The atmosphere was becoming worse.
“The important truth is that the one-on-one fight was justified!”
“Justified? Do we justify the use of poison now? Are we the Sichuan Tang Clan1 now?”
“He said himself that he didn’t do it! Also, like the doctor said, Lee So Geun was fine when he was in the infirmary…”
“Of course the Third Master would say that he didn’t do it. Also, how can you believe that quack?”
“Quack? This bastard!”
At that minute, a loud voice came into my ears.
“If needed, we should at least offer the Third Master’s head to stop the war!”
… What?
“What kind of absurd talk is that!”
“Are my words wrong? Let’s just admit it. Mount Heng Sword Sect is stronger than us. If the war starts, hundreds of people will die, and in the worst situation, our Sect will be exterminated. If we hand over the Third Master, then all of this would be over!”
Are those words or farts. My chest felt stuffy from hearing the bullshit that was coming out of their mouths. But there was someone who intervened before I could.
“What did you say just now?”
Even though his voice was low, there was strength behind it. Actually because it was said so quietly, his words were heard more clearly.
It was Jin Huikyung. He looked around him with an impassive face.
“Whose. Head. Was. That?”
With one syllable cutting off after another, the room became frosty. Even my body felt chilly in that kind of atmosphere, the White Tiger Captain opened his mouth.
“Of course the perpetrator of this event is the Third Master… Ah.”
That bastard didn’t have any hair, but it looks like he didn’t have any sense2 either. Even though the White Tiger Captain made a slip of the tongue, it was already too late.
“So, we’re offering the Third Master’s head to the Mount Heng Sword Sect on something we haven’t even actually confirmed yet? Is that something a Sect Captain should say?”
“No, that’s not what I meant when…”
The White Tiger Captain got pushed down by Jin Huikyung’s force and avoided his gaze. Jin Huikyung silently looked at the White Tiger Captain. It was scarier to watch because someone who doesn’t usually get angry was getting angry.
Looking at the White Tiger Captain’s face, it felt like 10 years of my congestion was going down. Jin Huikyung stood up from his seat and stared down at everyone with a harsh face.
“Everyone already knows.”
Jin Huikyung looked at everyone around him and firmly said.
“The one-on-one fight was conducted fairly and that Lee So Geun’s poisoning is a conspiracy. Everyone already knew this but because of your fear, you guys want to submit to them?”
All the Elders avoided each other’s gazes. Jin Huikyung said even more firmly.
“I don’t know who poisoned him, but Mount Heng Sword Sect are holding the sword of justification. Today, tomorrow. If not, they may have already pulled it out but it’s too late for us to turn back now. There’s only one way. We’ll need to fight.”
“…”
“You want to live? You want to protect the Sect? If you feel that way, prepare your warriors and prepare for war. If not, hand over my head and my brother’s over to them. It’s not a bad solution if all you want is fame and fortune.”
Suffocating silence occupied the conference room.
In the next moment, if one person didn’t open their mouth then the suffocating silence would have lasted forever.
“How excellent.”
A man who, until now, had just sat there and watched.
The Head Elder.
—
The Head Elder.
He was a person of interest. The Sect’s greatest senior and also the Head of the Elders.
I thought of what Jin Huikyung said to me previously in a sound technique.
‘He told me to be careful.’
The NPC Jin Huikyung was my greatest ally and advisor.
I didn’t listen to his words vainly, and kept an eye on the Head Elder.
And also, came to a conclusion.
‘Fuck, I have no idea.’
After I started this crappy game, if someone were to ask me to count the number of NPCs I’ve met, I felt like it would number over a hundred.
They each had their own individual expressions and personalities. The servant I met at the brothel had a salesman smile, the warrior who dropped me off had a kind of clumsiness, and the seniors I met at the Sect were unexpectedly innocent and had a radical side to them.
However the Head Elder…
‘I can’t read his expression.’
He had a strange smile on his face and was simply watching everything that was happening.
When the interrogation started he had that strange smile on his face, when everyone was shouting and also at this moment too.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sounds of the Head Elder clapping filled the room.
“I thought you were just young, but it looks like the Clan Leader has become a confident Murim-in. Wonderful. It needs to be that way so that we can call you a Clan Leader.”
“I apologize for showing you something unsightly.”
“Too much humility can be seen as arrogant. There’s no need for the Clan Leader to apologize.”
At the Head Elder’s compliments, Jin Huikyung’s face was as stiff as always.
“This old man wants to add something, what does the Clan Leader think?”
“I shall listen carefully.”
Everyone looked his way, as the Head Elder slowly rose up from his seat.
He was the highest senior in the Sect. Based on authority, he could even be beyond Jin Huikyung.
The biggest problem was on the other hand, that influential person was the Head of the Elders.
‘Shit, it’s become fucked.’
In this worst possible situation, I slowly started to move my body towards the door, when the Head Elder spoke his first words.
“It’s rotten.”
Huh?
I turned my head around. Like always, the Head Elder had the same strange smile on his face. Did I hear wrong?
But I didn’t.
“Even animals will join forces against an enemy. But the Sect seniors are suggesting that we offer up the head of the direct line of the family in order to stop a war. Haha. And you’re telling me that these kinds of bastards are sitting here in the meeting.”
“Lǎ-lǎoyé. It’s a misunderstanding. That is…”
“Captain.”
At the cold face of the Head Elder, the White Tiger Captain’s face became tense.
“Was my trip abroad too long? If not, maybe it’s because I left my seat empty for too long?”
“Lǎ-lǎoyé.”
If I were to just look at his expression, he looked like an old man who was asking someone if they had water at a gym but his words were cold.
‘What is this.’
What was happening? Why was he on our side?
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