Volume 3 Chapter 25 – Inner Courtyard

===================

Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Inner Courtyard Main Building,

Temporary Joint Investigation Headquarters, Command Room.

The Head of the Guardian Sixth Department entered, holding a bundle of documents with tobacco in his mouth.

“It is not for me, who has only been a department head for a few months, to say, but was the position of department head originally one with this much work?”

The Head of the Guardian First Department chuckled as he stamped the approval column.

“For an investigation pushed from the top like this, the desired speed only comes when even we step out directly.”

Sighing, Department Head Yook sat down, placing the bundle of documents on his temporary desk.

“First of all, the Central Inspection Pavilion has completely withdrawn. All related documents have been transferred.”

Department Head Il opened his mouth while stamping his official seal.

“Do you remember the one who first started the investigation in the Inspection Department?”

Department Head Yook took out a piece of tobacco, put it in his mouth, and rubbed his forehead.

“…It was Kang something, are you talking about that low-ranking investigator?”

“Inspection Investigator, Kang Ho. Keep him in mind.”

“Why such a low-ranking person…? I will keep him in mind for now.”

“And a contact came from the Law Enforcement Court.”

Department Head Il said, handing over the document he had just received.

“They said the date for the public trial has been set for this morning immediately.”

Department Head Yook’s mouth fell open.

“…This morning?”

It was an unusually fast speed.

He frowned as he flipped through the documents stamped with the emblem of the Law Enforcement Court.

“We have not even finished the investigation of external associates or the follow-up investigation yet?”

He slammed the documents down.

“Is this an expression of wanting to cover it up moderately and move on?”

And he immediately negated his own words.

“No, if that were the case, there is no way they would push for a public trial. If so…?”

Department Head Il nodded.

“It means that they will severely punish all those who reveal dust when shaken in the future, one after another.”

Department Head Yook’s expression was dumbfounded.

“…Was this such a big case?”

Department Head Il’s eyes narrowed.

“The Law Enforcement Court interpreted that the discipline of the main family is collapsing.”

Department Head Yook groaned, not even thinking of lighting his tobacco.

“…I merely laughed when I heard the rumors about the book prices.”

Remembering the sound transmission about the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard and the Eldest Young Master that he had heard from Department Head Il last night, he trembled.

Just then, a member of the Guardian Pavilion knocked on the door, entered, and reported.

“They say the Eldest Young Master is returning. And…”

He hesitated for a moment.

“They say the Inner Courtyard is holding some Gate Opening Ceremony.”

* * *

Instead of going down to greet the Eldest Young Master, Department Head Il opened the window.

Along with the dazzling sunlight of the sunrise, a cold wind rushed in.

“Are you not going down?”

When Department Head Il pointed outside the window with a chin gesture instead of answering, Department Head Yook approached the window.

Since the temporary command room was located in a corner on the third floor of the main building, they could clearly look down at the courtyard of the Inner Courtyard Main Building.

“…It is better not to go down.”

The courtyard was filled with protocol managers and protocol maids to send off the Eldest Young Master, a direct bloodline member.

Their orderly appearance holding flags and instruments looked quite grand, but that was not the problem.

“…Inner Courtyard Personnel Secretary, Inner Courtyard General Affairs Secretary, Inner Courtyard Security Secretary, Inner Courtyard External Affairs Secretary…”

At the positions Department Head Il listed while looking down, Department Head Yook swallowed hard.

“…The front row is Seventh Rank, the back row is Sixth Rank. They are the highest echelon of the Inner Courtyard.”

Especially, those of the Seventh Rank of the Inner Courtyard were those who, due to the nature of their work, should be virtually regarded as having the status of elders, even if they did not receive the seat of an elder.

Department Head Il wore a bitter smile.

“Currently, they are treated as elder-class, but when the Grand Patriarch was active, their will was the same as the Family Head’s will.”

Department Head Yook hid his body moderately so that he would not be seen from the outside, and opened his mouth.

“Since the Chief Operations Council is assisting the Grand Patriarch now. If the Grand Patriarch rises from his sickbed, they will also regain their positions.”

“…Indeed.”

Department Head Il did not believe that the ‘unconscious’ Grand Patriarch would rise from his sickbed, but he roughly went along with it.

It was a fact that could absolutely not be told to Department Head Yook, who had only just begun to look into the deepest part of the Luoyang Sword Family.

Just how deep the darkness of the Luoyang Sword Family, which he had begun to look into in earnest only after becoming an elder, was.

Since even Department Head Il himself sometimes startled in fright.

“…By the way, the Eldest Young Master is also amazing.”

“Yes.”

The Eldest Young Master, accompanied by his maids, was casually exchanging greetings with the highest echelon of the Inner Courtyard.

As if he were occasionally joking, the laughter of those around him echoed all the way to the temporary command room.

“…The highest echelon of the Inner Courtyard, who are so calmly accepting the Eldest Young Master’s jokes, also do not seem to be in their right minds.”

Even they, who had investigated the Inner Courtyard, were in a situation where they could not go down because it was so awkward.

Let alone, the highest echelon who saw the Eldest Young Master, the party who filed the accusation, in front of their eyes should have been even more uncomfortable, yet none of them had a lingering trace of shock, nor did they show fear or anger.

“…Even though their subordinates were cut off like that due to the sudden inspection and investigation.”

Department Head Yook was one who had grown old in the Guardian Pavilion and accumulated experience through long investigations.

He could guarantee that there was no negative emotion in the faces and gestures of those highest echelon of the Inner Courtyard.

A sense of incongruity pressed down on Department Head Yook.

“It is a rare scene even for us, so keep a good look.”

Department Head Il whispered in a low voice, with a rare hint of excitement.

“Because that appearance right now shows at a glance the attributes of the Inner Courtyard, which belongs to the most secret organization even within the main family.”

“I only feel a sense of incongruity, though…?”

Department Head Il narrowed his eyes.

“The sense of incongruity you feel right now is the true face of the Inner Courtyard. Those we saw while investigating this time are merely small fry shameful of the Inner Courtyard’s name.”

“…Are you saying they fake their emotions well enough to cause a sense of incongruity?”

“No.”

Department Head Il explained calmly.

“They merely do not care, truly.”

“…To think they do not even care about subordinates being cut off? Is that not a characteristic of those in power?”

Department Head Il snorted softly.

“They do not care even if a colleague of the same highest echelon has their head cut off right now. The same goes for their own head being cut off.”

“What do you mean by—”

“The highest echelon of the Inner Courtyard regard themselves merely as a single part. Parts that make up the organization of the Inner Courtyard. They are individuals who are fully prepared to be replaced at any time, and consumed at any time.”

It was an ideology completely different from the thoughts possessed by general power holders.

“No, what kind of crazy…”

Department Head Il’s gaze turned toward Department Head Yook.

“Did you forget what lies behind this main building of the Inner Courtyard?”

* * *

Behind the Inner Courtyard Main Building, a small pavilion.

In a space as wide as the main hall of a temple, an elderly figure of an age hard to estimate sat cross-legged.

Within his half-open deep eyes, deep contemplation and madness, which an ordinary man could not even fathom, crossed each other.

The side door opened, and a middle-aged man wearing seven tassels of gold thread at his waist showed his appearance.

“…Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard. The sealing order has ended.”

At the voice of the Inner Courtyard Chief Manager’s Secretary, the old man’s two eyes fully opened.

“Does he say the Eldest Young Master is leaving?”

“Yes. The Inner Courtyard, in accordance with the procedures, is conducting the Gate Opening Ceremony.”

That Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard, who was called an old monster by Yeon So-hyeon, stood up from his seat.

“As long as the Eldest Young Master has begun to move, everything will be overturned from now on.”

“…Everyone is prepared to discard their lives like weeds at any time.”

The Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard slowly nodded.

“Indeed. It is enough if the scissors break, as long as the hands are not injured and the bonsai is not damaged.”

The Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard muttered in a low voice.

“Since even I am merely nothing more than a single pair of scissors…”

The ‘hands and bonsai’ he referred to did not mean himself.

Just then, the voice of a member was heard from outside the pavilion.

“The Medicine King has arrived for today’s treatment.”

As the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard nodded, the Chief Manager’s Secretary spoke toward the outside.

“Tell him to enter, as the Chief Manager has permitted it.”

“Yes.”

After a moment, the side door opened, and a shabby-looking old man carrying a bundle entered.

He was the Medicine King.

The Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard bowed his head toward him.

“Elder. I look forward to your help again today.”

The Chief Manager’s Secretary also bowed his head deeply.

The Medicine King clicked his tongue in a low voice.

“You are also suffering a lot at that age.”

The Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard smiled.

“There is no time I envy the Elder’s endless stamina as much as these days.”

“…Since ‘that fellow’ has begun to move, your strength must be failing you quite a bit?”

Seeing the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard merely wear a bitter smile, the Medicine King sighed softly.

“I will brew a dose of restorative medicine for you later, so take care of yourself.”

The Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard bowed his head.

“Right now, rather than me…”

“I know even if you do not say it.”

The Medicine King passed the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard and entered the passage that stretched long inside.

“Do not worry, for I will protect ‘the one you value more than life’ even at the cost of this name of mine.”

The doctors directly under the Inner Courtyard followed behind the Medicine King and disappeared into the passage.

The Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard looked in the direction where the passage was and opened his mouth.

“…Everything for the Family Head.”

The Chief Manager’s Secretary bowed his head.

“Everything for the Family Head.”

The place where they stood, situated behind the main building of the Inner Courtyard, was the deepest part of the Luoyang Sword Family.

It was an area solely for the Family Head of the Luoyang Sword Family.

* * *

Department Head Il felt the cold wind hitting his face as he looked at the courtyard of the Inner Courtyard Main Building.

“…Everything of theirs exists solely for the Family Head of the Luoyang Sword Family. If I were to express it, should I call them ‘extreme Family Head loyalists’?”

Department Head Yook swallowed hard.

“…The Luoyang Sword Family is an absurd place the more you know about it.”

Department Head Il chuckled.

Department Head Yook asked while roughly rubbing the goosebumps on his arms.

“If so, all of them, what was that…”

“Do you mean ‘brainwashing’?”

“Ah, yes. Are they all related to that thing called brainwashing? I heard there is ‘such an expert’ in the main family, though…”

Department Head Il shook his head.

“I heard that the technique of those unorthodox paths can extract loyalty only from ‘specific targets’. Its limits are quite clear.”

Department Head Yook nodded.

“…Then the void when the Family Head of the main family changes would become too large.”

“Yes. Just by the Family Head changing, all those who should be hands and feet would become like puppets with cut strings.”

No matter what happened, the family had to keep running.

“…Then it is an even scarier thing. Does it not mean that everyone possessing such great power intends to discard their lives voluntarily?”

Department Head Il smiled.

“…Recall the warriors of the main family.”

“…Mmm.”

A groan leaked from Department Head Yook.

Killers who were obsessed with loyalty and devotion to a fanatical degree.

Those who were prepared to discard everything for the family or their lord.

“…I think I know why the successors fight so much with each other to become the Young Family Head.”

“Yes. But there is also something that even I do not know well right now.”

“What is it?”

Department Head Il stroked his beard.

“I mean them. The highest echelon of the Inner Courtyard. Why on earth did they all come out since this dawn to send off the Eldest Young Master?”

Department Head Yook’s eyes widened.

“…Are you saying they did not come out because of that Gate Opening Ceremony or whatever?”

“As far as I know, the Gate Opening Ceremony is merely a standard procedure.”

An inquiry was harbored in Department Head Il’s eyes.

“I am saying there is no need for the highest echelon to pour out like this just because of the Gate Opening Ceremony.”