Chujung glared at Geom Mugeuk.
It was a gaze filled with malice, enough to make the person facing him shudder.
But his opponent was Geom Mugeuk, who, when it came to villains, had experienced everyone from the Twelve Zodiac Kings to the Heavenly Killing Star.
Receiving that malice-filled stare as if it were laughable, Geom Mugeuk said to Jin Hagun,
“Not only will we find where the bodies are buried, we’ll make him into a whole new person before sending him back.”
He said it like a joke, but they both knew it was no joke.
Yes, if it was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, they would make the words “I was wrong” come out of that bastard’s mouth on their own. Just as the Lust Demon had become so respectful earlier.
But the Murim Alliance could not handle its affairs according to personal feelings.
“Leave what comes next to us. We may not be as fiery as you, but we too have methods we have built up over many years of dealing with evil.”
With an expression that said he understood the decision, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“Do that.”
Just then, Jin Hagun’s voice transmission flew to Geom Mugeuk.
—If we fail, could you help us then?
Geom Mugeuk knew how difficult that request must have been for him. It was also a matter tied to the honor of the Murim Alliance.
Even so, the reason he asked was surely because of his resolve to find the bodies of the dead women no matter what.
—Why wouldn’t I? Those terrifying people in our underground sometimes get dispatched too.
—Thank you.
Even so, as if it still weighed on him, Jin Hagun added one more thing.
—It is something that should not be handled that way, but…
—It can be.
Cutting off Jin Hagun’s hesitation, Geom Mugeuk was firm.
—If he is someone who killed nine innocent lives, it would be fine to handle him a hundred times more cruelly than this. And above all, the bodies must be returned to their families.
Jin Hagun silently nodded.
In the past, he would have been ashamed of the fact that he had not captured them himself.
The Demon Extermination Unit should have caught them. And now, when they had not even managed to capture them, he was asking them to find out where the bodies were buried?
He would have wasted his emotions on such useless thoughts.
But not anymore. He intended to attach a tassel to his sword, perhaps, but not useless pride.
“Take these men away.”
At Jin Hagun’s order, several warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit subdued the Lust Demon and Chujung and took them away.
Chuyeom staggered out of the place, looking as though he had been struck by a tremendous shock.
Jin Hagun started to say something to him, then stopped. What could he say in this situation? Whatever he said, would it even reach his ears? To escape from this shock—no, he would never be able to escape from it.
Jin Hagun expressed his gratitude to Geom Mugeuk.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we prevented many sacrifices that would have happened in the future.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk gestured with both hands as though presenting Ian, indicating that thanks should be given to her.
“Thank you, Martial Artist Yi.”
Ian waved her hands and said,
“I didn’t do anything. I was just standing still.”
Still making a gesture of reverence with both hands, Geom Mugeuk said,
“Even when you stand still, flowers lower their heads, the moon hides behind the clouds, and lechers rush in saying, ‘Take me away.’”
“Young Master! Please!”
At the two of them fooling around, the atmosphere loosened. Only then did they share the joy of their reunion.
“Did only the two of you leave the cult?”
At Jin Hagun’s question, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“We thought the two of us would quietly and leisurely look around the Central Plains.”
Jin Hagun gave a faint smile. As if that would ever happen. Would fate, would murim, ever leave him that way? Already, the Lust Demon had walked up to him of his own accord, and the Tammi House incident had been resolved.
“Let’s go. It has been a long time, so we should catch up.”
“Regrettably, I don’t think I can today. I have to deal with the aftermath of this incident, and there are other matters too.”
He was glad and happy to have met Geom Mugeuk, but because of that, he was even more reluctant to go. Because if he was with Geom Mugeuk, he would end up laughing.
Jin Hagun sincerely wanted to save the victims who had been abducted. But knowing that they were all dead, he could not sit there laughing. At least not today.
How could the quick-witted Geom Mugeuk not understand his feelings? That was why he tried all the harder to drag him along. Because to him, a friend was more precious than the dead.
“You’re turning away a friend who walked a hundred thousand li through the night solely because he wanted to see you?”
“Everything you just said is wrong. Your original purpose probably wasn’t to come see me in the first place, you surely didn’t walk through the night, it certainly wasn’t a hundred thousand li, and I’m not turning you away.”
Geom Mugeuk glanced at Ian as if to ask what she was doing.
Ian quickly put on a sorrowful face and said,
“Young Cult Leader, it would not be proper to hold back someone so busy by force.”
But soon she let out a long sigh.
“Let’s go, Young Cult Leader. Let’s walk the hundred thousand li back again in tears.”
When even Ian joined in, Jin Hagun looked troubled. In the end, Jin Hagun nodded.
“Then just for a moment…”
Before he could even finish speaking, Geom Mugeuk and Ian grabbed Jin Hagun from both sides and pulled him along.
“We’re borrowing your commander!”
The warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit watched them with smiles. The elder masters of the Murim Alliance might still worry over this relationship, but the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit, at least, acknowledged it. Because it was the only moment when Jin Hagun truly relaxed.
While pretending he could not resist and being dragged away, Jin Hagun gave various orders to his subordinates.
“Report to the Alliance first, take formal statements from those two…”
Gwanghyo, a warrior of the Demon Extermination Unit, said pleasantly,
“Leave the aftermath to us.”
With their arms linked with Jin Hagun’s on either side, Geom Mugeuk and Ian joked.
“Commander of the Demon Extermination Unit, you are under arrest too. You, of all people, need to taste the underground of our cult.”
“If you’re going to take me away, at least tell me the charge.”
“The charge is workaholism! You workworm.”
“Calling your friend a worm!”
Watching them noisily grow distant, Gwanghyo said,
“The Young Cult Leader has left the cult, so murim is going to become noisy again.”
***
The three of them sat facing one another at a teahouse in the marketplace.
Jin Hagun had firmly declined alcohol, so they decided to drink tea.
Geom Mugeuk first asked after Jin Paecheon.
“The Alliance Leader is well, I trust?”
“He is well.”
After the battle with the Heavenly Killing Star, his grandfather had been devoting himself to martial training. It was the first time he had ever seen his grandfather train so diligently. The battle with the Heavenly Killing Star had changed him.
“Grandfather believes the Great War between the Orthodox and Demonic factions may break out.”
The reason Jin Hagun had recently devoted himself even more to the Demon Extermination Unit’s work was partly because of that inexplicable tension.
At Jin Hagun’s honest words, Geom Mugeuk answered honestly as well.
“My father still has not given up.”
After a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk added,
“I have not given up either.”
Because he knew that meant stopping his father, Jin Hagun gave a slight nod.
A brief silence flowed between them.
Ian, savoring the scent of the tea, lightened the heavy atmosphere.
“Try drinking it. The fragrance is lovely.”
Jin Hagun could sense that she had become brighter.
“Martial Artist Yi seems even better than before.”
“Do you mean I’ve become prettier?”
When she asked so directly, Jin Hagun was slightly flustered.
“At times like this, you are supposed to answer, ‘That is so.’”
“That is so.”
When he answered as instructed, only then did Ian smile and say,
“I was originally this bold. I just lived hiding it while serving someone all this time. Don’t be surprised! From now on, the tails I’ve been hiding will come out one by one!”
What Jin Hagun had meant by saying she seemed better was that she had become brighter. In the past, she had not treated him this brightly.
It was probably because she had come out with Geom Mugeuk, just the two of them. This journey must be making her brighter and happier.
‘This journey may decide the fate of the two of them.’
Jin Hagun glanced at Geom Mugeuk.
‘What are you hesitating over so much?’
With such a beautiful woman at his side.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk took a sip of tea and said to Jin Hagun,
“You look tired. Work while resting a little.”
Recently, as Jin Hagun had immersed himself even more in the work of the Demon Extermination Unit, he had been in a constant state of tension.
“I would like to as well, but the number of incidents requiring the Demon Extermination Unit keeps increasing.”
Brutal incidents that ordinary Murim Alliance warriors could not resolve.
“I don’t know why, but I get the feeling people are growing more and more insane.”
Jin Hagun, who had been looking down at his teacup in thought for a moment, raised his head. Geom Mugeuk and Ian were staring at him intently.
“I’m sorry. I made the mood heavy for no reason.”
Fortunately, sitting in front of him was an expert capable of making a heavy mood infinitely light.
“You ruined the atmosphere, so you pay for the tea.”
A person who could make someone worrying over a world going mad burst into laughter.
As Geom Mugeuk quietly gazed at Jin Hagun, a certain resolve flashed through his eyes.
“Hey, friend.”
“What?”
Unexpected words came from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“Come with us.”
“Where?”
“It’s a journey where we go wherever our feet take us. We meet people we want to see, and if the timing doesn’t work out, we simply pass by. Truly, nothing is decided.”
How could he dislike a journey with Geom Mugeuk? He wanted to see Bi Sain and Han Seol too, and he could not even remember when he had last seen Haryeong.
“I have too much work. I can’t.”
“That’s exactly why you should go. From the look of you, you’re doing nothing but work.”
Above all, the reason he could not do so lay here.
“You two came out to spend good time together, didn’t you?”
“Who said we have to stay together until the end? We travel together, then part when the time comes. Who knows? You might meet a woman who says she likes you. When that happens, don’t even dream of leaving us behind! I’ll chase you all the way to the Alliance Leader’s Hall and watch the two of you kiss.”
Jin Hagun waved his hand with an expression of disbelief, but Geom Mugeuk had already made up his mind.
“Take a vacation!”
“Where does the Demon Extermination Unit have vacations?”
“Are the Demon Extermination Unit not people?”
“What about the incidents that happen in the meantime? Evil never rests. Don’t you know that?”
“Announce it to murim. The Demon Extermination Unit is going on vacation. Any bastards who cause trouble during this period will be chased all the way to hell and punished twice as hard. I’ll send a letter to our cult too telling them not to cause trouble. Let’s declare it Murim Peace Week.”
At the words “Murim Peace Week,” Jin Hagun laughed out loud. Even when he tried not to laugh, he made him laugh with such absurd nonsense.
“If they were the sort not to cause trouble because of that, there would be no need to worry in the first place.”
If they had punished so many villains, it seemed like it should have become peaceful by now, but as if it were a rule that the empty spaces left by villains would automatically be filled, villains kept appearing.
“Did you say evil never rests? You people are not evil, so you should rest.”
“What?”
“Your work is to find where the bodies of good women who were abducted and killed are buried, and to stand beside a father who has learned that his son became a lecher and killed women. You are enduring such work with nothing but righteousness and loyalty.”
As Jin Hagun wore a bitter smile, the decisive persuasion flew in.
“What about you aside, what about your subordinates?”
“!”
Jin Hagun looked at Geom Mugeuk. With no smile on his face, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“Do you think they are as strong as your willpower? I don’t think so. They are struggling to follow you at their limits.”
At those words, Jin Hagun recalled a conversation he had recently had with Jeonghyeok, one of his subordinates in the Demon Extermination Unit.
—How old is your son?
—Six years old.
—When did you last see him?
—I saw him last autumn and have not seen him since.
—……
—……
—He must have grown a lot since then.
—I suppose so.
He and the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit had willingly sacrificed their own lives and charged forward. Of course, there was also an indescribable sense of reward. They were punishing evil and saving innocent lives.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been gazing at Jin Hagun, looked outside. After watching the people passing in front of the teahouse for a moment, Geom Mugeuk spoke calmly.
“If we go mad along with a world gone mad, then in the end, we lose.”
***
All the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit assembled.
At their commander’s sudden summons, they were all tense.
Jin Hagun stood before them and looked at everyone. At his serious expression, they all assumed something had happened.
Jin Hagun handed out what he had brought to his subordinates. They were envelopes, one for each warrior of the Demon Extermination Unit.
The expressions of the Demon Extermination Unit warriors hardened. It had to be a life-risking operation.
He must be handing them out so they could write wills to leave for their families.
When they went out on dangerous operations, they wrote wills before leaving. But what kind of operation was it that required every single one of them to mobilize?
The moment they took out what was inside the envelopes, everyone was startled. Within were vouchers for a considerable sum. Jeong Hyeok asked on everyone’s behalf.
“What is this money for?”
The identity of the money was something they had never expected.
“Vacation expenses.”
“Pardon?”
“Starting today, you’re all on leave for a month.”
All the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit looked shocked. It was more surprising than the news that the Orthodox-Demonic War had broken out.
“Take care of your families, visit your hometowns, go traveling. Do whatever you’ve each been putting off.”
Their many confused emotions unified into one.
Someone broke into a bright smile, and as that smile seemed to spread through the group, cheers erupted.
Jin Hagun had not expected his subordinates to be this happy. They were far happier than he had imagined. He had thought at least one of them might step forward and say it was all right,
and he had even prepared words to persuade them then, but no such person appeared.
Geom Mugeuk had been right. Though they did not show it outwardly, it seemed they had all been struggling to keep up.
“May we ask the reason?”
“I thought it was about time we rested as well.”
To that, one more truth was added. Jin Hagun did not bother dressing up the reason as though it were because he had been thinking of them.
“I was taken in by the Young Cult Master’s coaxing.”
At that honesty, all the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit laughed.
“When you return, we’ll have to move busily for a while. So rest well before coming back.”
The warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit answered in thunderous voices.
“Thank you, Commander!”
“You should rest well too, Commander.”
The warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit knew just how hard Jin Hagun had worked until now. Because he was the Young Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance, he had willingly taken on even tasks he could have avoided.
That was why they, too, had endured, and to them, this vacation was truly like sweet rain in a drought.
Once they had all dispersed, Geom Mugeuk and Ian appeared there.
Geom Mugeuk walked over, pretending to banter with Ian.
“A success. At last, we’ve disbanded the Murim Alliance’s elite organization for a whole month.”
“What’s the next step?”
“We lure the Young Alliance Leader into the swamp of pleasure until he says, ‘I don’t want to return to the Demon Extermination Unit!’”
“When you’re playing around, it may feel burdensome at first, but there’s nothing quite as fun as it once you get into it.”
Jin Hagun shook his head with a look of disbelief. If they had not rehearsed it behind his back, how could they be so perfectly in sync?
Of course, Jin Hagun had his counterattack as well.
“Now that there are three of us, the cozy atmosphere between you two is over.”
He had kept worrying that he might become a nuisance, but Geom Mugeuk spoke as if it had turned out for the better.
“When a common enemy appears, we’ll only unite more closely. We’ll secretly get up at night. You know what I mean, Ian?”
“What do I know!”
No matter how much of a joke it was, that was one remark she found difficult to accept, and Ian’s face turned red.
Seeing that, Jin Hagun laughed. Yes, if he was with these two.
Since he was going to rest anyway, he would do it properly. It would be the first and last carefree journey of his life.
“Don’t try to stop me now. From this moment on, I’m putting down both the title of Demon Extermination Unit Leader and Young Alliance Leader.”
Jin Hagun strode ahead first.
“Where are you going?”
“You said it was a journey where we go wherever our feet take us, didn’t you? Stop grumbling and follow me.”
Ian was delighted as she watched him. Already, she could sense vitality from Jin Hagun, who had looked so exhausted and weary.
‘You did well, young master.’
Geom Mugeuk walked after him together with Ian and shouted.
“Now, clear the way! The wayward Young Alliance Leader is coming through!”