The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 42

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 42. Behind the Back
The negotiations between Baekuiyeon and Maenguidan dragged on far longer than anticipated.
It was because Yeo Jeong possessed far more information than expected, making the discussions anything but straightforward.
Somehow, Yeo Jeong seemed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Maenguidan even more deeply than Yi Hwan himself.
She had even pinpointed danger zones that Yi Hwan, the commander of Maenguidan, had not yet recognized—with remarkable precision.
Because of this, Maenguidan stood to gain very little in practical terms.
In the end, at their final scheduled meeting, Yi Hwan chose direct confrontation.
“If you mean to avoid all dangerous zones, why come here in the first place?”
“We don’t mean to avoid them—we mean not to die pointlessly.”
“But if you insist on what you’re now proposing, then Baekuiyeon will be perfectly excused from Maenguidan’s dangerous missions. Surely you understand that?”
“That’s precisely why I’ve come. There’s nothing to be done about it.”
“Then I have no choice but to report this negotiation as failed.”
“Is that so? If that’s your decision as commander, then so be it. Very well. Shall we call it there and adjourn?”
As Yeo Jeong rose wordlessly from her seat, Gong Chan, who had been listening quietly until then, finally spoke.
“We both know neither of you truly wants these talks to collapse. So let’s set aside words we don’t mean and speak plainly about what we actually want.”
At Gong Chan’s words, Yeo Jeong reluctantly settled back into her seat and spoke.
“What I want is, as I’ve already stated, that Baekuiyeon’s forces not be sent to their deaths needlessly.”
“So you’re saying you won’t allow us to assign our dispatched fighters only to dangerous missions.”
“It’s an unavoidable concern.”
Noting Yi Hwan, who had fallen silent at Yeo Jeong’s reply, Gong Chan continued.
“Yet we also cannot avoid assigning dangerous missions—I trust you understand the circumstances here.”
Yeo Jeong nodded, and Gong Chan spoke again.
“What if we stationed Baekuiyeon’s strategist at Chammeong Gak instead? That would at least allow us to judge whether Maenguidan is deliberately sending Baekuiyeon’s fighters to their deaths—or not.”
Yeo Jeong considered Gong Chan’s proposal for a moment, then nodded.
“That’s not unreasonable. However, I still cannot consent to placing Baekuiyeon’s dispatched fighters at the Jeoknyeol Unit.”
That she would refuse the post with the highest casualty rate was something he had expected all along.
“Very well. But in exchange, we have conditions of our own.”
“What would those be?”
“At the very least, we would ask that you dispatch fighters of the caliber of our Heukyak Unit. Matching numbers alone would serve no purpose.”
“You needn’t worry on that score. Baekuiyeon will dispatch fighters whose skill even your Heukyak Unit cannot dismiss lightly.”
“In that case, we can accept all of Baekuiyeon’s conditions for the remaining terms—provided, of course, that our commander approves.”
At Gong Chan’s words, all eyes turned toward Yi Hwan, who sat with his mouth clamped shut.
Under the weight of those gazes, Yi Hwan gave a reluctant nod.
“Anything further would be a waste of time. Let us proceed as discussed.”
With Yi Hwan’s consent, both sides immediately dispatched letters to the leadership of Cheolheul Maeng and Baekuiyeon.
They required final approval of the negotiated conditions.
Should the leadership of both sides raise no objections to these terms, Cheolheul Maeng and Baekuiyeon would conclude their first formal accord.
Days later, having received approval from both sides’ leadership, Yi Hwan and Yeo Jeong affixed their seals to a lengthy agreement document, establishing the first treaty between Cheolheul Maeng and Baekuiyeon.
And a fortnight after that, the fighters dispatched by Baekuiyeon arrived at the Maenguidan Garrison.
***
At breakfast, alcohol appeared on the tables once more.
The Jeoksa Unit members, understanding what it signified, reached for their cups without a word.
Watching them, the Uigi Unit instructors clicked their tongues.
In truth, for the past month, a situation had arisen among the Uigi Unit instructors—none wished to take on the role of instructor for the Jeoksa Unit.
Most Uigi Unit instructors ran and moved alongside their charges.
Otherwise, they could not monitor them.
Of course, unlike those under a Special Training Order, the instructors could use their Internal Force.
Yet even with Internal Force, they found themselves struggling to keep pace with the Jeoksa Unit, who advanced without it.
Running and climbing mountains and fields all day long, the Jeoksa Unit members exhausted the instructors who pursued them using Internal Force faster than they exhausted themselves.
To the point that instructors no longer skipped lunch.
They had to feed the unit its midday meal to buy themselves even a brief moment of respite.
Yet that time did not mean the instructors themselves ate and rested.
The instructors used that time for Energy Circulation Meditation.
Though it was only a brief Minor Circulation, without it they could not endure their rapidly depleting reserves of Internal Force.
Yet even with such efforts, by evening they typically collapsed like wrung-out rags.
For the first time in Uigi Unit history, the instructors had begun asking to reduce their training load.
Of course, it had no effect whatsoever.
Because of this, rumors had even circulated that the instructors were now eagerly awaiting the end date of the Jeoksa Unit’s Special Training Order.
Gwi Geom approached the Jeoksa Unit members.
“You’ve all endured much hardship these past days. Today being the final day, we’ll keep things simple.”
If Gwi Geom himself said it, then their final days likely wouldn’t involve whatever duties fell under the name of the Special Training Order.
Yet to Ryu, who wore an expression of disappointment at that very thing, Gwi Geom spoke.
“Please be understanding. The instructors are clamoring for it. In exchange, there will be no shortage of alcohol.”
The moment Gwi Geom finished speaking, the instructors produced ten large alcohol barrels and set them out.
At the sight of this, Ryu let out a quiet laugh, and the Jeoksa Unit members cheered at the promise of free drink.
Recognizing their consent, Gwi Geom raised his fists in a light salute.
To him, Ryu said,
“Your color has improved.”
“Haha…”
Perhaps because he understood what Ryu meant, Gwi Geom blushed and laughed with embarrassed awkwardness.
To him, Ryu spoke once more.
“The end will be cold.”
At those words, Gwi Geom hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.
“I understand.”
“Then that’s enough.”
After that, Ryu said nothing more.
He merely raised cup after cup of the alcohol the instructors had prepared.
That day marked the end of the two-month Special Training Order that had been issued to the Jeoksa Unit.
***
The Jeoksa Unit members, who departed the Uigi Unit at the hour when duties ended and returned to the Maenguidan Main Base, could sense an oddly restless atmosphere hanging over the base.
Upon spotting them, the Jeok Myeol Commander rushed forward in haste.
“You’re back?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve just returned.”
Jang Min Su officially represented the Jeoksa Unit.
He held the position of unit leader in fact as well as in name.
At Jang Min Su’s reply, the Jeok Myeol Commander smiled brightly.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“But why is the base in such disarray?”
The Jeok Myeol Commander answered Jang Min Su’s question.
“Warriors dispatched by the Baekuiyeon have just arrived. We’ve needed to do some repositioning to station them…”
The Jeok Myeol Commander’s trailing words scattered, and his smile vanished.
He had belatedly noticed Cheol Ja Ryong among the Jeoksa Unit members.
“Why are you here?”
Shocked, he abandoned his measured tone and spoke with formal bewilderment.
Cheol Ja Ryong answered him.
“Because I’m a member of the Jeoksa Unit.”
It was an irreproachable answer, but the Jeok Myeol Commander had no leisure to marvel at it.
“S-surely you weren’t at the Uigi Unit all this time while you’ve been absent from the base?”
“You keep asking obvious questions.”
At Cheol Ja Ryong’s reply, the Jeok Myeol Commander’s expression froze entirely.
It was a situation utterly unlike what Yi Hwan had claimed—that he’d likely stepped outside for air because he was growing restless.
Moreover, Yi Hwan, who had said such a thing, surely couldn’t have been ignorant that they were at the Uigi Unit.
So Yi Hwan had deceived the Jeok Myeol Commander—deceived him.
“Tch.”
The Jeok Myeol Commander ground his teeth and immediately turned toward the Uiju Residence.
Watching him stride away with a scowl, Jang Min Su muttered with concern.
“It seems he didn’t know.”
“If he had, he wouldn’t have let things rest as they were.”
At Yi Song’s words, surprise flickered across the eyes of all the Jeoksa Unit members except Ryu.
They understood what his words implied.
Given Gwi Geom’s position, he wouldn’t have concealed it, which meant the unit leader had done so—
“Why would he do that?”
At Hwang Bo Jang Seong’s question, Yi Song smiled faintly.
“Because he’s the unit leader.”
It wasn’t a perfect answer, but no one there misunderstood what lay within it.
Well, no one except one.
“What does that mean?”
Finding no answer to his own question, Dong Pil turned and followed the Jeoksa Unit members as they headed back toward their quarters, pressing further.
“What? What are you saying? Why won’t anyone tell me?”
Dong Pil’s questions stretched on as he receded into the distance.
***
Yeo Jeong’s task was to serve as an envoy of Baekuiyeon and, in place of the Cheolheul Maeng Lord, work through consultation with the Maenguidan Lord to forge an agreement.
Once she completed it, she had anticipated securing at least a somewhat stronger position, if not a complete reversal of fortune.
But the letter delivered through the Baekuiyeon warriors who arrived at the Maenguidan Garrison shattered all those hopes to pieces.
“I trust this will be an opportunity for you to demonstrate your abilities with perfect clarity.”
Yeo Jeong’s eyes trembled as she stared down at the final line of the order document, stamped with the official seal of the Baekuiyeon Lord.
She hadn’t thought it through.
That the agreement she had brokered would become a noose around her own neck.
Yeo Jeong had been appointed as the chief strategist of Baekuiyeon to be dispatched to Chammeong Gak of the Maenguidan.
She had anticipated well enough that incompetent people would not be sent to such a post.
But she had not foreseen that all manner of machinations would be deployed behind the scenes to prevent capable individuals from joining the Maenguidan.
In the end, because she had separated from Baekuiyeon and remained at the Maenguidan Garrison, powerless to intervene, the task had fallen to her.
Only after receiving the order document did Yeo Jeong deduce what had happened, and she regretted her own complacency.
Perhaps if things had been as they once were, the Cheonmyeong Gak Lord would have shielded her; but as she departed for this place, she had bid farewell to that one—and with a coldness cruel enough to cut.
It was an attitude she had deliberately chosen.
From her experience, there were no shortage of people who grew clingy if you were gentle with them, so she had been harsh.
But that decision had become her miscalculation.
If she had known it would come to this, she would never have acted that way.
As she stood there consumed by regret, Yong Hyun approached her.
“Judging from your expression, you’ve also received the same order document, Chief Strategist Yeo.”
“The same…?”
Yeo Jeong asked in confusion, and Yong Hyun produced the order document he had received.
“I am to remain here and command the warriors.”
Looking at the order document Yong Hyun held out, she could see it bore not only the command “guide the brothers of Baekuiyeon well so that there are no meaningless deaths” but also the official seal of the Baekuiyeon Lord, just like hers.
As she turned her gaze from Yong Hyun’s order document, she noticed So Yeo Un approaching with the brightest smile she had worn in recent days.
In her hand, too, was a letter.
In that moment, Yeo Jeong’s instincts flared.
“Does So also remain as my escort?”
“Yes. Fortunately, I am to remain and continue serving as your escort, Chief Strategist Yeo.”
Fortunately.
From her position of continuing to maintain ties with Jwa Ryang and Yeon, this turn of events seemed fortunate indeed.
But for Yeo Jeong—and for Yong Hyun—this was anything but fortunate.
“Sigh…”
A deep, long breath escaped from Yeo Jeong, carrying all of her disappointment and rage without remainder.

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