"What are we supposed to do now?"
"..."
The people sitting around each other in the reception room on the first floor of the Orthodox Alliance's quarters looked at each other's faces.
Ak Seo-hui rubbed his face with slightly trembling hands.
"What are we going to do!"
"Hah..."
Ak Seo-hui let out a deep sigh as he looked at the blade-like gazes directed at him.
The person shouting at him now was Namgung Yeong-ryeong of the Namgung Family.
"People should know how to be prudent!"
"Ugh!"
Ak Seo-hui couldn't say anything and hung his head low. Just a few days ago, all of these people had respected him.
If you were to pick the person with the greatest presence among their cohort, even Ak Seo-hui would have to reluctantly choose Wei San-ho, but Wei San-ho had no will to get along with his other peers.
It wasn't that he lacked affability, but he wasn't the type to take the initiative and do something. That's why the center of their cohort was practically Ak Seo-hui, who could be called the second-in-command.
Until a few days ago, that is.
"There are other people you should mess with!"
'You guys, none of you said anything like that back then.'
Who could have known it would turn out like this.
Of all people, the person who got into trouble was Wei Yan-ho, and who could have known that Wei Yan-ho would be such a monster.
"I, I didn't know it would turn out like this."
When Ho Cheol-san defended Ak Seo-hui, a sharp reaction came back.
"Yes, if Hero Ho hadn't escalated the incident, it wouldn't have come to this."
Ho Cheol-san's mouth, which always moved smoothly like oiled water, clamped shut. Since he had done something wrong, he couldn't even make excuses.
Namgung Yeong-ryeong quietly opened his mouth.
"When I asked Hye-ah, she said that Wei Yan-ho is very petty and naturally gifted at tormenting people."
"..."
"The problem is that we've already made an enemy of that person."
Everyone's bodies shook.
When they got beaten up by Wei Yan-ho and went flying through the roofs of other pavilions, anger came first. Although they were overwhelmed by his power, they thought half of it was carelessness, and if they joined forces or borrowed their families' power, they could punish that arrogant brat.
But after seeing what Wei Yan-ho did at the tournament, they couldn't help but change their minds.
'He's someone who beats up Tang Jong-ui while also blowing away Tang Myeong...'
How are they supposed to deal with such a person?
If he beats up the Tang Family like dogs, the Ak Family wouldn't even catch his eye.
No, it's not just that level—if they went home and carelessly mentioned that they got into trouble with Wei Yan-ho, their family might try to remove them from the family register.
He could clearly picture his father, who would normally scold him for causing trouble, jumping up and down asking if there was nowhere else to pick a fight, so why did you have to pick a fight with Wei Yan-ho.
'No way. If I tell him, I'll get beaten to death.'
Now they couldn't hope for their families' support.
"You have to consider the time and place! What do you think this place is! Making trouble over a woman at a place where you came representing the Orthodox Alliance's honor!"
"..."
Of course, Ak Seo-hui didn't particularly do well, but shouldn't this kind of talk have been said at the time, not now?
"...It's already a past matter."
"Yes. It's a past matter. So it can't be undone either. Thanks to that, we're now like borrowed barley sacks. What are you going to do about this?"
"Ugh."
Ak Seo-hui thunk banged his head on the table.
As Wei Yan-ho was performing brilliantly and Wei San-ho was winning consecutive victories by instantly killing all his opponents, the attention of those watching the tournament was focused on the Orthodox Alliance.
But in the midst of all this, they were unable to escape their situation of being like borrowed barley sacks due to making an enemy of Wei Yan-ho.
"Blaming each other isn't a solution to the problem. For now, we need to somehow find countermeasures for this situation."
"At least your mouth is alive."
Ho Cheol-san grabbed his thigh at the sharp jab.
The ones leading this cohort were undoubtedly Ak Seo-hui and himself. Among them, the most important figure was himself rather than Ak Seo-hui.
He had moved as the head of the cohort and had the highest speaking power. Until this incident, that is.
Ho Cheol-san clenched his fist, feeling that his trustworthiness had plummeted to rock bottom with just one mistake.
'Wei Yan-ho, that bastard!'
When you think about it, it's all Wei Yan-ho's fault that he ended up like this. Wasn't it Wei Yan-ho who escalated that trivial matter into a conflict and then proceeded to blow them all away?
'They say when an unlucky person falls backwards, even their nose breaks.'
Of all times, Wei Yan-ho happened to be there, and of all people to pick a fight with, it had to be Wei Yan-ho.
"What are you going to do?"
"...First, shouldn't we clarify our objective? What exactly do we want to do."
"Don't you know? That's why I'm asking."
Namgung Yeong-ryeong said irritably.
"What are we going to do about making an enemy of the future Number One Under Heaven instead of building friendship with him? If you two hadn't just picked a fight with that person, this wouldn't have happened, would it?"
"We didn't know and didn't do it on purpose."
"Yes. Because of what you did without knowing, we're all in this state now. These days, I can't even come out of the dormitory. I'm afraid I might run into him if I go out carelessly."
"..."
There was a lot he wanted to say, but the menacing gazes fixed on him sealed his mouth.
Ho Cheol-san forcibly swallowed his sense of injustice.
Of course, he could understand anyone's desire to resent someone, but cursing at him wouldn't solve anything.
'But it's true that we really need countermeasures.'
Their relationship with the person they should least make an enemy of in this place had gone sour. If Wei Yan-ho had only been a master on Wei San-ho's level, they wouldn't be this worried.
But the people here were those who received respect wherever they went, and were descendants of influential families. They knew better than anyone how much influence a single absolute master could wield.
It's fine for now. What could happen right now? But in ten years, twenty years, having a bad relationship with Wei Yan-ho would become a huge burden for them.
Those who didn't have overwhelming status within their families immediately began worrying about being pushed out of succession.
"It seems..."
Ho Cheol-san said with a distorted face.
"We need to find a way to improve our relationship with Wei Yan-ho."
"Improve relations? After causing such a big incident?"
"But we can't just sit back and do nothing, can we? We have to grab even at straws. From what I've investigated separately, the Military Advisor's trust in Wei Yan-ho is very deep. If that's the case, it's all too obvious that Wei Yan-ho will take an important position in the Orthodox Alliance in the future. Even then, will you keep treating each other like strangers because of bad relations?"
If Cheon Gi-su had heard this, he would have jumped up and down shouting, "Where does such nonsense come from!" and if Wei Yan-ho had heard it, he would have cried out, "An important position for me! Me! What kind of talk is this, Military Advisor!" and absolutely refused—but Ho Cheol-san was saying it confidently.
"I've also heard that the Wei Family and the Military Advisor have frequent exchanges. Isn't Wei Jeong-han even close friends with the Alliance Leader?"
"That's right."
"I don't want to admit it, but the Guangdong Wei Family has now become one of the forces that move the world. This is no longer just our personal matter. For the safety of our families and the prosperity of the martial world, we need to reconsider our relationship with Young Master Wei Yan-ho."
Though it had become somewhat grandiose, no one raised objections. It was better to have some justification like this rather than just saying, "I can't sleep comfortably while having a grudge against that guy."
It was a bit embarrassing, though.
"But the problem is... there's no suitable method."
Ho Cheol-san sighed and said.
"I've done separate investigations, and Wei Yan-ho is the most difficult type to befriend. He has no particular material desires, wants nothing, is incredibly lazy, and rarely comes out of his house. His human relationships are also extremely narrow, so there's no suitable person to use as a stepping stone. In other words, he's like an impregnable fortress."
"...It would be hard to make an enemy of such a person too."
Ho Cheol-san ground his teeth looking at Namgung Yeong-ryeong, who kept inserting comments.
'She's talking as if she's not a party to this, really!'
There's always one of those types. When problems arise, instead of discussing countermeasures, they pick at everything and complain about everything, crushing people's motivation.
"So what exactly do you want to say?"
"Other methods would be difficult, but it seems there's one way."
"Oh?"
Ho Cheol-san made an interested sound while looking at Namgung Yeong-ryeong.
'Not completely useless after all.'
"What is it?"
"People with narrow human relationships who don't interact well with others tend to become obsessed with good women when they meet them. If you arrange the right opportunity..."
"Next person, please."
"Wait! I'm in the middle of talking!"
"Stories not worth listening to are just a waste of time."
"Why isn't it worth listening to? Do you think I can't handle one man?"
"...Lady Namgung."
Ho Cheol-san sighed deeply and said.
"Please think again about why this incident happened in the first place. Didn't you see Lady Jin Ye-ran who was next to Hero Wei Yan-ho at that time?"
"..."
"Wei Yan-ho is someone who doesn't show much interest even with such a person next to him. But Lady Namgung..."
"Th-there could be such a thing as taste."
"You need to be in the same league for taste to be divided."
"Are you done talking now?"
Ho Cheol-san flinched and closed his mouth. But Namgung Yeong-ryeong also just grumbled and didn't say anything more. Jin Ye-ran's beauty was too overwhelming to argue further here.
As the same woman, it was a face that didn't even inspire jealousy. It was a face that would make your soul leave just by looking at it, to the point where you didn't even feel like you were the same woman.
"Then isn't there another way?"
Ak Seo-hui quietly opened his mouth.
"But before that, don't we know too little about this person called Wei Yan-ho?"
"Didn't I say I did an investigation?"
"Those are just words you hear from others' mouths. Wouldn't it be better to hear from someone who observed him closely?"
"Hmm..."
Ho Cheol-san nodded as if it made sense.
"You're certainly right. We need a bit more information. But it's hard to find someone who observed Wei Yan-ho closely. The most reliable person would be Wei San-ho, but Wei San-ho doesn't seem like he'd cooperate with such matters."
"That's right. But there's one person."
"Huh?"
"Someone who, even if not that close, can know about Wei Yan-ho more reliably and in detail than anyone around him. Because analyzing people and turning them into information is his job."
"Ah! If it's him!"
As Ak Seo-hui and Ho Cheol-san looked at each other, Namgung Yeong-ryeong stuck out her lips.
"What are you talking about?"
The person called over in this way yawned.
Watching such behavior naturally made them lose confidence, but... what could they do? This man was proven to be better than anyone when it came to information.
"Hey, Jang-il! Are you listening to me?"
Beggar's Sect Little Beggar Jang-il looked around once and opened his mouth in a languid tone.
"So what do you want to know? About Wei Yan-ho?"