The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 134 : Re-contracting (2)

To have one-tenth of the collected amount. If the collected amount exceeded a certain amount, he would be allowed to use the martial arts library.

The first contract between Jang So-gil and Gumen Long was this simple.

However, this simple contract had brought benefits to both of them.

With this contract, Gumen Long had obtained the best doctor in the world to revive the Martial Alliance, which was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Jang So-gil, who had been the adopted son of a ruined merchant guild with nothing, had, through this contract, gained access to the center of the Martial Alliance's power in one go and had obtained not only martial arts but also wealth, power, and honor.

There was no complaint about the contract itself.

"But, don't I also handle internal affairs now?"

Jang So-gil was no longer just a scoundrel inspector. He was an inspector who wielded full authority as the sword of the Martial Alliance Leader.

He did not just crack down on tax evasion and embezzlement, but he also inspected the very laws of the Martial Alliance.

His duties had been expanded.

When duties were expanded, a corresponding reward had to follow.

If a waiter who had been running errands in a restaurant learned to cook and even made food, he had to be treated as a chef, and naturally, his salary would jump up.

That was the way of the world.

What if he didn't do that?

"That's what you call exploitation. Surely you're not thinking of just exploiting me?"

"You hateful fellow, you never lose easily."

"Since I grew up so humbly, I don't know how to lose."

A person who had nothing would have his life end there if he lost. Knowing how to lose and still surviving was something only those who had something could do.

The thing Jang So-gil was worst at was losing gracefully. So he had won fifteen times and had roughly lost three times, and as a result, a lump named Namgung Yeohwa had attached itself to him.

I guess I'll have to learn how to lose, Jang So-gil was thinking inwardly, when Gumen Long grumbled.

"Anyway, that bastard's mouth never dries up."

"So, are you saying we should go without renewing the contract?"

"I'll do it. I was going to do it. It's polite for me to show my generosity and bring it up first, you bastard."

"You would have brought it up. Around the time a week had passed and I was getting anxious. I don't like that. If it's this, it's this, if it's that, it's that. Tell me at once."

"Alright. I'll have you put your seal on the contract right away."

Now the stage for conversation was set. Jang So-gil licked his lips, thinking of starting the negotiation.

But before Jang So-gil could even start talking, Gumen Long spoke first.

"First, as for the martial arts library, just go in whenever you want."

"What?"

Jang So-gil's eyes widened.

It was too generous from the start.

* * *

There was no need to negotiate. Gumen Long was ready to give everything.

His art of personnel management was very simple.

[If you want to know a person's character, give them power.]

If you gave power to the person you met and watched what they did, you could know their vessel and ability.

Gumen Long, who had seen Jang So-gil's vessel at their first meeting, had given the power of an inspector to an orphan who had nothing.

Then Jang So-gil had used that power without reservation and had proven himself. He was so outstanding that it seemed his power was lacking compared to his ability.

The purpose of what Gumen Long was doing this time was the same.

He would give the maximum power he could.

He immediately wrote two items on the contract.

One. Free access to the martial arts library.

Two. Free possession of the golden plaque.

Although they were only two privileges, each one was by no means small.

The only person who could enter the martial arts library whenever he wanted was the Alliance Leader. And even that was under the pretext of entering for maintenance, and he could not openly enter for the purpose of practicing martial arts.

If there had not been such a pretext, the Nine Sects One Alliance and the Five Great Noble Families would not have stood still. Jang So-gil's or Sima Hui's entry was, to the last, unofficial.

Therefore, this first clause was a privilege that had to be kept secret by mutual agreement.

Unfortunately, it had become difficult for Sima Hui to enter the martial arts library as a proxy now. Because Sima Hui's martial arts improvement was also not at an ordinary level, he was under the rational suspicion that he might have entered the martial arts library.

Of course, in terms of the suspicion he received, Jang So-gil, who had become an entry-level peak master in just one year, was much more suspicious. But the Alliance Leader could protect at least Jang So-gil.

If anyone said anything, he would blow them away with a single word, 'I taught him, so what?' so it was truly an impregnable fortress.

He had also thought about protecting Sima Hui in that way, but since he was the second son of the Sima Clan, for the Alliance Leader to favor him was close to a bad move that would increase his enemies. It was wiser to keep a distance.

And so, the martial arts library was wide open, limited to Jang So-gil.

The second privilege, the golden plaque. Since he had been granted it several times for missions, it was not an unfamiliar item.

But now it was not a matter of borrowing it for a while. To possess the golden plaque freely meant that the Alliance Leader would take responsibility for everything the inspector did.

There was nothing better for 'fox assuming the majesty of the tiger'.

"Hmm. Shall we erase this item now?"

In the new contract, the one-tenth performance bonus item was gone.

Since Jang So-gil could now be said to be completely a person of the Martial Alliance, he was to receive a salary instead. The inspector's salary was set at the same amount as the Five Great Military Advisors from the average salary value by position that Jang So-gil himself had newly created this time.

Although it was not a small amount of money, it was still lacking compared to taking one-tenth of the collected amount.

But it didn't matter. If he earned money using the information he could access in the position of an inspector, he could earn so much money that such an amount would seem like loose change.

Power and information became money. Jang So-gil could make full use of that.

While receiving all these benefits, the only thing Jang So-gil had to do was one.

Jang So-gil, putting his blood seal on the newly written contract, smiled with satisfaction.

Three. The inspector is dedicated to the Martial Alliance.

That was all. He couldn't help but be satisfied with the contract conditions.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Yes. I'm very satisfied. Although you may not be satisfied, Alliance Leader-nim."

Contrary to the happy Jang So-gil, Gumen Long's tone was indifferent.

But what he was not satisfied with was not the contract.

Gumen Long had planned to take Jang So-gil's time on the pretext of this re-contracting.

He had wanted to look at his martial arts, buy him clothes, go around the famous restaurants of Luoyang, and promote friendship by telling stories of heroic deeds.

But as soon as he had put his seal on the contract, before the ink had even dried, he had said he had an urgent matter to attend to and had refused all his suggestions.

Gumen Long, with a feeling of disappointment, replied bluntly again.

"Yes, let's hear what's so urgent for our inspector that he's in such a hurry."

"Would you like to hear the less troublesome news first, or the incredibly troublesome news first?"

"I'll hear the less troublesome news first."

"I found the secret manual of the Emperor's Sword Form in the warehouse of the Four Black Alliance."

Gumen Long's hand, which was reaching for the tea, stopped. He blinked for a moment and then asked again.

"What did you say?"

"I said I found the secret manual of the Emperor's Sword Form. Brother Sima Hui is deciphering it, and he says it's a definite original."

"No, why is it there?"

"It was disguised to look like an old merchant's ledger, and the guys from the Four Black Alliance didn't seem to recognize it, so it was rolling around in the low-grade warehouse."

"You found it well. You found it well."

"I was lucky."

He was really lucky. If it had fallen into the hands of someone with a slightly hasty disposition, it would have been destined to disappear as kindling long ago.

"Hah, what a heavenly luck."

Gumen Long also knew about the Namgung Clan's obsession with the Emperor's Sword Form.

How could he not know? It was hard not to have a lingering attachment to a peerless sword art that was originally one's own but had been lost due to not being able to take proper care of it.

"By any chance, was there no 'Vast Sky Limitless Sword Art'?"

"How could there be that too? If the two had been attached together, wouldn't those guys have noticed?"

"Hmm. If the Namgung Clan finds out about this, they won't stand still."

For Jang So-gil, who was continuing to politely refuse the marriage proposal, it was a very troublesome matter.

In front of Jang So-gil, who had a face as if he had chewed on something, Gumen Long laughed out loud.

"It's troublesome for you, but it's not a very troublesome news for me. Why don't you just take it as a dowry and go to the Namgung Clan?"

"Damn it. I have no one on my side, really."

"Keolkeolkeol. Then the incredibly troublesome news is probably nothing special either, right? Tell me."

"In the ledger of the Four Black Alliance, there were transaction details with the Hengshan Sect and the Maoshan Sect."

"...That's really. Damn it."

Gumen Long grabbed his forehead.

His head ached. It felt like he had been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.

He knew that the way of the martial world had fallen to the ground. But to think it had fallen this far.

In an instant, his fingertips trembled with anger. The angry dragon clenched his fist until it shattered. Then, dark clouds slowly gathered in the clear sky and lightning was lodged.

The lightning that struck the manor was not the lightning of display and threat that he had shown last time. It was a fierce lightning that showed that Gumen Long was truly angry.

Jang So-gil, who was looking at the blue, shining lightning, calmly opened his mouth.

"The transaction details of the Hengshan Sect were salt and grain wine."

"Smuggled salt and smuggled wine?"

"Yes. It's a life-related smuggling where they cheaply bought the salt and grain wine that the Four Black Alliance brought across the Yangtze River and used it in Hengshan. The one who led it was, as expected, Elder Seok Pacheon."

"Then it would be difficult to punish them."

Although smuggled salt and smuggled wine were clearly serious crimes and should be punished, the leader was the problem.

Elder Seok Pacheon of the Hengshan Sect had been severely beaten by Jang So-gil and, with his anger soaring, had fallen into a state of qi deviation. His mind had been contaminated by the turbid qi, and he had developed dementia and had become a half-madman.

"I think so too. Looking at the timing of the transaction details written in the ledger, it's obvious that Elder Seok Pacheon did it, but even if someone else did it, Hengshan would pin it on Elder Seok Pacheon."

"Still, it's not impossible if you're determined to punish them."

"That's right. But things will get very troublesome. So I think it's wise to take a step back, considering the face of the Hengshan Sect, a corner of the Nine Sects One Alliance."

"Take a step back? How?"

"Although they have sinned, we'll go with the method of pardoning them by acknowledging their merit in the subjugation of the Four Black Alliance."

Gumen Long replied bluntly.

"What merit do those bastards have to be pardoned? That's nonsense. Didn't they not even show their faces in this matter?"

"Even if they didn't show up, we can just make up a merit and sell it."

"Make up and sell?"

"Let's go with this setting. The Hengshan Sect had a strong desire to participate in the subjugation of the Four Black Alliance, but since Hengshan and the headquarters of the Four Black Alliance were too far apart, it was difficult for them to come directly. So they helped in every way they could instead. The amount would be about forty thousand taels."

It was a matter of putting the cart before the horse. But if he said this, the Hengshan Sect would gather forty thousand taels and give it to him.

What if they didn't give it?

"Then, well, we'll have to hold back our tears and, with the feeling of 'killing Ma Su with tears', punish them for the crime of smuggled salt and smuggled wine."

It was truly a fraudulent method. But he liked it.

Gumen Long laughed heartily.

"That's a wonderful solution. Good, do so."

"Yes. Then I'll handle the Hengshan Sect in that way."

"Then what about the Maoshan Sect?"

"The Maoshan Sect..."

Jang So-gil mumbled as if it were difficult to say. He rarely held back his words and showed a look of fearing Gumen Long's anger.

Gumen Long, looking at the sky where lightning was still crashing down, realized his mistake and waved his hand, making a poor excuse.

"Aigoo, I'm sorry for startling you. It's because once I get angry, I can't calm down."

The 'Thunder Cloud Divine Art' that Gumen Long had learned could draw down the lightning of the sky.

The problem was that when he got angry to the point of his head, it caused this kind of weather anomaly regardless of his own will.

Jang So-gil, as if he were afraid, hesitated for a moment and then said with trembling eyes.

"Then please promise me. When I tell you, don't let the lightning strike. I'm so scared I'm going to die."

"Hmm. Hmm. I will."

"If the lightning strikes..."

"Ah, I said I won't. If the lightning strikes... hmm. Yes. I'll give you a Ferghana horse that you said you wanted."

"You promised?"

"Yes. Tell me."

"The Maoshan Sect was buying slaves from the Four Black Alliance. They also bought drugs. They are also buying human flesh."

Soon.

A single, huge, white lightning bolt struck the manor.

(End of Chapter)