Luoyang Sword Clan, Council of Elders. In the teahouse across the street.

The teahouse, which was normally swarming with the Yeon clansmen, was now a scene of pure pandemonium. It was as if an artillery shell had just struck the room; not a single person was sitting calmly.

“Why is this vote taking so long?!”

The time just kept dragging on.

One old Yeon relative, unable to bear the anxiety, began to tremble violently.

“D-Distinguished Uncle, please calm down. These things… they can take time, can’t they?” one of the younger relatives offered, grasping at the first placating words he could find, afraid the old man might collapse.

“They have to get through the vote of no confidence and the vote to appoint the new candidate, right?”

“And the Grand Young Master is there… so there’s probably a welcome speech, a response… that all takes time.”

“Yes, that must be it. It’s just a natural delay.”

“And besides…” another young relative chimed in with a shrug, “…wasn’t this battle over the moment that bastard, the Grand Young Master, provoked the entire Council? He completely overplayed his hand.”

The man, dripping with the effortless entitlement of a Yeon, hadn’t a clue what was actually happening, yet he spoke with an air of complete, unbothered confidence.

“So, Father, please don’t get so worked—”

SLAP!

The sharp sound of a palm striking a cheek echoed. The old Yeon relative roared, his voice cracking with rage.

“You damned, worthless children!” he bellowed, his fury erupting. “Even if they went through every single formal procedure, it should have been over and done with by now! And this all started after that bastard, the Grand Young Master, went inside!” The old man’s face was a mask of crimson, boiling with rage. He pointed a trembling finger at the Council building. “That bastard is in there! And all you foolish brats can say is—!”

He raised his hand to strike again, but the other old men rushed over to restrain him.

“That’s enough…!”

“They understand! The children understand!”

As they held him back, the middle-aged relatives shouted at the younger ones.

“Stop wasting time here with your nonsense! Get out there and figure out what’s going on!”

The young Yeon clansmen scrambled from the teahouse as if they’d been burned.

“That stupid brat! To think he’s my son…!”

A final, furious roar followed them out the door.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Another old relative, who had been watching with his arms crossed, clicked his tongue. “To think… we have to entrust the future of our Yeon clan to that.”

“This is our fault. We raised them to be too soft.”

“Because they are Yeon, they’ve had too many privileges since birth.” Another old man shook his head. “They have no sense of crisis. No understanding that if our enemy, the Grand Young Master, continues to gain power, they could lose everything.”

***

Outside the teahouse.

“Fucking old man…!” the young relative who’d been slapped hissed, clutching his bright red, swelling cheek.

“He’s right,” another commiserated.

“Seriously! One minute they’re all bragging about how it’s over, how the Grand Young Master played himself… and the second things change, they take it out on us!”

“Yeah, what can that bastard even do? He’s still just the Swordless One, the one who abandoned the family and made this mess…!”

But his voice trailed off.

Countless eyes were fixed on them.

“Wh-what?!”

“Get out of the way! Now!”

“Do you know who we are?!”

The crowd shuffled, parting just enough to let them through, but their eyes—filled with a silent, sullen disapproval—never left them. Even these arrogant young nobles weren’t foolish enough to pick a fight with a vast, anonymous mob.

“Move!”

“I said, get back!”

Shouting and shoving, they finally broke through the wall of resentful stares, wiping sweat from their brows.

“…What the hell was that?” one of them grumbled, still thinking about those unnerving glares. “Just because we cursed that bastard, the commoners dare to look at us like that…?”

“It’s the end of days. The end of days…”

“This is all his fault. He’s rotting the family from the inside out.”

Even as they complained, they kept their voices low, whispering like conspirators—a small, telling sign of their true character.

“But seriously…” one of them said, still glancing nervously over his shoulder. “When did so many people gather?”

At his words, they all turned to look.

This morning, they had thought the main avenue was crowded. Now, it was like the Yellow River flooding in the monsoon. The crowd, which had already filled the main avenue, was now overflowing, a roiling tide of humanity spilling into the side streets.

“…You’re right.”

There was something in that sight that sparked a genuine sense of crisis, even in the feckless young nobles of the Yeon clan. But it was, as ever, a fleeting sensation.

“Tch! Why are you all cowering?! I’m going to the new entertainment establishment I found! We’re going to have a real party! You’re all coming!”

As the slapped one shouted, the others cheered.

“Ooh!”

“Nice! Great!”

“I’ll handle the carriage! I’ll call for the new one, the one for distinguished guests…!”

“I’ll go on ahead and get things ready…!”

And just like that, they vanished, a flock of fools heading for the entertainment district.

***

On a rooftop near the Council of Elders.

A middle-aged man frowned as he watched the young men disappear.

“…Those are.”

His aide, who was watching the street for him, replied, [Those are the sons of the Yeon clan households currently under suspicion.]

And they’re going to a courtesan house? Now?

“Tsk.”

The middle-aged man clicked his tongue and looked away. He didn’t have time to waste on clueless brats.

“The crowd is growing.”

[Yes, sir,] his aide replied. [At first, it was just supporters of the Grand Young Master, on their day off or taking a break. But it’s not just them anymore.]

“No. It’s far more than that now.”

Dozens of ornate carriages, clearly belonging to high-status individuals, were parked all along the congested avenue.

“People who were visiting the family for other reasons. Messengers and liaisons.”

[And,] the aide continued, [we’re even hearing reports that some have come only to witness the outcome of this event.]

The Grand Young Master versus the Council of Elders.

What had started as a strange, impulsive act by the Grand Young Master had now, uncontrollably, snowballed into a massive spectacle, drawing the attention of everyone.

“…It’s not ending in a simple victory for the Council, as everyone expected. That’s bound to draw a crowd.”

It was, after all, why the middle-aged man himself was here.

[…No matter the conclusion, the shockwaves will be immense.]

“Indeed…” the middle-aged man nodded. “And if the Grand Young Master actually wins—”

[My Lord. Someone is approaching.]

At his aide’s warning, a figure emerged from the rooftop entrance.

“If the Grand Young Master wins,” the newcomer said, continuing the middle-aged man’s thought as if he’d been there all along, “his power, which until now has been mere rumor, will be known to all the world.”

The middle-aged man didn’t bother with pointless questions like ‘how did you find me.’ He simply narrowed his eyes at the uninvited guest.

“And at that moment,” the newcomer continued, “it will no longer be a supposition of power…”

“It will become real power,” the middle-aged man cut him off. “Power isn’t a tangible thing. It exists only when the majority believes it exists.”

The Grand Young Master had defeated the Second Young Master with strength and cunning. If he now succeeded in turning the powerful Council of Elders upside down… it would be the ultimate proof of his power.

“Exactly,” the visitor replied. He stepped forward and lit a cigarette. “And that is why you, the 4th Department Head of the Court of Judiciary, are here, hiding from view, to see how it all plays out, isn’t it?”

Chik-.

He lit the cigarette with a Samadhi True Fire and smiled. “A man who claimed ‘urgent business’to skip his own superior’s meeting… here of all places? And you were supposed to be the loyalist faction, weren’t you?”

At the man’s open mockery, the 4th Department Head’s eyebrow twitched. “You—”

“Then again,” the guest interrupted, ignoring him and leaning on the rooftop railing to look down at the street. “This is the moment that decides your fate, which line you’ll stand in. You had to see it for yourself.”

The man’s casual, unbothered attitude was grating.

“…You’re not wrong,” The 4th Department Head shot back, “but that’s a bit rich coming from the man who abandoned the First Department Head, who was like a brother to you, and already switched sides. Isn’t that right… The Sixth Department Head?”

The Sixth Department Head, the very man who had delivered the shocking blow at the Court of Judiciary that morning, gave a bitter smile.

“…The summer sun is scorching.” The Sixth Department Head tilted his head back, using the hand holding the cigarette to shield his eyes from the harsh afternoon glare. “And this heat is only going to get more severe. Soon, you will be standing naked under that sun. A heat so unbearable it will steal every last drop of moisture from your body.”

It was a strange, sudden tangent about the weather, but the 4th Department Head understood that he was not, in fact, talking about the weather.

“By now,” The Sixth Department Head continued, “you must surely know where to find the river, and the shade.”

The smoke from his cigarette drifted slowly in the summer wind. The wind was no longer cool; it was hot.

“…You.” The 4th Department Head, who had been lost in thought, finally spoke. “I remember you as someone who… wasn’t so political. You’ve changed.”

It was an assessment that could almost be an insult to the head of an investigative department.

“…Have I?” The Sixth Department Head exhaled a deep plume of smoke, his gaze fixed on the distance. “I feel like, only now, am I ‘properly’ fitting in at the Court of Judiciary.”

At those words, the 4th Department Head had to inwardly admit it. The Sixth Department Head was no longer their junior, and he was no longer in a position to lecture him like a senior.

“…Which river I choose, which shade I seek… I suppose that will be decided over there.” He walked over to stand beside Sixth Department Head, placing his hands on the hot railing and looking toward the Council of Elders.

“Is that so?” The Sixth Department Head offered him a cigarette. “But you know, don’t you? The longer you wait, the less water and shade there will be.”

“…I know.”

The 4th Department Head took the cigarette, and Sixth Department Head lit it for him.

“…You would know.” The 4th Department Head said, tasting the bitter smoke. “What in the world is happening in the Council right now?”

Sixth Department Head smiled faintly.

“The same thing that is happening here.”