A few days earlier.

The day Yoo Geonwoo was taken.

A heated discussion had produced the rough outline of a plan.

“So it comes down to how we work Gok Taejun around…”

Song Biryeong murmured it, her face serious.

Getting hold of Gok Taejun by one means or another was not the end of it. He had to be interrogated and the information dug out of him.

Information the Gok Clan would have no choice but to reach for.

“What he knows might be less than we think. And then we’d have to bargain with the man himself…”

At Song Biryeong’s words everyone made a low sound.

Every face was serious. Nobody said it, but the question of whether this would really go to plan was written all over them.

Only Woon Seorin and Seo Woojin were unbothered.

“There’s no need for faces that grim. With help from Brother Mun in Ningbo — the one I told you about — we can get what we want more easily than you think. As long as the Woon Clan’s read on Gok Taejun’s character is accurate.”

“It will be accurate. My father doesn’t judge from a single piece of information. The Cho Clan, the merchant companies, and the Woon Clan’s own intelligence organization. He gathers all three and then draws his conclusion. He can’t turn up the right answer every time, but the odds go up.”

Seo Woojin nodded deeply.

“You heard her. So there’s no great need to worry about luring Gok Taejun in and taking him.”

“And if he doesn’t know the Gok Clan’s secrets? Can we bargain with Clan Head Gok using him alone?”

A short laugh escaped Seo Woojin.

“Aren’t you all underestimating our Military Advisor?”

“What?”

“She just said it. That you can’t turn up the right answer every time. Same thing. We don’t need to hear the answer out of Gok Taejun’s mouth.”

“Then…?”

“We only need something that points to it. Even the smallest thing — our Military Advisor could find the answer from it.”

At Seo Woojin’s easy patter, Woon Seorin furrowed her brow.

“That kind of joke isn’t funny.”

Seo Woojin shrugged and smirked.

“Well, in any case. The basic frame is this. Abduct Gok Taejun, interrogate him, and dig out the information that will put pressure on the Gok Clan. And use that information to save Warrior Yoo. And the variable is right here.”

“Variable?”

At Song Biryeong’s question, Seo Woojin gave a small nod.

“Six shichen from when Gok Taejun disappears. The Gok Clan will notice within six shichen at the latest. And Cheon Doyun will have a countermeasure ready before long.”

Woon Seorin finished it for him.

“If it were me, I’d try to find Gok Taejun by any means. And then kill Gok Taejun.”

“What?!”

Song Biryeong and everyone else were startled, but Woon Seorin went on coolly.

“Every warrior in the Gok Clan will throw themselves into finding Gok Taejun, and all of that becomes circumstantial evidence. That something has happened to Gok Taejun. After which it’s easy. Kill Gok Taejun and claim it was the Alliance Lord’s doing. Bring the other hardline houses around and throw down a few pieces of convincing proof, and the claim gains that much more weight.”

Song Biryeong glanced at Seo Woojin.

“Then…”

“Our Alliance Lord has no power to answer it right now, so he might turn out to be the shortest-reigning Alliance Lord there’s ever been.”

Seo Woojin gave an awkward smile and scratched his head.

“Haha… that’s a little harsh.”

“So we’re going to hide Gok Taejun thoroughly. And I already have a place in mind.”

“Where is it?”

Song Biryeong asked quickly; she was genuinely worried.

Woon Seorin wore a thin smile and looked at Seo Woojin.

“You know the place too. Where you met my father before. The hall with the Soul-Illusion Maze Formation laid over it.”

A small sound escaped Seo Woojin.

That place he could trust.

Unless the Woon Clan deliberately opened a path, nobody would ever find it.

“Then that’s one worry gone.”

Seo Woojin was relieved, but Woon Seorin shook her head.

“The problem is if Cheon Doyun thinks of the other course.”

“The other course?”

“Moving Warrior Yoo’s execution up.”

BANG!

The sound of a hand coming down on the table rang through the room.

“Execution?!”

Song Biryeong’s voice went up at once.

Her being worked up was understandable.

Because it was unreasonable.

At present Yoo Geonwoo’s crime was attempted murder of the Gok Clan’s heir.

Of course, since Yoo Geonwoo belonged to the Black Dragon Guard, the Dark Alliance ought to have carried out its own investigation, but that kind of common sense did not carry in this world.

Because it is a world that runs on force alone.

Even the weight of a place among the Four Black Dragons lost its light in front of the Gok Clan.

And since Seo Woojin was an Alliance Lord who had not yet had his inauguration, there was that much less to hold them back.

Which was why the Gok Clan could judge and carry out a sentence entirely on its own.

“If my guess is right, three days. From when they realize Gok Taejun is gone, they can pull it forward to three days. However little they think of the Black Dragon Guard, they can’t simply go ahead with it.”

Woon Seorin watched the Four Black Dragons’ faces as she went on.

“The Black Dragon Guard may not look kindly on the four of you, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stand and watch one of you put down by someone else’s hand. It’s a question of pride.”

The faces of the three of them went heavy.

They had felt it when they cleared out the houses under the Gok Clan on Seo Woojin’s order, hadn’t they.

The distrust in the Black Dragon Guard’s eyes when they looked at them.

Would they have come along at all, if it had not been Seo Woojin’s order?

Song Biryeong wore a bitter smile as she answered.

“So by what Rin says, that pride means the Black Dragon Guard won’t sit still for Geonwoo’s death?”

“To put it exactly, it means the Gok Clan will need time to bring them around.”

Song Biryeong frowned.

“Which comes down to us having only three days after we take Gok Taejun?”

“Yes. The information has to be dug out before then.”

Song Biryeong set her mouth firmly and nodded.

“I’ll get his mouth open one way or another. I’ll find out how many spoons the Gok Clan’s servants own.”

Song Biryeong hardened her resolve, and Seo Woojin threw cold water on it.

“But what do we do if Cheon Doyun produces a move outside what we expect?”

Song Biryeong turned a hard glare on Seo Woojin, and Woon Seorin tilted her head.

“I couldn’t say. It isn’t impossible, but… the Commander of the Black Dragon Guard is a man of high standing and strong pride. His never appearing in front of you so far will be that pride refusing to acknowledge you.”

Seo Woojin let out a small sigh.

As Woon Seorin said, he had never met the Commander of the Black Dragon Guard.

He had moved the Black Dragon Guard through Woon Seorin, and even then the man had not shown himself.

“What you’re saying is that the Commander’s standing is high, so if he takes exception he has some way of making it felt. And that even the Cheon Clan or the Gok Clan would find that a burden.”

“That’s right.”

Seo Woojin tilted his head.

“Then isn’t that easier? It means Cheon Doyun only has to persuade one man, the Commander.”

“As I said, he doesn’t show himself easily. Cheon Doyun isn’t his superior, so there’s no reason for him to appear.”

Seo Woojin held up his index finger and his thumb. And twisted them slightly.

“Can’t we reverse the order?”

“What?”

“Rather than calling him out — making him show himself. Yes. We only have to touch that pride of his.”

Woon Seorin furrowed her brow.

She stroked her chin and seemed to be weighing the possibilities.

“There’s a chance of it. And if by any chance that did happen…”

As Woon Seorin’s voice sank, Seo Woojin grinned.

“The answer to that is simple too.”

“What?”

Seo Woojin twisted index finger and thumb once more.

“We reverse our order as well.”

“What…?”

Amid everyone’s confusion.

Only Seo Woojin wore a smile full of certainty.

“The second course. The second plan.”

With the Gok Clan’s enormous compound in front of them, Seo Woojin’s cheerful smile came to mind unbidden.

Song Biryeong murmured without meaning to.

“Do you think maybe we picked up a madman, Chief?”

Even Bae Seokjin, normally taciturn, let a short laugh escape.

“Perhaps we did.”

Song Biryeong gave a hollow laugh and looked at him.

“That’s the whole of your reaction? Is this plan actually all right?! What second plan!”

Song Biryeong could not hide how worked up she was, but Bae Seokjin answered calmly.

“At the very least, we have learned this much. That the Alliance Lord truly means to save Geonwoo. Not merely with words.”

“Nngh… that’s true, but…”

Song Biryeong made a low sound and looked at the Gok Clan’s compound again.

Seen from the small rise, the Gok Clan’s compound was truly vast.

There were a great many halls, which made the inside of it look that much more complicated.

Song Biryeong sighed and shook her head.

“Still, this can’t be right, can it. Reverse the order, he says? And this is what that gets us? Save Geonwoo first and then have it out with Clan Head Gok.”

If it went the way they intended, nothing could be better, but one foot wrong and all of them were finished.

Because when Yoo Geonwoo was dragged to the execution ground, the rest of the Four Black Dragons would follow him there.

“What’s making you so anxious.”

A voice from behind them.

The three of them reacted sharply.

Muk-yeong, up in a tree, already had a throwing knife in his hand, and Song Biryeong had bent her knees, ready to spring at any moment.

Only Bae Seokjin, who seemed to have recognized the voice, was making his courtesy.

“I greet the Alliance Lord.”

At Bae Seokjin’s courtesy Seo Woojin waved a hand.

“Let’s not be so stiff about it. It’s embarrassing. For me, taking that kind of courtesy when I’m a fake, and for you, Chief.”

“Such words are hard for me to receive, so I beg you to withdraw them.”

Seo Woojin gave an awkward laugh.

In some ways Bae Seokjin felt like a harder man to get close to than Yoo Geonwoo.

Seo Woojin shook his head and gave it up.

“Well. If that’s more comfortable for you, then do it your way.”

And he went past him and over to Song Biryeong’s side.

The Gok Clan’s compound below the hill.

“Take a look. What do you see?”

Song Biryeong furrowed her brow and looked toward the compound.

Was it because his plan made her uneasy? Song Biryeong’s answer came out blunt.

“I couldn’t say. A disgusting number of halls? And a complicated interior because of it?”

“Not that.”

The answer came from behind.

“There are few warriors.”

At Bae Seokjin’s answer Seo Woojin nodded.

“Just as we said, the Gok Clan will have thrown every man they have into finding Gok Taejun. Which means there are that many fewer warriors inside the Gok Clan.”

“Ah!”

A small sound escaped Song Biryeong.

Seo Woojin wore a thin smile and went on.

“So they’ll have left the smallest possible force guarding the cells. Though those few will be formidable enough.”

Seo Woojin turned his head and looked at Song Biryeong.

“But is that a problem for the Four Black Dragons?”

Song Biryeong’s eyes gradually widened. And then she grinned.

“Not at all.”

Seo Woojin nodded as though satisfied and turned away.

“And I promised you. That when something needs breaking, I’d put you at the very front. Today is the first time. So don’t disappoint me.”

With that Seo Woojin left.

Without even the usual word of encouragement.

But it was enough.

To bring the Four Black Dragons’ fighting spirit up.

Song Biryeong drew a deep breath and let it slowly out.

And she looked at Bae Seokjin with changed eyes.

“What are you waiting for, Chief? Aren’t we going?”

Bae Seokjin wore, once again, a smile rarely seen on him.

And he was the first to turn.

“Let’s go. To save our brother.”

Song Biryeong and Muk-yeong followed him.

It was as though a quiet storm had wrapped itself tightly around the three of them.

(End of Chapter 59)