Chapter 84
As expected, it was Yeonhwa who was practically occupying the reception room.
She claimed it was urgent to meet me, but in reality, it was essentially to find Sogeom. From Hao Moon’s perspective, Sogeom must have appeared to disappear after entering the Geumhwa Guild.
“Sogeom!”
When she entered the reception room, her face, which had been stiff as stone, instantly brightened the moment she saw Sogeom. The relief in her eyes was evident at seeing Sogeom unharmed.
“What on earth happened? Tell me everything in detail, without leaving anything out.”
Even as she spoke to Sogeom, she cast a wary glance toward me. She probably thought I had done something to Sogeom.
Sogeom was a perceptive child. He quickly assessed Yeonhwa’s mood and moved to clear up the misunderstanding.
“First, I apologize for disappearing silently for five days. To briefly explain, Young Master Geum saved my life.”
The mention of saving a life immediately changed the atmosphere. From Yeonhwa’s perspective, I had gone from being a kidnapper to a benefactor.
Sogeom didn’t know all the details, so he ended the story with a simple exaggeration about being threatened by assassins. Yeonhwa then bowed deeply to me.
“I’m sorry, Young Master Geum. I misunderstood and showed you disrespect, not knowing you were Sogeom’s savior. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“I understand that it could happen under the circumstances, so I’ll let it slide this once.”
“Thank you!”
I heard the same words from Yeonhwa that I had heard from Sogeom. Of course, there was a difference. With Sogeom, it ended as words—but with Yeonhwa, I had other intentions. Gratitude should come with something; you can’t get anything with empty hands. For now, that matter could wait for another time. Today, there was something else I needed to receive.
“You didn’t come empty-handed, I hope.”
I had already heard from Songgok before coming here. I knew that after Yeonhwa occupied the reception room, other Hao Moon members had come and gone. That couldn’t have been just to take care of her—information had surely been exchanged in some way. The question was whether any of that information was relevant to me.
As I waited, thinking I might kick them out if it wasn’t, Yeonhwa gave a faint smile as if she expected it.
“It wouldn’t be polite for a guest to visit without a gift, would it?”
“Visiting? You’re occupying the room.”
“Yes, so I prepared a bigger gift.”
“Let’s see it then.”
Yeonhwa nodded and handed me not just one, but two scrolls she had prepared, instead of writing the information herself.
“One contains additional information on the person you previously inquired about, Gongjin, and the other is research we gathered that might be useful to you, Young Master.”
I nodded and first opened the scroll on Gongjin. The name Hyeolseung was mentioned. It wasn’t verified information, just a rumor that someone had seen Gongjin using Hyeolseung’s martial arts.
If Gongjin really was connected to Hyeolseung, it wouldn’t have ended in betrayal.
Gongjin’s identity remained full of questions. Other than vague reports of sightings, there wasn’t much else. The one thing that seemed certain:
He’s not affiliated with the Jungwangbu.
Although he currently assisted Jungwangbu, it didn’t seem out of loyalty. The reports indicated that Gongjin traveled freely across the land, which someone from Jungwangbu wouldn’t have been able to do. The sightings within Jungwangbu were also relatively recent.
That’s enough curiosity about Gongjin for now.
The information wasn’t critical—I had no intention of confronting Gongjin to raid Jungwangbu’s records. It had started purely out of curiosity. I felt satisfied with what I had learned.
“It seems we don’t need to investigate Gongjin any further.”
“Understood.”
I set Gongjin’s scroll aside and picked up the remaining one. Before opening it, I guessed it contained new or additional information on the Jungwangbu. But this time, my guess was completely off. The scroll contained names of individuals and their current locations.
“These are skilled warriors without current affiliations.”
Apparently, Yeonhwa had anticipated my intention to recruit martial artists for the guild and had prepared this information.
“Hao Moon’s intelligence is impressive. You didn’t plant spies inside the Geumhwa Guild, did you?”
Flustered, Yeonhwa hurriedly replied,
“No, this is solely based on my own research and speculation.”
I nodded slowly.
“I’ll trust you.”
In fact, I already knew she was telling the truth. If there had been a Hao Moon spy among my household, I would have noticed. My warning was to prevent any such attempt.
“Now, tell me more about those listed here.”
The scroll alone provided limited information. Perhaps anticipating this, Yeonhwa answered without hesitation:
“These are warriors operating in Honam Province who are generally known to be first-class or higher.”
It sounded good—first-class warriors would be core assets in any organization. The problem, however, was:
“Will they even come to Geumhwa Guild?”
First-class warriors weren’t guaranteed to be motivated by money. Yeonhwa’s faint smile appeared then.
“I filtered those who could potentially be recruited, but whether you can actually bring them in will be up to you, Young Master.”
In other words, she was saying I could recruit them if I played it right. Not wrong—but I wanted more.
“Aren’t there any beyond first-class?”
“Huh?”
“If I have to step in myself, it would be better to aim for peak-level masters—or even higher.”
I meant it literally. If I had to get involved, I wanted to aim higher. First-class warriors were decent, but peak-level experts could drastically strengthen the guild in one go.
“Why didn’t you prepare that? Or are there none in Honam?”
Pushed, Yeonhwa finally spoke:
“…There is one unaffiliated peak-level master in Honam Province. Beyond that, no reported information exists.”
“Then I’ll only hear about that one.”
“His name is Mubek, a master of the Bu martial method who retired from the martial world over a decade ago.”
“Reaching peak-level mastery with Bu? Rare indeed.”
Bu wasn’t commonly used in the martial world due to its limitations. Only a few had mastered it, and reaching peak-level was highly unusual.
Yeonhwa added:
“He… is from Nokrim.”
I suspected as much.
Honestly, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Most bandits I knew were crude and reckless. But there was hope here:
“If a bandit could retire and survive for ten years, there are only two possibilities.”
Either he lived quietly enough that no one came after him, or he had the skills to survive even from Nokrim. I suspected the latter—but surprisingly, Yeonhwa described the former.
“Despite being from Nokrim, he never engaged in plunder or even simple threats; he’s known to have lived quietly.”
“How is that possible?”
“She apparently avoided all plunder and remained isolated until her retirement.”
I had never imagined a bandit could be like that. Could he even be called a bandit? Yeonhwa’s next words answered that partly:
“Before retiring, he was the master of the Nokrim chief. At the time, the chief was a minor leader, but he shaped the current Nokrim chief into what they are today.”
In short:
He was only a bandit in name.
“I was worried you’d be bringing a bandit into the guild, but this is a relief.”
“I was cautious to tell you for fear you’d think that way.”
Certainly, if he had been a typical bandit, I would have suspected her intentions. But now, having heard the full explanation, I could decide without hesitation.
“He’ll do perfectly as a martial arts instructor.”
It was a slight disappointment that he specialized in Bu, but he had trained a non-human bandit into someone competent. That was enough. I could personally teach martial arts if needed.
“This is indeed a fine gift. I’ll accept it gratefully.”
I was satisfied with Hao Moon’s prepared gifts. With this, I could forgive the minor disturbances caused in the Geumhwa Guild these past few days—though I’d still deal with the misbehavior directed at me separately.
“I will visit again.”
After sending Sogeom and Yeonhwa off, I paused in thought.
“Jungwangbu… or Mubek?”
I debated whether to resolve the Jungwangbu issue first or meet Mubek.
“Mubek is in Changyeonsan, right?”
It wasn’t a famous mountain—just a small one on the edge of Honam Province. Considering the distance, it would take two days to go and return. I could send someone, but I didn’t feel like it. Would I obey an order to send my men after some unknown person? I wouldn’t.
“What to do…”
Honestly, I was more drawn to Mubek. People came before wealth. But I didn’t want to delay Jungwangbu’s issue either. Then a solution appeared.
‘I’ve returned, Young Master. I trust nothing untoward occurred in my absence?’
Sacheon, who had gone to the underworld, had returned.
