Chapter 203: Chapter 203

“Let us go in first.”

I spoke to my dazed companions, and everyone came back to their senses and began following me.

As we started moving, the gazes of those walking through the corridor and working began gathering one by one.

They looked as if they did not welcome the visit of outsiders.

Among them, some even stepped forward to stop us.

“This is where the representative executive offices are located. Outsiders are……”

Ha, just look at this.

“What?”

The Orthodox Path Association member who had been speaking saw my distorted face, moved his lips, then turned away.

Seong Mo-ran snorted.

“This is absurd.”

Her feelings were not all that different from mine.

The farther inside we went, the more the people working there began looking this way one by one.

There were gazes that were clearly unwelcome, people showing discomfort, and even some who muttered curses under their breath.

It was as if we had been dropped right into the middle of enemy territory.

“They have decorated the place properly.”

At Jang Woo-jae’s words, I looked around and saw that the places originally used as storage rooms had been lavishly decorated.

Drawers and desks had been brought in everywhere, and they were filled with documents.

Their space looked far more like an executive office than our own executive office, where documents had been piled up haphazardly.

‘There is no way the Academy paid for this. Did the Orthodox Path Association cover the cost?’

While I was thinking something close to escapism, a group of people was walking out of the chief representative office.

As if they were the leaders here, they glanced over the reports and documents handed to them from all sides and immediately passed them along.

The people who had left the representative office also walked a few steps, then seemed to sense that the atmosphere was strange and looked around.

“Why is everyone standing around instead of working……”

“Brother Jeong-gi. What is this?”

At Namgung Seon-hwa’s words, Jegal Jeong-gi looked at us and let out a sigh.

Then, instead of looking at Namgung Seon-hwa, who had asked the question, he looked at me.

“You really came.”

“It is not as if I came somewhere I was not allowed to come.”

“You left your position empty for so long during the Academic Curriculum……. I did not know you were shameless to this degree.”

“……”

What the hell was this bastard saying?

The seat of representative had not changed yet.

This absence had happened only because I had been diligently cleaning up the mess the Righteous Path Association had made.

Even so, why had the Five Great Clans, including Jegal Jeong-gi, moved like this?

‘What in the world are they relying on?’

Beside Jegal Jeong-gi, Namgung Gi-pyo whispered something to him. Jegal Jeong-gi nodded, then looked at me.

“If you do not mind, would you like a cup of tea?”

His attitude was as if a master were receiving a guest.

It was clearly the wrong relationship, but it seemed so petty that I decided to listen to what they had to say for now.

“Do you have Junshan Yinzhen? That has suited my palate lately.”

Jegal Jeong-gi’s and Namgung Gi-pyo’s faces stiffened.

Why?

After throwing around so much money on the facilities, had they not prepared tea for guests?

Pour.

When steaming hot water was poured into the teacup, the flower buds began opening one by one.

The colors of the petals were each different, and from the moment they spread open, they began dyeing the transparent water with their own colors.

As I lost myself for a moment watching that strange and fascinating sight, a smile appeared at Jegal Jeong-gi’s lips.

“They say it is called the Seven-Colored Flower.”

“Seven-Colored Flower?”

“I hear the high officials and nobles of Beijing mainly drink this nowadays.”

He lifted his chin slightly.

“……They say they no longer seek Junshan Yinzhen or Longjing Tea now that any dog or cow can drink them.”

Well, after seeing this fascinating tea, I could understand why people might lose some interest in Longjing Tea or Junshan Yinzhen, which simply showed dried tea leaves unfurling.

Jegal Jeong-gi brought the teacup to his lips with an elegant gesture.

“When ordinary people happen to taste something special once, they think they have also risen to a special position. In reality, however, most of the time they can only taste it because that commodity is no longer special.”

“What are you trying to say?”

He smiled.

“I was simply talking about how the world works.”

Jegal Jeong-gi brought the Seven-Colored Flower to his mouth again, then held the tea in his mouth for a moment and closed his eyes as if savoring its aroma.

Was there a special way to drink the Seven-Colored Flower?

I deliberately did not touch the Seven-Colored Flower.

Jegal Jeong-gi soon swallowed the tea and opened his eyes.

“You must have been a little flustered.”

“Does the Jegal Clan learn the word ‘little’ differently?”

I had gone on a brief trip and returned, only to find that strangers had taken over my house and were acting like its owners.

Could anyone call that “a little” flustering?

“Would it not be fair to say I could smash your heads open and you would still have nothing to say?”

Even at my rather violent words, Jegal Jeong-gi let out a faint laugh.

“As expected, even when the seat changes, one’s roots do not change.”

Jegal Jeong-gi was trying to provoke me.

However, the attack was so amateurish that only a dry laugh escaped me.

“It seems you did not know that this rootless man has a rotten temper.”

“I know. I heard you left Ak Ju-pyeong crippled.”

“I am not the sort to show mercy toward actions that cross the line.”

Jegal Jeong-gi brushed his chin with his finger as if it were nothing.

“Indeed, Ju-pyeong did make a slight mistake.”

“Ordinary people do not call it a ‘mistake’ when someone is driven to the verge of death.”

“Hah hah!”

Jegal Jeong-gi burst into laughter as if he could not hold it back, then shook his head.

Strangely, his laughter grated on me terribly.

I was used to being treated this way, and until now I had responded shamelessly to make the other person even angrier, but this felt different.

“What is so funny?”

“Is it not funny for someone who stained his hands with no small amount of blood to pass the Regular Exam to say such a thing?”

For some reason, I felt my head cool.

Jegal Jeong-gi lifted his eyebrows and added,

“When I reviewed the process of the Regular Exam again, it turned out that you killed five times as many people as others.”

It seemed he had tried to touch my guilt, but what a shame.

“I do not forgive those who aim for my life and my seat.”

I was not as soft as you thought.

Jegal Jeong-gi nodded as if he was trying to understand.

“Of course, you should not. That is only natural as a martial artist. However……”

Jegal Jeong-gi erased the smile from his lips and stared at me with cold eyes.

“How many more people will you kill in the future to protect that seat?”

“……”

“The more you covet that position, the more people will die. The higher you climb, the more people like Ak Ju-pyeong will keep blocking your path.”

I leaned forward slightly.

“What is the intent behind those words?”

I stared at him with eyes so cold they could not grow any colder.

“Are you saying the Orthodox Path Association will stand in my way?”

Jegal Jeong-gi had thrown out words heavy enough to press down on one’s shoulders, yet he shrugged as if they were nothing.

“I simply wanted to ask whether you had that resolve.”

I looked around once.

“If that is all, then I think this act has gone too far.”

“It is nothing. For the Orthodox Path Association, it is only natural to maintain proper formality even for a space we will use temporarily.”

Jegal Jeong-gi seemed to take a step back, emphasizing the word “temporarily.”

“Since the Academy Representative has returned, we will have to gradually organize the things we were handling.”

However, the words that followed were filled with meaningful intent.

“……Of course, that is if the current representative continues to hold the position.”

“You are worrying about something useless.”

Thinking there was nothing more to say, I rose from my seat.

Jegal Jeong-gi moved his head to follow me.

“Oh? Are you leaving just like that?”

“Is there anything more to discuss?”

Jegal Jeong-gi pointed at the tea I had not touched.

“It is precious. You should at least taste it.”

“……”

I downed the Seven-Colored Flower in one gulp.

Perhaps I had drunk it the wrong way, because only a strong bitterness remained on the tip of my tongue.

The closed representative office felt even heavier in its silence because of the commotion in the corridor.

Everyone was pressed down by an unknowable sense of inferiority and could not easily open their mouths.

‘What exactly is their intention?’

Namgung Seon-hwa could not easily understand the current situation.

Jin So-un had briefly left his seat, but that was not enough to justify taking the representative position from him.

As they had said, she could tell that organizing a temporary executive council to handle academic matters while the representative was absent was nothing more than an empty pretext.

‘They must have something they are relying on……’

After her thoughts reached that point, Namgung Seon-hwa looked at Jin So-un and asked,

“Young Master Jin. What did you discuss with Brother Jeong-gi…… no, with the chairman of the Orthodox Path Association?”

What they needed to know immediately was their intention.

What exactly were they plotting?

She was curious how confident they had to be to cause trouble while openly acting like the representative delegation.

There was no reason for them to go this far simply to fill the seat left empty by Jin So-un.

“We did not discuss much. I was merely served a cup of strange tea.”

Jin So-un answered calmly while looking at the documents.

“Tea?”

“Yes. Did he say it was called the Seven-Colored Flower? It was quite bitter.”

“……”

Jin So-un’s expression as he answered as if it were nothing was strange.

He was clearly pressing down a large emotion with all his strength.

And Namgung Seon-hwa had seen that expression of Jin So-un’s before on someone else.

Her grandfather.

It was similar to the Azure Emperor Divine Sword, who had wavered before secret schemes and plots despite possessing absolute strength and justification.

‘This is dangerous……’

From what she heard later, her grandfather had even been prepared to spill blood within the clan.

The one who appeared then was Jin So-un.

If he had not completed the Firmament Cloudless Sword Art with Jin So-un’s help, then no matter what the trigger had been, it was obvious that the Namgung Clan would have split in two.

‘This time, I have to help.’

Namgung Seon-hwa had crossed life and death together with Jin So-un, so she knew just how ruthless he could be.

And she could not even imagine what would happen when he truly became enraged.

She knew better than anyone how difficult it had been for Jin So-un to reach this position.

She did not think that Jin So-un would fall for the Orthodox Path Association’s secret schemes and ruin everything.

But she also did not want to see him suffer.

‘Because what the Orthodox Path Association wants must be to shake him.’

For the next three days, Namgung Seon-hwa used every connection she knew to investigate what the Orthodox Path Association was plotting.

And from a disciple of a lay-affiliated sect of the Namgung Clan, she heard the decisive story.

[Jegal Jeong-gi made a proposal to the Training Masters. He asked them to let him compete against Jin So-un…… and his side.]

[He said that if they held an academic event and more people gathered around them, they should be acknowledged as the representative delegation.]

[Please absolutely do not tell Young Master Gi-pyo that I told you.]

The Training Masters had independent voting rights within the Academy.

It had been somewhat expected that those with vested interests would recruit the Training Masters and instructors to shake Jin So-un.

‘But why now, of all times?’

All the Training Masters and instructors could do was set the stage.

In the end, the choice would be decided by the Academy students, and right now, the situation was by no means favorable for the Orthodox Path Association.

Jin So-un had already changed the atmosphere in the Academy by resolving the matter in Sichuan.

One of the things Namgung Seon-hwa learned while investigating was that the Righteous Path Association had lost a great deal of trust because of the matter in Sichuan, and support for Jin So-un had risen in reaction.

That meant this was clearly a situation where the Orthodox Path Association should have had nothing to gain……

“No. Rather, perhaps they had no choice but to move precisely because of this situation?”

Seong Mo-ran, who had been listening to Namgung Seon-hwa, spoke.

“If things continue like this, Young Master Jin’s position will become solid. Perhaps this was the Orthodox Path Association’s last chance.”

“……That is true.”

Even so, the question remained.

The fact that the Orthodox Path Association had moved like this meant they must have had some sort of ultimate trump card.

What was it that made them act with such confidence?

As if to amplify Namgung Seon-hwa’s unease, things continued to happen one after another.

“The instructor has apparently been notified that his lecture is suspended.”

Murong Jae-hwa, who had come to the Academy Representative Office, said that with an expression that could not hide his confusion.

Jin So-un put the document he had been reviewing down on the desk.

“What does that mean? Who notified him that his lecture was suspended?”

“They said it was the new representative executive staff……”

Currently, there was no separate Archery Way lecture in the Academy, so Murong Jae-hwa was receiving private lessons meant only for him.

If Yeo Sam-tong of the Ghost Bow Sect returned, Murong Jae-hwa would have nowhere else to learn archery.

“Hah hah.”

Jin So-un laughed as if he found it absurd.

GRIND.

Jin So-un ground his teeth.

His eyes blazed.