To speak a little about Nakgeom Jangcheon.
He was a figure who could be called the ideal Alliance Lord.
As the Lord of the Alliance, harmonizing the Orthodox sects and the Four Great Families was a given.
But following Sword Venerable Wihyo-gun's retreat and Jangcheon taking the seat, one could see the surrounding security rise remarkably.
When he first took the Alliance Lord's seat, there had been much talk—questioning whether it was right to seat a relatively obscure and young martial artist over the Abbot of Shaolin and Huashan's Maehwasun.
Yet he was a capable figure who made such voices disappear in just a few years.
Known to the world as a perfect person, possessing not only a benevolent character but also outstanding martial arts.
That was the common perception.
"I'm sorry for suddenly visiting you like this."
A handsome middle-aged man with gentle facial lines.
Rather than doing it on purpose, his naturally small eyes with slightly drooping corners gave the impression that he was smiling even when standing still.
"...I greet the Lord of the Alliance."
I immediately and carefully dropped to one knee toward Jangcheon.
Seeing that, Jangcheon hastily waved his hand.
"There's no need for such formality. I'm the one who committed the breach of etiquette."
"How could I dare."
This was no other person but the Alliance Lord.
Though his martial prowess might be lower than Maehwasun or the Three Venerables, the importance of his position was incomparable.
In terms of official authority, he was a figure who wielded greater power than the Four Great Families or the Nine Sects One Faction.
"Indeed... The proper procedure would have been to summon you through official channels, but I made a mistake in my haste."
He had come in a hurry.
The situation we happened to meet in was also a complete mess.
"Ruined first impression"—isn't this exactly the phrase for such a moment?
"Once again, I apologize for visiting so abruptly, Young Master Gu."
"It's fine."
I calmly met Jangcheon's gaze and thought.
What could this be about.
A reason for the Alliance Lord himself to come visit me rather than summon me.
Reaching that thought, several possibilities came to mind, but the most likely one.
More precisely, the one I was half-certain of—was just one.
'Paejon.'
There was nothing else.
The recommendation letter from Paejon Biju that Elder Lee had given me.
No matter how I thought about it, that was the only reason the Alliance Lord would come visit me like this.
'What I'm wondering is, is it really something worth coming all this way for.'
It's true that the Three Venerables' fame and reputation were outstanding, but whether the Alliance Lord himself needed to go this far was not easily empathized with.
'Is there some issue with Paejon?'
The Alliance Lord took something out from his robes.
When I saw what it was, sure enough—it was the recommendation letter I had brought.
For reference, the attendants waiting in the room had been sent outside.
I told Hongwa that if she was late, she should join Gu Jeol-yeop or the other companions and head to the banquet first.
Especially Walseol-a—I had told her to make him stand with his hands raised until I left, so Hongwa would handle it well.
"Young Master Gu, there's something I wish to ask you, so I braved such discourtesy and came urgently."
My body tensed slightly.
At the sensation brushing past my shoulder, I subtly drew up inner qi around me, and I could feel a qi barrier spread through the room.
"This recommendation letter—was it truly written by Paejon himself?"
As expected, the reason the Alliance Lord came was because of that damned recommendation letter.
At this point, I wondered if Elder Lee was actually using the pretext of helping me to continuously throw me off cliffs.
Otherwise, there was no way such endlessly troublesome situations would keep occurring.
"He did not give it to me directly."
"So you received it from someone else."
What is this? There's a strange feeling from the Alliance Lord's expression and tone.
It feels somewhat like being interrogated.
It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
Suddenly coming to the waiting room and questioning me—isn't that treating me like a criminal?
"First, may I ask why the Alliance Lord is asking me such a thing?"
I asked while minimizing any sign of displeasure and maintaining courtesy.
No matter how bad I felt, I couldn't bare my teeth at the Alliance Lord in the Murim Alliance.
[Endlessly docile before the strong... How truly disheartening.]
I needed to distinguish when I could snap and when I couldn't.
Life was precious.
It was one of the few useful experiences I'd learned while rolling through my past life.
"..."
Whether the Alliance Lord also realized the problem with his approach just now, he cleared his throat and composed his voice.
"I apologize. My mind was too anxious earlier, and I showed unsightly behavior."
A swift apology.
For the Alliance Lord, a person of his stature, to lower his head so easily to a mere junior successor.
'Is it an act?'
Was that sincerity or acting?
I couldn't tell yet.
The Alliance Lord's apology was an apology, but first, I was curious.
What this situation was about.
'What on earth did that old man give me this time?'
I thought he was giving it to me wishing me well, but was there something more?
There's nothing normal about any of this.
Before explaining, the Alliance Lord returned the recommendation letter to me and spoke.
"Have you ever read the contents of this letter?"
"No, I haven't read it."
I hadn't broken the seal to read it.
There was no need to, and normally that wasn't proper etiquette either.
Besides, I had considerable trust in Elder Lee.
Even when ridiculous incidents occurred, it was the unconscious belief that fundamentally he was acting for my sake.
"Read it."
Following the Alliance Lord's words, I opened the unsealed recommendation letter.
The handwriting was rough, and the brief words written in just a few lines revealed Paejon's personality.
The contents were things that could be written in any recommendation letter.
—This is a child I have my eye on, Biju.
'When did he even see me?'
Elder Lee had even said this recommendation letter was received years ago.
I had never met the figure called Paejon during that time.
Let alone the fact that he was likely not in a position to appear in the Central Plains murim right now.
The problematic line came after that.
—I, the lazy and idle one, have raised this child with wholehearted devotion, so there will be no disappointment.
Huh...?
—This child will one day shatter the heavens. I will make it so, so you may look forward to it.
Something was off. Very, very much so.
The letter contained things I couldn't understand.
'This...'
It didn't seem like a recommendation letter written for me.
No matter how I looked at it, that seemed to be the case.
If it had been written for me, the contents wouldn't be like this.
And yet, the name written on the recommendation letter was my name.
It felt like an incomprehensible story was unfolding without my knowledge.
It crept up from within.
That ominous, unsettling, subtle emotion.
And the final line I finally read on the recommendation letter was enough to take my breath away.
—P.S. I've put the demonic artifact to good use. I'll send it through my disciple, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't complain too much.
Oh, fuck.
After reading to the end, I looked at the Alliance Lord with trembling eyes.
Because I felt I understood why this situation had come about.
"..."
Unable to find the words to say, I had no choice but to fall silent.
'This shouldn't be written here. You damned old man...'
These were words with considerable room for misunderstanding.
Not to mention, it appeared to be a recommendation letter that wasn't even written for me.
The Alliance Lord looked at me and asked.
"Are you Paejon's disciple, young master?"
"No, I'm not..."
Disciple, my ass.
Let alone learning martial arts from him, I'd never even met him face to face.
There might be one in the future, but even that was uncertain, let alone now.
A recommendation letter, he said... Did that old man... Did Paejon perhaps write this for someone else and I received it by mistake?
What the hell are these people doing?
I had to bear the embarrassment of the mess that occurred.
It was at the level where I wanted to crawl into a rat hole if one existed.
And as for the difficult part—the Alliance Lord, who was wearing a troubled expression earlier, was in the same boat.
"...The words Paejon wrote do seem to be genuine. But I'm not sure how to receive this."
"Can we pretend the recommendation letter never existed?"
Since there was an invitation, I wondered if it might be possible.
It would be better to make it disappear than get entangled in something troublesome.
"That won't do. It was written by Paejon regardless, and the name written on it is your name, young master."
"What about impersonation..."
"Not only would no one dare impersonate the Three Venerables, but the seal and qi imprinted on the letter are genuine."
He handled things cleanly, leaving no way out.
Pointlessly so.
"I understand your concern, but if you say it's not so, I have no intention of making it an issue and blaming you."
The Alliance Lord's words were a relief to hear.
I was already thinking a lot about what I should do.
"...I simply thought that if you were Paejon's disciple, you might know where Paejon is currently located."
Was it because of the demonic artifact written in the letter?
"From your reaction, it seems you don't know. Is that correct?"
"...Yes."
In truth, I did know.
That Paejon was currently holed up somewhere in Seo-an, hiding his whereabouts.
Even why he had hidden his whereabouts.
Of course, I had no intention of revealing that I knew.
If asked, he'd probably inquire with Elder Lee.
"...Is that so."
He wore an expression of regret, as if he'd missed a线索he'd barely grasped.
Yet at the same time, there was also an expression of relief, as if he'd found a new lead.
"Is it because of the demonic artifact written in the letter, by any chance?"
At my question, the Alliance Lord paused for a moment.
"It's true that the item Paejon took concerns me, but that's not all of it."
That meant there was another reason.
That was enough.
I didn't intend to ask further.
It didn't seem like something he'd answer if I asked, and if I heard the answer, I might get entangled in the matter.
'I came here with a purpose, and adding other matters wouldn't be good.'
If I'd known the recommendation letter would cause this kind of storm, I shouldn't have used it.
As the conversation roughly came to an end, the Alliance Lord rose and spoke.
"I'm sorry for ruining a precious moment of a junior's time."
"Not at all. It was good to have such a precious meeting."
"Thank you for saying so."
It didn't seem like a good meeting at all, but I had to at least say the right words.
Honestly, from the Alliance Lord's position, it wasn't easy for him to readily believe my words either.
In a way, he was backing down from a situation where he could have been more forceful with the interrogation.
'It doesn't seem like it resolved completely smoothly.'
Of course, all suspicion probably hadn't disappeared.
He might do something else behind the scenes.
It was also what the Murim Alliance did best.
Though the Central Plains was divided into Orthodox and Unorthodox, many knew that distinction had long blurred.
If there was a difference—
The Orthodox faction pretended not to know, or put forth their convictions to try to cover the sky.
While the Unorthodox faction had no such inhibitions.
The Alliance Lord just now gave the impression of a good person, a righteous person anyone could see.
But I didn't believe all of that.
I didn't know that person in detail.
Preconceptions were truly terrifying things.
'The fact that he's that bastard's father would be the biggest reason.'
Just recalling him made my anger surge.
Remembering that shitty impression, my teeth ground together involuntarily.
"Thank you for sharing this conversation with me. I shouldn't take any more of your time, so I'll take my leave."
As the Alliance Lord headed for the door, he suddenly looked back at me and added something.
"When I heard you weren't his disciple, I was actually surprised."
Wondering what he suddenly meant, I met the Alliance Lord's gaze.
.
.
.....
"Even if you were Paejon's disciple, your level is remarkably outstanding, but since you say that's not the case either... I was surprised, but from the Alliance's perspective, the birth of a new star is truly a welcome thing."
"...Thank you."
"Just looking at your sister, I thought the Gu family had produced a tiger like a heroic figure, but they had an even greater dragon hidden away."
As expected, the Alliance Lord had also grasped my realm.
It wasn't surprising.
He too was a martial artist who had reached lofty heights.
Perhaps that was why, his words felt excessively burdensome.
"I look forward to your performance at this assembly."
With those final words, the Alliance Lord stepped out the door.
The sound of his footsteps quickly faded into the distance.