Chapter 574
“Why aren’t you properly bowing your head?”
“……”
Living in this world, one encounters countless injustices. If someone has lived their life without experiencing any particularly unfair treatment, that person must have lived a truly peaceful and happy life.
But such a peaceful life could never have been granted to a beggar.
Seok-pyeong was a beggar, and as a beggar, he had lived through quite a few hardships. For a beggar who survived on charity, receiving curses for no reason was commonplace, and sometimes he would be falsely accused of stealing things he never stole and get beaten for it.
Even Seok-pyeong, who had lived without losing his pride as a beggar amidst all those injustices, couldn’t help but feel truly wronged at this very moment.
“…Sir Small Beggar.”
“What?”
Seok-pyeong, with his head buried in the ground, protested as if he felt wronged.
“It’s certainly our fault that we didn’t recognize you, Sir Small Beggar. But how could we have known who was inside there? It was unthinkable that it would be you, Sir Small Beggar!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! This is unfair.”
The beggars murmured in agreement.
Even so, they didn’t lift their heads from the ground. Though they felt wronged, the Small Beggar’s orders were absolute.
“Unfair?”
Voices filled with grievance protested in unison, but Jang-il only picked at his ear.
“You say it’s unfair?”
“Yes!”
“What is?”
“We… we didn’t recognize you, Sir Small Beggar…”
“What if it hadn’t been me?”
“Pardon…?”
Jang-il spat on the ground with a thwack.
“What? Not paying your dues and begging here and there? Have these beggar bastards collectively eaten spoiled rice and gotten indigestion? Beggars collecting taxes from other beggars?”
That’s it.
Seok-pyeong squeezed his eyes shut.
He had thought Jang-il was angry because they hadn’t treated him properly after suddenly gathering everyone to harass people. But now Jang-il was furious about something entirely different.
And Seok-pyeong had nothing to say about that part.
“These beggar bastards have nothing better to do than extort other beggars? Is that how the branch taught you! I issue orders once a month telling beggars to help each other, but what? Taxes? Taaaxessss?”
Jang-il struck the ground thump, thump with the club in his hand.
“Anyone would think tax collectors from the government office came. Hey, you beggar bastards. Who are you to collect taxes? If you want to do that, take the civil service exam and get appointed to office. Are you crazy to be here begging and lying around?”
“That, that’s…”
Seok-pyeong made excuses in a diminishing voice.
“Luoyang is such a big city that if we don’t manage it that way, all sorts of riffraff will flock here. We didn’t start this from the beginning…”
“What?”
Jang-il’s voice dropped slightly.
At that, Seok-pyeong clamped his mouth shut like a clam. The most necessary thing for living as a beggar wasn’t the ability to beg for alms, nor the patience to endure hunger.
It was reading the situation.
A beggar without situational awareness gets beaten to death. In a world where even normal people kill for the reason of having their mood soured, if a pitiful beggar acts without awareness, people won’t hold back their beatings.
Seok-pyeong’s awareness, trained through such experiences, was now signaling that it was time to keep his mouth shut.
“Hey.”
“Yes!”
“Were you originally a Beggar’s Sect beggar? Were you born a beggar?”
“…No.”
“These idiotic things. What makes someone a beggar is having nothing. You’re a beggar because you have nothing in your hands! But you grab onto that mouse-tail of power and look down on other beggars?”
When Jang-il shouted angrily, the beggars squeezed their eyes shut.
‘Why is that guy making unnecessary comments.’
‘Don’t they know that those who make excuses get beaten more?’
Jang-il glared at the beggars with burning eyes before opening his mouth.
“Everyone, attention.”
“Yes!”
The beggars sprang to their feet.
Jang-il glared at them before speaking.
“Normally, I would not only give you beggars who looked down on fellow beggars a proper scolding, but I’d have to punish the branch leaders who failed to teach you properly!”
Everyone clamped their mouths shut like clams at Jang-il’s words.
In terms of hierarchy, there was no way that Jang-il, a Small Beggar, could dare threaten the branch leaders. But that was only the nominal hierarchy. Jang-il could directly report what he witnessed to the sect leader using his authority as Small Beggar and propose punishment.
If Jang-il started making a big deal out of this, the Luoyang Beggar’s Sect branch would be torn apart.
And then who would the branch leader take it out on?
It was obvious.
The terrified beggars clung to Jang-il.
“Please, spare us.”
“We were wrong! We won’t do it again!”
“We’ll die if you do that! The branch leader will roast us!”
Jang-il clicked his tongue and said,
“Tsk, normally there would be no room for forgiveness, but since the situation is so urgent, I’ll let it slide this time.”
Only then did sighs of relief escape.
“Instead…”
Jang-il grinned wickedly.
“You’ll have to do one thing for me.”
“…Yes?”
The beggars’ faces were filled with anxiety.
***
“Reporting.”
“Mm.”
Divine Strategist, sitting in the office temporarily set up to replace the collapsed main building, received the report with a displeased expression.
“You, if you want to finish the task I assigned you, you shouldn’t have time to come here and report, should you?”
“You don’t need to worry. I’ve entrusted it to reliable people.”
“…It’s not something ordinary people can handle.”
“I’ve entrusted it to the right person.”
“Mm, if that’s the case.”
When Jang-il spoke to that extent, Divine Strategist also seemed convinced and didn’t question further.
Actually, while Jang-il’s constant complaining somewhat damaged his credibility, his work performance wasn’t bad. By Divine Strategist’s standards, ‘not bad’ meant absolutely thorough by other people’s standards.
If such a Jang-il said he had entrusted it to the right person, it meant there was no need to worry about future progress.
“Since it’s such a sensitive matter, please pay attention to it anyway.”
“Yes. You don’t need to worry about that part. I’m not as lazy as that guy.”
“…Right.”
A strange situation was unfolding where a beggar boasted of his diligence, and the listener acknowledged those words.
“The rumors?”
“They’re spreading well.”
“Hmm.”
As Divine Strategist was about to say something, Jang-il beat him to it.
“They are tight-lipped. And no matter what comes from a beggar’s mouth, no one listens deeply, so you don’t need to worry.”
“That’s true.”
That’s why Divine Strategist assigned this task to Jang-il in the first place.
“Ugh, do we really have to go this far.”
They were currently spreading rumors about Wei Yan-ho. Post-war cleanup was important too. But Divine Strategist thought the first thing that needed to be done was spreading rumors about Wei Yan-ho.
‘We need a factor.’
No one knows how the situation will unfold from here. Perhaps we might win more easily than expected, or suffer an unthinkable crushing defeat. In a situation where we can’t see ahead, we need a beacon to hold onto people’s will.
Divine Strategist raised his head to look up at the ceiling. Looking at the cracked ceiling, Divine Strategist’s heart became gloomy.
‘That it has to be Wei Yan-ho is the martial world’s misfortune.’
He doesn’t ask for much.
Perfect superhumans don’t exist in this world. Strong enough to become the martial world’s hope and with a perfect personality too? Such people don’t exist.
Gwon-geuk was very close to that, but his power was insufficient to remain everyone’s hero.
On the other hand, Wei Yan-ho had everything.
Power sufficient to become the world’s hope, potential adequate to be an object of expectation, and…
‘Reasonably handsome.’
It’s quite an important factor. How one appears to others matters too.
“Just the personality… personality!”
People can’t be perfect.
Divine Strategist doesn’t expect perfection from Wei Yan-ho either. It’s fine if he’s reasonably rough around the edges, reasonably arrogant.
Even if Wei Yan-ho were a murderous demon who killed people like bugs, Divine Strategist was confident he could package him splendidly.
“But why does it have to be such a guy! Why!”
“Please, calm down, strategist.”
“Ugh.“
Divine Strategist shook his head vigorously.
No matter how harsh the world is, isn’t this harshness a bit too severe?
“The day has come when I have to package that guy with my own hands.”
He couldn’t release Wei Yan-ho’s rumors as they were. He had to subtract what needed subtracting and add what needed adding to make him the martial world’s perfect hope.
“It can’t be helped.”
Divine Strategist nodded.
‘Literally so.’
It couldn’t be helped. Even if it were impossible for a human, even if Wei Yan-ho were more of a scoundrel than now, Divine Strategist would have to risk his life to package Wei Yan-ho.
“We must spread them well.”
“I’ll do my best.”
People facing desperate situations tend to look for something to lean on. People who have something to hope for don’t collapse. People don’t collapse because things are hard. It’s because they have nothing to lean on. No matter how difficult it is, people with hope don’t give up.
‘And hope isn’t given.’
Hope is something you create.
Ordinary people just find hope around them, but people like Divine Strategist must create hope for others to lean on. In the last war, Gwon-geuk and a few others played that role. And now Wei Yan-ho must play that role.
“Really…”
Divine Strategist smiled slightly.
‘I say this, but aren’t I also placing my hope in that guy?’
Those who find Wei Yan-ho most detestable are those who know Wei Yan-ho moderately. Those who don’t know Wei Yan-ho well or know him too well instead rely on Wei Yan-ho.
Those who don’t know Wei Yan-ho well only see his achievements, and those who know Wei Yan-ho too well know all his many flaws but also know that Wei Yan-ho is ultimately someone who gets things done. That’s why they come to expect something. Vaguely, and desperately.
Like Divine Strategist now.
“That matter aside…”
Divine Strategist organized the situation. Now wasn’t the time to waste time with such musings.
“Yeong-jon.”
“Yes, strategist.”
“Still no contact? Those we dispatched from here?”
“No messages are flying in.”
“Hmm.”
Divine Strategist furrowed his brow.
‘Still, you say.’
It felt like having a stone placed on his chest. By now contact should have come and then some.
‘I can’t understand it.’
Gwon-geuk wasn’t someone who wouldn’t make contact like this. Even if Gwon-geuk died in an accident, he was someone who would have arranged for communication. And there were also those Divine Strategist had directly dispatched for communication purposes.
Yet none of them were making contact—did that make any sense?
‘If they sent a message, one day would be enough. But still no contact means…’
It was one of two things.
Either an accident occurred and all those carrying messages died, or something so urgent happened they couldn’t even think of sending messages. Either way, it wasn’t good news.
“Send another message.”
“But Divine strategist.”
“Just do as I ask.”
“Understood.”
Just as Yeong-jon was nodding in understanding, a loud voice came from outside.
“Strategist! A message! A message has arrived! Right now!”
Divine Strategist sprang up from his seat.
“Bring it here quickly! Quickly!”
Divine Strategist received the urgently delivered message and immediately tore it open.
And then…
Divine Strategist’s eyes trembled as if they had encountered an earthquake.
