Chapter 291: The Unfortunate Strategist
Morning, before business at the inn had even begun.
The mbers, including Ghost of Divine Slaughter, had gathered and were eating.
Seomun Ak looked toward Moyong Hyeon and the later-generation prodigies before speaking in an unusually serious tone.
“Seo Yu-gyeom’s cooking skills improve day by day. Is it because he’s a Peak-level Master?”
“…….”
The later-generation prodigies wore exhausted expressions.
Over the past three days, Seomun Ak had probably said the words ‘Peak-level Master’ around seven hundred tis.
‘This really is Peak-level Master food.’
‘That was Peak-level Master sleep all night long.’
‘Dangyang Lake is Peak-level Master no matter when you see it.’
It was always like that. He attached ‘Peak-level Master’ to absolutely everything. He had even started calling Lee Seowon the Peak-level Master Chief Steward.
After looking around at everyone’s reactions, Seomun Ak grinned.
“Don’t be too discouraged, everyone. Every person has their own ti to shine.”
“……What kind of bullshit is that?”
Moyong Hyeon knew Seomun Ak was laying the groundwork to brag about himself, but pretended not to notice.
Seomun Ak then scooped so of his rice into Moyong Hyeon’s bowl as he spoke.
“Eat a lot. That way you’ll grow quickly. Isn’t that right, Elder Ghost of Divine Slaughter?”
Seomun Ak flashed a ‘smile of camaraderie’ toward Ghost of Divine Slaughter.
Naturally, it was Peak-level Master camaraderie.
Of course, Ghost of Divine Slaughter rely shook his head as though thinking, Here this bastard goes again.
Even Ghost of Divine Slaughter, who had taught countless assassins in Deathshroud and seen all kinds of lunatics, found Seomun Ak exhausting.
Around the ti Seomun Ak burst into hearty laughter, Lee Seowon ca downstairs with a tired face, as though he had stayed awake all night yet again.
Baek Seol waved at him.
“Chief Steward Lee, co eat with us!”
At so point, the later-generation prodigies had beco fairly close with Lee Seowon as well.
Lee Seowon approached them, stared at the prodigies with a serious expression, and suddenly bowed deeply.
The prodigies were startled.
“W-Why are you doing this?”
“I heard your lives were endangered because of my strategy. I apologize.”
The strategy to lure out and kill the Eight Bats.
During the process, the later-generation prodigies, including Hwamyeong and Tang So-yeon, had practically stood at death’s doorstep.
Had Ghost of Divine Slaughter not sacrificed his own arm to intervene, at least two or three of them would have died.
Tang So-yeon spoke.
“In the end, it succeeded, didn’t it? Don’t worry about it.”
“No. If it had been a fight between rchants, Miss Tang would’ve been correct. But I realized that in Murim, the lives of your people are just as important as whether the strategy succeeds.”
Lee Seowon had believed his strategy was flawless. The deciding factor had only been whether the inn’s martial artists could defeat the Eight Bats.
But after everything ended and he reflected on the process, he realized sothing even more important had been missing before the question of ‘Can we win?’
‘How.’
Simply winning and winning well were two different things.
In a battle between rchants, you simply had to win. No matter the process, as long as you gained what you wanted, that was enough.
In a martial artist’s battle, you had to win well. Even if they had killed the Eight Bats, if these later-generation prodigies had died in the process, then it would have been a failure.
Victory did not necessarily lead to success.
“As a Chief Steward, my qualifications are exceptional. It may sound arrogant, but it’s the truth. But as a strategist… I think I’m sorely lacking.”
“Your strategy succeeded.”
Ghost of Divine Slaughter spoke.
However, Lee Seowon shook his head.
“That’s a secondary issue.”
“……You’ll beco an unfortunate strategist.”
“Pardon?”
“Do you know who the most unfortunate strategist of this era is?”
At Ghost of Divine Slaughter’s quiet question, Lee Seowon thought for a mont before answering.
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be a strategist serving a superior who can’t be reasoned with? Like the strategists of the Demonic Cult.”
“It’s Sima Baek. Bright Mirror.”
“Excuse ?”
Lee Seowon could not understand.
Sima Baek was the most successful strategist of the current age, so why?
The others wore expressions similar to Lee Seowon’s.
Ghost of Divine Slaughter continued.
“The sense of responsibility you feel right now, and the guilt and self-loathing you’ll one day feel. Who do you think experiences those emotions the most, and the deepest?”
“Ah!”
Lee Seowon suddenly looked as though realization had struck him.
Ghost of Divine Slaughter nodded.
“The strategists of the Demonic Path and Unorthodox Path pursue efficiency. If sacrificing subordinates increases efficiency, then they do it. In organizations like theirs, achievents matter far more than the lives of a few underlings.”
Deathshroud was no different.
To Deathshroud, the success of the assassination mattered far more than whether assassins died.
Ghost of Divine Slaughter continued.
“But the strategists of the Orthodox Faction cannot endure those emotions. That’s why they all beco unfortunate strategists. Just like you now.”
After hearing how dangerously the lives of the later-generation prodigies had been endangered during this strategy, Lee Seowon had spent several sleepless nights.
If even he was like this, then what about soone who oversaw dozens of large and small operations every day, where people constantly died during missions…?
Lee Seowon could not help but acknowledge that Sima Baek was the most unfortunate strategist in the world.
“Even while the Demonic Path and Unorthodox Path pursue only extre efficiency, Sima Baek devises strategies while trying to save as many of his people as possible. And despite that, he has always won for decades. That’s why Sima Baek is the wisdom of the Orthodox Faction, the Bright Mirror, and the highest-priority assassination target of the Demonic Path. If war breaks out, those bastards from the Demonic Cult will kill the Chief Strategist before they kill the Alliance Leader.”
Hearing Ghost of Divine Slaughter’s explanation, everyone realized anew just how incredible Sima Baek truly was.
Against the Demonic Path and Unorthodox Path, who fought while throwing away their lives and committing inhuman acts without hesitation.
Sima Baek had always won without abandoning the banner of the Orthodox Faction. In other words, he had always triumphed despite carrying a trendous burden as a strategist.
Ghost of Divine Slaughter continued.
“When you have the ti, go et Sima Baek. It will help you greatly.”
Ghost of Divine Slaughter considered Lee Seowon’s growth to be the inn’s growth. Moreover, the inn’s growth was now tied to the growth of both his disciple and himself.
Lee Seowon gave a small nod, then asked,
“Would he even agree to et ?”
He was the busiest man of the age and the second-in-command of the enormous Murim Alliance.
At that mont, Seomun Ak—who honestly had little interest in strategist talk and had rely been eating diligently—spoke up.
“If you ntion the na of Hero Seomun, he’ll probably et you.”
Everyone stared at Seomun Ak for a mont.
Then, as though they had all agreed beforehand, they turned their heads away as if they had heard absolutely nothing.
Tang So-yeon continued the conversation.
“I think he’d et you if you introduce yourself as the Chief Steward of Seong-un Inn. The Chief Strategist seems to care a lot about Young Hero Jin.”
“There’s no need to even say it. That man Sima Baek already knows.”
Ghost of Divine Slaughter was also the Vice Leader of a massive organization called Deathshroud, so he knew a fair amount about Sima Baek.
In truth, the Murim Alliance had foiled Deathshroud missions nurous tis, and Sima Baek had always been behind it.
Though he was an enemy, Sima Baek was a man impossible not to acknowledge.
*
After speaking with Ghost of Divine Slaughter, Lee Seowon reduced his sleep and buried himself in work. If he could truly converse with Chief Strategist Sima Baek, he felt certain he would gain much from it.
So he planned to visit the Murim Alliance once things cald down after he finished his work quickly.
Jin Seong-un quietly approached Lee Seowon, who was chanically writing in ledgers with sunken eyes.
Thunk.
He placed a teacup in front of him and spoke.
“Chief Steward Lee. I heard what happened. There won’t be any major trouble here for a while, so you may go visit the Chief Strategist.”
Though Jin Seong-un said that, Lee Seowon shook his head. He preferred certainty in all things.
Lee Seowon gave a bitter smile.
“Thank you, Innkeeper. But I plan to finish the Eonsa Prefecture matter before going. If I leave even a little unfinished, I’ll keep thinking about work and won’t be able to focus on the conversation.”
“You really are exhausting yourself, Chief Steward Lee.”
“This is my job.”
Lee Seowon wanted to beco an outstanding strategist, but that did not an he wanted to abandon his role as an exceptional Chief Steward.
Lee Seowon was also an ambitious man. He wanted to handle everything he did perfectly.
“Ah, and would you care to visit Eonsa Prefecture with soon? There’ll soon be an auction for construction material supply contracts.”
Shin Mok and his disciples were constructing buildings at a maddening pace. Naturally, that ant an enormous amount of stone and timber was also required.
The scale of the construction was so massive that the trading companies Shin Mok had previously dealt with could no longer keep up.
“We’ll probably sign additional contracts with three or four more companies for supplies. If the Daepyeong Trading Company participates in the auction, they alone might be able to handle it.”
Jin Seong-un suddenly felt nostalgic.
It felt like only yesterday that he had participated in auctions at Eonsa Prefecture alongside other trading companies, yet now he himself was the one hosting the auction.
“Let’s do that. And if you beco too exhausted, tell anyti. I have a thod.”
Lee Seowon flinched.
“That thod wouldn’t happen to be the Original True Face Art, would it?”
“Most likely.”
Jin Seong-un’s training in the Original True Face Art had continued even recently.
Which also ant that the screams of Seomun Ak and Moyong Hyeon had continued as well.
Knowing this, color suddenly returned to Lee Seowon’s face.
“I suddenly feel full of energy.”
“That’s fortunate.”
For so reason, the two n nodded at each other in agreent.
.
.
.
Several days later.
When the appointed day arrived, Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon headed to Eonsa Prefecture. They needed to choose trading companies for supplying materials through the auction.
Jin Seong-un had visited Eonsa Prefecture once before. At the ti, it had been such a barren countryside that it had been difficult to imagine any comrcial district being built there.
But the Eonsa Prefecture he visited again after so long had changed astonishingly.
Beside him, Lee Seowon exclaid in admiration as well.
“Elder Shin Mok really is incredible.”
Not that much ti had passed.
Yet the roads throughout Eonsa Prefecture had already been neatly paved, and the locations where buildings would stand had been carefully organized to be visible at a glance.
Several large core estates even seed to have already begun taking shape.
Lee Seowon pointed toward one estate. Its low walls made the inside clearly visible, which left a strong impression.
“That’s where the Divine Physician dical House will be built. Co to think of it, both of the world’s two greatest master artisans are here in Eonsa Prefecture.”
The Divine Physician and Shin Mok.
The two old n who would receive the highest treatnt anywhere under heaven had both settled here in Eonsa Prefecture.
Jin Seong-un nodded.
“Once the dical House is fully established, we should bring Elder Ghost of Divine Slaughter here as well.”
Ghost of Divine Slaughter had sacrificed his shoulder to save the later-generation prodigies. Even after several days, it was still uncomfortable for him to hold a dagger with his right arm.
He had said that he would probably hold fishing rods more often than daggers from now on, so recovering slowly was fine.
Still, seeing him occasionally drop his chopsticks made Jin Seong-un uneasy.
Soon, the two headed toward the estate where the auction would be held.
In the future, it was supposed to beco the largest tavern in Hubei Province.
When they arrived, several trading company masters who had arrived earlier hurriedly greeted them.
Among them, one particularly quick-witted trading company master brought up the Eight Bats.
“Hero Guest Dragon! I heard the rumors. They say you captured those vile Eight Bats. Truly incredible. Which is why…”
The praise and flattery soon led to the gift he had brought.
It was a rather luxurious tea set, but the tea container felt strangely heavy. When Jin Seong-un opened it, he found gold inside.
“…….”
It seed to be a bribe, so Jin Seong-un politely refused.
“……I’ll accept the sentint only.”
There was no benefit to accepting such things before an auction. Whether he signed a contract with them or not, it would only cause problems.
Soon, they took their seats and waited.
They spoke briefly with the trading company masters and idly passed the ti drinking tea.
Yet even after the appointed hour had passed, only a small portion of the trading companies originally scheduled to attend had arrived.
At first, they assud it was because transportation to Eonsa Prefecture was still underdeveloped.
But when even after waiting much longer, not even half the seats had filled, they sensed that sothing strange had happened.
Just as Jin Seong-un and Lee Seowon stepped outside after asking the rchants for their understanding—
They saw a familiar face.
Jang Tae-hak, the Master of Daepyeong Trading Company, whom they had previously t alongside the Chairperson of the Jiangnan rchants’ Association, approached them hurriedly with a deeply exhausted expression.
“I-Innkeeper! Sothing terrible has happened!”
“What exactly happened?”
“……The Heavenly Pillar Quarry has collapsed.”
The Heavenly Pillar Quarry.
As its na implied, it was the largest quarry in the Central Plains, filled with enormous cliffs that resembled pillars supporting the heavens.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say that every rchant involved in related businesses obtained stone from that quarry.
“What happened to the people?”
The expression of the Master of Daepyeong Trading Company darkened.
That alone was a more certain answer than any words.
A massive quarry had collapsed. Countless workers must have been injured or killed.
As Jin Seong-un’s brows narrowed, Jang Tae-hak continued.
“……But it doesn’t look like an accident. It seems soone deliberately caused it.”
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