Chapter 144

He wanted my autograph. A king, no less.

What the hell is this?

I never saw this scenario coming.

As I stood there speechless with bewilderment, a pair of large eyes gazed steadily at me.

“Have I asked too much of you?”

“No, it’s not that… What are you planning to do with my signature?”

“Hmm. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”

Beneath the archaic speech straight out of a historical drama lurked an eagerness he couldn’t quite hide.

The tips of his feet scraped at the training ground floor like a puppy, and both his hands kept fidgeting restlessly. Those were proof enough.

The little guy is cute, though.

He was still a child. King or not, he couldn’t hide his age.

His expression was full of dignity, but his body was honest. A quiet laugh escaped me.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s nothing. So I just carve my name into this wooden tablet?”

The young king’s lips twitched.

“Preferably with your alias as well.”

Why was he answering so seriously over something like this? I held back my laughter and picked up the dagger.

Scritch, scritch, scritch.

Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, Jin Taekyung. I rested the wooden tablet on my knee and carefully carved the seven characters into it.

That was when Zhu Bao suddenly asked, “Wouldn’t it be easier if you used Sword Energy?”

“It would.”

“Then why aren’t you using it?”

“It’s not that I won’t. I can’t.”

“You can’t use Sword Energy?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I’m not a Peak master yet, so I can’t use Sword Energy.”

“You’re… not a Peak master?”

I raised my head slightly. Zhu Bao was staring at me with a shocked expression.

“Aren’t you the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“And yet you can’t use Sword Energy? You’re not a Peak master?”

“…That can happen.”

“No, it can’t!”

Wow. He almost sounded hurt.

I’d already been feeling inadequate with all the Sword Energy I’d been seeing lately. Now a little kid I had never seen before was twisting the knife.

Is being unable to use Sword Energy a crime?

I was hurt in my own way, and the young prince’s fandom had taken a hit too.

I was wiping my nose in wounded frustration when he exclaimed, “How can you be so strong when you aren’t even a Peak master?”

“What?”

“One Question, One Kill Jopil, Blade of Flowers Jin Baekyang, and most recently Pung Yang, the Red Wind Band Leader. Weren’t all the enemies you defeated powerful Peak masters?”

Jopil was the only one I could honestly claim to have defeated entirely through my own strength, but I nodded anyway.

“That’s right.”

“How was such a thing possible?”

“Well…”

The Inventory is fucking amazing. And nobody can withstand a group beating.

Whenever things look hopeless, try digging through your Inventory. You might find an elixir worth half a jiazi or a weapon made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.

…I can’t exactly answer that way.

An image was something you built for yourself.

I opened my mouth with a gentle smile.

“Isn’t it because I was stronger?”

“Wow!”

“There’s a saying in Murim. The strong do not survive. Those who survive are strong.”

“Wow!”

“I’ve fought three Peak masters so far. I was once even attacked by dozens of First Rate masters.”

“How could that be!”

Zhu Bao clenched his tiny fists and gasped in admiration.

He gave such great reactions that it made me want to keep talking. I continued, recalling the moments of crisis I had fought my way through.

“But every time, I fought with everything I had and survived. Peak masters? Sword Energy? Those things aren’t important.”

“Sword Energy isn’t important? Do you mean that?”

“Of course.”

It’s fucking important.

Every bastard I met kept drawing out Sword Energy like endless strands of rice cake, and I was the only one who couldn’t use it.

Every fight left me wondering whether I had a human life or a fly’s.

Make sure you eat plenty of elixirs. Without Sword Energy, your body will suffer.

With outrageous disrespect, I placed a hand on the young king’s shoulder and whispered, “The desire to win. The unbreakable will to never give up until the very end. That is what made the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi who he is today.”

“An unbreakable will…!”

Zhu Bao’s small body trembled. Then, after letting out a heated sigh, he asked, “Can I become like you?”

“You can. From what I just saw of your training, you look like you’ll become a master in no time.”

“D-Do you really mean that?”

It’ll be tough without the System.

But you have to water a growing sprout.

I nodded at his enormous, sparkling eyes, carved a few more characters into the finished tablet, and handed it to him.

“Whenever things get hard, look at this and take heart.”

“What is this…?”

The young king examined the tablet and broke into a radiant smile.

“Thank you very much. I shall have this tablet enlarged and hang it on the signboard of the Shanxi Provincial Office.”

“…That?”

“Of course. Everyone who enters or leaves this place shall read your celebrated words.”

I looked at Zhu Bao, who was gazing fondly at the wooden tablet, and thought,

He’s going to hang that on the signboard of the Shanxi Provincial Office?

Dreams☆come true.

—Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, Jin Taekyung—

…That?

When we returned to the grand hall, it had been restored to pristine condition as though nothing had ever happened.

Once the servants filled the newly placed tables with delicacies from land and sea, Prince Shangshan Zhu Bao, seated at the seat of honor, spoke.

“I thank you all for willingly answering my summons. Now, please eat your fill.”

Ding.

System

Quest condition, Attend the luncheon hosted by the City Lord, has been fulfilled!

The Quest Reward will be issued after the luncheon ends.

The atmosphere that followed was warm and cheerful. With the young king, both host and master of the gathering, grinning from ear to ear, how could it not have been?

“I have heard that One Question, One Kill Jopil was an exceptionally vicious man. Could you tell me what he was like?”

“Oh, that bastard was absolutely brutal. Well, you see…”

“I’ve heard that Blade of Flowers Jin Baekyang was a Peak master whose name was known even in the Central Plains. How strong was he?”

“Fucking strong. The man was insane.”

“Young Hero Jin, His Highness is listening. Please mind your language.”

“Ah, sorry. Anyway, to tell you about what happened then…”

After telling stories for quite some time, I was exhausted. I tossed Cheongpung to Zhu Bao, who continued asking me questions, and quietly began edging away.

“Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, where are you going?”

“You know the Sword Saint, Mae Jonghak, right? This guy is his disciple.”

“The Sword Saint!”

“And he’s a Peak master, too. Ask him to teach you Sword Energy.”

Leaving Zhu Bao as delighted as a child meeting Santa Claus, I slipped off to one side.

I spotted the young prodigies of the Five Gates of Shanxi silently cramming food into their mouths and two men engaged in a rather serious discussion.

Neither group was particularly inviting company.

I’ll just eat.

But before I could manage more than a few pieces of meat, a syrupy voice wormed into my ear.

“Young Hero Jiiin.”

“…What?”

Hearing that voice killed my appetite on the spot.

“What are you doing over there all by yourself? Come talk with us.”

“No, thank you. I’m hungry.”

“It’s about the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

“I don’t get involved in family affairs. Talk to my eldest brother separately.”

“What a shame. Then I suppose we’ll have no choice but to entrust it to the Seongun Escort Bureau.”

The Seongun Escort Bureau? The name sounded familiar. Then I remembered—it belonged to the family of the guy I’d beaten black and blue at Honghwa Inn yesterday.

Hadn’t that guy been the Seongun Escort Bureau’s Young Bureau Head?

“Why the Seongun Escort Bureau?”

Hong Jin curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Oh, nothing. Please eat your meal. They say even a dog is left alone while it’s eating, so how could I bother the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“…”

“Hee-hee. I was joking. Don’t look so serious. Come over and sit down.”

Hong Jin pulled out the chair beside him. I sat down as though I had no choice.

Beside Li Feng, of course.

I’ll say it again: my ass is precious.

“Let’s hear what this is about. I’m not very knowledgeable in this area, so I may not be much help.”

Hong Jin had been pouting in feigned disappointment. Now he spoke.

“It doesn’t matter if Young Hero Jin doesn’t make a decision here. You only need to pass the matter along to the Lesser Family Head. Now, Assistant Commissioner Li?”

Li Feng took over.

“We would like to borrow the strength of the Jin Family of Taiyuan for this matter.”

“This matter being…?”

“I believe you’re aware of our plan to focus on connecting Shaanxi and Shanxi.”

“The thing you originally intended to do with the Zhongnan Sect?”

Hong Jin, who had been watching us, nodded.

“To be honest, the Zhongnan Sect isn’t a bad partner. It’s a massive sect belonging to the Nine Sects and One Gang, and its leadership, including the Sect Leader, the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord, has a practical nature. They’re different from the other, relatively closed-off Murim sects.”

“Then was there really any need to switch partners? If you hadn’t intended to work with Huashan from the start, leaving things as they were might have been better.”

“It was a decision I reached after giving it a great deal of thought. Although we overturned it today.”

Hong Jin smiled faintly and continued.

“I’m not a martial artist, but I’m well aware of the Sword Saint’s standing in Murim.”

“…”

“But it has been more than thirty years since the Sword Saint disappeared. If we had known sooner that he had remained at Huashan and was raising successors, we wouldn’t have chosen the Zhongnan Sect.”

When he finished speaking, Hong Jin shot Li Feng a reproachful look.

Apparently, Li Feng had known about the Sword Saint and Cheongpung for the past ten years without breathing a word of it.

“Deputy Military Commissioner, I’ll say it again: that was classified information belonging to our sect. There was simply no longer any reason to conceal it once Martial Uncle Cheongpung descended the mountain.”

Li Feng replied calmly, then turned to me.

“I’ll get straight to the point. We need an Escort Bureau capable of expanding into the Central Plains, starting with Shaanxi.”

Ah.

I had a rough idea of what was going on.

They were asking the Jin Family of Taiyuan to provide material or human resources.

“Are you planning to create an Escort Bureau?”

“Something similar. However, we would like to borrow the name of the Jin Family of Taiyuan. In return, we’ll provide half the funding and every possible convenience.”

They were openly offering to back us. Wouldn’t it be better for them to create an Escort Bureau themselves at this point?

As I wondered about that, I suddenly remembered what Jin Mukyung had told me a few days ago.

He said that the current Emperor also assassinated his older brother, the Crown Prince, and ascended the throne. I’m sure of it.

It was only an unconfirmed rumor, but judging by how cautiously these two were acting, it didn’t seem entirely baseless.

Could the Emperor’s wariness have been the reason he sent his only younger brother to Shanxi Province, a region treated as a frontier?

Hmm. Something about this smells fishy too.

As I wondered whether I had gotten myself entangled in something dangerous, the two men spoke to me.

“We’ll arrange a meeting regarding this matter in the coming days. Please put in a good word with the Lesser Family Head.”

“Young Master Jin, you know this is a good offer, right?”

“I know. I do, but…”

Looked at one way, this was someone else’s family feud. Ordinary brothers might fight over who got an extra ice cream, give each other bloody noses, and call it a day.

But this wasn’t ice cream. It was the imperial throne.

A bloody nose wouldn’t be the end of it.

“I’ll make sure to pass it along to my eldest brother.”

I deliberately kept my answer noncommittal. Jin Wikyung would be the one making the decision anyway, so there was no reason for me to worry about it—unless he asked for my opinion first.

“That will be enough. He won’t simply dismiss something Young Master Jin tells him. We’ve heard plenty about how much the Lesser Family Head cherishes his younger brothers.”

So the whole neighborhood knows.

I drained my cup of liquor with an embarrassed look, only to meet the eyes of the four of them sitting at the far end of a table some distance away. They all looked as though they were about to get indigestion.

Oh, right. I’d almost forgotten something.

“Excuse me. Comrade Chairman—no, Deputy Military Commissioner.”

“Yes?”

“That Escort Bureau business. Wouldn’t it be enough to simply change the sign?”

Unlike the bewildered Li Feng, Hong Jin grinned.

“You have a place in mind?”

“The one the two of you were talking about earlier.”

“The Seongun Escort Bureau? Don’t take them too lightly. It’s the foremost Escort Bureau in Shanxi, after all. They’ll be difficult to swallow in one bite.”

“That’s why we have to chew thoroughly.”

One look at their Young Bureau Head had told me exactly what we were dealing with. With Hong Jin and Li Feng backing the Jin Family of Taiyuan as it now stood, we could chew them up bones and all—and still digest them.