Chapter 44: I’m Worried, But… This Is Good.
The elders’ council of the Bright Cult was filled with murmurs. The Cult Leader, who saw this as he entered, asked the Strategist following beside him,
“Why are those people acting like that?”
“Ah! It’s because of the Vice Cult Leader’s test, the one called an inspection.”
“Why would a test set by our Vice Cult Leader cause this?”
“They say Iron Demon is escorting merchant caravans, and Poison Demon is treating patients.”
“So what?”
At the Cult Leader’s retort—his expression clearly saying he didn’t see what the problem was—the Strategist could only smile bitterly.
Indeed, whenever it came to the Vice Cult Leader, the Cult Leader was always like this. Even if something utterly absurd was done, if it was the Vice Cult Leader, he would turn it into something reasonable.
So much so that one day, at a drinking table, the Strategist had even said, “He’s your hidden son, isn’t he? Be honest.”
So the Cult Leader’s reaction was already expected. There was nothing surprising or strange about it.
“What if it wasn’t the Vice Cult Leader, but that Deputy Elder sitting over there talking loudly who did this?”
“That crazy bastard. After stuffing his face, he’s got nothing better to do—”
Stopping mid-sentence, the Cult Leader broke into a grin, and the Strategist said,
“That’s how the elders see it.”
“Still, it’s the Vice Cult Leader’s work.”
The Cult Leader continued to grumble, still displeased. When he fully stepped inside the hall, the elders all rose in a flurry and clasped their fists in salute.
The Cult Leader swept his gaze over them and then sat down before opening his mouth.
“Seems there are a lot of complaints lately.”
“It’s not so much complaints as doubts about whether the things happening these days are truly effective, Cult Leader.”
“Why? What’s the problem?”
Feigning ignorance as he asked, the Cult Leader prompted the elders to speak up one after another.
“If escorting merchant caravans really improved tactics and strategy, then every escort agency under heaven would already be a military force, wouldn’t it?”
After the dissatisfied words of the Third Elder, Ghost Demon, Profound Demon nodded and stepped forward.
“The same goes for treating patients. We’re not some charity group. What exactly are we supposed to be doing?”
“How long are we supposed to keep up this nonsense—hic!”
As the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords was continuing his sharp criticism after Profound Demon, his sudden hiccup drew everyone’s gaze.
Then, as the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords turned pale and stared toward the entrance, everyone’s eyes followed in that direction.
And then…
“Hic.”
“Hic.”
“Hic, hic.”
Hiccuping sounds burst out from here and there.
“H-hic.”
The Vice Cult Leader patted the shoulder of the Lord of the Training Hall, who demonstrated that even hiccups could be stuttered, and then went to sit in his own seat.
“You’re here?”
At the Cult Leader’s casual greeting, Yul Han smiled.
“Sorry I’m late. I didn’t receive notice beforehand…”
“No need to apologize. I called them because they had complaints. I didn’t call you.”
At the Cult Leader’s tattling, the blood drained from the elders’ faces all at once.
“Is that… true?”
At those words, the Vice Cult Leader’s eyes as he turned around were so frightening it seemed he might bite off the neck of whoever said yes.
Because no one answered, the Vice Cult Leader stood up.
“Then I shall take my leave—”
“N-no! Th-that was a mistake! H-how could we hold a meeting without inviting the Vice Cult Leader?”
At Profound Demon’s spasmodic shout, the elders echoed from all sides that he was right.
“T-that’s right. A mistake.”
“It really was a mistake!”
“If that’s the case…”
Relenting, the Vice Cult Leader sat back down. The Cult Leader looked at him strangely, but only for a moment. When the Vice Cult Leader spoke and a chilling silence settled over the hall, the Cult Leader’s attention shifted away.
“It seems you all have something to say. I will listen. Please, speak.”
At those words, the elders all shut their mouths at once.
Since the incident fifteen years ago, the Vice Cult Leader they had experienced was not someone with whom words worked.
Once he decided, one had to follow. If one denied it, one’s head would fly.
Reason, pros and cons—none of that had any use before the Vice Cult Leader.
Naturally, no one dared step forward.
Seeing the elders like that, the Vice Cult Leader continued.
“From what I heard at the door, it seems you’re dissatisfied with escorting merchant caravans. You there—unkempt face, hat pulled low.”
Ghost Demon, singled out by the Vice Cult Leader, widened his eyes in shock.
There was no way the Vice Cult Leader wouldn’t know he was Ghost Demon. Yet instead of calling him Ghost Demon, or even Third Elder, he had said unkempt face, hat pulled low…
Judging that the Vice Cult Leader had clearly marked him, the elders sitting next to Ghost Demon immediately tried to sit as far away from him as possible.
Ghost Demon himself was even more flustered. Falling out of favor with the Vice Cult Leader meant one’s head could fly at any time.
The reason Ghost Demon kept his hat pulled low and his appearance disheveled was to maximize the effects of the illusion techniques he had mastered.
It was a kind of device meant to ensure that even if seen up close, Ghost Demon’s impression would not remain in one’s memory.
He furtively removed that hat and even made an effort to tidy his wildly disheveled hair—struggling desperately to look good in front of the Vice Cult Leader.
Then, with an earnest expression, he answered the Vice Cult Leader’s call.
“Y-you called for me, Vice Cult Leader?”
“It sounded like you were saying that escorting merchant caravans has nothing to do with tactics or strategy…….”
“P-please don’t take it to heart, Vice Cult Leader. This lowly one has spent far too many years obsessed with illusion techniques and doesn’t even know what nonsense he’s spouting. It’s all meaningless babble.”
I knew what Ghost Demon was thinking as he spoke in such haste. To be honest, merchant caravan escorts hadn’t been chosen as a test to evaluate tactics or strategy in the first place.
Of course, escorting caravans meant that route selection, resting, and advancing were all influenced by tactics and strategy…… but from what I had seen and heard, it was obvious that all of that would be handled by the merchants themselves.
It meant I knew that Iron Demon and the five squad leaders accompanying him wouldn’t bother with such things at all.
Even so, the reason I had assigned the merchant escort under the pretext of a test wasn’t simply to obtain rice or provisions.
It was to observe people.
While escorting caravans in a situation where they couldn’t act recklessly, they would naturally observe others, and I wondered if something might be gained through that process.
Of course—
“You won’t be filled from a single spoonful. But I firmly believe there will be something gained from it.”
They might not believe it, but if the Vice Cult Leader said so……
“Y-you are absolutely right, Vice Cult Leader.”
At Ghost Demon’s response, cries of “That’s right!” burst out from here and there. Amid the noisy agreement, Yul Han’s gaze turned toward the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords.
Perhaps because he felt guilty, the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords sprang to his feet before Yul Han could say anything.
“How long are we going to continue this meaningless nonsense of voicing complaints about the Vice Cult Leader’s foresight! I was strongly raising objections to that very thing, Vice Cult Leader!”
I knew.
I knew what the elders were thinking.
How could they have no complaints? They were being told to change the way they had lived overnight.
That was why, even knowing this, I intended to pretend not to notice to some extent.
“Is that so? As expected, Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords, you are someone I can trust and rely on. I look forward to your continued support.”
At the words that the Vice Cult Leader trusted and relied on him, the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords grew excited.
“T-trust and rely? On me?”
“Yes. Since you support me so strongly, how could I not trust and rely on you? I will continue to trust and rely on you from now on.”
“O-of course! Just trust me! Wherever and whoever is slandering the Vice Cult Leader, I’ve written them all down one by one and will immediately tattle—no, inform you.”
Though the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords volunteered to help in a slightly strange direction, the Vice Cult Leader smiled readily.
He thought that their simplicity meant there was all the more room to fill.
After all, they were people who lived clinging solely to martial training, even cutting back on eating and sleeping.
Yet as he looked at the smiling Vice Cult Leader, the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords grinned broadly as well.
For some reason, the murderous killing intent hanging from the Vice Cult Leader’s twisted lip didn’t feel frightening.
If anything, it felt gentle.
Unable to understand that feeling by common sense, the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords tilted his head inwardly, yet still felt pleased.
It felt as though he had grown a little closer to the Vice Cult Leader—someone others couldn’t easily approach.
The Vice Cult Leader was a strong man.
A strong man no one could easily approach. And that strong man was smiling at him.
‘So that’s it. He’s smiling!’
Finally realizing the nature of that unidentifiable feeling, the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords’ smile deepened.
‘The Vice Cult Leader smiled at me!’
The elders looked at the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords strangely as he grinned broadly with eyes dripping honey, staring at the Vice Cult Leader as though gazing at a lover—even as the Vice Cult Leader looked at him with a gaze fierce enough to devour him.
After the elders’ council concluded with a resolution to firmly believe in and follow the Vice Cult Leader’s will, and the meeting dispersed, the Cult Leader asked the Vice Cult Leader,
“What are you planning to do? At least you could give this senior brother a hint.”
<An eight-armed demon with protruding fangs and fire falling from its eyes.>
That was the appearance of the Demonic Cult’s Cult Leader as rumored among the people of the martial world. Yul Han hadn’t believed it literally, but he had never imagined him to be someone who spoke with such a gentle gaze and tone.
Because of that, when Yul Han hesitated to answer, the Cult Leader asked again,
“Why? Is it a secret even from this senior brother? I’m not trying to block what you’re doing. I just want to help you do whatever you want. Don’t you trust me?”
At the Cult Leader’s words, Yul Han, who had been quietly looking at him, spoke.
“You’re a good person, Cult Leader.”
He deliberately didn’t add the words, ‘at least to the Vice Cult Leader.’
At Yul Han’s remark, the Cult Leader’s eyes widened.
<If you weren’t my senior brother, I wouldn’t have let you off just because you’re the Cult Leader! You know that, right?>
That shout from fifteen years ago, after returning with the Kongtong Sect drenched in blood, still echoed in his ears.
Though much time had passed, the Vice Cult Leader hadn’t forgiven the fact that the Cult Leader’s decision had been involved in that incident.
Just a few months ago, he had said in a cold voice, with chilling eyes, ‘I still haven’t forgotten!’
So for the Vice Cult Leader to say something entirely different now, the Cult Leader’s surprise was great.
To the shocked Cult Leader, Yul Han said,
“For now, it’s nothing much. When things become a bit more certain, I’ll consult you first.”
“R-really? All right, then. Well, it’s fine even if I find out a bit later. It’s your work—this senior brother trusts everything you do. You know how I think of you.”
<Cult Leader? Hmm…… a scary person. Ah! To the Vice Cult Leader? In a word, an idiot. A senior-brother-obsessed idiot…… A-ah! F-forgive me, Vice Cult Leader, this one has gone mad and spoken carelessly……>
That had been the answer from Cold Blade Blood when Yul Han asked about the relationship between the Cult Leader and himself on the way back.
Recalling those words, Yul Han smiled.
“Yes, senior brother.”
Leaving that answer behind, Yul Han walked out, while the Cult Leader stared after him with a dazed expression.
The Strategist called out to the Cult Leader.
“Cult Leader. Cult Leader? Cult Leader…… hey!”
“H-huh?”
“Was what he said really that good?”
At the Strategist’s teasing reproach, the Cult Leader shook his head.
“The words were nice, sure—but that smile…… did you see it? My junior brother smiling at me.”
At the Cult Leader’s words, the Strategist had to tilt his head. No matter how he thought about it, all he had seen hanging from the Vice Cult Leader’s lips was terrifying killing intent.
“I didn’t see it. And even if he really smiled, wouldn’t that be a problem? He’s not someone who should.”
“That’s why I’m worried, but…… still, it feels good when he smiles.”
From the Cult Leader’s faint smile, contrary to the world’s assessment of him as the greatest villain under heaven, one could glimpse the face of a father proud of a son who had overcome great adversity.
Looking at that face, the Strategist muttered,
“I told you—that relationship definitely needs to be investigated.”
Regardless, the Cult Leader simply wore a happy expression.