Chapter 4: Chapter 4
One of the Sasang Faction thugs, staring dumbfounded back and forth between Jin Cheongseok and Jang Geon, snapped back to his senses and shouted,
“Attack that bastard!”
Had there been someone among them who had learned martial arts beyond a certain level, they wouldn’t have recklessly ordered an attack like that. However, Jin Cheongseok, the highest master among the thugs, was already laid out, and the thugs had never trained their eyesight enough to read Jang Geon’s movements.
“Fuck! Die!”
The thug closest to Jang Geon swung the club held in his hand. A diagonal strike that bore not a trace of subtlety. A movement that would have been more than enough to shatter the skull of an ordinary commoner.
Stepping his right foot back a pace, Jang Geon leaned his torso back slightly and easily dodged the club. And immediately straightening his torso, he slammed his right fist square into the thug’s jaw. A crisp crack echoed, and the thug stiffened before pitching forward.
Passing by the guy before he even fully collapsed, Jang Geon raised his right foot and stamped it into another thug’s face. Simultaneously, drawing back that right foot with the recoil, he kicked another fella’s chest with a spinning back kick.
Startled by that movement, one thug reflexively charged at Jang Geon, raising his club high. Quick as lightning, Jang Geon pivoted toward him and delivered a sharp short punch with his left fist to the wide-open flank. Punching his right fist into the face of the guy who halted, gasping for breath, Jang Geon left the falling man behind, took a wide step to the right, and raised his elbow.
At the tip of that elbow was the solar plexus of another thug. The moment that fella gagged and threw up, Jang Geon, who had already shifted his body, swung his left foot in a roundhouse kick that grazed another guy’s chin. The eyes of the guy whose chin was grazed went completely unfocused, and he keeled over forward.
Straightening his posture, Jang Geon walked with ordinary steps toward the remaining two. Those two, dumbfounded by the sight of their fellow thugs collapsing one by one, stared at Jang Geon with open mouths.
Standing crookedly in front of those two and confirming their pathetic faces, Jang Geon planted a fist into each of their jaws. The two let out a gagging noise each and collapsed.
Having knocked out nine thugs including Jin Cheongseok in mere moments, Jang Geon dusted off both hands and looked around. Jin Yangseok was nowhere to be seen. That guy had craftily fled the moment his older brother fell. Letting out a snort, Jang Geon turned back to Yang Goeng.
Yang Goeng wore a dumbfounded expression just like the thug who had taken a hit to the jaw moments ago.
“…You don’t have a single scratch on you?”
“The martial arts I learned weren’t meant to lose against thugs like these.”
Looking down at the fallen Sasang Faction fellas, Yang Goeng stroked his chin.
“No, still, I didn’t know you were at this level…”
“If I were even half as good at dominoes as I am at martial arts, I wouldn’t have been fleeced by your gang in the first place.”
Bypassing the fallen thugs, Jang Geon returned to his seat, picked up the sword he had set beside the table, buckled it to his waist, and held his bamboo hat in hand.
“Anyway. It was nice meeting you, and let’s make sure we never see each other’s face again, fraudster.”
Deep in thought while stroking his chin, Yang Goeng cringed slightly at Jang Geon’s words and offered a weak grin.
“Hey, Brother Jang! Parting like this? How can you say such heartless words? Don’t be like that, let me buy you a drink.”
“What the fuck, what are you regretting? You want to get more money stripped away?”
Yang Goeng waved his hand dismissively.
“No, no, it’s not that. Are you really going to leave just like this?”
Without answering, Jang Geon gestured with his chin toward the window of the inn. By the window frame, the innkeeper and customers who had fled earlier were peeking at them with eyes of disbelief. Yang Goeng also saw those faces.
“…Ah, right. It’s definitely ruined for having a drink in this inn.”
Hearing Yang Goeng’s murmur, Jang Geon chuckled softly and stepped out the door of the inn. Peering out the window, Yang Goeng quickly trailed after him and spoke.
“Ah, Brother Jang! Don’t be like that, let me go with you. I’m telling you, there are still at least ten of these Sasang Faction guys left! Among them is the Sasang Faction Sect Leader who sits above Jin Cheongseok! Besides, what do you think is the reason a guy half a step lower than Jin Cheongseok could be the Sect Leader? It’s precisely because he’s the bastard who has ties with the Martial Alliance branch here…”
When Jang Geon, who was walking out past the inn curtain, abruptly stopped, Yang Goeng nearly slammed his face into his back and halted with a flinch.
“What? Why did you stop?”
Jang Geon gave no answer. So Yang Goeng slyly stuck his head past his shoulder to check the situation outside the inn. And there, a sturdy middle-aged man looking down at them from atop a horse and five warriors with drawn swords surrounded the inn entrance. Yang Goeng stealthily backpedaled inside the inn.
Sitting on the horse, the middle-aged man was stroking his bushy mustache while watching Jang Geon. He bore an amused expression toward Jang Geon. Beside the horse he rode stood Jin Yangseok, watching Jang Geon with anxious eyes.
The middle-aged man spoke.
“You don’t seem particularly flustered. Do you know who I am?”
Prompted by the question, Jang Geon crossed his arms and gestured with his chin toward the middle-aged man’s chest.
“Must be the Martial Alliance Branch Manager.”
Pinned to the middle-aged man’s upper garment that Jang Geon was looking at was a small hexagonal piece of metal. It was the Martial Alliance badge issued to branch managers of each branch. The middle-aged man let out a light chuckle and continued.
“Indeed. I am the Martial Alliance Branch Manager of this town. And right now, a report has been received that you assaulted my townsfolk.”
“It wasn’t just a simple assault! My brother was knocked unconscious! His teeth were knocked out too, so now he won’t even be able to eat properly!”
Jin Yangseok beside the Branch Manager roared. Seeing that, the Branch Manager turned his gaze back to Jang Geon as if asking if it were true.
Cross-armed, Jang Geon said blithely,
“It was self-defense.”
“Self-defense?”
At the Branch Manager’s counter-question, Jang Geon gave a light shrug.
“What else would a nine-on-one fight be if not self-defense? Eight of the nine were even holding clubs.”
“Yet the only one walking out of the inn right now is you.”
“Those nine were just pathetic idiots.”
For some reason, the Branch Manager showed a satisfied smile and asked again,
“Did anyone die?”
Jang Geon silently and slowly shook his head side to side. The Branch Manager nodded with an even wider smile. Seeing that, Jin Yangseok contorted his expression and shouted,
“Branch Manager! What are you doing, not arresting that bastard right this instant? I told you my brother collapsed! My nose was broken too!”
Hearing Jin Yangseok’s shout, the Branch Manager slowly hardened his face and turned his gaze to him. Jin Yangseok, whose face had flushed red, was bewildered by that gaze, but soon realized something as the color drained from his face.
The Branch Manager spoke to him.
“Nine of the Sasang Faction fell, including Jin Cheongseok? Then what reason do I have to keep tolerating you lot? Among you, the only ones who even imitate martial arts are Jin Cheongseok and the Sect Leader. And if it’s either of those two, I can handle them easily by myself. The rest of the thugs can be dealt with by my subordinates.”
“T-That… Wh-When my brother wakes up, h-he won’t stand for…”
“What he will see when he wakes up is only prison bars.”
executioning a chin gesture toward the standing warriors with drawn swords, the Branch Manager motioned. Thereupon, one of them sheathed his sword, untied a binding rope from his waist, and began tying up Jin Yangseok. He was dragged away with a foolish face, unable to even speak properly.
Still mounted on his horse, the Branch Manager approached slightly closer to Jang Geon and spoke.
“Now. Step aside from there. I must arrest the thugs who were disturbing the town.”
Observing the situation quietly, Jang Geon obediently complied with his words. He walked out from the inn entrance over to the post where his horse was hitched. While the Martial Alliance warriors rushed inside the inn, the Branch Manager watched Jang Geon untying the reins.
“Intending to leave immediately?”
Jang Geon did not look back nor did he answer. The Branch Manager nodded to himself.
“Wise choice. However justified your self-defense was, it would be troublesome for you to remain here. The townsfolk would be anxious.”
In the brief moment he spoke, the warriors who had entered the inn were dragging out the unconscious thugs and lining them up along the roadside. Confirming the battered face of Jin Cheongseok among them, the Branch Manager asked Jang Geon once again:
“Where did you learn your martial arts? That Jin Cheongseok guy might not be a top master, but he knows how to fight quite well.”
Still giving no answer to his words, Jang Geon mounted his saddle. Pulling lightly on the reins of his snorting horse, he finally turned his gaze to the Branch Manager. Staring at him in silence, he put on his bamboo hat and turned his horse’s head in the opposite direction from when he had entered the town.
“…A taciturn fellow.”
The Branch Manager hardened his expression only after he had turned away. In his heart, he wanted to use his authority as Martial Alliance Branch Manager to intimidate him, but he also had reservations, fearing what if he turned out to be a master who did not fear the Martial Alliance. Ultimately, the Branch Manager failed to hold Jang Geon back as he slowly rode off. Spitting a glob of yellowish phlegm onto the ground, he glared at Jang Geon’s receding back with displeased eyes.
Just then, Yang Goeng burst out from inside the inn and shouted,
“Brother Jang! Let’s go together, Brother Jang! Don’t leave me here alone!”
After shouting recklessly like that, he flinched under the scowling glares of the other Martial Alliance warriors and the Branch Manager, then quickly mounted his horse and began chasing after Jang Geon. He quickly caught up beside Jang Geon and glanced back stealthily.
“Dammit… For a guy who’s the Martial Alliance Branch Manager to be such an opportunist…”
Jang Geon remained silent.
As the two traversed the main street of that small pioneer town, the villagers watched them from their respective houses, through windows, or standing at their doors with wary eyes. Meeting those people with bitter eyes, Yang Goeng spoke.
“Dear me, even though Brother Jang solved this town’s problem, everyone’s looking at us like that.”
He turned his eyes to Jang Geon and asked,
“Brother Jang, do you know why that Branch Manager guy acted like that?”
“Why else? He’s with the Martial Alliance, so he arrests criminals.”
“If he were someone who kept to his duties so well, would there have been so much backstabbing talk among the townsfolk? Look here, Brother Jang. I heard a rumor that a Martial Alliance inspector is currently patrolling this area. From what I see, that guy got anxious hearing that rumor, and when Brother Jang appeared, he took it as a golden opportunity to step up.”
Giving no answer, Jang Geon simply entrusted his body to the swaying of the saddle, while Yang Goeng kept babbling continuously as they departed the town.
“Then since he covered up his own dirty secrets thanks to you, shouldn’t he give you something? Giving a few coppers, or at least taking care of board and lodging would be the right logic, not chasing you out like this. In any case, among the Martial Alliance branch managers I’ve seen, not one was decent. Either lacking somewhere, or opportunists just like that guy over there. Then again, if a guy knew how to do his job, he wouldn’t join the Martial Alliance. So, Brother Jang, out of the blue, but by any chance, with me, a job…”
Yang Goeng’s words stopped. This was because Jang Geon, riding slightly ahead, had halted. Coming to his senses at that, Yang Goeng looked around to find they were standing before a fork in the road east of the town. One path led north, and the other continued east. A small wooden signpost stood between the fork.
“…Why did you stop?”
At those words, Jang Geon looked at Yang Goeng.
“Where are you heading?”
“W-Well… Where are you heading, Brother Jang?”
Jang Geon smirked.
“I don’t work with guys who use cheating tricks at the gambling table.”
“…I told you I said we shouldn’t do it! It’s true. And how do you know what job I was going to propose?”
Shaking his head slowly at Yang Goeng’s answer, Jang Geon turned his horse toward the eastern road.
“Let’s make sure we never see each other again in the future, fraudster. If you happen to follow me, I’ll break your legs, so suit yourself.”
And with that, he galloped away. Unable to say a word to the harsh threat of breaking his legs, Yang Goeng merely gaped as he watched his back and the horse’s rump. A short while later, after Jang Geon had grown distant, he let out a deep sigh.
“…Man, acting so damn expensive. What is that guy’s identity? He wasn’t a local of Amju Valley. I’ll have to investigate him properly.”
Stroking his chin as he muttered, Yang Goeng turned his horse toward the northern path and let out another sigh.
“Ah, damn it. Getting kicked out of town just as the sun sets. Shit.”
About to depart northward, he paused his horse for a moment and looked back once more at the distant Jang Geon. As the sun set, the east was staining dark blue, but galloping into that dark world, Jang Geon and his horse moved unhesitatingly, feeling not a trace of fear.
Watching that and feeling a strange sentiment, Yang Goeng soon set out on his own path to the north. A thick cloud of dust raised by the horse’s hooves followed behind him.