The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

The escorts of the Hakseo Escort Agency were of a decent level. Not only were their individual movements good, but their coordinated movements under Lee Deokryang's command were quite impressive. Their combined attack formation, designed for a large number to surround and attack a smaller number, was good enough to be boasted about anywhere, and they knew the weaknesses of the spear well.

A spear cannot exert its full power in a narrow space. Especially a long spear like Yang Gwan's iron spear is hindered by walls and ceilings and cannot display its full strength. Using this point, the martial artists attempted simultaneous attacks from above and below.

The corners of Yang Gwan's mouth twisted.

"You have some experience, but it seems you've never fought a master of the spear."

He thrust his spear straight out. The spear, engulfed in flames, struck a man's chest. The man spewed a mouthful of blood and flew back. He thought it was fortunate that he wasn't pierced, but it wasn't the spearhead that had hit him. He had reversed the spear and pushed him with the blunt end.

"You bastard!"

"You're looking down on us!"

It was clearly the attitude of dealing with an inferior. Another man, provoked, rushed in, but it was in vain.

The speed of his spear thrust was like the wind, but the speed of its retraction was like lightning.

There was no waste or opening in his attack and retraction. In an instant, three martial artists who had leaped for a combined attack were hit in the chest and sent flying.

"The thrust of a sword and the thrust of a spear are fundamentally different in distance. Also."

When Yang Gwan's spear thrust and returned, it did not simply return to its original position. It shook erratically, scattering flames to the left and right. With one thrust, he blocked attacks from both sides, and his speed was faster than the martial artists could approach.

"With a light movement of the wrist, you can give it elasticity and guard all directions. In the Yang Family Spearmanship, this is called the Illusory Dream Autumn. Do you understand what this means? No matter how many of you there are, you cannot be my opponent. Whether it's ten, a hundred, or a thousand, you cannot pass this place unless I allow it."

His skill was indeed worthy of being called one of the best among the rising stars of the current generation. The faces of the martial artists, who had thought that even if he was praised as the Fire Dragon, he was only in his late twenties and could not defeat their experience and combined attack formation, filled with despair. In the midst of this, Yang Gwan closed one eye and shook his spear.

"If I were to face anyone, it would be you."

Yang Gwan's spear pointed at Lee Deokryang. He was one of the three who had initially leaped for the combined attack. He had been hit in the chest, but unlike the others, he was neither slammed against the wall nor did he roll on the floor. He had dispersed the impact with a technique of high-level lightness skill.

"Indeed, a lightness skill worthy of being called a master of the Willow Sword. But even you cannot pass here. Do you admit it?"

"I admit it."

The Willow Sword was a sword art that used softness as a weapon to deflect an enemy's attack or use its momentum to attack the opponent. Befitting his title of Willow Calming Sword, Lee Deokryang was a master of the Willow Sword. He had lived twice as long as Yang Gwan, had that much more experience, and his internal energy level was also much higher.

But even so, the matchup was bad.

"With my Willow Sword, I cannot break through you. The most I can do is protect myself."

The thrust of a spear is stronger and faster than the thrust of a sword. Unlike a sword, a spear is held with both hands, and the power of the entire body is gathered to thrust. The spear's thrust is already powerful, and his opponent was a user of a high-level martial art called the Yang Family Spearmanship. With the Willow Sword, the limit was to deflect the attack. The skill gap between the two was not large enough to counterattack.

"But what if I am prepared to die? If we fight over corpses with the determination of mutual destruction, defeating you would be no trouble at all."

"Do you really want to see blood?"

"It was that young brat who brought this situation to this point. Blame that fellow in the afterlife!"

The situation was the same as before. Many jumped in for a combined attack and were thrown back without even being able to approach Yang Gwan's spear. As he had promised, Yang Gwan could block the enemy's invasion from this spot as much as he wanted. But it was as clear as day that the situation would worsen. That was why he was not using killing moves.

The one who denies access and tries to subdue, and the one who approaches and tries to kill the enemy.

As time passes, the advantageous side is the one prepared to kill.

Yang Gwan gritted his teeth and spat out his words.

"Guild Master So! Continue what you were saying!"

"Ho-oh. You have the leisure to listen to stories. Weren't you busy fighting?"

"I'm busy, but I need to know the cause and effect too. Why are these people rushing at us with the intent to die!"

"That's because these bastards are very bad people."

"Explain! Please! If I hear the story and am convinced that these guys are villains, I will use killing moves too!"

Jang So-gil clicked his tongue. He didn't know much about martial arts and didn't understand the situation, but he now understood that Yang Gwan had been holding back on them until now.

"Just like a guy who learned the spear from a bald monk at Shaolin, you care about such trivial things. You could just stab them all to death and be done with it..."

"Guild Master So-!"

"Alright, alright. Don't rush me. I was talking about the accounting fraud earlier. Then, I'll tell you about the second crime. As I said before, as the Gentleman's Academy's expenses increased, the Hakseo Escort Agency's income increased. If that's the case, wouldn't the increase and decrease cancel each other out and make it as if nothing happened?"

If he were to talk about taxes in more detail, the story would become very long.

It was because the tax rates for expenses and income were different. But there was not enough time to make the iron-headed Yang Gwan understand and explain it.

"To put it simply, the Hakseo Escort Agency now had to pay taxes on their increased income. But would they want to just give away the money they earned through hard work and cunning? Of course, they would embezzle as much as they could. So the Hakseo Escort Agency used a little trick."

"What-! Was it!"

"What is an escort agency? They are people who receive the property of others and protect them from disaster. So their main job was to protect merchants traveling long distances. But as they did it, they thought it would be better to engage in commerce themselves or go into partnership rather than just protecting merchants. So now, most escort agencies mainly do transportation business."

"I know that too!"

Yang Gwan narrowly avoided the escorts' daggers. With Lee Deokryang determinedly clinging to him, he didn't even have the leisure to swing his spear and counterattack. He re-gripped his spear short and moved his feet. An opponent who was hit in the solar plexus by his divine footwork vomited and rolled on the floor.

Jang So-gil quickly continued.

"Do you know how much an escort agency receives for a long-distance escort mission? They receive a surprisingly large amount. Why would shrewd merchants give so much money? It's because it's a job where they can earn that much money. What does it mean to be a job where you can earn a lot of money? It means you can lose a lot of money if you make a mistake."

"What are you trying to say?"

"For a normal escort agency, if one escort mission fails, the foundation of the agency is shaken. If two escort missions fail, the sign is broken, and if three escort missions fail, the entire agency is ruined."

An escort agency is an insurer for a transporter. In exchange for half of the profits from a transaction, they are asked to protect against bandits, robbers, and any unforeseen accidents. The escort agency receives such a large sum of money and does its best to protect them. Since the escort agency has no insurance, there is no way to avoid the loss if they fail.

"But accidents are bound to happen. They are not Taoist hermits from Mount Tian, so the world won't go their way. When they fail, they fail."

"I suppose so!"

"There is no escort agency that succeeds in everything. The legend of the Escort King is an illusion, and anyone can fail. If you fail, you have to pay a penalty and also return the money you received. It's a nightmare for an escort agency."

Jang So-gil closed the book he was looking at. He had now committed everything to memory, so there was no need to look at it anymore.

He slowly clasped his hands behind his back and walked gracefully around the room.

"This is where the Hakseo Escort Agency came up with a trick. They thought of a brilliant move to deliberately lose the increased profits."

"Don't tell me-!"

"Yes. They deliberately fail. They create a moderately decorated merchant guild, give themselves a request, and then fail. Then they pay a large penalty and record a false ledger showing a huge deficit."

"You're telling me such a blatant deception works!?"

"These guys, their act was a bit awkward the first year and they almost got caught, but from the next year, they became quite skilled. They threw a moderate amount of silver to the Green Forest Fortress that would serve as evidence, and also slipped a bribe to the Martial Alliance's debt collector. This is the second crime they committed. The crime of deception."

"These sons of bitches. But it's still not enough."

"Still not enough? Look at this guy."

"But my heart won't ache even if I cripple them."

A chill flowed from Yang Gwan's voice. He turned his spear around. With the spearhead facing forward, his momentum became even more menacing. A martial artist who didn't notice the change in his momentum approached and got a deep wound on his thigh. Kicking the man who was retreating while screaming, Yang Gwan asked again.

"Then what is the third crime?"

"They got used to manipulating the ledgers, faking mission failures, and bribing to embezzle the Martial Alliance's money. As the years went by, it became more elaborate and skillful, taking on a plausible appearance. And in doing so, there was an unexpected effect."

"What is that?"

"By bribing the Green Forest Fortress and getting on the same boat, other transactions became easier. By bribing the authorities and making them collaborators, they could eliminate competitors from other escort agencies, and they could also take on government jobs to improve their performance. With a collaborator in the Martial Alliance, their backing became even more solid. As a result, their coffers became full and the escort agency's power grew stronger. It became so strong that they could even hire a master of Lee Deokryang's level. Originally, it's easy to make money by doing bad things. Once you succeed, you easily predict that you can succeed next time too. So it is the way of the world to look for a place to use this skill again."

The trick that started to embezzle the Martial Alliance's taxes became a perfect technique as it became more skillful.

When you have a perfect technique, you look for a new target to use it on.

"And the target to test that technique was not far away."

"I had a feeling these crazy bastards might, but to think they actually did!"

"Yes. This time, they wanted to try embezzling the taxes paid to the country."

"They're out of their minds!"

"There's nothing to say but that they're out of their minds, but that's how crime is. A person who commits a small crime is bound to commit a big crime."

"E-even so, if you embezzle the country's money..."

Yang Gwan's spear trembled. It was because it was something he couldn't even imagine.

So watched Lee Deokryang with calm eyes.

"Do you know, Yoo Jeongran? Tax evasion against the Martial Alliance is a serious crime, but tax evasion against the country is like treason. If you are caught, it is natural for your entire family to be annihilated, and if things go wrong, even your fourth cousins and their neighbors' fourth cousins will all be killed. This is the third crime you bastards have committed. Treason!"

As Lee Deokryang's face hardened coldly, Yang Gwan gritted his teeth.

"So that's why they're rushing at us to die. If they can't kill us, they'll all die!"

"That's right. There are still a few more crimes left, but even with this, you can use killing moves now, right?"

"No, it's still not enough. Matters related to treason are the business of the authorities. Have you forgotten the non-aggression pact between the government and the martial world?"

"You are a truly difficult person."

"Martial power without chivalry and righteousness is just violence. Be careful when you use your power, that's what I was taught."

"Really? Let's see if they think so too. It's about time they showed their true colors."

At Jang So-gil's taunt, the expressions of Lee Deokryang and the escorts of the agency changed. Their killing intent was no longer scattered but gathered inward. It was the look of someone prepared to die and be killed. Lee Deokryang said, as if growling.

"You all must have understood that arrogant brat's words well. If we don't kill them here and now to silence them, we will all die."

"Yes, Chief Escort. We are also prepared."

"Everyone, take it out."

The martial artists took out black pills from their bosoms. They threw the pills into their mouths without a moment's hesitation. At that sight, Yang Gwan's body stiffened. Even Yang Gwan, who was not skilled in pharmacology, knew the identity of that pill. It was because there was no other black medicine in the world.

"Demon God Pill!"

The moment Yang Gwan's eyes widened, the latent power of the martial artists and Lee Deokryang exploded.

(End of Chapter)