Ch. 28
The family head didn't seem to believe those words.
"It would be better to say that it's true. Whether you believe it or not is a separate matter. My son couldn't be my successor, but he was still my bloodline that I loved. There were quite a few martial artists who cherished my son. That will be helpful to Yeon Cheongha. The story that he risked his life to save my son. So, tell Yeon Cheongha that story and you should say the same."
It was an interesting story.
If he hadn't believed what Danli Yeonmuk had said, he could have just asked me if such a thing had happened.
What was even funnier was that Danli Yeonmuk hadn't told us that story first.
Why hadn't he told us a story that could be easily exposed in advance?
As he was talking, did he think that the family head would listen if he told that much of a story, so he had taken a risk?
And then, did he intend to tell us that story later, but didn't have the time?
"It is important to the main family that Yeon Cheongha is with us."
"Is it because of Pae Maseong?"
At that, he laughed.
"It's good that we can communicate well. Yes, that's right. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about Pae Maseong in our sect. They say he is a martial talent that comes once in a thousand years. Such a child went to the Cho family. We want to bring that child over somehow. It's not just us; probably all the families in the Heavenly Demon Sect will covet that child. In that situation, Danli Yeonmuk brought you and your master. He deserves a great reward."
"Is that so?"
"I will give you everything you want."
"So you want me to bring Pae Maseong?"
"Can you do it?"
"I don't know. Pae Maseong might not want to. I will give you an answer after talking to Pae Maseong first, so how about you give us what you want to give us after that?"
At my words, the family head burst out laughing.
"Interesting. Other people would have said that they would definitely succeed and would have taken it first."
"In my opinion, people in high positions seemed to have very clear calculations. They didn't give excessive rewards to unqualified people. If there was such a thing, it seemed that they would definitely get it back, even if it took time."
"I see."
He said and then stared at me.
"Then would it be better to discuss this story later?"
"Yes."
"If I say that I will not entrust the martial force to your master, what will you say to your master about the main family?"
"I don't know."
If that happened, I would tell Yeon Cheongha to look for a position elsewhere.
Or I might even suggest that we leave the Heavenly Demon Sect and live freely in the Central Plains again.
But I couldn't honestly say that to the family head.
For some reason, the family head seemed to have already guessed my thoughts.
"I will give you an elixir. I will let you have the internal energy of a sixty-year cycle and attach a super-master to you. I heard that you decided to learn from Danli Yeonmuk instead of Yeon Cheongha, but forget about Danli Yeonmuk. I can't just attach such a child to a precious child."
"Do I just have to speak well of the Danli family to Pae Maseong? Or do I have to bring Pae Maseong here somehow?"
"Isn't it that you can only do what you can do anyway?"
"Are you saying you will give them even if Pae Maseong makes a different decision?"
"That's how I can move your heart. You seem to be a child who doesn't work hard unless your heart is moved."
It seemed he was talking about me writing the letters for them.
It was an unbelievably unconventional offer for me.
If it turned out that way, it would of course be good.
There was no reason to refuse at all.
Although I would have to wait and see for a while, the family head of the Danli family was within the normal range.
I said I would, and the family head stood up and left the place.
After being left alone for a while, I finally went out to find Yeon Cheongha since he hadn't come for a long time.
I thought that even if I couldn't find him, I could at least look around the family, and the family was so splendid and magnificent that my eyes were spinning.
I had already passed through that place, but when I came in, I was so preoccupied with transporting the corpses that I hadn't been able to see it properly.
As I was looking around, a few martial artists approached me.
They were all wearing the pale blue martial arts uniforms of the Danli family, and the clothes with gold thread embroidery were quite stylish.
They seemed to have already figured out who the young child who was fearlessly roaming around the Danli family was.
"You must be the child named Yasocheong."
"Yes."
"I belong to the Wei Yuan Force."
"Please take care of me."
"I heard you were in an assassin training facility. That's amazing. To have survived there, and to have achieved so many merits after learning assassin skills."
"It's nothing great."
Fortunately, they didn't seem to have any bad feelings towards me.
It could have been because I was not a target for them to be wary of.
But it didn't seem to be the case for Yeon Cheongha.
"We have high expectations for you. You must have experienced many strange things and know a lot, so I hope we can talk often in the future."
"I would like that too."
"Have you definitely decided to stay at the main family? I hope so."
"It seems that will be the case."
At that, he smiled brightly, saying that it was really great.
As we were talking, more and more people gathered around us.
The people who were talking to me introduced me to them.
Then they said that I would be staying at the Danli family from now on and asked them to treat me well.
They said it was time for a meal, so they suggested we go and eat together. I was wondering if I should wait for Yeon Cheongha, but I followed them.
Since he hadn't come until now, it seemed that Yeon Cheongha had also gone to the dining hall with other people.
* * *
A lot of things happened in a short time.
First of all, I couldn't enter the Blood Martial Force.
Instead, I entered the Silver Wind Force, which was in charge of supporting the Danli family's security escort agency from the side.
It was said that since rumors had spread that I was good at strategy, the Silver Wind Force would be more suitable than the Blood Martial Force, which required strong martial arts.
It was a shame that I couldn't be with Yeon Cheongha, but it also seemed that it was time for me to break out of my shell and come out, and I was looking forward to a new challenge.
The elders of the Danli family also came to see us and encouraged us, and they were happy that we had come there.
Their influence was great in my becoming a member of the Silver Wind Force, and they said that the Silver Wind Force would be better for me than the Blood Martial Force, which would be assigned many dangerous missions.
They knew that I would be receiving an elixir from the family head and took charge of the ki circulation.
It was amazing how the connection that I thought would end with one time continued.
I became close with many martial artists regardless of the martial force, but I rarely had a chance to meet the martial artists of the Blood Martial Force.
And my residence was separated from Yeon Cheongha's.
As Yeon Cheongha went to the dormitory of the Blood Martial Force martial artists and I went to the Silver Wind Residence, the residence of the Silver Wind Force members, the chances of seeing him decreased.
Danli Yeonmuk would often come to see me and check if there was anything inconvenient about my stay.
He seemed to have been very disappointed that he couldn't teach me as he had thought, and that that had been frustrated.
But he said that it seemed to be for the better, knowing that the family head was directly watching me and looking after my work.
And he told me a lot of things for my benefit.
At first, it was largely because of Pae Maseong that they had brought us in, but now he was also pleased that the interest in me was growing, not just because of Pae Maseong.
As I moved my residence to the Silver Wind Residence, I spent an overwhelming amount of time with the Silver Wind Force martial artists and trained with them.
They treated me like their youngest brother and doted on me.
When I was with Yeon Cheongha, I thought it was because we were master and disciple, but here it wasn't that, and yet I was being doted on, so it felt strange.
In any case, it was good that I wasn't being hated.
"If you were an assassin, you must be good at lightness techniques. Can you do stealth techniques too?"
Meng Doxin, who had become close with me, seemed to have many questions about me.
He also taught me many new things.
Since he treated me comfortably, I also treated him comfortably, and if I had even the slightest question, I would always ask Meng Doxin.
"Is the Silver Wind Force similar to the Danli family's security escort agency?"
"You could say that. We used to run a separate security escort agency, but the cost of running it was not insignificant, and since there weren't always requests for security escorts, problems arose. It costs money to hire security escorts on a regular basis. But what if there are no requests for security escorts? The money goes out, and there's no work. So in the end, we closed the security escort agency. And the family is doing that work together. There are separate people who receive requests for security escorts and form security escort groups."
It seemed to be efficient.
Since the Danli family always had martial artists anyway.
But seeing that there weren't many requests for security escorts, it didn't seem like they had managed it well.
"Are all the other security escort agencies having a hard time? Do the other families run their security escort agencies like the Danli family?"
"No. I think it's because we can't win the profitable security escort requests."
Meng Doxin seemed to be ashamed to say such a thing, but he still seemed to be trying to answer my questions truthfully.
"What does the Silver Wind Force do when there are no requests for security escorts?"
"We take on other missions, or we train."
"When you go on a security escort, is the success rate high?"
Until then, Meng Doxin, who had been answering my questions right away, couldn't speak then.
Seeing him hesitate, it seemed that the success rate was not high.
"But it can't be helped. We can't put our lives on the line to protect the goods, can we?"
That was funny.
"We've also joined forces with other martial forces to subjugate mountain bandits, but even so, they reappear after a few months. So it can't be helped. Even if we make a trade route with difficulty, it's also difficult to protect the trade route. It's not just us; it's probably the same for everyone."
"But don't you think that the owners of the goods entrust them to other places because they think that other places are better than the Danli family's Silver Wind Force?"
After saying it, I thought that he might be offended if I said it like that, but Meng Doxin did not get angry.
It seemed that he also thought of me as his family now.
"It's a problem. They said that if there are no requests for security escorts like this, they might disband the Silver Wind Force. If we're disbanded, we won't be able to go to other martial forces, and we'll probably be kicked out of the Danli family. The other martial forces also say that the weakest in the Danli family is our Silver Wind Force. There are also people who say that we are the shame of the Danli family."
Meng Doxin said dejectedly.
I thought he was being too honest with me, who had only been in the Silver Wind Force for a few days.
(End of Chapter)