The Martial Alliance Main Headquarters, Punishnt Hall.
In the damp investigation room, Cheol Jiak sat with both arms bound, and across the desk, the head of the Punishnt Hall, Chupunggae, looked at him with a complicated expression.
He was called the Mad Dog because he was a person who would not let go once he bit, whether it was a hall master, the commander-in-chief, or even the alliance leader, but for so reason, the Mad Dog, unlike his reputation, was just letting out a continuous sigh.
"Did you really take that money?"
"Would I have?"
Cheol Jiak answered bluntly. The unique damp sll of the Punishnt Hall investigation room and the thick scent of blood from whatever had been done here mixed together, creating a strange sense of displeasure.
Chupunggae let out another sigh.
"That's right. There's no way you would."
The problem was that the circumstances and evidence were too clear.
If it had been anyone other than Cheol Jiak, Chupunggae's two eyes would have turned like a mad dog's, and he would have made him confess in various ways.
However, the perennial unit commander, Cheol Jiak, was one of the few people in the alliance that Chupunggae cherished.
Because his disposition was so wicked that it was a relief if he didn't just smash the head of a guy who offered him a bribe, let alone commit corruption.
"Where is Deputy Commander Zhuge Lin?"
"She's in the next investigation room. Deputy Hall Master No Un-sang will take care of it."
"Deputy Hall Master No Un-sang is also too much. Does he have to tie her up with a rope and escort her when people are clearly watching? She's a kid who's already suffering from useless rumors."
"...What can I do when that's the principle?"
Cheol Jiak let out a rough breath as if displeased.
At that sight, Chupunggae's worries deepened. This foolish guy, Cheol Jiak, was worried about his deputy commander even in this situation, rather than his own injustice.
"If you are truly innocent, nothing will happen. But if by any chance, even one in a thousand, one in ten thousand, it is revealed that there is truth..."
Chupunggae swallowed his next words. For a mont, a madness flashed in his two eyes.
Cheol Jiak, who was reminded again that the old man in front of him was the Mad Dog, let out a groan.
"I swear on my decades of life in the Martial Alliance, I am innocent."
"Right, it has to be..."
It was when Chupunggae was nodding his head with a complicated expression. The door of the investigation room opened, and Deputy Hall Master No Un-sang approached with a serious expression.
"Hall Master. Sothing has co up."
"What is it?"
Chupunggae's gaze sank low for a mont.
No Un-sang, who saw this, flinched and mumbled, but finally said.
"That... one of the Black Tortoise Unit mbers has disappeared."
"..."
Chupunggae shut his mouth. In his two eyes, the unique brilliant gaze of the Mad Dog was already present.
No Un-sang watched his expression and continued.
"The one who disappeared is the newcor of this class, alliance mber Cheon Woojin. The other unit mbers also say they don't know his whereabouts. It is presud that he acted independently to clear the na of the Black Tortoise Unit Commander and Deputy Commander..."
Until No Un-sang's explanation was over, Chupunggae did not open his mouth. He just looked at the deputy hall master with nacing eyes.
A mont of silence fell.
Even Cheol Jiak, who usually didn't care about others' expressions, rolled his eyeballs here and there and shut his mouth.
For a mont, Chupunggae's gaze turned to Cheol Jiak.
The flinched Cheol Jiak shook his head.
"He's not a bad guy, but sotis..."
"You bunch of fucking idiots!!"
Bang-!
The desk shattered into pieces from Chupunggae's slamd fist.
The investigation room was filled with a dense internal energy.
Chupunggae, whose eyes were suddenly bloodshot and whose veins were popping on his neck, chewed on his words and spat them out.
"Form a pursuit team imdiately and bring him back. Imdiately."
"Yes, yes! Hall Master!"
No Un-sang left the investigation room faster than ever before. If he stayed here any longer, the atmosphere was such that the next thing to explode would be his own head, not the desk.
After No Un-sang left, Chupunggae trembled and let out a long breath. Soon, his flushed face very slowly returned to its original color.
"This son of a bitch. Can't even manage one little brat, these fucking idiots..."
It was the Black Tortoise Pavilion, which the martial artists of the Punishnt Hall had personally surrounded. A Black Tortoise Unit mber had disappeared from there. And a newcor who had just joined the alliance at that.
It was truly a disgrace to the Punishnt Hall.
Cheol Jiak, who was watching Chupunggae's expression, asked cautiously.
"Hall Master."
"What!"
"Oh my, you scared ."
The benevolent-faced Chupunggae was gone. There was just a mad dog with its eyes half-turned in front of him.
Although it was unlikely that a dog and a person could communicate, it was sothing he had to ask, so he cautiously opened his mouth.
"It's not a pursuit and kill team, is it?"
A pursuit and kill team. It ant an organization ford with the intention of catching and killing, not just ending with a simple pursuit.
At Cheol Jiak's question, Chupunggae's eyes widened as if he were dumbfounded, and then they glistened with madness.
"You. Now. To . Are you in a position to ask such a thing? Isn't that guy Cheon Woojin's action a clear challenge to the discipline of the Martial Alliance! Depending on the situation, if the resistance is severe, the principle is to kill on the spot."
"Ah..."
Cheol Jiak let out a continuous groan. The problem was getting bigger than he thought. If the newcor Cheon who had escaped and the martial artists of the Punishnt Hall t...
'It's an accident. It's definitely an accident.'
* * *
The Beggars' Sect sent a letter to a place that might have information about the Shadowless Divine Thief.
Although a vein popped on the forehead of the Beggars' Sect Leader, Wildflower, at Cheon Woojin's honest confession that he had no request fee.
Wildflower regained her smile after receiving a promise to help with one of the Beggars' Sect's affairs in the future.
And so, the letter sent at the end of a dramatic agreent was delivered to a young man.
Long black hair, deep black pupils, a jet-black robe that seed to cover the night sky, and a dark scabbard hanging from his waist.
Although he was dressed in black as if he had been covered in ink, the young man, who had an atmosphere that suited it well, read the letter with an interested expression.
"I was wondering why the Beggars' Sect Leader sent a letter in person."
He read the letter with his right hand, and with his left hand, he shook a fishing rod that was extended towards a large pond.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a simple and honest impression who was standing next to him asked.
"The Beggars' Sect Leader?"
"Yes. The Star Lord said that it would not be good to get directly involved with the Beggars' Sect Leader."
"Yes, the Star Lord said that he had been hard by that woman, Wildflower, in his youth. For that reason, since the Star Lord won't et her, she must have sent a letter to the Young Star Lord. She is a truly arrogant woman. If you give it to , I will burn it."
"No."
The man called the Young Star Lord shook the letter as if he were amused. It seed that a rarely enjoyable thing would happen in this boring daily life if he just burned it.
"My thoughts are different. Wildflower is a very interesting woman. First of all, her age is unknown. She was active even when the Star Lord was young, so how old is she?"
"Ahem, the age of the Beggars' Sect Leader is not known."
"I see. But, aren't you curious about the content of this letter?"
The Young Star Lord shook the letter in front of the middle-aged man's eyes with a truly playful expression.
"How could I be curious about a letter that ca for the Young Star Lord?"
"Hey. Ma Butcher."
"Ahem..."
The middle-aged man who was assisting the Young Star Lord let out a groan.
Because when he had run away from the Black Plaque Star, he had briefly worked as a butcher and had been called Ma Butcher.
The Young Star Lord chuckled and continued.
"You, who had run away even when I tried so hard to catch you, ca to see
on your own one day. What was the reason again?"
"A Martial Alliance mber nad Cheon Woojin saved my daughter who was suffering from a plague... no, a poison art. As a man, as a father, I should naturally repay the favor, but since I had nothing, I ca back and asked for the Young Star Lord's forgiveness."
The Young Star Lord nodded his head. It was a truly outrageous thing to hear again. His long-ti guard, Ma Yongseok, had run away one day. Now that he heard the reason, it was said that a high-ranking executive of the Black Plaque Star had coveted his daughter, Ma Huiyeon.
'Then he should have told . He ran away?'
Of course, it must have been the best judgnt for Ma Yongseok.
At that ti, the high-ranking executive who had coveted Ma Huiyeon was a political enemy of the Young Star Lord. He had deliberately chosen the life of a fugitive so as not to harm him, whom he served.
'Of course, that bastard is already dead.'
After hearing the reason from Ma Yongseok, the Young Star Lord had personally gone to see that executive. Unlike Ma Yongseok's concerns, it was a very good reason for the Young Star Lord to eliminate his political enemy.
The Young Star Lord, who recalled the dead executive, chuckled again.
"But, I'm really jealous. To think that what I couldn't achieve even with all my efforts to get you back was resolved thanks to a re low-ranking Martial Alliance mber."
"Ahem, I'm sorry."
Ma Yongseok did not know why the Young Star Lord was bringing up that story again. He just bowed his head with a sorry heart.
The Young Star Lord's eyes, who was looking at his subordinate, drew a crescent moon.
"That na is written on the letter. Cheon Woojin."
"Y-yes?"
Ma Yongseok's eyes widened.
Ma Yongseok, who was reading the letter that the Young Star Lord had handed over, soon narrowed his brow.
"Of all people, the Shadowless Divine Thief..."
Ma Yongseok was inwardly troubled. He had decided to help the alliance mber Cheon Woojin once. But of all people, the opponent was the Shadowless Divine Thief. No matter how much Ma Yongseok held a position in the Black Plaque Star, the Shadowless Divine Thief was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
Soon, Ma Yongseok knelt down to his lord.
"Young Star Lord. Please allow
to go. As a man, how can I turn away from a past favor? I will risk my life and have a bloody battle with that guy, the Shadowless Divine Thief..."
"Ma Butcher, you're a crazy bastard too."
"Yes?"
The Young Star Lord clicked his tongue. His most cherished subordinate, who had finally returned, was now going to die again.
Soon, the Young Star Lord got up from his seat.
"Shall we go and see the face of the benefactor who brought back my treasure? I've already looked into that guy nad Cheon Woojin after hearing your words."
The Young Star Lord let out a hollow laugh as he spoke. He had received information about Cheon Woojin from his direct information organization, the Black Crow Unit, and it was truly absurd.
'Star Lord, isn't the story different?'
The current number one of the black path and his father, the Black Plaque Star Lord, had clearly said. That among the rising talents of the era, there would be no one who could stand against him, including the Nine Sects One Gang, the Five Great Families, and the Demonic Cult.
But it was not. A guy who was no less a monster than himself, no, perhaps even more of a monster, was active. And as a low-ranking mber of the Martial Alliance at that.
"Let's go. It will be truly enjoyable."
Ma Yongseok let out a continuous groan. He knew the disposition of the Young Star Lord he had served since he was young better than anyone else. Was it really okay to let his benefactor and the Young Star Lord et?
But how could he dare to disobey whose words?
As Ma Yongseok, with a complicated heart, looked at his lord who was walking away, fluttering his black robe magnificently.
Ting-a-ling-
The bell attached to the fishing rod rang.
At the sa ti, the Young Star Lord's figure disappeared as if sinking into the ground.
The Young Star Lord, who had returned in an instant and had picked up the fishing rod, shook the carp caught on the bait and said. Surprisingly, it was a fire carp with golden scales.
Fire carps lived in the pond of the Black Plaque Star. It was a secret that only the Black Plaque Star Lord, his son, the Young Star Lord, and his direct guard, Ma Yongseok, knew.
"Shall we just eat this and go?"
"..."
Yes, how could he dare to disobey whose words?
Ma Yongseok took out a small dagger from his bosom.
(End of Chapter)
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