The Sword Monarch of Mount Hua crossed his arms, his gaze tracing the path of Grand Strategist Sima’s eyes across the assembly.

“A spy…”

Had the tent not been thrown into chaos by the unexpected battle results, it was a word no one would have dared to utter aloud.

“Grand Strategist Sima.” Immortal Master Taechong of Wudang glanced at the strategist. “Do you suspect us? If so—”

“Let me ask you one thing,” Sima interrupted, addressing both the Immortal Master and the Sword Monarch. “Did you know there would be a surprise attack this morning?”

“Hardly.” Immortal Master Taechong shrugged. “Did we not arrive here only today, just like you?”

He clicked his tongue briefly.

“I was inwardly regretting not being able to participate in today’s surprise attack…”

The Sword Monarch finished the thought. “Rather, it became a stroke of luck.”

Shenyang and the front lines. If Mount Hua and Wudang had participated in both engagements and lost, their morale would have plummeted into the earth.

“Then…” Immortal Master Taechong glanced at Sima, his eyes eerily deep. “Wouldn’t it be more likely that information leaked from your Third Young Master’s side?”

“Impossible.” Sima shook his head immediately. “Would a figure like the Dread King kindly inform us of his surprise attack plan in advance? The Third Young Master himself likely only learned of it close to the operation’s start.”

“Indeed.”

As if the eerie suspicion had been a lie, Immortal Master Taechong lightly accepted Sima’s logic. “Then, it means it wasn’t one of us…”

Grand Strategist Sima, Immortal Master Taechong of Wudang, and the Sword Monarch of Mount Hua. The only three people from the Central Plains in the tent turned their gazes simultaneously to the assembly of Northern generals.

“Your Highness! It is a shameful defeat!”

“We must hold someone accountable for this loss!”

“No! The god of victory is fickle like a desert dune changing with the wind!”

“Our losses were negligible! Punishment will only invoke the god’s wrath!”

People are the same everywhere. As a natural sequence of events, the Dread King’s generals were already baring their fangs, demanding accountability.

“…Even if there is someone among them communicating with the Grand Young Master of the Sword Clan,” Immortal Master Taechong frowned, “could we even find them?”

The Sword Monarch stroked his beard silently, his expression dark.

“Your Highness!”

“Dread King!”

Generals from various tribes raised their voices in a cacophony of rugged dialects. Among so many generals of the Northern tribes, let alone finding a spy, it was difficult just to distinguish their sun-darkened faces. Although Sima had studied the power dynamics extensively before joining hands with the Dread King, announcing the existence of a spy and initiating a search was a sensitive—and dangerous—matter.

“…In truth, this is not an area where we, mere outsiders, can intervene.”

Though he said that, Immortal Master Taechong did not miss the sharp glint deep in Sima’s eyes.

“However?”

Sima gestured slightly with his chin toward the figure seated in the center of the generals.

The Dread King, Yelü Nuzhucha.

“If it is a figure like the Dread King, he likely has already realized that a spy might exist among them.”

At that precise moment, the Dread King, who had only been listening, raised his hand.

Silence fell instantly.

Only the sound of the tent flaps fluttering in the wind remained. It was unbelievable that this was the same space that had resembled a chaotic marketplace just moments ago.

As expected…

Sima admired the sight inwardly. The name ‘Dread King’ was not merely a title created to suit the needs of the Central Plains powerholders. It wasn’t that the Dread King was created by them; perhaps the one who should have become the Dread King had rightly claimed the title.

“It seems everyone has lost their sense of war.”

The Dread King’s voice resonated, heavy and absolute.

“It is merely one battle. Merely one failure.”

Leaning forward from his throne, the Dread King addressed his generals.

“Is there a general here who has gone to a hundred battles and won a hundred times?”

All his generals remained silent.

Victory and defeat were common occurrences in war. One might win consecutively once or twice, perhaps three or four times. But a general who fought a hundred times and won a hundred times was a myth.

“However.”

The Dread King leaned back against his throne, sweeping his gaze across the room.

“Is there a general here who has entered under my command and lost a war?”

This time too, silence reigned. None of the generals raised their hands.

But the atmosphere was completely different from the previous question. The Dread King had reached this position at the end of countless wars, big and small, among the Northern tribes. In that process, he had never once tasted ultimate defeat.

“Therefore, this war too.”

Dread King Yelü Nuzhucha made eye contact with each general in the assembly.

“I. And we.”

He raised a fist that seemed to shine, backlit by the sunlight streaming through the tent’s opening.

“Will surely win.”

ROAAAAAR!

The tent filled with the unintelligible, frenzied cheers of the generals.

“…Oh my.”

Amidst the thunderous noise, Immortal Master Taechong covered his ears and leaned toward Sima. “It doesn’t seem like the Dread King has particularly noticed the existence of a spy, does it?”

Despite the subtly accusatory tone, Sima’s expression did not shift.

“No.” Sima denied it flatly. “He did not speak of it because he realized a spy exists.”

“…Hmm.”

Immortal Master Taechong and the Sword Monarch immediately understood.

“If he clumsily searches for a spy now—”

“—He won’t find the spy, and he’ll only lower morale from the start.”

Therefore, the Dread King deliberately passed over the fact that the enemy had been prepared for the surprise attack without mentioning a single word.

“…The Dread King.” Immortal Master Taechong muttered lowly, watching the charismatic leader. “He might be an even greater figure than I heard.”

The Sword Monarch did not make any particular gesture of agreement, but he did not take his eyes off the Dread King.

At that moment, the Dread King called out.

“Grand Strategist Sima.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Sima, who straightened his posture.

“Tell us the plan to bring in the second Governor-General. The Governor-General of Jilin Province.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The topic returned to the Governor-Generals, and the surrounding attention focused on Sima.

“The Governor-General of Jilin is fundamentally different in character from the previous Governor-General of Liaoning. She is…”

However, even while speaking fluently, Sima’s deep eyes did not miss the Dread King’s subtle actions. Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was focused on Sima, the Dread King covered his mouth with his hand and whispered something to the aide guarding his side.

Undoubtedly, he is ordering a secret search for the spy.

The Dread King might become a more important existence on this continent than anticipated. Thinking so, Sima continued his speech smoothly. For now, it was time to prove his worth.

“The Jilin Governor-General is a very independent figure. Her advisors only advise. It is known that she allows no one to intervene in her final judgment.”

“Then?” Having finished his business unnoticed, the Dread King asked Sima nonchalantly. “What do you intend to do?”

“However, that does not mean the advice of those surrounding her is worthless.” Focusing on his immediate role, Sima unspooled his words without hesitation. “She has several advisors. To mention the War Merchant Dong Gahyu first—”

“Wait.” The Dread King cut in. “Is that Dong Gahyu not connected to the enemy commander, the Grand Young Master of the Sword Clan?”

The Dread King’s intelligence on the Central Plains Empire was extraordinary.

“…You are correct.” Twitching his eyebrows, Sima nodded in affirmation. “It has been confirmed that the two met at the main residence of the Luoyang Sword Clan.”

Although Dong Gahyu had sold many war supplies to the Northern Great General’s Estate, he was a merchant who did not distinguish between friend and foe. That alone was not enough to definitively conclude the relationship between him and the Grand Young Master.

“So, for now. To be cautious, I will exclude Dong Gahyu from the list of persuasion targets—”

Sima’s speech continued.

***

“Then, Grand Young Master.”

Moyong Ho sat close to the Grand Young Master, lowering his voice.

“How will you bring in the Jilin Governor-General?”

“I heard from my sister before that the relationship between you and the War Merchant Dong Gahyu is unusual,” Moyong Ho continued. “The Grand Young Master said we can trust him, so I trust him. Dong Gahyu is one of the Jilin Governor-General’s advisors. If we use him to move the Jilin Governor-General through advice—”

“No.”

Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon cut him off and shook his head.

“Useless. The Jilin Governor-General is not someone swayed by the advice of subordinates.”

“Then…”

The Grand Young Master raised his hand and drew an invisible line on the desk. “Surrounding advice may influence her. But it cannot control her actions.”

It meant he couldn’t use a method similar to the one used on the Liaoning Governor-General.

“…Then what should we do?”

The Grand Young Master answered curtly.

“Nothing.”

“Pardon…?” Moyong Ho couldn’t hide his bewilderment. “You will do nothing?”

He asked as if to confirm he hadn’t misheard.

“Even if the Dread King does nothing himself, can’t he exert pressure on the Governor-Generals through the Patriarchs of the Sixteen Imperial Families?”

No one in the Central Plains Empire could be completely free from the influence of the Sixteen Imperial Families of the Imperial Capital.

“If that happens, isn’t it impossible to bring in the Jilin Governor-General?”

The Grand Young Master smiled. “I said I would do nothing, not that I wouldn’t bring her in.”

“Oh my.” Moyong Ho beat his breastplate as if frustrated. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Is it?”

“……”

Moyong Ho looked like an ordinary painter staring at a complex mathematical formula. Seeing that expression, the Grand Young Master giggled.

“In our Central Plains, there is a saying: ‘Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.'”

“I know that much, but—”

“And an independent figure like the Jilin Governor-General trusts nothing until she confirms it with her own eyes.”

“Uh, then…” Still not quite grasping it, Moyong Ho took off his helmet and scratched his head. “Are you saying that even if you do nothing, the Jilin Governor-General will come to see you personally before making a decision?”

“Correct.” The Grand Young Master nodded. “She will probably hide her identity and visit secretly and suddenly.”

If anyone else had said this, Moyong Ho would have laughed it off and forgotten it.

“…If so.” But since the Grand Young Master said it, the weight was different. “…I must trust your words and wait.”

As he recalled the distance between the Jilin Governor-General’s office and Shenyang, the Grand Young Master spoke.

“No need to wait.”

The Grand Young Master pointed behind Moyong Ho.

“Pardon?”

“Pleasure to meet you, Grand Young Master of the Sword Clan.”

At that moment, from the direction Yeon So-hyeon pointed—the entrance of the tent—a person entered.

“Are you, perhaps…?”

Dressed as a wealthy merchant, the visitor removed the cloth wrapped around her face like a desert nomad. A middle-aged woman revealed herself.

“I am the Governor-General of Jilin Province. Xianyu Hyeong-bi.”