Ch. 32
When I first asked the family head to accept a request for a security escort that could be done for a month, I thought that he would find it difficult to even attempt half of the requested security escorts.
However, we had already accomplished more than seven-tenths of it.
We had accomplished it, but we had not succeeded in a single security escort among them, but that was something that could be overturned from now on.
* * *
After finishing all the security escorts, I went to see the family head.
From now on, I was going to go with Pae Maseong to find the mountain bandit strongholds that had attacked our security escort group and subjugate all of them, but I hadn't told the family head about it yet.
It was because I wanted to know how much he would trust me and how far he would invest in me when nothing was visible.
"Yes, I got you the security escort you mentioned. And the Silver Wind Force did not succeed in a single one."
When he saw me in the family head's office, he seemed to think that I had come to apologize.
But I didn't have time to talk with the family head for long.
"I came because I have a favor to ask."
He burst out laughing as if he hadn't expected me to say that.
"Interesting. I didn't expect you to come back so confidently."
"When you told me to come to you anytime if I needed help, you should have been prepared for such things."
The family head had an amused face.
"It's certainly interesting. Yes, tell me what you want to say. I'll at least listen."
"Just listening is not enough, family head. From now on, I would like you to allow the members of the Silver Wind Force to go into closed-door training. It's not enough to just do closed-door training. Please put a master who can teach well in with them."
"What?"
The family head, as if he hadn't imagined such a thing, had a dumbfounded expression at my words.
"I'm not saying this for my own good. I'm saying this for the Danli family. The members of the Silver Wind Force may seem like people with no future to you now. Anyone can take such people and then kick them out. Even a ruffian boss in a place where third-rate ruffians are gathered can easily do that much."
The corners of the family head's eyes went up.
He seemed to be thinking, 'Is he trying to move me by provoking me with such insolent words?'
"If I do that for you, what will you do?"
"I'm saying this for your own good, family head, so why should I pay the price?"
In the end, he burst out laughing.
"You're an interesting fellow. I've heard what people say about you. I imagined that you had an extraordinary spirit, but I didn't expect you to be this crazy. It's interesting."
"I'm glad I could amuse you."
The family head smiled and then nodded.
"I understand. I will do so. Since you are someone whom people praise to no end, let's see if your scheme works this time as well. I was going to disband the Silver Wind Force and send out all the members there anyway, so it won't be a great loss to put them in closed-door training. I'll just have to give them that month's salary and send in one master to teach them during that period. What level of master do you wish for?"
"That is for you to judge, family head. I think that the members of the Silver Wind Force who come out after finishing the closed-door training will be different depending on who you put in."
"Hmm..."
Seeing the family head's thoughts deepen, I said that that was all I had to say and left the office.
Then, without stopping by the Silver Wind Force, I went to find Pae Maseong.
Pae Maseong, as if he had known in advance that I would be going to find him soon, was waiting for me with all his preparations finished.
"Are you ready, Pae Maseong?"
"I've been ready for a while."
Hearing Pae Maseong's words, I left the place.
As I was leaving the Danli family, I ran into several people and received their worried greetings.
"Socheong, I heard that you failed the security escort. But don't be too discouraged. Even if the Silver Wind Force is disbanded, there will be a place for you. I will find a place for you somehow."
A few elders said that and comforted me.
The martial artists I had become close with here said that at times like this, you have to eat well to have strength, and they even gave me pocket money, telling me to go out and buy something delicious to eat.
Since I was not in a position to talk with them for long, I told them that I would come back and see them again later, and I barely managed to get away from them and parted.
Pae Maseong looked at me as if he found it strange.
The period of time I had nested in the Danli family was much shorter than the time Pae Maseong had settled in the Cho family.
But seeing how people treated me, he seemed to think that our bond was extraordinary.
"When did you become so close with people? It seemed like you didn't even have time to go outside the Silver Wind Force."
Then Pae Maseong nodded to himself.
"I think you've always been like that, Socheong. Even if you didn't go looking for other people, it seems that people gathered around you on their own."
I did?
I don't think so, but since it was Pae Maseong who had been watching me from the side since the Nether Shadow Valley days, I also wondered if that was really the case.
"Come to think of it, having a lot of people around you seems to be as great an ability as having good martial talent, but I can't follow you, Socheong."
That was certainly true.
Starting with Yeon Cheongha and Pae Maseong, more and more reliable people were gathering around me.
And now, I was about to write a new record with them.
* * *
Pae Maseong and I first learned from Yeon Cheongha, and Yeon Cheongha was an assassin.
He didn't just teach us the sword; he taught us how to use all sorts of weapons.
As if that weren't enough, Yeon Cheongha also taught us how to make smoke bombs and how to use poison and poisonous insects.
I didn't use them often, but this time was different.
The mountain bandits we were trying to subjugate numbered from hundreds to thousands in each stronghold, and it was by no means a scale that the two of us could handle.
Moreover, I wasn't just thinking of stirring things up a little; I was thinking of completely wiping out the seeds of those who belonged to that mountain bandit stronghold.
No matter how much more internal energy Pae Maseong and I had compared to our peers, it was not enough to annihilate that many people.
"Pae Maseong, have you forgotten what you learned before?"
"I'm not confident, but I'll try."
"Is there enough poison?"
"I don't know if it's enough, but I got as much as I could. I think it will be enough if I use it sparingly."
Pae Maseong seemed to be even thinking of using it sparingly.
"Let's set a fire first. They're the ones who have to protect the mountain bandit stronghold."
At my words, Pae Maseong nodded.
If a fire starts in a place that can be abandoned, they will just abandon it and run away, but if there are valuable things inside, they can't do that.
Since the guys had also taken our cargo, there must have been quite a few valuable things piled up in the mountain bandit stronghold.
If we set a fire there, we would be able to easily tie up some of their feet.
"Go on a rampage as you please, Pae Maseong."
"Okay."
Pae Maseong could not hide his excitement.
It was a mission where all he had to do was hide his body in the dark and kill everyone he saw.
I told him not to miss a single person and to kill them all, but I still didn't know how perfectly Pae Maseong would carry out those words.
I was also looking forward to it, thinking that I would be able to see Pae Maseong's true nature up close this time.
The mountain bandit stronghold called Seowonchae had about nine hundred mountain bandits, and it was a small place compared to the places we would be going to in the future.
The reason we decided to go there first was to warm up.
So, there should be no mistakes there, and it should not take a long time.
I had told Pae Maseong that from the beginning, but instead of being nervous, he showed enthusiasm.
"Socheong, do you remember Nether Shadow Valley?"
As I looked at Pae Maseong, not knowing why he was suddenly asking that, he grinned.
"There was an underground cave there. The instructors would throw kids in there whenever they felt like it."
I know that, but I didn't think we had time to talk about that leisurely now, so as I stared at him, Pae Maseong quickly continued.
"They were raising poisonous creatures in the underground cave. They would hang the children and put them in there, and when all sorts of poisonous creatures came and stung them, they would pull them up after a long time. Then they would burn their bodies and get poison powder from them."
I nodded silently.
"I went to Nether Shadow Valley a few times after that. I wanted to turn everything upside down, but I didn't have the strength yet. Still, I was able to wander around Nether Shadow Valley alone. Every time, I would go to the underground cave and catch some poisonous creatures."
"You did? You weren't hurt?"
"No, our master taught us poison techniques. He had us build up our tolerance by feeding us a little poison at a time. I think that was effective. There were a few times when I was bitten and hovered between life and death, but in the end, I overcame it."
"Are you trying to say that you brought that with you now?"
"Yes."
Then Pae Maseong took out a few deer-hide pouches and jade bottles.
Then he told me to stay a little away and shook his hands, and a large snake and a centipede crawled out from his arm.
I had never imagined that Pae Maseong would be hiding such things on his body, and I was so surprised that I looked at him, but Pae Maseong was no longer looking at me.
I belatedly realized that the operation had already begun.
The mountain bandit stronghold consisted of several huge buildings packed together, and Pae Maseong ran on the roofs and released the poisonous creatures he had brought.
If he had brought them from the underground cave of Nether Shadow Valley, their effect should not be underestimated just because they were small.
They were guys who had survived until now by biting and stinging countless poisonous creatures.
If he had intended to use them for this kind of work, Pae Maseong would not have let them out and would not have fed them until now.
The strong toxicity, to the extent that they were deliberately raised in the underground cave of Nether Shadow Valley, took effect immediately.
A loud scream erupted from the place he had left, and the chaos spread in an instant.
This seemed to be more effective than setting a fire.
He had said he would use the poison sparingly, and it seemed he hadn't just been saying it.
Pae Maseong went around and released the poisonous creatures, and in the process, he circled the mountain bandit stronghold several times.
Since Pae Maseong seemed to be better at carrying out such a task than me, I watched what he was doing carefully for a while.
I thought that later, I would have to be able to do it alone without him, so I couldn't take my eyes off him for a moment.
Pae Maseong seemed to be grasping the terrain and the state of the guards as he went around the place a few times, and from then on, he set fire to a few places.
(End of Chapter)