Jeokpae, who had lost his subordinates, was not sad.
Dead was dead. If this was how he acted even after losing his right arm, there was no need to ask how he regarded him—it was obvious.
“Until I return, you must hold onto him.”
Because he knew Jeokpae’s personality well, Juyang understood. That if he let Geom Mugeuk slip, he would die. He already stood between life and death.
For now, the faithful task he had to carry out was going to collect the interest.
The next day, the blade hand who went to collect the interest came back with his hand ruined.
The day after was the same. He had hoped Geom Mugeuk might go easy on them on the second day, but Geom Mugeuk showed no mercy.
When they returned with ruined hands two days in a row, the blade hands of the Tongjeonso were shaken. Several suddenly fell ill and took to their beds, and several even hid their tracks claiming urgent business had suddenly come up.
Among the blade hands they cursed Geom Mugeuk as heartless, but Juyang thought the opposite. The opponent was showing mercy. If he were truly heartless, no one would have survived at the Tongjeonso.
*Why didn’t he kill everyone that day?*
When closing the eyes of the person who had been tortured by Jeokpae, Juyang had despaired, thinking, *Ah, we’re all going to be massacred now.* But Geom Mugeuk did not do so. There was clearly a reason he had kept them alive.
In any case, he had to go collect interest today as well.
“Today, I will go myself.”
At Juyang’s words, the blade hands who had been anxious about being chosen themselves brightened considerably. As a manager, there was a limit to blindly sending blade hands, so he stepped up himself.
Watching that not a single person offered to accompany him as a guard, he left the Tongjeonso with bitterness. Yes, he understood. He wouldn’t have followed himself either.
Geom Mugeuk welcomed him with a face even more pleased than his subordinates.
“Why did you come? Have your subordinates already run out?”
“They are all terrified.”
“And yet you are not one to worry about your subordinates?”
“What do you know about me?”
Geom Mugeuk stared at him intently.
“You are overflowing with confidence. Did you go call some great expert?”
Though struck in a vital point, Juyang tried hard not to show surprise.
*How quick-witted he is.*
He had been putting on an act of fear. How on earth had he noticed?
“It won’t be easy to find an expert greater than the one sent to kill me that day.”
Juyang could tell that the person Geom Mugeuk spoke of was Jeokpae’s right arm. He was right. That was why he had gone to ask the Demon Cult for help.
Instead of answering, Juyang threw out a question to change the subject.
“Why haven’t you ruined my hands?”
It was what he was most curious about. He had never particularly done anything good for him.
Geom Mugeuk took out two coins and placed them on the table.
“Because I may need those hands of yours.”
At those unexpected words Juyang was bewildered, but Geom Mugeuk said no more and went up to his room.
Juyang picked up the coins on the table.
He had been about to leave when he suddenly looked down at his own hands. He needed these hands? Why?
* * *
“It seems the Branch Leader has begun digging into the Chief’s background.”
At those words, a groaning sound burst out from beneath a boulder the size of a house.
Surprisingly, a person was shouldering that massive boulder. No matter how much internal energy he used, how could he... It was a sight that naturally evoked such thoughts.
Thud.
The boulder fell to the ground, and from behind it a man revealed himself and walked out.
He possessed a robust physique and a sharp impression. If forced to compare him to an animal, he was a tiger.
Demon Sword Chief Jungak.
One line was all it took to explain this man.
The Demon Sword Squad was the elite of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, a martial force deployed at the front-line Gangseo Branch in preparation for war.
Jungak, as one responsible for leading an elite organization, was a master possessing powerful martial arts and abundant real combat experience.
“Reporting such things while I’m holding this heavy thing—are you trying to kill me?”
The subordinate who had reported was Chahoe, first squad leader of the Demon Sword Squad and Jungak’s right-hand man.
“Don’t I need to serve as Chief once and then retire too?”
Jungak had a cold and resolute personality that even the martial artists of the Demon Sword Squad feared, yet the only person with whom he spoke without reserve was Chahoe. Their loyalty ran so deep that nothing was hidden between them.
“That human is investigating my background?”
“Yes, he has secretly dispatched people.”
By rank, the Branch Leader was higher than the Chief. But elite organizations like the Demon Sword Squad possessed authority that transcended rank. Therefore, in normal cases, they would maintain an appearance of mutual respect.
However, at the Gangseo Branch, this was not being maintained well.
“That person sure likes making enemies. Yet we’re the ones doing all the fighting.”
Jungak removed his sweat-soaked clothes and washed his body in the flowing water. His entire body was covered in scars. It was a body that made one feel what kind of history was required to become Chief of the Demon Sword Squad.
As he washed, he continued speaking.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to live amicably? Comfortably among people who are neither enemies nor friends.”
“Who knows what intentions lie behind that pretense of integrity?”
“No, that person is simply sick. Someone who can’t stand not acting superior.”
Having finished washing, he put on new clothes prepared in advance.
“So? Is there a problem?”
“I’ve muzzled them for now.”
Jungak was indeed a corrupt martial artist, as the Branch Leader suspected. He was secretly taking bribes from various sects within Gangseo.
On the other hand, the new Branch Leader who arrived last year had an upright personality and never tolerated bribes. Because of this, even more bribes were offered to Jungak. Jungak accepted every single one he was given.
“They say they’ll share overflowing money, yet I don’t know why they make life so difficult. Just take what those vermin give, pocket it well, and decide as I please.”
He actually did just that. He didn’t accept every request just because he took bribes. What he thought unnecessary he ignored, and what he deemed acceptable he granted.
The four characters that made it possible: Demon Sword Chief.
Of course, most of the bribes they offered were in preparation for things that had not yet occurred.
“We fight their anxieties for them, don’t we? How wonderful.”
At Jungak’s joke, Chahoe smiled faintly.
The problem was that this matter was not something to laugh off so lightly.
“As you know, he is not one to usually be picky, so if he starts digging like this, he will eventually find out.”
Jungak’s eyes gleamed coldly. The fact that he had resolved to investigate his background meant he was betting everything. At first, their relationship had been quite decent. Where had it gone wrong?
Jungak slowly walked to the boulder and drew his sword.
He swung lightly, as if cutting a twig.
Swhooooosh.
The massive boulder split in half.
At this astonishing display, Chahoe cupped his hands in respect.
“If only for the peace of the martial world….”
Jungak stroked the smooth cross-section of the boulder and added.
“The Branch Leader may change, but we must remain.”
And right then, as if by fate, a visitor arrived.
Another subordinate came and reported.
“A guest has arrived.”
* * *
The one waiting in the secret room was Jeokpae.
This was the place Jungak used for secret meetings.
Jeokpae too wore a bamboo hat and shabby long robes to hide his identity.
When Jungak entered, Jeokpae jumped up and greeted him respectfully.
“It has been a long time.”
“I believe I told you not to come before I called you.”
Jungak’s reaction was cold. He had always openly disdained Jeokpae, who ran the moneylender’s ring.
*Then you should have disdained my money too.*
Jeokpae hid such inner thoughts and prostrated himself flat.
“Would I have come like this if things were not desperate?”
“What is it?”
“Someone falsely claiming to be Main has intervened—a master we cannot handle.”
He deliberately omitted the part about impersonating the Young Leader of the Demon Cult. Given Jungak’s personality, if he had mentioned it, Jungak would have said they were telling him to face such a madman and would use it as an excuse to withdraw.
“Impersonating our cult is a grave crime. How great is his skill?”
“We were forced to flee all the way here. Please, help me!”
Under normal circumstances, with the Branch Leader already suspecting him, Jungak would have refused unconditionally. But a thought crossed Jungak’s mind.
“Understood. I shall handle it.”
“Thank you.”
Jeokpae was rather bewildered by how readily he agreed.
“However, there is one thing you must do.”
“Please command me.”
“See that word reaches the Branch Leader’s ears that there is someone falsely claiming to be Main. Such matters cannot be handled arbitrarily by me alone.”
Jeokpae understood.
*So because the opponent is a master, he won’t move himself but will use the Branch Leader to eliminate him. As cunning as ever.*
In any case, it didn’t matter. As long as the bastard was eliminated.
“I shall do as you command.”
In truth, Jungak was scheming a far more ruthless plan than Jeokpae anticipated.
The Gangseo Branch Leader dies while going to catch someone impersonating the Demon Cult? Would the Demon Sword Squad avenge him?
Would that work? If he had lived a life of doubt, he would never have reached his current position.
He would make it work.
This was the life Jungak had lived.
* * *
The next day too, Juyang came to find him.
“Our Mister Juyang, now you come alone boldly without fear.”
“Since you said at least that you need my hands, surely my hands can be kept safe?”
Juyang had been unable to sleep all night from curiosity.
“Why on earth do you need my hands?”
Then the most astonishing words Juyang had ever heard in his life flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“I am thinking of making you the new head of the Tongjeonso.”
Juyang shouted without realizing it.
“That’s absurd!”
Geom Mugeuk, on the other hand, was calm.
“Why do you think it’s absurd?”
“Well….”
There were many reasons. But they were reasons he had never once thought about or spoken aloud.
“Weren’t you going to kill me?”
The Geom Mugeuk he sensed was not one to leave villains be.
“Correct. I was originally going to kill you, but I found myself in need of a villain.”
Geom Mugeuk revealed his plan.
“Since you people are a necessary evil anyway, I intend to make you a truly proper necessary evil. From now on, the Tongjeonsos of the Central Plains will lend money at reasonable interest. For now it’s only the Tongjeonso, but someday I will change every money house in the Central Plains that way.”
Only now did he understand. Why he had kept him alive. Why he had left his hands intact. It meant he was to continue clicking the abacus with these hands.
The man before his eyes was truly dreaming an absurd dream. The words burst out unbidden.
“Just what are you?”
The answer he had heard several times came again.
“The Young Leader of the Demon Cult.”
“You are simply a madman!”
This was a man who had drilled a hole in someone’s forehead and shattered the hands of blade hands, yet he made Juyang shout like this. He kept making him lower his guard.
“In the end, even a loan shark hears that from me. If the Demon Venerables heard your words, they would roar with laughter. They would be beside themselves making fun of me for a while.”
Juyang shook his head. Either this was a truly proper madman… or he was putting on a performance before the real Young Leader of the Demon Cult.
“Do you think that is possible?”
“I wouldn’t know. You are the one who must take charge and carry it out.”
How could he not be bewildered by this?
“No matter how strong your martial arts are… you will die anyway.”
“Then help me.”
“What sort of Young Leader of the Demon Cult asks a loan shark for help?”
Perhaps because the joke sounded absurd even to himself, Juyang laughed alone then quickly returned to a serious expression. Associating with a madman, he was going mad too.
“Fine, assuming that’s true. Why me? You could appoint someone fitting, couldn’t you? Not someone like me, but someone without greed for money.”
This was what Juyang was personally most curious about.
“It is a place handling enormous sums, so that person too would eventually fall to corruption for money. On the other hand, you have nothing left to fall from. If you break your promise with me and act foolishly, it is also easy to kill you without any compunction.”
To think it was for such a reason.
“You go too far before a person.”
“You are mistaken if you think I am saving you. This will not be easy for you. You will have to manage the organization meticulously, and you will not be able to embezzle a single penny carelessly.”
This was the punishment Geom Mugeuk had handed down to him.
“Just as those who paid interest to you did, you too must work yourself to the bone until the day you die. While properly collecting, for the rest of your life, the interest you wrongly took.”
“If I refuse?”
“You will die together with Jeokpae on the day he dies.”
Geom Mugeuk took out two coins one by one and placed them on the table. His action seemed to say: This coin is Jeokpae’s; this one is yours.
At the sight of the coins, Juyang’s heart began to race madly again. Nowadays, perhaps his heart would burst and he would die before his forehead was pierced by those coins.
Was it because he feared death? Because of vanity at the possibility of becoming owner of the Tongjeonso? Because of the suffocation of having to live doing boring things for a lifetime? When with this interest, his heart kept raging like this.
As if listening to the sound of Juyang’s heart, Geom Mugeuk calmly asked.
“Are you afraid?”
“Would I not be?”
“Even if you fall into the sea, you can survive if there is just this much space to expose your nose and mouth. No matter how vast the sea is, if you have just this much.”
Geom Mugeuk curved his hand like a cylinder in front of his face.
“Think well whether that breathing hole for you is me, or whether it is your position as head. You must decide quickly. A great wave will soon come crashing down.”
Juyang looked down at the coins placed on the table. These two coins were trying to change his fate.
What were his feelings? He wanted to live. If he had to atone for a lifetime, he would rather choose death. But he lacked such spirit or courage.
He was someone who would soon be torn apart and killed once the real Demon Cult stepped in. So why did his heart keep wavering? Why did he want to say, even now, *I will follow your will, so please spare me!*? Why did he feel he had to?
Juyang pocketed the coins and spoke.
“That wave is crashing down on you first. So you had better find your own breathing hole.”