Ichu felt as if his breath had stopped.
Had he ever been so surprised in his life? Had he ever allowed someone to approach this close?
Instinctively, Ichu tried to flee, flinging his body away.
The moment his body soared into the air, he felt it. The man who had been standing with him was flying up right beside him. He clung to his side like a shadow.
The moment Geommugeuk grabbed his shoulder, Ichu—who had been trying to escape through the roof—descended back to where they had originally been standing, together with Geommugeuk.
The movement of being caught and brought back down was so smooth that it looked as though the two had taken flight in perfect harmony before descending once more.
Ichu felt his opponent’s martial arts overwhelming his own. The move shown just now was a technique far more difficult than silently approaching and suppressing his acupoints.
“Since we’ve already stripped it, let’s strip it all.”
Geommugeuk grabbed the plywood attached to the carriage and pulled it hard.
Screeeeech.
With that, the wall of the carriage was revealed. The carriage exclusively for the Heavenly Demon, made of a unique metal, revealed itself. It was the sturdiest carriage in all of Murim.
“Honestly, considering the passenger, there was no need to make it this sturdy.”
Ichu couldn’t properly hear Geommugeuk’s words. He stared at the carriage with wide eyes, as if entranced.
The picture drawn on the carriage.
As Geommugeuk had said, it was not a crescent moon but horns.
The terrifying face of an evil ghost with two horns like a demon. Truly, it was a fearsome evil ghost that sent a chill down one’s spine just by looking at it.
Ichu was completely frozen. There was only one organization in Murim that would openly display such a picture. If this was a carriage from that place he was thinking of?
‘I’m dead.’
Truly, when he had entered this stable, he had never dreamed that today would become his death anniversary.
Whether or not Geommugeuk knew what he was thinking, he walked back to his side and stood beside him, speaking nonchalantly.
“Isn’t it frightening? Was there really a need to draw it this realistically and frighteningly? I get chills every time I see it. What about you?”
Geommugeuk looked at him.
Ichu answered in a trembling voice.
“It’s my first time seeing it.”
“That’s right. It is not a picture one can easily see.”
Meaningful words continued from Geommugeuk’s mouth.
“Not just anyone can draw this picture on a carriage. Only a truly high-ranking person can.”
He should have said “only one person,” but he did not reveal that much.
Then, doubt suddenly sprouted in Ichu’s heart.
‘Huh? Are these guys really con artists?’
He thought it might be possible. The truly high-ranking members of the Demonic Cult traveling with just three people like this? Somehow, he couldn’t believe it.
‘Anyone could draw this picture if they just paid a painter, right? And the way they deliberately tore it off for me to see.’
And then, right at that moment.
When he came to his senses, he was standing in the sky. The sky was blue, and his surroundings were blue. It felt as if all this might be a dream. Yes, praying it was a dream, he touched the blue floor.
Splash. It was not the sky, but incredibly clear water. What he was seeing was the sky reflected in the water.
It was Geommugeuk’s aura. The aura released in an instant had pulled him into a new world.
But Geommugeuk’s true aura was beneath his feet.
Invisible energy pulled him into the water.
He kept sinking. The terror of the deep sea, with no visible bottom, assailed him. The fear of that abyss was endless and monstrous.
“Uwaack!”
When Ichu screamed, he was still standing in front of the carriage.
Geommugeuk was looking at him with profound eyes.
Only then could Ichu understand.
‘They are not con artists.’
But he soon corrected that thought.
‘No, they are con artists. The greatest con artists in history.’
He had been cheerfully taking them to the family, not knowing they were demons, and not knowing they were absolute masters of the Demonic Cult. And he had ordered them investigated without knowing any of this.
Ichu squeezed his eyes shut.
“Kill me.”
His voice trembled.
“Have you no last words?”
“Who would I blame? I can only blame my fate for getting entangled in such matters.”
Even with his eyes closed for a moment, his opponent did not kill him. When Ichu opened his eyes, Geommugeuk was still looking at the carriage wall.
“Why won’t you kill me?”
“Why would I kill you for some great wrong? All you did was rummage through the carriage a bit.”
“You people are……”
“Why? Do we look like evil demons who kill anyone who meets our eyes?”
Come to think of it, his acupoints hadn’t even been suppressed yet. He briefly wondered if he should flee even now, but soon gave up.
“Are you sparing me?”
Of course, there was a condition attached.
“Just as the young lady Geum hired us, I too shall hire you. Only until this matter is finished and we depart.”
Ichu was surprised. He had thought he would die without a doubt, yet a path to survival had opened.
“Are you perhaps loyal to Geumajong to the point of giving your life?”
“No.”
“I thought as much.”
The Geumajong known to the public was not a figure capable of earning such loyalty from his subordinates.
“Anyway, his fate will likely have nothing to do with your decision now. So there is no need to feel guilty. I will pay you triple what you are currently receiving.”
“I am only working for him for as much as I was paid anyway. I feel no guilt.”
The problem was this: how this new opponent would treat him. Because this opponent was not a merchant from a rival firm offering more money.
“Will you feed me poison?”
“That will not happen.”
“If I expose your identities? How can you trust me?”
“I don’t trust you.”
Geommugeuk’s gaze turned toward the carriage wall.
“I trust that.”
Ichu’s gaze also turned toward the evil ghost on the carriage wall.
Geommugeuk did not threaten him at all. He did not utter a single common threat about imprisoning and torturing him for life if he betrayed them, or killing him brutally, or killing his family.
That was why it was even more terrifying.
“What must I do?”
* * *
“I intend to intervene in the succession struggle of the Geumryong Family.”
From the running carriage, Geommugeuk’s words were thrown out like a declaration of war, and Geomujin answered.
“Isn’t that your specialty?”
“After all, instigating others’ fights is the most enjoyable thing, is it not?”
Of course, that was not the reason he was intervening.
“If a succession struggle breaks out, everyone’s attention will be on that fight rather than on us. We must use that struggle to find and deal with the ones behind this, then escape. Please leave it to me.”
Geomujin nodded silently, as if telling him to do as he pleased.
Then Hwi spoke from the driver’s seat.
“The horses are tired; we will rest.”
The running carriage slowly came to a stop.
The carriage of Geumarin, which had been running ahead, was waiting where the carriage stopped.
After releasing the horses into the field, Hwi prepared the meal.
“I will prepare this meal.”
“I will help.”
Imhyeok rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward, but Hwi refused.
“Just rest. Take charge of the meal during the next rest.”
“Understood.”
Was it because he recognized him as a fellow bodyguard? Imhyeok was most conscious of Hwi among the three. He felt a strange sense of kinship, and also felt as though he had met a great senior in the bodyguard profession.
Then Geumarin spoke to Geommugeuk.
“Let us talk.”
“Let us.”
Geommugeuk and Geumarin slowly moved their feet.
Imhyeok tried to follow, but Geommugeuk spoke to him.
“When you are with me, you may simply rest.”
“I have never once left the young lady alone.”
Looking at his eyes full of loyalty, Geommugeuk said,
“This time, try it once. If there is ever a time you must do so, today would be the opportune moment.”
Geumarin simply watched as Geommugeuk did this. She thought that when this man acted like this, there must certainly be a reason.
“Are you perhaps going to have a conversation I should not hear?”
Geommugeuk shook his head.
“No. I purely mean for you to rest. I know you won’t rest well because you’ll be worried, but still, I am telling you to rest.”
Geommugeuk’s gaze turned to Hwi standing beside him. These words were also for Hwi—to rest a bit on this journey. These loyal bodyguards were proficient in all matters, but truly, they had never learned how to rest.
Geumarin, who was beside him, nodded with an expression telling Imhyeok to do so.
Imhyeok no longer refused.
“Understood. Please go and return.”
Thus, Geommugeuk and Geumarin left that place.
Perhaps because he felt uneasy seeing them off, Imhyeok stared at their retreating figures for a long time.
Imhyeok circled around Hwi, unable to leave his side.
“Do you have something to say?”
“No.”
In the end, the hesitating Imhyeok brought up what he had been holding back.
“I do. May I ask just one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
He wasn’t sure if they were close enough for such a question.
“It is about your niece. Did you think that my always guarding the young lady’s side is rather hindering her growth as a martial artist? I ask because I wondered if that is why you told me to rest.”
He had used Geommugeuk as an excuse, but this was his own worry. He had truly cherished Geumarin like a daughter, so he had always tried to protect her. But could that be ruining her? He had agonized over this.
He wanted to ask Hwi about this matter. Because he felt Hwi would give him an answer.
“I do not know your niece’s thoughts. Perhaps it could be so, or it could simply be words meant to let you rest.”
Having spoken as if to brush it off as unknown, Hwi raised his head and looked at Imhyeok.
“Whatever it is, what does it have to do with us?”
“Pardon?”
“Isn’t growth as a martial artist a separate matter from us? Those who will grow well will do so regardless of whether they have bodyguards or not. Isn’t it overstepping our duties for us, mere bodyguards, to worry that far?”
It was a simple answer telling him not to become too emotionally invested in his charge, but he felt his pent-up heart loosening.
How could he not have thought that himself?
But even after worrying a hundred times, he couldn’t reach an answer.
Yet when someone else said it, he felt refreshed. And since it was someone who felt like a great senior in the bodyguard profession, he thought he could simply follow these words.
“Yes, you are right. It is not a matter for me to involve myself in. Thank you truly for your teaching.”
Today Hwi had spoken more than usual. Just as Hwi felt special to Imhyeok, Hwi also felt it was a special connection. Because he had met a junior from the martial world who worried about his bodyguard duties. That was why he said this much.
“Your niece’s words are likely correct. That it will be fine when she is with you. So think of it as your last vacation and enjoy it.”
Imhyeok felt a strange feeling.
With these people, it was difficult to refuse. Geommugeuk, this bodyguard, and that man standing with his back turned up ahead.
They all felt like people he could not handle.
Imhyeok’s gaze turned in the direction Geumarin had disappeared.
‘So the young lady must choose well.’
Geommugeuk and Geumarin stood side by side on the hill.
The scenery viewed from the hill was beautiful.
The reeds rippled like living things, and beyond them, the river water sparkled in the sunlight, flowing with elegant grace.
“I have something to say to you.”
Geumarin had worried about one matter the entire ride in the carriage. And she had reached a conclusion. She was trying to convey that conclusion to Geommugeuk.
“The reason I made a contract with you is not because you made a deal with the Eunha Merchant Guild and tried to kill me.”
“Then what is it?”
“I wanted help in the succession struggle.”
She spoke honestly. This decision was also instinct. Choosing Geommugeuk was instinct, and being honest was instinct. If this instinct was wrong, she would be ruined.
“Make me the successor of the Geumryong Family.”
Geommugeuk was not very surprised.
“You knew.”
“I had roughly guessed.”
Geumarin thought she had spoken well. Even if she perished, the sense of stability this man gave her felt truly good. That must be why she could ask such a question.
“Can you make me the successor?”
“That depends on you.”
Geommugeuk’s gaze toward her was serious.
“How far can you trust me?”
* * *
Geumajong was also returning to the family.
He was traveling even faster than Geommugeuk and Geumarin’s carriage. He had returned to the family first and sent Ichu to investigate Geommugeuk.
And Ichu returned, having been awaited.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes, I did.”
Ichu spoke in a lowered voice.
“The young master’s prediction was correct. I was fortunate enough to overhear their conversation; I heard them say they would pull off another big score at the family.”
“Right? I told you they were con artists! Those damned con artist bastards!”
Geumajong was overjoyed that his prediction was correct.
“Evidence?”
“I haven’t found any yet.”
Geumajong’s expression darkened. Without clear evidence, it was useless. Even if Ichu had heard them, they would insist it was a frame-up since he was Geumajong’s subordinate.
“We must find evidence. Only then can we get rid of Arin.”
Then Ichu spoke cautiously.
“May I share my thoughts?”
“Speak.”
“Use them to entangle not the Third Young Lady, but the Great Young Master.”
It was an unexpected remark.
“My brother?”
“Isn’t the Great Young Master the young master’s true competitor?”
It was a valid point. He had worried that his father might make his younger sibling the successor, but that was close to paranoia. The likely successor right now was his older brother. Perhaps he was tormenting his younger sibling as an escape from reality, lacking the courage to confront his older brother.
“It’s a good idea, but how?”
“They are con artists, are they not? Throw the Great Young Master to them as bait.”
Geumajong’s eyes widened. It was a striking statement. If he could connect these guys to his brother? He could thoroughly shatter their father’s and the family martial artists’ trust.
“Will my brother fall for it easily?”
“We have to make him fall for it.”
“How?”
“I do not know beyond that.”
He had been told to only speak up to this point, because speaking too perfectly would instead arouse suspicion. And that the rest would be handled on its own. Since Geumajong was someone with considerable skill in scheming, he would figure it out well.
As expected by Geommugeuk, Geumajong began to rack his brains.
“Pull my brother into those con artist bastards’ trap?”
His eyes gleamed cunningly as he sought a method.
For the scions of upper-class families, money scandals were indeed a fatal thing. Since his younger sibling had caused a two million nyang scandal…
“What size scandal should I make my brother cause?”
Absolute Regression, Episode 471