Woon Seorin gathered herself, belatedly.
“I can guess how Young Master Seo must feel. But listen to what I have to say first.”
When he kept his silence, Woon Seorin was inwardly relieved — and a sigh escaped her at the same moment.
She had wanted to have this conversation later, at the very least. But she could not wait. He had to be told the truth before he broke any further.
She hesitated a little, then spoke.
“The Baek Clan’s people are all safe.”
It was not something said to comfort him. They truly were safe.
Seo Woojin did not know how deep that vile malice ran, but she did. Outwardly she had told him she would not help, and all the while she had been moving Cheongeum to watch his back — which was how they had learned in advance that the Jang Clan’s warriors were loading explosives onto the ship.
It would have been better to tell him beforehand, but the situation had been just as urgent for the Cheongeum Envoy, so she had acted first — taking the Baek Clan’s people to the stern and moving them onto a small boat prepared for the purpose. Not long after that, the ship had exploded.
“I meant to let you know, but there was no room to. She judged that getting the Baek Clan’s people to safety came first. And I only received the report at dawn today. You may take it for an excuse, but…”
The rush of half-excuses slowed, and stopped.
It was a shocking thing to hear. For a man who had burned down the Jang Clan in rage over it, betrayal would have been a fair thing to feel.
And yet Seo Woojin’s expression stayed calm.
“Did you… did you know?”
Seo Woojin shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
“Then why—?”
Seo Woojin let out a sigh.
“Perhaps… I thought Advisor Woon, of all people, would have made preparations against them. That you might have saved them without my knowing.”
“Why would you think that? I told you I wouldn’t help.”
“Because it would be a waste for you as well. The Baek Clan.”
“…!!”
The corner of Seo Woojin’s mouth drew slowly upward.
“The Baek estate burned, but their strength is intact. The warriors scattered in every direction will gather again in time, and their loyalty will hold. If the clan head and his family are alive, you would have judged them worth keeping close.”
“…”
“And perhaps you also meant, by saving them, to make them the Woon Clan’s people.”
Woon Seorin glared at him and asked again.
“If you guessed all of that, why did you attack the Jang Clan?”
Seo Woojin shook his head.
“Whether they lived or died, that malice was too base and those methods too vile. The price has to be paid.”
Woon Seorin made a low sound in spite of herself. For an instant, a terrible killing intent had come off him.
Swish.
Seo Woojin straightened and leaned back against the chair, and his face slid into the darkness again.
“I told you. If this is the way of the dark path, then I would show you mine as well.”
Woon Seorin swallowed hard, then finished the thought for him.
“Seo Woojin’s way. But what in the world are you planning to—?”
“I heard it before. That the Military Advisor’s Hall tracks the dark path’s corruption as a matter of course.”
Woon Seorin’s fine brows drew together. She could not begin to guess what he was about to raise, but she conceded the point readily enough.
“That’s right.”
Seo Woojin’s voice came again.
“I heard that in the second trial, mobilizing a combat unit was permitted.”
“…That’s also right.”
“I’m going to make two demands.”
“What… are they?”
“First. The Jang Clan’s smuggling. That isn’t a scale they could ever have managed alone — there are certainly others in it with them. Use what the Military Advisor’s Hall knows, and find me those connections.”
Woon Seorin shook her head at once.
“W-wait! That isn’t something so easily—”
But Seo Woojin had no intention of listening.
“Ah. And be sure to search out places under the Cheon or the Gok.”
By now she could guess what he meant to do. But settling a matter on nothing but rage, with no justification behind it, was not like him at all. She thought she ought to stop him — and the words would not come. The pressure coming off him had sealed her mouth.
“And the second.”
Seo Woojin stated his second demand.
The day of the Dark Alliance’s regular council, and of the second trial’s announcement.
The results had already reached every ear, which was likely why the hardliners gathered in the great hall wore such bright faces. Whatever anyone said, the winner of this trial was the Cheon Clan’s candidate.
The Woon and Gok candidates had been faster in settling their business, but Cheon Suryeon was the only one to annihilate an entire clan single-handed. That overwhelming, shocking result had everyone nodding along.
It was unwelcome news for the moderates, but they took comfort in the thought that it would check Seo Woojin’s runaway advance. He was doing as he pleased even now; this failure would give them a leash on him. And if the Woon Clan seized victory in the third trial, they might yet drag the thing out to the very end.
Cheon Doyun, for his part, regarded this as an opportunity.
Seo Woojin had failed his mission and then annihilated an unoffending clan instead. Blinded by rage, he had made the worst move available to him. Cheon Doyun had been angling for exactly that from the start — though he had not expected it performed quite so beautifully.
‘In the end he’s just a green boy short on experience.’
A thin smile at his lips, Cheon Doyun watched Cho Igyeom conduct the meeting.
“As you are all aware, the winner of this second trial is the Cheon Clan’s Cheon Suryeon. This is the unanimous result of both the Military Advisor’s examiners and our own, so I trust there will be no objection.”
Cho Igyeom looked over at Cheon Suryeon, seated to one side.
“Congratulations.”
Cheon Suryeon merely inclined her head slightly, with no particular reaction.
“The Cheon Clan’s killing machine, as expected.”
“No witnesses this time either, they say? The Cheon Clan’s head is formidable too. What martial arts did he pass down to make a monster like that?”
“The Cheon Clan will rule the dark path in the end. Should I be reaching out to them now…?”
This time it was not only the representatives of the Seven Families. Those holding the Dark Alliance’s key posts had come, along with the heads of clans of some size and the leaders of the sects. Cheon Doyun had summoned them all deliberately, to break Seo Woojin completely.
“Then the third trial will be announced again in the near future.”
Now.
“Hold!! Ending it like this does not stand to reason!!”
Gok Taejun, seated beside him, kicked back his chair and rose.
It was the first time he had stood in an official setting in Gok Cheonmu’s place, and he was as unrestrained as ever, raising his voice with all his usual bullheadedness.
Cho Igyeom frowned and asked,
“What is it. And lower your voice somewhat. Every man here is your elder.”
Gok Taejun snorted.
“Hmph! But I am the Gok Clan’s heir.”
Insolent. He had known as much already, but meeting it at this range drew a sigh out of him.
‘Damn it all. How on earth did the man raise his children.’
Cho Igyeom waved a hand as though it were a nuisance.
“Fine. Say it, then. What is it that doesn’t stand to reason?”
Gok Taejun grinned and pointed to one side, to where the candidates sat together.
“Standing as a candidate for Dark Alliance Lord grants no absolution! Nor is being the Dark Alliance Lord’s son anything special any longer!”
“What in the world are you trying to say!”
Cho Igyeom’s voice rose in turn at words he could make no sense of. Gok Taejun, apparently satisfied with how things stood, only smiled the deeper.
“A man may fail his mission! But annihilating an unoffending clan is something I will never overlook!! Seo Woojin! Come forward at once and confess your crime!!”
Named, Seo Woojin stepped forward, his expression calm. Gok Taejun lifted his chin in triumph.
“There is testimony that you killed the Jang Clan’s warriors and burned down their estate! Have you anything to say for yourself!!”
Seo Woojin looked over the faces filling the room. Some watched with keen interest; others let their discomfort at the Gok Clan’s high-handedness show.
His gaze went last to Cheon Doyun.
The expression there was unlike anyone else’s in the room — the look of a man who had already won. The contempt in it, for the loser standing in front of him, was plain to see.
Without taking his eyes off Cheon Doyun, Seo Woojin nodded.
“That’s correct. I annihilated them.”
“Why, you—!!”
Gok Taejun’s roar burst out of him. He looked ready to fling himself across the room that instant.
“The Jang Clan was a house under our Gok Clan!! Did you imagine you could lay hands on the Gok Clan’s people and walk away unharmed!!”
Seo Woojin let out a small laugh.
“They committed a great many evils to drive the Baek Clan into a corner. They bought a mountain from the Vice Prefect of Ningbo and cornered the supply of the medicinal herb the clan’s daughter needed. On that pretext they threatened them, and pressed them. All to bring one house to ruin — and they used a child’s lifeline to do it.”
Gok Taejun burst into wild laughter.
“Hahaha!! That doesn’t even pass for an excuse! And what of it!! What is strange about the strong taking from the weak! What is the problem with aiming at a weakling’s weakness! Gentlemen! Do you intend to keep listening to this nonsense? Strip him of his candidacy at once, and hold him to account for daring to harm an ally of the Dark Alliance!!”
Seo Woojin turned his head to look at Gok Taejun.
“Is that so?”
“Heh heh. What? Has it finally sunk in? But it’s already too late, boy. You’re finished.”
A thin smile hung at the corner of Seo Woojin’s mouth as he turned to Cho Igyeom.
“Clan Head Cho once said that the dark path puts profit before all else.”
Cho Igyeom’s expression turned grave. He had not known any of this either — which meant Cheon Doyun had kept it from him. The realization that the Cheon Clan’s reach ran further than he had thought put him on his guard.
For the moment, though, he nodded at Seo Woojin’s question.
“I did say that.”
Seo Woojin nodded, satisfied.
“And you added this. That one who harms the dark path’s profit is no different from a traitor.”
“…That is so.”
Seo Woojin drew a book from inside his robes.
“A ledger obtained from the Vice Prefect of Ningbo Prefecture.”
Cho Igyeom took the ledger and looked over its contents, and his eyes went wide.
“Th-this is—!”
Seo Woojin looked at Gok Taejun, entirely at his ease.
“Every smuggled good is recorded in it. Narcotics, gunpowder. People, too. There is nothing that isn’t in there. I found the warehouse where they stockpiled it all, and seized the lot.”
“Wh-what? What in the world are you talking about now!!”
“A fair number of the items are forbidden by the state. And on top of that, the heaven-defying act of selling children. Clan Head Cho. I’ll ask you.”
Cho Igyeom made a low sound and inclined his head.
“Yes. Ask.”
“These are matters the state forbids. No — there’s no need to go as far as the state. If the Murim Alliance were to learn of this, what would happen?”
“Mm… They would certainly hold our Dark Alliance to account, and if we failed to show them a result they found satisfactory… the Murim Alliance would move to force directly.”
“Then would that inflict great harm on our Dark Alliance?”
Cho Igyeom glanced across at Gok Taejun, then nodded slowly.
“To put it a little strongly… it is a matter of the dark path’s survival.”
Seo Woojin gave a significant smile.
“Gok Taejun. I’ll ask you. Is the Gok Clan behind the Jang Clan?”
“Wh-what?! N-no… we—!”
The answer came from Cheon Doyun, who had been holding his silence.
“You’re muddying the point.”
Cheon Doyun stepped forward.
“The Gok Clan would not have known the Jang Clan’s crimes. Had they known, they would never have overlooked it. And this is not the place to argue the Jang Clan’s crimes. Even supposing the Jang Clan committed offenses that grave, there is such a thing as procedure. Young Master Seo has no authority whatsoever to handle the matter as he pleases.”
Seo Woojin let out a small laugh.
“Do you think the same?”
“About what?”
“That sophistry about it being natural for the strong to take from the weak.”
“Heh. Of course. What could be more foolish than leaving easy prey where it lies?”
Seo Woojin nodded.
“Right. So on that point, I mean to agree with you.”
“What?”
Before Cheon Doyun could make sense of it—
BANG!
The doors of the great hall flew open.
“U-urgent report!! The Bang Clan of Sanmen has been annihilated!!”
A herald. At the suddenness of it, every face in the hall went blank.
But that was only the beginning.
“Urgent report!! The West River Sect of Pujiang has been attacked!! There are said to be no survivors!!”
“Urgent report!! In Wuyi, the—”
“Urgent—”
Exactly four heralds came, and announced four annihilations.
“Wh-what is this…?”
Even Cheon Doyun, always so at his ease, could not hide his alarm this time.
“The strong take from the weak. Fine words. Thanks to them, I was able to understand the dark path’s nature.”
Cheon Doyun’s head whipped around.
“Don’t tell me — you—?”
Seo Woojin took a step toward him, leaned in, and spoke low.
“If you take what belongs to others, you should know how to have it taken from you.”
“You dare—!”
“Yes, I dare. You laid hands on my people, so you’ve paid a matching price. You dared to challenge me, so I showed you. Seo Woojin’s way. So savor it. What your malice brings back on you.”
Seo Woojin drew back from him again, and his voice rang out across the hall.
“The clans and sects just named were all part of the smuggling market the Jang Clan ran!! Therefore, as a candidate for Dark Alliance Lord, I have punished their crimes!! And if there is any man here who would voice an objection, he cannot escape the suspicion of being connected to them!! I promise a thorough investigation!!”
A rich smile spread at the corner of his mouth.
“In the way of the dark path.”
A villain’s smile.
(End of Chapter 34)