The captain of the gate guards stationed at the Inner Fortress gate of the Martial Alliance headquarters spoke urgently to Kwak Yeon.
“Chief Secretary Kwak, the Chief Strategist left word that you are to come to the Strategists’ Office as soon as you arrive.”
Kwak had seen Martial Alliance warriors searching everywhere inside and outside the Outer Court, so he had already guessed that something serious had happened at the Martial Alliance.
He hurried through the Inner Fortress gate and headed straight for the Strategists’ Office.
The security within the Inner Fortress was tighter than usual, and the warriors’ movements were even more frantic. Seeing that, Kwak concluded that the incident had unquestionably occurred inside the Inner Fortress.
The area around the Grand Strategist’s hall was also filled with Martial Alliance warriors.
“Chief Secretary Kwak, you are here at last.”
Inside the Grand Strategist’s hall, Chief Strategist Sagong Ui welcomed Kwak with a grave expression.
“Chief Strategist, why are you here alone?”
Since an incident had occurred within the Inner Fortress, Kwak had naturally assumed that the Strategists’ Office was holding a council. He had thought that was why he had been summoned as well.
“The Right Military Strategist and Left Military Strategist are busy commanding the corps under their authority.”
That meant the emergency remained urgent even now, and Kwak had no choice but to ask at once.
“Chief Strategist, what happened inside the Inner Fortress?”
“There was an intruder in the Strategists’ Office.”
Kwak flinched in surprise.
The Strategists’ Office was the deepest and most important place in the Martial Alliance after the Alliance Leader’s Office.
For an intruder to have entered a place guarded by high walls and layer upon layer of sentries was no ordinary matter.
That was why the entire Martial Alliance headquarters had been thrown into such turmoil.
“Good heavens. What in the world is happening? There has never been an intruder inside the Inner Fortress, much less in the Strategists’ Office...”
—RUSTLE. RUSTLE.
As though trying to cool his frustration, Chief Strategist Sagong Ui repeatedly waved his crane-feather fan before continuing.
“Once the search for the intruder is finished, I will make a formal report to the Alliance Leader. But I thought the Chief Secretary should hear of it first. I sent someone to the guest residence, only to learn that you had gone out.”
“I had business outside the fortress and was just returning.”
“I see.”
“Since you said the search is ongoing, I take it the intruder has not yet been captured.”
“That is correct.”
—RUSTLE.
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui waved his crane-feather fan again.
“The wall around the Strategists’ Office is five zhang high, but escaping beyond the Inner Fortress walls, which are ten zhang high, would be extraordinarily difficult. Yet we have not found even a trace of the intruder. It is enough to make a ghost weep.”
Those words left Kwak quietly uneasy.
Jin Cheongha suddenly came to mind—Jin Cheongha, who locked her door every night and retired early.
“There is one more thing that makes even less sense.”
“...?”
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui opened a wooden box resting on the table.
To Kwak’s astonishment, a long bone, charred black, lay inside.
“...!”
The acrid smell had not yet faded. It had clearly been burned only recently.
“The intruder left it behind while escaping.”
“Are you saying the intruder cut off an arm to flee? And even set the severed arm on fire?”
“More precisely, the intruder’s arm caught fire first, and that was why it was cut off.”
“...!”
“According to the warriors who found it, the fire was blue and would not go out even when they buried it in sand.”
At once, Kwak recalled the blue flames he had seen in the marketplace of Aju County City.
“Chief Secretary Kwak, what do you believe that blue fire was?”
“I believe it was Blue-Scale True-Flame Demon Blossom.”
“Then you and I are of the same mind.”
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui nodded and asked,
“Does anything else come to mind?”
“Other than the fact that it was an item used by the assassin squad that appeared in Aju County City, nothing comes to mind. My apologies.”
“Why apologize for that? I should be the one apologizing for asking such a foolish question. I asked only because my mind is troubled, so do not concern yourself with it.”
—RUSTLE.
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui waved the crane-feather fan again.
“In any case, I believe the intruder may have been a spy of the Demonic Eight Divisions.”
“What leads you to think so?”
“The intruder was first discovered near the Right Military Strategist’s hall. The Right Military Strategist is drafting and directing the campaign against the Demonic Eight Divisions, is he not? It seems likely that the intruder entered in search of that information.”
“That possibility does seem likely.”
Kwak nodded readily, but the blue flames still left him worried about Jin Cheongha.
“Yet I cannot understand why the intruder’s arm was set ablaze by Blue-Scale True-Flame Demon Blossom while fleeing.”
The Chief Strategist had struck directly at the matter troubling him, and Kwak was briefly at a loss for words.
“...”
Seeing Kwak’s silence, Chief Strategist Sagong Ui spoke with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
“In any case, I will make a preliminary report to the Alliance Leader to that effect. We have cast a net over the entire Martial Alliance headquarters, so we should find that intruder somehow. Once we do, every one of these doubts will be answered, and I will personally seek an audience with the Alliance Leader then.”
“I understand. Then I will take my leave.”
As Kwak gave a clasped-hands bow and turned to go, Chief Strategist Sagong Ui suddenly asked,
“Chief Secretary Kwak, may I ask what business took you outside the fortress?”
“...”
“You need not answer, of course. But lately, you have become the center of attention at headquarters. I merely thought that if you were facing difficulties, perhaps I could offer some assistance as Chief Strategist.”
When Kwak saw the concern filling Sagong Ui’s eyes, his chest tightened.
There was something strangely familiar about that expression.
I felt the same way when we first met.
And yet he had certainly met Chief Strategist Sagong Ui for the first time only after coming to the Martial Alliance.
“Chief Strategist, thank you for your concern. There is a minor matter, but it is not yet something I can speak of. I will look into it more closely, then tell you.”
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui nodded readily.
“I am curious, but I will wait. Just do not forget that you promised to tell me.”
“I will not.”
As Kwak stepped out of the Grand Strategist’s hall, a corps commander hurried inside.
Kwak paused for a moment when he heard Chief Strategist Sagong Ui’s voice from within.
“Have you found the man, Corps Commander?”
But after hearing the corps commander’s reply, Kwak left the hall without further hesitation.
“His whereabouts remain unknown.”
—CLACK!
With the sound of the Grand Strategist’s hall doors closing, Chief Strategist Sagong Ui let out a low sigh.
“Good heavens. We have mobilized enough men to turn the entire Inner Fortress inside out ten times over, and we still cannot find so much as a trace of him. Does that make any sense?”
“My apologies.”
“It truly is enough to make a ghost weep.”
—RUSTLE. RUSTLE.
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui roughly snapped his crane-feather fan several times, then asked the corps commander,
“Then you should be taking your men and pressing the search harder. Why have you come here?”
“There is something I must report to you, Chief Strategist.”
“Speak.”
“While searching near the Right Military Strategist’s hall, we found a narrow gap in the outer wall beneath the eaves, concealed by a removable brick. We also found traces suggesting that someone had been inside.”
“Was it not simply something the intruder made to enter the hall?”
“Judging by the state of the removable brickwork, it appears to have been made quite some time ago.”
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui’s expression hardened at the corps commander’s reply.
“Then you believe intruders have been coming and going through it for a long time?”
“That seems the most reasonable conclusion.”
“...”
“And it appears there was another infiltrator there besides the intruder. The object itself was completely burned by the demonic flame, so we cannot determine what it was originally. But from the ashes, it appears that clothing was burned. We questioned the guards stationed at the Right Military Strategist’s hall just in case, and all of them said that the fleeing intruder had been dressed in a complete set of night-infiltration clothes.”
“Another infiltrator was there...”
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui rested the crane-feather fan against his brow and thought for a moment.
“Leave now. For the time being, keep the matter of that narrow gap from the Right Military Strategist.”
“Yes, Chief Strategist. There is one more matter I must report.”
“...?”
“Just now, the Outer Court patrol unit reported that a fire broke out in Golden Sand Village. It occurred at Dragon King Hall, which stands apart from the homes, so there were no civilian casualties.”
“It is fortunate that no one was harmed. But why report even that to me?”
“They say Chief Secretary Kwak started the fire.”
“What? Chief Secretary Kwak...?”
“And the patrol unit found human remains in the ruins of Dragon King Hall. Only several fragments of bone remained, but a black-iron needle was found nearby.”
“Are you saying those remains belonged to the owner of that black-iron needle?”
“That seems the most reasonable conclusion. In any case, it appears certain that the remains belonged to someone from the martial world.”
“So Chief Secretary Kwak killed a martial artist and set the place on fire?”
“Chief Strategist, I am only drawing conclusions from the evidence before us.”
“I lost my composure for a moment.”
Chief Strategist Sagong Ui nodded readily, then let out a quiet sigh.
“Good heavens. What in the world is going on?”
Not a single day had been peaceful at the Martial Alliance headquarters lately.
Come to think of it, incidents had followed one after another ever since Chief Secretary Kwak and Hu Gae’s party arrived at headquarters.
Hu Gae and Jin Cheongha were waiting for Kwak in the main hall of the guest residence.
One look at Hu Gae’s blazing eyes—and Jin Cheongha’s solemn expression as she deliberately avoided his gaze—was enough for Kwak to understand what had happened.
“...!”
A secret could not remain hidden forever. Jin Cheongha had finally brought the commotion at the Strategists’ Office all the way back to the guest residence.
Kwak lowered his head toward Hu Gae, who was glaring at him as though he wished to kill him.
“I am sorry.”
A cold silence fell over the main hall of the guest residence.
“...”
“...”
“...?”
Unable to endure the unbroken silence any longer, Hu Gae narrowed his eyes and said,
“Is that it? Just one little ‘I’m sorry’?”
Only then did Kwak raise his head.
“If you want me to kneel and beg forgiveness, Brother, I will.”
Another cold silence swept through the hall.
“...”
But this silence did not last long.
“Damn it! Forget it!”
Hu Gae suddenly roared.
“I hate having people grovel just because I demanded it. Sit down.”
Hu Gae was actually glad that Kwak had not launched into a long string of excuses. Between them, one apology spoken with sincerity was enough.
Their bond was one thing, but his concern was another. The moment Kwak sat down, Hu Gae asked,
“What were you thinking?”
“What are you planning to do, Brother, keeping Miss Jin by your side even now?”
“That is because... we have built up ties between us.”
Hu Gae glanced at Jin Cheongha and let the rest of his sentence trail off.
“No.”
Hu Gae looked at Kwak in surprise at his firm voice.
“...?”
“You are keeping Miss Jin by your side because you trust her.”
“So that is it. You trusted Sister Jin as well, Kwak?”
Kwak immediately turned to Jin Cheongha and asked,
“Miss Jin, what happened at the Right Military Strategist’s hall?”
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