Chapter 11
“Go on ahead, Head Instructor Cheon. I'll be there soon too. Even if I can't make it today, I'll be there soon.”
When Seo Hyo-eun said that, Cheon Ha-seong also felt relieved that things could be concluded at that point.
Cheon Ha-seong, who had gone outside, carefully observed the expressions of the people in the hallway without missing a thing. Unlike those with simple curiosity, there were people whose eyes were full of vigilance.
Such people must be the ones who pass information from this place to the Fourth Demonic Marquis.
Even if they only pass on information, one never knows what kinds of events that could set in motion.
After walking about halfway down the hallway, he stopped in place and sent a telepathic message.
[Do not think that I am unaware of your diligent movements. I know that you have pledged loyalty to the Marquis Halls and the leadership and are busy relaying what you see and hear here. The only reason I let you live despite knowing this is to find out where you go and whose ears that story ultimately reaches. So I hope you will continue to work hard in the future.]
That telepathic message was delivered to everyone in that spot.
The faces of those who received the telepathic message changed to various expressions. Those who had actually been doing such work were so shocked they looked as if they might collapse on the spot. However, those who hadn't been involved looked around with bewildered faces, not knowing who had sent the message.
Cheon Ha-seong took in all of their expressions.
As a Head Instructor at the Martial Arts Academy until now, he was someone who had continuously watched the momentary expressions of countless candidates. He believed that there was no one as skilled as him at discerning each person's situation by looking at their fleeting expressions.
Cheon Ha-seong acted as if he were about to leave the spot, then went back to the Cult Leader's room.
Seo Hyo-eun was just about to come out of the room.
“Head Instructor Cheon?”
As a bewildered Seo Hyo-eun called out to him, Cheon Ha-seong bowed his head towards the Cult Leader and spoke.
“I came because I have something to say to Head Instructor Seo for a moment, Cult Leader.”
“Yes. Go on and do so.”
“Do you know the people in the hallway, Head Instructor Seo? It seems there are those among them who relay the affairs of this place to others, and I was hoping to find out their affiliations and names.”
Seo Hyo-eun looked at the Cult Leader with a flustered face.
It seemed unlikely that the Young Supreme One would know everything down to such details. That was why she had looked to the Cult Leader for help, but the Cult Leader likewise didn't know. He probably thought, 'Why do I need to know something like that?'
It would be easy for people in high positions to think that way, but in truth, it wasn't a matter to be regarded so lightly. That very thing could be truly important information. And it could also be information that others could not easily access.
It was something that could be easily known with just a little interest, and something that could block dangerous events in advance.
“I don't know, but there must be someone who does. Among the trustworthy people. Right, Father?”
She spoke, but Seo Hyo-eun asked as if she were not confident.
Once it went one step further from Seo Hyo-eun and the Cult Leader, it would be difficult to say that person could be completely trusted.
However, if it only passed through one person, there might still be some hope.
Because if something happened after that, he could assume that person was the one who caused the problem.
If done well, it could even be a chance to confirm the betrayal of the person who had been trusted the most, so that too could be a good opportunity.
Looking at the Cult Leader, he was staring back at Cheon Ha-seong as if to ask, 'Do we really have to do that?'
“I ask of you, Cult Leader. I need someone who can know the identities of everyone in the hallway right now, inside and out.”
The Cult Leader granted his request.
Then, he summoned the Captain of the Honor Guard, Cho Seok-myeong, who had been in charge of his protection for a long time and had worked as his closest aide.
Cho Seok-myeong had not been in the hallway when Cheon Ha-seong went outside, but he came in soon after being summoned by the Cult Leader.
In the meantime, no one had left the hallway.
Even if they had wanted to leave, they couldn't have. First, they had to find out who had sent them the telepathic message, and they had to confirm if what they heard in the message was true. In any other case, they would have moved diligently to inform their lord of what they had learned as quickly as possible, but this time, they could not.
Hadn't the sender of the telepathic message said that was exactly what he was waiting for?
Because of that, it was as if the path they had been using so familiarly until now had suddenly been cut off.
Cho Seok-myeong, who entered after being summoned, was clearly tense, not knowing what was going on. It was because the Cult Leader had almost never summoned him to the bedchamber, so he was worried that something might have happened to the Cult Leader's well-being.
“Cult Leader, you were looking for this subordinate?”
“I need a list of everyone who is currently in the hallway. I need to know each person's affiliation, where they are from, who they are connected to, and who they meet frequently.”
“...Yes.”
Cheon Ha-seong thought that he probably hadn't properly understood the content of the command. Yet it seemed he answered because he was afraid to ask again due to the coercive atmosphere.
“Cult Leader, would it be alright if I gave a supplementary explanation?”
When Cheon Ha-seong asked, the Cult Leader permitted it.
Until then, Cho Seok-myeong hadn't been paying much attention to Cheon Ha-seong. He had been so surprised by the fact that the Cult Leader had summoned him to the bedchamber that he couldn't pay sufficient attention to other things.
Then, he saw Cheon Ha-seong and flinched unconsciously, so surprised was he.
He, too, had seen Cheon Ha-seong, the so-called legend of the Martial Arts Academy, before, so he recognized him immediately. If Cho Seok-myeong hadn't been having a particularly busy day, he would have known in advance that Cheon Ha-seong had come to the Cult Leader's Hall. But an unusual number of things had happened, and he had to take care of each one personally, so he was only finding out now.
“Captain, for now, you only need to tell us what you know within your own means. If you need someone else's help to find it out, it is better not to find it out at all. What the Cult Leader has just ordered must be done by your power alone.”
“Are you saying I cannot order others to do it?”
His delight at seeing Cheon Ha-seong was brief; Cho Seok-myeong thought that things were taking an unusual turn.
“That's right. You must not trust anyone in the hallway. The Cult Leader's and the Young Supreme One's every move is being relayed to the Marquis Halls. I believe you know what kind of consequences that can ultimately lead to, Captain.”
“...!”
Cho Seok-myeong looked at Cheon Ha-seong with a startled face. Then he turned to the Cult Leader, his face pale.
If what this man said was true, it meant he had failed to properly carry out his assigned duties.
He was about to prostrate himself before the Cult Leader and apologize, but the Cult Leader, knowing this, stopped him first.
“Don't do anything useless and just do as I commanded. Those bastards in the hallway might go elsewhere, mightn't they?”
“Yes, Cult Leader!”
Then, as if thinking it might be a matter where every second counted, he hurriedly left.
Cheon Ha-seong also tried to follow him, but the Cult Leader stopped him.
“The Captain will be back soon enough, so you stay here.”
Compared to before, his tone of voice had become very gentle. Although the time they had spent together was not long, he couldn't help but already know how his daughter saw and thought of Cheon Ha-seong.
“Can you tell me in detail what happened in the hallway?”
Cheon Ha-seong hesitated for a moment but eventually told him. He still hadn't grasped exactly what kind of person the Cult Leader was. It was burdensome to reveal much about himself to such a person, but he felt that the Cult Leader's position was not as solid as he had thought.
If the Cult Leader's position had been as solid as he had thought until now, then the Fourth Demonic Marquis or Cheok Gyo-woon would not have known about Seo Hyo-eun's situation in advance.
The disappearance of the Young Supreme One's Palace-Guarding Sand was an especially private matter, yet there had been someone who could relay that information.
It would be one thing if only the Fourth Demonic Marquis had planted a spy, but it couldn't be seen that way, which made this matter even more important. And even if he didn't necessarily succeed in finding all of them, he would at least be able to stop them from moving as swiftly as before.
When Cheon Ha-seong's explanation was over, the Cult Leader stared at him with a blank face.
“So now… are you saying you sent a telepathic message to everyone in the hallway?”
Cheon Ha-seong hadn't thought the Cult Leader would have focused on that part. It was because until now, he hadn't liked talking with other people and had simply considered it routine to go back and forth to the Martial Arts Academy, training by looking at the mnemonic verses written on the walls of the later gates.
While at the Martial Arts Academy, he had almost no opportunity to confirm his own achievements or level, nor did he need to try and show off his skills. Because of that, he didn't know why the Cult Leader was asking about that part again.
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
“There must have been at least twenty people in the hallway?”
“Yes.”
“And you sent a telepathic message to each of those people?”
Then, as if deciding that wasn't right, he told him to try sending a telepathic message to him and Hyo-eun.
Cheon Ha-seong didn't think it would be a difficult task, so he immediately sent a telepathic message.
[I am sending a telepathic message now.]
The Cult Leader looked at Seo Hyo-eun. His expression asked if she had received the telepathic message, and Seo Hyo-eun spoke.
“He sent a telepathic message saying that he is sending a telepathic message now.”
The Cult Leader stared at Cheon Ha-seong with a blank face.
Cheon Ha-seong wasn't a completely clueless person either, so he realized what was happening. He figured that other people must not be able to send telepathic messages to multiple people at once.
Just as the Cult Leader was about to say more about it, Cho Seok-myeong returned.
Cho Seok-myeong presented the list he had hurriedly created to the Cult Leader.
The Cult Leader looked at the list, but there wasn't much he could tell from it anyway. And since he hadn't ordered it out of his own need, he handed it to Cheon Ha-seong.
Although not much time had passed, Cho Seok-myeong had diligently gone back and forth to find and record the information he could find out about them.
It wasn't as if some special solution would appear just because Cheon Ha-seong looked at it. However, he thought there was meaning in the act itself. What was important wasn't that he saw it, but that the Captain of the Honor Guard had investigated it and that the Cult Leader had seen it.
Those outside wouldn't even know who had sent them the telepathic message. Thinking that just shaking things up to this extent had at least awakened a sense of caution in those who had been running wild as they pleased, Cheon Ha-seong was satisfied with that for the time being.
“Cult Leader, if there are any bastards who dare to act foolishly, I will be sure to catch them and punish them to the very end.”
“That is not something to pledge anew before me. Are you saying that you failed to do what you should have been doing all along, and now you speak as if you're making some grand resolution?”
The Cult Leader spoke and dismissed the Captain of the Honor Guard with a gesture.