Volume 1, Chapter 6
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Until my Master established the Sincerity Gate in Ansang Prefecture.
Ansang Prefecture was dominated by four martial sects.
The Oso Gate, the Jangheon Clan, the Way of the Clouds Sect, and the Chagon Gang.
These were the four sects.
Being sects that held sway over a small, rural prefecture, the lines between righteous, unorthodox, and demonic were blurred.
They were moderately corrupt, moderately just, and moderately vile.
When the Sincerity Gate was established in Ansang Prefecture, these four martial sects proposed a meeting of the five sects to my Master, Yu Hyeonjun.
The idea was to gather at each sect in turn, once per season, to foster harmony.
Coexistence, peace, order.
At least, the stated purpose was a good one.
However, the stated purpose was not the whole truth.
From the perspective of the four sects that had long dominated Ansang Prefecture, the Sincerity Gate and Yu Hyeonjun were inevitably an uncomfortable presence.
But to strike at Yu Hyeonjun and the Sincerity Gate, they—who had endured for generations—had too much to lose.
Having much, in other words, meant having just as much to lose.
Rather than risk losing what they had through needless conflict, they chose harmony and containment through the Meeting.
It was an ulterior motive one could discern with a little thought.
And Yu Hyeonjun had gladly accepted their proposal.
Four times a year, once a season, the Meeting was held.
‘A Meeting… How long has it been since I've heard that word?’
But that, too, was a long time ago.
At least, it was for Ihoe, who had already experienced one lifetime.
‘After Master passed away, there were no more Meetings.’
That was how it had been in Ihoe's previous life.
What they had feared was the master martial artist, Yu Hyeonjun.
With Yu Hyeonjun gone, the Sincerity Gate was no longer an entity to be wary of or feared. It was not even an equal.
The Meeting had been born of necessity; without Yu Hyeonjun, it was meaningless.
And so, in his past life, the Sincerity Gate was excluded from the Meeting after the Master's death.
The Meeting of five sects became a meeting of four, with the Sincerity Gate excluded.
The true decline of the Sincerity Gate began then.
Financial difficulties became apparent, and the merchants under its protection left one by one. For various reasons, they had to sell the tenant farmlands they owned.
However, the meeting of the four martial sects, held without the Sincerity Gate, did not last long either.
The balance that had been maintained by the five sects, including the Sincerity Gate, had crumbled in the absence of his Master, Yu Hyeonjun.
In the midst of that shattered balance, the one to rise was the Chagon Gang.
The Chagon Gang, which seized most of what the Sincerity Gate had possessed and the influence it had wielded, rapidly expanded its power, causing the other three sects to fall or be absorbed.
That was the memory of Ihoe, who had already lived one life.
Thus, the Meeting felt unfamiliar.
And not particularly welcome.
The Chagon Gang, in particular, was a group he was loath to face.
Having had to lead the Sincerity Gate after the roof that was Yu Hyeonjun had vanished, Ihoe had suffered the most at the hands of the Chagon Gang.
Even without that, the Chagon Gang and Ihoe—no, the Sincerity Gate—already had a history of ill fate.
It must have been around this time.
In his past life, Ihoe had failed to save Hohyeon.
The Meeting was postponed due to Hohyeon's death.
The problem occurred at that postponed Meeting.
The beginning of a long-held guilt.
Hollow eyes that held a mix of hope and worry, anxiety and resignation.
“Haa… Dammit.”
Ihoe let out a deep sigh.
The incident that followed Hohyeon's death was a lifelong regret, a source of guilt. And of powerlessness.
It was a memory he didn't want to recall.
That was another reason he didn't want the Meeting to happen.
But it couldn't be helped.
It was a decision between sects.
It was also something that had been going on for several years.
Ihoe alone couldn't stop the Meeting just by opposing it.
Besides, nothing had happened yet.
There was no need to worry in advance.
Things are different now from how they were in his past life.
Much has already changed.
This time, he had saved Hohyeon, whom he couldn't save back then. That alone was a significant change.
So it was hard to say that the same events from his past life would unfold unconditionally.
“Dammit. Right. What could possibly happen?”
Ihoe tried to think positively, forcibly shaking off the unpleasant old memories.
There was nothing he could do, after all.
So he had no choice but to be positive.
“...Damn it all.”
Of course, no matter how hard he tried, his heart showed no sign of turning positive.
“Don't tell me...!”
He was anxious.
* * *
Preparations for the Meeting were carried out faithfully.
They paid a generous sum to the inn under the Sincerity Gate's protection and borrowed its staff.
Cooks and waiters.
That wasn't all.
They also hired available workers from the vicinity for the day, paying them a wage.
These preparations proceeded swiftly, made especially easy by the winter season.
And the more-than-generous wages offered for a single day's work made it all possible.
In a way, the preparations were excessive.
But his Master, Yu Hyeonjun, spent money without reservation.
Even Ihoe, who was effectively in charge of the sect's finances at the time, said nothing about this.
Even with all five sects gathered, the total number of people would barely exceed a hundred.
The cost of the preparations was certainly excessive in comparison, yet the reason he said nothing about his Master's spending was not simply for the sect's prestige or a desire to show off.
It was because he knew the reason.
In his past life, after more time had passed than in the present, he had once asked.
In Ihoe's eyes, his Master did not seem the type to enjoy such meetings.
To put it nicely, he had a quiet and calm personality; to put it badly, he wasn't very sociable. That kind of person.
Yet he never missed a Meeting, which was puzzling.
What's more, he never spared any expense on them, which made it even more curious.
So he had asked.
At that time, his Master had smiled and replied.
—Isn't it a good thing? Like it or not, through these Meetings, each sect has to spend the money they've hoarded, and that money flows to the people of Ansang Prefecture. Besides, it's a kind of festival, so shouldn't the poor, the vagrants, and those weary from their daily work be able to enjoy themselves for at least a day?
Hearing his Master's smiling reply, Ihoe finally understood why he had accepted a Meeting that so little suited his personality, and why he never missed one.
And so, he said nothing.
Whether it was excessive spending or not, his Master's intentions were good. Ihoe respected those intentions.
The preparations for the Meeting were complete.
Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
And so, the day of the Meeting dawned.
He had to wake at dawn to sweep the courtyard and greet the workers before the other four sects arrived.
But that was the extent of it.
After that, there was nothing for Ihoe to do.
The workers, having experienced the Meeting several times already, knew what needed to be done without being told and set about their tasks.
The smell of grilling meat, the savory scent of oil, and the aroma of delicious food filled the air.
It was already a festive atmosphere, fit for the Meeting.
It was a world away from the usual state of the Sincerity Gate, where only young junior disciples and a quiet Master resided.
It wasn't bad.
People's faces were bright, and the junior disciples looked flushed with excitement at the rare sight of the bustling Sincerity Gate.
"Eldest Brother! There are so many people!"
Chaehwa grabbed the hem of Ihoe's clothes and beamed.
Her plump, baby-fat cheeks were flushed a rosy pink.
"I love it! So much!"
She looked thrilled.
"I'm Hohyeon! I live with Master, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and Third Sister. And! I fell in the river over there, but Eldest Brother went *poof* and saved me. The water went whoosh, like this...!"
The fourth-born darted about, chattering away and telling stories.
They were nothing but rambling tales, but Hohyeon was a small, round child.
He possessed the ultimate weapon: cuteness.
The sight of Hohyeon, arms spread wide as he spoke with such passion, was in itself the most adorable performance.
"Oh my! Our little warrior was almost in big trouble! So? What happened then?"
Having instantly captured the attention of the working women, Hohyeon seemed to be in high spirits.
The second-born, Dan Goyul, also looked pleased.
"My, how can such a young warrior be so dignified?"
"Hah! I wish my own son were this composed."
Dan Goyul had a mature charm.
One might even say he had a dignified air about him, despite his young age.
Perhaps for that reason, he was popular with the men. In particular, those with sons of a similar age were falling for Dan Goyul's dignified appeal.
‘He’s smiling.’
Though he was pretending not to notice, the child was still a child.
Ihoe could clearly see his cheeks twitching with a suppressed smile at the adults' praise.
Cute.
The bustling Sincerity Gate.
And the junior disciples enjoy the adults' attention.
It was a pleasant sight to behold.
Chaehwa, who was very shy, stuck close to Ihoe's side, but she too said she liked the lively atmosphere of the Sincerity Gate.
Every so often, when the women would pass by and call Chaehwa pretty or cute, her cheeks would turn pink, unable to hide her bashfulness.
A smile escaped his lips.
At the same time, his heart ached.
Though their reasons differed, these were children who had been separated from their families to enter the Sincerity Gate.
They were starved for attention and affection.
No matter how much Ihoe cared for them, there were some things he simply couldn't provide.
He unconsciously stroked Chaehwa's head.
"...Hm?"
Chaehwa looked up at him.
"No, it's nothing."
Ihoe smiled.
He shook off the fleeting sentiment.
Still, today was a good day.
It had been a long time since the Sincerity Gate was this bustling.
The faces of the people inside the sect were full of smiles. The junior disciples were happy, too.
It was a good start.
He hoped the rest of the day would continue just like this, without incident.
Just then.
"They're here!"
One of the workers who had been cleaning the road outside the gate shouted.
The bustling atmosphere inside the gate fell silent for a moment.
"Let us go and greet them."
His Master, who had appeared at some point, placed a hand on Ihoe's shoulder.
The other junior disciples, who had been scattered about, gathered around.
With their Master, Yu Hyeonjun, in the lead, Ihoe and his junior siblings took their places before the main gate.
Just as they finished preparing to receive their guests.
The closed main gate swung open.
"Gahahaha! We arrived earlier than planned. It's this impatient nature of mine that's the problem. It's been a while, Sect Leader Yu!"
A booming voice echoed through the open gate.
‘Of all people...!’
At the same moment, Ihoe, standing behind Yu Hyeonjun, secretly scowled.
A man strode through the main gate.
With a great axe at his waist, the man appeared to be in the years between middle and old age.
His beard was unkempt, a stark contrast to the martial uniform made of silk with ornate embroidery. The eyes hidden beneath his snake-like slits of eyelids held a sharp glint.
‘Chagongbang.’
Ihoe knew who he was.
"Welcome, Clan Lord Cha."
As his Master, Yu Hyeonjun, had said, he was the current Clan Lord of Chagongbang.
Gwak Sahu, the Rending Wolf Saber.
A man who, despite his seemingly hearty appearance, was full of ostentation and greed. A man cunning enough to hide that greed and ostentation.
Ihoe had already experienced this to the bone in his past life.
He was not welcome at all.
But there was someone even less welcome than him.
"Gahahaha! I've brought my son with me today. This boy will lead our house after I retire, so he ought to broaden his horizons at times like these. What are you doing! Hurry up and greet him!"
Gwak Sahu laughed as he pushed his son, who had been following behind him, to the front.
He was the same age as Ihoe, but his frame was a full head taller.
"It is an honor to meet you."
*Grind!*
At the sound of his deceptively polite voice, Ihoe clenched his jaw.
In his past life, after his Master Yu Hyeonjun passed away, Gwak Sahu had mercilessly trampled upon the Sincerity Gate.
And Ihoe, who had to take responsibility for the Sincerity Gate in his Master's stead, had to endure that cruelty more harshly than anyone.
However, there was another man, even more harsh and vicious than him.
It was an ill-fated bond. An old and bitter one.
The very person who had instilled in Ihoe a long and deep sense of guilt for so long.
"I am Gwak Cheol-u, Young Lord of Chagongbang."
Young Lord of Chagongbang, Gwak Cheol-u.
He was participating in this Meeting.
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