Chapter: 803
“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.”
To my question, Mukyeon maintains a steadfast facade of ignorance.
But it wasn’t as if he was truly clueless.
‘Where did he catch on?’
The reason he brought up that condition—it must have been because it was something I was planning to mention myself from the start.
Even before coming up here, while drafting the report on the accident, I had prepared for this.
Maeng couldn’t afford to abandon me due to my current value, so even if he was punished this time, he had justification to bring it up and lessen the impact.
Support from two swordsmen?
That was an aspect I didn’t even need to include in the conditions.
What would their support matter? Honestly, it was just to deflate the morale of the major shareholders.
‘A reason to spark a flame.’
It was merely a ploy to stir up some chaos.
In reality, weren’t there a couple of folks who seemed ready to blow their tops after hearing that?
I’d set this up to distort the flow, just in case things took a turn.
‘Did you know?’
It appeared that old man had picked up on it almost like a spirit.
And while he might not have grasped all my intentions, he seemed at least aware of my current intent.
As proof of that, he immediately started talking about modifying the conditions.
‘Ah!’
Now I get it.
Back then, I was curious about how he planned to handle the opposition from the Grand Masters. Did he just wait for time to pass because something was destined to blow up anyway?
And—
‘Whatever I do, it seems to align with that old man’s intentions. He intends to use me?’
At the recent gathering of Grand Masters, Mukyeon had adopted an attitude suggesting he wanted something from me. I could vaguely catch onto his intentions.
Right, Mukyeon.
He’s the divine being on the battlefield and the political world’s ghost.
‘He wants a shake-up.’
He wanted to stir up the Murim Alliance.
A restructuring that could minimize backlash and flip things over in one fell swoop.
Rather than leaving the stagnant water as it is, he planned to pour in new water and flush it out.
Mukyeon aimed to establish a new system to brace for the inevitable crisis.
For that, it was necessary to topple the pillars, called the Grand Masters.
And for that—
‘He wants to use me.’
The method that old man picked was none other than me.
He attempted to leverage me to seize the Grand Masters’ attention. They likely have intentions of tossing aside whoever needs to be tossed.
Honestly, I couldn’t care less.
While I wouldn’t just dance to his tune…
‘I’ve got my own use for this, you know.’
I needed to create a point of contact within the alliance, especially with Mukyeon, so I was planning to go along with him for now.
But—
‘They knew about this too?’
This conversation, just as I noticed Mukyeon’s intentions, implied that he was aware of mine too.
Realizing that was likely why he summoned me immediately.
‘This old man is really something else.’
I erased the condition linking me as the cause of the accident in case other factions decided to rebel due to friction with the other Grand Masters.
If I did that, pushback from other divisions would dwindle.
‘I’m useless anyway, and I had justification to delete it, so it works out.’
Mukyeon was navigating through this without a hitch, so overall, it was a favorable scenario.
“Hahaha.”
I wondered if I could even try to disentangle this mess.
‘It’s really not as simple as it seems.’
And that’s why it was hard to deal with individuals who had spent ages in political spheres.
‘Exactly. Getting rid of it as quickly as possible seems like the answer.’
I felt, the longer I lingered with this old man, the more I’d have to lose.
“The condition is… I hope that you, the strategist Muk, will use your discretion to wrap things up positively.”
“I’ll take that as an indication that it’s acceptable. I’ll send someone to relay the revised details.”
“…Yes.”
“Originally, you should stay by the Murim Alliance until everything’s cleared up, but I’ll exercise a bit of my authority here.”
“…Aren’t you going to get fired for abusing your power like that?”
“Hahaha.”
That laughter was enough to say that would never happen.
Yeah, I think so too. Who would be insane enough to fire that old man?
“I’ll take it as a form of consideration. And I won’t forget your wishes, strategist Muk.”
“I don’t quite understand what wishes you’re referring to, old man.”
He wore a face that clearly indicated he hadn’t the faintest idea.
I couldn’t tell if he was feigning ignorance or if there was truly no intended meaning behind his words.
‘No, it’s obvious.’
I was convinced.
That old man had something planned that involved me.
Even while being suspicious of me, he was indeed using me.
That must’ve been Mukyeon’s intention.
It felt like a risky choice, yet this old man must have felt compelled to proceed regardless.
‘And after all, even if I don’t kill him… it seems he doesn’t have a ton of time left anyway.’
To me, Mukyeon seemed to be running low on time.
‘…’
As I quietly mulled that over, inspiration struck, and I shifted slightly.
“Mr. Muk, the strategist.”
“Yes?”
“Have you finished what you wanted to say…?”
“I believe I’ve shared all that I intended. If you’re busy, feel free to head back for now. I’ll handle the Guardians separately.”
“Understood. I’ll come back to you once I have updates.”
“Please take care on your way back. I won’t be seeing you off.”
“Yes. Until next time.”
He offered a brief nod and turned to leave.
Just as I grabbed the doorknob to head outside…
“Oh, and Mr. Muk.”
I slightly turned my head and spoke to him.
“That tea you mentioned.”
“Yes?”
“Instead of that, it’s better to dry some Mugwort. While Taesunhwa has a numbing effect, it leaves behind slight toxicity no matter how much it’s dried, so mugwort would be more effective for pain relief.”
“…”
“Well then, that’s all.”
With that final word, I shut the door behind me.
Immediately after…
“…Heh heh.”
Mukyeon whispered with an expression that said he got hit with a surprise.
“After all… it’s a shame.”
His voice had a weighty tinge of regret infused within it.
*
After finishing my meeting with Mukyeon, I returned directly to my quarters.
Having caused an uproar earlier, the stares from people within the alliance felt a bit peculiar.
However, since Mukyeon had already conveyed my status, no one was openly confronting me.
I made a bowl of rice and just tossed it aside.
And there.
‘Some of them seemed to have good expressions too.’
It was a thrilling feeling.
A refreshing sense of victory was clearly visible on faces that appeared uncomfortable.
‘Twin swords. Now I understand what that old man has been up to inside.’
Seeing this clearly illustrated how long the Twin Swords had made a mess while in the alliance.
Even after holding power for quite some time, he was swiftly taken down by me right after I entered.
Yet, more people liked it?
What on earth have they been engaged in to elicit such a reaction?
It was genuinely astonishing.
‘Anyway. Since Mukyeon is willing to extend his hand, I think this situation will unravel somehow.’
Mukyeon had stated he would look after the fallen Grand Master.
Even though the overall conversation was different, that was the intent.
Also.
‘If possible, I can take care of it for you; just give it a shot.’
That thought lingered in my mind.
This part was purely my interpretation.
‘I need to tread carefully while testing the waters.’
What exactly is Mukyeon’s true intention?
How far can he see, and how far can he go?
This required a slow, meticulous assessment.
However, I was a little worried about one thing.
‘Ambiguity.’
There were many unclear aspects from my perspective concerning Mukyeon’s understanding and actions.
No matter how hard I racked my brain, I figured trying to take advantage of him wouldn’t work.
If it felt like I was being played with, it was best to remain still.
I had to exercise caution with my own judgments and maneuvers.
‘Hmm…’
My opponent was a cunning fox.
If there exists someone who reached the heavens through martial arts, they might have reached the heavens differently.
‘…Even if Cheonyurang is said to have combat skills lacking somewhat.’
That being still possessed an uncanny degree of expertise.
‘I can’t rashly make a move.’
When devising plans in Hanam, I needed to pour in several times more thought than usual.
Of course, knowing that Zhuge Hyuk will be around soon would make it somewhat easier…
‘The question remains whether I can supplement the current Zhuge Hyuk onto Mukyeon.’
No matter how clever Zhuge Hyuk may be, he’s not exactly the same as in his past life.
In the first place, he wasn’t the type to get deeply involved in these affairs, and thus I had to explore many alternative strategies.
“Haah…”
Sighing couldn’t be helped as these complicated matters weighed on me.
It was indeed a frustrating situation, making me question just how many tasks there were.
It felt like an unbearable situation where I couldn’t resolve them all with this ignorant mind of mine.
“…What on earth are you all doing?”
I barely restrained my irritation while looking at the three before me.
“How did you know about this…?”
“…”
The three people sitting in front flinched at the question.
They were women with distinctly different hair colors, all standing with their arms raised high.
Namgung Bi-ah, Wi Seol-ah, and Dang So-yeol.
They looked like they were being punished.
This wasn’t a command I’d given; it was simply their choice of stance.
“I clearly tried to keep this under wraps. How did you find out?”
Even as I asked, I received no answers.
Everyone busily avoided making eye contact.
From among them, I pinched Wi Seol-ah’s cheek in the center.
“Eeeek…!”
“Not going to answer?”
“Y-You know it’s hurting, right…?”
Despite whining, Wi Seol-ah still wasn’t giving an answer.
This behavior was mirrored by the other two as well.
The reason for gathering them all up and pestering them like this was none other than this.
“…Just how did you know and applied?”
They had all applied to Seongryongdae.
I knew they would apply immediately if they found out, so I had posted a hasty recruitment notice the day before, but lo and behold, all three had already signed up today.
‘How hard did I have to work to keep my attention diverted?’
Not only had I put up the notice, but I’d also used various methods to distract everyone without raising suspicions.
Everyone had appeared disinterested, so I thought my operation was successful.
‘…The fact that these three showed up means…’
They must have been aware beforehand and just played along, pretending not to know.
Because of that, everything got mixed up.
Honestly, I could’ve easily excluded them, had I noticed.
‘This all went south because of Namgung Bi-ah.’
Things became complicated when Namgung Bi-ah began sparring with Eunranggeom.
Now, rumors concerning Namgung Bi-ah have started to quietly spread around Hanam.
Given her skills and the presentation of those skills, it was pretty straightforward for her to be recognized.
Since I had merely been holed up in my mansion lately, it seemed unexpected for such rumors to hit the air.
Yet here we stood, just one outing, and it had become a mess.
And not just with Namgung Bi-ah.
“…Why are you all here too?”
Seomwolgeom Wi Seol-ah and the conqueror Dang So-yeol.
They’d certainly raised their profiles due to their spectacular performances in the non-combat events.
But those two had also applied to Seongryongdae and come looking for me.
Since I had already passed Namgung Bi-ah, I ended up accepting them too.
Thus, another line of absurd rumors was added to my name.
What on earth did they even say?
‘Did the castle lord place his women in Seongryongdae just to toy with them?’
The moment I heard such nonsense, I wanted to track down whoever started it and give them a good beating.
‘I’m really at my wit’s end.’
I couldn’t help but be exasperated by the situation.
“We, we can totally do this!”
“That’s right…given how this is, it wouldn’t hurt to give it our all!”
“…Yeah.”
“Haah.”
“Give it their all? What even is that supposed to mean?”
Of course, they’d do well at what they were naturally capable of. But really, that wasn’t the core issue at the moment.
Since they’d already been taken in, there was nothing more I could do, yet, regret still lingered.
‘I should have just rejected them.’
Had I refused Namgung Bi-ah from the start, this mess wouldn’t have come about.
But here we were.
Fine, that’s one thing I could excuse for now.
“Seriously, how did you know? Who was it?”
“…”
As expected, still no reply from the trio.
“I’ll let the one who speaks get away with it.”
“B-But that’s…!”
As soon as I randomly said that, Dang So-yeol reacted immediately.
BAM!
“Gah!”
Wi Seol-ah, being in the center, quickly flailed her arm to cover Dang So-yeol’s mouth.
“…Sis.”
“…Ugh… Ugh.”
Dang So-yeol nodded in a hurry at Wi Seol-ah’s soft call.
Seeing that, I frowned and attempted to ask again.
“You seriously aren’t going to say anything…!”
—Master.
“…”
The voice ringing in my ear halted my rising anger.
It was Nahi’s telepathic message.
—Apologies for interrupting your conversation.
—…What’s going on?
This is also an important matter, yet Nahi usually doesn’t interrupt like this, so I asked first.
—Nothing of consequence.
—I just heard the Dark King has arrived in Hanam.
“…”
That was a name I hadn’t heard in a while.
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