Chapter 13: Brotherhood of Mount Muak

“Boss… What should we do?”

“……”

Dongryong, holding a sword, asked me with a tense expression. I roughly pushed aside the broken glass pieces and looked around.

“Bring the liquor, Suul-!!”

“Hehehe… It’s delicious…”

“Hmmnya…”

All the other subordinates, except for Dongryong and me, were completely drunk and out of their minds.

“Ugh… Useless bastards…”

I clicked my tongue once and shouted towards the direction the arrow came from.

“Hey, whoever you are, how about we have a talk?”

“……”

“No need to be tense. There are only five drunkards here anyway.”

After a moment, I sensed someone’s presence.

“Nice to meet you.”

A rough-looking man with an unkempt beard emerged from the dark bushes.

He wasn’t alone, and I could see several figures around him.

‘Judging by the sounds, there are a few more behind… About 12 in total?’

They seemed nervous, holding their swords and blades, their hands trembling.

The man at the forefront asked me with a wary look.

“This place is the territory of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak. Who are you to make such a ruckus at this late hour? The arrow was a warning, so please understand.”

His words were somewhat polite, as if he was trying to figure out if we were martial artists from the Orthodox Sects.

No, to be precise, they were…

Gulp.

They were looking at the goods we had placed at our feet.

The items from the Shanxi Yoo Family we had were clearly not ordinary.

They must have thought that those carrying such items couldn’t be ordinary people.

I could have pretended to be a martial artist from the Orthodox Sects and acted sternly to get out of this situation, but…

“…Pfft.”

“…?”

“Hahahahaha-!! Oh, I can’t hold it in. Brother! What’s with the name Brotherhood of Mount Muak? Your naming sense is terrible. Hahaha-!!”

“……”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the name Brotherhood of Mount Muak.

Whoever came up with that name did a terrible job.

“You… Who are you?”

As I started laughing uncontrollably, the man dropped his polite tone and pointed his blade at me.

He must have realized from my reaction that I wasn’t a martial artist from the Orthodox Sects. Those guys value etiquette and wouldn’t laugh so frivolously.

I confidently extended my hand and asked him.

“I am Mu Amugae from the Mount Hyeongak Green Forest Hideout. What’s your name?”

“…I am Eung-chil, the Deputy Leader of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak.”

Eung-chil didn’t take my extended hand and just stared at me, still pointing his blade at me.

“If you’re from Mount Hyeongak… That’s in Shanxi, right? What brings you all the way here?”

“Oh, why so stiff between people in the same line of work? How about we sit down and have a drink while we talk? Uhtcha…”

I sat back down and poured myself another drink.

“……”

Of course, Eung-chil didn’t take the drink or sit down. Instead…

Sleung-.

“Stop scheming and tell me why you’re here.”

“……”

He threatened me, bringing his blade closer to my neck.

Dongryong flinched, but I signaled him to stay calm and then spoke.

“Actually, Shanxi is not a good place for banditry right now. Do you know why?”

“……”

“The Shanxi Yoo Family, one of the prominent families there, is currently cleaning up the nearby mountains. They say they’re exterminating all the remnants of the Unorthodox Sects.”

It was a lie, but it was true that the Orthodox Sects often subjugated nearby bandits and pirates.

Eung-chil seemed to accept this, nodding as he asked.

“So?”

“Well, these guys are so relentless. They chased us to the death, saying they’d uproot us completely. We had no choice but to leave our hometown with tears in our eyes. But while we were fleeing… We heard a rumor.”

A rumor? What rumor?

Dongryong, unable to keep up with the pace of the conversation, just rolled his eyes. But I continued speaking without changing my expression.

“Oh, they say there’s a strong and brave group living in Mount Muak. So, we thought, ‘This is it!’ and came running.”

“Why…?”

Unfortunately, Eung-chil didn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed. I made my intentions clear to him, who looked puzzled.

“Why else? We want to join the strong. All five of us want to join the Brotherhood of Mount Muak.”

**

A dark and rough mountain path.

My subordinates and I were all tied up with ropes, being led by the Brotherhood of Mount Muak.

They were carrying all our belongings.

“Ugh… Where are we going…?”

“Hey, Mr. Grim Reaper… Can we have one more drink before we go to the afterlife…?”

Leaving my still-drunk subordinates behind, Dongryong sneaked up to me and whispered.

“Boss…!”

“What is it, Dongryong?”

“What are you planning to do…!”

“What do you mean, what am I planning to do? Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?”

Dongryong was shocked by my response.

“Are you really going to join these stupid bandits?”

“Hey, Dongryong. We decided to live here. When are we going to build a house and settle down? It’s easier to just join an already established group.”

“But still…”

Dongryong looked reluctant, but before he could continue, a lackey-like guy saw us talking and immediately stopped us.

“Hey, you there. No chatting!”

A guy who looked like a lackey saw us talking and immediately stopped us, so we couldn’t talk any further.

Instead, I gave Dongryong a signal with my eyes and quietly followed them.

‘They’ve made the path really complicated.’

These guys seemed to be experienced bandits, as the path to their mountain hideout was very rough.

It was so complicated that it would be almost impossible to find it on a first visit.

After walking for about two more li.

“Oh…”

Finally, we arrived at their mountain hideout.

And I couldn’t help but be amazed at the sight.

‘They’ve done a great job…’

Inside the sturdy outer wall, there were about ten buildings, all looking strong and well-built.

The lights were brightly lit, indicating they had plenty of essentials like oil…

And most importantly, there were a lot of people. As soon as we arrived, about forty people came out to see us.

With this many people, it’s more like a small village than a mountain hideout.

Eung-chil led us to the house in the center of the hideout and said.

“Wait here. I’ll bring the boss.”

Eung-chil, who had gotten used to speaking informally to us, left.

Normally, I would have punished someone for speaking so rudely to me, but…

“Yes.”

I just smiled and nodded. Dongryong looked at me with a bewildered expression.

After a short while…

“Ahem.”

Sreung-.

The door of the house opened, and someone came out.

“Who is the brat that wants to join our Brotherhood of Mount Muak?”

Thud.

As soon as he took a step forward, the ground shook with a thud.

At first, I thought he had stomped his foot, but…

“Wow…”

…It wasn’t that.

He was so huge that the ground shook under his weight.

‘Is he about 2 meters tall…?’

I couldn’t help but gape at his enormous size.

Since being reborn in this world, I had never seen someone so big.

And besides his size, there was something else that surprised me…

“This is the Boss of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak, Crimson Beard Axe.”

“Ahem.”

True to his name, he had a red beard.

‘He uses an axe, then?’

It seemed so, as he had a huge one strapped to his back.

“So… Are you the one who wants to join our Brotherhood of Mount Muak?”

“Yes! It’s us! It’s us-!”

When Crimson Beard Axe looked at us, I raised my hand and shouted.

“We came all the way from Shanxi to join the great hero of Mount Muak, Crimson Beard Axe.”

“Haha, has my fame reached Shanxi?”

As I bowed deeply and flattered him, Crimson Beard Axe laughed heartily. He seemed to be weak to compliments.

“Of course. Seeing your mighty figure in person is truly moving.”

“What? Hahaha-! I like the way you talk!”

“I’m glad you like it. Ah! We also brought a humble gift for you. Could you please untie us?”

“What? Sure! Guys, untie them.”

Crimson Beard Axe, in a good mood, ordered our ropes to be untied.

As soon as I was untied, I went to show him the items we had taken from the Shanxi Yoo Family.

“Look, we stole these while fleeing.”

“These are…”

As expected of a bandit.

Crimson Beard Axe’s eyes widened as he recognized the value of the items.

But that wasn’t all.

“Haha, there’s more. Would you like to see these jars? We took them from merchants on our way here… They’re all filled with…”

“Filled with…?”

“Top-notch Dukang Wine.”

“W-What…?”

Hearing the words Top-notch Dukang Wine, Crimson Beard Axe’s eyes grew even wider.

He seemed to love alcohol more than the treasures of the Shanxi Yoo Family.

I approached him and whispered.

“All of these are gifts for you. So…”

“……”

“Can we join the Brotherhood of Mount Muak?”

“What? Hahaha-!!”

As I humbly made my request, Crimson Beard Axe laughed heartily.

Then he patted my shoulder and shouted loudly.

“Of course-! How could I refuse such a fine lad? From now on, you are all members of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak-!”

“As expected of Crimson Beard Axe! You are truly magnanimous! Hahaha-!!”

“This guy always says nice things. I like it! Call me Big Brother-!”

“Thank you, Big Brother!”

“Hahaha-!!”

Everything went smoothly.

With the boss’s approval, the other members of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak accepted us. Dongryong looked awkward, but the other subordinates, still drunk, didn’t even know what was happening and danced around.

Crimson Beard Axe held a feast to celebrate the new members.

The food was a huge roasted wild boar, and the drink was the Top-notch Dukang Wine we brought.

After eating tasteless jerky as snacks, the fresh and fatty wild boar roast was a delight.

As I took a big bite of the boar leg, Crimson Beard Axe approached me.

“Hey, pour me a drink with the wine you brought!”

“Yes, Big Brother! Of course, I should pour you a drink.”

Crimson Beard Axe looked truly happy as he drank the wine I poured.

Hmm… It’s a bit early, but maybe now is the time.

“Big Brother, have another drink.”

“Sure! The wine is so good that it goes down smoothly!”

As I filled his cup, I subtly suggested.

“But Big Brother. Since we just joined the Brotherhood of Mount Muak, shouldn’t we do that thing?”

“Huh? That thing? Haha! Sure, my little brother can do whatever he wants. What do you want to do?”

In a good mood, Crimson Beard Axe readily accepted my suggestion.

But…

“A ranking battle.”

“…What?”

“Since new members joined, we should have a ranking battle, like true bandits.”

“……”

At my words, Crimson Beard Axe and the others fell silent, and the atmosphere turned cold.

Seeing their expressions, I drank my wine.

A very enjoyable time was about to begin.