WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 45: Kidnapping (4)
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"I'll protect this guy!"
‘!?’
Yeong-jeon, the Moak Estate's heir, was dumbfounded by Kang Mu-i's shout.
Kang Mu-i had been captured, so Yeong-jeon had expected his fury would make him unwilling to protect or spare his captors. He had never imagined Kang Mu-i would react like this.
‘C-coward!’
The owners of the Jade Medallions were practically rivals.
Yet Kang Mu-i was acting as though he had completely surrendered to the other side. Did he have no pride at all?
‘...That's what you're thinking, right?’
Kang Mu-i looked at Yeong-jeon and shook his head.
He had warned him. He had told him that Mumu was someone no one could handle.
Kang Mu-i's own power base had all but collapsed already, and there was no way to kill that monster. In that case, preserving his life was the surest way to live long.
Kang Mu-i glanced at Mumu.
Mumu had been staring at him expressionlessly, but then he spoke.
"...Please."
‘Phew.’
The moment those words left Mumu's mouth, the corner of Kang Mu-i's lips twitched.
He had been worried Mumu would lump him in with these people, but thankfully, that did not seem to be the case.
Then Kang Mu-i suddenly frowned.
‘...Is this really something to smile about?’
For a brief moment, self-loathing washed over him as he wondered how things had come to this.
Regardless, Mumu moved quickly.
-Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
With a flick of Mumu's finger, the heads of every remaining masked figure flew off.
The only person left alive was Yeong-jeon.
‘...Damn it.’
With all hope gone, Yeong-jeon fell into despair.
He had thought following Mu Il was the only answer, but where had a monster like this come from?
Mumu approached as Yeong-jeon's entire body trembled and his face turned pale.
-Step. Step.
"Who ordered you to do this?"
"..."
Yeong-jeon gritted his teeth and kept his mouth shut.
If he was going to die anyway, he wanted to honor the person he had sworn loyalty to.
That was a retainer's duty.
"Kill me."
"You want me to kill you?"
"Torture me if you want. No matter what you do, I'll never say anything."
"Is that so?"
"Kill me."
"Your resolve is firm. You truly won't open your mouth."
The instant Mumu finished speaking, he clenched his fist.
-Creakkkkk!
The muscles in Mumu's right arm, darkened by heat, swelled.
Starting at the deltoid around his shoulder, his biceps and triceps, including the medial, lateral, and long heads of the triceps, tensed as though they would tear apart. His forearm muscles contracted as if being wrung dry.
-Gulp!
Yeong-jeon swallowed dryly without realizing it.
He had never seen muscles condense so intricately in his life.
Then Mumu punched at the empty air.
-Paaaaaang!
"Hup!"
The pressure of the wind, like a raging storm, made the skin on Yeong-jeon's face ripple violently backward and snapped his head back.
When the roaring wind finally stopped, Yeong-jeon opened his eyes, and his mouth fell open.
‘!!!!!!!!!’
The rain had weakened, but the sky was still covered in dark clouds.
Yet...
‘W-what is this...?’
A massive hole had opened in the middle of the dark clouds.
Blue sky and sunlight shone through it like dawn.
Yeong-jeon was not the only one stunned by the sight.
Kang Mu-i, too, was left speechless at the hole torn through the clouds.
‘...He's not human.’
The self-loathing he had felt for trying to get on Mumu's good side vanished in an instant.
It had been the right choice.
Mumu had already surpassed the limits of human beings.
Mumu spoke to Yeong-jeon, who was still staring at the sky in shock with his mouth hanging open.
"I'll give you a choice."
"..."
"If you don't reveal who it was, I'll erase the Moak Estate from this world as well."
Yeong-jeon swallowed at Mumu's words.
Only moments ago, those words had not sounded realistic.
But after witnessing this absurd, overwhelming power with his own eyes, he thought differently.
‘M-monster...’
How could such a being exist?
His body trembled with fear, and he could barely breathe.
If this monster wanted to, wiping out the Moak Estate would not be difficult at all.
The loyalty that had seemed so firm just moments ago shook violently.
As Yeong-jeon stood there, consumed by fear and unable to say anything, Kang Mu-i spoke in a mocking voice.
"You're not dealing with a stranger. You're both owners of Jade Medallions, so changing the target of your loyalty shouldn't be a problem."
"..."
"Do you think your master will be any different? If I were you, I'd switch sides."
* * *
Late that afternoon.
In a secret underground chamber within the outer palace of Geumjeong Palace, Minister of Rites Geum Jeong-sin of the Six Ministries, the highest civil administrative authority, Man Yeong-gi, the Right Commander of the Five Military Command, the highest military authority, and someone wearing a white mask had gathered.
Minister Geum and Right Commander Man, together with the late Minister of Revenue Yang Jeong-myeong, had formed a trio of powerful officials who controlled the country.
Why had they gathered in such a secret place?
-Bang!
Minister Geum slammed their hand on the table and raised their voice.
"So you're saying you failed to deal with King Jin and couldn't even capture that wench, Princess Seo?"
Their reason for gathering was simple.
The Imperial Palace's Flying Horse Brigade had failed its mission.
They had committed three-tenths of the Flying Horse Brigade's strength, which they had built up over the years, so they had believed killing King Jin and Princess Seo would not be difficult.
Yet against all expectations, the mission had failed.
"You were so confident, saying even the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader would take action. What is this disgrace?"
"Calm yourself, Minister of Rites."
Right Commander Man tried to restrain Minister Geum, who could not contain their agitation.
"How can I calm down? We finally lured King Jin away from that old fogey from the Northern Heaven or whatever, and then we let that opportunity slip away!"
"My apologies."
The white-masked figure bowed in apology.
Still not satisfied, Minister Geum continued.
"We openly targeted King Jin's life. If he uses this as justification to gather troops, we've turned something that could have ended quietly into a far larger matter."
That was what Minister Geum was worried about.
King Jin had a peaceful nature.
That was why he had avoided civil war and yielded the throne to the current Emperor.
But if they continued to target his life, even he would not remain still.
"That is likely. Even if his power has weakened, he is still King Jin."
He still had many officials who followed him.
Two commanders of the Five Military Command even supported King Jin.
They held back the northern barbarians and Tibet at the frontier year-round, so their military authority could not be taken away. If they turned their spears around, events could go beyond civil war and turn the imperial capital into a sea of blood.
"At this point, we must kill King Jin, even if it means deploying the entire Flying Horse Brigade, no, even the military itself. If we delay..."
"Calm yourself, Minister of Rites. This could be King Jin's trap."
"A trap?"
Minister Geum looked puzzled by Right Commander Man's words.
What did he mean by a trap?
Right Commander Man explained.
"You do not practice Martial Arts, so you may not know this, Minister of Rites, but the force sent by the Flying Horse Brigade was enough to wipe out four or five small and medium-sized martial clans in a single night."
"And yet that force was destroyed."
"That is precisely the problem."
"The problem?"
"Did you not hear it from the Chief Brigade Leader of the Flying Horse Brigade here? The Bell Suppression Unit was annihilated by a single person, and even the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader and the Squad leader of the Gale Force Unit lost their lives."
"Is it that serious?"
"There are only about five people in the current martial world with that kind of divine prowess."
Minister Geum tilted his head.
"Five? If you mean the Four Immortal Masters, I know of them. Are you saying there is another such person?"
"It has not been confirmed, but the martial world is in an uproar over a newly risen master who defeated two of the Four Immortal Masters."
"A newly risen master?"
"I do not know the details either, but they say the person is called Peerless Herculean Strength. The important thing is not whether there are four or five."
"Then what is important?"
"The problem is that a Grandmaster-level master has intervened."
The one who answered was the Chief Brigade Leader of the Flying Horse Brigade, who had remained silent until then.
Minister Geum frowned as he looked at the Chief Brigade Leader.
"Would that intervention disrupt our plans so badly?"
"If a Grandmaster-level master is protecting King Jin, we cannot resolve this unless I and the two Grand Elders protecting His Majesty take action."
"...Is that truly so?"
Minister Geum's expression grew serious.
Minister Geum had once watched a martial match between the two Grand Elders and the Chief Brigade Leader of the Flying Horse Brigade at an unofficial founding ceremony for the brigade.
It had been such a fierce battle that several hundred feet around them had nearly been devastated.
That was when they had first understood how dangerous a Grandmaster-level master was.
"As the Chief Brigade Leader says, if there is a Grandmaster-level master beside King Jin, we cannot act rashly, regardless of who that person is. And King Jin allowed the Flying Horse Brigade members who fled to go free. What do you think that means?"
"That he is saying he can handle anything we do?"
"That is my assessment."
"Hah..."
A sigh escaped Minister Geum.
Did this mean they had to let such a perfect opportunity pass because of King Jin's hidden trump card?
If handled poorly, this incident could become a spark that led to a massive civil war.
Just then...
-Tatatatatak!
Someone rushed toward them, dropped to one knee, and reported.
"Urgent news."
"What is it?"
"K-King Jin and Her Highness Princess Seo entered the Imperial Palace just moments ago!"
‘!?’
The expressions of everyone seated there changed at the unexpected news.
They had naturally assumed King Jin would return to his fiefdom, so why had he entered the Imperial Palace, the tiger's den?
Right Commander Man smiled coldly.
"It seems we have been given another opportunity."
Outside the Imperial Palace might have been another matter, but within its walls, everything was entirely their domain.
* * *
At the same time.
Inside the office of the Left Assistant Censor at the Censorate.
"What? King Jin entered the Imperial Palace?"
At the unexpected report from Jo Ma, a junior seventh-rank clerk of the Censorate, Left Assistant Censor O Mu-yang shot to their feet, brows furrowed.
‘Then the Imperial Palace's Flying Horse Brigade failed?’
This was entirely unexpected.
O Mu-yang had thought an urgent report announcing King Jin's death would arrive by now.
Unable to believe it, O Mu-yang asked again.
"Is that true?"
"Yes. It is certain. The news has just come from the outer palace."
"Hmm."
O Mu-yang stroked their beard.
If the Imperial Palace's Flying Horse Brigade had failed to assassinate King Jin, it meant some variable had intervened.
Yet before they could even identify that variable, King Jin's movements were strange.
‘Why did he enter the Imperial Palace?’
If he had survived, the normal thing would have been to take his daughter, Princess Seo, and return to his fiefdom.
Yet he had entered the Imperial Palace, the tiger's den?
O Mu-yang could not understand what he was planning.
Since the Emperor and the two powerful officials had openly attempted an assassination and failed, they might openly try to depose or kill King Jin.
‘...Does he have something to rely on?’
There was no other reason King Jin would enter the palace like this.
Then O Mu-yang's eyes narrowed.
‘Could it be... the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle intervened?’
The Southern Blade Imperial Uncle's whereabouts had been unclear lately, so O Mu-yang had already sent people to trace the Imperial Uncle's movements.
But if the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle had intervened, everything fit.
No one below the Grandmaster level could stop the Imperial Palace's Flying Horse Brigade, and King Jin would not have entered the Imperial Palace this boldly otherwise.
‘It was the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle after all.’
Left Assistant Censor O Mu-yang became convinced that the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle was involved in all of this.
The only person who could protect King Jin and mediate this situation was the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle, a member of the imperial family and one of the Four Immortal Masters.
‘This has become troublesome.’
Even the current Emperor found the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle difficult to deal with.
Things were going badly awry.
‘Wait. If even Princess Seo entered the Imperial Palace with King Jin, did the kidnapping of that bastard Yu Jin-sung fail as well?’
O Mu-yang had been waiting for that news just as much as news of King Jin's death.
If Princess Seo had safely entered the palace, the mission had likely failed.
At that moment, someone in a blue official robe appeared at the entrance to the office.
‘Yeong-jeon?’
He was Yeong-jeon, an operative planted as a senior seventh-rank compiler at the Transmission Office and the heir of the Moak Estate, one of the member factions of the House of the Eight Villains.
O Mu-yang had been wondering whether the mission had failed, so his arrival was perfectly timed.
O Mu-yang walked toward him and said,
"What happened? I hear His Highness King Jin has entered the Imperial Palace..."
"My apologies."
Yeong-jeon lowered his head in apology.
O Mu-yang let out an irritated sigh.
"So it did fail."
The bruises scattered across Yeong-jeon's face were enough to tell them that.
"My apologies."
"Fine. Then report what happened..."
"My apologies."
"Why do you keep saying you're sorry...!?"
O Mu-yang's words suddenly stopped.
A fierce-looking middle-aged man had entered the office.
He was not wearing an official robe, and the temporary Imperial Palace pass hanging from his waist suggested he was an outsider, not an official.
"Who is that person behind you? How dare you bring someone into the Censorate without..."
"Is this the person who ordered it?"
"Y-yes, Master."
‘!?’
O Mu-yang's expression hardened in an instant.
Footnotes:
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