WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈
Chapter 65: Records Office External Affairs Officer (3)
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“Young one. As of today, Yeok Cheonmyeong is our External Affairs Officer.”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician, Gongson Hu, frowned at the first words he heard upon arriving at the Records Office.
“You old fool. Have you gone mad?”
Two people well advanced in years began trading verbal blows.
Peng Juhyeok cleared his throat for no reason, blamed the underground air, and fled.
The special physician looked at the Fine Brushes and notebooks floating through the air, then shouted toward the ceiling.
“Director! Do you agree with that old fool too?”
The brushes stopped. Then the drawer of the desk before the special physician opened, and a blank notebook spread itself open.
A brush approached and wrote a single character with swift, flowing strokes.
Possible.
It meant that it was possible. The special physician rubbed the back of his neck.
“Damn it. Old fool, you had better explain this properly.”
“What is there to explain? I merely gave a promising junior the opportunity they wanted.”
Jade Scale calmly explained Yeok Cheonmyeong's situation. Something suspicious had been found within the Murong Clan, and Yeok Cheonmyeong wished to investigate the circumstances surrounding it.
“Yeok Cheonmyeong wants to look inside a clan's walls? That will not be easy.”
“Isn't that why we are sending Yeok Cheonmyeong somewhere it will be easy to build fame?”
“It will also be an easy place to die. Ha. Seeing that fellow wasting away in the Medical Hall once was enough for me.”
Setting aside the dignity expected of an old master for a moment, the special physician all but collapsed into a cushioned chair and asked Jade Scale, “There will be fewer occasions for the Many-Eyed Court to draw their blades, right?”
The unorthodox sects were all like that, but the Many-Eyed Court's assassins seemed especially influenced by Soso Soso. They had habits that could only be called eccentric.
Ordinary assassins who failed an assassination or covert investigation thanked their lucky stars for surviving and never set foot near such danger again.
Those of the Many-Eyed Court were the opposite.
The harder and more dangerous the mission, and the more others failed at it, the more fiercely those perverse madmen burned to take it on.
That was precisely why those in positions vulnerable to assassination avoided the Many-Eyed Court's notice.
Apparently, they found such targets boring.
A new Records Officer like Yeok Cheonmyeong would become a perfect Many-Eyed Court target the instant their affiliation was exposed. They would call it a test of skill.
Judging by their way of thinking, they would likely pit the Many-Eyed Court's junior against the Records Office's junior to test their abilities.
Yet if they elevated Yeok Cheonmyeong beyond “new recruit of the Anomaly Records Office” and bestowed a title like External Affairs Officer, the Anomaly Destruction Hall's attitude would change dramatically.
Something along the lines of, “Ah, this target is far too unrewarding.”
The assassination would be easy, yet offer too much to gain, so paradoxically, it would not kindle their greed.
Once Yeok Cheonmyeong's martial reputation began to spread, they would likely decide the danger matched the reward and feel the urge to kill Yeok Cheonmyeong.
“Well. Probably.”
“Probably? That is an awfully unsettling answer. Is it because you are old?”
“The Black Lotus Society Leader.”
“…Hm.”
Those of the unorthodox sects were madmen, especially those with high martial attainments.
Among them, the three Anomaly Response Departments of the Black Lotus Society, including the Anomaly Destruction Hall, were especially deranged.
If there was one person capable of holding the leash of those seasoned madmen, it was the Black Lotus Society Leader.
Hadn't the leader somehow imposed their will even on Soso Soso, the Many-Eyed Court's most skilled assassin, and sent them to investigate Anomalies?
If the Black Lotus Society Leader truly made up their mind and gave the order, even the Many-Eyed Court could not simply refuse.
“Well, Yeok Cheonmyeong has not yet gained enough fame to become a target the Black Lotus Society Leader would personally choose. Yeok Cheonmyeong will be safer for a while.”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician had already read a report that Yeok Cheonmyeong had encountered someone believed to be a Many-Eyed Court assassin during the Iron-Steel Mountain Anomaly investigation. Since Yeok Cheonmyeong had become entangled with that person through an ill-fated connection, it was worrying.
It would not have been strange for those people to say something like, “I'll kill you for disrupting my mission and erase this stain!” then infiltrate Martial Alliance headquarters to kill an insignificant member of the Formation Array Research Department.
“Then that should indeed be a good first order of business as an officer?”
At the special physician's agreement, Jade Scale immediately brought up practical matters. The special physician could not bring himself to shake his head, even as he felt sorry for Yeok Cheonmyeong.
It was the best way to show the Black Lotus Society that Yeok Cheonmyeong was their new officer.
“Then I'll put Yeok Cheonmyeong's name down as a delegate for the next Discourse on Heaven and Earth.”
* * *
“…Pardon?”
The next day, it was the first thing I said after eating lunch and showing my face at the Anomaly Records Office.
“Your first task as External Affairs Officer has been decided.”
I could not help questioning it. The first sentence I heard was far too strange.
It was bizarre. Hadn't I said something like, “Ha ha, thank you for promoting me so quickly,” just yesterday?
Wouldn't it take several days before the higher-ups actually promoted me?
“Can a promotion really be decided in such a rush?”
The decision had been made before the person concerned had even returned from leave. Shouldn't a secret organization have more thorough vetting procedures?
The special physician clicked his tongue.
“Why did you have to live so obsessed with work? This is the workload you brought upon yourself.”
“Obsessed with work? My dream is to live comfortably without working.”
“Anyway, there is an event you must attend in a few days, so look into it carefully.”
I looked at the top page of the stack of papers the special physician handed me.
Preliminary Preparations for the Discourse on Heaven and Earth.
“What sort of event is this?”
“When you see the words heaven and earth together, what comes to mind first?”
As a Korean, I recalled a fragment of Goguryeo history I had learned long ago. I was fairly sure there had been something about heaven and earth in a verse sent to mock the Sui army.
“Is it some kind of symposium on military strategy?”
“Oh. Very close!”
“Very close?”
My head tilted of its own accord. The Martial Alliance was, in effect, a military organization, but it did not truly organize large units, standardize weapons, and conduct military drills.
If it did, the imperial court would have launched a bloody purge while asking, “Doesn't this smell like rebellion?”
A bunch of ruffians with private armies discussing military strategy could easily...
“But it is not a discussion about military strategy where armies clash. It is a gathering to discuss formation arrays that can be combined with ordinary military strategy.”
“Ah. Formation arrays like the Stone Sentinel Eight Formations?”
The Martial Alliance even had the Zhuge Clan, which effectively monopolized strategist positions. The Divine Strategist Zhuge seemed exactly the sort to host a grand debate on formation arrays.
“Yes. What makes this Discourse on Heaven and Earth special is the people attending.”
“Will other Five Great Clans besides the Zhuge Clan participate?”
“No. The Sima Clan is coming.”
The Sima Clan.
Naturally, it was a clan that regarded Sima Yi, Zhuge Kongming's rival, as its founding ancestor.
The greatest difference between them and the Zhuge Clan was...
“They are the Black Lotus Society's strategists, aren't they?”
That they were treated as belonging to the unorthodox sects.
“That is right.”
The special physician's calm agreement made the back of my neck tighten.
“Outwardly, the Discourse on Heaven and Earth is a refined gathering of intellectuals from the martial world, jointly hosted by the Zhuge Clan and the Sima Clan. They discuss the martial world's situation, where it is headed, and the insights gained by strategists who administer the realm.”
“And in reality?”
“A contest of pride between the Martial Alliance and the Black Lotus Society?”
It was said that formation array contests often took place between the Zhuge Clan and the Sima Clan, much like the formation array contest supposedly held between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.
The winner would elegantly mock the loser, raising the pride of their respective factions.
“They may also compete through riddles or debates on swordsmanship, even if formation arrays are not involved. They consider drawing real swords beneath them, so you likely will not have to worry about being stabbed unless things get out of hand.”
“Doesn't that mean they draw swords when things get out of hand?”
“They are martial artists, after all. When they truly have nothing left to say, they draw swords.”
This was driving me mad. I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Then why am I going there?”
“It feels sudden, doesn't it?”
“Yes.”
“That is precisely why.”
The special physician grinned and continued. Even if someone belonged to the Formation Array Research Department, it was rare for an outsider to the Zhuge Clan to participate in the Discourse on Heaven and Earth as a member of the Martial Alliance.
That was precisely why it served as a signal to the Anomaly Destruction Hall.
The Black Lotus Society also operated an intelligence organization. They knew that the Eccentric Physician and Jade Scale belonged to the Anomaly Records Office.
They also knew that, outwardly, the two were listed under the Formation Array Research Department.
“My primary post is at the Medical Hall, but since I have worked for the imperial court, my name is also listed in the Formation Array Research Department as an external adviser. The Black Lotus Society has a rough idea of that.”
The Anomaly Records Office's public identity was the Formation Array Research Department.
Even taking that into account, there were a great many people affiliated with the Formation Array Research Department. If they counted people loosely attached as outside advisers like the special physician, even fingers and toes would not be enough.
That was why the Black Lotus Society kept an eye on the Formation Array Research Department but had difficulty knowing exactly who belonged to the Anomaly Records Office.
“But what if someone with a surname other than Zhuge appeared at a gathering normally attended only by the Zhuge Clan? It would immediately draw the Black Lotus Society's attention.”
The Zhuge Clan had a firm hold on the Formation Array Research Department, so for an outsider to occupy the place of a Zhuge at such an important gathering, there had to be intervention at the Martial Alliance level.
And if an organization had enough influence to take the place of someone from the Zhuge Clan...
“Only the Anomaly Records Office, which has the Alliance Leader's trust, fits that line of reasoning?”
“Exactly. Peng Juhyeok found even this too bothersome to understand. Fortunately, you can.”
Secret organizations communicated in this manner, according to the special physician. There was no need for me to actually attend the lectures during the Discourse on Heaven and Earth. The mission's true purpose was to show my face to the Anomaly Destruction Hall...
“Shouldn't I avoid having my face recognized? Won't I get assassinated?”
“We still need someone through whom we can send word when necessary. Those people will not try to kill a newly selected External Affairs Officer so soon, if they can help it.”
For a while.
The special physician added that with an awkward laugh, and a headache came on.
‘Should I learn the Bone-Shrinking Art before I go?’
Footnotes:
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