After that incident at the Azure Dragon Tavern, Namgung Il was immediately returning to the Vermilion Bird Tavern.
'Seeing Su Majin there was truly unexpected.'
It probably meant that Su Majin was paying considerable attention to Namgung Cheon.
But for Namgung Cheon to speak to Su Majin in such a way...
Recalling the sight of Su Majin fumbling before Namgung Cheon, a laugh escaped Namgung Il's mouth without him realizing it.
'Come to think of it, I met the head of the Cheonha Escort Bureau in Luoyang.'
Running into Su Majin at the academy naturally reminded Namgung Il of that time.
His name was definitely Kang Cheol-woo.
That fellow also seemed to have some business at the Flying Dragon Academy, but he didn't seem to have heard any more details.
'Hmm...? Wait a minute.'
Just then, as if he felt a sense of unease, Namgung Il's steps slowed for a moment.
What on earth was that fellow named Kang Cheol-woo's business at the Flying Dragon Academy?
He himself couldn't understand why he suddenly had a question about it, but Namgung Il felt that he was missing something very important.
"..."
Until just a moment ago, he had thought Su Majin had come here because of Namgung Cheon, but in fact, that might not be the case.
Could it be that Namgung Cheon was just a bonus, and he had actually come to the Flying Dragon Academy for another real purpose?
Feeling as if a series of events were interlocking, Namgung Il began to have doubts about it.
'Flying Dragon Academy. Cheonha Escort Bureau. Su Majin. Kang Cheol-woo... Martial Alliance?'
It was then.
As he was listing the questions in his head, a sudden, urgent voice was heard, tangling up everything he had arranged so far.
"Namgung Il!"
"...?"
"How did it go?"
The owner of the urgent voice was Ak Simin.
He had been walking aimlessly, lost in thought, and Namgung Il belatedly realized that he had arrived in front of the Vermilion Bird Tavern.
"...What about?"
"What do you mean, what about? How was the state of the Azure Dragon Tavern?"
"Ah—."
"What, you didn't go there?"
"I did. I just came from there."
But why was his reaction so lukewarm?
Feeling that Namgung Il's state was strange, Ak Simin felt even more anxious.
"How was it there? Were there a lot of people?"
"Yes, a lot."
"...?"
"Both pavilions were completely full, and there was a huge line of people outside."
At that moment, Ak Simin's face darkened rapidly.
Not only were all the seats full, but there was even a waiting line outside.
Ak Simin's hope that they might be able to beat the Azure Dragon Tavern with Ma Dong-pal and Jin Gwon-nam's performance crumbled with that one sentence.
"Th-then what do we do?"
"What do you mean, what do we do? We have to keep doing business like this."
"You said it was so full there was even a line outside, right? Then aren't we losing in terms of sales?"
Although the number of customers was on a continuous rise, the Vermilion Bird Tavern was not at the level of having a waiting line like the Azure Dragon Tavern.
It would become full, then empty seats would appear again.
Although it could be said that business was going well, it was significantly behind their original target, the Azure Dragon Tavern.
"We'll lose."
"...!"
"If we continue like this, that is."
Ak Simin heard the last words Namgung Il uttered as meaningful.
Yes, wasn't now the time when the ace in the hole that Namgung Il had prepared was needed?
Surely, Namgung Il would have prepared a move to reverse the current situation.
"Namgung Il, the time has finally come to reveal your ace in the hole."
"..."
"Don't hide it anymore and tell me what it is."
If you don't want to see me go crazy, tell me you have it.
Ak Simin's two eyes seemed to be saying just that.
However.
"Now is not the time."
"...?"
"We have no choice but to endure and get through today."
Even in this situation, Namgung Il was not trying to pull out his ace in the hole.
Seeing him hide it to this extent, it was now to the point where he even doubted if it really existed.
Ak Simin spoke to Namgung Il as if he were frustrated.
"Have you heard the saying, 'If you save it, it turns to crap'?"
"..."
"As time goes on, the gap with the Azure Dragon Tavern will only widen. I think now is the right time to pull it out if you're going to."
"You're right, senior."
Surprisingly, Namgung Il was agreeing with Ak Simin's words.
Then why on earth was he still hiding this 'ace in the hole'?
As Ak Simin looked at him with a puzzled expression, Namgung Il continued to speak.
"To be precise, it's not that I'm not pulling it out, but that I can't."
"What?"
"Because it's not ready yet. It's better to wait for certainty than to pull it out rashly and ruin it."
Then he should have said so from the beginning.
Ak Simin let out a slight sigh and asked Namgung Il.
"When will it be ready?"
"I think it will arrive sometime tomorrow."
"...With just that, can we really beat the Azure Dragon Tavern?"
Namgung Il did not answer that question right away.
Just as Ak Simin, unable to wait for the silence, was about to open his mouth again, Namgung Il's voice was heard first.
"You won't know how long or short it is until you measure it."
"..."
"But I can be sure of this one thing."
Namgung Il said and walked forward.
"I did my best to beat the Azure Dragon Tavern."
"..."
"Man proposes, God disposes. Now we must leave it to the will of heaven and do what we can now."
Namgung Il said, glancing at Ak Simin.
His appearance was definitely Namgung Il, but... feeling a different atmosphere from his usual tone, Ak Simin stared blankly at Namgung Il for a moment.
'At times like this, he seems like an adult.'
Perhaps it was because of this side of him that he was relying on Namgung Il.
Ak Simin thought to himself and smirked.
"How does a guy who can't even study know such difficult words?"
"I knew it from before."
"Really?"
"But what does that matter?"
He was right.
Ak Simin walked forward and wrapped his arm around Namgung Il's shoulder.
"You're right."
"..."
"We have to do what we can now. There's no use in worrying needlessly, right?"
"...Now you seem a bit more like a senior."
The two entered, bickering as usual.
The day of the decisive battle was tomorrow.
The direction of the match would be decided on the second day of the Clear Bright Festival.
***
The second day of the Clear Bright Festival dawned.
The Vermilion Bird Tavern, just like the first day, was conducting business with Ma Dong-pal and Jin Gwon-nam at the forefront, and quite a few customers had been visiting since the morning.
"Phew—."
Ma Dong-pal was resting for a moment in a secluded place.
Just then, a person approached Ma Dong-pal's side.
As Namgung Il came closer, Ma Dong-pal raised his head.
"Senior Dong-pal, are you okay?"
"Ah, I'm fine."
"Drink some of this."
Namgung Il said and handed Ma Dong-pal a container filled with water.
"Thanks."
"..."
Ma Dong-pal gulped down the water as if it were refreshing.
Namgung Il, who was watching him silently.
As it seemed Ma Dong-pal had finished drinking the water, Namgung Il carefully opened his mouth.
"Senior, can you keep going?"
"Huh? What?"
"The performance."
Ma Dong-pal had been performing continuously since yesterday.
No matter how abnormally strong he was, breaking things all day long was by no means an easy task, was it?
Moreover, the things he was breaking were not simple, but all things that required a lot of strength.
"I was wondering what you were talking about."
"..."
"It's fine! After sleeping for one night yesterday, my stamina has completely recovered."
Ma Dong-pal said and thumped his chest with one hand.
As he said, he looked fine on the outside, but Namgung Il felt that he was pushing himself a little.
'There's no way he's fine.'
Namgung Il had confirmed that the debris of the things Ma Dong-pal had broken yesterday was piled up like a mountain.
He had been breaking things nonstop to that extent, so would his stamina recover in just one night?
Due to the nature of the feat of strength performance, as time went on, the strength of the objects to be broken would also gradually increase, so Ma Dong-pal would be required to have even more stamina in the future.
"..."
No matter how much of a Ma Dong-pal he was, he wouldn't be able to endure today like yesterday in a state where he hadn't fully recovered from the accumulated fatigue of yesterday.
Namgung Il thought for a moment and finally opened his mouth.
"Senior Dong-pal, take it easy today."
"...?"
"You don't have to do it like yesterday. Take a lot of breaks in between and only break the easy things."
That would reduce Ma Dong-pal's burden a lot.
However.
Ma Dong-pal looked at Namgung Il with a serious face and said.
"I'm not smart and I have no talent for business. All I have is this strength."
"..."
"Namgung Il, I am happy right now. If I think that my strength is helping the Vermilion Bird Class, I can endure as much as I need to."
Ma Dong-pal said and smiled brightly.
It was a smile that felt truly, purely happy, with no other intentions felt.
Seeing that, Namgung Il's head bowed without him realizing it.
"...I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"..."
"If it weren't for you, the Vermilion Bird Class wouldn't have been able to hold on this far."
Ma Dong-pal said and got up from his seat.
"I'm going back to perform."
"...Senior Dong-pal. Please hold on for just a little longer."
"What do you mean a little? I can do it all day today."
Ma Dong-pal raised his arm as if he were fine and walked towards the stage again.
Accordingly, the cheers of the customers were heard.
Namgung Il was watching Ma Dong-pal, who was performing again, from a distance.
"..."
Even though he knew that Ma Dong-pal's fatigue was accumulating, Namgung Il couldn't tell him to stop.
Because the core of the current Vermilion Bird Tavern was Ma Dong-pal's feat of strength performance.
That was why Namgung Il had said he was sorry to Ma Dong-pal earlier.
'When on earth is it arriving?'
He had definitely told them to come by noon at the latest.
But even now, well past noon, the item Namgung Il had mentioned had not yet arrived.
"..."
If only that arrived, Ma Dong-pal's burden would also be much less than now.
The ace in the hole that would allow the Vermilion Bird Tavern to surpass the Azure Dragon Tavern and fly far away.
Namgung Il was eagerly waiting for that one move to arrive.
"Owner!"
It was then.
Someone's voice was heard from somewhere.
As Namgung Il turned his head to where the sound was heard, the general manager of Yongmun Tavern was waving his hand there.
'It's here!'
The general manager was what Namgung Il had been waiting for all along.
No, to be precise, it was the cargo carts behind him.
Namgung Il had been waiting with bated breath for the items inside.
Phat—.
Namgung Il immediately passed the general manager and checked inside the cargo cart.
Six large jars. Namgung Il reached out his hand to one of them and opened the lid.
"...Hehe."
As soon as he confirmed the contents of the jar, a laugh escaped Namgung Il's mouth without him realizing it.
Just then, the general manager stealthily approached Namgung Il's side and peeked his head in.
Although he had moved that jar, the general manager did not know exactly what was inside.
"Owner, what on earth is that alcohol?"
"...This?"
Namgung Il said in response to the general manager's question and put one finger into the jar.
Swoosh—.
Namgung Il put his finger into his mouth as it was.
At that moment, a satisfied smile formed slightly.
Namgung Il turned his head towards the general manager and answered the question he had asked earlier.
"It's the ace in the hole."
"...?"
The ace in the hole.
Of course, the general manager did not understand the meaning of those words.
(End of Chapter)