That afternoon, the full-scale work of dismantling the mechanisms began.
The officials gathered in front of the iron wall. The labor here was well divided, and those gathered now were mainly tasked with probing the mechanisms.
Hongin was in command of this operation.
"The mechanisms here are expected to be even more sensitive than before, so from now on, the use of internal energy is forbidden except in special circumstances. As you all know, if you touch even one thing wrong, everyone dies!"
Hongin tried hard to keep the officials from relaxing. A mistake meant death.
"Begin work!"
The officials began working while tense. Starting from the ground before the iron wall, they began probing the earth with thin, long, awl-like tools. Their hand movements were extremely careful.
Geomugeuk stood a short distance away, watching their work. Hongin didn't give Geomugeuk any orders. Because he knew the Sword King was treating him specially.
Even if that weren't the case, he couldn't entrust such important work to someone participating for the first time.
How much time passed like that? One official found something.
"I think it's here."
Then other officials brought chisels and hammers and carefully began digging there. More than half of it was stone floor, and they had to dig without using internal energy, so the work proceeded slowly.
Geomugeuk watched the work in silence. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to remove even the gate at the entrance after ten days.
Geomugeuk glanced at the Sword King. As if telling him to handle it on his own, he said nothing.
"I'll help as well."
When Geomugeuk stepped forward, Hongin looked at the Sword King. The Sword King gave a slight nod. Meaning to put him to work.
Hongin was displeased with this situation. To entrust such dangerous work to Geomugeuk, who had just arrived! Even if he was an expert, this work required experience.
Because he found Geomugeuk unreliable, he told him several times to be really careful.
"Don't worry!"
Because it seemed like he would start swinging the hammer wildly at any moment, Hongin inwardly prayed, Please! Don't cause an accident!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Geomugeuk's hand movements were fast and skilled.
At that sight, not only Hongin but the other officials as well were startled.
"Stop!"
"It's fine!"
Geomugeuk's hand movements grew even faster.
Hongin urgently looked at the Sword King, asking for help.
But the Sword King merely watched in silence.
Once Geomugeuk stepped in, the work speed became incomparably faster. At a glance, it looked like he was digging roughly, but how could Geomugeuk's hand movements be so crude?
Geomugeuk was channeling qi through the tip of the chisel to check what was beneath the ground while digging. Detecting something underground with qi was several times more difficult than emitting qi into the air. Yet he was accomplishing such a task casually and skillfully.
How deep had he dug?
Finally, part of the mechanism revealed itself there.
Hongin called another official who had been waiting in the back.
"The mechanism has revealed itself."
Then one official came this way.
Geomugeuk could sense it.
'This guy isn't an official of Hwangryong Martial Hall.'
He was concealing a special qi, not that of ordinary officials. He might have been able to avoid the eyes of others, but he couldn't avoid Geomugeuk's eyes.
Indeed, while other tasks might not require one, dismantling mechanisms would demand a proper mechanism expert. Since Hwangryong Martial Hall was frequented by so many people, ordinary officials wouldn't even know if this man was the Sword King's direct subordinate.
After examining the exposed mechanism, the man reported to the Sword King.
"It's a mechanism designed to prevent forcibly breaking the wall or digging through the ground to enter."
Then he spoke to Hongin.
"Please expose it as much as possible. Our team will handle the rest."
"Understood."
Without realizing it, Hongin looked at Geomugeuk. As if he had been waiting, Geomugeuk went to the official working across from him.
"I'll take this side. Please finish up my side."
After swapping with him, he quickly began digging out that side.
The gazes of the officials, who had been watching with concern at first, changed. The amount of work Geomugeuk had already done was what should have taken several days.
The mechanism on the other side was revealed as well. He wasn't just digging randomly. The mechanism here was installed at a different height than the place he'd worked on earlier, yet he had dug it out precisely without a single scratch.
Hongin couldn't hide his surprise.
"Not bad?"
He should have said, "That's incredible," but somehow praising this newbie felt like it would excite him and make him put excessive force into his hammering.
"I've always had sensitive hands. I'll do that side too."
Geomugeuk began skillfully hammering around all sides of the revealed mechanism.
Geomugeuk focused on the work. He didn't think about what might be beyond that wall, what the officials would do, or what the Sword King was feeling. He devoted himself to hammering as if in a trance.
The Sword King merely watched silently as Geomugeuk displayed a concentration that was almost frightening.
The officials' gazes, which had initially been filled with worry, changed to admiration before anyone knew it. Geomugeuk now looked like an artist carving a sculpture.
Just as the earth around all sides was carved away and the hidden mechanisms had considerably revealed themselves.
"We stop here for today. It's mealtime."
At Hongin's voice from behind, Geomugeuk set down his hammer.
"Has it already gotten so late?"
The officials gathered around Geomugeuk.
Because they were engaged in life-or-death work, the person they liked most was neither someone with a good personality nor someone who was kind to them.
Their favorite person was someone who worked well. Because they were doing work where one person's mistake could kill many. Because if the work went well, they could escape this hellish place even a day sooner.
In that regard, who knew how much Geomugeuk had shortened the working hours today. Moreover, he had a good personality.
"I'm starving to death! Give me meat, meat! If you don't give me meat, I'm not working from tomorrow!"
Geomugeuk sat around eating with the officials. Meat really came out.
Several came to his side and introduced themselves. Since they were from martial hall backgrounds, they were not fundamentally evil people.
This was always the first thing they were curious about.
"Why did you come here?"
You look strong, and you're skillful with your hands. No matter how I look at it, you're not someone who should be in a place like this.
At someone's question, Geomugeuk's gaze turned to the Sword King, who was sitting across from them eating.
"I came because I heard I could get stronger here."
The officials nodded. They didn't deny it. Many of those who had endured until now had become experts capable of emitting sword qi.
"I heard you're a one-man army?"
"Does human greed have an end? I want to become one against a thousand, one against ten thousand. Senior, what brought you down here?"
As Geomugeuk naturally mingled with them, his first day's work down underground came to an end like that.
* * *
That night, something unexpected happened as well.
The Sword King brought several large bundles and distributed them to the officials.
"Everyone, take one."
When what had been tightly compressed by internal energy was unleashed, it billowed open like a blooming flower—surprisingly, it was a cotton blanket.
No matter how tightly the blankets had been compressed, he must have gone up and down many times to carry so many of them.
Geomugeuk cheered with delight.
"New blankets!"
He immediately took a cotton blanket, laid it on his sleeping mat, and threw himself onto it.
"Uwa! It's so fluffy!"
Because this behavior from the Sword King was so unexpected, the officials looked at him with surprised faces.
"A difficult task has begun, so I prepared these so you can sleep comfortably. Take them."
Only then did the officials relax and take the blankets. Who would dislike being given new blankets? Everyone was happy.
Of course, the newbie's voice was the loudest.
"The smell of new blankets is so good!"
* * *
At dawn, when everyone was asleep, Geomugeuk met the Sword King at the place where they had worked during the day.
The Sword King was sitting astride the exposed mechanism without a care, staring blankly at the wall. Even without turning around, he knew Geomugeuk had come.
"You weren't going to sleep anyway, so why the fuss about blankets? It wasn't because of you, was it?"
"The work is hard, so you should at least sleep properly."
The Sword King asked without turning his head.
"Tell me the real reason."
He was convinced that Geomugeuk had another reason. He had brought the blankets to hear that reason as well.
"You might be offended if you hear it."
"It's fine. I've lived hearing plenty of curses."
"You, Master? Who would dare curse at you?"
"Aren't you preparing to curse me right now? So speak comfortably."
Geomugeuk revealed the reason.
"Because everyone looked so exhausted."
The Sword King turned his head to look at Geomugeuk. At his gaze asking if that was offensive, Geomugeuk spoke calmly.
"If I were their parent, I would have cursed you out, Master."
As if he understood even those words, the Sword King showed no agitation.
But a needle-like remark was added.
"But you only selected officials without family from this place."
"!"
Like carving stone with a chisel, Geomugeuk's hammering began.
"They call you the chief here, don't they?"
The Sword King's expression hardened slightly as he turned his gaze back to the wall.
Certainly, the word "chief" held a feeling closer to family, beyond merely signifying a superior. That's likely how it had sounded to him.
To someone without family, being called "chief"—aren't you now doing something that would earn you curses from their parents?
"Didn't I say you might feel bad?"
"I don't feel bad. They all chose this themselves. And it's work that earns big money."
"That would make them feel even worse. Because their child was lured here for nothing but money."
The Sword King whirled his head to look at Geomugeuk again.
"Of course, the one who planned and executed that must have been the Hwangryong Hall Master."
Geomugeuk pretended to offer a carrot, then cracked the whip.
"But you knew, didn't you? What kind of officials he had gathered."
He was the same person who had told Yeonbaegin that villains walk their path while being cursed. Yet now, he didn't display that shamelessness.
"You can't strike there in anger. It'll explode."
The Sword King, who had been sitting still, suddenly threw the shoes he had tied at his waist at Geomugeuk.
"At your young age, what do you know about playing the parent!"
Geomugeuk caught the flying shoes in succession.
"Am I not from an exceptional father-son relationship? I know a thing or two about a parent's heart."
Geomugeuk understood. The Sword King hadn't said he was sorry, but by throwing the shoes while losing his composure, he had apologized.
Geomugeuk took the shoes and placed them beside the mechanism where he had been sitting.
"Still, thank you for the blankets."
The Sword King looked down at the shoes placed side by side and answered.
"I didn't bring them because of you. You said you heard a voice from beyond that wall? Asking for blankets."
At his joke, Geomugeuk smiled, walked to the wall, and pressed his ear against it again.
"I hear it again."
"What is it saying this time?"
Geomugeuk closed his eyes tightly.
A moment later, unexpected words flowed from Geomugeuk's mouth.
"The officials say they want to see the stars."
In an instant, the trace of a smile vanished from the Sword King's face.
"Nonsense!"
"Why is it nonsense?"
Geomugeuk pulled his ear from the wall and turned to the Sword King.
"Are you worried they'll run away if they go out? Or worried their hearts will waver?"
After a brief pause, Geomugeuk added.
"So what? Those were your words, Master. When I asked what if the officials spread rumors about this place, you said, 'So what.'"
The Sword King said nothing.
"So what if some run away? So what? They're people you'll release after seeing what's inside anyway. Surely you don't intend not to release them?"
"Why do you go so far to show kindness to the officials? It's not something they want or will appreciate."
The Sword King picked up the shoes beside him. It was a sign that if the answer didn't satisfy him, he would throw them again. This time, it would be anger, not an apology.
Geomugeuk answered calmly.
"Because for some of them, it may be the last sky they see while alive."
The shoe did not fly from the Sword King’s hand. Nor did he put it down.
“And this matter is not a favor bestowed upon them. It is a favor bestowed upon Master.”
To the Sword King, who wore an expression asking what he meant, Geom Mugeuk spoke.
“I am giving you a chance. To do what you must do, even now.”
One shoe flew back toward Geom Mugeuk.
“You, I said you were too sentimental, didn’t I?”
Holding the remaining shoe, the Sword King asked.
“So? What do you gain if I become a better person?”
Geom Mugeuk answered with a smile.
“You told me before. That even in victory, defeating an Eighth Star is more glorious than defeating a Seventh Star, and even in defeat, losing to an Eighth Star is less shameful than losing to a Seventh Star. It is the same for me. I too wish to fight someone who is even a little bit better.”
In the end, the Sword King could not throw the remaining shoe he held. It had been only a day since Geom Mugeuk came down; to think he would make such a joke.
“Hey! Can’t you just go back up?”
* * *
Gwonma opened his eyes wide and asked again.
“He bought what and took it in?”
The one who answered his question was Ian.
“They say it was blankets.”
Ilhwa Sword Sovereign, who had been listening to the report together, confirmed once more.
“Blankets? You mean the blankets we know of?”
“Yes, the blankets you cover yourself with.”
The expert said to have made even Geom Mugeuk nervous—bought blankets?
At present, the supreme warriors of Tongcheon Pavilion and Eunwol were intensively monitoring Hwangryong Martial Hall.
They had been keeping thorough watch on the entrance to the underground Bimudae in particular, and it was reported that the Sword King, emerging from there, had bought blankets in bulk at the marketplace.
It was said that he had made no particular effort to hide his tracks.
The strange reports did not end there.
“And last night, dozens of people are said to have come out of there.”
“Dozens? And then?”
Had they moved somewhere? Had they embarked on some kind of mission? Or if not?
But the answer that came from Ian was incomprehensible.
“They gathered at the Bimudae and then went back down, apparently.”
In fact, Ian, who was making the report, also could not understand it. So he had asked the warrior from Tongcheon Pavilion several times. Was that really correct?
“They just went back down?”
“Yes, they stood there looking at the night sky and then went back down, apparently.”
Gwonma looked at Ilhwa Sword Sovereign, but she was no different in her incomprehension. This was truly a report as bizarre as the matter of buying blankets.
“Was the Young Sect Leader among them as well?”
“Yes, it is said that the Young Sect Leader and his master were together with them.”
At the mention that Geom Mugeuk had been with them, Ilhwa Sword Sovereign smiled and spoke. She could not imagine what on earth was happening, but one thing was certain.
“Did I not tell you so from the beginning? Even without knowing who the enemy is, it will not be easy to remain with the Young Sect Leader for even ten days.”