Volume 5 Chapter 12 – The House of Calculations

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The next day, early morning.

The Elders’ Hall.

Arriving on time in his usual manner, Elder Yeom checked in his greatsword at the entrance.

“It is heavy, so be careful.”

The new warrior smiled as if to say not to worry, but the moment he received the greatsword, his knees buckled.

Seeing the novice trembling with veins bulging on his forehead as he carried the greatsword, the senior warriors chuckled.

It was an initiation ceremony for the new warrior assigned to the Elders’ Hall.

As Elder Yeom watched that sight with a smile, a voice called out to him.

“Elder Yeom!”

“Wait right there, Elder Yeom!”

When he turned around, the elders belonging to the same neutral faction as him were there.

Many among the elders had no talent for internal energy, and the ones who had just arrived were no exception, so they were panting for breath.

“So, is that rumor true?”

“What rumor do you mean?”

When Elder Yeom replied nonchalantly, one of the elders beat his chest as if frustrated.

“The rumor that Elder Yeom made a deal with the Eldest Young Master!”

Elder Yeom felt the attention of the other elders arriving at work slithering toward him.

“Ah.”

A thick smile rose on his lips.

“It is true. I made a very good deal. Though the price was a bit expensive.”

If they could not understand that it was about the mission without him explicitly saying so, they were not qualified to be elders of the Luoyang Sword Family.

“Oh!”

Some expressed admiration, while others nodded.

“To deal with the Eldest Young Master at such a sensitive time. As expected, Elder Yeom is bold. I envy that youth of yours.”

“It seems the rumor that the Eldest Young Master’s connections are deep is true.”

Elder Yeom led them inside.

“Now, now. How about we talk about the details as we head inside?”

* * *

The Elders’ Hall, Great Hall.

Elder Yeom gave a bitter smile inwardly at the gazes staring at him as if trying to pierce him.

It was because the elders of the Second Young Master’s and Third Young Master’s factions were looking at him with expressions of blatant displeasure.

He pretended not to notice and gently turned his head in the opposite direction.

Yet he felt gazes from that direction as well.

They were the elders of the Fourth Young Master’s faction.

Though lacking in realism, they, who inwardly hoped for a new allied elder, were glancing at Elder Yeom with hostile eyes.

‘My word…’

Turning his head again, this time he could see the elders belonging to other neutral factions coughing and looking away.

Normally they would have at least exchanged nods, but they were subtly uncomfortable with Elder Yeom, whose neutrality was being doubted.

In such an atmosphere, even the elders of the same neutral faction who had associated with him until this morning sat slightly apart, avoiding his eyes.

They must have expected it too, but they probably had not known that the reactions of the other elders would be this dramatic.

‘It’s only known that I did a transaction, and it’s already this much…’

In the end, Elder Yeom began looking through the meeting materials he had reviewed multiple times again.

‘If I had entered under the Eldest Young Master’s banner, I would have truly been treated like a non-person.’

His mouth felt bitter.

* * *

Break time.

One of the waiting rooms of the Elders’ Hall.

Since the elders of the same neutral faction had excused themselves with all sorts of pretexts, Elder Yeom was the only one in the waiting room.

“Ahem.”

Just then, confirming that no one was inside, an old elder stealthily approached Elder Yeom and spoke in a low voice.

“Congratulations on the good deal, Elder Yeom. However…”

Elder Yeom nodded.

“It would be best to keep a low profile for the time being, right?”

The old elder sat beside Elder Yeom.

“Everyone is afraid that the Eldest Young Master’s faction will be born and the power ratio, which has barely stabilized, will break.”

The old elder clicked his tongue.

“Cowardly bastards.”

Elder Yeom smiled bitterly.

“Balance is a precious thing. Is that not the secret to maintaining peace?”

The old elder smirked.

“Indeed. Peace is important.”

A gold tooth inserted in place of a missing one glinted.

“…Then, please take care of me.”

“Yes, I will see you at the meeting in a bit.”

The old elder slipped away just as he had come.

In the empty waiting room, Elder Yeom tucked the small note left behind by the old elder into his chest.

* * *

Late at night.

The entertainment district of Luoyang, where rain was scattering.

An old establishment that operated until dawn.

A shabby old man wearing a straw raincoat came in.

Without even checking who had entered, the clerk was focused solely on the book of erotic paintings he was viewing.

The old man did not mind the clerk’s attitude, stealthily approaching and whispering.

“…Six melodies weeping in the wind.”

At that, the clerk pointed inside without even looking at his face.

“Room number six.”

When the old man opened the door to room six, a swordsman inside was playing around with a woman in his arms.

“Wh-what?! Do you want to die?!”

The swordsman, hastily pulling up his pants, thrust a sword with curses, but the old man did not care and tapped the wall directly in front of him.

Twice strongly, twice weakly, and once strongly again.

Then, did the thing that looked like a thick wall not open slightly?

As the old man slipped inside, the secret door returned to a wall as if it were a lie.

“So, you see, this brother of yours…”

The swordsman turned his gaze away as if nothing had just happened, and began flirting with the woman again.

Stepping inside, the old man realized he had come out to the exterior again.

The place, which looked like a long corridor, was a narrow gap between tall buildings.

Perhaps because the woman who opened the secret door was suffering from a terrible venereal disease, hives broke out even on her face, and discharge was oozing out.

She raised a trembling hand to show the direction, and the old man moved cautiously through the narrow gap to avoid contact with her.

Passing through all kinds of clutter thrown down from above, the old man soon found an iron door at the end of the alley.

Confirming the iron door, a strange gleam flowed in the old man’s eyes.

For this building in front of him now was surrounded by other buildings, making it practically inaccessible by normal methods.

Sure enough, when he knocked on the iron door to convey the password just like earlier, the iron door opened without much noise.

It meant that it was being thoroughly maintained on a regular basis.

The old man came inside and closed the iron door.

Then he smiled at the giant who opened the iron door for him.

A gold tooth glinted in the old man’s mouth.

“The security is very thorough, Elder Yeom. Splendid. Splendid.”

The giant, Elder Yeom, smiled.

“Welcome, Elder Ham.”

The old man was none other than the old elder who had handed the note to Elder Yeom.

“Aha, the inside is completely different from the outside?”

Unlike the worn-out exterior, the inside of the building was very neat.

“Naturally, since the one using it is who he is.”

“Indeed.”

Passing through a short corridor, a curtain was hung, and when Elder Yeom pulled back the curtain, the figure sitting behind a desk was visible.

The figure, who looked like a boy yet also like a young man, welcomed Elder Ham.

“Nice to meet you, Elder Ham.”

Elder Ham politely clasped his hands and greeted.

“This Ham greets the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family.”

The Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, smiled.

“Right. I hear you want to make a deal with me?”

* * *

At the price Yeon So-hyeon demanded, the old elder jumped up, begged, and even grew angry.

In the end, however, they were able to reach a suitable compromise under Elder Yeom’s mediation.

The old elder, who bowed to Yeon So-hyeon, left the building under Elder Yeom’s guidance.

It was a different path from the one he came.

Winding through the alleys to the main road, Elder Ham straightaway boarded a carriage that was waiting.

It was his own carriage, waiting at the location Elder Yeom had given prior notice of.

Wiping away the moisture, indistinguishable between rain and sweat, with a silk towel, Elder Ham spoke.

“Mmm. If I had dealt with the Eldest Young Master without Elder Yeom, I would have faced a major disaster.”

In the first place, if Elder Yeom had not been there, there would have been no deal.

Had it not been for a person like Elder Yeom, he would never have even dared to dream of a transaction with the Eldest Young Master.

It was a trust between elders built naturally through repeated dealings among elders within the Elders’ Hall, and a transaction made possible because of the credibility accumulated by Elder Yeom as an individual.

His butler politely received the silk towel Elder Ham had used.

“Were you satisfied with the deal?”

Elder Ham snorted.

“Of course I should be satisfied. Look at the price I paid.”

Elder Ham narrowed his eyes.

“Right. Have you traced those buildings?”

The butler nodded politely.

“Yes. As soon as Master went inside, I investigated through a reliable information broker, but nothing came up.”

Elder Ham narrowed his eyes.

“Thorough indeed, thorough. It’s worth the high price. I like it very much.”

“Since you are satisfied, I am also glad beyond measure.”

Thinking of the expensive price he had to pay, his chest throbbed, but what could he do?

When you pay a high price to the right person, it proves to be worth that much.

‘Indeed. Maintaining my position as an elder right now comes first.’

The carriage sped through the rain and soon vanished.

* * *

Elder Yeom and Yeon So-hyeon, the two of them raised their cups to toast.

“Just today, it is one elder and two top-ranking officials. Congratulations, Elder Yeom.”

Yeon So-hyeon drained his cup.

Elder Yeom fiddled with his cup and gave a bitter smile.

“I thought I was going to be isolated in the Elders’ Council just like that, but now I have far more ‘friends’ than before. This is all thanks to the Eldest Young Master.”

Elder Yeom raised his cup high toward Yeon So-hyeon, then downed it in one go.

His mind, the memory of the day he visited Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment arose.

* * *

“Eldest Young Master.”

Yeon So-hyeon, who was looking through a book in his office, raised an eyebrow.

“Elder Yeom. Did we not agree that the farewell greeting was made earlier?”

Elder Yeom presented his greatsword, which he had brought in hand, to Yeon So-hyeon.

With the hilt facing Yeon So-hyeon.

“…”

Yeon So-hyeon quietly looked down at him, who was kneeling on one knee before him, and spoke.

“Will you not regret this?”

Elder Yeom bowed his head.

“I asked myself.”

“What question?”

Elder Yeom’s voice was firm, and just as full of conviction.

“Who is the one I wish to serve as the Patriarch in the future? Who is the Patriarch whose commands I wish to obey? Who is the Patriarch I wish to stand with on the battlefield?”

Elder Yeom raised his head and looked at Yeon So-hyeon.

“It is you, Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon.”

Yeon So-hyeon closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them.

Then, slowly approaching, he gripped Elder Yeom’s greatsword and lifted it up ‘lightly’ just like that.

“…?”

Looking at Elder Yeom’s wide eyes in shock, Yeon So-hyeon answered his oath.

“Sword Mountain Splitting Peak, Yeom Gwak-chu. Your sword is now mine.”

* * *

And on that day, the Eldest Young Master, who became his lord, had issued him his first command.

To become the first person to conclude a successful transaction with the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon, and serve as a mediator for those who wished to deal with the Eldest Young Master in secret.

* * *

“By the way…”

A jar of alcohol quickly showed its bottom.

“It is beyond imagination. For everyone to pay such a substantial price so nonchalantly, to the point I feel as if they are possessed by something…”

At Elder Yeom’s words, Yeon So-hyeon wore a twisted smile.

“They paid the price for that belief—the belief that they made a solid deal they can trust.”

Elder Yeom smiled bitterly.

“Everyone has to pay a high price to believe it has that much value.”

One considers whether a partner offering a reasonable price is indeed trustworthy.

But when they pay a heavy price to the right partner, for some reason, they trust the transaction itself rather than the partner.

Like those who believe an antique bought at a high price must surely be genuine.

“Trust, belief… since when did they become so shallow…?”

Yeon So-hyeon replied briefly.

“Ever since possessing power.”