Chapter 849

One shichen.¹

That was how long it took us to reach the City Lord’s Hall, which served as both his residence and his government offices.

Thudududud!

Stealing Ju Wongong’s carriage—no, borrowing it—had been a stroke of genius.

The six-horse carriage was lavish enough to turn heads at a glance, and it had a kind of magic that made horrific traffic jams disappear.

“Stop! Stop! Halt at once!”

“State your identity and business… Wait, I’ve seen this carriage somewhere before.”

We’d turned a crowded main road into an autobahn in the blink of an eye. Of course we stood out even from a distance.

The guards’ eyes went wide when they saw the carriage hurtling toward them. Then someone shouted, giving them no time to do anything else.

“Open it!”

“Y-yes?”

“I said open the gate, you idiots!”

“Y-yes, sir! Open the gate!”

Rrrrmmmble!

Had someone given them orders beforehand?

We didn’t stop the carriage or go through any of the checks we should have.

The enormous iron gates swung open to match the carriage’s rapidly approaching speed. Hyuk Mujin, seated on the driver’s bench, didn’t ease up on the reins until we’d passed through no fewer than five gates.

Pffft. Pffft.

The six fine horses snorted after their nonstop gallop. As the Fire Dragon Pavilion members and I climbed down from the carriage, a group of strangers approached us.

“Young Hero Jin Taekyung, the Blazing Flame Divine Dragon?”

The man at their head got straight to the question, as if he couldn’t spare a moment.

But there was something subtly different about him from the usual government official. Even military officers in government service tended to avoid addressing someone directly by a Murim sobriquet.

A martial artist?

I studied the man, who wore lighter armor than the others. Song Ilseom’s Sound Transmission reached my ear.

— I know him. He won’t recognize me, though.

— You know him? Who is he?

— He was fairly well-known as a wandering martial artist. I heard he retired later on…but I didn’t know he’d left Murim altogether to join the government.

— Really?

— Yes. My memory is accurate.

— Then why are you slipping into casual speech again? Are you older than me?

— I’m fairly sure I’m much older.

Oh, right.

I’d briefly forgotten that Song Ilseom was a few years older than me, even by modern standards.

But if I let that slide, discipline in the Fire Dragon Pavilion would fall apart. I put the full authority of the Pavilion Master into my Sound Transmission.

— So what if you’re older? Want to end up like Hyuk Mujin?

— ……

— If you don’t like it, you can be Pavilion Master.

Song Ilseom gave me a cold, flat stare, then sighed and shook his head.

The former wandering martial artist spoke again, looking straight at me this time.

“Are you Young Hero Jin Taekyung?”

“That’s me.”

“Those who arrived before you told me to expect you. This way, please.”

He briefly introduced himself as the Captain of the Guards for the City Lord of Sichuan Province, then led us deep into the City Lord’s Hall.

“I presume you’ve already heard what happened.”

I nodded as I walked behind him.

“To some extent.”

“You must have been quite taken aback.”

“At first, a little. I thought it was someone I knew.”

“Ah, do you mean the Acting City Lord?”

“Yes.”

There were currently two City Lords in this land.

No—there had been two.

Ju Wongong, a distant imperial relative with whom I’d had some history.

And the original City Lord of Sichuan Province, who’d been bedridden for the past few months.

What was the name of the guy who just died? Won Gyun?

A name like that was unusually memorable for an extra. He sounded like the sort of guy who’d be a complete disaster at sea, even if he did fine on land.² Then again, maybe I remembered him because of that enormous belly. He’d looked twenty months pregnant, not merely about to give birth.

“I don’t know if you remember, but I once saw you up close,” the Captain said.

“You saw me?”

“It was just before the Sichuan Blood Tragedy. You came to see the City Lord with His Highness Prince Shangshan’s token and asked for support.”

“Oh. Right. So you were there, too?”

“Yes. As the Captain of the Guards, I was at the City Lord’s side. I never imagined this would happen back then.”

He answered with a bitter expression and kept walking.

As befitted a place that was both the City Lord’s residence and his government offices, people in fine official robes were everywhere.

“The atmosphere isn’t as tense as I expected,” Ju Hwaran murmured behind me. “I thought there’d already been an uproar.”

The Captain nodded. “Those who work here knew something of the City Lord’s illness.”

The calm atmosphere on the grounds suggested that his death hadn’t come as a sudden shock.

But I didn’t take the situation at face value. If it were as natural and ordinary as it seemed, Jeok Cheongang and the Divine Physician would have had no reason to come here.

Besides…

If they knew only part of it, there must be something that still hasn’t gotten out.

Lost in thought, I kept walking. The farther we went, the fewer people we encountered. Even the guards who’d been everywhere before disappeared.

At last, the Captain stopped in front of a magnificent stone building, more like an estate than a pavilion.

“This is where the City Lord was staying. I’d like to escort you farther, but I have orders to follow.”

“Orders?”

“From the Acting City Lord. He said only two people, including Young Hero Jin, are to be allowed inside.”

Two people?

I could understand if it were just me, but I had no idea who the other person was supposed to be.

I frowned. Then an unexpected name slipped from the Captain’s lips.

“Is there someone among your companions named Namho?”

“Huh?”

“Mm?”

Everyone’s eyes widened as we looked in the same direction.

The Captain spotted Taishan, who stood there looking blank, and nodded as though he’d figured it out.

“Ah, that must be Great Hero Nam. A tiger-like bearing, just as his name suggests…”

Thwack! Thwack!

Namho emerged from behind Taishan’s huge frame, huffing as he hammered the giant’s thigh with two fists that looked unusually tiny today.

“Move! I said get out of the way! You useless freeloader!”

“Heehee. Stop it, Namho. Taishan’s ticklish. Heeheehee.”

“Fucking hell…!”

If Taishan had been an actual rock, maybe. But what could an egg do against Mount Taishan?

Taishan giggled at the tickling. Namho was about to let loose a torrent of curses when he noticed the Captain watching him. Instead, he gave the man a hearty laugh.

“I’m Namho. The tiger from the south. Namho.”

“……”

“What’s with that look?”

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

“No, explain yourself.”

The Captain looked Namho up and down as if he were staring at an ant from the south. Without saying anything more, he gestured to one of his subordinates.

Creeeak.

The doors swung open to either side with an irritating squeal, as if the new intruder wasn’t welcome.

Namho came right up beside me as I headed inside and whispered, “What’s with his reaction? Is a tiger that funny? Huh?”

“……”

Out of respect for my elders, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth.

Maybe it was because of the City Lord’s lofty station, or maybe because the dead man had been corrupt. Whatever the reason, the inside of the pavilion was spacious and lavish.

Step. Step.

Our footsteps echoed along the corridor paved with expensive bluestone.

A dozen or so men and women approaching from the other end bowed to Namho and me, then passed by.

“Physicians and female physicians. Looks like they came to examine the body.”

Namho sounded calm again, as though nothing had happened. From the moment we entered the pavilion, he’d been taking in everything around him.

“Heh. They even embedded night-shining pearls in the ceiling. I can only imagine how much they squeezed the people dry.”

“I don’t know much about it, but even when I was in Sichuan, people didn’t have much good to say about the dead City Lord.”

“If the bastard who used those expensive pearls was the one who just died, good riddance.”

“Maybe he bought them with his own money.”

“What does that mean?”

“He paid for them himself.”

Namho snorted. “Sometimes, you really are a sheltered young master who knows nothing about the world. Let this old man teach you something. Those with money and power always…”

“Use other people’s wealth to fill their own bellies instead of spending what they have.”

“Huh? You know? Is that how it is in Shanxi Province, too?”

“Not always, but…it’s the same everywhere people live.”

Namho furrowed his brow at my answer.

“That’s odd.”

“What is?”

“Well, you said it yourself—it’s not something you experienced in Shanxi Province. You sound like someone whose hometown is somewhere else.”

The sharp instincts of a Hidden Shadow Pavilion agent.

Whenever Namho let this side of himself show, I could tell how much experience he had.

But he’ll never guess the truth.

Martial arts skill wasn’t the only thing I’d gained from everything I’d been through. I smiled as if his observation meant nothing.

“Do you have to taste shit to tell it from black bean sauce?”

“Someone around twenty would do exactly that. It’s a phase everyone goes through.”

“Everyone does, but not everyone earns the sobriquet Blazing Flame Divine Dragon around that age. Ah, this way.”

I answered without missing a beat and turned down another corridor.

Namho looked at me with narrowed eyes for a moment, but then followed without another word. Meanwhile, I kept an ear out for the voices slowly drawing nearer.

“So, according to the Divine Physician’s examination, it was a natural death?”

“It would be more accurate to say he died suddenly from emotional distress. His rapid weight loss was also one of the main causes.”

“I see. That’s why I kept telling him to lose some weight.”

“…In any case, I agree with the other physicians’ diagnoses. There’s nothing particularly suspicious about the City Lord’s—or rather, the former City Lord’s—death.”

“Ah, thank you. That Captain of the Guards has been making such a fuss that even I, this Young Master, was getting a little flustered. Now that the renowned Divine Physician of the realm has stepped in, it feels like I’ve gained a thousand troops.”

“You flatter me. I’ve only done my duty as a physician.”

“Come now, there’s such a thing as too much modesty. Since you’ve handled this so well, I, this Young Master—or rather, this City Lord—will reward you handsomely. Someone, come here!”

I rounded the bend in the corridor and answered.

“I’m here.”

“Summon the treasurer at once and have him give the Divine Physician wealth and grain…”

His voice trailed off.

Ju Wongong stared at me, his face darkening rapidly. After a long silence, he spoke.

“When…did you arrive?”

“Just now. Got anything left to do?”

“…A little.”

“Then go. I have something to talk about.”

“…But I do have something left to do.”

“Put it off. You’re obviously just going to spout nonsense.”

At my firm reply, Ju Wongong lowered his head sadly. Jeok Cheongang watched him walk away, his back limp, then spoke in a serious voice.

“If you’d arrived fifteen minutes later, I might have had the rare experience of tearing open an imperial family member’s mouth for the first time in my life.”

“I’m only going to say this once: please don’t ever do that.”

“This old man isn’t that crazy.”

“……”

The problem was, he seemed exactly that crazy.

I let out a long sigh and turned to the Divine Physician, pretending not to hear Jeok Cheongang ask how I was feeling.

“So what is it, exactly?”

“What do you mean?”

“You wouldn’t have told that idiot everything, would you? And seeing both of you here tells me enough.”

The Divine Physician smiled ruefully at my flat reply.

“As expected of Sir Jeok’s Disciple.”

What was that supposed to mean?

I was still deciding whether to feel pleased or offended when the Divine Physician drew something from his sleeve. Namho’s eyes widened.

“That’s…”

“What is it?”

“Gu poison. A very rare kind found deep in Nanman. It’s called Blood Soul Gu.”

Jeok Cheongang nodded as he looked at it.

“Bringing that fellow here was worthwhile.”