WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 47: Fragments of Truth (1)
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-Squeeze!
“Guaaaargh!”
Left Assistant Censor O Mu-yang, no, Yang Mu-o, woke from the intense pain.
When Yang Mu-o's eyes opened, someone was gripping Yang Mu-o's hand. It was Mumu, wearing one of the Skin Masks bearing the face of a fierce-looking middle-aged man.
“S-stop...”
-Crunch!
As every finger in that hand felt as though it were being crushed, Yang Mu-o begged without realizing it.
Mumu loosened his grip.
“Feeling more awake now?”
Yang Mu-o found Mumu's question absurd.
Yang Mu-o had already been captured, and this bastard had woken the captive with such brutality. Mumu clearly was not one to show mercy.
“Haa... Haa...”
Yang Mu-o took a steadying breath, then glared at Mumu.
“What the hell are you? What are you that you...?”
-Swish!
Mumu took something from his clothes and showed it to Yang Mu-o.
It was a Jade Medallion.
Yang Mu-o's expression stiffened at the unusual triangular pattern marked by two lines.
“You?”
“You have one of these too, don't you?”
“W-where did you get that?”
Yang Mu-o wondered whether Mumu had taken it from someone.
Then Mumu showed Yang Mu-o the back of the Jade Medallion, and Yang Mu-o was stunned.
‘Mumu?’
[Martial Nothing]
The name carved on the back of the Jade Medallion was none other than Mumu's.
Yang Mu-o grew confused.
After the Mighty Conqueror Council fell, only four surviving owners of Jade Medallions remained, including Yang Mu-o.
Mu Il, Mui, Mu Sa, and Mu O.
‘Mumu?’
Yang Mu-o had never seen a title like that.
As far as Yang Mu-o knew, there was a clear reason the title Martial had numbers attached to it.
Yet Mumu had received a Jade Medallion under a title like that?
Mumu narrowed his eyes.
“Your reaction is a little different from Mui's.”
“What?”
“I'd been wondering. Mu Il, Mui, the dead Mu Sam, Mu Sa, Mu O... and the deformed children in the Mighty Conqueror Council's castle who were called failed products.”
‘!?’
Yang Mu-o stared at Mumu with a frozen expression.
Mumu knew far more than expected.
Only Yang Mu-o and Mu Sa knew of the term failed products.
‘What the hell is this bastard?’
Not only did Mumu possess a Jade Medallion Yang Mu-o had never seen before, but he had also come remarkably close to the hidden truth known only to Yang Mu-o, Mu Sa, and the Grand Guardian after the Mighty Conqueror Council's downfall.
Yang Mu-o did not know what to make of it.
While Yang Mu-o was flustered, someone spoke.
“If you know something, you should probably tell him.”
The familiar voice belonged to Kang Mu-i.
Yang Mu-o spotted Kang Mu-i leaning back in the Censorate Second Graduate's study and frowned.
“...Was it you, Kang Mu-i? Did you tell him?”
“You've dropped all pretense of respect now.”
Kang Mu-i snorted.
It was understandable.
Since Kang Mu-i was with Mumu, Yang Mu-o, who was Mu Il's own Zhang Zifang, was probably full of suspicion.
Yang Mu-o scoffed and raised his voice.
“Did you think I'd still treat you respectfully and call you the future Master after things turned out like this?”
“We're in the same situation. I don't expect that sort of thing.”
Kang Mu-i shrugged.
He had already let go of much. Whether Yang Mu-o treated him respectfully or not did not matter.
Kang Mu-i only wanted Yang Mu-o to share Kang Mu-i's suffering.
Kang Mu-i continued.
“I didn't know this bastard existed either. Of course, I knew that person had fathered many other children besides us. Since you're the oldest among us, you likely know more than anyone except the Grand Guardian.”
Yang Mu-o let out a faint breath.
Then Yang Mu-o said firmly, “I know nothing.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“Forget about hearing anything from me. I don't know what you and this unidentified bastard are plotting, Kang Mu-i, but I chose that person as my Master. So...”
“You were abandoned, yet your loyalty runs deep.”
“What?”
Yang Mu-o's face twisted at Kang Mu-i's words.
Abandoned? What nonsense was that?
As Yang Mu-o looked puzzled, Kang Mu-i looked at someone and spoke.
“Hey. Was your name Yeong-jeon? Why don't you tell him?”
“Yeong-jeon?”
Yang Mu-o turned toward where Kang Mu-i was looking.
There stood Yeong-jeon, heir of the Moak Estate, one of the eight factions within the House of the Eight Villains, rigid with tension.
“Yeong-jeon! How do you know that person...?”
“That person gave up on the Imperial Palace.”
“What?”
“As you heard. All the other heirs of the House of the Eight Villains who were in the Imperial Palace have vanished.”
Yang Mu-o's eyes wavered.
What did that mean?
Why would the heirs of the House of the Eight Villains suddenly disappear?
Kang Mu-i sneered at Yang Mu-o.
“Did you hear that? This bastard went looking for the heirs of the House of the Eight Villains after deposing the Emperor, only to find they had all vanished already.”
“...All the heirs of the House of the Eight Villains... Wait. What did you just say?”
“What?”
“You said he deposed the Emperor...”
“Ah. You were unconscious the whole time, so you don't know what's been happening. Yeong-jeon, why don't you tell him?”
At Kang Mu-i's words, Yeong-jeon spoke.
“The current Emperor abdicated in favor of King Jin.”
“W-what bullsh...?”
-Squeeze!
“Argh!”
Yang Mu-o twisted his entire body from the pain that felt as if his hand would break.
Mumu spoke as though warning him.
“No one's nearby, but I'd like to talk quietly. Can you do that?”
Yang Mu-o nodded quickly.
Mumu loosened his grip again.
Not wanting to feel that pain another time, Yang Mu-o restrained his emotions as much as possible.
“...What do you mean, abdication?”
“Exactly what you heard. Master dealt with the guardians of the Imperial Palace and the head of the Flying Horse Brigade, then pressured the current Emperor into abdicating in favor of King Jin.”
‘!!!!!’
Yang Mu-o could not believe it.
Honestly, it was impossible to accept.
How many people could easily accept waking up from unconsciousness to hear that the Emperor had been deposed and King Jin had become Emperor?
‘The guardians of the Imperial Palace?’
Their existence was why Yang Mu-o's side had not acted rashly.
They were supreme masters said to rival the Four Immortal Masters, so they had needed to proceed cautiously.
Yet Mumu had dealt with all of them, and even the head of the Flying Horse Brigade?
“Can't believe it? Too bad. This is reality.”
“Haaaa...”
Yang Mu-o's breathing trembled at Kang Mu-i's taunting voice.
Yang Mu-o was far too confused to know what to make of this situation.
Yang Mu-o stared at Mumu with shaking eyes.
‘What the hell are you? What are you that you can destroy this entire scheme?’
He could not understand.
If Mumu truly was an owner of a Jade Medallion, it made even less sense.
If he had inherited that person's blood, he should have been dreaming of revenge. Why was he interfering with the Grand Plan this much?
‘Yes. That expression.’
Kang Mu-i sneered at Yang Mu-o's despairing face.
This monster's every move defied common sense.
Nothing anyone tried against Mumu worked, which only made Mumu more terrifying.
“The Master you chose ran away because they were afraid of this bastard. Will you insist on loyalty even after being abandoned so easily?”
-Grit!
Yang Mu-o clenched his teeth.
If that person had given up on the Imperial Palace and retreated, it was not actually the wrong decision.
Trying anything here could have led to being held back, leaving all their foundations to collapse.
‘It was the right decision. But...’
Human feelings did not work that way.
No matter how right the choice seemed, Yang Mu-o had staked everything on that person.
Yang Mu-o had served as that person's right hand for ten years and had never imagined being cast aside so easily.
‘Is this the price of my choice?’
For the greater cause, Yang Mu-o could accept being abandoned as only natural. Still, it left a bitter taste to know that the relationship had amounted to no more than this.
Kang Mu-i said, “Someone like you should be able to judge rationally what is right.”
“...”
Yang Mu-o looked at Mumu.
‘...Damn it.’
He began to weigh his options, and it was utterly bleak.
The Grand Plan at Changcheon Martial Academy and the Grand Plan at the Imperial Palace had both collapsed at the hands of one man, Mumu.
Strategies and schemes had all been useless.
Overwhelming strength alone had overturned the entire tide of battle.
Could things truly change if Yang Mu-o chose death out of loyalty to Mu Il?
‘The Four Immortal Masters... the guardians of the Imperial Palace... the Flying Horse Brigade... Kang Mu-i... Sa Mu-heo...’
None of them had been easy opponents.
Yet each of those Mumu had confronted had fallen with startling ease.
Yang Mu-o considered it with a pained expression, then finally made up his mind.
“...If I surrender, can you guarantee my life?”
Kang Mu-i gave a short laugh.
There was no other choice.
No matter how much someone calculated, trying to outthink that monster was meaningless.
Mumu spoke to Yang Mu-o, who had practically declared his surrender.
“Then can you tell me everything you know?”
“If my life is guaranteed, I'll tell you everything I know.”
“Good.”
Yang Mu-o let out a breath of relief at Mumu's ready acceptance.
The situation was bitter, but now that Yang Mu-o had been abandoned, there was no other way to preserve his life.
Yang Mu-o glanced at Yeong-jeon, the heir of the Moak Estate.
“Leave us.”
“You mean leave the room?”
“Yes.”
Mumu nodded.
Yeong-jeon left the study.
“Phew.”
Once Yeong-jeon had fully left and his presence disappeared, Yang Mu-o's breathing steadied. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
“Like I said earlier, Mu Il, Mui, the dead Mu Sam, Mu Sa, Mu O... and the deformed children in the Mighty Conqueror Council's castle who were called failed products. What exactly is all of that?”
Yang Mu-o glanced at Kang Mu-i and asked in return, “You must have heard about Mu Il and Mui from Kang Mu-i. But how do you know about the failed products in the Mighty Conqueror Council's castle?”
“I heard about them.”
“I'm asking who you heard it from.”
“An older man called the Eastern River Sword Sage.”
“...”
Yang Mu-o tried not to show it, but inwardly, he could only marvel.
He had heard the rumor that Mumu defeated the Eastern River Sword Sage, but if Mumu had even heard stories of the past from him, where did this bastard's limits lie?
Unless Mumu had utterly overwhelmed him, the Eastern River Sword Sage, one of the Four Immortal Masters, would never have spoken so easily.
Then Kang Mu-i asked, “What do you mean by failed products in the Mighty Conqueror Council's castle?”
He knew nothing of this matter.
Naturally, Mumu's words had left him puzzled.
“Mu O! What the hell have you been hiding from us all this time?”
Yang Mu-o let out a heavy breath at the question before speaking.
“Since that person had already died, it was something you did not need to know.”
“Something we did not need to know?”
“Before me, there were countless failed products. Even those who received the title Martial were frequently discarded whenever necessary.”
Kang Mu-i's expression hardened.
What did that mean? Even those with the title Martial were often discarded?
Mumu raised one eyebrow and asked Yang Mu-o, “What exactly had failed? Were they children that person did not like?”
Yang Mu-o's face darkened.
Yang Mu-o had thought it was all over, something not even worth recalling.
Never had Yang Mu-o expected the concealed matter to be dredged up again like this.
“What do you think the meaning of the Jade Medallion and the titles you knew of was?”
“...Weren't they given to the children who inherited that person's blood and possessed the greatest, most nearly perfect martial talent?”
“That isn't wrong.”
“It isn't wrong?”
“The Martial titles and such were certainly given to the most outstanding ‘things.’ But it was not to choose an heir to succeed that person.”
“What?”
Yang Mu-o looked between Kang Mu-i and Mumu, who both failed to understand, then revealed the hidden truth in a weighty tone.
“We are that person's other selves and new vessels.”
‘!?’
Footnotes:
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