Chapter 86
Part 11: Balancer
The meeting was over.
When Yeon Sang-hyeon emerged from the stone cave, he saw the warriors of the Agency.
“First Young Master, we will escort you to the entrance of the Secret Cave.”
The female commanding warrior who had been waiting bowed politely, then approached with a blindfold.
“Put that away.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon bared his teeth.
“But this is the Agency’s regulation…”
“I do not care whether it is a regulation or whatever else.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon pointed behind him.
“This place was my father’s private training ground. Do you understand? I came here dozens of times when I was young.”
When he took the lead and began striding forward, the Agency’s warriors hurriedly followed after him.
“But…!”
“For reference, I can get from here to Wongakjeong with my eyes closed, even if I had to roll all the way there. Do not waste your time on pointless nonsense.”
The female commander wearing the smooth mask seemed momentarily flustered, but soon tucked the blindfold back into her robes.
Then, when she signaled to her subordinates, the warriors moved swiftly and called over the group that had been waiting with the palanquin.
She quickly handed Yeon Sang-hyeon over to the commanding warrior in charge of the palanquin.
After finishing her explanation, she approached Yeon Sang-hyeon and cupped her fist.
“I have explained the situation to them, so they will escort you comfortably to Wongakjeong.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon patted her shoulder.
“You are good at your work. You know how to handle things.”
“…You praise me too highly.”
After climbing into the palanquin, Yeon Sang-hyeon held the door and spoke to her.
“It must have been very stifling, working for so long in a rigid place like the Agency.”
“That is…”
Yeon Sang-hyeon closed the door and spoke through the small window.
“If you ever leave the Agency, come to Wongakjeong. I will need many capable people from now on.”
At those words, the warriors nearby let out snickers.
Some cleared their throats.
It was only natural. Who would give up an important post in the Luoyang Sword Clan and go to the First Young Master, who was infamous as the Swordless?
Yet contrary to everyone’s expectations, she scratched her head and answered.
“Uh… my name is Cheongsu. If that time ever comes, I will be in your care.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon burst into laughter and knocked on the ceiling of the palanquin.
“Children, let us go home now.”
When the palanquin sped away like the wind and disappeared from sight, the warriors nearby looked at their commanding warrior in disbelief.
The commanding warrior calmly shrugged.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you know how important it is to grab the right connection in society?”
The warriors sighed.
“…Commander, the connection you just grabbed seems like a rotten rope.”
When someone said that, she opened her eyes wide and looked at him.
“Puhahahahaha!”
It was a refreshing burst of laughter.
Even under the dazed stares of her subordinates, she paid them no mind and laughed for a long while, clutching her stomach.
A short while later, she finally calmed down.
“Ah, I laughed so much my stomach hurts.”
When she gestured with her hand, everyone shrugged and began moving to withdraw.
Behind them, she held her mask and wiped away the tears that had come out because she had laughed so hard.
“…A rotten rope? That First Young Master Yeon Sang-hyeon?”
She shook her head.
“I suppose I really have grown old now.”
She looked at the warriors walking ahead and gave a bitter smile.
‘Well, most of those old enough to remember the past were replaced after the Clan Head collapsed.’
An organization that had been established for a single purpose had failed in that purpose.
After that day, many of those who had been in the field with her had either resigned of their own accord or been replaced.
‘Maybe it is about time I left the Agency as well…’
Even without that, she had recently found herself increasingly displeased with the upper ranks of the Agency.
The stone cave Yeon Sang-hyeon had left behind.
The newly appointed female Supreme Councilor opened her mouth.
“…The decision to lift the First Young Master’s confinement. It was the right decision, was it not?”
The newly appointed male Supreme Councilor answered.
“Did we have any other choice?”
“We did not, but…”
One of the Supreme Councilors opened his mouth.
“The First Young Master can reveal the truth of that day at any time. If he does…”
Another Supreme Councilor continued.
“Those who still remain single-mindedly loyal to the Grand Clan Head will all draw their swords against us at once.”
“There are still many among those who were in the highest ranks at the time who harbor small doubts about what happened then.”
“Great chaos will come…”
The General Affairs Councilor stepped forward.
“This council stands above the clan laws of the main clan, but there have not been many means that could properly keep this council in check.”
Everyone listened to his words.
“Even so, this council has continually strengthened its internal regulations, agonized over how to handle every matter fairly, and feared losing respect more than anything else.”
Another Supreme Councilor nodded.
“The reason was the existence of the First Young Master.”
“There is no doubt of that. Because he existed—someone who could expose everything at any time—this council was able to preserve its present purpose.”
The newly appointed male Supreme Councilor, who had been silent, asked in a strained voice,
“…Were there no attempts to eliminate him?”
One Supreme Councilor laughed heartily.
“In the early days, there may have been such plans. But think about it. Do you truly believe he would not have prepared for his own sudden death?”
“We still have not fully grasped how many people in the highest ranks of the main clan remain on friendly terms with him even now. And if you add the renowned figures both within and outside Luoyang…”
Everyone clicked their tongues.
“For ten years, it looked as though he was merely confined in Wongakjeong. But, well…”
“If he had not existed, I find it difficult to imagine what the main clan would look like today.”
As everyone murmured among themselves about Yeon Sang-hyeon, one Supreme Councilor opened his mouth.
“By the way, I rather liked this conference chamber. But now we can no longer use it.”
“What choice do we have?”
They looked toward the spot where Yeon Sang-hyeon had been standing.
The sunlight pouring through the hole in the ceiling was shining down on the Sword Clan Golden Seal lying on the floor.
Yeon Sang-hyeon had left the Clan Head Seal there before departing.
“…No one would dare lay a hand on it.”
“Not until time passes and a new Clan Head is born, or until the Grand Clan Head miraculously awakens and returns as Clan Head.”
“We have no choice but to seal this entire conference chamber.”
The Chairman, who had been silent, opened his mouth.
“Everyone, remember this.”
Everyone focused on the Chairman’s voice.
“Until now, we have only showered the First Young Master with promises we could not keep. Yet this time as well, the First Young Master kept his promise to us.”
Everyone immediately grew solemn.
“Do not worry. I will ensure that the Clan Head Seal in my possession does not influence the competition among the successors of the main clan.”
The Supreme Executive Council of the past had fallen into utter chaos after belatedly discovering that the Clan Head Seal was in Yeon Sang-hyeon’s hands.
At that time, somehow knowing that fact, the young Yeon Sang-hyeon had appeared before the council and spoken those words to them.
“If there remains even one promise we can still keep, even if only as a possibility…”
The General Affairs Councilor answered.
“It is to do everything in our power to prevent the competition for succession from escalating into a large-scale conflict.”
“And the only ones capable of doing that are we, the Supreme Executive Council, who hold full authority.”
As they spent a moment in silence, once again reflecting on their role, one Supreme Councilor spoke jokingly.
“Now that even the First Young Master has officially entered the race as a successor, things are going to become even more troublesome.”
“It seems peaceful sleep is now beyond us.”
“Are you saying you had enough leisure to sleep peacefully until now?”
While they were making a commotion, the newly appointed female Supreme Councilor spoke in a small voice.
“…Will things truly become more difficult for us than they are now?”
Her voice echoed inside the stone cave.
“The First Young Master has endured all that dishonor until now and kept his silence for the sake of the main clan.”
Being called the Swordless, being called a coward or a craven—he had quietly endured it all.
“If it is that First Young Master, would he not perhaps be the very first to prevent such a large-scale conflict himself?”
One by one, the Supreme Councilors nodded.
“…That is a reasonable thought.”
“Perhaps he would indeed act that way.”
At that moment, the Chairman’s voice rang out.
“But do not forget, everyone. If the First Young Master feels that we are failing to fulfill our role properly…”
Everyone could sense the unconcealable fear in his voice.
“The First Young Master will, at any time, immediately ignore every rule and attempt to repeat that Blood Purge. Without the slightest hesitation.”
The stone cave sank into a heavy silence.
***
The other Supreme Councilors were holding a meeting to turn the conference chamber where the Sword Clan Golden Seal lay into a sealed site.
However, the Chairman had fallen into deep thought alone.
‘Was the restraint the First Young Master placed upon this council truly limited to such intangible things?’
By existing, he made the Supreme Executive Council more just?
The Chairman did not think that was all.
The evidence was none other than the Chairman’s own existence.
‘How dare he disparage us as a band of thieves?!’
‘Just because people around him call him a genius, that little brat has let it go to his head!’
‘Drag that bastard out of the conference chamber at once!’
Even now, the Chairman vividly remembered the words those in the early Supreme Executive Council had hurled at Yeon Sang-hyeon.
They had been utterly shameless people.
They were people who had all but imprisoned the First Young Master, the sole lawful successor.
They were people who had relied on the First Young Master’s goodwill and believed the day would never come when the truth was revealed.
They were old men who had run wild as though the Luoyang Sword Clan belonged to them.
‘…And now, not one of them remains here.’
Their identities had been revealed one by one through secret rumors.
The most important internal regulation, the “Oath of Silence,” was something that absolutely had to be upheld for the sake of the Supreme Executive Council’s legitimacy.
At the time, he had thought it was because security regarding the members of the early Emergency Response Council had been comparatively lax.
But such incidents continued to repeat afterward.
Those who tried to privatize the authority of a Supreme Councilor.
Those who harbored excessive ambition, secretly tried to support their own faction, or attempted to seize illicit profit.
At some point, each of those people had their identities exposed and disappeared from the conference chamber.
And the one who remained until now was the only person who had opposed their actions to the very end back then.
The person who had anonymously delivered a letter of apology to the First Young Master.
The person who alone had acknowledged his fault and accepted the original sin.
That person was none other than the current Chairman himself.
He recalled the final conversation he had exchanged with Yeon Sang-hyeon before he departed.
“…The Supreme Executive Council owes the First Young Master an enormous debt. However…”
To the Chairman, who did not know what to do with himself, Yeon Sang-hyeon stood with his hands clasped behind his back and opened his mouth.
“However, that does not mean you can grant me special treatment in the selection of the Young Clan Head. I know that.”
“…Thank you for understanding.”
If it was revealed that even the slightest special treatment had been given to the First Young Master in the process of selecting the Young Clan Head, the other successors would not remain still.
“Moreover, I also know that being only slightly ahead of the other successors is not enough to become the Young Clan Head.”
“…I am ashamed.”
Only if there was an overwhelming gap that anyone could accept could the dissatisfied forces be minimized.
“Leave those matters to me.”
He smiled at the Chairman sitting behind the special curtain.
“So you, Chairman, should simply continue as you have until now.”