Urban Vagabond: Reload

After Choi Geon’s condition improved somewhat.

Kim Muhyuk contacted the crew members of Blue Wolves and called an emergency meeting.

“What is this all of a sudden? Today was the day I was supposed to learn spellcraft, and I rushed over after postponing it. If this turns out to be nothing....... Teacher!”

Kim Bokja, who had entered the hideout grumbling, was startled when she saw Choi Geon’s haggard face from his injuries. Then, with an expression that said the inevitable had finally happened, she glared at Kim Muhyuk.

“Was it you?”

“What are you talking about? Why would I do that to Master......? No, why are you suspecting me in the first place?”

While Kim Muhyuk protested with an aggrieved expression, the other crew members began arriving one by one.

“Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman Shin Kangheon has appeared!”

“What good job came up this time that made you call us?”

“It’s the busiest hour at the café right now.......”

Shin Kangheon, who was still insisting that he was the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman, Hwang Suksu, who entered while smacking his lips, and Han Jaechun, who was wearing an apron from < cafe Naru >, arrived as well.

“There’s something I need to tell everyone.”

Kim Muhyuk told the crew members what Choi Geon had gone through. He also honestly told them that the martial-world forces had begun watching and checking Blue Wolves.

“......Something similar may happen from now on. This time, Master was the target, but next time, we don’t know who it will be.”

Looking around at the crew members, whose expressions had gone stiff before they knew it, Kim Muhyuk continued in a serious voice.

“If anyone wants to leave Blue Wolves, say so honestly. I won’t hold you here even in a situation like this.”

“.......”

“.......”

A heavy silence hung for a moment at the words none of them had expected.

But only for a moment. The crew members began speaking one by one.

“......Are they insane? They dared touch our crew?”

“The Black Night Gang and the Nine Dragons Society? Where are those bastards right now!”

Kim Muhyuk had expected, to some degree, the reaction of Kim Bokja, whose eyes burned with ghost fire, and Shin Kangheon, who flew into a fiery rage.

“I’m staying in Blue Wolves unless you all kick me out. No, even if you do kick me out, I’ll hold on, so don’t even dream of excluding me.”

Kim Muhyuk felt grateful to Han Jaechun for saying that. He still remembered the promise to make him one of the Lone Wolves.

But the most unexpected reaction was Hwang Suksu’s.

“......What kind of sons of bitches deserve death that badly?”

A faint killing intent gathered in Hwang Suksu’s eyes. Veins bulged on the back of his tightly clenched fist.

He was barely holding back his anger to a degree that startled the crew members who knew his usually smooth, easygoing personality.

“Huh. Did you think of me that way?”

Choi Geon looked at Hwang Suksu with a flustered expression.

He had assumed the man resented him because he was always putting him through harsh training......

When Choi Geon looked at him with an expression that seemed somewhat moved, Hwang Suksu replied as though it were obvious.

“If you die, old man, who am I supposed to learn martial arts from? Act two of Hwang Suksu’s life has only just begun. I absolutely have to suck you dry down to the marrow—keheuk!”

“You really do invite a beating, don’t you? Invite it.”

After being struck on the back of the head, Hwang Suksu soon grinned and fawned on Choi Geon.

“Hehe. I’m saying I want you to live a long and healthy life. You know how I feel, right?”

At his playful words and actions, which made him impossible to hate, Choi Geon laughed.

“......Thank you, all of you. From here on, I will do the talking.”

Choi Geon rose from his seat and met everyone’s eyes one by one with gratitude in his gaze.

“First, you need not worry about the Nine Dragons Society and the Black Night Gang for a while.”

Choi Geon, who understood the nature of the unorthodox faction better than anyone, continued with a confident expression.

“The dregs of the unorthodox faction are relatively simple and easy to read. They touched me to test the waters. They wanted to confirm the level of my current skill as well. If they thought I could be handled, they would kill me on the spot. If not, they likely meant to threaten me and use me as a chess piece. However.......”

To show that threats would not work on him, Choi Geon had personally gone to them and rampaged like a mad dog.

So that the Nine Dragons Society’s society leader and the Black Night Gang boss would not touch him or the people around him, even if they had to bear a major loss.

“They will only watch the situation for a while. The problem is...... the orthodox faction.”

—But do not relax. We are likely not the only ones after you.

Choi Geon’s eyes turned fierce. Recalling the Black Night Gang boss’s words, he quietly ground his teeth.

“Especially the Eight Great Sects. It is hard to guess what schemes those陰 sneaky bastards may be plotting.”

The Eight Great Sects had played the most decisive role in expelling Choi Geon from the Martial Alliance in the past.

Even if their reputation and power seemed much weaker now, that was because the Martial Alliance currently held a powerful justification and had public opinion behind it.

The Eight Great Sects still reigned over the highest level of the Korean martial world, and if they regained justification, the political situation could change at any time.

Taking up his master’s words, Kim Muhyuk spoke to everyone.

“By now, the Eight Great Sects probably all know Master has returned. They may be combing through the Martial Alliance and searching for every trace of him.”

“.......”

That was why, after the previous night, Choi Geon had not even considered contacting the Martial Alliance first.

Because if they found some trail connected to him, it could put the Martial Alliance Leader in a difficult position.

Officially, Choi Geon had been dishonorably expelled from the Martial Alliance.

“......I should have been more careful. My heart had grown lax, and I let my guard down.”

“You don’t need to blame yourself. Right now, finding a way to respond comes first.”

Kim Muhyuk did not think this problem had happened because Choi Geon had let his guard down.

Now that the Sword Demon had come back into the world, the Eight Great Sects would have found him somehow.

Rather, one question came to mind.

‘The Five Great Unorthodox Sects already found Master’s house. Would the Eight Great Sects really have known nothing until now?’

Kim Muhyuk judged that probability to be slim.

Wouldn’t it be far more convincing to think the Eight Great Sects had known first?

“Maybe...... they were aiming to kill with someone else’s knife from the start.”

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t keep it to yourself. Explain properly!”

Kim Muhyuk explained to the crew members the hypothesis that had occurred to him.

What if one of the Eight Great Sects had leaked information to the Nine Dragons Society and the Black Night Gang, then incited them from behind?

Killing an enemy with another person’s knife was common in the martial world.

If they had targeted Choi Geon to weaken Blue Wolves’ strength, and, at the same time, damage the justification and righteous image the Martial Alliance held so they could seize the balance of power again......

“If it were me, I would have done that.”

Kim Muhyuk did not think the sect leaders of the Eight Great Sects would fail to think of something he himself had thought of.

If there was an easy way to deal with a headache, there was no reason not to use it.

After all, there were countless people among the Five Great Unorthodox Sects who had grudges against Choi Geon.

“It’s annoyingly plausible.”

“If the Eight Great Sects are behind it.......”

“If that’s true, then orthodox faction or whatever, I’m ramming through all of them!”

Everyone was furious, but Choi Geon, the person directly involved, instead opened his mouth with a calm expression.

“AZURE SKY SWORD GATE and Sun and Moon Gate. I think those two can be excluded from the list of suspects.”

He had heard that AZURE SKY SWORD GATE was a firm ally to Kim Muhyuk, and Sun and Moon Gate, which was in closed seclusion, had no reason to get involved in this matter.

Kim Muhyuk added a few words.

“It probably isn’t Transcendent Extremity Gate either. They aren’t in a position to do something like that right now.”

Shin Kangheon, who had flinched at the mention of Transcendent Extremity Gate, quietly let out a sigh of relief.

“Heh-heh. That means one of five, then. Perhaps all five of them.”

A faint killing intent seeped into Choi Geon’s smile.

His ill feelings toward the Eight Great Sects still ran deep.

“But, I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious.”

At that moment, Kim Bokja raised her hand and asked Choi Geon a question. She looked as if she did not understand something.

“Teacher, your title is kind of...... like that, but you’re from the orthodox faction anyway, aren’t you? You were active in the Martial Alliance, beating up bad guys. So why are the Eight Great Sects this desperate to tear you apart?”

At that, Choi Geon lifted one corner of his mouth.

“Heh-heh. Do you think there are no evildoers in the orthodox faction? If anything, there were many who were far more cunning than those in the unorthodox faction.”

Evildoers who committed crimes and were released with a slap on the wrist simply because they came from the Eight Great Sects.

Brazen hypocrites whose guilt was obvious, but who could not be properly punished by law because there was not enough physical evidence.

As the Martial Alliance’s Shadow Sword, Choi Geon punished them. At times, he carried out justice through his own personal judgment.

“Any evildoer who fell into my hands received fair punishment, no matter who they were. I had to show them that there was a justice more frightening than the law. It was something someone had to do, and I merely stepped forward.”

Among them had been blood relatives and friends of the Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders at the time.

“......My god.”

“What is he, Bat-Man?”

“I can see why the old man has so many grudges against him.”

While everyone clicked their tongues at Choi Geon’s heroic tales from a time when he had been even less willing to compromise than now, only Kim Muhyuk looked at his master with respect.

“Anyway, let’s assume that even though the ones who attacked Master were from the Five Great Unorthodox Sects, the Eight Great Sects were behind it.”

Since the borrowed-knife scheme had failed, there was a high possibility the Eight Great Sects would take some other action soon.

“We can’t just sit here and take it. Let’s counterattack too.”

“I’ll go back and forth to the Martial Alliance and handle contact there. I joined the White Tiger Unit because I knew this might happen!”

“Why don’t we pick a target ourselves while we’re at it? Just say the word, and I can strip anyone clean.”

“My face is still the least known in Blue Wolves, so if there’s anything you need, give me any job.”

The crew members all raised their hands without hesitation and offered various opinions.

Every one of them was sincere about protecting Choi Geon and Blue Wolves.

After Kim Muhyuk organized and summarized everyone’s opinions from the meeting, he asked Choi Geon separately.

“Master. So, have you decided which pile of shit you’re choosing?”

It was an extension of the question from the previous night, about which would be less bad if they had to join hands with either the Nine Dragons Society or the Black Night Gang.

“It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life, but...... yes. I have decided.”

Choi Geon nodded with an expression that said he found it unpleasant, but there was no helping it.

Then one name flowed from his mouth.

A few days later, just as Kim Muhyuk had expected, the Eight Great Sects made their move.

Several of the Eight Great Sects simultaneously delivered official letters to the Martial Alliance.

The content stated that Choi Geon, the Sword Demon, who had been expelled over a dishonorable incident more than twenty years ago, had been confirmed to have returned to the Martial Alliance without authorization, and that he should be made to attend a public special audit overseen by the World Martial Alliance.

“......Everyone is looking for you.”

No Gucheon, who had secretly come to see Choi Geon, spoke with an exhausted expression.

As an elder of the Martial Alliance and the Martial Alliance Leader’s trusted aide, he seemed to have been harried from all sides by pressure from the Eight Great Sects.

“At first, I denied it, but they had far too much evidence. You went around quite a lot, didn’t you?”

“Heh-heh. Are you jealous that while someone was busy to the point of death, his friend was wandering around enjoying himself?”

At Choi Geon’s nonchalant response, No Gucheon let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t even have the energy to joke. Change your face and hide like the dead for a while. The Martial Alliance Leader will soon negotiate with the Eight Great Sects. So.......”

“I will attend.”

“What?”

Choi Geon looked straight at No Gucheon with calm eyes.

“This special audit, or whatever it is. I will attend and face them.”

“Do you not understand that it is an obvious trap meant to bury you! What are you planning to do there? Dance with your sword like you did recently?”

Choi Geon stared at his friend, who was growing angry out of frustration, then opened his mouth.

“What did I do that was so wrong that I must live my whole life hiding like a rat? Do I look like an old devil in your eyes too?”

“......!”

No Gucheon was left speechless. He, too, did not think Choi Geon had done wrong.

As his friend, he was simply worried that Choi Geon would be wounded beyond repair.

After all, Choi Geon, the Sword Demon, had bought far too many grudges in order to protect his justice and convictions.

“I will say it again. I will attend.”

“......You damned bastard.”

But at those resolute eyes and that resolute tone, No Gucheon ultimately had no choice but to nod.

“Fine. I will relay that to the Martial Alliance Leader.”

No Gucheon heaved sigh after sigh. He could already see the Eight Great Sects tearing into Choi Geon.

The Martial Alliance would defend him somehow, but it was obvious the fight would be one-sidedly unfavorable.

‘Still, maybe he would listen to his disciple?’

At the thought that suddenly occurred to him, No Gucheon asked Choi Geon,

“Where is Muhyuk now? I want to talk to him.”

“I can see exactly what you are thinking. But do you still not know? That brat is even more of a madman than I am.”

“......What does that mean?”

With a smile that made the viewer uneasy, Choi Geon answered.

“By now, my disciple is probably meeting the old devil woman.”

At that moment, Kim Muhyuk was facing the Black Night Gang boss.