WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 37: First Military Advisor (Part 1)

──────

-Un Hwi.

‘Are you all right?’

-I am. Cold iron is mixed into me, so ordinary force cannot bend me.

As the sword said, the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword had not bent at all.

Steel was not merely hard. It also possessed elasticity.

This was especially true of blades worthy of being called treasured swords.

Still, threatening me with a sword was unpleasant.

“What will you threaten me with this time?”

At my words, the masked figure rose from beside the censer.

“I heard you possessed some secret art. What was that just now?”

‘They did not see it.’

It seemed the figure had failed to properly see the thin strand of Silver Thread.

It was as I had felt.

I possessed enough martial prowess to face the masked figure without even opening my Central Dantian.

The figure assumed the opening stance of a fist technique.

“You should have withdrawn from the martial contest gracefully.”

Whoosh!

The masked figure launched forward.

A fist shot straight at my face.

Without moving from where I stood, I slashed my sword diagonally at the fist.

Tap!

The figure used a step to evade the sword, twisted sideways, and launched a kick at my left side.

The kick's trajectory bent strangely as it came for me.

However,

Whoosh!

I closed the distance and grabbed the figure by the throat.

“Ghk!”

The figure's eyes widened in surprise.

Ignoring that, I slammed the figure into the floor.

Bang!

“Gahk!”

The moment the figure hit the ground, they tried to wrap both legs around me, but I drove my sword through an ankle.

As the blade pierced through, the figure tried to scream.

I punched upward beneath the figure's jaw.

Crunch!

“Guh.”

Teeth collided and shattered.

The mask covering the figure's face turned red as their body trembled.

Tap tap tap tap!

After sealing the figure's acupoints to prevent any movement, I removed the bamboo hat and mask.

A face that looked to be in its early twenties was revealed.

“A Skin Mask.”

The injury had pushed the skin upward, revealing it to be a Skin Mask.

When I peeled it away, the kind-looking face vanished, revealing a scar-covered face with a vicious appearance.

“Who are you?”

Judging by the figure's Martial Arts, they were at the peak of Advanced.

At the very least, they were at the level of a Chief Squad Leader.

The figure, still writhing in pain, bared broken teeth at me.

“You would be wise to release my acupoints at once.”

“You are the one caught here. Answer my question.”

“Why do you think I told you to come alone? My retainers are nearby...”

Before the figure could finish speaking, a commotion came from the forge entrance.

Then, accompanied by the sound of something being dragged along the ground, SaMa Yeong and Jo SeongWon entered the inner room where the censer stood.

They were dragging three masked figures by the wrists.

The two dropped the unconscious figures as though they were a nuisance.

SaMa Yeong spoke to me.

“There were only these three nearby, Deputy Brigade Leader.”

“!?”

The captive's expression turned flustered.

What an idiot.

Did they really think I would obediently follow the note's instruction to come alone?

Naturally, before entering, I had ordered them to capture anyone suspicious watching the forge.

Still, the other side had gathered a small group of elites.

Jo SeongWon pointed at the fallen figures.

“These ones are Advanced as well.”

So they had been confident.

It seemed the figure thought three Advanced masters, along with themself, would be enough to subdue me.

Against an ordinary rising talent, it would have been sufficient.

I spoke to the flustered figure.

“Who do you belong to?”

If the figure had come wearing a Skin Mask, they were clearly someone intending to participate in the martial contest.

Judging by their age, they were unlikely to be a mere Squad Leader.

There was a good chance they were the disciple of an expert comparable to a Blood Star.

“You think I would tell you? If you do not release me, the young lady will...”

Smack!

SaMa Yeong walked over and slapped the figure.

As expected, she acted faster than she spoke.

“Answer the Deputy Brigade Leader's question.”

“H-how dare you...”

Smack!

She slapped the other cheek.

The figure trembled with anger. SaMa Yeong grabbed a hand.

I wondered what she intended to do when she seized the figure's index finger and said,

“From now on, I will pull out one fingernail every time you refuse to answer.”

‘!?’

The figure's expression twisted bizarrely.

“Y-you think I would yield to such threats?”

Pop!

“Gah... mph!”

I covered the figure's mouth.

SaMa Yeong was already holding up the pulled nail.

Threats and torture usually came with some delay, but she had removed it without a moment of hesitation.

She was already holding the middle fingernail.

Jo SeongWon, standing behind her, clicked their tongue and turned away.

“Ghh... Even after doing this, the young lady will...”

Pop!

SaMa Yeong pulled out the middle fingernail.

Tears ran from the figure's eyes as they groaned in pain.

Yes, having a fingernail pulled out hurt badly enough to feel like death.

I spoke mockingly.

“Ah, sorry. My aide acts a little faster than she speaks.”

“Ghhh.”

“Are you ready to answer now?”

The effect was remarkable.

The figure frantically moved their eyes up and down.

I removed my hand from their mouth and asked,

“Who do you belong to?”

“Pant... pant... I am Yo Eop, second disciple of the Fifth Blood Star.”

The Fifth Blood Star?

Was that Fist Kick Blood Rain Hwang Gang's disciple?

I had heard that Hwang Gang was a master of fist techniques and kicking arts.

But as a low-rank Spy, I had never had the chance to encounter such a person.

“Tell me honestly. Did Miss Baek HyeHyang send you?”

At my question, Yo Eop's eyes wavered.

I had naturally thought she had not.

She wanted me as her husband.

It made no sense for her to suddenly tell me to withdraw from the Rising Talents Martial Contest and return home.

“No answer.”

SaMa Yeong moved to pull another nail.

Yo Eop flinched in terror.

“N-no! The young lady only told us to watch you.”

As expected, my guess had been mostly right.

Still, it was strange that she had only ordered them to watch me.

“Then why did you make such a ridiculous threat?”

“T-that is... Aaaah! I will tell you, so stop pulling them out!”

Since SaMa Yeong was ready to pull out a nail even if Yo Eop's answer was slightly delayed, Yo Eop panicked.

“Then speak.”

“M-my senior martial brother ordered it. The young lady said not to kill or harm you, so he told us to force you to return home.”

“Your senior martial brother?”

I could not understand it.

This went beyond the orders of Baek HyeHyang, who could be considered their master.

Of course, if that absurd threat had succeeded and kept me from participating in the Rising Talents Martial Contest, it might have counted as an achievement.

“You dared target the Deputy Brigade Leader for such a reason!”

Snap!

SaMa Yeong pulled out another nail.

“Argh! I answered, so why?”

I covered Yo Eop's mouth.

No matter how much it hurt, this person was more dramatic than I expected.

Still, as a disciple of the Fifth Blood Star, Yo Eop should have had enough pride to grit their teeth.

I asked the suffering Yo Eop,

“You know the truth, do you not?”

There was no way Yo Eop did not.

Someone with no previous connection to me had targeted me.

There had to be a reason.

“Only your thumbnail remains.”

At SaMa Yeong's words, Yo Eop's body trembled before they spoke.

“I heard the young lady say you would become her husband. That is why my senior martial brother ordered this.”

SaMa Yeong stared at me with wide eyes.

Ah, this was driving me mad.

I had not told her that Baek HyeHyang was after me in that way.

But then that meant this senior martial brother had done it because he was afraid I would become Baek HyeHyang's husband.

“Deputy Brigade Leader... You did not tell me something.”

Snap!

“Aaaah! I answered, why? Mmph!”

I covered Yo Eop's mouth.

Poor thing.

This time, it seemed SaMa Yeong had pulled out the nail in a fit of anger.

“No. It was so absurd that I did not mention it.”

I did not know why I was watching SaMa Yeong's reaction.

Hearing my excuse, she wore an indifferent expression and muttered,

“So that woman was after you, Deputy Brigade Leader.”

Crack! Crack!

As SaMa Yeong clenched both fists, her bones popped.

Killing intent filled her eyes, as if she was ready to seize someone and kill them at once.

SaMa Yeong placed a hand over Yo Eop's heart.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Yo Eop's face went pale as they desperately twisted their body.

“What are you doing?”

She answered my question coldly.

“They went after someone else's man, so they have to die.”

‘?’

What did she mean, someone else's man?

As I stood there in confusion, the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword's voice rang in my mind.

-A sign of trouble with women.

It certainly knew how to make things more complicated.

I grabbed SaMa Yeong's wrist and pulled her hand away from Yo Eop's heart.

She pouted in dissatisfaction.

“Why? They targeted you, Deputy Brigade Leader.”

“There is no need to kill them.”

“...What?”

SaMa Yeong looked as though she could not understand.

Yo Eop, who had been terrified by my words, seemed relieved and regained some color.

That was nothing to be happy about.

I was beginning to understand the nature of the Blood Demon's clan.

And if I killed Yo Eop here, it would only give Yo Eop's senior martial brother an excuse.

* * *

Inside a manor on the outskirts of town, Baek HyeHyang sat with her pale legs crossed, fanning herself.

A crease formed between her brows.

The four people kneeling before her wore grim expressions.

Yo Eop, in particular, trembled as though they had committed an unforgivable crime.

‘Why are you not helping me?’

Yo Eop secretly raised their head and looked toward a young man standing behind Baek HyeHyang.

He had said he would help settle things, yet he had not spoken a word. It was enough to make Yo Eop resent him.

The young man had slanted eyes and skin as pale as jade.

He was Yo Eop's senior martial brother, Sang HyeonMyeong, the first disciple of Fist Kick Blood Rain Hwang Gang, the Fifth Blood Star.

‘Tch.’

He was irritated that his plan had fallen apart.

He had hoped that the Venerable One's disciple would kill his junior martial brother.

If that happened, he planned to use it as a pretext to tell Baek HyeHyang that the man had deceived her and should be killed at once rather than considered as a husband.

[Senior Martial Brother!]

Sang HyeonMyeong quietly responded to Yo Eop's sound telepathy.

[Stay still. It would not help if I stepped forward.]

That was true.

Baek HyeHyang's anger was difficult even for the First Blood Star, one of her closest subordinates, to bear.

Besides, if he intervened for no reason, he might become involved himself.

Baek HyeHyang rose from her chair.

She slowly walked over, looked down at the three kneeling people, and spoke.

“I told you only to watch him.”

“...Yes.”

“What should be done to a dog that defies its master's order?”

“...It should die.”

“Then die.”

Shick!

She swept the hand holding her fan sideways.

In that instant, the heads of the three people seated in a line were severed.

Blood sprayed like fountains from their severed necks.

Yo Eop stared in horror at the heads rolling across the floor.

“M-miss, please spare me. I did not mean to do it. I merely...”

Grab!

‘!?’

Someone seized Yo Eop's head.

Then they twisted it.

Crack!

“Ghk!”

Yo Eop's neck snapped, and they died at once.

The person who had broken Yo Eop's neck was Sang HyeonMyeong.

‘Damn it.’

Fearing that Yo Eop might mention him, Sang HyeonMyeong had swiftly killed them.

Having killed the junior martial brother he had watched over for so long with his own hands, he felt utterly miserable.

Swish.

Then the end of Baek HyeHyang's blood-stained fan touched Sang HyeonMyeong's neck.

Baek HyeHyang drew close and asked,

“Who told you to kill them as you pleased?”

Thud!

Sang HyeonMyeong hurriedly dropped to his knees.

“Not only did they defy your order, but they were making excuses and disgracing our martial lineage, so I punished...”

Thud!

“Guhk!”

Before he could finish, her kick struck him in the face.

His nose appeared to have broken, and blood flowed from his nostrils.

“Forgive...”

Thud!

“Gahk!”

As he tried to regain his posture, Baek HyeHyang kicked him beneath the jaw.

Pain shot through his jaw as if it had been crushed, and Sang HyeonMyeong fell flat on his back.

Baek HyeHyang bent over him and pressed her fan against his chest.

“A dog should know its place.”

Press.

“Ghh.”

It was not even a steel fan, yet its tip dug into his chest like a blade.

If it went any deeper, his life might be in danger.

‘Is she going to kill me?’

Sang HyeonMyeong's eyes shook wildly at the thought of dying.

Then the fan stopped at about a knuckle's depth.

“If not for the Rising Talents Martial Contest, this would not be the end of it.”

With those words, she rose, snorted, and stepped onto the manor's veranda.

The fact that the five participants had been reduced to four had saved his life.

“I-I will remember.”

Sang HyeonMyeong hurriedly lowered his head to the floor.

But beneath it, his face was twisted with rage like an asura.

‘So WoonHwi... The young lady's husband should be me.’

His killing intent was directed at the innocent So WoonHwi.

* * *

A day passed.

I now stood at the gate leading into the martial artists' alliance's fortress.

Countless martial families, factions, and martial clans attending the Martial Arts Tournament were entering in long lines.

Their number alone easily exceeded a thousand.

Counting those who had already arrived and those yet to come, the scale would likely reach several thousand, perhaps even tens of thousands.

There were also martial clans renowned throughout the land.

The people in green martial attire, carrying sabers far larger than Willow-Leaf Sabers at their waists, were from the Hebei Paeng Clan.

That young man with a moustache that made him look older than his years must be Paeng WooJin, the future Hall Head of NokHyeon Hall.

I remembered him as a rather rough person.

He had a terrible temper as well.

Would that bastard be inside the fortress too?

-Who are you talking about?

‘...Mo YongSoo.’

-Ah... The one who helped kill you before you returned?

Mo YongSoo, the Head of the Golden Dragon Clan.

He was one of the rising talents called the Two Dragons.

I knew he had attended this tournament as well.

He was a bastard wearing the mask of a hero.

Once I entered the fortress, I would see that bastard, along with Baek WiHyang, the Fourth Council Elder of the martial artists' alliance.

Even now, the thought of them stirred killing intent deep in my heart.

To think the moment of seeing them again had come.

My emotions surged.

“Eh?”

Then SaMa Yeong looked somewhere and spoke in disbelief.

She was looking at the people from the Hebei Paeng Clan.

Unlike those waiting in line, warriors came out from inside the fortress shortly after the Paeng Clan arrived, personally checked their identities, and guided them inside.

“Is that not discrimination?”

At SaMa Yeong's words, I shrugged helplessly.

Naturally, there was unequal treatment even within the martial artists' alliance.

Great martial clans holding council seats in the alliance, the Five Great Clans, and people of great renown were treated entirely differently from ordinary small martial clans and families.

“There is nothing we can do. We are not a great martial clan, so we must wait.”

Song JwaBaek spoke to SaMa Yeong as though he knew all about it.

The Yiyang So Clan and the Jo Hang Song Clan also held sway in Hunan Province, but their reputations fell short of great martial clans and the Five Great Clans.

By the martial artists' alliance's standards, they were probably mid-rank.

Unless one was high-rank, there would be no immediate entry like that.

“We only have to wait half a two-hour period. To keep you from getting bored, I will keep you company.”

Of course.

Song JwaBaek still liked SaMa Yeong.

He was always desperate to find an opportunity to speak to her.

Naturally, she had no interest.

“Hmph.”

Paeng WooJin snorted at the people standing in line before entering.

There were always people who had to show off after receiving special treatment.

“What an unpleasant person.”

SaMa Yeong made a brief comment while watching Paeng WooJin.

Just then, one of the warriors guiding the Hebei Paeng Clan looked in our direction and suddenly rushed over.

I had hoped I was mistaken, but the warrior stopped in front of us and said,

“Could you be young master So WoonHwi of the Yiyang So Clan, and young master Ma Yeong beside you?”

Hm?

How did this person know us?

“That is correct.”

As soon as I answered, the warrior performed a fist-and-palm salute and bowed.

“I am Po Mo, a warrior of the Martial Alliance. I pay my respects to the successor of the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster.”

Murmur, murmur!

The surroundings stirred.

“The Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's successor?”

“That young man?”

In an instant, every martial artist waiting in line turned their attention to SaMa Yeong and me.

Even the people from the Paeng Clan, who had been guided ahead of us, stopped to look.

This much attention was burdensome.

“I have received orders to let you pass at once. I will guide you.”

When Po Mo raised a hand, several warriors who had been guiding the Hebei Paeng Clan came over and took our baggage.

SaMa Yeong's lips twitched.

It seemed she was pleased by the words, “pass at once.”

“We are with them as well!”

Song JwaBaek urgently stepped in, hoping to join us.

Po Mo looked puzzled and asked,

“And you are?”

“Song JwaBaek and Song WooHyun of the Jo Hang Song Clan.”

Song JwaBaek spoke with expectation.

Po Mo shook their head and answered firmly.

“I apologize, but we have received no such instructions regarding the Jo Hang Song Clan. Please enter after waiting in line according to procedure.”

Song JwaBaek's face fell at those words.

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