Episode 46. Why Alliance Leaders Often Have White Hair

After confirming that the Black Fan Fort Master was dead, Dokgo Saeng strode off somewhere and stood before the officer who had thrown a harpoon at him.

The officer, whose wrist had been cut off, was stopping the bleeding when he looked up at Dokgo Saeng.

Dokgo Saeng dropped to one knee and glared at the officer.

Then the officer slapped Dokgo Saeng across the face with his remaining hand.

Smack……!

Everyone expected Dokgo Saeng to kill the officer, and so did I. But after taking that slap, Dokgo Saeng simply let out a faint chuckle and stood back up.

Dokgo Saeng acted as though, since the elder’s hand had been cut off, he was no longer worth dealing with.

He was a truly strange man.

Dokgo Saeng looked at me.

“Yi Zaha, I think you should take over as the next Fort Master.”

I crooked a finger and called Dokgo Saeng over. Dokgo Saeng strode up to me, only to be slapped across the face by me.

With a smack, Dokgo Saeng toppled flat onto his back.

I walked over to Dokgo Saeng and seized him by the hair.

“Why are you running your mouth like that? Want me to send you to your Fort Master?”

Dokgo Saeng and I glared at each other as if we were about to kill one another. No matter who glared better, the one dying would be Dokgo Saeng.

Dokgo Saeng said,

“You killed the Fort Master. Then what are we supposed to do?”

To be honest, of everything Dokgo Saeng had said since I arrived at Black Fan Fort, that was the most shocking.

People should just live their own lives.

Was it because they had lived under someone giving them orders since birth? They could not escape the notion that without a leader, disaster would strike.

Even Dokgo Saeng, who had a more rebellious streak than anyone else.

‘This faction has a lot of problems.’

I let go of Dokgo Saeng’s hair, then stood and looked around.

‘This is troublesome. Damn troublesome.’

If it were a faction made up entirely of martial artists, like the Black Cat Society, I could absorb it cleanly. But these people were mixed in with common folk, making it hard to tell who belonged to the jianghu and who did not.

They were in such a bizarre environment that it seemed impossible for them to blend with the Haomun members.

What was I supposed to do at a time like this?

I had killed their leader to liberate them, only to find slaves waiting for the next leader.

If things turned out this way, the greatest responsibility lay with me.

After all, I was the one who had beaten the Black Fan Fort Master, the leader of the slaves, to death.

‘Ah, damn it…….’

After some thought, I decided I had to shoulder this karma.

Since I was guilty of beating a man to death, I ought to pay the price.

“Dokgo Saeng, gather everyone ranked below the officers and bring them into the main hall. And give treatment to the elders who were lucky enough to survive. Those who lived should keep living.”

With a few hand gestures, a few jerks of his chin, and two or three words, Dokgo Saeng sorted out the situation, then waved his hand as if telling the squad leaders to enter the main hall.

* * *

As it happened, I watched the squad leaders enter while seated in the very seat of honor where the Black Fan Fort Master had sat.

Some sat down confidently, while others watched the mood and took seats at the very end.

In any case, sparing these men was the one thing the Black Fan Fort Master had done right. I even wondered if perhaps he had foreseen his defeat to me and departed for the heavens with the old men.

Or maybe not.

By the way, had these bastards seated themselves according to rank?

Dokgo Saeng was sitting to my left.

“Is everyone here?”

The youngest squad leader, seated at the end, answered.

“Yes. All the squad leaders are gathered.”

I let out a long breath, then organized my thoughts.

There was exactly one thing I wanted to tell them.

Even if not by me, there was a danger that all of you would someday be massacred by some master. But not only could I not say that, they would undoubtedly treat me like a madman. I was a madman, true, but telling them about something that had not yet happened would serve as no warning at all.

I opened my mouth.

“For me, the best course is to appoint a Fort Master and have all of Black Fan Fort come under my faction.”

They probably had questions, but after the rampage I had thrown outside, no one asked anything.

I asked what I was curious about.

“Is anyone here stronger than Dokgo Saeng?”

The moment my question ended, Dokgo Saeng glared at the other squad leaders.

Wow. Was this bastard’s temper really that foul?

Then again, since he had the temperament to curse out even an elder, the other squad leaders must not have been able to challenge him easily.

“Dokgo Saeng will serve as the next Fort Master.”

Dokgo Saeng looked as if his mouth was itching to speak, so I pointed at him with a finger.

“If I tell you to do it, do it.”

Dokgo Saeng closed his mouth.

I gave orders for Black Fan Fort to change.

“The first thing you’ll do as Fort Master is mobilize everyone and tear down those old walls.”

Dokgo Saeng replied,

“Starting with the walls?”

Wow. How on earth was I supposed to explain this?

Should I just say, That’s how I feel……?

After suppressing my temper, I asked the other squad leaders.

“Do you need an explanation?”

The squad leaders answered in unison.

“Yes.”

I smacked my own forehead with my hand, then explained.

“The walls make you too closed off. You probably think they’re good walls that protect you, but to the masters of the jianghu, they’re no obstacle at all. They couldn’t even protect the life of the Black Fan Fort Master, who was the strongest among you. Those walls are a kind of mental formation. You kept looking inward, making all sorts of rules, and binding one another with them.”

“Is that a problem?”

I nodded.

“It is.”

“Why?”

“Most of you can’t even communicate with the people who live outside. You’re too closed off. Things can only change if you understand what people are saying, can’t they? Ah, I’m tired.”

I took a brief rest, regulating my breathing.

My mouth tasted bitter, and the unpleasant body odor of the squad leaders made my head swim.

After slapping my own cheek once more, I continued.

“Start by tearing down the walls. Go outside more often, too. The world is wider than Black Fan Fort. Once the walls are gone, you’ll have to get rid of the name ‘Fort’ as well.”

The word “fort” originally means a small castle.

Since this faction began within castle walls, that must be why they chose such a name. “Black Fan” simply meant a black fan, referring to the shape of the walls.

“If the next time I show up, you’re running a slave auction house or running around collecting on gambling debts, or doing anything else that pisses me off, I’ll kill Dokgosaeng first, and then I’ll kill every section chief whose face I remember. You’ll be sending my regards to Heukseonboju in the afterlife. ‘I hope you’ve been well.’ You’ll be spouting that bullshit.”

One of the section chiefs asked me.

“Please explain the method in a bit more detail.”

“Hell if I know, you bastard. You think up the details. Isn’t that what being a section chief is for? What’s your name, bastard?”

The other section chiefs told me his name, his affiliation, and which section he led.

I pointed at him.

“For the specifics, ask him and proceed accordingly.”

Since quite a few ordinary folk were mixed in here too, it was a moment that called for some real bite in my words.

“Discard the name Heukseonbo, decide on a new name among yourselves, and report it to me. And don’t use the character Heuk (Black). You sons of bitches. You black-hearted yellow mongrels.”

The mid-level section chief with a rather dim-witted look answered.

“Then is it alright to use Baek (White)?”

I looked at him and replied.

“You. Don’t ask questions. Until the meeting is over.”

“Understood.”

Shit, the momentum just died out of nowhere.

“…….”

I had been about to move on, but my temper flared and I snapped at that bastard from earlier.

“Are you the fucking Baekdo?”

“No, that’s not it, but…”

“There is a proper way to name an organization.”

“Understood.”

I calmed my anger and spoke to the executives.

“If you’re curious about anything, ask.”

“We only know your name. We don’t know who you are or what you do.”

I scratched my forehead for a moment. A self-introduction to the Heukdo. Begin.

“So, I am.”

“Yes.”

“Ijaha, who used to be a clerk at Ilyanghyeon. Currently the Lord of Haomun. A regular at Chunyang Banjeom. I’ll skip the Heukmyobang. What else is there. And I’m not a fake senior brother.”

As I kept agonizing over useless things, one of the section chiefs stopped me.

“Let’s leave it at that.”

“Should I? By the way, how many rules do you all have in total?”

“A lot. Over a hundred.”

I ordered Dokgosaeng.

“Reduce them to three.”

“From a hundred down to three, just like that?”

I glared at Dokgosaeng and spoke.

“Start with three. If there is truly a rule that must be added, gather together and vote to add each one. However, you only add new rules after you’ve torn down that black wall together.”

The other section chiefs replied.

“Understood.”

I found meetings tougher than fighting.

That was because they and I had lived in different worlds.

There is a reason the Murim Alliance Leaders of history often appear with white hair.

If you try to gather bastards like these and unify their opinions, your hair is bound to turn white.

If having meetings with these retards is this hard, how much worse must it be for the Murim Alliance Leader?

Having meetings with smart people actually drains your energy even faster.

The head of a renowned orthodox sect who had been vying for dominance: “Alliance Leader, that’s a bit…”

An elder from a great family: “Please reconsider.”

The strategist famed as the smartest in the Central Plains: “But I have some concerns about this.”

Listening to this bullshit naturally gives you the urge to draw your sword.

But since I’m the Alliance Leader, I endure—I tell myself I must endure—and end up with nothing but white hair.

I muttered along the flow of consciousness.

“This is why those in the Gangho have to live by the sword.”

The dim-witted section chief bastard opened his mouth again.

“That’s right.”

I sighed.

“……I must endure.”

Suppressing the urge to escape, I spoke to the section chiefs.

“Keep my words close. Still, since it’s hard to gather like this, let’s eat together today, and then I’ll be leaving. Prepare a meal. We’ll all eat together.”

“But the Boju never shared a table with us?”

I snapped my fingers.

“Excellent. Then from now on, you section chiefs will gather and eat all three meals together. Abolish the tolls, release the captives. Burn all the documents related to those bounties. Open the Boju’s warehouse, and don’t let the section chiefs embezzle the assets. For the time being, use them for people who’ll be struggling. And fix the houses here properly. Hire outsiders and pay them fairly to put up buildings. Even those Gaebang beggar bastards live cleaner than you.”

Having said it, I realized it was quite a difficult task.

I naturally passed the responsibility on to Dokgosaeng.

“You got that?”

Unexpectedly, Dokgosaeng nodded and answered.

“I’ll do that. I understood what you meant.”

I asked with a slightly bewildered expression.

“You understood?”

Dokgosaeng replied flatly.

“It’s the right thing to do, so there’s no reason we can’t.”

“Did this bastard suddenly attain enlightenment? He understands what I’m saying. You summarize it.”

The other section chiefs all stared at Dokgosaeng in unison.

Dokgosaeng summarized my words, still in an angry tone.

“Tear down the walls.”

I answered.

“What else?”

“Go out more often.”

“Right. Next.”

“Live among the people of the world.”

I looked at Dokgosaeng with my mouth shut, just like the other section chiefs. Dokgosaeng continued.

“Don’t kidnap and sell people as slaves. Ban gambling. Don’t extort tolls from boatmen of other places. Live cleanly. Tear down old houses and build new ones. Use the wealth the Boju accumulated for the necessary costs. Don’t let the section chiefs embezzle that money.”

At that moment, I couldn’t figure out why the other section chiefs’ mood was sinking. Still, Dokgosaeng continued.

“Discard the name Heukseonbo and create a new one. Eat together with the section chiefs. Reduce the rules. Add them one by one after discussion.”

Why had the atmosphere turned so solemn?

“Start all of this after you tear down the walls together.”

I looked around and answered.

“Great summary. But why’s the mood like this all of a sudden?”

The tactless section chief bastard spoke to me.

“It’s something Squad Leader Dokgo used to say often in the past. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s similar. Right? You’ve all heard it before, haven’t you?”

“We heard it from time to time.”

I suddenly closed my mouth and glared at Dokgo Saeng. Dokgo Saeng was still glaring at me as well. From beginning to end, this bastard had always been full of anger.

There were countless stories contained in Dokgo Saeng’s gaze.

As I met Dokgo Saeng’s eyes, we exchanged more conversation in silence than we had when we were chattering aloud.

Fragments of my conversation with Dokgo Saeng suddenly came to mind, without order.

How has the atmosphere in Heukseonbo been lately?

How do you think? It’s full of idiots.

I Jaha, I think you’ll have to take over as the next fortress lord.

After killing the fortress lord, what am I supposed to do then?

As an ambiguous and awkward silence settled over us, that stupid squad leader bastard broke it.

“Um, shall we prepare some food?”

All the squad leaders waited for my answer.

I let out a short sigh, then replied.

“Forget the food. Bring me some liquor.”

Today, I needed to drink.