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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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[The Martial Alliance acknowledges that Do-cheol, the leader of the Hongryun Sect, has cleared himself of all suspicions.]
“Bullshit.”
The document from the Martial Alliance was mimicking an imperial edict. Not only had they painted the paper with pretty colors, as if bestowing a favor, the very first sentence was ridiculous. Who in the world was cleaner than me, to even be talking about clearing suspicions?
I chuckled as I sat on the floor and read through the document.
[We pray for the well-being of the Hongryun Sect and the righteousness of its leader.]
There was no mention of Master Gold Fortune. It was like the Martial Alliance had decided to keep its official position that it had investigated this incident due to a valid suspicion.
I tossed the document aside and looked to the side.
Yeong-yu of the Jegal Clan gave a happy smile after seeing me throw the document aside, and said,
“That’s a very disrespectful act.”
“I didn’t expect you to personally come and deliver this. You’re an important person of the Jegal Clan, shouldn’t you have more important things to do?”
Judging from the aura he emanated, his outstanding appearance, and the skills he had shown at the competition, it was clear that Yeong-yu was a prominent figure, even in the Jegal Clan. I felt a disparity at the fact that he, who acted like a carefree man, was an important person.
He didn’t answer my question and changed the subject.
“So, have you thought about my proposal?”
Although I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his purpose was clear. He was staring at me, waiting for my answer with a bright smile and sharp eyes. I recalled the conversation I’d had with Sanyeo on that topic.
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“The more allies, the better.”
At that time, Sanyeo didn’t seem to have any rejection towards the Jegal Clan’s proposal. Instead, it was as if she was enthusiastically hoping that I would form an alliance with them.
“He seems suspicious? He could just use me and then throw me away.”
“Oh my, you’re worrying about something like that? Isn’t that the kind of relationship that we have too?”
I had nothing to say at Sanyeo’s question. Since we were together in the first place because our goals aligned. If anything went wrong, Sanyeo would likely abandon me, and if my goal was to be hindered by Sanyeo, then I would also seriously consider betraying her.
I shook my head and said,
“It’s different from you.”
Sanyeo blinked and hesitated at my words. Sanyeo’s red eyes were looking at me. She stared at me in silence before tilting her head and saying,
“Those are some embarrassing words.”
I chuckled and said,
“His goal doesn’t align with mine, right? How would the continuation and well-being of the imperial family and my goal to take over the world align?”
But trusting her and trusting Yeong-yu were completely different things. Being together with Sanyeo meant that as long as I didn’t go astray from our goals, there was no reason for her to betray me. But Yeong-yu, he might try to get rid of me if his goal was achieved.
His ultimate goal was to keep an eye on the Martial Alliance, and not to be friends with me. And wasn’t I also the kind of person that he was wary of, a person who was an embodiment of corruption and greed in the martial world? It would not be strange if he considered me dangerous after we were done with this incident, and tried to get rid of me.
“But how are you going to deal with the aftermath of rejecting him? Wouldn’t rejecting him create more enemies who think that you’re dangerous?”
I had nothing to say to her words. Although I wanted to swing my ax and beat everyone I didn’t like, even if my level had risen, I was still just second-rate, and the world was full of masters at the peak level, and other strange bastards.
I didn’t know what kind of attitude Yeong-yu would have after being rejected, so I got a headache thinking about it. When I rubbed my temples with a frown, Sanyeo came to my side. She was looking down at me. Her face was in the shadows, and her eyes shone even redder.
She said with blatant mockery in her tone,
“You said you wanted to devour the world, and you’re trembling in fear of a young master from the Five Great Clans.”
We made eye contact. Sanyeo didn’t even blink and continued,
“Are you that afraid of the Jegal Clan? You have no confidence?”
I also had no other option. The optimal choice was to make an alliance, and whether I became the prey or the predator was my problem to resolve afterwards. Sanyeo lowered her body as if waiting for my answer. While looking down at me, she showed off her shackled hands and looked up at me.
I stood up after seeing an unknown smile.
“Okay, I’ll show you, what kind of man I am.”
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I looked at Yeong-yu again. After gathering my senses, his ambiguous expression looked naive and green.
“Let’s form an alliance. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, but you said you needed my help. I’ll gladly cooperate.”
“You won’t regret it.”
Yeong-yu extended his hand. I stared at his palm for a moment. Calluses that were unique to those who trained in martial arts were visible. Yeong-yu shook his hand as if telling me to hurry up and grab it, and I held his hand. After giving it a tight squeeze, Yeong-yu picked up the document that I had thrown and said,
“Even though we’ve said that we would form an alliance, there’s nothing you can help me with right now. Master Gold Fortune has countless first-rate and peak level masters under him, and his influence is massive. We will need a long and meticulous process to break the connections he’s formed in the martial world.”
I frowned.
“Then, what do you want from me?”
“Just to be a connection.”
“A connection?”
I couldn’t understand his words. What kind of connection was he talking about? Yeong-yu rolled the paper into a cylinder and then put it in his pocket. And after looking around, he lowered his voice.
“Master Gold Fortune is a very greedy old man. Even after becoming someone who controlled the Shaanxi province without martial arts, he was always thirsty for connections. And yet, he’s suspicious and wary of others, so he’s very careful in doing business with others.”
Yeong-yu’s finger pointed towards me. A bright smile was still on his face.
“And then, a man who turned the whole Shaanxi province upside down appeared. He recklessly jumped into Master Gold Fortune’s business and killed the leader before taking the whole sect for himself. Although it’s a small business, this action has damaged Master Gold Fortune’s pride.”
I started to think. I had some idea what he was aiming for. The thing that Yeong-yu wanted by showing off his connection with me. And the things that I could obtain through that.
“That man became the leader of the sect, pushed back all challenges from the Martial Alliance, and then proved his skills by winning the duel competition. And then, a young master from the Jegal Clan, who likes heroes and has a taste for adventure, saw this man and…”
Yeong-yu showed off his carefree attire. Seeing him, I started to wonder how long he had been hiding himself and had been acting like a carefree man. What was his true self? Was the personality he was showing me now, truly his?
“That young master, who fell for the man at first sight, didn’t want to see such a man be harmed by Master Gold Fortune. So, he proposes to Master Gold Fortune a way to become connected to the Jegal Clan and suggests to be his stepping stone for expansion into other provinces.
Yeong-yu finished his story with exaggerated gestures, like an actor in an opera. I stared intently at him while organizing the image he was painting in my head. In the short time frame that I had killed the leader and then passed the inspection, he had been drawing this image.
“Master Gold Fortune obtained a connection to the Jegal Clan at the cost of his bruised pride.”
I would gain some time to recover from Master Gold Fortune’s attacks.
“And the young master of the Jegal Clan obtained a chance to infiltrate the connections closely affiliated with Master Gold Fortune.”
Yeong-yu asked me while looking at me,
“What do you think? There’s no way Master Gold Fortune would be suspicious. Because I’m originally that kind of person. It is what Master Gold Fortune desires. And you gain so much compared to what you sacrifice.”
“You’re a scary man.”
I gave him a dry compliment. It was his choice how he wanted to receive it. Yeong-yu nodded at my words and then said,
“I’ll take it as a compliment. For now, I only have one thing that I want you to do.”
“What is it?”
“To train and become stronger. Since you seem to have had an epiphany during the duel competition, you should focus on training for a while.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
I smiled, but had other thoughts.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
If Yeong-yu could cook up a deal that made Master Gold Fortune believe it was beneficial, he could also use the same trick on me. If he was able to create a facade of a carefree young master to Master Gold Fortune, he could create a similar facade to me.
He is dangerous. He knows how to mix his own benefits within friendly gestures.
If I was to try to use him, I would end up being used by him instead.
If I was going to backstab him, then it had to be done perfectly.
“It seems I’ve made a good choice in deciding to help you, sir.”
I nodded and said that.
Yeong-yu was also nodding very slowly.
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