Book 10: Chapter 15: Wind Blowing in the Valley

The Valley of Sin.

Joint Business Headquarters of the Eldest Young Master and the Fourth Young Master.

The hallway in front of the Fourth Young Master's office.

Early morning hours when dawn just broke every single scholar passing in front of the Fourth Young Master's office was frowning.

On the side they glanced at, there were people lining up in a long queue.

Early morning.

From this moment when official work began, that many people lined up.

“…It has increased more than yesterday.”

“…Cowardly ones.”

The scholars whispered, but did not dare to speak in a loud voice.

Because the status of those lining up was too burdensome for mere scholars to dare to speak of.

“Think of when they rushed in without exception, saying they would invest in the Valley of Sin. Tsk tsk.”

“I even see those who slipped bribes to the person in charge, asking if they could invest even a bit faster.”

And, just like the scholars' conversation the reason they waited in line to meet the Fourth Young Master was not for a very good reason.

The lounge at the end of the hallway.

“Retrieval of investment funds…”

Watching that sight through a small window, a young scholar clicked his tongue.

“No, Old Strategist, does the tea even go down your throat in the current situation?”

The one called Old Strategist was none other than that old strategist, the close confidant of Elder Yeom.

For some reason, he was present in the Valley of Sin separately from Elder Yeom, who was at the construction site of the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.

Only after emptying the cup of tea he was drinking did the Old Strategist open his mouth.

“Why are you so full of complaints?”

Cleaning up the teacup he had personally drunk from with his wrinkled hands, he spoke in a leisurely tone.

“As the situation grows more unstable, isn't it natural for investors to want to retrieve their investment funds?”

“The situation growing more unstable?”

The young scholar frowned.

“Rather, isn't the Eldest Young Master's reputation rising vertically in Luoyang right now? So shouldn't this be a situation to invest more?”

The Old Strategist laughed, making a sound of wind leaking through his missing teeth.

“Isn't the reason for that vertical rise not due to other reasons, but because his reputation is rising through fighting?”

“That is true, but…”

The young scholar trailed off.

“Furthermore.”

Looking at the young scholar, the Old Strategist pulled out his tobacco pipe and put it to his lips.

“Isn't the opponent of that war none other than the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master?” "……."

At the mention of the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master, the young scholar's mouth shut tightly.

If it were not for the Eldest Young Master.

By what skill would the Fourth Young Master have maintained the same balance as now?

“A reputation that a general obtains through a great victory in battle during war is bound to vanish like a mirage the moment they lose the war.”

Since presbyopia had set in long ago, the dim eyes of the old man held a profound mystery appropriate for his age.

“Even without looking through ancient history, isn't it an event that can be found in abundance all around us?”

The young scholar frowned.

“Are you saying right now that the Eldest Young Master will win the battles but lose the war? Even if you are Elder Yeom's close associate, aren't you speaking too lightly?”

“You fellow.”

Despite the words that could be felt as rude, the Old Strategist burst into laughter instead of scolding.

“Weren't we talking about their story right now, not my story?”

“Ah…”

The old man's fingertip pointed toward those waiting in the long queue to retrieve their investment funds.

“How could a mere commoner judge a general's capability, read the board, and predict the victory or defeat of a war?”

“…That word is also correct, but” the scholar showed a lukewarm expression.

“Did they not say that victory and defeat are routine matters for a soldier? It seems predicting victory or defeat in advance is not a matter of being a commoner or not…”

Even the famous generals and wise rulers who left their brilliant names in history sometimes suffered defeat and tasted bitterness.

“That is true.”

“…No. Having mocked commoners to your heart's content until just now,” at the Old Strategist's immediate response, the young scholar spoke with a bewildered expression.

“are you saying that we too cannot predict the victory or defeat of the war just like them?”

“Of course. Do we seem to have any better point than them?”

The Old Strategist smiled faintly.

“Unless it is the Eldest Young Master, what kind of divine ability do the likes of us have to know the victory or defeat of the war in advance?”

“Old man.”

At that smile, the term addressing the Old Strategist was downgraded by one step.

The young scholar frowned.

“You have been blurring the point and talking in circles since a while ago.”

There were thorns in his words.

“So, just what is it that you want to say, old man?”

“What I want to say is that there is no need to think about such things.” "……!"

The young scholar's body flinched.

The gaze of the Old Strategist, who had been leisurely burying himself in the chair, turned toward the young scholar.

“You or this old man, our situation is different from theirs.”

The old man continued in a low voice.

“We are the parties involved in this war right now.” "……!"

“The direction of the war? The prediction of victory or defeat?”

The smile hanging on the lips of the Old Strategist, who buried his body deep in the chair, now carried the smell of blood.

“Such things are not for the likes of us to worry about.”

The old man spoke, revealing his still sharp canine teeth through his partially missing teeth.

“We are soldiers. Think about how to kill even one more enemy soldier right in front of your eyes. Do not hang around in the lounge thinking about slandering others.”

The old man's eyes flashed eerily.

“If you cannot focus on what is in front of you…”

The old man raised his hand covered with wrinkles and age spots and drew it across his throat.

“Regardless of the victory or defeat of this war, soldiers like us can lose our lives at any time.” "……."

The young scholar lost all his words and only swallowed hard.

Before he knew it, his entire body was damp with profuse cold sweat.

The Old Strategist.

He was an old man who had lived his entire life on the battlefield, to whom the position of strategist suited extremely well.

“What, are you still staring blankly only at me?!”

A roar burst from the old man's mouth.

“Return to your work immediately!”

It was a vocal volume so loud that it was hard to even imagine it belonging to the old man with the quiet voice until now.

“H-hiek!”

The young scholar scrambled out of the lounge.

“You guys don't hang around the hallway for no reason either, and return to work immediately!”

“Uh, humph.”

“Now, now. Let us go back.”

The scholars who gathered near the lounge and had been eavesdropping on the story flowing out from inside also fled in a hurry.

“It has finally quieted down a bit.”

In the empty lounge, the Old Strategist showed a satisfied smile.

His gaze directed toward the long line of investors.

'The victory or defeat of the war…'

As mentioned before.

Even in his long experience, although a battle close at hand might be predicted, predicting the victory or defeat of a war was close to impossible.

'Such a thing is no longer in the realm of prediction. How is it different from a gamble where you toss a coin to guess heads or tails?'

However, while thinking so in his mind, he on the other hand anticipated.

'If it is the Eldest Young Master…'

The Eldest Young Master he had observed until now was a figure who made one harbor such anticipation.

For some reason.

Although his mind could not be certain, his gut feeling spoke in that way.

The Eldest Young Master, his gaze went all the way up the queue of people and finally reached the entrance of the office.

'is a figure who can make the coin land on the side he wants every time it is tossed.'

It was the Fourth Young Master's office.

'And that young master is also not to be underestimated.'

Although he did not know how he was handling the investors inside the complexions of those leaving the office after finishing their business had been strange for a while.

The old man's gaze had been checking the complexions of the investors leaving the office one by one since a while ago.

'Feeling relieved even while being daunted, and simultaneously feeling frustration and fear…?'

Just what on earth was unfolding inside right now?

Deep curiosity gathered in the old man's eyes.

* * *

The Fourth Young Master's office.

“So, you are saying to return the investment funds?”

A low tone of voice, uncharacteristic of his age.

At the words of the Fourth Young Master seated in the seat of honor, the investor spoke cautiously.

“…Since the current situation is what it is, I am being cautious.”

“Is that so?”

An unfamiliar face, to the extent that it was hard to associate it with that Fourth Young Master, Yeon Bi, who usually went around smiling brightly, was there.

“The name Swordless One, which was originally a derogatory nickname toward my Eldest Brother, is currently rising with a new meaning in Luoyang.”

“Y-yes, that is correct.”

The investor pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat flowing on his forehead as he answered.

“From the meaning of the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family who has no sword, now it has—” the Fourth Young Master cut off his words.

“changed to mean a person who can do everything he wants even without a sword.”

“…I do not dare to doubt the Eldest Young Master's capability.”

“Of course.”

The Fourth Young Master narrowed his eyes and showed a smile on his unfamiliar lips.

“Because you are trying to back out not due to Eldest Brother's capability, but because you are afraid of the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master.”

“…I will not deny it.”

This investor was not swayed even by the Fourth Young Master's deliberately provocative tone.

“No. Those words are accurate. However, does the Fourth Young Master not know either?”

He did not avoid the Fourth Young Master's gaze, even while sweating cold sweat.

“Just what is happening to those prestigious families who stood on the Second Young Master's side and waged war right now.”

“I know. Of course I know.”

The Fourth Young Master smiled chillingly.

“Half of them have already been smashed, and the remaining half are also being smashed.”

“Th-that is exactly my point!”

The investor raised his voice.

“I mean that the Cheong Family, which stood on the Eldest Young Master's side and waged war, and the Kong Family, which is one of the Sixteen Families, have also suffered a major blow!”

He shouted with a face that laid bare his fear without even concealing it.

“I cannot let our family suffer such a plight!”

The Fourth Young Master knit his brows.

“…Do you think such a thing would happen to your family merely because you invested?”

“It is a matter of that Luoyang Sword Family, so what on earth could be said to be impossible in this city of Luoyang?!”

He spoke as if appealing to the Fourth Young Master's compassion.

“P-please, I beg of you! Fourth Young Master. As the patriarch, I must protect the safety of my family and vassals…!”

He closed his eyes tightly and bowed his head, bumping it on the table.

“Fourth Young Master, please show mercy…!”

Although in a general contract, investment funds were something that could be retrieved as much as one wanted in the current case, the situation was different.

For the counterparts were the Eldest Young Master and the Fourth Young Master of the Sword Family.

'This much should have worked…?'

The investor smiled inwardly while keeping his head bumped on the table.

“Dear me…”

When the Fourth Young Master's voice was heard, the smile he built inwardly grew even deeper.

“I also find it extremely regrettable…! Kgh!”

'Right, no matter how much they tout him as a genius or whatever, in the end he is just a child. Appealing to compassion was indeed the answer—' his thoughts were cut off by the Fourth Young Master's subsequent words.

“While you fear the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master so much, it seems you do not fear me and Eldest Brother much.”

The Fourth Young Master spoke as if sighing.

“How could this be so embarrassing…”

“N-not that kind of meaning—!”

The investor hastily raised his head.

However, it was not of his own will.

“If not that kind of meaning, then what?”

For the Fourth Young Master had grabbed his collar, which had been bumped down, and pulled him up. "……!"

Locking eyes with the Fourth Young Master's eyes, which were dyed a deep green, his face turned pale.

“If you had feared our brothers, you would have babbled about returning the investment funds at this point only in your dreams.”

A scent that stung the nose was mixed in the Fourth Young Master's breath.

“Where do you dare to speak such nonsense…!”

He knew very well what that nose-stinging scent and green glow in the eyes meant.

“…A-a Poison Human of the Sichuan Tang Family?!”

He did not even have the leisure to wonder how the Fourth Young Master of the Sword Family, who was not even a direct descendant of the Tang clan, could show the appearance of a Poison Human representing the direct line of the Sichuan Tang Family.

“Are you a bit afraid now?”

The Fourth Young Master blew his breath toward him with a whoosh.

“H-hieeeek?!”

It was said that a Poison Human could melt a person down to their bones with just their breath.

“Y-yes, that is correct!”

The terrified investor nodded his head frantically.

“Please, just spare my life…!”

Confirming the clear terror residing in his eyes, the Fourth Young Master snorted.

“Huff…!”

When the Fourth Young Master released his collar, he slumped in his place with his legs giving out.

“I will remove your family name from the investor list.”

The Fourth Young Master looked down at him with a contemptuous gaze and spoke.

“Th-thank you! Thank y—” the Fourth Young Master bent down and locked eyes with him once more.

“However.”

“I will not return the investment funds.” "……!"

It meant that while his name would be removed from the investor list, the invested money would not be returned.

It meant that if he wanted to take his name off the list, he had to leave the money behind.

“…Th-that is!”

“Did you not want to take your name off the list from the beginning so as not to become the target of the Second and Third Young Masters?” "……."

He ultimately hung his head.

“…I understand.”

“Good.”

The Fourth Young Master lifted the ledger and drew a long line of ink over his family name in front of his eyes.

“With this, the investment is considered to have never happened.”

He added briefly:

“Get out immediately.”

* * *

A moment later, his Maid Captain entered the office carrying a new teacup.

There was the sight of the Fourth Young Master looking at the ledger alone, gleeful.

“Haha, look at this.”

He spoke, spreading the ledger toward her.

“This much free money has been made.”

The boy smiled brightly.

“Even if profits are generated in the Valley of Sin now, we don't have to share profits with those bastards!”

Shrugging with a boastful shrug, he puffed out his chest.

“That went well!”

The Fourth Young Master's Maid Captain clapped her hands and smiled.

“But there is even better news.”

“What is it, what is it?!”

She winked at the Fourth Young Master.

“It is said that the Ironclad Fortress carrying the Eldest Young Master has just arrived.”

Slam!

“…Oh my.”

The door dangled wide open, and the Fourth Young Master's figure was already running to the end of that hallway.

“Eldest Brotheeeer—!”

Receiving the bewildered gazes of the investors waiting in line outside all on herself, she smiled awkwardly.