The Ruler of Darkness

Luoyang Sword House,

Inside the 4th Young Master’s office.

Despite the late hour, the lights in the 4th Young Master’s office were bright.

However, not a single word of conversation could be heard inside. Only the regular sound of papers being flipped and the thumping noise of approval stamps echoed throughout the room.

On the Red Spider’s desk, documents awaiting approval were stacked like a tower, and on the 4th Young Master’s desk opposite her, even more documents were piled up.

A document is flipped, and a stamp is pressed.

Another document is flipped, and another stamp is pressed.

After a while, a haggard-eyed secretary enters with another stack of documents to add to the pile.

“…”

Suddenly, with a snap, the stamp the Red Spider was holding broke.

4th Young Master, lifting his head, blankly stared at the sight before muttering.

“…That stamp was incredibly expensive.”

The moment he finished speaking, the Red Spider slammed her desk.

“Aaaaaargh!”

The towers of documents collapsed, raining papers from the sky.

“Oh my!”

4th Young Master’s head maid, who had been dozing off in the corner, was startled awake.

“It seems I dozed off for a moment.”

The 4th Young Master glared at the Red Spider with a reproachful gaze, but she began rolling on the floor.

“I can’t do this anymore! I really can’t!”

As the middle-aged woman flailed about, the 4th Young Master watched her with a pitiful expression and lightly clapped his hands.

At that, administrative maids entered and began organizing the documents the Red Spider had scattered.

It seemed this was not the first or second time they had to rebuild the document towers.

“Send me home! I miss my babies! I want to go home! I miss my dear husband!”

4th Young Master spoke with a look of having seen an unsightly spectacle.

“…Even if you go home, there’s no one there. Your twin sons are already married and independent, and your husband is currently away on a business trip.”

“Still, send me home! Please send me! My family, my family is waiting for me at home!”

Now, as the Red Spider (mother of twins) was practically begging, the head maid consoled her and sat her back in her seat.

“Now, now, we’re almost done. There’s not much left to go.”

As the head maid opened a drawer, new stamps were revealed.

And next to them were the remains of stamps the Red Spider had previously broken.

“Kyaaaah!”

In the past, consoling her like this would somehow work, but it seemed she had truly reached her limit now.

The Red Spider shouted at 4th Young Master.

“Why?! Why?! Why doesn’t the work end?! Didn’t you clearly say you would send me home three days ago?!”

Her unkempt hair was greasy and matted, and her heavy makeup was more like a disguise than makeup at this point.

“…I’ll definitely send you home tomorrow.”

At 4th Young Master’s unconvincing words, the Red Spider clutched her head and screamed.

“Liar! You liar!”

Then she abruptly stood up and climbed onto her desk.

“The young master definitely said this before!”

She then put on a solemn expression and began mimicking the 4th Young Master.

“I am the descendant of the most ruthless clan! I am the legitimate heir of a great family!”

The 4th Young Master’s face instantly turned red as he lowered his head.

“This Sword House will no longer be able to turn a blind eye to our existence!”

The head maid tightly hugged the 4th Young Master, who was like that, and patted his back.

“It’s alright, young master. At that age, one can be impulsive like that.”

“…That’s not comforting at all.”

The Red Spider pointed at her surroundings and shouted.

“Back then, I thought we would invade the Second and Third Young Masters and create a sea of blood, but what is this endless stream of paperwork?! Are we training some martial arts to stamp enemies to death with approval stamps?!”

Of course, a talented and capable person like her couldn’t possibly be unaware of the importance of the work she was doing now.

“Kyaaaah!”

…Probably.

As she howled threateningly like a shaman of a primitive tribe in the Sichuan jungle, the 4th Young Master and the head maid sighed.

“Just last week, there was an uproar because there was no progress in the business plan. The Luoyang administration wasn’t cooperating at all….”

The Red Spider, who had been howling, pointed accusingly at the 4th Young Master.

“That’s exactly it! That’s also completely unacceptable!”

She leaped over the documents and landed on the floor.

“The Luoyang administrative authorities did everything they could to administratively obstruct our business plan! They even cited incredibly far-fetched types of regulations that were admirable!”

What awaited them after successfully securing a new business site was a feast of red tape that was clearly intentional to anyone’s eyes.

They had reached a point where they couldn’t even begin, let alone get the business plan approved in the first place.

“But the eldest young master, I don’t know what magic he performed, but suddenly all the procedures were completed at once!”

The result was the current mountain range of approval documents.

When the topic of his beloved and respected eldest brother came up, 4th Young Master chuckled coyly.

“Haha. I knew you’d appreciate him. My eldest brother is amazing.”

“That’s not what I mean!”

The Red Spider trembled.

“In the first place, the fact that so many Luoyang administrative departments simultaneously obstructed a single business means that enormous outside influence was exerted!”

Her eyes were rolled back, showing the whites of her eyes.

“But how on earth did the eldest young master move those high-ranking officials?!”

The 4th Young Master laughed as if she should know.

“That’s because it’s my eldest brother.”

“So by what method…?!”

“I don’t know either.”

The 4th Young Master stroked his beardless chin.

“But if I had to guess….”

At that moment, the door opened, and a robust elderly woman appeared.

“He probably did it using the guests Elder Yeom brought.”

She was an impressive old woman with long, flowing white hair.

Despite the wrinkles that left traces of her years, her beauty had not faded even now. The Red Spider quickly clasped her hands in greeting at the sight of the old woman.

“Greetings to Elder Liu!”

At her disciplined appearance, the old woman, called Elder Liu, clicked her tongue mercilessly.

“You… In a little while, you’ll be a grandmother. Are you still throwing tantrums at the 4th Young Master?”

“…”

The Red Spider couldn’t dare answer and simply lowered her head in shame.

Normally, the 4th Young Master would have watched the Red Spider get scolded while munching on snacks, but right now, satisfying his curiosity took priority.

“Elder Liu. If that’s the case, could it be that my eldest brother and Elder Yeom, as I suspected…?”

The old woman nodded.

“That’s right. The eldest young master seems to have met with those who were politically hanging off a cliff through Elder Yeom.”

She took out a cigarette from her bosom and put it to her lips.

“At first, only a small number of such cases met with the eldest young master, but….”

Then, without even touching the cigarette, it lit up, and smoke rose in a long trail.

“Once trust was established in the ‘eldest young master’s deals,’ the number seemed to have become quite significant. Enough that getting a single business plan approved was nothing.”

The 4th Young Master, who knew her personality of never jumping to conclusions without confidence, expressed his doubts.

“How did you confirm that fact, Elder Liu?”

Elder Liu, exhaling a long trail of smoke toward the ceiling, spat out her words as if chewing them.

“Because that crazy eldest young master turned the elder council meeting upside down today.”

“Pardon?”

***

Rewinding time to late afternoon.

Elder Council, Grand Hall.

It was an unusually long and tedious meeting.

As the closing time was approaching, the elders were all quietly packing their belongings.

“Now, now, the final agenda item. So pay attention until the end.”

The small giant who said that, the Council Chief himself, looked the most bored.

“Well, let’s see….”

The elder who was supposed to preside over the meeting was absent due to illness, so he had to chair the meeting all day long.

“The last one is nothing much. Meeting adjourned.”

The Council Chief threw the document he was holding behind him.

“No… This crazy fellow. No matter how bothersome it is, this is too much.”

The Deputy Chief sighed and went over to pick up the document.

Then he pushed the Council Chief aside and took the podium himself.

“The final agenda item is….”

He scratched his nearly bald head.

“This is an item that doesn’t require a vote. But I’ll read it out anyway.”

Jeers flew toward the meticulous Deputy Chief from all directions.

“No, everyone, don’t be like that. Procedures are procedures, aren’t they?”

The Deputy Chief forced a smile to appease the elders.

“Uh… so. This is an agenda item regarding an emergency order from the Supreme Operating Council.”

At those words, everyone sighed.

It was because there were an enormous number of agenda items that were passed without a vote due to emergency orders for that damned eldest young master.

For that moment, even the elders with fastidious personalities sympathized with the Council Chief’s action of throwing away the document.

Whether they jeered, whether they got up after packing their bags, whether they chatted among themselves, the Deputy Chief Ham steadfastly read out the document.

“Therefore, the Inner Court must pay the full amount of unpaid operating expenses to the eldest young master. To expedite the payment, the Geomgajeonjang will pay the amount on behalf of the Inner Court and hold a bond (credit) against the Inner Court for that amount.”

It was nothing significant.

Just an insignificant matter of the Geomgajeonjang paying on behalf of the amount the Inner Court had not paid in the past.

“Eh, then according to the procedure for emergency orders, this agenda item is passed without dis-“

But.

“Wait a moment.”

The gazes of the elders, who had been making faces as if it had finally ended, slowly turned toward the elder who had raised his hand.

That elder spoke firmly, ignoring the gazes that were striking down like lightning.

“Those who committed corruption in the Inner Court were punished, but the Inner Court Supervisor and the Inner Court itself, who had management responsibility, had no separate punishment.”

The atmosphere froze.

The gaze of the Inner Court Supervisor, who had been sitting without a word from the beginning of the meeting until now, was directed at that elder.

The elder, who would normally have avoided that gaze right away, continued speaking firmly.

“At the very least, there is a need to provide compensation to the eldest young master and the Wongak Pavilion to the extent of acknowledging that responsibility.”

The elders looked at that elder as if they were looking at a madman.

They couldn’t understand his actions of provoking the fearsome Inner Court Supervisor over a matter that had already ended.

But that was just the beginning.

“…I agree as well.”

An elder who had been keeping his head down raised his hand in agreement.

“I agree.”

“I also agree.”

Hands began to rise gradually.

The elders who didn’t raise their hands were busy looking around in confusion.

“No matter what, just letting it go like this is a bit much. In fact, wasn’t it the case that the Inner Court Supervisor didn’t lift a finger and had others clean up his mess for him?”

“That’s right. Because of that, those who were making noise inside the Inner Court disappeared completely….”

Although the Inner Court Supervisor’s face began to distort eerily, those who raised their hands had already surpassed half.

“Uh, then, this resolution now becomes an agenda item regarding the punitive damages the Inner Court must pay to the eldest young master.”

Deputy Chief grinned.

His ‘gold teeth’ sparkled exceptionally.

***

“More than half?!”

The Red Spider jumped up and down.

At her frivolous behavior, Elder Liu sighed and shook her head.

“In reality, only a small number would have promised their votes through deals with the eldest young master. Probably those who voted early on. The rest….”

The 4th Young Master nodded.

“The rest would have been those who wanted to keep the Inner Court Supervisor in check. It wouldn’t make sense for elders of their standing to miss an opportunity to take a bite out of such a powerhouse.”

The Red Spider interjected again.

“So, how much was the compensation amount?”

Elder Liu exhaled a long trail of smoke.

“Four times the unpaid amount.”

“Four times?!”

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