Chapter 424: The Price of Fame (4)

“Ahem……”

Jegal So-myeong clutched the back of his neck and leaned against his chair, and the pleasant atmosphere turned into a freezing wasteland in an instant.

‘I’m going to freeze to death.’

I clearly wasn’t the one at fault, yet somehow I’d become the villain.

I desperately wanted to say “Actually, it was a joke. Ha ha ha,” pull Dam Ak’s letter from my robes, and hand it over, but……

‘Coming all this way and leaving empty-handed — what kind of idiot does that?!’

I gritted my teeth and endured the taut tension with everything I had.

Silence stretched on, each fleeting instant feeling like an eternity.

It seemed like quite a while had passed with no one saying anything, so I sneaked a glance—

‘Hm……?’

Hyeok Mu-gang’s reaction was different from what I’d expected.

‘He’s…… smiling?’

He’d just been told that an important letter concerning the Murim Alliance’s future relations with the Black Thought Alliance had been lost, yet…… bizarrely, Hyeok Mu-gang was smiling.

Having noticed that I’d glimpsed his expression, he spoke with casual composure.

“That was entertaining. But how about you stop joking around?”

Should I stop now, or hold out a little longer — while I was debating—

“And perhaps you could stop playing games too, Grand Strategist. The boy’s gotten sulky.”

Hyeok Mu-gang tossed a remark at Jegal So-myeong as well.

Hm?

Confused, I looked at Jegal So-myeong.

“As if a scoundrel like you would ever lose a letter when there’s a reward at stake.”

Jegal So-myeong was glaring at me with his signature cantankerous old-man face.

What was with these two?

The relief of learning that all their reactions had been an act was quickly overtaken by a single thought:

‘How do people actually see me?’

I pulled out the bloodstained letter with a dazed expression, and Jegal So-myeong snatched it away like a swooping eagle.

He immediately broke the seal and read through it at speed.

“……”

Then he nodded and passed the letter to Hyeok Mu-gang, who likewise read it quickly and folded it away.

I was curious about the contents but couldn’t exactly ask.

Yet sitting in silence while the two exchanged several meaningful glances was driving me mad with curiosity.

At last, the Alliance Leader spoke.

“Your contributions in this matter are immeasurably great.”

A voice like a parent beaming with pride over their child.

It was likely his genuine care for the younger generation of the murim showing through.

“You’ve effectively prevented what would have been an unavoidable war between the Murim Alliance and the Black Thought Alliance.”

But precisely because of that, bitter words were added as well.

“However, I hope you understand that the Alliance cannot officially commend your contributions. To do so would fracture the Murim Alliance.”

Of course. If those proud Wudang people learned they were being treated as traitors — not over something else, but over an attack on Black Path figures — they’d rise up immediately.

Most of the people I’d encountered at the Wuhan manor had been captain-rank, but those above them would feel the same way.

‘Right now, the Beggars’ Sect barracks are probably packed to bursting with people digging into my background.’

While I was lost in thought, Hyeok Mu-gang’s solemn voice continued.

“Furthermore, there will be no punishment levied against you.”

I’d roughly anticipated this outcome.

If I’d harbored baseless expectations and held back during the fight, how much regret would I be feeling now?

I bowed my head in gratitude for being shielded from Wudang and the Righteous Path Association.

“Thank you.”

But something nagged at me.

He’d clearly said ‘officially.’ So…… did that mean ‘unofficially’ there could be something?

‘Should I bring it up?’

Torn between the worry that I’d look transparently calculating and the thought that saying something was better than saying nothing, I finally made my decision.

“Then…… is there anything I could receive ‘unofficially’?”

“……”

Ah…… Jegal So-myeong’s glare felt more piercing than ever.

‘He’s going to bore a hole through my forehead.’

But when would I ever get another chance to meet the Murim Alliance Leader face to face?

I held my head high, and Hyeok Mu-gang’s features twitched.

“Heh heh…… Heh heh heh heh.”

Then he broke into a broad, rumbling laugh.

After a moment of shaking shoulders, he settled into a benevolent smile.

“Of course I should give you something. Is there something you’d like?”

Of course there was.

I had wracked my brain until it nearly burst, deliberating over what to ask for before coming here, and I finally laid out what I’d decided.

And.

“……Nnngh.”

At my request, Jegal So-myeong pressed into his temples, and Hyeok Mu-gang wore a blank expression for the first time.

“Hmm……”

What — you act like you’ll give me anything, then suddenly wipe your mouth clean?

Just as disappointment was about to surface on my face—

“Do you truly want that?”

The Alliance Leader’s earnest voice reached me, and I nodded without the slightest hesitation.

“Of course.”

After a moment of silence, stroking his beard, Hyeok Mu-gang raised his head and fixed me with a steady gaze.

“What concerns me is your future.”

Then came a voice laden with worry.

“Your actions were right, and the Alliance is diseased.”

That the figure who, in my previous life, had stood as tall and immovable as a mountain — likened to a giant — would bare his emotions so openly.

Before I could even process my surprise, his words struck like blows.

“Those cancers will block your path as you advance, and in the end, they will try to strangle you.”

I knew his concerns well.

Although my actions had been right, the angles I’d sharpened against the Righteous Path Alliance and the Alliance members I’d attacked for Dam Ak’s sake would ultimately become liabilities.

I would become a target within the organization.

“It will be harder and more agonizing than anything comparable to swimming against the current and climbing a mountain.”

Even so, I didn’t regret my actions.

Because these were the very cancers that had been eating away at the Murim Alliance.

I had only just begun cleaning them out, and this process would repeat itself countless times in the future.

“Do you intend to keep waging that suffocating struggle?”

I thought of the giant who had ultimately been brought down by those cancers in my previous life.

Individually, they were nothing compared to the giant.

But gathered together, those nothings had toppled him in the end.

I straightened my posture and looked him squarely in the eye.

“If no one picks up trash because it dirties their hands, that place will quickly become a dump. But if you keep picking it up, the people around you will gradually notice the change and start helping with the cleanup.”

What had happened precisely because no one had dealt with something that could have been broken into pieces and removed.

“……The bird that leads the flight encounters the most headwinds. And it’s the first to fall.”

And the fact that I had not been made a criminal — that was proof that hope still remained for the Murim Alliance.

“If I fall, my junior brothers will take up the headwinds in my place. If they fail, the ones after them…… If we keep pushing forward, even if only one step at a time—”

I would not let go of this hope.

No — I refused to.

“We’ll be able to go just a little further. So we just need to keep going. Until we reach our destination. I was taught that chivalrous righteousness is not one person’s choice, but something everyone carries forward together.”

My voice, which had filled the room, faded away, and all the energies that had permeated the chamber vanished with it.

Glancing around, I saw that both Hyeok Mu-gang and Jegal So-myeong had turned to stone, staring at me unblinkingly.

After a long while, Hyeok Mu-gang finally took his eyes off me, stroking his beard with closed eyes.

“In all my life, I’ve never once regretted not taking a disciple. But today, for the first time, I do.”

I wasn’t sure how the mood had arrived at this point, but it didn’t seem bad, so I just kept quiet.

Jegal So-myeong asked Hyeok Mu-gang, who was still absorbed in reflection.

“What will you do?”

“If the Grand Strategist has no objections, then I’ll proceed.”

“If the boy insists on walking into hellfire himself……”

Jegal So-myeong paused, then turned to look at me.

“Let it be so.”

Contrary to his harsh words, Jegal So-myeong was wearing what could only be described as a smile of satisfaction.

***

After Jin So-un left the inner chamber.

The two men sat immersed in their respective emotions for a long while, silently draining their tea.

“I don’t understand why that boy is called the Black Flame Dragon.”

“That’s because you only see his good side, Alliance Leader.”

Jegal So-myeong shook his head with a face that said he’d had enough — yet held a certain warmth in his eyes.

“At the manor, the number of Wudang people with broken bones exceeded fifty. And he deliberately targeted only right arms and left legs.”

For a martial artist, having one’s right arm and left leg broken meant being unable to practice martial arts for a considerable time.

And even after the injuries fully healed, it meant being unable to perform at one’s previous level.

“Are those people all right?”

Despite asking after their wellbeing, his voice was cold as ice — entirely unlike a moment ago.

Even for someone of Hyeok Mu-gang’s stature, Wudang’s behavior was not easily forgivable.

“They’re too busy reading the room to act right now, but once a verdict comes down, they’ll certainly rise up.”

The thought of the internal noise that would persist for some time drew a sigh even now.

“Still, that young man’s resolve is remarkable. It would be shameful for adults like us to stand around watching with our hands behind our backs.”

“……”

They had always seen it and always looked the other way.

Because no matter how rotten the existing pillars were, cutting them out and installing new ones had seemed impossible.

Just like that, thirty years had drifted by.

Now the Murim Alliance was poised to face a storm supported by rotten pillars.

And here was someone who said he’d replace those pillars.

Never minding that the rotten wood above might collapse and bury him at any moment.

“Who can’t say fine things?”

At Jegal So-myeong’s grumbling, Hyeok Mu-gang gave a quiet smile.

“Strange how you’re always so expectant yet only show displeasure.”

“Hmph! As if I’d have any expectations for a brat like that……”

“So — are you satisfied with the test results?”

“All I’ve confirmed is how utterly shameless the boy is.”

No matter how unmatched he might be in combat for his age, if he couldn’t withstand the machinations of old foxes, raw strength alone wouldn’t be enough.

The opponents he’d face going forward included the Murim Alliance’s own old foxes.

“You saw it yourself earlier. Standing before us, frozen stiff and trembling, yet somehow managing to claw out his share — someone like that won’t have his spirit broken easily, even by seasoned elders.”

“Is that all? He practically grabbed us by the hair and wouldn’t let go.”

What Jin So-un had requested was something that placed a genuine burden even on these two.

“And think about what he said.”

[If I fall, my junior brothers will take up the headwinds in my place. Until we reach our destination.]

“Wasn’t he essentially telling us to push his sect up along with him?”

Jin So-un had been confident.

That not just he, but Taeul Sect, would stand at the center of change.

But could Jin So-un and Taeul Sect actually do it?

A moderate wind aided flight, they said, but a gale brought a small bird crashing down.

Jin So-un and Taeul Sect were small birds.

Small birds that couldn’t even spread their wings in a minor gust.

“……”

But what if that wasn’t the case?

What if the reason they hadn’t spread their wings all this time was that they were waiting for the gale……?

“Could this be the first flight in five hundred years?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Jegal So-myeong asked the meaning of Hyeok Mu-gang’s murmured words, but.

“Just thinking aloud.”

Hyeok Mu-gang merely smiled and shook his head.

“In any case, Jin So-un’s assignment is settled then.”

“No one would take him in the current atmosphere anyway.”

“Congratulations. You finally got what you wanted, Grand Strategist.”

At Hyeok Mu-gang’s teasing, Jegal So-myeong grumbled.

“I have no idea what use a man hated by everyone could possibly be.”

Hyeok Mu-gang pretended not to see the twitch Jegal So-myeong was forcibly suppressing at the corners of his mouth.

Before long, Jegal So-myeong rose from his seat.

“I’ll take my leave first — I’m rather busy.”

Could having a promising protege really make him that happy?

His retreating back seemed to flutter as though he were dancing.

Come to think of it, Jegal So-myeong had always dedicated himself to cultivating the next generation even while stationed at the Murim Alliance.

As if it were his life’s greatest mission.

“Hmm, a disciple……”

Suddenly, the regret he’d felt while watching Jin So-un surged back.

“Perhaps I should try raising one……”

A face already came to mind.

A small, delicate child who had recently joined the Alliance Leader’s Hall.

A child who had overcome the Heavenly Killing Star nature for their siblings, and overcome their own nature to save lives.

“That child was from Taeul Sect too.”

Somehow, it felt as though fate was aligning in the most curious way.