the king and emblazoned with between one and three horses. The greater the number of horses, the higher the rank of the amheng osa. Amheng osa of first mahai rank have one horse emblazoned onto their medallions, which allows them to wield basic magic to fight ordinary soldiers. The most powerful medallions feature three horses, and allow the bearers, third mahai (, 三馬牌), to perform summonings and regenerate injuries. Despite being made for use by amheng osa, the mahai medallions will also work for normal people, so long as their convictions and willpower in executing justice are sufficiently strong. Hong Gildong, for example, successfully wielded a fourth mahai medallion. After the fall of Jushin, both first and second mahai medallions were rendered useless; only third and fourth mahai medallions still functioned. Amheng osa are also prohibited from having families, but they are allowed a single travel partner called a 'Sando', who doubles as a bodyguard. Sando tend to be individuals of great fighting prowess or intelligent beasts. Characters Munsu (文秀/문수) The anti-heroic protagonist of the series, former military general, and a third mahai amen osa from the fallen kingdom of Jushin. Despite the common perception held by Jushin's former citizens that amen osa are virtuous and bearers of justice, Munsu usually comes across as somewhat amoral and does not believe in helping people who refuse to help themselves. When he does help others, his methods almost always involve excessive bloodshed, lying, torture, and other questionable acts. Munsu suffers from a curse that resembles asthma, which can only be alleviated by the inhaler-like charm he wears around his neck. This curse originates from during the Jushin period, where he convinced Aji Tae to switch the curse which was originally suffered by his lover Kye Wol Hyang unto him in hopes of relieving her pain. However, this was ineffective; not only did she die in the end while he retained the curse, Munsu actually fell directly into Aji Tae's scheme. In volume 11, Munsu confessed to Wonsul that despite claims that he was her killer, the truth was that Kye Wol Hyang killed herself by running into his sword while he was holding it right into her heart. He blames himself for her death and believes that he is her killer. When asked by Hong Gildong, he refused to deny that he was her sister's killer although his life was at stake.