The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 40

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 40. The Difference Between Concealment and Deception
He was startled.
At how close another’s voice had come, and from behind no less.
In his alarm, Yong Hyeon spun around, his hand already gripping the sword hilt with fierce intensity.
When he turned, Gwi Geom stood there.
“What?”
“Don’t go. If you do, you’ll die.”
At those words, Gwi Geom spoke flatly to Yong Hyeon, whose grip tightened on the hilt.
“Draw it, and you’ll die just the same.”
At any other time, Yong Hyeon would not have been cowed by such talk.
But…….
He could not draw his blade.
An inexplicable dread had seized his entire body.
The certainty that if he truly drew his sword here, he would die exactly as Gwi Geom said…….
Watching Yong Hyeon grow rigid with that knowledge, Gwi Geom spoke softly.
“Not for your sake. I simply wish his surroundings to remain undisturbed.”
Gwi Geom’s intention became clear.
He had come not for Yong Hyeon, but for Dam In.
Though even that did not sit well with him, Yong Hyeon still could not draw his blade.
Gwi Geom regarded him quietly a moment longer, then turned and vanished.
Not by walking away.
The moment he turned, he simply ceased to be—as though he had never stood there at all.
Only then did Yong Hyeon recognize that the dread suffusing his entire being had emanated from Gwi Geom’s presence itself, and he found himself exhaling without meaning to.
“Haah…….”
Startled that the sigh had come from relief, Yong Hyeon—now freshly unnerved by the cold sweat trickling down his nape—stared toward the place where Gwi Geom had stood.
The mere afterimage of Gwi Geom, faint as it was, had frozen him in place.
And so his feet remained rooted there.
Ten paces or so from Dam In’s quarters.
***
Dam In, head of Haengsagak, watched Gi Hoon approach with a ghastly pale face and asked in an anxious voice.
“What is it now?”
“A Resignation Letter here…….”
What was offered with those words was a Resignation Letter from a guard of Ui Geom-dae.
One who had been employed for barely more than ten days—still in provisional status, not yet formally hired.
“Why? Why?”
At Dam In’s increasingly anxious tone, Gi Hoon pressed forward another document.
“A Formal Calling Card, sir.”
“From whom…….”
Dam In’s voice trailed away mid-sentence.
For the face of the Formal Calling Card bore the name ‘Baek-ui-ryeon’ in unmistakable characters.
The ashen face of Gi Hoon, coupled with the Resignation Letter and Formal Calling Card held forth, drained the color from Dam In’s features as thoroughly.
“No… surely not?”
“I… I beg your pardon.”
At Gi Hoon’s deep bow of apology, Dam In’s eyes squeezed shut.
In his mind, a single word echoed endlessly.
‘I’ve been played.’
But he could not simply remain as he was.
Not when a Formal Calling Card from Baek-ui-ryeon had just arrived.
Dam In’s eyes snapped open, and he snatched up the Resignation Letter and Formal Calling Card, bolting from Haengsagak.
His destination was Ui-ju-cheo.
Once inside, Dam In found Yi Hwan in conversation with Gong Chan.
“Fortunate that you’re here as well, Advisor. Lord Chief, this has arrived.”
What he presented to Yi Hwan was a Formal Calling Card from Baek-ui-ryeon’s emissary, requesting an audience.
Yi Hwan accepted it, his expression unreadable, and asked calmly.
“This was scheduled to happen regardless. Did you truly rush here in such alarm merely for this?”
“The thing is…….”
Dam In hesitated, then produced the additional Resignation Letter. Yi Hwan received it, read through its contents slowly, then set it aside and looked again at the Formal Calling Card he had placed to one side.
“There appears to be a connection.”
“Yes. My apologies.”
At Dam In’s apology, Yi Hwan simply offered a slight smile.
“It doesn’t seem like something the captain should apologize for. There was no breach in procedure.”
“Still…….”
From the exchange between the two, Gong Chan had picked up on the general situation and opened his mouth quietly.
“So it was them after all, it seems.”
“…….”
Yi Hwan nodded silently at Gong Chan’s words.
Dam In, watching the two of them, asked with a startled expression.
“Surely… you weren’t suspecting them?”
“Not suspecting, exactly……. I merely thought there might be a possibility.”
At Gong Chan’s answer, Dam In spoke with visibly surprised expression.
“Isn’t that exactly suspicion? How could you not have given me even a hint?”
To Dam In’s question, tinged with resentment, Gong Chan offered that enigmatic smile of his.
“I didn’t wish to burden the captain, already occupied as he is, with uncertain matters.”
His words claimed consideration as the motive, but they rang hollow.
To Dam In, whose feelings showed plainly on his face, Yi Hwan posed a question.
“Where are they now?”
“If the calling card is accurate, they should be on their way here. There’s less than an hour before the appointed time.”
Sending the calling card with such haste, leaving no margin, was itself a breach of propriety.
Though truly, disguising oneself as an envoy while skulking about like a spy had already broken propriety far more than enough.
Perhaps for that reason, Dam In’s voice as he delivered his response was cold and clipped.
That unusual tone alone revealed how angry he was.
But neither Yi Hwan nor Gong Chan said anything about it.
They too bore some blame for the sense of betrayal Dam In was experiencing.
They had concealed the truth knowing full well this was coming—truly, as Gong Chan said, only because they lacked certainty.
And there was another reason: had they informed Dam In in such circumstances, his pathological aversion to ambiguity would never have allowed him to simply sit with the question unanswered.
A man who pursued perfection as Dam In did would have moved heaven and earth to uncover the truth—and that could easily have created friction with the Baek-ui-ryeon.
From the Maeng-ui-dan’s perspective, with the Baek-ui-ryeon’s participation so desperately needed, that was something to avoid at all costs.
That was why Yi Hwan and Gong Chan had no choice but to keep it from him.
Of course, they could not tell Dam In the truth of the matter.
Whatever their intent, it would still amount to saying they didn’t trust him.
And so Yi Hwan and Gong Chan could only regard Dam In, unable to hide his anger amid his sense of betrayal, with expressions of regret.
After that uncomfortable silence had lingered for a moment, the arrival of the Baek-ui-ryeon envoy was reported, as Dam In had expected.
At Yi Hwan’s command to “show them in,” the door opened, and Yeo Jeong and Yong Hyeon, appearing as women, entered, along with So Yeo Un.
Observing the three of them, Yi Hwan raised his cupped fist in salute.
“Yi Hwan, leader of the Maeng-ui-dan, welcomes the friends of the Baek-ui-ryeon.”
It was Yeo Jeong, standing foremost among the party, who responded with a slight bow.
“We are grateful for the welcome. I am Yeo Jeong, Deputy Chief of the Cheonmyeong-gak, serving as envoy for the Baek-ui-ryeon.”
At the introduction, surprise flickered across Yi Hwan’s face.
The Cheonmyeong-gak was where the Baek-ui-ryeon’s foremost minds gathered. A deputy chief from such a place outranked the leader of the Maeng-ui-dan.
It was as if the Deputy Commander of the Iron Warrior’s Hall had come calling on the Cheol-hyeol-maeng.
“A person of higher standing than expected has come.”
At Yi Hwan’s words, Yeo Jeong smiled lightly.
“It must mean that the Baek-ui-ryeon is taking this matter very seriously.”
“Good. That degree of seriousness suggests the Baek-ui-ryeon means it this time.”
It was a reference to years of the organization appearing to commit, only to withdraw at each turn.
Though a mild censure, Yeo Jeong did not lose her smile.
“Then let’s set aside the criticism and put our heads together to produce a good outcome.”
Recognizing he could not win through words alone, Yi Hwan withdrew a step with a wry smile and introduced the others.
“This is Gong Chan, who oversees the Chamnyeong-gak of the Maeng-ui-dan.”
“Gong Chan. A pleasure.”
To Gong Chan’s light salute, Yeo Jeong replied with a bow instead.
That her response was a bow rather than a salute was no deficiency, given that she was a woman.
Yi Hwan’s introduction of Yeo Jeong continued.
“This is Captain Dam In, who oversees the Haengsagak of the Maeng-ui-dan.”
“I am Dam In. I’m pleased to meet you, though the manner of our meeting is rather…….”
At Dam In’s ill-concealed hurt, Yi Hwan smiled wryly and offered explanation.
“The Haengsagak has found itself in a delicate circumstance……. I trust you understand.”
At Yi Hwan’s words, Yeo Jeong smiled.
“I understand fully. On our side, allow me to introduce…….”
Before Yeo Jeong could finish her introduction, Yong Hyeon stepped forward and raised his cupped fist in salute.
“I am Yong Hyeon, Vice-Director of the Ui Geom-dae.”
Yi Hwan returned a fist salute, his expression composed, yet his eyes gleamed with something unspoken.
He had sensed trouble stirring within the Maeng-ui-dan itself.
Yeo Jeong, who had been watching the Maeng-ui-dan members with momentary bewilderment, quickly steadied herself and introduced So Yeo Un.
“She is a guard who watches over my safety.”
“I am So Yeo Un.”
“We welcome your visit.”
With Yi Hwan’s concluding salute, both parties completed their greetings and took seats across from one another at the table.
Now began a long and tedious negotiation.
The eyes of those facing each other moved busily, each taking the measure of the other.
***
Dam In returned to Haengsagak, drained from the first conference with the Baek-ui-ryeon envoys that had begun almost without his notice, only to find familiar faces waiting for him.
“What brings you here?”
In the past it might have been different, but now that he knew the other’s station, he could not treat them casually.
Perhaps sensing this, Hwangbo Jang Seong spoke to Dam In, who had adopted a more formal tone.
“We have come with a request.”
Though he called it a request, given Hwangbo Jang Seong’s position, it amounted to a demand he could not refuse.
“Please, speak freely.”
“Send us to the Ui Geom-dae.”
For a moment Dam In thought he had misheard.
“Send you where?”
“To the Ui Geom-dae.”
Hearing Hwangbo Jang Seong repeat himself, Dam In confirmed he had not misunderstood, and his expression turned incredulous.
“You understand what the Ui Geom-dae is, do you not?”
“I do.”
“And still you would go there?”
“I hear the Jeok-sa-jo is stationed there.”
“And?”
“I too am a member of the Jeok-sa-jo.”
At Hwangbo Jang Seong’s answer, a sigh escaped Dam In’s lips.
“Hah……”
He had guessed well enough why they had come and were now insisting.
Righteousness.
Dam In recalled the word that warriors wielded as though their lives depended upon it, and shook his head.
“No Order of Righteousness has been issued to the Great Master or those above him.”
“That is an unjust decision. An Order of Righteousness was issued to the Jeok-sa-jo, yet we were excluded—I simply cannot accept it.”
Under different circumstances, he might have argued back, but he had no strength for it now.
Part of it was that he had been drained after spending time in fruitless wrangling with the Baek-ui-ryeon envoys, but more than that, the emotional blow he had suffered earlier was no small thing.
Perhaps for this reason, Dam In did not wish to argue further with them over a decision that was not his to make, draining himself further still.
“If that is your reason, I fear you have come to the wrong person. The power to decide upon the Order of Righteousness does not rest with me, but with the Chief.”
“Then……?”
To Hwangbo Jang Seong, who looked at him with the question hanging in his eyes, Dam In nodded.
“That is correct. You must go to the Ui-ju-cheo.”
Hwangbo Jang Seong and the others hesitated at Dam In’s answer.
No matter how prominent they were as direct bloodlines of major martial schools, the Chief of the Maeng-ui-dan was not an easy person to approach.
But if there were no other way……
In the end, after exchanging glances, they left Haengsagak.
Watching their departure, Gi Hoon cautiously asked Dam In.
“Will you be all right?”
Reminded by Gi Hoon of the troublesome matter he had brought upon his superior, Dam In let loose an irritable retort.
“Does the Chief Archivist have so little work to do that he sits about listening to such things!”
At Dam In’s rebuke, Gi Hoon’s face grew crestfallen, and he hurriedly buried his head in documents.
In Dam In’s gaze, which followed Gi Hoon with displeasure, a faint trace of regret flickered.
He had lashed out, but he too was worried.
“Hah……. Damn it all.”
All of Dam In’s troubled thoughts were packed into that single sigh.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————