Chapter 143

After the humiliated Three Hands of Zhongnan stormed out, Hong Jin pulled a small bell from his robes and shook it.

“Well, now that the uninvited guests are gone, I suppose we should clean up.”

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Exactly three times. Before the sound had even faded, the iron doors opened and dozens of servants entered, bowing at the waist.

“Clean the grand hall and bring out a fresh meal.”

“We’ll carry out your orders.”

They bowed once more, then moved with perfect coordination.

Without batting an eye, they began clearing away the split table, the scattered food, and even Cheongpung’s vomit.

They’re professionals. Absolute professionals.

They’d put most cleaning companies to shame.

Unlike me, Cheongpung had been groaning with the look of someone who desperately needed the bathroom. He cautiously approached the servants.

“I-I’m sorry. Let me help.”

One of the servants shook his head.

“No, sir. This is our duty.”

“But I made the mess, so at least let me…”

No matter how sturdy the servants were, they were facing a Peak master. They had no choice but to follow Cheongpung’s wishes.

But the moment Cheongpung wrested the cleaning tools from them and began cleaning up the vomit, he froze.

“Urk, uweeek!”

“……”

Please just stay still. Stop making more work for them.

As Cheongpung emptied his stomach yet again, Hong Jin gave Li Feng a doubtful look.

“Assistant Commissioner Li, is that young man really Sword Saint Mae Jonghak’s Disciple?”

“Certainly.”

“Then why is he like that?”

“Ahem.”

Li Feng cleared his throat, his face reddening. To him, Cheongpung was both Sword Saint Mae Jonghak’s Disciple and an elder of his sect, but even he couldn’t deny that Cheongpung was a little strange.

“I suppose it’s because he’s spent his life completely removed from the secular world.”

“No, but even so. Are you saying Great Hero Mae didn’t teach him the basics?”

“Well… from what I’ve seen and heard, my Grandmaster is rather unusual himself.”

Rather unusual.

It was a valiant attempt to put things politely, but what I heard was, They’re two of a kind.

Hong Jin must have gotten a similar impression, because he fell silent for a moment.

“Are you sure we can entrust this matter to Huashan?”

“……”

“Yes.”

Li Feng’s answer came half a beat late. Hong Jin shook his head in disbelief.

“We can discuss that later. Shall we get going?”

His words made me suspicious, so I asked,

“Where? His Highness hasn’t even arrived yet.”

“That’s exactly who I’m going to fetch.”

“What?”

“If we stay here, we’ll be waiting until sunset. I have a rough idea where His Highness is.”

I watched Hong Jin turn away with a wink.

He’d be a decent guy if he just stopped doing that.

I was grateful that he had taken our side, but that was that, and this was this.

My backside is precious.

Hong Jin and Li Feng walked side by side at the front.

As I followed them, I gradually began to understand what positions they held here and how much influence they wielded.

“Loyalty!”

People’s emotions show in their eyes, their bearing, and their voices.

The soldiers snapped off energetic military salutes to Li Feng, and their boundless respect was plain to see.

Understandable.

Li Feng, a lay disciple of Huashan, was an advanced First Rate master. Respecting strength was a male instinct, and even at a glance he radiated an unmistakably masculine presence. From what little I’d seen, he was steadfast and taciturn.

But he isn’t completely inflexible, either.

The fact that he’d accepted Hong Jin’s proposal proved as much. Their relationship had clearly been hostile, but Li Feng knew when to join hands and when to let go.

No one disliked a superior who was reasonably flexible.

Then what about Hong Jin?

I shifted my gaze to the side.

Not a single soldier showed Hong Jin any respect as he walked along, frivolously wiggling his backside. If anything, some of them even cast contemptuous looks his way.

However…

“I-I pay my respects to Deputy Military Commissioner Hong.”

“Mm. Yes. Good work.”

“Yes, sir!”

Several officials and servants we passed practically groveled before him.

Their trembling voices and cautious footsteps made their feelings obvious.

They were afraid.

Respect and fear.

They were opposing emotions, but they had one thing in common.

Both came from the art of handling people. Li Feng and Hong Jin each held the support of their subordinates through respect and fear.

So one controls the military while the other controls civil affairs?

Shanxi Province was called a frontier region, but its size couldn’t be ignored.

It was a respectable autonomous territory with a vast area and a population of several million registered in its household records.

Where there was land, people gathered. Where people gathered, power and wealth flowed. Even within the Shanxi Provincial Office, a fierce, unseen struggle for power was underway.

From what I’ve heard, Hong Jin seems to have the upper hand. But that’s none of my business.

I was too busy making a living to get involved in someone else’s power struggle.

After walking for some time while lost in thought, we passed through nine gates and came upon a group of people.

“Deputy Military Commissioner, and Assistant Military Commissioner, have you arrived?”

The tenth gate was particularly large and tall. I couldn’t tell whether it had truly been built that way or only seemed so because a hundred soldiers surrounded it without leaving so much as a crack.

Wow. Talk about tight security.

Would a Peak master, and one capable of using Sword Energy at that, be needed to try anything here? Every one of the guards was heavily armed with armor, spears, swords, bows, and more. Sharp eyes gleamed from beneath their helmets.

Cheongpung, who had spent the entire walk exclaiming at everything around us, lowered his voice and whispered to me.

“Wow. What do these people do?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps they’re the royal guard protecting Prince Shangshan?”

“The royal guard? They’re amazing…”

Cheongpung murmured vacantly, then clenched his fists.

“Benefactor, I’ve made up my mind.”

“About what?”

Why do I get nervous every time he opens his mouth?

Of course, my premonition proved correct again.

“I want to join the royal guard too!”

“……I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

The Sword Saint probably wouldn’t be pleased to hear that.

I rubbed my throbbing forehead.

“Um, shouldn’t you get your grandfather’s permission first?”

“It’s all right. Grandfather said life is short, so whenever I find something I want to do, I should try it.”

“And that something is joining the royal guard?”

“Yes.”

Cheongpung stared intently at the royal guards standing in perfect rows, his eyes shining.

More precisely, he was staring at their gleaming black armor.

No way. Is this bastard…?

“……It’s not because the armor looks cool, is it?”

“Gasp.”

That was it.

What kind of lunatic joined the royal guard because he wanted their merchandise?

Li Feng, who had overheard our conversation, approached with a face that looked ten years older.

“Martial Uncle Cheongpung, I may be nothing more than a lowly lay disciple, but you are Huashan’s direct Disciple, someone who will bear the future of the sect on your shoulders. To abandon the sect and devote yourself to the military… Please be careful with what you say and do…”

Cheongpung looked as though Li Feng had hit the bull’s-eye. He frantically waved his hands.

“N-No, that’s not it. Really.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Then I’ll take your word for it. I was considering bringing you a suit of armor on the way out, if you needed one, but…”

Cheongpung took the bait immediately.

“Thank you. I’ll accept it gratefully, Great Hero Li.”

“……”

“……”

Is this bastard serious?

Oblivious to the sudden chill in the air, Cheongpung grinned.

“Great Hero Li is a good person.”

“I’m not Great Hero Li. I’m your Martial Nephew, Martial Uncle Cheongpung.”

“Martial Uncle, Martial Nephew. Those words feel awkward…”

Cheongpung tilted his head.

“Can’t we just call each other whatever feels comfortable?”

“No. Our sect’s hierarchy is strict. Call me Martial Nephew from now on. Then I’ll give you the armor.”

“Hmm. Even so…”

Li Feng delivered his final blow to the hesitating Cheongpung.

“If you call me Martial Nephew from now on, I’ll give you the weapons used by the royal guard as well.”

“Gasp…!”

Game over.

Merchandise wasn’t complete without the full set. On the verge of obtaining the Royal Guard Armor Set, Cheongpung spread his arms, his face glowing with joy.

“Martial Nephew Li Feng!”

Li Feng answered awkwardly.

“M-Martial Uncle Cheongpung.”

“I like Martial Nephew Li Feng best in the whole world!”

“……Thank you, Martial Uncle.”

I felt sorry for the Sword Saint, who had spent twenty years raising that bastard as his grandson.

While even the royal guards were distracted by this unexpected farce, Hong Jin let out a deep sigh.

“What are you doing? Why haven’t you opened the gate?”

The young prince barely came up to my chest, if that. Prince Shangshan, Zhu Bao,¹ was much smaller than I had expected—and much stronger.

Ssshhk, ssshhk, ssshhk!

That was not a sound a mere ten-year-old child should have been able to make with a sword.

His sword paths were sharp, and his footwork technique carried him busily across the training ground.

Even I, who wasn’t particularly well versed in sword techniques, could tell that his skill was more than enough to make me nod in approval.

So there was a reason he invited us.

When I first received Prince Shangshan’s invitation, I’d had only one thought.

I’ll go tell him a few heroic tales he wants to hear.

That was about it.

But this child was different. Instead of telling him stories about my exploits, I might have to teach him about martial arts.

“What do you think of His Highness?”

Hong Jin asked after dismissing all the attendants waiting outside the training ground with a single gesture.

Even then, the young prince was so absorbed in his martial arts that he didn’t notice who had arrived or who had left.

“Exactly what sort of impression are you asking for?”

“Well, for starters, his martial arts?”

I answered honestly.

“He’s better than I expected. No, he’s outstanding. When did he begin learning?”

“He began showing an interest in martial arts three years ago.”

“Three years…”

“Yes. Ever since the day he first held a sword, he hasn’t missed a single day of martial arts training unless something unusual happened.”

Li Feng smiled proudly and added, “He is unlike an ordinary child in many ways. His determination is remarkable. Much like yours, Young Hero Jin.”

“Mine?”

“That’s right. I heard Young Hero Jin worked himself to the bone from a young age. You’ve been making quite a name for yourself, just as one would expect from a master the Jin Family of Taiyuan secretly raised with such painstaking care.”

“Uh… yes, I suppose.”

That was a bogus rumor the Jin Family of Taiyuan had spread for public consumption.

In reality, I couldn’t even remember what I’d been doing at the age of ten.

Probably going to elementary school or something.

Li Feng continued.

“You have no idea how delighted His Highness was when he heard the story of the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. He must have been eagerly awaiting the chance to meet Young Hero Jin today.”

“……For someone who was looking forward to it, hasn’t he kept us waiting rather a long time?”

It felt like we’d been waiting for almost an hour. Was it because he was a prince? The little brat already had no basic manners.

Li Feng smiled faintly at my timid complaint.

“His Highness has a habit of immersing himself in martial arts whenever he is nervous. If he has offended you, please accept my apologies.”

There was no need to apologize over something like that. Just as I waved my hands dismissively, Hong Jin cupped both hands around his mouth and shouted,

“Your Hiiiighness—!”

The small figure practicing his sword technique stopped dead at the shrill call. A moment later, he noticed us and crooked a finger.

“What is that supposed to be?”

“What do you think? His Highness is calling us.”

“What are we, neighborhood mutts?”

“Wow, I’ve never been a neighborhood mutt before!”

“……Please shut your mouth. No one here has ever been a neighborhood mutt.”

Suppressing my frustration, I walked toward the training ground.

Prince Shangshan Zhu Bao. With every step, his face drew closer.

The rude ones always seem to be handsome.

Even at such a young age, his already fully formed features were sharp and distinct. His black eyes stared directly at me.

When I reached him, a voice that was still unmistakably childish drifted out.

“Do you know who I am?”

I had at least learned the basics of etiquette by now. I lowered myself onto one knee so that our eyes were level.

“Yes. His Highness, Prince Shangshan.”

“I do not yet know your name.”

“My name is Jin Taekyung of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

A faint trace of surprise appeared in his previously dignified eyes.

“T-The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, Jin Taekyung?”

“That’s right.”

I wondered how he would react.

The young prince remained silent for a long moment. Then he suddenly pulled something from his robes.

A wooden tablet about the size of an adult’s palm and a dagger.

“This…”

“……?”

He had handed them to me, so I accepted them. But what was I supposed to do with them?

As I stood there in bewilderment, Zhu Bao delivered a single dignified word.

“I would like your signature.”

“……”

Oh. He wants an autograph?