Chapter 14 - A Third-Rate Warrior Defending His Sect's Honor (8)
The 60th birthday banquet, which had been scheduled for a week, ended on its second day.
People who had traveled a long way from other provinces had many complaints because they couldn't properly enjoy it, but no one dared to voice their curses.
Because the atmosphere of the Iron Sword Sect had become so grim due to this incident, no one could easily express their anger.
Important figures from all over had attended, but they did not receive a send-off from the Iron Sword Sect Leader, Seong Cheonwol.
After the incident, Seong Cheonwol confined himself indoors, and Seong Mohyeon was locked in confinement.
"He learned the Great Star-Absorbing Art! I'm telling you, he definitely learned the Great Star-Absorbing Art!"
Seong Mohyeon shouted about the Great Star-Absorbing Art like a madman, but even the servants who brought his meals only looked at him with resentful gazes.
And I woke up in a place that wasn't my original lodging.
'What is this?'
Neither my father nor Kang Chaeseok could afford such silk robes, and their bear-like physiques meant they wouldn't suit them anyway.
"Are you awake?"
"Who are you?"
"Is that question meant to test me? Or to mock me? Whatever your intention, I find it unpleasant."
"..."
"Is that the best you can do for the one who helped you with your unfunny little play? For someone who spoke of humanity and justice?"
As expected, Zhuge Somyeong knew everything.
The Taiyi mental cultivation method is an unimaginably pure and outstanding mental cultivation method, so Seong Cheonwol merely stirring up my acupoints a little would not cause internal injuries.
"I have committed a discourtesy, Chief Strategist."
"Enough. Have a seat."
Zhuge Somyeong was busy reading documents and signing them, perhaps because he still had a lot of backlogged work.
I poured the tea in front of me to quench my thirst.
"The wound inside your mouth is quite large. Should I tell them to prepare plain water instead?"
"Ahem... I-It's fine."
I hadn't suffered internal injuries, but because I needed to cough up blood for dramatic effect, I had relentlessly torn the flesh inside my mouth. I wouldn't even be able to smell spicy food for a while.
"Did you know?"
"I became certain after seeing your condition. Still, it was surprising that you hadn't suffered internal injuries. Does the Taiyi Sect have such an outstanding internal qi cultivation method?"
"It is the Taiyi mental cultivation method, the foundation of the Taiyi Sect."
"The Taiyi mental cultivation method shouldn't be able to gather that amount of internal energy."
A question I didn't particularly need to answer.
What was important now was why Zhuge Somyeong hadn't told the Iron Sword Sect Leader even though he knew the truth.
If he became certain after seeing the wound inside my mouth, it meant he had already suspected it beforehand, and if so, he could have slipped away early on, yet Zhuge Somyeong still added strength to my operation.
"..."
When he finished writing on one document, he would read a new one and either sign it or roll it back up and return it to its place.
"Since when did you plan this?"
"I don't know what you mean..."
"Was it at the drinking party you had the day before? Or was it when Seong Mohyeon mentioned a forbidden art?"
"... I do not know what you are talking about."
"You are dragging out time needlessly. Must I speak of how great a sin it is to drag the Murim Alliance into your play by deliberately bringing up the Disciplinary Pavilion before you open your mouth?"
Only then could I understand why Zhuge Somyeong had played along despite knowing everything.
He had intervened simply because he found this scenario I had woven to be amusing.
As Cheongi's words that smart people feel strong interest in brilliant and surprising things came to mind, I felt certain that I could wring something out of the Chief Strategist too.
"I don't know what you have been talking about since earlier."
"... Must I raise the whip in the end?"
"I have always known that to open an opponent's mouth, silver is more effective than the whip."
Zhuge Somyeong, with an expression of disbelief, placed the Ninefold Sword he had stood up next to him onto the table.
"I heard you refused when Seong Moran initially offered to host a drinking party?"
It seemed he had already investigated the entire truth behind the incident.
"The Iron Sword Sect Leader also said he would give me three Iron Heart Pills. Has that been called off?"
"Ha ha."
Zhuge Somyeong took out a small wooden box from his robes, and I quickly opened it to confirm that the three Iron Heart Pills were inside.
"... Are you checking them right in front of me?"
"Isn't it best to be certain about everything?"
Zhuge Somyeong looked at me as if thinking, *What kind of bastard is this? *
"It was from the moment I heard that the Iron Sword Sect used the Gyeryong Merchant Group to invite the Taiyi Sect."
"What?"
"If it was simply for friendship, wouldn't they have politely sent an invitation? But instead, they used the Gyeryong Merchant Group, which has a massive influence on the Taiyi Sect, to force our attendance. Unless they had some intention, what reason would there be to do such a thing?"
"Hah..."
Since it was something I had known since my past life anyway, I spoke honestly. If I pointlessly tried to lie in front of the Chief Strategist, everything would be exposed anyway.
"Then did you know Seong Mohyeon would mention a forbidden art? And how did you make Seong Mohyeon think that way?"
"Which of the two are you curious about?"
"I am curious about both."
"Then the calculation does not match."
"What do you mean the calculation does not match? Without me, you wouldn't have obtained the Ninefold Sword or the Iron Heart Pills. Furthermore, you might have lost your life."
"Instead, the Iron Sword Sect and the Murim Alliance would have been cursed at for a long time due to this incident. And the Iron Sword Sect would never have dared to suppress the Taiyi Sect and enter the 108 Peaks ever again."
"Regardless, it was because of my help that it worked out so well."
"You did not do what was obviously right in the first place, Chief Strategist, and only resolved it after the problem had escalated. This cannot be called receiving help."
"Did not do what was right?"
"Our Taiyi Sect was being unjustly oppressed, and instead of judging right from wrong, you were calculating who would be more beneficial to the Murim Alliance."
"... That is my job."
"Therefore, I did not receive your help, nor do I owe you any debt, Chief Strategist. So wouldn't answering all of your questions be a mismatch in calculation?"
Zhuge Somyeong's mouth dropped open for the first time.
"In Jianghu, there are those who wait for days with ten thousand gold just to converse with me for fifteen minutes. Yet you refuse, even when you can have such an opportunity with just a few answers?"
"Isn't that because they intend to meet you since they have more to gain than ten thousand gold?"
"Ha! You have nothing to ask of me?"
"Our Taiyi Sect accepted Gye Cheolyeong just so we could eat three meals a day instead of two. What profit would our Taiyi Sect gain by associating with you, Chief Strategist?"
"Hah..."
An overt display of displeasure.
Even so, if we had no reason to meet in the future, wouldn't he just be an old man to me? Even if I entered the Murim Alliance, what reason would I have to meet a high-ranking figure of the Mantong Bureau?
"Wouldn't today be the last day I see you in my life, Chief Strategist?"
"..."
"If you have nothing more to say, I will take my leave now."
"... Tell me about 'Did you know Seong Mohyeon would mention a forbidden art?'."
As expected of the Chief Strategist, his curiosity about strategy was greater than his curiosity about martial arts.
"It did not necessarily have to be a forbidden art. Seong Mohyeon was certain of his victory, and that was a fact even the people of the Taiyi Sect knew. Under such circumstances, he wouldn't have been able to believe that he would lose. Outstanding geniuses who cross swords with me will probably be unable to shake off the thought that I am using sorcery from their minds."
"... So you could have just won normally?"
"Isn't that something you already know, Chief Strategist?"
Zhuge Somyeong was not only brilliant in mind but also an outstanding warrior in his own right. In his youth, every time his Snow Flower Iron Fan moved, the blood of the Underworld scattered in all directions would form a river.
"Then couldn't you have just cleanly led the sparring match to a victory?"
"I cannot gain anything by simply winning, can I?"
"..."
"After winning the sparring match overwhelmingly, there's no telling how they might cause harm again in the future. But if an incident like this blows up once, won't they keep quiet for at least ten years?"
"I could have ignored it until the end."
"If you had done that, it would have been no different from the Murim Alliance losing its justification for existence. Would you have done so?"
To stubbornly ignore it while drunkards gathered from all over the world were watching? That would only worsen the public opinion of the Murim Alliance, which was already souring.
"... Even so, what if you were framed for having learned a forbidden art until the bitter end despite everything?"
"If that happened, the Murim Alliance's Disciplinary Pavilion would have probably taken my corpse, and revealed through a post-mortem examination that I hadn't learned a forbidden art."
Zhuge Somyeong, who had kept his mouth shut tight as if struck speechless, finally opened his mouth after a long while.
"... Did you risk your life for a mere matter like this?"
"Did you say 'mere'? Because of that 'mere' matter, the Iron Sword Sect used the Gyeryong Merchant Group to pressure the Taiyi Sect. Because of that 'mere' matter, the wound my father received from Seong Jutak twenty years ago still remains as a scar, and because of that 'mere' matter, the people of the Taiyi Sect were willing to risk their lives to fight the entire Iron Sword Sect."
"..."
"Isn't that name more important to the Zhuge Clan than gold? What difference does it make for a small sect?"
"Hmm..."
This is always the problem with those high up. The narrow-mindedness of thinking that their name is a value more noble than anything else, while our name is not something worth risking our lives for.
That must be what made the Murim Alliance in my past life turn out like that.
"Then let me ask you one thing. If the name of a small sect holds such value, when the Taiyi Sect and the Zhuge Clan stand in opposition to each other. By what method would the Taiyi Sect deal with the Zhuge Clan?"
"..."
Instead of answering, I looked at him.
He quickly realized my intention and let out an absurd laugh.
"Tsk, tsk. Are you saying the calculation doesn't match?"
"Yes."
"Right. What should I give you to make the calculation match? I am a man who has devoted himself to the academy, so I have no money to give you."
Rummaging through his robes, Zhuge Somyeong took out a small token made of ivory.
On the ivory token, which was about the size of two fingers, the word 'Admission' was written.
An item that was rife with rumors of its existence, but rarely seen in person.
It was an Admission Token that granted effortless entry to the Murim Academy without taking the 'standard exam' known as the Hellish Standard Exam or using the 'special recruitment' privilege reserved for the 108 Peaks.
The Admission Token, which could not be obtained even with hundreds of millions of gold, had appeared right before my eyes.
"Will this be enough?"
I quickly snatched up the Admission Token and put it into my robes, and Zhuge Somyeong let out a sigh as if he found it absurd once again.
"Standing in opposition to the Zhuge Clan. Truly, it is terrible just to imagine. If I had to pick the most troublesome opponent among the Five Great Noble Clans, I would choose the Zhuge Clan."
"It is already morning. Tell me about it."
"Well. First, I would sell all of our family assets as much as possible."
"And after that?"
"And then I would divide the assets, split up the adults and the children, and scatter them all over the world. Even so, surely the Zhuge Clan, an Orthodox faction sect, wouldn't send pursuers to silence them by killing them."
"..."
Zhuge Somyeong gave me a look as if he were looking at a dog eating shit.
"Is that it?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"You just wanted me to answer the question, you didn't explicitly say I had to give the correct answer."
"... Is this part of your plan too?"
"The calculation doesn't match."
"... I'm sick and tired of this talk about calculations."
"May I take my leave now?"
"You will come to the Murim Academy, won't you?"
"... Do I really have to be the one to enter?"
"The Admission Token was given to you, so how you use it is up to you. It already proves its existence just by being what it is."
"Understood. I do plan to challenge the Murim Academy."
"To enter the Mantong Bureau, it is advantageous to complete the Murim Academy."
"Yes... well, I suppose so."
The genius among geniuses.
Especially since the Mantong Bureau is a top-tier position that one cannot enter without a brilliant mind.
But to me, it's the place I least want to go.
"If you complete the Murim Academy, I will make sure to prepare a spot for you in the Mantong Bureau."
"??"
I burst out in shock at Zhuge Somyeong's sudden bullshit.
The Mantong Bureau? What kind of nonsense was this? Even in my past life, I couldn't fight alongside my junior martial brothers because I was looking at documents, and he wants me to do that shit again in this life?
I wouldn't do it even if I died.
If the war dragged on anyway, I would have to go to the battlefield as well. Rather than that, it would be better for me, my junior martial brothers, and those in the field if I built up my experience on the front lines in advance to raise my rank.
"Ah... I have no interest in the Mantong Bureau."
Zhuge Somyeong tilted his head for the first time.
"I've been thinking this since the sparring match. Are you a little crazy?"
No, honestly speaking, isn't a bastard who would choose to sit at a desk while his junior martial brothers are dying a crazier bastard?
