Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Creeak. Jang I-seo stepped out of the bookshop with a bound volume in hand.
And atop a distant rooftop, someone watched with cold eyes.
“…”
The petulant raccoon. The same woman who’d crossed paths with Jang I-seo inside Jegal Bookshop. How she’d reached the rooftops in that short time was a mystery. It wasn’t a short distance by any measure.
But what came next was even more surprising.
“Narak.”
She calmly uttered someone’s alias. Shlk! A silver-haired man appeared behind her, prostrate.
A handsome man with jade-like skin and eyes that curved up gently like crescent moons.
“You called.”
“That man. Do you know who he is?”
She hadn’t even pointed, yet his gaze naturally settled on the figure in black walking leisurely away. Jang I-seo.
“No. Shall I find out?”
“He recognized my skin disguise. At a single glance.”
Skin disguise! That meant her current appearance wasn’t real.
At her words, Narak tilted his head. The skin disguise she wore had been crafted by one of the finest masters within the Demonic Cult.
And someone seeing through it would spell trouble for several people.
First, the Second Grade Ghost Hall Master of the Golden Dragon Hall who’d crafted the disguise would face censure.
Second, the Third Grade Ghost Adjutant who served as her aide, himself, would bear responsibility for failing to protect her cover.
Two of the Demonic Cult’s highest-ranking officials, a Second Grade Ghost and a Third Grade Ghost, would both face punishment.
“Go to Jegal Gwi-ryong and find out who he was asking about.”
“Yes.”
Shlk. Before the echo of his answer faded, Narak vanished like dust. The woman kept her gaze fixed solely on Jang I-seo.
He looked absurdly carefree, scratching his ankle while gnawing on what appeared to be a chicken leg.
“Vulgar lout…”
A thoroughly disagreeable first impression in every way. Something about his lounging, his thick-skinned demeanor, rubbed her the wrong way. Especially that smug, knowing look in his eyes, as if he had everything figured out.
After some time passed, Narak reappeared behind her. Still prostrate, as before.
“What did he say?”
“He refuses to speak.”
“What?”
“I came back first since you value him, but… shall I extract the information?”
Narak’s voice grew dark. He meant he would extract it through torture so severe it defied description. And if it was him, he would certainly succeed.
But.
“No. I already got my answer from Jegal Gwi-ryong.”
“Sir?”
The woman’s brow twitched.
“The only beings Jegal Gwi-ryong would never dare speak of. That’s my father. And us seven siblings.”
“Why would that man…”
“Find out. Who he is. Why he’s digging into us.”
“Command received.”
Shlk. Third Grade Ghost Adjutant Narak. He nodded and vanished.
And then.
The skin disguise peeled from her chin, slowly stripping away. Beneath it emerged a face of such breathtaking perfection it defied belief.
One of the most beautiful women under heaven.
One of the leading candidates for the next heir to the Demonic Cult.
The Ice-Fire Sword Empress, Third Young Lady Sa Hae-ryeong.
She had begun to take an interest in Jang I-seo.
* * *
Meanwhile, Jang I-seo, who seemed clueless enough to be picking his ears at the world going by, was doing no such thing.
‘Terrifying up close. They say her temper is colder than ice and snow. I see why she’s the Heavenly Demon’s child.’
He was discreetly keeping the Third Young Lady of the Demonic Cult in his peripheral vision without appearing to look. Sa Hae-ryeong, watching him from afar.
Truthfully, Jang I-seo had known from the very start.
His visit to Jegal Bookshop itself had been aimed at her from the beginning. He’d known full well that Jegal Gwi-ryong was her confidant.
‘As if I, a Hidden Pavilion spy, wouldn’t know you. Sa Hae-ryeong. You probably don’t remember, but I even know what underwear you wore on the winter solstice.’
He’d found out by accident, of course. True story.
In any case, even without a mission from the Martial Alliance, he’d never neglected his intelligence gathering. If anything, not knowing what mission might come meant he kept himself thoroughly briefed on every key figure.
So the dossier on the Seventh Young Master Mao was merely bait. A trap designed to reel in Sa Hae-ryeong.
That’s right. You. Third Young Lady… Gasp!
Jang I-seo stumbled, nearly making a terrible blunder, so startled was he.
‘Is she insane? Why strip off the skin disguise out of nowhere?’
Indeed she had. She’d torn off the skin disguise without warning, leaving her with a stocky, padded disguise body topped by a delicate, miniature face. A grotesque combination.
Was she trying to bait him into revealing that he was watching? It was so sudden his heart lurched.
And in the midst of it all.
‘Beautiful.’
She was beautiful. Incredibly so. Jang I-seo squeezed his eyes shut and whipped around, forcibly cutting off the pull of his gaze.
‘A viper. That woman is dangerous beyond words.’
The number one type a spy should avoid: an impossibly beautiful flower like that. Approach carelessly and you’d get devoured. Moreover,
‘Third Grade Ghost Adjutant Narak. Sa Hae-ryeong’s right-hand man. That one requires extra caution.’
Sharp-witted and mercilessly strong in martial arts. That was Narak.
If he showed even the slightest opening, every plan would be exposed before it even began.
‘Didn’t expect to run into her this quickly. Things are moving faster than anticipated.’
A faint smile crept onto his lips.
The plan had already begun.
*
“Seventh Young Master Mao. Age nineteen. A tall, strapping young man with a masculine bearing. The Heavenly Demon evaluated his monstrous dantian potential highly and adopted him as his seventh child three years ago.”
A bare, round hill with not a single tree. At its center stood a small pavilion.
This place was frequented by those who needed to converse in secret. Open on all sides, impossible to eavesdrop.
Jang I-seo had woken from a nap here and now sat with the dossier on Mao spread open, reading.
Its contents were common knowledge among any cult member.
Born into the Ma family, one of the Demonic Cult’s three great noble houses, and blessed with the Heaven-Yang Body, which accumulated internal energy simply by breathing. A golden spoon among golden spoons.
But,
“For all his rugged appearance, he loathes training with a passion. Lazier than a sloth, simple-minded, and spectacularly ignorant. The worst of the worst.”
Most critically, he’d staked the divine artifact bestowed by the Cult Leader, the Azure Dragon Blade, as collateral at a gambling den. That had sealed his disgrace.
All support had been cut off. His residence, the Seventh Small Palace, had not a single servant. Rumors swirled that it was haunted.
Yet he still hadn’t come to his senses, carousing with wine and gambling, picking fights wherever he went. Good-for-nothing fit him like a glove.
This was the reality of the Seventh Young Master.
“The only person he listens to is the Third Young Lady, Sa Hae-ryeong.”
That viper of a woman was competing against the First Young Master and the Second Young Master for the Young Cult Leader position, so she was desperate to secure any ally she could.
For the Seventh Young Master, she was the only person he could lean on.
And that was precisely what made her so invested in him.
Snap. Jang I-seo closed the dossier, grinned, and sat up.
He turned his head to the side. Below the hill, a towering edifice came into view.
“Shall I head over?”
He rose and began descending the hill.
Toward the massive tower.
The Counter-Espionage Division headquarters.
* * *
The eight-story Counter-Espionage Division headquarters was more lavish than any other division’s building.
Lanterns of every color hung from the eaves. Even the corridor floors were embossed with intricate patterns.
This was proof of just how much power the Counter-Espionage Division wielded.
But even the Division Commander Gyeom Sa-ik, master of that authority, had to yield the seat of honor and bow his head respectfully before her.
“What brings the Third Young Lady to such a humble place…”
Third Young Lady Sa Hae-ryeong. It was her. She’d arrived in her true form, having discarded the skin disguise and padded clothes, with Narak in tow.
She wore a resplendent outfit of red and black, carrying both the divine artifact Fire Heaven Sword and the Ice Sea Sword at her waist.
“I thought Commander Gyeom and I were fairly close. How disappointing. Was this a place I only visit when I need something?”
It was a curious thing.
A First Grade Ghost, one of the highest-ranking figures in the cult, a young lady of supreme pride, using formal speech with a mere Fourth Grade Ghost like Gyeom Sa-ik. That was testament to how significant his presence was.
“Haha! Of course that’s not the case, but as you know, these are delicate times.”
Gyeom Sa-ik stroked his mustache with a practiced smile. His probing gaze was seasoned and sly.
With his shoulder-length curly hair and the look of a warrior who’d seen it all, he was not an easy man to deal with.
And he wasn’t wrong about the times.
The race for the Young Cult Leader position had sparked fierce intrigue.
For the heads of each division, being seen openly meeting with any candidate could bring nothing but harm. It was a recipe for misunderstanding.
“You must be torn. Whether to side with my brothers or take my hand.”
“What say would a lowly man like me have in such matters? I simply follow whoever pays my salary.”
“That sounds like you’ll choose whoever pays the most.”
“Isn’t it human decency to work in proportion to what one receives? Hahaha!”
Hmph. Sa Hae-ryeong shook her head. A man who knew nothing but money. Same as ever, then.
“I suppose we should only meet when there’s business after all.”
“Haha, is that so? Then. May I hear what business brings you here today?”
That was the intention.
Sa Hae-ryeong’s expression turned cold as she got to the point.
“Jang I-seo.”
Hmm? At the unexpected name, Commander Gyeom tilted his head. Why was that damn Third Squad Leader’s name coming out of her lovely lips?
The man in question. Sa Hae-ryeong asked point-blank.
“Third Squad Leader Jang I-seo. Is he someone you dispatched?”
Narak glanced toward the back door and curved his lips coldly. His hands gathered behind his back. The moment the Third Young Lady gave the word, he would draw the twin short blades hidden at his waist and cut Gyeom Sa-ik down.
Right here, in his own headquarters.
With good reason.
The competition among the Cult Leader’s children for the succession had grown fierce. Elders, the Five Dragon Hall Masters, and countless Division Commanders were all being courted. Every scheme imaginable was underway.
But Jang I-seo, a squad leader in the Cult Leader’s direct Counter-Espionage Division, had taken information on the Seventh Young Master.
Information on Mao, one of the few people loyal to Sa Hae-ryeong.
Gyeom Sa-ik, though merely a Division Commander, wielded real power and influence. If he’d thrown in with the First or Second Young Master and was scheming against her…
Better to cut him down today, even at a cost.
“Surely you’re not about to claim ignorance.”
Perhaps because she’d caught him off guard, Gyeom Sa-ik remained silent for a long while.
But to be precise, he was interpreting the true meaning behind Sa Hae-ryeong’s question.
Jang I-seo.
Who was he?
First, a lunatic obsessed with money.
Second, a pervert who derived pleasure from wielding authority.
Third, a bastard with no manners.
Therefore, the conclusion was:
“Jang I-seo. The man’s exceptional at his job. His internal energy falls a bit short, but his natural talent is outstanding. His combat ability is among the best in the entire Counter-Espionage Division.”