Chapter 25

A man with bloodshot eyes stared blankly into space.

The specialty of the Valley of Sins, the wood sorghum, was undeniably effective. Even standing still, he could feel the frantic pounding of his heart as if it were trying to burst through the top of his skull. It didn’t matter who the opponent was. He felt as if he could not possibly lose. No, he felt a sense of elation, as if he could strike down anyone in a single blow.

“Uwoooaaaaah…!”

And so, he stood his ground and faced the massive boulder that came flying through the air.

***

KWAAANG!

A deafening roar, closer to an explosion than a simple crash, echoed as a cloud of dust erupted. Through the haze, the faint sight of shattered body parts scattering in a spray of blood could be seen.

“Yes!”

A cheer went up from Yeon So-hyeon’s artillery battery. “A direct hit on the ranging shot!”

In the distance, as the thick dust began to settle, the fortified building in the upper reaches of the Valley of Sins crumbled to the ground.

“Completely demolished!” the battery commander shouted in delight. “Good work, you bastards! When this is all over, I’m slaughtering a pig for you all!”

The cheers from the battery crew grew even louder. The commander roared, his voice booming, “Maintain firing angle! First volley, load!”

The crew, their faces blackened with soot and dripping with sweat, grinned as they hurried to reload.

“It’s just like in training. Our bodies just remember.”

“Hah. After doing this for years, how could we forget?”

Though none of them had spent enough time together to become close friends, they all worked together with a strange, seamless coordination. It was because every last one of them was a former combat engineer who had served in the Northern War.

“That’s the truth,” one of them said with a smirk as he pulled on a rope to work the pulley. “To think I’d sign up for a day-labor construction job only to end up building and firing a trebuchet in the middle of Luoyang.”

“It’s something I never would have imagined in my dreams,” the man pulling the rope with him said. “I thought being dragged off to war wouldn’t do me a lick of good in life.”

“But thanks to it, we’re getting combat pay. What’s there to complain about?”

Luoyang was a city teeming with the poor, who would haul carts filled with severed heads if the money was right. The generous combat pay promised by the House of Benevolence had led to an overwhelming participation rate among the destitute laborers.

“Long live the House of Benevolence!” someone shouted.

Hearing this, the battery commander grinned and yelled, “Show those parasitic bastards of Luoyang the taste of the Medicine Fairy’s merciful stones!”

***

On the rooftop of Yeon So-hyeon’s business headquarters, massive boulders continued to arc through the air. Explosions and clouds of dust repeatedly erupted from the targeted upper reaches of the valley.

“This isn’t an army… this is insane…” one of the members of Yeon So-hyeon’s new allied families muttered, but no one responded.

“…”

They could only stand there, dumbfounded, clutching the rooftop railing and watching as the fortified upper valley was relentlessly pounded by the trebuchets.

“Better than expected. Excellent,” Yeon So-hyeon praised, standing behind them with his hands clasped behind his back.

“We simply selected those with no problematic records and reorganized their formations,” the old man standing beside him reported in a low voice. “They required no extensive training.”

“You are too modest, Old Strategist.”

The Old Strategist of the War Advisory Group[1], Elder Yeom’s personal military unit, had been stationed in the Valley of Sins all this time, separate from Elder Yeom, for the sole purpose of preparing for this day.

“The materials for the catapults were brought in under the pretext of reconstructing the Valley of Sins.” After all, in their raw state, there was little difference between the materials for a building and a catapult. “And the precision parts were smoothly procured from the workshops in Luoyang.” The business division of the House of Benevolence, the Dasunrang, had performed their duties flawlessly.

“Well, all I really did was stand back and nag.”

Though he called it nagging, Yeon So-hyeon knew better than anyone that taking responsibility for and supervising the entire process was the most difficult task of all.

“The real engagement has not yet begun, so I will accept your praise after the battle is over.”

Even as he said the battle had not yet begun, his tone was one of absolute confidence in victory. At the reliable words of the old man who had spent his life on the battlefield, Yeon So-hyeon smiled. “As you wish.”

In the meantime, the patriarchs of the new allied families had finally recovered from the shock of the catapults’ appearance.

“So the plan is to destroy their defensive strongholds with a bombardment like this, and then push in with the city guards?” one of the older patriarchs mused.

This time, someone answered him. “I wonder…” It was the son-in-law of the Seo Clan. “Although this has raised the chances of victory from what was a certain defeat by destroying the most prominent defensive strongholds…” The Seo Clan was the only military family present. It was only natural that all eyes and questions would be directed toward them.

“Is there a problem?”

He continued, his brow furrowed as he stared at the upper valley, “The narrow alleyways and steep inclines of the upper valley remain. Even if the city guards were to suffer massive casualties, I am not sure how high their chances of success would be…”

The son-in-law of the Seo Clan was a battle-hardened general who had been recognized for his merits on the battlefield.

“Is that so.”

“So you’re saying it would be impossible to break through with just the city guards.”

None of the other patriarchs bothered to argue with his assessment.

“Massive casualties among the city guards?” A clear, laughing voice reached their ears. All eyes turned to the owner of the voice, the Grand Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon. “I have no intention of sacrificing innocent city guards.”

The subjugation of the underworld was officially the duty of the authorities, but Yeon So-hyeon had no intention of recklessly deploying the low-morale, poorly trained city guards and sending them to a meaningless death.

“You have no intention of sacrificing them?” In place of her husband, who had just been publicly contradicted and was now blushing, the Acting Matriarch of the Seo Clan spoke. “Are you saying you intend to attack without a main force? Without troops to form a battle line, even your armored carriages will be of little use.”

“As expected of the Seo Clan of the military gate. You are correct.”

Surprisingly, Yeon So-hyeon readily agreed. “The armored carriages are not so different from a cavalry unit. If they lose their mobility, they will be bogged down.”

At his words, the Acting Matriarch of the Seo Clan puffed out her chest with a hint of pride.

“However,” Yeon So-hyeon was not finished. He shrugged. “When did I ever say I had no main force to form a battle line?”

“We have heard that a few martial artists, including the nuns of the Emei Sect, follow you,” the son-in-law, who had been embarrassed, spoke up again. There was a sharp edge to his words, as if he still held a grudge. “But a handful of martial artists is hardly enough to be called a main force, is it not? The underworld has plenty of martial artists of its own.”

“Of course not,” Yeon So-hyeon said. With a gesture, the Old Strategist signaled to a man standing on the rooftop watchtower. “The foundation of battle is numbers, is it not?”

As if in response, a red signal flag on the watchtower was waved vigorously.

“Numbers, you say?” Did the Grand Young Master of the Sword Clan have any troops to speak of?

In the distance, from the forward base in the mid-valley that Yeon So-hyeon had reclaimed, a similarly large red flag was raised.

And then.

“Wh-what are all those troops?!”

From the forward base and the area surrounding it, a flood of fully armed soldiers began to pour out into the plaza.

“They are my troops, who will form the battle line as the main force,” Yeon So-hyeon said to the patriarchs of his new alliance as they watched the hundreds of figures emerge. “They are men armed with the most sincere and noble faith and spirit.”

Sincere and noble faith. And sufficient numbers. There was no one here foolish enough not to guess their identity.

“The House of Benevolence?!”

***

In the mid-valley of the Valley of Sins, near Yeon So-hyeon’s forward base:

“It is the Grand Young Master’s will! The city guards of the Security Annex are to wait here until further orders!”

The city guards who had arrived in the mid-valley were met with an order to stand by. A Young Master of the Sword Clan was giving orders to government troops, but no one paid it any mind. They were too preoccupied with the sight before them.

“…All of these are the Grand Young Master’s troops?” The sight of the hundreds of soldiers was enough to boggle the mind.

“Sir, those troops must be the House of Benevolence’s self-defense force…” the junior constable began, then shook his head. “But with that level of equipment, it’s almost an insult to call them a self-defense force.”

The city guards who compared their own equipment to the House of Benevolence’s forces looked positively shabby.

“Where in Luoyang did he get the equipment to heavy-arm this many men?”

They carried short spears and large shields, with swords at their waists. Underneath their scale armor, made of linked iron plates, they wore thick leather armor. The term ‘heavy armor’ was a perfect description of their equipment.

“…From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem to be new,” Constable Park said, his eyes sharpened with internal energy.

The junior constable posed a question. “If it’s not new, then where did it come from?” His questions continued. “And even if it is used, there’s no way he could have procured this amount in the vicinity of Luoyang, is there?”

And that same question was being asked by the patriarchs of Yeon So-hyeon’s new alliance.

“It is from the North,” Yeon So-hyeon answered them himself.

“The North…?!” The patriarch of a family with connections to the north looked up, his eyes flashing. “Of course! The North is overflowing with leftover armaments from the past war!”

“But a merchant company with the scale to handle that volume at once…?” Furthermore, trading in arms on that scale was a very sensitive issue.

“These armaments,” Yeon So-hyeon said, giving them a hint, “were sent by Dong Gahyu from the North.”

“Dong Gahyu…”

“I’ve definitely heard that name somewhere…”

As the patriarchs tilted their heads at the familiar name, the one with connections to the north cried out in astonishment. “The War Merchant of the North?!”

At the moniker, the other patriarchs immediately remembered the name.

“You mean the owner of the great merchant company that is said to pan for gold in rivers of blood?!”

“The Merchant of Death who is said to be present wherever there is a battle in the North?!”

“Grand Young Master!” the northern-connected patriarch exclaimed, his face a mask of disbelief. “You have a connection strong enough to conduct a large-scale trade with the War Merchant of the North?!”

At his words, Yeon So-hyeon let out a short laugh, remembering the first and last time he had met Dong Gahyu.

“Celebrating the end of the seclusion of the great-scion of the great-Luoyang Sword Clan, the great-Grand Young Master, I pray that you may have the best of luck, live a long and healthy life, and that all your endeavors may be successful—!”

The man, who had appeared as if he were ready to give up his liver and gallbladder for him, was now in a state where his very life was held hostage by him. Or should I call him ‘Aluke Tai’ of the ‘Wugurai Tribe’? Because Yeon So-hyeon knew his true identity. Upon arriving in the northern lands, Dong Gahyu had immediately sent the large quantity of armaments, just as Yeon So-hyeon had commanded.

“Of course, we traded because we have a connection.” A meaningful smile touched Yeon So-hyeon’s lips. “He and I have a very good relationship.”

“My, how remarkable…!” the patriarchs whispered amongst themselves.

“The cost to fully arm that many men must have been considerable.”

“‘Considerable’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. It would require a truly massive sum.”

“Does the Grand Young Master have a source of funds we are unaware of? Hidden patrons, perhaps?”

They were right. For Yeon So-hyeon, who had countless expenses to cover, the cost of arming that many troops was extremely burdensome. That is why I borrowed all of those armaments for free. Though it was called a loan, in reality, it was extortion.

“As expected. His skill, so unbecoming of his age, was not just an exaggeration of the rumors.”

“To think he even has a connection to the War Merchant of the North…”

They all began to cautiously express their admiration for Yeon So-hyeon’s resourcefulness, trying to read the room. But this was merely for show. Not all of them were completely convinced by the current situation and Yeon So-hyeon’s confidence.

“I already possess all the forces I require.” Yeon So-hyeon had certainly said that. “And understand your place in this alliance.” Words that bordered on arrogance.

But. …Is this really enough to guarantee victory? It still seems a bit premature.

Yeon So-hyeon, sensing the gaze of the Seo Clan’s son-in-law, offered a meaningful smile, as if he had read his very thoughts.

“Now, now.”

At Yeon So-hyeon’s voice, all eyes focused on him. “It seems the real engagement is about to begin.”

Yeon So-hyeon raised his hand and pointed to the upper valley.