The sharp tension from a moment ago was gone. The two of them were seated at the table again, smiling as they drank tea.
With the age gap between them, they might as well have been father and son, and yet the atmosphere made them look like old friends who had known each other for years.
"How on earth did you know? I was pretty confident in my acting."
"Honestly, I was surprised too. If I'd been careless, I might've been fooled."
Especially in that current when their swords had clashed, I really had almost been taken in.
"But when I thought about it again, only two things came to mind. Two reasons that told me what you said to me was a lie."
"Two reasons? What are they?"
"First, bring me some more persimmons. These are good."
"Honestly... you're still a child when it comes to things like this."
"I am a child. What are you all thinking?"
"No matter how I look at you, you seem like an old soul."
"Forget that. The persimmons."
"Haa... fine, here. Take them."
Would it kill him to hand them over without making a fuss? The conversation wouldn't keep stalling like this.
"First, there's no way you can join hands with the Black Cloud Society."
This came from my knowledge of the original story. The Black Cloud Society didn't exist in the original, but Wei Yenwu, the Rat King, and Emperor, whom I still hadn't met. Those three kept the underworld and the legitimate side of Lungmen in a tense balance.
"Why? How can you be so sure?"
"First, because the Black Cloud Society is a rising organization. Lungmen's underworld has been under the Rat King's rule for a long time."
"True enough. Go on."
"And a politician like you, a dragon head through and through, moves by profit and loss above all else. Then between an established ruler of the underworld you've already dealt with and some new organization that may have just rolled in from nowhere, you'd know which side looks more advantageous to choose."
"And that alone was enough to convince you?"
"No. There's one more thing. Unlike the Rat King, who already has influence in Lungmen, the Black Cloud Society is still short on information beyond the fact that its main base is in the Far East, right? Even if you did choose them, you'd be taking a loss up front, and the gains would still be uncertain. There'd be no reason to pick them."
"...What if I already had information on them?"
"Well. I'm not sure about that. But our sword sect probably has more experience clashing with the Black Cloud Society than the Guard Bureau does. And among those people, you trusted Mojang's information. That the Far East and Ursus had joined hands."
The Far East and Ursus had already fought a war, and Ursus had lost. Even though the situation could hardly have been favorable, Wei Yenwu believed the information we had brought him. More precisely—
"With no other additional information, you had no choice but to believe it. Right?"
"Exactly. So, what's the second reason?"
The second reason was, in truth, nothing much.
"You really want to recruit me."
"You say that with confidence."
"Objectively speaking, you've been far too good to me."
He handed me a card? To me, when I was twelve? Even if I looked mature for my age, handing your own card to an unrestrained child? That was a bit much.
Of course, maybe he was so absurdly rich that it didn't matter.
Then what about the fact that he hadn't said a word even after I burned down the training grounds? What about the fact that he'd silenced the news today?
"Your favor was too blatant. Almost to the point of feeding me by hand."
"Hm?"
"You want to have me."
Wei Yenwu burst out laughing, gripping his teacup so hard it looked like it might crack. The sight might have seemed grotesque, but to me it looked more like the expression of someone having an itch scratched in a place they couldn't reach.
"I didn't expect you to say it yourself. Yes. I'm very interested in you."
"I'm not into men. Especially not older men with this much of an age gap."
"I have a wife. I don't need someone like you."
That old man really could take a joke.
"Setting aside the fact that the Rat King already dislikes it, I have high expectations for you."
"Honestly, when you get old, do you just run out of things to do? Why not go take care of your granddaughter instead."
"People like us, who've spent time working others to the bone, can tell. We know how big a person this kid is going to become."
"So? What's your evaluation of me?"
Wei Yenwu took out a cigarette that looked like a pipe from inside his robes and lit it.
"Hoo... a storm. I had the feeling that, at the center of everything that will happen on Terra from here on out, you'll be standing."
"That just sounds like I'm going to suffer like hell."
"Maybe."
Dammit. Was that an insult, or praise?
"There's plenty else worth noticing too. In swordsmanship and Arts, you've already surpassed Talulah, and her bloodline is that of a Draco to begin with. Beyond that, your judgment, your composure, even your little tricks—there isn't a single talent of yours that doesn't tempt me."
"I can't tell if you're praising me or appraising me..."
"Honestly, if I could keep Baekhyun here, I'd be willing to hand over one or two of my own positions. It's a shame you weren't born in Lungmen."
"In any case, thanks for the praise. Now get to the point."
"The point..."
"You can't hide it. It's written all over your face."
He knew that trying to emphasize how much he cared about me would only lower my opinion of Wei Yenwu. He also knew it would be better to give me a job and pay me far more than it was worth.
"Hahaha! This is truly surprising. Were you perhaps made younger by some Sarkaz curse?"
"Then I'd have started drinking first, old man."
I really had been made younger, but Sarkaz had nothing to do with it. Maybe some god up there had gotten sick of Terra and thrown me down here as a joke.
"That may be so. In any case, the other day, when you and Talulah were sparring, an idea struck me."
"What is it?"
"I'd like to buy your weekends."
My weekends? What kind of nonsense was that?
"More precisely, I'd like you to refine the swordsmanship of my men a little."
"So you want to make me... an instructor?"
"More of a master than an instructor. You'd only need to spar with them."
"...And the pay?"
"Naturally, you'll be paid by the hour. And if the training grounds are damaged, I'll take care of it without holding you responsible for anything."
That was a damn good deal. Too good. I'd already thought, from today's incident, that the criminals were weaker than expected and that I'd have fewer chances to use a sword. And now I could make money while using a training ground where mobs respawned on their own?
"It's not just because of the Black Cloud Society... you want to maintain the quality of your forces even after I'm gone?"
Again, the people who had trained there were by no means weak. My own combat experience was just too extensive, and I was far less restrained when using a sword.
Especially that assault division. From here on, once they were tied to me, the days they spent opposing the Black Cloud Society would only increase. So they needed to grow stronger. Our side prioritized subduing; theirs prioritized killing.
Because our objectives were different, and because we even had to take people alive, we needed to be overwhelmingly superior to them in skill.
"Exactly. If I'm borrowing you for two years, I ought to wring every drop of value out of it."
"Has the assault division agreed to this?"
"Well, I'll have to talk to their team leader first. Get up. We still need to finish dinner, don't we?"
"Ugh, I'm starving. Let's go already. Ah, put the card away. The team leader's paying for dinner tonight."
"Hahaha! Now that is something to look forward to. It's been a long time since I've eaten a meal someone else paid for."
Team leader... why did you have to say you'd treat me to dinner?
"Team leader! We're back."
"Oh, good. Where did you go—W-W-Wei Yenwu, sir?!"
"Sit, sit. Sorry for intruding on your evening."
"Oh, not at all. Please, have a seat."
"I suspected as much, but this shop is run by the Dong family, isn't it? How did Baekhyun find this place?"
"I found it when we were dealing with the Ironworks Guild. That one over there is Jay. He's the same type as me. In terms of cooking, I mean."
"That's a relief. Then I won't be ruining anyone's dinner. Well then, how about a drink, sir?"
"Ah, yes."
Team leader... that old man is the one paying. Don't fall for that dragon's tricks.
"My..."
I couldn't say anything even as he ordered the most expensive liquor. I'd already read it in his eyes. The eyes of a salaryman carrying the bitterness of a working life.
"He knows and still walks into it, I suppose."
At least it was fortunate that there wasn't a woman at home who'd nag him the next day if he drank himself stupid.
"Team leader. Don't drink so much that it interferes with work tomorrow."
"I know... I know, enough with the nagging."
"Know what? I can't toast with you, but I can at least match the mood."
It was still far too early for me to drink, so I simply lifted a glass of water.
"You absolutely must never drink..."
"As if I wouldn't. The world's a mess."
Besides, I'd even made a promise with a drunken god. We were supposed to drink together.
"That one... might not even be a child."
"I've already decided. I'm not going to see him as a child."
"Hey, you old men. What kind of nonsense are you spouting about an ordinary kid standing right in front of you?"
"Ordinary...?"
"Baekhyun. A person should have some conscience."
Why? Why was I being treated like this? At worst, I'd only cut down a few people.
After I shoved the last piece of sashimi into my mouth, the conversation beside me had already shifted from work to the idle chatter of old men, and since there was nothing left for me to do, I quietly stood up and went home.
"Haa... whatever. I'll wash up tomorrow."
There was a bed, but I just lay down on the sofa. It was softer than the blanket I used to sleep under back when I stayed with the sword sect. Money really was the best thing.
It had been an eventful day. Enough to make my eyes close on their own.
As the sleepiness kept dragging me under, the last thing I thought was...
"Fuck, the report."
I don't know. I don't want to go to work. Screw it, I'm quitting.