After leaving the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s quarters, I went to find Ian.
She was still wholly devoted to her training, and her Flying Heaven Sword Art had advanced by leaps and bounds.
“Ian.”
“Yes.”
“After you receive the Divine Poison Purification Art later, you may leave whenever you wish.”
“What? Why are you suddenly saying that?”
When I left the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s residence thinking that shackles did not suit the shackled man, Ian suddenly came to mind.
Perhaps there were shackles fastened around her ankles as well.
After all, were shackles only the kind visible to the eye?
Even my own resolve to kill Hwa Mugi without fail had invisible shackles bound to it.
Between the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable, too, there was a shackle of hatred difficult to sever.
Then what about Father? Like the shackled man bound before the Yin Thunder Bell, perhaps Father was bound to the throne as well. With the heavy responsibility of protecting the cult resting on his shoulders.
“I’m saying you may choose your own life. You don’t have to be the leader of the Ghost Shadow Unit. Leave the cult and travel the Central Plains. Live as a hidden master in some peaceful village if you wish. I taught you martial arts, but there is no need to repay that grace. You have already done more than enough for me, so choose with an easy heart.”
Ian listened quietly, then smiled and said,
“I suppose I have no choice but to reveal one more tail.”
“What do you mean?”
“Being by your side makes me happier, and I’m living a better life. Traveling is fine for a day or two, and being a hidden master is fine for a day or two. Every day inside your fence makes me happy. I’m not stupid, Young Master. If I truly hated it, I’d have risked my life and run away in the middle of the night. I really don’t know why you insist on seeing me as so good.”
I looked at her and let out a faint laugh.
“How many hidden tails do you have left?”
“About seven, perhaps?”
“That’s enough. Then keep training.”
I was about to turn away, but needless worry stirred in me, and I added one more thing.
“Still, make sure you keep at least one tail hidden.”
Having lived my life, I learned that was as important as a secret ultimate technique.
I left while watching her expression, which said, I know that much even without you telling me. Yes. As long as she knew.
* * *
The Demon Buddha came to visit the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
He had come with resolve, and even the look in his eyes as he entered was different.
“Did you come after killing someone? A man who follows Buddhist teachings is reeking with killing intent.”
“The Buddha I serve occasionally breaks the precept against killing.”
“First a lecherous Buddha, then a murderous Buddha. Truly, yours is a busy deity.”
The Demon Buddha did not sit down, but stood in place and stared at the Pungcheon Cult Leader. He was nearly at eye level with the Pungcheon Cult Leader, who sat with his back ramrod straight. For someone as sensitive about his height as he was, matching eye level in such a way was a clear sign that he was extremely angry.
“See here, Pungcheon Cult Leader!”
“What is it?”
“How long have we known each other?”
“I don’t quite remember.”
“Exactly. It is a relationship so long that we can’t even remember it properly, and yet you can do this to me?”
“Sit down. Let us talk seated.”
But he did not sit. He glared at the Pungcheon Cult Leader. The golden light radiating from his body grew even more intense.
“I never imagined you would play such an obvious trick!”
“A trick, you say?”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader’s expression hardened, but the Demon Buddha had come determined from the start.
The One Flower Sword Venerable and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had begun moving, persuading the other Demon Venerables. The Demon Venerables’ reactions differed when they met the Demon Buddha and when they met the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. They were all people who had lived their lives in their own way, never minding others’ opinions, so no one could guarantee whose words they would listen to at the final moment.
That was why the Demon Buddha had come to attack the Pungcheon Cult Leader directly.
“You seduced the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable’s young disciple and took her as your own? Just what kind of scheme is this!”
“I did not seduce her. The child came to me on her own two feet.”
“Then you should have sent her back! As the adult, you should have sent her back!”
“Why should I have?”
“Why are you trying to become the master of a disciple of our cult?”
“Because the martial arts practiced by ghost arts practitioners are the demonic arts of the Blood Cult!”
“Then are you now saying you belong to the Blood Cult? Are you serious?”
Everyone knew that the Pungcheon Cult was the successor of the Blood Cult, but that did not mean one could mention or connect it to the Blood Cult. The Blood Cult had a history of waging war against the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult several times. He had been invited only because he was the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
“Are you splitting hairs now?”
“When you staged that self-made play about your sacred relic being stolen, I could understand it in a way. But this matter I cannot tolerate.”
“A self-made play? You come to a friend whose sacred relic was stolen and call it a self-made play? I came here trusting only you, and even had my sacred relic stolen. Instead of taking responsibility, you spout such absurd speculation!”
“Did you think we would believe that? The Demon Venerables are not fools.”
“Looking at you, I would not say you seem all that clever.”
“What did you say?”
“In your life, how many times have you ever been told you were clever? Be honest.”
For a moment, the Demon Buddha’s expression stiffened. He knew very well that he was not a particularly clever man.
Even his habit of snapping at others with harsh words was a means of suppressing the other party’s momentum and steering the conversation to his advantage.
When the Pungcheon Cult Leader struck straight at his inferiority complex, the Demon Buddha chose a forceful approach.
“Listen, my friend. The place you are in now is not beyond the borders.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“This is not a threat. I am telling you the reality. I have long been on friendly terms with you, but the other Demon Venerables think differently. I cannot know how they will act.”
“With that poor imagination of yours, what else could there be? You would put yourself at the front and try to kill me.”
“If only that were the case, we would at least be able to say farewell.”
A taut tension hovered between the two of them.
“Do not look down on the Demon Venerables. They will try to dispose of you in a far more miserable way than that.”
“You tell me not to look down on them, but why do you look down on me so much?”
“I do not look down on you. You simply have a fatal weakness.”
“A weakness?”
“If the Demon Venerables decide to remove you, they will not make the foolish choice of attacking you directly. Instead, they will sow discord between you and the Cult Leader and make him eliminate you. Can you handle that? Our Cult Leader.”
When he threatened him with the Heavenly Demon, the Pungcheon Cult Leader could say nothing. The Heavenly Demon, who disliked the Blood Cult, could certainly be called the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s weakness.
“Pretend to search for the sacred relic for a few days, then leave. Expel the disciple as well. I will speak well to the Demon Venerables.”
“And if I refuse?”
Instead of answering, the Demon Buddha gave a faint laugh and left. Perhaps that made it all the more unpleasant, for the Pungcheon Cult Leader said nothing for a long while.
At last, he opened his mouth.
“I have just made up my mind.”
Looking toward the shackled man before the Yin Thunder Bell, the Pungcheon Cult Leader ground his teeth.
“I will make the Second Young Master the Heavenly Demon without fail.”
* * *
“What brings you here, Second Young Master?”
Today, as always, Chief Strategist Sama Myeong was buried in work.
“I came because I wanted to have some fun with you, Strategist. If you have time, shall we go to Maga Village?”
Sama Myeong was startled by my suggestion.
“To Maga Village?”
“You are the most important person in our cult, but the cult will not collapse if you slack off for a day.”
“The sorrowful secret is that it would not collapse even if I slacked off for a year.”
“Then let us go have fun for just two hours, so that secret does not get out.”
“Very well.”
Without hesitation, Sama Myeong closed his documents and stood up. He must have guessed that I had not come simply to ask him to play.
“If you are absent, the Martial Alliance will invade at once.”
“You say that because you do not know Tongcheon Pavilion. There is a line of clever strategists waiting only for me to step down.”
“They certainly chose a difficult path.”
We laughed as we left his office.
The place I brought him was Pungryu Tavern.
“So it was here after all.”
That meant he knew Pungryu Tavern well. Then again, since he must know everything about me in detail, naturally he would know all about Pungryu Tavern as well.
“Are you disappointed, perhaps? Were you expecting me to take you to the finest pleasure house in Maga Village?”
It was a somewhat excessive joke, but Sama Myeong accepted it with a smile.
“I was hoping I might pretend to lose and follow you there.”
“This is why prejudice is frightening. For our next bout of slacking off, I will make a reservation at once!”
“Hahaha.”
At Pungryu Tavern, I sat across from Sama Myeong in the second-floor seat where I always sat.
I introduced him to Jo Chunbae, who came to take our order.
“This is the Chief Strategist of our cult. Greet him.”
“U-uhheok!”
Jo Chunbae bowed to Sama Myeong with a face as though he might faint. Lately, visits from high-ranking people had left him in a daze. Pavilion Masters, Demon Venerables, and now even the Chief Strategist. In particular, the weight carried by the title of Chief Strategist was different from any other.
“I have always respected you. You are the person I respect most.”
“So the person you respect most is not my father?”
At my teasing, Jo Chunbae jumped in fright.
“Of course not! I respect the Strategist second most.”
“Ah, I thought I was second.”
“No, that is not it. Actually, the Pavilion Master is the one I respect most…”
He played along, pretending to be flustered.
“I was joking. Please bring the liquor first, and I look forward to today’s dishes.”
“Yes!”
After bringing the liquor, Jo Chunbae ran to the kitchen.
I poured Sama Myeong a drink.
“This is the first time I’ve had a drink alone with you, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“I should have invited you sooner, but I was late.”
“Not at all. You have been very busy all this time, have you not?”
“If anyone is busy, it is you, Strategist. I am always slacking off.”
“If you say that, then what are the true slackers supposed to do?”
He was the person who knew best just how diligently I had been running around lately.
We drank while sharing this and that about ordinary matters. Sama Myeong could hold his liquor better than I had expected.
“You drink well.”
“Of course. In my younger days, I could drink like a fish.”
“That is unexpected.”
It was difficult to picture the younger Sama Myeong drinking heavily.
“But what is this about?”
Sama Myeong knew that I had not come to ask him to play. I, too, did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
“There is something I would like to ask you.”
“Please do.”
“What makes a good strategist?”
As if the question was unexpected, Sama Myeong widened his eyes and looked at me. Soon, his gaze turned toward his cup.
“When I was young, I asked myself that question often, but I have forgotten it for some time.”
Questions like this were difficult by nature. If someone asked me what made a good martial artist, what should I say?
But Sama Myeong’s answer came right away.
“The good strategist I envision is a strategist smarter than the strategist on the opposing side. There is no profound meaning to it. Just as the words say, a strategist smarter than the enemy strategist. That is my answer. There may be people in our cult smarter than I am. There may even be one in this tavern. It is fine if you are smarter than I am, Second Young Master. However…”
After a brief pause, Sama Myeong said,
“I must be smarter than the Martial Alliance’s strategist. I must also be smarter than the Evil Dao Alliance’s strategist. That is enough.”
It was truly an answer I had not expected. As if he had anticipated my reaction, Sama Myeong smiled and asked,
“A bland answer, is it not?”
“That is why it struck me so clearly.”
“When I was young, I had too many thoughts, so a different answer would likely have come out. Perhaps one a bit more pedantic.”
I could guess what he meant. The older one grew, and the greater the master, the simpler the answer tended to become.
“Martial artists moving in the field can act according to circumstance. They can change the operation depending on the situation. But a strategist cannot do that. If he devises one operation incorrectly, it is annihilation. At least if one dies by one’s own choice, there will be less regret. But how wronged would one feel if one died because of a mistaken judgment from above? That is why I always tell the junior strategists: become smarter with everything you have. Everything depends on that.”
This was the first time I learned that Sama Myeong held such thoughts. Just as it was the first time I learned he could drink quite well.
Sama Myeong filled my empty cup and said,
“Now then, it is my turn to ask a question.”
In truth, I had not come to hear the answer to what made a good strategist. My meeting with him today had been for the sake of hearing this question.
“Why did you ask me that?”