[Chapter 210]
[Life is Like Walking on a Blade's Edge (7)]
In the previous life too.
Eun-ha had experience executing Fog Flower party members who betrayed him after falling for enemies' tricks.
It was worse then.
At that time, they not only leaked Fog Flower party secrets, but also lured party members into traps.
What happened after that was obvious.
Eun-ha broke through their traps and eventually made those who betrayed him taste death.
It was also the occasion that made him think that comrades who were laughing and chatting until yesterday could betray and try to kill him overnight.
So he became unable to easily trust people.
Except for a few people.
He became sharp towards those around him.
And each time people betrayed him, his emotions became more and more numb.
He thought he had adapted by now...
So he thought he wouldn't feel anything even if he killed comrades with his own hands.
Until he killed Lee Cheon-seo.
Eun-ha was that confident.
But it wasn't so.
"This feeling, it's really dirty."
He killed Lee Cheon-seo.
He killed clan members.
When he killed his enemies, he at least felt some relief.
But killing comrades he had eaten with until yesterday only made him feel stifled.
It doesn't feel refreshing.
It sucks.
He thought he had become numb to the sensation of killing something, but the sensation of killing comrades remained vivid at his fingertips.
"..."
Eun-ha looked down at his hands.
Hands stained with blood.
His own hands felt extremely disgusting.
He felt to his bones how cruel, ruthless, and hopeless a being he was.
"...Eun-ha. Are you okay? I'll give you a towel, wipe with that."
"Ah, thanks. You worked hard too."
Nevertheless.
Eun-ha strongly suppressed his emotions.
He received the towel Han Chang-jin handed over and rubbed his hands vigorously.
While acting calmly.
As the Clan Lord, he couldn't show weakness to people belonging to his darkness like Han Chang-jin.
He purged his comrades.
If he didn't remain calm, surely they wouldn't be able to remain calm either.
"What should we do with the others?"
"Send them off well. Don't mutilate their bodies unnecessarily."
"Okay, got it."
We have to keep doing this from now on.
There's no turning back anymore.
Eun-ha accepted his fate and ordered Han Chang-jin.
To this, Han Chang-jin directed the clan members to shoulder the two people collapsed on the floor.
Now they would leave to find suitable monsters to dispose of the bodies.
"I'll leave the rest of the cleanup to you. Hyung, lead the kids and take them home. They must be very shocked too."
"I'll do that. Then you go first. I'll erase the traces and go."
Han Chang-jin nodded.
Eun-ha entrusted the remaining work and stepped out of the dungeon.
The night was pitch black.
Not even stars were visible.
He looked down at his hands again.
Blood stains remained stuck to his palms.
"Like this, it'll be hard to go straight home."
Eun-ha gave a bitter smile.
His hair, clan uniform, shoes.
Blood had splattered on them.
Most of it seemed to be blood that got on him in the process of killing Lee Cheon-seo.
Even with the magic built into the clan uniform, that blood wasn't completely erased.
It stinks, to the point of being unpleasant.
Is it just his feeling?
Or is it actually like that?
The scent of blood was strong.
The smell he had always smelled felt excessively nauseating just today.
Only then could Eun-ha find the change that had occurred in his hands.
"I'm trembling too, huh."
His hands were shaking.
Now that there was no one watching, this is what happened when he released his suppressed emotions.
He laughed involuntarily.
Should he be happy that he who used to kill numbly could now feel despair?
Or should he be sad that he came to feel emotions and even came to feel shitty emotions?
Eun-ha didn't know.
Nevertheless, he took a step forward.
I wish this was the end... But this probably isn't the end.
Becoming the ruler of the region.
Once he decided to lead the clan.
This was an unavoidable fate.
He couldn't stop.
He had to keep moving forward.
He had to shoulder everything others couldn't shoulder and move forward.
Eun-ha pulled himself together.
He couldn't lose his resolve.
"The purge isn't over with this. I can't leave alone those who fell for Lee Cheon-seo's enticement either."
His heart pounds thump thump.
His body is hot.
But his head must be cold.
Eun-ha had to somehow control his emotions and move his feet.
I probably won't die a peaceful death.
Just as he executed others.
Someday he too will meet the same end as them.
So until then.
So there are absolutely no regrets left.
Like walking on a blade's edge.
He will live the given life desperately, stubbornly, happily and faithfully.
"I should quickly go home as soon as the traces are erased. Today I miss the kids and Yuseong so much."
The incident that happened in the red dungeon today couldn't be prevented from spreading to the world.
How will family and friends react and treat him?
Eun-ha was inwardly afraid.
☆
Pandora Clan failed in dungeon conquest and lost 3 clan members.
An executive was among them.
"Pandora Clan failed a mission? Hasn't that never happened until now?"
"It is questionable. They're not people who would fail dungeon conquest... Moreover, that dungeon's boss had already been conquered so it shouldn't have been difficult."
Pandora Clan's first mission failure.
People who had shown interest in Pandora Clan until now were greatly surprised.
Among them, those with sharp senses guessed the hidden meaning behind it.
"The Pandora Clan Lord has finally drawn his sword."
"It's the 8th year since founding the clan? Well, after that much time has passed, the situation must be quite different from the early days."
Mainly people who manage clans.
They grasped that Pandora Clan Lord Noh Eun-ha had carried out a purge under the pretext of red dungeon conquest.
The inference they drew spread quietly and was conveyed to people around the world.
But the topic was soon buried.
Sirius Devices and Alice Pharmaceuticals diverted people's attention.
They announced new model devices and new potions.
The Mana Management Organization also maintained silence, so no one came to mention Pandora Clan's mission failure.
We've only succeeded in missions until now... It's understandable for people to talk about purges and such regarding our mission failure.
By then, Eun-ha was relieved.
He had been worried because people around the world had been paying too much attention to Pandora Clan.
Fortunately, he was able to quickly cover it up by mobilizing the darkness as well as borrowing the power of associated business groups.
However, although he succeeded in diverting external attention, he couldn't divert internal attention.
""""...."""
The clan atmosphere hasn't been good recently.
Clan members clearly recognized that a purge had occurred.
Yet they were being careful with their words and trying to act as normal as possible.
But Eun-ha knew the reactions they must be experiencing from this incident.
There were many people in the clan who acted as his eyes and ears.
Now... there's no turning back.
We can no longer operate the clan just with friendships.
Eun-ha was lost in thought in his office.
Actually, it wasn't just Lee Cheon-seo.
Like Lee Cheon-seo, some clan members were living clan life thinking it was an extension of Noh Eun-ha's group.
The shock they must have felt would be great.
Before killing Lee Cheon-seo.
Eun-ha had talked to her.
Jung Ha-yang avoided Eun-ha's gaze with a face that said what was bound to happen had finally happened.
But she had to admit too.
Lee Cheon-seo's betrayal was something expected since the clan's founding.
However, on the day Eun-ha killed him and returned home, she stayed up waiting without sleeping.
'...What about Cheon-seo?'
Jung Ha-yang had asked hesitantly.
Eun-ha just shook his head.
Then he lied to ease her feelings.
'He went peacefully. He asked me to tell you all he's sorry at the end.'
'I see... okay.'
Jung Ha-yang wasn't just a fool either.
She couldn't have believed it.
But there was no other way but to believe like that.
It was the same for other executives.
Some of them who noticed the meaning of Lee Cheon-seo's death came to ask directly, and Eun-ha gave the same answer.
Even by doing that, those still alive tried to find peace of mind.
'Did you... really have to go this far.'
'He tried to leak clan secrets. So I couldn't let him live.'
'Hah... Okay, I understand.'
Mok Min-ho revered authority.
Therefore, he pursued organizational stability.
For Mok Min-ho, Lee Cheon-seo's betrayal was against organizational stability.
In the end, although he said Eun-ha's actions were excessive, he didn't express any further disagreement.
'It can't be helped.'
Cha Eun-woo didn't say much.
She was also a person from a business group.
She had some aspects similar to Mok Min-ho's thinking.
She just mourned Lee Cheon-seo's death.
'Oh? He died well then.'
Bae Su-bin accepted it readily.
According to what Eun-ha heard from Chang-jin, she went to Lee Cheon-seo's columbarium right away.
Still, he was once a comrade.
She paid her respects, they say.
Other clan members who had connections with Lee Cheon-seo also paid respects in their own ways.
'Read it.'
'...'
'It's the wills the kids wrote recently.'
Meanwhile, Noh Eun-ah's anger was tremendous.
She barged into Eun-ha's office without notice and dropped wills in front of him.
She was glaring intensely.
Unable to withstand her gaze, Eun-ha read the wills.
'You've read them all?'
'Yes.'
'I won't say anything since it's already done. I'll understand that such things may be necessary at the clan level. But take clear responsibility.'
'...'
'No matter what those kids did, never forget that they worked hard for our clan until now. If you don't fulfill their last wishes, know that I really won't let it go then.'
Noh Eun-ah didn't comfort Eun-ha.
In fact, her feelings also represented the clan members'.
The clan members and sub-lords all couldn't express their honest feelings.
As high-ranking clan officials, the sub-lords had to defend Eun-ha's actions.
The clan members couldn't rebel against Eun-ha by causing insubordination.
So she, who was both Eun-ha's sister and a sub-lord, took on the role of representing the clan members' hearts.
'I'll do that. Don't worry.'
'I'll be watching.'
Eun-ha spoke heavily then.
After hearing Eun-ha's answer, Noh Eun-ah left the office.
Later hearing from Kim Min-ji, Noh Eun-ah drank heavily with Ryu Yeon-hwa that day and collapsed.
Lastly─
"─This is too much, even for you."
"..."
While Noh Eun-ah got angry rationally, Choi Eun-hyeok got angry emotionally.
Choi Eun-hyeok came to Eun-ha's office with an angry face.
He approached with stomping steps and slammed his hand on the desk with a bang.
He glared at Eun-ha.
"Let's say Lee Cheon-seo's death is understandable. I have so many things I want to ask you, but let's say it's understandable like how other clan members said it couldn't be helped."
"..."
"But what about the other people?"
Choi Eun-hyeok growled.
He slammed a piece of paper onto the desk.
The corner of the paper was torn, as if it had been ripped off from where it was posted on a bulletin board.
Eun-ha looked down and examined the paper.
「List of Pandora Clan members dispatched for Northern Gyeonggi development work」
It was a list of clan members to be dispatched.
The Fairy Government had finalized plans for northern Gyeonggi development.
To this, Pandora Clan decided to dispatch clan members to help with development.
The number of people to be dispatched was 16 in total.
Most were from the 6th, 7th, and 8th generations.
Clan members who still had many shortcomings in fighting monsters in northern Gyeonggi.
"What the hell is this? What's the reason for sending these kids to their deaths!?"
Choi Eun-hyeok came to question the intention of sending such people.
Eun-ha's answer was concise.
"Those kids fell for Lee Cheon-seo's enticement."
"What?"
"They're kids who were going to leave the clan together when Lee Cheon-seo decided to leave."
"So what? Ignorant kids can make mistakes! Are you going to make them take responsibility too?"
"Yes."
People who fell for Lee Cheon-seo's enticement.
Eun-ha wanted to kill them all together too.
But as Choi Eun-hyeok said, they had room for leniency.
So Eun-ha decided to dispatch them to northern Gyeonggi as a way to repent.
They would be stuck in northern Gyeonggi for life, unable to return to Seoul.
It was exile.
"Eun-ha, this really isn't right. What wrong did these kids do?"
"It's not like they're completely innocent."
"..."
"If they didn't like it, they could have just paid the penalty fee and left the clan, or left when their contract period ended."
"Do you think that makes sense?"
Eun-ha didn't answer.
The player industry was extremely small.
Clans in Seoul would know that clan members were exiled to northern Gyeonggi.
And to maintain good relations with Pandora Clan, they wouldn't accept those who left the clan.
In the end, they would have to either quit being players, or go down to the provinces and join nameless clans.
That's why Choi Eun-hyeok appealed that the treatment of the new members was harsh.
"This incident will surely set a precedent. So we absolutely can't go easy on them."
"Eun-ha, please..."
"What's not allowed is not allowed."
"What power do those kids have? Do you want to see them die?"
But regardless of Choi Eun-hyeok's appeal.
Unfortunately, Eun-ha had no intention of changing his mind.
Eun-ha shook his head.
That made Choi Eun-hyeok even angrier.
In the end─
"─Fine."
Choi Eun-hyeok blurted out the words he had been holding back while coming to Eun-ha's office.
"Then send me to Uijeongbu too. I'll lead those kids and fight."
"...!"
"I absolutely can't watch those kids die like this."
"You, are you really going to do this?"
"What about you, are you really going to do this?"
""..."
Choi Eun-hyeok volunteered to go with them.
Eun-ha's eyes widened.
The two had a staring contest.
Just as Eun-ha had no intention of backing down.
Choi Eun-hyeok had no intention of backing down either.
In the end, Eun-ha had to give up.
"Fine, do as you wish."
From now on, Pandora Clan will form official relationships with all clan members, including them.
At some point, they will become accustomed to seeing their comrades purged, while simultaneously trembling in fear that they might be purged for making a mistake.
In that process, people who have a change of heart will leave the clan.
And the clan that those people leave will become even more dignified and sharp as an S-rank clan.
'In the end... it comes to this.'
Jung Ha-yang lamented this.