Perhaps the intelligence chief’s silence had only irritated him further, for his questioning grew sharper. Still, no one spoke. It wasn’t simply that they feared Wang Gi-neung. They were just as stumped by the situation.

'If we had another plan, we’d have tried it long ago, family head.'

*'Who could have known it would come to this...'

'Sigh.'

They had enlisted everyone from the clan’s finest masters of tracking techniques to high-level Tracers hired at enormous expense. Yet despite using every means at their disposal, they had not found a single lead on the killers. It felt as though they were chasing ghosts.

'Ghosts would be better. If we couldn’t find them, we’d merely be laughed at.'

The trouble was that the killers were living, breathing people who kept attacking other subsidiaries. As a result, the Wang family of Shanghai was drawing increasingly cold looks from the rest of the Black Dragon Clan. It might have been different if they had never stepped forward. But having taken over the investigation from Limon and sworn revenge, the Wang family bore much of the responsibility for the damage caused by their failure to catch the killers.

'Disgrace is the least of our worries now.'

'The Wang family of Shanghai might lose its standing as a distinguished clan.'

Everyone in the family was desperate for another plan. The problem was that no one had a viable one.

“What if we ask Guardian to cooperate?”

At the sound of that grave voice, everyone turned to the combat chief as though they could not believe what they had heard. It was surprising enough that a man who rarely spoke had offered an opinion. His proposal was more surprising still.

“Are you saying we should admit we can’t catch the killers ourselves?”

“Can you ever have too many hunting dogs? Especially ones with noses as keen as Guardian’s.”

“Hmm.”

“Well...”

The Wang family’s senior members murmured among themselves. The combat chief had a point.

The family had already decided to use any means necessary when it hired the Tracers. Guardian, moreover, had proved its abilities by playing a major part in stopping the killers’ attacks over the past month. Considering it was nominally the firm responsible for the Black Dragon Clan’s security, it was an ideal choice.

“Absolutely not.”

Wang Gi-neung was unequivocal. They could not call on Guardian.

“After declaring that we’d avenge ourselves, what would people think if we turned to Guardian for help now?”

“Isn’t our family motto to value results over empty pride?”

“There’s a time and place for that, too.”

“... Are you saying it’s already too late?”

“Far too late.”

Wang Gi-neung shook his head. It might have been different if they had asked for help at the outset. But a month had passed since they had refused Limon’s involvement, and the killers had continued their attacks while remaining at large. The Wang family of Shanghai’s standing was already shaky. If they now made a spectacle of begging Guardian for help, they would never again be called a distinguished clan.

'If I’d known catching them would be this difficult, I’d have considered another approach.'

Wang Gi-neung sighed. Who could have imagined that even the Seven Dragons Society’s resources would fail to find the killers? No one had foreseen it—except, perhaps, one person.

'Did the Sword Lord foresee this when he turned down my offer?'

Limon had readily agreed to his request to stay out of the investigation, yet refused the payment offered in return. At the time, Wang Gi-neung had taken it for the foolish stubbornness of an old-fashioned swordsman who could not weigh profit against loss. But was it?

If Limon had accepted the offer, all the blame now falling on the Wang family would have fallen on him. He would have been branded a corrupt official who abandoned the hunt for the killers out of greed, while the Wang family could have played the victim and won sympathy. By refusing payment, however, Limon had escaped responsibility for the situation. And by mobilizing Guardian to stop one attack after another, he was building his reputation instead.

What if that was no coincidence? What if he had foreseen all this from the beginning?

The Sword Lord was no rigid swordsman. He was an old, cunning tiger, a king of the mountains who surveyed the entire range and only stirred when prey was within reach.

'I should have realized it when the Sword Lord stepped aside so easily.'

It was pointless regret. He had made the best choice available to him then, and given another chance, he would make the same choice again.

“Forget Guardian. The only way to protect our family now is to catch the killers ourselves, whatever it takes.”

Wang Gi-neung rallied his kin. Then he looked at the shattered mural, still vividly stained with the blood of his cousin Wang Gi-seong, and murmured, “Whatever it takes.”

* * *

“I see.”

Li Qingyu turned a page, stamped the document, then opened another and continued in a calm voice. “So the Wang family of Shanghai has decided to stick to its current approach.”

“Yes.”

Yo U-in, an elderly man in a suit, added with an impassive expression, “Family Head Wang understands the situation. He’s bringing in more people and stepping up the search for the killers, but...”

“If that were enough to find them, wouldn’t they have been caught long ago?”

“He seems too anxious to recognize even that obvious fact.”

“What a shame. Someone as perceptive as Family Head Wang has misjudged the situation and is wasting the clan’s time, manpower, and money.”

“Will you hold him accountable?”

“I don’t intend to blame him. The outcome would have been the same no matter who took charge.”

Li Qingyu spoke evenly. Wang Gi-neung, head of the Wang family of Shanghai, was far from incompetent. Even someone born with genius-level talent could reach the heights of a master-level expert only through grueling training. If a man like him was getting nowhere, the killers’ cunning deserved recognition, not his incompetence.

“Do you think it’s a skill?”

“There aren’t many other ways to shake off our clan’s tracking techniques and the pursuit of high-level Tracers so completely.”

“Even with a skill suited to that purpose, could they elude Family Head Wang’s pursuit using that alone?”

“Of course not. Even a Monarch would struggle to do that.”

Li Qingyu readily accepted Yo U-in’s point.

This might be the Iron Age, ruled by players, but they were the Seven Dragons Society. With all the wealth in the world at their command and absolute influence in the underworld, even the greatest player would have trouble evading their gaze completely.

“Unless someone else is backing them.”

“You believe these attacks are organized?”

“If the Sword Lord’s instincts are right.”

“I see. In that case, it might be faster to find their backers instead.”

“You believe him more readily than I expected.”

Li Qingyu tilted her head slightly. If she had said that to another member of the clan, they would have scoffed at her for trusting the instincts of a has-been. But Yo U-in, who had known Limon in his prime, looked serious.

“The Sword Lord thwarted a grand plan our Seven Dragons Society had spent over a century preparing, on instinct alone. Why wouldn’t I trust his instincts?”

“The Sword Lord is perceptive.”

Li Qingyu beamed as though she herself had been complimented. Yo U-in suddenly asked her, “Did you deliberately put the Sword Lord in charge of a security firm like Guardian because you wanted to draw on his insight if something like this happened?”

“No. I thought it would be the least bothersome job for him.”

“...”

“Though I’d be lying if I said I had no other hopes for it.”

Yo U-in gave her an odd look. By putting Limon in charge of Guardian, Li Qingyu had gained countless advantages: she had deliberately granted him enormous authority, making the clan watch its step around her; she had relieved the pressure the elders had put on her; and she had prepared for unforeseen trouble. Yet she spoke as lightly as though all those benefits were merely incidental.

A moment later, Li Qingyu’s next question drew him back to his report. “What are the other families doing, apart from the Wang family of Shanghai?”

“They’re very uneasy.”

“As expected.”

“This isn’t something to take lightly.”

Yo U-in spoke seriously to Li Qingyu, who seemed as unperturbed as if she had heard there was a fire next door.

“Until recently, things were still manageable. But since Guardian’s prediction missed the last attack, profitability has fallen across the subsidiaries.”

“That... is a problem.”

Li Qingyu looked troubled. Unlike in the past, when it had been called the Demonic Cult, the Seven Dragons Society was now a corporation. It ran on revenue and profit more than faith, conviction, oaths, or fear. A drop in that vital revenue was, in one sense, a greater problem than the hundreds who had died in the attacks. The discontent now directed at the Wang family of Shanghai could easily shift to Li Qingyu. For someone who needed to regain her standing within the clan to achieve her goal, it was a serious problem indeed.

“Your Highness, why not ask the Sword Lord?”

That was why Yo U-in, who would normally have followed her orders in silence, offered an opinion.

“You mean ask him to catch the killers?”

“Yes. The Wang family of Shanghai may be reluctant to involve Guardian, but there’s no reason we must feel the same way.”

As Li Qingyu tilted her head slightly at the unexpected suggestion, he continued calmly, “If the Sword Lord takes the lead in catching the killers, both he and Your Highness will win over more of the clan.”

“You sound certain he could find and punish them as soon as he chose to.”

“He is the Sword Lord.”

He might choose not to intervene, but once he drew his sword, who could escape Limon’s blade? Yo U-in said it as a simple fact. Li Qingyu studied him for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

“I think so too.”

“Then...”

“But I won’t ask him.”

“... May I ask why?”

“Family Head Wang was the one who asked the Sword Lord to step aside when he had offered to help. What would happen if we turned around and asked him to help now?”

“The Sword Lord probably wouldn’t mind much.”

“Probably not.”

Li Qingyu nodded readily, then added, “But the Wang family of Shanghai would resent him.”

“...”

To preserve its standing as a distinguished clan, the Wang family of Shanghai needed to catch the killers itself, whatever it took. If Limon, who had promised to step aside, went ahead and dealt with them on his own, the family would have every reason to resent him.

“No matter how weakened they are, the Wang family of Shanghai is still a distinguished clan. If they decide to make an enemy of the Sword Lord, others will be influenced too.”

Grudges cut deeper than gratitude. Limon could do favors for a hundred members of the clan, and the resentment of a single member of the Wang family would run deeper and last longer. All the more so because the person in question was Limon.

“So why should the Sword Lord go out of his way to get involved?”