Chapter 129. The Black Flame Dragon Who Takes Opportunities Away (4)
“Are you going to keep lying there so irreverently?”
“Haam… Ah… I’m so tired… Hm? Who…….”
Without even turning around, Jegal So-myeong spoke.
“Your acting is still clumsy…… Must I stop what I am doing and deliberately turn around?”
“Huh? Isn’t that you, Grand Strategist?”
“Must I keep playing along with that pathetic tune?”
“I apologize. My body is in poor condition, you see. I overexerted myself too much inside the Soul. Destroying. Formation…….”
“Fatigue had accumulated, but your essence, qi, and spirit were all perfectly fine…… Do you know this? A person who submits a false report to the Grand Strategist can receive up to three years in Prison.”
At Jegal So-myeong’s words, Jin So-un’s smiling face twisted.
He already could not understand why the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance was in his residence, and for some reason, the man’s personality seemed even more eccentric than before.
“Urgh…….”
Jin So-un let out a long sigh and looked at Jegal So-myeong.
Just like during their last meeting, Jegal So-myeong was reviewing documents without even meeting Jin So-un’s eyes.
This was not a place like the Iron Sword Sect, far away from the Murim Alliance, so Jin So-un could not understand why he had deliberately come to someone else’s residence to do this.
Jin So-un decided to calmly wait until Jegal So-myeong spoke first.
Filling the teacup before him to the brim, Jin So-un slowly swallowed the tea.
Though not much time had passed in the real world, according to the flow of time inside the Soul-Destroying Formation, this was the first tea he had drunk in nearly ten days, so the fragrance felt rich.
It was a fine fragrance that did not fall short at all compared to the tea he had drunk at the Namgung Clan.
The middle-aged maidservant had heard that Jin So-un, who did not enjoy wine, at least enjoyed tea, and had recently changed the tea. It was good enough that he wondered whether she had overdone it a little.
‘No, considering the scale of the Murim Alliance and Murim Academy in the first place, perhaps it is not overdoing it?’
Considering the spending of other representatives, Jin So-un’s consumption was not that large, so the middle-aged maidservant did not seem to feel much burden in spending money on such things.
While Jin So-un was briefly lost in other thoughts, Jegal So-myeong signed the document he had been reading, pushed the documents to one side, and looked at Jin So-un.
“…….”
At Jin So-un’s surprised expression, Jegal So-myeong asked,
“What is it?”
“Did you not bring those urgent documents all the way here?”
When Jin So-un said this while pointing at the documents piled high on one side of the table, Jegal So-myeong furrowed his brow deeply.
“When speaking with someone, you should look at his eyes. Were you never taught not to do something else?”
“Wow…….”
At Jegal So-myeong’s blunt words, Jin So-un almost said, “Then I suppose I was not a person before,” but stopped himself.
“You look as though you have something to say.”
“Haa…… No. But what brings you all the way here?”
“Many things happened while you were asleep.”
“What kind of things?”
“First, a Disciplinary Committee was held.”
“Ah…… Is that so?”
At Jin So-un’s reaction, Jegal So-myeong’s eyebrow twitched.
“You are not surprised.”
“Well…… I expected that.”
“Most of the Disciplinary Committee consisted of people selected by Daoist Master Myeonghyeon, so your punishment was also discussed.”
At Jegal So-myeong’s words, Jin So-un nodded.
“Hm…… What was the result?”
Jegal So-myeong did not answer Jin So-un’s question and simply kept looking at him.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“……I said that while you were asleep, a Disciplinary Committee was held, and that your punishment was also discussed. Did you expect that too?”
“Well…… I did think they would not just let it slide.”
“And yet you deliberately overexerted yourself inside the Soul-Destroying Formation and slept for three days?”
Jin So-un scratched his cheek and said,
“Even if I had not been asleep, there would not have been anything I could do differently. I would have just been dragged around here and there to testify and ended up more tired instead.”
In the end, Jegal So-myeong could not hide his emotions and let out a short, long sigh.
“Huh!”
“So what was the result?”
“Those who entered the Soul-Destroying Formation were expelled. The expelled students praised you greatly. Thanks to that, Daoist Master Myeonghyeon’s influence did not reach them at all.”
“I see.”
“Did you expect that as well?”
“Not that. I simply thought that even if I received punishment, it would not be a major problem.”
“Why?”
“Although the ringleaders of this incident were expelled, they were likely not the actual student executives of the Righteous Path Association, were they?”
At Jin So-un’s words, Jegal So-myeong pressed his lips tightly together and nodded.
“I thought that would probably be the case. Thanks to that, many people inside the Righteous Path Association will begin having fundamental doubts about the morality of the Righteous Path Association. They will wonder whether they are merely beings who will be used and then discarded…….
And I doubt the people of the Orthodox Path Association, centered around the Five Great Clans, and the Twelve Peak Citadels will feel very differently.”
“If that goes wrong, your position could be shaken.”
“It does not matter much. So long as people come to their senses and start thinking about taking care of themselves, rather than relying on others.”
“……In the end, are you saying it was for the Murim Alliance?”
“I do not know anything that grand. I just thought it would be nice if they came to their senses and took care of themselves.”
After hearing Jin So-un’s words, Jegal So-myeong sank into thought without speaking for a long time.
The Taeul Sect.
The lower ranks among the lower ranks of the One Hundred Eight Peaks.
A person from a sect that could barely take care of itself was trying to do things for the entire murim.
Jegal So-myeong, who had begun in a cooperative organization but had now become thoroughly worn down inside the Murim Alliance, which had become a vast political arena, could not quite judge how he should treat this brat who looked like a naive idealist.
After being lost in thought for a while, Jegal So-myeong came back to himself and asked the questions he had prepared.
“In any case, did you refrain from consuming any food inside the Soul-Destroying Formation in order to gain the support of those who were expelled?”
Jin So-un’s appearance when he emerged from inside the Soul-Destroying Formation had been truly terrible.
He had been almost like a ruined man.
However, after checking Jin So-un’s pulse, Jegal So-myeong knew that it had been an intentional act.
Unlike his outward appearance, which had been like that of a ruined man, his heart meridian had been beating more vigorously than ever.
At first, Jegal So-myeong had been so startled that he had nearly slapped Jin So-un’s cheek to wake him.
“……I endured a little in case there were surviving people.”
“Hmph! What nonsense. I heard that most of the survivors came out fatter than when they entered. You must have given up even the portion meant for you.”
At Jegal So-myeong’s words, Jin So-un’s face became as if he had chewed shit.
“Is that not the ‘chivalrous righteousness’ the Murim Alliance speaks of?”
“You are quite good at saying nonsense without batting an eye.”
Jegal So-myeong mocked him with complete certainty, without a hint of doubt.
Although he held the position of Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance, he had never once thought that the Murim Alliance possessed the “chivalrous righteousness” Jin So-un mentioned.
When Jegal So-myeong went that far, Jin So-un finally confessed.
“Yes. I committed a bit of fraud. I dragged out the time, and once inside, I reduced my food as much as possible.”
“For an even more dramatic effect?”
“Yes.”
And that fraud had taken effect. It made those who had entered the Soul-Destroying Formation feel betrayed by the Righteous Path Association, while at the same time giving them powerful trust in Jin So-un.
Even if their sects and they themselves would suffer damage because of the Righteous Path Association.
“…….”
Having thought that far, Jegal So-myeong slowly drank tea to steady his startled heart.
Jin So-un kept rolling his eyes, studying Jegal So-myeong’s face.
“Could that become a problem?”
“Huh…….”
It was rather funny to see him trembling with anxiety now after he had just confessed with his own mouth that he had committed fraud.
After roughly organizing his thoughts, Jegal So-myeong moved the teacup to one side and pushed the documents that needed to be handled in front of Jin So-un.
Jin So-un still wore an expression of not understanding what was going on.
“Read them, organize them, and process them.”
Jin So-un rolled his eyes.
“Are these not Mantongbu’s documents? How could I dare handle such important documents…….”
“Because I stayed beside you, work piled up for several days, and the documents accumulated like this. If you do not process them properly, I will punish you.”
Jin So-un, who had been rolling his eyes, muttered loudly enough to be heard, “Who asked you to stay beside me…….” Then he picked up one document and began reading it.
Then he took the brush, paper, inkstone, and ink Jegal So-myeong had been using and began correcting various parts of the document.
“…….”
After writing this and that into the document, Jin So-un wrote the word “rejected” at the end, pushed the document to one side, and began looking at the next document.
As if he had no intention of receiving an evaluation on what he had processed.
At that ridiculous action, Jegal So-myeong personally picked up the document Jin So-un had pushed aside and unfolded it with a rustle.
If there was anything written incorrectly, he intended to seize on it and give him a proper scolding.
But—
“Phew…… Hoho…….”
As Jegal So-myeong looked at the document, he could not help letting out a hollow laugh.
The document Jin So-un had just processed concerned the issue of who should be given outsourcing contracts for logistics between the Murim Alliance and each branch.
There were twenty-four Escort Agencies currently contracted with the Murim Alliance. Twelve newly applied for contracts.
Among these, six Escort Agencies that had been determined to have existing problems had to be selected for contract termination, and six of the newly applying Escort Agencies had to be selected for new contracts.
It was a difficult issue where even explaining the current problems would take up several pages.
However, among the six Escort Agencies determined to have existing problems, Jin So-un stated that three of them involved unavoidable incidents caused by natural disasters, and he presented a fundamental opposing opinion against the criticism itself.
At the same time, on the grounds that most of the Escort Agencies newly applying for contracts were connected to the Nine Sects and One Gang, he wrote the opinion that this would not become a solution to the problem and issued a rejection decision.
It was a valid opinion, enough that Jegal So-myeong himself would have given a similar view, but that was not the part that surprised Jegal So-myeong.
In order to give the document a rejection decision, investigations into the existing Escort Agencies, investigations into the new Escort Agencies, investigations into the fundamental causes behind the raised problems, and so on were necessary.
It was a conclusion that could only emerge after going through countless organizations inside the Murim Alliance.
Seeing him present a solution without hesitation, as if he already knew all the answers to a complex problem, Jegal So-myeong could not help being astonished.
Looking at Jin So-un, who was already writing something into the third document, Jegal So-myeong asked,
“What is your identity?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked how you know about this.”
“……Uh, well, I have a rather good memory.”
“Memory?”
“I mean a memory that does not forget something once I have seen it.”
“And you processed these documents with that memory?”
“I do not know how to explain it to you, but yes.”
“…….”
At Jin So-un’s words, Jegal So-myeong fell into deep thought.
It was possible, on occasion, for someone to have a good memory.
However, the ability to draw insight based on that memory was an entirely separate matter from memory.
Insight emerged at the end of vast knowledge and deep thought.
Jegal So-myeong stared intently at Jin So-un, then took the document in Jin So-un’s hand and roughly tossed it into the pile of documents.
At Jegal So-myeong’s sudden action, Jin So-un’s expression became one of wondering what was wrong with this man now.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No. There is something you must do from now on.”
“What is it this time?”
“From now on, you must have a martial duel.”
“Pardon?”
Jin So-un’s face crumpled like the document that had just been thrown.
“What kind of absurd nonsense is that now?”
“I said many things happened while you were asleep, did I not?”
Instead of answering, Jin So-un nodded.
“The second is that I saw the three cycles of inner arts sleeping inside your qi center.”
“…….”
