Bu Eunseol wore an intrigued expression.
“Mercenary registration?”
“Exactly. If we gave jobs to just anyone, information could leak, or the job could be botched.”
“Don’t mercenaries hide their identities anyway?”
“True. Honestly, registration isn’t a big deal. You just need to prove your skill. Based on that, you can take on low, mid, high, or elite-grade jobs.”
“Registration and a test, huh.” Bu Eunseol nodded in understanding.
If a mercenary’s skill was assessed and jobs were assigned accordingly, the chances of failure would surely decrease. If too many mercenaries failed, the reputation of the Red Sky Veil would suffer just as much.
“They’re doing it properly.”
“In exchange, they take a cut called an ‘information fee’ for every job. Thirty percent for low-grade, ten percent for high or elite-grade mercenary.”
“I see.”
“I’ll ask about the registration process first.” As Black Leopard stepped into one of the quieter counters at the Crystal Hall, a strikingly refined woman greeted him with a smile.
“Welcome.”
“I’m here to register as a mercenary.”
“Oh, it must be your first time with us.” When Black Leopard nodded, the woman handed him a piece of paper.
“Could you please fill out the guest log?”
“Young master.” As Black Leopard handed over the log, Bu Eunseol paused to think.
Then he wrote “Seolso (Snowmelt).” It signified disappearing like snow, but the woman simply nodded.
“Seolso, is it? And you are?” At her question, Black Leopard shook his head.
“I’m Seol… the young master’s attendant.”
“Oh, I see. Still, if you’ll be traveling together, you’ll need to register as well.” Black Leopard stared at the log before writing “White Tiger” in small letters next to Seolso.
“Here.” When Black Leopard handed back the log, the woman pointed to a building across from the Crystal Hall.
“Go to the Skyward Manor over there. You can have your grade determined there.” She flashed a warm smile. “Once your grade is set, you can take on jobs from the free contract board or come here to pick ones suited to your skills.”
“Understood. Thank you.” Black Leopard led Bu Eunseol out of the Crystal Hall and toward the entrance of Skyward Manor.
Passing through the gate, they saw a small armory with eighteen types of weapons and a wide training ground.
“Here to determine your grade?” A bald man standing by the armory looked Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard up and down.
“My young master will take the test,” Black Leopard said.
“Young master? Pfft.” The bald man smirked at Bu Eunseol’s unremarkable, disguised face. “Some scions of great families do take their servants and work as mercenaries.”
“Let’s get on with it,” Bu Eunseol said, sounding bored.
The bald man grinned and pointed.
“The test is simple. Leave your footprint over there.” He gestured toward a slab of blue stone.
The Red Sky Veil judged a Mercenary’s inner power by the depth of the footprint left on the stone, assigning grades accordingly.
“The test only measures inner power?” Bu Eunseol asked, frowning.
The man chuckled. “If your inner power exceeds one jiazi (sixty years of cultivation), you can take the high-grade mercenary test. But that’s rare for a newbie.”
“Then I’ll take the high-grade test.” The bald man’s face darkened.
“Didn’t you hear me?” He pointed at the stone slab, scowling. “You need to leave a footprint first, proving at least one jiazi of inner power—”
He stopped mid-sentence. Two vivid footprints had appeared on the smooth blue stone.
“When did he…?” The man swallowed hard.
The footprints were carved deep into the stone’s edge. Bu Eunseol had used his Swift Beyond Shadow technique to etch them in a flash.
“Far beyond one jiazi of inner power…” Realizing Bu Eunseol was a master beyond his reckoning, the man coughed awkwardly. “Ahem, follow me.”
Following the bald man across the training ground, they reached a winding path. After walking for a while, a spacious garden appeared, with a small stone-walled house in its center. The bald man bowed respectfully before the house.
“Deputy Master, it’s Jeung Gak.” Instead of a reply, a low “cough, cough” came from inside.
“Someone with over one jiazi of inner power has come to take the high-grade mercenary test.”
“High-grade mercenary?”
Creak.
The door opened, and a very tall man stepped out slowly.
Bu Eunseol looked surprised. He’d expected an old man for a deputy master, but the man who emerged looked barely thirty.
“Cough, cough.” The man coughed again.
Even slightly hunched, he stood a hand taller than Bu Eunseol, who was over six feet. Each cough made the long sword at his waist sway like a wave.
“High-grade mercenary, you say…” When his coughing subsided, the man pointed at Bu Eunseol. “Give him the badge.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s fine.” The tall man turned, coughing again.
But Bu Eunseol nodded and spoke.
“Impressive. Coming here was worth it.” Flashing a faint smile with his white teeth, Bu Eunseol stepped in front of the turning man. “Are you the deputy master here?”
“I am.”
“I see.” Bu Eunseol gave a faint smile and said in a cold voice, “Then draw your sword.”
The man blinked, stunned. A rookie Mercenary here for a grade test was challenging him to a duel? But soon, grasping Bu Eunseol’s intent, the man smirked.
“As you can see, I’m not in good health. I have lung disease.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“You’d fight a sick man?”
“Sick, you say.” Bu Eunseol chuckled, and the man gave a wry smile.
“Think I’m lying?”
“Your body may be weak, but your hands are strong.” A weak body but strong hands.
It was an odd statement, yet Bu Eunseol’s gaze didn’t waver. Though the man’s body might be frail, Bu Eunseol had sensed the aura and strength in his right hand—enough to split a river.
“Heh heh heh.” The man stared at Bu Eunseol, then nodded. “So, you want to fight me.”
“Yes.”
“Unfortunately, that won’t do.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t fight just anyone.” The man gave a sweet, faint smile. “I’ve granted you high-grade mercenary status. Come back when you’ve earned elite-grade status. Then I’ll consider it.”
With that, he slipped back into the house without hesitation. Silence fell. The bald man, Jeung Gak, rushed over, flustered.
“Are you insane?” He scowled at Bu Eunseol. “Do you even know who that was, challenging him like that?”
“No idea.” Bu Eunseol’s calm reply left Jeung Gak dumbfounded.
“You challenged him without knowing who he is?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s strong.”
“Hah. You’re incorrigible.” Jeung Gak slapped his forehead, sighing. “Listen closely. That was Lord Jeong Cheon, the third disciple of Grass Sword Wanderer.”
“Grass Sword Wanderer?” Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
Grass Sword Wanderer was a legendary martial artist from the previous generation, one of the Ten Heroes of the Demonic Path. And this frail-looking man was his third disciple?
“No wonder he’s called ‘Lord.’” If he was a disciple of Grass Sword Wanderer, who made a name for himself sixty years ago, he’d be a contemporary of the current heads of the Nine Great Sects.
“Knowing that, don’t go challenging him or anything. Not if you value your life.” At Jeung Gak’s words, Bu Eunseol smiled and patted his shoulder.
“So, how do I become an elite-grade mercenary?”
“What did you hear from all this? If you value your life—” Jeung Gak’s words trailed off.
An undeniable aura of authority radiated from Bu Eunseol’s smiling figure.
“Ahem.” Jeung Gak swallowed hard, coughing awkwardly. “Complete twenty or more high-grade Mercenary jobs from the free contract board.”
“That’s too many.” Completing twenty jobs would take longer than his journey through the martial world.
As Bu Eunseol frowned, Jeung Gak cleared his throat.
“Alternatively, you can complete three designated contract jobs assigned by this manor. But…” He continued, “Honestly, you should reconsider.”
Jeung Gak stared at Bu Eunseol.
“Designated contracts are tough jobs that can’t be handled through free contracts. Taking them on to become an elite-grade Mercenary is a losing deal.”
Bu Eunseol looked puzzled. The bald man’s advice benefited Bu Eunseol, not the Red Sky Veil.
“Why tell me this?”
“Young mercenaries with skills like yours are rare.” Jeung Gak sighed. “In the mercenary market, I’ve seen too many young people overestimate their skills and meet early ends. I’m just advising you out of pity.” Jeung Gak was surprisingly honest and upright.
“I see.” Bu Eunseol nodded, seeming to take a liking to him. “Thanks for the advice.”
“You get it?” Jeung Gak, touched, sniffled, but Bu Eunseol shook his head firmly.
“I’ll go with the designated contracts.”
***
At the third-floor office of the Crystal Hall.
This was where the Crystal Hall Master, who distributed all jobs for the Red Sky Veil, resided. Jeung Gak, leading the way, spoke at the office door.
“Jeung Gak from Skyward Manor.”
“Come in.” A young woman’s voice came from inside.
Jeung Gak turned to Bu Eunseol. “I’ve explained everything. Talk to her.”
Bu Eunseol nodded and opened the door without hesitation. Inside, among shelves and tables piled with books, sat a woman in blue robes. She looked barely twenty, yet she carried an air of elegance and grace rare for her age.
“I’m Dam Yuyeon, Master of Crystal Hall.”
“Seolso.” She glanced at Black Leopard behind Bu Eunseol and nodded.
“I’ve heard the situation. You want to become an elite-grade Mercenary for this manor.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To fight the strong.”
“I don’t understand. Why not wander the martial world and challenge strong opponents?”
Bu Eunseol answered frankly. “Wandering aimlessly for duels takes too much time. Strong opponents aren’t always in one place, and some have reputations bigger than their skills.”
He scanned the office.
“But mercenary jobs come with precise information. And since mercenaries aren’t tied to any sect, there are plenty of jobs involving strong opponents.”
“Becoming a Mercenary to fight the strong…” Dam Yuyeon’s eyes deepened, as if recalling a faint memory. “Long ago, Grass Sword Wanderer became a mercenary for the same reason—to clash with the strong.” She looked at Bu Eunseol calmly.
“He said fighting as part of a sect or group complicates things.”
“I see.”
“One question.” Dam Yuyeon’s gaze fixed on Bu Eunseol’s disguised, slender eyes. “Is it true you want to become an elite-grade Mercenary to face the Skyward Manor Deputy Master?”
“Yes.”
“Because he’s strong?”
“Yes.” For a moment, a dark, fiery emotion flickered in Dam Yuyeon’s eyes—anger and hostility.
But it vanished quickly, replaced by a soft, kind gaze.
“Very well.” She nodded, looking at Bu Eunseol’s guest log on the table. “There’s no reason to refuse someone willing to handle the elite jobs we’ve been struggling with.”
She pulled a yellow envelope from the side of the table.
“Here’s the first job. I think you’ll like the details.” Bu Eunseol’s eyes lit up as he opened the envelope.
It contained a mission to eliminate Wang Jeong, a mysterious figure who recently seized control of the Buljeong Mountain area, along with his forces.
“Wang Jeong…” Bu Eunseol tilted his head, looking at the envelope. “Never heard of him.”
Dam Yuyeon spoke in a low voice.
“He’s a master who obtained the secret manual of Blood Blade, a high-level expert from a hundred years ago, hidden in Buljeong Mountain.”
