The Hunting Dog of the Prestigious Family Has Returned Chapter 94

“Young Master Kim Changwoon. We have been expecting you.”

“The elders are waiting. This way, please.”

When the heavy soundproofed door opened, a conference room thick with tension was revealed, cold air spilling out with it.

Along the extended table, senior representatives of each corporate city sat with rigid expressions.

Their attire differed slightly, as though to reflect the character of each corporate city, but the wariness and ambition behind their eyes were remarkably alike.

‘They’re hungry for this.’

Each wore a different mask, but the greed beneath was the same color.

At the head of the table sat the head of the Shimazu family, the supreme commander of this expedition, and beside him, as expected, Kim Hyunwoo was seated as an attendant.

And at Kim Hyunwoo’s side…….

‘A woman?’

An unfamiliar woman sat at Kim Hyunwoo’s side, eyes lowered.

Who is that?

No matter how I looked, she seemed out of place in a military setting.

Something felt off, but regrettably, there appeared to be no time to dig into that.

“Before the meeting begins, allow me to present a brief operational overview.”

As though they had been waiting for my arrival, the Shimazu military strategist stepped forward.

A massive holographic map appeared before us.

Far sharper than anything I had seen at Iron Tiger Fortress, the map displayed the deployment of each force, the terrain, and the silhouettes of monsters in clear arrangement at a glance.

“The final objective of this operation is Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture. It is a strategic linchpin connecting Kyushu to Honshu, and will serve as the bridgehead for the mainland reclamation…….”

The operational plan that followed could be summarized as this.

Shimonoseki.

A gateway city connecting the Kyushu region to the mainland, it was a strategic linchpin where the undersea tunnel leading to Honshu Island was located.

The primary objective of the operation was to subjugate the monsters that had made their nest in Shimonoseki, and to establish a fortress platform in the city center, securing the first stronghold for the mainland campaign.

“According to information currently available, the operational routes are broadly divided into two.”

The strategist enlarged the map as he continued his explanation.

“The first is a ground breakthrough via the Kanmon Undersea Tunnel. It is the shortest route, but a monster production plant is estimated to be located inside, and the tunnel itself has deteriorated, making the risk of collapse during combat extremely high.”

“Too many unpredictable variables.”

“Precisely. That is why our Shimazu family proposes…….”

This time, the coastline north of Shimonoseki was highlighted.

“The second route: an amphibious landing operation.”

With those words from the strategist, the operational map filled the conference room.

“Our Shimazu family currently possesses large landing vessels capable of simultaneously deploying over ten thousand troops. Naval gunfire support will also be available, so troop transport should prove manageable.”

“The problem is the monsters deployed along the coastline. And the ‘force field’ in the center.”

When Masahito, the representative of the Shimazu family, rose to his feet, the strategist quickly bowed his head.

“Well done.”

“Th, thank you.”

After patting the tensely held shoulders of the strategist, Masahito surveyed the assembly and opened his mouth.

“As those gathered here well know, a Class-1 hatching ground that produces large-type monsters exists on the northern coastline. The force field spread out from that location could not be suppressed by ordinary naval gunfire or missile strikes, so breakthrough by our forces alone was impossible.”

At those words, the mood in the room darkened a degree further.

A barrier that held firm even after thousands of shells were poured into it, even when a nuclear warhead was dropped accepting the contamination of the mainland.

“But now, accompanying our expedition force, we have the foremost phase power user in all of Joseon.”

Masahito’s gaze, lifting the heavy atmosphere, drifted naturally toward Kim Hyunwoo.

A remark with flattery written plainly across it.

With the attention of the assembly concentrated, Masahito continued his explanation.

“The phase power attribute of Young Master Kim Hyunwoo here is lightning and storm. A phase power specialized in large-scale crowd control, it can sweep away not only the forces deployed along the coastline but also the force field at the city center.”

“Oh……!”

“And this time, the Andong Kim clan’s escort corps has arrived as well, so….”

“It sounds like we have a chance.”

Among the senior figures seated in the conference room, a few could be seen nodding faintly.

Kim Hyunwoo’s abilities were already well-regarded, so there appeared to be no disagreement that he would be the core force of this operation.

Up to here, the flow was predictable enough, but….

‘The problem will be what comes next.’

They would not have summoned this many people merely to rattle off such basic points.

“Incinerating the giant monsters poses no problem, but…. the problem would be the special-type individuals posted throughout the gaps.”

As I waited in silence, a voice drifted out from among the alliance’s senior figures, who had been conferring among themselves.

A group lined up in brown uniforms different from Shimazu’s white.

It was the remark of a middle-aged man seated at their center.

“That is precisely so.”

Having exchanged a glance with Masahito, Kim Hyunwoo rose from his seat, as though it had been arranged in advance.

“According to high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft reports, the special-type individuals deployed along the coastline number approximately eighty…. even with the escort corps deployed, holding all of them off would be beyond our means.”

“Then?”

“To improve the success rate of the landing operation, there is a need to draw the enemy’s attention elsewhere. To that end, the conclusion was reached that it would be reasonable to commit a ground force to the first route…. the Kanmon Undersea Tunnel.”

His voice was soft, as though imitating Kim Jungheon’s manner, but the blade within it was not quite concealed.

Perhaps he thought it nothing worth worrying about.

Meeting the faintly displeased expression of the middle-aged man, Kim Hyunwoo went on.

“A special detachment composed of multi-legged tanks and tactical modules must be infiltrated through the Kanmon Undersea Tunnel to carry out a disruption operation.”

“It would be a rather dangerous mission, drawing the monster forces’ main body until the main force completes its landing.”

“Correct. Which is why I….”

Kim Hyunwoo let his words trail off and turned his gaze toward me.

“Would like to entrust this weighty mission to Inspector Kim Changwoon, tactician of the Andong Kim clan.”

Wearing a gentle smile as though he harbored not the slightest ill intent, Kim Hyunwoo looked my way.

“Changwoon. Can you do it?”

“…….”

What does this bastard think he’s doing right now?

I returned Kim Hyunwoo’s gaze without changing expression, but inwardly cold fury churned.

The orders from the family had been clear.

While Kim Hyunwoo stepped to the fore, subjugating monsters and building his reputation, I was to work from behind, stirring the board and sowing division among the corporate cities.

And now he was openly trying to throw me in as the most dangerous decoy, a shield to absorb bullets?

This was not part of the plan.

I immediately sent Kim Hyunwoo a voice message.

-My standing at the front line directly was not part of the plan. Might I ask for an explanation?

-Plans change. You want to kill monsters and build merit too, don’t you?

-My mission is to disrupt the rear of the city alliance forces. If I step forward as you instruct, there will be no stopping them…….

-You need not concern yourself with that.

-Is there a follow-up plan in place?

-No. There is no need for one.

What on earth is this nonsense.

No need?

Even as the alliance’s senior figures deliberated the specifics of the operation, Kim Hyunwoo’s voice messages continued coming.

-I have made a deal with the Shimazu family. If the Joseon side ceases rear disruption and cooperates genuinely with the mainland reclamation, they will deliver all the promised support materials in a lump sum and hand over the development priority rights for Honshu.

-Young Master. What are you….

-Moreover, once this battle is over, I have given my word to enter a betrothal arrangement with Masahito’s daughter.

A betrothal, of all the mad ideas.

Arranging a marriage without a single word of discussion with the family elders?

The heir of the clan?

I turned my gaze toward him, dumbfounded, but Kim Hyunwoo, somehow full of confidence, opened his mouth with a composed smile.

-If this Honshu reclamation operation proceeds successfully, it means our family will gain a reliable ally. It means placing Japan as a great power at the feet of our family.

Ah, damn it.

My head. My head was throbbing.

At a point where all that was needed was to quietly swing a sword on the battlefield and everything would resolve itself, he had to go and stir up pointless trouble.

The moment Kim Jungheon loosened the reins and this is immediately what happens.

‘This is no time to be angry. Think. Think.’

Right, the intent is roughly clear enough.

At present, numerous Joseon corporations had advanced into Japan, and among them, anti-Andong Kim forces centered on the Yeohung Min clan had also dug in.

Kim Hyunwoo’s intention would be to use the Shimazu family to uproot them in one stroke.

Considering the family’s immediate debts and Joseon’s internal circumstances, it was a tempting proposal on the ears, but….

‘In the end, it’s saying we sit back and watch the Japanese archipelago unify. You fool…!’

I was too dumbfounded for words.

Allowing a larger enemy to grow in order to catch a half-dead one.

Did he think Kim Jungheon would approve of such shortsighted strategy?

-Young Master. Permitting the mainland reclamation is not a matter we can decide. It must be reported to Lord Kim Jungheon….

-That is the logic of underlings like you.

Now he was needling people without even a blinker.

As I was sighing inwardly, Kim Hyunwoo, who had thrown that out, opened his mouth.

-I am the officially recognized heir of the main house, acknowledged by my father. I may directly involve myself in the family’s major and minor affairs, and I have the authority to alter plans. My father sent me as the family’s representative precisely because he knows this. Is that not so?

It is not.

Nonsense.

Kim Jungheon is not someone who leaves uncertainties like ‘trust’ lying around to begin with.

Kim Hyunwoo’s sole task in this expedition was one thing: kill monsters.

Everything else, he had only to move as Kim Jungheon had instructed, as he had directed.

That thick-headed fool had gone and ruined everything.

‘……No. Wait a moment.’

Just as irritation was beginning to rise.

Looking at Kim Hyunwoo conversing with the senior figures, that peculiar expression on his face, the instincts of the corrupt official lying dormant within me were warning of something.

‘Whatever he looks like, Kim Hyunwoo is the heir of the Andong Kim clan. He was taught directly by none other than Kim Jungheon himself.’

If even a handful of brain cells remained alive in that head, no matter how blinded by the succession struggle, he would never fall for such a shallow ploy.

Yet even so, to move exactly as the Japanese side wanted…. no matter how I turned it over, the pieces did not fit.

Then what was the other hypothesis?

‘There is some other covert arrangement that cannot be disclosed to the family?’

The moment that thought reached me, my narrowed gaze swept quickly around.

What caught my eye was the woman standing at Kim Hyunwoo’s side.

Watching her hold her ground without shrinking amid the alliance’s senior figures, it was not difficult to infer who she was.

‘Masahito’s daughter.’

And yet this woman was smiling at Kim Hyunwoo the whole time.

Kim Hyunwoo himself did not seem to find it entirely unwelcome.

And finally, Shimazu Masahito, the head of the Shimazu family, watching that scene with a satisfied and crafty smile.

“……Ha.”

Looking between them in turn, I muttered inwardly, thoroughly unimpressed.

‘Shimazu Masahito. That old man blew the wind into his ear.’

Kim Hyunwoo had always been prone to stirring up needless trouble.

To satisfy his absurd hunger for recognition, wanting to be properly acknowledged as heir by his own father, Kim Jungheon.

And when he first arrived in Japan, at the banquet hall, Kim Hyunwoo had blurted out the succession matter out of nowhere.

That brief exchange had, somehow, reached this man’s ears.

‘Words fail me. To think he would take that brief exchange as a thread and draw Kim Hyunwoo over to his side….’

What was astonishing was Shimazu’s eloquence in winning Kim Hyunwoo over in only a matter of days.

And three times more astonishing was Kim Hyunwoo, who couldn’t hold out even a few days before being taken in by that glib tongue.

His presumption in trying to decide a marriage arrangement on his own was so brazen it crossed over into being almost funny.

‘But there is no taking back what has already happened.’

The moment I grasped the situation, I immediately looked around and read the expressions of the other faction heads.

Having spent a dozen or so seconds organizing my thoughts, there was not much time.

But….

‘I’ll have to give it a shot.’

“……Being entrusted with such a weighty responsibility as a mere official, I am quite at a loss.”

Opening my mouth with an awkward smile, I continued, watching for reactions as though embarrassed.

“However, the majority of the expedition force’s troops are provided by the corporate city side, and it would seem…. improper for an outsider such as myself to take command of them so freely.”

“……!”

I ignored Kim Hyunwoo’s face, which darkened in an instant.

Perhaps he had not anticipated that I would raise an objection.

Shimazu Masahito, who had been listening in silence, looked my way and asked:

“In other words, are you saying that you will not be participating in the battle, Young Master Changwoon?”

“Not at all. More precisely….”

Shaking my head, I kept up the polished smile and lifted my gaze to one side of the conference room.

‘If I declare nonparticipation here, Shimazu will immediately pack me off back to Joseon. I cannot extract myself carelessly.’

Then I too, as Kim Hyunwoo had done, would have to make use of a faction.

For example….

“I would like to entrust full authority to…. the Mori family, who hold one pillar of the city alliance.”

The storied enemy of the Shimazu family, whose origins lay in Satsuma.

The Mori family of Choshu.

“The great nation’s envoy speaks words of wisdom.”

The moment I took the first shot.

A voice that burst from one side of the conference room cut off any rebuttal from the Shimazu side.

“To summarize the operation, it is a feint: draw the enemy’s gaze with a ground offensive, then attempt the landing. It sounds quite polished to the ear, but one cannot help raising doubts regarding the specifics.”

“Doubts? What do you mean by….”

Bang!

With a sharp slam of a fist against the table, a giant of a man with a bear-like face rose slowly to his feet.

A brown uniform symbolizing the army, different from Shimazu’s white.

The man who appeared to be the representative wore an expression unmistakably stubborn and authoritarian.

“Having read through the operational plan submitted by the Shimazu side, I found that the special detachment facing the special-type individuals is composed largely of our own forces! What is the meaning of this! Is this not Shimazu throwing our family’s troops to the monsters as fodder, then claiming all the interests for themselves?!”

“What kind of nonsense is that……!”

“Mind what you say, Mori faction head!”

“Defiling the great cause of monster subjugation with suspicions! Did you think the navy would overlook this?!”

Looking at the conference room turned into chaos in an instant, Kim Hyunwoo’s brow furrowed and his gaze turned toward me.

If you thought I would quietly go along and die for you, you were mistaken.

While lowering my eyes to the teacup set before me, Masahito, his expression stiffened, opened his mouth.

“…Our main house has already expended considerable resources to invite Young Master Kim Hyunwoo, and has mobilized all available fleet strength. Even so, are you saying it is not enough, Choshu…. Lord Mori?” (+) ^[1] TLN: Interestingly, Masahito use the word 공자 and not 도령 which he use at the start when meeting Hyunwoo. In which, this can be interpreted into him acknowledging Hyunwoo as the heir apparent. You see, the word 공자 can be translated both into just Young Master, and Young Lord (or loosely, prince). But I still use the word Young Master here since I’m not really sure whether the author intended to be that way or not. Either way, we’ll see later. I just wanted to let you know about the word that lost in translation.

“Then I will ask from our side. Lord Shimazu. That arrogance, fronting mere material wealth to use our soldiers’ blood as your own. That overreach, trying to place our army under a foreign official! Is this not precisely a declaration that the Shimazu family intends to privatize this alliance?!”

“We gathered here bearing the great cause of mainland reclamation, Lord Mori. I would recommend withdrawing that last remark….”

“No. As the one charged with leading Choshu, I will say it plainly here and now.”

The man folded his arms conspicuously and opened his mouth slowly.

“Our army stands in opposition to the navy’s proposal.”

The Shimazu family’s senior figures, clamping their mouths shut as though the breath had been knocked out of them, and senior figures seething as though they would charge forward at any moment.

But those eyes, receiving that fierce gaze without the slightest flinch.

That is not political maneuvering.

That is simply spite.

Sheer obstinacy, determined to throw a wrench into anything the Shimazu side led.

‘Ah. Now this is it.’

Inwardly, I cheered.

The best way to counter a sucker is to put up your own sucker.

And when sucker meets sucker, the one who is a more spectacular sucker takes the upper hand.

The Shimazu family, responsible for the naval forces of the corporate city alliance.

If you have caught Kim Hyunwoo as your sucker, we have the other pillar of the alliance.

I’ll win over the Mori family, who command the army.

• 1. TLN: Interestingly, Masahito use the word 공자 and not 도령 which he use at the start when meeting Hyunwoo. In which, this can be interpreted into him acknowledging Hyunwoo as the heir apparent. You see, the word 공자 can be translated both into just Young Master, and Young Lord (or loosely, prince). But I still use the word Young Master here since I’m not really sure whether the author intended to be that way or not. Either way, we’ll see later. I just wanted to let you know about the word that lost in translation.