The Difference Between Hunting and Fishing (2)
Number Seven and I bought wine at a tavern and went out to a nearby field. Since we were going to drink anyway, she suggested we not drink in a stuffy place, so we came outside.
It was an excellent choice. Drinking wine while feeling the cool wind put me in a good mood.
To be honest, I had a slight intention.
Could I obtain some information through her?
Then what was her intention? Buying me wine just because I had bought her dumplings? There was no way. Then was she trying to dig some information out of me?
But to suspect that was difficult, because it was hard to glimpse any intention from Number Seven, who was now drinking wine beside me together with the wind.
What I felt from her was loneliness. A loneliness deeper than when I had first seen her.
I felt the desire to pull her out from among the enemies.
But I knew. Half-baked emotions could instead become poison. I had seen countless cases where people were swept up in emotions between men and women and ruined their work.
We were sitting in the same place and looking in the same direction, but we were probably seeing different things.
The first to break the silence was her.
“You went to the emergency operations room?”
“Yes. As you know well, because of the Demonic Cult’s revival this time, the alliance is in an emergency state.”
“You must be busy.”
“So busy I cannot even open my eyes or nose.”
“And yet you have time to drink like this?”
“I am human too, so I have to slack off from time to time.”
She turned her head forward. I felt her smile slightly.
The topic of the Demonic Cult’s revival came up for a moment, but soon disappeared from the conversation. Because both she and I knew. That the real Demonic Cult had not revived.
We each drank on our own. We did not particularly urge each other to drink, nor did we toast. We just drank comfortably.
When the first bottle of wine was emptied, I could tell. She had not approached me with some kind of purpose.
After drinking several cups alone, she suddenly asked,
“Are you satisfied with being a strategist?”
It was an unexpected question. I answered honestly.
“Yes, these days.”
“These days?”
“In the past, I lived without any time to think. Back then, I thought that was the best way, but after time passed, I realized it was not.”
She probably would not know the true meaning contained in those words.
“How did you overcome it?”
“Pardon?”
“You said you lived without any time to think.”
I held back my answer for a moment. I looked at the tall grasses moving with the wind, and then finally answered.
“By meeting good people.”
“I see.”
After that, she said nothing. I also did not deliberately speak to her.
Through my previous life, I learned that something called “dignity in life” existed.
It had absolutely nothing to do with money, power, or Martial Arts.
There were people who had dignity even if they were poor, and people one could not treat carelessly even if their Martial Arts were weak.
Calling it dignity makes it sound somehow grand and amazing, but that was not what I meant. If I were to give an example now, it would be this.
Right now, I am not thinking of using her, nor am I thinking of pitying her.
What she wants right now is someone who will drink with her like this. She is not seeking comfort or advice. She simply needs someone who will be with her.
Having many things I want to say but being able to endure them, controlling myself out of consideration for the other person—I think that is precisely a dignified life.
Strictly speaking, she is an enemy. Even if someone asked what kind of luxurious emotion I was showing toward an enemy, at least for today, I wanted to preserve this dignity.
Using the wind as side dishes, we drank one cup, then another, and eventually all the bottles of wine we had bought were empty.
“I should have bought a little more wine.”
When I expressed my regret, she said,
“Then we can buy more.”
It was an unexpected reaction.
“I will go buy some.”
“No. I only said it.”
As if flustered, just like when she had gone the wrong way in front of the Justice Pavilion building, she rose from her seat.
“I will be going now.”
“I hope I can see you again next time.”
She was walking away in the distance when she stopped. Without turning around, she said,
“Be careful.”
“Of what?”
“Just…… everything.”
Her slender back was warning me of the danger that would soon arrive.
I smiled and said,
“Thank you very much for worrying. Investigator, you should also be careful.”
She slowly began walking again and moved away from that place.
I looked up at a small bird flying lonely in the sky, then moved my steps in the opposite direction from her.
“Killing Gal Sa-Ryang is not difficult. The problem is the force behind Gal Sa-Ryang.”
Black Stone was trying to find out the force behind Gal Sa-Ryang.
“The reason Young Master Cheon did not kill Gal Sa-Ryang this time was probably to find the force behind him. There is definitely a tremendous expert.”
“There is someone who recently became a responsible strategist. A rookie strategist who became a responsible strategist all at once. He is suspicious.”
“It is not him. If he were an expert enough to kill Whip Elder, Young Master Cheon would have noticed.”
“I will step forward personally and find out.”
At Iron Knot’s words, Black Stone shook her head.
“No.”
“Do you not trust me?”
“If I did not trust you, you would not even be here in the first place.”
“Then why? Are you perhaps worried I might be defeated?”
“He is a monster that devours anything.”
In the end, it meant she was worried.
Unable to hide that his pride was wounded, Iron Knot spoke with a stiff expression.
“I am a hunter who catches monsters.”
“What if it is a monster that devours hunters as well?”
“I have never seen such a monster.”
“It may have been newly born.”
Black Stone trusted Iron Knot. He was clearly stronger than those who had been sacrificed earlier. There had never been a matter entrusted to him that had not been resolved.
“Then why am I so uneasy?”
The more uneasy she became, the stronger Iron Knot’s will to catch the opponent grew.
“The method to find out the force behind him is simple. If we threaten Gal Sa-Ryang, they will reveal themselves.”
“We must not kill Gal Sa-Ryang yet.”
No order to kill Gal Sa-Ryang had come down. The organization needed Gal Sa-Ryang.
“Yes. Of course. There is no need to actually kill him. If we merely pretend to kill him, something will jump out.”
Thinking that there was reason in those words, Black Stone nodded.
“Good. Let us do that. Instead, send Lone Night and prepare Secret Kill.”
Lone Night and Secret Kill were assassins. They were two of the four most famous assassins within the organization, and the other two were Ghost Phantom and Drunken Wolf, who had previously carried out an operation with Number Seven.
Ghost Phantom and Drunken Wolf mainly received White Stone’s orders, while Lone Night and Secret Kill received Black Stone’s orders.
Iron Knot revealed a disappointed expression. However, he did not dare defy Black Stone’s will. Moreover, this decision came from her consideration for him.
“I will obey the order.”
Gal Sa-Ryang and I stayed together in a small room prepared beside the emergency operations room.
Except when absolutely necessary, I did not leave Gal Sa-Ryang’s side for even a moment.
“During the day, Zuo Tie-Long came and pressured me again to make Ma Cheol-Gun the Alliance Lord.”
“What did you say?”
“I said I would think about it one more time. Then he said that soon, Ma Bong-Gi’s death would be announced to the Jianghu.”
As if there were a set schedule, those bastards were putting their plan into practice.
“What do you think of Ma Cheol-Gun becoming the Alliance Lord?”
“At first, I thought it was absurd. But judging by the current situation and public opinion in the Jianghu, it is not impossible. Ma Cheol-Gun’s popularity is piercing the sky to that extent.”
The reason those bastards were probably hurrying was that they intended to make him the Alliance Lord before that popularity faded.
“Ah, and look at this.”
I handed him one booklet. It was the formation book I had brought from the Life-and-Death Pavilion, the Ghost Gate Concealment Manual. I had already memorized all of its contents, but I had not burned it and had kept it. It was for this very moment.
“Here, take it.”
“This is!”
Gal Sa-Ryang was startled.
“I found it at the top of the Life-and-Death Pavilion in Sword Fragrance Grove last time. There was a secret space in the wall there.”
“Ah, so this was hidden in the secret space!”
Gal Sa-Ryang remembered clearly. In the past, after we won the battle and searched the Life-and-Death Pavilion, nothing had come out.
“The formation that saved me before was something you learned from this, was it not?”
“That is right.”
“But why are you giving such a precious thing to me?”
“It is a useless object to me. But to you, Strategist Gal, it will become the most precious treasure in the world.”
Gal Sa-Ryang was not a professional formation researcher, but he had extensive knowledge of formations and mechanisms. If he learned this Ghost Gate Concealment Manual, he would be able to display tremendous formation arts. Even if not, this book would be useful if he learned it and kept it.
Of course, despite that, this Ghost Gate Concealment Manual was not something one could hand over so easily to someone. Its value could naturally not be measured in money, and Gal Sa-Ryang knew better than anyone that this one booklet could call forth a storm of blood in the Jianghu.
Gal Sa-Ryang rose from his seat and cupped his fist politely.
“You value me so greatly that even if I died right now, I would have no lingering regrets.”
“You must not die right now. You may have no lingering regrets, but I would be left with a great regret.”
“Hahaha.”
At my joke, Gal Sa-Ryang laughed loudly.
“I will learn it well and make it a great help to our great undertaking.”
“Good.”
Gal Sa-Ryang carefully put away the booklet.
Seeing him happy made me feel good as well.
Gal Sa-Ryang asked me,
“But are we simply supposed to wait like this?”
Instead of answering, I asked back.
“Strategist, do you perhaps know the difference between hunting and fishing?”
“I do not enjoy either, so I do not know well.”
“The difference is simple. Hunting is when I go and catch something, and fishing is when the fish comes to me.”
“Pardon?”
For a moment, he looked blank. Then Gal Sa-Ryang smiled and said,
“I see. There was a very clear difference.”
I smiled meaningfully and said,
“They are hunting, and we are fishing.”
Lone Night split through the darkness like a bird.
His mysterious movement art, matching the deep darkness of a moonless night, placed him on the roof of the Justice Pavilion inside the Grand Martial Alliance’s inner court.
Lone Night ran over the roof. But as if he were walking on cotton, no sound came out. It was as if sound had been erased from his movements.
He seemed about to fall from the edge of the roof, but instead hooked his feet onto the roof and hung upside down like a bat.
Through the window, the scene inside the room could be seen.
Today’s target, Gal Sa-Ryang, had his back turned and was reading a book.
On the bed opposite him, one man was lying down asleep. It was probably Byeok Ri-Dan, the responsible strategist who had recently been sharing the same room with him.
His mission was simple.
Pretend to eliminate Gal Sa-Ryang and find the person protecting him. If killing him was not feasible, it was fine to confirm the other party’s identity and withdraw. For someone confident in Lightness Skill like him, it was truly an easy mission, like eating cold porridge.
Lone Night raised his body again. His upside-down body lightly returned upright, as if an invisible string had pulled him. Not the slightest sound came out.
Sending him instead of Secret Kill had been an excellent choice. Though his assassination methods could not be called the best, when it came to movement arts that moved the body, he was the finest among the four important assassins within the organization.
Moreover, as his name suggested, he was especially strong at night.
He raised his senses and examined his surroundings. But there was no one around. In other words, Gal Sa-Ryang was defenseless.
“Could the higher-ups have misunderstood something?”
That thought occurred to him. Killing Gal Sa-Ryang right now was easier than flipping over his palm.
“Will something jump out if I make a little more noise?”
Once again, Lone Night hung his body upside down as he had earlier.
Gal Sa-Ryang was still looking at his book and…… the man on the bed…… was gone!
“Huk!”
Lone Night quickly raised his body upright. It was an urgent movement, but even so, not even a small trace of presence came out.
Swish.
With an instinctive sense of danger, Lone Night turned around as fast as lightning.
Fit.
A small needle flew from Lone Night’s finger. It was the Life-Severing Needle, one of his unique hidden weapons.
Because turning around and firing the Life-Severing Needle were done as a single movement, the needle struck the chest of the opponent standing behind him accurately.
“It worked!”
It was a needle that killed the moment it hit.
But the opponent did not fall. The one grinning at him was none other than Byeok Ri-Dan, the responsible strategist who had been sleeping on the bed.
The next instant!
Byeok Ri-Dan’s two hands quickly brushed past both his cheeks.
Puwaaaak!
Craaaaack!
Lone Night’s face quickly spun backward in a full circle and returned to its place. The bones inside his twisted neck had already been shattered.
Because his neck had turned so quickly, Lone Night did not even realize that he was dying. Byeok Ri-Dan’s hands had also been so fast they could not be seen. The highest method among the Immortal Crane Secret Art had been used.
Byeok Ri-Dan lightly caught Lone Night’s corpse as it fell, its dangling head leading the way.
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After disposing of the corpse, I returned to the room without a sound, just as silently as when I had left.
Gal Sa-Ryang, who was immersed in the Ghost Gate Concealment Manual, did not know that I had left the room, nor that an assassin had died on the roof above his head.
That was because my movements had been just as stealthy as the assassin’s, and Gal Sa-Ryang had been deeply absorbed in the book.
I quietly lay down on the bed again. There was no need to disturb his studies by informing him of the appearance of a small fry.
Waiting for a big fish worthy of this precious bait, I closed my eyes again.
The fishing would continue.
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