Volume 6 Chapter 18 – The Most Terrifying Warrior (3)

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Luoyang.

A bustling street near the Mount Beimang checkpoint.

Elder Kang of the Second Young Master’s faction did not even think to wipe the sweat flowing on his broad forehead.

“…So, what did you just say?”

A civil official, who belonged to a collateral branch of the Sixteen Families, shrugged his shoulders.

“It is exactly as I told you.”

“So you are saying that the Eldest Young Master is going in and out of the Sixteen Families like his own home, without even an invitation?”

Pretending not to see the corner of Elder Kang’s eye trembling out of courtesy, the civil official nodded.

“Yes. I have just come after confirming the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family leaving our family’s residence.”

“….”

“Then, I shall take my leave.”

The civil official politely offered a greeting, looked around, and left the tea house.

“….”

Elder Kang, who had already stopped thinking and reasoning on his own level, delivered the paper scribbled with the situation to the waiting warrior.

* * *

The Luoyang Sword Family.

The Second Young Master’s camp, the grand conference chamber.

The information delivered by the warriors accumulated steadily, albeit relatively slowly.

And as the information accumulated, the grand conference chamber gradually grew quieter.

“…Is it the visit to the eighth family?”

“…Yes.”

“They said he even shared a meal with the retired patriarch in the previous family?”

“Yes.”

“He went in without a prior appointment and got treated to a meal?”

“…Yes.”

“Do you think that makes any sense?!”

Elder Hahou patted the shoulder of the elder who burst into anger at the tactician.

“Let us pass over that part for now. Since they are continuously investigating the connection between the Eldest Young Master and the Sixteen Families, it would be best for us to focus on what we need to focus on right now.”

Elder Hahou clapped his hands, drawing the attention of those around him.

“Now! The point we must analyze now is as follows.”

The gazes of the assembly gathered on him.

Pointing at the names of the families laid out in order on the large table, he spoke.

“It is to analyze the order in which the Eldest Young Master is visiting these families. If we can analyze this, we will be able to grasp what kind of priority the Eldest Young Master is currently moving with.”

Another elder also nodded.

“Indeed. If we analyze the order, we might also be able to guess how the Eldest Young Master is going in and out of the families after the Kong family without invitations, and what that method is.”

So that way, time passed.

“It is information that the Eldest Young Master has entered the tenth family.”

Leaving only those words, the warrior hurriedly vanished from the grand conference chamber.

It was because the atmosphere of the grand conference chamber was too heavy.

“….”

No one, absolutely no one, was speaking.

The grand conference chamber was filled only with the smoke of tobacco puffed by the tacticians and elders.

“Excuse me…”

One of the tacticians carefully raised his hand.

He was a young tactician who had not been long since joining the Second Young Master’s South of the River Division.

As everyone’s gaze focused on him, he momentarily shrank back.

“N-No, it is nothing.”

Elder Hahou shouted.

“It is fine! Anything is fine, so speak up!”

At those words, the young tactician carefully opened his mouth again.

“Although everyone has pooled their heads to ponder until now, far from guessing the Eldest Young Master’s intention, are we not left only with analyses that make no sense instead?”

Elder Hahou nodded.

“Indeed. Even before guessing the Eldest Young Master’s intention in the first place, visiting families of the caliber of the Sixteen Families in this kind of order makes no sense.”

Complex dynamics existed among the families.

Therefore, which family to visit first was a considerably important issue.

It was because the class of power-oriented prestigious families were those who would sometimes stake everything on that thing called face.

Yet currently, the Eldest Young Master was going around making visits while ignoring those dynamics.

The young tactician scratched his head.

“Then, could it be… that from the beginning, the order had no meaning at all?”

“What…?”

“Meaning, that the attempt itself to find an intention in the order might have no meaning…”

What a random thing to say.

“Someone of the Eldest Young Master’s caliber moving while ignoring dynamics without any intention…?”

As everyone’s gaze looked at him with pitiful expressions, the young tactician bowed his head deeply.

“…My apologies.”

Just then, one of the chief tacticians, who was sitting in the back lost in thought, stood up abruptly.

“Could it be…?!”

Ignoring whatever gazes anyone directed at him, he ran to his office and returned carrying a piece of worn-out paper.

“Everyone, look at this!”

The paper he spread on the large table was none other than an old map.

“What is this…?”

The chief tactician explained.

“This is the work of an nameless painter depicting the appearance of Mount Beimang 150 years ago.”

“Why is that painting being shown now…?”

“The reason this painting was in my office is precisely because of this.”

Pointing with his hand at the ultra-luxurious mansion district of Mount Beimang, he spoke.

“In the painting left by the painter who knew nothing of laws back then, the locations of each family’s residence are roughly marked.”

At those words, everyone rushed to the large table and checked the Eldest Young Master’s visiting order on the painting.

“Although it was 150 years ago, the Sixteen Families have not changed then or now, so it would not have changed much from the current structure.”

Those who could not get close to the painting because of the gathered crowd climbed onto others’ shoulders or even stood on their tiptoes, striving to see the painting.

“…This is?!”

The cigar held in Elder Hahou’s mouth fell to the floor.

The chief tactician who brought the painting let out a hollow laugh.

“…The greenhorn’s words were correct.”

The other elder raised his trembling hands to clasp his forehead.

“To think there really was no meaning at all to the order…”

Stumbling, Elder Hahou pushed away the gathered crowd and slumped into the chair prepared on the dais.

“….”

Out of habit, his hand rose to his lips to search for the cigar he had been holding, but that cigar had already fallen to the floor and been trampled and crushed by the gathered crowd.

‘Was it simply in the order of proximity to the entrance?’

The Eldest Young Master ignored the dynamics and was visiting simply in order of closeness to the checkpoint.

The Kong family he visited first was the family with the closest entrance from the checkpoint.

The other elder murmured, unable to hide his trembling voice.

“How…? How is such a thing possible for the Eldest Young Master?”

* * *

Past, Yeon So-hyeon’s childhood.

Young Yeon So-hyeon asked.

“I want to help more people not just in Luoyang, but in the entire State of Zhongyuan.”

With an expression as if he did not know what to do out of fondness, the father stroked young Yeon So-hyeon’s head.

“Yes. Yes. Once you grow up a bit more, you will be able to do it as much as you want.”

“Sigh…”

Young Yeon So-hyeon shook his head from side to side.

“No. Later is something for later, Father. What I am asking is the method at this current point in time. It is because I need a methodology for a more effective and efficient projection of influence.”

Young Yeon So-hyeon shook his head as if asking how he could not know even that.

“O-Oh, I see…”

“The bureaucracy of the current State of Zhongyuan is overly rigid, and under a vertical command system originating from the physically distant Imperial Court, bureaucrats are bound by self-preservation, bloodlines, and regional ties, repeatedly engaging in corruption. Nevertheless, if I were to point out an advantage of that vertical and hierarchical command system, it would be that once a decision is made at the highest level, the command can be executed collectively without exception through the system spanning the entire State of Zhongyuan. Therefore, to you, Father, who are at the pinnacle of this massive vertical command system called the Sword Family, I wish to borrow the wisdom derived from imperial study and knowledge passed down through generations…”

“W-Wait! Wait. I get it. I understand what you mean.”

Having momentarily treated his eldest son like other ordinary children, the father stroked his short beard.

“H-Hmm.”

His eyes shook endlessly, and cold sweat flowed on his forehead.

What kind of response should he give to make a response as a cool father who would not disappoint this genius son?

“Hmm. Then wouldn’t becoming close with those who hold the most power in the bureaucracy be the easiest way to deliver your intent?”

Young Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes sparkled.

“The strongest bureaucrats, you mean?”

“Yes, exactly!”

The father nodded hastily.

“So, for example, like the patriarchs of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families that protect the Imperial Court…?”

* * *

Luoyang, Mount Beimang.

Sixteen Imperial Capital Families, the Gongsun Family.

The main gate opened, and the ironclad ox cart carrying Yeon So-hyeon revealed itself, boasting a heavy weight.

As the steel wheels rolled, they kicked up fierce noise and sparks, and the two spiritual beasts exhaled rough snorts.

Seeing the ultra-expensive paving stones shattered in real-time like that, the eyes of the butlers shook wildly.

“Ho. That must be the ironclad fortress of the Medicine Fairy, which I have only heard rumors of!”

Nevertheless, the master of the residence, who possessed a skinny and testy impression, seemed not to care about such things at all.

Before long, the carriage stopped completely, and the door opened.

A graceful beauty stepped down first and waited for her master with an elegant attitude.

“I did not expect you to come out to the courtyard yourself to welcome me.”

Along with a clear voice, Yeon So-hyeon, the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family, stepped down from the carriage.

The sight of his black silk coat fluttering elegantly in the spring breeze was impressive.

“Young Master Yeon!”

The desolate face of the old man brightened up completely, as if he were seeing his own biological grandchild.

“Is this not our first time facing each other directly like this?”

“Yes. As you said, this is our first face-to-face meeting.”

The old man approached Yeon So-hyeon first with an incredibly easygoing demeanor, unlike a person of the Imperial Capital who valued observing etiquette like life itself.

“…Even seeing it directly with these eyes like this, I still cannot believe it.”

“Is that so?”

Yeon So-hyeon burst into a loud laugh.

“…It is indeed unbelievable.”

The old man’s eyes contained fifty percent admiration and fifty percent doubt.

“To think that the counterpart with whom I, Gongsun Na-gang, who served two Emperors from the closest distance, exchanged letters so much since then was such a young child…!”

* * *

Past, Yeon So-hyeon’s childhood.

“Father!”

Young Yeon So-hyeon ran over with pattering steps.

“Oh my, has our So-hyeon arrived?”

The father lifted his eldest son with both hands and hugged him.

“Haha, you rascal. What news did you bring today?”

Young Yeon So-hyeon smiled brightly, asking his father.

“I have established friendships with the patriarchs of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families! Now, what is the next step?”

The father’s widely smiling face froze exactly as it was.

“…What did you just say?”

Yeon So-hyeon shouted again.

“The step of making friends with the patriarchs succeeded! So the next step…”

“No, wait, wait.”

The father shook his head.

“So-hyeon, you established personal friendships with the patriarchs of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families?”

“Yes. Though not all of them yet…”

Young Yeon So-hyeon nodded with a puzzled expression.

“…?”

At the sight of his father only blinking his eyes like an ox, Yeon So-hyeon opened the silk pouch he had brought.

“Here are the invitation cards sent by the patriarchs.”

Indeed, inside the silk pouch were invitation cards stamped with seals that looked extraordinary even at a glance.

“Father…?”

“Those old devils sent invitations…?”

The father asked young Yeon So-hyeon with the expression of a person who had seen something incomprehensible.

“Just how on earth did you do this?”

Young Yeon So-hyeon smiled brightly.

“It was not very difficult!”