Book 14: Chapter 7: Domain

“The banquet has only just begun!”

“Everyone, enjoy the festival!”

Since the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon had said so it became as he had spoken.

“They say they are distributing alcohol and food in front of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment...!”

“Hurry, let us go too!”

The maids of the Maid Division and the maids of the Fourth Young Master bestowed alcohol and food without saving any, and since it was just evening, the people of the Luoyang Sword Family who finished their work flocked like clouds after hearing the rumor.

“Kyaa, the alcohol tastes great...!”

“Is this the very alcohol that the Medicine Fairy named?”

“Literally, this is medicinal alcohol!”

Not only that, the chief maid of the Fourth Young Master Yeon Bi, who was usually only gentle, shouted to the maids in a ringing voice.

“Everyone gathering in this street is a guest of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment today!”

“Since the Eldest Young Master told us to enjoy the festival, nothing should be lacking!”

“This is a fight with our pride on the line! Do you understand?!”

“Yes! Chief Maid!”

As if the maids were not satisfied with just making and serving food inside Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment, they came out directly to the street and grilled, stir-fried, and fried meat on the spot, so the chatter of those making a ruckus in high spirits, and the sound of firecrackers bursting here and there as if to celebrate.

“We are short on meat! Why have the additionally ordered ingredients still not arrived?!”

“I heard they are near now! They say the back street is packed with crowds, so the servants are carrying the ingredients in person!”

“Since the Eldest Young Master is in our Sword Family, it is truly a great blessing for the family!”

At the small shrine of the Medicine Fairy set up on the street the sound of visitors lighting incense and offering prayers echoed up to the night sky, and the musicians spread their mats under the flower-shaped lanterns hung all over the street and played joyful music, so the fierce clashing of swords by excited warriors drawing their swords here and there was also a sword dance that raised everyone's spirits.

“Please, live a long and healthy life...”

“Medicine Fairy, please look after the Eldest Young Master's path ahead...”

“Right! Let's definitely settle it today...!”

“I will personally carve your epitaph myself!”

“Wonderful...!”

Those perched on railings, regardless of whether it was the second floor or the roof, could not contain their excitement and sang songs at random to any tune.

“Where the yellow water of the Yellow River flows deep~!”

“The magnificent soul of the Sword Family~!”

The rhythm did not match properly, and the lyrics were random, and it even seemed like they were shouting at the top of their lungs in drunkenness, but that was joy, and that was happiness.

“Come! Let's toast, everyone!”

“For the Eldest Young Master!”

“For him!”

All those deficiencies, the long and harsh daily lives, and the sorrowful and arduous tasks; it was a moment that comforted and made them forget them, for that was a festival.

“Clear the way!”

A voice filled with deep internal energy echoed loudly, and processions of warriors, without exception, all wearing at least one sword, made their appearance.

“It is the procession of the Main Family's War Department!”

“The warriors of the War Department came?!”

“Are they the brave War Department of the Main Family?”

With murderous eyes that seemed to slice their momentum was as chilling as a newly forged sharp blade, and since each of them was a veteran warrior tempered in real battle, the intimidation brought by the sight of the group moving as one body in ranks and files was enough to give goosebumps, but the crowd, whose spirits had risen as much as they could, were in the strange sense of stability brought by the place called the Eldest Young Master's Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment, so even the procession of ominous warriors, whom they would have avoided even making eye contact with normally, was nothing more than a wonderful sight to behold at this moment.

“Oh! Splendid!”

“Have even they come to congratulate the Eldest Young Master...?!”

“The ones standing at the very front of the procession are the generals of the Main Family's War Department—” the rumor-loving gossips could not fail to recognize the famous commanders of the War Department.

“Aren't they the Sword Family Commanders?!”

“They are the pride of the Main Family who made the northern barbarians tremble during the Northern War!”

Just like the words of the spectators who flocked to the streets and railings in the appearance of the Sword Family Commanders with their white beards fluttering in the wind, there was an atmosphere that made one hold their breath and marvel unconsciously.

“Oh...!”

“Indeed! From each and every one, one can feel their dignity!”

* * *

“…….”

“…….”

In such a festive atmosphere the ones who were rather flustered in reverse were the warriors of the War Department.

“Did we not tell you to clear the way?!”

Normally, just by raising their flags high they could monopolize the wide-open main road, but now, they were in a situation where they were becoming a spectacle instead because of the crowding onlookers.

“The Sword Family Commanders of the Main Family are passing through!”

Following the single sword of the Grand Patriarch that the Eldest Young Master had displayed at the Elders' Hall the fever generated by the duel with Elder Peng was now to an abnormal degree.

As the procession continued to be delayed like that an elderly Sword Family Commander clicked his tongue beneath his helmet.

[…At this rate, the event will be completely over.] then, like bamboo shoots after rain, telepathic messages from the Sword Family Commanders burst out from here and there.

[Won't we not even be able to see the Eldest Young Master's face?]

[That is why, fuck. Didn't I tell you to leave the troops behind in the first place?!] it felt as if tears of blood were flowing from the eyes of the turning War Department warriors.

[Damn it. Why did we have to save a face that does not even exist...] deep resentment could be felt in the voice of the vice captain warrior who shouted the command.

[What?! You guy with only one testicle...!] although emotions practically dripped from the expressions of the vice captain warriors, what could they do?

[I fathered seven children with this single testicle! If someone like me is a half-nut, is a guy like you who only had two children a eunuch?!] leaving behind the delicious smell of meat vibrating through heaven and earth, the joyful singing, and the fragrant scent of alcohol, were they to return just like that after coming all this way?!

[Hey, let's not curse! No cursing!] unlike the majestic name of Sword Family Commander and their solemn expressions since they were those who had rolled in the mud of the battlefield from their very roots, their way of speaking was extremely vulgar.

[Would you like to taste my sword first before we see the Eldest Young Master's sword?!] no.

[Fine, you bastard! I will cut off that remaining testicle of yours today!] if their telepathic messages were to leak out, the prestige of the War Department would fall to the ground.

[…Damn it!] in the end only after the Lord of the War Department, unable to hold back, flared up in anger, a vice captain warrior who understood the hand signal immediately repeated the command, and the warriors repeated the command in a loud voice and stopped on the spot in unison, matching their steps like a single body.

[Do you both want to be disgraced in front of all these people?!] the two old generals released their hands from the swords they were fiddling with.

[…Let us see each other after we return later.] at that, the relatively young Sword Family Commander immediately turned around and raised his fist.

[In all my life, I have never seen a truly scary guy among those who said 'let us see later.'] forcibly swallowing the curses that were about to burst out of his throat, the Lord of the War Department nodded to a young commander.

[Did I not tell you to stop?!] old men full of vigor were, in essence, no different from children who could not distinguish fire from water.

“…….”

“…From here on, only we shall go.”

“Loyalty!”

“Halt!”

“Halt!”

“Vice captain warriors, control the warriors and return to the War Department barracks!”

“…….”

“Entire troops, about-face!”

“From now on, we return to the main unit's barracks!”

[Guys. Is it unfair?] behind their heads, the smirking telepathic messages of the two Sword Family Commanders who were fighting while mentioning testicles were heard.

[That is why there is such a saying in the military!] veins stood out bulging on the wrinkled forehead of the Lord of the War Department, and the top of his foot flashed like lightning without leaving even a shadow.

[If it is unfair, you guys should get promoted too!] with a "Kekeke," did the two old warriors not deliberately send even the sound of their sneers loaded into the telepathic message to the War Department warriors?

“……!”

Thwack, thwack!

“Argh...!”

“Kuh...?!”

Along with the refreshing hitting sounds the Chief of Staff, shaking his head as he looked at the two Sword Family Commanders sitting down while clutching their shins, sent a telepathic message with a sigh.

[…By the way, Lord of the War Department.] and that was not the only problem.

[What is it?] the Chief of Staff drew close enough to the Lord of the War Department and asked, taking even more care so that the telepathic message would not leak.

[Is it certain that there is a way for our War Department to regain its political status within the Main Family?] after the Grand Patriarch, the father of the Eldest Young Master, collapsed, large-scale military actions of the Luoyang Sword Family could not help but decrease, and in the same context, the activities of the War Department also could not help but decrease, with the Northern War being the last.

“…….”

[Ouch, that hurts.] those who purely revered martial arts were kicked out of the core of power.

[…I thought my shin was going to split.] the two old generals, who only looked frivolous, were also members of the Elders' Hall in the past, and just like them, in the past, most of the Sword Family Commanders were elders of the Sword Family, but as the successor political struggle heated up and the Sword Family grew corrupt, it led to the result of pure commanders losing their place in the Elders' Hall.

‘…The saying that the Sword Family is of a martial-valuing spirit has also become a thing of the past now.’

[Lord of the War Department...?] when the Chief of Staff carefully spoke again to the silent Lord of the War Department, the direction was where Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment, which they were heading toward, was located.

[…Of course, I cannot be sure at this point. However,] the Lord of the War Department turned his gaze.

[For now, we have no choice but to believe Elder Yeom's words.] elder Yeom belonged to the same War Department as them, and at the same time, he was the only figure currently remaining in the Elders' Hall, so if he had been clever enough to judge whether those words were true, he would not have been kicked out of the Elders' Hall in the first place.

[Indeed, just like Elder Yeom's words.] the Chief of Staff swallowed his dry saliva.

[Does the Eldest Young Master really have a definite way to turn the situation of our War Department around?] whether what Elder Yeom had secretly said was true, he dared not be sure.

[…It is the Eldest Young Master.] for some reason, to himself, there was a strange premonition.

[Pardon?] to the Chief of Staff, who did not understand the meaning for a moment, the Lord of the War Department looked back and once again transmitted the telepathic message clearly.

[I said, the Eldest Young Master.] was it the intuition of an old general who had roamed the battlefields?

[I, I will correct myself...!] turning around, the Lord of the War Department walked with heavy steps, piercing through the gazes of the onlookers.

[Do, do not leave us behind...!] in the end, although the warriors of the War Department led by Elder Yeom did play an active role at the last minute, until the dispatch was decided from above, the War Department, to the point where its name was put to shame, was forced to just watch the situation.

[Oh, my leg...!] since the appearance of the two old generals limping and hurriedly catching up was funny, the other commanders were bursting into laughter through telepathic messages.

[Hehehe.] he grit his teeth.

[Before matching swords with the Eldest Young Master, you two should go fix your legs first!] the expression of the Lord of the War Department, who would have laughed along in the past, was rigidly stiff.

“…….”

‘…While mere pirates shelled the city of Luoyang, and unorthodox thugs created a ruckus.’

‘…We were unable to do anything.’

‘…Repeating such experiences must be cut off somehow.’

‘…It feels as if now is the only opportunity before the Luoyang Sword Family walks an irreversible path.’

‘The Eldest Young Master has a secret plan to save the War Department.’

‘…From now on, directly.’

His footsteps stopped.

‘I have no choice but to confirm it with the person himself.’

It was the main gate of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.