Chapter 115: Chapter 115

“It’s not that dangerous of a job. Given my face and all, there are some bastards who look down on me because I’m a young woman. Funny, isn’t it? Deciding whether to do a transaction based purely on the other party’s appearance. Of course, they’re not proper sorts. Just riffraff. But when doing business, there are times you inevitably have to deal with such bastards. Even if not quite like New Sichuan or Heavenly Empress City, the underworld of this Plateau City is quite complicated as well.”

San-san poured a cup of tea before herself and continued speaking.

“So in the end, the favor I’m asking of you is simple. I want you to act as a plausible enforcer. Keep your mouth shut and set the mood while I transact with those bastards. Easy, right? Simple, too.”

“And if the transaction goes south, I suppose I’ll have to draw my sword. Am I wrong?”

She smiled brightly at Jang Geon’s words.

“Brawling with back-alley thugs is better than trading sword blows with Plateau City warriors. And you avoided a sword fight thanks to my help. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to ask this of someone I met for the first time today, but everyone I know is busy right now. Besides, if it’s a face that has never appeared before, even that riffraff will be on edge trying to gauge the opponent.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Decisively, didn’t I even introduce this inn to you? I say with confidence that this inn is a hidden gem known only to people who have stayed long in Plateau City. Not only excellent meals, but tidy rooms and bedding! Didn’t I tell you? I make a living through brokerage. Originally, introducing this inn should have cost a considerable fee as well.”

Jang Geon smiled faintly as he lifted his teacup at her banter. Whether in New Sichuan or Gamsan Castle, whenever he entered a place worthy of being called a city, he seemed to constantly get entangled with the back alleys. For some reason, the shadows kept pulling him in. Or perhaps that side was being dragged out toward him.

Leaving his brief musings behind, he spoke.

“When is that transaction?”

“Oh! You’re going to help?”

At her face brightening with delight, Jang Geon lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“The meal is indeed fine. Serving as a folding screen should be worth doing.”

San-san rose from her seat with a radiant face. Then, wearing a smile telling him to look forward to it, she spoke.

“I need some preparation as well. I’ll come this evening. Don’t go anywhere and stay right here, okay?”

When Jang Geon nodded, she turned around and left the inn with bouncy steps. Watching her leave while sitting at the table for a moment, Jang Geon rose as well. If he was going to be busy tonight, it was good to go up to his room now to catch a nap or do some light internal circulation.

* * *

Having come down after taking a short sleep and tending to Jojo at the stable, Jang Geon sat in a corner of the inn with a cup of liquor before him, watching the people.

The inn, which had been quiet when Jang Geon entered in the afternoon, became quite bustling as evening arrived. Central Plains people appearing to be peddlers and natives dressed in Central Plains attire were tearing into meat and drinking liquor here and there. Everyone looked accustomed, appearing mostly to be regulars. Just as San-san had said, it was not an inn easily found by someone who had arrived in Plateau City for the first time.

Seeing Jang Geon in the corner of the inn and deeming him an unfamiliar face, those regular patrons tilted their heads, but seeing him quietly drinking alone, they soon laughed heartily among themselves, clinked their glasses, and sang songs.

Sitting on the periphery of that chaotic clamor, Jang Geon slowly enjoyed his liquor, sipping the strong drink mouthful by mouthful. Rather than appearing lonely by himself, he seemed to be enjoying his own tranquility one step removed from others.

However, Jang Geon was not lost in private musings as he appeared. Although his clouded eyes were directed toward the table and the cup of liquor placed upon it, his ears were thoroughly deconstructing the surrounding commotion—which seemed like nothing more than noise—to identify and distinguish useful words and terms.

People inside the inn were speaking a mix of Central Plains speech and native tongues. At first, he couldn’t fully understand due to the difference from western speech, but sitting still and listening for a long while, he could tell it wasn’t all that vastly different.

“…I wonder if this is really going to turn into big trouble…”

“…How do they say that side will respond?…”

“…They say they’re waiting for the Alliance’s reply…”

“…What is the Master of the Righteous Dragon Sword doing?…”

“…Before real disaster strikes, let’s offload a large volume of goods and pull out…”

Fiddling with his cup, Jang Geon slightly furrowed the bridge of his nose. The stories he heard were unusual. Listening calmly, he could tell that the people in Plateau City were divided into two streams. Central Plains people and the natives working beneath them were one stream, and the pure natives drawing a clear line against them were the other.

Looking across the inn with a subdued heart, the only ones singing in drunken stupor without worries were the drunks. Most patrons were exchanging ominous information with grave faces or confessing their anxieties about the future.

“…The timing is bad.”

Jang Geon could feel that staying long in this Plateau City would yield no good outcome.

Synthesizing the stories currently reaching his ears, the natives centered around ‘Raging Horse’ were controlling the transit and commerce of Plateau City, reorganizing the city’s order. The problem was that they were standing in sharp opposition to Central Plainsmen, steering commerce and disputes unconditionally in a direction favorable to their own native people.

Furthermore, natives working under Central Plainsmen were also treated half as people of that side and could not leave the Central Plains district. Consequently, no one knew what plans Raging Horse and his faction settled on one side of the city—specifically, the native forces that had swarmed in from the east—were plotting among themselves. Since no one knew what the city’s rulers intended, it was natural for the people engaged in commerce there to feel uneasy.

“Did you wait long?”

Just then, San-san appeared from amidst the bustling crowd. Her ankles and sleeves were tied tightly so they wouldn’t flutter, and she wore attire that even included a blade strapped to her waist. Jang Geon slowly shook his head and rose from his seat.

“…Why? Did you get scared now that we’re actually about to do it?”

Seeing Jang Geon’s subdued expression, San-san tilted her head and asked. Jang Geon, who picked up the Azure Dragon Blade he had leaned beside him and tucked it into his belt, gave a dry chuckle.

“Let us go.”

Watching that smile, she tilted her head to the other side, but soon stepped outside the inn. Jang Geon followed behind her. They advanced into the night streets of Plateau City.

Plateau City was not a noisy city like New Sichuan or Gamsan Castle. Except for some inns or taverns, the streets were dim and quiet, and there weren’t many people passing by. However, perhaps because the city’s lights were not bright, an ocean of stars unfolded across the clear night sky instead.

Fitting for a city closest to the heavens as denoted by its name Plateau, the stars and moon seemed as though they would tip over and pour onto the city at any moment. Thanks to the cloudless, clear sky, the vividly shining stars entered abruptly into the eyes gazing up at them, sweeping deep into his soul. It felt as though dregs inside his chest that he hadn’t even known existed were being washed away.

“I’ve never seen someone stare at the sky like that before.”

Following behind San-san while gazing at the night sky with both eyes, Jang Geon lowered his head. San-san, who had been walking a step ahead, was now walking beside Jang Geon before anyone realized, looking up at him. Jang Geon replied with a faint smile.

“Today’s stars can only be seen today.”

“…Don’t stars rise tomorrow too?”

“Those stars and the stars right now will be different. Among those stars, there must be some that won’t be seen a thousand years from now.”

She wore an ambiguous smile, as if not understanding what Jang Geon meant, yet also feeling there was something to ponder. Tilting her head as if out of habit like that, she soon came to a halt in front of an alley. Stopping, she turned to Jang Geon and spoke.

“I’ll do all the talking. Maybe while I talk one-on-one, you’ll end up waiting outside, Jang Geon. Even if that happens, don’t panic and stay calm. Let’s not get exposed as someone completely unrelated by opening your mouth unnecessarily.”

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Then I’ll scream. If that happens, you only think about getting out. Don’t step in for no reason.”

“I shall do so.”

When Jang Geon nodded, she stepped forward a bit, took deep breaths, straightened her back, and took the lead. Jang Geon followed behind her and turned into the alley.

Unlike the main avenue where there were few people passing by or looking out onto the street, turning into the far dimmer alley made him sense gazes looking this way from here and there. From eyes filled with wariness to eyes where faint hostility could be felt. For some reason, Jang Geon foresaw that things would not go smoothly.

Advancing through the narrow alley ahead, San-san soon arrived before a door. Beside that door stood a man leaning his back against the wall; his attire was Central Plains clothing, but his appearance was unmistakably native.

He looked at San-san and Jang Geon with steady eyes as if dissatisfied with something. However, when San-san gestured toward the door with her chin, he straightened up and opened the door. The two stepped inside the open door.

Passing through the narrow corridor connected beyond the door, another small room appeared. There sat a small table and four hulks crowded around it playing dominoes. One of them confirmed San-san’s face, stood up, and knocked on the iron door beside him.

Soon, the iron door opened slightly, and a rat-faced man poked his head out to check San-san and Jang Geon. Turning his eyes back to San-san, he spoke.

“Come in alone.”

San-san nodded, and as she approached that door, she winked one eye slightly at Jang Geon. It was as if telling him to just do as they had spoken earlier.

After she vanished inside the door, Jang Geon crossed his arms and leaned against one wall. The hulk who let San-san inside returned to the table and continued playing dominoes with the remaining men. Jang Geon tried focusing his internal energy around his ears to listen to sounds beyond the iron door, but realized it wasn’t easy because the door’s thickness was substantial. When he focused more internal energy, too much surrounding stray noise was picked up, making his ears ache.

Jang Geon felt that something was wrong there. With such a thick iron door, in normal circumstances, one could never hear a scream shouted from the inside. He instinctively pulled his back from the wall and uncrossed his arms.

Just then, new figures appeared from the corridor Jang Geon had passed through. He seemed to have missed sensing them because his attention had been focused beyond the iron door. They were two men: a well-dressed Central Plainsman and a native armed with an axe at his waist.

Seeing them, the hulks rose and spoke.

“…What’s this? Who are you bastards?”

“Who else. We came because we have an appointment. Brother Yang is inside, right?”

“What? There was only one appointment scheduled for this hour?”

At the hulk’s answer, the Central Plainsman wore a puzzled expression.

“I made an appointment with Brother Yang four days ago, though? Regarding the land brokerage issue…”

“What? Wasn’t that brokerage being handled by San-san? She’s inside right now.”

“I heard that as well. But from out front, they told me to go inside and check the situation.”

The hulk turned to look at Jang Geon as if asking what was going on. Of course, there was no way Jang Geon would know. Seeing his hardened expression, the hulks’ expressions began turning cold as well, the newly arrived Central Plainsman’s face turned pale, and the armed native slowly reached for the axe at his waist.

Feeling the air grow stiff, the Central Plainsman who introduced himself as a broker quickly raised his hands and spoke.

“Wait! Before throwing punches blindly! Couldn’t we just ask the people inside!”

Glaring at Jang Geon, the hulk slowly nodded at those words. He then approached the iron door, banged on it loudly, and waited for someone to emerge. However, even after waiting for a long while, the door did not open.

“What the fuck?”

As things turned strange, the flustered hulk banged furiously on the iron door, grabbing and shaking the handle. However, the firmly shut door would not open to such effort. Another hulk turned to Jang Geon and yelled.

“You motherfucker! What is this? Why won’t the door open?”

“Why ask me that. You bastards should know.”

“What, you bastard?”

The hulks scowled as their tempers flared. They looked ready to pounce on Jang Geon at any moment.

“Move.”

However, Jang Geon brushed past those hulks quite naturally and arrived before the iron door. While the hulk who had been banging on the door stepped aside in shock, Jang Geon roughly examined the iron door, stood squarely before it, and slowly raised both hands toward his chest.

The hulks who looked ready to pounce on Jang Geon flinched and froze at the peculiar momentum radiating from him. And just as they realized their reaction and were about to flare up in anger again, Jang Geon’s two hands struck the iron door.

The sound was not loud. A ringing tong- sound rang out like striking a small bell, and the door was pushed slightly backward in its square shape. But having lost its frame, the door soon tilted backward and crashed down with a loud boom.

Extending both hands forward, Jang Geon quickly checked the interior. A spacious room, luxurious furniture, numerous stuffed animal trophies mounted on the walls, and decorative ornaments.

“…Holy shit.”

And there were two blood-drenched corpses. The rat-faced man who had poked his head out earlier, and a fat middle-aged man who appeared to be the master of that room.