Chapter 72
“It has been confirmed that the backer of the Vanguard Sect is the Black Wolf Escort Agency.”
“…!”
“Hmm…”
“The Black Wolf Escort Agency…”
The atmosphere in the room grew slightly heavier. It was because the pressure carried by the name of the Black Wolf Escort Agency was considerable.
The Black Wolf Escort Agency.
As the name implied, they were an Unorthodox Faction gang operating under the guise of an escort agency.
‘Well, calling them a mere gang is an understatement given their scale. Furthermore, they do technically perform escort duties.’
However, the crucial point was not the fact that they wore the mask of an escort agency.
“Brother. Is the influence of this Black Wolf Escort Agency significant?”
Baek Muryang replied to Jegal Seon, who asked with a puzzled expression.
“The Black Wolf Escort Agency. They serve as a liaison hub among the Unorthodox Faction sects in Muju, where Agan County is located, my brother.”
Though it was a brief explanation, Jegal Seon understood immediately.
The Black Wolf Escort Agency was what held the loosely connected factions together.
In other words, it meant they wielded immense influence over the Unorthodox Faction sects of Muju, even acting as a gravitational center.
However.
‘I knew this would be the case, which is exactly why I asked Uncle for a favor.’
The Black Wolf Escort Agency. It was a much bigger catch than he had anticipated.
Indeed, if he was going to play the ‘Jegal Family’ card, he needed to reel in a fish of this magnitude.
‘Come to think of it, if it is the Black Wolf Escort Agency…’
He rummaged through the memories of his past life.
It was undoubtedly a place entwined with a secret history. And one intimately related to the Namgung Family, at that.
Baek Yanghwi’s expression darkened slightly.
‘I might be able to snatch the gains the Namgung Family was destined to obtain in the future.’
The Black Wolf Escort Agency. The reason those Unorthodox bastards paraded as an escort agency was simple.
They did, in fact, handle escort work.
The issue was that their cargo was not legitimate goods, but victims of human trafficking.
Furthermore, countless people were chained by the neck and worked to the bone within their stronghold.
Among them was one specific person.
Someone who would become a treasure of the Namgung Family in the future.
‘Baek Cheol. I am certain of it. He must be at the Black Wolf Escort Agency right now.’
According to his memories, Baek Cheol was currently enduring a slave-like existence alongside his father at the Black Wolf Escort Agency.
‘This works out perfectly. It is a brilliant opportunity to make Baek Cheol a member of our main family.’
An opportunity to take someone destined to become a great talent of the Namgung Family and make him a member of my own family?
There was no way he could pass this up.
Curling the corners of his lips into a smirk, Baek Yanghwi raised his hand and shouted.
“Father. I propose we wipe out the bastards of the Black Wolf Escort Agency in one fell swoop!”
“Hmm? Naturally, doing so would benefit both the common people and our main family. However, we do not possess the military strength for such a task, do we?”
Unlike the somber Baek Muryang, Baek Yanghwi’s expression was as light as a feather.
Immediately after, Jegal Seon threw out a question with the exact same lighthearted expression as Baek Yanghwi.
“Brother. Are there any peak masters at the Black Wolf Escort Agency?”
“I suppose there are. At least one, perhaps.”
“Then that is all we need.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, come to think of it, you are not yet aware of the conversation I had with Yanghwi, Brother.”
With a single sentence, Jegal Seon left the majority of the attendees at the senior council meeting gasping in shock.
“I shall wipe out the Black Wolf Escort Agency alongside the guard martial artists I brought with me.”
Knowing exactly how Baek Muryang would react, Baek Yanghwi prepared to preempt him.
‘I did not form this sworn brotherhood to reap benefits, and if we cannot overcome crises with our own strength, it will only bring us harm in the end. He is bound to say something like that, is he not?’
It was obvious, considering his father possessed a spirit as upright as bamboo.
However, Baek Yanghwi’s thoughts differed.
‘Father. It is not as if we are crossing a line, so please be generous enough to let this slide!’
“As expected of my Uncle, the Young Family Head of the prestigious Orthodox Jegal Family! To rise up so righteously to subjugate an Unorthodox faction that commits illegal human trafficking and torments the common people!”
Jegal Seon was quick to catch on and played along.
“Indeed! As someone who walks the Orthodox path, I cannot simply stand by and watch the likes of the Black Wolf Escort Agency! This is by no means an act to repay the grace I owe the Baek Family Manor!”
Watching the scene unfold like a well-rehearsed theatrical play, Baek Muryang chuckled despite himself.
“It would be contrary to proper etiquette to refuse a repayment of kindness. But only this once, you two.”
* * *
‘Excellent. At this rate, we can finish this swiftly.’
Now that permission was granted, he might as well take this chance to properly throw his weight around using borrowed power.
Ten days after the senior council meeting at the Baek Family Manor.
In Gyeun County, neighboring Agan County where the Baek Family Manor was located, a group of martial artists appeared before the stronghold of the Black Wolf Escort Agency.
Naturally, they were members of the Jegal Family led by Jegal Seon.
“Yanghwi. I brought you here because you were so insistent, but do you truly intend to fight?”
Standing beside Jegal Seon, Baek Yanghwi nodded vigorously.
“Yes, Uncle. My Master commanded me to embody her teachings through practical combat experience. I do not wish to miss such a prime opportunity.”
It was a lie. He only tagged along because there was someone he needed to secure.
As a bonus, he also harbored thoughts of sweeping up the Black Wolf Escort Agency’s wealth and anything else that caught his eye.
“If your Master commanded it, then it cannot be helped. No matter how much your martial prowess surpasses your age, you are still a child. The Sound Empress appears to be quite a strict master.”
“She is certainly on the stricter side.”
She was not just strict; she was incredibly demanding.
To be precise, she casually ordered him to do things that were entirely impossible for an ordinary person.
Well, considering she threw him into the incomplete Five Pavilions of Still Sound from their very first meeting, that said enough.
“Anyway. If your resolve is firm, let us go.”
A terrifying aura began to erupt from Jegal Seon’s entire body.
‘Come to think of it, is this my first time seeing the Unrivaled Sleeping Dragon, Jegal Seon, fight?’
Baek Yanghwi watched with an intrigued expression to see what Jegal Seon would do.
“Agency Head of the Black Wolf Escort Agency! You head of a pack of mongrels, show your face at once!”
Jegal Seon unleashed a Lion’s Roar. The Black Wolf Escort Agency’s manor instantly turned chaotic like a poked hornet’s nest, and escort warriors poured out in droves.
“What short-lived bastard dares to…”
A steel brush embedded itself straight into the forehead of an escort warrior who had been shouting in a rage.
The man died instantly and collapsed with a thud, and a heavy silence fell over the area.
“You Unorthodox mongrels. Not a single one of you is to open your mouth without this Unrivaled Sleeping Dragon’s permission. Disobey, and I shall kill you.”
“Th-The Unrivaled Sleeping Dragon…!”
Another escort warrior who shouted reflexively met his end.
A guard martial artist of the Jegal Family, having approached unnoticed, drove a sword through him.
Watching the scene, Baek Yanghwi let out a whistle.
‘Very elegant. I thought the Jegal Family was all about brush arts and fan arts, but it turns out their primary specialty is swordplay?’
There were three main martial arts representing the Jegal Family.
Brush arts using a steel brush and fan arts using a folding fan.
And in addition to those, sword arts.
However, the most famous among the three were the brush and fan arts.
Because they were a type of odd weaponry art, their unique characteristics made them widely discussed among martial enthusiasts.
‘Then again, if the Jegal Family’s sword arts were mediocre, the names of the Lesser Heavenly Star Sword Art and Greater Heavenly Star Sword Art would not have spread so widely.’
In fact, more than half of their martial artists were carrying swords.
Jegal Seon himself was a swordsman to begin with.
“Agency Head of the Black Wolf Escort Agency! If you do not show your face at once, I will slaughter every single one of your mongrel subordinates!”
Soon enough, the Agency Head of the Black Wolf Escort Agency revealed himself.
“Great Hero Jegal Seon, the Unrivaled Sleeping Dragon. I myself am the Agency Head of the Black Wolf Escort Agency…”
Baek Yanghwi quickly cut in from the side.
“Yourself? ‘Yourself’? Uncle, there is an Unorthodox bastard here who dares to refer to himself as ‘Yourself’ in front of the Young Family Head of the great Jegal Family.”
“…This lowly one is Cheol Heuk-rang, the Agency Head of the Black Wolf Escort Agency. For what reason have you graced this place with your presence…?”
Even when subjugating an Unorthodox faction as an act of the Orthodox Faction, a clear justification was required when it became a matter of sect versus sect.
However, Jegal Seon’s status was far too high to bicker with trash like him, so Baek Yanghwi stepped forward personally.
“Why do you think we came, you bastard? We found out your lot was trying to set up our Baek Family Manor.”
Cheol Heuk-rang, a man in his fifties who had just been called a bastard by a kid not even ten years old, trembled.
“Did you catch malaria in your old age? Why are you trembling so much? Ah, is it because you have a condition where you get shy and nervous when people look at you?”
“…Your tongue is quite reckless, Young Master. And ‘set up’? I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Oh, he is holding his anger back at this? For an Unorthodox bastard, he has decent patience.
“The only thing you don’t know is your…”
He was about to say ‘your mother’s name’, but he snuck a quick glance at Jegal Seon.
If he let slip the vulgar habits of his vagabond days and it reached his father’s ears, he might be subjected to a three-hour lecture.
“Ahem, anyway. We have plenty of evidence stacked right here.”
At Jegal Seon’s signal, two martial artists brought forward books containing the evidence and a witness.
For reference, the witness was an Unorthodox member who had acted as a liaison between the Black Wolf Escort Agency and the Vanguard Sect.
“He confessed everything, and we even tracked the flow of the money. Are you still going to deny it?”
The Agency Head of the Black Wolf Escort Agency realized that everything had gone horribly wrong.
“I admit that our agency has committed dishonorable acts against the Baek Family Manor. However, on what grounds does the Jegal Family persecute our agency like this!”
It was not a logic entirely devoid of persuasion.
Well, the issue was that it could be refuted with effortless ease.
‘Good grief, the brains of these bastards are all on the level of chickens. I knew he would say that, so I prepared another justification.’
“From now on, you may speak, Uncle.”
Nodding his head, Jegal Seon shouted.
“I, Jegal Seon, did not step forward for the sake of the Baek Family Manor’s revenge. As a chivalrous warrior of the Orthodox Faction walking the true path, I merely stepped forward to subjugate the Unorthodox seeds who inflict suffering upon the common people with all sorts of evil deeds.”
The books thrown by the guard martial artists thumped against Cheol Heuk-rang’s head.
They were ledgers detailing the evidence of the illegal businesses and evil deeds the Black Wolf Escort Agency had been perpetrating.
“…”
Cheol Heuk-rang picked up one of the books, read the contents, and trembled once again.
The rest of the situation unfolded without a hitch.
To put it simply, ten peak masters went wild and wiped out the Black Wolf Escort Agency’s stronghold.
‘Wow. When you have the backing of the Five Great Families, matters are resolved this easily.’
The Agency Head of the Black Wolf Escort Agency, who was a peak master in his own right?
Jegal Seon stepped up personally and severed his neck.
The escort warriors of the Black Wolf Escort Agency, numbering over a hundred?
More than half died, and the rest fled in all directions.
Since they even tore down the signboard attached to the manor gate and chopped it into firewood, the Black Wolf Escort Agency had been utterly destroyed.
“Uncle. According to our investigation, there are slaves and unjustly captured people located in the depths of the manor and within a secret underground facility.”
“I am aware. This uncle will mop up the remnants, so you go ahead first, Yanghwi. I will assign two guard martial artists to accompany you.”
Baek Yanghwi searched the stronghold accompanied by two peak masters.
Being a nine-year-old commanding two peak masters, he truly felt the thrill of throwing his weight around using borrowed power.
‘Ah. Is this why people build connections?’
Even while enjoying himself, he did not forget his duty.
This very moment was both an act of revenge and an act of chivalry.
“Everyone! The Black Wolf Escort Agency is finished as of today! You are all free, so please come out!”
Children bound by iron chains inside a filthy warehouse.
He freed every single one of them.
He also liberated the women trapped within a pavilion decorated in a lecherous manner.
‘Baek Cheol should be somewhere around here.’
According to his past life, Baek Cheol lived as a slave in the Black Wolf Escort Agency for nearly ten years before being saved by the Namgung Family five years from now.
Thus, he was undoubtedly here.
He caught the attention of one of the women he had saved and asked.
“Are there any other people who are locked up or were kidnapped?”
“There is no one else here. Ah, I know that those possessing special talents are not held here, but rather locked within a secret facility hidden in the mountain behind us, Benefactor.”
So there was a separate secret facility.
He immediately climbed the mountain behind the manor.
A small village was established in a basin located at the center of the mountain range, which was shallow yet deceptively rugged.
“You two, please inform the people that they are now free. I will look around to see if there is anyone who might have difficulty moving.”
“Understood, Young Master.”
Offering a plausible excuse, he set out alone to find Baek Cheol.
The very first place he headed to was the forge located in the center of the basin.
Because the two peak masters were shouting about the fate of the Black Wolf Escort Agency, a commotion could be felt from within.
‘Hmm?’
He soon discovered a figure hiding behind the forge door, peering in his direction.
A boy hovering between childhood and youth.
A face that appeared pure and timid.
Putting on a gentle smile, Baek Yanghwi spoke to him.
“Older brother, what might your name be?”
“I am… Baek Cheol. Excuse me, Young Hero. Exactly what has happened…?”
Looking at Baek Cheol, who asked the question so timidly, Baek Yanghwi was certain.
‘Found you, Divine Smith.’
The corners of his mouth curled into a smirk.
‘The Divine Sword Azure Heaven of the Namgung Family. In this life, I shall make you the treasured sword of our Baek Family.’
Comment