On the way to the Jae Cheon Alliance, there was no one I could get close with. They were generally keeping their distance, as if talking to me would bring them trouble.
Traveling with people who cannot speak is boring.
It might have been enjoyable if they had eaten at the restaurant I suggested, but they declined. Eventually, we used the carriage, so after meals I would request to rest or meditate.
Although I was being dragged by them like some prisoner, my heart was at peace.
I wasn’t sure why my heart remained calm sometimes. Is it because I slept a lot? Or because I was traveling?
Although the alliance was a place I never visited in the past life, after they changed names, the alliance leader fought and killed his warriors.
In any case, I killed more unorthodox people than the orthodox ones did.
Killed more evil factions than the unorthodox did. In the grand scheme of things, there were times when both sides were hit, but it was an ambiguous issue because there are those who consider themselves unorthodox fighters and draw a line.
And the Jae Cheon Alliance was one of them.
They are spoiled and occasionally worthless, argumentative, trying to control the atmosphere.
During the journey, sometimes were quiet but sometimes I would pick a fight in an attempt to set the mood. We had been going down the road for a long time and after eating, I don’t even remember how many meals, the road turned bumpy.
By the time we got back onto the flat road….
The carriage came to a halt and I prepared to get off.
I get off the carriage with the energy that has accumulated from eating and sleeping so well. The front gate of the alliance holds an air of prestige similar to what I felt seeing the Murim Alliance.
There was no need for any introductions.
All the guards and passersby were clad in a regal blue uniform.
Those who spoke in a normal tone changed their tones and began to speak very respectfully to me.
“Sect Leader, let us head in.”
I look around at the warriors who accompanied me this far.
“Everyone has been through a lot. Are your heads alright?”
The guy who became unexpectedly bald after being hit 100,000 times looks at me with a disapproving look.
“Not fine.”
I smile and nod.
“But I didn’t even kill you?”
“That’s true.”
After bursting into laughter, I enter the alliance. The guys who brought me, report to the guard at the front gate.
“It is Low-Down Sect Leader, who has been called by the alliance leader.”
“Any more companions?”
“As you can see, none. Why ask useless questions?”
“I am asking because it’s protocol.”
“Why are you speaking like that?”
These bastards are so into arguing between themselves, I feel inclined to step in.
“Shut up. You fucking morons. Are you idiots? To fight amongst yourselves?”
The guard and the escort simultaneously glare at me. Come to think of it, I slapped this guy’s cheek a few times on the way here because he would often make the most disrespectful facial expressions.
“Your expression….”
As I raise my hand once more, the guard stifles his laughter and yells,
“Please open the door!”
The guy on the top of the wall gives a signal and the front door opens with a loud bang. Is it alright to use such an old castle under the name of an alliance? When I walk in, I can see quite a lot of troops.
“Yaaah, so cool.”
At this stage, I wonder if someone from this area, or a high-ranking official, had transformed into a formidable individual leveraging their family name and its esteemed reputation.
A group which uses the term “alliance,” but the atmosphere feels so different from the Murim Alliance. I walk along the path, feeling as if I am visiting a small nation.
“Low-Down Sect Leader has arrived.”
The guards at the entrance block the way with their spears.
“Wait. He is in a meeting.”
After traveling this far, I am stopped at the door without knowing what was happening.
The guy who conveyed the message says,
“Sect Leader, you will have to wait a bit. Do not stay there and come join us.”
I take a few steps back and kick the door in. With the sound of a loud bang, the sturdy hall doors swing open and the warriors of the alliance sitting at the long table jump up with startled expressions.
“What is this?”
I stand at the entrance and speak to them.
“The humble Sect Leader, Lee Zaha, has come in response to the alliance leader’s summons.”
One guy immediately draws his sword, but someone stops him.
“He is a guest of the alliance leader. It is up to the alliance leader to decide whether to kill him or not.”
The young man holds out his sword and says,
“Is he a complete madman?”
I ignore his sword and walk over to the stand at the end of the long table. If I sit here, I’ll be able to talk face-to-face with the alliance leader, who will be sitting at the other end in front of them all.
“Bring me a chair.”
As the group proceeds to ignore my words, I spot a chair that was placed on the side of the wall. As I go to get the chair, I look at them and the eyes of warriors are fixed on me and their heads follow me slowly.
I bring the chair and put it in a position where I can see the face of the alliance leader. At this point, there are people who are chuckling and those who were silently laughing.
I have nothing to say to them, so I look at the warriors one after another.
“…”
I raise my hands and say,
“Anyone who wants to speak?”
“…”
“None? Fine.”
I lower my hands and look around the place when someone asks,
“Do you know why you were called all the way here?”
“I don’t know.”
“I called you because you mentioned killing our men. When the leader of the alliance speaks to you, display courtesy and apologize for it.”
Anticipating the inconvenience of having to repeat what he said again, when the alliance leader comes forward, he goes silent. Instead, I look around to gauge their skills. In general, it is a lie to say that you can understand the skills of someone by simply looking at them. Moreover, when faced with numerous exceptional warriors, it becomes challenging to discern their talents individually.
I locked eyes with many of them. And I observed everyone’s facial expressions.
I wait for the alliance leader while relaxing my neck which feels sore from the ride. As I kept my mouth shut, words of ridicule flowed out, as always, towards me.
“Captain Kwon, what is Low-Down Sect Leader doing?”
“I don’t know. It looks like the forces of the unorthodox sect were beaten down and he came here.”
What he said was wrong, so I correct him.
“Not unorthodox but Demonic Cult.”
This makes them all glare at me.
I flare my nose and then look at my fingers. Surprisingly, they remained clean even after digging in my nose, but the finger used for picking was undoubtedly more attractive than the repulsive faces surrounding me.
“Alliance leader is coming.”
The warriors get up at once and look at me when I don’t rise for him. The guy on the right to me says,
“Get up.”
With my chin resting on my arm, I look at him and close my eyes. I could feel someone open their mouth to nag me, but then they go silent when footsteps can be heard. The sound of light footsteps and the sound of a sword clinking softly.
The alliance leader, who had walked in without saying a word, makes me open my eyes after I hear a sound.
And he asks,
“Who are you?”
A warrior says,
“Lee Zaha. Low-Down Sect Leader.”
“Why is he here? Ask him to go out and wait.”
While the warriors glare at me, I glare at the alliance leader.
He seems to be similar to Im So-baek in terms of age, and he was a man who often fought with Im So-baek in the past life too. When I meet him in person, he looks like a man of mixed color. Kangho people are secretly of mixed blood. Among them, I could see hints of people originating from the Sata Tribe, but I am not one to care about the appearance of the person.
But this man bothers me so much. There is a difference between being ugly and disgusting.
I get up and sit down as if I changed my mind and decided not to.
“… if you called for me, then tell me why. Wait. Don’t tell me to stay. I am not your subordinate, and you are not in alliance with the Low-Down Sect. I came here all the way by myself, so be polite.”
I think I spoke a bit too honestly.
A couple of people here and there begin to smile and so does the alliance leader.
“As I heard, there doesn’t seem to be any sanity in here. Let’s start with the Low-Down Sect Leader.”
“Yes, alliance leader.”
I muttered to myself,
“… this is where the blackmail starts.”
This way it won’t be like talking to myself. This seems a bit absurd, but even the alliance leader smiles as he says,
“Low-Down Sect Leader, are you being blatantly disrespectful because you are close to Im So-baek? I heard that you are polite to him, but you don’t seem to treat me like that.”
This man seems to have a way with words, probably because he is a leader. I answer with a nod.
“The class is different. Im So-baek is better. Power is greater. Since he is running the Murim Alliance to take care of people’s livelihood, his purpose and meaning is even greater. On the other hand, you took a huge amount of money and turned a blind eye to the dishonesty and collusion of bad merchants. Intervening in newly started businesses to extort money, or buying a business with money to accumulate wealth- I wouldn’t dare to compare you to Im So-baek. I have no shame. Still, I guess in the end you will have more money than Im So-baek.”
The warriors all go silent and turn to their leader. The smile on his face had vanished as he asks,
“Are you saying all that because you have confidence to get out of here alive?”
“I don’t act based on calculations. If you want to kill, come and attack me. it is true that we both have a dark nature, so it won’t be too late to continue this conversation after the fight.”
“A wild friend.”
I nod.
“Seems like there are many warriors eager for a fight.”
The alliance leader, Ju-guk, turns to me and says,
“Let us talk more.”
“Is that so? Did you call me because I told you I would single handedly kill all your warriors? Were those words offensive to you? Why did the leader of the alliance rely on the members of the Demonic Cult to attack and murder me? If it’s involving money, you don’t seem to care about who the client is. I am already in a situation where I killed men of the Demonic Sect and have stomped on the beliefs of the Cult Leader, but if you continue to act strong while taking orders from the Demonic Cult, I will stand back stronger too.”
As I am talking, I scratch my cheek.
“What if I want to continue? Let us talk.”
I scratch my cheek and say,
“Is this a battlefield or something? I am sure that the captain who had been sent to kill me was under orders, but to call me down here because you angry… do you think I’m a moron?”
Alliance Leader Ju-guk turns to me with a blank look. It was a look that was measuring my skill level and then he says,
“No matter how I look at you, your skills aren’t much higher than mine, so I cannot understand how you can come forward with such confidence.”
I lightly tap the table with my hand.
“Do not try to understand me because I don’t understand it myself. Let’s just say that I am right here. I am the enemy of the Demonic Cult. If you continue to play this role with the Demonic Cult, it will be war.”
I glare at all of them and say,
“I will make sure to run right after I kill the alliance leader with my own hands, and, if I am unlucky, I will die right here. I will also accept one-on-one fights. Do whatever you want to, be it attacking at once, going on the defensive at once, going for one-on-one till death, or having the alliance leader directly attack. Do not expect to achieve anything with threats or negotiations.”
The atmosphere changes so suddenly that I flinch. I could feel the tension in the air. Looking at the situation, it feels like everyone is ready to attack.
Ju-guk laughs.
“You seem confident. Then the best solution would be for us to go one-on-one. Are you okay with that?”
I put both hands on the table and stand up.
“Not bad. If the opponent is the alliance leader, I will fight with all my might. It was worth coming all the way here.”
The other warriors stand up quietly, and the alliance leader also stands up from his place. I turn around with my hands behind my back and kick open the main door. I suddenly see the clear sky, so I shout as I head outside,
“The weather is, nice… ah!”
I walk with my back exposed to the alliance leader and then turn with my arms around my waist. No matter how much I think about it, wouldn’t the alliance leader be stronger than me? I can’t shake that doubt out of my mind.
Then, I go in with the mindset to defeat him.
Well, things were getting noisy.
If I run while destroying the goods of the alliance leader, wouldn’t alliance leader also change his mind?
Forget it.
When did I become such a schemer?
I glare at the alliance leader who is walking out with his chin up.
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