Book 11: Chapter 21: The Invisible Hand

"…No matter how it is said that even a giant tree reaching dozens of zhang in height is of no use if its roots rot."

One of the supreme council members lamented.

"Our Main Family right now is in that exact state…!"

The original name of this highest decision-making body of the Luoyang Sword Family, which now bore the name of the Supreme Executive Council, was the 'Emergency Countermeasures Committee.'

And that Emergency Countermeasures Committee was originally nothing more than a temporary body meant to handle the vacuum until power could be handed over to the legitimate successor in an emergency.

However.

"…All of this is the karma and original sin of our predecessors."

The new supreme council members closed their mouths with painful expressions. "……"

Those who made up the Emergency Countermeasures Committee had wanted to seize the Luoyang Sword Family, the world's number one family, in their hands.

As a result, they had ignored the usual requests of the Patriarch.

They had threatened and intimidated Yeon So-hyeon, the legitimate successor, and usurped that power.

"…Even though we, the supreme council members, claimed to make efforts to look over the Main Family in such detail from our high positions."

"To think we have reached the point where our eyes and ears, who must hide even their faces and identities, have stepped forward to deceive us."

One of the supreme council members said in a complicated voice.

"The original role of this body was, after all, nothing more than a temporary body for the transfer of power. Since we unreasonably converted such a temporary body into the system of the Supreme Executive Council."

The new female supreme council member clutched her head.

"…From the beginning. There was bound to be a problem."

The senior supreme council member nodded heavily.

"Although we have spent a vast amount of time in the past putting effort into complementing this system."

"It has been clearly revealed that we failed to resolve the fundamental problem."

Although their predecessors and the culprits who had committed all these acts had already disappeared from their positions.

The karma they left behind remained as it was, rotting the roots of the giant tree that was the Luoyang Sword Family.

"Chairman."

Everyone's gaze focused on the Chairman, the only figure from the past who remained active.

"Just how did the Eldest Young Master know all of this?"

The Chairman replied.

"It started from a single report."

"A report, you say?"

Instead of answering, the Chairman pulled a cord to summon the person outside.

The heavy iron door opened, and the one who had been waiting outside entered the secret cave.

"Nice to meet you for the first time, supreme council members of the Main Family."

When her appearance was finally revealed, the supreme council members showed dumbfounded expressions.

"…You are?"

"Weren't you definitely someone who worked in the Institution until not long ago? As a former field command warrior, your name was surely—" standing in front of the oil lamp of the secret cave, the middle-aged woman who revealed her face calmly introduced herself.

"I am Cheongsu."

She was indeed that Cheongsu, who had quit the Institution and offered her sword to Yeon So-hyeon.

She, who had saved the Tea Fan Maidens from the threat of assassination and vanished for a while.

Was now revealing her appearance here.

"I see, indeed. It was definitely Cheongsu."

"Upon the news that you quit the Institution and returned the heavy armor of the Institution, there were not a few here who felt regretful."

There were supreme council members who recognized her, who had been loyal to the Institution for many years.

"Right. Did you make the report to the Eldest Young Master about the corruption of the Institution?"

"No."

Unexpectedly, Cheongsu shook her head firmly.

"I merely delivered the report containing that information to the Eldest Young Master while leaving the Institution, and the informant is still inside the Institution even now."

At those words, the supreme council members buzzed.

"Still on active duty even now?"

"Then why didn't that person report directly to us…"

The new male supreme council member trailed off mid-sentence.

Although he was a newcomer here.

He was a figure who had spent his entire life in the Luoyang Sword Family, experiencing all kinds of hardships.

"…I see. That person did not trust the Supreme Executive Council."

The corruption of the Institution.

Suspecting that a supreme council member or the Supreme Executive Council was behind it.

Was extremely reasonable logic.

"That is correct."

Cheongsu nodded with a bitter expression.

"For me as well, if not for the command of the Eldest Young Master, standing in this place like this would be something I would never do."

Cheongsu's merciless words.

The supreme council members hung their heads in a wretched mood. "……" "……"

They had no words to say even if they had ten mouths.

Regardless of whether there was a fundamental problem with the system of the Supreme Executive Council or not.

They were failing to gain even the trust of those who had dedicated everything to the Sword Family for such a long period of time.

"This is the copy of that report, so everyone read and verify it."

The Chairman delivered a copy to each supreme council member using Telekinesis.

"My word…!"

"…Haa."

Laments and sighs burst from the mouths of those reading the report.

"The Eldest Young Master—no, the Eldest Young Master."

The new male supreme council member, who laid down the report with trembling hands, asked in a hollow voice.

"Why did he not deliver this report to us sooner?"

Cheongsu answered the question with a question.

"If it had been before something like this happened, would you have believed the Eldest Young Master?" "……"

No way.

Even if other supreme council members did, he would have undoubtedly thought that the Eldest Young Master was making a move to get ahead in the successor competition.

"Still, we would have somehow tried to conduct an internal investigation to verify it—" cheongsu cut him off.

"In that obvious internal investigation that has been repeated over the past few years, they would have cut off their tails and vanished."

"…That would have been the case."

In a situation where they could not even know who was trustworthy or who should not be trusted in the first place.

How could any internal investigation be properly carried out?

"As I said before."

At the Chairman's voice filled with internal energy, the supreme council members who had been lost in despair snapped out of it.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the Eldest Young Master has created for us."

"Indeed, it is."

The one who had served as a supreme council member for a long time, though not as long as the Chairman, nodded.

"At this very moment, it cannot help but be revealed who is blocking the information that should be coming up to us."

"It is a perfect opportunity to weed out the defectors of the Institution."

"…However."

One of the supreme council members frowned.

"Who would become our trustworthy ears and hands in this situation?"

At those words, the supreme council members groaned.

"…What about the Chief Manager of the Inner Courtyard?"

"Is not the sharp conflict between him and the Eldest Young Master famous? Knowing that this work started from the hands of the Eldest Young Master, we cannot guarantee how he will move."

"Furthermore, giving more power to him, who is already powerful even now…"

"On the other hand, if we drag other people in…"

In the face of this unprecedented situation, they were feeling a thorough sense of helplessness.

"As for that part, you all do not have to worry."

It was the Chairman.

"Right now, the person in charge of the information network within the Main Family that the Eldest Young Master constructed independently is outside."

"The Eldest Young Master independently constructed an information network…?"

"No, what on earth is that?!"

Leaving behind the reactions of those who were shocked by the unbelievable news, the Chairman nodded toward Cheongsu.

"Nice to meet you, supreme council members."

The person brought by Cheongsu clasped his hands and greeted them.

"There would be no one here who does not know my face, right?"

Of course.

For he was one of the core figures of the Luoyang Sword Family whom the supreme council members could never fail to know.

"Head of the Administration Department…!"

The one who revealed himself.

Was the head of the Luoyang Sword Family's Administration Department.

"…Was the Head of the Administration Department supporting the Eldest Young Master?"

"What are you talking about?"

The Head of the Administration Department chuckled and shook his head.

"It was not that I was supporting the Eldest Young Master, but my Lord, the Eldest Young Master, was supporting me." "……!"

It was the moment when the unimaginable relationship between the Head of the Administration Department and Yeon So-hyeon was revealed.

"Anyway, do not worry about information. I will wait nearby until this matter is finished and personally become your eyes and ears."

A meaningful smile hung on the sharp face of the Head of the Administration Department.

"Since I have already released a large number of informants centering on the Institution and the intelligence departments, you may trust me."

Even without saying so.

There was not a single person in this place who doubted the ability of the Head of the Administration Department.

The Head of the Administration Department was already a man of capability who could have entered the Elders' Hall long ago, and had even proven his ability since the time of the Grand Patriarch.

'Just how did the Eldest Young Master obtain the loyalty of such a person? Since when on earth did their relationship begin?'

"Chairman."

The supreme council members clicked their tongues and asked the Chairman.

"…Since the Eldest Young Master has prepared someone to be our eyes and ears like this."

"Then, could it be that even those who will become our hands and swords have been prepared?"

The Chairman answered immediately.

"That is so."

What they suspected was indeed true.

Against the background of chuckles bordering on hollow laughter coming from here and there, the Head of the Administration Department spoke.

"At the request of the Eldest Young Master, the Elders' Hall will help you."

"the Elders' Hall…?!"

"If it is the Elders' Hall of the Luoyang Sword Family—" the Special Task Force was a group of experts who had retired due to unavoidable reasons.

"Do you mean that the Special Task Force of the Elders' Hall will step forward?!"

If those experts, who only obeyed commands directly from the Elders' Hall, stepped forward.

They would become hands more trustworthy than anyone else, and swords sharper than anyone else.

"However, is it not a rule that the Elders' Hall absolutely never interferes in the internal politics of the Main Family?"

Is that not why the elders built a village on the hillside, farmed, and raised livestock to live?

"There is a single exception to that."

"I see…!"

At the Chairman's words, the new male supreme council member, who was well-versed in the Sword Family Code, slapped his forehead.

"There is a clause stating that if something that threatens the survival of the Main Family occurs, the Elders' Hall can move by its own judgment!"

Another supreme council member who remembered that clause also marveled.

"Generally, of course, a threat to survival would mean an attack by a massive foreign enemy, but…!"

"Since there is no such detailed proviso, it depends on interpretation!"

The Chairman nodded.

"That is so."

Looking around the room, he asked.

"Is there anyone who does not agree that this situation right now is a situation that threatens the survival of the Main Family?"

There could not be.

"Haha."

The new male supreme council member shook his head.

"Just how did he find such a dead-letter exception clause that even I could not remember properly…"

As he was asking the question, he found the answer himself.

"Could it be that this too was the Eldest Young Master…?"

"If one were to find the person most knowledgeable about the family law of the Main Family in the Main Family."

The Head of the Administration Department shrugged.

"Would it not naturally be my Lord, the Eldest Young Master?" "……" "……"

Everyone was lost for words.

Although they thought they had been surprised enough when they received the report of what Yeon So-hyeon was doing in the Imperial Capital.

Now that things were prepared so thoroughly, they were completely speechless.

'This is…!'

'It is as if the Eldest Young Master's invisible hand exists everywhere…!'

At this rate, they began to wonder if they had all been puppets dancing in the palm of Yeon So-hyeon's hand from the very beginning.

Even such thoughts entered their minds.

"Everyone, focus!"

It was the Chairman's scolding that woke their consciousness.

"Do not forget that the Eldest Young Master is currently enduring the enemy's bombardment just to buy this time for us!"

That was true.

Those who suddenly regained their senses began to act.

"…Y-Yes, that is true!"

"Then right now…!"

Although Yeon So-hyeon had prepared the rough outline.

The concrete plan and its execution depended on their hands, the supreme council members.

And having dedicated their entire lives to the Sword Family, they did not fall short of the name of supreme council members.

They quickly established plans and began to transmit instructions in all directions.

'…Eldest Young Master.'

In the head of the Chairman who was watching that sight.

The day he heard all these plans from Yeon So-hyeon came to mind.

Indeed.

The memory of that night when he met the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon, who wore the face of the Dark Venerable.

* * *

"Are you saying the Institution has truly fallen to this extent…?"

Without realizing it, the Chairman gripped the report on the Institution that he had received from the Dark Venerable.

"Keep it in mind, Chairman."

In a voice like boiling molten iron, the Dark Venerable said.

"The opportunity is only once. If the Second Young Master's side has no place to retreat, the corrupt managers of the Institution will surely move to block the eyes and ears of the supreme council members."

"…Please convey to the Eldest Young Master that I will keep it in mind. By the way."

Carefully placing the report inside his chest pocket, the Chairman asked the Dark Venerable.

"Who wrote this report?"

The Dark Venerable smiled sorrowfully.

"In the past, there was someone in the Institution who was a friend of the Sword Family's Eldest Young Master. Although their age difference was large, they said their minds matched well."

Something clicked in the Chairman's mind.

"…Are you speaking of the former Director of the Institution, who died in the line of duty?"

"Although he died in the line of duty, he was not killed by the enemy. Nor was it an accident." "……!"

If he was not killed by the enemy and it was not an accident, it meant he was murdered by allies.

"Although the Eldest Young Master also found out later, they said he had been secretly tracking those who showed suspicious movements within the Institution for a long time."

"…So he was murdered by them, disguised as an accident in the line of duty."

That was.

A truth that was nothing but bitter.

"The Eldest Young Master met his younger brother not long ago."

Sighing, the Dark Venerable looked up at the night sky.

"They said he entered the Institution to become a command warrior, as if following in his brother's footsteps."

The younger brother of the former Director of the Institution.

And a command warrior.

The Chairman could deduce how things had turned out without much difficulty.

"…Not long ago, after that uproar called the book price fuss in the Inner Courtyard, when the Eldest Young Master was summoned to the Supreme Executive Council, his younger brother was indeed the one who went to escort the Eldest Young Master."

The Chairman said as if lamenting.

"Following his brother who was the former Director of the Institution, he was continuing to investigate the corruption of the Institution…!"

"That is so."

The Dark Venerable smiled bitterly.

"That report is a precious object imbued with the blood and efforts of a pair of brothers who were more loyal to the Sword Family than anyone else."

With a grinding sound of teeth clenching.

Ghostly flames flared up in the eyes of the Dark Venerable.

"Once the Eldest Young Master makes an opportunity."

His gaze turned toward the Chairman.

"Chairman, you must find them and capture them all!"

At that resounding voice, the air shook to the point of trembling.

Was there any need for another answer?

At that moment, the Chairman.

Forgot that he and the Eldest Young Master had to hide their identities from each other, and clasped his hands to show respect.

"Loyalty!"