Chapter 105
“Phew…, fuck.”
Even after a day passed, the Haomun Leader couldn’t obtain an invitation.
From what I heard, she said she would first find out if there were any participants for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering in Hunan Province, but since Hunan Province didn’t have any particularly strong sects, there probably wouldn’t be any participants.
The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering would begin soon once the weather warmed up.
This meant that with each passing day, it would become even harder to get an invitation.
“Do I have no choice but to give up…?”
Maybe I had asked too much of the Haomun Leader. I usually thought of her as Doraemon, so I figured she could do anything as long as I asked.
‘Right…, let’s give up on the Gongcheongseokyu. I can just bring Bang Sam-i a different elixir…’
I soon made up my mind.
But unlike my easy decision, my mood soured.
And this foul mood…
“Three silver taels.”
“What? No, General Stronghold Master! Normally, a load of this size would be about two silver taels…”
“Silence! One silver tael is the fee for my mood!”
…was leading to an increase in the Green Forest’s profits.
“A-Ah…, how could there be such a…, haa…”
The Merchant sighed at my Unreasonable Demand, but perhaps having no alternative other than the Hunan Mountain Path, he paid the three silver taels and passed through.
“Alright, next.”
I was currently working at the Entrance Pavilion of the Mountain Path, setting the toll fees for the Merchants.
Originally, this was Bang Sam-i’s job, but it broke my heart to see a kid who had barely recovered overworking himself, so I ended up taking over for him.
“Next! Ah, hurry up and come here!”
Of course, my mood was extremely volatile due to my inability to obtain the Gongcheongseokyu.
Still, well…
“If you don’t hurry up, I’ll just declare a self-appointed holiday since I didn’t want to work anyway, got it?”
“Ah, I’m going, I’m going…”
“The General Stronghold Master is in a shitty mood today, so let’s all be careful…”
“…Yeah.”
…Thanks to the Merchants who knew me well, there were no major issues.
“Three silver taels, next.”
“No…, three silver taels are for this much…”
“You want to make it four taels?”
“…No.”
“Five silver taels, next.”
“…”
“Seven silver taels, next.”
“No, you originally charged only up to five silver taels…!”
“Ah, I need to gather money quickly to buy an elixir! Next!”
It was then that this tyranny of charging 1.5 to 2 times the usual toll fee continued.
“Next.”
“Here we are.”
Thud.
At the sight of luggage much simpler than the others, I raised my head and examined the opponent’s face.
“…”
I saw two young men with Relaxed expressions, wearing blue-tinted Martial Arts uniforms.
“…martial artists?”
Usually, the guests who used our Mountain Path were mostly Merchants. But suddenly, there were martial artists.
Due to my Dokgoyeong trauma, I briefly flashed a wary look and asked him.
“Where are you martial artists from?”
“That we are. We are martial artists of Jongrimun in Guangxi Province.”
The young man’s expression as he said that was practically bursting with confidence.
On the other hand, I…
“Jongrimun?”
…couldn’t help but tilt my head.
I knew most of the named sects, but it was my first time hearing of a place called Jongrimun.
I didn’t hide my feelings and asked openly.
“Jongrimun? Is it a famous place?”
“Oho! How could you say such a thing! Jongrimun has made its name widely known even among the affiliated families of the Great Zhongnan Sect!”
“Ah…, so you’re a Zhongnan Affiliated Family.”
Even if I had never heard of Jongrimun, there was no one who had read a decent amount of murim fiction who didn’t know the Zhongnan Sect.
It was a respectable Great Sect that held a seat among the Nine Great Sects and One Alliance.
There were several interesting things about the Zhongnan Sect, and one of them was its rival relationship with the Mount Hua Sect, a Sect co-located in Shaanxi.
The two sects had a very strong sense of rivalry due to their different styles of Swordsmanship and close geographical location.
You could say it felt a bit like the rivalry between two ancient, powerful clans of the Murim World?
Usually, the Zhongnan Sect and the Mount Hua Sect had a similar Power Structure, frequently going back and forth without one being clearly higher or lower than the other, but…
“The problem is that the Protagonist of this novel belongs to the Mount Hua Sect.”
Since the Protagonist belonged to the Mount Hua Sect, the Zhongnan Sect’s significance had no choice but to naturally decrease.
Because of that, in this World’s setting, the Zhongnan Sect was at the level of a neighborhood punching bag among the Nine Great Sects and One Alliance, unable to even compare to the Mount Hua Sect.
There was no need to even mention its Affiliated Family, with the Main Headquarters, the Zhongnan Sect, being treated like that.
Realizing that the opponent wasn’t anything special, I continued speaking in a flippant manner.
“So what did you come to our Mountain Path for?”
“…”
In the first place, I also liked the Mount Hua Sect.
It made sense, considering all the murim novels I read before I died featured a Mount Hua Sect Protagonist.
While I felt an inner sense of intimacy with the Mount Hua Sect, I had ended up subtly looking down on the Zhongnan Sect.
‘A Sect that hasn’t produced a single Protagonist since Gunrimcheonha…, how dare it.’
The trend these days is the Mount Hua Sect.
But how dare a Zhongnan Sect member, and not even a Direct Disciple but a mere Lay Disciple, make such an arrogant expression.
There was no real reason to hate them, but because of Bang Sam-i’s situation, a sense of spite kept welling up in my chest.
I already disliked the Righteous Faction as it was. Since it was from the Zhongnan Sect, which was on the side I disliked the most, there was no way I would act kindly.
“Should I just rip them off completely?”
As I was contemplating how many silver taels to demand, the Jongrimun martial artists must have noticed my hostility, as they frowned.
“Heo…, why are you acting so viciously?”
“Whatever, I asked what you came to our Mountain Path for. If you don’t state your reason, there’s an extra Charge.”
“No, it’s not like that… Where…, haa…”
However…
Smirk.
“Hm?”
Even though I was acting rudely, the martial artists smiled proudly as if it were fine.
And then…
Thud.
“…!”
“We are heading to participate in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering held in Anhui, representing Jongrimun.”
…They pulled out a paper stamped with the Murim Alliance’s Seal from their robes and placed it in front of me.
“Ooooooh-!”
“Wait, that’s…!”
The Merchants behind them must have recognized what it was, as they let out cheers.
Hearing that sound, the Jongrimun martial artists' pride was evident.
“This is…”
I fumbled to check the paper placed in front of me.
‘It’s definitely the Murim Alliance crest.’
Then These Bastards really…
As I stared with a blank look, the Jongrimun martial artists shrugged their shoulders proudly.
“They are two invitation tickets for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering handed down from the Main Headquarters.”
“Other places didn’t receive any, or even if they did, they only got one invitation, but Jongrimun specially received two. How about it? Can you finally see the greatness of our Jongrimun?”
“…Yes, I can see it.”
Great Emperor Zhongnan and Illustrious Jongrimun…
Just who are you people…
I bowed my head, putting on an awestruck expression.
“I dared not to recognize the heroes of Jongrimun…”
“No, well…, going as far as to call us heroes is…”
“Owner, your flattery is too much. Kehahat.”
The guys waved their hands as if embarrassed, but they smiled as if they felt good.
I threw my arms around their shoulders and set off together with them down the road.
“Meeting young Heroes like this is also fate, so would it be alright if I accompanied you on the road for a while and asked for your insights?”
“Then what about the toll fee…”
“How could I take money from those doing such good deeds? We are not such a heartless place.”
“Wait, we…!”
For a moment, the Merchants flinched as if they were choking back their anger, but I didn’t even care and kept walking.
At the same time, I ordered the Subordinates who were waiting in one corner.
“I will be walking and talking with the great heroes, so you guys handle the work here at the Pavilion. Ah, and tell the Executives to gather for a moment.”
“…Should we tell the Executives to arm themselves when they gather?”
“Arm themselves?”
Tension was evident on the faces of the guys saying that. I peeked at their realms through the hands touching the Jongrimun martial artists and shook my head.
“What do you mean arm themselves? Just tell them to come comfortably.”
“Yes, understood.”
At my Command, the Subordinate immediately nodded and ran ahead to call the Executives.
Watching him, one of the Jongrimun martial artists tilted his head.
“…Executives? Why are you calling them?”
“To offer their greetings to the great heroes of Jongrimun,”
“Oh my. There’s no need for that…”
Seeing his face smiling as if embarrassed, I laughed along with him.
“Compared to other rising stars of the Righteous Faction, Somyung-i was a gentleman.”
I was having such thoughts in my head.
Like that, we laughed merrily together and directed our steps toward where our Mountain Stronghold was located.
* * *
Rustle, rustle.
“Now, how is it?”
When I asked the Subordinates while wearing the Jongrimun Martial Arts uniform, the guys nodded.
“It suits you so well, it’s as if it were originally the Leader’s clothes.”
“Does it look like that to you guys too? Oof, this is totally my outfit. The build fits me perfectly too.”
After I finished putting on the clothes, the one remaining Jongrimun Martial Arts uniform caught my eye.
“Now, this one is…”
As I held it and pondered for a moment, two people raised their hands high.
“Leader, I will go.”
“Elder brother! I want to go.”
It was Dongryong-i and the Youngest.
“Hmm…, between the two of you…”
In truth, there wouldn’t be a big problem no matter which of the two I took. I pondered for a moment before…
“Here, I’ll give it to you.”
“Thank you, Leader.”
…handing the Martial Arts uniform over to Dongryong-i.
“Ah…, I wanted to go with elder brother too…”
“Where do you think you’re going when your arm is still stiff, you Bastard?”
The Youngest made a regretful expression, but my decision was firm.
First of all, the Youngest’s arm wasn’t completely healed yet. And more importantly, Dongryong-i was currently carrying a significant amount of guilt toward Bang Sam-i.
It was better to relieve Dongryong-i’s guilt through this opportunity.
Rustle, rustle.
While Dongryong-i was changing into the Jongrimun Martial Arts uniform, Jeokyeom raised his hand with a worried expression, as if a question had occurred to him.
“Um…, Leader. There is something I am a bit concerned about.”
“Yeah, Jeokyeom. What is it?”
“When you say the Zhongnan Sect, isn’t it a Sword Sect? Both the Leader and the Deputy Leader use a Saber, so what are you planning to do about this?”
“Ah, that? That’s, well…, we can just use theirs.”
The two Jongrimun martial artists were tightly bound with strong ropes, screaming, and I directed my gaze at them as I said that.
“You atrocious, ruthless Bandit Bastards-!!”
“Heaven will Punish you Bastards!!”
“Ah, shut up.”
Slide, slide.
I took even the swords from the guys who were already stripped down to their undergarments, then pulled them out of their scabbards to examine them.
Shring-.
“Hmm…, not bad. Dongryong-a, let’s use these.”
“I only know how to handle a Saber, so a Sword is a bit…”
“Ah, you Bastard. A Saber or a Sword, it’s all the same. Just use it.”
“…Yes.”
Dongryong-i seemed awkward, but he still accepted the Jongrimun Sword from me.
Seeing that sight, the Jongrimun martial artists lamented even more and shouted.
“Aigoo-!! A Sword is no different from life to a Swordsman!!”
“You bad guys!! The Zhongnan Sect…! Jongrimun will not forgive you Bastards.”
I slowly patted the shoulders of the guys who were shouting as if they were about to shed tears.
“Don’t worry, friends. This is Jongrimun’s dream. I’ll fulfill it in your stead.”
Wearing the Jongrimun Martial Arts uniform, for some reason, I really felt like I had become a Disciple of Jongrimun.
A sense of intimacy toward the Zhongnan Sect rose, and a sense of hostility toward the Mount Hua Sect formed, in my heart.
“I will go and elevate the names of the Great Zhongnan Sect and Jongrimun on your behalf.”
Wait for me, you Bastards.
The Lay Disciple of the Great Zhongnan Sect, Muyeon, is coming.