Geom Mugeuk could tell that the Sado Alliance Leader was serious.
He wanted to fly up to that stage this instant and kill Cha Iran.
She was striding across the stage, drawing the eyes of the assembled heroes. A person who ought to have lived the most secretive of lives was smiling brightly at the world.
All for the sake of killing this Sado Alliance Leader, for the sake of becoming the greatest beauty under heaven.
An astonishing sentence slipped from Geom Mugeuk’s lips.
“Kill her.”
“!”
When Geom Mugeuk told him to kill her, Baek Jagang’s eyes widened slightly. It was an unexpected answer.
“Kill her?”
“Yes. Kill her.”
Baek Jagang could tell as well. Those words were not a lie. The hairs beside his ears did not stand on end.
Baek Jagang’s gaze turned toward Cha Iran on the stage. She stood at the center, smiling radiantly toward the judges’ seats. Soon, she would be coming down from the stage.
The intense killing intent he could feel beside him was drawn taut, ready to shoot toward the stage at any moment.
How many moves could an assassin exposed to the world endure against the Sado Alliance Leader?
Baek Jagang would step on her corpse and say this.
I am the Sado Alliance Leader. Congratulations on holding the Greatest Beauty Under Heaven Competition.
At the Sado Alliance Leader’s surprise appearance, all the unorthodox martial artists would go wild. They would cheer without asking why he had killed her. Because he was a man who held the absolute faith and support of the unorthodox factions.
Sssut.
The pinpoints in his eyes where the killing intent had gathered widened, and that fierce killing intent vanished.
In a calm voice, Baek Jagang revealed why he had given up.
“If she were a woman who had to be killed, you would have killed her before I arrived.”
At that deep trust in him, Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly.
Now it was Geom Mugeuk’s turn to answer that trust.
“Yes. There was a reason I did not kill her.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward the stage. Cha Iran was descending from it amid cheers.
“Would they truly have entrusted such an enormous task to her alone? There is probably someone else behind her.”
Baek Jagang nodded. He understood that Geom Mugeuk intended to draw out whoever was behind her and dispose of them together. There might be another someone somewhere among these gathered heroes.
“There is an even greater reason than that. Why did they target you, Alliance Leader? Even if the surprise attack succeeded, Sain would be in a position to inherit the Alliance Leader’s seat.”
In truth, that was also why Baek Jagang had not killed her. He wanted to find out the reason even if he killed her.
“It would not be so bad to die at the hands of the greatest beauty under heaven.”
It was a joke that carried the meaning that he would wait instead of killing her first.
As Baek Jagang was about to leave, he asked one final question.
“What were you planning to do if I had truly killed that woman?”
Geom Mugeuk thought for a moment, then spoke calmly.
“If you killed her, then I would have found another way accordingly.”
Looking at Baek Jagang, he added,
“What would there be to worry about when you are here, Alliance Leader?”
Even at those words, the hairs beside his ears did not stand on end. Baek Jagang could tell that Geom Mugeuk truly believed in him. He was a man who spoke so much, and yet the times he made the hairs by Baek Jagang’s ears rise could be counted on one hand.
Baek Jagang pulled his bamboo hat low and vanished among the people.
No incident occurred until the main stage ended.
After the competition ended, the eight beauties who would advance to the finals to be held three days later were announced.
Along with seven beauties, including Cha Iran.
Ian advanced to the finals.
There was no upset.
* * *
With his face swollen like a drum, An Hupyeong sat near the front of the stage.
Even in this state, he had come out to watch the competition. He had to make a show of telling Ian he had seen it, and he was also curious to see what other pretty beauties there were.
He paid no attention whatsoever to the gazes around him.
I am the young master of Shinhwa Gang. Whatever state I’m in, I’m better than you, aren’t I? Can you look down on me? You can’t, can you? He had lived with that mindset.
Of course, right now his mood was at its worst.
Earlier, he had been too shocked and flustered to think straight, but as time passed, it hurt terribly and felt unbearably unfair.
He thought that if he looked at beauties, his mood might improve, but hearing the heated excitement and cheers only made him sink lower.
Yes, when one felt miserable, one should not look at happy things, but at things more miserable than oneself.
Just then, someone held something out to him. When he turned his head, Sachu was offering him ice wrapped in cloth.
“Press this to your face.”
“Forget it!”
He reacted irritably, but Sachu kept holding out the pouch.
“I said forget it! Are you mocking me?”
An Hupyeong threw the pouch to the floor.
Because he had shouted, his face hurt.
“Damn it, that hurts.”
Sachu looked at An Hupyeong without a word.
He thought it served him right, and yet seeing him in such a state still did not feel good.
“How much of my money is at the money house?”
“About twelve hundred nyang.”
“That’s all?”
Considering how extravagantly he usually spent, it was fortunate even that much remained.
“What kind of gift can I buy with that?”
“What gift do you mean?”
“What do you think? I’m buying something for the Young Alliance Leader. I have to put him in a better mood, don’t I?”
He had to do something. He had cursed at the Young Alliance Leader and tried to hit him, so it was safe to say he had been marked properly.
“It will be difficult to buy something the Young Alliance Leader would like with that money.”
“Damn it!”
Just then, cheers erupted.
When he raised his head and looked at the stage, Cha Iran was stepping onto it.
“That woman?”
She was the woman who had been talking with Ian’s guard. Strangely, she had been someone he found difficult to say even a single word to.
The moment he saw her overwhelming beauty, a thought flashed through An Hupyeong’s mind.
“Yes, that’s it! I have to find that guy!”
An Hupyeong sprang to his feet and ran into the crowd of heroes.
Wondering what else he was going to cause, Sachu sighed and followed after him.
* * *
After wandering and wandering, the person An Hupyeong finally found was none other than Geom Mugeuk.
“What happened to your face for it to end up like that?”
Of course, Geom Mugeuk could guess the reason. If only he had come to his senses after being beaten.
“That’s none of your business! That person who spoke to you earlier.”
“You mean the frightening-looking man?”
“Did he really ask whether many beauties had come?”
“Yes. He said it had been hard to run here before it was too late.”
An Hupyeong’s eyes gleamed.
“You said you were drinking tonight, didn’t you? Where are you going with the young ladies?”
“I haven’t decided yet. If we go, I was thinking of renting a room at a nearby tavern.”
“Come to Hwamyeonggwan! I’ll rent out the whole place.”
Hwamyeonggwan was the largest and most expensive tavern in the marketplace.
An Hupyeong had decided to make up for this mistake by introducing Cha Iran to Bi Sain.
Yes, if he was fond of women, this arrangement would surely work.
When Geom Mugeuk looked troubled, An Hupyeong frowned.
“An important guest will be coming as well.”
“Who do you mean?”
Since he was a guard after all, if An Hupyeong did not tell him who it was, he would never bring Ian and Cha Iran.
An Hupyeong held up two fingers.
“The person ranked second among the rising talents of the later generation in the murim.”
“Who is that?”
“The Young Alliance Leader of the Sado Alliance.”
It was also a chance to show Ian just how remarkable a person he associated with. He would make a good impression on the Young Alliance Leader and on Ian as well.
He was worried that Bi Sain might take a liking to Ian.
Well, if that happened, there was nothing he could do. At that point, he would switch to Cha Iran. Right now, making a good impression on the Young Alliance Leader was more important.
“All you have to do is bring them. I’ll let you eat your fill of expensive liquor and dishes you’ve never tasted in your life.”
An Hupyeong threatened in a low voice.
“If you don’t come, I’ll really tear that mouth of yours open!”
At the words “tear your mouth open,” Sachu, who was behind An Hupyeong, flinched.
His eyes met Geom Mugeuk’s.
Sachu covered his own mouth with his palm. It was a sign that he had absolutely said nothing.
As An Hupyeong turned away, Geom Mugeuk asked him,
“Then who is ranked first among the later-generation talents?”
As if asking how he could not know that, An Hupyeong strode away and answered,
“You, a demonic martial artist, should know better than anyone.”
* * *
A place was prepared in the center of Hwamyeonggwan.
All manner of delicacies from mountain and sea were laid out, and fine liquor was prepared.
“If you make a mistake, know that you’ll all die today!”
At An Hupyeong’s shout, the cooks and servers working at Hwamyeonggwan grew tense.
Then An Hupyeong caught sight of Sachu standing there blankly.
An Hupyeong grabbed Sachu’s shoulders from behind and shook him.
“What is it now? What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing.”
“Are you scared because the Young Alliance Leader is coming? You just need to stand there quietly.”
In truth, Sachu’s heart was trembling not because of the Young Alliance Leader, but because he was going to meet the Sado Thirteen Wolves up close. Why had there been so many shocking things happening lately?
Just then, Bi Sain entered.
An Hupyeong ran over and greeted him.
“You’ve arrived?”
The Sado Thirteen Wolves entered behind Bi Sain. They scattered and took up positions around the room. They were places from which they could respond immediately if anything happened to Bi Sain.
After greeting Bi Sain politely, Sachu once again cupped his fist to the Sado Thirteen Wolves in greeting. Once in each direction. Since people did not usually go so far in offering greetings, the First Wolf looked at him closely.
“Have the guests who are coming not arrived yet?”
At Bi Sain’s question after he took his seat, An Hupyeong quickly answered,
“They should be on their way now.”
An Hupyeong looked at Sachu and was about to signal with his eyes for him to go and check.
But Sachu was looking at the Sado Thirteen Wolves and not at him.
“Good grief, that one’s lost his head again, isn’t he?”
Sachu was feeling both emotion and sorrow.
They were people he had truly liked and admired since he was young.
The five characters of “Sado Thirteen Wolves” had remained five characters to him as well.
An unfulfilled dream.
If I had tried harder back then, could I be standing there too?
Then Geom Mugeuk stepped inside.
An Hupyeong, who had been delighted, flinched in surprise. Only Geom Mugeuk and Ian had come.
An Hupyeong ran over to Geom Mugeuk and asked,
“Where is Lady Cha?”
“We agreed to meet here.”
“You told her she must come, didn’t you?”
“She will come.”
It was something he could have said after exchanging greetings first. But his desire to introduce Cha Iran to Bi Sain came first.
The next thing that came first was this introduction.
“This person here is the Young Alliance Leader of the Sado Alliance.”
An Hupyeong puffed out his chest. Lady Ian, I am a man who associates with the Young Alliance Leader of the Sado Alliance.
“This is Lady Ian, who advanced to the finals this time.”
This time, he looked at Bi Sain and put strength into his voice. I am a man who mingles with beauties like this!
“Now, please sit.”
Everyone sat down, and Geom Mugeuk promptly took a seat as well.
“Do you know what kind of gathering this is? How dare a mere guard butt in?”
As if aggrieved, Geom Mugeuk said,
“You said you would feed me liquor and dishes I’d never tasted in my life. You said the person ranked second among the later-generation talents was coming.”
“Has this bastard gone mad?”
Bi Sain asked in a low voice,
“Who is ranked first?”
An Hupyeong panicked and waved his hands.
“This fellow is spouting nonsense!”
Watching that commotion, Sachu frowned. More than any other mistake, only those words reached his ears.
The Sado Thirteen Wolves were standing proudly right there, and yet he had so thoughtlessly said, “a mere guard.”
As if apologizing on his behalf, Sachu bowed his head slightly toward the First Wolf, who stood a little distance away from him.
Then the First Wolf’s voice transmission flew to Sachu.
—Are your younger siblings well?
Sachu stared at the First Wolf in shock. What did that mean?
In that instant, Sachu’s eyes flew wide open in astonishment. In a trembling voice, he sent a voice transmission.
—You remember me.
That day from long ago came to mind.
The days when he had been so young and green, camping out at the entrance of the Sado Alliance just to catch even a glimpse of the Sado Thirteen Wolves.
And on the day he finally met them, Sachu had mustered the greatest courage of his entire life.
He had blocked the path of the Sado Thirteen Wolves. And then he had asked what no one around him had been able to tell him.
“How can I become one of the Sado Thirteen Wolves?”
The one who had stepped forward then and listened to him was this very First Wolf.
“I heard that the greatest martial artists of the Sado Alliance are the Sado Thirteen Wolves. I want to become the greatest martial artist and feed my younger siblings until they are full.”
They had left without saying a word, but astonishingly, the First Wolf remembered him from that day.
—How do you remember me?
—Because you are the only person who ever blocked our path and survived.
Sachu was truly grateful and moved that he remembered him.
But precisely because of that, he could no longer meet the First Wolf’s eyes and lowered his head.
He had once dreamed such a grand dream.
Because now he was reduced to living his life following that scoundrel An Hupyeong around, cleaning up after his messes.
Just then, Ilrang slowly walked over as if keeping watch over their surroundings, and as she passed Sachu, who had his head hanging low, she gave his shoulder a light pat.
It was a gesture more heartening than any words in the world.
Sachu made up his mind.
This garment, the one Ilrang had patted on the shoulder—he would never wash it, but preserve it carefully for the rest of his life.
It was at that very moment.
Grab.
From behind, An Hupyeong seized his shoulder and said,
“Go to the kitchen and see to it yourself. Make sure there are no mistakes.”
Of all places, he had grabbed the very spot Ilrang had touched.
“Why grab me when you could just say it!”
Sachu shouted in a burst of anger. An Hupyeong stared at him in surprise. Everyone’s eyes turned to him.
“Why on earth are you doing this!”
It was the first time Sachu had ever shouted at An Hupyeong. And it was also a cry directed at himself.
His bewilderment lasted only a moment before An Hupyeong asked coldly,
“What’s gotten into you?”
At that moment, over An Hupyeong’s shoulder, Sachu caught sight of Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk raised his hand and made a gesture of covering his mouth, exactly as Sachu had done to him earlier.
Sachu understood. It meant that he should say nothing now.
Until now, everyone had always told him to be quiet.
Shh! They had said they would tear his mouth open if he did not keep quiet.
But the way that mouth was being covered now was different. This was an action being done for his sake.
Just let it pass quietly. Now was not the time. He could feel that intent.
“I’m sorry. I think I must have lost my mind.”
Sachu bowed his head and ran to the kitchen.
Now was not the time to press him, so An Hupyeong turned back to everyone and said,
“This is how difficult it is to manage subordinates these days. You all understand, don’t you?”
Then he laughed aloud.
But no one laughed along with him. In fact, no one was even looking at him.
The Thirteen Sado Wolves each had their gazes fixed straight ahead, while Ian and Bisain were talking about something between themselves.
And Geom Mugeuk was watching Sachu as he walked toward the kitchen.
‘Where is everyone looking?’
In that brief moment, he felt as though he had been cast aside all alone. He had not felt like this even when his father had beaten him.
Just then, someone behind him said,
“Please move aside.”
When An Hupyeong turned around, Cha Iran was standing there. At last, the woman who would save him had appeared.
“Oh! Lady Cha has finally arrived.”
When he greeted her warmly, Cha Iran tilted her head.
“And who might you be?”
“I am An Hupyeong, the young leader of Sinhwabang.”
Instead of introducing herself, Cha Iran smiled sweetly.
“Your esteemed face is quite swollen.”
Cha Iran walked past him.
Bisain and Ian were there as well, but her gaze was fixed only on Geom Mugeuk.
“There are quite a lot of guests, aren’t there? I told you we should meet cozily, just the two of us.”
Just as she reached the place where everyone was seated.
Hum.
The secret coffer inside Geom Mugeuk’s robe reacted faintly.
Cha Iran smiled bewitchingly and said,
“Who knows? Something good might happen when it’s just the two of us.”