Cosmic Direction Auspicious Fortune
These were the words written on the flag over the fortune telling shop Songhwa opened.
Normally, it was far too much to fit, but today, he put on additional things.
Like a restaurant which has a daily menu, he added more to it.
It felt a bit too blatant, but Songhwa was firm in this. To bring in the water which comes. He thought it would be nice to keep as many customers as he could.
“Okay. Next.”
When Songhwa asked, the four people waiting there took their footwear off and came in.
There were places for people to sit. In the past, people were seated one after another, but now many could sit at the same time.
All the people who came to this place wanted to confirm whether or not Songhwa was the real deal, and he would lose time to prove it to each of them individually. So, the idea was to show it to several people at once, tie in similar stories, and deal with them at the same time.
“Ha, what did you come here for?”
Drrr.
Songhwa covered his face by opening the fan and asked,
“I came to see the coronation.”
The middle-aged man sitting on the far left spoke.
“I came to see the compatibility with this man.”
Next a man and woman appeared who seemed to be lovers.
“I am here to see what is ahead for me.”
At least the woman on the right appeared to be a young one and said that.
Shh
And as everyone told him what they wanted to find out beforehand, they carefully placed the money into the gourd.
Clack
The number of coins falling was different, and this was because according to the customers he met, the price would change.
“Let’s see…”
Songhwa moved the curtain hanging from the ceiling to keep a distance with the customers and looked at the faces of the people.
“Kuak!”
Thud!
But a problem arose. The servant guarding the door had rushed in and staggered down.
Thud!
After that came in those with clenched hands and scars on their faces, local thugs.
“Kuak!”
“Ack!”
The customers who came to see their fortunes moved over close to the wall. The two men who appeared in the room, stepped in to where the chairs were with their dirty feet.
Puak
Songhwa sighed. Any fortune teller would be surprised at this, but he was calm.
“We meet again.”
“Yes kid. We do.”
One of the two men grinned.
“The business seems to be going well, the building got renovated and I am seeing a lot of customers.”
“Well. It looks good but the interior isn’t that great. And I will head to your boss right…”
“How do I look now? I saw the people lined up front. How dare you try to avoid this?”
Tak
He knocked Songhwa’s gourd to the ground and the coins scattered around.
“Pay seems good. More than before too.”
“…You seem to have a lot to say. First then, why don’t we let the innocent customers leave and talk?”
“Kuak. Nice. As a fortune teller, you know how to read the situation.”
Shhh
As the man turned, his subordinate beckoned.
“You can leave.”
Rrrr!
Hearing his words, the four people waiting there rushed away.
Drrr!
They were scared to leave, but they still closed the door, leaving the room with only silence.
Shhh.
The man who appeared to be the captain looked around and then bent his knees to meet the eyes of Songhwa.
A face with numerous scars as if a snake had passed through it—he knew how to make good use of the hideous face.
“Didn’t I tell you before? We will protect you.”
“ I don’t remember ever saying I needed protection, but…“
“Huh, you really don’t know how business works. Are you the only one living in this place? You might not know, but what about the others? And being protected is important for those who have no background.”
The man continued.
“Such as interfering with competing stores. Taking the money and running. Or being subdued by force. It is our job to stop that mess. And that requires a price.”
“…So. You are saying this is a custom of this town?”
“Yes, the custom. Do you get it now? it should be accepted as a custom as it has happened for a long time. Don’t spoil the place.”
Clench
The man suddenly clenched his fist, and Songhwa smiled bitterly and headed to the closet close to him.
“I understand. This tax for protection… you said 10 gold each month? I will pay it.”
Clack
He picked up the gold coins in the cabinet and handed it with both hands while counting. And the expressions of the men changed.
Tak
Songhwa’s hand was pushed to the side.
“Ah. The news must have been slow… I sent my subordinate to you, he didn’t inform you of anything?”
“…Uh? What information?”
“We changed our thoughts to about half of your earnings. We settled for that.”
When Songhwa blinked he smiled.
“Why so sudden…”
“Sudden? What time are we living in? One day is enough for a place to develop? So, it is right for us to take the profit according to the time.”
“…Your words are changing. I heard that you wanted money to give us protection according to the customs here. So this is a protection tax that requires half the earnings. This is looting.”
“Looting? Ha, this bastard.”
Thud!
The man hit the wall and then took out the dagger from his pocket.
“Stop.”
The captain stopped him and spoke to Songhwa who should have been shocked.
“You don’t know then? Or are you pretending to not know? This is my land, my district. And the law too.”
“…”
“You said looting? Yes, this is looting. So? Even if I don’t rip off your neck, you should feel grateful to me. Don’t you know?”
Perhaps seeing the ten gold coins being open so easily in front of him, the thug could not hide his greed.
Songhwa silently listened and sighed.
“…I cannot do much if you come out like this. Hyung, Master, you should come out.”
“What, brat…”
Drrr
For a moment, the eyes of the thugs shook. It was because along with Songhwa’s words, two men appeared from behind.
“Oh my…”
Tuk.
Seol-Hwi slowly appeared on the left side and patted his waist.
“I was waiting for a while catching my breath. Did you have to waste so much to call me?”
Shhh.
Imugi came from the right side of the screen.
“It is childlike, but we have our own methods. And we have a cause… should we get to work right away?”
“What can we do? Aren’t there customers outside?”
“No knife. Just snap the head so that bloodstains don’t fall down. Songhwa don’t you think so too?”
“Haha… that is…”
A natural talk between the three people. On the other hand, the two people on the other side were shocked.
“Tch tch. Well, there are people who don’t know their level and do such things. And those who are confident in their skills.”
Yu Jeok, who was ranked 11th in the captains smiled.
This was his daily training.
“But kid. You picked the wrong opponent. Do you not understand why we are alive?”
Songhwa was not interested in the warning.
He just continued to have a conversation with Imugi and Seol-Hwi.
“Um. Fine. Let’s just snap the neck. But do we have to kill him? Just crippling him should be better right?”
“Euh, Master. Looking at their attitude, there are more than 20 reasons for them to die. If left alone many powerless workers will die.”
“Uh? It cannot be like that. Fine. Let’s end this fast.”
“Yep.”
“Ha… this is truly interesting.”
Shh
Yu Jeok pulled the sword from his waist.
His immediate subordinate, Kwon Ram, the 12th in ranking, was also coming close with a dagger in hand.
“Kwon Ram. You will take of that man who stinks of milk there.”
“Yes, hyung!”
Tap
Kwon Ram, holding the dagger in the opposite direction, moved right away, and Yu Jeok moved later.
But they halted.
“…!”
—because of the man who stepped ahead and made them turn their heads.
“Uh…”
“What is…”
In particular, Yu Jeok found out that he died too late.
Strangely, every side of the room was clear in his eyes and then the pain soon vanished.
Step. Step.
The dark vacant land behind the fortune telling mansion—
Seol-Hwi and Imugi threw down the bodies. They came out of the window to avoid the attention of the people.
Puak! Puak!
It was an open space moderately shaded by walls and tree trunks.
Since they thought about a case like this happening, they were keeping an eye out for it.
“Keep a close eye on things, Master. This is Yu Jeok.”
After digging up the ground, Imugi pointed to one of the corpses and said,
“The skills… no, has to be around second or first rate warriors. In addition to the shop that Songhwa is using, he is in charge of handling the shops around here for around five kilometers. Should we keep our eyes out there too?”
“Well.”
Thuk
Seol-Hwi started to change his face.
First the cheekbones and then the facial muscles, then finally, as the eyebrows and expressions changed, Imugi nodded.
“Perfect change. I don’t think I need to change my body.”
Yu Jeok. The physique of the guy whose head was snapped was skinny. Fortunately, Seol-Hwi had not recovered from his period of fasting yet, so there was no need to change the body.
“The one next to him?”
“He is Kwon Ram, and someone who acts with Yu Jeok. They have the same fighting ability, and he preferred using a dagger and going for the head. As there is the sword Yu Jeok used.”
Imugi held out the sheath.
“Um.”
Seol-Hwi accepted the sword and it was to be used when pretending to be Yu Jeok.
Imugi took out the dagger of Kwon Ram, who was now a corpse.
Puak!
The two picked up the shovels and began to slowly cover them with dirt. Since the ground was dug deeper than one foot, it took a while to cover them up.
Seol-Hwi asked while shoveling for a while.
“But… what is going on with these people?”
They heard of it, their boss being quite strong.
Puak!
Imugi moved the shovel and caught his breath.
“They run this Sleeping Dragon organization. These are the ones who divide the city and then try to dominate it with power.”
Their captain is Beom Dal. And he is known to be quite skilled.
There are a total of 100 warriors who are skilled and three who are extremely skilled.
And then there are 27 of the higher tier captains. They give the orders below. Finally, the remaining 70 of them are like front line captains.
“And they only collect taxes?”
“In general, yes, but these guys will do anything for money. I heard even smuggling kids is done for the sake of money.”
“Haa. Really.”
Seol-Hwi frowned.
A typical group that was part of the Forces of Evil. It was an organization that was going to hurt people, and it was complicated to think that such dirty work was done here.
Robbing the bad men to get money felt like something a knight would do.
“Where are you planning to go?”
“I will judge based on the situation.”
Seol-Hwi shook his head at the words of Imugi.
Originally, they planned to hide and watch things, but even if they tried to stay still, the wind wouldn’t let go.
He was wondering if things would turn out fine since they got tangled with the Forces of Evil so soon.
“Why don’t we go to the top of this? With Master’s skills….”
“That would be nice but it might be too noisy.”
Tuk
After covering the dirt evenly, Seol-Hwi asked,
“Fine. If I kill a criminal and disguise myself as one… who will you disguise as?”
“There is this guy called Jinso who guards Beom Dal. I can be him.”
The plan was simple
Kill the people and hide the bodies until they reach the ones in a high position.
And without fuss, they will reach the one at the top of the 100. It will be possible to touch them.
Of course, it would be possible with their skills.
“Age is?”
Seol-Hwi asked.
“32 and I am 30,”
Imugi said.
And so, as Yu Jeok and Kwon Ram, they moved into enemy lines.
The destination was the barracks their acting captains gathered at.