Book 10: Chapter 3: Anonymous Letter

The construction site of the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering stadium.

The camp of the War Department forces of the Luoyang Sword Family.

After Yeon So-hyeon's ironclad fortress left, a man was looking down at the construction site of the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering from the edge of a cliff.

The sunset was falling, and it was hard to recognize the face of the man facing toward the sunset, but one could tell even from his shadow that his body was solid as a rock.

Even if one of his legs, which should have been firmly treading the ground, was replaced by a slender prosthetic limb.

“Seeing it again like this, are you filled with new emotions?”

Elder Yeom, who had approached at some point, asked the man.

The man who looked back at Elder Yeom for a moment was undoubtedly the President of Sword Family Construction.

One of the living legends of the Luoyang Sword Family.

The command tower of Sword Family Construction, a core enterprise of the Luoyang Sword Family.

“Am I filled with new emotions? No. It is not new.”

The President stroked his beard.

“I have looked into the blueprints and bird's-eye view designs of this construction site dozens of times a day.”

As expected, it was an answer worthy of someone who rose from the very bottom to be in charge of one of the core enterprises of the Sword Family.

Elder Yeom nodded slowly and asked again.

“Then you cannot help but know that place inside out.”

The President's answer was immediate.

“From the VIP room of the main stadium to the most trivial alleyways and sewers.”

His gaze turned toward Elder Yeom.

“All of it.”

He raised his hand and pointed to his head.

“Is inside here.”

“…That is amazing.”

Elder Yeom's words were pure admiration.

“However, seeing it in reality makes it different.”

The expression of the President looking down again was somewhat melancholy.

“Is it not bound to be different from seeing it only through blueprints or bird's-eye views?”

“Just with blueprints and bird's-eye views, I can draw the entire scenery after everything is completed in my head. The scenery where the landscape and the architecture melt together, the very moments the foundation is laid, the framework is built, and the tiles of the roof are put up, every single one of them, all of it—”

Only then could Elder Yeom realize that the one who designed and conceived this complex was the man right before his eyes.

“Then what is it that makes it different?”

But the President wore a bitter smile.

“At some point, I had forgotten the fact that there are people in that place.” "……."

On the construction site they were looking down at, countless people were moving about.

Those carrying food.

Those playing flutes and dancing.

Those drinking and singing.

A festival was taking place in full swing.

Due to the swift and accurate response of the House of Benevolence and Love, necessary supplies for them were still arriving one after another even now.

Watching that scene the President of Sword Family Construction recalled the conversation he had shared with Yeon So-hyeon a few days ago.

“This Sword Family, this Sword Family Construction, is my hometown and our hometown!”

He had shouted at Yeon So-hyeon.

“We, the enterprises of this Sword Family, cultivated the Main Family, and we created this Luoyang!”

What had Yeon So-hyeon said to him then?

“But the materials that piled up that Luoyang? What of the foundation?”

The President muttered the words Yeon So-hyeon had spoken as if talking to himself.

“…The current Luoyang, this Luoyang Sword Family, was built on the blood and sweat squeezed from the poor.” "……."

Elder Yeom remained silent.

The President glanced back at Elder Yeom.

“Come to think of it, Elder Yeom. There must be few who know that blood and sweat as well as you do.”

The war hero of the Northern War.

“Is that not so?”

No one would dare to fathom the weight of the blood and sweat shed by him and his subordinates.

Even the weight attached to the lives of the enemies he had taken.

For a man to be refined to the point of being called the Sword Mountain, how much pain and price must he have paid?

Instead of answering the question, Elder Yeom calmly spoke what he had to say.

“…So did you personally come to the site to wrap things up?”

How surprising it had been when the President personally showed himself, setting aside those countless executives.

To the point that even the Eldest Young Master wore an expression of surprise.

“Because it is the order of the Supreme Executive Council.”

At the President's answer, Elder Yeom shook his head.

“The Supreme Executive Council entrusted the on-site command of the finishing construction part to Sword Family Construction, not the President as an individual.”

“Perhaps I did not forget it.”

Although it was an eccentric reply elder Yeom listened to his words calmly.

“maybe I was trying to forget.”

Looking at the construction site with a somewhat distant gaze, the President spoke.

“Perhaps under the pretext of supporting the Sword Family through its growth, I tried hard to look away. However…”

He spoke of the boy who had visited him.

“However, the Eldest Young Master did not forget. He did not try to forget, nor did he look away.”

As if comforting the President who was blaming himself, Elder Yeom threw a joke.

“The Eldest Young Master also remained in seclusion for ten years.”

“To hear a joke from the precious Sword Mountain Splitting Peak.”

The President chuckled at that joke.

“I have gained something to brag about at drinking gatherings until I die.”

At those words, Elder Yeom also smiled.

“I also make jokes to get by.”

Nodding quietly for a moment, the President spoke again.

“Did you say ten years of seclusion?”

“Yes. What about that…?”

“I think I understand now.”

The President of Sword Family Construction wore a bitter smile.

“One of the departments people avoid the most in Sword Family Construction is the safety monitoring, management, and supervision department.”

“…Is it because it is a role that sets one at odds with colleagues?”

“Of course, there is that as well.”

The President shrugged his shoulders.

“But rather than that—” he shut his mouth.

Because Elder Yeom raised his hand. "……."

Following Elder Yeom who was looking back, the President also turned his body.

“Well, well, did the great President stay in such a humble place?!”

Three elders were approaching.

They were the elders who had visited the President in the same manner on the day Yeon So-hyeon visited Sword Family Construction.

[They are the elders of the Second Young Master's side.] the President nodded his head to Elder Yeom's telepathic message and said to them.

“As you say, it is a humble place. What business brings the elders of the Main Family to this humble place?”

“Are you asking because you do not know right now?!”

An elder who approached, huffing, raised his finger.

“Did the President not break his promise with us?!”

The President had previously agreed not to accept the Eldest Young Master's request in exchange for securing a large-scale construction contract through a deal with the Second Young Master's side.

“I broke the promise?”

Another elder glared alternately at the President and Elder Yeom with wide eyes.

“Accepting the business rights we provided while simultaneously taking on the work of the Eldest Young Master, President. Are you not afraid of the consequences?!”

“Consequences?”

The President's face stiffened.

It was to the extent that the elders of the Second Young Master's side flinched momentarily.

“I did not break my promise.”

“But for Sword Family Construction to take charge of the finishing process of the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering construction site—” elder Yeom took a step forward.

“This matter has nothing to do with the Eldest Young Master. Sword Family Construction is merely following the orders of the Supreme Executive Council.”

“Such a sophistry—!”

“As the head of the inspection and monitoring group, I can guarantee that point. Yeon So-hyeon, the Eldest Young Master, did not exercise any request or influence over the intervention of Sword Family Construction.”

Elder Yeom offered the order document of the Supreme Executive Council from his chest pocket.

“T-This…!”

The faces of the elders reading the order document turned red and blue.

In that document, the order for Sword Family Construction to help Yeon So-hyeon and directly command and supervise the finishing process on-site was clearly written.

“Well, since the situation is like this. The schedule for the large-scale constructions commissioned by the Second Young Master's side has been postponed.”

Towards them, the President shrugged his shoulders.

“Inevitably, that is. However, do not worry.”

A smile hung on the President's lips.

“No matter what happens to the large-scale constructions you entrusted to our Sword Family Construction, we will take responsibility and finish them to the end.”

The Eldest Young Master must have already anticipated this or planned to make things turn out this way when he told the President to accept the agreement with the Second Young Master's side.

“Thank you for trusting Sword Family Construction.”

If one had to interpret the President's words would it be something like, 'Thank you for the meal'?

“Yiik…!”

“Do not think nothing will happen in the future after screwing us over like this, President!”

“There are plenty of ways for us to take action in this muddy pit of a place—!”

The words of the elders of the Second Young Master's side could not continue.

It was similar to the eruption of lava that had been writhing beneath the ground.

“You will ruin the work here?”

A low voice.

A piece of iron that flew passing between them was caught in Elder Yeom's hand.

One that seemed impossible for an ordinary martial artist to lift even with both hands.

It was a giant sword.

“The work that I am in charge of inspecting and monitoring?”

The elders of the Second Young Master's side gasped for breath.

“Have you just declared war to my face?”

The air remained in its place, but that air became dozens of times heavier, making it feel as if their lungs were collapsing.

Even the wind that roamed the air freely sank down heavily.

'T-This is…'

An elder among the Second Young Master's side who had trained in martial arts recognized the phenomenon.

'The precursor of the Mountain-Splitting Force of Sword Mountain Splitting Peak Yeom Gwak-chu…!'

The final blow that defeated the Sword Lord of Mount Hua, who had received the essence of a thousand-year volcano, was precisely this Mountain-Splitting Force.

He barely managed to raise his hand, which had become dozens of times heavier.

“E-Enough!”

He spat out words of surrender, feeling as if his lungs were being squeezed.

“We will withdraw…!”

When Elder Yeom, who glared at them until the final moment, withdrew the Mountain-Splitting Force, they fled like mice.

There were some whose trembling legs gave out, causing them to fall in the mud.

“They leave us with a laugh even as they depart at the end.”

The President roared with laughter at the sight.

“However, you must not let your guard down.”

Elder Yeom spoke, driving his giant sword into the ground.

“For they are those who belong to the Luoyang faction even within the Second Young Master's side, people skilled in tricks rather than martial arts.”

Elder Yeom glared at the retreating elders of the Second Young Master's side.

“They must have visited just now to test our reaction before hatching a sinister scheme.”

“Do you think I won this position out of luck at a gambling table?”

Did he take a liking to Elder Yeom?

The President treated Elder Yeom with a much lighter tone than at first.

“Do not worry. My political aides will take care of it.”

Indeed.

Elder Yeom nodded.

It was not a matter for Elder Yeom himself to worry about.

For the opponent who was with him right now was the President of Sword Family Construction.

“What were you saying earlier?”

“Hmm? Ah. The story about the Eldest Young Master.”

“The Eldest Young Master? Were you not talking about the department everyone avoids in Sword Family Construction?”

“Indeed, that story is this story.”

Elder Yeom quietly listened to his words.

“There was an anonymous letter every month. Sometimes once. At most, they flew in randomly over several days.”

“What was the letter about?”

“It varied from time to time. Most were pointing out issues regarding safety regulations on-site and improved regulations.”

“…It must have been a headache.”

The President smiled.

“Indeed. Reviewing, distributing, applying, and training the new rules. Everyone had to work to the bone.”

“For if we did not, we did not know where that anonymous letter would fly next.”

“Indeed.”

If we ignored the letter and a major accident happened, leading to human and material losses it was a matter that could lead us to the Inspection Department, or even to a higher level.

“That letter did not cease. Even if it rained or the wind blew, it came month after month.”

“Are you saying the person who sent that anonymous letter was the Eldest Young Master?”

“That anonymous letter ceased at the same time the Eldest Young Master ended his seclusion.”

“With just that—” the President raised his hand and pointed below.

“And here.”

A site where food distribution would not have had issues if Sword Family Construction had managed and supervised with the determination to cause trouble with the Third Young Master's side. "……."

As Elder Yeom shut his mouth and groaned, the President nodded.

“So only today did I become sure.”

His gaze directed below once again.

“That the Eldest Young Master—no, the Eldest Young Master, even after entering seclusion, never once forgot or looked away from the lives of the poor laborers.”

He continued speaking.

“The Eldest Young Master, who visited not long ago, said to me: The current Luoyang, this Luoyang Sword Family, was built on the blood and sweat squeezed from the poor.”

The President slowly nodded.

“Those were words that painfully struck me, who had covered my eyes.”

“…So that was why you personally came to supervise the site.”

“Indeed.”

The President turned away from the cliff.

“Let us return. We have a lot to do to prepare for the construction starting tomorrow.”

Elder Yeom walked behind him.

“Ah, come to think of it. The one who acted as the leader of those laborers.”

“Yes, I know. I also had a personal interview with him.”

“Having talked with him, he is a very decent fellow. It seems fine to employ him under me in the future.”

“…Him? Although the matter was settled well, he is still the person who was at the center of starting the uprising.”

“A natural rebel. And a man of strong metal.”

The President said, roaring with laughter.

“I like him very much. It feels like looking at my younger self.”

“…I am curious about the story of your youth. Almost no one knows it, right?”

“Fine! If so, while working overtime tonight, I will tell you my story of the past!”

“I look forward to it.”

The two walked toward the barracks, talking quietly.

Their conversation was soon below the cliff buried and lost in the sounds of the laborers' festival heard from the construction site.

Those sounds naturally generated by the festival, for some reason went beyond the simple joy of a festival, carrying a feeling that made the listener happy.