The Hunting Dog of the Prestigious Family Has Returned Chapter 46

“Do you know him?”

I slowly nodded at Taewoong’s question.

“Know him well.”

What an unexpected surprise. And a face I haven’t seen in a long time.

Koo Junghyuk.

The trading company executive who had been watching my every move when I went to Busan to swap out the Pungyang Jo clan’s test subjects.

We had parted ways with a mutual understanding of never seeing each other again, and yet here he was, of all things, having crawled his way into Hanseong.

“Has the Pungyang Jo side caught our scent?”

“If they had, tactical-grade combat modules would have come to level this place to the ground, or Lord Jo Gangwoon would have come personally to rip my limbs off. He’s moving on his own.”

I had a rough idea of why he was doing this too.

The moment he delivered the cargo, chaos broke out at the research facility——so the clan must have grilled him relentlessly.

Having been attacked by wako while taking delivery of the cargo on top of that, he would have had reasons to be suspicious.

But he couldn’t have rashly spoken about that.

Because he himself was the one who had covered up that attack.

“To prove his innocence, he’d have to expose the misconduct he committed himself….”

“Neat, isn’t it?”

So what was left to him was capturing me——the real culprit——and handing me over to the clan.

To frame this purge as an Andong Kim fabrication, and clear the Pungyang Jo clan of the treason charge.

“I understand Koo Junghyuk and the bodyguards, but what are the Sword Pact men around them?”

“Looking at the clothes…. those are Azure Fellowship.”

I muttered looking at the Sword Pact men in the footage, and Min Jeonghwan, who had risen from his seat, opened his mouth.

“They handle clean-up work for nobles’ dirty money. Originally Dokgo Seong’s faction ran that business——when he died, they filled the vacancy.”

“A fox playing king in the territory the tiger vacated.”

“Exactly.”

Benefits of recruiting Sword Pact members already paying off.

Just one look, and the organization’s name and basic information came flowing out.

Two groups that used to snarl at each other teaming up——the reason was simple: money.

“That was nearly a disaster.”

If he caught me off guard now, the incident I had gone to such lengths to cover up could resurface.

So this was the butterfly effect of failing to deal with the loose ends in time.

An obstacle I hadn’t anticipated had appeared.

“I’ll handle it immediately. They can’t have gone far yet——if I move to ambush them alone…….”

“No.”

I replied at once.

“You’re my officially registered bodyguard. If you move openly, the Pungyang Jo main house will start watching me.”

I had planned to hide and build my strength in the confusion of the war——if that happened, all of it would be for nothing.

‘Under normal circumstances I would have used Mooyoung to handle this, but that would expose the Mooyoung card I’ve kept hidden to the Pungyang Jo clan.’

Mooyoung was my ace for assassinating phase power users.

His value was far too great to reveal just to catch minnows like these.

There is a separate knife for catching mice and a separate knife for slaughtering cattle.

And right now, in my hand, was an excellent card I could use in place of Mooyoung.

“Something big has come up right after your first day on the job——how do I even apologize?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Min Jeonghwan, taking the lead, opened the door and stepped outside.

This was not the casino building but the safe house Taewoong had prepared.

In front of the safe house, roughly fifty Sword Pact members who had received Min Jeonghwan’s call were standing in formation.

“This is a performance test for you Killing Pact.”

The dozens of Sword Pact members, having apparently already signed the contract, looked toward me.

“The target is an official from the Pungyang Jo clan——a clan currently in the middle of its own collapse! A notorious Pungyang Jo henchman, and a textbook corrupt official to boot.”

The Killing Pact members who had been killing nobles alongside Min Jeonghwan.

While I was looking over their faces, a massive trailer appeared rolling down the road in the back.

Hisss—!

With a heavy mechanical sound, the trailer opened slowly.

Inside, new-model powered suits, rifles, and countless weapons were displayed in neat order.

“All the equipment you want——I’ll provide it. How long to get this done?”

One round of hollow laughter rang out, and then:

“Please keep your evening free, Young Master.”

Min Jeonghwan, standing in the middle, spoke on their behalf.

“We’ll be serving you the freshest head of a corrupt official, caught just tonight.”

---

“Sir! A-are you really providing all of this?!”

The factory district in Hanseong’s lower tier.

Inside a long-abandoned derelict factory, rough-looking men fitted with artificial bodies were raising excited voices.

“Second-grade artificial bodies?! Insane! Hahaha! These are stronger than what Min Jeonghwan had!”

“That bastard used to swagger around trusting his backer…. now I can kill him with my own hands……!”

But the celebratory mood lasted only a moment.

Thud!

With the sound of a fist slamming down, the elated Sword Pact voices were instantly silenced.

“Is this all the personnel you can mobilize?”

“Yes, yes!”

The one who flinched in surprise was Dok Cheongwoo——the man who had been leading this Sword Pact faction until now.

Unlike the days when he used to put on airs before his subordinates, he had become utterly docile.

It was only natural.

The man before him was a member of a power clan.

Specifically——a senior official of the Pungyang Jo clan’s support council, the second-ranking power clan in Joseon.

“I gathered everyone from the residential areas in the lower tier. The rest are the ones managing the establishments, but they’re people who don’t even know how to use artificial bodies to begin with….”

“What about the lowest tier?”

“A, all of them have been pulled from there as well! Truly! S, seeing as the gentleman offered such a major job, every man in this area who can handle a blade has assembled.”

At those words, Koo Junghyuk raised his head and surveyed the assembled Sword Pact men.

‘Nothing but trash.’

Rough faces, laughing and carrying on with their newly issued artificial bodies.

They were dregs who couldn’t even be compared to the main house’s bodyguards, who obeyed orders in perfect unison.

“Tsk.”

Still, this was the best he could manage.

Fourth-grade artificial body sets: seventy. Third-grade: twenty. Second-grade: two.

And several hundred sword-wielders to use as cannon fodder….

A sorry sight by any measure.

‘No. That’s enough.’

These were disposable.

They only needed to pin down Kim Changwoon’s bodyguards until he himself could capture him.

Having handed over artificial bodies they would never see in a lifetime, they would at least buy enough time.

Thinking that, Koo Junghyuk slowly rose to his feet.

Thud!

An eye level now half again higher than his original height.

Every time he looked at his mechanical arms and legs, Koo Junghyuk was seized by the urge to tear his own body apart.

“Did you think you could deceive me and walk away unharmed? Kim Changwoon.”

An unregistered artificial body that hadn’t even passed a safety inspection.

But in output and function, it was a piece of equipment rivaling Grade 1.

He had made him kill his own subordinates with his own hands.

Made him cover up the evidence himself.

And after all that, the bastard had switched the cargo and provided the catalyst that led to Young Master Jo Seonghwan’s death.

The clan had conducted a thorough investigation and tortured every person connected to the cargo management at the time.

And he had lost every position he held and was now being hunted by his own clan.

If caught, his brain would be dissected and his memories extracted.

If that happened, his innocence might be acknowledged——but he would be left a living corpse.

‘I can’t end like that.’

What a life he had built.

How far he had climbed to get here——he could not meet that kind of end.

He had to survive.

And to do that, he had to capture Kim Changwoon——the true culprit——without fail.

‘Wait for me.’

The vermin who had reduced the clan he had devoted his loyalty to rubble, and made him cover up every bit of the blame.

He would crack open that brain of his and lay the truth of the incident bare before the whole world.

For the sake of his honor. His family. His position. To restore all of it to what it once was.

“Have you found his location?”

“Ah! Th, the noble, you mean, sir?”

A quick reply came at Koo Junghyuk’s question.

“There’s no searching to be done. Kim Changwoon——he’s well known among us.”

“Tell me in detail.”

“Y, yes.”

Dok Cheongwoo, who had been the Azure Fellowship’s leader until two days ago, swallowed dry and continued.

“About two months ago he suddenly appeared and started building a casino in the special administration district. There were originally two Sword Pact factions holding this area, but when casino construction began they went at each other wanting to run it themselves.”

“And then.”

“A large faction called Dokgo Seong that had dominated this whole area disappeared. The opposite faction, Pyeongwoon Tavern, washed their hands of everything and pulled out…. right now they’re all working as the casino’s employees.”

Information no different from what he had read in the reports.

As he frowned in dissatisfaction, the terrified Dok Cheongwoo wracked his brain desperately.

And a moment later.

“Ah, ah! The orphanage!”

At a phrase he hadn’t heard before, Koo Junghyuk’s gaze turned toward him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, yes! That…. there’s an orphanage behind the casino Kim Changwoon runs. It was originally a place supported by the proprietress who used to be Pyeongwoon Tavern’s leader——if we move to control that first…!”

Just as Azure Fellowship’s leader Dok Cheongwoo was about to say something more—

BOOOOM—!

Along with a familiar voice, one entire wall of the warehouse they were sitting in blew apart.

“What’s happening! What’s going on!”

The Azure Fellowship members, thrown into a panic, rushed to draw their weapons.

Loading rifles. Activating artificial bodies.

And in the midst of that, Koo Junghyuk’s face in their center twisted like a demon’s.

That distinctive easy tone of voice. And that voice.

“You……!”

How had he found him?

The question rose in his mind, but right now getting a grasp of the situation came first.

He activated the tactical scanner built into his artificial body, and a crowd of figures appeared before him.

Dozens of Sword Pact members in black Western suits and durumagis, with black top hats pulled low.

“Heard right, captain? I heard corrupt officials, but these bastards are worse than I imagined.”

As the Sword Pact members filed into formation one by one, the faces of several Azure Fellowship members contorted.

“Ki, Killing Pact?! Why are those lunatics after us……!”

“Get your weapons! Hurry!”

The Azure Fellowship Sword Pact members shouted that and leveled their weapons——but that shouting didn’t last long.

“Dogs that do nothing but wag their tails at nobles.”

Min Jeonghwan said that with a short sneer, then without delay raised one hand—

“Open fire.”

At those words, the lined-up Killing Pact members began firing the weapons they were holding.

BRRRRRAAAAM—!

Large-caliber autocannons, incomparable to ordinary rifle rounds, obliterated the warehouse’s outer wall without a trace.

Firepower that shattered reinforced concrete like tofu.

The ordinary Azure Fellowship members who had been taking cover behind it began crumbling in succession, unable to mount any meaningful resistance.

“Agh, aaaargh?!”

“Heavy weapons?! Impossible——why do the Killing Pact have equipment like this……!”

“Cover is useless! R, run……!”

Crack!

With a sound like a watermelon bursting, the head of a fleeing Azure Fellowship member exploded.

“Those who run die.”

Standing where the headless corpse had fallen was Koo Junghyuk——his entire body covered in artificial body parts.

Seeing that demonically twisted face, the Azure Fellowship Sword Pact members went pale.

“Ammunition spent.”

It was precisely then that the Killing Pact’s firing ended.

Apparently thinking they had a chance in close-quarters, the Azure Fellowship members gathered around Koo Junghyuk one by one.

“The minnows are mostly cleaned up, captain. The ones remaining——these won’t die so easily.”

“Right. That’s how it is.”

And in answer, the Killing Pact threw the rifles they’d been holding to the ground.

“Draw your blades.”

At the order from their leader Min Jeonghwan, they bared gleaming fangs and slowly drew their swords, as if they had been waiting for exactly this moment.

The instant before battle——a moment of silence.

In stillness that seemed to freeze time, the two groups glared at each other for a beat.

“Let’s go kill some nobles.”

At Min Jeonghwan’s single word as the signal, every manner of screaming and roaring began to fill the decrepit warehouse.

Up above, nobles of high birth were killing each other for trivial reasons.

Down below, lowborns acting on nobles’ bidding had begun killing each other on their respective orders.