Book 5: Chapter 21 |
“Horse bandits…?!”
As proctor placed her hand on her sword, the commander chuckled at her words.
When proctor glared at him, the commander quickly turned his head and pretended to stroke his horse.
“Oh dear, is that so?”
From the very beginning, the commander had been strangely irksome.
However, recalling the extraordinary armor she had just seen, proctor simply gripped her innocent sword hilt tightly.
“Wha- what’s going on?!”
“Is it a group of bandits?!”
As the vibrations and noise gradually became noticeable, the bewildered members of the business group poked their heads out of the carriages and made a fuss.
The martial artists and escort troops, who had been leisurely slacking off thanks to the government soldiers, hurriedly drew their weapons.
The nuns of the Emei Sect, whether on horseback or inside the carriages, also calmly armed themselves.
Confident in their martial arts skills, they didn’t show any particular unease, but they still seemed somewhat tense due to the unusual dust cloud and vibrations.
“Commander. What on earth are you doing? Deploy the troops at once!”
At the words of the armed Emei Sect nun who approached, the commander finally burst into laughter.
“Commander…?”
Ignoring the looks of those around him, who stared as if he were a madman, the commander laughed heartily for a while.
“Oh my, I’m dying of laughter….”
“Stop laughing and explain yourself!”
When the proctor finally snapped, the commander, wiping away tears, grinned beneath his straw hat.
“No, but where do you all think we are that there would be horse bandits or groups of thieves?”
“Where are we, you ask…?”
At those words, the head of the investment group, who had been sleeping sprawled out inside the carriage, lazily got off.
Yawning, he muttered to himself as he looked at the approaching dust cloud.
“Yawn. Seems like we’ve almost reached Luoyang.”
Despite the chaos, his relaxed demeanor made it clear he was no ordinary old man.
Just then, several armored cavalry units emerged first through the dust cloud.
The flag bearer leading them held a large, wildly fluttering banner.
[Luoyang Sword House]
Seeing that banner, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the commander spoke with a smirk.
“This road is directly managed by the Luoyang Sword House.”
There was a strange feeling of him mocking country bumpkins.
“In this area, it’s easier to run into an elder of the Luoyang Sword House by chance than to encounter a group of bandits.”
At his words, the nuns blushed, but no one dared to pick a fight with the commander in front of the rapidly approaching forces of the Luoyang Sword House.
When no one reacted, the commander, looking a bit disappointed, stroked his neatly trimmed goatee under his straw hat.
“But armored cavalry instead of the road patrol…?”
It seemed the people he had been escorting from Xi’an were more important to the Luoyang Sword House than he had thought.
That’s what the commander assumed.
However, when he saw the armored transport carriages following behind, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“Eh? Even the Sword House’s combat transport unit?”
And upon seeing the banner fluttering on those armored transport carriages, he exclaimed in surprise without realizing it.
“Breaking the Mountain of Swords and Peaks?!”
***
“Greetings to Commander Yeom!”
The commander knelt on one knee, brought his hands together in front, and paid his utmost respects.
“Greetings to Commander Yeom!”
His troops followed suit, expressing their heartfelt reverence.
The investment group was dumbfounded by this sight.
Why on earth would the troops who had been escorting them from Xi’an show such deference to an elder of the Luoyang Sword House?
“I never imagined I’d run into you here!”
Elder Yeom, boasting a physique two or three heads taller than the average man, showed a delighted expression upon seeing the commander.
He strode over, grasped the commander’s hand, and helped him up.
“Your unit personally took charge of escorting the investment group? The Benevolent Hall has bestowed too great a favor upon us.”
“Oh no, what favor. If I had known you were coming, Commander Yeom, I would have rushed over barefoot even without my mother’s orders.”
As the commander stood up reluctantly (in fact, almost lifted by Elder Yeom’s strength), the rest of the troops also rose, smiling warmly as they witnessed the reunion.
“So, is the Benevolent Hall Master still the same as ever?”
The commander waved his hand.
“Still the same personality. I have no idea how she grows more vigorous by the day.”
“Haha. Hearing that the governess of Xi’an is in good health puts my mind at ease as a neighbor.”
“Oh, please don’t say that. I’m just doing my duty until I die.”
The one who referred to the governess of Xi’an as his mother.
Those who finally realized the commander’s identity at that point opened their mouths slightly.
Among them, the expressions of the Emei Sect members, who had practically had their command over the procession taken away by him and had been engaging in a battle of nerves with him until just now, looked particularly displeased.
“I must greet the guests now, but I definitely want to catch up with you later.”
“Haha, don’t forget those words. I’ll follow you even to Luoyang.”
After excusing himself to the commander, Elder Yeom stood in front of the investment group and apologized politely.
“I’ve committed the discourtesy of making our distinguished guests wait while unexpectedly running into a comrade-in-arms.”
“Not at a….”
The moment the representative of the investment group tried to speak, a voice came first from the direction of the Emei Sect members.
“It’s been a while, Elder Yeom.”
An elderly nun, who had been protected among the sword-bearing nuns, revealed herself.
“I believe the last time I saw you was at Mount Hua.”
Elder Yeom responded respectfully to the elderly nun, albeit with a surprised expression.
“…I had no idea the Head Priestess of the Emei Sect would visit our clan without prior notice.”
The elderly nun, wearing the most splendid monk’s robes with a golden cassock, smiled, revealing her teeth.
It was by no means a solely benevolent smile.
“Are you blaming this old nun’s lack of manners?”
The Head Priestess directly responded to Elder Yeom’s remark about her showing up unannounced.
“Well….”
However, he was no longer the mere troop leader who couldn’t hide his nervousness in front of the past Sword Sovereign of Mount Hua.
“First of all, Head Priestess, as you are an uninvited guest, I trust you’ll understand that I must attend to the invited guests first.”
With that, Elder Yeom approached the head of the investment group without waiting for a response.
“How dare he…!”
The nuns flared up, but the Head Priestess stopped them with a raised hand.
‘He is an elder of the Luoyang Sword House. Do not act rashly.’
At the Head Priestess’s telepathic message, the nuns swallowed their anger.
The warriors and troops brought by Elder Yeom watched those nuns with expressionless faces.
“Are you the representative of the investment group?”
To Elder Yeom’s polite question, the head of the investment group, without any complaint about the long wait, simply grinned.
“Hoho, there’s no need for someone like Elder Yeom to use honorifics with an idle old man like me.”
“No, that’s not true. Are you not the guest we have invited and received?”
As if finding Elder Yeom’s response burdensome, the representative of the investment group waved his hand and tapped his broad forehead.
“Ah, where are my manners.”
He bowed his head politely and introduced himself.
“I am Tang Geng-kui, representing this investment group. Having a renowned hero of the Northern War personally come to greet us, I am at a loss for words.”
Elder Yeom recalled the list of names he had heard in advance from the Sagong Faction.
“Ah! I heard there was a virtuous sage in the Tang Clan of Sichuan who was held in high regard. It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Oh my, I’m merely a branch of a branch and an old man who spends his time playing with children in the back room.”
Tang Geng-kui, equivalent to an honorary elder of the outer court in the Luoyang Sword House’s terms, feigned humility and pointed behind him.
“I’m just a member of the Tang Clan and old, so I only hold the title of representative. These individuals here are the ones truly worthy of being guests of the Luoyang Sword House.”
The representatives of different renowned clans from Sichuan who had come to visit politely bowed their heads to Elder Yeom.
After paying his respects to them with a polite demeanor, Elder Yeom spoke.
“Please excuse me for not being able to greet each of you individually due to the circumstances.”
At Elder Yeom’s words, Tang Geng-kui called out to the rest of the investment group.
“Since Elder Yeom is so courteous in seeking our understanding, we might just get to enjoy a hearty drink at the Luoyang Sword House today!”
With boisterous laughter, the members of the investment group rejoiced and applauded.
They seemed more like a sightseeing group on a trip to Luoyang rather than an investment group that had come a long way to decide on investments.
“I guess it wasn’t a dangerous situation after all.”
“We should probably get off too.”
As the atmosphere outside turned lively, the young ladies of the Daseollang, who had kept their windows closed, carefully got off the carriages after confirming the situation had concluded.
“Ah! I need to introduce you to these incomparably precious individuals!”
Tang Geng-kui then led Elder Yeom to them with an agility uncharacteristic of an old man.
“Now, now, these virtuous young ladies are none other than the famed Daseollang that has been causing a stir throughout the Central Plains these days.”
Elder Yeom politely greeted the five young ladies.
“I am grateful that the five representatives of the Daseollang have personally come to Luoyang. I am Yeom Gwak-chu, an elder of the Luoyang Sword House.”
Sanggwan Nanhwa stepped forward as the representative to respond to the Elder Yeom’s greeting.
“With such a warm welcome, we humble maidens are at a loss. I am Sanggwan Nanhwa, holding the position of the first representative of the Daseollang.”
As the one known as the greatest beauty of Sichuan gracefully paid her respects, it was like a painting come to life.
“So you are Representative Sang-gwan.”
When Elder Yeom said that, a glimmer appeared in Sanggwan Nanhwa’s eyes.
Usually, when she revealed her name, the first words that came out of the other party’s mouth were, “Ah! The greatest beauty of Sichuan!” or “The daughter of the Governor of Sichuan!”
“But….”
Elder Yeom showed a slightly troubled expression.
“Actually, there is someone else who was supposed to receive the representatives of the Daseollang, but he hasn’t arrived yet….”
Just then, a horse was seen galloping from behind Elder Yeom.
“Every- everyone! I apologize!”
The one who jumped off the horse, panting, was none other than a tall and handsome man.
If there was any flaw, it would be the slightly frivolous air about him.
“…I told you to ride in the carriage together if you weren’t confident, didn’t I?”
At Elder Yeom’s quiet voice, the man showed a guilty expression but soon slyly approached the Daseollang’s side and introduced himself as if nothing had happened.
“Everyone! Nice to meet you! I am Yeon Ha-eung, dispatched from the outer court of the Luoyang Sword House at the young master’s request to attend to you!”
At that moment, a voice reached their ears.
“Now that you’ve done enough, isn’t it time to pay attention to the uninvited guest as well?”