimpeded stroke. Maybe that was why. Woo Hang took orders from Wi Gyo-hwa, who was about twenty years younger than him, as though they were commands from a superior.

The corner of Jin-hyeon’s mouth lifted.

‘Not bad.’

Wi Gyo-hwa pointed deeper into the inner courtyard.

“Shall we walk there?”

“Alright.”

A short while later.

Once within the unsealed bamboo grove, Jin-hyeon removed his mask.

“Phew. Stuffy.”

With the black mask gone, a sharp jawline, pale face, and hair even whiter showed.

Wi Gyo-hwa spoke stiffly.

“Truly amazing.”

“What is?”

“I get that you’re stronger than a leader of the Eight Martial Houses. But you should be well aware that one hand can hardly handle ten?”

“Well, of course.”

Wi Gyo-hwa halted and shot back, sharp.

“What gives you that confidence? If I order the Black Tiger’s warriors to kill you now, do you have the confidence that you’ll walk away alive?”

“Hard to say. Best would be to run.”

“Could you even run? Since you handed us the Black Bamboo Fort, if I unleash every man to attack…”

“Then I’ll take you hostage and run.”

“…”

“The moment you chose to walk here with me, those words lost their meaning.”

Wi Gyo-hwa’s eyes reddened.

But only for a moment. A sigh of surrender slipped out.

“I can’t even manage a proper threat.”

“You eat well after you’ve eaten before. For a proper threat, your age and experience are too thin.”

“You’re not much older than me.”

“What about that greedy elder? The one with red eyes for your seat.”

“…”

“Handled, then.”

“Unit Leader Wang did the heavy lifting.”

“It’s good that you have the ability to win people over.”

Jin-hyeon shrugged.

“Whatever the case, you’ve got promise. Quick and rational handling. Paying twice the back wages will surely win Black Bamboo’s men. A fine call.”

Wi Gyo-hwa started to speak, then flushed. Praise from an enemy should mean nothing, yet it felt good.

‘Idiot. This devil killed your family. Get a grip.’

‘And handed you the sect master’s seat.’

The two thoughts coexisted, throwing her into confusion.

“However.”

Jin-hyeon’s face hardened.

“It was clearly a mistake to bring your men without weighing anything, just because I asked. That should never happen, not even once. Like I said, when the Sect Master steps outside the sect, there must be cause.”

“…”

“Do not make that mistake again.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why tell me that? To you I’m just…”

“Wrong again. I don’t lightly pity or ‘understand’ people. You owe me. Today you owe me again.”

“…”

“Set aside the earlier debt against the kin I killed if you like, but you can’t ignore this one. I’ll collect in full later, so don’t waste your days.”

Wi Gyo-hwa’s face twisted.

“You call killing my kin a wash on that debt? Do you hear yourself?”

“If you hate this arrangement, point that fist at me now.”

“!”

“If you plan to get your revenge later, you’ll have to grow stronger. Either way, you need to improve. And while you’re at it, I’ll be taking my cut.”

“You… won’t get an easy death.”

Jin-hyeon gave a wry smile.

“That’s why I make such a ruckus. To avoid that.”

“…”

“I’ll go on ahead. Clean up well. You worked hard today.”

With that, Jin-hyeon left the Black Bamboo Fort.

Left alone in the bamboo grove, Wi Gyo-hwa stood there for about an hour.