Chapter 195 – Conflict (1)

Kang Geom-Ma, bewildered, looked at the Swordmaster and Media. His eyes were wide open. Upon seeing him, the Swordmaster let out a warm laugh.

“Hahaha. Judging by your reaction, you must’ve completely forgotten.”

“……”

“In times like this, you should celebrate like someone your age! No need to hold back just because adults are around!”

Kang Geom-Ma’s silence mingled with the Swordmaster’s laughter in the director’s office. That peculiar contrast filled the room for a moment, until the laughter slowly faded.

“…Ha ha.”

A thick silence gently settled in the room. The Swordmaster looked at him with calm eyes. His face didn’t seem forced. In fact, it looked so sincere it almost seemed innocent.

With a hint of suspicion, the Swordmaster spoke.

“Kang Geom-Ma… don’t tell me… you really forgot about the Seven Stars succession?”

“……”

Instead of answering, Kang Geom-Ma stayed silent. Anything he said would only make things more awkward. Fortunately, the Swordmaster seemed to grasp the meaning behind his silence. His sincere laughter turned nervous.

“Ha… So you really did forget.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Come to think of it, it makes sense. You’ve been through a lot lately. Since the Joaquin incident, and according to Altair, you also did a lot at the auction house. After so much, it’s only natural you forgot.”

The Swordmaster rubbed his brow with his thumb. He’d known for a while that Kang Geom-Ma had no interest in fame or glory.

But to forget something as significant as the Seven Stars succession ceremony… That only proved that, for him, helping others took precedence over titles.

In the few months he hadn’t seen him, the young man had ascended to a whole new dimension. The Swordmaster’s eyes were filled with respect.

‘For a transcendent hero like him, the title of Seven Stars must feel insignificant.’

Kang Geom-Ma’s divinity had already far surpassed his own. He might even be on par with the founding heroes. For someone like that, the title of Hero of the Seven Stars was like a firefly before the sun.

It was simply the position that best fit this era’s Kang Geom-Ma. There were no “what ifs,” but if he had been born in a time of war…

Meanwhile, Kang Geom-Ma, seated across from him, swallowed uncomfortably.

‘It looks like the Swordmaster is disappointed…’

That deep gaze was a clear sign of regret. And the reason was just what he’d said. So much had happened lately, he simply hadn’t had the time to think about the succession.

‘Come to think of it, I even stayed at his house during the break because of it.’

And that was also why he had been absent from the academy, running around to prepare for the succession.

Looking back, he could understand the Swordmaster’s tired expression. After all that effort, the main figure had completely forgotten.

He tried to find words to explain himself, but couldn’t bring himself to speak. Lying now would only make him feel terribly guilty.

Thus, misunderstandings between the two men tangled in the air. And just when the atmosphere in the office was about to grow even heavier…

Clap!

Media clapped her hands, drawing all eyes to her. With that motion, the tension in the room dispersed like wind. After refreshing the atmosphere, she quickly addressed the Swordmaster.

“Whether or not our Kang Geom-Ma forgot isn’t the important part. The main reason for this meeting wasn’t just to announce the succession ceremony, right?”

“Was there something else? I thought I already said everything I needed to… Argh!”

A sound of flesh being pinched rang out from under the table. Media, still smiling, had grabbed his thigh tightly. Her eyes, curved like crescent moons, glared at him.

‘Still planning to keep embarrassing our Kang Geom-Ma with your comments? Want to die?’

A silent but clearly violent pressure to take the hint. From the muscular pain, the Swordmaster quickly corrected himself.

“Ha… I almost forgot the most important thing. My apologies. Ahem.”

“See? That’s why I say old folks like you always forget what matters. Even now, hehe.”

At last, Media nodded in satisfaction. The Swordmaster ground his teeth, then let out a sigh of resignation.

Thanks to that, he remembered what he really wanted to warn Kang Geom-Ma about. While rubbing his surely bruised thigh, he resumed the conversation.

“To be honest, I hesitated to mention it, but I think it’s better that you know. The succession ceremony will go smoothly—unless there are variables.”

He placed special emphasis on the word “variables.” Seeing Kang Geom-Ma’s confused expression, the Swordmaster added.

“There are a few things I can say for sure. Regarding your succession as one of the Seven Stars, not many opposed it. Just a few puppets of the elders, and I’ve already dealt with them. It wasn’t pleasant… but Changseong helped.”

“Changseong… helped?”

“Didn’t you notice? That guy supports anyone he acknowledges wholeheartedly. And he openly despises those he doesn’t. He’s always hounding those politicians and opportunists.”

This time was no different.

Changseong personally visited the opponents, spear in hand. The moment they saw the shining blade at their throats, they all surrendered. The corrupt can’t resist the strong. If they had guts, they wouldn’t be puppets of the elders.

The Swordmaster clicked his tongue and frowned. In truth, Changseong’s intervention had been helpful. Sometimes, to those who won’t listen to reason, you have to speak through force. And Changseong was the best at that.

Not with words, but with fists. He’d always disliked that brutish style. That guy only knew how to solve things through raw power.

But the reason he now found it even more annoying was something else.

‘Changseong… that guy has been watching Kang Geom-Ma very closely.’

He had anticipated it, but didn’t expect it to be this direct. Changseong, always so demanding, seemed to hold Kang Geom-Ma in very high regard.

‘Damn meddler.’

The Swordmaster felt an inexplicable sense of threat.

He wanted to remain the only “master” to Kang Geom-Ma. Assuming that peerless student even needed a master.

Was it just a selfish desire born of old age? But at the very least, he didn’t intend to give up that role to Changseong. Even if it meant crossing blades with him.

‘Man… I must’ve really gotten old.’

He used to frown at old men full of ambition. And without realizing it, he’d become one of them. He shook his head to dispel the thought.

“Anyway, with that, the number of opposing nobles has clearly dropped. The ceremony is progressing smoothly. But if there’s one single variable… it’s Saki Kojima, from House Zelkung.”

Kang Geom-Ma’s brows twitched slightly. He hadn’t expected that name to come up.

“And there’s a reason for that, as the old man said.”

Media took the floor right then. Her tone dropped, turning more serious.

“Kang Geom-Ma, as you know, Kojima is also one of the Seven Stars. But on top of that, he’s the Prime Minister of Japan. That means his influence goes beyond the hero world. He holds sway in politics and economics too. The problem is… despite all that, he hasn’t said a word.”

Media moistened her dry lips with water and raised her index finger to stress her next point.

“I’ll be blunt, Kang Geom-Ma. You should avoid clashing with Kojima. If he decides to vote against you right before the ceremony… no one knows how it’ll shake things up. It’s not that the succession would be canceled, but rumors would spread fast.”

“…What kind of person is Kojima?”

“If he were like the nobles or elders, you could handle him with pressure or force. But with him, that doesn’t work. He’d be more likely to commit seppuku than yield.”

Her expression darkened. Her heavy sigh said it all.

“Honestly, Kojima wasn’t always like this. But after defeating the Sixth Corps Commander… he changed completely. Since then, he’s cut all contact, even with us—the other Seven Stars.”

“Was there a reason…?”

“That’s…”

Media moved her lips but didn’t speak. The Swordmaster placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. He was the one who closed the conversation.

“When someone loses something too important, sometimes they completely lose their way.”

***

A traditional Japanese house steeped in silence.

In the meticulously maintained garden of an adjacent building, a man strolled slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.

His face bore a contradictory mix—sharp as a blade, yet exuding a serene air. As he walked, a woman dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono cautiously approached him.

“Father, your preparations for leaving the country in a few hours are complete.”

The woman had addressed him as “father.” However, her respectful tone and hunched posture made it seem more like she was speaking to a superior than to a family member.

The man slowly turned and fixed his gaze on her. When he finally spoke, he posed a question so absurd it chilled the air.

“Hina, why do you call me father?”

In that instant, the garden’s atmosphere turned glacial. Saki Hina, the eldest daughter, felt a stinging humiliation but still bowed and apologized without showing emotion.

“Forgive me, Prime Minister. It was an old childhood habit that slipped out unintentionally. Please, I beg your pardon.”

“…”

The man stared at her in silence, then looked away, as if she wasn’t even worth responding to.

Faced with such utter disdain, Hina pressed her lips tightly together. Even that slight show of resistance was completely ignored.

Zelkung, Saki Kojima.

This man did not permit a “useless” child to even call him father. There was only one exception his youngest daughter, who was currently attending the academy.

Saki Ryozo.

He acknowledged only Ryozo as his daughter. All others were trash. Paradoxically, Ryozo, the one who bore all his expectations, was the one who despised him the most.

No one in the family understood why. No one spoke to her. Even the few servants Ryozo had been close to were dismissed.

‘While the rest of us received constant scorn… that wretch…’

It was natural for her siblings to resent her. No, in truth, they hated her. She scorned the recognition everyone else craved.

If only that wretch didn’t exist… If only he didn’t fixate on her… Perhaps then, the others would have a chance to take her place.

Family? That wretch never considered them as such. And in politics, there’s no room for blood or tears. Relatives must be watched and excluded even more.

At that moment, Zelkung spoke without looking at her.

“The most important objective of the trip to Korea—how is that progressing?”

Saki Hina quickly composed herself and replied.

“I’ve contacted the third daughter, but since she hasn’t responded, it seems she’s decided to ignore it.”

“I see.”

With just those two words, Hina’s eyes turned red. If it had been her, she would have already been erased from the family registry. And all he says is “I see”?

As her jaw trembled with rage, a face came to mind. The target of her father’s trip to Korea the Saint of Sashimi.

A name that’s been making waves lately. And that wretch Ryozo had already been toying with him for some time. According to her network of informants, they were as close as glue.

She had a keen eye for detail. Perhaps it wasn’t intentional, but thanks to that, the Prime Minister of Japan himself had decided to go in person. It was detestable in every way.

‘Wait a moment.’

Suddenly, her boiling rage cooled. A sinister idea had formed in her mind a way to completely destroy that wretch Ryozo.

A spark of malice flashed in Saki Hina’s eyes, and a cold smile spread across her lips.

As she recalled someone’s black hair, she departed for Nagoya Airport alongside Kojima.