Who would've thought there was a variable like a civil servant getting promoted?

But why now, of all times, did he have to receive a promotion?

And not just a regular promotion either—this felt like a special elevation.

A guy who had been a low-ranking eunuch for over ten years suddenly gets a special promotion?

Just when I was thinking that something big must’ve gone wrong, Uncle Ak Bulgun—my sister-in-law’s uncle—spoke up.

“He originally served under the Office of Imperial Carriages, attending the Emperor during royal outings, but the promotion came out of nowhere. But really, is Еunuch Heo truly a man of the Five Venoms Sect?”

He repeated the question like he couldn’t believe it, and Ji-ryong nodded and gave a detailed explanation.

“Yes, sir. We extracted that information by interrogating the leader of the Blood Cult’s intelligence unit, whom we captured in the north. Also, the Blood Cult has now been absorbed into the Five Venoms Sect.”

“Their absorption doesn’t matter, since they were allies to begin with. What matters now is that such a dangerous man is near the Emperor. We need to act quickly!”

We thought the situation might get complicated, but Uncle Ak Bulgun was already gearing up enthusiastically to move fast.

Ji-ryong looked a little concerned and asked him carefully.

“If he’s become one of the Emperor’s closest aides, wouldn’t that make things more difficult?”

Since he was now a close aide to the Emperor, we couldn’t help but think there might be other variables at play—I nodded as well.

I mean, in those historical dramas, if someone’s close to the Emperor, even if they commit a crime, the Emperor just forgives them, doesn’t he?

And in this era, the Emperor sits above the legal system.

But Uncle Ak Bulgun answered with a calm expression, as if there was no need to worry.

“As long as we have solid proof, there’s no need for concern. His Majesty is a kind and wise ruler. No matter how close the man is, His Majesty won’t hesitate to punish someone so vile.”

Whoa... is the Emperor actually a good one?

The only thing I knew about the Emperor was that he was the most notorious daughter-lover in the Central Plains.

All I knew was that he’d do anything the princess said—just a complete daughter-lover—but hearing Uncle Ak Bulgun talk, he actually sounded like a capable ruler.

From what my brother said, the Ak family is fiercely loyal to the throne.

If Uncle Ak Bulgun was showing this much trust, then the Emperor must really be a wise and virtuous ruler.

Still, considering the opponent, we couldn’t just charge in like, “That bastard’s a villain!”

So Uncle Ak Bulgun asked if we had any evidence.

“Do you have any proof? No matter how wicked he is, I can’t proceed based only on your words.

His Majesty would also demand solid proof if we’re to remove one of his closest aides.”

I smiled at Uncle Ak Bulgun’s question.

Of course this So-ryong had thought that far ahead.

We were planning to take down the Five Venoms Sect’s base in the capital—how could we not be prepared?

I asked Ji-ryong to bring out what we’d prepared.

“I figured something like this might happen, so we came with something. Ji-ryong, bring it out.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, understood. Do-ryong, would you bring that person here?”

“Got it.”

A sealed letter was placed on the table, and then Gwiseong brought in a woman—missing one arm.

She was Nanhwa, the leader of the Bloodshade Unit, the Blood Cult’s intelligence group.

“This is?”

Uncle tilted his /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ head as he looked at the letter and the woman in poor condition.

I opened the letter and explained.

“This is a confirmation letter from the commander of Dongbang Pavilion in the northern capital. And this woman is the head of the Blood Cult’s intelligence division, the Bloodshade Unit.”

The reason this woman was in our hands was because I chose not to hand her over to the commander.

I handed over the others, but this one woman had detailed knowledge of the Blood Cult’s operations, so I figured she’d be useful and kept her aside.

We’d already extracted all the information she had, but we kept her just in case we needed tangible proof.

She had practiced Blood Cult martial arts—undeniable evidence she was one of them. She made for perfect evidence.

“She’s one of the Blood Cult’s leaders!?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then what’s the confirmation letter? What exactly is it confirming?”

“The letter verifies that, based on this woman’s confession, Commander Dongbang led a raid and eradicated the Blood Cult’s base in the northern capital.”

The letter came from the same commander who had joined me in purging the Blood Cult in the north.

It confirmed that this woman was indeed a leader in the Blood Cult, and that her confession led to the complete destruction of their remnants in the capital.

She was supposed to be executed in the northern capital, but because their main base was in Yeongcheon, the capital, she was handed over to me, a martial artist, instead.

At the time, the authorities and the Murim were cooperating to root out the Blood Cult, so she was entrusted to me, not sent as a prisoner.

This was more than enough proof.

We had an actual Blood Cult leader in custody, and an official confirmation letter from the northern capital’s imperial commander.

“Oho. Is that so?”

Seeing how pleased Uncle Ak Bulgun looked, it seemed even he agreed this was sufficient evidence.

He rose to his feet and spoke in a determined tone.

“If we submit a petition, word might leak. I’ll take these things myself and ask someone I trust to secretly deliver this information to His Majesty!”

Uncle Ak Bulgun held the position of Instructor in the Imperial Guards.

Kind of like a martial arts teacher for the palace guards—but he admitted his own influence was weak, so he said he’d pull some strings.

He didn’t want to send a formal petition either, in case it alerted the enemies or gave them time to disappear, so he planned to use personal connections to deliver the information discreetly to the Emperor.

“Don’t worry, the people I’ll ask are trustworthy.”

He was my sister-in-law’s uncle, after all—he’d handle this well.

Ji-ryong and I looked at each other and bowed our heads almost in unison.

“Understood, sir.”

“We’re counting on you.”

There had been a few things to worry about at first, but things seemed to be going smoothly now.

***

While Uncle Ak Bulgun carried out his part, we decided to move quickly as well.

Ji-ryong suggested we prepare just in case something went wrong—even if Uncle handled it discreetly.

“Though we asked Uncle Ak to handle it, we can’t just sit still. The essence of any strategy is to assume the worst-case scenario. We should move independently too.”

“Move independently? How?”

“I’m not saying we attack directly. But the luxurious entertainment house Sewollu, which was supposedly created by merging a high-end Five Venoms Sect restaurant and a Blood Cult brothel—we should gather intel and place it under surveillance.

Nanhwa, the Bloodshade Unit leader, didn’t provide any information about Sewollu, so we don’t know much about it.

If something goes wrong, we should at least have enough information to fall back on or respond accordingly.”

“True...”

The first thing we did was begin intelligence gathering and surveillance.

The Five Venoms Sect’s luxurious brothel: Sewollu.

We decided to gather information and keep watch over that place—the one people say is so fun, you lose track of time.

We couldn’t handle it on our own, so we sought help. The place we headed to? The Beggars’ Union.

Come to think of it, the Beggars’ Union hadn’t lost its influence, moved quietly, and—I had ties with Geolhwang.

I hadn’t really considered them because of the whole “beggar” thing, but Ji-ryong had insisted they’d be useful.

“Oh ho. So this is the young warrior So?”

“I-it’s an honor to meet you.”

Under the largest bridge in Yeongcheon.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The sun had set. We lifted a straw mat and were met with a wave of stench.

We’d already told them we were coming, so the man under the lantern flashed a gap-toothed smile.

“Haha. No need to greet a beggar so politely.”

“Well, there are still rules of Murim etiquette...”

The man was the sub-branch leader of the Beggars’ Union's Yeongcheon branch.

He continued, his face friendly.

“Just as Elder Geolhwang said. He mentioned you’d come and said you’d explain in person. So, what business brings you to the Beggars’ Union? Ah, and don’t worry about money—Geolhwang told us to treat you well.”

Who knew that offering silkworm larvae to Elder Geolhwang would pay off like this?

I explained why I had come.

“Actually, I recently captured the head of the Bloodshade Unit—the Blood Cult’s intelligence division.”

“T-the Bloodshade Unit! You captured their leader!?”

The branch leader’s eyes widened at that.

His smiling expression instantly twisted in disbelief.

And as he suddenly squirmed in shock, the smell hit even harder.

“Eugh... Yes, sir.”

“No way... A while ago, I heard a commander up north captured a deputy leader of the Bloodshade Unit. Is this related?”

“Ah, yes. I was the one who handed her over. That woman was the deputy.”

“Whaaat! That was real!? We thought that corrupt commander just used some crazy woman to take down a legit brothel. But that wasn’t it?”

Classic Beggars’ Union.

The branch leader had heard about the incident where I handed over the Blood Cult members to the Dongbang Pavilion commander.

He seemed to believe that the woman—who had lost her mind—was just a tool used to shut down a brothel, and didn’t know that we’d also captured the actual leader.

“Yes, sir.”

“Incredible. The leader of the Bloodshade Unit never moves personally. Not even twenty years ago could anyone catch her! So... did you get any info? That kind of intel must be priceless... Ah, but since she was from the intelligence division, I suppose she bit her tongue and died? That’s a shame...”

He assumed Nanhwa must have committed suicide, but clearly he didn’t know how soft she really was.

No, more like—when it came to torture and interrogation, she was hopeless.

The moment a centipede crawled into her nostril, she started bawling like a baby and confessed everything.

She was so cooperative it felt suspicious, so I even poisoned her with Cheongyu’s venom and hypnotized her for cross-verification—still, she confessed everything with ridiculous honesty.

“No, she didn’t kill herself. And yes, we got the intel.”

His eyes went wide again, then he grabbed my hand in amazement.

“Oho! Elder Geolhwang said you’d do great things, and now I believe it... Truly impressive!”

His excitement made his body heat rise—and so did the stench.

I subtly pulled my hand away from his foul, grime-blackened fingers and got to the point.

“...So that’s why I came. I heard the Blood Cult and the Five Venoms Sect have their biggest base here in Yeongcheon. I was hoping you could help us monitor it.”

“Their main base in the Central Plains!? Help? Of course we’ll help! This is for the Murim! So, where is it?”

“A brothel called Sewollu.”

“Sewollu is the Five Venoms’ base!?”

I didn’t reveal everything at once.

Just the information related to Yeongcheon for now.

With the Five Venoms and Blood Cult having spread everywhere, the more that leaked, the harder it’d be to carry out covert ops.

“Then we’ll investigate who goes in and out of Sewollu, and who those people are. Anything else?”

“We’ll talk more once this job is done.”

“Mm. Understood.”

After recruiting the Beggars’ Union, we headed back.

The port gate was in a commotion. As we approached, we saw the reason—our ship.

It was surrounded by soldiers.

Not the regular guards we were used to seeing, either. These ones wore golden uniforms and armor.

What’s with all the pomp?

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s check it out, So-ryong.”

It was just me and Hwa-eun returning, and right as we arrived, we saw Nanhwa being dragged off the ship.

“What in the world is going on here?”

I asked why the soldiers were swarming the ship and dragging Nanhwa away. My sister-in-law, tearfully, hurried over and cried out.

“Sir So! Uncle’s been imprisoned!”

“What!?”

Wait, wasn’t he supposed to serve a wise and just Emperor...?

Her uncle had said the Emperor was a benevolent sage, but him getting locked up didn’t really fit that image.

As Hwa-eun and I stood stunned, the officer in golden garb stepped forward.

“I am Meng Cheong-un, Commander of the Imperial Guard’s Jinmusa. Are you the owner of this ship, and the one who captured this woman from the Blood Cult?”

Imperial Guard!?

At the mention of the Imperial Guard, my hair stood on end.

When we learned about the common knowledge of the Central Plains, Hwa-eun had explained that the Imperial Guard was the Emperor’s personal secret police.

They were the ones who carried out the Emperor’s dirty work.

“Uh, yes... I mean, I did...”

“Come with us. There are things we need to hear from you.”

“Wait, what—?”

As the guards grabbed me by the arms and began hauling me off, I heard my children’s angry voices flood my mind.

『-Tssssrr! (Dad! Who are these people!? Why are they taking you!?)

-Tsss! (Are they bad people?? Should we bite!? Should we bite them, sister?)

-Grrr... (Shall we destroy them all!?)

-BEEP! (Baaap!?)

-Kyuu! (What’s happening, Father?)

-Shiaa! (Shall I summon the serpents?)』

W-wait! Calm down, kids!

Guys, it’s not like that. Calm down, please.』

Below deck, Cheongwol’s chamber trembled.

From the crew quarters, the doors began rattling—probably because the kids had seen me getting taken away through the cracks.

If they burst out, this whole ship would turn into a crime scene. And I’d be branded a traitor for sure.

Hwa-eun yelled toward the Dragon Fangs.

“Hold the doors!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

“Guh... H-hold them! Kids, please calm down!”

Hwa-eun ran over to pin down Cheongwol’s chamber, and my older brother and the Dragon Fangs braced themselves at the door as it began to shudder.

Then, in the middle of all the chaos, I heard a quiet voice directly in my ear.

It was Meng Cheong-un’s whisper.

[Don’t worry. I won’t treat you poorly. Just come with me for now.]

...Huh?

His voice was strangely warm and familiar.