Chapter 28
Part Three: Yeon Sang-hyeon
Se-ah remained in the room even after the meeting with her closest aides had ended.
“That Skeleton Gang, in only two days…”
Luoyang was an enormous city, and its underworld was just as enormous.
Within that vast underworld, the share occupied by the Skeleton Gang was small, but its numbers and influence were by no means at a level that could be ignored.
And yet that very Skeleton Gang was being driven to the brink of destruction in only two days.
Even now, urgent reports about the damage suffered by the Skeleton Gang were flooding in in real time.
Information about strange scenes where neither corpses nor bloodstains remained.
Information that those who had been connected to the Skeleton Gang in business were cutting ties with them.
Information that the government office was responding passively because it was a matter related to the underworld.
Information that the Luoyang Sword House still showed no sign of moving.
And, decisively, information about an evil ghost wearing a white mask.
‘The Venerable Dark Heaven…?’
Hyeonwol Pavilion had searched even the slum where that name had first begun to spread.
However, the prophet who was said to have first uttered that name was already dead.
There was an overflow of information, but no truly essential information, and all the clues that might have led to that essential information had reached dead ends.
Even so, all of Hyeonwol Pavilion’s core members were rejoicing over the fall of the Skeleton Gang.
Especially since the appearance of the Sword House Bronze Plaque had put them in a situation where they would have had to endure tremendous losses, they were even more delighted.
Some even called it the help of the heavens.
Se-ah , too, felt somewhat hollow that the plan they had prepared was being realized by someone else’s hand, but it was not as though she was not happy.
However, the reason one corner of her heart was complicated was because she had an almost instinctive certainty about the identity of this being called the Venerable Dark Heaven.
The night she reunited with her younger sister after ten years, when the Skeleton Gang had attacked.
She had definitely seen a white mask.
The eldest young master of the Luoyang Sword House, called by the humiliating epithet of the swordless man—Yeon Sang-hyeon.
He was currently staying with Sea at one of Hyeonwol Pavilion’s safe houses.
“What do you think?”
The female guard standing silently behind her tilted her head.
“About what?”
Se-ah realized her mistake and added to her words.
“I mean the eldest young master. The eldest young master of the Sword House. I told you to watch him carefully whenever I encountered him, did I not?”
“Ah, you mean the swordless man?”
Strangely, even as she uttered that insulting epithet, there was no trace of contempt in her expression.
“I told you not to say that name!”
The female guard, dressed neatly in a black martial uniform with her short hair tied back, shrugged.
“I could tell at least that he was different from the rumors.”
At that exceedingly plain answer,Se-ah sighed.
“…Do not go around telling people you work for Hyeonwol Pavilion.”
The guard raised a hand.
“Well, among the young men the young lady meets for business, he was the most confident. He was bold, too.”
The events of that night had left such a strong impression that it was easy to forget, but Yeon Sang-hyeon’s behavior in front of Geumju had also been impressive enough.
In particular, his ability to steer the flow of conversation and the changes in the situation according to his own will had been remarkable.
For a moment, even she had thought she wanted to learn from him.
“…That is true.”
“On top of that, his heart seemed quite broad as well. Should I say he has a large vessel? I tried pressuring him with my presence and even sent killing intent at him…”
“What?!”
As Se-ah turned pale, the guard continued speaking as though it were nothing serious.
“And yet he did not say anything. I do not know whether he is broad-minded or simply spineless, but—”
Se-ah sprang to her feet and grabbed the guard by the collar.
“You crazy bitch! What the hell did you do to the eldest young master of the Luoyang Sword House?!”
Even if Se-ah , who had no internal energy, shook her, the guard did not budge. She only clicked her tongue.
“No, I mean, that young master looks incredibly harmless from the face alone, does he not? And the way he walks around smiling like a fool, too.”
“Even so!”
***
The next people Sea summoned were the maids who had been ordered to attend Yeon Sang-hyeon by his side.
“The eldest young master?”
One maid’s eyes sparkled.
“Is he not too handsome? He is the very definition of a beautiful young man! That warm smile and the melancholy air he shows from time to time are seriously incredible.”
“Right, right! Can I not follow the eldest young master when he returns to the Sword House?”
“A transfer! I should go with him too!”
“Do you really think the Luoyang Sword House would accept the likes of you?”
One maid unfolded a scroll she had been carefully carrying in her arms.
The handwriting was exquisitely delicate and elegant to the extreme.
It was splendid calligraphy that made anyone who saw it unconsciously exclaim in admiration.
“Now, everyone, this is the writing I received from the eldest young master!”
Another maid also unfolded a small scroll.
“I received this painting!”
“Whoa! Insane! Sell it to me right now!”
“Shut up and take my money!”
At the sight of the maids making a fuss and squealing,Se-ah clutched her head.
“Mm, he certainly is handsome.”
“Right?”
Before she knew it, even her guard had joined the conversation.
“This is…”
Se-ah struck her desk with the tobacco pipe in her hand.
“Give me proper information!”
There was a reason she said that.
Unlike ordinary maids, all the maids of Hyeonwol Pavilion had completed education and training as intelligence agents.
“Honestly, aside from the fact that he is a kind and handsome young master, there was nothing suspicious about him.”
“Even during the nights when you mainly told us to observe him, he never once came out of his room.”
“And you must not forget that he is very learned and understands what elegance is!”
“Right! Did you hear him play the flute last night?”
“Of course. I cried my eyes out on the spot.”
“Ah, I did not hear it.”
At the sight of the maids somehow beginning to squeal again, Sea shouted.
“Get out, all of you!”
Se-ah grumbled and grabbed the back of her guard’s neck.
It was because the guard had been leaving together with the maids.
“And why are you naturally slipping out with them?!”
“Ah, I want to hear his flute performance too.”
***
“You mean my master?”
When Jeong-ah asked back, Sea leaned against the kitchen door and smiled awkwardly.
“Mm, it is nothing much. I simply want to know more about what kind of person the master my younger sister serves is.”
Jeong-ah trimmed the ingredients for soup with practiced movements and smiled softly.
“I do not have much to say.”
For some reason, her younger sister’s expression felt as though she knew everything, so Se-ah hurriedly added.
“No, it is not personal interest…”
Jeong-ah let out a soft chuckle.
“I know that too.”
“Then…”
However, after saying that, Jeong-ah did not open her mouth any further and devoted herself to cooking.
“No, last time, when I said just a few words, you defended the eldest young master with veins bulging in your neck…”
Jeong-ah only chuckled again.
After looking for a moment at her younger sister’s face, where beads of sweat had formed, Sea asked.
“Is your body all right now?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
“I see. That is a relief.”
Se-ah nodded and turned away from the threshold.
From behind her, Jeong-ah’s calm voice came.
“If there is something you are curious about, it would be best to meet him directly.”
Se-ah turned her head and asked.
“Are you not curious about anything?”
“Well…”
Jeong-ah only wore a smile whose meaning could not be known.
***
Se-ah sighed at the final step that was not easy to take.
‘If anyone saw me like this, they would never believe it.’
She fiddled with the wooden box in her hand, which contained top-quality tea leaves.
Because of the sweat flowing from her hand, the wooden box was shining.
What kind of state was this for someone like her, who was called the Iron-Blooded Witch or the one-eyed woman without blood or tears in this world?
‘I am scared of things that are scary too…’
In truth, even now, when she thought of that night, her throat went numb.
The sight had been as though even the freezing north wind had submitted and even darkness itself worshiped.
Those ominous words, each and every one of which had felt as though they were choking her.
And that white mask, for which it was difficult even to find words of description.
[My path is the Netherworld Demon Path, where a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood from an inhuman demonic realm are spread out.]
His voice, that terrible voice filled with metallic sounds, was still vivid even now.
[Please, may we not meet upon it…]
What exactly had those words meant?
“Why are you hesitating so much?”
Leaving Sea behind, the guard strode forward and knocked on the door of the room where Yeon Sang-hyeon was staying.
“Are you there? The Pavilion Master of Hyeonwol Pavilion is here.”
As Se-ah was left speechless by the guard’s actions and could only choke, his voice came from inside.
His voice, unlike the white mask in her memories, was gentle, and that eased her slightly.
**
Yeon Sang-hyeon personally brewed tea with the leaves Sea had brought and spoke to the guard.
“Do not leak killing intent today. It changes the taste of the tea.”
The guard nodded.
“You need not worry. That mission is over.”
At her words, Yeon Sang-hyeon raised his eyes and looked at Sea.
“It was a mission?”
Se-ah sent her guard a look like someone who had just suffered the most absurd thing in the world.
“My lady, why are you looking at me like that?”
Regardless, Yeon Sang-hyeon shrugged and held out the fully brewed tea to them.
“Here. It is best to drink it now.”
Se-ah hurriedly stood and received the cup as she said,
“Th-thank you. However, there is no need to give any to my guard…”
“I will enjoy it, Eldest Young Master.”
Her guard had already received the teacup.
“The fragrance is excellent. As expected, you seem deeply versed in tea as well.”
“You flatter me.”
“Not at all. I am a woman who does not know how to offer empty compliments.”
“Haha, as expected, you are amusing. If you ever feel like changing jobs, tell me anytime.”
“If I lose my job, I will come find you. Judging by the mood of my immediate superior right now, it may not take long.”
“Hahaha!”
Perhaps it was fortunate, at least, that she was standing rather than seated with them.
Her guard was someone whose likes and dislikes toward people were extremely intense.
She never even exchanged a single word with the people Se-ah met for business.
Seeing such a woman treat him so comfortably made Se-ah think that the eldest young master surely was not a bad person, but…
Even so, the image of Yeon Sang-hyeon she had seen that day did not disappear from Sea’s mind.
“So, what brings such a busy person to a loafer like me?”
As the conversation entered the main subject, Sea’s guard naturally stepped away from them and stood beside Jeong-ah.
“Eldest Young Master…”
“Mm.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon enjoyed the fragrance rising from his teacup and looked at her.
His enviably white skin, his slender face with lines like a woman’s, and his long eyelashes were reflected in her eyes.
However, she felt as though the white mask she had seen that day was staring at her.
Its expression that seemed to be smiling and crying at the same time, the white and rough surface that she could feel vividly, and even the feeling that, although it had no eyeholes, it could see through everything.
Se-ah felt her lips dry up and brought out the question.
“Eldest Young Master, are you the Venerable Dark Heaven?”