Early morning. The Luoyang Sword Clan. The Main Branch of the Sword Clan Treasury.

The Treasury was infamous for its arrogance, leisurely opening its doors to receive clients only after the sun was high in the sky. But what could anyone do? The ones with the money held the power, so those in need had no choice but to wait.

Today, however, the main branch of the Treasury was different.

“You there! Have you still not finished cleaning the street?!” a mid-level manager, out for inspection, shouted in surprise.

“Oh, honored sir…!”

The servants waved their hands, bowing their heads in apology. “We’ve tripled the manpower! This is already much faster and cleaner than usual—”

“That’s enough!”

Normally, this manager would have seized the opportunity to lecture the servants, to establish his authority with a barrage of nagging. But today…

“Give that to me…!”

“S-sir?!”

To the servants’ astonishment, he grabbed a spare broom and began sweeping the street himself. While the servants stood dumbfounded, the manager barked at his own subordinates.

“What are you doing, sightseeing?! Get to work!”

The servants were baffled by this behavior, so utterly unlike the haughty staff of the Treasury they were used to seeing. But their confusion was short-lived.

They soon understood why.

“He’s coming…!”

In the distance, a Treasury employee, drenched in sweat, came sprinting toward them, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“The Grand Young Master is coming!”

It was a truly remarkable spectacle. The Treasury, renowned for its high-and-mighty attitude—this was its main branch, and its entire staff was lined up at the entrance, bowing deeply to welcome someone.

This was an event of extreme rarity.

The silence was so profound that one could almost hear the sound of sweat, dripping from their deeply bowed foreheads onto the marble floor.

Thud. Thud.

Though the Grand Young Master was followed by handmaidens and attendants wearing swords, the only sound that registered in their ears was the clear, measured sound of Yeon So-hyeon’s footsteps.

In the past, would they have done this, even if the Patriarch of the Luoyang Sword Clan himself had visited?

No.

Right now, they were crushed by something far greater than mere respect. They were overwhelmed by awe.

‘The God of Death…’

Not a single person among those gathered here could ever forget that night—not even in their dreams. It was the last night the Grand Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, visited the Treasury.

“Subdue any who resist, quickly!”

“Lethal force has been authorized!”

The men in the crimson uniforms of the Central Inspectorate had poured in like a flood. Their swords were slick with the red blood of the Treasury’s corrupt employees who had refused arrest and fought back. Their footsteps had left dotted red prints on the white marble. The air had been filled with the unending screams of men coughing up their own blood.

It was a day when the very air had seemed red.

And, at the very front of that tide.

“Do not let a single one escape.”

Leading them all.

“Capture every last one of them.”

The Grand Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, had been there.

For the Treasury staff, who could not forget that day even if they wanted to, Yeon So-hyeon was no different from the God of Death himself.

“We greet the Grand Young Master.”

Of course, not everyone was terrified of Yeon So-hyeon.

“It has been a while, Director.”

At the far end of the line of employees, who stood as rigid as statues, was the Director of the Treasury. He was a prime example, greeting Yeon So-hyeon with a bright smile.

***

Inside the Director of the Treasury’s office.

Pale morning sunlight streamed in, and the subtle, elegant aroma of tea filled the room.

“I have given orders to cooperate fully, by any means necessary, with all requests for assistance from the Central Inspectorate and other investigative agencies.”

The Director spoke as he naturally yielded the seat of honor to the Grand Young Master.

“You’ve been through a lot, Director,” Yeon So-hyeon said, acknowledging his efforts with a calm voice. “I hear the investigation from the Inner Court’s side has been quite relentless.”

The Chief Steward of Inner Court, having seized his chance, was tearing into the Treasury with dogged, thorough ferocity.

“It is no trouble at all.”

The Director, impeccably dressed, shook his head lightly.

“On the contrary, my heart feels much lighter.”

It wasn’t just words; he genuinely appeared more at peace than he had when they had last met. “These men treated the family’s money as their own and the family’s power as their own. They are simply receiving the punishment they deserve. And I…” He paused, searching for the right words. Yeon So-hyeon recognized that this hesitation wasn’t due to uncertainty; it was the careful consideration of a man choosing his words in the presence of the Grand Young Master. He could see that the man’s heart and resolve were already steadfast, like a solid stone pillar.

“…I, too, am well aware of my heavy responsibility for failing to properly manage them internally all this time.” The old man spoke with the same deep humility and courtesy he had shown on the night they first met. “If I must step down to take responsibility, I will do so at any time.”

Yeon So-hyeon set down his teacup and spoke, “…Is that why you’ve taken no action, even though you know about the ‘vote of no confidence’ against you that’s about to begin in the Council of Elders?”

If that vote of no confidence passed a majority in the Council, the Treasury Director would be forced to step down from his position, leaving everything behind.

“Your political enemies are not about to miss this opportunity. They are moving to tear you down.”

The Treasury Director was the one who had provided the decisive intelligence and assistance for the Treasury’s reform, but his long-standing rivals would never let such a golden opportunity pass. They had raised the issue of his ‘responsibility’ and initiated the vote of no confidence.

“It will not end with you simply stepping down,” Yeon So-hyeon warned in a quiet tone. “Your enemies have already joined hands with the Yeon clansmen.”

They shared a common, clear grudge against Yeon So-hyeon—and against the Treasury Director who had helped him.

“…Is negligence not also a crime?”

Through the morning light streaming in the window, Yeon So-hyeon looked into the old man’s eyes. They were surprisingly clear, free of any greed.

“If they waste their political influence trying to bring down one old man… well, perhaps that isn’t so bad.”

“…They will chew you up until not even your bones are left.”

“Ho ho. Chewing on the creaking old bones of this old man… I doubt they’d find it very satisfying.”

A noble spirit. A resolute will.

But Yeon So-hyeon did not like it.

He did not like it one bit.

The old man’s attitude… it was as if he were looking at himself from his past life. The Swordless One, before his regression by the Scripture that Commands the Dark and Quakes the Heavens. And for that very reason, Yeon So-hyeon had no intention of letting the old man follow the same tragic path he had.

“…The main clan has undergone significant changes recently.”

The unexpected, out-of-context remark left the Treasury Director momentarily perplexed. “Yes, yes. It has indeed.” Since it was, after all, the truth, he nodded in agreement. “I’ve been so engrossed in being dragged into various investigations and inquiries that I haven’t had much time to observe or gather information firsthand.” A faint smile graced the old man’s lips as he regarded Yeon So-hyeon.

“However, I am fully aware that you, Grand Young Master, are achieving remarkable and splendid results.”

Seeing that smile, Yeon So-hyeon knew his assessment was correct. This old man was trying to sacrifice himself. He believed that he, who had been unable to stop the rampant corruption in his own Treasury, would become a great political burden to Yeon So-hyeon.

“Yes, that’s right,” Yeon So-hyeon replied with a practiced shrug. “In just a few weeks, I’ve made significant changes. However, it’s still far from being enough.” He leaned back in his chair, adopting a relaxed posture. “Aren’t you curious to see them?”

“…See what, Grand Young Master?”

Yeon So-hyeon tilted his head back, gazing at the elegantly decorated ceiling.

“When I am finished with all this… aren’t you curious to see what the main clan will look like?”

At those words, the old man gave a bitter smile. “I do want to see it, Grand Young Master. Of course I am curious.”

Yeon So-hyeon pressed him. “And you do not wish to see it from my side?”

“That is—”

Yeon So-hyeon cut him off, his questions coming faster. “Do not you want to overcome all of this adversity and hardship with me, and one day, see the completely transformed main clan?”

As if painting a picture, Yeon So-hyeon gestured toward the ceiling. “The true form of the greatest family under heaven.”

An image flashed in the old man’s mind. It wasn’t because the Grand Young Master’s words or gestures were particularly descriptive.

“The true majesty of the Luoyang Sword Clan, united as one under a righteous and brilliant lord.”

It was because that was the old man’s lifelong cherished desire. His lifelong wish.

“An overwhelming power that no one, not the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons or anyone else, would dare to stand tall before!”

The old man found himself biting his lip, his hands gripping the armrests of his chair. He had just called himself a weak old man, but the armrests were now groaning under his grip.

“The name of the Luoyang Sword Clan, ringing out clearly across the Four Seas beyond the continent, even among the great powers of the world!”

“Truly, do you!”

Yeon So-hyeon, who had been lazily gazing at the ceiling, was suddenly on his feet, standing tall, looking down at the Treasury Director. Had he grown taller in just a few weeks? The commanding presence he exuded… no one would dare call him a boy now.

“Do you not wish to build such a Luoyang Sword Clan with your own two hands?!”

The Grand Young Master’s dark, clear eyes pierced through the old man, staring directly into his soul.

The Treasury Director’s answer was already decided.

“I want to see it with my own eyes…! Yes, I want to see it!” He didn’t even realize he had shot up from his chair, his old body trembling. “And of course I want to build that new main clan with my own hands! Is that not obvious?!”

The old man who, just moments before, had been quietly resigning himself to sacrifice, was gone.

“Even if someone told me not to! Even if someone tried to stop me, I would do it!”

In his place stood a dauntless warrior, his heart burning with the same youthful ambition that had first brought him to the Luoyang Sword Clan, so many years ago.

“But…!”

And yet, the experience and wisdom that had accumulated with his age still held him back. “For you to expend your strength protecting this old man… it would be an extremely costly diversion.”

No matter how virtuous a person is, if they are in a position of power, political enemies sprout as naturally as mold in a damp cellar. And now, thanks to his active cooperation with the Grand Young Master and the investigators, a fresh wave of resentment and grudges had exploded, creating a host of new enemies.

“Grand Young Master, you must step on this old man’s corpse if you have to. You must move forward, even one step, to lead the main clan to a better place—”

“No.”

Yeon So-hyeon cut him off.

“If there is a time to become a corpse, to become a road for others to walk on, then I…” Yeon So-hyeon raised a hand and pointed to himself. “I, Yeon So-hyeon, will be the first to become that corpse.”

His form of address had shifted to the authoritative, lower form, yet it felt perfectly natural.

“I will not sacrifice anyone.”

What arrogant words. If anyone else had said them, the Director would have scoffed and told them to wake up to reality.

But this was Yeon So-hyeon. And because it was him… ‘I will not sacrifice anyone’… those words took on a completely different meaning.

“…Grand Young Master. Is there truly a way, even now?”

Seeing the fighting spirit return to the Director’s eyes, Yeon So-hyeon smiled. “It seems you really haven’t been paying attention to the outside world, being so chased by investigations.”

That smile was filled with absolute confidence.

“From now on, you will see for yourself just how much my stature has changed within this family.”