Chapter 26

The eldest young master of the Luoyang Sword House, Yeon Sang-hyeon.

For her, meeting him today had been something she had never predicted at all.

Because of that, even the plan to firmly warn the Pavilion Master of Hyeonwol Pavilion had only achieved half its intended result.

Part One: Omen 

Now was the time when Geumju ended her day, and it was the time she considered the most important part of her daily routine.

It was none other than bathing.

Today as well, she had sunk herself deep inside a specially crafted granite bathtub made only for her.

Since it was the historic day on which she had obtained the Sword House Bronze Plaque, the bath that ended her day could not help but feel even more enjoyable.

On top of that, she had also landed a blow on Hyeonwol Pavilion, which had always felt like a thorn in her eye, so she was even happier.

However, there was something that left an unpleasant feeling in one corner of her heart.

‘That swordless bastard….’

If it had only been that, it would not have bothered her so much.

As someone who did “business,” she knew very well that plans began to go wrong the very moment they were made.

And yet, there was still something weighing on her mind.

It was none other than the fact that the information on the Luoyang Sword House she had received in the morning had not mentioned the eldest young master’s plans to go out at all.

Of course, there was no reason for them to give her information about Yeon Sang-hyeon, who held the status of eldest young master.

However.

The one who had handed her information along with the Sword House Bronze Plaque had known that Geumju would visit Hyeonwol Pavilion today.

Was that not what they had guided her into doing?

And yet, why had they not given her information about the eldest young master going out?

She bit her fingernail.

Could it be that even the second young master’s side did not have the authority to access information about the eldest young master’s plans?

But that possibility was faint.

Then…

“…No one knew the eldest young master’s plans from the beginning?”

“What do you mean, my lady?”

The goateed chief steward waiting beside her asked, but she did not answer.

Come to think of it, the eldest young master she had met today was far too different from the swordless man she had only heard about through rumors until now.

—What are you doing? Hand that over.

She recalled the way he had calmly held out his palm toward her and asked for the Sword House Bronze Plaque.

‘That bastard’s attitude was strangely confident.’

Even if he had a master guarding him, could someone really remain that calm in a place filled with armed men?

Could there be some secret about the eldest young master that she did not know…?

‘No. That is taking it too far.’

Geumju, whose imagination had begun growing larger and larger, shook her head.

That calm attitude must surely have been because he was the eldest young master of the Sword House.

If he knew full well that there was no one in Luoyang who would dare lay a hand on him, what reason would he have to be afraid?

On top of that, rumors were always exaggerated by nature, so it was only right to take into account that the rumors about the swordless man had likely been exaggerated to some degree.

‘Besides, even when I insulted him so much to his face, he could not do anything in the end because he had no strength, did he?’

Once her thoughts had been arranged to that point, her heart became much lighter.

“…Chief Steward, the water has gone cold.”

At those words, the chief steward’s face stiffened for an instant.

The maids waiting around the bathtub to attend to Geumju also struggled to hide their expressions.

The chief steward swallowed dryly and shouted toward the outside.

“The young lady says the water has gone cold!”

Then the door opened, and Geumju’s direct subordinates entered, carrying girls whose entire bodies had been bound.

The girls all looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen. Their mouths were gagged, and their eyes were full of fear.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

The subordinates laid the girls down in a straight line so that their upper bodies hung over the bathtub.

The girls sensed their own fate and tried to resist, but the subordinates roughly held them down from behind.

“Hm, they seem a little lacking in freshness…?”

As Geumju examined the girls and spoke, the chief steward hid his discomfort and answered.

“…I will instruct them to select the offerings more properly.”

Geumju’s hand flashed, and the girls’ throats were sliced open all at once.

The subordinates grabbed the girls by the hair and stepped back so that their severed heads would not fall into the bathtub.

“Phew. These days, I have been getting noticeably more wrinkles, so it has been worrying me….”

As fresh blood poured down and warmed the bathtub again, Geumju touched her own skin and grumbled.

‘Insane bitch….’

The goateed man cursed Geumju inwardly.

He, too, had lived in the back alleys all this time and seen every kind of filthy scene imaginable, but he had never seen depravity like that of his own boss.

This woman called Geumju was, without question, a wicked woman among wicked women.

“Not at all. How could that be? Lady Geumju’s skin is finer than silk.”

Of course, the words that came out of his mouth were completely different.

Whether Geumju was a wicked woman or a demoness, it was no concern of his.

Besides, from the very beginning, he himself had done enough things that he had no right to feel ashamed for cursing her.

Had that not been the case, how could he have eaten so well and lived so comfortably in a world as filthy as this?

It was simply that, as he grew older, he had been becoming noticeably more sentimental lately.

Just then, the door burst open, and one of the organization members rolled in as though tumbling.

“Urgent report!”

The chief steward’s expression hardened.

“What is it?”

“One of the meat factories has been attacked! They say it has been completely destroyed!”

“What?!”

Geumju sprang to her feet.

“We do not know the details. The deliverymen apparently found several children who were barely alive.”

“Who did it?!”

At Geumju’s sharp voice, the organization member shrank his neck and answered.

“They were all out of their minds, and they died almost immediately…”

The chief steward pressed him.

“Even so, they must have said something!”

The organization member hesitated before answering.

“They said they saw some evil spirit, or that an evil ghost did it, or that it was a monster…”

The chief steward’s eyebrows rose.

“An evil spirit? An evil ghost? A monster?”

“Y-yes. And, well, there was also talk of someone seeing a white mask.”

At those incoherent words, Geumju asked back.

“A white mask?”

“Yes, but they all died right away, so we could not get a proper story…”

She grimaced deeply.

After standing there for a moment and gathering her thoughts, she sank back into the bathtub.

It was not yet time to take this too seriously.

“He must have gotten into trouble with some martial arts master.”

The chief steward picked up her words.

“Come to think of it, last year, we once provoked a wandering master by mistake and lost an entire branch.”

Only a limited number of people were born with the talent to handle energy.

And among them, even fewer learned proper martial arts and became martial artists.

Among those martial artists, the ones who crossed the wall and became masters were fewer still.

“…I feel it every time I do business in this world, but for beings who are supposed to be so rare, we run into masters far too often.”

“Yes, yes. No matter how you look at it, there is certainly that tendency.”

Geumju sighed and leaned her head back against the bathtub.

“Tell the children not to make any noise for the time being. If they shut up and keep their heads down, that bastard will make a fuss here and there for a while, tire himself out, and go on his way.”

“When day breaks, I will have them investigate further as well.”

After the subordinate closed the door and left, Geumju grew irritated.

“What useless bastard is acting up this time? Honestly, this is why you must not raise children by filling their heads with strange nonsense about chivalrous heroes and whatnot from the time they are young.”

Sensing that her mood was worsening rapidly, the chief steward hurriedly gestured to the maids.

The maids immediately brought out alcohol and cups, lit incense, and busied themselves.

“To get angry and rush in over something that does not even make money… People should learn to live a little more smoothly, more flexibly, and adapt to the ways of the world.”

“Yes, yes. You are absolutely right.”

The chief steward worked hard to stay in her good graces.

At that moment, Geumju’s guard, who had been sitting to one side, muttered.

“An evil ghost…?”

Hearing that, Geumju asked the guard.

“What? Have you heard something?”

“Ah, well…”

Displeased by the guard trailing off, Geumju frowned.

“Why are you stalling too, damn it?!”

The guard quickly spoke to the chief steward.

“Chief Steward, do you remember the outsourced men we put in charge of the gambling den matter a few days ago? They disappeared, did they not?”

The chief steward nodded.

“They suddenly vanished, yes. But the men we outsource work to disappear all the time, so we let it pass vaguely, did we not?”

“That is true, but…”

When the guard continued to hesitate, the frustrated Geumju urged him on.

“But what?!”

“Ah, no, it is just that I am something of a regular at that gambling den. A rumor I heard there came to mind…”

“A rumor?”

“Yes, yes. According to the rumor, many people saw a ghost that day. Quite a few people called it an evil ghost.”

The guard scratched his chin.

“To be honest, I do not believe in that sort of thing either, but there were so many people who said they saw it that it felt difficult to simply ignore…”

Geumju suddenly flew into a rage.

“What does that have to do with what we are talking about right now? Just because dying men were spouting nonsense, are you now bringing up that rubbish too?!”

“I-I apologize.”

“As people who do business, we should be having productive conversations! Productive ones!”

The guard, feeling awkward, returned to his position.

‘Surely not…’

However, inside Geumju’s heart, despite the rage she had shown, unease was beginning to sprout.

‘…There could not possibly be another being like Master, could there?’

The thought of her master made goosebumps rise all over Geumju’s body.

The bizarre old man who had taught her martial arts of unknown origin had truly been an incomprehensible being.

“B-bad news!”

At that moment, the subordinate who had just left threw open the door and rushed back inside.

“What is it this time?!”

“Another branch has been destroyed!”

Geumju’s brow twisted sharply.

“Was it the same bastard again?”

“Yes. They say it was that white mask.”

Geumju pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Phew…”

She rubbed her throbbing temple and muttered.

“…From the beginning, we expected to lose a few places before his temper cooled down.”

“That is true, but…”

Geumju waved her hand and sent the subordinate away.

“Seeing the speed at which they are being wiped out even though martial artists are stationed at every branch, that white mask or whatever he is must certainly be a master.”

“That is correct.”

The chief steward continued her words.

“Then, as we first thought, it is in our best interest to simply leave him alone. Even if some of the children die, they can be replaced quickly, can they not?”

Behind the increasingly luxurious streets of Luoyang, there was an explosively growing population of the poor.

The absolute majority of the children growing up there ended up living by begging in the back alleys.

And when those children grew up, they always ended up belonging to the Skeleton Gang.

“…Hiring wandering masters or masters of the dark path is expensive, after all.”

“Exactly.”

Even as he said those words himself, the goateed man’s complexion did not look good.

He knew the ecology of this world better than anyone, but at times, he could not help thinking that this place might be hell.

Having organized her thoughts, Geumju waved her hand and drove them out.

“That is enough. All of you, get out. And prepare a masseur. I should at least get a massage.”

“Yes, then…”

Just as the chief steward was about to withdraw—

“Bad news!”

The door burst open, and an urgent shout rang out.

“Do not tell me, again…?”

The situation was becoming far more serious than they had imagined.