"That's right."
As Ho Cheol-san kept nodding his head, Jang-il shrugged his shoulders.
"I wondered why you were looking for this beggar, but it was about work after all."
"It's not that we didn't look for you, but rather that you didn't look for us."
"Really? I thought you all wouldn't play with me because I'm a beggar."
"What are you saying?"
"Oh my, good sir. It's a joke, a joke. How can you not understand a joke like this?"
Jang-il giggled.
'Cunning fellow.'
Though he calls himself a beggar, there's a world of difference between an ordinary beggar and a beggar from the Beggar's Sect. Moreover, as a Little Beggar among the Beggar's Sect beggars, Jang-il could be said to have a higher rank than the others present here.
Naturally, there was no one who could dismiss such a Jang-il simply because he was a beggar. Those who knew that connections meant power tried their best to build friendships with Jang-il, but Jang-il always disappointed their hopes.
"Speak properly. It's not that we rejected you, but that you wouldn't associate with us."
"One who deals in information must refrain from becoming too close to anyone. My heart is like a chimney, but… what can I do? This is my position."
Ho Cheol-san clamped his mouth shut.
'Yet that fellow sticks closely to Wei San-ho.'
His words are correct, after all.
The fellow who pushes away all human relationships with the excuse that those who must gather information shouldn't let emotions interfere is giggling and sticking close to Wei San-ho. Does that make sense?
It's something he never wants to admit, but even if everyone present here joined forces, they wouldn't wield as much influence as Wei San-ho alone.
'At least wet your lips before lying.'
There were countless things he wanted to snap back with, but right now they were the ones in need. There was no point in bringing up unnecessary remarks that might hurt feelings.
"Let's say you have the proper attitude as an information broker. Then I hope you also know the information we want."
"You need information about Wei Yan-ho?"
"That's right."
Jang-il nodded and then sprawled his body across the chair.
"…What are you doing?"
"I'm the one who wants to ask what you're doing."
"Hm?"
"How can someone who wants to obtain information have such empty hands? We're not running a business by digging in the ground, and right now beggars throughout the Central Plains are suffering in the morning dew for each piece of information."
"Ugh…"
Ho Cheol-san, understanding Jang-il's meaning, fumbled to untie the purse from his waist.
"Here it is."
Jang-il caught the purse Ho Cheol-san threw, opened it, and frowned.
"It's not enough."
"How can it not be enough! Do you know how much money is in there!"
"I'm telling you it's not enough."
Jang-il was firm.
"For information about Wei San-ho, this money would be more than enough. I could give you plenty of information about Great Hero Wei Jeong-han too. But Wei Yan-ho is different. Wei Yan-ho has long been classified as a special-grade figure by all information organizations. You know how expensive information fees are for special-grade figures, don't you?"
"Ugh…"
Ho Cheol-san's body trembled.
"Do you really have to be so money-grubbing between fellow disciples?"
"Oh my, you don't understand. Do you think I want to take money from you all? It's not like I get to eat that money. If I ate it, that would be embezzlement. This money goes up to headquarters to give even one more lump of cold rice to the beggars who are working day and night for the peace of the martial world. How can you begrudge such money?"
'What effort, my foot.'
Everyone under heaven knows that the Beggar's Sect's work consists of wandering around inns begging for food and casually gathering bits of conversation here and there. What's this about suffering in the morning dew?
It's just that because there are so many of them, when you gather all the little bits each one hears, it becomes decent information.
Ho Cheol-san trembled with his whole body, then turned his head back.
"…Special grade, you say."
The hateful gazes of his fellow disciples turned toward Ho Cheol-san. Ho Cheol-san flinched but soon raised his head again.
"Hand it over."
"Damn it."
"There won't be money left to eat."
Purses poured down like rain in front of Jang-il.
"Wow!"
Looking at the pouring purses, Jang-il's face became like a puppy that had eaten its fill and was sprawled out.
'What a windfall, what a windfall.'
If Wei Yan-ho hadn't existed, could he have half-extorted purses from these distinguished people like this?
Though there had been countless occasions when his insides turned upside down from being entangled with Wei Yan-ho, Jang-il certainly received proper compensation in return.
"So what do you want to know? Family relationships? Or his taste in women?"
"I want to know what Wei Yan-ho likes."
"Sleep, food, bed."
"Not such obvious things, isn't there something less well-known?"
"Actually, he's extremely fond of money too. Almost to the level of a money ghost."
"Not that kind of thing!"
Jang-il frowned as he looked at Ho Cheol-san.
"What is this, you want me to tell you everything related to Wei Yan-ho? That way, even if three nights and four days pass, you won't get the information you want. State your purpose. I'll provide the necessary information."
Originally, extracting information was up to the client's discretion, but considering their fellow disciple relationship and feeling somewhat sorry for them, Jang-il was showing great generosity.
"Actually…"
After hearing the entire explanation, Jang-il looked at Ho Cheol-san with incredulous eyes.
"So… you're saying that now that your relationship with Wei Yan-ho has grown distant, you want me to tell you things Wei Yan-ho might like so you can properly restore that relationship?"
"Don't put it so bluntly!"
Ho Cheol-san's face turned bright red. It was the truth without a single error, but when you hear such words from someone else's mouth, being embarrassed is only human nature.
"No, wow, that's… hmm."
Jang-il seemed equally flustered, though in a slightly different direction.
"You want to become friends with Wei Yan-ho?"
Jang-il's eyes trembled.
What should he say?
If someone said they wanted to fall off a thousand-foot cliff and die, Jang-il would have the confidence to say, 'Life is suffering, and there's no guarantee it will get better than now even if you continue living, so it might not be a bad choice.' But faced with people saying they wanted to become friends with Wei Yan-ho, even his smooth tongue froze up.
"There are countless methods of suicide. From biting your tongue to sticking your nose in dishwater and drowning, there are endless ways, but I don't understand why you'd choose such a method. That would be the most cruel way for a living human to die."
"What are you talking about?"
"…Right, you don't understand. It's happiness when you don't understand. If you understood what these words mean, that would truly be sad."
When Jang-il made a forlorn expression, Ho Cheol-san found himself comforting him without knowing why. He was so pitifully consoling someone first without understanding the situation that Jang-il's face looked utterly pathetic.
"Anyway."
Jang-il scratched his head vigorously. Each time his hand touched his head, something fell down, but the people present just turned their heads slightly to avoid looking at the sight, and no one said anything unpleasant to Jang-il.
"First, I'll praise you for making the grand plan to become friends with Wei Yan-ho. That's truly an amazing thing. If Buddha had been born in this era, he might have become an Asura instead of Buddha."
"Enough useless talk, just tell me quickly. Is there a method or not?"
"A method… well, I'm not sure if this can even be called a method…"
Jang-il groaned as if at a loss for words, then finally opened his mouth.
"First, one of those goals cannot be achieved."
"Which one? And why?"
"The unachievable goal is improving your relationship with Wei Yan-ho."
"Why is that an unachievable thing? Are you saying Wei Yan-ho is the epitome of a petty person who never forgets a grudge once formed?"
"It's a problem because he's the opposite."
Jang-il clicked his tongue.
"Wei Yan-ho always forget grudges—he's just not very interested in grudges. Rather, it means he's not someone who remembers every person who had incidents like yours one by one."
"He doesn't remember?"
"Frankly speaking, there's a high possibility Wei Yan-ho doesn't even remember your face right now. It would be fortunate if he properly remembers your name. So saying you'll improve your relationship with Wei Yan-ho is just a dream. There's no relationship to restore in the first place, so what are you going to improve?"
Ho Cheol-san became like a mute who had eaten honey.
"He doesn't remember even though such a thing happened?"
"From your perspective, it might have been a huge incident, but from Wei Yan-ho's perspective, it wasn't particularly significant. So there's no point in trying to improve relationships or whatever."
Is this consolation or not?
"I-is that so?"
"That's what I'm saying."
Ho Cheol-san nodded. He didn't understand the situation exactly, but he could understand what Jang-il was trying to say.
Then Jang-il soon delivered his final verdict.
"Actually, from Wei Yan-ho's perspective, you're no different from passing neighborhood dogs. So don't needlessly stir up trouble."
"Ugh."
To think they'd already been deleted from memory after being so brutally defeated—this couldn't help but be shocking.
"And about the method to become friends with Wei Yan-ho, this too is something you don't need to ask me about. Wei Yan-ho has simple aspects and is a person with clear likes and dislikes."
"So I'm asking what those likes are."
"Among the things Wei Yan-ho likes, there's only one thing you can provide for him."
"What's that?"
"Didn't I say it earlier? Food."
"Huh? Food?"
"That's right. He's tremendously wealthy anyway, so money can't solve it, and he has no interest in beauty. Plus, isn't he someone who would rather sleep than work if possible?"
Ho Cheol-san nodded blankly.
"The only way to get through to such a fellow is to buy him food. It's also the best method for becoming friends with children. I guarantee that if you can somehow feed him three meals, he'll think of you as a good person."
"Ah…"
He didn't know how far to believe these words, but…
'It's persuasive.'
Come to think of it, didn't he recently go down to the village just to eat? Going to the village for a single meal was something most people couldn't even attempt.
"Then it's decided."
Ho Cheol-san spoke spiritedly.
"Did everyone hear? Wei Yan-ho seems weak to classical methods. So let's start by treating Wei Yan-ho to drinks and food."
Ak Seo-hui, who had been quietly listening to those words, spoke softly, very softly.
"By what means?"
"Huh?"
"Didn't you give all the money we had to that beggar fellow?"
"…Huh?"
"And the closest restaurant is at the bottom of the mountain. You're not thinking of bringing food from there, are you?"
"Ah?"
Ho Cheol-san, discovering the numerous scattered problems, let out a deep sigh.
"A-anyway!"
Ho Cheol-san's eyes began to burn with fire.
"Let's somehow try feeding him once!"
Watching Ho Cheol-san burning with useless enthusiasm, Ak Seo-hui shook her head back and forth.
That friend too seemed to be getting gradually stranger from the moment he met Wei Yan-ho.