What?
For a second I could only stare at Woo Aseok in a daze.
Had I misheard him just now, or had the old man really said what I thought he said?
“...What did you just say?”
I asked again because I genuinely couldn’t believe it, and Woo Aseok answered in his usual brusque tone.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said what you want is too expensive. The price you brought isn’t enough to buy that information.”
“...What kind of—!”
How could that make any sense?
This wasn’t some lesser grade. It was Gold. I had brought the highest rank the Beggars’ Union had, and he was telling me even that wasn’t enough?
“I thought Gold meant you answered anything.”
“Who told you that?”
“What?”
“Who told you Gold gets you an answer to everything?”
“...No one.”
That was just what people said.
“So that’s not true?”
“It isn’t.”
Woo Aseok said it while picking at his nose.
“There’s one more rank above Gold. It’s just that no one holds it anymore.”
“...There’s a rank like that?”
“Ink. A rank that lets you view any information the Beggars’ Union possesses.”
“...”
I frowned.
I had never even heard of such a rank.
“Of course you haven’t. The current Beggars’ Union Leader can only grant it once. The only man who ever held it was your master.”
“...You mean the Sword Saint?”
“That’s right. But that damned bastard went and died, so the Ink rank is... well. Maybe someone will get it when the next Beggars’ Union Leader appears. Heh heh heh.”
“...”
So the Ink rank had belonged to Yoo Cheongil.
And he had died with it still in his possession.
...Which means there is no Ink rank unless the next Beggars’ Union Leader appears and grants it to someone.
And that meant one more thing.
“...Are you saying the thing I asked about is information that requires the Ink rank?”
“You catch on fast.”
“Are you insane? What about that question could possibly require Ink?”
It was absurd.
What had I even asked?
Just about my family, and about Father.
So why was the Ink rank suddenly coming up?
I was so thrown off I almost laughed.
...What the hell is it?
What kind of secret could my house possibly be hiding?
Lately I had been getting more and more curious about my family as it was.
And after hearing this—
...there’s no way I can just leave it alone now.
Either I did not dig at all.
Or if I did dig, I had to dig properly.
Those were the only two options left.
So what should I do?
I thought about it for a moment, but—
Is there even anything to think about?
Right now, there was no answer to be had.
Still, I had learned one thing.
...There’s something there.
Whether it was Father, or the family itself.
There was some secret there—enough of one that even the Beggars’ Union Leader had brought up the Ink rank.
What the hell is this, really?
I had thought we were just a family that had been ruined by the wrong head taking charge.
A house with a respectable name, maybe, but one too embarrassing to show off anywhere.
...For fuck’s sake.
Who would have thought that kind of house had a secret like this buried in it?
“Right then, brat. Anything else you want to ask? I’ll pretend that first one never happened, so hurry up and ask.”
“...Hmm.”
Something else I was curious about?
If I couldn’t ask about the family, what else was there—
Ah.
Something I had forgotten came back to me.
There was one other thing I wanted to ask.
“Then let me ask about something else.”
“Go on.”
“Can you give me information about the Dark Sovereign?”
“...Hm?”
The moment he heard the name, Woo Aseok’s expression twisted.
“The Dark Sovereign...? Why?”
“There’s something I want to know.”
“...Heh heh heh.”
A laugh slipped out of him before he spoke.
“Just in case, brat.”
“Yes?”
“Do you happen to want to die early?”
“...No?”
More than anyone, I wanted to stay alive.
“And yet you’re asking about the Dark Sovereign?”
“Why? Don’t tell me this one needs Ink too.”
That would at least have made sense.
The Dark Sovereign was the Dark Sovereign. If his information needed Ink, I could have accepted that.
“No. Gold is enough for this one.”
“...Oh. Really?”
So information on the Dark Sovereign could be bought with Gold, but my family required Ink?
This is driving me insane.
Compared side by side, that made it even stranger.
It meant my family mattered more than the Dark Sovereign’s information.
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
“If you want it, I can give it to you. But you’ll be the one who bears what comes after. Are you still willing?”
“...What do you mean, what comes after?”
“You may not know this, but if the Dark Sovereign finds out, he may come looking for you. And if that happens, even your illustrious maternal grandfather won’t be able to stop him.”
“...”
That was not a light warning.
The Dark Sovereign coming to find me?
That meant—
I die.
It meant execution.
No one survived meeting the Dark Sovereign.
Well. I had survived once.
Anyway.
I hesitated for a moment.
But after coming this far, was there anything left to hesitate over?
I thought about it briefly, then made my decision.
“...Give it to me.”
“Heh heh... Fine. Understood.”
Woo Aseok nodded.
“That said, it’s not information I can hand over immediately. Give me three days, and I’ll pass it to you after that.”
“Three days?”
Was there really that much information?
As I stood there, puzzled, Woo Aseok explained.
“It isn’t about the amount. It’s about getting it to you safely, beyond the Dark Sovereign’s sight.”
“Ah... I understand.”
Then I could wait as long as I had to.
Of course I could.
“I think that’s everything, so get out. And pass my regards to your maternal grandfather.”
“Yes. Understood.”
I lowered my head and rose to my feet.
There didn’t seem to be anything left to say.
When I stepped outside, Yu Yul was waiting for me.
“Done talking?”
“Yes. More or less.”
Something still sat wrong with me, but this was enough for now.
Thinking that, I started walking.
*****
Right after Bang Seongyeon left, inside the shabby shack—
“Hm.”
Staff Strike Woo Aseok tilted his head and rolled his jaw from side to side.
As he did, the old man standing behind him spoke.
“Union Leader.”
“What is it?”
The old man had overheard a fair amount of the conversation.
He was Gye Yong, a Beggars’ Union elder.
“...Do you truly intend to hand over information on the Dark Sovereign?”
The Dark Sovereign.
The one called the master of the night, and an object of fear to every martial artist alive.
Information about him was exceedingly rare, and rumor had it that even if someone learned something about him, the [N O V E L I G H T] Dark Sovereign would somehow track down anyone who knew and kill them.
“Tsk tsk. That’s not entirely true either.”
“...What do you mean by that...?”
“If he killed everyone who knew anything, how do you think the Beggars’ Union would still be standing?”
“...”
“Well, it’s true enough that he leaves us alone because the Beggars’ Union is what it is. But he’s not the sort who runs around killing every last person.”
There was a line.
It was just so vague no one else could see it clearly.
Still—
“Giving that information to that brat is a somewhat dangerous choice.”
“...You know that, and yet you’re still doing it? Are you trying to put him in danger on purpose?”
“This little bastard. What kind of trash do you take me for?”
Then why?
The elder’s eyes were full of doubt.
Seeing that, Woo Aseok chuckled.
“On the contrary. I’m trying to build up a little goodwill. For that, I have to clean up the trail a few times.”
“...Goodwill? With Thousand-Mile Divine Eye?”
“What kind of nonsense is that? What would I gain by currying favor with him? He’s already just an old man waiting in the back room.”
“Then... don’t tell me.”
With Moon Hero?
The Beggars’ Union Leader was trying to build goodwill with Moon Hero?
“With that little boy...?”
“That’s right. A little boy. Which is exactly why I need to do it now.”
“What?”
“That boy isn’t ordinary. Didn’t you feel it even after seeing him?”
The elder looked like he couldn’t understand it at all.
Seeing that, Woo Aseok sighed to himself.
Damn. I still don’t have anyone to hand this seat to.
“He noticed me, for one thing. And his eyes never stayed still the entire time.”
“His eyes?”
“He was reading the surroundings. The atmosphere. He may even have figured you out.”
“...!”
Me? Even while I was hidden?
“On top of that, the way he acts... he’s no normal rotten little bastard. He carries himself like someone who’s already been dragged through all the filth there is. It was hard to find a gap in him.”
At times he acted weak.
At times he acted like he knew nothing at all.
And all the while he stayed sharp, flashed his fangs, then went dull again and stepped back.
It’s been a long time since I nearly broke a sweat.
Now he understood why Thousand-Mile Divine Eye had his eye on the boy.
Heh heh heh. That old monster must be rotting inside over this.
It had to sting.
The fact that he isn’t from the Zhuge Family, I mean.
Thousand-Mile Divine Eye had still failed to hand the family head’s seat to his own son despite being that old, all because he could not find a successor.
He wanted an heir at his own level, or close to it—but where in the Central Plains was a freak like that supposed to appear?
He did manage to get one out of the Zhuge line, at least.
The problem was that it was the child of the daughter who had already severed ties.
“Heh heh heh.”
“Union Leader...?”
“And it’s not just his head that stands out.”
Woo Aseok had known the moment he saw him.
Younger generation?
Even the disciple of Moon Immortal Sword who had been standing behind him was impressive, but—
That one can’t be described as part of the younger generation.
He looked like he had already reached transcendent peak.
They had gone on about him being the Sword Saint’s inheritor and all that.
...That rotten bastard stayed lucky to the very end.
It seemed that madman had taken in and raised an absurd monster.
That eccentric bastard who was forever saying the Azure Moon Sect’s disciples were the problem had somehow produced a successor to his liking.
If that’s the case...
Was Bang Seongyeon something that wielded Yoo Cheongil’s sword while possessing brains and instincts to match?
Good grief.
Just imagining that hybrid made him sick.
Thinking that, Woo Aseok shook his head.
How nice would it have been if his own disciple had turned out that way?
The thought flashed through him for a moment.
Then he pushed it aside and moved on.
He was an information broker.
Envy could wait.
First he had to take what he could get.
I’ve built up some goodwill.
That boy would become something big one day, no matter what.
Which was why Woo Aseok had given him quite a lot by his own standards.
Bang Seongyeon didn’t look like a fool.
He would understand what had just been handed to him.
Woo Aseok had brought up the Ink rank and, in doing so, told him indirectly what level his question was on.
And on top of that, with the Dark Sovereign matter, he was going out of his way to do extra work he didn’t actually have to do.
That much, at least, was something he would never have done for Thousand-Mile Divine Eye.
He’ll understand.
If it was that boy, he would definitely understand the consideration behind it.
And if he didn’t—
Then I’ll make sure he does.
If Woo Aseok gave something, he collected something in return no matter what.
That was his creed.
If Bang Seongyeon failed to realize what he had been given, then Woo Aseok would simply make him realize it.
But even so—
Hm.
On this part, he honestly wasn’t certain.
Bang Seongyeon’s background was the problem.
If he touched it carelessly, there was no telling what might happen.
Thousand-Mile Divine Eye?
Yoo Cheongil?
Divine Spear?
In truth, none of them were the issue.
What was there to fear from old monsters already standing at the edge of retirement?
What mattered was—
The Bang Family...
The Bang Family of Liaoning.
That was the real obstacle.
—Please tell me about the Bang Family of Liaoning, and about its head, Bang Cheonho.
That was what Bang Seongyeon had asked him.
Information about his own family. About his own father.
The boy seemed to have noticed something himself.
But—
Don’t be ridiculous.
That was not something you could reveal just because someone wanted to know it.
That place is a bottomless abyss.
Deeper and darker than anything else.
The moment you stepped wrong, you fell forever.
A warped history forged in the past.
That was what the Bang Family was, to the Woo Aseok who knew it.
